[sacw] SACW #2. (23 Oct. 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | Dispatcch #2.
23 October 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

------------------------------------------

#1. Noam Chomsky to Visit Pakistan In November 2001
#2. Pakistan: The World's Toughest Job - Musharraf risks his life and=20
his country by siding with the West against extremism. Can he=20
survive? (Johanna McGeary)
#3. Can War Bring Peace to Kashmir? (Anatol Lieven)
#4. India's ['Om' Made] Fundamentalists: Hindutva targets the=20
hinterland (Teesta Seetalvad)

________________________

#1.

NOAM CHOMSKY TO VISIT PAKISTAN IN NOVEMBER

Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at the Massachussetts
Institute of Technology, will deliver the Eqbal Ahmad
Distinguished Lectures in Lahore (24 Nov.) and Islamabad (26
Nov.) to honour the memory of his illustrious colleague and
comrade.

An activist who is looked up to as one of the truly
inspirational figures of this century, Chomsky will be for
future generations what Ibn Rushd, Galileo, Descartes,
Newton, and Russell were for earlier ones. His restless
intellect has led him to embrace many fields including
linguistics, cognitive sciences, philosophy, psychology,
social activism and politics, history and the history of
ideas. Chomsky has maintained a radical stance that for more
than fifty years has embroiled him in controversy. He first
came to prominence in the political realm for opposing the
U.S. invasion of South Vietnam. In recognition of having
given birth to the "Chomskyian Revolution" in mathematical
linguistics, Chomsky was awarded the 1988 Kyoto Prize,
described as the Japanese equivalent of the Nobel Prize. He
is the author of over seventy books and over a thousand
articles. Several books have been written about him.

If you wish to attend Chomsky's lectures in either Lahore
(24 Nov, sponsored by The Friday Times), or Islamabad (26
Nov, sponsored by Dawn), please fill out the simple form
below and email to the specified address.

We shall try to accommodate as many requests for invitations
as possible. If you are keen on coming, it will be to your
advantage to return the form as quickly as possible. A
printed invitation will be mailed to you around November 15.
It is essential that you bring the card with you.

For security reasons, it will not be possible to admit
anyone without an invitation. Invitations are not
transferable and identification may be required.

The Eqbal Ahmad Foundation looks forward to your
participation at this historic event.

YOUR FULL NAME:

PROFESSION:

MAILING ADDRESS:

EMAIL ADDRESS:

SPECIFY ONE: LAHORE or ISLAMABAD

Mail to chomskyvisit@y...

______

#2.

Time,
October 22, 2001
Section: Nation On Edge/Pakistan;
Pg. 64,

The World's Toughest Job;
Musharraf risks his life and his country by siding with the West=20
against extremism. Can he survive?

Johanna McGeary

If ruling coup-prone Pakistan is perilous in the best of times,
consider the current plight of Pervez Musharraf. The general who
seized power exactly two years ago to domestic acclaim now sees his
effigy burned in the streets. The self-appointed President
who favored the Taliban has turned his back on a Muslim neighbor. The
military ruler shunned by the West has cast his lot with
Washington. After two years of mollycoddling religious extremists, he
has vowed to move "swiftly and firmly" if they protest his
new policies too violently. Now he must navigate a country with enough
enriched uranium for 50 nuclear bombs between the
hard demands of Western allies and the howls of rage from anti-American
citizens. With his unflinching decision to join
America's war on terrorism, Musharraf initiated one of the most
dramatic U-turns in Pakistan's history. Now he sits on a powder
keg. Makeshift bunkers have sprouted around embassies and government
buildings in the capital of Islamabad. Heavily armed
riot police ringed the city of Quetta near the Afghan border, where
angry protests all last week left five people dead. Soldiers
huddled behind sandbags and armored-personnel carriers patrolled the
streets in restive Peshawar while young men shouted for
jihad. Militants roamed through the port city of Karachi, burning,
looting and clashing with police as they chanted, "Osama,
nuclear power of the Muslim world!" As Muslim sympathizers of Osama bin
Laden and the Taliban whipped up fury in the
streets, Musharraf's show of force kept the protests under relative
control. This time.

