[sacw] SACW #2 | 1 August 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire #2 | 1 August 2002

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

__________________________

#1. Godhra: The Gambit and The Grid (I.K.Shukla)
#2. A Conference on Human rights and Minorities in India (London,=20
August 15th, 2002)
#3.India: Abnormal Normality (Teesta Setalvad)
#4. The Rise of Fundamentalism in South Asia (S. R. Mahdi)
#5. Rehabilitation Before Polls, Cry Riot Victims (Basant Rawat)
#6. Kashmiris Caught in Cross-Fire (Paul Watson)

__________________________

#1.

GODHRA: THE GAMBIT AND THE GRID
I.K.Shukla

In view of the notorious Bangalore fatwa (Muslims at the mercy of=20
Hindu goodwill), and the slew of threats most recently issued, it is=20
pertinent to scrutinize the frothy imprecations and foul incivilities=20
mouthed by the saffronites which would attract the charge of sedition=20
in any nation where law and order had not woefully and wholly=20
collapsed. Wherever there is a Godhra, there will be a Gujarat=20
(Togadia). Muslims will have to live in refugee camps in India, as in=20
Gujarat (Singhal). This is the core of their plaints and prohibitions=20
against =93foreigners=94, even though their acolytes and apologists would=20
resort to bleating that these statements are =93torn out of context=94.=20
This is too tattered a trick, and would not avail. As a collective of=20
extremists they have neither the need nor the ability to conceal=20
their ideological pathology.

It is not only the forensic findings on Godhra blaze and the=20
resultant horror that upset the apple cart of the saffronazi=20
calculations of a pogrom preplanned, but several other pieces of a=20
puzzle that have fallen in place to show the Hindu Taliban long=20
mired in a swamp of sin, doped by an addiction to savagery. The panic=20
and desperation that haunts them at the prospect of losing power is=20
being drowned out by their cantankerous cacophony and fervid=20
stridency. The latest is from Advani, the virtual PM (prime=20
moonstruck): Fair elections in Gujarat can be held only under Modi.=20
Translation: Only a fox can guard the chicken coop. Or, the chickens=20
feel most secure only with a fox at the door.

BJP, perched none too comfortably on the precarious plank of=20
polarization, likes to appear sure of its rightful return to power in=20
the wake of ethnic atrocities in Gujarat. Hence its importuning for a=20
snap poll. The =93laboratory of Hindu Rashtra=94 is in an indecent hurry=20
to translate its brutal series of barbaric =93experiments=94 into an=20
expedient win. This would ensure exculpation and immunity, with a=20
mandate for still bloodier mayhem and more massive genocide.

The instructional meeting on the eve of this long prepared carnage=20
that burst over Gujarat on Feb.28 was addressed by Modi, the CM Nero=20
of the hapless state. Politics was in command, his advisory was=20
absolute, and his directives were dire. The state machinery and its=20
operators were, by and large, acquiescently, if not ardently, pledged=20
to be at the disposal of the exterminators and executioners,=20
euphemistically called the =93elected representatives of people=94, and=20
in common parlance, professional thugs turned politicos.

The methodically perfect, protracted, large, and lethal preparations=20
for the carnage involved huge sums of money, computer printouts of=20
addresses of Muslim homes and shops, gas cylinders, petrol, kerosene,=20
firearms, and ammunition, sophisticated explosives, besides iron=20
rods, hoses, bulldozers, swords, and trishuls. These were collected=20
long in advance and secreted strategically, thanks to the bounty of=20
resources at the command of Hindutva sty and the willfully collusive=20
slumber of the administrative machinery. The foreign money, hawala=20
mode, as ever, played a sizeably bloody role - all of it swindled in=20
the name of =93dharam ka kam=94, =93Hindu unity=94, =93Garva se kaho hum Hi=
ndu=20
hain=94, and =93Ram Mandir=94, of course.

The largest contingent of lumpen vandals going to Ayodhya in a=20
continual stream, drafted as =93Ramsewaks=94, has been from Gujarat,=20
their work as casual laborers in the demolition of the Babri Mosque=20
certifying their usefulness as hired hackers and wage slaves. On one=20
hand their rootlessness vis-a-vis Ayodhya and its environs gave them=20
a vulgar assurance of immoral impunity, and on the other they found=20
their criminal deeds and tendencies anointed and rewarded by their=20
atavistic paymasters sporting saffron. This forged and nurtured in=20
Gujarat, as elsewhere, a permanent class of criminals who could be=20
deployed at cue for purposes heinously anti-social and unforgivably=20
anti-national.

