[sacw] sacw dispatch #2 (8 June 00)

Thu, 8 Jun 2000 18:42:14 +0200

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch #2
8 June 2000

[This issue of the dispatch is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Aziz Siddiqui,
a leading Pakistani journalist based ib Lahore who died yesterday! ]
------------------------------------------

#1. Religious Intolerance in Bangladesh
#2. Violence Against Christians in India continues
- Priest Killed
- More Bombs in Churches
#3. India's Bishop Dr. George Ninan detained at Singapore airport
#4. Pakistan: Obituary - A courageous campaigner

__________________________

#1.

[reproduced below a research paper prepared for and
submitted to Mr. A. Amor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious
Minorities, during his visit to Bangladesh from 15 - 19th May 2000.]

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN BANGLADESH.
by Odhikar=EDs Research Team.*

Communalism is one of the negative factors to achieve democracy. Every
democratic country claims itself to be a secular state where equality and
equity reigns. Bangladesh is no exception to this.
Bangladesh has not hit the international headlines for demolishing mosques/
temples, or for the enactment of any oppressive law. So the question
arises, is there any communalism or fanaticism in Bangladesh?

The Hindutva movement by the Shiv Sena and the BJP in India and the
sometimes extreme Muslim fanatical movements against the Christian and Shia
minorities in Pakistan make international headlines. In Bangladesh, the
situation is not as extreme. In Bangladesh, roughly 85% of the population
are Muslim and the next largest religious community is Hindu. The
remaining population are Christian and Buddhist. Though constitutional
provisions enshrine religious rights to citizens belonging to any religion,
being a Muslim-majority state, there are scattered incidences of religious
(mostly Muslim) fanaticism.

The Position of the State and the Constitution of Bangladesh :

Unfortunately, the state plays a role of a silent bystander in
confronting human rights violations by such religious fanatics. In a
country where almost 80% of the people live below the poverty line and
where a large majority are illiterate, the often harsh religious
interpretations of religious texts and the practice of so-called Fatwa is
accepted without mush question or protest. Here, vested interested groups
- belonging to the rural and religious elite - use religion as a tool to
gain power and achieve their objectives. Their main targets are women from
rural areas and those working in NGOs in such areas.

Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states, "All citizens are
equal before law and are entitled equal protection of law". This "Equality
before law" remains only in the book of law, as the reality is far more
different from the legal provisions. One example is the (Enemy) Vested and
Non-Resident Property Act, 1974. Despite repeated appeals to the
Government for a reform or an amendment to that, the government is yet to
bring about any change. In reality, people belong to different religions
are suffering due to the oppressive provision of this Act. The right title
of minorities is always in an uncertain position. The state machinery has
turned a deaf ear to their pleas and appeals, as a result more and more
violations/encroachments are taking place. In districts like Rajshahi,
Barishal and Jessore, the encroaching in to lands through forging land
document of indigenous and minority has become a common and profitable
practice. Because of the deaf ear of the state regarding such matters,
those belonging to the minority communities are quickly losing their sense
of belonging and even after the mass exodus of the 1947 Partition, people
- mostly of the Hindu community - are leaving the country.

Is not that the state machinery is not being informed. Even if they are,
they hardly take any interest in such matter. Some times, even the
protectors of citizens - law enforcing agencies - are involved in such
vandalism as damaging idols or temples of minorities. Such cases have
occurred in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region where Army officers have
broken into Buddhist temples and smashed artefacts. Article 41 of the
Constitution of Bangladesh provides for "Freedom of Religion," where it
has been clearly mentioned under Article 41(1)(b),"Every religious
community or denomination has the right to establish, maintain and manage
its religious institutions".

Three case studies show that some quarters have violated these provisions
and the state has remained nonchalant about those.

Case Study -1:
A group of armed miscreants broke wall of a Kali Mandir and damaged an idol
of Goddess Kali at Sonagazi Thana (Prothom Alo Feb.11).

Case Study - 2:
An Inspector of Police was accused of damaging an idol of Hindu religion at
Panchagarh. He was accused of beating the Temple Priests and damaging an
idol of goddess Kali. (Prothom Alo-Feb.13).

