[sacw] SACW | 25 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch | 25 March 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

__________________________

#1. The Day My Spirit Died (J.S. Bandukwala)
#2. A Victim's Account of Barbarity (Batuk Vora)
#3. A Dangerous Symbiosis - Communalism cannot exist in a vacuum-is=20
that of minorities being soft-pedalled? (Ranjit Bhushan)
#4. The need for a law against genocide (K.G. Kannabiran)
#5. Saffron Sisterhood (Lalita Panicker)
#6. Riots Shake Friendships and Faiths in India (SOMINI SENGUPTA)
#7. RIOTERS RAZE GHAZAL PIONEER'S TOMB (Basant Rawat)
#8. CWGM Mailing List unilaterally deactivated by the Yahoo!=20
administration (S.P. Udayakumar)

__________________________

#1.

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=3D20020401&fname=3DColumn+Band=
ukwala+%28F%29&sid=3D1
Outlook Magazine | Apr 01, 2002
OPINION

The Day My Spirit Died
I was unable to read the RSS correctly. I was convinced it would=20
accept me as an Indian first and a Muslim afterwards.
J.S. BANDUKWALA

It is almost three weeks since my daughter and I escaped the violent=20
mobs ransacking a home we loved and finally a city that had been my=20
karmabhoomi for many decades. I find it hard to comprehend that all=20
the human relationships established over the decades could not save=20
our home from the mob. What went wrong? Could I as an individual have=20
done anything to prevent the violence in Godhra and later throughout=20
the state?
It was Wednesday, February 27, 3.30 pm. I was performing an=20
experiment on optics when my peon informed me of trouble outside. A=20
bogey of Sabarmati Express had been torched at Godhra station. Many=20
kar sevaks had died. Immediately, a shiver ran through my spine.=20
Muslims of Godhra had done a very ghastly thing. The insanity of a=20
few would result in a heavy price for Muslims in Gujarat. As a first=20
step, the burning had to be condemned in a public statement.=20
Fortunately, many newspapers carried my denunciation quite=20
prominently. I was just praying the storm would pass away quietly.=20
But fate willed otherwise.
Raised in the 1950s on a diet of Gandhian idealism, I dedicated my=20
life to communal harmony and the service of the poor and the helpless=20
of India. That led me to give up an American green card and join=20
Baroda University in 1972. Thirty years later, that idealism is=20
passing through fire.
The most important failure was my inability to read the Sangh parivar=20
correctly. I was convinced that as I lived my life in as secular a=20
manner as possible, with total commitment to the country, the RSS=20
would accept me as an Indian first and a Muslim afterwards. Just one=20
day earlier, the Baroda Savarkar Samiti had invited me to speak on=20
Savarkar Day. I was the first Muslim to be ever so invited. They=20
heard my views on the need for harmony between all faiths. What is=20
more, they were most appreciative that I came to their gathering.=20
Then the next day disaster struck. I lost my house, my books, my car=20
and, most important, my inner spirit, as my co-religionists had done=20
something horrible 100 km away.
My idealism, my patriotism and my sacrifices for the country were=20
irrelevant to the saffron brigade. What mattered was that I was born=20
a Muslim and, therefore, was a foreign element in their narrow view=20
of nationalism.
As a Muslim I would not want a masjid to ever come up at the Ayodhya=20
site. My Allah is a god of peace and mercy. He would be very angry=20
that so many innocents have lost their lives just so that a masjid be=20
operational at that spot. If Hindus want it, let them have it. The=20
only condition I would place is no more demands on other masjids. And=20
for that too, I would only take the word of the Kanchi seer. He is a=20
truly spiritual person and his word would be morally binding on=20
Hindus as a whole.
L.K. Advani's contribution to the English language is the word=20
"pseudo-secularism". Being a politician to the core, he may not=20
realise that India has no choice but secularism. Any move away from=20
secularism will just reduce India to a magnified version of Rwanda or=20
Bosnia. Secularism is not a goodwill gesture to Muslims. Had it been=20
so, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would not have it. The statesman that he=20
was, he knew that India could only emerge as a dynamic world power if=20
all her citizens were treated as equals.
There are 140 million Muslims spread over every taluka of India.=20
Their spread and their involvement at the local level is so deep that=20
the VHP slogan of kabristan or Pakistan can only be laughed at.=20
Incidentally, the loss of lives in Gujarat, while horrible, was=20
covered up by the natural growth of Muslims in the country, in just=20
one day.

