[sacw] SACW | 25 July 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Thu, 25 Jul 2002 02:19:43 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire | 25 July 2002

>From South Asia Citizens Web:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

__________________________

#1. Pakistan - India: Crossing the borders of hatred as the Punjab=20
rattles past in a blur (Peter Popham)
#2. India: Hell is empty (Mukul Mangalik)
#3. India: Letter to The Election Commissioner of India (People's=20
Union for Civil Liberties, Baroda and Shanti Abhiyan)
#4. India: Petition To The Chief Election Commissioner of India by=20
Eminent Citizens of Gujarat
#5. USA: Demonstration in New York (26th July, 2002) to protest the=20
presence of Sadhvi Rithambara
#6. India: Booklet(s) on the burning of the Samarmati Express (Jyoti Punyan=
i)
#7. These murders take their toll on Kashmiri tolerance (Pankaj Mishra)

__________________________

#1.

The Independent (London)
29 June 2002

Crossing the borders of hatred as the Punjab rattles past in a blur=20
By Peter Popham in Delhi The Independent 29 June 2002

Unless you have the funds to take a giant dog's leg and go via the=20
Gulf, the only way to travel from India to Pakistan these days is=20
overland.

Progressively, the frail ties binding the dysfunctional siblings of=20
the subcontinent have been snipped away during the past six months of=20
tension.

The train service has gone, the darling of small-time smugglers and=20
venal customs clerks; gone is the luxury Delhi-Lahore bus,=20
inaugurated by India's Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, with=20
such high hopes three and a half years ago; and gone the brief,=20
painless flight between the same cities, with bland sandwiches doled=20
out by Pakistani cabin staff in headscarves, each sandwich with a=20
glac=E9 cherry or half an olive embedded in it as if shot from a gun.

India and Pakistan never got as far as linking their two capitals=20
with a direct flight - lack of traffic was the proffered explanation,=20
and probably the true one. But at least there were links, lines of=20
communication, flows of people back and forth. In the name of India's=20
"coercive diplomacy", all that has now been terminated.

The result, for the handful of people, including foreign=20
correspondents, who still insist on going from India to Pakistan or=20
vice-versa, is that the journey between the two capitals takes the=20
best part of a day. You could fly from Delhi to Tokyo in less time.=20
You could go from Delhi to London and be more than half way back.

The journey starts in Delhi soon after dawn. Fortunately - otherwise=20
the trek would take far longer - one of India's fastest trains, the=20
Shatabdi Express, travels twice daily from Delhi to Amritsar, the=20
holy city of the Sikhs, 12 miles (20km) from the border.

The Shatabdi is a new type of Indian train. It travels at 75mph=20
(120kph), and its "air-conditioned chair car", a rough Third World=20
cousin of an Inter-City coach, is chilled to a couple of degrees=20
above freezing. The cost to cover the 275 miles in the chair car is=20
735 rupees - only about =A310 but a fortune compared with India's=20
humbler trains. And to make up for charging so much, the stewards in=20
the pantry never stop feeding us throughout the journey, with mineral=20
water, crunchy snacks, biscuits, fried chicken, chapatti, rice, dal,=20
tea, ice cream, and more mineral water. This bounty is included in=20
the price of the ticket.

We are travelling through the Punjab. Through the thick,=20
amber-coloured double-glazing there is little to see of India's wheat=20
basket besides endless flat fields.

Amritsar is reached by lunchtime, and by then the privileged ones in=20
the chair car have already eaten enough to last them all day.=20
Amritsar, with its fabulous Golden Temple, would be a natural=20
sightseeing stop if the temperature outside were not 115F (51C). So=20
instead, I direct my spindly porter, who has hoisted my suitcase on=20
to his head, towards the taxi rank and head straight for Wagha.

The line partitioning Punjab into Muslim-majority and=20
non-Muslim-majority areas sliced in two the dead straight=20
Amritsar-Lahore road 55 years ago, and even today the artificiality=20
of the divide is obvious. But at Wagha they have made the best of a=20
bad job: they have put their heads together and turned their mutual=20
loathing into a show.

Every evening, as the border gates close, the 6ft guards on both=20
sides enact a ferocious, intricately choreographed ritual of stamping=20
and glaring and presenting arms, about-turning and stamping some=20
more. It's perhaps the only example of Indo-Pakistani co-operation to=20
have survived the past six months. The two countries have gone so far=20
as to build banks of concrete seating so their citizens can enjoy=20
this futile spectacle. When I cross in the heat of the afternoon,=20
however, the scene is torpid.

