SACW | 24-26 Jul 2004
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Jul 25 21:11:07 CDT 2004
South Asia Citizens Wire | 24-26 July, 2004
via: www.sacw.net
[1] India: Letter re Unesco award to educator
who undid India's secular syllabi (Anhad)
[2] Sri Lanka: Drive to Repeal Anti-Terrorism
Law Gains Momentum (Champika Liyanaarachchi)
[3] Pakistan: Scholars to correct 'Islamisation'
of history books (Pranab Dhal Samanta)
[4] Nepal: Sexual Rights Group at Risk of Closure (Human Rights Watch)
[5] India: Bhopal verdict marks a small legal
advance, but a big moral and social gain (Praful
Bidwai)
[6] India: Appeal to Sponsor education for the
children of Gujarat carnage victims
[7] India: Ghosts Of Punjab's Dark Era Haunt Families Of Victims
[8] India: Government may make witchcraft illegal
--------------
[1]
To: sacw at sacw.net
From: sacw <aiindex at mnet.fr>
Subject: Press Release: Letter re Unesco award to
educator who undid India's secular syllabi
Cc: spokesperson at unesco.org , i.le-fournis at unesco.org, c.darmouni at unesco.org
For immediate international release on behalf of
the Anhad (Act Now for Harmony) based in India.
PRESS RELEASE
Expression of grave concern at the nomination for
an award by UNESCO of a former Indian official
who steered the process of falsification of
history texts for school education and
undermining India's secular school syllabi etc.
23 July 2004
The following letter has been faxed earlier today
to the Director General of UNESCO.
ANHAD
4, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001
Tel-23327366/ 67
E-mail: anhadinfo at yahoo.co.in
July 23, 2004
Mr. Koichiro Matsuura
The Director General
UNESCO
7, Place de Fontenoy
75352 PARIS 07 SP, France
Dear Mr. Koichiro Matsuura,
We are appalled to hear about your decision to
award Mr JS Rajput, former Director NCERT, India,
with the Jan Amos Comenius Medal for outstanding
achievements in the fields of educational
research and innovation.
The last five years have seen a systematic
destruction of the secular foundations of the
Indian polity. The most grave of these was the
subversion of the liberal and progressive
character of the Indian educational system. From
single teacher primary para-schools in rural and
tribal hamlets to the highest institutions of
teaching and research in the land, none were left
untouched. History was distorted to evoke a false
and politically motivated vision of our syncretic
past and culture, the values that illuminated our
freedom struggle were sought to be extinguished,
and both overtly and subliminally minorities were
demonised and gender, caste and fascist
prejudices and stereotypes deliberately fostered.
Lakhs [Hundreds of thousands] of Indian students
over the past few years were subjected to
deliberate mischief and misrepresentation of
facts about our history. Textbooks were changed
to contain twisted facts, portions were deleted.
Facts like Nathu Ram Godse, a Hindu fanatic
assassinated Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi
did not find a mention in the IX standard
textbook. Instead of building a scientific temper
amongst the young students, concerted efforts
were made to introduce retrogressive ideologies.
Universities were forced to start courses in
astrology.
The people who were leading this campaign were Mr
JS Rajput under the guidance of [India's] former
Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Murli
Manohar Joshi.
We are shocked that United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
was unaware of the developments that were taking
place in India. Every national daily and
television channel reported it extensively over
the past five years.
We appeal to you to reconsider your decision.
With greetings,
Yours Sincerely
Shabnam Hashmi KN Panikkar Prof. Harsh Mander
leading social activist Vice Chancellor
leading social activist, writer
Mobile-9811807558
ALSO SIGNED BY OVER 280 STUDENTS
STUDENTS
S.NO Name Class Age
1 Aanchal Anand BA 18
2 Aarushi 10th 15
3 Aastha Gulati 12th 17
4 Aban Raza 10th
5 Abheek Chimni 12th 17
6 Abhinayaa C 10th 15
7 Adeel Arif 11th 16
8 Aditi Vajpeyi 11th 16
9 Aditya Changavalli 10th 15
10 Aditya Meduri 12th 17
[...]
