SACW | 16 Aug. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sat Aug 16 06:49:06 CDT 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 16 August, 2003
[1.] Pakistan: India: Petition for Peace- 2 Minutes for Peace
Campaign. Do you have 2
minutes?
[2.] History of the Ghadar Movement
[3.] Bangladesh: When A Pineapple Rolls (Shahidul Alam)
[4.] Letter from Cambridge, Massachusetts (Satchit Balsari)
[5.] Promises of original 15th August (Sandip K. Dasverma)
[6.] India: 15th Aug. Bangalore Initiative for Peace and the White
Ribbon Campaign for Peace (India)
[7.] For your entertainment: Asian journey by Asian diaspora writers (Time)
[8.] Shadows of the Swastika: Historical Perspectives on the Politics
of Hindu Communalism
(Tapan Raychaudhuri)
[9.] India: Quest For Justice in Gujarat (Sukumar Muralidharan)
[10.] India: Modi's RSS cap creates flutter at I-day celebrations in Gujarat
[11.]India: 'Creating Communal Tension' - Modi books us on freedom day
On the night the Gujarat government was finalising its Independence
Day celebrations, it instructed the Ahmedabad police to lodge an FIR
against The Indian Express, Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar and social
activist Nafisa Ali.
[12.] Upcoming events in the US: Pakistan - India
[13.] Pakistan India: After the song and dance - Independence day Gifts !
- Biggest environmental disaster in the country's history: Karachi Oil Spill
- Monumental error:Taj already damaged
--------------
[1.]
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 12:30:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mokshay Madiman <mokshay at dam.brown.edu>
Subject: Petition for Peace- 2 Minutes for Peace Campaign. Do you have 2
minutes?
Dear all,
Please see the message below and sign the petition if you agree with it in
principle. Please also pass on this request to friends or relevant e-lists
you are on.
thanks
Mokshay
------------
August 14/15, 2003
Dear friends,
Greetings of Peace and Sisterhood (or Brotherhood) on this glorious day!
Please see the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/DIP81415/petition.html
It would be nice to get a few thousand signatures on it, as politicians
and govt. on both/all sides need to know how people feel about peace. It
is easy to be fooled by all this goodwill floating around, but the scars
are very deep, and there are many many people on either side who would
want the status quo. It is in the interest of every peace loving citizen
of the world to at least voice their opinion on this issue. It is critical
for us Indians and Pakistanis.
So while we celebrate the 57th. anniversary of our independence, could we
find a couple of minutes to enter our names, the names of our spouses and
adult children who have a say on this issue? Please spread the petition
around and ask your family members and friends to do the same. It is
critical that this petition reaches many many in Pakistan and India, for
they must have a major say in the matter. If you are concerned, we are
giving you the opportunity to voice your concern- NOW! Please make a
difference. We know you can, only if you want to. Please sign the petition
at
http://www.petitiononline.com/DIP81415/petition.html
Gautam and Nadeem
Develop in Peace campaign
_____
[2.]
History of the Ghadar Movement
http://www.punjabilok.com/misc/freedom/history_of_the_ghadar_movement.htm
_____
[3.]
[August 15, 2003]
WHEN A PINEAPPLE ROLLS
Shahidul Alam
Getting hold of a copy of the banned magazine was difficult, but
most of the people who were subscribers seemed to have read the
article. As often before, censorship had given the Time Magazine
piece
(<http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021021->http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021021-364423,00.html)
a notoriety, and readership appeal, it might not
otherwise have had. The ban was short lived, and soon the article
had been forgotten.
The Bangladesh government's treatment of its journalists however had
not been so short lived. The Channel 4 journalists were predictably,
released well before Christmas. For Saleem Samad, and Priscilla Raj,
the situation was considerably different. Tortured and terrorised,
they fell victim to a government in permanent fear of being
labelled `fundamentalist'. When a pineapple rolls it is the grass
that suffers, and post 9/11, it is the small states that have felt
the pangs of `terrrorism control'.
The ban of the 28th July 2003 Newsweek issue
(<http://www.msnbc.com/news/940974.asp>http://www.msnbc.com/news/940974.asp
) was based on fears at
home. "Repeated bans on international magazines on account of
articles on Islam constitute a flagrant violation of the free flow
of information," Reporters Without Borders said in a letter to
Bangladeshi information minister Tariqul Islam.
