[sacw] SACW | 11 Dec. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Wed, 11 Dec 2002 02:44:28 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire | 11 December 2002

CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY -- GUJARAT 2002: A 2 volume report on the=20
investigations, findings and recommendations of the Concerned=20
Citizens' Tribunal
Is posted on www.sabrang.com

THE CAMPAIGN TO STOP FUNDING HATE:
www.stopfundinghate.org/

Detailed Report: The Foreign Exchange of Hate
www.stopfundinghate.org/sacw/index.html

__________________________

#1. International conference of historians in Dhaka from Dec 18
#2.Statement on the Postponement of the SAARC summit (Eduardo Faleiro=20
"Parliamentarians for SAARC")
#3. India needs to prove to itself and the world that a [Gujarat]=20
Government complicit in the murder of its citizens can democratically=20
be evicted from power. (Anjali Mody)
#4. India: The experience of the Mumbai riot victims suggests that a=20
change of government need not mean that justice will be done in=20
Gujarat (Jyoti Punwani)
#5. What Gujarat means to India (Kuldip Nayar)
#6. India: Outrage in MP - Forcible and Illegal Occupation of Village=20
Land | Action Alert, December 9, 2002 by Narmada Bachao Andolan
#7. Drishtipat : the Bangladeshi activists web site honours Harsh=20
Mander as activist of the month
#8. December issue of Himal

__________________________

#1.

17th International Conference of the Association of Historians of Asia
18-22 December 2002
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Organized in co-operation with
University of Dhaka
National University, Bangladesh
Bangladesh History Association
Asiatic Society of Bangladesh

International Committee
President, Professor K. M. Mohsin
Vice Presidents,
Professor Ahmat Adam, (South East Asia)
Professor Michael Hsiao Hsin-Huang, (East Asia)
Professor Tulashi Ram Vaidya, (South Asia)
Secretary General, Professor A. H. Shibly
Organizing Committee headed by
Professor A.M. Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor, National University,=20
Bangladesh includes representatives from the Universities and=20
Research Bodies.=A0

Asia: History and Civilization

Topics include:
Archaeology and Pre-history Ancient Societies
Urbanization and Urban Centers Asian Diaspora
Science and Technology Migration
Religion and Politics Maritime History
Diplomatic History Oral History
Women in Development Asian Media
Art and Literature Environment
Medical History Folklore
Heritage Preservation Ethnicity
Asian Historiography: Regional and Local
Change and Continuity in Asian Societies
Colonialism, Nationalism and Decolonization in Asia
Economic Development: Trade, Commerce and Industry

SPECIAL PANELS
Women and Society in Historical Perspective
Democracy in Asia: Historical Perspective
Civil Society and Governance
Globalization and Development: Asian Perspective
Colonial Historiography in Asia
Bangladesh in the 20th Century

For More details:
17th IAHA Conference, Department of History, Dhaka University,=20
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.
Tel: 880-2-9661920-59/4332, 4348(Office), Fax: 880-2-8615583
Email: duregstr@b... or history@d...

o o o
[Related News Report]

Daily Star (Dhaka)
10 December 2002

International conference of historians in Dhaka from Dec 18

UNB, Dhaka

The 17th conference of the International Association of Historians of=20
Asia (IAHA) will begin here on December 18. Prime Minister Khaleda=20
Zia will inaugurate the event at the Osmani Auditorium. Some 200=20
historians from home and abroad will take part in the five-day=20
conference, to be held at the BRAC Academy, said a press release.

The main theme of this year's conference is -- Asia: History and=20
Civilisation. Bangladesh is hosting such an event for the first time.

Education Ministry, Japan Foundation, Asia Centre, Dhaka University,=20
National University, Bangladesh Itihas Samity, Bangladesh Itihas=20
Parishad and Bangladesh Asiatic Society are cooperating with the IAHA=20
in holding the conference.

The association was formed in 1960 with the objective of exchanging=20
views on new information and data of Asian history.

Keynote papers on 22 topics will be presented for discussion,=20
including Asia's anthropology and prehistory, ancient Asian society,=20
Asian diaspora, diplomatic history, regional and local historiography=20
of Asia, verbal history and history of Asia's medical science.

