[sacw] sacw dispatch (3 June 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch
3 June 2000

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#1. India: On how the secular activists needs to get pro-active
#2. India: Sangh Parivar's bedfellows in battle against Goa's Christians
#3. Pakistan: War among Jehadi groups
#4. Women's groups slam Sri-Lankan Press on gay ruling

__________________________

#1.

The Hindustan Times
3 June 2000
Op-Ed.

USE YOUR ILLUSIONS

(Indrajit Hazra on how the secular line needs to get pro-active)

NAVEL-GAZING is a genuine liberal activity.

It has its charms and one cannot but admire the sheer dedication of its
practitioners. However, it has serious drawbacks. The gaze never shifts
from the chosen spot no matter what changes take place in the world
beyond the depressed horizon of the bellybutton. If the house is
ransacked, the furniture rearranged and the original inhabitants are
replaced by a new set of people, the navel-gazer will grunt his
disapproval, but do little else. In such circumstances, the navel-gazer
is better than Nero fiddling away - but just a little better.

Ever since the Babri masjid was transformed from being a practically
forgotten piece of architecture to a "deconstructed" symbol of things to
come, India's secular forces have come up with all the right
explanations about the rise of Hindu communalism. They know that the
hordes attempting to knock down the gates of a pluralist, heterogeneous
India are working overtime at many levels and need to be pushed back.
Armed with such knowledge, what does India's secular army do? They
register their disapproval, write passionate ripostes in journals, host
seminars and poster campaigns - and return to gazing at their navels.

It does not take great political insight to understand that the only
thing lying between a secular India and a Hindu rashtra is the will of
the Hindus. If this vast segment actually wanted Indian society to be
Hinduised, there would have been no need for the RSS to launch a "war of
independence" between Hindus and non-Hindus. Neither would there be any
ongoing tussle for that precious piece of real estate - the nation's
psyche.

=46ortunately, there are two things going the secularists' way. One, most
Indians have been comfortable with the idea of living in a pluralist
nation-state. Two, there is nothing that can be called a homogeneous
Hindu society, let alone a homogeneous Indian society. Therefore, it is
not simply a battle between Hindus and non-Hindus that the Sangh parivar
is waging. It is a war between the parivar's version of 'true' Hinduism
and anything else - beef-eating Hindus, those falling outside the pale
of the caste system, city-slickers with a penchant for "non-Hindu"
culture, the lot.

We all know this and we know this as clearly as we know that secular
propaganda is no match for that being disseminated by the parivar at
various levels. Unlike secular activists, the saffron brigade does not
wait for an issue to come to the fore. It brings its message straight to
the table. In other words, the Hindutva programme, unlike the secular
one, is pro-active. Secularism, at its best, is a knee-jerk reaction. At
its worst, it's a woolly advertisement for an equally abstract product.

There is no point going to the districts of Gujarat and Orissa with a
gong in hand warning everyone about the dangers of Fascism, or striking
parallels between the Hindutva programme of the BJP-RSS and that of the
National Socialist German Workers' Party. For many of those currently
sitting on the fence deciding which way to go - the Hindu or the secular
way - such "warnings" register very little response. On the other hand,
take the questions the Hindutva movement throw up: What is the origin of
the nation? How did the Hindu nation come into existence? What is the
identity of our nation?

The Sangh parivar even provides the answers: "Hindu and Hindus
constitute the Indian nation since they are the original inhabitants and
sole creators of its society and culture. Hinduism is uniquely catholic
and tolerant, and hence superior to any other faith... the subsequent
entry and take over by foreigners created the illusion that India was a
land of many different and equal cultures... only a truly secular Hindu
rashtra will afford protection to non-Hindus."

These are myths, but people tend to forget the power of myth-making.
These are not sophisticated arguments manufactured from disparate facts
and evidences. Saffron propaganda uses the language of mythology which
is direct, atavistic and without ambiguity. Most importantly, answers
are provided to questions that have been framed by the Sangh parivar
itself. The questions asked by it (Why should we build temples in
Ayodhya and Mathura? Why are Christian missionaries a threat? Why is
Sikhism nothing but a sub-group of Hinduism? Why do we need to construct
a Hindu identity?) have an elemental quality which strike a more
immediate chord than those "clarifications" meticulously constructed by
secular activists.

