SACW | 5 Sept. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Sep 5 04:16:38 CDT 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 5 September, 2003
[1.] Pakistan - India: Respective Nuclear officials give spiel on
Bomb throwing (M.B. Naqvi)
[2.] Pakistan Commission on Status of Women recommends repeal of Hudood Law
[3.] A Questionable Alliance: Israel and India (Zahir Janmohamed)
[4.] Bangladesh: Move on to tap phone calls, bust e-mails
[5.] Kashmiris main party to dispute: HR groups
[6.] Sharon's Upcoming tour to India:
- BJP's Favourite West Asian: Ariel Sharon has actually done what
they dream of doing
(Mani Shankar Aiyar) (Indian Express, September 05, 2003)
- Cancel the Sharon visit! (Praful Bidwai)
[7.] India: Rights Activists & Witnesses at Risk in Gujarat : Reports
[8.] India: Bombay, Peace work & Anti communalism . . .
[9.] India: Gas as TV: Religion a huge hit on TV once more!
[10.] Book Announcement: Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India:
Army, Police and Paramilitary Forces During Communal Riots by Omar Khalidi
[11.] Events: Open Space Seminar Series' for September 2003 (New Delhi)
--------------
[1.]
Pakistan - India: Respective Nuclear authorities meet around their Bomb
M.B. Naqvi
Karachi: Sept 4, 2003:
Strangely enough, the top nuclear authorities of Pakistan and India,
reconstituted under advice from the Americans, have met in Islamabad
and New Delhi at about the same time last week. While the fact of the
Indian meetings is known here, little else is known as to what the
Indian nuclear authorities may have discussed or planned. But what
Pakistan's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), presided over by
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, did has been disclosed in a terse
military communiqué.
It is all about war. Those who thought that the mushroom clouds that
seem to be lowering over Pakistan and India have gone away were
rather premature in their conclusion. These clouds lower, lift and
some times move toward the horizon. Currently they are not lowering
but are not absent either.
The fact has to be faced that no bases for peace between India and
Pakistan have been found and far too much of rather well based
mistrust characterizes the two governments' thinking and dealings
with each other. No responsible citizen can remain unmindful of what
might yet happen.
It is a truism to say that the use of atomic weapons is madness
whoever starts it. But both sides have an experience of the year
2002's military standoff that shows that both sides were ready to use
these weapons. It is necessary to attend to this problem.
Pakistan's Nuclear Command Authority is its latest acquisition over
which the government is rather proud of. Some people here think that
Pakistan's NCA is a little more advanced than what obtains in India.
But the statement means nothing because little is known about India
or for that matter Pakistan's nuclear supreme command authority.
In the words of military communiqué: Pakistan's 'nuclear programme
has matured over the years' and would continue to receive top
national priority. Secondly, Pakistan 'will continue to consolidate
its minimum deterrent needs'. Thirdly, there will be no delay 'in
qualitative up gradation of the nuclear deterrent when necessary' and
which 'would fortify national security'.
The conclusion that can safely be drawn and the communiqué asserts
that 'no freeze or rollback of the nuclear programme can be
visualized and "all talk of it has been termed by President Musharraf
as irrelevant, outdated and totally false"'. Finally, 'the NCA
reviewed progress of the strategic programme and expressed complete
satisfaction "with the operational readiness of the Strategic Forces
and the pace of development work"'.
It is reasonable to suppose that when and if the Indian Army's
public relations outfit, whatever it is called, discloses what the
top Indian nuclear Authority said and did would be couched in the
same terms to what Pakistan's military has used. Indians too are sure
to assert, as Pakistan has done, that they have no intention of
running an arms race. It would also echo the Pakistani statement, in
similar words again, about India's 'strong non-proliferation record
and would reaffirm their commitment to universal non-proliferation
goals' --- as Pakistan's military communiqué has put it.
Let ordinary citizens not forget that it is all about possible war by
those who have to fight --- on both sides. The implication of these
things must be digested. The military authorities in all the
countries are supposed to prepare for war and be ready for it all the
time. It so happens that India and Pakistan are in a state when a hot
war is about to begin, not to mention the 56 years of their cold war.
No peace has been made in the current 14-15 years old phase. Nor are
the two talking about their disputes. There were a few attempts and
negotiations such as in 1997. But nothing came of them. Meantime a
Pakistan- supported Jihad in Indian-controlled Kashmir has led first
to a freeze and then apparently to the cold and hard feeling in India
that there is perhaps no option but to go to war.
In a background of this kind when both countries went overtly nuclear
in 1998, the Vajpayee government thought it better to make a big
effort at peace making with the famous Bus journey. But that elicited
the Kargil response. The whole peace effort failed and its
resuscitation at Agra failed too.
The mischief lies in the very nature of the atomic weapons.