The dangers for Musharraf in the events set off by Sept. 11 are
everywhere to see, yet there are opportunities too. He has an
unprecedented opening before him to remake a failing state into one
where extremism might no longer flourish. And he seems
determined to take it. For the first time in his short reign, he is
directly confronting the religious radicals who shape so much of
the country's domestic and foreign policy to a radical agenda. "This is
a battle for the heart and soul of Pakistan," says Chris
Smith, senior research fellow at King's College London Center for
Defense Studies. "He has taken a decision to stem the tide of
the forces of radical Islam." Says Andrew Kennedy, Asia director of
London's Royal United Services Institute for Defense
Studies: "He's either going to win big or lose big."

First he must weather the gathering crisis that could flash into
ungovernable riots at any provocation. Last week he agreed to let
U.S. forces use two Pakistani air bases, while assuring his countrymen
they would be used only for logistics, not combat.
Although Washington forewarned him, the President will take heat from
all sides now that the U.S. has issued a freeze order on
the assets of the Rabita Trust, a three-decade-old Pakistan charity
reportedly enjoying support from top officials, including
Musharraf. The U.S. said Rabita's secretary-general was a founder of
bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

In the face of it all, Musharraf is moving vigorously to tilt the odds
his way. Besides deploying heavy security forces to contain
demonstrations, he put three of the most virulent extremist leaders
under house arrest. His most significant actions took place
inside the army's barracks. He renewed his term as military chief
"indefinitely." And he shook out top generals partial to the
Taliban or its brand of fierce Islam who might try to undermine his new
policies. Just about everyone was taken off guard, only a
few hours before the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan began, when Musharraf
smoothly purged three key generals who had
engineered the October 1999 coup that brought him to power. He replaced
the vice chief of staff with Lieut. General
Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a moderate general whose friends call him "Joe."
He kicked upstairs to a ceremonial post a key corps
commander considered sympathetic to the ideological extreme. He
replenished the upper ranks with loyal officers more ready to
side with the Taliban's enemies.

Most startling was the premature retirement of trusted friend Lieut.
General Mahmoud Ahmad, chief of the formidable
Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, widely regarded as the country's
invisible government. As a staunch patron of pro-Taliban
policies, Ahmad is thought to have opposed Pakistan's new alliance with
the U.S. Musharraf had reason to fear that segments of
the ISI might thwart promised cooperation with U.S. intelligence. And
it is said that Musharraf hit the roof when an ISI-linked
jihad group devoted to wresting Muslim Kashmir from Indian control took
responsibility for a blast in the Indian city of Srinagar
two weeks ago that killed 42. The target and the timing--just when
Musharraf was fending off accusations that Pakistan
sponsors terrorism and asking Washington to take a more balanced view
of the Kashmir dispute--couldn't have been worse.

The new boss of ISI, Lieut. General Ehsan ul- Haq, is regarded as
moderate, professional and without political ambition. But
some wonder if he is ruthless enough to overhaul an agency still filled
with Islamic sympathizers. ISI, says a diplomat, "has to be
cut down to size."

Still, the sweep was a decisive consolidation of Musharraf's power and
a first step toward reversing more than two decades of
Islamization in the 550,000-man army. It's now less likely anyone
inside the military can sabotage or ignore Musharraf's
pro-Western policies, leaving him freer to pursue his oft-stated goal
of transforming Pakistan into a progressive Islamic state.

Musharraf has done more in the past few weeks to set his mark on
Pakistan than he managed during the previous two years. He
often said he was catapulted to power by a quirk of fate. When his
predecessor, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, tried to fire him
as army chief, loyal cohorts arrested Sharif, and Musharraf declared
himself the new chief executive. His first months in office
were marked by contradiction and lack of vision. He required a personal
loyalty oath from high court judges but spoke fondly of
"consensus." His promises of economic revival and "true" democracy to
replace his elected predecessor's "sham" democracy
petered out.

