[sacw] SACW | 25 Oct. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | 25 October 2002

__________________________

#1. Pakistan: Here comes the hirsute brigade (Khalid Hasan)
#2. Pakistan: An Islamist experiment in the Frontier ( Iqbal Khattak)
#3. India / Pakistan: Brutality, power and the use of religion (M V Ramana)
#4. India: Cow and culture (Kancha Ilaiah)
#5. Police State (Maja Daruwala)
#6. India: ALERT - A repeat of 1999?=A0Threats and intimidation on=20
Christians in South Gujarat
#7. USA: A Public Lecture & Discussion on Fundamentalism in South=20
Asia - Rise & Challenge of Hindutva in India (November 9, Los Angeles)

__________________________

#1.

The Friday Times
Oct 25 - 31, 2002 - Vol. XIV, No. 35
PRIVATE VIEW

Here comes the hirsute brigade

Khalid Hasan

The Americans are no less worried by the election gains of the MMA=20
than Pakistan=B9s barbers and hairdressers. Women are to be required to=20
wear that awful thing called the hijab. Since the world began, women=20
have tried to find new ways of beautifying themselves, and that is=20
their privilege. The hijab is one invention that immediately turns a=20
woman into something unbearably drab. If you put a hijab on Marilyn=20
Monroe, she would be indistinguishable from, say, the late Phoolan=20
Devi

ll things good and bad come to an end, and so have the elections.=20
What is to follow is of course another matter. There may be=20
uncertainty in the air but of one thing we can be certain. This is=20
bad news for barbers. The hirsute ones are coming. General Pervez=20
Musharraf who takes credit for everything, done and undone, true to=20
form, has also taken credit for this phenomenon.

No longer can Pakistani representatives in Western capitals begin=20
their conversations with, =B3But you know the religious parties have=20
never taken more than two or three slots in parliament.=B2 This=20
standard opening served our diplomats and visiting delegations=20
splendidly for many, many years. Often, it was able to clinch an=20
argument and even during the years of Zia-ul-Haq when this dragon=B9s=20
harvest was being well and truly sown, this gambit served to deflect=20
criticism that Pakistan was going fundo. Well, surprise, surprise.=20
Pakistan has gone fundo and Zia-ul-Haq rests in peace at last.

How can we ever express our gratitude to the Pakistan Army? Whatever=20
we are today, we are because of our Bahadur Mussalah Afwaj (stirring=20
sounds of the national anthem whose words 99.9 percent of the=20
population of Pakistan is unable to understand, rise in the air.=20
Stand up everybody). I think this grateful nation should pin another=20
medal on the General Musharraf=B9s chest, though it appears to be=20
running out of space. Perhaps he should be respectfully asked to put=20
some of them in storage, as museums do with their art collections.

The Americans who have maintained near silence over the election=20
results are no less worried about the future, speaking privately=20
than, say the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Araish-e-Gaisoo, or in less=20
ornate language, Pakistan=B9s barbers and hairdressers. Between Maulana=20
Fazlur Rehman, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Sami-ul Haq =B3Sandwich=B2,=20
Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani of the India-ink beard, Prof Sajjad Mir=20
who used to be perfectly normal once, believe it or not, should have=20
at least a donkey load of hair, give or take a few kilos. It is hard=20
to believe today that this country was created by that elegant,=20
immaculately dressed gentleman Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Are they going to=20
put a beard on his face as well? After all, a beginning has already=20
been made by the federal secretary with his directive that all who=20
draw their salary from the exchequer begin wearing =B3the national=20
dress=B2 whose only advantage is that the wearer will never know how=20
much blubber he has put on.

My friend Mir Jamilur Rahman has warned in a newspaper piece that the=20
holy warriors of the MMA are all poised to have Friday redeclared the=20
weekly holiday. I suggest they go a step further and have Sunday=20
abolished altogether so that it no longer exists on the calendar to=20
dilute the piety of the faithful. Women are to be required to wear=20
that awful thing called the hijab. Since the world began, women have=20
tried to find new ways of beautifying themselves, and that is their=20
privilege. The hijab is one invention that immediately turns a woman=20
into something unbearably drab. If you put a hijab on Marilyn Monroe,=20
she would be indistinguishable from, say, the late Phoolan Devi.

The MMA, writes my friend, is also determined to =B3end vulgarity and=20
obscenity=B2 on PTV. I would suggest, it go a step further and end PTV=20
itself since, along with Radio Pakistan, PTV makes up the twin otters=20
of dullness and disinformation. Like that poet in Julius Caesar, it=20
should be killed for its bad verses. And what is it that the MMA find=20
particularly sinful on PTV? It turns out that bareheaded women in=20
sleeveless shirts and jeans do not let the maulanas sleep at night.=20
Perhaps they have stolen a leaf from Mian Nawaz Sharif=B9s book who=20
once wrote out a memo in his own hand directing that =B3these=20
jean-jacket boys with long hair=B2 should be banned from TV and,=20
further, that the satellites that brought down =B3shameless Western=20
programmes=B2 should be =B3jammed.=B2 Had he succeeded, we would have seen=
=20
Star Wars in our own time.

