[sacw] SACW #1 | 31 Mar. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Sun, 31 Mar 2002 02:00:49 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #1 | 31 March 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

__________________________

#1. India - Gujarat: Holocaust Express (Ruchir Joshi)
#2. Those who expect justice will clearly have to look beyond=20
Gujarat's BJP Government (Anjali Mody)
#3. India: If NHRC indicts Modi, he must be sacked' [Fali Nariman=20
interview with MANOJ MITTA]
#4. India: Cobwebs In The Mind (SWAGATO GANGULY)
#6. Combat Law magazine, (India)

__________________________

#1.

http://www.indian-express.com/sunday/20020331/1.html
Indian Express=09=20
Sunday, March 31, 2002

Holocaust Express

by Ruchir Joshi

Gujarat is a place where the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jaish-e-Mahadev=20
dance together,
a hell that is not possible to create in any fiction, writes novelist=20
Ruchir Joshi

The Holocaust Express continues to sear through the stations of our=20
lives. It departed in the last century from the platform of Partition=20
and its terminus is still far away, still invisible, perhaps still to=20
be built. I am in Australia, reading from my novel at a literary=20
festival, when I hear about the train carriage, the death chamber=20
called Coach No S-6, and the murder of innocent children. Then,=20
rapidly, I hear about how thousands of Muslim homes in Gujarat are=20
being turned into coach No S-6. More murdered children, this time=20
with rape and other variations thrown in.

I call friends in India, I read e-mails, I stumble over the Gujarati=20
words in my novel - words, images, ideas that are precious to me but=20
which, obviously, now belong to some other period of time, something=20
that's long gone. People ask me what's going on in India, in Gujarat,=20
and I try my best to explain, but words like 'genocide' and 'ethnic=20
cleansing' don't quite manage to convey the horror. The phrase 'gas=20
chamber' takes on a whole different meaning, the gas not Zyklon B but=20
cylinders of our reliable Indane or BP, and the chambers not on the=20
scale of Auschwitz or Dachau but mini charnel-houses, precision=20
picked by the butchers, months, perhaps years, ago for this great=20
moment of reckoning.
This is a different kind of earthquake, where the societal ground=20
opens up and swallows its own people

Try as I do I can find no adequate language to explain to people who=20
have never been to India or Gujarat what exactly it is that we are=20
cremating in this pogrom. Garavi Gujarat! The phrase I had heard many=20
times as a Gujarati child growing up in Calcutta - Garavi Gujarat -=20
Proud Gujarat - rattles loose in my head as I walk around Adelaide=20
and Sydney. Wandering among the sunlit and suntanned I am thankful=20
that no one around me can tell I am a Gujarati. I am, in their eyes,=20
a generic brownie, an undifferenced South Asian, and I am thankful=20
that I can hide my shame in that identity. I could be from Lahore, or=20
Laldanga or Cochin, anywhere but Gujarat, and they have no way of=20
knowing that Godhra was where my mother was born, or that my parents=20
were basically from Ahmedabad, that obscure town in India which is=20
now burning.

There is a short passage in my novel that I had almost cut out. It=20
comes in a chapter that takes place largely in Ahmedabad and I nearly=20
dropped it because I thought, then, that it verged on the=20
melodramatic. Now, by some macabre fluke, it seems like a perfectly=20
normal bit of writing. One sentence in the passage goes: ''And time=20
would then reinvent itself, reappear like some clown Dracula, rise=20
out of its coffin with bits of dhokla, shrikhand and human flesh=20
hanging from its fangs.''

Dhokla, shrikhand and human flesh. I call a friend in Ahmedabad and=20
he tells me what a well-known Gujarati folk singer and savant said to=20
him - ''Aa to bhai Khappario Kaal sharu thayo.'' Khappario Kaal,=20
impossible to translate properly, a kaal with the top of its skull=20
torn off, a mad-evil time, a time even worse than when the earthquake=20
hit Gujarat last year.
The sign welcoming you to Gujarat should proudly read - The most=20
un-Hindu state in India

This is, in a sense, a different kind of earthquake, where the=20
societal ground opens up and swallows its own people. The switch=20
between the normal and the unimaginable becomes a daily thing. Strict=20
vegetarians become cannibals. Smart bombs are precision-delivered by=20
hand. Businessmen strive to create loss. Devotees of Amba mata rape=20
little girls. And alongside all this is the real obscenity: life=20
continues as normal in many areas of Ahmedabad - people continue to=20
throng to Khau Gali behind Law Gardens for their evening bhelpuri and=20
kulfi, offices do business, India plays Zimbabwe on the television,=20
posters of Aamir and Shah Rukh sit on the walls of teenagers'=20
rooms,people stop their cars and scooters to do pranaam at mandirs=20
and dehrasars before carrying on with their lives.