The demolition of Babri heralded with a trumpet (to the sound of=20
conch shells, in fact) the demolition of India =96 of its=20
constitutional democracy, its millennial ethos of multichrome=20
culture, its hoary history of accommodating divergent streams of=20
thought, its multilayered heritage enriched by contributions of a=20
variety of people through the eons gone by. Man in his fullness=20
could stand tall and contribute his very best through his vision and=20
creation for the benefit of us all, India embodied this principle.=20
This uniqueness too was demolished on 10 Dec.1992 in Ayodhya, and by=20
fake Hindus.

Godhra happening as a consequence of the hired boors and hoods=20
running wild and misbehaving obnoxiously with passengers of Sabarmati=20
Express over several months unrestrained, unreprimanded, is being=20
dismissed as too jejune an excuse and too glib an explanation.=20
(Instead of being punished for harassing and humiliating passengers=20
of the minority community, they were being lauded and monetarily=20
rewarded by the saffronite mobsters for prefacing and perpetrating=20
their foul crimes with the obscene shrieks of Jai Shri Ram.)

The orchestrated misconduct was a calculated gambit at trying the=20
patience of the sufferers and provoking their remonstrance after=20
stretching their endurance to the limits. This manufactured pretext=20
would be perfectly opportune to unleash the genocide - long planned,=20
well prepared, but least suspected by its marked victims as to its=20
viciousness and virulence - on a people made wholly defenseless by=20
various measures in advance. For years in a row Gujarat was flooded=20
with booklets on how to commit crimes like arson, rape and murder and=20
not get caught in the net of the law. The exhortation was for here=20
and now, not for any indefinite time and unknown place. The targets=20
and the terrain were as well determined as the timing. Godhra fit the=20
bill of an anticipated response which could be manipulated and=20
magnified in the service of the plighted agenda of ethnic cleansing.

Gujarat was turned into Godhra, an enlarged and extended Godhra; so=20
will be Bharat, the Hindu Rashtra. Togadia none too subtly hinted,=20
Godhras will mushroom, as and when needed by the saffros to blanket=20
all of India. Godhra was, in epic terms, the Laakshaagrih prototype=20
of our day, or the template of genocidal eruption of Bharat in the=20
offing, and in historical terms, the saffron Reichstag. The fascist=20
ideology to which Hindutva is committed remains bogged in a=20
degenerate ethics and a discredited eugenics. Innocents have always=20
been needed as guinea pigs (Reichstag) and votive offerings (Vaidiki=20
himsa himsa na bhawati=3D Vedic violence is not violence, pace the=20
saffros).

Let us ponder: Why has sumptuous compensation money been paid by the=20
powers that be to the Godhra victims=92 families so swiftly and so=20
surreptitiously? Why are the victims=92 names not being made public?=20
Among the S-6 bogey=92s victims, were there a few Muslims too? These=20
are just a few of the raft of damning questions over which Hindutva=20
honchos have gone studiedly dumb. As shown by various investigators,=20
it was impossible to douse the compartment from outside, the height=20
of the bogey and the heap of broken stones along the tracks rendering=20
the monstrosity superhuman and mythical. The real criminals escaped,=20
as planned. With whose help? What was the role of the second alarm=20
chain?

The intransigence of New Delhi in denying permission to Amnesty=20
International team from the UK to visit Gujarat for an on the spot=20
investigation is indicative of the hideousness of the horror on=20
ground as also of the funk the saffronazis are in. In tandem with its=20
denial of visas to British Labor Party MPs, this goes only to prove=20
that Hindutva Taliban have a lot to hide, a lot to bury, a lot to=20
wash, a lot to bulldoze in Gujarat before it can be opened to the=20
view of any civilized person or organization.

