SACW | 4 May 2004

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire   |  4 May,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) documents press freedom and
state of journalism in South Asia
[2] Cricket for peace series: Indian children 
leave, hope to be back soon (Waqar Gillani)
[3] Pakistan: Trails Under Jirga System (Syed A. Mateen)
[4] India: Judiciary And Communal Violence (Asghar Ali Engineer)
[5] India: 'Insaniyat' meeting on the Best Bakery 
judgement + Citizens Statement . . .up for signing
[6] India: Sangh Parivar Angry at Supreme Court
[7] India: "Aman Youth Karwan" (New Delhi, May 7, 2004)
[8] India: Groups Ask World Bank to Withdraw
[9] India: Slums razed to suit Delhi's middle class (Raekha Prasad)
[10] USA - Film Screening: 'Final Solution' 
Screening and Discussion with Rakesh Sharma
[11] USA: Empire & Terror - A Workshop 
co-sponsored by the Southern Asian Institute (New 
York)


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


[1]

Media Release May 3, 2004 - World Press Freedom Day

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) documents press freedom and
state of journalism in South Asia

Release of second annual IFJ Press Freedom Report for South Asia

The year since May 2003 has been a turbulent time for journalists in South
Asia. As in previous years, governments, insurgents, terrorists, corrupt
officials, gangsters and fundamentalists of all religions were seen to be
targeting media for its free and fearless reporting.

Despite major challenges and difficult political situations in the region,
there were many examples of the work of journalists in highlighting
discrimination, promoting peace and resisting attempts at censorship and
repression.

The second annual report on press freedom in South Asia has been coordinated
by the International Federation of Journalists, the global voice for
journalists. The report, covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan,
the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka records and spotlights a worrying trend of
increasing violence against journalists, including the deaths of at least 12
journalists and other media workers in the 12 months to this day.

The report also monitors the commitment of governments across the region and
their actions on press freedom, saying: "Ruthless criminality and political
indifference often mean that little can be done to stop determined killers.
But governments must continue to be challenged.  They must respect
democratic rights, investigate and follow up every attack and be held
accountable when there is official complacency, negligence or, as in some
cases, official complicity in attacks on media."

The report shows that journalism in South Asia continues to be a risky
affair, and that those journalists operating in regions of civil, political
unrest and ethnic violence do so under enormous pressure on both their
safety and their ability to do their job freely. In many cases, the attacks
on journalists could be directly linked to their free and fearless
reporting.

Journalists need support not only to do their jobs in safety but they also
need professional training and proper working conditions.

A coalition of journalists' organisations and press freedom groups in South
Asia continue to challenge those that violate press freedom and independent
journalism through protest and solidarity actions. The publication of this
report, which documents and publicises violations, with contributions from
organisations across the region, is one of these solidarity actions.

"While there have been some positive developments in improving media freedom
in South Asia, sadly these are grossly overshadowed by attacks and
persecution of the press," the report concludes.

"Clearly, though, there is a long way to go to achieve the conditions
necessary for journalists to fulfil their democratic function. And
journalists and media workers have the best hope for achieving this by
acting collectively through strong, independent media associations that
demand respect for independent journalism and give journalists a voice in
negotiating proper training, a fairer legal environment and acceptable
working conditions. Attacks to hurt, harass and silence journalists can no
longer escape proper investigation and punishment as they so often have in
the past."

Further information, Jacqueline Park, Director IFJ Asia, +61 411 721 692,
ifj at ifj-asia.org or Laxmi Murthy, Tolerance Prize Co-ordinator for South
Asia, New Delhi, +91-9818383669, ifjsouthasia at hotmail.com.
For report www.ifj-asia.org


_____



[2]

The Daily Times [Pakistan]
May 03, 2004

CRICKET FOR PEACE SERIES: INDIAN CHILDREN LEAVE, HOPE TO BE BACK SOON
By Waqar Gillani

LAHORE A group of 31 Indian children bid farewell 
to their new Pakistani friends and returned via 
the Wagah border crossing on Sunday after playing 
a cricket series for peace.
The series was organised by a group of 
non-governmental organisations in a bid to 
promote peace ties between the neighbouring 
countries. Before leaving, the children and the 
organisers said they hoped to include more NGOs 
in such informal efforts to promote interpersonal 
contacts.
"We will try to broaden the network of peace in 
the region with the help of children," said 
Rakesh Senger, a senior member of the Indian 
delegation. "We have had meetings with several 
NGOs in Pakistan and we will discuss 
opportunities with Indian NGOs when we return."
Akshat Jain, a student of class 12 and member of 
the Indian 'children's media unit', said he had 
made a lot of friends in Pakistan. The children 
for peace campaign will continue, he said, hoping 
to come to Pakistan again.
"I will never forget this visit, particularly 
when I was garlanded on my arrival in Lahore. Our 
two countries are the same culturally. No wall 
can separate us," he said.
Rehan Khan, a factory worker and captain of one 
Pakistani team, said he had heard lots about 
Indian people, but now knew "they are our 
friends". Aditya Vikram, captain of one of the 
Indian teams, told Daily Times that they did not 
expect the warm welcome they received. "It was 
really a golden chance for us." He said people to 
people contact was a must for peace.
"I don't want to go back without my Pakistani 
friends," said Om Prakash. Nishit Sood, another 
member of the children's media unit, said he was 
delighted to have made so many friends in 
Pakistan, but felt sad to be leaving them.
On their last day in Lahore, the Pakistani and 
Indian children participated in a peace march 
from Liberty Chowk to Hafeez Centre, attended a 
reception from the Pakistan India Peoples' Forum 
for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and the Mazdoor 
Mela for Labour Day.The 31-member under-17 Indian 
team had arrived in Lahore to play cricket for 
peace with the Pakistani children. The Indian and 
Pakistani chapters of Actionaid, in collaboration 
with lnsaan Foundation Pakistan, Lahore, Society 
for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, 
Islamabad, and Leapfrog in India, arranged the 
series to promote interpersonal contacts.
The delegation included two journalists from 
Indian television channels Channel V and Music 
TV. Five young reporters in the delegation were 
chosen for writing on 'Cricket for Peace 2004' in 
Indian newspapers.
The cricket matches took place in Lahore, Kasur, 
Islamabad, Larkana and Karachi. Pakistani 
children will pay a return visit to India in 
September and October.
The Indian children team consisted of Hashim 
Ansari, Basant Kumar, Amit Kumar, Vicky Kumar, 
Raju Kumar, Sajan Kumar, Jaikishen Singh, Rahul 
Pandit, Akash Ansari, Ranjit Kumar, Rajan Sharma, 
Muhammad Azam, Bijay Kumar, Jangir Dhirtiman, Om 
Prakash Gurjar, Parkash Chand Swami, Ravi Dhanka, 
Sharad Kant Sharma, Suman Kr Mahato, Vikram 
Balai, Shaukat Ali, Mohan Kumar Mukhia, Shiv 
Kumar, Raju Balai, Aditya Vikram, Jay Parkash, 
Sneha Ramesh, Ashish Jain, Neethu Vincent, Akshat 
Jain, Mayank Anand and Nishit Sood.