Take the pamphlet which glorifies the killer of Christian missionary
Graham Staines, Dara Singh, being distributed in towns and villages all
over the country. It is a 'tacky' 15-pager, which labels a fanatical
murderer as a "god who has come down to earth to save the faith from the
hands of terrorist foreign missionaries". The booklet is replete with
images of Dara Singh as an incarnation of Hanuman and how like the
monkey-god who burnt down the evil kingdom of Lanka, Dara Singh was also
doing his duty when he burnt Staines and his sons alive inside a jeep.

Secular activists may have the right answers, but neither are they able
to bring it to those who matter nor are they asking the questions
themselves. At the core of the problem lies the fact that communal
forces are much more organised when it comes to operating at multiple
levels. As historian Romila Thapar has pointed out, many who belong to
the secular tradition "do not really have a feel for local history".
This shortcoming is apparent even outside the immediate field of
history.

It is not that there is something inherent in secularism that makes it
unfit for popular understanding. Folk forms - the tamashas, jatras,
povadas, bhavais, burakathas - were once successfully used to provide
grist to the mills of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal movements. It
seems that these platforms have now been vacated by secular liberals.

Religion and religious imagery have always formed a part and parcel of
Indian culture. It is to the credit of Sangh parivar that its activists
have picked up what was already there and refashioned it according to
its needs. Perhaps, if the secular mindset can reclaim religious imagery
without recoiling in horror, Hinduism will stop being seen as the sole
property of the Far Right.

There are other issues which also need to be "reconstructed". For
instance, the notion of Muslim invaders razing Hindu temples cannot be
denied. But somehow, the fact that Hindu kings also looted and destroyed
temples in rival kingdoms never sees the light of day in popular
perception. Like myth-making, propaganda is also an exercise in which
some incidents are dramatised, others contextualised, yet others passed
over in silence. Thus, the need for a secular counter-propaganda which
can have the added virtue of being based on facts.

Secularists cannot afford to be smug in the belief that Hindus will
forever resist Hindutva. It is clear that as far as the shaping of a
cultural narrative is concerned, the saffron brigade is being more
successful than one would have imagined sitting in a big room listening
to a damning critique of Golwalkar's A Bunch of Thoughts.

But the modern mythology that is being created and disseminated by
communal forces has the potential of being more effective than
cloistered truths. At the end of the day, holding on to fact sheets
won't matter, winning over popular imagination will.

________

#2.

2 June 2000

GOA CARNIVAL
IS THE NATIONAL MINORITY COMMISSION HELPING ITS REPUTATION BY PLEADING FOR
JINDAL'S METASTRIPS PROJECT IN GOA?

SANGH PARIVAR FINDS STRANGE BEDFELLOWS IN BATTLE AGAINST GOA'S CHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY AND ITS ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION GROUPS

By John Dayal

Dina Nath Mishra is the most warm-hearted member of the Sangh Parivar I
know. He has many good friends in the media community, of which not only is
he a senior member as a former editor of the Navbharat Times and a
syndicated columnist, he can justifiably lay claim to be a father figure,
with at least one daughter and two sons in law also successful audio visual
journalists. He maintains personal relationships with even his political
foes. Our political beliefs are poles apart. I think of myself as a
left-winger. Mishraji spent all his youth and some of his early middle age
as a Sangh Pracharak in various states, before joining the media where he
rose to become the resident editor of the Navbharat Times first in Patna and
then in New Delhi before his well-earned retirement. Post retirement he
rejoined active politics, and is today an elected member of the Rajya Sabha
from Uttar Pradesh on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party. His popular
columns are published in several Hindi and English newspapers, including the
Observer of Business and Politics, a paper that I represented in London and
on whose staff I worked on back in New Delhi in the early 1990s.