The Pure Ones also want to abolish co-education once for all. Why=20
don=B9t they go ahead and abolish women themselves because the female=20
of the species it is that appears to bother them the most. The great=20
contradiction of the mullah is that while on the one hand he leches=20
for women, he detests them at the same time. My first visit to Iran=20
after the Khomenei takeover was instructive. Everywhere, there were=20
signs that women should on no account be seen without the chador, nor=20
should their hair be visible to the naked eye. It struck me that the=20
edict had come not from women but men. Women had no problem at all=20
with looking their best and wearing nice clothes. It was only the=20
mullah who felt in need of =B3protection.=B2 So the sinfulness lay not in=20
the appearance of the women but in the hearts and minds of those who=20
issued such decrees. It was they who needed moral reform.

At the height of the Taliban terror, Kishwar Naheed wrote a lovely=20
poem that began: Wo jo bacheeyon se dar gaye (They who felt=20
threatened by girl children). But the Taliban were across the Durand=20
Line in Afghanistan. This is happening right here and now under the=20
rule of a man who is afraid to be seen in public with his dogs. Mir=20
Jamilur Rahman wrote that the MMA was also of the view that women=20
should not travel by the same public buses as men. He added that if=20
this were to be carried further, it could well lead to the demand=20
that there should be separate passenger aircraft for women.

But more sinister is the determination of the MMA leaders to=20
implement the Hudood punishments. It is typical of the hypocrisy of=20
those who have ruled us that none of them had the decency or the=20
courage to strike off these primitive laws. While Nawaz Sharif=20
because of his father or out of his own inhibited outlook was=20
unlikely to have done so, Benazir Bhutto was afraid that if she=20
acted, the mullahs would come after her. What she did not realise was=20
that they were going to come after her anyway. General Musharraf=20
began on a promising note but soon retreated into the reactionary=20
cocoon that Pakistani leaders have fashioned for themselves. The=20
mullahs, thrown up by the general=B9s shenanigans and the genius of=20
General Tanveer Naqvi, will begin to chop hands, stone adulteresses=20
and blind others on the =B3an eye for an eye=B2 basis before long. Is=20
there someone to stop them?

Someone wrote to a newspaper the other day that he was going to leave=20
Pakistan the day Maulana Fazlur Rehman became Prime Minister. Since=20
no other country would give a Pakistani a visa, he was proceeding to=20
Papua New Guinea where no such restrictions existed. My advice to him=20
is to hurry before Papua New Guinea also slams the door shut.

_____

#2.

The Friday Times
Oct 25 - 31, 2002 - Vol. XIV, No. 35

An Islamist experiment in the Frontier

Performance of the soon-to-be MMA government in the Frontier will be=20
a gauge of whether or not the alliance can deliver. Iqbal Khattak=20
reports

Political analysts are wont to believe that once the Muttahida=20
Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) forms the government in the Frontier province,=20
and likely in Balochistan, practical day-to-day running of affairs=20
will force it to moderate its rabid rhetoric. But this may just be=20
wishful thinking, according to other pundits.

Even though political leaders like Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Chaudhry=20
Shujaat Hussain, among others, have been courting Maulana Fazlur=20
Rahman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the MMA philippic stands little=20
changed. Calls to proselytise or Islamicise the country are being=20
pitched as the only means through which the country can be redeemed.

Though his =B3demand=B2 has been downgraded to a =B3request=B2, Qazi and hi=
s=20
Muttahida army are vociferously opposed to the presence of US=20
soldiers and intelligence operatives on Pakistani soil. The Pathan=20
from Dir has also spoken out against cable television and coeducation=20
while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazlur group (JUI-F) parliamentarian-elect=20
Maulvi Noor Mohammed has successfully managed to press for the=20
release of a dozen former Taliban soldiers that had been languishing=20
in Quetta Jail. All this, observers fear, is a portent of things to=20
come.

Nowhere else are such fears more likely to be realised than in the=20
Frontier province where the 48 parliamentarians-elect of the MMA and=20
four independents will form the government. The MMA government in the=20
frontier will be the strongest one yet since the 1988 elections. The=20
alliance has 52 seats and is expected to take around a dozen more=20
earmarked for women. This will give the electoral alliance an=20
unquestionable majority in a house of 124.

The province will serve as a petri dish for the great Islamist=20
experiment as the mullahs attempt to bypass or short circuit the=20
system and bulldoze their campaign promises through. This will be the=20
first time in thirty years that a single party alone manages to form=20
a government here. Mufti Mohammed, Fazalur Rahman=B9s father, was made=20
chief minister in 1972 when the party he founded, Jamiat=20
Ulema-e-Islami, pulled a surprise win to form a short lived coalition=20
government with the National Awami Party, the forerunner of the=20
current ANP.