And the secular-minded general--who is known to enjoy his pet dogs,
regarded in Islam as unclean--failed to tame the religious
extremists who had burrowed so deeply into the country's institutions.
He repeatedly looked weak when he ran up against them.
He caved in to Islamic protesters who opposed his plan to amend the
country's draconian blasphemy law. His government
rushed to appease a cleric with a heavy following among retired
military men who threatened to storm Islamabad if Musharraf
did not enforce Shari'a, Islamic law. He kept silent when mullahs in
the Northwest Frontier instructed local men to forcibly
marry--code for rape--women working for aid agencies.

Those days are over, the way Musharraf is talking now. In a speech just
after the Sept. 11 attacks, Musharraf told the nation,
"The lesson is that when there is a crisis situation, the path of
wisdom is better than the path of emotion." In case that was too
subtle, he said, speaking of the fundamentalists, "There is no reason
why this minority should hold the majority as hostage." That
is a sentiment no Pakistani leader in 20-odd years has dared
articulate. Those who know Musharraf say he now acknowledges
that Pakistan made a mistake in propping up the Taliban as an ally for
so long. For the first time he explicitly condemned the
attack in Srinagar as "terrorist" and followed up with a call to Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee suggesting talks. Says
political scientist Rifaat Hussain: "After Sept. 11, national interest
is in, and ideology is out."

The drastic turnaround looks out of character for an affable career
officer who never showed a great taste for confrontation.
Musharraf was the second of three boys born to a career diplomat in
India four years before its independence. When partition in
1947 separated mostly Hindu India from mostly Muslim Pakistan, the
secular-minded Muslim family migrated to Karachi. Then
a diplomatic posting took them to Turkey for six years, where Pervez
learned fluent English and Turkish. Outgoing and fun, he
attracted a broad circle of friends. He excelled at cricket and until
recently loved a fast game of squash, and he gravitated
toward a military career.

Once commissioned to an elite artillery regiment in 1964, he began a
steady rise through the ranks, fighting in two wars against
India, until he earned a general's stars. In 1998 Prime Minister Sharif
appointed him chief of staff, expecting a malleable seat
warmer--only to find himself unseated by Musharraf a year later. After
Sharif's conviction for hijacking in April 2000, the new
military ruler showed a degree of mercy rare in such circumstances,
sending Sharif and his family safely into exile in Saudi Arabia
later that year.

Musharraf's battle to reshape Pakistan is a lonely one. No political
party backs him: he has consistently poured scorn on the
parties' established leaders. His anticorruption drive, his jailing of
politicians for abuse of authority, his categorical statements that
he wants to introduce a new political class at the expense of the old,
have all alienated established politicos who see him only as
a threat.

Now he counts on his new friends in the West. Washington hopes to keep
him secure with money. Since Musharraf threw in his
lot with the U.S., President Bush has won authority from Congress to
remove sanctions imposed after Pakistan's 1998 nuclear
test. Bush expects to get another waiver of additional sanctions that
were slapped on after Musharraf's coup. A ban on military
sales to Pakistan has been lifted, and a new agreement eases the
immediate burden of $ 329 million in debt on which Pakistan
had defaulted. Washington has pledged $ 50 million in aid, Japan has
come up with $ 40 million, and the E.U. has matched that.
Pakistanis remember, however, that Washington's largesse has proved
fickle in the past, when their support was no longer a
strategic asset.

Yet Western goodwill is at the core of the Pakistani President's great
gamble. "I'm thinking of Musharraf very much in terms of
Anwar Sadat 30 years ago," says a senior U.S. official, recalling the
Egyptian President who first made peace with Israel. "That's
both because of the boldness of what he's doing and because of the
enormous risk he's taking. No doubt people are gunning for
him." For Sadat, it didn't turn out well: he was killed in 1981 by
Islamic militants now connected with the al-Qaeda network.
These dangerous days Musharraf is no longer likely to show up, as he
has in the past, with little fanfare at Islamabad restaurants
to dine with his family. Already there is talk of fatwas, or religious
orders, calling for Musharraf's death. The general has been put
under heavy security, and his public appearances have been curtailed.