It is because I read the Observer that I came across Mishraji's article
'Though shall not bear false witness - The agitation in Goa against Meta
strips is not quite catholic, and hardly what it seems.'
I am not writing a rejoinder, I could have done that in the Observer. I am
just expressing my gratitude to Mishraji for opening my eyes, in the fourth
and last column of his column, about a person you may have heard about. Says
Mishraji 'HD Shourie, Director of Common cause and an active Human Rights
activist, wrote to the chief secretary of the Goan government :We have
received the disturbing news that a project of paramount importance which is
being implemented in the territory of Goa, area of Courtalim and Sancoale
for the past two years, is being opposed by communal forces who have been
motivated on religious communal considerations.'

Many readers of Indian Currents may perhaps not know Mr HD Shourie, and
therefore wonder why his name caught my eye. Shourie, a one time civil
servant and magisterial officer in the Punjab, is the father of Arun
Shourie, the World Bank official-turned journalist-turned minority and Dalit
baiter who is now Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's minister for
statistics and sundry such innocuous things that actually control the nerves
and sinews of the government. Shourie's daughter Nalini Singh is a
successful talk show producer and host, and a third child, Deepak, is a
hugely successful publisher. A talented and powerful family.

Post retirement, which was decades ago, while son Arun was writing his books
that made Muslims, Dalits and Christians angry, Shourie founded an NGO that
mad the headlines taking up issues that were of concern to other retirees
and others who live in big cities and are harassed by the structures of the
bureaucracy. Soft spoken, smiling, almost self-effacing barring the profound
press release, the elder Shourie became a celebrity. It therefore did
occasionally nag me as to why the Senior Shourie was not counselling his
elder son to easy on the bile and hate. I also wondered why Common Cause had
not made common cause with the victims of communal violence periodically let
lose by the Sangh Parivar and its cousins in other political formations on
Muslims and Christians and Dalits.

I still refuse to believe that Mr HD Shourie is a communal person, or a
communalist. I do not know which way he votes, nor do I care. I do care
about the way he is purported to have written to the Goan government. The
first thing to surprise me was that he wrote on behalf of an industrialist,
even if the tycoon was presumably a personal friend from the old, undivided
Punjab. The second thing to surprise me was that he spoke in favour of an
industry, the Jindal Meta Strips project, which is widely held by
conservation and environmental advocacy groups to be a highly polluting
project that will for eternity damage Goa's fragile environmental
equilibrium. Like me, Shourie is not a pollution expert. I do not think that
as a good former judicial mind, he conducted an open enquiry to reach the
conclusion that the project everyone loves to hate is 'of paramount
importance'. Like Education for All, or Drinking water for all, I guess.

What really surprised me was the ease with which Shourie - and I am still
quoting Mishraji's quoting of HD Shourie's letter -- came to conclusions
that the people who opposed the project were 'communal forces who have been
motivated by religious considerations.'

I don't think Shourie has any objection per se to religious groups being
involved in the Environment protection movement. After all if it were not
for the love of nature and the thesis of peace that moves a particular
community in Haryana and Rajasthan, the Bishnois (former Haryana chief
minister Bhajan Lal is a leading light of the community) the black buck and
sundry other deer would have been wiped out in Haryana and Rajasthan where
they now roam in large numbers. And it is because religious groups worship
it that the Peacock does not end up in a cooking pot, favoured as a dinner
though it may be elsewhere. Mountains keep their forest cover because a
local temple makes them holy, and once in a while, a small temple is enough
to make the mighty Japanese change the contours and direction of the Bridge
they build over the Yamuna. It is a pity that religion has not been able to
prevent the pollution in the Ganges or the decapitation of several ore-rich
hills held holy by local, but very poor, tribals in central India.

Could it be that Shourie is incensed that some of the advocacy groups in Goa
are Catholic?

Mishraji, speaking his mind, makes no bones about it. He does feel it is the
Catholic Church. He says there is a hidden agenda behind the a agitation of
the Anti Meta Strips Citizens Action Committee, 'to cause political
destabilisation by creating communal tension, using the church as a front.
Mishraji says Church resources were used for the agitation and that Nuns
played a prominent part in involving the village women in the agitation.
Mishraji's article and other some news items also allege that attacks were
mounted on government vehicles from church premises, and that the
'underworld also seems to have played a role' in the agitation whose aim is
to ensure closure of a company 'which has already made an investment of Rs
300 crores.'

