[sacw] sacw dispatch #2 (14 June 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch #2
14 June 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

__________________________

#1. A recent Interview with Asma Jahangir on Post Coup Pakistan
#2. Pakistan: LPP Members arrested in Rawal Pindi
#3. India: National Hinduism's anti-Christian attacks
__________________________

#1.

[ An Interview with Asma Jahangir]
June 2000

Asma Jahangir is one of Pakistan's leading advocates for human rights. A
prominent lawyer, she has worked both in Pakistan and abroad to prevent the
exploitation of religious minorities, women, and children. Ms. Jahangir is
serving her seventh year on the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
In August 1998, Asma Jahangir was appointed by the United Nations to be the
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

AsiaSource spoke with Ms. Jahangir while she was in New York about the
military government in Pakistan. For background information about the coup
that brought the present regime into power, see the
<http://www.asiasource.org/news/at_mp_02.cfm?newsid=3D2641> AsiaSourceSpecia=
l
Report.

You suggested in your talk yesterday that there is a causal link in the
sequence of events leading up from India and Pakistan's nuclear tests, the
conflict in Kargil and the coming to power of the present military regime
in Pakistan. Could you elaborate on that comment please? Well, I think
that when India detonated its bomb, they in fact invited the army in
Pakistan to take over because our army is not confident of civilian rulers.
And with the responsibility of the bomb that was then declared, the
military, according to its own thinking, was forced to take over power in
Pakistan. They can't have a civilian government being that powerful and
being in charge of defense, having a civilian administration in charge of
nuclear defense. You also suggested that contrary to the general
impression, especially here in the United States, the military government
of Pakistan does not necessarily have popular support. You suggested that
the media both in Pakistan and abroad has played a part in creating this
impression. What evidence would you cite to support the contrary argument,
that is, that the coup does not have popular support in Pakistan? Well,
there have been no demonstrations in support of the coup at all, number
one. Number two, why did the Army have to ban political rallies if people
are so supportive of the military? Number three, all political parties have
asked for a return to democracy without fail, even the smaller parties.
Number four, you have strikes every day, protests, etc. and there has been
a lot of criticism in the press as well now. Given how many times the
military has intervened in politics in Pakistan, isn't it surprising that
the Western press has by and large offered little but very tempered
criticism? Why do you think that is the case? Because you know I find
that the West is getting very smug about questions of what applies to them
and what applies to others. There is a kind of superiority air about them.
And they feel that people -- like ourselves - don't really know what
democracy is and don't deserve it. And their policies are not
people-oriented; they don't understand people, but they may understand
governments and that's not enough. I was very disappointed myself, as I
said yesterday, that we continuously have visitors from the West coming and
saying, "Well, maybe it's good for human rights=85" I just looked at them an=
d
said, "What are you talking about, good for human rights? A military
government good for human rights?" What is human rights, I think they've
forgotten. Human rights is not something that is so disconnected from the
whole process of democracy, which means self-rule. It's like justifying
slavery and saying, well, if your master is good to you then what's the
harm in being a slave? It pays you well, it's good to you, they don't beat
you up, why don't you be a slave? And saying there's a good slave-driver
and a bad slave-driver. To continue with the theme of journalism and the
way that they've covered the coup... Liberal journalists from Pakistan,
including some who have visited this country, have argued that the present
military regime is the only thing standing between Pakistan and an Islamic
revolution? Can you comment on that? No, I think they are wrong. They are
misinformed and these are the same liberals who first thought that the army
can come and solve the problems of Pakistan. They have been proved wrong
now because the problems are not getting solved. My perception is that it
is the Army of Pakistan that patronizes the Islamists ... If they didn't
have the patronization of the Army, they wouldn't be that vocal and they
wouldn't be that militant. It is not Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto or Benazir
Bhutto that created the lashkars [militant Islamist groups]. That may well
be the case but isn't it also true that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was responsible
for introducing legislation against the Ahmadis [persecuted Muslim sect] in
Pakistan? Sure, sure, but he did not create these lashkars, you know what
I mean? He did not create these groups. I think you've answered this to
some extent but if you could please elaborate. Why do you think it is that
liberals in Pakistan seem to have generally supported this military
government? You're one of the few people in prominent positions who have
actually come out strongly against the coup right >from the outset. You
see these liberals that you're talking about have never really been
activists against the military. You can take each one of them and you will
see they have not been activists against military regimes. There are people
who have been activists against military regimes and all of them are
critical even now. It is another matter that people have gotten tired, that
these activists have been burnt out. They are no longer in the forefront so
you don't hear their voices. Also, over the years, new liberal elements
have come up. But how can you call anyone liberal who accepts an
autocratic, military government? They have a liberal veneer, but that is
all it is. So I think this has exposed the so-called liberals of Pakistan
for what they are, because this bubble had to be punctured at some stage=85
You mentioned this briefly yesterday but could you please elaborate on your
impressions of the way in which Nawaz Sharif's trial has been conducted in
Pakistan? Well, we had somebody from the Human Rights Commission monitor
that trial. He said that the judge's demeanor was very good. And the judge
behaved very well, had a very objective manner. However, we felt that some
things were certainly of concern, like the fact that it was a special
court, it was a special law. We continued to condemn these aspects of the
trial until Nawaz Sharif himself said that he was quite satisfied. It
really makes us feel rather silly because we gave a statement saying that
these are some of the aspects that need to be examined before we give a
stamp of approval to the trial, and then the next day, Nawaz Sharif says he
was extremely happy with it. You don't think he could have said that under
duress=85 No, he said it directly to the press. Now I just want to turn
briefly to the blasphemy law. The military government recently collapsed in
its determination to reform the blasphemy law when pressured by the
religious right in Pakistan. Given that the general impression is that only
an authoritarian government can bring about such reform in Pakistan, what
explains the regime's weak-kneed response? Because I really don't think
that it is an authoritarian government that can do this. This is not my
belief. In fact, every time there has been an authoritarian government,
they have brought in reforms contrary to the aspirations of the people. And
the only reform that was brought about by Mr. Ayub Khan on the family law
remains controversial even today precisely for the reason that he never
went through a parliament. I mean this government has not come in with
the objective of delivering human rights to the people. Why should they
risk anything? They thought they were a military government and they would
be able to placate and take on the mullah but they find it too tedious, too
tiresome to do that. It's not that the military can't do it; they can do it
if they wish to but they don't wish to=85 Vis-a-vis cases under the
blasphemy law, since the coming to power of the present regime there has
been the incident of the cases against Sindhi journalists Zahoor Asari, and
Ayub Khoso, who were sentenced under the blasphemy law. Has the HRCP [Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan] taken up their case? We are involved in
cases like this - but not in every case can we provide a lawyer, because
these cases were in another city and it's not possible for us to do it. But
there have been other cases in Punjab where a Christian was framed and
convicted two days ago... But yes, we do monitor them. We do give support,
we do have a fact-finding in each case, to know ourselves what is
happening. The HRCP has done much to campaign against the persecution of
religious minorities in Pakistan. However, it appears that in this regard
the plight of the Hindus in Pakistan does not receive as much attention as
that of Christians and Ahmadis. Is this true, and if so, why? Yes, it is
true for the simple reason that the Hindus feel that they are very
vulnerable. They asked us, in fact, that when we make our report - we have
a whole chapter on religious minorities -- we can write about them, but
they are not ready yet to have a special campaign around them. You have to
ask your target group as well, you can't create trouble for them and then
back off. So there is a chapter on it, but other than that, the whole
campaign we don't do until the people are ready for it. Even with the
Ahmadis we have not done it. There are so many stories but people say no,
we don't want it reported. So what do you see as the role of the HRCP
now? More specifically, how do you think the role of the organization has
changed with the change in government? Well, our role always changes
because we have not had a very stable environment and we decided some years
ago that we should continue to do the work we do, regardless of the
environment outside. We do have something called the Democratic Center
within the HRCP and that democratic center should really take on the new
challenges that are created by changes in the political system. And there
we have taken on a new role as a catalyst of bringing political parties
together and talking, which we did and it worked because they were not
meeting each other otherwise but under HRCP auspices they could sit down
and at least have a brainstorming session there. Plus not just political
parties but we address the whole question of judicial independence. Public
opinion is key to the survival of democracy, to educate people about what
democracy is all about, and so that is continuing now and we'll see where
it takes us.

