[sacw] SACW #1 (23 Nov. 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | Dispatch #1
23 November 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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

#1. Listen, America! Nationalism, the last stage of civilization?=20
(Aseem Srivastava)
#2. Pakistan: Is Jihad knocking at your door too? (Jaffer Rizvi)
#3. India: discussion on POTO 2001, & its ramification on freedom of=20
expression & democratic dissent on 23rd November 2001 New Delhi.
#4. India, Too, Weighs Antiterror Measure Against Liberties (Celia W. Dugge=
r)
#5. India: Heavy Ordinance (Editorial, Times of India)

________________________

#1.

LISTEN, AMERICA!

Nationalism, the last stage of civilization?

by Aseem Srivastava

"Love for one's country is a good thing. But why should it stop at=20
the borders?"

- Albert Einstein on patriotism

In these dark days of resurgent patriotism, it is worth recalling a=20
famous story told about two of the greatest of American philosophers,=20
Thoreau and Emerson. They were both the kind of men "they don=92t make=20
any more." In 1846 the United States invaded Mexico. Thoreau refused=20
to pay his taxes, as a mark of his protest as a citizen, a practice=20
of civil disobedience that Gandhi was to popularize while organizing=20
people against British rule in India in the second quarter of the=20
20th century. Thoreau was put in jail for his courage. His friend,=20
Emerson, visited him while he was still in prison. Upon seeing him=20
behind bars, Emerson quipped =96 "What are YOU doing inside?" Thoreau=92s=20
response: "What are you doing OUTSIDE?"

The US invasion of Mexico in 1846 was a minor felony by our more=20
"civilized", contemporary standards of crimes against humanity. Every=20
American outside prison needs to ask himself in this dark hour "how=20
have I managed to stay out of trouble?" For if they were truly aware=20
of the unconscionable crimes being committed against humanity in=20
their name, Americans should, at the very least, desist from filling=20
in their tax returns this year and risk, like Thoreau, a prison=20
sentence.

Wake up, America! What is being done to avenge the attack on the Twin=20
Towers will have consequences which will make September 11 look like=20
Virtual Reality. As I write these lines Kabul has fallen into the=20
hands of the Northern Alliance (the allies of the US and UK), who=20
have carried out summary executions and the expected massacres. More=20
importantly, 39 uninterrupted days of high-altitude bombing of=20
Afghanistan, far from yielding Bin Laden, has only succeeded in=20
deepening to an unimaginable new level the suffering of a people who=20
have been living in what, by now, must be the most destroyed country=20
on the planet.

A large, unknown number of innocent children, women and men have=20
already lost their lives in the bombing. Besides, several MILLION=20
innocents now stand against the indifferent Afghan winter,=20
beleaguered, stranded in the cold mountains without food, their=20
sources of food supply cruelly cut off by orders of the US and UK=20
governments. All this for the head of one worthless man, who might=20
have been responsible for masterminding the September 11 attacks and=20
who is perhaps hiding in the ravines of Afghanistan, under the=20
protection of the Taliban, themselves persecutors of Afghan people. A=20
savage stupidity is being unleashed every day by the Western powers.

The victims of Superpower machinations in Afghanistan during the last=20
two decades and of the Taliban have got it in the neck once again.=20
This time through a direct attack on them by the United States,=20
ostensibly to destroy the Taliban. No cruel irony could be more=20
immense. No undisguised foreign policy of any government could be=20
more absurd. Did the British bomb Boston when the IRA was terrorizing=20
London some years back? Did Haiti invade the United States when the=20
US refused to turn over to Haitian authorities Emmanuel Constant, a=20
proven mass-murderer? Did India attack the US when it refused to hand=20
over Warren Anderson despite his indictment by an Indian court for=20
corporate criminal negligence in the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984? In=20
each of these cases there was evidence against the men wanted. The US=20
refused to cooperate.