The RSF statement fails to address the wider issue of control on the
media. Arranging photo ops, planting questions at press conferences,
removing access to the `pool' for dissenters, spin, corporate
control of the media and the newly found ally of embedded
journalists are beyond the reach of a government with limited media
management skills. Fisk, Chomsky, Pilger, Monbiot et.al. have made
valiant attempts to overcome media control in the west. But neither
their work, nor the excellent independent analyses that have
circulated on the Net, have managed to create a significant
challenge to a well-entrenched propaganda machinery. They have
largely preached to the converted.
The handling of the Channel 4 incident and the ban on NewsweekÝ by
the Bangladesh government were at best clumsy. Buying out the
limited copies that are imported for Dhaka's elite, could have far
better stymied the tiny readership to TimeÝ and Newsweek in
Bangladesh. An "Out of Stock" label has far less glamour than
a "Censored" sticker. The harassment of Samad and Raj, was
unnecessary. These were ill paid professionals trying to make a
living helping foreign journalists.
A flimsy majority that depends upon a small but significant Islamic
party, makes things further complicated for the government of
Bangladesh. Dissent within has to be managed along with keeping in
the good books of powerful states. The earlier Time Magazine article
(<http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021021->http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021021-
364423,00.html) on Al Qaeda links, was tenuous at best, and the Far
Eastern Economic Review article
(<http://216.105.38.21/review/BANGLADESH>http://216.105.38.21/review/BANGLADESH
-- April 04, 2002.htm)Ý on
the rise of fundamentalism was shoddy journalism. But when it is so
important to say one has been a good boy, any slander, no matter how
unbelievable, has to be vehemently denied. Banning the award winning
film Matir Moina, (now showing in cinema halls, with only minor
amendments) was a knee jerk reaction, symptomatic of a nervous
government trying to juggle with appeasement outside and appeasement
within.
This is not the first time the Islamic parties (Islami Oikya Jote,
IOJ) have played a key role in parliamentary dynamics. Popularity
for major parties far exceeds the following of OIJ, a small and
disciplined party. Despite their low votes however, they have had a
key presence in all governments since the elections in 1991. "We
could withdraw from the alliance if the demands are not met," Mufti
Fazlul Huq Amini has threatened at strategic moments, and the
government does not want to rock its own boat.
While we may be thankful that the Bangladesh government is not media
savvy, the more crude attempts to suppress free journalism doesn't
bode well for media professionals. We have now had three largely
free and fair elections, but the elected representatives of the
people have hardly behaved in a democratic manner. Each of the three
governments have resorted to violent means to ensure loyalty. More
recently, warrants of arrests, issued against five editors and one
executive editor
(<http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/07/11/d3071101033.htm)>http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/07/11/d3071101033.htm)
on
defamation charges, within a period of three weeks, represents a
shift in strategy. The minister's statement "Wherever you will find
journalists, break their bones,"
(<http://www.cpj.org/attacks00/asia00/Bangladesh.html)>http://www.cpj.org/attacks00/asia00/Bangladesh.html)
was really
intended for rookies on the streets, and rural journalists. Going
for the big boys is a more recent affair.
So how does a nation, scared of big brother, and managing a rickety
coalition handle the media? Letting the journalists speak appears to
be the most sensible route out. Surely, not all western journalists
will be as incompetent as their TimesÝ and FEERÝ counterparts. Maybe
they themselves, given a more free hand from corporate control,
would exercise the journalistic rigour required of them.
Strengthening local media would go a long way in providing
alternative analysis to western viewpoints. Murdered journalists
don't write too well.
"Not a hair will be touched" the minister had said in 1994, when
feminist writer Taslima Nasreen was facing persecution. Not a hair
was touched, and Nasreen, still under threat, was provided safe exit
to a land of her choosing. In the same July 1994 issue where the NYT
covered this story, there was another news, of a US doctor going to
work in a bullet-proof vest and being shot in the head. While one
tripped over the word fundamentalism in the Nasreen article,
religion or fanaticism was never mentioned in the story of the
doctor's death. When journalists regurgitate a state's values,
control is complete. Thankfully, Bangladesh has not reached such
levels of state control, and our journalists have not reached such
levels of acquiescence.
A responsible media which operates freely, could do wonders for
Bangladesh, for its image and its people. But there is a downside to
this. A more informed public would be less easily manipulated,
corruption would be more difficult, absolute power would be more
readily questioned. Government acquiescence in the face of western
interests flies against the rhetoric of demands for free press by
western states. Secret deals are more easily made in the absence of
meddling journalists.