282 Harsh Anuj 12th 17
_____
[2]
OneWorld South Asia
23 July 2004
DRIVE TO REPEAL ANTI-TERRORISM LAW GAINS MOMENTUM IN SRI LANKA
Champika Liyanaarachchi
COLOMBO, July 23 (OneWorld) - Lawyers and rights
activists in Sri Lanka have launched a campaign
to collect one million signatures for a
memorandum demanding the repeal of a 1979
introduced draconian anti-terrorism law under
which 65,000 persons have been detained so far.
This week, nongovernmental organization, Center
for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), along
with think tank Center for Policy Alternatives
(CPA) organized a public meeting on the ills of
the PTA in the capital Colombo, coinciding with
the law's 25th anniversary.
Simultaneously, they launched a campaign to
collect one million signatures for the
memorandum. Activists protested against the
manner in which the law was hastily adopted.
The Act was introduced to combat local movements, following an uprising of
Sinhalese youth in 1971, amid signs that Tamil
youths in the North were also gearing up for a
revolt against the government.
Dubbed as one of the most draconian laws passed
in Sri Lanka, the PTA, which has attracted flak
from international rights activists and jurists,
empowers police officers from the rank of
superintendent to arrest any person, enter and
search any premises, stop and search individuals
or vehicles and seize documents, without a
warrant.
Any sub inspector or officer can do the same
provided he possesses a written document from a
police superintendent or officer above this rank.
Nearly 50,000 Tamils were arrested and detained
after the outbreak of full-scale war between the
government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) in 1983.
Reportedly, nearly 40 per cent of them were
tortured and harassed in police custody. In
addition, some 15,000 youths from the South were
arrested under this law.
Nearly 20,000 persons died after their arrest.
Protests Secretary of human rights NGO, CHRD, N.
Kandasamy, "Enough damage has been done by this
bizarre law which makes a mockery of all human
rights norms. We should make a fresh bid to get
the law repealed at least in the name of
thousands of those who have undergone the most
inhuman
treatment due to it."
Says head of CPA's legal unit and senior lecturer
of law at the Colombo University, Rohan
Edrisinghe, "Apart from the fact that it is in
direct conflict with the fundamental chapter in
the Constitution, it was not properly subjected
to judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court
giving its determination in one page. There was
no proper debate on the law in Parliament."
Interestingly those who voted for the law
included Parliamentarians representing the
Tamils, who were at the receiving end of the
majority of crimes committed in the name of the
PTA.
Says Jaffna district parliamentarian and
secretary of the main Tamil party, the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA), Mavai Senathirajah,
"That was one of the biggest blunders ever
committed by Tamil politicians. But I think they
did not realize the gravity of what they were
doing at that time."
While no arrests were made under the PTA after
the February 2002 ceasefire agreement, there are
currently nearly 200 previously arrested
detainees still in custody.
Some of them are suspects of various LTTE bomb
attacks, still awaiting a hearing of their cases.
For instance, as Kandasamy says, "There are six
suspects in the Kalutara prison who were arrested
after a bomb attack in 1996. Their cases have not
been heard even once."
Although heavy pressure to repeal the law was
mounted on the previous United National Front
(UNF) government after entering into the truce,
it refused to do so. Obviously, given the
likelihood of a fresh outbreak of war, the
government was reluctant to do away with it.
The present government too is very unlikely to
repeal the law despite the fact that one of the
government's coalition partners, the Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was once at its receiving
end, having spearheaded youth uprisings in the
South in the late 80s.
Admits Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, "Through
out there has been a lobby pressing for repeal of
the law, and we have to accept there were
excesses."
But he failed to commit himself on whether the
government would actually repeal it.
_____
[3]
Indian Express
July 20, 2004
Pak takes rewrite leaf from India
SCHOLARS TO CORRECT 'ISLAMISATION' OF HISTORY BOOKS
Pranab Dhal Samanta
ISLAMABAD, JULY 19: If Murli Manohar Joshi is
feeling the need, he has shoulders to cry on.
