SACW | 24 Aug 2004

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire   |  24 August,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1]  Bangladesh:
-  It was an attempt to kill our democracy (Mahfuz Anam)
-  Bangladesh: Newspaper threatened (CPJ press Release)
[2]  Viewpoint: An Agenda for Pakistan (Mohsin Hamid)
[3]   India: The Case for Banning the VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS (Rohini Hensman)
[4]  India:  Draconian Laws, Including Ghosts of 
Lapsed Laws Haunt Our Democracy
(Forum For Democratic Initiatives)
[5]  India - Book Launch: Husband of a Fanatic by 
Amitava Kumar (New Delhi, 27 August)


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

[1]

The Daily Star - August 24, 2004  | Commentary
IT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO KILL OUR DEMOCRACY
by Mahfuz Anam

Once again assassination stalks our politics. 
Because of terrorists our democracy stands 
threatened, our freedom jeopardised and 
Bangladesh as we know it on the verge of 
destruction.

Not since the vile and brutal murder of 
Bangabandhu along with most of his family in 
August 1975, the killings of Tajuddin and other 
leaders in jail in November '75 and the killing 
of Ziaur Rahman in May '81 did Bangladesh face 
such a threat as it did last Saturday. Let it be 
said without even an iota of ambiguity that the 
attempt on Sheikh Hasina's life was in fact an 
attempt to destabilise Bangladesh in a very 
fundamental way and thereby destroy it as a 
democratic state.

The search to find the would-be killers of 
Hasina, therefore, should be considered not just 
an attempt to catch some assassins or 
professional killers but a quest to preserve 
whatever Bangladesh has gained as a democracy, as 
a liberal society and as a nation of tolerance 
and diversity. Those who threw those grenades at 
her were actually throwing them at us -- at our 
love for politics of diversity and dissent.

We vehemently condemn this attempt on Hasina's 
life and express our relief that she escaped 
unhurt. Our heartfelt condolences for those who 
lost their lives and sincere sympathy to the 
bereaved families of the deceased. We are deeply 
saddened by the terrible plight that has befallen 
Ivy Rahman, a woman who has dedicated her life to 
Awami League politics, especially in the area of 
emancipation of women. We also pray for the early 
recovery of AL leaders hurt in the incident.

We are repulsed by this act of terrorism and 
express our supreme hatred for those who 
perpetrated it and renew our determination to 
fight it at every level of our life. In whatever 
form or couched in whatever ideological or 
fanatical verbiage it may come, terrorism is an 
anathema to everything we stand for and 
everything that Bangladesh was created to 
represent. Today, therefore, we must build up the 
biggest, the strongest, the most widespread 
resistance against all forms of terrorism and 
extremism that is, regrettably but undeniably, 
creeping into our midst.

Now the question is how terrorism penetrated so 
deeply into our lives. In the last five years, 
including the last two of AL government, a total 
of 140 people were killed in terrorist bomb 
blasts. Of them, 40 were AL leaders and 
activists. The attack on the AL meetings in 
Narayanganj, Bagherhat, Sunamganj, Gazipur, 
Khulna and Natore speak of a planned attack on 
the AL workers and leaders that has been going on 
for some time. Practically nothing has been known 
about these incidents. The bomb attack at Ramna 
Batamul, CPB meeting, Udichi function and later 
in cinema halls in Mymensingh have all remained 
unearthed. In the last instance, instead of going 
after the terrorists the present government went 
after university professors and accused them of 
treason and put them into prison. The story 
behind the bomb at Hasina's own meeting while she 
was the prime minister did not see the light of 
day.

More recently, the farce of an investigation that 
we saw in handling the biggest ever arms haul in 
Chittagong port leaves little doubt in anybody's 
mind that Khaleda Zia's government is really not 
serious about going after the criminals as long 
as its own members are not the target of 
terrorism. The advanced and sophisticated arms 
and recovery of a huge quantity of them would 
have set any serious government into launching 
the most extensive and urgent investigation. This 
paper even suggested that the government involve 
Interpol or other relevant international agencies 
as arms smuggling on such a scale is an 
international affair and no single country, 
especially like ours, has the capability of 
conducting an effective investigation into such 
cases. Until today, no serious attempt has been 
made and we have heard practically nothing about 
it.