With Ramadan around the corner, analysts will be keeping an eye out=20
for the MMA to see whether it can deliver on its promises. =B3To begin=20
with,=B2 onepolitical analyst told TFT, =B3we should look at the issue of=20
Eid and whether the alliance will come through on its promise.=B2=20
Clerics and religious leaders in the province are averse to federal=20
authorities and have seldom accepted the word of the federally=20
appointed moon sighting committee. This is why Eid-ul-Azha falls on=20
three separate days in the province. =B3If the MMA can deliver on this=20
count,=B2 the analyst added, =B3It will prove a good start for the=20
alliance.=B2 Ramadan is expected to begin on November 7.

=B3Such things are easy to say when you=B9re not in government,=B2 a=20
political observer told TFT, =B3Religious parties and groups=20
successfully exploited the public=B9s sentiments on the question of=20
social justice, sovereignty and the Islamic system. Now that they=20
have been voted in, despite allegations of pre-poll and election day=20
rigging, they really have no excuse. The MMA must deliver.=B2

Haji Muhammad Adeel, central information secretary of the nationalist=20
Awami National Party (ANP), believes the MMA will not be able to=20
deliver onits promise of conducting fiscal matters Islamic style.=20
=B3Will it be able to receive bank loans without a mark-up or will any=20
bank extend loans to the Frontier government without interest?=B2 he=20
asked. =B3I wouldn=B9t be optimistic on either count and the eradication=20
of this one =8Cevil=B9 they cited as a priority during their campaign. If=20
they fail on this front, the alliance will start collapsing=20
automatically.=B2 Adeel lost to a little known MMA candidate in the=20
PF-6 Peshawar constituency.

=B3And how do you think they will proceed against smoking,=B2 Adeel told=20
TFT. =B3If they ban smoking, as they vowed during the campaign, and=20
stop farmers from cultivating tobacco the province and federal=20
government will lose billions of rupees in revenues from this cash=20
crop.=B2 Adeel also believes that the promised ban on cable television,=20
cinema houses and entertainment-relevant businesses will leave=20
hundreds unemployed.

=B3This is a media trial,=B2 Professor Muhammad Ibrahim, provincial Amir=20
of the Jama=B9at-e-Islami told TFT. He said all negative talk=20
surrounding the soon-to-be MMA government in the Frontier province=20
would be proved wrong. =B3The elected MMA officials will give the=20
people the best and most simple of government,=B2 he said. Ibrahim=20
dispelled the notion that the alliance would look to the vanquished=20
Taliban government as a model. =B3We have come through a democratic=20
process while the Taliban grabbed power through use of force. The=20
Taliban is not a model for the MMA government,=B2 he said. =B3We will=20
honour all the pledges we made with the public.=B2

Ibrahim said cable television might be banned because it is rife with=20
vulgarity and obscenity. =B3Everything that spreads vulgarity has to be=20
banned and TV programmes need to be reviewed and given an Islamic=20
colour,=B2 he said. Ibrahim said no changes in the constitution were=20
required to implement the =B3Islamic system=B2. He said: =B3We will not=20
take extra-constitutional steps to bring Pakistani society into an=20
Islamic framework. The (present) democratic system is absolutely=20
Islamic if laws repugnant to the Sharia do not exist,=B2 he remarked.

Morale is high at a madrassa in the cantonment run by the JUI-F=20
though students were reluctant to record their statements. =B3We have=20
been asked not to open up to the media,=B2 one student said. According=20
to MMA insiders, alliance leaders are choosing their words carefully=20
these days. =B3The official policy right now is to not issue any=20
statements that might put out a =8Cwrong=B9 message,=B2 sources told TFT.=20
=B3Long term policy will be unveiled once the hold on power (in the=20
province) is consolidated and it will, eventually, be extended to=20
Islamabad.=B2