Equally dangerous is the RSS propaganda that Muslims are a pampered=20
community. Repeated surveys have shown that Muslims constitute the=20
poorest of Indian society.It is understandable, as most Muslims of=20
India are Dalits who have converted. With reservation policies, the=20
condition of Dalits have improved, while Muslims are totally on their=20
own. Can someone tell me where is the pampering?
Polygamy is cited as a special privilege for Muslims. Here too census=20
figures show that the maximum number of polygamous marriages are=20
among Buddhists, then Jains, adivasis, Hindus and finally Muslims. Is=20
it still a case of pampering?
I hope the RSS realises that Hindu nationalism needs something much=20
more than just a "hate Muslim" platform. Their intellectual=20
supporters, such as Arun Shourie, should apply their mind in this=20
field. Nevertheless, I want my fellow Muslims to rise above this=20
hatred.
Allah is Rabil Alameen, Lord of Everything. He's not Rabil Muslimeen,=20
Lord of Muslims alone. In that sense all men, including Hindus, are=20
our brothers. It is sad that a Hinduism that could produce such icons=20
as Vivekanand and Gandhi is now represented by the likes of=20
Ramchandra Paramhans and Praveen Togadia.
How can a society function with a public sanctioning of violent=20
killings of another community? To lionise a 15-year-old for raping=20
and killing an innocent Muslim girl shows the rot in the VHP. How do=20
we explain rich people gleefully looting Muslim shops? In the final=20
analysis what counts is the character of the people in an=20
organisation.
One last question: who gave the Muslim Personal Law Board the right=20
to represent all Muslims, including myself. Similarly, what right has=20
the VHP to speak for all the Hindus of the country? How many mplb=20
members have suffered at the hands of the VHP?
I have, and therefore can claim, a right to suggest a solution to=20
this vexing Ayodhya problem.
It is time these self-appointed custodians of Muslim and Hindu=20
interests are told categorically that they have no business to=20
interfere in Ayodhya.
(The author is on the faculty of M.S. University, Baroda. He is the=20
Gujarat vice-president of the People's Union of Civil Liberties=20
(pucl) and the general secretary of the Baroda Welfare Society, an=20
organisation that focuses on the economic and educational uplift of=20
Muslims, particularly women. Temporarily, he is not in Baroda.)

_______

#2.

[25 March 2002]

A VICTIM'S ACCOUNT OF BARBARITY
by Batuk Vora

Ahmedabad: A 2-year old child forced to drink petrol and a matchstick=20
thrown in his mouth, instantly burning him down. Several women's=20
clothes pulled and torn by a big crowd, raped in public by several=20
men and set on fire after cutting their limbs. A pregnant woman's=20
stomach split open with a naked sword, fetus taken out and fixed on=20
top edge of that sword and thrown into fire, with half dead woman too=20
pouring enough fuel on her torn out body. Hundreds of men, women and=20
kids were burnt to death by a frenzied mob of 10,000 shouting "Bharat=20
Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Shri Rama", while perpetrating unheard of=20
barbarity on that Sangh-Parivar-led Bandh day of Feb. 28, at=20
Naroda-Patia in the Southeast of Ahmedabad city, besides at several=20
other areas.

Details of the truth are always difficult to come out soon. 25 days=20
after that communal carnage, it comes out loud and clear from the=20
'horses mouth' of few survivors of that 'holocaust,' some of those=20
8000 homeless-jobless 'refugees' at one of the 27 relief camps near=20
the Durgah of Shah Alam. Official figure puts 91 as dead but=20
witnesses says no less than 300 were butchered, burnt or thrown into=20
a nearby empty Tisra (third) well covering it with debris of burnt=20
slums.

Taherabibi Sheikh, a woman in her fifties, is just one among among=20
several surviving victims. She and other camp inmates accompanying=20
her cries several times while narrating the cruelty to this writer=20
and other two reporters.

She said: "An armed mob (with all kinds of weapons- chemical and=20
inflammable gas-oil) started gathering from 9.30 am onward that=20
Thursday from all directions. They first demolished our religious=20
shrine with about six LPG cylinders bringing them in truck loads with=20
other weapons and material. They held their saffron flag on a big=20
pole fetching it in a tanker that was pushed inside the shrine.=20
Surrounding houses too were blown up in smoke with those cylinders.=20
Perhaps they used some bombs too, as we heard very loud blasts.=20
Myself and a few others hid at a small distance behind a house and=20
saw it".

"They crowded each slum and house and set them on fire - including=20
those inmates - mainly women, children and old people. I was told by=20
my neighbor that they brought these cylinders from a nearby Uday Gas=20
Agency."

She went on: "Some of us rushed to an SRP [State Reserve Police] camp=20
at a distance. SRP team simply refused to help. They advised them to=20
sneak through a small lane nearby and escape. Inhabitants of this=20
colony rushed out in great hurry to save their lives before the mob=20
reached their homes. But small kids could not run and many of them=20
were caught and burnt alive. Some persons from a nearby ST workshop=20
also joined the mayhem. They brought diesel and petrol from the=20
workshop. "

"Did anybody try to resist this mob?" I asked her.
She said: "Yes, some young boys came forward but immediately the=20
police which had merged with the mob came out and fired at them.=20
Private firing too was heard from the mob. A well known face among=20
the leaders of the mob was that of a local BJP leader. This mayhem=20
went on from morning to late evening. We saw no police help, no law=20
and no god anywhere around."

