[sacw] SACW #2 | 11 April. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire #2 | 11 April 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

__________________________

#1. Citizens' report blames Modi for Gujarat violence
#2. Looking Facts in The Face (Achin Vanaik)
#3. Resolution Condmning The Attack on Peace Meeting in Sabarmati Ashram An=
d
on Medha Patkar, on April 7, at Ahmedabad
#4. Bloody Mary: And what if...? (Sagarika Ghose)
#5. Minority Officers Flee Modi's Gujarat (BASANT RAWAT)
__________________________

#1.

Citizens' report blames Modi for Gujarat violence

By Ajit Sahi, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Apr 10 (IANS) An independent fact-finding mission to Gujarat has
blamed Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Hindu radical groups for the
anti-Muslim violence that claimed nearly 830 lives in the state since
February-end.

Consisting of a former top bureaucrat, an ex-police officer and two
academicians, the mission that toured the two worst-hit cities of Gujarat -
Ahmedabad and Godhra - March 22-26 says Modi abetted the carnage of Muslims
by Hindu mobs.

In their report issued here Wednesday, these unofficial investigators claim
the Modi government told the police and bureaucrats not to hinder Hindu mob=
s
from targeting Muslims, which contributed to the high death toll.

"Throughout the state the police, although responsible for law and order an=
d
fully empowered to take all necessary measures in this respect, regardless
of what signals were transmitted by the top political leadership, not only
failed to fulfil their duties but in various cases actively colluded with
rampaging mobs bent on death, destruction and looting," the report says.

It claims that a clutch of Hindu radical groups led by the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were responsible for the
killings.

"The direct and circumstantial evidence, confirming that there was a
systematic and planned pogrom and that the agents responsible are the
various organisations of the Sangh Parivar (the RSS and its affiliates), is
simply overwhelming."

The former bureaucrats in the mission are ex-Indian finance secretary S.P.
Shukla, a retired member of the elite Indian Administrative Service, and
former director general of police K.S. Subramanian, who retired from the
Indian Police Service.

The other members are Kamal Mitra Chenoy, an associate professor with the
School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Achin
Vanaik, visiting professor at the third world academy with Jamia Millia
Islamia.

Their report disputes the claim by Modi and federal Home Minister L.K.
Advani that the torching of a train by a suspected Muslim mob at Godhra tha=
t
killed 58 Hindus and set off the anti-Muslim carnage was planned and backed
by Pakistan's intelligence agency.

After visiting Godhra to piece together the sequence of events, the mission
say the mob that had attacked the Sabarmati Express Februarr 27 most likely
did so under serious provocation from activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parisha=
d
(VHP).

The VHP activists were returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh after
attending a religious show in support of a divisive bid to build a temple o=
n
the ruins of a razed 16th-century mosque despite a court ban.

There was already substantial tension in Godhra - where Muslims equal Hindu=
s
and which has had a history of sectarian violence - as VHP activists on the
train had reportedly misbehaved with Muslim passengers and vendors, the
mission said.

"Given the specific (communal) history of the area and the general
circumstances prevailing, the speed with which a large mob of several
hundred Muslims could gather together and resort to fire bombs is not at al=
l
surprising and did not require the kind of pre-planning suggested by variou=
s
conspiracy theories.

"Moreover, the fact that the attack was confined to basically one bogie
indicates that the presumed provocation was deemed to have come from there.
There were 1,700 VHP activists on the train but only one coach was
targeted."

By contrast, the mission's report said, the anti-Muslim carnage that erupte=
d
in the state appeared pre-planned and carried out with the connivance of
Modi's government as well as the BJP, to which the VHP and Bajrang Dal are
allied.

"The connecting link between this localised riot (Godhra incident) and the
pogrom that followed was provided by the VHP-Bajrang Dal-RSS decision to
deliberately inflame matters by calling for a bandh (shutdown) the next day=
.

"No only did the BJP's state government not disallow this bandh (which it
should have) but actually endorsed and supported it."

The mission, which also visited Ahmedabad, said it based its report on
interviews with eyewitnesses, serving and retired administrative and police
personnel, journalists, judges, lawyers, rights activists and managers at
the relief camps for victims.

It has demanded that Vajpayee dismiss the Modi government and institute an
inquiry by a Supreme Court judge into the sectarian violence.

--Indo-Asian News Service

_____

#2.