Consider a few other possibilities. What if the men who masterminded=20
the attacks on September 11 died in them? What if that were true? We=20
will never know the truth if that is indeed the truth behind=20
September 11. But in what light are we then to see the blind revenge=20
being exacted by petulant Western powers on an innocent population?=20
And what if Bin Laden is indeed the man behind the attacks but is=20
hiding not in Afghanistan, but in the belly of the beast, say in the=20
UK or in California? Would you then allow the bombing of these places=20
to get the devil dead or alive? Like one commentator wrote the other=20
day, trying to get Bin Laden in this way is like trying to rid the=20
body of cancer with a blow-torch. Or, as another writer has put it,=20
it is like burning the entire haystack to find the needle hiding in=20
it.

Yet, the bombing continues and threatens to persist through Ramadan,=20
the Muslim month of fasting. No other people have had the infinite=20
misfortune of being destroyed by two superpowers and by their own=20
fundamentalist "government". First, the USSR invaded Afghanistan in=20
1979. In the 1980s, the US tried to "free" the Afghan people by=20
creating and arming the Mujaheedin

to push the Russians out. (This, by the way, was the time when the=20
CIA trained Osama Bin Laden. He is not the first and, dare I say, the=20
last renegade to the CIA.)

The US succeeded in getting the Russians out of what was already, by=20
the end of the 1980s, a destroyed land. In the event, the religious=20
fundamentalists, the Taliban, gained ascendancy in the 1990s. In=20
their years in power they have only brought more misery to ordinary=20
people. Communism, capitalism and radical Islam have all vented their=20
lust for violence on the hapless, defenceless people of Afghanistan.=20
I wonder if any other people have been treated with such a complete=20
and contemptible absence of humanity by three of the most powerful=20
creeds of our time.

It seems that the Taliban are on their way out. The Afghan engagement=20
sounded the death-knell of Soviet communism. American capitalism=20
should rightly shudder at a similar prospect awaiting it in the=20
future. The time ahead looks extremely dark. The world was an=20
insecure place before September 11. But everyone assumed that=20
mainland America was an exception to this. The sanctuary was deemed=20
to be safe. This myth of American invincibility was shattered in a=20
few hours two months ago. But what so few people in America are able=20
and willing to see is that US policy since September 11 has made=20
America more, not less, vulnerable. Here=92s how.

American bombing of Afghanistan has not only reduced to powder the=20
rubble left behind by superpower conflict, it has also killed=20
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent children, women and men. But=20
from the point of view of future American national security what is=20
even more relevant is that several million people in Afghanistan are=20
starving, homeless refugees today, their chances of survival severely=20
curtailed by the cutting off of food aid, their main means of=20
survival for several years in the recent past.

If these people survive the Afghan winter why wouldn=92t they wish to=20
enlist in mushrooming teams of suicide-bombers in future? If their=20
families and friends have been killed by the policies of cold-hearted=20
governments, who else do they have to lose? US policy since September=20
11 has only deepened the despair of the kind of people who might=20
constitute in future the catchment area for the headhunters of=20
terrorist networks across the world.

In other words, Bin Laden is winning, both the military and the=20
propaganda war. And he is nowhere in sight. The criminal folly of=20
American revenge, even from the patriotic perspective of=20
self-preservation, couldn=92t be more obvious. What does Bin Laden=20
want? That America should STOP bombing Afghanistan? Of course not. He=20
loves what the US is doing right now because it will make people=20
across the world forget September 11. It will only earn America more=20
enemies everywhere. It will accelerate his project of polarizing the=20
world into camps which are either for or against his version of=20
Islam. Much like President Bush has nearly succeeded in polarizing=20
the world right now between countries which are for or against=20
terrorism, as defined by him. Samuel Huntington is not the only=20
person who believes that the real war in the world today is "Jihad=20
versus McWorld", that Talibanisation and globalization are the only=20
alternatives. Bin Laden is on the same side. The medieval crusades=20
continue.

The point is that if killing 5000 innocent people in New York was=20
wrong, is killing a few thousand more innocent people in response to=20
that right? And allowing the slow death of millions justified? All=20
this to satisfy the lust for revenge on a suspect who remains elusive=20
as ever.