Last week Musharraf called on Washington to keep military operations
against Afghanistan "short and targeted." He told
Pakistanis he had "definite assurances" the visible part of the
campaign, broadcast in night-lit explosions over Afghan cities,
would end quickly, "in one or two days" if possible. While President
Bush voiced sympathy for Musharraf's desire to calm
protests, he denied that Pakistan received any such guarantees. "I
don't know who told the Pakistani President that," Bush said.
Allied spokesmen reiterated that the campaign could take weeks, even
years. Other officials who have heard Musharraf's pleas
that a long conflict could jeopardize his control say the Pakistani
leader was voicing what he wanted to hear. Under the
circumstances, no one could blame him for wanting his current trial
over as quickly as possible.

--Reported by Hannah Bloch and Syed Talat Hussain/Islamabad, Massimo
Calabresi/Washington, Jeff Chu/London and
Meenakshi Ganguly/New Delhi

Copyright 2001 Time Inc.

______

#3.

The New York Times
October 21, 2001
Late Edition - Final, Section 4; Page 15;
Column 1; Editorial Desk

Can War Bring Peace to Kashmir?
By ANATOL LIEVEN
LAHORE, Pakistan
If the United States is serious about removing the sources of=20
anti-American terrorism, then at some stage Washington will have to=20
tackle the conflict in Kashmir. At present this is the last thing=20
American officials want to do. They have enough on their plate in=20
Afghanistan. But as Secretary of State Colin Powell's experiences in=20
Islamabad and New Delhi illustrated, the Kashmir dispute has the=20
potential both to infuriate India and to weaken the regime of our=20
Pakistani ally, President Pervez Musharraf.
A strong behind-the-scenes American diplomatic initiative needs to=20
begin now, because the context created by the campaign in Afghanistan=20
offers unique opportunities, as well as great dangers, in India and=20
Pakistan. One of the chief dangers is presented by the=20
Jaish-e-Muhammad, the leading Islamist force active in Kashmir. It=20
has been labeled a terrorist organization by Washington and faces a=20
probable sharp reduction in Pakistani support. This means it has=20
little to lose - and the Jaish-e-Muhammad has indeed threatened a=20
terror campaign not just in Kashmir but across India.

This could incite both communal strife within India and even harsher=20
Indian repression in Kashmir, thereby contributing to radical=20
Islamist unrest in Pakistan. It could also lead to renewed fighting=20
between India and Pakistan across the line of control that divides=20
their respective Kashmirs, as shown in recent days by heavy Indian=20
bombardments.

The opportunities are provided by the sea change that has taken place=20
in Pakistani policies as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks and=20
President Musharraf's decision to support the American campaign in=20
Afghanistan. For the first time, there is a real willingness among=20
leaders of the Pakistani state and army to cut back or end support=20
for the Islamist elements based in Pakistan who fight in Kashmir; and=20
for the first time, in private at least, some are willing to concede=20
that Pakistan's entire Kashmir strategy of the past 54 years has=20
proved fruitless, damaging to Pakistan and in need of radical=20
revision. This is really striking, because support for Kashmiri=20
independence from India has been at the core of the Pakistani army's=20
ideology since the army was founded. It presents a chance that we=20
must encourage India and Pakistan to seize.

The struggle against Islamist terrorism makes finding a settlement in=20
Kashmir very important to America's national interest. As long as the=20
conflict there continues, it will suck in terrorist elements from=20
elsewhere in the Muslim world, and these will find sympathy and=20
protection from the Pakistani population and some in the armed forces.