Who are they praying to, the citizens of what proudly proclaims=20
itself as the only Hindu state in India? Which god allows them to=20
pour petrol down the throats of young children so that they burn more=20
easily? Which part of the Upanishads or the Ramayan or Mahabharat,=20
which smaran of Sita or Draupadi, encourages them to rape women=20
before stabbing them to death? Which sense of honour, or justice, or=20
dharma suggests to policemen that they lead the slaughtering of=20
innocents?

The more I think about it, the more one thing becomes clear - this=20
Gujarat is a state of unbelievers, of genuine, 24-carat, barbaric=20
atheists. Someone who is really worried about the wrath of Allah=20
cannot throw a Molotov cocktail into a train carriage packed with=20
kids, equally someone who actually believes in karma and rebirth=20
cannot cut open a pregnant woman's belly to pull out the foetus and=20
kill it. Whether they call themselves Hindu or Muslim, 'God' is an=20
excuse for these men, a smoke-screen behind which they carry out the=20
material smash and grab of life. The correct sign welcoming you to=20
Gujarat should proudly read -'The most un-Hindu state in India.'

As the VHP and RSS leap to embrace their blood brothers in the=20
Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as they move to emulate and out-do the=20
Khomeinis, the bin Ladens and the Mullah Omars, the scenario that=20
forms itself is out of hell, a hell that is not possible to create in=20
any fiction. It is a place where the Jaish-e-Mohammed and=20
Jaish-e-Mahadev dance together on the corpse of humanity. It is a=20
place where the Al-Qaeda and the Al Bajrang Dal plan their=20
destructions in tight synchronisation with each other. It is a place=20
where there is a horrendous symmetry between children being killed=20
and children being handed Kalashnikovs and rocket-launchers. It is a=20
place where the Khappario Kaal never ends.
The only hope I can claw out of this dreadful future is that things=20
will come a full circle

Placed against this, the only thing I have is the obligation of a=20
writer to imagine things differently. I have to answer the demand of=20
my art that pessimism does not swamp optimism. The only hope I can=20
claw out of this dreadful future is that, through human agency or=20
otherwise, things tend to come full circle. It is also what the=20
religion I was brought up in teaches me. The organisers of the=20
ongoing killings should also know their Hindu mythology, and they=20
should remember what happened to Krishna's uncle Kans.

I have an unreasonable faith that soon unlikely people, Gujaratis=20
especially, will make a red and black column calculation for their=20
souls and figure out that there is no cosmic profit in putting up=20
with what's going on. At which point what will come at the sponsors=20
of this butchery won't be in any day or night they recognise, it=20
won't be as easy as inside their house or outside it, it won't be=20
classifiable as violence or non-violence, but in the end it will come=20
and get them. At which point, perhaps, the rail tracks under the=20
Holocaust Express will start to come apart.

______

#2.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002033100231700.htm
The Hindu
Sunday, Mar 31, 2002
Opinion - News Analysis

Crime and no punishment

Those who expect justice will clearly have to look beyond Gujarat's=20
BJP Government, writes Anjali Mody.

IT IS over a month since the carnage in Gujarat began, and still the=20
violence continues. Yet, the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has=20
returned to Gandhinagar, comfortable in the knowledge that a deeply=20
partisan Government which abrogates its responsibility to the people=20
it is supposed to govern, can survive with the blessings of the=20
Centre. Nothing less would have permitted Mr. Modi to brazen it out=20
in the capital last week. For, although the Prime Minister slapped=20
him on the wrist for keeping things on the boil, Mr. Modi does not=20
expect to pay with his job for his complete failure to govern.

With this "approval" in his pocket, and the belief that the majority=20
of Gujarat's Hindus support him, Mr. Modi, and the State's BJP=20
Government are unlikely to feel compelled to act with any urgency to=20
try and restore a semblance of `normality' to the State. In fact,=20
despite the public claim that he had the violence under control in=20
"72 hours", Mr. Modi is said to have told senior officials in New=20
Delhi that he needed one more month to call a halt to the violence.=20
The sense of insecurity that pervades the State will take a great=20
deal to undo. There is, however, nothing in Mr. Modi's demeanour to=20
suggest that he is concerned with returning a sense of security to=20
the people battered by the violence. He has shown himself to be=20
entirely unwilling to change even the language of justification ("har=20
kriya ki pratikriya hoti hai, for every action there is a reaction")=20
that underlies his, and his Government's, every utterance on the=20
violence and death of the last one month.