The historians who will participate in the conference include AH Dani=20
of Pakistan, Romila Thapar of India, Sho Kuwajima of Japan, Lesli=20
Gunawardana of Sri Lanka, Ahmat Adam of Malaysia, Taufik Abdullah of=20
Indonesia, Dietmar Rothermund of Germany and historians of host=20
Bangladesh.

______

#2.

New Delhi
December 10, 2002

STATEMENT

The indefinite postponement of the SAARC Summit is a matter=20
of great concern. It was our own External Affairs Minister who at=20
the SAARC Ministerial meeting held in Kathmandu last August rightly=20
suggested that the Summit should be held each year on fixed dates=20
every January and this was unanimously accepted. This was reiterated=20
by all the members including our Government at the meeting of the=20
Foreign Ministers of SAARC Countries last September in New York.=20
Increased regional cooperation through SAARC is essential to put an=20
united front against the negative aspects of the present economic=20
globalisation including the WTO and its neo liberal agenda. This,=20
the European Union is doing very successfully and to a lesser extent=20
the ASEAN. Over the last one year there has been much greater=20
progress in furtherance of the SAARC agenda then ever before =AD on=20
social issues, on cooperation in Science and Technology and to some=20
extent on economic matters. Pakistan must undoubtedly take effective=20
steps towards implementation of the South Asian Preferential Trade=20
Agreement (SAPTA) and South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) which=20
are the main instruments for economic cooperation in South Asia.=20
However lack of full implementation of earlier resolutions cannot be=20
a ground for cancellation of a meeting. Were it to be so, neither=20
the United Nations nor our own Parliament would ever meet. The SAARC=20
Summit is an international obligation. By attending the Summit,=20
India has nothing to loose but much to gain including goodwill from=20
the smaller SAARC countries and from the world community in general.=20
Government of India must now take the initiative to obtain a=20
consensus and to fix an early date for convening the SAARC Summit=20
during next January itself.

(EDUARDO FALEIRO)
CONVENOR
"Parliamentarians for SAARC" and former Minister of State for=20
External Affairs India

______

#3.

The Hindu (Chennai, India)
Dec 11, 2002
Opinion - Leader Page Articles

The Gujarat vote

By Anjali Mody

India needs a chance to prove to itself and the world that a=20
Government complicit in the murder of its citizens can democratically=20
be evicted from power.

THE CONGRESS' man in Maninagar is Yatin Oza, who not very long ago=20
was with the BJP and twice sat in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly as=20
a BJP MLA. Mr. Oza, whose roots were (are?) firmly in the RSS, is=20
seeking election claiming the mantle of Hindu leader for himself and=20
his new party. The BJP's inability to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya=20
is his favourite example of their inability to deliver on election=20
promises. And yet, in the unlikely event that he defeats the BJP's=20
candidate from Maninagar, Narendra Modi, Mr. Oza will be a hero to=20
many and the cause of celebration inside and outside the State.

This is one of the ironies of democratic politics in India, where=20
ideological lines are fuzzy, political memory short and the liberal=20
intelligentsia, crowded out by a relentless right wing juggernaut, is=20
content to clutch at straws. The Assembly election in Gujarat, many=20
believe, is a battle for the soul of India. It is no such thing. It=20
is a just a battle for political power. The BJP is fighting to keep a=20
hold on the only state it still controls and the Congress is fighting=20
to confirm its claim of regional domination.

Nothing puts this in clearer perspective than the two men leading the=20
charge from either side. Narendra Modi and Shankarsinh Waghela are=20
drawn from the same pool. Mr. Waghela is in the Congress because he=20
was squeezed out by the BJP. For him this battle is not about souls,=20
but about seats. In fact, Waghela's Congress has had its eye on the=20
election from the moment the violence began, just as Modi's BJP did.=20
The Congress in Gujarat accepted the principle that communal violence=20
was good for the BJP's electoral prospects and chose to lie low. Even=20
as the violence continued into the second and third months it gave no=20
hint of political courage. Its strategy was to not be seen supporting=20
the victims of violence. After all, the majority of voters in Gujarat=20
are Hindu. And the Congress' strategy of silence would also lead us=20
to believe that they are all Hindus from the Sangh Parivar's=20
laboratory =8B violent, bigoted and Muslim hating.

