SACW | 29 Sept. 2003

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  |  29 September,  2003

[1] Pakistan - UK: 'Match' manufacturers and forced marriages (Beena Sarwar)
[2] Pakistan: Self abuse (Masood Hasan)
[3.] Bangladesh: Extremism in the name of religion (Mahbub Husain Khan)
[4] Teesta Setalvad's acceptance speech Nuremberg 
International Human Rights Award,  Sept 14, 03
[5] UK: Awaaz - South Asia Watch Launch Conference (Nov 8, 2003, London)
[6] India: Blocking of Yahoo groups still continues . . .Update + News report
[7] India: Upcoming Seminar | Coming Elections: 
Secular Democracy Vs. Communal Fascism (Oct 11, 
2003, New Delhi)
[8] India: Press Release - Delhi University Forum 
for Democracy meet on THE TERROR OF POTA
+ Message from Noam Chomsky in support of S. A. R. Gilani
[9] India:  Press Release faculty and staff of 
AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia condemn detention 
and interrogation of students
[10] India: letter to editors re L.K. Advanis Claims on Gujarat (Mukul Dube)
[11] India: Doctors ask MCI to deregister Togadia (Gargi Parsai)
[12] India: Fascists At Work: Bajrang Dal makes a 
village 'Muslim-free' (Anuradha Nagaraj)

--------------

[1.]


The News on Sunday / The News International [Pakistan] September 28 2003

Match manufacturers

British and Pakistani judges met in Islamabad 
this week and agreed to cooperate to stop 
instances of forced marriages

By Beena Sarwar

"Arey yaar, all marriages are forced," quipped a 
friend when I mentioned I was working on a report 
on forced marriages in Pakistan.

Human rights activist Abdul Hai in Karachi echoes 
this thought on a more serious level. He believes 
that practically all marriages in Pakistan are 
forced because the boy and girl are given no real 
choice even in the conventional 'arranged 
marriage' setup, where the parents usually 
present the couple with a fait accompli and then 
emotionally blackmail them into saying a token 
'yes'. In most cases of forced marriages, he 
says, the person who has been forced is never 
able to get any help.

The trauma of being forced into the most intimate 
of unions does not form the basis of a healthy 
relationship. Most such marriages are not 
successful, say lawyers. In addition, in the 
absence of sound data, an informal survey reveals 
that many young people -- men and women -- who 
are the subject of such force also attempt to 
take their own lives, often with tragic 
consequences.

Legal and religious experts are clear on the 
difference between an arranged and a forced 
marriage: the former is that which the bride and 
groom freely consent to, while the latter is that 
in which any kind of pressure or force is used to 
extract assent.

Such token assents are invalid, both from the 
religious as well as legal viewpoints.

"According to the Quran as well as the Sunnah, 
the complete and willing consent of the boy and 
girl must be involved," says noted scholar 
Maulana Irshadul Haq Thanwi. He, like other 
religious scholars who stress on the consensual 
nature of marriage in Islam, points to the famous 
Hadith in which the Prophet annulled the marriage 
of a girl whose father had married her against 
her will.

Family courts also dissolve such marriages which 
come before them -- one of the more celebrated 
examples being the Humeira Butt case (PLD 1999 
Lahore 494).

According to the Universal Declaration on Human 
Rights: "Marriage shall be entered into only with 
the free and full consent of the intending 
spouses." --article 16 (1).

These principles form the basis of an agreement 
between British and Pakistani judges who met in 
Islamabad this week to sign a protocol on child 
abduction -- the first such document of its kind 
between any two countries. Regarding forced 
marriages, they found they were so much in 
agreement, that there was no need to sign 
anything, according to one of the judges.

"There is nothing wrong with an arranged 
marriage, they are entirely to be applauded," 
stated British delegation member Justice Peter 
Singer from the Family Division of the High Court 
of England during his brief visit to Karachi 
following the Islamabad tour. Justice Singer, who 
will be coordinating on cases of child abduction 
and forced marriages with judges in Sindh, is 
clear that a marriage without consent "is a 
breach of the human rights of the woman or man 
who is the subject of the force."

"We took that as read, accept that as obvious, 
and we are both pledged to do everything we can 
to stop it," he told TNS during a reception 
hosted by the Sindh High Court Bar Association. 
"Forced marriages are being stopped, of any young 
woman or child of British origin who has been 
brought up in the UK and then brought to 
Pakistan, with the help of your courts and the 
British High Commission here -- and the girls 
concerned are being helped to go back to England, 
if that is their choice."

Last year, the British High Commission in 
Pakistan dealt with 115 cases of forced 
marriages. Some time back, most cases involving 
dual passport holders would not have been 
entertained, but since the year 2000, a special 
unit has been set up for the specific purpose of 
dealing with forced marriages. The formation of 
such a unit indicates not only how serious the 
issue is, but how seriously the British Foreign 
Office now takes it.

Cindy Parker, Consular Officer at the British 
High Commission in Islamabad says that often 
those who manage to reach the BHC, have been in 
"very difficult situations where they've suffered 
emotional and sometimes physical abuse."

The Commission's aim is to provide them with "a 
safe environment, an opportunity in which they 
can choose what they want to do with their 
future."

The cooperation of Pakistan's police, 
administration and judiciary is, of course, 
crucial in such cases. The good news is that 
because of the increased international attention 
to the issue, such cooperation is now more 
forthcoming than before.

"Forced marriage has always been an issue," says 
Hananah Siddiqui of Southall Black Sisters in 
London, which deals with about 3000 cases a year, 
of which some 250 are related to forced 
marriages. "But people have only recently begun 
speaking out about it."

Media attention, combined with years of lobbying 
by women's organisations like SBS, has led to the 
British administration -- including foreign 
office, police and social services -- taking the 
issue more seriously. And this support in turn 
has undoubtedly contributed to people taking a 
stand and speaking out about forced marriages.