As for terrorism, we would love to see it end. If only the US would
stop manufacturing it.
_____
[4.]
Letter from Cambridge, August 7th 2003
Thousands of miles away from home, I eagerly await the Indian
Independence Day Celebrations in Boston. I have heard that fellow
countrymen turn out in large numbers for this celebration each year.
Fifty-six long years have passed since Pandit Nehru made his 'Tryst
with destiny' speech. The achievement India celebrated on that hour
was "but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs
and achievements that await us," he promised. Yet when I look at
India, and when I manage to look beyond the razzle and dazzle that is
my beloved Bombay, beyond the hip-hop culture, the swanky cars and
the overflowing clubs; when I peek into the huts perched precariously
between the railway tracks and Tulsi Pipe road, or read about the
rising waters of the Sardar Sarovar Project, or the dastardly attacks
against yet another batch of pilgrims to ancient Himalayan shrines,
or the blatant impunity enjoyed by our politicians who are bent on
systematically dismantling the idea of a diverse India, my heart
sinks. I cannot fathom the silence of the large educated masses who
choose to turn a blind eye to the injustices around them - whether
they be the denial of education to their own teenage domestic
'maid-servants,' or the impact of unsustainable behemoth development
projects on the lives of millions, or the killing of hundreds across
the globe, and certainly in India, under one pretext or another (and
more often than not, in the name of God). And I wonder if the idea of
India has failed, and if we should quietly furl up the tricolor and
stop singing the anthem, because we do not seem to ever want our
India to awaken into the heaven of freedom that Gurudeo Tagore sang
about.
Then I recollect the slapping of hundreds of Lijjat papad doughs, and
the mooing of thousands of cows milked by Amul's proud milkmen, and
the jingle of bangles dyeing bandhinis in the Self Employed Women's
Association, and the chatter of surviving children from Char tora
kabrastan in Ahmedabad playing with their Monica didi; I see the
resolute faces of Medha Patkar and Chunibhai Vaidya, of Jean Dreze
and Ela Bhatt, of Tarun Tejpal and Barkha Dutt, of Martin Macwan and
Sandeep Panday, of Anand Patwardhan and Vijay Tendulkar, and the
thousands of Indians who continue to work silently in the hinterland
of the nation with her forgotten children - with the dalits, the
religious minorities, the forest tribes and the differently-abled.
They continue to believe in the dream of India - they breathe the
idea of India. Their lives are their message. It is these Indians
that make me proud to be Indian.
It is they who give me a cause to celebrate Swatantra Din, at the
Esplanade in Boston. For in their thoughts, in their words and in
their deeds, I see that Truth will prevail.
Satchit Balsari
Harvard University School of Public Health
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
August 7, 2003.
_____
[5.]
PROMISES OF ORIGINAL 15TH AUGUST:
by Sandip K. Dasverma
Another 15th August has come. Yet, the promises of the original 15th
August are yet unfulfilled and India's tryst with destiny is yet incomplete.
[...]
Today India and Pakistan are both armed with WMDs. In both India and
Pakistan, the biggest single item in the budget is the Military expenditure,
with standing armies of nearly 0.8 million in India and half a million in
Pakistan.
If the money used for military is transferred to the welfare
sector, the following things shall and can happen in next 15 years,
peacemongers estimate:
1. Complete Literacy by 2010 and high school education for every child by
2020.
2. Education for every meritorious student to suit his ambition and ability
irrespective of accident of birth.
3. Improvement in life expectancy to standards in the 1st world
4. Universal assurance of potable water, eradication of epidemics like
Cholera, typhoid etc.
5. Availability of food for every one, (no starvation deaths or child sale),
6. Availability of water to every farmland through assured irrigation and
improved water management.
7. Availability of a two roomed brick and concrete house for every one.
8. Electricity to every home.
9. Any one irrespective of gender, caste, religion and language, and umpteen
variations of birth in a multi -ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual,
multi-regional, multi-cultural India will have the same opportunities.
But can the entrenched war lobby be defeated? They had a
great run of luck for half a century due to COLD WAR, now fortunately over.
But the military is back in power in Pakistan. And in India, the pioneers
and warriors of militant Hinduism are leading the government. They justify
each other and have a vested in interest in perpetuating the STATUS QUO.