Conceived, brought into being and nurtured in secrecy and deceit,
they promote ill feelings and mistrust in any two rival nations. For,
no one can be trusted with nuclear weapons pointing at one's vital
targets. These are weapons of doom. As it happens, each of the two
has atomic weapons mounted on missiles, or can be so mounted quickly
enough. These aim at the other country's soft civic targets. While
this array of deadly weapons on both sides is praised and kept
up-dated --- which is another name for continuing the arms race
despite the disclaimer --- who can trust the other.
What this progress report seems to show, if it is that, is that the
two governments remain set on a course that can not but lead to
war. Isn't that an overstatement? It is not because no bases for
peace making are under examination or negotiation. The very idea of
negotiations is being debated: whether it would be politic to talk at
this stage or to do so after a given interval.
Meantime the real bone of contention, the armed insurgency in
Indian-controlled Kashmir, seems to have gotten worse lately.
Pakistan authorities claimed that this is despite them and not
because of them. Whether the Indian authorities bought it is not
quite certain. There is a definite worsening of the situation between
the two countries. The so called normalisation process that had
followed the famous Srinagar gesture by Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee has
distinctly slowed down, even if it has not been reversed.
This is the background in which the two sides, in terms of old idiom,
are polishing their buttons and keeping the power dry. Who can start
moves toward peace when and how is not clear. But one point can be
made as a result of the experience of summer 2002. At that time war
fears were common; it was supposed to be touch and go. But no war
actually took place. This is significant. The Americans are supposed
to have intervened to cool both sides down and at any rate
Pakistan's President promised to stop any infiltration into
Indian-controlled Kashmir if it was still taking place.
This was claimed to be due ultimately to the presence of nuclear
weapons on both sides. The Indian President conceded the point made
by Musharraf that the presence of nuclear weapons averted the war.
But there are other aspects of the year 2002 experience. But going
into them in detail would be an arcane matter. At any rate, that is
for experts and political scientists to explore and draw conclusions
from them. All that can be said in a general sort of way is that the
war threat was real and that war was likely to have erupted despite
the presence of nuclear weapons. There must have been other matters
and considerations that may have contributed to the ultimate
denouement of no-war-no-peace. It would help the cause of peace
immensely if the people were to research the year 2002 experiences.
_____
[2.]
The Daily Times [ Pakistan]
September 05, 2003
EDITORIAL: Yet another Women's Commission
The National Commission on the Status of Women under the chairmanship
of Justice Majida Rizvi has once again recommended that the Hudood
Law be repealed as it degraded women, deprived them of their full
rights and made the law of evidence iniquitous. Two members of the
Commission - one of them is understandably Dr S.M. Zaman from the
Council of Islamic Ideology - have not agreed to the recommendations
as against 16 members who have backed them. The Commission was given
the task of improving the status of women in Pakistan in May 2002.
Its chairman says: "For the last more than two decades women have
been the worst victims of this most unscrupulous legislation by the
then military regime". The Commission has recommended not only the
repeal of the Hudood laws but also repeal of sections of the Penal
Code that carry enabling provisions.
The Commission's report will go before the National Assembly where,
needless to say, it will be torn to shreds. The opposition there is
combined and is subservient to the strong clerical presence forming
the spearhead of the PPP and the PML-N whose leaders are in exile.
The MMA will have none of it and therefore the Jamali government
might decide to shelve it and not cause more fireballs to be thrown
on his already overcrowded plate of unresolved issues. The PPP will
be embarrassed because a similar commission was set up by it in 1994
under Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid but whose recommendations had landed
before the next party in power, the PML-N, who did not even
acknowledge that they existed. Looking at this situation, one of the
members of the Commission has wisely stated that General Musharraf,
instead of forming another Commission, should have quietly
implemented the recommendations of the earlier Commission and made
the whole thing a part of his famous LFO.
The 1997 recommendation came out of a Commission set up by the PPP
government. Before that a kind of jurisprudence was established on
them by Begum Zari Sarfaraz who was made to head the Commission by
General Zia. The pile on the 'rejected' shelf of the concerned
ministry grows by another inch in 2003. Let us look at what the
earlier commissions demanded. The most unjust provisions against
women exist within the ambit of Criminal Law because under it women
attract the mischief of the FIR. In cases where a woman is witness to
murder, her testimony is half that of a man's under 'hadd'. If the
same case is heard under 'tazir', the judge can impose maximum
punishment without reducing her testimony to half. Logic (qiyas) and
'ihsan' (human sympathy) say that 'tazir' is a better mode of Islamic
adjudication than 'hadd' wherein the judge is bound by the law of
'shahadat' (witness) and can't use his discretion to maintain justice.
If a woman is raped she is under obligation to bring four male pious
eye-witnesses to prove her charge. Rape is equated with fornication
whereunder Islam wants to prevent wrongful accusation. If the victim
can't prove rape she is punished under 'qazf' (wrongful accusation).