No wonder this compulsion to conceal and cover up necessitates the=20
expulsion of Al Jazeera correspondent, the harassment of BBC=20
correspondent Perry, the mauling of journalists in Sabarmati Ashram=20
when Mallika Sarabhai and Medha Patkar visited there, the frame-up of=20
(journalists of) Tehelka.com in bogus and frivolous cases, the=20
illicit and vindictive incarceration of Shankar Sharma and his wife,=20
its financiers, and the highhanded harassment of other papers and=20
journalists and writers for not falling in lockstep with the zombie=20
clan of hacks and flacks.

Peace activists and relief workers have been hurt and hounded in=20
Gujarat at the hands of Hindu fascists. The experience and testimony=20
of outfits like Prashant (Bombay), Citizens=92 Initiative (Ahmedabad),=20
and Sahmat (Delhi), to name just a few, are representative guides in=20
the matter. Victims returning to their charred homes are being=20
killed, compelled to convert, force to withdraw the FIRs, and chased=20
out. This again proves that economic destruction and despoliation of=20
Muslims was a project that could not be postponed any longer if the=20
credibility of Hindutva was not to frazzle.

It is in this climate of terror and intimidation, that Press freedom,=20
so essential to a functioning democracy, is reduced to just an empty=20
platitude and a forgotten maxim on paper. Those defying this regimen=20
of coercion are maligned and ascribed motives (Star TV and major=20
metro media). It is in such state-sponsored atmosphere of vicious=20
violence that vernacular rags like Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar can=20
make their ghoulish greed turn into a mountain of moola. It is=20
with such means, and with these methods, that Gujarat was handed over=20
to the ghost of Godse, cast in his image, branded with his name.
Gujarat also proved how mean the lumpen bourgeoisie can be.

Godhra was a gamble devilishly conceived and well played out, and it=20
paid off noxiously well. Godhra is a game plan dictated by Satan that=20
would drench India in blood, scorch it in fire, send up its freedom=20
in smoke, and vaporize its being. Godhra will multiply through the=20
desperate exertions of saffronazis, as explicitly threatened. They=20
have asserted it raucously and drummed it repeatedly. Through a=20
ghastly grid of nationwide sweep and sprawl, Godhras will be dotting=20
the land trailing mega death and massive devastation, and India would=20
be turned into a pitiable Gujarat. Godhra template will undo India=20
as it undid Gujarat - India will be irretrievably unraveled.

Godhra was a contrived and convoluted trigger. Gujarat was long=20
afire, smoking subterraneanly and smoldering suffocatingly. Godhra,=20
to be serviceable to Hindutva, could not be put off. Is it not=20
curious that it witnessed no upheaval of massacre and marauding while=20
the major distant centres of Hindutva, - Ahmedabad, Vadodra and Panch=20
Mahals, - were breathing fire and spilling blood, selectively=20
torching alive only Muslims and their properties?

Gujarat carnage was not spontaneous by any stretch, by any spin. It=20
was a well crafted, well calibrated pogrom. Godhra was a home-spun=20
Kargil handily deployed to help BJP win and rule. Will the=20
rattlesnake of Hindu fascism be crushed and killed by India betimes,=20
or will India await being stung to death and crumble ignominiously=20
in a voluntary suicide?

The warnings and threats have come thundering and deafening. Are we awake?

29July02.

_____

#2.

INDIAN INDEPENDENCE? HEALING THE WOUNDS

A Conference on Human rights and Minorities in India

August 15th, 2002

Gandhi Hall, Indian YMCA
Fitzroy Square, London, WIT 6AQ

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Speakers include
Lord Desai
Sir Gulam Noon
John Dayal
Ram Narayan Kumar
Harsh Mander
Gopal Menon
Dr Prem Sharma

_____

#3.