The Telegraph
11 April 2002

LOOKING FACTS IN THE FACE
BY ACHIN VANAIK
=20=20=20
A four-member fact-finding mission which included, besides myself,=20
Kamal Chenoy, professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, S.P. Shukla=20
(former finance secretary) and K.S. Subramanian (former=20
director-general of police, Tripura) went to Gujarat with specific=20
terms of reference concerning our study. We were to seek the truth of=20
the Godhra incident, the possible use made of it in respect of the=20
carnage that followed, and the issue of whether or not there was=20
state complicity in the post-Godhra violence.

The findings of our study were made public on April 10 and some of=20
the key conclusions are as follows:

The diabolical and tragic burning of bogie S6 in Godhra on February=20
27 morning fits into the classical and historical pattern of communal=20
rioting in the area and in Gujarat generally, wherein a provocation=20
on one side (in this case assaults on Muslim tea vendors and=20
molestation of a female present at the platform) provided the trigger=20
for a terrible and utterly unjustified over-reaction by members of=20
the other religious community. There is really no basis for the=20
claims that this was a deep-seated conspiracy, either foreign or=20
domestic inspired.

Conscious use was then made of this incident to inflame communal=20
passions leading to the sustained attacks from February 28 onwards on=20
Muslims, carefully targeted throughout the cities and rural areas of=20
Gujarat. The connecting link was provided by the Vishwa Hindu=20
Parishad call for a bandh which, in the circumstances, was clearly=20
aimed at promoting communal hatred. Worst of all, this bandh, instead=20
of being opposed and prevented, was actually supported and endorsed=20
by the Gujarat government. With regard to subsequent violence, the=20
study clearly concludes that this was a state-wide and=20
state-sponsored pogrom against the Muslim minority which reached=20
unparalleled levels of brutality.

The full details and recommendations for punishment of all those=20
guilty are contained in the released "Report to the Nation". It is=20
not my intention to discuss that report but rather to voice a=20
personal opinion regarding the unique nature of the Gujarat pogrom=20
and how it marks a turning point in the post-independence history of=20
India. This is the first time that we have witnessed a systematic and=20
planned state-organized pogrom on a massive scale, which is then=20
rationalized, justified and minimized by the Central government.

Perhaps the best way of grasping this uniqueness is to see how=20
different Gujarat 2002 is from the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, since=20
these are the two worst examples of large-scale communal killings in=20
post-independence India. Six common criteria will be applied to both=20
situations to arrive at a judgment in this respect. One, the communal=20
character, context and history surrounding the two cases=20
respectively; two, the scale, geographic extent, and duration of=20
communal violence; three, the "quality" of the violence engaged in -=20
the levels of brutality and sadism involved; four, the extent and=20
degree of complicity on the part of the apparatuses of the state,=20
including the issue of their involvement as direct agencies of=20
violence; five, elements of spontaneity and/or pre-planning; and six,=20
the wider political implications.

In regard to the first criterion there is a clear and profound=20
difference between the two cases. The 1984 events must be situated in=20
the twin conjunctural contexts of Congress-Akali Dal political=20
rivalries in Punjab, and of the emergence of a Sikh separatist=20
(Khalistan) movement in the period 1978-86 opposed by the=20
Congress-ruled Central government. While the Khalistan movement never=20
enjoyed more than a weak and limited minority support among Sikhs,=20
there was widespread Sikh resentment at various policies pursued by=20
the Congress-ruled Centre which were considered discriminatory.

Alienation of Sikhs multiplied after Operation Blue Star that=20
preceded Indira Gandhi's assassination, and was further exacerbated=20
by the anti-Sikh violence that followed it. Hindu-Muslim communal=20
tensions, however, have a much longer history, much greater frequency=20
of eruptions into violence, far stronger institutional and=20
ideological support systems including the existence of "dedicated"=20
communal political forces of considerable strength, especially on the=20
Hindu communal side. The institutionalized structures representative=20
of anti-Muslim communalism are largely absent when it comes to the=20
issue of communal attitudes and practices towards Sikhs.

Thus in respect of the second criterion the 1984 violence was of much=20
shorter duration than the violence in Gujarat 2002. Although the=20
number of deaths in the two cases may be comparable, the geographic=20
extent of violence, looting, arson, and so on is not, being much less=20
widespread in 1984 when violence was essentially restricted to areas=20
of heavy Sikh concentration, and brought to a halt much more rapidly=20
than in the case of Gujarat 2002. In respect of the third criterion,=20
both cases exhibit shocking atrocities - rapes, burnings, and so on -=20
against even women and children in a context of mob violence. But=20
even here, the sheer frequency and scale of such atrocities, and the=20
depths of sadism to which violence in Gujarat has descended, is far=20
greater. The extent and degree of state complicity (criterion four)=20
and pre-planning in the case of Gujarat 2002 is also far greater.