This really means that a raped woman is ill-advised to make an
accusation under the Zina Ordinance. The Supreme Court is on record
as saying that 95 per cent of the cases thus brought against women
are finally decided in their favour but the movement of the case from
the lower courts to the Supreme Court takes years during which the
accused woman suffers. In one 'thana' prison (Karachi South) earlier
examined, 80 per cent of the imprisoned women were facing charges
under the Zina Ordinance. Most cases pertained to marriage of choice
which the accusing party wanted to undo through the Zina Ordinance.
The police exploited the FIR and hunted the lawfully married woman
down under the assumption of Islamic justice. The Hudood Laws "were
conceived and drafted in haste and are not in conformity with the
injunctions of Islam". 'Tazir', which is bound by Qanoon-e-Shahadat
(1984), is applicable to all laws.
Financial support is possible to the divorced woman under the Quranic
injunction: 'For divorced women a provision in kindness: a duty for
those who ward off evil' (2:241). This provision was supported during
General Zia's Islamic dictatorship by an Islamic scholar of note,
Rafiullah Shehab. The point has been forcefully made by Pakistan
leading lawyer Ms Rashida Patel in her recent book 'Woman versus Man:
Socio-Legal Gender Inequality in Pakistan'. The relevant 'ayat'
compensates for the totally un-Quranic way the husband is allowed
under Islam to divorce his wife with three simultaneous
pronouncements of 'talaq'. The state should also stop the current
malpractice in the courts to demand evidence from women asking for
'khula' (divorce), which the Quran forbids. 'Ijtehad' on two
well-known Quranic references to polygamy, including the one which
says, 'Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women even if
it is your ardent desire', (Nisa:129) is urgently needed. This
interpretation has been made the basis of the ban on polygamy in
Tunisia and Turkey. The 'ulema' in parliament will start fuming and
will treat the Commission Report as 'haram' because they don't
believe in studying the ground facts. They never study social
statistics and have absolutely no idea of the extent of injustice
that these laws have exposed the poor female population to. *
o o o
Panel Wants Discriminatory Laws Scrapped
Reuters, Arab News
ISLAMABAD, 3 September 2003 - A government-appointed commission in
Pakistan called yesterday for the abolition of laws that rights
activists say discriminate against women.
The Islamic Hudood Ordinances were passed in 1979 under the rule of
Gen. Ziaul Haq and cover a range of crimes.
One of the most controversial provisions states that a woman must
have four male witnesses to prove rape, or face a charge of adultery
herself. Men and women found guilty of adultery face stoning to death
or 100 lashes.
"We have come to the conclusion that these laws should be repealed
altogether," Majida Razvi, chairwoman of the National Commission on
the Status of Women (NCSW) told Reuters by telephone from the
southern city of Karachi.
Razvi, a former judge, said the commission was preparing a report
based on its recommendations, which would urge the government to
conduct a public and parliamentary debate before passing new laws.
The Hudood laws have long been opposed by political parties, civil
rights and women's groups, who argue that rape and violence against
women have soared since they were passed. But successive governments
have failed to change the laws because of stiff opposition from
powerful conservative groups, who have traditionally been close
allies of the military in Pakistan.
Nilofar Bakhtiar, adviser to the prime minister on women's
development, said the government would take action after receiving
the report.
"We have asked them to expedite it because we also want to do
something about it," she told Reuters, without elaborating.
According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,
there were 2,200 women in prison in the country in 2001-2002, most of
whom were either awaiting trial or had been convicted under the
Hudood laws.
_____
[3.]
The Jewish Week [USA]
29 August 2003
Jews And India: Troubling Ties
Zahir Janmohamed
In a December 2002 poll in the Times of India, 400 students from
India's most prestigious colleges were asked to select the ideal
leader India needs most. Independence leader and spiritual icon
Mahatma Gandhi led with 23 percent. Current Prime Minister Vajpayee
finished second with 20 percent. In third place, with 17 percent, was
Adolf Hitler.
One respondent, 18-year-old Phalguni Das of the National College in
Bombay, said: "[Hitler] may not have been the best of human beings,
but he possessed high leadership qualities. He had the unique ability
to make people follow him forcibly and nearly conquered the world."
When we look at government-issued textbooks in India, these results
should not surprise us. In a Standard 9 textbook for the western
state of Gujarat, Hitler is cited as a man who gave "race pride" to
his people. There is no mention of his ghastly treatment of Jews. In
the chapter "Problems of the Country," the first subsection is
entitled "Minorities" in which Muslims, Jews and Christians are
called "foreigners in India."