THE TIMES OF INDIA
TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2002
EDITORIAL

Abnormal Normality

TEESTA SETALVAD
Chief minister Narendra Modi's gamble recently in pitching for=20
elections, on the plea that peace and normalcy reign in Gujarat, is a=20
challenge to India's time-tested principles of equal citizenship and=20
non-partisan governance.
The chief minister who speaks of seeking a people's mandate for the=20
restoration of Gujarat's pride has expressed no remorse over the loss=20
of innocent lives, has shown little concern for the loss of dignity=20
to over 1,20,000 persons and the destruction of Rs 5,000 crore worth=20
of private property, and has rejected the demand that riot-affected=20
victims from the worst-affected localities be provided alternative=20
resettlement sites.
For the first time in post-Independence India's history, the state's=20
partisan leanings were apparent when Mr Modi declared discriminatory=20
amounts of compensation for the victims of the Godhra arson and the=20
subsequent violence. Similarly, POTA was applied to the accused in=20
Godhra and charges under the Act dropped only after a volley of=20
protests.
Arguments of normality in general and the peaceful conclusion of the=20
Jagannath rath yatra on July 12 in particular have been touted by Mr=20
Modi and his compatriots to push for an early poll. The quality of=20
peace ensured on July 12 was not the natural peace that reigns after=20
immense tragedy when some remorse has been expressed or=20
reconciliation effected.
The homes of the minority community living en route were searched and=20
re-searched; dozens fled their homes certain of police firing in=20
impatient reprisal if they stayed on. The atmosphere in Ahmedabad=20
city, a few days before, when the mahant of a city temple found in=20
possession of arms was arrested by the Ahmedabad police was=20
illustrative of Gujarat's climate - cadres of trishul-wielding men=20
roamed the streets in trucks, in the heart of minority-dominated=20
areas.
Needless to say, this worked. Within two days, the police released=20
the mahant found in possession of arms. And peace reigned in and=20
normality returned to Ahmedabad. Peace has thus been coercively=20
achieved in the state. In April 2002, the Ahmedabad collector's=20
official figures for internally displaced persons because of the=20
violence for the city alone were 66,000 and for the rest of the=20
state, the administration admitted that 21,000 persons were=20
displaced. Unofficial figures are much higher.
For these persons ousted from their homes, it was a judicial=20
intervention alone (writ petition before the Gujarat high court by=20
six relief camps) that ensured the registration of the camps,=20
sufficient grain, medical facilities and drinking water from a=20
reluctant state in early April.
Despite repeated assurances to the high court that the state=20
government would not close down relief camps without adequate=20
rehabilitation, over two dozen affidavits filed by camp managers and=20
residents in a subsequent PIL filed in the HC reveal that from May 19=20
to June 15, in different parts of Ahmedabad and the state, 31 camps=20
were coercively made to shut down, often under threat of non- payment=20
of dues for rations or penal action.
The assurances made before the court, repeatedly by the government of=20
Gujarat, thus run contrary to the actions of the state administration=20
on the ground. As a result, though the government of Gujarat=20
recognises just 13,482 refugees in the state (all of them in=20
Ahmedabad) to whom foodgrains are provided, another 6,500 more=20
persons continue to live in other camps in Ahmedabad though they have=20
ceased to exist in official records. (Survey conducted for the PIL.)
Two thousand more persons who, similarly, do not exist as displaced=20
persons for the state, are even today located in camps in seven=20
places in the state. As a result of the Gujarat government's=20
reluctance to first acknowledge that refugees exist and thereafter=20
feeding and rehabilitating them, many have returned to compromised=20
existences.
In Mehsana district, the villages of Unjha and Raisan are out of=20
bounds for refugees as are Paliyar in Gandhinagar district ('Amne=20
Musal-manon nathin joyta - we do not want Muslims here' being the=20
refrain); refugees from Por in Gandhinagar have returned only to face=20
an economic boycott by the Patel-dominated village. Under such=20
circumstances, with no comprehensive official data on rehabilitation=20
efforts, with one crore Gujarati voters yet to receive voter=20
identification, what guarantee is there that the elections will=20
follow the textbook principles of fair and free?
Gujarat March 2002 has revealed levels of state complicity in=20
violence directed at a section of the population more serious than=20
the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984, or the anti-Muslim violence in=20
1992-93 in Mumbai. Every department of the state machinery was abused=20
in Gujarat. Cabinet ministers influenced police behaviour in the=20
matter of controlling violence by sitting in the state and city=20
control rooms.
Despite the fact that over 2,000 persons have lost their lives in=20
violence that does no Constitution-bound state within the Indian=20
Union proud, senior ministers at the Centre have awarded a=20
certificate of good governance to Mr Modi. Grounds enough for not=20
simply a serious reappraisal of Mr Modi's poll requisition but for a=20
rigorous scrutiny of the real state of affairs in Gujarat.
(The author is co-editor of 'Communalism Combat')

_____

#4.