Another lady, Sabira Bano added: "those big families of 6 to 9=20
members were not left alive. I saw them dragging the dead bodies and=20
throwing them in that Tisra well. Police found the corpses outside in=20
the narrow lanes and bylanes only. They have not seen that well."

Seven year old daughter and 5 year old son of Ayub Kureshi, residing=20
near the workshop, were snatched from his hands and doused with=20
petrol and set to fire. " I had to run for his life, I have not yet=20
found several of my neighbors anywhere. My wife got serious burn=20
injuries and I too could not save one of my hands, cut down by a=20
sword."

Gujarat Today, a daily run by a minority community trust from Shah=20
Alam, reported in one of its issues those days, that "on enquiry, it=20
was found that mobs used a deadly chemical called 'Laxel'" with=20
maximum effect. Skin and whole body instantly turns into a piece of=20
rubber once poured with this chemical.

The report further said that this material was brought from Hyderabad=20
and used liberally in Ahmedabad and other cities and even villages.=20
Mobs used some other atomic divider too so as to demolish strong=20
cement concrete structures. One of the demolished dozens of mosques=20
was brought down with a crane! Some houses were set on fire by=20
employing the device of causing a short circuit of electricity.=20
Smriti-Vihar and Smriti-Darshan societies of Ghodesar area were=20
turned into ashes in this manner of short circuit in both concealed=20
and non-concealed wires. Burhani society's 70 structures were also=20
destroyed with this method, after those crowds first looted and=20
ransacked them. It was all highly technical and trained job.

Thousands of refugees ( at least 56,000) still do not know what to do=20
with their future and where to go and how to live and work, when they=20
do not feel secure even after 25 days.

_______

#3.

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?sid=3D1&fodname=3D20020401&fname=3DMin=
ority+%28F%29
Outlook Magazine | Apr 01, 2002
SOCIETY
A Dangerous Symbiosis
Communalism cannot exist in a vacuum-is that of minorities being soft-pedal=
led?
by RANJIT BHUSHAN

"No one cried for Godhra victims, the breast-beating began when the=20
sentiments of five crore people of Gujarat were expressed."
-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi
Do the so-called Indian secularists and political parties ignore=20
Hindu causes and play up minority issues? Put another way, has the=20
English-speaking chatterati ignored minority communalism and=20
highlighted majority communalism, an outcome of the old Nehruvian=20
construct which makes the fundamentalism of majorities more dangerous=20
than that of the minorities? The question therefore is whether=20
secularists are guilty of ignoring minority communalism to the extent=20
that they have actually provided the ruse for the majority to claim=20
that minorities have been pampered.
Most analysts agree communalism doesn't grow in a vacuum-one type of=20
communalism feeds on the other. There is another area of agreement:=20
majority communalism has the propensity to dominate state and=20
society, unlike minority fundamentalism. Indian history, particularly=20
post-1940, is replete with mutual provocations but historians over=20
the years have preferred not to delve too much into the dialectical=20
nature of this relationship, as one belonging to a past best=20
forgotten, or worst, glossed over.
The '80s and '90s have changed that, leading to deeper and more=20
probing questions on the issue of communalism that was meant to have=20
been finished with Pakistan's creation. But it now appears to be a=20
most handy and pliable tool for political mobilisation. The use of=20
religious symbols like Ayodhya, cynically exploited first by the=20
Congress and then the BJP, and the growth of extremist minority=20
organisations which act in tandem with their friends across the=20
border, have raised questions Indian policy-makers can ignore at=20
their peril.
Post-Gujarat, the issue has assumed significant proportions in the=20
light of the charges levelled by Sangh parivar leaders and activists=20
that secularism in India has come to mean a wide berth for minority=20
communalism. (Incidentally, why Gujarat, which had not much to do=20
either with the Partition movement-save for supplying a leader in=20
Jinnah, of course-or even the Muslim assertion for a separate=20
identity that happened in the north, particularly in UP? But the=20
recent organised attacks across Gandhi's home state show an=20
increasing intolerance which calls for a serious rethink on some=20
crucial issues.) What is minority communalism? Explains sociologist=20
Imtiaz Ahmed of Delhi's JNU, "It has existed for a long time. Its=20
first level is when Muslims claim to represent the common interest of=20
fellow Muslims just because they belong to one religion. In this=20
case, religious identity becomes the common denominator and other=20
forms of secular identities are overlooked. The next level comes into=20
play during communal riots when a certain fringe takes over and=20
dominates while the third level is more institutionalised-included=20
here are organisations like the Muslim Personal Law Board and Babri=20
Masjid Action Committee (BMAC), which exploit sentiments and speak on=20
behalf of the entire community."
Adds Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, president of The Islamic Centre, Delhi,=20
"Minority communalism is basically defensive while majority=20
communalism is aggressive. Minority communalism is a result of=20
incompetent leadership. Pre-independence, Muslim politics was=20
problem-based; now it is opportunity-based."
The point is, has this kid-glove treatment of minority communalism=20
resulted in giving secularism a bad name? Explains Ashutosh Varshney,=20
associate professor of political science and director, Center for=20
South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan, "The framework=20
within which Indian journalists and academics function-right since=20
Nehru's days-does often lead to this intellectual failure.

