SACW | 28 Dec. 2003

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  |  28 December,  2003
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] Pakistan: Asma Jahangir [Interview]
[2] [Interview] Former chairman of the Human 
Rights Commission of Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak
[3] Pakistan:  Vigilante groups set to stop new year festivities
[4] India: 'The Making of India' -- A seminar on the 15th anniversary of SAHMAT
[5]  Pakistan: Dr Mubarak Ali honoured
[6] India [Gujarat]: Remember this? (Kalpana Sharma)
[7] India [Waiting for Justice in Gujarat]:
- Retrial plea heads back to SC
- Best Bakery case: Ball in Gujarat government's court
-If these are the hard facts, then what other 
outcome could have been expected (Gujarat rights 
activists)
[8] India: Hindutva at work !:
- NGOs blame parties for riots in Hyderabad
- Following strong arm tactics by Shiv Sena 
Scholar destroys own work on Shivaji
- Kerala : "Politics Of RSS Bomb Attack On BJP Leader's House
- Govt wants to shut us down, allege Liberhan panel officials

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

[1]


The News on Sunday
December 28, 2003
firstperson

Asma Jahangir
Striving for rights

First we need to set our own house in order. We 
have a society where retrogressive, obscurantist, 
extremist and sectarian elements are still 
powerful. Ours is a society where women still do 
not have fundamental rights and can be killed on 
the pretext of honour. The question is, who will 
raise a voice against these excesses?

By Abdul Sattar

Born to a politically active family in the 1950s 
Pakistan, Asma Jahangir, grew up in a world 
familiar with conflict, struggle and fight for 
justice. Her father was himself imprisoned on 
several occasions for his outspoken views, which 
included denouncing the Pakistani government for 
genocide during their military action in what is 
now Bangladesh. Her mother--educated at a co-ed 
college at a time when few Muslim women even 
received higher education--also fought the 
traditional system, pioneering her own clothes 
business when the family's lands were confiscated 
in 1967 as a result of her husband's opinions and 
detention.

Given this background, it is perhaps not 
surprising that Asma also embarked on a career 
for justice and social change. For the past two 
decades, she has been at the forefront of the 
movement for women's rights, human rights and 
peace in Pakistan.

Asma was not an outstanding student. She was 
remembered for her strong political convictions, 
her sense of justice, and her courage. In 1969, 
she led a student protest against Pakistan's 
military dictator Ayub Khan, risking gunfire to 
climb the gate of the Governor's House to hoist a 
symbolic black flag. The following year, she 
risked further harassment petitioning for her 
fathers' release, challenging the country's 
martial law in the courts. In an unprecedented 
judgment, Pakistan's courts declared military 
rule unconstitutional--a landmark case in the 
Sub-Continent.

It was the first of many successes that Asma was 
to experience in the law courts. Having gained a 
degree through private study, she later qualified 
as a lawyer in 1978. Together with Hina, her 
sister, who had qualified in law four years 
earlier, the two sisters established the first 
all-women's law firm in Pakistan in 1981. They 
were also founders of the Women's Action Forum, a 
pressure group campaigning against Pakistan's 
discriminatory legislation, most notably against 
the Evidence Law and Hudood Ordinances.

Asma became advocate of High Court in 1982 and 
continued to campaign on behalf of the most 
vulnerable members of society, successfully 
fighting cases for victims of domestic, 
fundamentalist and feudalistic violence, and the 
victims of so-called 'honour killings'.

In 1986 Asma along with her sister Hina set up 
AGHS Legal Aid, the first free legal aid centre 
in Pakistan. In the same year, they were amongst 
the founding members of the Human Rights 
Commission of Pakistan, Asma serving first as 
Secretary-General and later as Chair. Asma became 
the Advocate of the Pakistan Supreme Court in 
1992.

In 1998, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan appointed her as the UN Special Rapporteur 
of the Commission on Human Rights on 
extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions. 
Since her appointment, Jahangir has visited 
Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of 
Macedonia, Mexico, East Timor, Nepal, Turkey and 
Honduras responding to the keenness of 
Governments to improve the situation, while also 
documenting human rights abuses.

In a recent interview with Political Economy, she 
talked about various aspects of human rights 
violations across the world, and particularly in 
Pakistan. Excerpts follow:

PE: Despite the fact that many NGOs have been 
actively working, especially for the last 15 
years, there have been more flagrant violations 
of human rights in the country than ever. Why?

AJ: Look, NGOs cannot replace the government and 
state and if anybody thinks like that it would be 
silly on his part. I think that all institutions 
of the state have to be consolidated in the way 
that they could deliver what they are supposed 
to. At the moment, we do not have institutions, 
which are independent and efficient.

The NGOs can create awareness and environment 
whereby the government is forced to respect human 
rights and ensure that they are not violated by 
anyone in the country. I think that there has 
been a lot of awareness among the masses owing to 
the efforts made by the NGOs.

PE: NGOs are de-politicising our society. Please comment.

