[sacw] SACW | 23 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch | 23 March 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

__________________________

#1. Pakistan: Attack on church: Who did it? (M B Naqvi)
#2. Pakistan: Karachi University teachers condemn sectarian killings=20
& religious intolerance
#3. India: Smashing the religion-politics nexus (Praful Bidwai)
#4. India: Relay Fast For Peace & Communal Harmony 23-28 March, New=20
Delhi. (People for Peace and Secularism)
#5. India: Whither Gujarat? Violence and After (Achyut Yagnik, Suchitra Sh=
eth)
#6. India: A poem for Asif (Amit Sengupta)
#7. India: Intelligence agencies are baffled by the use of hi-tech=20
communication systems by karsevaks

__________________________

#1.

The Daily Star
23 March 2002
Plain wordS

Attack on church: Who did it?

M B Naqvi, writes from Karachi
It is the mind set that needs to be zeroed in on -- not by security=20
forces so much as by other politically enlightened leaders of opinion=20
and society. Security forces are meant to be entrusted with only the=20
preventive side of crime, the duties of maintaining strict law and=20
order and of catching the culprits with a view to trying them in=20
courts of law, with due process.

A grenade attack was made on an international Protestant Church=20
during Sunday service in the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad in which=20
five persons died and 45 injured. It fits into a pattern. Not too=20
long ago last year there was a similar attack on a church during the=20
Sunday service in Bahawalpur in which a large number of persons were=20
killed and many more wounded. In both the cases the attackers got=20
away safely. If these be accepted as expressions of a virulent=20
religious intolerance, as indeed it has to be, it is all too=20
familiar. Far more incidents of targetted killings of minority Muslim=20
sects are virtually an everyday affair. No matter what particulars in=20
each incident, religious intolerance of an excessive kind is common=20
to them all.

Also for Authority to condemn each such eruption in strongest terms=20
and to order the security agencies to nab the culprits quickly is a=20
regular feature; it happens almost every other day. What is also=20
common is that the killers walk away or drive away safely. The police=20
have always drawn a blank. They are never found. Hundreds of such=20
incidents have taken place in the last few years, claiming a=20
horrendous number of casualties, mostly fatalities.

Also common is an expression of the suspicion of the ubiquitous=20
'Foreign Hand'. Every time an outrage of this nature takes place,=20
high officials do not fail to wonder whether India's intelligence=20
agency RAW has not master-minded it.

In this case too, the President of Pakistan Gen. Pervez Musharraf has=20
condemned the perpetrators of the horrible crime. He has ordered all=20
security agencies to investigate and get to the bottom of the matter.=20
He also ordered the arrest of the criminals forthwith. Since the=20
incident happened in a church situated only so many meters away from=20
the American Embassy and there were American diplomatic personnel=20
among the dead and wounded, American Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy=20
Chamberlin made a statesman-like statement saying that US and=20
Pakistan will continue to work shoulder to shoulder to win great war=20
they are waging against terrorism wherever it is found. The US=20
President was also shocked and condemned the act while Pakistan's=20
President was careful enough to say that the intention behind the=20
crime was to harm Pakistan's domestic and international interests=20
probably thinking of the image of the country abroad.

Who are these people who are out to harm the interests of Pakistan=20
both in terms of domestic politics and internationally? Insofar the=20
RAW's responsibility is concerned, it has to be seen as sort of=20
reflection quite similar to that of the Indians who do not fail to=20
see ISI behind every bush. Even if it was RAW which has masterminded=20
it, it has to be assumed that it has somehow been able to recruit so=20
many Pakistani Muslims who are so strongly imbued with the Islamic=20
zeal that they resort to killing sprees of all manner of "others".=20
How does RAW do that? It beats one. An explanation has often been=20
given. RAW is supposed to be operating through the remnants of the=20
old Afghan agency Khad. Even so, the two of them together will have=20
to be -- to recruit those Pakistani Muslims who are otherwise quite=20
happy in killing their fellow Pakistanis and others: Shias, Ahmedis,=20
Christians and of course Americans, a la Daniel Pearl.

The choice of an international church close to American Embassy in=20
the well-guarded Diplomatic Enclave suggests a repeat of Daniel. The=20
"others" are now allies of the current Pakistan ruler Gen. Musharraf,=20
with whom they have scores to settle. Most observers think that, one=20
way or another, Islamic extremists, belonging to the parties and=20
groups that have been banned, are responsible for this gruesome=20
incident, as of most other outbreaks of violence against minorities=20
including sectarian violence. It has been widely noted that they have=20
now been able to regroup and assert their presence. Sectarian and=20
minority killings are their signature tune.

There are others who think that the choice of the place gives away=20
the intention of the killers: they must have known that many=20
diplomats including Americans and other European people and many=20
nations alongwith many Pakistanis attend the service of this church.=20
The killers were registering, it is said, their protest against what=20
the Americans have done in Afghanistan. Such people think they see=20
the killers' nexus with the Taliban and Al Qaeda by way of being=20
their supporters --- not unnecessarily organisationally. These people=20
zero in on the intention to kill some Americans as the driving force=20
behind the incident.