Mr. Modi, his Cabinet colleagues and their minions in the Secretariat=20
and the police force refuse to talk about the systematic killing of=20
Muslims in Gujarat except as "violence/riots which followed Godhra".=20
Most FIRs filed by the police in the last few weeks and Government=20
orders issued in relation to the violence invariably begin with a=20
preamble about the violence which "followed the burning of the=20
Sabarmati Express in which 58 people including women and children=20
were killed". Apart from endlessly repeating what it calls the=20
"causal" connection between Godhra and the annihilation of Muslims,=20
the Government has also chosen to emphasise the State's "communal=20
history" by way of explaining itself. The Gujarat Government refuses=20
to acknowledge what even civil servants and police officers in the=20
State, to say nothing of victims, social activists, and the press,=20
have found: that this was no ordinary `riot', but a programmed attack=20
on the people of one faith. Apart from this, the slowness of its=20
response in providing any assistance to the people in the makeshift=20
relief camps has underlined the Government's wilful abandonment of=20
its constitutional duty to protect the rights of its people. It has=20
failed to defend their right to life - the most basic of rights - and=20
for the survivors it has been reluctant to provide them the=20
wherewithal to exercise their rights as citizens of this country.

The Government has so far shown little willingness to help people=20
return to homes that may still be intact, or return to work in a=20
guaranteed safe environment. Those who have done so voluntarily have=20
been forced back to the camps by threats and attacks. The Government=20
has also produced no reasonable plan or time frame for rehabilitating=20
those whose homes and sources of livelihood have been destroyed.

Those who expect justice - for the deaths, the damage, the=20
destruction of whole communities - will clearly have to look beyond=20
the State's BJP Government. For, its "reaction" theory precludes=20
admitting the role of organisations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad=20
and the Bajrang Dal (enough of whose members have proudly proclaimed=20
their part in the violence).

The Government claims that the police have made hundreds of arrests=20
of people involved in substantive criminal acts. But, so far, it has=20
failed to give an account of these arrests, the charges, if any,=20
against those still in custody and of the investigations which it=20
says are under way. The police in Ahmedabad have also voluntarily=20
filed many `omnibus' FIRs, against groups of people, naming no names.=20
These FIRs pre-empt the chance of a victim seeking to file an FIR=20
naming either police officers or individuals identified in the mob.=20
An omnibus or group FIR is not worth the paper it is written on,=20
since it is nearly impossible to successfully prosecute a case in=20
which the perpetrator(s) is not identified.

The numbers of those "rescued" is an even greater obfuscation mocking=20
the trauma of the victims. The Government claims, to cite just one=20
example, that the police "rescued" a few thousand people from Naroda=20
Patia in Ahmedabad. Survivors say the police fired at them to force=20
them into the path of the mob. Nearly 100 people, including children,=20
died gruesome deaths, women and girls were raped, a whole=20
neighbourhood was burnt down. Those who survived were transported to=20
relief camps. This is what the Government describes as "rescue".

The Constitution guarantees all Indian citizens the right to=20
protection of life and personal liberty (Article 21), the prohibition=20
of discrimination on grounds of religion (Article 15) and the=20
equality of all persons before the law (Article 14).

But, Mr. Modi, and the BJP Government he leads, are determinedly=20
showing the world that these constitutional provisions do not apply=20
to Indians who are Muslim, if they do not "enjoy the goodwill" of the=20
Hindutvawadis.

______

#3.

The Indian Express
Sunday, March 31, 2002

If NHRC indicts Modi, he must be sacked'

Seventy-three-year-old Fali Nariman, a nominated member of the Rajya=20
Sabha, is arguably the foremost lawyer in the country. His unmatched=20
standing is not only because of his legal acumen but also his fine=20
record of standing up for his convictions on matters of national=20
import. Excerpts from a rare and outspoken interview with MANOJ MITTA.
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020331/op1.html

_____

#4.

The Statesman
31 March 2002
Editorial and Perspective

COBWEBS IN THE MIND
India has tried to invent another way to secularism whereby peace=20
between religions will arise not out of neutrality but out of a=20
realisation of a common spirituality animating all religions