Bored NCOs yawn through the rituals of form-filling. Scruffy,=20
emaciated porters gouge the best baksheesh they can obtain. Nobody is=20
crossing here, nobody and nothing except an endless line of small,=20
stitched-up boxes, borne on the porters' heads: dried fruit from=20
Afghanistan, bound for Delhi.

Tramping the few hundred yards of asphalt, watching my luggage=20
relinquished by a red-coated scarecrow and picked up by his=20
green-coated doppelg=E4nger on the other side, I am into Pakistan and=20
boarding another crumbling taxi.

And immediately a big city feels close; the small-town mood of=20
Amritsar has gone. The traffic is several notches crazier. Small boys=20
plunge off bridges into the chocolate brown waters of a canal.=20
Donkeys stagger through the traffic, hauling huge loads of iron. The=20
first town is called Batanagar, named after its prominent Bata shoe=20
factory.

My destination in Lahore is the Daewoo Bus Station, where having put=20
my watch back half an hour (Pakistan is on summer time) I board the=20
eponymous Daewoo Bus, which traverses the almost unused=20
Lahore-Rawalpindi motorway in four hours. No food, fortunately, but=20
frequent servings of water and cola from an inscrutable young woman=20
in a headscarf. And headphones, so we can fully enjoy the brutal=20
Sylvester Stallone video on the TV.

I find myself seated next to an elderly gentleman in a starched=20
salwar kameez - a homoeopathic doctor and sitar player it turns out,=20
on his way to play in honour of the men behind Pakistan's recent=20
missile tests.

Our conversation drifts round to politics. "Ah, Kashmir!" he sighs.=20
"I wish we could forget about Kashmir. Let them sort out their own=20
destiny! We Pakistanis have enough problems of our own."

____

#2.

The Hindustan Times (New Delhi)
25 July 2002

Hell is empty
Mukul Mangalik

More and more people, young and old, of different skin colours and=20
cuts of face, believers and non-believers, speaking as many different=20
languages as this country has to offer, need to get on to trains=20
heading for Gujarat.

We should go alone or in groups, whenever we can, for as little or=20
great a while as possible, again and again, over at least the next=20
one year.

Udit, Ditee, Nakul and Arindam, students from Delhi University,=20
worked with Anandi in the relief camps at Halol and Godhra. They=20
played with kids, helped them paint, took classes with them,=20
conducted need-assessment surveys for adults and children and helped=20
organise marriages between men and women from different camps,=20
marriages which could wait no more for the return of an ever elusive=20
'normalcy'. They travelled to the neighbouring village, Boru, and=20
listened to stories from the people of Delol, where 37 Muslims were=20
massacred.

The camps at Halol and Godhra were sheltering hundreds of people from=20
villages such as these in the Panchmahals, where death had ruled,=20
homes, crops and livestock had been plundered and devastated, and the=20
air was thick with threats of more murder and mayhem should Muslim=20
survivors attempt a return. In some cases they were being invited=20
back provided they forget and forgive and surrender their iman, their=20
Muslimness.

Arindam, too, escaped the potential wrath of young Bajrang Dal goons=20
lurking in the alleys of Godhra one night, whereupon Udit, a=20
god-fearing, spirit-scared, janeyu-wearing Brahmin lad from Assam,=20
sick of it all, freed his torso of the sacred thread and chucked it=20
in the garbage. It was his way of "registering a resounding silent=20
protest".

It was great seeing the four of them at work, and the affection and=20
regard that they had come to command among camp inmates without=20
themselves resorting to convenient populism. Arindam spoke of how he=20
gently and successfully challenged ideas of vengeful, retaliatory=20
communalism which he encountered among some young male Muslim=20
survivors of this pogrom.

Talking, discussing issues threadbare, is difficult and dangerous=20
work that is being undertaken by concerned citizens and activists all=20
over Gujarat. Anandi in the Panchmahals and Action-Aid's aman-pathiks=20
in Ahmedabad are trying, among other things, to encourage Hindus and=20
Muslims to re-invent their neighbourhoods by dialoguing with each=20
other and crossing communal 'borders' that have come to divide=20
Ahmedabad, for instance, since the late Sixties. Drops in the ocean,=20
stray strands of hope, these efforts need huge shots of imaginative=20
and energetic help, if Ahmedabad, Gujarat and, I dare say, large=20
parts of the rest of this country are not to go the way of Northern=20
Ireland, Beirut and Palestine.