_____



[3]

Paktribune  [Pakistan]
April 26, 2004

TRAILS UNDER JIRGA SYSTEM
by Syed A. Mateen

Hats off to Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafferey of Sindh
High Court who delivered a historic judgment and has
banned all trails conducted under ìjirga systemî
throughout the province of Sindh.
The honourable judge announced this order during a
hearing of a petition filed by one Shazia Mangi and
Ehsan Chachar of Daharki seeking protection from the
court against the tribal leaders, as the couple had
married of their free will and sought protection for
their lives, as they have been declared ìkaro-kariî by
their tribe.

The lives of millions of women in Pakistan are
circumscribed by traditions that enforce extreme
seclusion and submission to men, many of whom impose
their control over women with violence. Women bear the
traditional male control from every aspect in their
lives, speech and behaviour with stoicism, as part of
their fate.

In cases where a woman is believed to have dishonoured
her family by marrying a man of her choice or seeking
a divorce, tribal councils, commonly known as jirgas,
decide the fate of women by declaring women as ìkariî
in respect with exercising her free will which is
considered as a matter of disobedience to her elders
and the tribe. The violence against women in Pakistan
is reported that at least 1,000 honour killings occur
annually.

Many Pakistanis connect honour killings with their
local culture, tradition and in the name of religion,
but in fact the decisions taken by jirgas has no
relationship to Islam. Jirga laws are rooted from the
tribal customs and the power that lies in the hands of
elders.

Many tribal leaders participate in the tribal courts.
They hand down their punishments in violation of basic
human rights principles, and run private prisons. A
high percentage of the rural population is illiterate
and does not know how to approach the official justice
system of the country.

  the jirga is an institution in Pakistanís informal
justice system that is condoned by the corrupt
officials in the police. The police do not generally
take action when jirga decisions lead to murder,
except in such cases where President of Pakistan
General Pervez Musharraf has taken personal notice and
ordered inquiry for honour killings.

Corruption in police ranks has also seriously
compromises the official system. In rural areas,
people are forced to obey the orders of a jirga; the
members of such self made courts lags in knowledge due
to which the cases of human rights violations and
injustice are on the rise.

Influenced by powerful clans and biased against women
and the poor, the jirga is an institution in
Pakistanís informal justice system that is condoned by
the corrupt officials in the police. The police do not
generally take action when jirga decisions lead to
murder, except in such cases where President of
Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf has taken personal
notice and ordered inquiry for honour killings.

The government should constitute a panel of judges of
Supreme Court in order to find ways and means as how
to abolish the jirga system from urban areas of the
country, so that lives of thousand of women could be
protected, who are killed every year in the name of
honour, disobedience, tradition or culture, after the
delivery of the judgments by these illegally
constituted self made courts and the women are
declared as ìkarisîand are murdered frequently.

The government of Pakistan should introduce and
enforce laws against the decisions of awarding death
penalty by the jirgas in the country. The centuryís
old tribal jirga system should be brought for the
purpose of discussion and debate in the parliament so
that ban on trails conducted under ìjirga systemî
should not only restrict within the province of Sindh,
but it should be completely banned in the entire
country.


_____


[4]

Secular Perspective [India]
May 1-15, 2004

JUDICIARY AND COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
by Asghar Ali Engineer

Communal riots have been taking place in this 
country since early sixties when the first major 
riot took place in Jabalpur in M.P. in Madhya 
Pradesh in 1961. Since then hundreds of riots 
took place in India and innumerable people were 
killed. Hardly few people have been punished for 
killing and murdering in the riots. There are 
several reasons for this.

Those killed are generally poorest of the poor 
and those survive them hardly wield any clout. 
The police, also, therefore, show total 
indifference in investigation and filing charge 
sheets. The police has been communalised and 
distorts the case right at the stage of filing 
FIRs. In most of the cases investigation is 
closed after sometime saying further 
investigation not possible. Greater the 
communalisation of the police more of such closed 
cases. In Mumbai riots of 1992-93 too several 
cases were closed.

In many cases the police itself is the culprit in 
aiding and abetting the crime. In the Gujarat 
carnage of 2002 the police was openly helping the 
frenzied crowds and providing them protection. In 
many cases ministers were allegedly leading these 
crowds and so the police had all the reasons to 
either help the crowd or look the other way when 
murdering, looting and burning went on. How can 
then police investigate against itself. The only 
alternative for it is to close the cases.

And when it does investigate, it is half way 
house and charge sheets are filed in a way the 
accused may be discharged. The police even 
manipulate the case diaries. The Madon Commission 
appointed to inquire into the Bhivandi-Jalgaon 
riots of 1970 strongly reprimanded the police 
authorities for forging daily diaries and 
manipulating its contents. Thus with such half 
hearted investigations and biased role of the 
police the culprits can hardly be expected to be 
punished. They are more often than not, 
discharged by the courts. Thus there are very few 
instances of accused in communal riots being 
punished.

The judiciary at lower levels is not much 
different. It is also often biased. It grants 
bail to  members of one community while refusing 
the same to the members of another community. 
Also, as it happened in Best Bakery case in 
Baroda, it hardly takes careful and critical view 
of the case and tends to discharge the accused. 
And it is not for the first time in Gujarat. 
Gujarat has witnessed several riots in the past 
and judiciary has hardly behaved differently. In 
that state even the high court does not have 
record to be very proud of.