Listen, America! Do not underestimate the enemy. It was exactly such=20
arrogance which allowed September 11 to happen. It took very precise=20
and imaginative criminal genius to knock down the Twin Towers. The=20
terrorists succeeded in doing what Soviet Russia, with its staggering=20
nuclear arsenal, could not achieve in 75 years of its existence.

Your government and all the experts tell you that precisely this=20
predicament demands more spending on security and an ever more=20
aggressive foreign and military policy. But to repeat. Since October=20
7, America is more, not less vulnerable. Ramadan will soon be here.=20
If the bombing persists, watch out for the changing mood of the=20
Muslim world. The US is antagonising a growing number of people with=20
each day that the bombing continues.

Allow me to ask you a question which only your heart can answer. Is=20
your compassion for the victims of September 11 greater than your=20
hatred of Bin Laden? If your answer is "yes" you must want to stop=20
your government from committing crimes against humanity which are=20
going to put Bin Laden in the shade. Or would you be willing to face=20
an Afghan mother who has lost much of her family in the US bombing=20
and the surviving children are starving to death in the winter?

If 5000 innocents died on September 11, we may see in the=20
not-so-distant future ten times as many people dying EVERY DAY for=20
100-150 days in Afghanistan. (There are 7.5 million people at risk of=20
starving and freezing to death.) ALL these deaths are (were?)=20
avoidable. If the US stops bombing Afghanistan. What is on the cards=20
is not merely a "humanitarian tragedy", which even the New York Times=20
and the London Observer can foresee. It is a silent genocide on a=20
scale never before witnessed in the history of humanity. Does America=20
know what it is allowing to happen?

Is your conscience so sturdy that it can bear such a colossal moral=20
responsibility? Surely you must see this? Can anyone in America see=20
past their primitive patriotism? A human life is a human life,=20
Afghan, American, or otherwise. The people who died in the attack on=20
the Twin Towers came from countries as far afield as Colombia, Kenya,=20
China, India, Croatia, Mexico and, of course, the United States.=20
People from over 50 countries died in the attacks. Therefore,=20
patriotism was absolutely the wrong basis for any action after=20
September 11. If not patriotism, what else could have been the basis=20
for action? Humanity perhaps? If so, could the bombing of Afghanistan=20
ever be justified by any criteria of humanity?

The world has changed much in the last few decades. People from all=20
over the world live everywhere. Jet travel and the speed of=20
communication has made this movement of people possible. Today it is=20
possible, as for this writer, to have members of the family carrying=20
passports from different countries, even countries whose governments=20
claim to be enemies of each other. So, for instance, I grew up in=20
India and still carry an Indian passport. But I have had my higher=20
education in the United States and lived and worked there for nearly=20
10 years of my life. I happen to be employed in Europe at the moment.=20
I have many nieces and nephews who are American and I have relatives=20
from Pakistan. And dear friends from all over the world. Can I say=20
that I am an Indian? If so, a very reluctant one, because I do not=20
stand for most of the policies of the Indian government (for=20
instance, I cannot see how it can criticize Pakistan=92s support for=20
terrorism in Kashmir and not see that India was training terrorists=20
who perpetrated acts of terror in Sri Lanka some years back). I would=20
prefer to be identified as a citizen of the world, a category which=20
makes me, at once, a potential threat to any nation-state, when my=20
intention is the opposite. Is the fault with me? I think not. It is=20
with the system of nation-states, which is totally outdated in the=20
present global village of economic globalization, high technology and=20
cultural exchange.

But the leaders of the West equate humanity today with patriotism.=20
For them, evidently, the life of an Afghan child is not nearly equal=20
to that of a New York City firefighter. The former is a dispensable=20
member of humanity in the military calculations of the generals and=20
the presidents. We are reduced to a pathetic algebra of injustice in=20
which we have to make such vulgar comparisons.

After September 11, America lost a golden opportunity. The way to=20
upset Bin Laden=92s plans would have been to refuse to respond in kind.=20
To not speak his language of violence and terror at all. The world=92s=20
deepest sympathies were with America. Heinous crimes against humanity=20
committed by the US government in the past, in Indo-China, Iraq,=20
Central America and elsewhere had been forgotten in the wake of the=20
attacks in New York and Washington.