So the Congress did very little relief work among the victims of=20
violence and what little it did was done under cover. Congress MLAs=20
resisted visiting relief camps and when they did visit they did their=20
best to keep it from the media. Any acts of political decency were=20
left to the party's central leadership. Sonia Gandhi visited relief=20
camps, spoke to the victims and even petitioned the Prime Minister on=20
their behalf. Mr. Waghela, however, only met with them many months=20
later in New Delhi and only after they had met the President. The=20
same division of labour was visible in the election campaign. Ms.=20
Gandhi addresses election rallies talking of the culture of=20
compassion and service. In New Delhi, her stature as a national=20
leader grows. But in the bylanes of Rajkot and Ahmedabad, the likes=20
of Yatin Oza talk of building a Ram temple, and closing down=20
madrassas. And to ensure that its image as a pro-Hindu party is not=20
in question, the Congress nominated just four Muslims as candidates=20
in this election; one in a Muslim majority area and at least two in=20
constituencies the Congress is unlikely to win.

The party's two election manifestos (yes, it has two) complete the=20
picture. The one in English is full of high-sounding words about=20
secularism and the soul of India. It promises a white paper on the=20
Godhra episode and the role of the BJP Government in it. It describes=20
the Assembly election as a battle for the soul of India with the=20
"forces of narrow-minded communalism" ranged on one side and the=20
"forces of secularism" on the other. It says that secularism is the=20
"bedrock of our nationhood" and that what is being fought over in=20
Gujarat is the "nationhood of India" and "preservation of a heritage=20
to which all communities of India have contributed." The manifesto=20
says that the Congress is the inheritor of Mohandas Gandhi's mantle=20
and the BJP that of his assassins.

But the Gujarati version of the manifesto has no space for=20
secularism, the ideas of nationhood or even for denunciations of the=20
Congress' chief opponent that the English one has. This seems to=20
suggest that Waghela's Congress have accepted the BJP's formulation=20
that concern for India's secular Constitution is restricted to a rump=20
of English speakers, some, no doubt, among its party members. What is=20
terrifying about this hamhanded piece of political cynicism is the=20
assumption that the English speaking/English reading class can be=20
silenced with words. And, that the Congress' claim to inheriting the=20
legacy of independence can be sustained through a linguistically=20
targeted text.

It would be facile to suggest that the Congress and the BJP are the=20
same creature. But, while the BJP actively pursues an ideological=20
agenda, the Congress has reduced its own to context-free slogans. If=20
those whose hopes are riding on a Congress victory expect justice,=20
and through it the restitution of the constitutionally guaranteed=20
rights life and liberty of all Indians, then they will be=20
disappointed. For, there is nothing in the Congress' record to=20
suggest that once in power it will make such a course of action a=20
priority.

In Mumbai, ten years after the 1992-93 riots in which over 1,700=20
people were killed, the policemen, political leaders and thugs=20
involved in the violence are still free. The Congress fought an=20
election promising, among other things, justice for the victims of=20
the riots. It said that it would act on the recommendations of the=20
Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. The=20
Commission's report was published in 1998. Two and half years after=20
it came to power the Congress-led government in Maharashtra has shown=20
that the only use it has for the Commission's report is as a weapon=20
against its political opponents.

Eighteen years after the massacre of nearly 3,000 Sikhs in New Delhi,=20
the Congress politicians who led the mobs are still free. The=20
Congress, in fact, took more than 10 years to even consider keeping=20
these men out of mainstream electoral politics, and then only in=20
order to deny their political opponents a stick to beat them with.=20
Senior Congress leaders have shown that truth and conviction do not=20
count in the electoral fray. Even Manmohan Singh, in his one abortive=20
election effort, claimed that the Congress nothing to do with the=20
massacre of 1984.

And so, we weigh what we stand to win or lose on December 12. A BJP=20
victory will mean a victory for the politics of hate and for a=20
political party which has set itself up as a challenge to the=20
principles of nationhood laid down in the Constitution. A Congress=20
win will offer respite. An absence of violence. But hardly much more=20
than that. The fact is that after six months of violence Gujarat=20
needs a respite. India also needs a chance to prove to itself and the=20
world that a Government complicit in the murder of its citizens can=20
democratically be evicted from power. But all that Gujarat has to=20
choose between is a party that peddles hates as an ideological weapon=20
and another that offers no challenge to it.