One would imagine that the Jewish community, which historically faced
persecution, would distance itself from the Indian government because
of its vilification of minorities. Instead, the first-ever joint
Capitol Hill forum was held last month, sponsored by the U.S. Indian
Political Action Committee, or USINPAC, the American Jewish Committee
and the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. The event featured
nearly a dozen members of Congress, diplomats from the Indian and
Israeli embassies, and political activists from both communities
speaking about the "symbiotic," "intrinsic" and "unique" nature of
Jewish-Indian relations, namely a deep concern about militant Muslims.
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) seemed to summarize the binding issue of
the evening (and perhaps of the alliance): "We are drawn together by
mindless, vicious, fanatic Islamic terrorism," he said. (Numerous
speakers used the words "Muslim" and "terrorist" interchangeably.)
The common bond between these two nations, Rep. Gary Ackerman
(D-Queens/L.I.) said, was that Israel is "surrounded by 120 million
Muslims" while "India has 120 millions Muslims [within]."
These comments, however, contradict B. Raman, an Indian intelligence
officer, who earlier boasted that not a single Muslim from India has
been linked to al-Qaeda, Hamas or any of the other terrorist
organizations that threaten the West.
While the event purported to speak for all Indians, none of the
speakers mentioned issues that concern many Indians: AIDS,
malnutrition, employment, basic human rights and education.
As Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepares to visit India in
early September, it should be noted that improving relations between
Jews and Indians is crucial. Both peoples, after all, have been
victims of vicious terrorism over the past few years. But Jews should
be mindful of the realities of the situation in India.
Over the past few years, for example, the ruling BJP party has
aggressively pushed its agenda of "Hindutva." The ideology, a
distortion of the tolerant ethos of Hinduism, seeks to create a Hindu
state in India in which minorities, including Jews, are forced to
live as second-class citizens because they believe in a religion that
was founded outside of India.
In forming their alliance with India and its diasporic community,
many Jewish organizations unfortunately have only reached out to
unrepresentative, radicalized groups like USINPAC that are too
willing to ignore Hindutva's challenge to Indian democracy. The vast
majority of Indians - be they Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims or
Parsees - are secular and progressive and reject such myopic and
intolerant visions of India.
When India's Deputy Prime Minister Advani came to the United States
in June, the AJCommittee hosted a dinner in his honor. A spokesman
for the Israeli embassy, Mark Regev, said his country maintained
close ties with Advani because "he is a man of great power."
But Advani "represents a group of organizations that have the
ultimate aim of turning India into a Hindu state," according to Smita
Narula, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"To achieve those ends they have encouraged extreme violence," Narula
said. "It's been harmful not only to Muslims and Christians, but for
the population as a whole and for the country's secular, democratic
fiber."
Advani also has a track record of endorsing anti-Semitic Indian
organizations and leaders recruiting and training proponents of
hard-line Hindu nationalism.
One of the organization's pioneering ideologues, Veer Savarkar,
endorsed the Nazis' persecution of German Jews. Rather than distance
himself from Savarkar, Advani unveiled his portrait last February in
the central hall of New Delhi's parliament.
The Jewish community has, commendably, supported and championed human
rights and civil liberties in the U.S. As Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon visits India, Jews should pressure their leaders to form
alliances with Indians who symbolize India's democratic and
pluralistic ethos. Aligning with hard-liners like Advani only
enforces the intolerance that Jews and Indians should be fighting.
Zahir Janmohamed is writing a book about the rise of religious
violence in South Asia.
______
[4.]
The Daily Star [Dhaka, Bangladesh]
September 04, 2003
Move on to tap phone calls, bust e-mails
Mustak Hossain
A move is underway to amend the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act
2001, allowing intelligence agencies to breach privacy of individuals
by tapping telephone calls and busting e-mails, sources said.
A leading intelligence agency backed by others has initiated the move
and convinced the relevant ministries to amend the act, paving the
way for gross breach of privacy, sources said.
The agencies also want access to the subscribers' database of all
fixed phone and cellular phone service providers and the Internet
service providers (ISPs).
The telecoms act stipulates that breaching individual privacy by
eavesdropping on telephone conversations between two persons is a
punishable offence as it infringes on civil rights.
Although security agencies cannot legally eavesdrop on telephone
conversations, allegations have long been there that they monitor and
tap telephone calls illegally. But at present, they cannot use the
information derived by such means as evidence in a court of law.
However, after its amendment, the intelligence agencies will be able
to manoeuvre freely to listen to individual telephone calls, read
e-mails and produce tapped and e-mailed messages before the court as
evidence.
Section 71 of the telecoms act describes penalty for eavesdropping on
telephone conversations: "A person commits an offence, if he
intentionally listens to a telephone conversation between two other
persons, and for such offence, he shall be liable to be sentenced to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not
exceeding 50 thousand taka or both."
Sources said security agencies have been able to persuade the Prime
Minister's Office to bring changes to the telecoms act, citing the
rise of terrorist activities in Bangladesh and September 11 terror
attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, US.