Nehru used to say that majority communalism was India's biggest=20
enemy, not minority communalism. While that may still be true, Nehru=20
failed to see that at some point the two could be seriously=20
interlinked-one could instigate the other and vice versa. Nehru's=20
arguments came apart in the '80s but his intellectual legacy=20
continues. Both forms of communalism-minority and majority-must be=20
condemned."
According to Ashish Nandy of the Centre for the Study of Developing=20
Societies, secularists have been foolishly soft on minority=20
communalism: "When Hindus began to be exterminated systematically in=20
Kashmir and to leave in large numbers, our secularist friends said=20
then governor Jagmohan had deliberately organised the forced=20
migration. I would like to see people leaving their ancestral homes=20
with a sack in hand just because the governor of the state asks them=20
to do so! When questioned later as to how the killings of Hindus were=20
not condemned strongly enough, some of them said newspapers had=20
refused to carry their statements."
Nandy says Indian minorities are not much different from minorities=20
the world over: they are anxious, on the defensive about their=20
community and the desire for self-affirmation is high. All=20
communities have semi-criminal and anti-social groups. There begins a=20
cycle of harassment and teasing from such elements within the=20
majority community, who are complacent due to their larger numbers.=20
The net outcome is a minority outburst after which the floodgates=20
open.
But more and more people are now questioning old paradigms. Says=20
movie writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar, "Without that communal fringe=20
among the minorities, the Sangh parivar would not have gained a=20
foothold. Organisations like SIMI and BMAC have aided the rise of=20
Hindu nationalism. This small section of Muslims and their actions=20
have led to major generalisations about the community."
Says Syed Fahim, head of Vadodara's largest dargah, "I think Muslims=20
have failed to understand Islam's true meaning. They wrongly=20
interpret the Quran. For example, the cow sacrifice incident in=20
Gujarat is condemnable. Such incidents provide the majority community=20
the opportunity to shoot from the shoulders of the minorities." In=20
the days before the Godhra killings and the subsequent riots in=20
Gujarat, the state was rocked by the slaughter of over 500 cows in=20
Bharuch district by miscreants. While the incident itself went=20
unreported nationally, there was a fair amount of bitterness which=20
spread in its wake.
Some academics now say they fear the long-term impact of communal=20
violence. According to political scientist Rajni Kothari, after the=20
recent Gujarat violence, the minority community would have no option=20
but to get organised. "This is a typical minority response. While=20
communalism is not new here, it is now getting more definitive," he=20
says. Nandy reckons, by the same token, that majority action is bound=20
to provoke reaction. He says, for instance, that for the first time=20
Christians have been attacked in Dangs and other places in the recent=20
past. "A few years down the line, you may see them regroup and=20
organise themselves as Christian terrorists."
Was the Partition movement a case of minority communalism? Kothari=20
believes that communalism-and minority communalism-is a=20
post-Partition phenomenon and the real poison started to grow after=20
1947. "Partition was an effort by Muslims to get a state for=20
themselves. The feeling of despair of Muslims led to Pakistan," he=20
argues. Of course, other nation-states have been divided along ethnic=20
or communal lines and what happened to India is by no means an=20
uncommon occurrence, says Kothari. But Nandy believes the Partition=20
movement was essentially a case of minority communalism and laid down=20
the parameters of future Hindu-Muslim relationships.
People like Varshney question the very basis of terminology used.=20
"(a) Seeing politics in majority-minority terms only; (b) violently=20
acting upon that construct and (c) holding Hindus in general=20
responsible for the action of some Hindus. The Godhra killings=20
reflected all three elements of the problem."
Most analysts say the identification of Indian Muslims with Pakistan=20
is mystifying. Though there is little research on the transfer of=20
populations, it is estimated that at least 80 per cent of Muslims=20
lived on in India after Partition. According to Nandy, much of the=20
linking of Indian Muslims with Pakistan is a flight of middle-class=20
imagination. In the case of Gujarat, it has a huge middle-class=20
population which has got progressively communalised since the 1969=20
riots. Varshney, who surveyed six Indian cities in 1995-96, says this=20
feeling was confined to a very small section of the Muslim=20
population. "The idea that most Indian Muslims support Pakistan can=20
be labelled a communalist's fantasy. It has no basis in facts," he=20
says.
In coming days, the case of communalism will hopefully be discussed=20
threadbare. In Gujarat's case, there are good reasons for its=20
proliferation. The rise of bootleggers, collapse of Ahmedabad's vast=20
textile industry and the decline of Gandhian institutions have given=20
communalism its staying power. Add to it political patronage and the=20
ensemble is complete.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranjit Bhushan With Abhik Siddiqui in New Delhi

_______

#4.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002032502351200.htm
The Hindu
25 March 2002

The need for a law against genocide

By K.G. Kannabiran

We have never given up our adherence to colonial administrative=20
practices and the vocabulary used by them in the administration of=20
the country. A Hindu-Muslim problem is communal and not a problem of=20
religions. It has always been communal violence and not religious=20
violence.