In Gujarat, communal violence from February 28 onwards involved far=20
deeper and wider levels of complicity than anything that has been=20
seen in India since 1947. These range from the complicity of=20
government structures, civilian and police, as well as of party/front=20
leaderships. In both, the complicity starts at the very top and=20
continues all the way down. Furthermore, the systematic communal=20
suborning of the administrative apparatuses of the Gujarat state=20
government to the structures of the sangh (Bharatiya Janata=20
Party/VHP/Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh/Bajrang Dal) over the preceding=20
years (the BJP came to power in the 1998 state assembly elections) is=20
far greater than in the case of the Congress with respect to the=20
Delhi administration in 1984.

It follows that with regard to the fifth criterion the dimension of=20
pre-planning in Delhi in 1984 was much weaker than it was in Gujarat=20
in 2002. Administrative collaboration to enable selective targeting=20
and attacks on a particular religious community existed in both=20
cases. But the fact that such collaboration was much more regularized=20
and deeper in the case of Gujarat is what enabled that violence to be=20
more widespread, brutal, comprehensive and sustained. In 1984 the=20
short space of time (barely a couple of hours) before the "trigger=20
event" - the assassination - and the outbreak of anti-Sikh violence=20
on the same day contrasts sharply with Gujarat 2002 where the elapsed=20
time between the "trigger event" - the Godhra incident - and the=20
subsequent inauguration of sustained and large-scale anti-Muslim=20
onslaught, is more than 24 hours.

This was more than enough time to take all police and law-and-order=20
measures (including preventive arrests and detentions) to ensure that=20
the outbreak of violence would either not take place or be=20
immediately contained/ended, if it did. That no such measures have=20
been taken emphasizes a level of complicity far in excess of the more=20
"spontaneous collusion" characterizing the 1984 situation.

As for the sixth criterion, again, there is simply no comparison.=20
Nineteen eighty-four clearly has much more of a "one-off" character.=20
The insecurity felt by Sikhs does not bear any serious comparison to=20
that felt by the Muslim minority in India today. Whatever the=20
tensions prevailing during the period 1978-86, Hindu-Sikh relations=20
have been substantially repaired since then. The likelihood of any=20
similar deterioration is much more remote. Congress apology for 1984=20
has taken place, and there is no equivalent today to the kind of=20
institutionalized communal onslaught that the Muslim minority faces.=20
Neither has anti-Sikh communalism been sought to be publicly=20
legitimized in the way that anti-Muslim communalism has been done.=20
Nor has it ever come close to achieving the same degree of success.=20
The view that anti-Muslim sentiments are but a reaction to a Muslim=20
villainy that has "hurt Hindu sentiments" is one that has been=20
assiduously propagated and widely accepted.

Given all these substantial differences between Delhi 1984 and=20
Gujarat 2002, it is disturbing that they do share one unfortunate=20
similarity. In neither case have the principal culprits responsible=20
for the horrendous massacres and terrible destruction of properties=20
been properly punished by due process of law.

The author has recently co-authored the book, South Asia on a Short=20
Fuse: Politics and the Future of Global Disarmament

_____

#3.

RESOLUTION CONDMNING THE ATTACK ON PEACE MEETING IN SABARMATI ASHRAM AND
ON MEDHA PATKAR, ON APRIL 7, AT AHMEDABAD

We strongly condemn the attack on the peace meeting, held in the
Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on April 7, by the communal elements in
Gujarat State. We also denounce the disgusting behaviour of humiliating
and beating Medha Patkar by the violent mob led by the Sangh Parivar
activists. We consider that, this was not merely an attack on Medha
Patkar, but it was an attempt to threaten any process facilitating peace
and secularism in Gujarat. We also resist the patently undemocratic
attempt by the violent gangs to dictate the rights to free speech and
assembly of the citizens.

It is clear that the Hindutva fundamentalists are bent on desecrating the
Constitutional values of secularism and democracy. The collusion of the
capitalist and communal tendencies that are wrecking havoc in Gujarat and
the Sabarmati Ashram incident was a sign of these tendencies. The
fundamentalist elements are trying to divert the attention and energy of
our country away from the basic issues of life, livelihood and rights of
the common and depressed sections of our people. We will not allow that
to happen.

We also condemn brutal attack on the journalists at the meeting place. It
is no secret that the Gujarat government and the police were not happy
with the exposure of the carnage unleashed by the fundamentalists in the
state. We demand that the state government must arrest all those
political and communal elements involved in this attack and try them on
the criminal offence. The guilty police officials also be punished.