There are others who think that the main motive driving behind this=20
crime, like so many others, is Pakistan's domestic politics. There=20
are supposedly some erstwhile supporters of the rulers from within=20
their own constituency who are registering their protest against the=20
policy changes made by Gen. Musharraf under American pressure. There=20
are many Americans who share this view. American media have freely=20
reported on this aspect of deteriorating law and order situation=20
here. It is hard to accept whether a tightly disciplined force like=20
the Pakistan Army can have dissidents in high places who would=20
mastermind and allow such incidents. It seems too doubtful. What is=20
more certain and obvious is the presence of a mind set that=20
is--through and through with militant Islamic extremism.

The fact of the matter is that of all Jihadis, Taliban, Al Qaeda,=20
sectarian terrorists and other killers of minorities belong to a=20
single recognised generic school that has grown up in Pakistan over=20
the years. That it takes various competing forms and organisations is=20
also a fact, though the mind set remains much the same. These=20
militants, the killers, are half educated boys from poor families who=20
had gone to madresas of the Deobandi sub-sect of Sunni Islam and are=20
to be found in all Jihadi extremists organisations; they can, and do,=20
switch organisations with ease because the set of the beliefs and=20
outlook on life is the same.

It is this mind set that needs to be zeroed in on -- not by security=20
forces so much as by other politically enlightened leaders of opinion=20
and society. Security forces are meant to be entrusted with only the=20
preventive side of crime, the duties of maintaining strict law and=20
order and of catching the culprits with a view to trying them in=20
courts of law, with due process. If they start acting as thought=20
police, most things will get mixed up and nothing good will get done.

______

#2.

March 21, 2002

Press Release

Killings are the Result of Religious Intolerance

We, the teachers of the University of Karachi condemn the continual=20
sectarian targeted killings of doctors and express our sympathy with=20
the families of the deceased. The rise in sectarianism leads to=20
sectarian killings which further breads sectarianism. Sectarian=20
killings take place in this atmosphere where expression of religious=20
intolerance has become a norm. The government has failed to arrest=20
the killers or reigning-in sectarainism. In this regard the=20
insensitivity of the government is condemnable. We demand that=20
division of the society in the name of religion and sect be stopped,=20
killers should be identified and the spread of intolerance be=20
checked. The extent of the grave circumstances we face is clearly=20
obvious from the killing of vast numbers of doctors, a clear majority=20
of these belongs to the Ahle-Tashih. Effects of intolerance are=20
fast spreading in educational institutions and as a result hatred and=20
intolerance is being spread by making a controversy of sacred days.=20
Intolerance is also targeting minorities and the society is

being divided on religious basis. We, the teachers, appeal to=20
students and teachers to forge unity in stopping the spread of=20
intolerance and jointly condemn those elements who are bent on=20
fomenting intolerance.
Issued by (Dr Riaz Ahmed and Navin Haider)

Signed by: Dr Riaz Ahmed, Navin Haider, Prof Abid Azhar, Hina Khan,=20
Prof Kulsoom Kazi, Samina Hasnain, Prof Zahida Maqsood, Faiza=20
Abdurab, Dr Sadia Manzoor, Prof Shahida Kazi, Dr S Jaffer Ahmed, Prof=20
Arif Kazmi, Prof Iftikhar Imam, Prof Shahana Urooj, Dr Hilal Naqvi,=20
Furrukh Suhail, Farzana Jabeen, Sofia Farnaz, Dr Nigar Sajjad Zaheer,=20
Mohammad Zubair, Shakeel Siddiqui, Abdur Rashid,

Prof Abu Mohammad Qureshi, Dr Zaheer uddin Siddiqui, Prof Ronaq Raza,=20
Prof Sirajuddin Nizami, Dr Jawaid Iqbal Ameeri, Samina Qureshi,=20
Shugufta Afaq, Mehdi Kazmi, Dr Tabassum Mehboob, Dr Asifa Ahmed, Prof=20
Saleha Hasni, Porf Darakshan Jabeen, Prof Shakeela Jehanigir, Prof=20
Aziza Khanum, Porf Nikhat Siddiqui, Prof Iqbal Mehmood, Dr Samina=20
Bano, Dr Saeeda Haider, Israr Siddiqui, Dr Shama Habib, Dr Hajra=20
Jaleel, Dr Samina Saeed, Dr Nasreen Afzal, Syed Mohammad Taha, Nargis=20
Rasheed, Afzal Zaidi, Farhan Haneef Siddiqui, Prof Talat A Wizarat,=20
Prof M Siddiqui, Prof Jawaid Hussain, Farhana Aleem, Najma Farman, Dr=20
Farhat Faridi, Dr Sobia Shahzad, Shakela

Jawaid, Prof Khalida Rehman, Dr Rana Saba, Abu Tayyab.

______

#3.

The News, Pakistan, March 22, 2002

Smashing the religion-politics nexus

By Praful Bidwai

Terrible events have jolted India and Pakistan during the past week,=20
which are likely to have harmful long-term impact on both societies.=20
If Sunday's killing of Christians in an Islamabad church was an=20
obnoxious act of jehadi militancy, the Shila Daan at Ayodhya,=20
followed by the storming of the Legislative Assembly in Orissa, is=20
significant for the growing conflict between Hindutva and=20
secular-democratic politics in India.

The Islamabad episode has shocked the world community because of the=20
conscious targeting of an international congregation. It is perhaps=20
the biggest setback to Pervez Musharraf's avowed strategic goal of=20
freeing Pakistan from the menace of religious extremism and=20
terrorism, and transforming it into a modern, moderate, Islamic=20
state. It comes on top of the ruthless execution of Daniel Pearl=20
amidst growing uncertainty and doubts over the implementation of the=20
bold programme of reform Musharraf announced on January 12.