Since 1960 riots of Ahmedabad Gujarat has very 
dubious record in this respect. The then Jana 
Sangh and then the BJP have systematically made 
efforts to communalise the society, the police, 
the administration and the judiciary. It is as a 
result of all this that the Gujarat is proudly 
referred by the Sangh Parivar as the ‘laboratory 
of Hindutva. In no other states one would find 
boards in village after village that "Panwad in 
Hindu Rashtra welcomes you". Is it against the 
Constitution? Who cares any way. It is after all 
laboratory of the Hindutva.

It is, therefore only higher judiciary, 
especially at the Supreme Court level that 
provides relief to the victims of the communal 
violence. The Supreme Court rightly ordered the 
Modern Bakery case to be tried outside Gujarat. 
In that state where all the organs of the state 
and civil society too has been communalised how 
can one hope for justice within the state? The 
state prosecutors are often members of VHP and 
more than prosecution lawyers they act as defence 
lawyers.

It was in the light of all this that the Supreme 
Court maintained “Justice should not only be done 
but be seen to be done". Keeping in view the 
peculiar circumstances of the case, the ample 
evidence demonstrating subversion of justice 
delivery system with no conducive atmosphere 
still prevailing, we direct the re-trial shall be 
done by a Court under the jurisdiction of Bombay 
HC.

It is total lack of confidence in the judicial 
system in Gujarat. The BJP, which talks of 
‘good-governance’ has to do serious 
introspection. What kind of governance it is 
providing in a state, which is governed solely by 
BJP? What will happen to the judiciary in the 
country if ever the BJP comes to the power at the 
Centre. In  M. P. and Rajasthan where it has come 
to power of its own saffronisation is going on 
apace and one shudders to think what will happen 
to judiciary there in times to come.

The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of the 
victims of communal carnage in Gujarat. It is the 
higher judiciary, which provides hope to the 
helpless victims. But for the Supreme Court the 
victims would have had to reconcile itself with 
gross injustices in the land of Hindutva.  The 
victims of communal carnage in Gujarat felt 
unsafe at every stage. The witnesses were 
threatened and the state administration took no 
step to protect them. The prosecutors provided by 
the state, as pointed out earlier, were VHP 
members. There was no other way for witnesses 
like Zahira Sheikh but to turn hostile.

The Judge concerned of the fast track court also 
did not make efforts to find out why the witness 
had turned hostile. He simply discharged the 
accused on that basis. It was gross abortion of 
justice. Even the High Court was no different. 
The Supreme Court took serious notice of role of 
the High Court in Gujarat. "The High Court", the 
Supreme Court observed, "made unwarranted 
reference to personalities and their legitimate 
moves before competent courts, despite knowing it 
could not deal with such matters. Decency, 
decorum and judicial discipline should never be 
made casualties by adopting such intemperate 
attitudes of judicial obstinacy."

This admonition by the highest court in the land 
should be enough for any sensitive judge of the 
Gujarat High Court but one wonders if it would 
have intended effect on the Gujarat judiciary. 
The Supreme Court in its remarks even reminded 
the people of "modern day Neors". It is very apt 
reference to Nero though it is not clear who the 
highest court has referred to as Nero. Nero was 
one who sent several Christians to death and was 
condemned to death by the Roman senate in 68 A.D. 
The Supreme Court judges observed in their 
judgement "The modern day Neros were looking 
elsewhere when Best Bakery and innocent children 
and helpless women were being burnt and were 
probably deliberating how the perpetrators of the 
crime can be saved or protected." Even more 
forthrightly the learned judges of the Supreme 
Court observed, "Law and justice become flies in 
the hands of these wanton boys. When fences start 
to swallow the crops, no scope will be left for 
survival of law and order or truth and justice. 
Public order as well as public interest become 
martyrs and monuments."

The court referring to acquittal of the accused 
observed, such acquittals were “unmerited, based 
on tainted evidence, tailored investigation, 
unprincipled prosecution and perfunctory trial 
and evidence; and threatened or terrorised 
witnesses " The Court also observed that if these 
findings were accepted that would amount to “ 
travesty of truth and a fraud on the legal 
process." In these few sentences the learned 
judges have described very succinctly the 
situation in Gujarat.

Such strong remarks from the highest court in the 
land warranted immediate resignation of the Chief 
Minister but in the rule book of the ‘good 
governance of the BJP no such action was 
necessary as all this was done deliberately to 
teach Muslims a lesson'. It is ironical that the 
same party is asking for the Muslim votes in the 
Lok Sabha elections taking place in the country 
and some opportunistic Muslims have rushed to the 
rescue of the beleaguered party. However it is a 
different story we are not concerned with here.

India is a biggest democracy in the world and we 
all are justly proud of the same. However, the 
politicians hungry for power have robbed our 
democracy of all its worth and used communal and 
casteist discourse for easy way to power. It is 
judiciary at higher echelons, which comes to the 
rescue of helpless victims of the executive 
organ. Thanks to the founding fathers of our 
Constitution that they thought of independence of 
judiciary and our judiciary at higher levels has 
been remarkably independent and this has given 
hope to the helpless victims of the executive 
organ.

The politicians with secular ideology also proved 
not very different and encouraged casteism and 
communalism for clinging to power. Only those 
politicians who are committed to left ideology 
have shown sincere commitment to secularism and 
communal harmony in the country. It clearly shows 
that only those who care for the weaker sections 
of society can be expected to maintain communal 
harmony. But among non-left secular forces there 
have been very few who showed sincere commitment 
to secular values except as public rhetoric.

If there has been such failure on the part of 
secular forces what of the BJP with its professed 
ideology of Hindutva? Can it ever be expected to 
care for rights of minorities and their 
securities? Certainly it is asking for the 
impossible. One should not be taken in by their 
election rhetoric of secularism and rush to elect 
them. They swore by 'secularism' on Father of 
Nation's Samadhi and began to use stark communal 
discourse within a year thereof.