We strongly feel that there is a total collapse of law and order and the
constitutional governance in Gujarat. All the constitutional institutions
are being targeted. The Narandra Modi government has been the root cause
of such state-sponsored anarchy and terrorism. It has forfeited all the
right to govern. If any semblance of normalcy has to be restored in this
bleeding state, the Modi government has to be dismissed.

The President of India and other organizations and individuals cherishing
the democracy, secularism and the Constitutional governance must act
immediately on that. We hereby reiterate our resolve to protect and
strengthen with all our might, the basic democratic and secular values of
our Constitution.=20

Shriram Lagoo (Artist, Social Activist)
Dr. Baba Adhav (National Integration Council, Pune)
Vilasrao Salunkhe (Pani Panchayat)
Dr. S.P. Sathe (Institute of Advanced Legal
Studies)=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
Sadanand Varde (S.M. Joshi Socialist Foundation)
Sudha Varde (Rashtra Seva Dal)
Vidya Bal (Journalist, Nari Samata Manch)
Pushpa Bhave (Writer and Social Activist)
R.P. Nene (PUCL, Pune)
Ram Bapat (Political Ideologue)
Sharad Kulkarni (Center for Tribal Conscentization)
Ajit Abhyankar (NIC and CITU)
Narendra Dabholkar (Editor, Sadhana^")
Abhay Shukla (People's Health Movement)
Naresh Dadhich (Scientist)
Sadhana Dadhich (NAPM/ Nari Samata Manch)
Subodh Wagle (Expert on Energy Alternatives)
Dilip Deshpande (Krishna valley Projects affected people^"s
organization)
Dr. Vijaya Sangvai (Writer)
Saroj Parulkar (Social Activist)
Suniti S.R. (NAPM, Editor, Andolan)
Jayashri Avade (NAPM)
Vilas Kirote (President, Chhatrabharati)
Denis Rodrigues (Social Activist)
Prashant Kothadia (Srushti, Pune)
Ganesh Vispute (Artist, Poet)
Urmila Bhirdikar (Lecturer)
Anjali Mule (Agarkar Vichar Manch)
Suhas Kolhekar (NAPM/People's Health Assembly)
Amrita Patwardhan (Parisar)
Varsha and colleagues (National Center for Advocacy Studies)
Sajeevan (Kabir Kala Manch )
Sanjay Sangvai (Narmada Bachao Andolan) =
=20
Vidyadhar Bhide (Professional)
Shubhangi Nagnath (NAPM)
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
And number of citizens, activists and students^=89.

_____

#4.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/110402/detoff01.asp
The Hindustan Times, Thursday, April 11, 2002=20

BLOODY MARY: And what if...?
Sagarika Ghose

I magine if there was grandeur in our public life. Imagine if someone=20
somewhere struck the high heartfelt notes and made us cry with proud=20
tears.

Imagine if Vajpayee, instead of the feet-shuffling, sleepy and=20
damp-squib visit to Gujarat weeks after the riots had gone striding=20
down the streets of Ahmedabad 24 hours after the first murder.=20
Imagine if he had achieved the heroic stature of Rudolph Guiliani=20
after September 11. Imagine if he had reached out across burning=20
walls and clasped a family to his heart and cried out, "No fears my=20
brothers and sisters! Main hoon na aap ke saath. And here with me=20
stands your government determined to protect you with every ounce of=20
its legitimacy."

Imagine if he had stood on curfew-bound streets, rock-like, decent=20
and patriarchal, daring every criminal with his own presence. Imagine=20
if he had vanquished the murderers by his own grief-stricken resolve=20
instead of mouthing officious platitudes like rajdharma.

Imagine if we had an equivalent of Lord Denning in our judiciary.=20
Imagine if, instead of carping suspiciously about 'literature' and=20
'women' and issuing a ridiculous contempt verdict against Arundhati=20
Roy, the judges had stood tall and quoted one of Shakespeare's=20
greatest lines: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd. It droppeth as=20
the gentle rain from heaven." Enchanted by Ms Roy's book, Denning=20
might have said, I'm letting her off with the fond hope that she=20
continues to write without bringing disrespect to this court. And Roy=20
would have walked free accompanied by Denning's large-hearted poetry.

Imagine if Amitabh Bachchan had retired into a Marlon Brando-like=20
mystique instead of becoming an eager-to-please businessman. Imagine=20
if he had remained the mystical don't-#@!*-with-me revolutionary who=20
everyone secretly wants to be instead of ending up becoming a=20
pin-striped tycoon, indistinguishable from the enemies whom he once=20
slaughtered on screen.