On the government level, this change came about 
after a particularly horrific case that led to 
the life imprisonment in 1999, of a 45-year old 
widow Sakeena and her son, for murdering 
Sakeena's daughter, Ruksana Naz, 19, a year 
earlier. The pre-planned murder took place at 
Ruksana's home in Derby in 1998, after she had 
refused to have an abortion for the child she was 
expecting by her long-time boyfriend, Imran 
Najib, also a Britisher of Pakistani origin. They 
had wanted to marry, but at age 16, Ruksana had 
been forced to marry a relative in Azad Kashmir, 
whom she had met just twice in her life -- 
resulting in two children, aged one and a half, 
and three years at the time she was killed.

Several other cases of forced marriages and 
violence were reported in the media at around 
this time -- involving Sikhs, Syrians, 
Bangladeshis -- but mostly Pakistani families.

A resulting parliamentary debate in 1999 led to 
the formation of a Community Liaison Office (CLU) 
at the Human Rights Section of the British 
Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Consular 
Division in London. The Unit deals with over 250 
cases of forced marriages a year and has 
repatriated over a 100 victims since October 2000.

Police and Social Services workers in Britain now 
increasingly view forced marriages, not as an 
internal matter of minority communities, but as a 
human rights issue and a crime. Detective 
Sergeant Jim Blair of the Scotland Yard in London 
deals with domestic violence, ethnic crimes and 
forced marriages issues. His office has worked 
with police officers in Delhi in Indian Punjab, 
focusing on domestic violence and crime 
investigation linked to forced marriages and 
honour crimes. "That was very productive," he 
says. "What we hope to do is go to Pakistan and 
set up the same sort of relationships and 
hopefully do joint training."

The high-powered meeting of British and Pakistani 
judges in Islamabad this week, at which they 
agreed to sign a protocol on Child Abduction, was 
a follow-up to their two-day seminar in London in 
January 2003, also organised by the British 
Foreign Office.

Forced marriage is an issue that countries with 
large migrant populations are increasingly 
concerned about. The violence that sometimes 
accompanies such cases is of particular concern, 
given that young immigrant women have been 
murdered in countries like Sweden, Denmark, 
Holland and Norway for refusing to follow their 
parents' wishes.

In June 2003, as many as 13 countries 
participated in the First International Working 
Forum on Forced Marriages, convened by the 
British Foreign Office in New Delhi. Delegates 
from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Belgium, 
Canada, US, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, 
Spain and Italy attended the forum alongside 
members of the Community Liaison Unit and 
activists from South Asian countries.

But some of the measures Britain has taken to 
prevent forced marriages have led to accusations 
of immigration control. For instance, since May 
this year, a Briton under 18 years can no longer 
sponsor a husband or wife. But since the minimum 
age of consent for marriage within the country is 
16, rights groups see this as a human rights 
violation and immigration control measure.

Bangladeshi lawyer Sara Hossein who works with 
the London-based legal aid firm Interrights, 
points out that at the moment there isn't enough 
data on forced marriages within the country. 
"Until we see the data and we see what kind of 
responses are happening to effectively prevent 
forced marriages within Britain, I don't see why 
all the focus has to be on the two and half 
people who come in like this," she says 
forcefully.

The British government is in the process of 
collecting such data. And it is encouraging that 
the judiciary of both Pakistan and Britain are 
collaborating to contain this violation of human 
rights. But one wonders meanwhile, what steps the 
Pakistani government is taking to raise awareness 
on the issue and contain this practice here.

The writer recently did a series of television 
reports on forced marriages in Pakistan and the 
UK.


______


[2.]

The News International (Pakistan) September 28, 2003
Over the top

Self abuse

Masood Hasan

The blackening of women's faces on billboards has 
started again. In Lahore, there is virtually no 
billboard that has escaped this sick and demented 
expression of outrage which finds its fulfilment 
in throwing black paint on the faces of models, 
be they modern, ultra fashionable young ladies, 
young mothers or even teenage girls. In a city 
where entire
families can be wiped out by cold-blooded 
murderers without so much as a squeak from the 
victims, it is not hard to understand that the 
police is
quite clueless when it comes to catching those 
who think nothing of such actions.

When it began and quite expectedly from the 
province which is backward in more ways than one, 
there was some short-lived hope amongst the saner 
elements of society that this vandalism would be 
restricted to that area alone, where honour 
killing is still regarded as a social virtue. In 
that province and in the city of Peshawar the 
great custodians of law and order watched as 
interested bystanders as Shalwar clad, bearded 
forces of moral virtues climbed like inspired 
monkeys, scaling heights and tearing down what 
they considered was offensive - be it the 
American flag, the good Colonel of fried chicken 
or our own ex-top gun Shahid Afridi sipping the 
dark cola with a damsel hanging on to his arm. 
The administration made no move to arrest anyone 
and were obviously under strict orders to take no 
action and not stop the wanton destruction of 
property.

In Multan, not known exactly for its bright 
lights, the scene was repeated some weeks later 
with the establishment watching from a safe 
distance and making no effort to stop the 
vandalism. Lahore was next and it was months 
before some of the signage was repaired and 
restored, obviously at great cost to those who 
had made the mistake of investing in this outdoor 
medium. Now the blackening has returned with a 
vengeance.

The debate on what is morally sound and what is 
decent and what is not, has gone on far too long 
in this country. It seems to be an endless debate 
with absolutely no conclusion in any direction. 
From time to time, administrative decisions have 
been taken and these have been confined to the 
theatre and more or less die their own death in 
due course of time. The vulgarity that is now as 
common as the blood baths of Pakistani movies 
remains largely unchecked. In the land of the 
Pathans from where such moral high winds blow, 
the traditional Pushto cinema has for decades 
focused its sights on the nether parts of the 
female anatomy.