However common people are sick and tired of the continuous tension and
threats of war? The Indian PM has offered peace, which has led to another
thaw in the subcontinent. - But people have been fooled and deceived so
many times that everyone has turned skeptic.
Hope this time it will be REAL. If it is, it will usher an era to fulfil
the PROMISES OF the ORIGINAL 15TH AUGUST. Every commoner, like me, is
waiting with crossed fingers, while the king and the king makers deliberate.
_____
[6.]
newindpress.com
Thursday August 14 2003 00:00 IST
Bangalore to celebrate Aug 15 with peace pledge
BANGALORE: All through the last year, we've been silent witnesses to
expressions of violence. But that is not to say we as a nation have
not felt a unanimous sense of outrage at the mindless violence and
victimisation, and a thirst for peace.
On the 56th anniversary of Indian independence, the Bangalore
Initiative for Peace and the White Ribbon Campaign for Peace (India)
will present a platform for every Indian who feels strongly about the
politics of power and divisiveness and wants to make a strong case
against it. On August 15, volunteers and patriotic Indians will meet
at the Gandhi Statue on M.G. Road to display banners, sing songs and
take a pledge for peace, peacefully.
The Bangalore Initiative for Peace began last March as an expression
of collective anguish over the future of Indian pluralism. ``Last
year,'' says Rhodes scholar Anasuya Sengupta, ``the focus was on
Gujarat. This year the focus is a little broader, on conscience and
celebration. We will speak on what we think is wrong in our country
and what is precious and therefore worthy of celebration. Freedom
means speaking out for the justice of victims of violence. It is also
the freedom to wear jeans and listen to Bismillah Khan.''
The screening of Anand Patwardhan's devastating documentary last
April on the nuclear threat over India, 'War and Peace', brought home
the message of the power of the white ribbon and thus began a series
of activities, says Sengupta. The White Ribbon Initiative then held a
follow-up Peace Festival at Gandhi Bhavan and linked up with Action
Aid, the Ahmedabad-based Citizens' Initiative and MTV, which used a
white ribbon on its logo for the week leading to August 15.
``The White Ribbon is used as a symbol to protest violence against
women but it can be used as a symbol for peace too,'' says Sengupta,
whose poem on the plight of women all over the world was quoted by
Hillary Rodham Clinton in her book 'Living History'.
The Bangalore campaign which was coordinated last year by corporate
professional Pavan Ahluwalia in Mumbai, Sengupta and medical
practitioner Dr. Pervez Imam will move a step further this year with
people holding simultaneous campaigns in places like Chicago, New
Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.
Last year about 5,000 individuals stood holding hands to form Peace
Links on M.G. Road. The members of the human chain pledged to
reaffirm ``the humane in all faiths, and the rights of all peoples to
live with equality, dignity and plural identities''. Volunteers and
protesters came from groups as varied as Vimochana, Samuha, Samvada,
Concerned for Working Children, and educational institutions like the
Valley School, the Mallya Aditi International School, Srishti School
of Art Design and Technology the Christel House Learning Centre, and
St. Joseph's Evening College.
If you wish to be a part of the peace initiative this year and
celebrate India's Independence day like never before, contact
whiteribbonindia at rediffmail.com or log on to
http://www.famnest.com/wfs/wfs078.htm or call Anasuya Sengupta at
080-5282856.
______
[7.]
TIME magazine
Asian journey by Asian diaspora writers.
http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/toc.html
Piyo Iyer
Mohsin Hamid,
Ved Mehta
Pankaj Mishra
______
[8.]
Shadows of the Swastika: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of
Hindu Communalism
by Tapan Raychaudhuri
Modern Asian Studies, Volume 34, Issue 02. April 2000. pp259-279
Abstract:
A valedictory lecture is usually an anodyne statement-at its best a
summing up of one's life-work, rich in wisdom and scholarship. The
present exercise does not belong to that category, not merely because
the speaker lays no claim to wisdom or scholarship, but because the
present moment is unsuited to anodyne statements on India. Besides,
the concern of this lecture has only peripheral links with my areas
of professional expertise. It is addressed to a
political-cum-cultural phenomenon in contemporary India which, in the
opinion of many, portends a grieveous threat to the cherished values
on which Indian democracy is based. We also believe that this threat,
if not neutralized in time, may yet destroy the structure of polity
and society which the Indian nation-state has sought to nurture; and
done so, despite its many failures, with at least a modicum of
success. A struggle is on for the hearts and minds of the Indian
people. The present exercise is meant to be a modest contribution to
the debate which is at the very heart of that struggle.