AJ: To some extent, it is true but it differs 
from one NGO to another. It also depends upon the 
type of work that an NGO is doing. I think that 
some NGOs do not link social issues with those of 
political ones. You cannot empower women 
economically by giving them sewing machine only. 
We should also take into consideration that ours 
is a de-politicised society and many NGOs were 
also created by dictators who did not want them 
to politicise the society. Now you have the 
people of state in NGOs.

PE: There is an impression about NGOs, including 
the HRCP, that they are very mild towards the US 
and the West. They criticise dictator Zia but do 
not say a word against the democratic West and 
the US who favoured him. What is your view?

AJ: It is incorrect to say that. In the war 
against Iraq all peace-loving people came 
together and opposed the US attack on the 
country. The HRCP was also part of those 
organisations opposing the war. We have had 
people like Dr Mubashir Hasan and I A Rehman, who 
strongly opposed the US policies towards 
dictators. The HRCP carried out a procession 
against the Zia regime on 12 February 1983 and it 
also slammed the US policies aimed at supporting 
Zia. It was the first procession against the 
martial law regime of Zia.

Then the HRCP also criticised the measures taken 
by the US government in the name of War on 
Terrorism. The US supported many dictators across 
the world but we cannot focus on each and every 
country. We think that first we need to set our 
own house in order. We have a society where 
retrogressive, obscurantist, extremist and 
sectarian elements are still powerful. Ours is a 
society where women still do not have fundamental 
rights and can be killed on the pretext of 
honour. The question is, who will raise a voice 
against these excesses. I think that we should 
see our country first and try to resolve its 
problems.

PE: You have studied the human rights record of 
many states. Keeping that in view, which state do 
you think is the greatest violator of human 
rights?

AJ: It is difficult to say. Basically my work was 
confined to extra-judicial killings, which were 
more common in conflict areas like Columbia and 
Chechnya. Rising crimes may also contribute to 
human rights violations as it is happening in 
Jamaica and Columbia. Lack of democracy may also 
cause human rights violations, as is the case of 
Pakistan and Myanmar (Burma); and I think that 
lack of good governance in many parts of South 
Asia is also responsible for rising human rights 
violations.

PE: Who funds HRCP?

AJ: We receive funding from Norway, Unicef and ILO.

PE: Do the donors influence the policies of the organisation?

AJ: The HRCP is built on democratic principles. 
Our agenda is set by our members. I am happy that 
some of our members decided not to receive any 
aid from the US.

PE: How do you view the raids in Pakistan by FBI and its arresting Pakistanis?

AJ: It is completely illegal. I think that 
everything should be done in accordance with the 
law.

PE: What would you say about the recently 
concluded extradition treaty between the US and 
Pakistan?

AJ: I have not seen it yet. So I cannot comment on it.

PE: Do you consider an extremist government a threat to human rights?

AJ: Yes, I think because by being extremist you 
discriminate against those who are not like you.

PE: How can the record of human rights of the country be improved?

AJ: We as a nation should decide whether we want 
a military government or democracy. If we want a 
military government, there will be more human 
rights violations.

PE: How do you view LFO?

AJ: It is contradictory to democratic principles 
and what will the assembly do if the LFO is 
accepted. Naturally the members are not there on 
picnic.

PE: What difficulties did you have to face while 
working with the Jeay Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party 
for the farmers jailed by the feudals in interior 
Sindh?

AJ: Let me clarify that I was working with my own 
people. We faced the resistance of feudals 
because they always have political connections. 
The democratic government would favour us 
sometimes but it would also try to satisfy the 
feudals. This is not the case of farmers in the 
interior Sindh, the bhatta (kiln) workers in 
Punjab are also leading a life of slavery. When 
we liberated the farmers in interior Sindh, they 
were very happy. Despite the fact that we could 
not rehabilitate them, they were satisfied over 
their release.

PE: What did you do for their rehabilitation?

AJ: We could not rehabilitate them because we have a breathing space.

PE: What do you say about the struggle of Okara's farmers for ownership rights?

AJ: The land does not belong to military or 
Defence Ministry. Basically, it is owned by the 
Punjab Government. When I went to Okara, the 
administration did tried to stop me but they 
could not succeed.

PE: How do you view the Industrial Relations Ordinance?

AJ: We had three meetings with the workers and 
they have many reservations about many articles 
of the IRO, especially the one related to hiring 
and firing power.

PE: Do you see any improvement in the condition of the minorities?

AJ: I do not think it has changed.


_____


[2]