My old theory still holds good that all cameramen 
whose talents we have witnessed in Pushto movies 
are all midgets and unable to focus beyond the 
immediate landscape. That is why the upward angle 
has remained in that state ever since the first 
Pushto film hit the circuit. Today, the 
wet-sari-rain sequence remains the great 
highlight of the Pakistani cinema. The gyrations 
and pelvic thrusts of the 250 pounders that pass 
for Punjabi heroines still leaves the men folk 
with weak knees and heightened libidos.

If this grotesque display of gross vulgarity is 
not bad enough there is always the inevitable 
rape scene which is often out numbering the 
miracles and the fights to the death. These rape 
scenes are filmed with great delight and find 
strong response from the all-male audiences that 
arrive at cinema houses around the country. If 
there is a country where women are downgraded sex 
objects, it has to be Pakistan and the cinema is 
the perfect reflection of this disease. It should 
also be easy to understand that almost every such 
film is made for the men only as if the other 
half of the population does not exist. Anyone 
with any sensitivity - even one on a scale of ten 
would be embarrassed to see five minutes of this 
drivel. One cannot even begin to imagine what the 
women feel like. Mercifully they go to cinemas in 
very small numbers and those who are unlucky to 
be in the auditorium must cringe with 
embarrassment and shame each time these cheap and 
tardy images are put on the screens with 
vulgarity dripping from every corner. The men 
love it and that is all that seems to matter.

What is it about women that has the Pakistani 
males in such distress all year long? Why is 
everyone in a perpetual state of sinning? Why is 
it that the very sight of an ankle seems to send 
the men into swoons and get their
blood racing? Why is the sight of a woman - she 
may be as ugly as sin itself, drive men bananas? 
It almost seems as if the Pakistani male is 
looking constantly for a way to commit sin, if 
not physically then at least with his heart and 
soul.

In most countries, women would not necessarily 
receive the full attention and fire radiating 
staring that they do in Pakistan and yet they are
expected to go out for work or even, heaven 
forbid, pleasure. That they continue to do so and 
continue to excel at jobs as and when they have an
equal playing field, is a tribute to their inner 
strength and determination. While they have the 
resolve, all the men folk that you can think of 
seem to be constructed with very volatile and 
easily disturbed chunks of quivering
jelly. That is why other than the 50-year-old 
question of why we came into being, the second 
favourite remains the disturbing effect women 
have on men.

Since it is a man's world and his word is 
supreme, he is not expected to behave himself or 
control his desires. Instead the women have to 
take the responsibility. They must look like bags 
of flour, be wrapped like Egyptian
mummies, smell like a sewer and be as ugly as a 
log of wood with the same level of sex appeal. 
Were all the women of Pakistan able to reject 
their womanhood and become the logs of wood that 
will no longer tempt the men, it is unlikely that 
things will change because finding vulgarity and 
depravity is a matter of personal interpretation 
and while one man may see a hole in the wall and 
keep walking another may have a seizure and 
collapse with desire on the pavement.

The fact of the matter is that our public piety 
is a sham. The ones who shout from the pulpits 
and the ones who are the moral custodians of this 
confused country of a hundred and fifty million 
with at least half of them perpetually going 
crazy over the sight of flesh - any flesh, are 
the very ones who are responsible for the 
deplorable state of affairs where even the sight 
of two school girls cooking in a kitchen is 
enough for the soldiers of Islam to hurl bags of 
black paint. Unfortunately, they will never 
realise that all they are succeeding in 
blackening is the already blackened image of this 
country which is regarded as regressive and not 
worth visiting.


______


[3]

The Independent (Bangladesh) September 29, 2003

Extremism in the name of religion
MAHBUB HUSAIN KHAN

On Friday last an organisation named Hizbut 
Tauheed hit the headlines by running amok at 
Paglabazar under the Fatulla police station of 
Narayanganj district and killing one person and 
injuring ten others. The activists of the 
organisation hit with hammers those who 
challenged them when they were distributing 
copies of an eight-page leaflet in Bangla urging 
Muslims to follow the teachings of their 
self-styled leader Bayazid Khan Panni, a resident 
of Uttara, Dhaka. In a style reminiscent of 
movies they also sprayed tobacco powder on some 
others who accosted them at close distance.

The country now seems to be on the brink of 
becoming a fractured society. In the days before 
Liberation we have had incidents of communal 
strife, though not too many. After Liberation 
there were incidents of revenge on those who 
collaborated with the Pakistan Army, in 
particular the Bihari population. Those incidents 
did not grow into movements or struggle for a 
cause. Militancy in the supposed cause of 
religious fundamentalism was never present in our 
society in the past, either during the Pakistan 
regime or after Liberation. Only in recent times, 
and coincidentally after the events of September 
11th we are observing a tendency of intolerance 
and militancy in certain groups of people who 
claim to bear the banner of 'true' Islam. The 
tragedy is that some of the leaders of such 
groups are confused but educated 
professional-'culturally schizophrenic' 
technocrats. Some of the causes in this surge of 
militancy in our society have arisen from events 
outside our country such as September 11th US war 
on Afghanistan and then Iraq, and the image of 
the Western world as aggressive oppressors of 
Islam. But others causes are rooted in our social 
environment.

While we can never control or predict events 
outside our country, such as communal riots in 
India or the strife in Palestine, it should be 
possible to identify and remedy the causes that 
are leading to such ferment and restlessness 
leading to violence in the name of religion. 
Islam is a religion of peace and promotes amity 
between all religions, but now in our hitherto 
peaceful social milieu, there are elements 
promoting the cause of their so-called 'true' 
Islam and vowing to eliminate those who oppose 
them. [...]