--- SR Mahdi (310)514-2122 for:
Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic
India (CEPI)

The Rise of Fundamentalism in South Asia

Saturday, July 27, 2002: Huntington Beach, CA

Addressing a gathering of about 100 people,
including expatriates from all South Asian
countries in The Talbert Meeting Room of the
beautiful Huntington Beach Library, Lahore,
Pakistan born Swedish citizen Ishtiaq Ahmed,
Professor of
Political Science with an emphasis on State,
Nation, and Ethnicity in South Asia, at the
Stockholm University, narrated the stirring saga
of Ghadarites at the beginning of the last
century, here on the western coasts of the United
States and Canada, Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim
workers joined hands to start a movement for the
liberation of India from the yoke of British
Imperialism and to establish a free India where
equal rights would be enjoyed by all citizens
without any distinction. The very name of their
organization, the Ghadar Party, suggested that
they identified themselves with the 1857 uprising
against the British, a sort of first war of
independence. The bid was betrayed, but those
martyrs of 1857 became a source of inspiration
and patriotic pride.

At the beginning of the 21st century, almost a
century afterwards, he said, we should have been
meeting here to celebrate. What we find around
us is indeed most depressing. We have just about
escaped a nuclear war, but the most barbarous
acts of inhumanity took place just a few months
ago in which a hapless minority was subjected to
collective punishment for the crimes allegedly
committed by some extremists belonging to it.

=ECWhat type of thinking or mindset underpins the
two, and how does one understand fundamentalism?=EE

He said, =EBthe Ghadarite Babas were inspired by
the emancipatory ethos of western modernity, but
also experienced its double standards. The
racist ideology of those times conferred rights
and freedoms on the whites but excluded Asians,
Africans, and Native Americans.=ED

=EBThe current ideology of Fundamentalism, on the
other hand, practically rejects the emancipatory
aspects of modernity -- I have never seen the
respect for human rights, equality between the
sexes and so on figure in their programs.
Instead, fundamentalism seeks to make a virtue of
the racist legacy of modernity by privileging the
real and imaginary and I would say fictitious
achievements of their group, culture and so on
and thereby identifying themselves as the bearers
of all that is good and virtuous.=ED

=EBNaturally, when doing so, they develop political
doctrines, ideologies and so on that require the
backing of the state for implementation. One can
say that the fundamentalists proceed to capture
the State using both domestic issues as well as
activities in the neighboring countries as a
basis to advance their agendas.=ED

Author of several books, numerous articles, and a
regular Columnist for the Daily Times, Lahore,
Dr. Ahmed summarised the history of
fundamentalism in South Asian politics, beginning
with the Partition of India, through the Cold
War, the consolidation of fundamentalists with
the Saudi money and influence in Pakistan, the
establishment of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) with
help of diaspora money in India, the anti-modern
Iranian revolution, the Khalistan movement,
followed by the rise of militancy in Kashmir, and
so on, made the fundamentalists stronger in each
country. But the September 11, 2001 and the War
on Terrorism has indeed internationalized the
climate of intolerance and fear. Is it a green
light for attacks against minorities in South
Asia and the world?

=ECThe Gujarat carnage,=EE averred Dr. Ahmed, also
the Moderator of =EBThe Asiapeace Internet
Community=ED, =ECepitomizes the ultimate failure of
the politics of reason and the triumph of those
beastly impulses and urges which human beings
have been trying to tame since antiquity.=EE

Not all was gloomy, however. There were periods
of hope and vistas of possibilities of
reconciliation and peace =F1 like the India-
Pakistan cooperation soon after the early 2001
devastating earthquake in Gujarat, Vajpayee's bus
trip to Pakistan, Agra summit, and so on -- but
the fundamentalists in each country succeeded in
sabotaging them all.

What should be done?

=ECI think it is high time that we all strive for a
grand alliance of all peace loving, tolerant and
enlightened people. Hindu fundamentalism cannot
be isolated and defeated if Muslim fundamentalism
is not extinguished and vice versa. I think we
have to accept the fact of several states in
South Asia but not necessarily the fact of closed
borders. We have to distinguish between the
emancipatory aspects of modernity but take a
critical position on global capitalism. The
diaspora communities have to play their historic
role, which began with the pledge to make South
Asia a region of peace, communal harmony, and
equal rights.