irin.org

PAKISTAN: Interview with leading activist on Human Rights Day

©  IRIN

Former chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak

PESHAWAR, 10 Dec 2003 (IRIN) - Human rights in 
Pakistan has not fared well since General Pervez 
Musharraf seized control of the government in a 
bloodless coup on 12 October 1999. There has been 
little improvement in the plight of the country's 
impoverished population of 140 million. Civil 
society remains weak and opposition to military 
rule is quickly stifled.
As the world celebrates Human Rights Day on 
Wednesday, IRIN interviewed Afrasiab Khattak, one 
of the country's most outspoken activists in his 
office in Perhawar, provincial capital of North 
West Frontier province (NWFP). The articulate 
former chairman of the Human Rights Commission of 
Pakistan (HRCP), and now senior leader of the 
opposition Awari National Party (ANP), painted a 
bleak picture of rights in Musharraf's Pakistan.
QUESTION: It's been four years since General 
Pervez Musharraf seized power. What impact has 
that had on the state of human rights in Pakistan 
today?
ANSWER: Like military governments in the past, 
rule by the army in Pakistan has delayed the 
country from its constitutional path. We are 
heading in a direction that is creating more and 
more distortions and deformations in our civilian 
institutions, particularly those that defend 
human rights. Judicially it [Pakistan] is very 
weak and has a very low prestige, not only in the 
eyes of lawyers and the legal community, but also 
in the eyes of the general public. In the same 
manner, the military generals have violated great 
aspects of the constitution and have used their 
political power. This so-called civilian 
government does not have power to rule the 
country. The real power still lies with the 
generals.
Violence against women has risen. There have been 
more cases of violence against women during this 
year than in the past years. Poverty has 
increased and the brunt of this development has 
been taken by the weaker sectors of society. That 
is women, children and disadvantaged people. We 
have more children on the streets. Begging is on 
the rise, and the government has in many cases, 
not only tortured people in custody, police 
atrocities have increased. A new police law has 
left them [the police] unaccountable before 
anyone. This so-called new police system has 
brought a sort of change for the worse. And there 
are no enquires into the cases of those officials 
who violate human rights. They are not 
accountable.
Q: If you were asked to summarise the state of 
human rights in Pakistan in one word, what would 
you say?
A: It [Pakistan] is a country without a 
constitution and a country without human rights.
Q: Recently there were hundreds of Afghans who 
were arrested and deported on the charges of 
being terrorists. How do you view this event?
A: Our police everywhere mistreat Afghan 
refugees, but the Islamabad [Pakistani capital] 
police are notorious for such behavior. Afghan 
refugees are never provided with due process of 
law. They are denied these rights, not produced 
before any court and they are deported by force. 
But as I said, the complaints against the 
Islamabad police are very strong. After the 
tripartite agreement about Afghan refugees 
between the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan 
and UNHCR [the Office for the United Nations High 
Commission for Refugees], there is no 
justification for arresting Afghans under this 
Foreigners Act that requires foreign aliens to 
have proper documents or be subject to arrest. 
Although recognised as refugees as a group, they 
are being harassed for not carrying proper 
documents, which are not provided to them.
Q: What about the issue of torture? There have 
been reports that political opponents, critical 
journalists and former government officials are 
on the receiving end of this. Is this issue on 
the rise?
A: Yes. We have seven cases of parliamentarians 
from the Punjab belonging to the Nawaz Sharif's 
Muslim League being tortured, a member of 
parliament from Faisalabad was tortured and 
beaten, journalists were also tortured. But this 
government is more sophisticated in using these 
methods. They gradually create an atmosphere of 
fear, which in turn forces some people 
[journalists] to self-censorship. A method of 
terror that keeps political workers or activists 
to keep their mouths shut. They use these tactics 
in a very sophisticated way, and they also do 
arrest some people to make them an example.
Currently in prison now, Javed Hashma the leader 
of the main opposition alliance and a member of 
parliament was arrested from the parliament 
building. For several days his whereabouts were 
not known by anyone, including his relatives and 
he was kept incommunicado before being produced 
before a court.
Q: According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW), over 
the past four years there has been a rise in 
activity by extremists groups and an increase in 
sectarian killings in Pakistan. Why is that?
A: The government of Pakistan has got a very 
strange policy. On the one hand it cooperates 
with the United States in arresting some elements 
of Al Qaeda - particularly belonging to Arab 
countries - who are spotted by the American 
government or the government of Pakistan. But 
they have not muttered the political will to take 
on these Pakistani militant organisations, when 
these organizations have been banned twice, but 
these bans are very hollow. Senior officers 
arrest some people who are not really involved in 
the business of terror. They are intact. Not a 
single person has been demobilised, disarmed or 
sent for rehabilitation. I don't think the 
government is serious about dealing with the 
extremist Islamic militancy. That's why these 
people are still around. And they do indulge in 
violence and sectarian violence in particular.
Q: How would your describe the status of women in 
your country under Musharraf? Has there been any 
improvement?
A: The only thing that has improved has been the 
representation of women in the electoral bodies 
at local, district, provincial and central 
levels. That is a good change because we have 
been demanding an increase in representation and 
now they have a particular percentage in election 
parties.
Apart from that, however, there has been no 
effort at creating conditions, enabling women to 
play their role effectively in the social, 
political and economic life of the country. [And] 
as a result in the rise of women's rights, there 
is a new cultural climate being created which 
aims at creating conditions that really aim at 
segregation on a gender basis. The religious 
right is single mindedly pursuing the objective 
of segregating women from men.
Examples of this can been seen by attacks on 
separate education systems, exclusively female 
sports, the pictures of women are not being 
allowed on posters and billboards in the 
country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). 
Not only is this being done by the government, 
but also by vigilante action there - tearing 
apart billboards where they see a photo of women. 
Even during the festival of Eid [a celebration 
marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan], 
cards carrying a photo of women were declared 
obscene and banned in the NWFP. Women's rights 
have of course been affected by these 
developments.
Q: In the past, you have been highly critical of 
the government's road map to democracy and return 
to civilian rule. Where are we on this road? Has 
there been any significant change over the past 
year?
A: It is very interesting that General Musharraf 
used to claim that he was against a "sham" 
democracy, and that he would restore "real" 
democracy to Pakistan. We have seen his real 
democracy, where he has declared dozens of 
amendments over and above the parliament. And he 
insists on being the president, along with being 
the chief of army staff, and the judges are not 
allowed to take fresh oaths, which they must 
according to the mandatory provisions of the 
constitution. The army has declared it has 
restored the constitution from 23 March of this 
year. But the judges have not taken an oath, 
which is a mandatory thing.
You can see such violations of the constitution 
and the undemocratic practices undertaken by this 
government. The parliament is not discussing 
government policy. The parliament is formulating 
neither foreign nor internal policy. Resource 
allocation is still decided by the generals. They 
call the shots in determining allocation and 
priorities. It is the worst example of a "sham" 
democracy - even by Pakistani standards.
Q: Since 11 September, Pakistan has been viewed 
as a staunch ally of Washington in its so-called 
war on terror. How has this affected human rights 
in the country?
A: As I said, the government of Pakistan has 
collaborated with the government of the United 
States in arresting some Al-Qaeda fugitives. In 
most cases, the due process of law has not been 
observed. People have been extradited without the 
observation of legal procedures. And the 
government has also strengthened internal laws - 
making them more draconian - particularly when it 
comes to terrorist activities. The laws are 
further strengthened in the sense that the basic 
principle of jurist prudence, in which a man is 
considered innocent until proven guilty, has been 
totally rejected. The new law here says that it 
is for the accused person to prove himself 
innocent.
The policies adapted by the government have led 
to violations [of rights], but it is not only 
that. By joining the coalition against terror, 
the Pakistani generals have received support from 
western countries - particularly the United 
States. This had led to a promotion of the 
generals' rule. The rule by the generals is a 
problem. It is not a solution. Unfortunately, the 
western countries have not taken notice of this 
fact - that we are reaping today what was sowed 
by Zia-ul-Haq, the military despot - and our 
coming generations will be reaping what is sowed 
today.
Q: Although an activist, you have now joined mainstream politics. Why is that?
A: I joined a political party because I feel that 
political parties are very important for a strong 
civil society. In Pakistan, unfortunately, during 
the past 15 or 20 years, political parties were 
undermined, particularly by the military. Of 
course, political parties have had their own 
weaknesses also. The mainstream political parties 
that could be a challenge to the military, were 
sidelined, discriminated against and demolished 
by the army. I feel that if we don't have strong 
secular democratic and liberal political
parties, we can't have democracy; we can't have a strong civil society.
Although I remain affiliated with the HRCP, there 
are other capable people who can run it now. Some 
of us should be in secular and liberal political 
parties to strengthen them, in order to 
strengthen democracy in the country.