The Indian intelligentsia should reflect deeply 
on the observations of the Supreme Court in the 
Best Bakery case and make all possible efforts to 
restore secular values of our democracy. Our 
democracy has been hijacked by communal and 
casteist forces laying political games. It is for 
the intelligentsia to rescue it from their 
clutches. 

(Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Web-site: www.csss-isla.com )


______



[5]

'INSANIYAT' MEETING ON THE BEST BAKERY JUDGEMENT

Insaaniyat's meeting on 24 April, 2004, in Mumbai 
to express support for the Supreme Court 
judgement in the Best Bakery case (transferring 
the case out of Gujarat) was a striking 
demonstration of the considerable public support 
for justice for the victims of communal violence. 
The audience of 175, which included many 
prominent citizens from the arts, corporate 
world, academia, the media, trade unions, women's 
organizations and citizen's groups, were part of 
an even larger group of individuals who endorsed 
the statement prepared for this occasion.

What is even more heartening is the continued 
outpouring of support for this statement. We are 
adding names as they keep coming in. So if you 
haven't signed in yet, it's still not too late - 
just email a response 
(InsaaniyatBombay at hotmail.com) and your name will 
be added on. If you know of others who would like 
to register their support, please let them know.

Just as every drop of water makes a mighty ocean, 
every gesture, however small, adds up to the 
groundswell of support we are already seeing for 
justice for victims of the hideous violence in 
Gujarat. In the days and months to come, we along 
with other groups and individuals plan to launch 
a campaign to create a support network for 
witnesses. We need ideas, inputs, volunteers and 
financial support to reach out to wider sections 
of society.

At the meeting on Saturday, human rights lawyer 
Mihir Desai, who is representing Zahira Sheikh, 
spoke of the manner in which the processes of 
justice were being systematically undermined in 
Gujarat. The Supreme Court judgement was 
unprecedented in more ways than one, he said, 
adding that it was indeed extremely rare for such 
a combination of four important aspects of the 
judgement: that the court ordered a re-trial; a 
re-investigation; that the case be moved to the 
Bombay High Court; and that the victims are given 
the chance to choose a public prosecutor to 
represent their case.

Teesta Setalvad, who has been spearheading the 
work of Citizens for Justice and Peace, spoke of 
the vitiated atmosphere in which victims are 
seeking justice in Gujarat. CJP pleas to transfer 
several other cases are pending before the 
Supreme Court, including the Godhra, Sardarpura, 
Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patiya cases. She 
spoke of the immense courage and tenacity of 
women like Zahira and Bilkis Bano in their search 
for justice.

Actor Rahul Bose spoke of the prevailing fear 
psychosis in society and said that it was 
important to rise above oneself to combat the 
environment of mistrust and intolerance. He later 
pledged his unequivocal support for a campaign on 
the issue.

Here's the statement of support for the Best 
Bakery judgement; listed below that are the names 
of all those who have endorsed it:

  We, the undersigned, welcome the Supreme Court 
judgement of 12 April 2004 delivered by Justices 
Raju and Pasayat in the Best Bakery case as an 
example of all that is finest in our society and 
our judicial system. The Judgement states, among 
other things: 'When large numbers of people 
including innocent and helpless children and 
women are killed in a diabolic manner it brings 
disgrace to the entire society. Criminals have no 
religion. No religion teaches violence and 
cruelty-based religion is no religion at all, but 
a mere cloak to usurp power by fanning ill 
feeling and playing on feelings aroused therebyŠ 
The fanatics who spread violence in the name of 
religion are worse than terrorists and more 
dangerous than an alien enemy.'

The judgement alerts us to the dire danger facing 
our democracy when 'fanatics who..are worse than 
terrorists' are repeatedly excused not only by 
the police, judiciary and State Government of 
Gujarat but also by the Prime Minister and Deputy 
Prime Minister of India. Justice is a central 
pillar of democracy; when the former is 
destroyed, the latter collapses. We value the 
Supreme Court's determination to restore the 
credibility of our judicial system in the eyes of 
the world and safeguard our democracy. We pledge 
our full support when the retrial takes place in 
Bombay. We also note that other survivors of the 
Gujarat carnage, including relatives of the 
Godhra victims, have requested that their cases 
be transferred out of Gujarat, and pledge our 
support to them too.
Names of those who have endorsed/signed the above statement