Communal violence has always been a law and order problem and not=20
something affecting public order or security of state. After=20
Partition, Muslims were accorded minority status. Every communal riot=20
was a political statement that the majority community is not willing=20
to accede to the minority more than formal equality. The conflict may=20
be triggered on grounds of lack of equal opportunities for livelihood=20
and may also be on account of claiming equal status. At the bottom of=20
all the violence is the claim and denial of equality by the=20
contending groups in our society.

Formally, there is no mention of the majority community religion in=20
the Constitution though the name given to the country, i.e., Bharat=20
is decidedly Hindu. We have not elected to name the Hindu religion as=20
the state religion. We have constitutional oath for both believers=20
and non-believers. We have given to ourselves the freedom of=20
conscience and not provided, advisedly, security to religious=20
institutions. We have, along with the freedom of conscience, given to=20
ourselves freedom of speech, assembly and association so that these=20
may be exercised to evolve, in the course of time, a culture of=20
tolerance essential for a pluralistic society as ours. We had a=20
reasonably well-written Constitution having a written agenda for=20
social change but all the political and the constitutional=20
institutions failed and a handful of men of superannuated eminence=20
are now appointed for reviewing the Constitution to find out why it=20
failed us.

Over the years we have destroyed the moral and normative contents of=20
the Constitution by interpretation given to it by judges and=20
administrators. We were given the freedom of conscience but a change=20
in religion entails civil consequence. This limitation was not=20
provided for in the Constitution. Personal laws, declared the judges,=20
were not subject to the Constitution. Our courts said we should have=20
a common civil code to prevent Hindu husbands, inclined towards=20
bigamy or polygamy, from opting for Islam! Hitherto, the inarticulate=20
major premise has always been to maintain a low-profile Hindu state=20
and that they managed to maintain despite repeated exposure by=20
Dalits. As politics abandoned the philosophy of social transformation=20
and became a gamble for power, people were categorised into=20
vote-banks and capture of these vote-banks had to be on caste and=20
communal lines. Secularism and democracy became the immediate=20
casualties. With the disappearance of politics of social=20
transformation, religion stepped into the slot. When V.P. Singh's=20
Government was formed, the BJP unleashed its political agenda. The=20
Ayodhya rath yatra and the anti-Mandal stir were the twin=20
unconstitutional issues which brought down attempted democratic forms=20
of Government in the country. The 1990 rath yatra was a galloping=20
incitement to violence, which the Congress Government failed to=20
control. It is ironical that mass support for the rath yatra came=20
from the very classes against whom the anti-reservation stir was=20
carried on. Narasimha Rao said he could fight the BJP but asked how=20
he could fight Ram. This visual confusion denied him the strength to=20
stem the onslaught of the Hindutva forces. They brought down the=20
Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Until then, Ayodhya was linked to the=20
Ramayana. It is now known and will always be remembered for the Babri=20
Masjid that stood there. The violence unleashed after the protest and=20
violence by a few Muslims in Mumbai and other places is not rioting=20
but unilateral killing of a few thousand Muslims. Every `maha arthi'=20
held by Shiv Sainiks was a signal for a genocide in the area.

It is no longer a communal riot. To call it so is an understatement.=20
It is targeting a religious group. There are no provisions in the old=20
penal code to cope with this kind of largescale violence and=20
killings. Terrorists would not have killed as many people in 10 years=20
as these religious brigands have in a week. Yet, we do not think of a=20
special law to prevent targeting minorities. This has been happening=20
to Muslims. Sikhs were slaughtered in 1984 and Christians are being=20
targeted.

The laws are such that they do not instil fear. It is time we stopped=20
the massacres in the name of religion. There has to be a=20
re-definition of religion and, meanwhile, we have to include genocide=20
as an offence in a separate chapter in the POTO. Even if it is not=20
passed, a law on genocide has to be tabled in Parliament.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of=20
Genocide came into being on December 9,1948. Genocide is defined as=20
killing members of a targeted group; causing serious bodily or mental=20
harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of=20
life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or=20
in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the=20
group; forcibly transferring children from one group to another. The=20
offences indicated are genocide, the conspiracy to commit genocide,=20
direct and public incitement to commit genocide; attempt to commit=20
genocide and complicity to genocide. This is the international=20
criminal law on genocide and it has, unfortunately, become necessary=20
to translate this covenant into national law.

When religious violence was unleashed in Gujarat, it was not=20
spontaneous. It was not a backlash. The majority community was being=20
prepared for such carnages. There was direct and public incitement to=20
genocide. Shilanyas and the fixation of the date set the stage for=20
this colossal genocide. There is complicity both at the Centre and=20
the State. If we are not to end up in fascism what happened in=20
Gujarat has to be identified as genocide.