The meeting started by statements from
spokespersons of the sponsoring organizations,
Prof I.K.Shukla for the Coalition for an
Egalitarian and Pluralistic India(CEPI-LA), and
Ishtiaq Chisti for the Inter-National South Asia
Forum (INSAF-LA); Syeda Khundkar introduced the
speaker to the audience. There was a friendly
exchange of ideas at the end of the lecture, and
the meeting ended with the announcement of
upcoming events.

_____

#5.

The Telegraph, 1 August 2002

REHABILITATION BEFORE POLLS, CRY RIOT VICTIMS
FROM BASANT RAWAT

Ahmedabad, July 31:=20
Riot victims today told the Election Commission team touring Gujarat=20
not to hold polls till they are rehabilitated.

The nine-member team, headed by deputy election commissioner A.N.=20
Jha, split up into three sub-teams to visit the Shah-e-Alam relief=20
camp, Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patia, where over 120 people were=20
massacred on February 28, a day after the Godhra carnage.

As the team was leaving the Shah-e-Alam camp, that houses about 3000=20
victims from Naroda Gam, Naroda Patia, Shahpur, Sabarmati, Maninagar=20
and Chamanpura, some of the residents shouted: "Election nahi, makan=20
chahiye, Election nahi, roti chahiye." (We need food and housing, not=20
elections.)

The team had not sought the inmates' views on elections, limiting its=20
questions to where they had lived before the riots, why they had not=20
returned home and the whereabouts of their family members. But as=20
they were leaving the camp, some residents found out why the team had=20
come and started raising slogans.

"Some of the inmates asked the organisers about the purpose of the=20
team's visit. When we told them that they were here to see whether=20
elections could be held, they decided to protest," said Sharif Khan=20
Pathan, a volunteer.

Pathan told the commission team that 75 per cent of the 12,500=20
original inmates have left the camp, which was one of the state's=20
biggest. But not all have returned home. Most are putting up with=20
relatives or have moved out of the state, he said.

Safibhai Memon, an organiser of the Shah-e-Alam relief, made a strong=20
case against early elections. He pointed out that of the 182 Assembly=20
seats, 87 segments are riot-affected. On an average, about 7000=20
people have migrated. If elections are held now, when large numbers=20
of the minority community cannot cast their votes, "it will amount to=20
murder of democracy", Memon argued.

Elections cannot be free and fair without the participation of all=20
those who have migrated because their number is big enough to tilt=20
the balance in an Assembly segment, he said.

In another relief camp at Vatva, camp organiser Sabnam Bukhari told=20
the team that the atmosphere is not conducive to elections because=20
many riot victims are not ready to return home. "If elections are=20
held in such a situation, they will not be free and fair '' she=20
argued.

The team met senior government officials this evening and will also=20
visit other riot-affected and drought-hit districts before winding up=20
its visit in about a week. Representatives from the Congress and=20
various NGOs have sought appointments with the panel to present their=20
views.

NGOs and human rights organisations are vehemently opposed to early=20
elections. Though the Congress shares this opposition, the party has=20
said it is ready to face polls any time.

A section of the BJP is also unhappy with Narendra Modi's decision to=20
dissolve the Assembly. Sources said that if the drought situation=20
worsens, even the chief minister might have second thoughts and the=20
BJP might be forced to ask the commission to defer polls.

_____

#6.

The Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2002

Kashmiris Caught in Cross-Fire

By PAUL WATSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
SOLDHA, India -- Like most of Kashmir's victims, Halima Doie lost her=20
life in a fight she didn't want and was powerless to stop.
An illiterate Muslim woman born into the once nomadic Gujjar tribe,=20
she and her family lived, or died, at the mercy of the men with guns.=20