Besides, while the rivalry between India and Pakistan is very=20
damaging to both countries, it is increasingly ruinous to Pakistan.=20
The effort to maintain adequate defenses against a country with seven=20
times Pakistan's population has led to military spending averaging=20
around 30 percent of the budget in recent years, dwarfing the amounts=20
spent on education, health, welfare or infrastructure and severely=20
reducing economic growth. Lack of education also contributes to a=20
level of population growth that is among the highest in Asia and=20
continually nullifies improvements in living standards.

These factors create a real danger that Pakistan could follow=20
Afghanistan into collapse - but on a much larger scale, and with=20
nuclear weapons. Few more menacing scenarios for the growth of=20
Islamist terrorism could be imagined.

If a settlement is to be found to Kashmir, the greatest initial=20
concession has to come from Pakistan. Islamabad must publicly=20
recognize that the greater part of Kashmir will remain under Indian=20
sovereignty, and must drop its demand for the implementation of=20
United Nations resolutions calling for a Kashmiri plebiscite on=20
national status. These resolutions may be justified in principle, but=20
there is simply no way India will accept them. It cannot be forced by=20
Pakistan or anyone else to do so.

In return, New Delhi must drop its pretense that the Kashmir problem=20
is not central to Indo-Pakistani relations and is a purely internal=20
Indian matter in which the world community has no legitimate role.=20
The international terrorist threat, and the possession of nuclear=20
weapons by both India and Pakistan, have rendered these propositions=20
obviously absurd.

If both countries could get over these initial hurdles, then the way=20
might open for a settlement involving partial demilitarization, open=20
borders, new administrative units and internationally supervised=20
regional elections on both sides of the Indo- Pakistani frontier.

Unfortunately, past experience suggests that the parties are unlikely=20
to get over these hurdles without a lot of help from their friends,=20
and above all from the United States.

Anatol Lieven is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for=20
Inter national Peace.

______

#4.

______

#4.

Communalism Combat (Bombay, India)
October 2001
Special Report

Hindutva targets the hinterland

With the administration and the police as mute witness, in=20
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Bajrang Dal and the VHP are=20
actively engaged in yet another bloody build-up to their campaign for=20
the Ram mandir in Ayodhya

BY TEESTA SETALVAD

It could be the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, ably=20
assisted by their brethren of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)=20
in Gujarat - the laboratory for a Hindu Rashtra. Or the Shiv Sena,=20
often supported by members of the ruling Congress and NCP combine in=20
rural Maharashtra.

In the last two months, there have been a series of attacks on=20
Muslims, their homes, businesses and places of worship, in small=20
villages or qasbahs (small towns) where they are numerically small.=20
This has been happening in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and=20
Orissa. Attacks on Christian nuns and priests continue, too, with=20
precious little protection to them from the law and order machinery.

Literature being distributed by the Maharashtra unit of the VHP in=20
far flung villages and districts indicates a systematic religious=20
mobilization of local communities around the issue of the=20
commencement of Ram mandir construction by the VHP on March 12 (Maha=20
Shivratri day), 2002. A series of preparatory jalabhisheks and other=20
semi-religious functions are also being planned to mobilize cadres=20
for the event. Meanwhile, the ban on SIMI following terrorist attacks=20
on America and the crude demonisation of the Muslim minority ("All=20
Muslims are not jehadis but all jehadis are Muslims"- MG Vaidya, RSS=20
spokesman), are providing a tailor-made situation for the actions to=20
get viewed in a completely twisted manner.

On the night of October 9, a mob from the village of Mangle in=20
Shirale taluka of Sangli district (western Maharashtra) set on fire=20
10 homes, two timber marts and one saw mill belonging to Muslims. In=20
the process, 80-year-old Zainuddin Muhammad Sattar was burnt to death.

The 'provocation'?

The fact that members of the Muslim minority had dared to approach=20
the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission a month earlier to=20
complain of continuing intimidation, abuse and threats by fellow=20
villagers.

The background?