_____


[3]

DAWN
28 December 2003

FAISALABAD: Vigilante groups set to stop new year festivities
By Our Staff Correspondent

FAISALABAD, Dec 27: A special force armed with 
batons and clubs has been constituted by local 
religious parties for forcibly preventing musical 
programmes and cultural shows on New Year's Eve.
Mutahida Majlis-i-Amal district president Sardar 
Zafar Husain, former MPA Malik Muhammad Din, Dr 
Javed Akhtar, Maulana Yousaf Anwar, Syed Yawar 
Hussain Shamsi and Abdul Islam announced in a 
statement here on Saturday that a danda force 
comprising young religious workers had been 
constituted to sabotage New Year's Eve 
programmes. The religious parties would not allow 
anti-Islamic forces to convert the country into a 
secular state, they added.
The Shabab-i-Milli Pakistan has also announced 
that it would sabotage stage shows and musical 
programmes on New Year's Eve. It also claims to 
have constituted groups of boys for patrolling 
the city.
[...].


_____


[4]

Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 04:09:31 -0800 (PST)
From: sahmat at vsnl.com
Subject: Sahmat Seminar/Tuesday 30th Dec

  SAHMAT
  8, Vithalbhai Patel House, Rafi Marg
New Delhi-110001
Telephone- 23711276/ 23351424
e-mail-sahmat at vsnl.com

PLEASE JOIN US

For a symposium:
THE MAKING OF INDIA
Tuesday, 30 December 2003
4.00 pm
Constitution Club, Vithal Bhai Patel House
Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110001


Addressed by Kapila Vatsyayan, Aijaz Ahmad, D.N.Jha.

As part of the 15 year anniversary of Sahmat, this is
a project to examine our cultural history as a
celebration of 'complimentary difference'. The project
seeks to counter rigidly narrow definitions of our
cultural traditions which are being aggressively
espoused in the recent past, and to reassert the
essentially complex and multi-layered sources of our
creativity.

Through seminars, an exhibition on history and a
collective exhibition of contemporary art from across
the country being specially made by artists, the
project will also be multi-dimensional and unfold over
the next few months.