[Size : 200 Kb | Format PDF]
[The above article is available to all on SACW lists who might be
interested. Should you require a copy of this large sized article
send a request to: <aiindex at mnet.fr>
______
[9.]
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2017/stories/20030829007900400.htm
Frontline
Volume 20 - Issue 17, August 16 - 29, 2003
COVER STORY
QUEST FOR JUSTICE
SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN
A significant intervention by the Supreme Court in the Best Bakery
and other Gujarat riot cases on a petition by the National Human
Rights Commission has raised the hopes of the victims, who have been
terrorised into silence, of a fair trial.
NARENDRA MODI has a very low threshold of tolerance for criticism. At
a personal level, the manner in which the Gujarat Chief Minister
chooses to deal with criticism need not be germane to his public
conduct or persona. But the yawning gap between the demands of
propriety and his attitude towards empowered constitutional
authorities is perhaps a different matter, suggesting a basic
aversion to the democratic ethos.
AFP
Zahira Sheikh, one of the witnesses in the Best Bakery case, at a
press conference in Mumbai on July 7.
Less than a year since he entered into a public spat with the
Election Commission of India, complete with unseemly personal
references and elaborate simulations of offended hauteur, Modi finds
himself embroiled in another dispute with a constitutional body. And
the arguments being advanced in his defence are a faithful reprise of
themes heard last year. That Gujarat is by no means the living hell
for minorities it is made out to be; on the contrary, it is among the
most progressive and dynamic States in the country, and the minute
scrutiny that the Modi government is being put through is an affront
to the collective dignity of the Gujarati community.
For sheer effrontery there could be nothing in recent years to match
Modi's recent letter to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, outlining these
themes. Provoked by the decision of the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) to petition the Supreme Court over the acquittal of
all the accused in last year's Best Bakery carnage in Vadodara, Modi
wrote in evident ire to the President, deploring the effort by vested
interests to block Gujarat's "path of progress" by "exaggerating ...
stray incidents". Gratuitously, the damage that was supposedly
inflicted on the federal system was cited as adequate grounds for
presidential intervention: "Our country has a federal structure and
this federal polity has to ensure that the Centre and the States,
judiciary and the legislature work in harmonious environment. Nothing
can be more harmful to democracy than the efforts of some groups to
weaken the collective strength of the democratic institutions."
The President was obliged to act, Modi urged, since the clamour that
was being created on the world stage by "external forces and
non-governmental organisations" was "tarnishing the image of the
country and questioning (sic) its democratic strength". Not just the
President, but indeed the entire country should, in the
circumstances, "stand up and uphold the truth".
What arsenal could Modi hope to deploy in his cause of upholding
Gujarat's and with it, India's honour? Nothing more lethal it turns
out than some well-thumbed statistics from the crime records bureau.
Modi urged the President to direct the compilation of statistics on
all cases of "terrorist or extremist attacks, group clashes and
communal violence" since Independence. And out of all these, the
public should be told how many cases led to the filing of
charge-sheets and given a breakdown of the prosecutions that were
launched and acquittals that were handed down.
In this narrative of politics, according to Modi, Best Bakery was no
aberration, but an event that was integral to the performance of
India's institutions since Independence. What to any fair-minded
observer may have seemed an alarming sign of creeping institutional
bias against a minority community was for Modi part of the natural
order of things. By implication, then, the entire cycle of violence
that began with the Godhra carnage last year was nothing exceptional:
merely a part of the time-honoured tradition of social conflict
resolution that has been enshrined over five decades and more. The
victims of the Gujarat violence cannot expect justice simply because
several others have suffered similar injury in the past. And if any
individual, political organisation or constitutional body should
choose to speak up in the cause of justice in Gujarat, that would
only suggest a selective conscience and an inherent social bias.
March 1, 2002: A mob on the rampage in Ahmedabad.
When the Godhra carnage happened, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
showed remarkable acuity in identifying its basic cause. His
attention focussed at a different point of the compass, he appealed
to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to call off its agitation over the Ram
temple at Ayodhya. The VHP refused and instead issued a call for a
day of demonstrations and protest in Gujarat. Vajpayee did not
specifically demand of Modi that he bring the guilty of Godhra to
book and ensure the security of all citizens of Gujarat, perhaps
because he assumed that in a constitutional order, there was no need
to state the obvious.