In Mangle village, on August 8, four wrestlers were taken into police=20
custody over the alleged desecration of a Ganesh idol. Among these=20
were Yunus Moosa Shaikh, Santaji Khambkar, Gopi Khumbhar, Sanjay=20
Patil and two others. Following police intervention, a peace=20
committee consisting of Dada Patil, Prahlad Ankush, Satish Nilkanth,=20
Vilas Mhaske, among others, was formed.

Ironically, members of this very peace committee issued a fatwa on=20
September 7 severely curtailing religious practices of Muslims from=20
their village: The heads of all 35 Muslim families from the village=20
of over 1,000 homes must shave off their beards; no dress with=20
'Muslim appearance'; no wearing of a cap during namaaz; no five times=20
a day namaaz, once is enough; no azaan on loudspeakers; and finally,=20
all Muslim members must in writing endorse the 'hukumnama' to drive=20
the entire family of Yunus Shaikh (detained by the police), including=20
the three uncles, out of the village.

The following morning, September 8, at a gram sabha meeting held=20
within the premises of the Mahadev temple, at which 1,500 villagers=20
were present, Muslim members were subjected to filthy abuses against=20
them and their faith. In utter fear, they had shaved off their beards=20
before attending the gram sabha meeting.

Tensions simmered until the victims approached the state director=20
general of police (DGP) Subhash Malhotra, as also the Maharashtra=20
State Minorities Commission. However, with the recent round of arson=20
and murder the situation in the village remains far from normal.

In a bid to tide over the tensions in the village, the local=20
administration and police had persuaded the affected Muslims to sign=20
a statement stating that 'the shaving of the beard had been done=20
voluntarily.' After a visit to the village, the State Minorities=20
Commission team, one of it's members Munaf Hakim had told CC: "Like=20
in other states, especially Gujarat, there is a systematic plan to=20
terrorise Muslims wherever they are in a small minority, attack their=20
homes and businesses and eventually squeeze them out of their means=20
of livelihood by taking over their enterprises. It is a dangerous=20
trend that needs to be nipped in the bud."

On October 9, after the arson and killing, the state police imposed=20
curfew in the village and detained 56 persons responsible for the=20
arson until October 18. "There was anger in a section because of the=20
idol desecration during Ganeshutsav," SP of the district, Ritesh=20
Kumar told CC. "But things are under control now. It is not Hindu=20
extremist elements but members of different parties involved here,"=20
he added. As we go to press, there were reports of mounting pressure=20
on the local police to release those guilty of criminal conduct,=20
arson and murder.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has chosen to give a=20
distorted communal picture of the whole episode, reporting that the=20
eve-teasing of a Hindu girl by a Muslim youth led to the attack by=20
villagers on the homes and businesses of his relatives - a narrative=20
that figures neither in the victims' nor the police rendering of=20
events!

In another incident in the village of Saswad, barely 40 kilometres=20
out of Pune, violence - reminiscent of the fires lit by the Ramshila=20
poojan programmes of the 90s and the Lal Krishna Advani-led rathyatra=20
between 1990-1992 - followed a jalabhishek programme in the town on=20
October 7, organised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. With no provocation=20
at all, the mob gathered ostensibly for a religious programme,=20
attacked a dargah and sheds located within a graveyard. In the=20
pre-planned destruction that followed, Muslim-owned bakeries, shops=20
and homes were also destroyed. Saswad has not had a history of=20
communal tensions before this incident.

The crowd allegedly raised demeaning slogans against Muslims. Thirty=20
persons have been arrested by the police in this connection. "It was=20
clearly extremist elements like the Bajrang Dal and the VHP who=20
instigated the attack," the state DGP, Malhotra told CC.

But in a predicable bid to cover tracks and spread misinformation in=20
the rest of Maharashtra, Saamna reported that "anti-national=20
activities at burial grounds" were the cause of the mob burning,=20
looting and destroying of homes and shops.