_____

#4.

The Telegraph (Calcutta, India)
December 11, 2002

LOOK BACK IN DISGUST

The experience of the Mumbai riot victims suggests that a change of=20
government need not mean that justice will be done in Gujarat, writes=20
Jyoti Punwani

Congress protest against those indicted by the Srikrishna commission report
Farooq Mapkar was in Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, on April 7 this=20
year, facing the attack by Bharatiya Janata Party activists on=20
Mallika Sarabhai=B9s peace meeting held inside. A victim of the 1992-93=20
Mumbai riots =8B he was shot in the shoulder by the police inside a=20
mosque =8B Mapkar was keen to get involved in peace efforts in Gujarat.

Today, as the Congress fights the BJP in Gujarat on the plank of=20
secularism, Mapkar, a bank employee, plans to distribute leaflets=20
against the Congress. The leaflets will point out the government=B9s=20
failure to fulfil its promise of punishing the guilty of the Mumbai=20
riots. Nothing could have validated Mapkar=B9s anger with the Congress=20
more than its stand in the Supreme Court on November 22. It asked the=20
court to allow it to bury the Srikrishna commission report because of=20
its potential for =B3controversy=B2 and because the government had done=20
what was needed.

As the secular brigade across the country rallies around the Congress=20
to keep the BJP out in Gujarat, Mumbai=B9s riot victims are not amused.=20
They have waited three years for the Congress-Nationalist Congress=20
Party government to give them justice. What they have witnessed=20
instead is a wishy-washy, reluctant and half-hearted job of punishing=20
those deemed to deserve =B3strict action=B2 by Justice B.N. Srikrishna.

Mapkar=B9s case is the best example of the government=B9s betrayal. He=20
was lucky to survive the police attack on Hari Masjid during the=20
January 1993 riots; six persons were shot dead, four inside the=20
masjid as they prayed. Justice Srikrishna recommended strict action=20
against Sub-Inspector Nikhil Kapse, who ordered the =B3unprovoked=B2=20
firing and whose behaviour he called =B3brutal and inhuman=B2.

But neither pressure from the small but vocal group of activists in=20
Mumbai, nor directions from the Supreme Court have affected Kapse.=20
The inquiry conducted against him by the special task force set up to=20
act on the Srikrishna report absolved him of responsibility for the=20
firing. While conducting this inquiry and overruling the findings of=20
a high court judge, the STF, comprising hand-picked policemen, did=20
not think fit to call Mapkar or indeed, most of the eye-witnesses who=20
had deposed before the commission on this incident. In 1998, when=20
Justice Srikrishna gave his findings against 31 policemen for their=20
role in the riots, finding them guilty of lapses ranging from=20
complicity with the rioters to refusing to save the lives and=20
properties of Muslims to unprovoked firings on innocents, the victims=20
of these acts felt vindicated. Their versions had finally been upheld=20
by a judge in the face of cross-examination by the city=B9s seniormost=20
criminal lawyers.

Today, they feel more let down than they were by the Shiv Sena-BJP=20
government, which had rejected the commission=B9s findings. For the=20
Congress-NCP government was voted in on the plank of implementing the=20
Srikrishna commission report. Sharad Pawar himself made this promise=20
in front of Muslims in Dharavi, and Naseem Khan, an ordinary Congress=20
worker, became a minister only because his was the first name in the=20
Supreme Court petition urging the report=B9s implementation.

After he became minister, the logical course for Khan would have been=20
to withdraw his petition, assuring the court that he was now in a=20
position to get the report implemented. Instead, he filed an=20
affidavit asking that the report be handed over to the Central Bureau=20
of Investigation for further action, since he did not trust the=20
Mumbai police.

But Khan has come a long way since that na=EFvely honest statement. He=20
has today, thanks to the city=B9s Urdu press, succeeded in building up=20
his image as the only Muslim leader who could get the commission=20
report implemented through his Supreme Court petition. The Urdu=20
reporters have not thought it necessary to meet Hazira Bi Qureishi,=20
whose husband and son were dragged away in the riots. Srikrishna=20
recommended that those missing since the riots be treated as dead and=20
their families be compensated. Hazira Bi=B9s husband and son headed=20
this list of missing persons. But the Maharashtra government has=20
simply deleted the son=B9s name from its latest list of missing persons.