The agencies also convinced the Ministry of Post and
Telecommu-nications (MoPT) to bring some changes to the telecoms law.
The ministry recently held a series of meetings with the Ministry of
Law and Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
The BTRC has already prepared a draft outlining changes asked for by
the security agencies on instruction of the law ministry.
The agencies want a change in the subsection of Section 30 of the
telecoms act, which deals with protection of privacy of
telecommunications, by incorporating the words, put here in italics:
"to ensure protection of the privacy of telecommunications; subject
to the national security laws".
"In fact, the telecoms ministry and telecoms watchdog are under
pressure from the security agencies, which are pressing for the
changes in the name of state security," a senior government official
said on condition of anonymity.
The security agencies have also asked for an amendment to Section 5.
According to them, it should read, "Notwithstanding any contrary
provisions of any other law, subject to the provisions of national
security law, the provisions of this Act shall have effect", instead
of "Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of any other law, the
provisions of this act shall have effect."
"Providing such opportunity to intelligence agencies means putting
them above law," said Barrister Tanjibul Alam of Dr Kamal Hossain &
Associates, a law firm. Tanjibul is one of the solicitors to have
prepared the original act as consultant.
"There will be no privacy of individuals if the law is amended
according to the desire of the security agencies," a civil society
activist said.
A civil rights activist said if the secret agencies have the
amendments they want in place "this will make the country a police
state".
The proposed amendments are in violation of the independence of the
BTRC, Tanjibul observed.
Most of the protection of privacy under Section 30 of the
telecommunications act will be curtailed in the name of national
security, which is a vague term, said Tanjibul.
It will also undermine the purpose of the telecoms act, which was
envisaged establishing an independent commission for development and
efficient regulation of telecoms system and telecoms services in
Bangladesh and for the transfer of the powers and functions of the
post and telecommunications ministry to the BTRC.
The telecoms policy was enacted in parliament in 1998 and the
telecoms act was passed in 2001.
______
[5.]
Kashmiris main party to dispute: HR groups
THE KASHMIR TIMES [ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2003 01:55:28 AM ]
SRINAGAR: The joint fact finding committee of three human rights
groups in the country have urged India and Pakistan to recognise that
people of the state are the primary party to the Kashmir dispute and
the issue should be resolved with their participation and to their
satisfaction.
The committee of Association for Democratic Rights, Punjab, Human
Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh and Organisation for Protection of
Democratic Rights, it is pertinent to mention, toured the state in
May this year and have compiled the human rights situation here in a
booklet entitled "Kashmir - An Enquiry Into The Healing Touch".
Discussing various formulas that are being put forth for its
resolution, the report finalised by the committee, said important
than these formulas is to let people of the state express their
choice.
Reacting to the last assembly elections, the report said, voting was
hardly as much as people in India "believe". "It was motivated by a
desire to bring in governance having concern for people's basic needs
and rights", the enquiry finds out.
To the contrary, the report said, it is an article of faith in India
that the elections were free and fair, that people braved the threat
of militants and rejected Hurriet's boycott call, and that voting
signifies rejection of the politics of separatism.
At the same time, the report added, there was just 28 percent voting
in Kashmir "which is certainly more than in the previous elections
but much less than what is regarded as average voting in the country".
The report said Kashmir dispute is not a dispute because Pakistan
disputes the accesion, but because people of Kashmir and to some
extent the other parts of J&K dispute it. It demanded the people of
the state should have the first and last say in its resolution -
"being the primary party".
"The need to restore primary party to its rightful status cannot be
ignored and the beginning may be made be letting the world know what
the primary party thinks of the proposed talks", it said.
The report also said there is little faith in the state in the
sincerity of "India and Pakistan - India in particular, in resolving
the issue". "People are aware of the real possibility that the two
countries may decide to divide J&K among themselves without regard
for the wishes of people of the state. This is greeted with the
mixture of resentment and resignation", it said.
The three groups in its report said it the territory of people from
the state and it is for them to decide its future. "We have no desire
to declare a formula, but wish to insist that people should be
represented in any talks between the two countries and that
resolution should be to their satisfaction", the report said.
Referring to several formulas, it said, one suggests conversion of
LoC into permanent border. "It would mean a permanent division of
people who are culturally, linguistically and ethnically very close
to each other. The valley, Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Muzaffarabad
fits in this description and nobody has right to divide people
permanently without their consent", it said.
About Sikender Hayyat Khan's (PoK prime minister) suggestion of
accepting Chenab river as the boundary between two countries, the
report said, it is not an ideal dividing line as Akhnoor with cent
percent Hindu population would go to Pakistan and Kishtwar and
Bhaderwah with Muslim majority would go to India. The unanimous view
in valley, on the other hand, is "in favour of inddependence".