The government must answer the question as to how 
it is possible that none of the terrorist 
incidents that occurred during its tenure have 
ever been unearthed and terrorists arrested? In 
fact we in the media have encountered 
incomprehensible apathy in the law enforcement 
agencies about getting to the bottom of such 
events.

Obvious links are being suggested between the 
attempt on Hasina's life and activities of 
killers of Bangabandhu, many of whom have not yet 
been brought to justice. Although known to be 
outside the country, they could easily be active 
in fomenting chaos and instability in general and 
masterminding attacks on the AL in particular. 
Here the fact that the convicted killers of 
Bangabandhu have not been meted out their verdict 
and that their last appeal could not be brought 
to court for the last three years due to some 
technicality, cannot be lost to the public.

This, especially in the background of the fact 
that neither President Zia during his lifetime, 
nor Khaleda during her first term as prime 
minister made any attempt to try Bangabandhu's 
killers raises legitimate questions in the public 
mind about the present government's sincerity in 
ensuring security for Hasina and other AL leaders.

The bottom line is that Saturday's attack on AL's 
meeting and the death of 18 of its activists are 
inextricably linked with the singular failure of 
the government in tackling criminals associated 
with terrorist and related criminal activities. 
The inability of all our intelligence agencies in 
predicting and thereby preventing acts like the 
grenade attack on AL meeting reinforces public 
doubt about the government's seriousness about 
the whole terrorism issue.

Just a few months earlier the daylight attack on 
Ahsanullah Master in Gazipur, the recent attack 
on the Mayor of Sylhet (belonging to AL) and the 
death of an activist there and several similar 
attacks on the AL have all occurred one after 
another without any success of our intelligence 
agencies in preventing them. The grenade attack 
on the British high commissioner to Bangladesh is 
another shameful chapter of our intelligence 
failure.

For far too long Khaleda's government has 
remained indifferent to the prevalence of 
terrorism in Bangladesh. In fact her government 
can be accused of having nurtured it in some 
cases. The rise of so-called Bangla Bhai and its 
patronisation by ruling party stalwarts was 
directly responsible for the failure of the 
police to nab him. For that to happen even after 
a direct order from the prime minister should 
awakened Khaleda to how far the influence of 
extremist groups penetrated her government. The 
Ahmadiyya issue is another instance where the 
government's nurturing of the extremists and lack 
of timely action has created a Frankenstein which 
now poses a threat from within.

The prime minister must realise that her own 
power to stem the tide of terrorism has been 
greatly compromised by her coalition partners' 
attitude towards this issue. Narrow political 
vision and extreme mutual hatred between our two 
major political parties have created an opening 
for the extremists to make inroads into our 
politics as never before. Time is now for all 
democratic forces to unite against terrorism and 
create a massive political movement to defeat the 
forces of terrorism. For the survival of 
democracy and dissent we must unite and destroy 
terrorism now.

o o o o


Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA     Phone: (212) 465-1004
Fax: (212) 465-9568     Web: www.cpj.org     E-Mail: media at cpj.org

===========================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BANGLADESH: Newspaper threatened

New York, August 23, 2004-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is
deeply concerned about the growing number of threats being made against the
popular Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo by Islamic groups in the capital,
Dhaka, and in the southeastern Chittagong District.

The threats began last week in the wake of Prothom Alo's investigative
series about the illegal training of militants in Islamic schools, or
madrasas, throughout the rural southeastern Chittagong District. The series,
titled "Terrorist Activities in Greater Chittagong," ran in mid-August. Days
later, several Islamic groups began staging protests against the newspaper,
including the Islamic fundamentalist political party the Islamic United
Front.