FULL TEXT AT :
http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/sep/29/29092003pd.htm#A1


______


[4]

Nuremberg International Human Rights Award Ceremony
September 14,  2003 in Nuremberg Opera House

Teesta Setalvad's acceptance speech

Can lessons from history, honestly learnt, and 
remembered, prevent unspeakable cruelties in the 
present and deeper schisms between man and man in 
the future?

Nuremberg and Germany have had the courage to 
face their history, a history that not merely for 
the German people but for all of humanity raised 
then, and raises still, raw and brutal questions 
of the minds and hearts of men and women. And the 
darkness that can reside within.

Yet we must have faith. This faith gets 
reaffirmed in the myriad or million small deeds 
and thoughts of a majority of one billion Indians 
and a third more of South Asians who dream and 
aspire to a belly fool of food; for fair access 
to quality learning for their young; to medical 
care against starvation and other epidemics; 
protection against flood, cyclone and drought.
For the kind of existence that about 60 per cent 
of their people already have. Indiscriminate 
policies of globalisation and liberalization that 
are resulting in the withdrawal of the State from 
sectors of education, health and social security, 
do not believe in the dignity and protection of 
labour and the marginalized sections of the third 
world. Marginalised by caste, community and 
gender.

  But even as the bare existence of a third to 
forty per cent of our people in South Asia -in 
India alone this would mean 400 million 
people--is seriously under assault from a callous 
and irresponsible political, social and economic 
elite, the right to dream of a land free of 
bitter hatreds has over the past two decades 
slowly but surely been snatched away. Today with 
justice to the victims of perpetrated pogroms 
seeming distant, if not impossible, the now every 
day threat of mindless targeted violence has 
become a terrifying reality.

We are faced in India with the threat of hatred 
and division impinging on every aspect of public 
discourse and life. Caste has been an unfortunate 
historic factor that has denied dignity and 
access, apart from perpetrating brutal violence 
on 25 per cent of Indians in the past.  Today a 
more blatant use of hate speech and writing 
against sections of Indians, on grounds of 
religious affiliation, has become the norm that 
precedes, and creates the climate for mass 
pogroms. Such discourse goes unchallenged by 
authorities though we remain a political 
democracy wedded to the rule of law.

For human rights defenders engaged in the 
struggle for a more equitous system, through our 
engagements with, and challenges to, the 
institutions of the judiciary, police, parliament 
and bureaucracy-the lofty mandate contained in 
the words 'We The People...' in the Preamble to 
our Constitution, often seem reduced to a 
banality on a piece of parchment paper.  This 
extreme right wing politics, shockingly and 
painfully models itself on the ways of Mussolini 
and Hitler, and under democratic India executes 
and then celebrates pogroms against children, 
women and men of a particular faith.

A stable, democratic and secular India -which 
means an India that can hold its head high ---as 
we once could, when, though 'poor', we led the 
Non Aligned Movement in the world and did an 
honest job of assuring safety and security to all 
Indians ---is vital for peace, for growth and 
yes, for the prosperity of the whole South Asian 
region.

Our sheer size and pre-dominance demands this. 
Pivotal to this peace is a resolution of the 
Kashmir conflict after calling people from the 
Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh region to the 
negotiation table. It is a shame that instead of 
leading a discourse within the region on peace, 
on sanity, on tolerance, India today takes a part 
in articulating shrill noises against neighbours. 
We even led the sub-continent on its deplorable 
road towards turning nuclear. I would like to, at 
this stage, congratulate my co-recipient of the 
Nuremberg International Human Rights award for 
2003, Mr. Rehman a Pakistani and a colleague in 
this struggle for the rights of all, albeit 
across the border.

The history of the division of the sub-continent 
on religious lines took nearly one million lives 
and caused the forced migration of 15 million 
people. Lasting durable peace within the region, 
thanks to this history, is linked critically to 
peace within the countries of the region and 
their castes and communities. Those struggling 
for the rights of minorities across national 
borders have a need to link and sustain each 
other's struggles. And they know it.

Yet, despite all of this, we must carry on, firm 
in our belief that things must and will change. 
And the struggle for that glorious change if 
pre-determined by its duration is no struggle at 
all. The demands that such an indeterminate 
struggle, in time terms, makes on us, as 
individuals, as colleagues, as parents is 
enormous and the stake and cost, are high. On 
this precious occasion, I would like especially 
to remember our two children, Tamara and Jibran 
who have sacrificed much and lost so much time 
with us in their growing up years due to this 
engagement. I hope and pray to a God that I do 
not believe in, that they have learnt some and 
much more importantly, that they understand.

My work in the past decade, that coincides with 
the decade of publication of our journal, 
Communalism Combat, would simply have been 
inconceivable but for the camaraderie and passion 
shared in this cause with my husband-colleague, 
Javed. As strength, as inspiration, as learning, 
this togetherness has made the work possible. I 
am thrilled that he is here with me to share the 
moment of glory of receiving particularly this 
award, which has a resonance and meaning far 
exceeding any other. I know that he has put up 
with the pressure of my own temperament and zeal 
for this work that catapults him and our 
wonderful team at Sabrang into sometimes 
impossible directions.

The India of old has irretrievably changed and 
the secure foundations of glory in a shared past, 
in our literature, music and culture that we grew 
up with are not available for our children. 
Streaks of insanity and noises of hate impinge in 
the classroom and at school ominously making 
distinctions between the legitimate 'us' and the 
traitorous 'them.' History is being 
surreptitiously distorted to support the politics 
of exclusion and hate. The infamous Nuremberg 
laws that forbade marriage between sections of 
one people have not been forcibly enacted yet but 
Geetabehn, a Hindu, happily married to Salim, a 
Muslim, in Gujarat until April 4, 2002 last year 
was stripped and mutilated in public before being 
butchered alive on the streets of Ahmedabad, 
Gujarat's leading commercial centre. Victims of 
the Gujarat carnage, or Genocide as we have 
called it face exclusion in jobs and have been 
denied dignified return to their agricultural 
lands much less have they got justice.