Referring to another proposal called "Clinton formula", the report
said, it suggets granting Kashmir valley self-rule under joint
supervision of India and Pakistan and partitioning the rest of two
parts of J&K between the two countries. "Why Kashmiris should suffer
this imposition merely to satisgy the egoistic sensibilities of these
two countries is beyond comprehension", the committee observes.
_____
[6.]
BJP's Favourite West Asian: Ariel Sharon has actually done what they
dream of doing
Mani Shankar Aiyar (Indian Express, September 05, 2003)
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=30920
o o o
Cancel the Sharon visit!
Praful Bidwai (rediff.com, September 03, 2003)
http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/03praful.htm
_____
[7.] [Rights Activists & Witnesses At Risk in Gujarat : Reports ]
Indian Express, September 05, 2003
BEST BAKERY [Case] : Can't comply with SC order: Gujarat
Express News Service
New Delhi, September 4: The Gujarat government has said it is
''rather impossible to comply fully'' with the Supreme Court's
directions to protect witnesses in riot cases in the wake of the Best
Bakery controversy.
In its counter affidavit to the petition filed by the NHRC, the state
urged the apex court to modify its order of August 8 as it is
''extremely difficult'' to provide ''full and complete protection''
to the witnesses, their families and relatives.
The state had claimed in its counter affidavit on Monday that it had
''complied'' with the court's directions and offered protection to
1,187 witnesses in the nine serious cases shortlisted by the NHRC.
But it asserted that most of those witnesses had refused to accept
protection for the time being and instead asked to be provided the
same at a later stage.
As regards the Best Bakery case, the Narendra Modi government has
asserted that no witness ''had complained to police or the state
government about threat or coercion extended to them.'' [...].
[FULL TEXT AT: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=30951 ]
o o o
ahmedabad.com [India], 1 Sep 2003
3 ASSISTING ZAHIRA FACE THREAT CALLS
Three persons assisting Zahira Sheikh, the prime witness in the Best
Bakery case, have sought the Supreme Court help in asking the state
government to provide armed protection to them as they "apprehend
serious threat to their lives".
Mumbai-based human right activist Teesta Setalvad, Gujarat high court
advocate Suhel Tirmizi and city-based social worker Raees Khan
Azeezkhan Pathan, filed a special leave petition on Monday in the
court of Chief Justice of the Apex Court V.N. Khare, justice Ashok
Bhan and justice S.P. Sinha claiming that their life is under threat
for their involvement in the Best Bakery case.
Advocate Shanti Bhushan moved the petition on behalf of Citizens for
Justice and Peace , hearing of which has been scheduled on September
12. The Supreme Court had recently directed the state government to
furnish documents of major riot cases in the state and ensure the
safety of witnesses.
Monday's petition states that the trio involved in the protection and
rehabilitation of Zahira Sheikh in Mumbai have been receiving
threatening calls over the phone in the last fortnight. The petition
states that Ms Setalvad has been threatened of dire consequences if
she continues to provide legal aid and pursue the Best Bakery case.
The petition further claims that Mr Pathan was gheraoed and
threatened by a mob owing allegiance to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
Bajrang Dal on August 29 when he was escorting witnesses of Gulbarg
Society massacre to the Justice Nanavati and Justice Shah Inquiry
Commission where the latter were to depose. The petitioners stated
that despite an application filed by them on August 20 seeking urgent
police protection, no police cover has been provided to them.
o o o
The Times of India, September 4, 2003
Best Bakery case: Protect witnesses, says Amnesty
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2003 08:52:03 PM ]
NEW DELHI: Amnesty International has expressed concern for the safety
of human rights activists Teesta Setalvad, Rais Khan Azzezkhan Pathan
and Suhel Tirmizi, who are working on behalf of key witnesses of Best
Bakery case Zahira Sheikh and Sehruneesa Sheikh.
According to Amnesty, the three activists have received telephone
threats from annonymous callers, warning them that their lives would
be in danger if they continue to work on behalf of the victims of
communal violence, particularly those affected in the Best Bakery
case, in which 14 people were killed.
Amnesty has alleged that on August 29 while Pathan was escorting
witnesses to a hearing of the commission of inquiry into the violence
in Gujarat, in Ahmedabad he was surrounded and physically threatened
by a group of supporters of right-wing Hindu political groups.
AI in a statement also said that despite repeated requests for police
protection made to the Gujarat government, there has been no
response. On September 1, the three activists have filed an
application in the Supreme Court requesting protection.
o o o
The Hindustan Times, September 5, 2003
Rights activists move SC
Three human rights activists have moved the Supreme Court seeking
protection following threats to their persons for working on behalf
of the victims of communal violence in Gujarat.
HTC, New Delhi
____
[8.]
Mumbai Newsline / The Indian Express
August 27, 2003
Creativity & Community
Express News Service
Mumbai, August 26: Writers, actors, artists and people born to
creativity are writing their own politics-that of love and peace.