Seven of us, six students and I, stayed in Ahmedabad between May 5=20
and 12 while the other four were in the Panchmahals. After four days=20
of calm, the dhamaal kept its date with the city, breaking out on=20
Sunday, May 5, like it had on every other Sunday during the past few=20
weeks since the toofaan got going, at exactly 2 pm, "after people had=20
had a good night's rest, an easy morning, a good lunch and then set=20
out for 'time-pass', looting, burning and killing". A three-wheeler=20
driver, a Hindu, stated the last bit rather matter-of-factly about=20
some of his co-religionists.

During the week that we were in Ahmedabad, people, mainly Muslim=20
labourers, venturing out fearfully to try and earn a day's wages,=20
were being burnt alive, hacked to death, their skulls smashed to=20
bloody pulp. Muslim bastis on the periphery of the old city were=20
torched and firemen had struck work for a couple of days because some=20
of them had been beaten up in Khaadia, a den of the Hindu Right-wing=20
in the heart of the old city.

Nobody who has ever stepped by and paused to look at these and so=20
many other cadavers of Muslim life and work in Ahmedabad is likely to=20
disbelieve stories about Kausar Bano and Naroda Patiya, Ehsan Jaffrey=20
and the Gulbarg Society, the enormous trishul and sword-wielding,=20
lust-filled tolas of Bajrang Dal and VHP men ruling the streets of=20
Ahmedabad, out to rape, maim and teach Muslims the lesson of their=20
lives, put them in their place as unequal beings in Gujarat's 'Hindu=20
Rashtra'.

I was really glad Divya and Emma were there because in camps the=20
women mobbed them and spoke. In the midst of it all, Emma would steal=20
a grimace at some children, and invariably, before they knew it,=20
children were coming out of the woodwork as it were, had displaced=20
the women, and were at play with Emma and Divya, squealing and=20
laughing with abandon. Alberuni, who has a way of attracting kids to=20
himself, remained in a supporting role while Banajit, thin and tall,=20
would look on, rubbing his chin, flashing the odd smile, the loss of=20
his spectacles hardly seeming to matter.

During playtime, the simple impromptu games that were played were=20
watched and enjoyed by almost all camp inmates. Divya and Emma would=20
suddenly become like performers of old, the madaari or the jaadugar=20
enchanting children not with the khel they performed for them, but=20
with the khel they played with them. For that precious slice of time=20
when everyone played, I think everyone forgot where we were, forgot=20
all that can never really be forgotten, all that must never be=20
forgotten. The vast majority of non-Muslim, largely Hindu Gujaratis=20
couldn't give a damn, at least right now, for the fate of Gujarati=20
Muslims.

With each passing day we felt increasingly unsafe and oppressed=20
living and walking in 'safe Hindu' Ahmedabad, simply because we were=20
not 'Hindu' enough for the Navrangpura-Naranpura Ahmedabadis. We were=20
visiting relief camps for Muslims and meeting with non-camp Muslims,=20
labouring people, Hindus too (not that this would redeem us in the=20
eyes of the west-side Ahmedabadis), many of them migrants from=20
eastern UP and Rajasthan, whose work and lives had spun down black=20
holes. We were meeting with families such as the Jawhers, who were=20
living in Paldi, professional and secular to the core, dazed, shocked=20
and sad at feeling forced to take refuge among people as different to=20
them as heaven from hell, but people who happened to be of their=20
religious kind.

Fifteen minutes before we boarded the Ashram Express for Delhi on May=20
12, I remember bursting the dam, showering unstoppable, intense=20
verbiage, letting off steam, and feeling much better. The insecurity=20
must have persisted like a bad hangover because I was actually=20
relieved to see men of the Rajasthan police board our compartment=20
once we'd crossed the border out of Gujarat. I felt we were in 'safe'=20
hands, perhaps one of the few times I've felt safe with the police.

In January 2000, a few months after the Kargil war and immediately=20
after the Kandahar hijack, when relations between India and Pakistan=20
were at their worst in many years, I travelled with students into=20
Pakistan. Despite the paranoia before the trip, all of us felt at=20
ease there. This is certainly not something that any of us can say=20
about our trip to Gujarat.