The language of fascism and its glorification of 
violence and extermination have
deeply disfigured Indian public life. We struggle 
today against it reaching a crescendo. In that 
struggle we try among other things to, in Martin 
Luther King Junior's word, to break the silence 
of the good people who we believe are still 
numerically stronger than the wicked people who 
execute evil deeds.

Thank You Nuremberg. Thank You Germany. For 
giving us hope that all in the faraway 
self-centred First World -and I refer here to the 
stance of the German foreign minister on the 
abhorrent war against Iraq-are not the same. The 
feeling, commitment and content of the speeches 
delivered today are refreshers for us who strive 
to make the Indian political class sensitive to 
human rights. Thank you for today. The 
outstanding music, the flower and chilly 
arrangements. Dr Maly, the Nuremberg City Office 
and Dr Hesselmann. For today and hopes for 
tomorrow

Thank you, All.

______


[5.]

BUILDING STRONG AND UNITED COMMUNITIES
ESTABLISHING A UK SOUTH ASIAN SECULAR NETWORK

AWAAZ - SOUTH ASIA WATCH LAUNCH CONFERENCE

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2003, 9.00AM - 5.00PM
CAMDEN  COUNCIL CHAMBER, TOWN HALL,
JUDD STREET,  LONDON WC1H 9JE.
(Rail and Tube - Euston, Euston Square, Kings X & St Pancras)

Speakers invited include:  Asma Jahangir (Human 
Rights Commission of Pakistan), Lord Meghnad 
Desai (London School of Economics), Suresh Grover 
(National Civil Rights Movement), Gautam Appa 
(London School of Economics), Chetan Bhatt 
(Goldsmiths College), Dawood Family Justice 
Campaign & others

Religious hatred and intolerance in various parts 
of the world continues to feed sectarian, 
national and communal conflicts and violence. 
The resurgence of Hindutva and Islamic 
fundamentalism in South Asia, illustrated by the 
Gujarat carnage in 2002 and the alliance of 
Islamist parties in Pakistan's north-west 
frontier province, poses a serious danger to the 
stability of the region.  Religious conflict 
abroad has led to serious religious polarisation 
with UK South Asian communities.  Awaaz - South 
Asia Watch, a secular network of organisations 
and individuals in the UK has organised this 
event to:

·         Build a secular south Asian network in the UK
·         Develop a plan of action and a 
programme of activities across the UK among 
anti-racist, civil rights and human rights 
activists, academics and students, women's 
organisations, policy makers and community groups
·         Develop human rights solidarity work 
with groups in South Asia and internationally
·         Renew and reinvigorate the tradition of 
secular democratic organisation in UK South Asian 
communities

Presentations on
·         The Gujarat Carnage 2002
·         Hindutva, political Islam and Sikh 
fundamentalism in the UK and internationally
·         Family campaigns against religious 
hatred and violence in the UK, including the 
Dawood Family Justice Campaign

Workshops on
·         Secular education and curriculum development
·         Youth and student outreach
·         Monitoring, research and policy around fundamentalist networks
·         Linking anti-racist and anti-communalist work in the UK
·         Developing training for organisations 
on communalism and religious intolerance

The event is open to individuals and 
organisations that support the aims and 
objectives of Awaaz - South Asia Watch.  Full 
programme details at 
<http://www.awaazsaw.org/>www.awaazsaw.org. 
Please note that attendance is strictly by 
invitation only. To avoid disappointment, you 
must register and have your place confirmed 
before arriving on the day. You can register 
online at 
<http://www.awaazsaw.org/>www.awaazsaw.org. 
Places are limited and you are advised to 
register early (registration / attendance is 
free).

Awaaz - South Asia Watch is supported by leading 
civil and human rights organisations, including 
Aaj Kay Naam, Asian Women's Refuge, Friends of 
India / Association of Indian Christians (UK), 
Cambridge South Asia Forum, Campaign Against 
Racism and Fascism (CARF), Council of Indian 
Muslims (UK), Dalit Forum for Social Justice 
(UK), India Forum, Indian Muslim Federation (UK), 
Indian Workers Association (GB), National Civil 
Rights Movement (NCRM), Oxford South Asia Forum, 
People's Unity, Southall Black Sisters, Southall 
Empowerment Alliance, Southall Monitoring Group, 
South Asia Solidarity Group, Women Against 
Fundamentalism and many more.

______


[6.]

Blocking of Yahoo groups content still continues  . . .
RESIST INTERNET CENSORSHIP IN INDIA NOW
Update  [29 September 2003]

Thanks to orders from the Govt. of India's agency 
CERT-in and more than willing obedience from most 
Indian ISP's, the web content on groups.yahoo.com 
still remains blocked off for thousands of users 
in India.

This measure to block internet content, 
represents the most serious case of censorship 
and control of the internet in India. Human 
rights groups in India, South Asia and around the 
world need to take note and express concern.

The government is now trying to wash its hands 
off and has shifted the blame on to ISP's saying 
they misinterpreted the order

In wake of growing protests, one of the biggest 
Indian ISP's VSNL has finally lifted the ban on 
yahoo groups
Users of VSNL accounts have reported, that they 
can now (i.e. on 27th September 2003) access 
yahoo groups.

Dishnet the other big sized ISP still continues the blocking.