Seen from the outside, there are many indications that the pace of=20
implementation of that agenda is slowing down. Interior minister=20
Moinuddin Haider has announced that the government is considering=20
granting amnesty to a select category of individuals belonging to=20
five extremist organisations outlawed two months ago.

Musharraf is also going slow in discussing with the US the possible=20
extradition of Omar Sheikh. His statement that Pearl was killed=20
because he was "over-intrusive" as a journalist is seen even by=20
liberal and progressive Indians as a sign that he is looking over his=20
shoulder, and is more anxious than earlier at criticism within=20
Pakistan that his "anti-terrorism" campaign is being conducted under=20
US and Indian pressure. These Indians are the kind of people who want=20
reconciliation and peace with Pakistan, as well as internal reform=20
leading to democratisation and secularism.

In India itself, the Vajpayee government has taken one more step in=20
pursuit of its retrograde agenda of communalising society and the=20
administration-by pleading the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's case before=20
the Supreme Court for a "symbolic" puja in Ayodhya, and then sending=20
director of Ayodhya affairs in the Prime Minister's Office Shatrughan=20
Singh to receive a marble shila (stone) duly consecrated by mahants=20
and sadhus.

The first move has sullied the credibility of the office of the=20
Attorney General, the highest law officer of the land, who holds a=20
unique position in the Westminster model India has adopted. Not only=20
is the Attorney General the top legal representative of the=20
government; he holds an advisory role and has a mandate to perform=20
comprehensive "duties of a legal character, as may from time to time=20
be referred or assigned". The AG is the only governmental official=20
with right to speak and participate in either House of Parliament.

On March 13, AG Soli Sorabjee made an extraordinary claim, namely=20
that in pleading a pro-VHP point of view before a rather astonished=20
three-judge bench, he appeared not in his official, but in his=20
personal, capacity!

Sorabjee already has a blemished record. He was appointed AG in 1996=20
by the United Front government. Following a well-established=20
convention, he should have resigned in 1998 when that government=20
fell. Instead, he requested the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance=20
to continue him. That was bad enough. But his self-serving argument=20
last week was downright disingenuous. It was a signal disservice to=20
his office, to the functioning of which credibility and respect for=20
Constitutional norms are central.

Dispatching Shatrughan Singh to Ayodhya in genuflection to the VHP's=20
blackmailers sends out the signal that the Vajpayee government will=20
reward communal thugs through begging them to do what is only their=20
duty, namely, respect the law. If they do not agree, it can even=20
pamper them with dishonourable "compromise" formulas that make a=20
mockery not just of law but of democratic decency and secularism.

The government has thus encouraged and instigated the politicisation=20
of the civil service. This is in line with what Narendra Modi=20
accomplished in Gujarat last fortnight-albeit in more extreme and=20
violent forms by communalising the police and sponsoring anti-Muslim=20
violence. The two processes, of course, differ in magnitude and=20
effect. But kowtowing to communal extremism is identical in both.

It is precisely because the state sends out clear signals that it=20
will placate majoritarian tendencies that Hindutva's goons and bigots=20
have mustered the courage to act as they did in Ayodhya, Gujarat, and=20
now Orissa. It just won't do for Vajpayee to condemn the attack on=20
the Orissa Assembly without linking it causally to the processes he=20
has himself set in motion, including bestowing legitimacy upon the=20
Ayodhya temple "movement", and fomenting communal forms of=20
militarism, especially after December 13.

Members of Vajpayee's own party, indeed of his Cabinet, have=20
repeatedly supported or apologised for unabashed, crude practitioners=20
of sectarian violence. Thus, former Delhi BJP B L Sharma "Prem"=20
declared the rape of Catholic nuns in Madhya Pradesh, apparently by=20
VHP and Bajrang Dal thugs, as an act of "patriotism". And Home=20
Minister Advani, no less, gave a clean chit to these very=20
organisations after the ghastly murder of Australian missionary=20
Graham Staines and his two children in Orissa in January 1999, saying=20
"I have known (them) for a long time and they do not have criminal=20
elements."

Again, last September, Advani ridiculed as a "joke" the charge that=20
the Bajrang Dal is akin to a terrorist organisation. This when Dara=20
Singh, the self-confessed murderer of Staines, is a Bajrang Dal=20
activist, and when the hordes that went around killing and burning in=20
Gujarat were mobilised by the same group.

It is not for nothing that the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas president, and=20
Ayodhya's chief religious villain, Ramachandradas Paramhans, has just=20
declared Vajpayee "a hidden supporter" of his movement: "Atalji wants=20
to support us but is bound by the coalition politics... Atalji is=20
like a 'pativrata patni' who does not take the name of her husband=20
but loves him more. Similarly, he may not take the name of=20
Ramjanmabhoomi but knows that he is in power because of it and=20
supports it in whatever way possible."

Vajpayee can in no way disown his direct responsibility for the=20
sordid spectacle in progress at the India-Pakistan border, where a=20
million soldiers stand testimony to what a former general (V R=20
Raghvan) has called a "tragic paradox": military muscle-flexing to=20
"secure" India's borders while its citizens become insecure and are=20
torched.