After the loss of hundreds or thousands of innocent lives in the US=20
bombing and what might turn into a quiet genocide in which millions=20
die, all for the head of one devilishly elusive terrorist mastermind,=20
would the world still have room in its heart for America? On the=20
vulgar scales of infinite injustice and revenge it would take at=20
least an attack of nuclear terror on another hapless American city to=20
turn the world=92s sympathies around yet again. A haunting line from=20
the Bible comes to mind "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more=20
water the fire next time."

Will you wait for this day of remorseless judgement, America? Or=20
should you stop paying your taxes now and ask your government to call=20
back your troops and fighter pilots home? And risk, like Thoreau, a=20
prison sentence? Will you do it, at least for your children=92s sake,=20
if you realize that the nuclear threat to America may grow with each=20
day the bombing in Afghanistan continues? The choice is yours.=20
Thoreau, the most American of patriots, found a way to distnguish his=20
patriotism from his humanity. You have to follow his, or find your=20
own.

The Italian leader Berlusconi said the other day "We all live in New=20
York. We must wage war on war to make peace." Europe seems to be=20
trying to do it since The Great War. Do we also all wish to live in=20
Afghanistan or Hiroshima tommorrow? Our leaders are "thinking=20
locally, acting globally", to twist the familiar phrase. The=20
nation-state has never made sense. And it makes even less sense today=20
than it ever did in the past. It is for YOU to make your leaders obey=20
your long-term interest in survival. Even your patriotism should make=20
you consider the possible fate of your children.

The French philosopher Albert Camus once wrote =96 "I love my country=20
too much to be a nationalist." Heed the words. America is still the=20
freest country in the world. But freedom cannot endure in America or=20
elsewhere for much longer if it is not exercised soon. You must know=20
that. Act NOW, before it is too late. There is very little time left,=20
if any.

You have much to prove to the world America. To the rest of the=20
world, far from being "the land of the free and the home of the=20
brave", you appear like a people allowing their government to act=20
from cowardly despair. Free societies do not exact such misdirected,=20
cruel revenge on innocent people. The Western achievement of the last=20
6 weeks has been the conversion of an already quite inhospitable land=20
(thanks to the legacy of superpower conflict and Fundamentalist=20
Islam) into a vast torture chamber under the open sky, in which=20
millions of innocent mortals might slowly starve and freeze to death.=20
Nazis must be envious in their graves. Consider a thought experiment.=20
What if the food supplies of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois (or,=20
for that matter, Scandinavia) from the rest of the world were cut off=20
(by blowing up bridges and airports) and so were the power lines used=20
to transmit the electricity which was keeping homes warm? And what if=20
all this was done at THIS time of the year, during the onset of=20
winter? Because a mass-murderer who had been the prime suspect in the=20
killing of 5000 people in, say, China, was perhaps hiding in one of=20
these places, and was not being handed over to Chinese authorities=20
unless evidence was presented? Imagine how you would react. Absurd as=20
that sounds, that is precisely what your government is presently=20
engaged in. Its policy is exactly so mindless.

If you believe that your government has been the sentinel of freedom=20
and democracy in the world, consider just a small sample of=20
historical facts. The CIA engineered the coup in Iran in 1953 which=20
put an end to democracy in that country for the next several decades.=20
It also engineered the coup in Chile in 1973, ushering in the long=20
dictatorship of Pinochet. Consider a brief list of dictators and=20
monarchs who have enjoyed the blessings of your government: Saddam=20
Hussein, Noreiga, Somoza, Batista, Du valier, Marcos, Zia, Shah of=20
Iran, King Fahd.

Democracy and the American way of life seem to not just be consistent=20
with the US support for dictatorial regimes abroad, one would imagine=20
that they almost seem to need it. It is a lot easier for the US to=20
control the price of oil if the governments of countries with oil are=20
NOT responsive to the needs of their own people and are instead in=20
the pockets of the American government. And so the world subsidizes=20
the American way of life. It becomes a way of (more or less slow)=20
death for many, in less fortunate parts of the world.