(To be continued)

The writer is a historian and filmmaker

_____

#3.

People's Union for Civil Liberties, Baroda and Shanti Abhiyan
13, Pratap Kunj Society, Karelibaug, Vadodara - 390 018
Phone : 464210, 462328 Fax No: 340223
Email: chinu@w..., rohit_trupti@y...
KRIT BHATT : 464210, ROHIT -TRUPTI : 334461

MOST URGENT

Date: 22nd July 2002

To,
The Election Commissioner
New Delhi

Sub : Election in Gujarat.

Sir,
We the activists of PUCL-Vadodara and Vadodara Shanti Abhiyan=20
urge the Election Commission to consider this submission for=20
immediate action.
We demand that state assembly election in Gujarat must not be=20
held early, but as scheduled in Feb-March 2003 only.
State Chief Minister Narendra Modi has rushed to dissolve=20
state assembly to pressurise election commission for early Polls in=20
the state with malafied political intentions. This directly violates=20
the democratic rights of the people for a fair and free elections, as=20
state is still not out of the ominous hang-over of recent violence.
We appeal that following points be taken into consideration=20
before deciding the schedule of the elections in the state.
It is common knowledge that Narendra Modi's government is implicated=20
in the violence that has engulfed Gujarat since February 27, 2002.=20
However it is only now that Modi has announced his decision to=20
dissolve the Assembly. His decision to hold elections and seek the=20
mandate of the people is claimed to be on moral grounds, to vindicate=20
his government=EDs position during the violence. If that was the case,=20
then he should surely have resigned when the NHRC and many other=20
bodies indicted his government and held him responsible for the=20
carnage. However , responsibility for actions can only be decided in=20
a court of law and not through an electoral mandate. The fact that he=20
has chosen to resign only at this point proves that he has done so=20
only with an idea to save his party in power, desperately as any more=20
delay may expose his involvement in violence all the more.
An abnormal situation now prevails in Gujarat, where thousands of=20
people continue to live in relief camps in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Kheda,=20
Dahod and Panchmahals still waiting to be rehabilitated. Apart from=20
this, several people continue to reside with relatives and even those=20
who have returned experience great insecurity. In the absence of=20
normalcy, we believe that elections should not be held at least=20
before February 2003.
Moreover, we believe the following steps should be taken to ensure=20
free and fair elections:

1. Modi's government should not continue as caretaker government=20
as NHRC and other bodies have indicted it for inaction/ineffective=20
action and willful connivance during the violence.
2. S. S. Bhandhari, Governor of Gujarat, who has a long=20
association with the RSS is subject to doubts about his objectivity=20
and impartiality hence he must be replaced.

3. President's rule should be imposed to ensure smooth and fair=20
functioning of the electoral process, with a competent bureaucrat to=20
head the administration known for total objectivity.
4. Those making public statements, whether during the violence=20
or after, which cause disaffection and enmity between communities=20
should be debarred from contesting election.
We urge the Election Commission to make its own assessment, keeping=20
the current situation in mind and assure the people, who nurse=20
grievances and doubts about the present rulers, can hope for fair and=20
free election.

[KIRIT BHATT]
PRESIDENT
PEOPLE'S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES, VADODARA

_____

#4.

FOLLOWING PETITION WAS SENT TO THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER ON=20
JULY 20" BY EMINENT CITIZENS OF GUJARAT
---------
Dear Mr. Lyngdoh,
The 10th Gujarat Assembly is finally getting dissolved. It is for=20
the Election Commission to decide now the date of the forthcoming=20
elections and we the concerned citizens feel that the election should=20
not be held a day earlier than the schedule.

The undersigned are all apolitical. We have no party and no personal=20
& political ambitions. However we feel that if the elections are held=20
now, they would be far from free and fair. Our reasons are as follows:

1. 1 crore voters (36% of the total Gujarat voters) are yet to=20
receive identity cards. If Election Commission insists on identity=20
cards so that the franchise cannot be exercised without it, this=20
one-third voters would loose their right to vote. This cannot be=20
allowed in the larger interest of the democracy.