_____

#3

The Daily Times (Lahore)
October 25, 2002
OP-ED

Brutality, power and the use of religion
M V Ramana

The use of the religious idiom to entrench these power relations=20
should be firmly opposed; modern societies should allow religion no=20
place in public affairs
Last week Virender Singh, Dayachand, Kailash, Raju Gupta and Tota Ram=20
were lynched =8B beaten to death =8B in the Indian State of Haryana for=20
the =B3crime=B2 of skinning a cow. All five were Dalits, which means the=20
oppressed and is the name given to themselves by the untouchables.=20
Though the events have initiated widespread outrage and condemnation,=20
right wing Hindu fundamentalists have excused the killings due to the=20
purported injury to Hindu sentiments.
Representative of this was Giriraj Kishore, the leader of the Vishwa=20
Hindu Parishad (VHP) =8B the most antediluvian of the family of Hindu=20
right wing organisations known as the Sangh Parivar =8B who stated that=20
Hindu scriptures accord an important place to the cow, holding it as=20
sacred. Clearly in his mind, the lives of the five Dalits were not as=20
sacred. The local office-bearers of the VHP and the Shiv Sena=20
submitted a memorandum to the police forbidding them from taking=20
action against the guilty.
That the lynching happened outside a police station and in the=20
presence of police officials and a senior member of the civil=20
administration indicates that these authorities were also effectively=20
in connivance. What is more, the police registered cases against the=20
victims under the Cow Slaughter (Prevention) Act. Worse was to=20
follow: two days after the gruesome lynching, the local=20
administration ordered a post mortem =8B of the cow, to find out=20
whether it was dead or alive when it was skinned!
Before reflecting on the events, it is important to dismiss some=20
misconceptions. While cows are given a prominent place in Hindu=20
writings, apart from the occasional day when cows are washed and=20
decorated, for the most part the lot of cows in India is quite=20
pathetic. The sight of them wandering around in a half-starved state=20
looking for food in garbage dumps is common.
The second misconception is that beef is not produced or eaten in=20
India. According to government statistics, among animal meats, beef=20
is the meat India produces the most (1.44 million tonnes in 2000);=20
the second is buffalo meat (1.42 million tonnes) and only third, is=20
mutton and lamb (0.7 million tonnes). Nor is this a new trend. In a=20
recent book =B3Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions=B2, historian=20
D. N. Jha has quoted extensively from Hindu religious texts and=20
scriptures to argue that beef eating was widely prevalent in Vedic=20
India. The response of the Hindutva brigade was to call for the=20
banning of the book =8B historical facts are not things that religious=20
fundamentalists pay any heed to, especially when it does not suit=20
their needs.
An event like this cannot also be reduced to one cause. The case=20
reflects for example, the persistence of the caste system and=20
untouchability, as well as the lack of accountability by police and=20
other government officials. But perhaps the most important force on=20
display here is the rise of the Hindu right wing, and its tacit=20
supporters, who have not hesitated to use violence to mould society=20
according to their wishes. The fact that Dalits have borne the brunt=20
of this violence also reveals the fact that such violence, and indeed=20
the growth of Hindutva, has come about partly as a reaction to the=20
increasing social and political assertion of marginalised groups.
These underlying factors suggest that this is unlikely to be an=20
isolated incident. As the leading Indian newspaper The Hindu (which=20
despite its name is no supporter of the right wing politics of the=20
Hindutva variety) pointed out in its editorial: =B3the barbarism=20
witnessed... could be enacted in several other parts of the country=20
given the prejudices inherent in the thought process of some=20
sections, even now, against any form of egalitarianism and assertion=20
of this right by the oppressed.=B2
In a striking testimony to the common nature of social conditions in=20
India and Pakistan, the late Pakistani journalist Najma Babar put=20
forward a similar argument in 1984. (I must mention that I would have=20
never come across this but for the wonderful little collection of=20
Babar=B9s newspaper columns, The Dispossessed that documents the=20
erosion of women=B9s rights during the reign of General Ziaul Haq.)=20
Writing about an incident where some people from a landlord family=20
beat up a poor carpenter and forced the women in his family to dance=20
naked in the streets in Nawabpur near Multan, Babar forcefully argued=20
that =B3unless the feudal system is done away with, such atrocious=20
evils not disappear.... The fight for human rights and dignity for=20
women... has to be a fight for the total abolition of feudalism.=B2
If the case in India was about brutality towards one disempowered=20
section, namely the Dalits, in the Pakistani case the brutality was=20
directed at women. The 1984 case was but one instance. More recently=20
we have witnessed brutal honour killings in Pakistan most prominently=20
in the murder of Samia Sarwar in 1999 for wanting to divorce her=20
husband. Acting somewhat like the VHP in India, the ulema in Peshawar=20
then reportedly issued statements saying that the man who murdered=20
Samia Sarwar should instead have killed her lawyers Asma Jahangir and=20
Hina Jilani because they are leading Pakistan=B9s young women towards=20
waywardness and working against Islam. Samia Sarwar=B9s was not an=20
exception =8B the same year the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan=20
(HRCP) reported that 888 women were murdered in Punjab alone.
What is common to all these cases is the invocation of religion to=20
justify the power of the elite few to determine how the vast majority=20
should think or act. The power could be that of (some) men to=20
determine the conduct of women, or the right of the privileged=20
sections of society to determine who shall marry or not marry, who=20
shall have sex and who shall wear what kinds of clothing. Such=20
expressions of power and the use of the religious idiom to entrench=20
these power relations should be firmly opposed; modern societies=20
should allow religion no place in public affairs.

_____

#4.

The Hindu (Chennai)
Friday, Oct 25, 2002
Opinion - Leader Page Articles

Cow and culture

By Kancha Ilaiah

They killed five Dalits for skinning a cow... At least now the whole=20
nation must stand up against this kind of spiritual and political=20
nationalism.

IS A cow's life worthier than that of five Dalits? The Dalits have=20
had to pay an enormous price =8B of remaining untouchables =8B for=20
removing carcasses from villages and towns for thousands of years.=20
They had to pay the price of remaining illiterate and insecure for=20
building up the leather economy of India. If they had not removed=20
dead cattle, dogs and even humans, the people in the towns and=20
villages would have died of disease =8B dreadful contagious diseases at=20
that. Even now they keep paying a price =8B sometimes with their lives=20
as happened at Jhajhar in Haryana.