(The writer is the National President of the People's Union of Civil=20
Liberties.)

_______

#5.

http://203.199.93.7/articleshow.asp?art_id=3D4791182
The Times of India, Monday, March 25, 2002

Saffron Sisterhood
by LALITA PANICKER

Rrecent post-riot event in Gujarat has gone largely unnoticed in the=20
media. When an apathetic state administration finally moved to bring=20
some of the guilty to book and chargesheeted a few policemen, few=20
thought that justice would actually be done.
But, in the case of one arrested policeman, a 2,000-strong mob of=20
women gathered outside the station where he was held demanding his=20
release. After an initial show of reluctance, the administration=20
dropped the charges.
We have heard horror stories of the role the police played in these=20
riots. Far from protecting innocent Muslims, in many places they=20
connived actively with the murderous mobs. Why then did women come=20
out to defend a criminal? The answer is chilling - the=20
communalisation of women which began during the Ayodhya agitation=20
over a decade ago has now increased several notches.
This is not a new phenomenon, but nevertheless is one of the more=20
frightening manifestations of the growing brutalisation of society.=20
Women's active participation in riots or communally charged incidents=20
has increased over the years; indeed newspapers and TV channels have=20
been carrying pictures of women applying tilak on kar sevaks urging=20
them to go into battle, women brandishing swords and women on the=20
streets throwing stones at the riot police.
What happened in Gujarat is not a surprising development, the sangh=20
parivar and similar organisations have worked systematically to=20
indoctrinate women and encourage them to be a part of their larger=20
agenda.
The modus operandi has been quite simple; encourage the woman to=20
think that the presence of the 'other' is a threat to the purity and=20
honour of the Hindu family and that she as the custodian of family=20
values must do everything to defend it. Including taking to the=20
streets if need be.
Suppressed by a partriachal system where her opinions are of no=20
account, the woman is given a false sense of importance. Here are=20
powerful men asking her to be part of their movement, to fight=20
shoulder to shoulder with them. It is a heady feeling, one in which=20
she is quite willing to be exploited for her 15 minutes of fame and=20
glory.
Many years ago, interviewing members of the Rashtriya Sevika Sangh,=20
the women's wing of the RSS, highly educated members proudly told me=20
that the women's primary duty was to be a home maker. Working outside=20
the home, they felt, brought women into contact with men other than=20
their husbands which was not desirable for the stability of the=20
family unit.
Had they come to this conclusion on their own? No, this was the=20
teaching imparted at classes conducted by their male counterparts.=20
The role of the home maker is imbued with some sort of sanctity which=20
would be lost the moment a woman expresses a desire to do something=20
beyond nurturing the family.
Yet, women are rarely given any real power within the hierarchies of=20
these organisations other than to disseminate propaganda. So we had=20
the phenomenon of a Sadhvi Rithambara or an Uma Bharati, both=20
excellent orators trotted out at convenient moments to spread the=20
sangh's word.
While Rithambara has now been put in mothballs, Uma Bharati, who so=20
daringly disguised herself as a man to reach the disputed site in=20
Ayodhya in 1992, has been able to get some amount of official=20
recognition but it has not been a smooth ride for her.
She has time and again expressed her disillusionment with the=20
campaign against her when she stepped out of the pre-determined role=20
that her organisation had drawn up for her.
Now, in the aftermath of Gujarat, where by all accounts, Muslim women=20
and small children were particularly targeted by the mobs, there has=20
not been a single voice raised in condemnation from any of the Hindu=20
women's organisations.
Even if such sentiments were to exist, it is fairly certain they will=20
never be heard.
Women from economically weaker sections are particularly vulnerable -=20
joining a shakha is seen as a means to economic empowerment via the=20
income-generating activities on offer and to acquiring a ready-made=20
support system.
The Gujarat riots saw a widening in the social base of women who do=20
not question the excesses of the fundamentalists and instead=20
cooperate wholeheartedly with them. Reports from women's groups tell=20
of middle and upper class women participating in looting alongside=20
men.
Not one of them expressed any horror at the carnage visited on their=20
Muslim women counterparts.
This suggests that we ought not to labour under the delusion that=20
left to themselves, these women would be more bothered about bread=20
and butter issues and not the mandir or Muslims. In her essay, Heroic=20
Women, Mother Goddesses, Tanika Sarkar quotes some of women present=20
in Ayodhya in 1991.
Chandravati, a kar sevika from Aligarh said, "We have come here to=20
shed blood...the meaning of temple building is that mullahs should be=20
hanged..." Another would-be san-yasin from Ghaziabad said, "This=20
country is as deep as the ocean, as endless as the sky...the Hindu is=20
the beginning and the end".
Perhaps, no other organisation professing to represent Hindus has=20
been quite as efficient as organising women on communal lines as the=20
Shiv Sena. It has been able to get women onto the street to prevent=20
its male leaders from being arrested, even to prevent help from=20
getting to Muslim areas during riots.
In fact, they actively goad men to greater violence taunting them=20
with insults like 'shall we give you bangles?'
The same women, however, do not find it objectionable when the Sena's=20
male leaders publicly make sexist pronouncements. The Sena has=20
repeatedly made it clear that feminine power is being harnessed not=20
to give women greater autonomy or power but as a tool to propagate=20
and participate in communal hatred.
But when violence is perpetrated against women within the family, the=20
advice given to them is to try and 'adjust'. In the aftermath of any=20
riot, we have seen that the law enforcement agencies invariably=20
overlook the role that women play in them. Despite being active=20
participants and displaying no less blood lust than their male=20
counterparts, women are rarely apprehended or charged with their=20
crimes.
After their moment of 'glory' on the streets, they retreat to the=20
anonymity of their homes. It is a singular failure of the Indian=20
feminist movement and liberal women's groups that they have not been=20
able to focus more on this communalisation of women and campaign=20
against women becoming pawns in a dangerous game which will bring=20
them no tangible benefit.
_______