2. 3 lacs affected Gujaratis are still staying away from their=20
homes-be it in relief camps or with the friends and relatives. The=20
Progress of rehabilitation and distribution of compensation has been=20
less than satisfactory. The hasty closure of relief camps does not=20
denote the return of normalcy as claimed by the State government and=20
an atmosphere of fear and distrust continues to prevail, with certain=20
sections of the local media playing an unhelpful role. This is=20
certainly far from conducive to free and fair elections.

3. 2 District Panchayats and 84 local municipalities are deprived of=20
elections though these were due. The Gujarat government has postponed=20
them four times and the reason given for this is that the atmosphere=20
is not conducive. If these local elections cannot be held how can one=20
hold them for the Legislative Assembly in the same area.

4. The monsoon is far from normal. In some parts, the farmers are yet=20
to start sowing because of the lack of rains. 69% of the total=20
cultivable land has received some rain but they are also facing an=20
acute shortage of water and the overall situation in the State is=20
near a drought. The State government has already started sending=20
tankers for drinking water to many areas. Power shortage is also=20
bothering agriculturists. How can these people be involved in the=20
election process?

5. The Chief Minister (now a Caretaker) is yet to take the=20
Investigation and Enquiry Commission seriously. It is therefore felt=20
that justice may be denied or delayed beyond a reasonable period to=20
the affected community in the State.

In these circumstances, we do not think that the present government,=20
being a Caretaker Government in charge of administration, can conduct=20
free and fair elections.

It is therefore essential that the Centre takes over the=20
administration for the next Assembly Elections.

The very fact that the Chief Minister has reason to request the=20
Governor to prepone the Assembly Elections means that he is unable to=20
perform his constitutional duties and maintain law and order, which=20
is his prime responsibility.

This admission alone points to the necessity of his quitting=20
otherwise a large number of Gujarat's voters will loose their right=20
in the absence of law and order by booth capturing and other illegal=20
means which pollute the election process.

It is therefore felt that till the Election Commission is satisfied,=20
the election process in Gujarat should not commence.

We request the Commission to follow the 1995 example of the Kashmir=20
Legislative Assembly and visit Gujarat, give an audience to concerned=20
citizens, social activists, NGOs and political parties and only then=20
have a conclusion about the prevailing situation.

Sincerely

Mrinalini Sarabhai-Sarvodaya International
Mallika Sarabhai-Darpana Academy of Performing Arts
Digant Oza-Satyajeet Trust, Editor JALSEVA
Indukumar Jani-Gujarat Khet Mazdoor Parishad
Sukhdev Patel-President JANPATH
Sudarshan Iyengar-GIDR
Chunibhai Vaidya-Lok Samiti
Sridhar Iyengar-Prakriti
Kirti Shah-Ahmedabad Study Action Group
Radha Sridhar-Prakriti
Batuk Vora-Jan Chetna Foundation
Gautam Thakar-PUCL
M.S. Jowhar-SPRAT
Dr. Raghu Rangarajan-Gujarat Relief Fund
Dilip Ranpura-Writor & Colmnist
Pro. Harshad Desai-Educationist
Yashvant Mehta-Writor & Colmnist

_____

#5.

All are invited to a demonstration in New York city at 6:30 on Friday=20
evening (26th July, 2002) to protest the presence in New York of=20
Sadhvi Rithambara, a leading figure of Sangh Parivar (fountainhead of=20
the Hindu right) from India; whose members organised the recent anti=20
muslim pogroms in Gujarat.
Sadhvi Rithambara is infamous for her venomous speeches inciting=20
violence against Muslims and other minorities in India, and she was=20
one of the key leaders in the campaign that led to the destruction of=20
the Babri Mosque in Dec 1992.

Please note, The Ganesh Temple (143-09 Holly Ave) in Flushing, NY is=20
hosting a reception for Sadhvi Rithambra on July 26th at 7:30 PM.=20
Tickets to attend the reception are priced at $50, $100, $500 and=20
$1000 (apparently for the grand patrons).