What was essentially scientific was constructed as spiritually bad=20
and sinful in Manudharma Shastra. Such superstitions keep getting=20
passed off as spiritual and scriptural. More shocking is that=20
Hindutva organisations such as the VHP want to implement them,=20
emboldened by the fact that their ideological twins are at the helm=20
of the state. They killed five Dalits for skinning a dead cow on a=20
roadside in Haryana. They say the Hindu scriptures prohibit such an=20
act. To bolster their case, for the modernist legal context, the=20
murderers say the Dalit youth were skinning a live cow.

The leather industry was one of the first that Indian society had=20
established, much before the Europeans and Americans. Instead of=20
being proud of them, society rendered the builders "untouchable".=20
There is some thing basically wrong with this mode of understanding=20
divinity and spirituality. The problem is deeper than present=20
behaviour of the VHP and its ilk shows. An anti-scientific temper=20
runs deep in the Hindu psyche. Does this not deserve much more=20
serious debate? Is the struggle against such a spiritual psyche to be=20
carried by only the Dalits?

Many of the VHP leaders themselves are industrialists. Some of them=20
are training their children in America =8B their dreamland =8B to become=20
successful industrialists. Some of them are even involved in the=20
leather industry. How does the leather industry exist without=20
skinning dead cattle? If doing leather business is not sinful, how=20
does skinning a carcass become sinful? How does leather come into=20
existence without skinning dead animals? The Shastras say that it was=20
for doing this early industrial job that the Dalits became=20
untouchable. Now Dalits get lynched for doing this job. What kind of=20
nationalism is this?

Incidentally, when this took place I have been touring America =8B the=20
dreamland of many Indians. I met many boys and girls =8B many of them=20
Brahmin too =8B who are working in beef-packing and leather units. A=20
majority of them eat beef as well. Do all of them become=20
untouchables? By invoking the same scriptures that the Hindutva=20
forces are talking about, they too should be declared untouchable and=20
never should be allowed to enter the Hindurashtra that Bal Thackeray=20
is talking about. But these beef-eating NRIs fill their hundis with=20
dollars and hence they are most lovable. How do they explain this=20
mode of Hinduism?

Indians do not live with one mode of scriptures. We have the Buddhist=20
scriptures, we have had the Bible as a living book for 2,000 years in=20
India. The Quran has been India for more than 1,000 years. The Dalits=20
in the spiritual realm have more affinity with Buddhism and=20
Christianity than Hinduism. In their spiritual realm, the cow is not=20
sacred. How can Hindutva forces impose their spirituality on others?=20
Second, how can spirituality allow so much hypocrisy, terrorism and=20
brutality in day-to-day life? The Hindutva forces want to welcome=20
economic globalisation but do not want to learn any thing from the=20
process of cultural globalisation. How do the global spiritual=20
cultures see the relationship between animals and human beings? Is it=20
not important to learn from all positive cultures?

In the economic realm, they want to do the leather business, in the=20
political realm, they want to use Dalits as vote givers, and in the=20
spiritual realm, the science and technological process that the=20
Dalits as historical people constructed became impure, polluted. Not=20
that the professions that the OBCs are involved in their day-to-day=20
life - washing clothes, making pots and rearing sheep and cattle =8B=20
have become spiritually acceptable for Hindutva forces. They too=20
still =8B perhaps forever =8B remain impure. All the Sudras/OBCs involved=20
in productive activity continue to be unacceptable to become priests=20
in Hindu temples. But their muscle power becomes acceptable to kill=20
Dalits in the name of cow protection, Muslims in the name of=20
religion. Even the Yadavs who work within Hindutva organisations do=20
not ask why the buffalo, that gives us most of our milk, is not=20
sacred?

Our intellectual class does not ask why Hindu nationalism gets=20
constructed around issues such as animal sacredness and human=20
pollution? When I asked this question at my Columbia University talk,=20
the Indian diaspora intellectuals appeared to entirely agree with me.=20
But how much writing they did on such issues is the moot question.=20
What kind of theoretical and practical nationalism do we have? No one=20
asks why the cow alone should remain a constitutionally protected=20
animal under the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Today the whole world knows that the black people's culture got=20
assimilated not only in American civil society. It became part of the=20
state system as well. The American Constitution values the black life=20
absolutely equally to the white life. The Indian intellectuals must=20
realise that the civil war to grant equal rights for blacks was not=20
fought by blacks. It was fought by the whites under the leadership of=20
Abraham Lincoln. African-American taxi drivers tell a lot of positive=20
stories about white intellectuals. They say that because many of them=20
sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the blacks. Where is such a=20
rebellion against the barbarity of treating the life of a cow as more=20
worthy than that of five Dalits in India? Imagine such a thing taking=20
place against African-Americans today. Would not such an incident=20
have created conditions for another civil war? Look at the way the=20
Indian legal agencies are dealing with this brutality. They are=20
waiting to find out whether the cow was dead or alive when it was=20
skinned.