Anu Aga, Arti Kirloskar, Aimee Wadia, Khorshed K 
Gandhy, Rahul Bose, Farouque Sheikh, Sayeed 
Mirza, Aamir Khan, Om Puri, Nandita Puri, Govind 
Nihalani, F T Khorakiwala, Nandan Maluste, Vinay 
Shukla, Rajni Bakshi, John D'Souza, Kekoo Gandhy, 
Shailesh Gandhi, Vahida Nainar, Neera Desai, 
Meena Gopal, Apoorva Kalwar, Shalini Mahajan, 
Sanjay Upadhyay, Ranjendra Kanvinde, Manjula 
Swami, Chayanika Shah, Adv Prashant P, Ramarao M 
G, Anjum Rajabali, Gita Chadha, K.Sridhar, Arati 
Luthra Pinto, Simantini Dhuru, Riddhi Shah, 
Prasoon Pandey, Ram Madhvani, Ayesha Sayani, 
Lalit Marathe, Sanjay F.Gupta, Amole Gupte, Deepa 
Bhatia, Tanvi Azmi, Sameer Malhotra, Dunu Roy, 
Imrana Qadeer, Sandhya Gokhale, Juzar Bandukwala, 
Tanuja Chandra, Madhushree Datta, Mariam Dossal, 
Suguna Rao, Madhu Akotkar, A G Tanjula, Perrin 
Chandra, Sajid Rashid, Hemant Tiwari, Asif Khan, 
K M Aarif, Sudhir Paranjpe, Parezade Mama, 
Arnavaz Mama, Firdausi Jussawalla, Naira 
Ahmadullah, Sonal Sheth, Smriti Nevatia, Bhushan 
Oza, Rudi Heredia, Rohit D Mothari, Daniel 
Mazgaonkar, Zia Hajeebhoy, Mazamil Qamim, Meena 
Menon, Dara T Gandhy, Sanober Keshwaar, Yogi 
Aggarwal, Gurpal Singh, K Leena, Deepak Negi, 
Sandhya Mhale, Shama Dalwai, J B D'Souza, Neela 
D'Souza, Prashant P. Bansode, Dr. Vibha Surana, 
M.Bajpai, Ritu Dewan, Swati Raju, Nina Ashar, 
Nitin Nair, S.Sriraman, L.G.Burange, Vibhuti 
Patel, Aarti Prasad, Surendra Gaikwad, Manisha 
Karne, R.G.Dangde, Narendra Panjwani, Rajani 
Iyer, S.M.Michael, Annakutty V.K., S.K.Bhowmik, 
Myrtle Barse, B.V.Bhosale, Aziz Mirza, Pranav 
Tripathi, Mrs Sudherekha, Amolik, Dr Naina 
Athalye, Dr Vibhuthi Patel, Ms Sunipa Ghose, 
Rukmini Datta, Bennet D'Costa, Dr Athar Qureshi, 
Venita Fernandes, Josephine Williams, Shabana 
Khan, Desh Deepak, Shweta, Shyam Ranjankar, Salim 
Saboowala, Preeti Bhat, Ammu Abraham, Bulbul 
Manlani, Satya Wanuari, Shrikumar Poddar, AH 
Farooqui, Punam Sawhney, Priyanka Josson, 
Bandhuraj Lone, Smruti Koppikar, Ambika Gupta, 
Sagar Pandya, Mahesh Kamble, Supriya Kamble, 
Deepa Gehlot, Piroj Wadia, Sagar Yadav, S N 
Hammad, E N Fernandes, Kunal Motishaw, Justice 
Daud, Asghar Ali Engineer, Sonia Gill, Kumar 
Ketkar, Dr Shriram Lagoo, Medha Patkar, Adm 
Ramdas, Lalita Ramdas, Sharada Sathe, Ayesha 
Sayani, Justice Suresh, N Vasudevan, Nikhil 
Wagle, Parvati Vasudevan, Biswamohan Pradha	, 
Monish Ved, John Thomas, Satish Sahwney, Tushar 
Dhara, Swaroop Biswas, Yazad Jal, Vivin Mathew 
Easo, Atul Tiwari, Shama Zaidi, Sujoy, Satish 
Sutaria, Irfan Merchant, Yasmeen Lukhmani, Indra 
Munshi, Margarida Colaco, Nasreen Fazalbhoy, 
Feroze H Mithiborwala, Hasan Kamaal, Sushant 
Singh, Sujata Tiwari, Shalini Gogia, M J Pandey, 
Faiza, Sonal, Rajit Kapur, Nitin Kalra, Amarendra 
Dhaneshwar, Neela Bhagwat, Uttam Sirur, Vinise 
Banerjea, Pallavi Acharya, Purnima Kulkarni, 
Pradnya Bothare, T J Ravishankar, K K Raina, Asad 
Bin Saif, Sahil Sheth, Subhash Mehta, Dolphy 
D'Souza, Sukla Sen, Ankur Datta, Suma Josson, 
Deepika D'Souza, Raajen Singh, Shakil Ahmed, 
Smita Vijay Crishna, Vinod Shetty, Baba Azmi, 
Jairus Banaji, Geeta Seshu, Rohini Hensman, 
Ranush Kamble,


______



[6]

Comment sent to Mainstream Weekly [India]
[May 3, 2004]

SANGH PARIVAR ANGRY AT SUPREME COURT

- Don't be surprised. Gujarat based Sangh Parivar 
outfits are real angry at the country's Supreme 
Court for its April 12th comments on the state 
administration and its judiciary in the transfer 
verdict of Best Bakery case, where 14 minority 
community workers were burnt alive in February 
2002.

As such, the BJP, the political arm of the 
Parivar, publicly expressed their respect for the 
country's highest court and said they would 
follow the verdict, but they also expressed their 
intense dislike for the court's comments in their 
Gujarati organ "Sadhana" weekly later on. A 
special article on the verdict, written by a 
Sangh journalist, challengingly asks the supreme 
court:
"Where would the supreme court transfer the Best 
Bakery case if the Maharashtra court also 
declares Hindu accused as innocents?"

Obviously, Sangh marks out accused as Hindus and 
Muslims. Muslim is always a terrorist and Hindu 
always innocent victim of centuries old 
atrocities on him. If some court tries to judge 
the matter differently, as human beings whether 
Muslim or Hindu, then the court is wrong or 
anti-Hindu spokesman.

Sadhana wrote: " By giving a verdict to transfer 
the case to Maharashtra and run it from the 
beginning onward, Supreme Court has played a 
spokesman role of hate-Gujarat, anti-Hindu and of 
those elements biased against Narendra-Modi such 
a feeling in someone's mind could not be ruled 
out."

Only epitaph left unwritten about the Supreme 
Court is " hypocritic secularist,'  a label they 
liberally apply to all and sundry supporters of 
justice and human rights in Gujarat, India and 
the world. They have declared time and again that 
a 'second front'  (first front was a genocidal 
attack on minority) after post Godhra violence 
would be opened against those 'hypocritic 
securalists'   Some of their columnists in 
Gujarati magazines even named such 'traitors.'

The article denounced Supreme Court for using 
such words as 'Gandhi's Gujarat.'  It says: 
"Supreme Court should have at least avoided 
mentioning the words like Gandhi' s Gujarat'  in 
its long commentary with the verdict. Once the 
court says "such things cannot be tolerated in 
Gandhi's Gujarat,"  it could mean that such 
things could be tolerated in other places and if 
it happened in other place and some people were 
arrested and someone reminded the court of its 
own words, would it release them as innocents?"

True to the 'command'  issued in Sadhana, in such 
words as "What the true nationalists, true 
Hinduists and intellectuals of Gunjarat should do 
now? Even if the government does not step forward 
to do something, what should we do? If we cannot 
or would not do anything for those Hindu accused 
once declared innocents and a 'fansi'  (death by 
hanging) hanging like sword on their heads now, 
Modi administration would be equally responsible 
for it as much as Teesta and her traitor 
supporters."  (Teesta heads an organization 
called Citizens for Justice and Peace and she 
sought protection for Zaheera who had to leave 
Gujarat after she denounced those who threatened 
the witnesses. She also took her to the Supreme 
Court).