Ram Rahman, MK Raina, Vivan Sundaram, Shamshad
for Sahmat

______


[5]

Dawn, December 28, 2003

Dr Mubarak Ali honoured

Activist and writer Dr Mubarak Ali is back in 
Lahore after receiving the Ramkrishan Jaidayal 
Harmony Award from the Dalai Lama in India. The 
award is given by the Organization of 
Understanding & Fraternity (OUF) with the noble 
objective of promoting greater understanding 
between communities.

Holding a Masters' degree in history from the 
University of Sindh and a PhD from Ruhr 
University, Germany, Dr Mubarak Ali taught at the 
University of Sindh from 1963 to 1989. He was the 
director of the Goethe-Institut, Lahore, in 
1991-1994. At present he is visiting professor at 
the National College of Arts, Lahore, and edits a 
quarterly journal Tarikh. Dr Mubarak Ali has been 
campaigning for ethnic, religious and communal 
harmony and his writings have widely influenced 
the younger generation.

The OUF presents awards under two categories: 
writers/journalists/ artists and NGOs. The award 
itself is worth Rs100,000 and is presented with a 
silver plaque. The organization was set up in 
1982 by people from the fields of art, culture, 
industry and politics, who cared for universal 
brotherhood, which evolves out of social 
interaction and mutual understanding amongst 
different religions, races and regions.

Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi of the Edhi Wefare 
Foundation was last year's recipient of the 
organization's NGO award. Besides Dr Mubarak Ali, 
this year's awardees include Vidya Mandir (NGO), 
Brij Bedi and Master Ajit Singh.

______


[6]

Magazine / The Hindu
THE OTHER HALF

Remember this?

KALPANA SHARMA

Can we afford to bury and forget the terrifying 
messages that the massacres in Gujarat carry?

THIS is the season when people are supposed to 
pause, think and introspect about the year gone 
by. And make resolutions about the coming year - 
on how not to repeat the mistakes of the past. 
But for some, introspection is preceded by 
amnesia. Thus, when there is nothing to remember, 
there is nothing to regret.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is convinced 
that anyone who still speaks of the horrifying 
events of February-March 2002 in Gujarat - 
"five-star activists and pseudo-secularists" - is 
"trying to tarnish the State's image". There is 
not even a hint of acknowledgment, leave alone 
regret, about the killings during those months 
that scarred not just Gujarat but India. As far 
as Modi is concerned, the "people have given them 
(the pseudo-secularists) a fitting reply by 
voting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back to 
power and these five-star activists have no right 
to question the collective wisdom of the people 
of Gujarat."

Is it "collective wisdom" to endorse amnesia? Can 
a sound future be built for a state, or a 
country, on the unhealed gaping wounds of 
thousands of its citizens? Can we as a country 
afford to bury and forget the terrifying messages 
that last year's massacres in Gujarat carry?

To ensure that the memory of the Gujarat carnage 
is not erased, one more report by the people Modi 
loves to hate has been released. "Threatened 
existence: A feminist analysis of the genocide in 
Gujarat" by the International Initiative for 
Justice in Gujarat is an important addition to 
the scores of documents that have recorded the 
events of early 2002. The significance of the 
report lies in several factors: one, the group 
that put together this report visited it nine 
months after the violence first began. As a 
result, they had the advantage of looking at the 
events afresh, at a time when things were 
supposed to have become normal.

Second, the group consisted of women from six 
countries including academics and activists. The 
international panelists were Sunila Abeysekara, 
Director of Inform, Sri Lanka, Rhonda Copelon, 
Professor of Law, City University of New York, 
Anissa Helie of Women Living Under Muslim Law 
from Algeria/France, Gabriela Mischkowski, 
historian and co-founder of Medica Mondiale, 
Germany, and Nira Yuval-Davis, Professor of 
Gender and Ethnic Studies, University of 
Greenwich, U.K. From India there was Uma 
Chakravarti, feminist historian from Delhi 
University, Vahida Nainar, researcher of 
international law, Farah Naqvi, independent 
writer and co-founder of Nirantar and Meera 
Velayudan, formerly with the Institute for 
Environmental and Social Concerns, Coimbatore. 
Together they brought their combined experience 
of similar situations around the world to bear as 
they listened to testimonies of the affected 
women and men in Gujarat.

The report is worth more than a glance because it 
illustrates how something that the Deputy Prime 
Minister L.K. Advani prefers to dismiss as an 
"aberration" has in fact systematised violence 
and discrimination so that it has become part of 
daily existence in Gujarat. Nine months after the 
violence, the panelists found that the problems 
for the Muslims, who had already lost almost 
everything, had not stopped. They look at five 
different aspects that arise from this situation: 
"Fear - generated both by threat of violence and 
actual attacks; displacement and 
non-rehabilitation; continuing economic violence 
including an economic boycott of Muslims; 
long-term impact on Muslim women including the 
impact on their physical, reproductive and 
psycho-social health and the long-term impact on 
children."

On the first point, for instance, they observe 
that "fear is today the dominant emotion in the 
lives of the Gujarati Muslims. They tread quietly 
and try to keep a low profile because even small 
altercations with members of the majority 
community can easily become serious."