Demonstrators in several towns throughout Chittagong District and in Dhaka
burned copies of Prothom Alo, destroyed billboards showing the newspaper's
name, and attempted to attack the newspaper's offices, according to local
press reports. At a protest in Chittagong on August 21, Fazlul Haq Amini, a
member of parliament from the Islamic United Front, demanded that Prothom
Alo be banned and its editor, Motiur Rahman, arrested, according to the
national newswire service the United News of Bangladesh (UNB).

The UNB also reported that another local leader, Mufti Izharul Islam, said
that anyone selling copies of the newspaper would be "listed as an enemy of
the people." Local journalists' groups were concerned that distribution of
the newspaper would be disrupted and called on authorities to ensure its
safe delivery, according to the newspaper The Daily Star.

On August 19, thousands of madrasa students and teachers demonstrated
against the newspaper in Dhaka and threatened to burn down Prothom Alo's
headquarters, according to local news reports. An Islamic leader called on
the protesters to take a vow to sacrifice their lives for the cause of
destroying Prothom Alo, according to The Daily Star. "Either we exist, or
Prothom Alo will exist in the country," Zabbar said.

Background
Issues relating to militant Islamic fundamentalism are highly sensitive in
Bangladesh.  The government has condemned and banned foreign media outlets
that have reported on the alleged existence and activities of militant
groups inside the country, including the Far Eastern Economic Review and
Time magazines in 2002. The Prothom Alo series marked the first time that a
Bangladeshi news outlet had reported on the issue, according to local
journalists.

The editors of Bangladesh's main newspapers, journalists' groups, human
rights groups, and intellectuals condemned the threatening demonstrations
staged against Prothom Alo, but so far the government has not spoken out
against the Islamic groups.

The demonstrations came during heightened political tensions in Bangladesh.
Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina barely escaped an assassination attempt at a
rally in Dhaka on August 21 that killed at least 17 people, according to
international news reports. A nationwide two-day strike is planned beginning
tomorrow, and thousands of opposition party Awami League supporters
demonstrated against the attack over the weekend.

"These intimidation tactics amount to blatant attacks on press freedom in
Bangladesh," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on authorities
to publicly condemn those who are harassing and threatening our colleagues
at Prothom Alo, and to do everything in their power to protect the newspaper
and its staff."

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information about press
conditions in Bangladesh, visit www.cpj.org.




______


[2]


From the Aug. 30, 2004 issue of TIME Asia Magazine

VIEWPOINT: AN AGENDA FOR PAKISTAN
The country needs to move from managing crises to nurturing democracy 
By Mohsin Hamid


Monday, Aug. 23, 2004
At the end of 2001, Pakistan was a country in 
crisis: near economic collapse, close to war with 
India, and threatened by religious militants from 
within. That sense of crisis caused Pakistanis 
like myself to support a strong leader like 
General Pervez Musharraf, despite the clear 
unconstitutionality and undemocratic nature of 
his rule.

Today, Pakistan is in much better shape. The 
economy is on a surer footing, peace talks with 
India are under way, and every week seems to 
bring news of another group of terrorists being 
captured or killed. Indeed, not since the end of 
the 1980s, when democracy was restored to 
Pakistan after the dark years of General Zia 
ul-Haq's dictatorship, can I remember feeling so 
hopeful about Pakistan's future. Progress is 
taking place throughout society. Colleges and 
universities are opening at a record rate; and 
tens of thousands of primary school teachers are 
being hired. More than a dozen new private 
television channels and radio stations are 
beaming lively political debate, frequently 
risqué lifestyle and fashion programs, and an 
exploding local music scene into homes across the 
country. Foreign companies are investing hundreds 
of millions of dollars to pursue the 
opportunities of a market that in population 
terms is the world's sixth largest.