By SWAGATO GANGULY

The nightmare rolls on - Delhi's anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the 1992-93=20
riots following the demolition of the Babari Masjid, and now Gujarat=20
2002. Why, despite having a secular Constitution, is India prone to=20
repeated and seemingly never-ending cycles of religious and sectarian=20
violence?
Take the issue which almost unseated the Indian government recently.=20
A legendary god is supposed to have been born at the site where a=20
shrine belonging to another religion stood. Stated in those bald=20
terms it sounds laughable. Yet Ashok Singhal, a satrap of the=20
organisation now holding the country to ransom on the issue of Ram's=20
birthplace, has only to embark on a "fast unto death" intended to=20
last twenty-four hours, before the ex-chief minister of the state (UP=20
currently lacks one) comes running to his side bearing a conciliatory=20
message from the home minister of the country. Since when did=20
religious worthies come to occupy such a prominent role in the=20
government's decision-making machinery?
The problem in fact goes back to one of the foundational myths of=20
Indian nationalism, which needs to be re-examined if the roots of the=20
current malaise are to be exposed. The foundational myth of the=20
Pakistani nation, for example, is the two-nation theory - Hindus and=20
Muslims cannot live together, and the government needs to work for=20
the greater glory of Islam. The theory didn't work in practice, as=20
theocrats keep filling more and more political space, till they begin=20
to pose a threat to government itself.
This didn't come into full view in the eighties, when Pakistan could=20
ride on the back of the oil boom by offering its services to Gulf=20
countries, as well as capitalise on the war in Afghanistan. But it=20
grew more and more apparent during the nineties towards the end of=20
which Altaf Hussain, leader of the mohajirs who initially conceived=20
the two-nation theory, conceded that it was a mistake. By general=20
consensus Pakistan today is a failed state, in need of international=20
supervision.
There is, likewise, a problem with the way in which the essence of=20
the Indian nation is understood. Drawing on misleading work by=20
British and German Orientalist scholars, Friedrich Max Mueller being=20
the chief culprit in this respect, India's essence is held to lie in=20
its spirituality, which meant that the secular path of separation of=20
church from state was thought too foreign for this country. The=20
following, for example, is Dr S Radhakrishnan, early=20
philosopher-President of the republic, sounding off on the subject:=20
"there is a cordiaI harmony between God and man in Indian thought,=20
while the opposition between the two is more marked in the West."=20
This might come as a shock to many, but Radhakrishnan believed, like=20
the RSS, that secularism could be derived from the Vedas.
The idea that Western secularism is anti-religious is a=20
misunderstanding - it confuses the practice of democratic states with=20
that of states where religion is officially proscribed, such as=20
communist Albania or North Korea. The American constitution, for=20
example, is most explicit about the separation of church and state;=20
yet all kinds of religious activity thrives in the United States. The=20
notion that religion is a fragile plant, which cannot survive without=20
state patronage, is in fact one that shows disrespect to the world's=20
great religions.
But based on this misunderstanding India has attempted to invent for=20
itself a third way towards secularism, whereby peace between=20
religions will arise not out of state neutrality but out of a=20
realisation of a common spirituality animating all religions. It=20
becomes the state's chimerical task to propagate a version of din=20
ilahi, notwithstanding that Emperor Akbar failed the last time round.
The practical effect of such a doctrine is that government, instead=20
of standing aloof from religious matters, sees itself as a patron of=20
the country's major religions. Central and state governments=20
administer and/ or underwrite the costs for Haj pilgrimages, Sikh=20
shrines, wakf boards, Hindu religious endowments. Inevitably=20
conflicts arise, as each community sees the government as courting=20
other communities. The arrangement confers undue power on those who=20
see themselves as representing their religious community's=20
grievances. The Ramchandra Das Paramhanses and Imam Bukharis=20
effectively rule the roost.
One is familiar with the saffron establishment's charge that pre-BJP=20
political regimes have always catered to Muslim sentiment. But there=20
are numerous examples of how they have also pandered to Hindu=20
prejudices. To cite just one, cow slaughter is banned in all states=20
except West Bengal and Kerala. In doing so, states have been=20
following the Directive Principles of the Constitution, which are=20
advisory, for instance Article 48 which states that "the slaughter of=20
cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle" should be=20
discouraged. Since it is also forbidden to move cattle between=20
states, Muslims and Christians, outside of the two states mentioned,=20
are in effect embargoed from partaking of an important item in their=20
diet.
The anomalies of Indian secularism are evident in the manner in which=20
the political spectrum is divided. In secular countries, only the far=20
right favours the interpenetration of religion and politics. But this=20
is an attitude that pervades all parties in India. The saffronites,=20
of course, have a Hindu majoritarian agenda. The Congress alternates=20
between appeasing Hindu and Muslim fundamentalism. And the left,=20
while excoriating the former, has a distinct soft spot for the latter.
For the Congress view on the place of religion in politics, take the=20
actions of Rajiv Gandhi's administration. In 1985 Shahbano, a=20
divorced Muslim woman, had filed for a pittance of Rs 179.20 per=20
month as maintenance costs from her husband, and the Supreme Court=20
had granted it to her. In the following year Rajiv Gandhi succumbed=20
to fundamentalist pressure overturned the Supreme Court and moved the=20
Muslim Women's Bill in the Lok Sabha, under which women like Shahbano=20
would no longer be entitled to maintenance. Subsequently, in the=20
run-up to Lok Sabha elections in 1989, Rajiv Gandhi gave in to the=20
VHP and permitted shilanyas before idols surreptitiously introduced=20
into the Babri Masjid.
One should entertain few illusions that secularism of this type can=20
forestall acts such as the eventual demolition of the Mosque in 1992.=20
Not for nothing can Vajpayee quip that besides him, Sonia Gandhi also=20
seeks the blessings of holy men like Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans,=20
who has only to threaten suicide before the prime minister depatches=20
an official emissary to formally receive shilas for the Ram temple.=20
One curse from a sant or a mahant, one imprecation from an imam, and=20
the politicians of India tremble.
A Narendra Modi egging on Gujarat rioters is as odious as an Imam=20
Bukhari proclaiming support for Osama bin Laden. Unfortunately, no=20
political party is in a position to take on both at the same time.=20
Since both majority and minority fundamentalism feed off each other,=20
it is pointless to take aim at one but remain silent about the other.=20
And someone in a majority in a particular locality or province may=20
well be in a minority in a neighbouring locality or province. To be=20
credible secularists need to maintain consistency - oppose=20
manifestations of saffron politics but equally, speak up for Hindus=20
purged from Kashmir. A refusal to do so vacates space for loony=20
saffronites to fill; it becomes that much harder to isolate them=20
politically.
One will know that secularism's day has arrived in India when a=20
secular party dares to take up the cause of a uniform civil code=20
applicable to all citizens. It is a shame that such matters as=20
marriage, divorce, succession, inheritance, adoption and property=20
rights should be determined by the religion one is born into. These=20
are matters of civil law not religion but there is little chance of=20
progress on these lines as long as one community destroys the places=20
of worship of another. Only the RSS is advocating something like a=20
uniform civil code today. But RSS double standards on the issue can=20
be exposed by tagging on to a campaign for a uniform civil code a=20
demand for an end to bans on cow slaughter, and that references to=20
the subject in the Directive Principles of the Constitution be=20
expunged.