The report especially highlights the impact of 
the sexual violence that was such a dominant 
motif of the killings of last year. "For women 
the fear of physical violence is heightened by 
fear of sexual attacks. Having been subjected to 
sexual violence themselves, having seen other 
women from the community being violated, or 
knowing the extent to which sexual crimes were 
committed, has engendered a psychological threat 
perception among all women from the community."

A woman survivor from Anand told the group, 
"Nobody has asked for forgiveness or shown 
regret. We cannot say anything. Rapists stop 
women in the street to humiliate them: `Didn't we 
have her, haven't we done this or that to her?' 
We don't speak about this at home, because then 
our men will get very agitated."

This combination of denial of justice and the 
continuing threat has caused women, already 
traumatised by the events of last year, even 
greater stress. The unmarried women who were 
raped do not speak about it. There are reports of 
many of them being hurriedly married off for fear 
that otherwise they would be unacceptable. Some 
married women are prepared to speak about what 
they saw or went through. But clearly, for every 
one such recorded case, there must be dozens that 
will never be acknowledged.

On top of this, women are burdened by suddenly 
being forced to be the sole breadwinners for 
their families. They also have to cope with 
displacement and the problems this throws up such 
as the difficulties their children face in new 
schools and in a different environment. And all 
the time, they have to deal with the open 
intimidation by perpetrators of past crimes who 
continue to move around unchecked. The team 
concluded that "nine months after the pogrom, 
(we) found overwhelming evidence of new and 
continuing forms of violence against the Muslim 
minority. They are unable to resume anything 
resembling a normal life, unable to ensure basic 
survival and to make free choices in the pursuit 
of happiness and well being for themselves and 
their families. The future holds dread".

But this is something Narendra Modi refuses to 
accept. All such reports are defaming his state, 
he blazes. On completion of one year in office, 
he prefers to talk about the wells his government 
has dug and the heightened attendance in schools. 
But does this count for anything when thousands 
of people who lost their families, whose women 
were gang-raped, whose children were massacred, 
whose houses were reduced to cinders, still have 
no hope for justice, for real rehabilitation and 
a promise of a peaceful future?

No, Mr. Modi and Mr. Advani. India and Gujarat 
cannot "shine" - "India shining" is the new 
slogan - as long as the dark stain of the Gujarat 
carnage remains unacknowledged and unaddressed. 
Indians who care must resolve that even in 2004, 
they will not allow such shameful events to be 
forgotten and erased from public memory.

______


[7]

The Telegraph
December 28, 2003

Retrial plea heads back to SC

OUR CORRESPONDENT
Ahmedabad, Dec. 27: Human rights activists will 
approach the Supreme Court against Gujarat High 
Court's dismissal of the state government's 
appeal seeking retrial in the Best Bakery case.

The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) said it 
will move the apex court in the first week of 
January when it reopens after winter vacation.

"We will point out legal loopholes in the 
judgment. The cases which the CJP wants to be 
transferred outside the state are listed for 
hearing on January 30. We expect the court to 
take up the matter that day," Teesta Setalvad, 
the NGO's secretary, said over phone from Mumbai.

"By then," she added, "we will have the copy of 
the high court judgment giving reasons for 
dismissing the amended appeal."

The division bench of Justices B.J. Sethna and 
J.R. Vora had yesterday said, while passing the 
judgment, that "the reasons will follow later 
(after the winter vacation)".

The Mumbai-based NGO had first moved the apex 
court after a fast-track court in Vadodara 
acquitted all 21 accused of charring 14 people at 
the bakery on March 1, 2002, during post-Godhra 
communal riots.

"The CJP had also assisted the victims to file an 
application in the current high court proceedings 
but Gujarat High Court thought it fit not to 
entertain the revision," Setalvad's statement 
said. "The dismissal is indeed shocking, but we 
still have faith in the highest court in the 
land," it added.

For riot victims such as Sayed Khan Pathan of 
Gulbarg Society, which was set ablaze, the high 
court judgement was not unexpected.

"We knew it was coming. We never expected that we 
would get justice in Gujarat. Unless riots cases 
are conducted outside the state, the Best Bakery 
acquittal case will be repeated," he said.

Ahmedabad-based rights activist Cedric Prakash 
said: "We will move the Supreme Court to 
challenge the order dismissing the appeal." The 
state had filed the amended appeal three months 
ago after being pulled up by the apex court for 
filing an "eyewash of an appeal" earlier.

Analyst Achut Yagnik said the case showcased the 
"failure of (the) criminal justice system" and 
the dismissal confirmed there was something wrong 
either with the "investigation or prosecution".

High court advocate Mukul Sinha blamed the 
government for its inability to convince the high 
court of the necessity for a retrial.

"It is entirely the government's failure. It was 
the government's own case. The fast-track court 
judgment was bad and justice was denied to the 
extent that the state government was forced to 
seek retrial.'' So, he said, it was up to the 
government to take the matter to the apex court.