Communalism is no more than a force to fight against
Conjugal harmony
A brahmin boy and Muslim girl elope in Mani Ratnam's Bombay. In real
life, Bollywood may not indulge in theatrics, but believes in
communal conjugal bliss.
Sunil and Nargis Dutt, Shashi and Jennifer Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah
and Ratna Pathak Shah, Salim-Salma-Helen, Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan,
Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh,
Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora, Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia-just some
industry names who saw the person and not the creed.
As author Bharathi Pradhan says in her book Colas, Cars and Communal
Harmony, Bollywood flaunts its secular colours-it believes that
religion is one.
When Gujarat burned, a section of the film fraternity decided to come
forward for a public service message. They laid their identity in
black and white and told the world how religion didn't matter.
Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Abhishek Bachchan,
Aparna Sen and Shabana Azmi proclaimed their identity through their
nationality, not faith.
Among industry people who have gone beyond the odd public service
message or song appearance are Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi and Mahesh
Bhatt. They publicly condemn every communally-charged incident, work
to bolster victims and spread peace.
Documentary film-makers, such as Anand Patwardhan in War and Peace,
Father, Son and Holy War and Ram Ke Naam are statements against
growing communalism, but he has had to stalk the courts to get them
seen on national television. Ritesh Sinha's War Or Peace speaks of
being born in bombs and riots. Teesta Setalvad, Suma Josson,
Stalin-other film-makers who went out during the riots to capture
atrocities and awaken consciences.
Art that cares
WHILE a powerful blast shook the Gateway, an artist was busy hanging
his solo exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery. Yashwant Deshmukh
knew what it meant. ''In the face of such tragedy it was a difficult
decision, but because Yashwant had put in such an effort, one didn't
want him to feel deserted,'' says his dealer Janjri Trivedi.
Jayasri Burman also went ahead with her opening though gallery owner
Shanti Chopra says, ''It was somber event.'' The Open Circle artist
creative collective say it's too early to react to the blasts. ''What
can one say about injustice?'' says Tushar Joag, a founder member.
Artist Nalini Malani, who also shows with Open Circle, is dealing
with the horror of the blasts, ''It's bound to surface in my work
later,'' she says, applauding how the people came forward to help
each other with blood donations. ''The city didn't just mourn the
loss but was part of the process of reparation,''
Spotlight: final reactions
After 13 blasts, two is child's play," shrugs ad guru Alyque
Padamsee. Yet the '93 blasts led to very few plays on the subject.
And Padamsee's production of Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions was an
exceptions. "I even encouraged backstage discussions with audiences,"
he recalls. But the past year has seen many plays on communal
tension: Mahadevbhai, Black With 'Equal', Suman Aur Sana, Buhut Raat
Ho Chali Hai, Raat, Danga.
"It's a result of the Gujarat carnage. That was a massacre," feels
Padamsee, who adapted Romeo and Juliet into R & J , during'93 riots.
Salim Arif believes it's the recurrence of violence that's
disturbing. "I have to answer my son who watches TV," says the
director of Kharaashein, based on Gulzar's riot-related stories.
Padamsee is staging a performance based on Krishna Iyer's tribunal on
Gujarat with Sita Thompson enacts "a dance of agony".
Peace Song
The music fraternity isn't without loyalists either Vocalist Shubha
Mudgal has been associated with music concerts that support peace and
communal harmony, with a concert in Delhi in 1992.
Euphoria's Palash Sen reveals that he has penned a track on peace.
''I have a keen desire to work with Abida Parveen for this.'' He had
earlier collaborated with an artiste across the border when he and
Junoon joined hands in 2002 for a concert held in Delhi to build
Indo-Pak relations.
The Bombay Rock Association also expressed a great desire to initiate
a jam session to promote peace. ''Everyone's been affected by the
bomb blasts and we want to do something to spread the message of
freedom, peace, love and truth,'' says Sujeet Ramanna, President,
Bombay Rock Association. Though no concrete plans for the music
programme have been drawn up, Ramanna reveals that it's definitely on
the charts.
Voices for peace
For some, Monday's blasts acted as a catalyst, encouraging them to
speak out for common good.
Javed Anand, editor of monthly magazine Communalism Combat, has been
galvanised into hosting a meeting today. Prominent Muslim
intellectuals like Hassan Kamal and Javed Akhtar will be attending
this meet. ''An overwhelming number of Muslims are opposed to
violence as they are the greatest victims of it,'' says Anand,
adding, ''This meeting is a forum for them to speak out and to show
that the common view of Muslims endorsing violence is wrong.''
''The Mumbaiites resilience is what persists even during troubled
times,'' says historian Sharda Dwivedi. Novelist and critic Shanta
Gokhale shares this opinion. ''I don't feel pessimistic, but believe
in the will of people to put things right,'' she says. But she
stresses the need for open dialogue and justice. ''People can find
happiness even in the midst of poverty, but injustice is what
frustrates people the most.''