Consider this too. US arms expenditure is twice as large as the total=20
expenditure on armaments by the next four largest spenders (Russia,=20
France, UK and China respectively) taken together. The US is also the=20
world=92s biggest seller of arms. To the Middle Eastern countries=20
alone, it sold more than $60 billion in arms during the 1990s.=20
Recently the biggest ever single military contract in history (of=20
$200 billion) was awarded to Lockheed Martin. This is larger than the=20
combined annual military expenditures of the next four world powers=20
and 400% greater than the annual operating budget of New York City.=20
The scope of this expenditure can also be measured by the fact that=20
the entire defence spending of the US last year was of the order of=20
$300 billion. In other words, the American military-industrial=20
complex is flourishing in the wake of the attacks on New York and=20
Washington. No substantive talk of global peace can be taken=20
seriously while enormous profits are being made in the arms business.

America today is the flagship of the world. Its actions will=20
determine whether the fleet of humanity will continue to float in=20
future, or sink like evolutionary mutants, into the sea of oblivion.=20
Before September 11 the rest of the world was the chessboard on which=20
the US government (and earlier, other powers as well) moved their=20
pieces. This was the case for decades. September 11 changed this=20
permanently. America is part of the global chessboard now and the=20
pieces move as much on the American mainland as elsewhere. This is no=20
time to be exclusively patriotic. For all the billions being spent to=20
beef up security at the 301 entry points into the US, America will=20
remain vulnerable to lethal acts of terror perpetrated from within.=20
The way for American people to ensure greater security for themselves=20
is to make people in other parts of the world safe. No short-cuts=20
will work now.

You have much to live up to America. I recognize America and its=20
humanity in the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston=20
Hughes and Bob Dylan, in the Jazz melodies of Miles Davis and=20
Thelonius Monk, in the blues of Billie Holiday and Muddy Waters, in=20
the literature of Melville, Faulkner, Baldwin and Morrison, in the=20
colours of Winslow Homer and Georgia O=92Keefe, in the philosophy of=20
Thoreau, Emerson, Dubois and William James, and in the fearless=20
dissidence of Malcolm X, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.

The world scarcely gets to see THIS America. Because America stopped=20
listening to its poets and philosophers long ago. In the actions of=20
your government the people of the world witness the organized=20
cowardice which masks itself in imperial power. They see the=20
remorseless decline of a civilization which, since the European=20
enlightenment in the 18th century, had held out the possibility of=20
universal human freedom. Who can take all this seriously any more?=20
Hard to believe that a culture which once gave the world the music of=20
Bach and Beethoven and the poetry of Goethe and Blake has degenerated=20
into such monumental folly. Never has the world seen such an=20
unabashed display of mindless, heartless cowardice. The Western=20
powers are competing with the terrorist networks as to who is capable=20
of greater cruelty. They seem to be saying "if you can kill 5000=20
innocents in our land, we can kill 500,000 in yours, and more=20
torturously too." No animals do this to their kind. The US government=20
is all set to deliver the final denoument, ready to author the demise=20
of not just western culture, but what may turn out to be the end for=20
everyone.

If we do not all surrender our nationalism to our shared humanity=20
urgently we may all be living in the last days of civilization. It is=20
entirely true that the attack on New York and Washington was an=20
attack on civilization. But so is the relentless bombing of=20
Afghanistan. "The measles of mankind", which the Nobel-Prize winning=20
Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore, had described nationalism as, well=20
before the First World War, may well prove to be a fatal disease if=20
we leave the matter of our collective survival as a species to our=20
leaders.

Three Nobel laureates, three spirits of humanity as different from=20
each other as the scientist Einstein, the philosopher Camus, and the=20
poet Tagore, are united in their denunciation of nationalism. We can=20
heed their words or let our leaders guide us confidently towards=20
Armageddon. Peoples of the world unite. Or, you can keep your=20
nationalism and lose everything with it!

______

#2.

The News International (Pakistan)
22 November 2001

Is Jihad knocking at your door too?