Across the border, and an ideological gulf. Just
like the UPA Government in India is in the
process of ''detoxifying'' NCERT history
textbooks of saffronisation, the regime in
Pakistan has engaged scholars to pore over its
own books for Islamisation.
While the scope of change here is much broader,
as also the challenges quite formidable, the
Pakistani government-under international
spotlight since 9/11-could take the plunge to
take some of the heat off it.
Abdul H Nayyar is a professor of Physics at the
Quaid-e-Azam University but for the past few
years he has dedicated himself to this cause,
which includes bringing out a controversial
report citing examples of how the system has
ensured an overarching influence of Islam in
textbooks of Urdu, English and Social Studies.
The Pakistani government has instituted a
committee to look into the findings of this
report. However, any change-if it comes-won't be
easy. When the Punjab state board tried to
introduce some of the changes, it ran into fierce
objections from hardliners, followed by a hasty
withdrawal of the books by the Federal Government.
Nayyar says the resistance has only strengthened
his resolve, as he now embarks on uncovering a
similar ''subversion'' in textbooks for Ethical
Studies-a subject for non-Muslim students who
don't opt for Islamic studies and even pure
sciences.
''The problem is quite grave here. Unlike in
India, the subversion has been happening for the
past few decades. The textbooks here are guided
by a curriculum document which says that nothing
against the teachings of Islam should find its
way into textbooks. Unless this is amended, there
is no certainty that any positive change in
textbooks will remain permanent,'' Nayyar told
The Indian Express.
In Pakistan, Nayyar says, the textbooks are
revised every year, and for this purpose, the
curriculum document is significant. ''We have a
Curriculum Wing which brings out this document.
The mindset in this department needs to changed
if this Islamisation process has to be stopped.''
While the list of changes that Nayyar and his
friends at the Sustainable Development Policy
Institute-to which he is associated and under
whose aegis he brought out the first report-wants
is quite long, he feels there are few immediate
changes that could be undertaken to give positive
signals:
* Minority communities should not be compelled to study Islamic teachings
* No encouragement to ideas in the name of Islam
which end up producing hate. For instance, the
glorification of jehad
* No blatant distortion of history to further a religious ideology
* Review of all textbooks, followed by changes in the curriculum document
Nayyar is also worried about the glorification of
military heroes in textbooks, though he
understands that given the current dispensation,
''this may be difficult to achieve now''. Yet, he
says, ''A thought needs to be given to this
because students have to read stories about all
those persons who have been accorded the highest
military honour.''
Despite the government's helplessness to bring
about these changes, Nayyar says he is hopeful
because there are many officials who appreciate
his views.
Several international donor agencies which
exercise influence over the Pakistan government
have also apparently shown interest in his report
and have been putting pressure for change. ''The
distortion is quite blatant. For instance, the
history before the invasion of Sindh by Mohammed
bin Qasim is covered in just two pages. There is
complete denial of ancient history, which was
taught to my generation in the form of a separate
subject called History of India and Pakistan.''
_____
[4]
Human Rights Watch - Press Release
NEPAL: SEXUAL RIGHTS GROUP AT RISK OF CLOSURE
(New York, July 23, 2004) -- The Nepalese
government should respond to a threatened
judicial ban on an organization that defends
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people's
rights by affirming the freedoms of association
and expression, Human Rights Watch said today in
a letter to the Nepalese authorities.
In trying to stifle the voices of sexual
minorities, Nepal demonstrates its indifference
to basic rights of expression and assembly. In
trying to silence those who document police
abuse, the Nepalese government shows its
determination to punish the messenger.
Scott Long, Director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human
Rights Watch.
On June 18, a private lawyer petitioned the
Nepalese Supreme Court to shut down the Blue
Diamond Society, a nongovernmental organization
working in the areas of sexual health and human
rights. The petition accused the group of trying
to "make homosexual activities legal," and
demanded it be banned because homosexual conduct
is criminalized in Nepal.