To corroborate his statement, Mishraji quoted National Commission for
Minorities member John Joseph who has briefed many reporters on what he says
is his experience during a visit to Goa. Joseph claims 'after our meeting
with the chief minister at Dabolin, we were returning to our hotel. On our
way, our car was halted by a mob which wanted to lynch us. Trucks unloaded
gravel and uprooted trees were used to cordon off the area. This is because
the mob assumed we were employees of Meta Strips. Our driver was injured and
we jumped off and saved ourselves before the car was torched. The parish
priest got in touch with the concerned authorities and established our
identifies and the police helped us flee from the spot. ' Joseph goes on to
add dramatically 'During the melee we managed to figure out that the
intention of the mob was either to take us as hostages or to kill kiss us on
the spot, as they thought we were from Metastrip. If this actually had been
the case, the company representatives would surely have been killed.'

It is good to see John learning how to figure out intentions and not merely
dismiss this as just another petty crime. Like he did in the case of the
series of anti- Christian incidents of violence in Uttar Pradesh and
Haryana this year. Nuns and priests and lay complainants had told the
commission in vain that there was more to the incidents, and that there was
a waive of communalism in several states. The commission, from Justice
Shameem downwards, took note only of half sentences and police statements.

How did John and his friends jump to the conclusion that the Church or even
lay groups were involved in the 'attack' on himself? No company employee
has ever been injured or killed, so how did he presume the 'mob' would have
killed him if he had not been identified?

There is need for a through enquiry into the Goa incidents. An enquiry into
the violence, right away, and at a high level.

Also another enquiry, possibly by the Central Vigilance Commission, into
what John Joseph was doing in Goa in the first place in the Meta Strips
case? How could there be any confusion about his identity, for after all he
is a senior public office holder and the local police must be aware of his
official visit to the state and must have provided him official
accommodation and vehicle, possibly even a police escort with a red light on
the car's bonnet.

At some stage, there must also be a debate into the role of the National
Commission for Minorities - Does it see itself as a protector of the
interests of the minorities, does it see itself as an agency to force a
truce between killers and their victims, does I see its role as forcing a
superficial one-sided peace without justice? And finally, does it see itself
as an advocate for every polluting industry and communal group that wants to
sully the country's environment, or its image.

Perhaps the only person to have shown some consistency is Sita Ram Jindal
himself. Meta Strips as a project means a big business opportunity for this
titan of industry, and he has left literally no stone unturned to ensure
that the project takes off in Goa, whatever be the opposition to it and
whatever it takes to quell that opposition. The Jindals have approached
everyone they know, officials and ministers, politicians of all political
hues, even of the Congress, and just about every Bishop they could find in
the address book. The Sangh Parivar was very sympathetic to a company and
owner they knew well. But senior Archbishops in the Catholic Bishops
Conference of India refused to oblige, turning away company officers
politely. Priests rebuffed offers of heavy donations, Churches said No to
largesse. The Jindals are known for their charity in the north, endowing
temples and other good works.

The Jindals could also not convince the people of Goa, those whose lives and
future would be effected by the poisons of the process and materials, on the
project.

The movement was popular, and the fears deep-rooted, and genuine.

It was at this stage that the troubleshooters in Jindal's powerful
conglomerate thought of giving the whole thing a communal colour and putting
the blame on the Church.

In early letters to James Massey, the former member of the Minorities
Commission, the Jindal's sought his intervention. Massey marked the letter
routinely to his junior staff, putting it effectively, as good a
bureaucratic way as expressing his inability to intervene. There was no role
for the Minorities' Commission, it was clear.

Massey's exit gave the Jindals another opportunity to seek the Commission's
intervention, and put pressure on the movement. Politely put, this was
about open a blackmail as was possible, in affect telling the Lay leadership
and the Hierarchy of the church they would be deemed to be communal trouble
makers if they put a spanner in the poor rich man's noble project.

I am not too surprised the Commission fell victim to the ploy of the
company.

It is best to quote from a letter written to Justice Shameem, the Chairman
of the National Commission for Minorities, by the Archbishop of Goa, to set
the record in perspective. Remember this that Archbishop Raul Nicolau
Gonsalves write this letter on 17 May, 2000. The Archbishop-Patriarch wanted
to know from Justice Shameem of commission member John Joseph was in Goa on
30 March on an official visit or a personal visit. I quote from the letter
which is now public property:

' The visit of Mr John Joseph to Goa was in connection with an industrial
project met Strips Ltd following a petition by Dr J S Jindal, chairman and
managing director.