The Hindutva forces do not think of abandoning such superstitious=20
notions of life and religion. So far there is no evidence of the=20
Hindu spiritual leadership coming down heavily on the VHP leadership=20
even on this issue. The rulers in New Delhi remain indifferent as=20
well. After the BJP came to power, the cow question was brought to=20
the national agenda again and again. Earlier, it was always in=20
reference to Muslims. Now Dalits get lynched. Their very livelihood=20
is attacked.

The OBCs who are getting used in all kinds of fundamentalist=20
activities, including the Gujarat pogrom, possibly must have been=20
used in this lynching of Dalits as well. Many Dalit activists have=20
been complaining that the OBCs are getting involved in attacks=20
against them more and more. The OBCs must realise that the very same=20
fundamentalists are going to say that the caste hierarchical=20
practices must come into operation in classical form. They may=20
disqualify them to contest elections and administer the state. The=20
Hindutva attacks did not stop with Muslims. They targeted Christians=20
and now the Dalits. At least now the whole nation must stand up=20
against this kind of spiritual and political nationalism.

_____

#5.

The Hindustan Times
Friday, October 25, 2002
=A0
Police State
Maja Daruwala
Everyone knows the image of the police has fallen to a new low in=20
recent months. Gujarat will lie like a stain across the face of=20
Indian governance and the whole police force even if only one state=20
was involved.

The quick and effective action at Akshardham and soon after is not a=20
vindication. It's only one more example that the police can act well=20
when it wants to, and that it will 'want to' only at the behest of=20
the political establishment and not in routine obedience to its duty=20
under law.

People want an efficient police service. The poor want reforms=20
because it is they who feel the yoke of the law, its oppression and=20
abuse, at every turn. The National Human Rights Commission wants=20
reform because it is overwhelmed by public complaints against the=20
police that range from death, rape and torture in custody, to the=20
refusal to file FIRs, manipulation and bias in investigation, illegal=20
detention, coercion and threats to witnesses, and demands for money=20
to register, neglect or pursue a case.

The other arms of the criminal justice system like the magistracy,=20
prosecution and legal aid groups, need police to reform so that they=20
can be nudged into some sort of stirring to change their functioning=20
from their present Kafkaesque mode. The Supreme Court wants reform so=20
that it can see its own might mean more than mere orders given but=20
left unimplemented time and again to the detriment of its image.=20
Hauled over the coals for a rising crime rate, poor investigation,=20
and conviction rates as low as 6 per cent by the courts, accused of=20
bias and corruption by the people, and pulled this way and that by=20
the politicians, no one wants reform more than good people within the=20
police itself.

If there are problems with the police that require solving there are=20
also solutions staring us in the face.

Today, police functioning is governed by the Police Act of 1861 and=20
state acts which are equally old and unreformed. The fact that a=20
country that so emphatically threw off the British yoke is satisfied=20
to be ruled by a colonial act whose objective was to subjugate the=20
population, indicates the determination of successive governments not=20
to take up police reforms. Unless this is changed it would appear=20
that independence, self-rule, the dictates of the Constitution and=20
especially the Bill of Rights have not at all intervened between 1861=20
and 2002.

A new police act is essential. It needs to be underpinned by a new=20
statutory framework that pins down accountability, separates out=20
responsibilities, makes certain that the chain of command lies within=20
the police and that promotions and punishment do not rely on=20
patronage from outside. It must also create a division of labour=20
between the government and the force and set out exactly where the=20
responsibility lies. The law needs to state that the police must act=20
strictly according to the law and will be answerable only to the law=20
and not to any person. This is the legal position today but in the=20
present state of patronage that has grown up between the police,=20
politicians and executive, this just cannot be done.

Nearly 25 years ago, the National Police Commission had carefully=20
analysed the problems of the police and the pressures it has to deal=20
with. It had made recommendations which remain relevant today. The=20
heart of the NPC's recommendations was concerned with two aspects:=20
insulating the police from undue political influence and=20
accountability of the police to law alone and not to any person.

Everyone in the state and central governments is aware that a quarter=20
century has passed by since the NPC sought a police force which is in=20
harmony with democratic rule. Desperate police officers have since=20
then tried to awaken the government's conscience and asked for the=20
implementation of the NPC's recommendations before the Supreme Court,=20
where it lies unresolved. Recently, the Rebeiro Committee has given=20
its recommendations along similar lines to the NPC as has the=20
Padmanabhaiah Committee. The Vohra Committee has indicated that the=20
police-politics-mafia nexus is ruining governance. Yet, nothing has=20
moved.

Many believe improvement can be made even without new laws if only=20
the police had the courage to rise above corruption and resist=20
political pressure. But leaving it to superhuman individual efforts=20
in a debased system that everyday rewards the bad and punishes the=20
good is not the answer.