Speaking over the state-controlled radio channel on the evening of
the Godhra carnage, Modi unburdened himself of a rather different
notion of constitutional accountability. It was not the authority of
the state and the law that would be brought to bear on the criminals
of Godhra but the fury of the mob. And the target would be not the
perpetrators of the heinous crime, but an entire vulnerable minority.
"I want to assure the people that Gujarat shall not tolerate any such
incidents," he said. "The culprits will get full punishment for their
sins. Not only this, we will set an example that nobody, not even in
his dreams, thinks of committing a heinous crime like this."
At a conference of Chief Ministers in May 1968, shortly after
independent India's first outbreak of widespread communal violence,
certain measures to control the menace were approved. These included
the "full use of the provisions of law, particularly sections 153A
and 295A" of the Indian Penal Code, for dealing with incitement to
violence in written or spoken word. That intent has remained largely
frozen on the parchment it was inscribed on. Chief Ministers since
have often overtly professed helplessness in controlling outbreaks of
violence while covertly promoting it for political ends. But
everybody who has studied India's tortured history of communal strife
has concluded with rare unanimity that Modi's record of culpability
has been the worst.
As the cycle of retaliation went into play, Vajpayee denounced the
events in Gujarat as a scar on the nation's conscience. Home Minister
L.K. Advani wrung his hands in despair, but said little. It was only
before an audience in faraway London several months later that he
said what was evident to all: that the events in Gujarat were a
"disgrace".
RAJEEV BHATT
Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
These sporadic words of good sense by the BJP's senior leaders were
of course hedged around with several qualifications, some of them
verging on endorsement of Modi's actions. In the wake of the NHRC
announcing its intent to petition the Supreme Court over Best Bakery
- and other key cases in Gujarat - Bharatiya Janata Party spokesmen
have shed even this residual element of ambiguity in favour of
full-throated partisanship against the autonomy of constitutional
bodies. The NHRC risked being seen as "anti-Hindu", fumed the BJP's
parliamentary whip and spokesman V.K. Malhotra. Gujarat had suffered
the trauma of nearly "400 incidents of communal riots" during
successive Congress(I) regimes, with few of the guilty being
prosecuted and fewer convicted. The NHRC was doing little in the case
of the Marad atrocity in Kerala where eight people had been killed by
marauding criminal mobs, said Malhotra.
A group of Ministers from Gujarat also met senior members of the
Union Cabinet with a list of grievances. The NHRC's decision
constituted an unseemly rush to judgment, they said, since the
Gujarat government itself intended to appeal the Best Bakery
acquittals in the High Court. The constitutional watchdog of human
rights had shown an alarming sense of disdain towards the
fundamentals of federal politics and effectively given a vote of
no-confidence in the judicial system, they complained
The BJP's interventions are only rather loosely grounded in facts.
The references to terrorism in Kashmir and the Marad atrocity fail to
account for the vigorous prosecution of the latter by the Kerala
police and detentions without trial and encounter killings that are
standard practice in the fight against terrorism. They also betray a
curious political morality, and an anxiety to excel rather than
efface the worst abuses of the law and the judicial processes in the
past.
In taking up the NHRC's special leave petition on August 8, a
three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice V.N.
Khare, decided that it provided an appropriate occasion for a
generalised inquest into India's criminal justice system. In order to
avoid a conflict of jurisdictions with the Gujarat High Court, which
was concurrently expected to hear the State government's appeal, the
Supreme Court determined that it would treat the NHRC petition and
application as a public interest petition.
Just days earlier, Chief Justice Khare had, in a case involving
succession rights within the Christian community, issued an ex
cathedra admonition of Parliament for its failure to enact a uniform
civil code for the country. In removing contradictions based on
ideologies, he opined, a common civil code would promote national
integration. These observations, expectedly, engendered a torrent of
comment, both in the realm of politics and in the media. Unlike in
past years, the BJP has in this round of the debate not quite managed
to steal the mantle of gender justice and equality before the law
irrespective of community. The BJP and its affiliates are now
required to explain how they can operationalise the uniform criminal
code, which has already been written into the statute. To say that it
has been flouted almost as a matter of routine in the past is simply
no option.
______
[10.]
Modi's RSS cap creates flutter at I-day celebrations in Gujarat
From Indo-Asian News Service
Ahmedabad, Aug 15 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi donned the
black cap of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while hoisting the
national flag on Independence Day Friday, but that was not the only
controversy surrounding the event.