Today, even conservative elements in the Indian and Pakistani=20
Establishments recognise the reality of the damage their countries=20
have recently suffered. After the horror of Gujarat, India cannot=20
credibly claim to be a model of pluralist, multicultural democracy,=20
or to be a modernising economy based on solid, secure, social=20
foundations. (Until the latest carnage, Gujarat was India's most=20
industrialised and urbanised state, in the top league in per capita=20
income.) And Pakistan has already lost a good deal of the global=20
goodwill it earned by turning against the Taliban, and through=20
Musharraf's January 12 address.

The setback both societies and states have suffered cannot be undone=20
through half-measures and incremental steps which the Establishment=20
favours, but which leave the basic structures of misgovernance=20
unchanged, the systemic rot unaddressed, and the religion-politics=20
nexus largely untouched. Bold, radical, comprehensive solutions have=20
never been more urgent in this part of the world.--end--

__________________________

# 4.

People for Peace and Secularism
RELAY FAST FOR PEACE AND COMMUNAL HARMONY
23-28 MARCH, 8 am to 8pm every day
at
JANTAR MANTAR

AN APPEAL TO ALL CITIZENS TO JOIN=20

People of many faiths have lived together in peace and amity for=20
centuries in our country. We have always celebrated our festivals=20
together and with equal fervour. We have taken pride in our diversity=20
- indeed, the world has always recognised it as our greatest=20
strength. It is symbolic that the next week will mark significant=20
events for three great religions - Muharram, Holi and Good Friday.=20
This is a time for all of us to pledge that this week will mark the=20
beginning of an era of peace and non-violence, when all of us will=20
join together to challenge and resist the politics of hate and=20
communalism that are so visible today.

We, as citizens of India, have always been proud of our Constitution=20
and of our democratic heritage that assures equality, dignity and=20
security to all citizens regardless of their religious or political=20
affiliations. Today, these ideals lie in the dust. We hang our heads=20
in shame as we recall the events of the last few weeks that have=20
engulfed our country in violence. We have no words strong enough to=20
condemn the heinous attack on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra and the=20
systematic annihilation of Muslim communities in Gujarat, which has=20
continued unchecked for the last three weeks. More than 2,000 people=20
have died - more than 100,000 have lost their families, their homes,=20
their means of livelihood and their hopes and dreams.

It is a matter of national shame that the State Government has=20
actively encouraged and supported those who have perpetrated the=20
carnage. It is a matter of national shame that the acts of savagery=20
carried out by gangs of armed hoodlums have been defended and=20
justified by those whose duty is to control such elements and protect=20
the lives and rights of citizens. It is a matter of national shame=20
that the government is talking about integration with the global=20
economy, while participating in the deliberate and complete=20
destruction of the livelihoods of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat.=20
Such a government has lost the right to govern.
The events in Gujarat are driven by the same forces as the militant=20
mobilisation in Ayodhya of religious bigots who openly declare their=20
intention of driving away all non-Hindus from this country. Those who=20
claim to be acting in the name of Ram do not hesitate to shed blood=20
in the pursuit of their agenda. These are not acts of faith - they=20
are acts of terror.

It is time for us to take a stand against the ideology of hate and=20
those who perpetrate it. We will no longer tolerate the politics of=20
communalism. As citizens of India, we claim our rights to peace,=20
safety and security - we demand that the government ensure these=20
rights for all citizens.

We demand
- Immediate dismissal of the Narendra Modi government and imposition=20
of President's Rule in Gujarat.
- Action against organisations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal, that=20
propagate and practise communalism and violence.
- Relief and rehabilitation on equal terms for all those affected by=20
the carnage in Gujarat.

This may be our last chance - if we keep silent now, our democracy=20
may not survive the wounds that have been inflicted on it in the last=20
weeks!

For more information about the relay fast and if you would like to=20
participate, please contact
People for Peace and Secularism
Email: peopleforpeace@r...

______

#5.

http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=3D2002&leaf=3D03&filename=3D422=
4&filetype=3Dhtml
EPW Commentary
March 16, 2002

Whither Gujarat? Violence and After

Large-scale looting, arson and even mass burning are not new for=20
Gujarat. But last fortnight, the violence took unbelievably brutal=20
forms. The collapse of the state was evident - even the symbols of=20
the institutions of the state were under attack . What kind of forces=20
have generated this ugly metamorphosis in Gandhi's Gujarat? Perhaps=20
more than anything else it is the changing self-perceptions of the=20
modernising and rapidly growing middle classes, their search for=20
a new identity and structures of domination and the lack of a=20
significant radical challenge from below.
Achyut Yagnik, Suchitra Sheth

Gujarat, after almost a decade, has witnessed a whirlpool of=20
violence. Earlier, in 1990, following Advani's Rath Yatra and in=20
1992, after the demolition of the Babri mosque, Gujarat experienced=20
major communal conflagrations. This time too the Ayodhya issue was=20
the epicentre. On February 27, when 'kar sevaks' of VHP were=20
returning from Ayodhya on the Sabarmati Express, three coaches were=20
burnt by a mob after the train was stopped by pulling the chain some=20
distance from Godhra station. Almost 60 passengers, most of them kar=20
sevaks including many women and their children, were burnt alive in a=20
horrific bonfire. The communal carnage, which followed, was explained=20
by the Sangh Parivar as the retaliation by Hindu masses to avenge the=20
Godhra killings, the 'reaction' to the 'action' at Godhra. In the=20
corridors of power, whether at Gandhinagar or New Delhi, the Godhra=20
incident has been labelled as a premeditated, pre-planned, terrorist=20
act. Even the defence minister George Fernandes chose to identify the=20
ISI as the brain behind the gruesome tragedy. Instead of looking=20
within, those in power chose to point their finger in the opposite=20
direction.