Addresses of the officials and bodies to whom 
people may write to protest or to seek their 
intervention re Internet censorship in India:

Arun Shourie
(Minister  of Communications & Information Technology & Disinvestment)
Email : ashourie at nic.in

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
(Minister of Information and Broadcasting)
E-Mail: ravis at sansad.nic.in
Phone: (91) 23384340, 23384782 Fax : (91) 23782118

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)
www.mit.gov.in/cert/

India's Department of Telecom
www.dotindia.com/
ddgir at sancharnet.in

The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI)
www.ispai.com/


[* India's Official Human rights watch dog]
National Human Rights Commission(NHRC)
nhrc.nic.in/contact.htm


Harsh Kapoor
(South Asia Citizens Web)

o o o

The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=205445
Big Brother turns gaze on debates
SHABNAM MINWALLA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2003 11:49:38 PM ]

MUMBAI: What do GSR 529(E), OM No 
25022/40/97/F.IV and CS No 1/116/5/98/TS have in 
common? All three are recent government orders 
aimed at stifling public discussion of a 
"sensitive" nature.

Order No GSR 529(E) " the newest pair of scissors 
in a censorship-happy nation " gained notoriety 
this week when Netizens found themselves barred 
from their favourite sports and software 
discussion groups. Brandishing the July 7 
notification, the government instructed Internet 
Service Providers to block 'Kynhun', a virtually 
moribund Yahoo group that carried 33 postings 
about Meghalaya's disenchantment with the Indian 
state. Unable to barricade only that particular 
group, VSNL, Sify and Dishnet DSL denied access 
to all Yahoo groups  a move that generated much 
consternation.

"The government has given itself sweeping powers 
to police Internet content and demonstrated it is 
willing to use them," said Somasekhar Sundaresan, 
a lawyer specialising in technology issues. "What 
makes it worse is that rather than acting with 
transparency and explaining why it was necessary, 
ISPs were ordered to block 'Kynhun' without being 
given facts or reasons. All of which creates fear 
of a police raj."

What has most alarmed freedom-of-speechniks is 
that this is not a random instance. Increasingly, 
Big Brother is turning his gaze from pornography 
to political debates and ideological differences. 
"In isolation, such cases seem innocuous, but 
when you view them across media, a pattern is 
evident," said film-maker Rakesh Sharma. "The 
scripts of plays have to be okayed by the police. 
Television channels routinely get calls from the 
authorities. Every space available to independent 
voices is now under threat "from the Internet to 
documentary films."

A couple of months ago, the Mumbai International 
Film Festival made censorship clearance a 
prerequisite for participation. This is contrary 
to international norms. Protests by filmmakers 
compelled the government to back down last week, 
but in most similar situations the government has 
remained adamant.

Although its two notifications, OM No 
25022/40/97/F.IV issued in September 2000 and CS 
No 1/116/5/98/TS issued in January 2003, 
generated controversy in academia, they remain 
firmly in place. As a result, foreign scholars 
invited to participate in conferences of a 
"political, semi-political, communal or religious 
nature" are now vetted by the ministry of home 
affairs.

But once these notifications are issued, are they 
implemented seriously? Is it really possible for 
the government to quell multiple points of view 
in an age of multiple media? "There are always 
things that mustn't be written and talked about," 
said computer guru Vijay Mukhi. "But even America 
has been unable to censor Osama on the Net. So we 
need an alternate strategy to outwit technology."

"Attempts at control are being made around the 
world and are symptomatic of a greater sense of 
alarm," echoes Rahul Matthan, a Bangalore-based 
lawyer specialising in Net-related issues. "But 
the Internet is built to resist control and at 
most governments can make a site a little harder 
to access."

The anti-censorship brigade agrees the trend has 
to be countered. Civil libertarians are planning 
to challenge the order that permits bureaucrats 
to block websites and, to compound matters, cloak 
the process in confidentiality.


______


[7.]

Dt.28 Sept.,2003

Dear friend ,

      The coming elections in India in the states 
as well as to the Lok Sabha- are very crucial for 
future of democracy in India.  The policies 
pursued by the present BJP-led Coalition, and the 
programmes of the Sangh Parivar, are highly 
detrimental to the continuance of secular 
democracy. Destruction of  secular democracy in 
India means the destruction  of its unity and 
integrity. But the BJP and the rest of the Sangh 
Parivar are not daunted  by this frightening 
perspective. While there is no effort to solve 
the basic problems of the people like poverty, 
unemployment, health,  the powers of the police 
and the paramilitary forces are being increased 
on the pretext of  fighting ëterrorismí. 
Corruption has increased.  There are consistent 
efforts to convert  judiciary into the 
ìmouth-pieceî of the government.  Significant 
section of the media  has already turned into a 
willing tool of the ëofficial lineí.

      In this context, Indian Radical Humanist 
Association, PUCL ,  Lokayan, Forum For Democracy 
and Cmmunal Amity, Vasudev Kutambkam,  Champa-The 
Amiya & B.G.Rao Foundation, Indian social 
Institute,  Nishant   Natya Manch   and Citizens 
For Democracy  have organized a seminar on the 
above subject. Other like-minded 
organizations/groups are  expected to join. The 
programme is as under :-

Date: Saturday, the 11th October,2003
Time : 10 AM  to 5 PM  (with Lunch break 1 to 2 PM)
Venue : Gandhi Peace Foundation, 223, Deen Dayal 
Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002

Subject : Coming Elections in India : Democracy Vs. Communal Fascism -
-Role of Intellectuals, Media Persons, Human Rights organizations &
  other Movements

Mr. K.G.Kannabiran, President, PUCL,  will preside.
Mr. Vijay Pratap ,in addition, will also give 
report  on  the present activities
and future programme of the 'World social Forum' in the after noon session.

All like-minded individuals and organizations are 
requested to participate. N.D.Pancholi,
For Indian Radical Humanist association,Ph.9811099532(M)
Pushkar Raj  , For PUCL   Ph.9810656100(M)


______


[8.]

PRESS RELEASE

Delhi University Forum for Democracy held a 
public meeting on THE TERROR OF POTA on 25 
September in the Arts Faculty, Delhi University.