In response to the petition, the Supreme Court
gave the Ministry of Home Affairs until July 27
to show why "open homosexual activities" should
not be banned in Nepal. Pointing to recent
allegations of police abuse in Nepal based on
sexual orientation and gender identity, Human
Rights Watch urged the ministry to confirm its
commitment to protecting human rights without
discrimination.
"In trying to stifle the voices of sexual
minorities, Nepal demonstrates its indifference
to basic rights of expression and assembly," said
Scott Long, Director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human
Rights Watch. "In trying to silence those who
document police abuse, the Nepalese government
shows its determination to punish the messenger."
While there is no provision in Nepalese law that
explicitly criminalizes homosexual conduct, Part
4, Chapter 16 of Nepal's civil code (Muluki Ain)
punishes "any kind of unnatural sex" with up to
one year in prison. This provision has been used
to justify arrests of men who have sex with men
and transgender people.
The Blue Diamond Society provides peer support
and HIV/AIDS education for lesbians, gays, metis
(transgender persons) and men who have sex with
men. The organization also engages in public
education campaigns about sexuality and human
rights. It has repeatedly filed official
complaints over police abuse of the communities
it supports.
Most recently, on July 5, the Blue Diamond
Society organized a demonstration in the capital
Kathmandu to protest recent incidents of
violence, including sexual abuse, against metis
and men who have sex with men. As a group of
approximately 50 demonstrators tried to march
peacefully from the Bhadrakhali Temple toward
Singha Durbar to present a petition to Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, police reportedly
dispersed the group violently, beating several of
the protesters.
"Police violence, coupled with the judicial
threat to shut down an organization that provides
HIV/AIDS education, drives people at high risk
even further underground, and only worsens the
spread of the pandemic," said Long.
_____
[5]
The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, July 24, 2004
THE BHOPAL VERDICT MARKS A SMALL LEGAL ADVANCE, BUT A BIG MORAL AND SOCIAL GAIN
Fumigated, at last
BY Praful Bidwai
Rs. 15,000 to compensate you for a grievous
injury that scars your lungs or kidneys for life
or even affects your immune system? Well, that's
what 95 percent of the victims of the world's
worst-ever industrial accident received—after 10
to 15 years of lost income and aggravated health
damage.
Just Rs. 1 lakh for each family of those who died
from exposure to toxic gases from the Bhopal
pesticides plant? That's the self-degrading,
disgracefully low, value this society put on
human life. In Bhopal, thousands of lives were
lost—not like in some natural calamity, but even
more gruesomely, for entirely man-made reasons.
At work was the criminal failure of a powerful
corporation presiding over a toxic empire to
exercise due care in the design and operation of
a plant using, storing and producing extremely
hazardous materials such as the war-gas phosgene
and super-lethal methyl isocyanate.
Leave alone aircrashes, even the families of
those die in railway accidents receive three to
five times more compensation for a relative's
death. The iniquity is all more glaring because
the malfeasance and hence the culpability
involved in a toxic-chemical accident is far
greater than in a rail mishap: the onus to
protect the public is fully on the
owner-producer, who alone is aware of the hazard.
This sound logic was overturned in the delivery
of compensation following the collusive 1989
out-of-court settlement between our government
and Union Carbide Corporation of the US. By
tacitly accepting a grotesquely paltry
compensation for a mass-scale disaster, Indian
society diminished itself.
Now, society has decided more or less to double
the compensation by distributing what remains of
the original $470 million deposited by Carbide.
That's the meaning of Monday's judgment. It's
purely fortuitous that what remains has risen in
value to the seemingly high figure of Rs. 1,500
crores—largely because of the three-fold
devaluation of the rupee vis-à-vis the dollar
over 15 years!
The additional Rs. 1 lakh that some families
receive might make a minor difference to their
lives. But that won't be true of the 1.2
lakh-plus people who suffered moderate to severe
damage, much of it persistent and irreversible,
who still need treatment. They will receive only
Rs. 25,000 in final compensation. The sum is so
paltry, so measly, and it comes so late, that it
doesn't remotely approach the elementary
requirements of justice.