Case study - 3
Ahmediya Community - Brothers against Brothers.
The tradition of religious tolerance was cruelly mocked, in October last
year, when six member of the Ahmediya Community died of bomb blast inside
their Community Mosque in Khulna where they went to say Jumma prayer.
Though, the news jolted the whole nation, there were hardly any effort on
the part of the Government to identify and nab the offenders. On the other
hand, the government in a bid to divert the attention accused the
Opposition by opening a new front for political tension. Until now,
authorities have revealed no follow up of that bomb blast to the public.

One may ask, as they are one of the communities of Islam , why are they
subjected to the wrath of fanatics? The Ahmediyas are a sect of Muslims
who have a slightly different religious view than what Sunni school of
Muslims have. When they publicised their views, all hell broke loose and a
section of so called =EBreligious=ED fanatics raised protest in a medieval
manner. The incident of planting bomb in the Khulna Ahmediya Mosque was
another in the series.

The Ahmediya community had unjustly been targeted by the vested interest
groups and there, the Constitutional provision of Freedom of Association
and Freedom of Religion were amply violated.
Even in certain areas, people, under the influence of religious fanaticism,
prevented Ahmediyas harvesting crops from their own field or forced
Ahmediyas out of their native village, only because, they belonged to a
=EBdifferent=ED Community. (Prothom Alo Apr-26)

The Article 28(3) of the Constitution of Bangladesh firmly states, - "No
citizen shall on grounds only of religion, race, caste...be subjected to
any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access
to any place of public entertainment or resort, or admission to any
educational institution". Yet, this provision has not protected the hapless
members of Ahmediya Community of three villages of Brahmanbaria. Their
lands were encroached, their crops were grabbed, and even fanatics did not
allow Ahmediyas to stay at their ancestral property. Their security to life
was at a stake. (Prothom Alo - April 26)

Apart from that, the Ahle Hadis community has also been faced by severe
violations by the Law Enforcing Agency. In Khulna, the members of the law
Enforcing Agency arrested a member of the Ahle Hadis group on publication
of a book containing their religious beliefs. (Prothom Alo -Feb 6). People
must condemn such acts and the State should take proper steps against such
religious oppression and vandalism.

The Oppressed Indigenous:

Apart from the sporadic assaults on the minorities, the Indigenous people
also suffer from both social / religious discrimination and oppression.

Article 28(3) of the Constitution states, "no citizen shall, on grounds
only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth be subjected to any
disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to
any place of public entertainment or resort or admission to any educational
institution." Further to this, Article 29(2) says, " no citizen shall on
the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, be
ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of any employment or
office in the service of the republic." A certain sort of discrimination
works in the Public Service where the minorities can hardly acquire key-
posts. The government education policy towards the indigenous people of
Bangladesh is not very satisfactory either.

Conclusion:

Bangladesh has a history of religious tolerance. During '71, people of
Bangladesh fought against the violation of human rights and they fought
against inhumanity. Apart from the Muslims of Bangladesh, the minorities
were the cause of wrath of the Pakistanis as they belonged to other
religion, but we managed to break all the religious and social differences.
Such high tradition of tolerance and indiscrimination should not be
demolished only for actions of vested interest group. The Government
should take steps to prevent such heinous act of vandalism in the name of
religion or religious practice. They should also amend and reform the
oppressive laws that curb the due rights of the minorities. It is the duty
of all citizens of Bangladesh to ensure that the state of Bangladesh
remains non-communal and that acts of religious intolerance and communalism
are dealt with justice.

* Odhikar - a coalition for Human Rights is a human rights organisation
which documents, investigates and researches violations carried out by law
enforcment agencies, incidents of political violence and other violations
to civil and political rights. The organisation was established in 1994 and
has its office at 3/6 Shegun Bagicha, Dhaka - 1000, Bangladesh.

_______

#2.

VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN INDIA CONTINUES

BBC World Service News - June 8, 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_781000/781143.stm

CATHOLIC PRIEST KILLED IN MATHURA

By Satish Jacob in Delhi

The police in the north Indian city of Mathura are investigating the
murder of a Roman Catholic priest.