After trying in vain to continue living in her old house, Hazira Bi=20
shifted to a Muslim area to live near her married daughter. Here,=20
this malnourished woman ekes out a living by teaching the Quran to=20
well-off Muslim children =8B the sole means of ensuring that her two=20
surviving children get the education their father wanted them to have.

For some time after the Congress government took over, Hazira Bi=B9s=20
bleak life was filled with hope. A group of activists led by former=20
state chief secretary, J.B. D=B9Souza, took her to the chief minister.=20
Vilasrao Deshmukh ordered his staff to take down her details and=20
promised that the compensation would be paid. That was in January=20
2000. Today Hazira Bi has realized the hollowness of the promise. But=20
Deshmukh has no qualms about claiming in front of Muslim audiences,=20
how he helped =B3that poor Muslim woman=B2 and how he is ready to help in=20
any such case.

Mapkar and Hazira Bi are nobodies, but Haroon Rashid, the late editor=20
of Urdu Blitz, made headlines when the mob burnt his house along with=20
nine others, in January 1993. Justice Srikrishna found Assistant=20
Inspector A. Kamat guilty of =B3utter dereliction of duty=B2 both in=20
failing to act against the mob and in his =B3serious lapses in=20
investigation=B2 thereafter, which resulted in the case being closed.=20
The commission recommended that closed cases of the riots, specially=20
those where enough evidence was available, be reopened. Around 1,358=20
cases, that is 60 per cent of all riot cases, had been closed by the=20
police.

The STF re-opened exactly five of these 1,358 cases. Among them was=20
Rashid=B9s, but it too was closed. The =B3re-investigation=B2 is best=20
described by Rashid=B9s daughter: =B3One morning, two policemen went from=20
house to house in our compound, asking whether we would name the=20
culprits. The men were all at work. The women didn=B9t know what to=20
say. They neither assured us of security against the culprits who=20
still roam free, nor of any action against Kamat at whose feet my=20
father had fallen, while our compound was being attacked. That was=20
the last we heard from the STF.=B2 Kamat, now promoted as inspector,=20
got away with a mere stoppage of two years=B9 increments.

The police=B9s role in Gujarat=B9s violence was the same as that of their=20
Mumbai counterparts. Gujarat=B9s victims have no choice but to vote for=20
the Congress to dislodge the BJP. But they should not hope for any=20
kind of justice. Not one of the 31 policemen named by Justice=20
Srikrishna has suffered a day=B9s suspension, let alone detention.

Nor should Gujarat=B9s victims believe in Shankersinh Vaghela=B9s=20
promises of a riot-free raj. In its three-year tenure, the=20
Congress-NCP has allowed 44 communal riots to take place, eight of=20
them major, in which 41 persons have died. The Shiv Sena-BJP=20
government=B9s record in almost five years: one major and 24 minor=20
riots, in which 17 persons died. The Congress-NCP government blames=20
the Sena-BJP for creating trouble, but weren=B9t they expected to do so?

_____

#5.

The Island (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
11 December 2002

Between the lines
What Gujarat means to India

By Kuldip Nayar

Some fairly authentic reports are now available to indicate that the=20
Election Commission would have suspended the polls in Gujarat if the=20
state government had not stopped the Vijay Yatra. The Vishwa Hindu=20
Parishad (VHP) had planned to lead it nearly three weeks ago with a=20
replica of the charred coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra.

Whether or not the Supreme Court=B9s directive not to stall the polls=20
on the ground of law and order would have come in the way of the=20
Election Commission is difficult to say. After making it the sole=20
arbiter of deciding when to hold the election, the Supreme Court=B9s=20
order would have been at best a subject for interpretation. But that=20
eventuality never arose. Protection of the constitution does not=20
relate to the law and order problem. In any case, the Gujarat=20
government considered it prudent to arrest some VHP leaders to stall=20
the yatra.