By Jaffer Rizvi

KARACHI: An uncountable number of Jihadi activists, spread all over=20
the megapolis, have once again boosted their campaign to motivate the=20
youth of this city to enlist for Jihad. Boys and men, primarily in=20
beards and typical outfits, have started knocking at the doors of=20
people since the advent of the holy month of Ramazan, revealed=20
surveys and interviews with residents and activists conducted by The=20
News.

The drive, to motivate the youth, was being carried out specifically=20
in Eastern, Central and Western city districts, commonly inhabited by=20
middle income families like bankers, businessmen, stock market=20
dealers, salaried class executives of private firms and shopkeepers.=20
Clearly, these volunteers of a couple of religious and Jihadi=20
organisations have their focus on the youth in their teens,=20
especially college students.

Walls of the city can also be found etched with anti-US and=20
pro-Taliban graffiti. Social analysts, who were also monitoring the=20
situation closely, were of the view that the global socio-political=20
changes and the conflicting role of the media were bolstering up the=20
campaign of the Jihadis. Social problems like joblessness, poverty,=20
injustice, corruption, price-hike and other factors only contributed=20
to the success of the drive.

"Situation prevailing over the borders and neighboring countries of=20
Afghanistan, US-led international coalition's strikes against Taliban=20
militia regime and the role of media which was presenting Osama bin=20
Laden as an ideal hero are the root causes," said a social scientist=20
requesting anonymity.

"Unemployment and other problems of social and economic nature have=20
also contributed to a growing sense of deprivation and alienation,=20
which was leading the youth to find out the exits and exhaust points=20
of their frustration, so that most of them turned towards religious=20
preachings. While some of them were just joining the Jihadi outfits=20
without knowing the facts, religious affairs and other matters of=20
importance," she added.

"And now these frustrated, helpless and in some cases depressed=20
young, restless men have been turned into ideal candidates,=20
considering martyrdom as a solution to their all problems," she=20
explained.

"Though, today, they once again came to us as Ramazan has begun,=20
actually the exercise of motivating the youth had initiated following=20
the US-led attacks," a shopkeeper Rehman of Nazimabad vicinity of=20
Central claimed on Saturday.

"Groups of bearded men were contacting us after every prayer session=20
toinquire about those who would be willing to participate in the=20
Jihad in Afghanistan," he said. Various interviews with residents=20
revealed that hundreds of youths have started joining religious=20
organisations and leaving homes for the Jihad.

The city of Karachi, which has received some corpses of youth of its=20
ownorigin, who embraced martyrdom while fighting the US-led=20
international coalition in Afghanistan and the Indian within the held=20
Valley of Kashmir, seems about to receive even more corpses.

"I know, some of my comrades would not be able to return home alive.=20
But they will be better then us who are not following the actual=20
religious preaching," Khadim Ali, an activist of a Jihadi=20
organisation told The News during a discussion outside a mosque in=20
North Nazimabad.

But some of the residents were not convinced by these arguments.=20
"Even if this was a holy war, each individual has the right to decide=20
whether or not to participate," stated Jamal Ali of Paposh Nagar near=20
Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

"They (the Jihadi activists or campaigners) have no right to push=20
people into war," Shadaba a young housewife told The News. Shadaba=20
revealed that the campaigners for religious organisations had been=20
visiting her home also and were asking about her young brothers, one=20
studying in a college and another in the University.

"They had come asking for my brothers but, I was so scared, oh God,=20
that I lied to them and said that they were not home," she said while=20
a wry smile on her face but concern in her words.

Qayyum, a teenage boy, however was willing to join the Jihadis. "I am=20
willing to go to Afghanistan and join the Jihad against the Americans=20
and their allies, but I am still looking for the right people for my=20
earliest recruitment," he said with excitement writ large on his face.

Irteza, a young employee of a bank, and a resident of Landhi, stated=20
his different views while travelling in a bus with this reporter.

"Attacking American installation was a wrongful act but the American=20
aggression was an even wrongful act. I want to say that both the=20
sides are not following the right paths and are mixing things=20
wrongly," he said.