"The Supreme Court has the power to direct a 
retrial outside Gujarat," said a member of 
Setalvad's organisation.


o o o

Best Bakery case: Ball in Gujarat government's court

Ahmedabad, Dec 27 (IANS) :
Rights activists are likely to pressurise the 
Gujarat government to move the Supreme Court for 
the retrial of a case relating to carnage at a 
Vadodara bakery, in which 14 people died during 
last year's sectarian violence.
On Friday, the Gujarat High Court turned down the 
state government's appeal for a retrial of what 
has come to be known as the Best Bakery case.
"The case is lost. That was only expected when 
the state government was not intent on delivering 
justice. Everything now depends on the Supreme 
Court," advocate and rights activist Girish Patel 
told IANS.
"It is unfortunate that the review appeal has 
been dismissed by the high court. But the Supreme 
Court can take care of the matter and I hope 
ultimately justice will be delivered," said 
Dwarika Nath Rath of the NGO, Movement for 
Secular Democracy.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's government 
has 30 days to appeal this and, while it might be 
reluctant to do so, it might find itself cornered 
- as had happened when a trial court acquitted 
the 21 people charge-sheeted in the case.
As the Gujarat government soft-pedalled on the 
appeal, the National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC) moved the Supreme Court, which asked the 
Gujarat government to appeal the acquittal.
This the state government did in September.
For the moment, the government says it is 
awaiting details of the high court verdict.
"For any further proceedings, we will have to 
wait for the bench to cite the reasons for the 
dismissal," said a law department official.
This will happen only after January 11, when the 
court reopens after its winter vacation.
Legal experts opine the Supreme Court could rule 
on the matter as the NHRC has filed a petition 
urging that cases relating to the communal 
carnage be transferred out of the state in the 
interest of a fair trial.
A high court bench, consisting of judges B.J. 
Sethna and J.R. Vora, Friday dismissed the state 
government's amended appeal challenging the 
acquittal of all 21 accused in the case.
The carnage had occurred in Vadodara, 110 km from 
here on March 1, 2002. The victims were burnt to 
death in a building that housed a bakery on the 
outskirts of the city.
Eleven of the victims were Muslims and one was a 
Hindu. Two bodies have yet to be identified.
A fast-track court in Vadodara acquitted all the 
accused June 27 after a majority of witnesses 
turned hostile and retracted their statements in 
court.
Zahira Shaikh, a key witness, said later she had 
retracted as she had been threatened.

o o o o


Date: 27-12-2003

· If these are the hard facts, then what other 
outcome could have been expected in Best Bakery 
Case?


The High Court of Gujarat has dismissed the 
half-hearted demand of the Government of Gujarat 
for retrial in the Best Bakery case. The High 
Court of Gujarat has confirmed the order of the 
trial court of Vadodara. This should not really 
come as a surprise if we take into consideration 
the way in which the Government of Gujarat has 
filed, amended, argued and pleaded the case even 
after Supreme Court intervention. Here is a case 
where the main intention of the petitioner, the 
Government of Gujarat, was and is to get the case 
defeated. It will be very tough fight to get 
justice in this and other such cases. It will be 
interesting to read the whole judgment, because 
to arrive at the conclusion it has, the judgment 
will have analysed the role of the Government of 
Gujarat. A striking aspect of the case is that 
not only was the lawyer for the accused- Mr. 
Rajendra Trivedi- a BJP Councillor, but the 
lawyer representing the Government's case was 
also representing the case of BJP Government. If 
these are the hard facts, then what other out 
come could have been expected?

Rohit Prajapati
Nandini Manjrekar
Trupti Shah
Johannes Manjrekar		 
Kiritbhai Bhatt
Chinu Srinivasan
Deeptha Achar
Renu Khanna
Rajkumar Hans
Human Rights Activists of Gujarat

______


[8]    [HINDUTVA AT WORK ! ]

o o o

The Times of India
DECEMBER 28, 2003

NGOs blame parties for riots
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2003 02:41:38 AM ]
HYDERABAD : Seven voluntary organisations in the 
city, which formed a fact finding team to report 
on the December 6 violence in the Old City have 
blamed political parties for the riots.
 
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, 
the team comprising the members of Confederation 
Of Voluntary Associations, Human Rights Forum, 
Coalition for Peace and Harmony, Sakshi Human 
Rights Watch, National Campaign on Dalit Human 
Rights and Anveshi said while one party observed 
a protest day the other celebrated it as a 
'Showrya Divas'.
 
Police intelligence has failed to understand the 
tense situation and the lurking fear that was 
looming in Old City at least 15 days prior to the 
Black Day., they said The police pickets should 
not have been withdrawn at 6 pm on the Black Day 
and firing without proper assessment, supervision 
and guidance by a superior officer worsened the 
situation, they said. It said neither the 
district administration nor the police could 
effectively negate the spreading rumours and 
restore confidence in people.
 
The two earlier commissions Krishna Rao 
commission and Ramana Chary commission, who made 
suggestions to improve the situation in the Old 
City should be examined and implemented, they 
said.
 