#6.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/24/international/asia/24INDI.html
The New York Times
March 24, 2002

Riots Shake Friendships and Faiths in India
By SOMINI SENGUPTA

AHMEDABAD, India, March 22 =97 On the day that a scooter-riding mob set=20
fire to Akbar Divecha's apartment building in an affluent, largely=20
Hindu neighborhood here, it was his friend, Sanjay Shah, who drove=20
across town and ferried him to safety.

Mr. Divecha, a retired judge with the Gujarat State court, is a=20
Muslim, though by his own admission only nominally. He describes=20
himself as an ardent secularist.

Mr. Shah, a chartered accountant, is a Hindu. He is also a=20
state-level functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu=20
nationalist group that controls this state and has been widely=20
accused of doing little during the last month as Hindu mobs set=20
ablaze Muslim homes, businesses and Muslims themselves. Nearly 650=20
people, mostly Muslims, have died.

Mr. Divecha, 66, calls it "a holocaust." Mr. Shah, 52, at whose home=20
the two met for lunch, says a terrible thing happened. But he adds,=20
"Frankly, the provocation was great."

By this he means that the violence began only after a Muslim mob=20
burned a train full of Hindu militants at a station in Godhra, 95=20
miles north of here; 58 Hindus, including children, were killed =97 or,=20
in Mr. Shah's word, lynched.

The riots here have done more than lay bare the simmering hostility=20
between members of the Hindu majority and their Muslim neighbors.=20
They have also left secular Indians fearing for the future.

In the collegial conversation between these two old friends lay the=20
kernel of the debate roiling India.

As Mr. Divecha sat in his friend's living room and listened quietly,=20
Mr. Shah credited Hindu nationalists for uniting Hindus.

But later, in private, Mr. Divecha bemoaned what to him looked like a=20
shrinking space for secularism. For the first time in his life, he=20
faced the prospect of having to move to a Muslim enclave. He fears=20
the riots will divide his hometown into "watertight containers" of=20
Hindu and Muslim neighborhoods.

Mr. Divecha describes himself as a Muslim "only by name, not by=20
deed." Beaming, he said he had visited more Hindu temples than Muslim=20
shrines. He is a vegetarian by choice. (His friend, Mr. Shah, is a=20
meat-eater.)

Mr. Divecha does not read Arabic well enough to read the Koran, and=20
he rarely fasts during Ramadan. Never had he and his wife, Maleka,=20
thought of living anywhere but an integrated area. The mob that=20
attacked the Divechas' apartment building, an island of 12 Muslim=20
families in a Hindu and Jain area, singed that lifelong commitment.

"Left to me, I would prefer to live in a cosmopolitan, mixed=20
neighborhood," Mr. Divecha said. "But all depends on Mrs. Divecha.=20
She's too scared to go back."

Mrs. Divecha, 58, pursed her lips. "What we saw, we won't be able to=20
forget," she said. "It's unsafe. We have no police protection.=20
Nothing." The Divechas are currently taking shelter in a government=20
bungalow.

The cry was much the same at the Shah Alam relief camp, a=20
grief-filled tent city in the walled courtyard of a Muslim shrine=20
here. The refugees here had lived in a Muslim pocket in a largely=20
Hindu area. Their homes have been destroyed. Their heads are filled=20
with awful memories: a husband shot and killed by police, a son set=20
upon by a mob.

Godhran Zadaphia, the Gujarat home minister, said he believed that=20
most displaced residents would eventually move back home. But=20
residents have already pressed the government for land to build a new=20
settlement in a Muslim part of town.

The Divechas wonder aloud where they might feel at home. Should they=20
move to a Muslim enclave, they asked. Would they be accepted?

"They wouldn't harm me, they would look down on me," Mr. Divecha=20
offered. "They wouldn't accept me as a Muslim person partly as a=20
result of my outlook and partly as a result of my way of life."