"Jihad was not allowing you to kill innocent people working inside=20
their offices in New York or anywhere else. But without concrete=20
evidence, the US strikes were also baseless, wrong and unjustified,"=20
he said.

"Islam, or any other religion was not instigating people to kill=20
people in the name of Allah," Irteza concluded before alighting from=20
the bus near Lighthouse.

Muneer, a resident of Landhi, who was busy repairing his vehicle=20
outside a shop downtown, was also angry. "The Jihadis were knocking=20
on people's doors, asking them to take steps against forces who were=20
committing atrocities against the Muslims," he said.

"And I say that if this was indeed a holy war, why were not the=20
religious and politico-religious leaders opting to go themselves=20
first? We are certainly not ready to sacrifice our lives upon their=20
slogans."

Muneer further said that, at times, squads of these Jihadis were=20
causing violation of the privacy of the residents resting at home.=20
"Without considering anything, they knock the doors of our houses.=20
There could be patients, elders, minor children, but they do not=20
care..." Muneer complained.

_____

#3.

22nd November 2001

Dear Friends

Democratic Union of Journalist (DUJ), Democratic Teachers Front=20
(DTF), Delhi Science Forum (DSF), All India Lawyers Union (AILU),=20
Janwadi Lekhak Sangh (JLS) and Progressive Writers Association have=20
jointly organized a discussion on POTO 2001, and its ramification on=20
freedom of expression and democratic dissent" on 23rd November 2001=20
between 5pm to 8pm at Gandhi Peace Foundation, 221 Deen Dayal Upadhya=20
Marg, New Delhi.

The speakers are V.P Singh former Prime Minister, Chaturanan Mishra=20
former Agriculture Minister, Somnath Chatterjee M.P, Kapil Sibbal M.P=20
& President Bar Association Supreme Court of India, F. Nariman=20
eminent jurist, Prabash Joshi veteran Journalist, Seema Mustafa Chief=20
of Bureau Asian Age, S.K.Pandey president DUJ and professor M.M.P.=20
Singh.

You are cordially invited to participate in the discussion.

Thanking you

Prabir Purkaysatha
Secretary Delhi Science Forum

______

#4.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/22/international/asia/22INDI.html

The New York Times
November 22, 2001

India, Too, Weighs Antiterror Measure Against Liberties

By CELIA W. DUGGER

NEW DELHI, Nov. 21 - As Americans debate how ruthless a war to wage=20
against terrorism, India's leaders have seized on the Sept. 11=20
attacks to push a draconian new antiterror law that has stirred=20
furious opposition and promises to dominate the winter session of=20
Parliament that began here this week.

India, home to what the writer V. S. Naipaul called "a million=20
mutinies now," has a long and sometimes sordid history of battling a=20
multiplicity of rebellions within its borders, an experience that=20
offers a cautionary tale or an example to America, depending on who's=20
talking.

As the world's most populous, heterogeneous and raucous democracy,=20
India has long grappled with how to balance its citizens' civil=20
liberties with efforts to put down violent insurgencies that have=20
spawned heinous attacks on civilians.

The Indian authorities, often horrifying human rights groups with=20
their tactics, have battled separatists in the states of Kashmir,=20
Punjab and Nagaland, as well as left-wing organizations like the=20
People's War Group, which seeks land rights for peasants in southern=20
Andhra Pradesh.

The government contends that its current Prevention of Terrorism=20
Ordinance is a more sensitive incarnation of the infamous Terrorist=20
and Disruptive Activities Act, known as TADA. It lapsed in 1995 after=20
a decade in force because even many of the country's political=20
leaders concluded it had been grossly abused.

The new ordinance, a sweeping, 50- page emergency decree that must be=20
adopted by Parliament or lapse, broadly empowers the authorities to=20
tap telephones, monitor e-mail, detain people without charge for up=20
to six months, conduct secret trials in jails and keep the identity=20
of witnesses secret.

Even some of the government's own allies fear it would also be used=20
to imprison journalists who did not share information with the police=20
about militants they interviewed.

The ordinance bans 23 groups and made belonging to any one of them a=20
terrorist offense.