While acknowledging the limitations of the 'action-reaction'=20
explanation, it is significant to note that the incident at Godhra=20
also had a backdrop. Since the beginning of February, large numbers=20
of VHP volunteers were going to and fro between Ahmedabad and Ayodhya=20
on the Sabarmati Express for kar seva. Now, it is reported by=20
residents of Godhra and Faizabad, that all along the route these=20
volunteers misbehaved with hawkers, teased women, shouted slogans at=20
many stations and made inflammatory speeches. This continued=20
harassment and misbehaviour, which went largely unreported, is one=20
more piece in the jigsaw puzzle.

Following the event of February 27, VHP called for a Gujarat Bandh on=20
the next day which turned into mass slaughter, arson and complete=20
breakdown of law and order. On the west side of the Sabarmati, in=20
posh Ahmedabad, Muslim shops and business establishments were=20
systematically looted and then set on fire. Frenzied groups of middle=20
and upper class men and women could be seen with armloads of shoes,=20
clothes and kitchen equipment, making their getaway on scooters,=20
motorcycles and cars before our very eyes. Similarly, in the walled=20
city, Muslim shops were targetted, looted and burnt. In an almost=20
Pavlovian response, pitched battles began in the traditonal pols=20
(residential areas) in the walled city where Hindu and Muslim=20
neighbours threw stones, acid bulbs and crude petrol bombs on each=20
other as they had been doing since 1969.

The most barbaric scenes were played out in industrial Ahmedabad. On=20
the afternoon of the 28 th 43 people, including Ahsan Jafri, the=20
former Congress MP of Ahmedabad, were burnt alive in Gulmarg Society=20
in the Chamanpura-Asarwa area. For four hours they frantically tried=20
to contact the police, senior bureaucrats and contacts in Delhi, but=20
the mob of over 10,000, most of them neighbours, finally set the=20
colony on fire. That evening, in the slums of nearby Naroda area, 84=20
people were burnt alive by a 15,000 strong mob. According to=20
surviving families, now in relief camps, this mob consisted of people=20
from 'outside'. As in the rest of Ahmedabad, in the industrial areas=20
too, Muslim shops and homes were systematically wiped out. Earlier,=20
the weapons were petrol and kerosene bombs but a new development in=20
these riots was the use of gas cylinders as explosives. Cylinders=20
would be taken from the victim's house, bundled in cloth and after=20
setting fire to the cloth, the cylinder would be tossed back into the=20
house where it would explode like a bomb, destroying the house and=20
setting everything ablaze.

The capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, 30 km from Ahmedabad, saw=20
communal violence for the first time. Within the precinct of the=20
secretariat, the offices of the Wakf Board and Minority Development=20
Board were burnt. This was the beginning of a series of incidents=20
which showed that not only was the law and order situation=20
deteriorating but the state itself was crumbling. At the main gate of=20
Gujarat High Court, on NH 8, a number of trucks with their drivers,=20
were set on fire. Later, the judges were evacuated under armed=20
escort. A sitting judge of the high court, Justice Kadri was forced=20
to leave his official residence and take shelter in a Muslim area.=20
Shops directly opposite the gates of the Police Commissioner's office=20
in Ahmedabad, were set on fire, the dargah of Shah Wali Gujarati, one=20
of the pioneers of Urdu language and literature, was razed to the=20
ground and a temporary Hanuman temple hastily installed. None of the=20
symbols of the state - the secretariat, the high court, and the=20
police commissioner's office had any sanctity for the mob and the law=20
enforcing authorities looked the other way. After showing great=20
hesitation, curfew was imposed not only in Ahmedabad but 26 other=20
towns and cities by the evening of the 28th. The army was called in=20
only on the afternoon of March 1 despite repeated requests by=20
minority leaders and concerned citizens.

Spread of Violence

By then the communal violence had spread to Panchmahals, Dahod,=20
Sabarkantha, Vadodara, Kheda and Gandhinagar districts. In Sardarpur=20
village, near Vijapur town of Mehsana district a mob attacked a=20
minority moholla and burnt alive 29 people. On March 2 the violence=20
spread to Banaskantha district, Surat city and Bhavnagar city. For=20
the next three days the north eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, from=20
Ambaji to Narmada, witnessed widespread looting and arson where=20
adivasis attacked Muslim shops and bastis. Some stray incidents were=20
reported from bordering adivasi areas of Madhya Pradesh and=20
Rajasthan. It is not without significance that three months earlier,=20
the RSS had organised a large gathering of adivasis on the theme of=20
'anti-conversion' presided by RSS chief Sudarshan at Jhabua, Madhya=20
Pradesh. Tribals from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh attended=20
this 'sammelan' in large numbers.

By the end of the first week of March, more than 700 people were=20
killed and Ahmedabad topped the list with 350 deaths followed by=20
Mehsana (more than 50), Sabarkantha (more than 40) and Godhra (almost=20
100 including the Godhra train victims). Officially, 14 districts of=20
Gujarat (out of a total of 25) have been affected but if one looks at=20
the statistics and events closely, the main affected areas are=20
central and north Gujarat and the northeastern tribal belt. Although=20
Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Rajkot cities and a few villages in=20
Saurashtra were affected, by and large Saurashtra and Kutch remained=20
relatively peaceful. Similarly, the tribal areas of south Gujarat=20
from the river Narmada to Dangs were unaffected though in 1998-99,=20
'tribal Christians' and church-run institutions were attacked by=20
newly-spawned Hindu organisations sponsored by VHP.