It didn't matter what side the men were on: Separatist Muslim rebels=20
who roam the rugged canyon in this disputed land were as much a=20
danger to the Doies as their Hindu neighbors.
The Hindus who live nearby, farmers mostly, didn't always have guns.=20
Then police armed them with bolt-action rifles to give them a=20
fighting chance against the rebels' Kalashnikovs, and they formed=20
civilian militias.
All Halima Doie had to defend her honor, and her children, was a small ax.
When the Hindu militia members turned their sights on her, she tried=20
to hide behind a rough-hewn wooden door, but it wasn't strong enough=20
to stop drunken men bent on rape. Resisting only made them more=20
angry, and their punishment was ruthless.
They opened fire with the rifles issued for self-defense, pausing to=20
pull back the bolt and reload each new round into the chamber, until=20
they had killed Doie, her sister-in-law and three of their children.
Fears that a war between India and Pakistan could go nuclear have=20
brought a new sense of urgency to diplomatic efforts to resolve=20
competing claims over divided Kashmir. But after 13 years of=20
insurgency by the guerrillas in Kashmir, who are battling for an=20
independent state or union with mostly Muslim Pakistan, the fight=20
over the Himalayan territory has become one of the world's most=20
entrenched disputes.
By arming thousands of Hindu civilians in village militias, Indian=20
authorities have only deepened the religious divide in a territory=20
once known as a paradise of tolerance.
There is mounting evidence that some of the militias are using their=20
power to intimidate unarmed Muslim civilians, drive them from their=20
homes and, in at least three reported cases, kill those who resist,=20
said Tapan Bose, secretary-general of the South Asia Forum for Human=20
Rights.
In some villages, the militias, known as village defense committees,=20
are commanded by outsiders who belong to the Hindu extremist movement=20
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, Bose said. He suspects that they=20
are using the defense committees to push a radical political agenda,=20
just as Muslim extremists are using the Kashmir issue to advance=20
their jihad, or holy war.
Police have been giving guns to the civilian militias, usually .303=20
rifles that are throwbacks to British colonial rule, since 1996.=20
Almost all of the weapons have gone to Hindus. Muslims very rarely=20
join the civilian militias, primarily because they don't want to be=20
seen supporting state authority, Bose said.
"What do we need guns for?" asked Hajra Paswal Doie, the matriarch of=20
the ruined family. "If we take their weapons, we are not secure. The=20
village defense committee members can kill us and then say we were=20
killed 'by our own people.' "
By that, she meant the Muslim guerrillas, who were the first to harm=20
her family, in May 2001.
At least four rebels armed with assault rifles came to the Doies'=20
village of Teeno, a scattering of mud-brick homes built on a steep=20
canyon wall, in search of a suspected informant.
Only they knew what, if any, evidence there was against Ibrahim Doie,=20
Hajra's son.
He was working in the fields, tiny plots with just enough soil amid=20
the mountain rocks and boulders for a few rows of corn, she said. The=20
flash of a memory brought tears streaming down her weathered cheeks.
She paused to dry them with the edge of her head scarf.
"They locked all the women and children in the house and then tied=20
his hands behind his back," she said, and then the words were too=20
hard to say. That was the last she saw of her eldest son, the only=20
defender the family had.
After the rebels targeted Ibrahim Doie, the local Hindu village=20
defense committee went after his widow, Beeran. A group of about 10=20
armed men, led by two commanders, visited the house almost daily,=20
Hajra Doie said.
"These people used to come to our village, take food and=20
milk--anything we had and then leave," she said. "It was all by=20
force."
Sometimes the militia members tried to justify the visits as a search=20
for the enemy, she said.
"They asked us where the militants are," Hajra Doie said. "We told=20
them: 'How do we know? For us, you are the militants.' "
After constant harassment, her daughter-in-law Beeran consented to an=20
affair with one of the men. On the night of May 8, about a year after=20
the rebels led Beeran Doie's husband away, the Hindu men turned their=20
sights on her sister-in-law, Halima.
*
The only surviving witnesses to what happened that night are Hajra=20
Doie's grandchildren, who are too young and traumatized to recall=20
many details. But one thing is clear, Hajra Doie said: When the men=20
demanded sex, Halima kept refusing and tried to fend them off by=20
bolting the door.
Hajra Doie was away from the small house that night and didn't return=20
until hours after the militia commanders had gone berserk, and then=20
gone home.
"I went into the house and saw the bodies in a pool of blood," she=20
said. "Everybody was lying on a single bed, including the wounded=20
children.