Senior ministers say the government needs unconventional tools to=20
combat vicious foes who use the very openness of Indian society=20
against it and who intimidate or kill those who would testify against=20
them. The political opposition has united against the ordinance,=20
which it says was offered without its being consulted. The debate has=20
turned into an ugly partisan brawl, but in recent days Prime Minister=20
Atal Behari Vajpayee has said he wants to seek a compromise.

Arun Jaitley, the law minister and a leader in the ruling Hindu=20
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, scathingly denounced the Congress=20
Party, India's second-largest party, calling its opposition "a=20
terrorist-friendly stand."

Congress Party leaders angrily replied that it was their party that=20
has been devastated by terrorism. Their leader, Prime Minister Indira=20
Gandhi, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 during the=20
violent struggle in Punjab. Mrs. Gandhi's son, Rajiv, who became=20
prime minister after her death, was killed by a Tamil suicide bomber=20
in 1991.

"To contend we're not concerned about terrorism is absurd," said=20
Kapil Sibal, the party leader. "We oppose the ordinance because it's=20
anti- democratic and it's liable to be abused."

Leading newspapers, civil liberties advocates and the National Human=20
Rights Commission, an independent body set up by Parliament, have=20
also opposed the ordinance.

Many critics say it would be misused, as was its predecessor, by an=20
often corrupt, politicized police force to harass and jail political=20
dissenters, journalists and minorities, particularly Muslims.

"We're not talking about paranoid fears," said Ravi Nair, executive=20
director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center, a=20
nonprofit group based here in the capital. "The government is testing=20
the waters to see how authoritarian they can be."

During the 10 years TADA was in force, more than 75,000 people were=20
arrested, but only 1 percent were ever convicted of a crime. As under=20
the new ordinance, bail was extremely difficult to get and many of=20
the accused languished in jail for years as their cases wended their=20
agonizingly slow way through India's overwhelmed criminal justice=20
system.

K. P. S. Gill, a retired police official who is generally credited=20
with stamping out the separatist movement in Punjab by the early=20
1990's, said the most useful provisions of both the old and the new=20
laws were those that made it difficult to obtain bail. Even if police=20
did not have enough evidence to convict suspects, they could be held,=20
disrupting planned terrorist acts, he said.

But critics of the old law say it was ineffective and subject to=20
rampant abuse. Paradoxically, the state that arrested the most people=20
under TADA was Gujarat where there was no terrorist threat. Rather,=20
the government of the time used the law in 1991 to jail thousands of=20
farmers who were demanding cheaper electricity.

Harish Khare, who was then the resident editor of The Times of India=20
in Ahmadabad, the state capital, recalled that it was only later,=20
when statistics came out, that the scope of the arrests became=20
apparent. The farmers had been quietly rounded up by the authorities=20
at the local level on instructions of the chief minister, whom Mr.=20
Khare described as "mercifully dead now," and held without charge for=20
six months.

Yet while Mr. Khare is aware of the potential for abuse of such=20
antiterror laws, he, like many Indians, said he also understood the=20
threat terrorism poses.

"Terrorist organizations have no respect for civil liberties," said=20
Mr. Khare, now the New Delhi bureau chief of The Hindu, a national=20
newspaper. "The choice before all of us is, how do we preserve=20
democratic societies and civil liberties without allowing men with no=20
respect for the rule of law to impose their will?"

______

#5.
The Times of India
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2001
Editorial
Heavy Ordinance
eeks of persuasion and propaganda later, the government still hasn't=20
had its way with the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), and=20
thank God for that. The rather inelegantly-named Indian anti-terror=20
legislation has come up against some spirited opposition at a time=20
similar laws have sailed through other democracies, including the=20
greatest of them all, the United States. The only thing that can be=20
said for the American counterpart of POTO is that it makes for a more=20
imaginative acronym, USA-PATRIOT (Uniting and strengthening America=20
by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct=20
terrorism). Other than this, the objective of both legal measures is=20
the same: To arm the state with draconian powers.

http://203.199.93.7/articleshow.asp?art_id=3D2021212678

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