Could Modi ignore such a hint by his own mother 
body- the RSS? Modi government launched its 
counter move soon by asking the apex court to 
review its transfer verdict of April 12th and 
wait for all other 12 carnage case-transfer 
hearing till Best Bakery transfer case was 
cleared first. Modi' s chief unofficial legal 
adviser Arun Jetley, who enjoys  a Rajya Sabha 
membership from Gujarat on Modi' s grace, was of 
course in Gujarat when the state government took 
such an action.

Indian Express, Ahmedabad edition, wrote on the 
state government' s review petition on April 22 
like this:"  Claiming inaccurately, that ‘no 
material was placed before the court by Zaheera 
(victims'  relative) justifying this transfer 
outside the state"  the government' s petition 
asks the court to ‘modify'  the transfer verdict.

Zaheera's petition filed in last January 
specifically prayed the court that " the re-trial 
including completely fresh evidence be done at a 
session's court outside Gujarat."  Gujarat 
government' s intension is clearly to stall this 
transfer trial – first of its kind in the 
judicial history of independent India.

Zaheera Sheikh and other witnesses who turned 
hostile during the trial court' s proceedings 
have categorically stated that  they were forced 
to lie on oath due to threats from persons " who 
are politically well connected"  and despite wide 
publicity to this fact, no action or even a 
promise of action came forth from the government 
against these persons.

It is now certain that the Modi government would 
not leave any stone unturned to stall, to 
distort, to misrepresent and to sabotage the 
judicial proceedings in any manner possible. Next 
hearing fixed by the apex body is August 3, as 
the Chief Justice Khare is retiring in May.


_____


[7]

SALUTE THE MEMBERS OF AMAN YOUTH KARWAN

Dear Friend

You are aware that 'Meri Awaz Suno' Youth Aman 
Karwan’ had taken the plunge to address press 
conferences, hold rallies and meeting with the 
youth of the country in 40 cities. The karwan was 
flagged off on 7th April 2004 and had decided to 
travel about 1500 Kms covering all majot states 
of India like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, 
Chattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, 
Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Bhopal, Uttar Pardesh, Jammu 
and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana. Young, 13-20 
year old, school and college going students from 
all over the country are participating in this 
project. Ms. Shabnam Hashmi is accompanying the 
Karwan.

The Karwan is about to complete its last leg, 
i.e. from Kashmir they will move into Punjab and 
then enter Haryana. Their last halt is 
Kurukshetra. After completing one month of 
continuous travel and facing the heat, dust, 
storms, rains and a violent attacks by Vishwa 
Hindu Parishad/RSS the Karwan is scheduled to 
enter Delhi on May 7,2004 at 9am in the morning.

We feel that in independent India, young school 
going children has never taken up such an 
activity. The immense courage shown by the Karwan 
members and their Parents, who permitted them to 
continue their resolve even after the shameful 
attack by VHP, needs to be recognized and 
appreciated.

  In order to encourage and show our appreciation 
Anhad is organizing a suitable reception at 4, 
Windsor Place, Opp. Kanishka Hotel New Delhi. A 
large number of schools have promised to send 
their children for this programme where the young 
warriors would share their experience. We request 
you to join us at 9am at Anhad Office.



______



[8]

April 27, 2004

Indian Groups Ask World Bank to Withdraw

Several people's organisations, movements and 
NGOs from various states of India met the World 
Bank on the 26th of April 2004 and held an hour 
long discussion with the senior officials of the 
World Bank.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the 
World Bank, these groups detailed and criticized 
the enormous and severe impacts of the World Bank 
projects and policies in the mining, forestry and 
dams sector as well as water and power 
privatization in the last few decades.

In the light of the enormous dispossession and 
displacement wrought by World Bank policies, the 
groups asked the World Bank to declare a 
moratorium on funding of all such destructive 
projects, take responsibility and undertake 
reparations for all communities affected by Bank 
funded projects, withdrawal of the World Bank 
from strategic sectors such as power, water, etc 
and eventually from India.

The representatives also expressed their support 
for the action of the group on fast in front of 
the World Bank premises in Washington DC, who are 
demanding investigation of Bank funded projects 
worldwide and reparations by the World Bank. They 
expressed their solidarity with Angana 
Chatterjee, Dana Clark and Dickson.

Those present in the meeting with the World Bank 
officials included Ravi Rebba Pragada of mines 
minerals & People (mm&P) and Praveen Mote of 
Samata from Andhra Pradesh, Roma from the 
National Forum of Forest People and Forest 
Workers and land rights campaign from Uttar 
Pradesh, Joseph Hmar and Ramananda Wangtheirakpam 
from the North East representing Citizen's 
Concern for Dams and Development (CCDD), Souparno 
Lahiri from Delhi Forum, Vimalbhai of MATU 
working for the rehabilitation of the oustees of 
the Tehri dam in Uttaranchal, Vipin representing 
South Asia Networks of Dams Rivers & People 
(SANDRP), Kamla Yadav and Raijibhai from Sardar 
Sarovar Project impact zone, Mangat Verma and 
Suresh Patidar from Maheshwar dam zone as well as 
activists Chittaroopa Palit and Phillip from 
Narmada Bachao Andolan that is fighting large 
dams in the Narmada valley, Jan Sangharsh Morcha, 
Madhya Pradesh, the farmer's organization - the 
Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan.

The World Bank team was led by Mr. Bill Rahel, 
Acting Country Director and Lead Environmental 
Specialist, Mr. Warren Waters, Senior Social 
Scientist, Mr. V.J Ravishankar, Senior Economist 
and Geetanjali Chopra, Communications Officer of 
the World Bank.

Holding the World Bank responsible for financing 
and pushing through the Sardar Sarovar dam Kamla 
Yadav, activist and oustee from Madhya Pradesh 
said that not a single oustee of the 193 villages 
of Madhya Pradesh had been given land till date, 
and the World Bank was responsible for bringing 
things to such a pass. She said that since the 
affected people have not received resettlement, 
they continue to stay on the edges of the 
reservoir now swollen with silt, and treacherous. 
As a result, there have been a large number of 
deaths in the valley. She said that the World 
Bank will also have to take responsibility for 
the death in police firing of Rehmal Puniya 
Vasave, tribal youth from Maharashtra, the rape 
of Budhibehn from Gujarat and the death of Shobha 
Vagh, a young activist trapped in the silts on 
the dammed Narmada..