"When I saw Arshan, she started crying and said: 'My mother was=20
killed by the security forces. My brother was killed by the security=20
forces. Everybody was killed by the security forces.' "
The five victims were Halima Doie and her sons Salim, 5, and Shabir,=20
3, as well as Beeran, and her son Jaffar Hussain, 12. The women left=20
three orphans: Jameela, 8 months, Gulsham, 2, and Arshan, 5, who has=20
a thick scar where a bullet grazed her left forehead.
Police in Doda, the district's administrative center, confirmed that=20
two men, Rajinder Singh, 20, and Subash Chander, 22, have been=20
charged with the murders and said they are in jail awaiting trial.=20
Both men are commanders.
The men confessed to the murders but said they only started shooting=20
after Halima Doie refused to the open the door and then swung an ax=20
at them when they broke through, said a senior police officer in Doda.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not get approval=20
from superiors to talk to a reporter. He also insisted that the=20
killings were an isolated incident, not evidence that civilian=20
militias might be out of control.
"It was not a police atrocity because it was not an organized crime,"=20
he said. "The only organized crimes here are carried out by the=20
militants."
In the six years since Indian authorities have been arming civilians=20
in the village defense committees, most have been set up in Jammu=20
province, where slightly more than half the population is Hindu,=20
according to India's government.
The main concentration of defense committees is in the region around=20
Doda, one of Jammu's six districts and a key battleground between the=20
Indian security forces and at least eight separatist armies.
India's government has deployed several hundred thousand troops and=20
paramilitary police to fight an estimated 3,500 guerrillas throughout=20
Jammu and Kashmir state. New Delhi claims that they are still being=20
reinforced by infiltrators from the roughly one-third of the=20
Himalayan territory under Pakistan's control.
About 10,000 civilian defense committee members have been armed in=20
Doda district alone, the overwhelming majority of whom are Hindus,=20
the police official said. He said that Hindus have received most of=20
the guns distributed to civilian militias because Muslims were too=20
slow to volunteer.
"The only reason is that when we constituted the VDCs, they didn't=20
come forward," he said of Muslims. "Now that we have exhausted the=20
weapons, they are coming to us, and we simply don't have any more to=20
give them."
Each village defense committee has up to a dozen members, including=20
as many as three commanders, low-ranking deputies who receive little=20
training or pay. Each commander receives an honorarium of just $31 a=20
month, which he is supposed to share with the civilian volunteers.
To discourage any trigger-happy villagers, police ration their=20
bullets, giving out 50 each. The militias are supposed to file a=20
report any time they fire, and requisitions for new ammunition must=20
be approved by the district police commander. In Doda, village=20
defense committees ask for more bullets almost every day, the police=20
official said.
Kahn Chand Sharma, a retired Hindu government worker, belongs to the=20
defense committee in the village of Barshalla. Sharma, 65, lost a=20
brother, a grandson and three nephews in a massacre by guerrillas in=20
1996, and said he will fight with whatever he has if terrorists=20
strike again.
Sharma complained that his ration of bullets is running low.
"Even the [militia] members who have exhausted their ammunition=20
aren't getting more from the police," he complained.
"The government is not helping the village defense committees at all.=20
If we fire a single bullet, we're interrogated."
*
After the slayings of the Doies, the eight surviving members of the=20
family moved up the mountainside, to the village of Soldha, where=20
they live in a cowshed with two rooms that are always dark.
The family's survival now depends on Hajra Doie, a weak, barefoot=20
woman who doesn't know her own age. Her necklace provides a hint. One=20
of the medallions is a silver coin, an inheritance from her father:=20
"George V King Emperor," it says on the front. "One rupee India=20
1916," read the words on the back.
Guessing at her age again, Hajra Doie said she remembered her father=20
bringing her to this once peaceful place as a little girl, just=20
before what she called "the Big War."
That was in 1947, when the British agreed to Muslim demands for a=20
separate state and carved Pakistan out of India, granted both=20
independence and left them to sort out the status of the princely=20
Himalayan kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir.
The two countries immediately went to war over the territory, and the=20
conflict continues, with families like the Doies caught in the=20
cross-fire.

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

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.
\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|=
//\\|//|//\\|//