The latest Supreme Court judgment is, on the one
hand, a searing indictment of our justice
delivery and political systems. On the other, it
does little to rectify their flaws. It
acknowledges that the magnitude of destruction in
Bhopal was far worse than first thought. The
Supreme Court itself underestimated it by a
factor of five in 1989. The original assumption
was that the death-toll would be "only" 3,000. By
the government's own records, it reached 15,310
last October. And we are still counting! This is
an implicit admission that justice still eludes
the people of Bhopal, who were killed, maimed and
scarred for no fault of theirs.
Three aspects of the Bhopal case are noteworthy.
First, despite pretensions to Great Power status,
India has confirmed itself as a Third World
society mired in Fourth World social values and
legal systems, whose rulers are incapable of
resisting hegemonic First World interests.
The $470 million represents one of the world's
cheapest, if not the paltriest, settlements of
toxics-exposure suits involving massive damage.
It barely equals double the amount of Carbide's
insurance cover! Had such an accident occurred in
the West, UCC would have been immediately
bankrupted. As would be its directors, who
besides would serve long prison sentences, far
harsher than, say, Enron's Kenneth Lay is likely
to suffer.
The Indian government has even failed to serve an
arrest warrant on Warren Anderson, first issued
in 1992. It claims—ludicrously—that it can't
trace him, although his address was widely
published by Greenpeace!
Second, institution after institution let down
the Bhopalis. The Centre took over their
litigation and made a mess of it. The American
courts accepted Carbide's plea of forum
non-conveniens. India's courts couldn't handle
the case based on the law of torts because we
didn't for all practical purposes have such a law
(and failed to develop it).
The Supreme Court itself let the victims down by
approving the settlement in return for
extinguishing Carbide's civil as well as criminal
liability. The corporation responsible for the
plant's gravely flawed design and operating
procedures, which controlled its 51 percent
Indian subsidiary to the finest detail, secured
an easy release. It merely accepted "moral
responsibility" (read, nothing)! It's only in
1991, thanks to the victims' sustained agitation
and public pressure, that criminal liability was
restored. But the government --which alone can
prosecute crimes--has failed to pursue charges.
Take the issue of the victims' relief and
rehabilitation. The Madhya Pradesh government was
put in charge of this despite its appalling
callousness, incompetence and corruption. The
Indian Council of Medical Research failed to
suggest a rational line of treatment. Bhopal's
elite has been hostile to the victims. BJP
ministers Uma Bharati and Babulal Gaur still
demand the compensation should be shared with the
well-off unaffected wards!
Third, we have learnt few lessons from Bhopal.
India is still grossly under-regulated for toxic
hazards, with few procedures for environmental
clearance, warning, evacuation, emergency relief
and long-term rehabilitation. There is no
recognition of the chemical, long-term nature of
damage from industrial poisons. As for the
absence of tort law in respect of mass disasters
or large-consequence mishaps, the less said the
better.
It's as if all the case-law developed in the
Thalidomide, Agent Orange and Dalkon Shield
trials, or tobacco-related compensation, had
never touched our courts. Nor have we learnt much
from the Uphaar tragedy, the Oleum leak, the
Chasnala disaster, the Kumbakonam fire.
These failures further compound the injustice,
insult and ignominy heaped upon Bhopal. If
despite this, the victims have achieved
something, it's not because of the courts or
governments, not because "the system" works, but
because of their own heroic effort. Their
struggle for justice has been arduous, dauntingly
uphill. But it is epochally valiant. Their strong
collective experience has helped them recover
their human dignity and rise above victimhood.
Right since December 1984, I have personally
witnessed how broken widows, children who were
forced to become heads of their families at age
9, and half-crippled day-labourers, all turned
into strong individuals, great activists, skilful
campaigners and capable organisers. This
self-empowerment through collective struggle is
the Bhopal victims' single greatest achievement.
There is a larger significance to the struggle.