The following organisations and individuals are the sponsors and=20
organisers of her trip to the US:

1) Satya Narayan Mandir
2) Indian American Community
3) Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America
4) Gujarati Samaj of New York, Inc.
5) Hindu Center
6) Overseas Sindhu Sabha -
7) Ved Mandir
8) Hindu Temple Society of North America -
9) Indian American Intellectuals Forum
10) Sindhi Circle
11) Gita Mandir
12) Sadhu Vaswani Center, New Jersey
13) Shiv Shakti Temple, Newark

For further information please do not hesitate to call the following
persons:
N. Lalchandani (718) 271-4737
Dr. Mukund Mody (718) 273-1157
Om Baweja (212) 967-7878
Vipin Mahajan (718) 263-1924
Kenny Lakhani (718) 699-6752
Ram Suchdev (718) 592-9310
Janak Mulani (718) 937-4234
Jagdish Sewhani (516) 944-9082
Shiv Thapar (973) 824-7373
Bhim Kalyandasani (516) 369-0368
Lal Motwani (718) 470-1026
Narain Kataria (718) 478-5735

The Venue is: The Ganesh Temple is at 143-09 Holly Ave in Flushing in=20
Queens. Take the
number 7 train to Main Street Flushing, and walk along Kissena Blvd to Holl=
y
Ave.

Join secular Indians who speak up against Hindu supremacists and=20
their supporters in the US trying to rip India apart. Bring your=20
family and friends. Dont remain deaf and dumb to doings of Hindu=20
right in your backyard.!

_____

#6.

Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 16:45:08 +0530
From: Jyoti Punwani <jyopun@v...>

friends-- i need info re bookstores around the country [India] which=20
keep activists' reports.
i am interested in bookstores willing to sell copies of a booklet on=20
Godhra written by me and published by Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Mumbai,=20
in English, Hindi & Marathi.
The English one, titled `Dateline: Godhra' costs Rs 25.
Hindi: titled: `Godhra: Farvari 27, 2002' costs Rs 10
Marathi, titled `Godhrachi Kahani' costs Rs 10.

The booklet reports on the burning of the Samarmati Express, talks to=20
survivors and famlies of those who died in the train, residents of=20
Godhra both Hindu and Muslim, as well as eye-witnesses present at=20
Godhra station on feb 27 morning. It also speaks to local authorities=20
and Hindu and Muslim leaders.
We are willing to pay commission the bookstore charges.

_____

#7.

The Guardian
Monday July 22, 2002

These murders take their toll on Kashmiri tolerance

Pankaj Mishra: how can the region's Muslims ever trust the Indian governmen=
t?

On March 20 2000, a few hours before Bill Clinton arrived on his=20
first official visit to India, unidentified gunmen wearing Indian=20
army fatigues shot dead 35 Sikh civilians in the Kashmiri village of=20
Chitti-singhpura. The Hindu nationalists who dominate India's central=20
government blamed Pakistan-based Muslim militants. A day after=20
Clinton's departure, the Indian government announced that the=20
Pakistani murderers of the Sikhs had been killed in a military=20
operation in a remote hilly village of Kashmir called Panchalthan.=20
The next day, the Indian newspapers carried black and white=20
photographs issued by the government of the partially charred bodies=20
in Indian army fatigues.

The Pakistanis were quickly buried; so it seemed was the whole=20
matter. But a few days later some Kashmiri villagers discovered, near=20
the graves of the five alleged terrorists, the personal effects of=20
several of their relatives who had been kidnapped from their homes=20
soon after the killing of the Sikhs. Their demand that the corpses be=20
exhumed and identified was initially rejected by Farooq Abdullah, the=20
chief minister of India-ruled Kashmir, and an ally of the Hindu=20
nationalists. Protests and demonstrations erupted in the region.=20
Abdullah finally ordered a public exhuming after the police fired=20
upon and killed nine people in a procession of Kashmiri villagers=20
walking to a government office to press their demands.

The faces on the exhumed corpses were found badly mutilated. But the=20
local villagers had little trouble in identifying them. At that=20
moment it seemed clear that Indian security officials had kidnapped=20
and killed five Kashmiri civilians. But Dr Abdullah refused to charge=20
anyone with murder until DNA samples taken from the dead men were=20
matched with those of their supposed relatives.

The turnover of atrocities is brisk in Kashmir. The DNA tests seemed=20
to have been forgotten until March this year, when the Times of=20
India, India's leading newspaper, revealed their results. Apparently,=20
the results had been officially sent to Kashmir the year before by a=20
laboratory in Hyderabad but were sup-pressed by the local government,=20
because they exposed a clumsy attempt by Indian officials to fudge=20
the samples taken from the relatives of the five murdered men.