Interview conducted by Nermeen Shaikh of AsiaSource Copyright =A9 2000. Asi=
a
Society. All rights reserved. Please click <copyright.cfm> here for legal
restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site and Asia Society's
Privacy Policy.
_______

#2.

14 June 2000

MORE LPP MEMBERS ARRESTED IN RAWAL PINDI

Rawalpindi police arrested a well known railway workers Aurangzeb
Khan, who is also chairman of LPP Punjab, and
Sufi Ghulam Yasin, Afzal Amin Anjum, Sayyed Qaiser Abbas, Pervaiz
Iqbal and Sufi Abdul Sattar leaders of Railway Labour Unity
Rawalpindi on June 12, 2000 after their interim bail before arrest
was not confirmed by the session court Rawal Pindi. While bail before
arrest of Abida Bashir, voice chairman, LPP Punjab was confirmed by
the same order. It is pertinent to mention that charges against Abida
Bashir and all other are same but due to some unknown reasons their
bail was rejected by the session court.

The police have charged them under section 506, 147, 109, PPC, 49
Defense of Pakistan Rule, rule 120, 121 Railway Act and section 16 of
Maintenance of Public Order (known as 16 MPO). Pakistan Penal Code
section 506 means intimidation, 147 mean rioting, 109 means abetment,
120 and 121 of Railway Act deals with acts destroying the peaceful
atmosphere at the railway premises and 16 MPO means disturbance in
public.

These six accused are paying the price to organize a movement of
railway workers and their families against the demolition of
structures in front of railway workers quarters, the cancellation of
peace work and withdrawal of some of the facilities that railway
workers enjoyed in the past.