It has kept our collective social conscience
alive by ensuring that the story of corporate
criminality which causes grievous suffering to
innocent people wouldn't be obliterated. It has
again and again reminded the world that it didn't
do real justice to the powerless and
underprivileged victims; that there must no more
Bhopals.
The victims' spirit has proved indomitable. Their
struggle hasn't ended. Indeed, part of the legal
battle has shifted to the US courts which accept
that the 1989 settlement doesn't cover
environmental damage. The victims' moral
commitment and perseverance will continue to
inspire millions across the world—and remind us
of how far we still have to go to create a safer
world where thuggish corporations addicted to
super-profits cannot rule unfettered. The Bhopal
example will energise many struggles against
tyranny.
_____
[6]
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 09:03:46 +0100 (BST)
From: Shabnam Hashmi <anhadinfo at yahoo.co.in>
Subject: sponsor education
Dear Friends,
We have an offer from an
English Medium school with hostel facilities in
Hyderabad ( being coordinated by Azam from COVA)
for subsidised education for the children of
Gujarat carnage victims. The cost is coming to
1500 per child per month including stay, food ,
uniform and books.
Anhad had sent out an appeal yesterday on sms to
friends to commit 1500 per month for three years.
The money has to be paid for 6 months or an year
in advance to Anhad, which would be coordinating
the admissions, sending students from Gujarat to
Hyderabad along with Mohd Azam ( Hyderabad,
COVA) and Mukhtar ( from Kallol, Gujarat). People
who contribute wd get 80g income tax exemption +
a regular update on the child's education whom
they sponsor.
The school is ready to offer 35 seats to children this year.
From yesterday's sms appeal we have got
committments for 11 sponsorships. People who have
agreed to sponsor so far: Seema Nayyar, Rajdeep
Sardesai, Anjali Hegde, Farooq Shaikh, Harsh
Mander, Tarun Tejpal, Nandita Das, Nitya
Ramakrishnan, Ranjit Rae, Hanumant Rawat and
S. Muralidhar.
If you wish to sponsor a child's education please
send cheques ( in Indian rupees only) to ANHAD,
4, windsor place, new delhi-110001 , landline-
23327366/ 67
Sincerely
Shabnam Hashmi
Harsh Mander
_____
[7]
Deccan Herald
July 24, 2004
GHOSTS OF PUNJAB'S DARK ERA HAUNT FAMILIES OF VICTIMS
The then police chief of Punjab, K P S Gill, had
even made a statement that the missing men had
fled to foreign and had not been killed by the
police.
CHANDIGARH, DHNS:
The ghosts of a particularly dark era in Punjab's
fight against terrorism during the decade of
1984-1994 have come back to haunt the families of
the victims who had died not by terrorists'
bullets but due to police excesses.
Eight years after the Supreme Court remitted the
matter of disappearances and illegal cremation of
2,097 'unclaimed' bodies during 1984-1994 in
Punjab to the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC), the Commission has begun the task of
identifying the victims. A faint hope of justice
is flickering for the families of the victims of
this grotesque chapter of militant activity in
Punjab. The NHRC has issued a public notice
seeking claims for compensation from the next of
kin of the 2,097 victims of whom the identity of
only 693 has been established so far.
The NHRC has been conducting an inquiry into the
circumstances leading to the cremation by the
Punjab police of 2097 bodies as
"unclaimed/unidentified" in the police districts
of Amritsar, Majitha and Tarn Taran. The NHRC is
inquiring into all incidents referred to as
'extra judicial eliminations, involuntary
disappearances, fake encounters, abductions and
killings' leading to cremation of 2097 bodies as
'unclaimed'.
CBI report
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had
submitted its final report to the apex court on
December 10, 1996 identifying 2097 illegal
cremations in three police districts of Punjab.
The matter was then remitted to the NHRC to
examine whether or not there had been any other
violation of human rights in relation to the
deceased persons and to determine compensation to
be paid to the families of the victims. It had
also asked the CBI to investigate, register cases
and establish culpability of the accused police
officers.