This dismal story of state violence and deception is by no means=20
unusual in Kashmir. Two weeks ago, a report in the Indian Express=20
described how three so-called "militant infiltrators" who had been=20
killed at the Kashmir border by Indian soldiers were local civilians.=20
Such accounts show that while it is important for General Musharraf=20
to end all Pakistani sponsorship of violence in India, the Hindu=20
nationalist government of India has to do a lot more to earn the=20
trust of the majority of Muslims who live in the valley of Kashmir.

India can draw some comfort from the fact that most Kashmiri Muslims=20
distrust Pakistan no less than they dislike the hundreds of thousands=20
of Indian soldiers who make the valley of Kashmir the most heavily=20
militarised place in the world. Kashmiris cherish the traditionally=20
distinct cultural identity of the valley, where folk Hinduism has=20
long mingled with Sufi Islam. Mahatma Gandhi, during the bloody=20
partition of India in 1947, had praised Kashmiris for holding on to=20
their tradition of tolerant multiculturalism: a tradition only=20
recently undermined by the modern nationalist ideologies of India and=20
Pakistan.

In both 1948 and 1965, Pakistani adventurers failed to incite=20
Kashmiri Muslims into an anti-India rebellion. It was in the late=20
1980s and early 90s that the underreported brutalities of Indian rule=20
and the lack of international sympathy made many Kashmiri Muslims=20
look to Pakistan for succour. Islamist army officers in Pakistan=20
provided money, arms and training to young Kashmiri men. Ordinary=20
Kashmiris offered shelter and sympathy to Pakistan-backed militants.=20
Tens of thousands of Muslim mourners once attended the funerals in=20
Kashmir of Pakistani militants killed by Indian security forces. Few=20
Kashmiris could have known then that they were being enlisted into a=20
Pakistani Islamist fantasy of wresting Kashmir from India and seizing=20
power in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Kashmiri Muslims grew wary of Pakistan once Pakistani militants who=20
wished to co-opt Kashmir into Pakistan began to steadily sideline,=20
even kill, Kashmiris fighting for a state independent of both India=20
and Pakistan. Kashmiris also resented the restrictions on women,=20
among other fundamentalist ideas, that many of the Pakistani=20
militants tried to impose by fatwa upon them.

They would probably be very happy to be free of the fanatics from=20
Pakistan. But they are unlikely to give up their own, overwhelmingly=20
indigenous, struggle against Indian rule. It is not clear how the=20
Hindu nationalists will respond. A few weeks ago, they saw their=20
shrewdly calibrated threat of attacking Pakistan work very well. Not=20
many people in India believed that they would go to war. Their=20
rhetoric was largely aimed at western governments; and it was in line=20
with the new doctrine underpinning the ongoing "war on terrorism":=20
that nations or governments that encourage or harbour terrorists=20
invite violent retaliation.

The US and the EU forced Musharraf to act to prevent infiltration of=20
militants across the border with India. But there are reportedly=20
already more than 2,500 militants in the valley of Kashmir. The=20
killing last week of 27 civilians in Jammu shows that violence in=20
Kashmir won't cease any time soon. And Musharraf now looks=20
increasingly vulnerable to the Islamists who see him as an agent of=20
Amer ica; and doubts about his ability to control militant groups in=20
Pakistan have grown.

In any case, the Indian government has to show that it is interested=20
in doing more about peace in Kashmir than just isolating or=20
destabilising Pakistan. Apart from scaling back its military build-up=20
on the border and within the valley, it has to open a dialogue not=20
just with Pakistan but also with the alienated majority of Kashmiri=20
Muslims. Otherwise, the elections planned in Kashmir in October will=20
seem staged for the benefit of western audiences.

However, winning over Kashmiri Muslims doesn't seem a high priority=20
for the Hindu nationalists who have long expressed a frank=20
ideological animosity towards Muslims and Islam in general -=20
something underlined in the Human Rights Watch report on the=20
government-assisted massacre in March this year of over 1,000 Muslims=20
in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

The question raised most often during the weeks of hectic western=20
diplomacy, when a catastrophic war in south Asia seemed imminent, was=20
whether India can trust Pakistan, or vice versa. Perhaps, not. But=20
the bigger question is how can Kashmiri Muslims learn to trust a=20
government which often seems to hold on to their land only through=20
brute military force - a question that, war or no war, the Hindu=20
nationalists will have to answer persuasively.

Pankaj Mishra is the author of The Romantics (Picador).

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

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996.
To 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.
\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|=
//\\|//|//\\|//