The police argue that it is useless to reform them without reforming=20
every other segment of the criminal justice system. With 30 million=20
cases pending, the jails full to the brim with undertrials awaiting=20
their day in court, and the miscarriage of justice when the rich and=20
famous are involved, who can deny that the magistracy, the=20
prosecutorial system, the forensic system, the prisons and the laws=20
in all these areas need improvement?

In answer, the Centre explains that it is engaged in improving the=20
police through 'modernisation'. While improvement in infrastructure,=20
housing, equipment and service conditions is needed, it's not enough.=20
Reform requires adherence to law, accountability and autonomy of=20
functioning. To 'modernise' without the requisite change in attitude=20
and re-articulation of what the role of the police in a democracy=20
must be, seems nothing more than bringing better facilities and=20
weapons to the aid of a lawless force.

The Centre pleads helplessness 'because law and order is a State=20
subject'. Sixty per cent of the districts in India are in some way=20
affected by civil strife, communal violence, crime, or security=20
risks. Yet, the Centre has not made enough effort at sustaining a=20
dialogue with states on the subject.

New Delhi has influence in relation to the states and is seldom shy=20
to use it. One example would suffice. The police 'modernisation'=20
grant stands at Rs 10,000 crore. That gives the Centre useful=20
leverage over every state to link improved police performance to the=20
disbursement of the grant. Police performance is not simply linked to=20
arrests, but to a reduction in crime, safety for women, and an=20
increasing measure of public satisfaction and confidence in its good=20
behaviour and impartiality. Here the Centre can lead by example. It=20
has forces and territories under its control, most notably Delhi.=20
These can be the venues of quick model experiments in reform.

Police reform is too important to neglect and too urgent to delay.=20
The vicious culture of crime (especially against women) which has=20
gripped our metros and towns, especially Delhi, and increasing cases=20
of police atrocities, as the lynching of Dalits in Jhajjar, have=20
reduced the civil society into a helpless victim. Lack of reform is=20
destroying India's international credibility and reputation. It is an=20
obstacle to foreign investment, swift development and social justice;=20
so it is hard to understand why there is no response.

One would think that politicians (who, with every change of=20
government, see themselves threatened by their adversaries) would see=20
their own protection in creating a police service which is unbiased,=20
autonomous and accountable only to law and not to any person. Sadly,=20
there are even more compelling reasons for the political mafia to=20
keep the police lean and hungry and tied up in their political=20
backyards. Politicians have a biddable force ready to protect them in=20
all their wrong doings. Everyone believes that the police are a=20
puppet on the political string.

No child in the street could have missed the ironies implied in the=20
police response to the post-Godhra carnage and the response to=20
Akshardham. The Akshardham action indicates the absolute ability of=20
the police (and other forces) to act instantly and efficiently to=20
overcome difficult situations. It proves that it is the ishara=20
(signal) from above that will prompt both good and bad actions.

The truth is, if police reforms are blocked, then there is no end to=20
the trauma of ordinary people, especially those who don't have clout.=20
This will be a travesty of justice.

The writer is Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

_____

#6.

Carnage in Gujarat:=A0Citizens=B9 Initiative for Justice & Peace
Update October 23, 2002=A0
Since the BJP rode to power, alternate and brutal attacks on=20
Christians and Muslims have soured the climate fof Gujarat=20
culminating in the Gujarat Genocide of 2002. Communalism Combat has=20
tracked these events over five cover stories thatcan be visited in=20
our archives.
Now again, in the run up the forthcoming elections, the cabinet=20
ministers of Modi=B9s government are blatantly indulging in threats and=20
intimidation in Dangs in South Gujarat. In the run up the next=20
election, we will be sending regular updates on the Gujaraty=20
situation.

Teesta Setalvad Javed Anand

*Urgent Alert* * Urgent Alert * *Urgent Alert*=20
*Urgent Alert* *Urgent Alert*

A repeat of 1999?
Threats and intimidation on Christians in South Gujarat

Fr. Cedric Prakash S.J.

ALERT ON THE SITUATION OF THE TRIBALS IN GUJARAT TODAY
Early this year, during the carnage in Gujarat, one of the=20
trump-cards of the BJP was to highlight the role of the tribals and=20
dalits in the attack on the Muslims. It is a known fact that only a=20
very tiny section of these groups were actually involved in the=20
killing, arson and loot. This too, after being literally bribed with=20
liquor and money and provided with trishuls and other arms.

There has been a consistent effort to divide the tribals and to deny=20
them of their fundamental rights. The latest is a circular of the=20
Gujarat Government insisting that the tribals leave the forest areas=20
of the State. This is in consonance with the move to call the tribals=20
"Van Vasis" instead of Adivasis. The latter provides them with an=20
identity wherever they are, the former denies them of the identity=20
once they leave the forest areas or if the forests are rampaged and=20
pillaged as it is today by politicians and rich vested interests.