It will be interesting to see if the Maharashtra police initiates any=20
action against the SS mouthpiece that in it's coverage made no=20
mention of the jalabhishek programme at which provocative anti-Muslim=20
slogans had been shouted prior to the all-out attack.

The Saamna report that has no official corroboration at all claims=20
that "SIMI activists were meeting at this unauthorized shed within=20
the burial grounds and therefore the locals' "feelings were outraged"=20
and they pulled it down and also burnt homes and shops and businesses.

Meanwhile, it may be recalled that the Maharashtra Bajrang Dal had=20
mercilessly beaten up Father Oscar Mendonca of the St John's Baptist=20
Church in Thane on August 6, leading to a statewide protest from=20
Christian schools. Arrests were made promptly by the police, but it=20
remains to be seen whether prosecutions against the offenders, too,=20
will be prompt.

On August 26, the local Shiv Sena in Thane went on the rampage,=20
completely destroying a hospital after their leader Anand Dighe died=20
within its premises. The total losses are estimated at around Rs. 9=20
crore and several hundred hospital staff are now jobless. While the=20
police have been lax in their probe, the Maharashtra State Human=20
Rights Commission is independently investigating the breakdown of law=20
and order and the arson that followed.

Christian evangelists distributing pamphlets in the Borivali area in=20
north Mumbai were illegally detained by the local police on October=20
6, following a 'tip-off' from none less than the Bajrang Dal! It took=20
the intervention of Abraham Mathai, member of the Maharashtra State=20
Minorities Commission to get them released at 1 a.m., five hours=20
after their detention.

In nearby Gujarat that CC has been tracking for three years now,=20
systematic incidents continue that are illustrative of Hindutva in=20
action. As several incidents through August, September and October=20
reveal, the climate in that state bodes ill for the life and security=20
of religious minorities as also their religious freedoms. The latest=20
political developments in the state have led to a pracharak of the=20
RSS - Narendra Modi - being sworn in as the chief minister for the=20
first time in independent India's history. Given the fact that he is=20
a hardliner, the communal situation under his dispensation is=20
expected by political observers to get considerably worse.

During Ganeshotsav celebrations in Ahmedabad in late August, Bajrang=20
Dal activists went on the rampage, murdering a Muslim youth after=20
members of the Muslim community refused to shell out money for the=20
Ganesh celebrations. (Asian Age, August 26). The violence that=20
continued for three days saw the police machinery paralysed, simply=20
failing to in its duty to protect those being attacked. Of the three=20
hawkers attacked with knives when they refused to pay hafta to the=20
Bajrang Dal, two succumbed to their injuries. Demands for complaints=20
to be registered against Bajrang Dal members also fell on deaf years,=20
since the outfit enjoys political patronage.

In another, more recent and more chilling incident, around 550 Muslim=20
men, women and children of a small town, Chanasma of Patan district=20
in Gujarat, have been forced to migrate and move to Patan with only=20
the sky as their shelter. "Dead bodies of Muslims have been dug out=20
and the land well surfaced with saffron flags flying high over it,"=20
says an enquiry committee's report on Chanasma's atrocities committed=20
in September this year.

Says the report authored by Indu Kumar Jani (editor - Naya Marg),=20
Valjibhai Parmar (secretary, Council for Social Justice) and Raju=20
Solanki, a journalist-activist: "Chanasma's age-old Muslim-owned=20
dargah land called Navgajapir has now been forcibly taken over by a=20
saffron gang of local Bajrang Dal's lathi-wielding men=8AThe green=20
sheet spread over the Navgajapir Dargah has been replaced by a white=20
one; a Hindu temple has been constructed after removing a tomb shaped=20
light-house after colouring it in saffron and covering it with white=20
flag and a Bajrang Dal symbol of a trident. An iron pagoda=20
(chabutaro) has been constructed and a saffron flag fixed over it; a=20
slogan like 'Bharatmataki Jai' has been written down all around the=20
Dargah; a new fencing of bricks without plaster can be seen having=20
been constructed afresh to grab this land belonging to the Waqf=20
board."