Raijibhai from Village Gadher in Gujarat said 
that people of 19 affected Gujarat villages had 
been displaced into settlements over 16-17 years 
ago, when the World Bank was still funding the 
Project but thousands of people who were 
displaced then, are yet to receive land and other 
benefits due to them. He said that the oustees 
have received either less land, or bad land or no 
land at all.

NBA activist Phillip demanded that the World Bank 
must send a Mission to the Narmada valley to 
ascertain the real scenario and take 
responsibility for the devastation.

Mangat Verma, affected by the Maheshwar dam in 
Madhya Pradesh, pointed out that the World Bank 
has not taken any lessons from the human rights 
disaster that they funded in Sardar Sarovar, but 
the World Bank continued to have a presence in 
the Narmada valley - either directly or 
indirectly. The World Bank was a large funder to 
the Power Finance Corporation funding the 
privatized Maheshwar Project. The World Bank is 
also considering funding the National Hydro-Power 
Corporation (NHPC) which is building the 
Omkareshwar and Narmada Sagar dam, both without 
any rehabilitation and land benefits for the 
affected populations. Special Armed Forces have 
been extensively used for eviction in Narmada 
Sagar. He said that it was clear that the World 
Bank intended to continue with its policies that 
decimated communities and environments and 
therefore. If the Bank was not prepared to 
withdraw on its own, there would be a huge 
rebellion all over India that would compel it to 
withdraw very much in the manner that the British 
were forced to leave India less than 60 years ago.

Roma described the pitiable state of the 
displaced people of the NTPC managed Singrauli 
thermal power station where many of the oustees 
are yet to be rehabilitated and disastrous impact 
on the immediate environment including water 
contamination.

While the Indian groups affirmed their support 
for the implementation of the Extractive 
Industries Review recommendations in full, both 
Ravi Rebba Pragada and Souparno Lahiri raised the 
plight of the displaced indigenous and tribal 
people in East Parej coal mines under the Coal 
Sector Environmental and Social Mitigation 
Project. Pointing out a series of violations by 
the implementing authority, the Coal India Ltd. 
(CIL) and the Indian government as documented by 
the Bank's own inspection panel they asked what 
is going to happen to these people? Who will take 
responsibility for destroying life, livelihood, 
culture and habitat of these people and commented 
that most of the Bank projects in India end this 
way.

Mentioning the experiences of Andhra Pradesh and 
Madhya Pradesh forestry projects, the delegation 
members pointed out that these projects have not 
only resulted in displacement of indigenous and 
tribal people and alienation from their 
traditional land and resources, in Madhya 
Pradesh, the resistance of forest communities 
resulted in a spate of police firings where 
forest department went on a looting spree, 
destroying houses and foodgrains of the already 
marginalised tribals. They felt that if the 
generation and protection of the forests is best 
left to the forest people and they are vested 
with community ownership of the forest land and 
management of the forests, no fund is needed in 
the forestry sector. The forthcoming Jharkhand 
forestry project was also deplored in the meeting.

Joseph and Ramananda enquired about the Bank's 
interest in resuming funding for large dams and 
expressed concerns of the North East people 
regarding future dam projects.

The meeting ended with the discussion on the 
incompatibility between the Bank's policies and 
that of the Indian government, particularly, with 
reference to indigenous policy - OD 4.20 and 
involuntary resettlement - OD 4.12. The Bank 
officials pointed out that the term indigenous is 
not acceptable to the Indian government in which 
case we the delegation has written to the World 
Bank for clarification on the implementation of 
OD 4.20 in India if this is not acceptable to the 
government. The delegation felt that this issue 
has serious repercussions in the country in terms 
of Bank projects.

The Bank officials did not commit any concrete 
response but felt continued engagement in India 
is necessary for fair development.

Issued by: mm&P, Samata, Narmada Bachao Andolan, 
Jan Sangharsh Morcha, Delhi Forum, NFFPFW, CCDD, 
MATU, SANDRP and Nimad Malwa Kisan Mazdoor 
Sangathan


______



[9]

The Observer [UK]
May 2, 2004

Slums razed to suit Delhi's middle class
Tens of thousands are made homeless to make way for a leisure complex

Raekha Prasad in Delhi

Mohammed Ibrahim woke to Delhi's sun and waited 
for his life to collapse. He had known it was 
inevitable from the blaring megaphone driven past 
his door the day before. By 6am three generations 
of the rickshaw driver's family had ferried their 
possessions into the open. Just after 9am, six 
bulldozers crushed to rubble the two-room home he 
had built.

With the machines, Ibrahim says, came more than 
1,000 police officers carrying tear gas and 
batons. They destroyed his neighbours' houses 
too. Up to a third of a million people living in 
Delhi's biggest slum are being evicted under a 
government plan to transform the banks of the 
city's Yamuna river into a tourist and leisure 
centre.

'Ibrahim said: 'Without my home, I feel like a dead man.'

Most of the 150,000 people whose homes have been 
destroyed in the past fortnight earn around 2,000 
rupees a month (£25) as domestic servants, rag 
pickers, construction workers and rickshaw 
drivers. They have no option but to live among 
clumps of rubble, facing police intimidation when 
they try to erect makeshift shelters.

Slum clearances are central to the government's 
plan to make over the capital. Delhi is India's 
richest city, with a burgeoning and vocal middle 
class impatient for the trappings of a 
twenty-first-century consumer lifestyle.

Road building and the construction of a metro have all swept away slums.

'The guilt about inequity and poverty of 10 years 
ago has vanished with the triumph of the middle 
class,' said Ravi Agarwal, director of the 
environmental group Toxics Link. 'Now 
discrimination against landless, lower-caste 
people is dressed up in language about a "clean 
future".'

Neighbouring the half-demolished slum is one of 
the world's great Islamic imperial sites - the 
seventeenth-century city of Old Delhi. There is 
the sprawling heritage site of the Red Fort, the 
Jama Masjid - India's biggest mosque - and the 
renowned market Chandi Chowk.