Brother George's badly-battered body was discovered by other inmates of
a mission involved in rural development work in the countryside around
the city.

There are no indications as yet of the motives of the crime, but the
murder follows a series of attacks on Christian institutions and clergy
in the area in the past two months.

Mathura violence

June: Catholic priest murdered
April: Two nuns, priest injured as intruders attack school
April: Principal of a catholic school assaulted

A senior police official said Brother George was apparently hit on the
head by iron rods.

Police found a couple of rods lying in the priest's room.

A personal assistant of Brother George told the police that some
intruders broke into the house in the middle of the night.

He said the intruders locked him and another boy, who lived with the
priest, in a room.

Third attack

This is the third attack on the Christians in Mathura.

In April, two nuns and a priest were badly injured when unidentified
people broke into the premises of a school run by the Roman Catholic
Church.

Staines and his two sons were burnt alive

A day before that, the principal of another Roman Catholic school was
assaulted in his house.

There have been a number of attacks against the Christians in different
parts of the country in the past two years.

Staines' killing

The most serious incident took place in the state of Orissa, where an
Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two sons were found burnt
alive while they slept in their car.

The opposition parties and Christian leaders in the country have
expressed their concern over violence against Christian missionaries.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Delhi, Alan de Lastic, met Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last month to raise with him the concerns
of the Christian community.

BBC World Service News
Thursday, 8 June, 2000, 16:09 GMT 17:09 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_782000/782713.stm

MORE BOMBS IN INDIAN CHURCHES

Police in India say there have been more bomb attacks against churches
in the south of the country.

In the latest explosion, two people were injured near a church in
Gulbarga in the state of Karnataka.

Christian groups said the attack is part of a sustained campaign against
them.

Earlier in the day, police in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh
said that bombs exploded at two churches hundreds of kilometres apart.

Two church workers suffered minor injuries in one blast in Prakasham
district , three-hundred-and-fity kilometres south of the state capital,
Hyderabad.

No-one was injured in the other blast, in the district of West Godavari
, four-hundred-and-fifty kilometres north of Hyderabad.

=46rom the newsroom of the BBC World Service

_______

#3.

[Thanks to Ram Punyani for forwarding the below message]

> 7th June 2000
>
> Bishop Dr. George Ninan detained at Singapore airport
>
> Bishop Dr. George Ninan was detained at Singapore airport on June 6,
> 2000 while returning to Mumbai after attending the Christian Conference
> of Asia (CCA) annual assembly held in Tomohon, Indonesia. The
> immigration police held him in the detention room incommunicado for 10
> hours and later escorted him to the plane ensuring that he boarded the
> plane to Mumbai. Although he was given food and a bunker bed to rest
> while detained, he was not allowed to call anyone and his passport and
> other documents were confiscated by the police and returned to him only
> on arriving at the Mumbai airport.
>
> Bishop George Ninan is a noted social activist who is currently the
> Secretary of the Joint Council of Churches comprising of The Church of
> North India, Church of South India and the Marthoma Church. It is
> ironical to note that he has been actively involved in exposing human
> rights violations in India and promoting justice and peace concerns
> across the world. He has been instrumental in inspiring and supportaing
> many social action groups like BUILD ( Bombay Urban Industrial League
> for Developement) ,Indian National social Action Foeum ( INSAF) etc.
>
> Bishop Dr. George Ninan was returning to Mumbai via Singapore with more
> than 10 hours of transit time at Singapore before he could catch his
> connecting flight to Mumbai. On arriving at Singapore airport, he
> approached the immigration officer for a temporary pass to go out of the
> airport premises for a meal. The immigration officer accepted his
> request and was in the process of issuing the pass when the computer
> showed up his name as one of those not to be permitted to enter
> Singapore. The officer immediately notified the police and he was taken
> to the detention room where he remained for the rest of the time (10
> hours) unable to communicate or meet anyone. Bishop Ninan tried telling
> the police officers that he had no intention of remaining in Singapore
> and that all he wanted was to go out for a meal to one of his favourite
> restaurants close by. Yet he was taken to the detention room in the
> basement of the airport that held persons who were detained for reasons
> such as not having proper documents, suspects of contraband carriers,
> infiltrates, etc.
>
> It will be recollected that he was a staff member of the CCA when the
> organisation was expelled from the country 13 years ago in 1987 and had
> confiscated all documents and money of the organisation. However the
> then Government under the Presidentship of Lee Kuan Kyu could not pin
> down any evidence against the CCA. Yet George Ninan's name continues to
> remain on the Government's list of people not permitted to enter
> Singapore. He is surprised that such violation of human rights continues
> even under the present Singapore Government.
>
> We request you to register your protest against this human rights
> violation to:
> Singapore High Commission, E6, Chander Gupta Marg, Chanakyapuri, New
> Delhi 110021.
> Kind Attn: Mr.Vincent Gogh. Fax No. 011 6113082.
>
> OR to The Government of Singapore, Singapore.
>
> We would appreciate if you could pass on this to your friends and other
> concern groups.
>
> S.M.DAS
> Project Coordinator
> Campaign & Advocacy for Human Rights