The manner in which the VHP was ticked off and the precautionary=20
measures taken by the state, however reluctant, should have chastened=20
chief minister Narendra Modi. But the Gujarat election campaign shows=20
that he went to the farthest limit to break every rule, written or=20
unwritten, legal or moral. His speeches reflect disdain for the=20
Election Commission or, for that matter, any institution. He is a law=20
unto himself.

The sum total of Modi=B9s efforts has been to turn the election in the=20
state into an exercise in obscurantism so as to consolidate the Hindu=20
vote. The word mian, which he has affixed to the name of President=20
Pervez Musharraf, is meant to deride the Indian Muslims and placate=20
the Hindu elements for whom it is a word of contempt. Muslims are=20
hardly a political force in the state. They are not more than 11 per=20
cent of the electorate. But Modi believes that by inculcating=20
anti-Muslim feeling he can ride a pro-Hindu wave.

The Election Commission has stepped in at times to ensure that the=20
polls are free and fair. It has stopped the use of home guards for=20
election duties because most of them are RSS camp followers. The=20
Commission has also taken adverse note of the wide distribution of=20
computer discs and T-shirts depicting the Godhra train burning for=20
propaganda. In Ahmedabad, the Commission had parts of hoardings=20
pulled down because the text read: "Be it Godhra or Akshardham=20
(temple), we will wipe out terrorism."

Still, the Election Commission has limitations. Its major source of=20
information is the state. It cannot run the administration that is=20
under Modi. By the time the reports reached Delhi, the damage had=20
already been done. Even otherwise, the Commission can do little when=20
the ruling party in the state and at the centre is bent upon=20
communalising the atmosphere. The Sangh parivar has staked all in the=20
Gujarat election to make it a referendum on Hindutva. If it fails it=20
may take the parivar many years to recover. But if it succeeds, it=20
may be emboldened to take on the pluralistic society in other parts=20
of the country. It is a disturbing scenario for the future. To some,=20
it may seem farfetched. But that=B9s what emerges when one does a=20
reality check.

The VHP, the Taliban arm of the RSS, is calling all the shots. The=20
BJP is toeing the line. The VHP shows the crude and militant side of=20
Hindutva while the BJP, its camouflage. They are two sides of the=20
same coin. The other members of the Sangh privar are in no way less=20
fanatic and fundamentalist than the deeni (religious) parties in=20
Pakistan or Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister had said that governance and economic development=20
would be the poll issues, not Gohdra. But apparently he could not=20
make the Sangh parivar accept the plank. Otherwise, how do you=20
explain the election propaganda material - calendars, handbills,=20
posters, stickers, CDs and almanacs - all replete with images of the=20
burning Sabarmati Express bogie?

Vajpayee has used the Congress reference to the publication of a=20
White Paper on Godhra and the promise to punish the guilty to break=20
his pre-poll assurance not to bring in Gohdra. Assuming the Congress=20
is a violator, there is no justification for unleashing the most=20
pernicious propaganda against the Muslims and even offering=20
justification for the Gujarat carnage. At one time it was said that=20
the Prime Minister was so disgusted with the VHP campaign that he had=20
decided not to go to Gujarat. But this frame of mind did not last=20
long because he openly said later that he would go to Gujarat if=20
anybody called him (agar koyi bulayaga). The RSS, which now controls=20
all the elections from behind the scenes, has obliged him. The=20
Congress=B9 =8Ccrime=B9 cannot be the ground for the prime minister joining=
=20
the divisive and parochial forces.

LK Advani has thrown every caution to the wind. He should know that=20
he is India=B9s home minister, not the Gujarat chief minister=B9s=20
drumbeater. How can he give Modi a clean chit when the government=20
appointed Nanavati Commission is sitting and recording evidence on=20
what happened in Gujarat and who were guilty? When the home minister=20
declares Modi not guilty, the entire purpose of the Commission is=20
defeated. If the commission does not clear Modi, he can proclaim the=20
chief minister=B9s innocence on the basis of the home minister=B9s=20
certificate.