____

#5.

Combat Law magazine

Dear friends,
It is a sweeping view that there is a gaping lack of a
common forum for all of us fighting against the
unresponsive state machinery in this country. In the
absence of such a forum, the state, taking advantage,
routinely looks down at human rights with indifference
and flouts them with impunity.
Combat Law provides a platform to express the
progressive viewpoint for those of us disturbed by the
miserable functioning of an opaque state. This effort
will help us to share experiences, exchange strategies
and gather strength. To take a collective look at the
state of human rights and ways to strengthen people=EDs
movements and national campaigns on human rights. To
push for policies and laws that we want and can use to
achieve and exercise our rights.
Combat Law will serve as a tool to know and campaign
for your rights as an individual and as part of a
community.

The profile:
The magazine publishes informative articles on legal
developments impacting human rights, environment and
equitable development. It highlights the major issues
arising out of the current trend of reckless
globalisation and privatisation. The focus is on
discriminated sections of society and their rights:
women, children, disabled, homeless & displaced,
labour, adivasis, dalits, HIV positive persons,
refugees, prisoners, religious minorities, sexuality
minorities, and movements for housing, health, food,
education, environment, freedom of press and media,
judicial reform and movements against state
repression, corruption, economic globalisation,
militarisation and nuclear weaponisation =D6the magazine
will regularly devote a section to each of these
issues.

Features - These will carry a description and analysis
of the following:
Court Watch (on the functioning of various courts),
Project Watch (upcoming projects and their impact),
Demolition Watch (the homeless and housing),
Bills/Ordinances (passed and planned), Judge Speak
(views of sitting and retired Judges), Judgements
(impacting rights and the recourses open to affected
people), Rights Watch (human rights news - national &
international), Creative Expressions & Book Reviews.
There will be more=D6Important Petitions, Debates,
Interviews, Conferences/ Meetings / Events and
Campaigns and about organisations working on Rights
issues
Your Support
We need your help to make this endeavour a success.
* Subscribe to the magazine.
* Send us information and contribute articles.
* Encourage others to subscribe and help us distribute
the magazine.
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Colin Gonsalves
Mihir Desai
For details visit the website or contact:The
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Ltd.
Engineer House, 4th Fl., 86 Bombay Samachar Marg,
Mumbai 400 023
Tel: 267 7385 / 267 6680 E-mail: editor@c...
Website:. www.combatlaw.org
--=20
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