Twelve days after the Godhra incident, 60,000 riot victims are in=20
relief camps, of which 40,000 are in Ahmedabad. The remaining 20,000=20
are scattered in make-shift camps in towns and villages of=20
Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Panchmahal and Anand districts. Most camps are=20
in a pathetic state with unsanitary conditions, inadequate rations=20
and medicines. New people join the camps from the areas surrounding=20
Ahmedabad and simultaneously migrant workers from other states are=20
leaving the camps with their families and going back to their native=20
places in UP, MP, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Fear psychosis has=20
gripped the people in the camps and most of the Gujarati Muslims are=20
afraid to return to their areas or villages. There is still no=20
clarity about their filing FIRs, compensation and physical=20
rehabilitation. This will pose a big challenge for both the State and=20
civil society but the even greater challenge is to bridge the=20
ever-widening divide and create a climate of confidence and=20
co-existence.

Why Gujarat?

What kind of forces have generated this metamorphosis in Gandhi's=20
Gujarat? Probably, more than anything else, the changing=20
self-perceptions of 'Bhadra Gujarat' has contributed most in this=20
process of social degeneration. While 'Aam Gujarat' or Gujarat of the=20
backward and poor people remains passive by not offering any radical=20
challenge to the emerging structure of domination over the last two=20
decades and the elite of Gujarat have initiated a series of upsurges=20
in search of a new identity. The expanding and modernising middle=20
class of Gujarat has been looking for a new identity to validate its=20
present and protect its future. The search has been part of the=20
attempts to cope with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation and=20
the breakdown of the caste society among the traditional upper castes=20
and the absence of traditional validation for the enhanced status of=20
land owning middle castes.

After the electoral performance of KHAM=20
(kshatriya-harijan-adivasi-Muslim combine) in 1980, for the first=20
time the upper castes sensed a political and economic threat to their=20
domination. The temporary success of KHAM created the image of a=20
massive transfer of power from the 'ujaliat' or upper castes to the=20
'pachhat' or backward castes. However the latter hardly tasted the=20
fruits of power. The educated middle class, mainly the brahmins,=20
banias and patidars reacted sharply by starting an agitation against=20
the reservation system in 1981. The myth of Gandhi's Gujarat -=20
peaceful, tolerant and non-violent - exploded. For the first time in=20
independent India, a modern industrial metropolis stood witness to=20
extreme forms of caste violence. The clashes between the 'savarnas'=20
and the dalits in the industrial periphery of Ahmedabad gradually=20
became a caste war that spread to the towns of 18 districts (Gujarat=20
then had a total of 19 districts) and to many villages dominated by=20
patidars in north and central Gujarat.

The first anti-reservation agitation was aimed at the dalits.=20
Although the issue in the second anti-reservation agitation in 1985=20
was the hike in job quotas of the non-dalit backward castes, the=20
victims were all dalits. During these two agitations, the=20
brahmin-bania-patidar combine acquired a savarna unity and a sense of=20
we-ness. By the mid- 1980s the message of the VHP, that the idea of=20
savarna had to be supplanted by that of Hindutva as the binding=20
cement for the Hindus, had spread. Earlier the ultimate symbolic=20
target of hate was the Dalit; now it was the Muslim. At last, the=20
Gujarati middle class spread over large cities like Ahmedabad, Baroda=20
and Surat and over at least 40 middle level towns and consisting of=20
mainly savarna and dalit-adivasi government servants, teachers and=20
petty businessmen had begun to foster a new 'brotherhood'. Cut off=20
from their older cultural and social ties, the savarnas had learnt to=20
use the ideology as a ready anchor for rootlessness and as a=20
substitute for traditions, finding security within the ideology of=20
Hindutva. For the dalits and adivasi middle class it was a chance to=20
cast off their 'inferior' identity by joining the expanding Hindutva=20
fold.

While the ideology of Hindutva was gaining ground, moderate voices=20
were getting weaker and more inaudible. By the early 1990s, community=20
leaders reported that they no longer wielded any authority over their=20
youth and the traditional structures of community control had=20
crumbled. In this situation, it was not surprising to see growing=20
numbers of young people participating in loot and arson and in the=20
scenes of destruction last fortnight, we saw many youngsters from the=20
upper and middle classes, participating in the mayhem. These=20
youngsters, in their late teens and early twenties have grown up on a=20
diet of anti-minority invective and the voices of moderation, of=20
liberal thought and tolerance have been missing from their=20
environment and not emphasised or valued in their formal education.=20
Also, since the 1990s, the social geography of Ahmedabad has slowly=20
changed, creating Hindu and Muslim ghettos, resulting in declining=20
social interaction between the communities. There are fewer and fewer=20
chances for children to play together and establish any bonds. A=20
decade ago these rampaging youngsters would have been described as=20
lumpen youth but now it appears that we have in our society, growing=20
anomie in the younger generation.

What makes last fortnight's communal inferno different from all the=20
violence experienced before? Large scale looting, arson and even mass=20
burning are not new for Gujarat. In 1992, Surat city in south Gujarat=20
and Mansa town in north Gujarat witnessed mass burning of people. But=20
this time, the violence took a form for which there are no words.=20
Eyewitness accounts from the majority community confirm that not only=20
were young children thrown into the fire, but the wombs of pregnant=20
women were ripped apart and mother and unborn child were burnt.=20
Instances were also reported where the bodies of burnt women were=20
mutilated and desecrated by the mob.