In fact, the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, with retired Supreme Court=20
and High Court judges as its members, has already indicted Modi. Its=20
two-volume report, entitled Crime Against Humanity, tells how the=20
misuse of religion for political ends resulted in the Gujarat=20
carnage. The tribunal says: "Hindutva barbarians came out on the=20
streets in different parts of Gujarat and, in all flaming fury,=20
targeted innocent and helpless Muslims who had nothing to do with the=20
antecedent Godhra event. They were brutalised by miscreants=20
uninhibited by the police: their women were unblushingly molested;=20
and Muslim men, women and children, in a travesty of justice, were=20
burnt alive. The chief minister, oath-bound to defend law and order,=20
vicariously connived at the inhuman violence and some of his=20
ministers even commanded the macabre acts of horror." Still the home=20
minister praised Modi for the "exemplary handling" of the riots!

Unfortunately, the Congress too is using sadhus and sants lest it=20
should be seen without the support of religious leaders. Congress=20
president Sonia Gandhi started the campaign after invoking the=20
blessings in temples. These acts too are reprehensible.

I do not know how the Gujaratis will ultimately vote. But the=20
election campaign is a warning to the nation: there is no compunction=20
in mixing religion with politics. The entire structure of the polity=20
is in danger if this trend is not ruthlessly stopped. The adherents=20
of theocracy will devour democracy. In no part of the world are one=20
nationality and one religion synonymous terms; nor has it ever been=20
so in India.

Since 10 more state elections are due in the next 12 to 15 months,=20
there should be ground rules on their conduct. The Election=20
Commission alone cannot check the prejudices and passions which are=20
sought to be raised during the poll campaign. Gujarat is an example=20
where even Mahatma Gandhi=B9s name was dragged in to abuse India=B9s=20
pluralistic ethos. Political parties have to adhere to certain=20
discipline. Can they mix religion with politics, something which=20
endangers the very basic structure of the constitution? The ruling=20
BJP has a lot to answer in this regard.

_____

#6.

NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Baroda-390007 * 58, Gandhi Marg, Badwani,
M.P.
(Ph. 07290-222464 ; 0265-2282232. Email: baroda@n... ;
badwani@n...)

ACTION ALERT, December 9, 2002

IT IS THE TIME TO RESTRAIN DIGVIJAY SINGH MODI: MADHYA PRADESH GOVT.
TRAMPLES LAW AND PEOPLE TO HELP NARENDRA MODI
Forcible and Illegal Occupation of Village Land in Bhavanriya For Sardar
Sarovar Dam

It is very difficult to separate the Congress government of media-savvy
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh from that of the communal
Narendra Modi. Both have been targeting the helpless people with the active
connivance of the state-machinery. That was evident, once again on December
9, 2002, in Kukshi block (Dist. Dhar), when over 400 police laid a siege on
the entire area to forcibly occupy the 22 hectares of fertile land in
Bhavanriya village in the plains of Nimad, for the sake of the infamous
Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Over 60 people-men and women- were beaten and
arrested and the 'People-friendly' government destroyed well- grown crops o=
f
chilly, onion and cotton in 22 hectares.

And the Grievance redressal Authority (GRA) of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Sohoni,
appointed by the Supreme Court to deal with the abuse of the affected
people's rights, refused to take up the matter and instead unabashedly told
the people to approach the Supreme Court! This Mr. Sohoni, a highly biased=
,
retired high court judge, asks the people not to come to him.

It was literally a siege and occupation. On Monday (Dec.9), the 400 police
blocked the state highway through the villages: Chikhalda, Nissarpur and
Kukshi town, along with a heavy police force in Bhavanriya. All the vehicle=
s
on this road were stopped and checked. The police and officers forcibly
occupied the 22 hectares of land, ostensibly for setting up the
'resettlement site'. The peasants and other people in the village have been
stiffly opposing any kind of displacement and foiled a previous attempt by
the police to grab the village land.

The state government passed and 'award' of land acquisition for 140 hectare=
s
of land in Bhavanriya village, out of which 22 ha. was earmarked for the
'resettlement site' for the people who were opposing any kind of
displacement and resettlement. The owners of 22 ha. land also did not take
the compensation for the 'acquired' land. The people had challenged the
acquisition of the land in the village, as per the provisions of the Land
Acquisition Act. The state government did not respond to the objections
raised under the Act. The people made it clear that the government cannot
acquire the land of the project-affected persons (PAP) for the resettlement=
,
as per the rehabilitation policy. However, after the Supreme Court judgemen=
t
in October 2000, the state government changed the policy and facilitated th=
e
acquisition of land- except 5 acres piece to be left in case of small and
marginal farmers!