Imagine if the middle-class rose as one against the thugs who have=20
appointed themselves as the custodians of one of the world's most=20
compassionate religions. Praveen Togadia says today the VHP's enemies=20
are the Muslims, tomorrow it may be those who speak English, or those=20
'modern' women who don't wear bindis and don't cover their heads.

Imagine if teachers, parents, businessmen and office-goers, joined=20
their voices and screamed: How dare you? How dare you, whatever your=20
imagined grievances, arrogate to yourself the licence to kill? While=20
China achieves first world status, how dare you consign our children=20
to trishul-brandishing backwardness? Imagine if we all threw caution=20
to the winds and charged off to the home minister to shout, "No! We=20
will not tolerate the death of another bewildered child."

Imagine if VS Naipaul didn't get all worked up about regional writers=20
and the American ambassador's wife. Imagine if he had striven for=20
transcendental grace and wisdom. After winning the Nobel Prize, why=20
bother with the Nation-State or with cantankerous views on the=20
'vernacular'?

Imagine if Sonia Gandhi didn't squander this opportunity to make a=20
grand speech in Parliament. After Gujarat, we're hungry for a more=20
powerful secularism. Imagine if she rose to her feet and forged a=20
forward path in the best tradition, say, of the bhakti movement.=20
Imagine if she quoted from the Upanishads and the Koran, if she sang=20
with the democratic Kabir and told us that we must rejoice in the=20
fact that in India, god has always lived in every human heart.

Imagine.

_____

#5.

The Telegraph
11 March 2002

MINORITY OFFICERS FLEE MODI'S GUJARAT

FROM BASANT RAWAT

Ahmedabad, April 10:=20
Muslims who can are fleeing Narendra Modi's Gujarat. Shaken by the=20
riots, IPS officers and senior employees of government organisations=20
have started packing their bags.

M.A. Wadoo, an ONGC official whose rented apartment was ransacked by=20
a mob and belongings worth Rs 5.3 lakh destroyed, has sought a=20
transfer "on humanitarian grounds''.

"I lost everything I had earned in 27 years of service. I have so=20
much pain within me that I cannot express. I just want to leave=20
Gujarat. I cannot live in perpetual fear. I cannot move about freely=20
here. For the past 25 days, my daughter has not moved out of this=20
room (ONGC transit accommodation)," he said.

The officer, who had gone home to Andhra Pradesh when ONGC flew its=20
Muslim officers out of the state for their safety, has returned only=20
because his daughter has to sit for the Class XII board examinations.

Most of the 20 Muslim officers in ONGC from outside Gujarat have not=20
come back since the riots. Even those that have are here only=20
temporarily, having already applied for transfers.

S.L. Bhardwaj, an ONGC official, said almost all Muslim officers have=20
applied for transfer on various grounds. But the picture will be=20
clear only in May or June, when transfer orders are issued.

The same story is repeated in all public sector organisations. In=20
banks, the departments of posts and telecommunications and in=20
organisations such as Indian Oil Corporation - anywhere that any=20
Muslims from outside Gujarat work - the management is faced with=20
requests for transfers.

A senior officer with the Controller and Auditor General's office in=20
Ahmedabad first went on leave and has now sought a transfer.

Nishar Ansari, an All-India Radio officer recently transferred from=20
Uttar Pradesh to Ahmedabad, is pleading with authorities to cancel=20
the order.

Even retired officers who had settled down in Gujarat because they=20
liked the state are now leaving.

But perhaps, the most telling comment on the state of Gujarat is that=20
its policemen are also fleeing.

Deputy commissioner of police, traffic, Samiullah Ansari, a 1992=20
batch officer, has applied for deputation. Officially, he said: "I=20
have applied for the deputation in any Central service not because of=20
the present disturbed situation in the state, but because it is part=20
of service to go on deputation ''.

Ansari, a senior IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, had to remove his=20
nameplate during the riots. "It's a precaution we generally take to=20
protect oneself from mob fury during riots," he explained dryly. The=20
officer describes his nine-year career as absolutely "hopeless",=20
sources said. His only meaningful posting in a district lasted six=20
months.

While non-cadre officers from Gujarat police service have been=20
occupying cadre posts in important districts in the state, cadre=20
officers (direct IPS recruits, who are mostly Muslims) have been left=20
cooling their heels in non-executive posts. This is a violation of=20
the rules, but no one has dared challenge it in court out of fear of=20
being victimised.

The officers had reconciled themselves to being sidelined under the=20
BJP regime, but the riots have left them shaken.

--=20
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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