It concluded with distinctly Hindu rituals like the "Shiv tandav stotra",
"Ganesh vandana", "Sahastra linga puja" and "Shakti puja" which had been
bitterly opposed by the main opposition Congress, which contended these
would alienate the minority communities.
And, in a break from tradition, the main function was held not in the
capital Gandhinagar but in Patan, 125 km from here, the seat of the Solanki
dynasty in 8th-11th century, which lost its glory when Muslim invader Mahmud
of Ghazni attacked it in 1024.
The Hindu connection was made explicit as the city was virtually painted
saffron with more flags of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) than the
national tricolour.
Modi, who began his career as an apparatchik of the RSS, rubbed in the Hindu
theme, referring to the Godhra train burning and the need to control
population - a distinct aside at the Muslims.
In an attempt to counter Modi, the Congress also organised a flag hoisting
at Patan and gave the honour to Viththalbhai Pandya, father of slain former
minister Haren Pandya who was a Modi rival in the party.
The elder Pandya has repeatedly charged Modi was involved in his son's
killing.
"Modi was always jealous of my son's popularity. He is responsible for my
son's murder," Pandya said Friday after hoisting the national flag. Some
10,000 people attended the function.
"The Modi government has taken only anti-people measures (since it came to
power in December 2002)", charged state Congress president Shankersinh
Vaghela.
Vaghela charged the government with misusing the police to put down an
agitation by farmers against power tariff hikes. A farmers' rally in the
state's second biggest city of Vadodara turned violent Thursday, with a
police inspector losing his life.
Police had made heavy security arrangements in Patan due to the two
functions. The Congress, in fact, received permission only on Thursday to
conduct its flag hoisting.
Modi has said the move to hold functions in other cities is meant to "bring
Gandhinagar to the door-step of the people".
This year's function to observe the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on
October 2 would be held in Porbandar, Gandhiji's birthplace.
The government had held the state's foundation day ceremony on May 1 at
Vadodara.
--Indo-Asian News Service
_____
[11.]
The Indian Express
August 16, 2003
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29740
'CREATING COMMUNAL TENSION'
Modi books us on freedom day
Express News Service
Ahmedabad, August 15: On the night the Gujarat government was
finalising its Independence Day celebrations, it instructed the
Ahmedabad police to lodge an FIR against The Indian Express, Gujarati
daily Divya Bhaskar and social activist Nafisa Ali.
The two newspapers, which published Ali's remarks critical of the
Modi government-in a report that appeared 10 days ago-have been
accused of ''creating communal tension'' in the city.
While Nafisa Ali-a former Miss India and now brand ambassador of
Action Aid, an NGO working in India for 30 years-has been named as
the prime accused, IPC Section 153A and Section 114 have been slapped
against The Indian Express. In a second case, the editor of Divya
Bhaskar has been booked under both sections.
Section 153A is used against ''promoting enmity between different
groups...and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.''
Section 114 books the ''abettor when offence is committed.''
Senior police inspector V M Barot, who lodged the FIR at Satellite
police station late Thursday night, has alleged that Ali and three
staffers of the The Indian Express - reporter Anurita Rathore, the
Editor and the Publisher - ''created tension between two
communities'' and had made Chief Minister Narendra Modi ''the medium
of this illegal activity.''
The FIR has to do with an article published in Express's Ahmedabad
Newsline featuring Ali's visit to the city the previous day. A
similar article was also published on August 5 by Divya Bhaskar.
The FIR finds three portions ''objectionable'' in the report on
Nafisa Ali's press conference.
* Speaking on those Muslims booked for the post-Godhra riots, she
said they were ''not Muslims...but people who were roped in to be
anti-social elements because they belonged to a particular community
that happens to be minority. Also because political leaders governing
Gujarat State are bent upon playing the communal card.'
* ''It's amazing how Narendra Modi can say that it's Pakistan behind
it all! Indeed, what Britishers couldn't do, Modi has done: he's
divided people on the basis of communalism.''
* ''I have been to Ayodhya, to the Ram Janmabhoomi...the sadhus there
are fed up as well. Just like people of Hitler's country are ashamed
of him, people will be of Modi, too.''
* In the Divya Bhaskar piece, Nafisa Ali is quoted as saying: ''It is
my message to the youth not to become Osama Bin Laden or Narendra
Modi.'' And: ''There is lack of responsibility among politicians,
administration and the judges.''