When the people took the matter to the GRA, Mr. Sohoni, this insipid
authority asked the people to apprach to the M.P. High Court! So, Ladubai
and Radheshyam filed the write petition in the High Court ( Writ no. 1460
and 1461 of 2002). The High Court ruled that since the Supreme Court had
appointed the GRA for the specific purpose of dealing with the complaints o=
f
PAPs, the affected persons must approach GRA. However, Mr. Sohoni just
refused to look at the matter.

On December 9, the people again contacted Mr. Sohoni about the emergency
situation and breach of law and rights of the people. This fellow again
asked the people to go to High Court. When the people pointed out the High
Court verdict, he asked them to go the Supreme Court! After much insisting,
the GRA gave the date of January 15 for the hearing of the Bhavnriya land
case.

Well, Mr. Sohoni, the government and police had already destroyed the
standing crop on the land and started to build the roads and structures on
this land. So when and how the people are to get the justice? The great
Supreme Court of India again asked the people to approach the GRAs in the
three states 'in case' any complaints of impropriety. And the GRA himself
asks the people to go to Supreme Court without hearing their case of
restraining the government. The judicial processes and offices in case of
Sardar Sarovar have literally become the facilitators for the government to
displace the people.

And, the people-friendly Digvijay Singh gloats about secular credentials an=
d
distributes Tansen and Lata Mangeshkar Awards, while his police destroy the
tribals' villages, homes and harass the peasants of his own state, with the
complicity of the GRA and other authorities. It is nothing short of state
terrorism. That has been the basis of the projects like Sardar Sarovar.

In Gujarat elections Narendra Modi has been projecting the Sardar Sarovar a=
s
the prime item of his chauvinistic provincialism (Gujarat's asmita), to
deflect the nationwide criticism of communal record. Digvijay Singh, is
helping Modi to wriggle out of the communal mess and also to score electora=
l
points. While the Congress party under Smt. Sonia Gandhi is leading the
campaign in and out of Gujarat for the ouster of Modi, here is her trusted
lieutenant, helping Modi by illegally and forcibly displacing people from
his own state to facilitate the increase in the height of the Sardar
Sarovar.

This is not the only the misdeed of Singh. The peasants and tribals in the
state are being constantly suppressed to promote his corrupt policies of
privatization and globalization. He knows that everybody is looking at Modi
and Gujarat.

Can we allow this is the kind of atrocities and misuse of secularism? It is
another face of the ghastly carnage in Gujarat. This has to be stopped NOW.

Please URGENTLY write/meet/talk/phone/ send fax/email to-

1. Digvijay Singh, and ask him to stop all the atrocious acts of
displacement and appropriation of people's resources and rights. Ask him to
stop illegal and forcible land acquisition.
( Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shyamla Hills,Bhopal
462004
Phone 0755-540500; Fax 0755 - 540501 )

2. And Mr. (Retd.Justice) Sohoni. Ask him to fulfill his mandate and not to
try to avoid the job he has been assigned. He is there to protect people's
rights and not to please the government.
(Mr Sohoni, Grievance redressal Authority, Sardar Sarovar Project, Bhopal.
Ph. (O) 0755- 660187,660127)

In Solidarity,

Ashish Mandloi,
Mohan Patidar
Sanjay Sangvai

_____

#7.

Drishtipat is honored to present Harsh Mander as its December=20
activist of the month for his lifelong contribution to human rights.=20
Here is the interview with him on this context. For detailed on this=20
and to see the web special created for him, please visit:
<http://www.drishtipat.org/activists/harsh.html>http://www.drishtipat.org/a=
ctivists/harsh.html

_____

#8.

In the December Himal:

South Asia on the move
+ Diasporic dispositions among South African Indians
+ The 'Madrasi' in Malaysia
+ Ayodhya's anniversary: Donations for barbarism

Policy predicament
+ Starvation amidst surplus: Hunger, and its profiteers
+ New Delhi and its water plans: Another disaster in the making
... plus much more!
http://www.himalmag.com/2002/december/

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