Mr. Shah insisted that Mr. Divecha was not like most Muslims. "With=20
rabid communal Muslims, this man cannot live," he said.

Mr. Shah, who befriended Mr. Divecha 20 years ago, fretted about his=20
friend's safety and wondered how Mr. Divecha, having invested his=20
nest egg on his apartment, could afford to buy another.

Yet, when talk turned to the fate of those who set fire to the=20
Divechas' home and killed hundreds of Muslims, the two men diverged=20
sharply.

Of course, Mr. Shah said, the mob that killed Hindus on the train=20
should be treated differently from the mob that went on a vengeful=20
rampage. "If I slap you first and then you slap me, should we be=20
charged the same?" he asked. "Who started this mischief?"

Mr. Divecha disagreed. "Homicide remains homicide," he said, "even if=20
it's by way of retaliation."

Mr. Shah escorted his visitors to the door. As Mr. Divecha stepped=20
outside, he raised his finger to the sky and said: "I'd like to add=20
one thing. I have full faith in humanity."

_______

#7.

The Telegraph, 25 March 2002

RIOTERS RAZE GHAZAL PIONEER'S TOMB

FROM BASANT RAWAT

Ahmedabad, March 24:=20
The miles that separate Afghanistan and Ahmedabad did not prevent a=20
rerun of Bamiyan during the Gujarat riots.

The tomb of Vali Gujarati, the 17th century Urdu poet widely regarded=20
as the pioneer of ghazals, was among the cultural and historical=20
milestones demolished by the rioters, much like the destruction of=20
the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban.

"Vali Gujarati was part of Ahmedabad culture. The destruction of his=20
tomb is a barbaric cultural assault which we writers have condemned=20
and demand that the tomb is rebuilt," said noted Gujarati writer=20
Manishi Jani.

Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, too, expressed shock at the=20
demolition of Vali Gujarati's tomb and called for its restoration=20
during his visit to the city about a fortnight ago.

Urdu poet Jayant Parmar, who criticised the "shocking" destruction,=20
feels that the government should build a memorial in place of the=20
tomb.

Vali's works were translated into French in 1833, the first ever=20
Indian work to have been translated abroad. The marble tomb with a=20
marble canopy had survived a series of riots since 1969.

In a swift operation, the Congress-ruled Ahmedabad Municipal=20
Corporation removed the rubble, leaving no traces of the tomb.

Mayor Himatsinh Patel, however, denied AMC bulldozers, cranes and=20
rollers were used in the demolition.

"It was a mob act, we do know where they got equipment to pull down=20
the structures," said Patel.

Several mosques and tombs, including two historical monuments, were=20
damaged during the carnage.

The Muhafiz Khan Masjid in Gheekanta and the small stone mosque in=20
Isanpur area, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),=20
have been damaged.

Superintending archaeologist R. Gahlot said while the Muhafiz Khan=20
Masjid was "reparable", the Isanpur mosque that was repaired just=20
seven years ago was beyond restoration. Built in the 15th century=20
during the rule of Mohammad Begda, this three-domed mosque was also=20
known as Gumte Masjid.

Independent legislator Usman Devdiwala said as many as 125 mosques=20
and dargahs, including 43 in the city, had been razed to the ground.

In many places, including Vali's tomb, flags and idols were installed=20
by the "demolition squad", which were removed only after the state=20
government came under fire. Vali's tomb was renamed "Godharia Hanuman=20
temple".

Following the vandalism, the ASI has written to collector K.=20
Sreenivas and police commissioner P.C. Pande and submitted a list of=20
protected monuments in the city.

The Ahmedabad Sunni Muslim Wakf Committee has also submitted a list=20
of 53 monuments to the National Human Rights Commission, many of them=20
defaced, two of them already knocked down by the mob.

Not all of these monuments are listed with the ASI or the state=20
archaeological department.

______

#8.

[ Dear readers of SACW, posted below is a message from SP Udayakumar=20
the founder and initiator of the valuable e-mail list 'Communalism=20
Watch and Governance Monitor', whose mail service has been=20
deactivated by Yahoo ... Please write to Yahoo to protest and request=20
that the service be resumed
Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web]

o o o

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 19:33:46 +0530 (IST)

Dear Harsh:

Just a quick note to let you know and to inform other comrades=20
(through your SAAN and SACW Digests) that the CWGM Digests and my=20
email address <spudayakumar@y...> have been unilaterally=20
deactivated by the Yahoo! administration. They refuse to tell me=20
what wrong I did and are unwilling to reactivate my email address or=20
the CWGM Homepage. Somebody from the Sangh Parivar or the Indian=20
Nukedom circles must have complained to the Yahoo! about me.

If you can afford the time, please drop a line to the Yahoo! folks at=20
the following address <mail-abuse@y...> and request them to=20
reactivate my account and the CWGM homepage.

Please use my other email accounts to correspond with me:
spuk@v...
spudayakumar@h...

Best regards
S.P. Udayakumar

--=20
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