The intimidation of the minority through this assault on a shrine=20
that is symbolic of our syncretic tradition did not stop there.=20
According to the fact-finding report, a few Bajrang Dal volunteers=20
had surrounded Indiranagar's Muslim homes with naked swords in their=20
hands, hurling violent threats at the Muslim women. "If local Dalits=20
had not come to their rescue and sheltered them for a night, we may=20
have yet seen a repeat of the gruesome events that took place in=20
Surat in December 1992".

(The mass rape of Muslim women within days of the demolition of the=20
Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, was a chilling illustration of what the=20
Ramjanmabhoomi campaign was really about - not building a temple for=20
a revered God; but manipulating the name of a God and a faith to=20
spread intimidation and terror and actualise these through rapes and=20
killings).

Speaking to the members of the fact-finding team, the fear-stricken=20
Muslim families presently living in Patan reveal how the plans of the=20
Hindutva brigade have been successful. "We are not now ready to go=20
back to Chanasma. Our mothers, sisters and daughters would never be=20
safe over there."

The history of tension in Chanasma, having a predominantly Patel=20
population (80 per cent of the residents belong to this caste) goes=20
back two years. The town had seen a wanton attack on a Muslim of=20
Vadavali village at the Chanasma bus stand, in late 1999. The local=20
Muslim Waqf-owned dargah land was passed over to a Lok Kalyan Trust=20
of Hindus of Chanasma by the local municipality resolution of=20
December 12, 1999. "One can easily imagine the condition of the=20
minorities people when the local body itself commits an illegal and=20
intimidatory act," says the report.

Once again, the response of the administration has been found=20
wanting. Local Muslims petitioned the Patan district collector on=20
August 17 against the illegal action. He has, however, sat on the=20
file and done nothing to protect the minority community. Finally, the=20
Muslim families have had to rush to the Gujarat High Court in a writ=20
petition urging judicial directions to assure protection of their=20
land and lives!

The Christian minority in the state has not been spared either. The=20
complaints lodged by the All India Christian Council record that=20
incidents of attacks on Christian religious persons and churches, as=20
well as desecrating of the Bible have been reported from different=20
parts of Gujarat in September and October.

In Dahod district of south Gujarat, on September 19, Christians were=20
forcibly prevented from watching a film on Christ by the powerful=20
Patels and sarpanchs of the village. When the victims went to=20
register their complaint at the Limkheda police station the next day,=20
the police turned on them: "Why did you not take our permission to=20
show this film in public? You are now criminals because you did not=20
take our permission!" The film show was in a home and the screening=20
did not involve any loudspeakers.

Earlier, on August 25, women officials and children from the IP=20
Mission orphanage at Jobat village in Madhya Pradesh, on their way=20
for a picnic at Kali dam in Dahod, were attacked by the Bajrang Dal,=20
the VHP as well as by the police, according to a complaint monitored=20
by the AICC. When the children were washing their faces at a hand=20
pump, Bajrang Dal and VHP activists surrounded them, took the keys of=20
their jeeps and allegedly beat up women with sticks. The orphanage=20
officials then went to the local police station where, secretary of=20
the AICC, Samson Christian alleges, instead of registering a=20
complaint, the policemen beat up the women and asked them to leave=20
Dahod immediately. As the Dahod police refused to register a=20
complaint, an FIR was lodged at the Jobat police station where the=20
orphanage is based. Orissa and Rajasthan, too, have witnessed=20
simmering incidents over the past few months. (CC proposes to closely=20
monitor these developments in the months ahead).

The moot point is whether the country and the people, that Hindutva=20
held as hostages not so long ago, will have to relive the trauma all=20
over again.=20

(With reports from Batuk Vohra in Ahmedabad).

Copyrights =A9 2001, Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996. To=20
subscribe send a blank
message to: <act-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> / To unsubscribe send a blank
message to: <act-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
________________________________________
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

--=20