Several hundred students and teachers listened in 
rapt attention to the speakers for almost three 
hours, breaking into spontaneous applause every 
now and then. Not only was every inch of the hall 
occupied, but even the aisles and corridors 
outside were crowded with people standing and 
listening.
Gautam Navlakha, journalist and civil rights 
activist, set off the meeting by detailing the 
draconian features of the Prevention of Terrorism 
Act (POTA) that deny well-enshrined legal rights 
to the accused. In effect, the law-enforcing 
agencies are able to bypass even the minimal 
procedural safeguards available under POTA. He 
also described how the budget for internal 
security has been increased manifolds while the 
safety nets for common citizens, especially 
dalits, workers and minorities, are progressively 
withdrawn.
Ujjwal Singh, political scientist and civil 
rights activist, discussed specifically the 
application of POTA in selective cases in Gujrat 
to target the muslim community. He described in 
detail the atmosphere of terror that still 
prevails in Gujrat even for the middle class in 
the community, who had been actively engaged in 
relief work and restoration of peace and harmony.
Prabhat Patnaik, economist and professor in 
Jawaharlal Nehru University, expanded the scope 
of the discussion by showing how nation-states 
acting as local agents of imperialism are 
attempting to exploit the opportunities created 
by the events of 9/11 to use state terror as a 
means to further the interests of private 
capital. He further said that terrorism comes 
into being in the time lag between state terror 
and popular democratic uprising against it. If 
genuine avenues for democratic protests were 
available then terrorism would die a natural 
death. He concluded by saying that he was proud 
to be associated with the Delhi University 
teachers' initiative to defend Gilani.
Nandita Haksar, lawyer and civil rights activist, 
focused on the case of S. A. R. Gilani, a 
lecturer in Delhi University, to show how basic 
legal procedures and norms have been repeatedly 
violated. Working through the evidence produced 
by the prosecution against Gilani, she showed 
that none of it stood even elementary scrutiny, 
yet Gilani was given two death sentences on that 
basis!! She also highlighted the prejudicial role 
of the media which had condemned him even before 
the charges were framed.
Arundhati Roy, writer-activist, described how the 
institutions of democracy, such as free media, 
have in fact been exploited by monopolies and 
supposedly representative states across the world 
to curtail democracy itself. Citing the example 
of the Dandi march, she underlined the urgent 
need for a civil disobedience movement against 
repressive laws and regimes. She underlined the 
importance of globalizing dissent, and extending 
solidarity to people's struggles all over the 
world, such as the current struggle of the Iraqi 
people against US occupation.
A statement from Professor Noam Chomsky 
(enclosed) in support of the current campaign by 
Delhi University Teachers in Defence of S. A. R. 
Gilani was read out in the meeting. "The 
atrocities of 9-11", Prof. Chomsky observed, 
"were exploited in a vulgar way by governments 
all over the world by implementing repressive 
legislation to discipline their own citizens with 
no credible connection to preventing terrorist 
threats". Describing the sentencing of Gilani as 
"outrageous", he hoped that Indian democracy and 
its legal system would rise to the challenge, 
reverse the decision, and ensure that human and 
civil rights were properly protected.
The speeches were interspersed with songs and 
poems by students and teachers of Delhi 
University which added to the emotionally charged 
atmosphere of the meeting.

Issued by:- Delhi University Forum For Democracy


o o o

Convenor,
Delhi University Teachers in Defence of S. A. R. Gilani
Delhi University.
_______________________________________________

I read with much concern the statement of the 
Delhi University Teachers in Defence of S. A. R. 
Gilani.  What it describes is utterly outrageous, 
and surely should not be tolerated.  The phrase 
"absurd and tragic" is fully warranted.
The atrocities of 9-11 were exploited in a vulgar 
way by governments all over the world, in some 
cases by escalating massive crimes on the pretext 
of "combating terrorism," in others by 
implementing repressive legislation to discipline 
their own citizens with no credible connection to 
preventing terrorist threats, in some cases by 
carrying out programs that had not the remotest 
connection to terrorism and might even enhance it 
and that were opposed by the majority of the 
population.  Terrorism is a serious matter, and 
merits careful attention and scrupulous 
preventive measures and response.  It is 
disgraceful for the authentic threat of terrorism 
to be exploited as a window of opportunity for 
intolerable actions.
I hope and trust that Indian democracy and its 
legal system will rise to the challenge, reverse 
this decision, and ensure that human and civil 
rights are properly protected.


Noam Chomsky


______


[9.]

Faculty and staff of AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (AJK MCRC)
http://jmi.nic.in/OtherInstitutes/MCRC.htm

27 September

PRESS RELEASE

We, the faculty and staff of the AJK Mass 
Communication Research Centre (AJK MCRC), Jamia 
Millia Islamia, strongly condemn the forceful 
detention and interrogation of three of our 
students, Ruhail Amin Quraishi, Rita Namban and 
Shahabuddin. The students were picked up from 
Connought Place on grounds that they had been 
shooting in the vicinity of the American Centre. 
When the police viewed the footage it was 
confirmed that the students had only been 
shooting the traffic in front of the Hindustan 
Times Building.

The police took the students and the accompanying 
crewmembers of the AJK MCRC to the Rajiv Chowk 
police station despite been shown an official 
letter from the University and told that they 
were shooting with equipment and transport that 
belonged to the MCRC. Ignoring repeated requests 
from the students, the police refused to contact 
the University authorities. They also prevented 
the students from doing so by taking away their 
mobiles phones. The three students were subject 
to interrogation by the Special Branch and 
Intelligence Bureau and were finally released 
when their teachers along with the Proctor of the 
University went and intervened on their behalf. 
Despite protests, the police insisted on 
photographing them with nameplates held against 
their chest.