The team also said the government should pay at 
least Rs 2 lakh compensation each to the 
dependents of the persons killed in the violence..


o o o


The Times of India
DECEMBER 28, 2003

Scholar destroys own work on Shivaji
MANJIRI DAMLE
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2003 06:25:10 AM ]
PUNE: The Shiv Sena's strong-arm tactics have had 
serious repercussions here, with a distinguished 
scholar destroying 400 unpublished pages of his 
biography of Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
 
The scholar, Gajanan Mehendale, who has 
painstakingly authored an objective, unbiased and 
most respected biography of Shivaji Maharaj, 
after a research spanning over 30 years, was 
driven to the extreme act on Thursday.
 
Mehendale decided to tear off his work after Shiv 
Sena activists blackened the face of Sanskrit 
scholar Shrikant Bahulkar on December 22, for 
allegedly helping author James Lane, who has made 
some highly objectionable statements about 
Shivaji in his book, 'Shivaji: Hindu king in 
Islamic India'.
 
Incidentally, the Oxford University Press that 
published the book has apologised for the remarks 
and has withdrawn the book from market after 
history scholars like Ninad Bedekar, Mehendale 
and city MP Pradeep Rawat sent strong letters 
against the statements.
 
Shiv Sena activists jumped on to the bandwagon 
after the book was withdrawn, and after reputed 
institutions like the Bhandarkar Oriental 
Research Institute condemned the book's content.
 
What angered Mehendale most was that not a single 
scholar or professor in the University of Pune 
condemned the attack on Bahulkar.
 
He personally went to the office of Shiv Sena MLA 
Deepak Paigude on Thursday to demand that Shiv 
Sena activists, led by city unit chief Rambhau 
Parekh, tender an apology to Bahulkar.
 
When he received no response from Parekh, 
Mehendale tore off over 400 pages of the 
unpublished biography, 'Shri Raja 
Shivchhatrapati'.
 
Speaking to TNN here on Friday, Mehendale 
expressed his disgust over the behaviour of Sena 
activists against a scholar of Bahulkar's repute, 
who had nothing to do with Lane's remarks.
 
"There is a competition going on to prove who 
loves Shivaji the most. Since Parekh has such 
abundant love for Shivaji, he is an excellent 
candidate to write the biography of Shivaji", he 
remarked.


o o o


Kerala : "Politics Of RSS Bomb Attack On BJP Leader's House"

The Hindu, December 27, 2003, Saturday

Four RSS workers arrested

KANNUR, Dec. 26. Four Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 
(RSS) workers were arrested from Chendayad near 
Panur late last night in connection with the bomb 
attack on the house of a local leader of the 
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 5.

The Panur police identified the arrested as Nachiyot

Balachandran (28), K. C. Ajesh (23), K. V. 
Abhilash (22), and V. Shinoj (23), all hailing 
from Chendayad. They were arrested at around 10 
p.m.
on Thursday, the police said.

The arrested were produced before the Judicial 
First Class Magistrate Court at Koothuparamba 
today. They were remaded to police custody for 15 
days. The four RSS workers were charged under the 
Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 
148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 447 (criminal 
trespass) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of 
the IPC and Sections 3 and 5 of the Explosives 
Substance Act.

According to the police, the motive behind the 
attack was to create tension in the politically 
volatile areas of Panur, which had remained 
peaceful for the past few years. They thought 
that the local workers of the Communist Party of 
India (Marxist) would be suspected of carrying 
out the attack.

o o o


The Statesman, December 28, 2003

Govt wants to shut us down, allege Liberhan panel officials

Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Dec. 27. - The Central government is 
expecting an "unfavourable" report from the 
Liberhan Commission inquiring into the Babari 
Masjid demolition and is therefore citing the 
"delay" by the commission to wrap up its inquiry 
as an "excuse" to close it down, commission 
sources here
charged.
Reacting to reports that the commission would be 
denied the usual six months extension it has 
hitherto been getting and would possibly only get 
a three-month extension to complete its 
proceedings, commission sources said the Centre's 
stand that the enquiry had taken too long to 
complete work is an "excuse".
"The government is clearly unhappy with the way 
the commission has been working. They are also 
not expecting a favourable report. All this talk 
of a delay in wrapping up work is just an excuse 
to close us down," a commission official said.
However, the commission is yet to hear from the 
government on the issue of extension. The 
commission's current term lapses on December 31 
and the Ministry of Home Affairs usually notifies 
an extension if any on the last day of a 
commission's working term.
A commission official said "although evidence has 
been closed, arguments have not been completed. 
These hearings cannot be dispensed with". "So 
even if arguments were to begin tomorrow, they 
cannot be completed within three months. Writing 
the report would also take time in view of the 
enormous mass of evidence that
has to be gone through and
analysed".
The official also argued that since the subject 
is "sensitive and with obvious political 
ramifications", compiling the report is a "task 
of great responsibility". "We would not like to 
approach it in a flippant manner."
Plus, arguments cannot be resumed till January 9, 
when the Delhi High Court decides on Kalyan 
Singh's plea against deposing before the Liberhan 
commission. Counsel for the Central government 
and Mr LK Advani have been strongly opposing any 
move in the High Court to get Kalyan Singh to 
depose before the commission.
Mr Advani, Mr MM Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati, three 
senior BJP leaders, have been already cleared of 
involvement in the Babari demolition case by a 
special court.

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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
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