'Although we tried to convey our point of view and stand of the church in
frank and clear way even in our personal meeting with Mr Joseph, I felt
rather unhappy with the attitude and reaction of Mr John, feeling even
disturbed with what appeared to be apparently biased and preconceived mind
on the matter. This personal feeling and unease on our part was subsequently
reinforced and strengthened with some seriously disturbing news and points
of information about (Mr Joseph) .

The Archbishop posed a few questions to Justice Shameem. 'Although the
government of Goa had made arrangements for their stay in the Circuit House,
Panaji, John Joseph (and his companion) had been staying during their visit
to Goa in other hotels including those in which higher officers connected
with meta Strips Ltd were staying. John Joseph was seen going around in
vehicles belonging to the same Meta Strips.'

The Archbishop in his letter said 'Practically at the end of our meeting on
31st march, Mr John Joseph reacting to reports 'known to him' that Jindal
had great influence both at the Centre and state levels -- through 'great
amounts of money' made available to those concerned - was advising or
suggesting to us that it would be better to compromise so that the project
could be implemented without further objections on the part of the affected
people from the areas neighbouring the project site.

The Archbishop had, way back in February this year, had told the Commission
in response to its enquiry that 'In the first place, it should be clear that
the Church or its authorities as such are not directly involved in the
movement of the people against the Meta Strip project. But, he said, 'we
have clearly stated in no uncertain terms that the church is seriously
committed to the promotion of Human values and the social well being of all
the people, specially the oppressed, without consideration of Caste or
creed. The involvement of priests was a concrete expression of this
commitment. The archbishop pointed out hat most of the people of the
affected villages happened to belong to the Catholic community.

The movement of the people against Meta Strips in Sancoale is organised and
led by mainly two bodies of local people, not related to the Church. These
two movements are called the Anti-Meta Strips Citizens Action Committee
(AMCAC) and the All Goa Citizens Committee for Social Justice and Action
(AGCCSJA). In fact, many non-Catholics too have joined the two movements as
the project is increasingly been seen as a conspiracy against the people and
the environment.

The case is sub judice - with the people moving the courts in a Public
Interest Litigation and Jindals filing their counter case in the High court.
=46or the moment one does not know the outcome of the judicial process. The
company's many friends are meanwhile busy communalising the controversy,
pitting the Catholic community and the Church against Goa's majority Hindu
community. They have so far not found any takers for their poison.

It is however increasingly clear that the National Commission for Minorities
has put its reputation on the line - and not in the defence of the
Minorities.

_______

#3.

The Friday Times
2 June 2000

=46IRST SPLIT AMONG JEHADIS

Ejaz Haider and Salman Hussein put their heads together to
find out what is happening to the Jehadis on the home front

The turf war between Harkatul Mujahideen of Fazlur Rehman Khalil and
Jaish-e-Mohammad of Masood Azhar, which began over the division of HM's
assets in the Punjab following the formation of Jaish by Azhar appears
to be hotting up.

Sources say in a recent incident at Athmaqam in Azad Kashmir, five HM
activists were ambushed and stabbed by Jaish activists, three of whom
were brought to Muzzaffarabad in critical condition. The incident was
also reported in a section of the press on May 30. Earlier, Jaish took
over almost the entire organisational network of HM in the Punjab,
including the organisation's movable and immovable assets.

"A settlement was made at the Binori Town seminary in Karachi and it was
decided that the HM would pay Rs 4 million to Jaish in return for its
assets. However, nothing has come of it since the HM has not paid up and
the Jaish has not vacated the HM offices," says a source.

HM sources accuse Azhar, who was briefly detained in Lahore a few days
ago when he came to town to see his ailing mother in a private hospital,
of being an Indian agent. "He has tried to create dissent among jehadi
groups. Maulana Khalil went to the extent of resigning from the amarat
of Harkat to make room for him but he wouldn't relent. Instead he wanted
Harkat to lose its identity completely and merge with Jaish," says a
source.