Anand also thinks that it is exceedingly important to act
immediately, because ''two or three weeks later, the message will be
lost and the cause forgotten.''
______
[9.]
Sify.com, 04 Sep, 2003
Religion a huge hit on TV once more!
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13242354
______
[10.] [BOOK ANNOUNCMENT]
Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India:
Army, Police and Paramilitary Forces During Communal Riots
by Omar Khalidi
Paperback 81-88789-08-9
Rs.150 (India) $15.00 (overseas)
Hardcover 81-88789-09-7
Rs.350 (India) $25.00 (overseas)
India's military, paramilitary, and the police constitute one of the
largest security forces around the globe. Who constitutes these
forces? What is the ethnic and religious background of these troops?
Does the composition of these forces mirror the diversity of the
Indian society? Have their composition undergone any change since
Independence? Like other nations with ethno-religious diversity,
India has experienced half a century of ethnic riots, massacres, even
pogroms. What impact, if any does the ethnic and religious
composition of the security personnel has on the ability of the state
to prevent the occurrence of ethnic violence or to mitigate loss of
lives and property once it occurs? Answers to these questions are
critical to anyone interested in understanding the role of the
state's most critical instrument of legitimate coercion - the
security forces. This book provides the answers with precision and
economy of words. In this respect Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in
India simply has no rival.
Omar Khalidi is an independent scholar and a staff member of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
He was educated in India, Britain, and the United States. His
research interests are in the sociology of politics, upward and
downward economic mobility of ethnic groups, nationalism and
diaspora. He is the author of 'Indian Muslims Since Independence',
1996, and edited 'Hyderabad: After the Fall', 1988, a collection of
academic papers.
©2002-2003 Three Essays Collective
http://66.51.111.239/indowindow/threeessays/title.php?bookid=11
Three Essays Collective
57-C, LIG
Motia Khan
New Delhi - 110 055
India
E-mail: info at threeessays.com
______
[11.]
Are Other Worlds Possible ?
Cultures of Politics and the World Social Forum
SEPTEMBER PROGRAMME
Dear friends
This is to remind / inform you of the programme of the ongoing 'Open
Space Seminar Series' for the month of SEPTEMBER :
September 9, Tuesday : The WSF and Old vs New Politics : Parties,
social movements, and civil groups
Venue : Room No. 22, Arts Faculty, University of Delhi (North Campus)
Time : 12 noon
Invited panellists :
Mary John, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Vinod Raina, Eklavya, Jubilee South, and All India People's Science Network
Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
and perhaps one other panellist,
+ with Aditya Nigam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, as Moderator
[Unfortunately one of the scheduled speakers has had to drop out, so
we are looking for a suitable replacement.]
To be followed by screening of Amar Kanwar's film 'Freedom'. 55mins.
September 19, Friday : Empire 2 : Authoritarianism, Militarisation, &
Nuclearisation : Questions of War, Peace, and Terror
Venue : Auditorium, I P College, University of Delhi (North Campus)
Time : 12 noon
Invited panellists :
Rohini Hensman, journalist, activist, Sri Lanka
Ashis Nandi, author, commentator, Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi
Achin Vanaik, journalist, commentator, and anti-nuclear activist, New Delhi
September 26, Tuesday : Contested Space ? The Forum as Space, the
Forum as Movement
Venue : Gargi College, University of Delhi (South Campus)
Time : 12 noon
Invited panellists :
Dinesh Abrol, Delhi Science Forum, Member WSF India Organising
Committee, former coordinator, WSF India Programme Committee for ASF
(2002-3)
Ashok Bharti, Convenor, National Coordinator, National Conference of
Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), and Member, Member WSF India Organising
Committee
Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok and Bangalore
Jai Sen, independent researcher and civil actor, New Delhi
Kavita Srivastava, PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties), Rajasthan
+ with Razia Ismail Abbasi, India Alliance for Child Rights & Women's
Coalition Programme Centre, as Moderator
Please do come ! And feel free to circulate this message widely and
to encourage your associates and friends to also come.
As planned, we have now also published a Reader on the World Social
Forum. This will be available at each session, or you can write or
phone in to us, to request a copy.
With warm greetings once again in welcome,
Mukul Mangalik Jai Sen
Madhuresh Kumar
Contact details for more information :
Madhuresh Kumar and/or Jai Sen
A-3 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024
Ph 011/5155 1521, 2433 2451
Eml
<mailto:openspaceseries at hotmail.com>openspaceseries at hotmail.com
For further information on the World Social Forum:
World Social Forum
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/home.asp
World Social Forum India
www.wsfindia.org
WSF India Secretariat
wsfindia at vsnl.net
European Social Forum (Paris, November 12-16 2003)
www.fse-esf.org
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace
and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent &
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