The other was the obvious partisan significant dimension behaviour of=20
the ruling political leaders from the chief minister and home=20
minister downwards. It is not insignificant that the present chief=20
minister was the architect of Advani's rath yatra in 1990 and the=20
motive force behind the VHP mobilisation from 1985 onwards. Under=20
their leadership, the law enforcing machinery indirectly supported=20
the mobs, allowed large-scale destruction and death and the duo=20
subverted the state from within. In the present political=20
configuration, a repeat or continuation of these inhuman, numbing=20
violence cannot be ruled out.

______

#6.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/230302/detide01.asp

The Hindustan Times
Saturday, March 23, 2002
=20=20=09=20
A poem for Asif
by Amit Sengupta

Let Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill of=20
the majority
-RSS resolution, March 18, 2002

Let Muslims look upon Ram as their hero and the communal problems=20
will be all over=8A
-Organiser, June 20, 1971

Asif was not a jehadi. He did not understand either pseudo-secularism=20
or communal fascism. Maybe he used to play with neighbourhood kids=20
without caring a damn if they went to a temple or a mosque. But he=20
surely did not know why he was fated to be born in a Muslim family in=20
late 20th century India and why he had to die with such pain. Or why=20
they burnt him and his family alive in the name of Ram.

Little, beautiful, astonished Asif, all but four years, with 90 per=20
cent burns, eyes wide open, a mute witness of the apocalypse, waiting=20
for death, while RSS pracharak Narendra Modi masterminded his 'mass=20
agitation'. Can any religion or holy book on the face of this earth=20
sanction Asif's pain as a legitimate 'spontaneous reaction'?

Was he even aware of the Godhra massacre? Is the suffering of trapped=20
children in Bogey No S-6 any less now, now that the ethnic cleansing=20
is over and done with in BJP-led Gujarat, while the Sangh parivar=20
prepares for snap polls to reap this bloody harvest?

Will the prime minister write his 52nd poem for S-6? Or will it be=20
for Asif? Will it be different from Pol Pot's poetry? A poem=20
celebrating innocence? Or will it be about kerosene and fire and=20
eyes? Was the spectacle of hell-fire in Gujarat "an expression of=20
national sentiment"?

So what should we do now? Should we follow the RSS's diktat and shut=20
off the Urdu service on the radio? Should we ethnic-cleanse our minds=20
of all that we have learnt from our childhood, the teachings of=20
Ramakrishna Paramhans, Kabir, Nizamuddin Auliya, Lallan Fakir, Guru=20
Nanak? Should we stop listening to Mohammad Rafi's bhajans, often=20
written by a Muslim poet and composed by a Muslim musician? Should we=20
ban Madhubala's Howrah Bridge or Naseer's play on Ismat Chugtai?

Let's not even talk of the Khans of Bollywood. Dilip Kumar changed=20
his name, so did Johnny Walker. But we did not bother how many times=20
they recited the namaz. Let us not even talk of Sahir, Kaifi,=20
Majrooh, Khayyam or Naushad. In film after film, Waheeda Rehman=20
enacted the devout Hindu woman, so did Meena Kumari. Did Hindu women=20
ever object because they were Muslim?

The little warped men of the RSS and VHP, with their little perverse=20
minds, they cannot stop Bismillah Khan's raw, sublime tales in the=20
holy ghats of Varanasi. And what does the maestro play? The finest=20
classical renditions from our oral traditions, yes, including from=20
Hindu scriptures. And what does he hallucinate while in a sufi sama,=20
when his music makes us all too human once again: he visualises the=20
image of Goddess Saraswati, in magical revelation, beckoning him to=20
the origin of language, knowledge, melody.

He might be hallucinating, but why not? Hallucination is not the=20
monopoly of Ashok Singhal and his brotherhood of hate. Saraswati=20
belongs to Bismillah Khan as much to that archetype school-shirker=20
who is so terribly weak in maths. Should Bismillah Khan reject=20
Saraswati when he plays Hindustani music? Or should we ban his=20
shehnai because the RSS wants to purge the Muslims, wholesale, like=20
the Nazis did with the Jews?

Too many questions. They will haunt us, because the nation is once=20
again stalked by insomnia. If we choose to drug ourselves to sleep=20
now, as is our habit, then we are all doomed and not even electric=20
shocks can save us in this lunatic asylum. When the lunatic fringe=20
becomes the mainstream and the mainstream in power becomes comrade=20
and ally, then all the images of Gujarat can drown Bismillah Khan's=20
shehnai, Rafi's bhajans and Madhubala's sensuality. Like what the=20
Taliban did.

Let the Muslims (and India's minorities) wear a yellow cloth as the=20
Hindus were forced to do in Taliban Afghanistan. Shut off the radio.=20
Don't think of Asif struggling for life, his eyes wide open. Forget=20
the 52nd and 53rd poem.

My mother and father too were uprooted from East Bengal during=20
Partition. So many fathers were then throwing their daughters inside=20
running trains asking them to run; run, they said, save your body and=20
soul from the bastards who will first rape you and then hack you to=20
pieces. Exactly what happened in Modi's Gujarat. Exactly what=20
happened in the crusades, the inquisitions, the jehads, the=20
concentration camps of Hitler which the RSS posits as its utopian=20
dream sequence. In the name of Ram.