The whole episode was brought to light by a human
rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra when he
released some official documents in January 1995,
claiming that security forces in Punjab had been
secretly cremating thousands of bodies labelled
as unclaimed. Khalra suggested that these
cremations were of people who had been picked up
illegally by the Punjab police for interrogation
about their links with the separatist movement in
the state during 1984-1994.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed
Khalra's petition the same year questioning his
locus standii in the matter.
Mysterious disappearance
Khalra then mysteriously disappeared and his
wife, Paramjit Kaur approached the Supreme Court
through an NGO called 'Committee for Information
and Initiatives on Punjab'. The petition sought
production of Khalra and also direction for
initiation of punitive action against officers
responsible for a large number of illegal
cremations in Punjab.
The petition was strengthened with a retired army
official Baldev Singh submitting an affidavit
stating that his 25-year-old son, Pargat Singh,
had been killed in a fake encounter. Pargar, who
ran a dairy farm had been picked up by the police
when he was watching a movie in an Amritsar
cinema hall and on November 5,1992. Newspapers
reported details of a supposed encounter in which
he was killed.
Baldev Singh reached the cremation grounds when
police personnel were cremating his son's body.
He identified his son's half burnt body. Baldev
saw to it that his son's abduction and illegal
cremation did not remain unacknowledged. After
receiving his affidavit, the Supreme Court
admitted the petition.
Meanwhile, Khalra's body was found in a canal. He
had abducted by some Punjab police commandos on
September 6,1995 . A case was registered against
nine police officers, including a former Senior
Superintendent of Police of Tarn Taran police
district. While the SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu
committed suicide by throwing himself before a
train, the remaining eight are cooling their
heals in jail.
Today, Khalra's wife can take some solace from
the NHRC initiating steps to award compensation
to the families of the victims. "It is a historic
leap towards justice for Khalra's struggle. The
NHRC's notice makes a mockery of the reported
statement of the then police chief (K P S Gill)
that the missing boys had fled to foreign
countries and that the police did not kill them,"
she said.
The co-ordinator of the Association of the
Families of Deceased in Punjab, Amrk Singh, who
is fighting for compensation and justice to the
affected families demanded that each family get
atleast Rs 10 lakh as compensation. "Though a
belated move, we welcome it and urge the SC and
the NHRC to punish the guilty cops besides
compensating the families," he said.
______
[8]
Keralanext.com
25-July-2004
GOVERNMENT MAY MAKE WITCHCRAFT ILLEGAL
Kolkata, India : The Indian government is
reportedly considering a proposal to declare all
forms of witchcraft illegal to prevent a practice
that has killed more than 2500 women in the last
16 years, official sources said.
The idea is to put in place a new law that would
make witchcraft a social crime, the sources said.
Crimes related to witchcraft -- like human
sacrifice and witch-hunting -- are currently
tried under certain laws but there is no bar on
the practice of necromancy and voodoo.
The home ministry is now drafting a law that
would be sent to the law ministry for clearance,
the sources said.
Once cleared by the law ministry, the draft would
be sent to state governments for suggestions.
The central government has moved to declare
witchcraft illegal after the UN expressed concern
at the number of murders ascribed to
witch-hunting.
The UN also released figures of what is said were
the victims of witchcraft and black magic around
the world. The world body has named India along
with countries in Africa, Asia and South America
as a high-incidence zone for witchcraft related
killings.
According to official figures, 2,556 women were
branded as witches and killed in India between
1987 and 2003.
The figure was around 4,000 collectively for
Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Australia
between 1999 and 2003.
There were no specific figures for Africa and
South America because almost all cases of
witchcraft deaths happened in remote places and
went unreported.
In India, the highest incidence of
witchcraft-related crimes occurred in Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand
and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the official sources, the West
Bengal government has called a meeting of
district officials Aug 3 to discuss the proposed
law to ban witchcraft.
West Bengal has a relatively low incidence of
witch-hunting, but superstition continues to
claim a toll. On Thursday night, an 80-year-old
man was beheaded by a group of men who said the
sacrifice was to appease a river in spate that
was eroding its embankment and threatening their
homes.
Indo-Asian News Service
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