Sources in the state home department said that the government had
decided to lodge criminal cases against the two newspapers and had
also given verbal instructions over telephone to the police. But it
later sought an opinion from the state legal department on the matter.
Sources said that Secretary Bela Trivedi of the legal department said
that offences under sections 153A and 114 could be made out against
Ali and the two newspapers.
It was then that the police registered an FIR. When The Indian
Express contacted Director General of Police K Chakravarthy, he said:
''I have just reached after 24 hectic hours at Patan. I will have to
go through the FIRs first.''
Said senior police inspector Barot,the complainant: ''There is a
clear criminal case in this matter. How can you print something which
instigates people and which is against our beloved Chief Minister
Narendra Modi?''
Incidentally, Barot, before lodging an FIR, sent four of his men to
the office of The Indian Express for a copy of the August 5 edition
of the paper.
On Friday, he said that statements of all those named in the FIR
would be recorded and action taken accordingly.
_____
[12.]
UPCOMING EVENTS:
'Realizing the Vision and Promise of India'
A Global Community of Indians rededicating themselves to the idea of a
Democratic, Secular, Pluralistic, and United India
A Public Meeting to
Celebrate India's 57th Year of Independence and to
Launch a Global Initiative for Peace and Harmony
(co-sponsored by <http://cac.ektaonline.org/>CAC)
Saturday, August 16, 2003, 11 AM - 12 NOON
India Community Center (ICC)
555 Los Coches Street, Milpitas, CA 95035
(Please log on to <http://indiacc.org/>IndiaCC.org for directions)
o o o
Human Rights, Political Will and
the Nuclear Shadow
Sunday, August 17th, 5.30pm
<http://www.stanford.edu/dept/icenter/festival/directions.html>Assembly
Room, Bechtel International Center,
Stanford University
featuring
a screening of the documentary film
<http://mail.alum.rpi.edu/tools/getFile.asp?GUID=B39F8E33-96F3-40FD-ABC9-F72D66681805&MsgID=F29878B6-8E36-4BC3-A10D-46B25629FA17&name=X*1#The_Film>Pakistan
and India: Under the Nuclear Shadow
and talks by
<http://mail.alum.rpi.edu/tools/getFile.asp?GUID=B39F8E33-96F3-40FD-ABC9-F72D66681805&MsgID=F29878B6-8E36-4BC3-A10D-46B25629FA17&name=X*1#Dr._Pervez_Hoodbhoy>Dr.
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Professor of Physics
Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad, Pakistan
<http://mail.alum.rpi.edu/tools/getFile.asp?GUID=B39F8E33-96F3-40FD-ABC9-F72D66681805&MsgID=F29878B6-8E36-4BC3-A10D-46B25629FA17&name=X*1#Dr._Angana_Chatterji_>Dr.
Angana Chatterji
Professor, Cultural and Social Anthropology Program
California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
.
A retrospective on the 56 years of South Asian independence, a look
at the deteriorating human rights situation, the fallouts of nuclear
armament in the region, and the rise of fundamentalist forces, and
political will (or lack thereof) for conflict resolution. Also, a
look at causes for hope - the growth of grassroots level movements,
the increasing demands for peace and resolution from people on both
sides of the border. Featuring Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a leading
proponent of nuclear disarmament and an activist writer/speaker on
education issues in Pakistan, and Dr. Angana Chatterji, who has been
working with post-colonial social movements in India and
internationally, towards enabling participatory democracy, and social
and ecological justice.
The event is free and open to all. Seating is limited, please arrive
early to ensure good seats. Refreshments will be served.
o o o
A Time for Peace
INVITATION TO JOIN INDIA-PAKISTAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS
16 Aug 2003
8.00 to 9.30 PM
VENUE: Union South
Hosted by South Asia Forum Madison (SAFM)
http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~safm/events/peace.htm
______
[13.]
[ INDEPENDENCE DAY GIFTS ! ]
The Daily Times, August 16 2003
[Pakistan] A tragic but avoidable disaster
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-8-2003_pg3_1
o o o
The Times of India
[India] ASI rings alarm bell, says Taj already damaged
ROYDEN D'SOUZA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2003 11:39:41 PM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=132463
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace
and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run since 1998 by South Asia
Citizens Web (www.mnet.fr/aiindex).
The complete SACW archive is available at: http://sacw.insaf.net
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
--
More information about the Sacw
mailing list