Masood Azhar, the cleric who was released by India following the
hijacking of an Indian airlines aircraft, arrived soon after in Karachi
at the Binori Town seminary and joined hands with Mufti Nizamuddin
Shamzai. At the time, Shamzai went along with him and helped him set up
JM. However, none of the two could explain why they needed a new
organisation in the presence of HM, especially when Azhar was a known HM
ideologue. For his part, Shamzai has been shuttling between the two
organisations ever since, though he is considered much closer to Jaish
than HM.

"We felt there was need for a new Mujahid force to strengthen the jehad.
Already, thousands have accepted Maulana Masood Azhar as their amir,"
Shamazai had said on the occasion of the formation of JM.

=46or their part, the HM leadership could not accept JM and invited Azhar
to take over Harkat instead of setting up a new organisation. "The
Harkat is a strong Muhjahid force and in the presence of such an
organised group there is no need of any further group," a Harkat leader
Qazi Hafiz Abid had said some time after the formation of JM.

Last week, two press statements appearing in the newspapers again
confirmed the tussle between HM and JM. The first statement from London
said that Harkat (London) had decided to merge with Jaish of Masood
Azhar. But on May 25, Harkat leader Qazi Abid made it clear that Harkat
remains intact. "There is no question of merging with any so-called
group."

In an interview to TFT some weeks ago, Khalil clearly indicated that
Azhar was no more a member of HM. He also expressed apprehension at
Azhar's irresponsible statements and said they could bring harm to
Pakistan. While Khalil did not go into the details of HM's tussle with
Jaish, his interview clearly indicated that all was not well between the
two groups.

Other HM sources also suspect Azhar and his activities ever since he got
released from a Indian jail. "It is strange that he should suddenly
decide to launch a new organisation. Was he unhappy with us or not
satisfied with the jehad? In both cases he should have remained with us
and tried to resolve the differences," says a Harkat activist.

Interestingly, the slain cleric, Yousaf Ludhianvi, who was killed a few
days ago, was considered quite close to Azhar and his outfit. However,
intelligence officials denied his killing had any connection with the
turf war going on between HM and JM. "We have arrested some people and
one of them shot at Ludhianvi. They are being interrogated and we would
give details to the press very soon," said an official.

TFT has learnt that the culprits have been identified as Sunni Tehrik
activists. Sunni Tehrik, a militant Brelvi outfit, was also accused of
killing Maulana Habibur Rehman of the Binori Town seminary. "Some of
their activists have had connections with the MQM Altaf group," says a
source.

Sources expressed fear that the tussle between Harkat and Jaish could
take a serious turn. Harkat accuses Azhar of being in contact with Riaz
Basra of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi with whom he met in Kandahar after his
release. While Harkat has been trying to clean up its act and evicted
the Sipah Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar Jhangvi (LJ) sectarian activists
from its training camps in Afghanistan, one of its Punjab leaders,
Maulavi Jabbar, reportedly stays in contact with the LJ.

Sources say Jabbar, who is now with Jaish, played a crucial role in
turning around many Harkat activists in the Punjab. "He represented
Jaish when the matter of assets was brought to the notice of the ulema
at Binori Town seminary. Harkat was represented by Farooq Kashmiri. A
three-member committee (Hakam), including Mufti Shamzai, Dr Sher Ali
Shah and Mufti Rashid Ahmed was formed to arbitrate the matter. At that
time Jabbar denied an earlier settlement between Jaish and Harkat and it
was decided that Jaish will return Harkat's assets in return for a Rs 4
million payment to it by Harkat. It was also decided that those offices
of Harkat that were located in rented buildings would go to Harkat or
Jaish depending on the Landlords' choice.

"We could not go and occupy our offices because we knew that it would
lead to violence. So we decided not to pay up. But we have tried our
best to avoid a conflict," says a Harkat source.

The two groups might now be taking sides in an old tussle for the
control of Binori Town mosque and its adjacent
Jamiat-ul-Uloom-ul-Islamia. The dispute, basically a family affair, has
still to be settled. Presently, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat-e-Ul
ema-i-Islam is arbitrating the dispute. Now the two groups might be
aligning with the two sides in extension of their own conflict. The
seminary is one of the biggest Islamic centres with over 8,000 students,
including foreign students from the United States, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan
etc.