In our middle-class home, my mother kept a photograph of Jesus along=20
with Shiva and Kali. My grandmother would ramble on about the trunks=20
that she had left behind. Even in her sleep, she would list every=20
object inside the trunks, including the naphthalene balls.

Later, my father went back to Bangladesh to look at his 'occupied'=20
house, but only from a distance. He was afraid they might not like=20
his 'coming back home'. But still, despite this tragedy and loss,=20
that uprooted generation never hated the Muslims like the RSS does.

It was because they believed in pluralism and tolerance. No human can=20
celebrate children being roasted alive. Only barbarians can. This is=20
because they believe neither in religion nor in humanity. That is=20
why, each day, Modi reminds us of Idi Amin and Pinochet. And Goebbels.

Even after the trauma of Partition, it was perhaps an inherited=20
synthesis of the Bengal renaissance, the teachings of Michael=20
Madhusudan Dutt, Rammohun Roy, Vivekananda, the freedom struggle, the=20
atheist current of communist revolutionaries, the bhakti/vaishnav=20
movement, Aurobindo's mysticism, the books of Bankim and=20
Sharatchandra, the films of Ray and Ghatak, which saved us. We did=20
not turn into blood-thirsty fanatics, holding six inch trishuls,=20
celebrating "spontaneous reactions".

Our lessons were different. My mother would place a chaddar at the=20
sufi pir in the mofussil suburb of UP, while my father would=20
'perform' the Chandi Paath to please Kali. Tagore's Chitrangada was=20
loved with as much passion as Kazi Nazrul Islam's fiery songs. Imran=20
Khan was as great an icon as Sunil Gavaskar. (More so, the girls=20
would dig him). These symbols were embedded deep in the cultural=20
subconscious of our young, fragmented, unequal, but secular civil=20
society.

The cow at the doorstep, the Muslim with his harmonium, they would=20
all be treated with equal respect. Even street dogs would find space=20
in the verandah with a rug to keep them warm. Maybe, it was because=20
of mother. Because mothers, like Bismillah Khan's shehnai, have no=20
religion. Like music, they only have an infinite capacity to give.=20
Something the little, schizophrenic, self-centric, hate-filled men of=20
the RSS can never imagine or experience.

Footnote: With reference to the last paragraph in Indrajit Hazra's=20
article, Black knights in white satin (March 20), and in defence of=20
Arundhati Roy. If I understand her correctly, she has reiterated only=20
one thing in all public spaces: that it is not the question of this=20
or that massacre; those who kill innocents in the name of god have=20
neither god nor religion. That they have no right to claim any god or=20
religion. They are savage barbarians who should be treated as=20
barbarians in any civilised society. (Roy-bashing is fine, but=20
Roy-bashing for the sake of Roy-bashing is as boring as art for art's=20
sake).

Religion is a matter of private choice. As is atheism. The State has=20
no business to dabble in religion. But the politics of communalism=20
(especially with State-patronage) is a violent violation of not only=20
privacy and social space, but also of a democratic civil society.=20
There is no distinction between the Islamic jehadis, the neo-Nazis,=20
the Ku Klux Klan and the RSS-Bajrangis. They are all the same.

You are either with the fascists or against them. You can't be with=20
them and not be with them also. You are either for a secular, plural,=20
democratic society - or against it. Unless, it's their goodwill one=20
is banking on.

______

#5.

Date: March 16, 2002
URL:=20
http://www.intelligenceonline.net/india.asp?recno=3D748&id=3D0112032030112&=
sub=3DCommunity

Intelligence agencies are baffled by the use of hi-tech communication=20
systems by karsevaks to organise themselves for the shila daan and=20
pooja on the undisputed land in Ayodhya yesterday, top officials=20
disclosed.

The karsevaks' communication lines could not be penetrated till much=20
after the ishila daan was over.

The Intelligence Bureau started monitoring landline calls of key=20
Sangha Parivar leaders and karsevaks from 10 March 2002 and began=20
jamming them.

VHP leaders and karsevaks switched to mobile phones that were also=20
bugged and jammed.

>From the afternoon of 14 March 2002, the Intelligence Bureau jammed=20
the short message service (SMS) on mobile telephones to prevent=20
karsevaks from communicating.

Publicly, it was stated that the Mumbai Police jammed the SMS on 15=20
March because criminals were using it and the IB had no monitoring=20
mechanism.

Officials say that the karsevaks were aware that the government would=20
jam their communications.

>From 12 March 2002, the karsevaks created as many as 30 websites and=20
an equal number of IDs.

The heads of large groups of karsevaks communicated their movement=20
plans via the internet and also kept in touch with their Sangha=20
Parivar leaders over the net.

'All that the karsevaks needed was a power connection,' said a senior offic=
ial.

In addition to the internet, the karsevaks also used satellite phones.

A chance leak put the Intelligence Bureau up to the karsevaks'=20
communication channels.

Computer hardware and software specialists went under the guise of=20
karsevaks to keep the systems in perfect trim, an official said.

'If there had been no deal between the Union government and the=20
Sangha Parivar, anything could have happened in Ayodhya yesterday,'=20
an official said.

'At any rate, we were completely in the dark about the movement of karsevak=
s.'

The Intelligence Bureau is planning a major review of cyber crime=20
shortly and is stepping up awareness of the cyberworld in the service.

Reports say that the IB also wants SMS to be permanently withdrawn.

--=20
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