The bogey of conversions is once again doing the rounds in the tribal=20
areas of South Gujarat, very specially in the Dangs. Vicious=20
pamphlets and inflammatory articles in South Gujarat editions of the=20
Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar are doing the rounds. The venom is=20
towards the Christians and the Christian Missionaries with absolute=20
lies being propagated.

On October 22, 2002, a Ram Katha by Morari Bapu began outside the=20
Jesuit Centre of Subhir in the Dangs. This Katha was inaugurated by=20
Narendra Modi. There is plenty of tension in the air with efforts now=20
being made by the trustees of the Sabari Mata Mandir to forcibly take=20
away a land near the school which has been donated by a tribal woman=20
to the Sisters to start a dispensary and a Girls Hostel for tribals.=20
At the moment, the temple authorities have just gone and occupied the=20
land for boarding and lodging of the people who have come from=20
outside to attend the Katha. The Katha is supposed to last till=20
October 30, 02 and already fears among the Christian community is=20
high because some of the tribal children of the boardings run by the=20
Fathers and Sisters have been threatened by the fascist elements.

=B3Would you like to live as Hindus or die like Christians?=B2 is the=20
intimidation being directly used. Girls and Jesuits were trembling=20
with fear after the incident. This intimidation happened in the=20
presence of no less than a minister from the Gujarat cabinet Karsan=20
Patel.

In the meantime, a massive campaign has been launched by the Member=20
of Parliament from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mr. Mohanbhai Delkar=20
(Independent), in most of the tribal areas of South Gujarat. He calls=20
it the "Parivartan Manch" and he is apparently flush with funds. He=20
talks about "the tribal identity" but his proximity to the Sangh=20
Parivar is well-known. A huge amount of orange stickers have been=20
distributed to the tribal households in which "Parivartan Manch" is=20
emblazoned to be stuck on each of the adivasi houses.
The situation is becoming alarming in the tribal heartland of Gujarat !

Background:
http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=3D2&cat1=3D1&cat2=3D22&newsid=3D250=
16
Gujarat mantri threatens Dangs Christians
- By Deepal Trevedie

o o o o

[See Related Report]
The Hindu
Friday, Oct 25, 2002

VHP pamphleteering worries Christians in Dangs
By Manas Dasgupta
http://www.hindu.com/stories/2002102506051100.htm

_____

#7.

THE SOUTH ASIA FORUM
&
COALITION FOR AN EGALITARIAN AND PLURALISTIC INDIA
Present
A Public Lecture & Discussion on
FUNDAMENTALISM IN SOUTH ASIA
Rise & Challenge of Hindutva in India
Saturday, November 9, 2002=A0
2:00 PM=A0
University Hall, Room 1000
Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, California 90045

Speaker: Virendra Prakash, IAS (Ret.)
Author of "Hindutva Demystified"

Mr. Virendra Prakash retired as Secretary to the Government of India=20
in the Ministry of Home Affairs, having held senior positions both in=20
India and abroad. As Deputy Commissioner Manipur and as Advisor to=20
two Governors of J&K state, he dealt closely with fundamentalist=20
militancy. His book "Hindutva Demystified" which received wide=20
acclamation was based on his intimate interactions with Hindutva top=20
leadership and the study of relevant literature, history as well as=20
contemporary developments right up to the tragic events of Godhra,=20
Gujarat and Orissa.

The rise of fundamentalist politics around the world and especially=20
in South Asia has affected the fragile majority and minority=20
relationships, casting a long, dark shadow on the future of the=20
entire region. Lately, the rise of majoritarian militancy in India in=20
the name of HINDUTVA has added a catastrophic new dimension to an=20
already explosive situation. The minorities, dalits & women, in=20
particular, find themselves the target of increasingly vicious=20
attacks.
In this context, some issues to ponder over are:
=AD What is HINDUTVA - its motives and roots, its threats and prospects?
=AD What does it bode for the future of a pluralist, egalitarian and=20
progressive India?
=AD What does it mean for the future of the South Asian States?
=AD What is the role of the expatriate South Asian Community?
This event is free to the public and plenty of parking is available.
Directions:
>From Valley: Take San Diego (405) Freeway south. Exit on Manchester=20
Blvd (W) and turn right towards the beach.
>From Orange County: Take San Diego (405) Freeway North. Exit on=20
Manchester Blvd (W) and turn left towards the beach.
>From Downtown: Take I-10 West Freeway north and merge on to the San=20
Diego (405) south. Exit on Manchester Blvd (W) and turn right towards=20
the beach.
After following the above, turn right on Lincoln Blvd and make=20
another right on LMU Drive. University Hall will be the first Bldg on=20
the right, enter the underground parking structure from the second=20
entrance and take the elevator to Room 1000.

For more information please contact:
Robin Khundkar (714) 895-5048 or rkhundkar@e... ;I K Shukla=20
(310) 514-2934 or ikshukla@h...; John Ishvaradas-Abdallah=20
(310) 748-9369 or SufiSays@y...; Asad Zaidi (714) 313-2703 or=20
asadzee@h...

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