Interestingly, there is also a split in the government over Azhar's
activities since he arrived in Pakistan. While Interior Minister
Moinuddin Haider had ordered Azhar's detention the day he arrived in
Karachi, it was only after nearly two months that the agencies moved in
to restrict his activities. All this time Azhar continued to issue
statements against the US and made strenuous efforts to put his group
together. Last week, following the killing of Yusuf Ludhianvi, Azhar's
entry in Sindh was banned by the government. Earlier, he was also not
allowed to go to Lahore and Jhang.

Other jehadi forces are worried over the ongoing tussle between Harkat
and Jaish and fear an "Indian hand" in the whole matter. "The division
certainly goes in their favour. They would use all their resources to
damage the cause of jehad in Kashmir," said Hafiz Saeed, the chief of
Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Wahhabi group based at Muridke near Lahore.

Most Jehadi groups fighting in Kashmir are subsumed under the Ulema
Jehad Council. Sources say the council will now try to resolve the
dispute between Harkat and Jaish. Some of the ulema have already
contacted leaders of both the parties.

Meanwhile, the police has not made public the identity of Ludhianvi's
killers, though it suspects the MQM. However, some sources indicate the
accused now in police custody belong to the Sunni Tehrik.

=46or its part, the MQM denies any hand in Ludhianvi's murder. "It is very
convenient for the police to scapegoat the MQM," said an MQM leader.
Surprisingly, Maulana Yahya, the son of Maulana Ludhanvi who was also
injured in the firing, has not put the blame on any party. "It is still
premature because Maulana Ludhianvi was a non-controversial and
respected scholar," Maulana Yahya said.

______

#4.

Times of India
3 June 2000

WOMEN'S GROUPS SLAM LANKAN PRESS ON GAY RULING

COLOMBO: Human rights activists and women's groups reacted angrily
=46riday to a ruling by the Sri Lanka Press Council branding lesbianism as
an act of sadism and commending a newspaper for publishing a virulently
anti-lesbian article.

The council dismissed with costs a complaint made by gay rights
campaigner Sherman de Rose against a letter published in The Island
which condemned lesbians and called for convicted rapists to be set on
them as punishment.

De Rose called the ruling "a clear indication of the strength of
discrimination against gays and lesbians in this country" and said his
lawyers were examining the possibility of taking the matter to court.

De Rose, executive director of the gay rights group Companions on a
Journey, had complained to the council that the letter published in
August last year advocated rape and was published in breach of media
ethics. He asked the council to take legal action against the newspaper.

The ruling delivered by the five-member council said: "Lesbianism itself
is an act of sadism and salacious. Publication of any opinion against
such activities does not amount to a promotion of sadism and salacity."

"It is extremely offensive to have responsible people (in the press
council) making statements like this, irrespective of sexual
orientation. The question was: did the letter incite someone to commit
rape? The ruling is a hate speech (against lesbians)," said Kumudini
Samuel of Women and Media Collective.

She said women's groups and human rights groups were "absolutely
appalled" and Sri Lankan activists attending a United Nations parley on
women's rights in New York had been informed of the council's
statements.

"We hope they bring it up there at a caucus on violence against women,"
Samuel said.

Activists of all shades are on the warpath against the ruling and are
mulling over what action should be taken against the council. Lesbians
in Lanka have drawn a lot of antipathy and had to face vituperative
comments and phone calls after they were featured in several articles in
the press last year. They were scheduled to hold a formal "coming out"
conference last December, but it was postponed after the announcement of
the presidential election.

"We don't want to encourage lesbianism here, but this is a terrible
ruling," said Maheswari Velayuthan, a human rights lawyer.

The Press Council, noting that homosexuality is a penal offence in Sri
Lanka, ordered de Rose to pay costs to The Island. The newspaper had
previously published an article on the proposed international lesbian
conference held in Sri Lanka and, in response, a reader, P. Alles, wrote
a letter to the editor in which he urged the police to "get convicted
rapists to give zest and relish to misguided wretches." (India Abroad
News Service)

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