______

#4.

DAWN
8 May 2000

OBITUARY - A COURAGEOUS CAMPAIGNER

By Tahir Mirza

LAHORE: How do you write the obituary of a friend and companion with
whom you had spent a happy evening only two days ago and particularly of
a person who was always so reluctant to talk about himself?
Aziz Siddiqui was not a high-profile journalist or columnist. You didn't
see him at official briefings and receptions. Yet, at a seminar on civil
liberties or in a private gathering, his presence commanded attention.
He spoke little, but when he got impatient of listening to our
inanities, he would intervene testily, take the pipe out of his mouth,
and put the issue under discussion in its proper perspective. His
commitment to the ideals he believed in -- resistance to
authoritarianism, democracy, secularism and peace -- was total and
unwavering. He would not make compromises like so many of us.
Aziz Siddiqui had appeared on the journalistic scene in the 60s from the
Bureau of National Reconstruction. He had joined The Pakistan Times as
assistant editor, and soon won the respect of his colleagues. His
cubicle in the PT offices always had a lunch- time crowd of leader
writers led by Mr I.A. Rehman and he would, as usual, listen to all the
chatter going on with a certain bemused detachment. His capacity to
immerse himself in what he was doing was always a source of envy to the
rest of us on the staff of the paper. Mr Nizam Din, head of the
reference section in the PT and now at the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, was never happier than when assembling material for Aziz
Siddiqui, whom he considered among the few journalists who bothered to
study their subject before they wrote on it. Aziz Siddiqui read
extensively and was scholarly not merely in looks, with his flowing grey
mane, but also in his writings.
He found room for independence of expression even within the tight
confines of UAE journalism when he was editor of the Dubai- based Gulf
News. But his most defining period was certainly his days as editor of
The Frontier Post in Peshawar when almost alone among journalists in
Pakistan he adopted a courageous, clear and forthright position in print
against the military government of Ziaul Haq. His editorials of those
days, which had an immediacy seldom attempted in Pakistani newspapers,
were widely read and contributed to lifting some of the gloom that had
settled on the nation. Earlier, Aziz Siddiqui had taken part in the
great journalists' struggle against the military regime in 1977-78 and
he was gaoled along with hundreds of other newspaper workers. In the
1971 hunger strike by the staff of The Pakistan Times and Imroze also,
he was one of the most resolute participants and it was then that his
friends had first discovered the will of steel that lay within his frail
frame.
At the Human Rights Commission, he authored the annual reports on the
state of human rights in Pakistan and laboured over each report with
unmatched devotion, collating figures, going through newspaper clippings
and then putting everything together. He was persuaded to start writing
for Dawn, and his weekly leader-page columns had created a niche for him
which only he could fill.
Aziz Siddiqui had the mental approach and discipline of a dervish, but
that did not mean that he did not appreciate the company of good
friends; indeed, he took an almost childish delight in the small
pleasures of life. He was solicitous of the welfare of everyone he was
associated with and displayed enormous patience in his professional
dealings with younger people. There was always a cheerful welcome at his
Temple Road apartment for everyone who went there at any hour of the day
and night. He never knowingly broke the heart of anyone, but has now
left many broken-hearted.

______________________________________________
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