Moreover, the police had taken the liberty of 
calling the press even as the students and 
teachers were in the premises of the Rajiv Chowk 
police station. One TV channel lost no time in 
telecasting that "the terrorists who had been 
caught in front of the American Centre had turned 
out to be students of Jamia University." We are 
shocked and distressed at how some national 
newspapers have carried similar stories without 
once speaking to the University authorities or 
verifying the claims made by the Delhi police. In 
these reports, the ambivalence that the students 
could possibly be "terrorists" is heightened by 
identifying one of the students as being from 
Kashmir.

If anything, the students were only guilty of 
being unaware of possible regulations pertaining 
to the shooting in New Delhi District. This 
action does not tantamount to any violation that 
could justify the actions of the police and the 
subsequent reporting by some sections of the 
press. We strongly protest against the arbitrary 
actions of the police and demand that any 
documentation (photographs, statements and 
observations) undertaken by the police station be 
made available to the students so that their 
record is not adversely prejudiced.


______


[10]

letter to editors

D-504 Purvasha Anand Lok
Mayur Vihar 1
Delhi 110091 [India]

29 September 2003

Dear Editor,

On the latest leg of his now unceasing Bharat Darshan, Mr. L.K.
Advani has said that last year's violence in Gujarat was
"an aberration". In this he merely repeated what Mr. A.B.
Vajpayee had said in New York on 14 September 2002. Neither
explained what this meant, neither related it to Gujarat's
long history of communal violence or to the meticulous planning
which went into the violence which followed Godhra. The words
were an empty gesture. The gentlemen were brushing aside an
annoying fly.
	Mr. Advani went on to say that Gujarat's fair image would
not be allowed to be "tarnished by propaganda". I am sure
the man understands that propaganda is lies, while what
hundreds of observers have said of Gujarat's State-sponsored
pogrom of 2002 is no more than the truth. He is clearly seeking
to protect his protege Modi, himself, and their foul
"parivar".
	Despite the Supreme Court's recent castigation of Modi's
government, Muslims in Gujarat continue to be harassed and
humiliated and to be deprived of their rights and their means
of livelihood. Will Mr. Advani tell us if this is the "fair
image" which needs protection? Saint Dracula? Ravana the
Beneficent?

Yours truly,

Mukul Dube

______


[11]

The Hindu, Sept. 28, 2003.

Doctors ask MCI to deregister Togadia
By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi Sept. 27. Several doctors have written to the Medical Council of
India (MCI) here to deregister and take action against the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad leader, Pravin Togadia, for violation of the code of ethics set by
the Council. Dr. Togadia is an oncologist and used to run a nursing home in
Gujarat.

The MCI has forwarded the complaint signed by over 100 doctors and social
activists and spearheaded by the Pune-headquartered Medico Friend Circle to
the Maharashtra Medical Council.

"It makes no sense. The MCI has typically passed the buck. There is no logic
in sending the complaint to Maharashtra. If at all, the Gujarat Medical
Council, where Togadia is registered, should have been asked to
investigate,'' Sanjay Nagral, one of the signatories told The Hindu from
Mumbai.

"The issue is not just about medical ethics but his behaviour in society.
Many doctors have felt that medical doctors taking part in hate campaigns
are just not on and we must protest it. Asking the MCI to look at the
behaviour of doctors is the basis of our complaint,'' he said. (All efforts
by The Hindu to talk to the acting president of the MCI, Kesavankutty Nair,
proved futile.)

The complaint alleged that Dr. Togadia violated the code of ethics and of
misconduct as defined under the Section 1.1.1 (a physician shall uphold the
dignity and honour of the profession), 1.1.2 (the prime objective of the
medical profession is to render service to humanity... conducting himself
with propriety in his profession and in all the actions of his life), 5.1
(physicians as citizens shall play their part in enforcing the laws of the
community and in sustaining the institutions that advance the interests of
humanity) and 6.6 (the physician shall not aid or abet torture nor shall be
party to either infliction of any mental or physical trauma or concealment
of torture inflicted by some other person or agency in clear violation of
human rights) of the MCI (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics)
deserves to be acted against and punished.

"Dr. Togadia has been one of the chief spokesperson of the VHP and the
international president of the outfit. At no time has the VHP or Dr. Togadia
condemned the violence against Muslims during the VHP call for a Gujarat
bandh on February 28 and is thus liable for not only his personal actions
but that also of the VHP.''

It quoted news reports to say that on February 28, 2002, at Naroda behind
the State Transport workshop in Ahmedabad, Dr. Togadia was seen
"instigating" a mob gathered at the main chowk on front of the Natraj hotel
wearing saffron scarves and khaki shorts.

The complaint said that Justice A.P. Ravani, a retired High Court Judge from
Gujarat, testified before the Citizens Tribunal about doctors being
threatened against treating Muslim patients by the VHP. He knew of one
doctor in Shahibag area who attended to 17-20 deliveries of Muslim women
staying in relief camps.

This doctor and some others were said to have been threatened by Dr. Togadia
himself "of facing the consequences.''

This is in stark opposition to the MCI Declaration signed by a doctor at the
time of registration which says that even under threat a doctor would not
use medical knowledge contrary to laws of humanity and that he/she would not
permit the consideration of religion, nationality, race, party politics or
social standing to intervene between his/her duty and the patient.

According to N.B. Sarojini of Sama, an NGO, that several social
organisations, including the Jan Swasthaya Abhiyan, CEHAT, MASUM, CHC, the
Forum for Women's Health, Saheli and the Voluntary Health Association of
India have also written to the MCI to have the complaint lodged by the
doctors against Dr. Togadia investigated by a national independent authority
of doctors and eminent citizens.


______


[12]  Fascists At Work:

Indian Express, September 28, 2003
In Cong-ruled state, Bajrang Dal makes a village 'Muslim-free'
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=32403

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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.

--