A peaceful demonstration was held on 22nd May in front of
administration office of the Railway Carriage factory organized by
Labour Unity. Labour Unity is an alliance of several trade unions and
community-based organizations including Awam Dost Mahaz supported by
LPP and other progressive political parties. Over a thousand men,
women and children participated in the demonstration. The main demands
were restoring the peace work and the withdrawing of the notices to
demolish the houses of railway workers. They were demanding the
reinstatement of Bashir Botter to his job. They also raised slogans of
the real accountability of the railway administration.

The demonstration forced the railway administration to come to the
rally and announce the acceptance of the main demands. The deputy
Chief Mechanical Engineer Mr. Asad Ehsan on behalf of railway
administration addressed the demonstrators on May 22, 2000. He assured
that the houses would not be demolished. He also announced the
restoring of peace work.

But contrary to his claims, the administration of Railways registered
a criminal case against Bashir Botter, his wife and other leaders of
Labour Unity on May 24,2000. On 26th Bashir Botter was arrested at 9pm
on his way to home. Mr. Bashir Botter was granted bail on May 30,2000
by Area Magistrate.

The leaders of Labour Unity, LPP , Awam Dost Mahaz and other
progressive organizations held a demonstration in Rawal Pindi in the
morning and will hold a press conference for their future plan for the
release of their arrested leaders today the June 13, 2000.

Police has also arrested Mr. Jahangir Akhtar, convenor Awam Dost
Mahaz, Rawal Pindi for his protest against the murder of a traders
leader in the hands of Army, under charges of section 124-A Pakistan
Penal Code, known as sedition against the country along with many
other charges. The punishment for sedition is death penalty.

Most of the trade unions and political parties have demanded an
immediate release of railway leaders and the withdrawal of the cases
against them.

Please make appeals and send protest messages at the following email
address of the Chief Executive of Pakistan.

ce@p...

=46raternally,

=46arooq Tariq
General Secretary
Labour Party Pakistan
_______

#3.

The Independent, UK
10 June 2000

EXTREMIST HINDUS LAUNCH ANTI-CHRISTIAN ATTACKS

By Peter Popham in Delhi

10 June 2000
Brother George Kuzhikandan, a Franciscan friar from Kerala, was asleep in
the courtyard of the north Indian public school where he taught, making the
most of the cool pre-monsoon breezes, when a gang of men broke in on
Wednesday night and beat him to death.
It was the culmination of attacks since March on Christians in the city of
Mathura, one of Hinduism's holiest cities. Nuns at a convent in the city
have been menaced and two priests beaten.
Christians' anxieties were reinforced yesterday with news that four
churches in the south of India had suffered bomb attacks. Windows were
smashed and furniture wrecked at anAmerican Baptist church at Ongole,
Andhra Pradesh, at a Roman Catholic church in Tadepalligudem in the same
state three people were injured and churches in Karnataka and Goa were also
damaged in the apparently co-ordinated campaign.
Police said Brother Kuzhikandan's murder was a case of dacoity (banditry)
committed by what are known as criminal tribes, groups stigmatised as
career criminals since the days of the Raj. Deputy Superintendent Omvir
Singh said: "There have been several incidents of dacoity in the area over
the past few months by criminal tribes like the Bawarias."
But in Delhi the national spokesman of the All-India Christian Council,
John Dayal, said: "I find the idea stupefying that criminals have to go
around looting these spartan Christian schools and convents when there are
rich businessmen and traders living in the towns near by."
Mr Dayal and other Indians, not just Christians, believe that the attacks
are part of a campaign by the lunatic fringe of the Hindu right being
conducted with tacit approval of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), which heads the ruling National Democratic Alliance coalition.
No organisation has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But again the
authorities were ready with an explanation =96 or rather several
explanations. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, who
saw the damaged churches in the state, said he detected a pattern and
suspected the hand of a "criminal gang" bent on fomenting communal strife.
In another comment he attributed the attacks to internal rivalry among
Christians.
A third explanation he floated was that the attacks were the work of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistani agency that is cited as
the chief suspect in most acts of violence in India. A member of the
service, Azam Ghouri, was killed by police recently, Mr Naidu said, adding
that he had been responsible for explosions in Hyderabad, the state
capital. The minister suggested that Ghouri's associates might have been to
blame for the attacks on Christians.
But southern India's Christians were not having it. Protests were
organised and when Mr Naidu arrived to see the damaged churches they
chanted slogans demanding that he withdraw his support from the government.
The regional party Mr Naidu heads, the Telugu Desam, is numerically the
most important prop of the BJP-led coalition. The protesters made plain
they believed Mr Naidu was trying to exculpate his Hindu nationalist
friends at the centre.
Many Christians believe the attacks are part of a campaign of persecution
and intimidation by Hindu chauvinist organisations determined to destroy
India's secular fabric. Their activities include rewriting school history
books with a Hindu slant, "reconverting" tribal Christians to Hinduism and
sending Hindu missionaries to evangelise abroad.

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