Slum clearances have proved problematic for 
administrations trying to reconcile development 
with the interests of poor people. Their role in 
authoritarian and violent episodes in Indian 
recent history has been vividly dramatised in 
novels such as Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance 
and Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay.

Temples, some dating back 30 years to when the 
first dwellers moved in, are all that's left of 
the Yamuna slum. Those still living among the 
rubble pull out plastic bags stuffed with their 
voting and ration cards, without which the poor 
are deprived of everything.

India's Tourism and Cultural Minister, Jagmohan, 
is spearheading the Yamuna evictions and talks of 
reviving the area. As the right-hand man of 
Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay, Jagmohan - who only 
uses his surname - gained notoriety in the 1970s 
for taking charge of slum clearance programmes 
during Indira Gandhi's 'Emergency', when India's 
democracy was suspended.

The exercise then, as now, was to reclaim the 
city from the 'illegal encroachments' that had 
enveloped many of Delhi's monuments.

Dunu Roy, director of the Hazards Centre, a 
charity that supports community groups, said of 
the present clearances: 'All citizenship rights 
have been snatched away. It's ruthless and 
inhuman.'

In the midst of India's general election, 
activists argue that Jagmohan, a member of the 
ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party 
(BJP), will benefit from the timing. Delhi goes 
to the polls this week and the majority of the 
slum dwellers are Muslims who traditionally 
support the opposition Congress party. Although 
contingencies for relocating evicted families 
were promised by the Government, relief agencies 
estimate that only a quarter have been moved.

For a plot the size of a garden shed on Delhi's 
limits some 35km away from the slum, they must 
pay the equivalent of three months' wages. Unable 
to afford to travel such a long journey, many 
have lost their jobs.

Jai Narayan Mahot is one of them. Standing in 
front of a brick pile that was once his home on 
the relocation site of Holambi Kalan, he is 
waiting to rebuild. His cigarette shop inside the 
slum was also destroyed. He will travel back to 
the banks of the river to vote for the Congress 
party.

'I want to defeat Jagmohan and the BJP for 
putting us here. They have done nothing for us,' 
he said. 'They're against the poor.'


______



[10]

FINAL SOLUTION
Screening and Discussion with Rakesh Sharma

* Best Documentary & Critic's Choice,
Hong Kong International Film Festival
* Wolfgang Staudte Award & Special Jury Award, 
Berlin International Film Festival

Final Solution is a study of the politics of 
hate. Set in Gujarat, India between February 2002 
and July 2003, the film examines the aftermath of 
the deadly violence that followed the burning of 
58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at 
Godhra on February 27, 2002. In ìreactionî to 
that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally 
murdered, hundreds of women raped, and more than 
200,000 families driven from their homes. (2004, 
India, 145 min)

San Francisco Premiere
Saturday, May 8, 2004, 3PM
University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94117
<http://artsci.usfca.edu/maps/map_HR.html>Harney Science Center, Room 232
Golden Gate Ave./Chabot Terrace (Phone: 415-422-5555)

Other Screenings

Thursday, May 6, 2004, 6PM
University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
<http://maps.ucsc.edu/cmsciencehill.html>Earth and Marine Sciences, B-214
Steinhart Way (Phone: 831-459-0111)

Friday, May 7, 2004, 7PM
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305
Bldg. 370, Room 370
450 Serra Mall (Phone: 650-723-2300)

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For more info, visit
http://ektaonline.org/finalsolution



_____



[11]

Empire & Terror

A Workshop co-sponsored by the Southern Asian Institute
and the Sawyer Seminar (Mellon Foundation) on the Production of the Past

6-7 May 2004
The Kellogg Center (Room 1501)
International Affairs Building (118th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
Columbia University in the City of New York

Thursday, May 6
9:00	Continental Breakfast

9:30	Welcome: Vidya Dehejia (Director, Southern Asian Institute)

"Towards an Imperial History of Terrorism," Nicholas Dirks (Columbia,
Anthropology and History)

10:00	"Dreadful Acts and Docile Bodies: Governance, Subordination and the
Uses of Fear in Colonial India," Sudipta Sen (Syracuse, History);
discussant, Indrani Chatterjee (Rutgers, History)

10:50	"The Terror of Sedition: Perspectives from Late Nineteenth Century
Maharashtra," Janaki Bakhle (Columbia, MEALAC); discussant, Gyanendra Pandey
(Johns Hopkins, Anthropology and History)

11:40	Coffee Break

12:00	"Bombs and Nationalism in British Bengal," Partha Chatterjee
(Columbia and CSSS, Anthropology and Political Science); discussant, Sudipta
Kaviraj (London and Chicago, Political Science)

12:50	Break for Lunch

2:00	"Anarchism and Empire: The Case of the Ghadar Movement," Harjot Oberoi
(British Columbia, History); discussant, Veena Das (Johns Hopkins,
Anthropology)

2:50	"Colonial violence and the borders of French history," Joshua Cole
(Georgia, History); discussant, Ann Stoler (New School, Anthropology and
History)

3:40	Break for Tea

4:00	"Terror and its Opposite: Notes from the Settler-Colony," Joseph Massad
(Columbia, MEALAC); discussant, Nadia Abu-el-Haj (Barnard, Anthropology).

4:50	"Anti-Colonial Empire," Engseng Ho (Harvard, Anthropology); discussant,
Amitav Ghosh (Queens, Comparative Literature)

5:40	General Discussion
Reception to follow
Friday, May 7

9:00	Continental Breakfast

9:30	"The Question of Violence?" Dipesh Chakrabarty (Chicago, History);
discussant, Arjun Appadurai (New School, Provost)

10:20	"Jihad as the Future of Politics," Faisal Devji (Yale, History);
discussant, Talal Asad (Graduate Center, Anthropology)

11:10	Coffee Break

11:30	"Good Muslim, Bad Muslim," Mahmood Mamdani (Columbia, Anthropology and
Political Science); discussant, Rashid Khalidi (Columbia, History)

12:20	Closing Plenary Session


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

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.sacw.net/
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bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

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archive for SACW:  snipurl.com/sacip
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DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

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