Much of the credit is due to external events: 
American pressure and assistance, international 
debt rescheduling, the flow of capital from 
Pakistanis abroad back into the country. And much 
of the credit belongs to Musharraf and to his 
economic team, led by ex-Citibanker Shaukat Aziz. 
But as the crisis that once engulfed Pakistan 
recedes, many of us are beginning to ask, "What 
now?"

Clearly, a system based on the decisions, and 
survival, of Musharraf-an unelected leader who 
has been the target of several assassination 
attempts-is undesirable. The state of Pakistan 
remains fragile because of regular terrorist 
attacks, insurgencies in the province of 
Baluchistan and in the tribal areas along the 
border with Afghanistan, rising inflation, and 
too few new jobs for the poor. Pakistan must 
gradually make the transition from relatively 
successful crisis management under Musharraf to 
sustainable progress under a democracy.

No dictator in Pakistan's history has ever 
facilitated such a transition. But it can and 
must be done. After winning his seat in the 
National Assembly through a by-election held last 
week, Aziz, who is currently Finance Minister, is 
now poised to become Pakistan's Prime Minister. 
If Musharraf is prepared to step into the 
background and allow Aziz to govern the country, 
and if Aziz views his premiership as a time to 
resuscitate the conditions for democracy in 
Pakistan just as he previously helped resuscitate 
the country's economy-both big ifs-then there may 
indeed be cause for optimism.

Why would Musharraf allow such a transition of 
power? Hopefully because he has realized that if 
he wishes his reforms to outlive him, he needs to 
empower other leaders to carry them through. And 
why should Aziz be interested in restoring 
democracy? Because a good manager must deliver 
more than steady quarterly earnings. He must also 
put in place a reliable system of governance to 
carry that growth forward.

In Pakistan, creating such a system will require 
Aziz to overcome several important challenges. 
Above all, Aziz must make a lasting peace with 
India, even at the cost of painful compromises. 
Without such a peace, Pakistan will always be 
ruled, in one form or another, by men in uniform, 
and the mud-brick curtain we have erected to our 
east will continue to deny us our largest 
potential market and source of human and cultural 
exchange.

Partly to make such a peace possible and partly 
because of wider international pressure, but 
mostly because they terrorize us far more than 
they do our so-called enemies, Aziz must bring to 
heel the religious militants who claim to kill in 
our name and in the name of our religion, Islam. 
In the past, the army has worked hard to create 
these militants-it will be Aziz's challenge to 
see that it works equally hard to disband them.

Aziz must also act firmly to restore law and 
order to Pakistan, ideally starting with the 
country's largest city and main economic driver, 
Karachi. This cannot be done merely by deploying 
troops and paramilitary forces whenever the 
killing gets out of hand. It will require 
substantial, long-overdue investment in our 
courts and police. Otherwise, Pakistan will 
remain a country that drives its own middle class 
into exile, and one where officials, elected or 
not, habitually abuse their powers.

These are daunting challenges, particularly for a 
Prime Minister with uncertain freedom of action 
and no previous experience of elected office. We 
must hope that Musharraf has the vision to allow 
the birth of a Pakistan that is never again ruled 
by a general, and that Aziz is given the chance 
to supervise the delivery.

-Mohsin Hamid is the author of the novel Moth Smoke

[Photo] Farooq Naeem-Afp/Getty Images
[Caption] Aziz, who might soon be Prime Minister, is Pakistan's new poster boy


_______



[3]

[Also held at the URL: 
communalism.blogspot.com/2002/07/case-for-banning-vhp-bajrang-dal-and.html 
]

Combat Law - June - July 2002, pages 30 -32.

THE CASE FOR BANNING THE VHP, BAJRANG DAL AND RSS

by Rohini Hensman

In the context of the prolonged and horrific 
violence in Gujarat, there have been numerous 
calls for the VHP and Bajrang Dal to be banned. 
For some people, evidently, the well-documented 
role of these organisations in planning, inciting 
and perpetrating systematic attacks on Muslims - 
destroying their livelihoods, driving them out of 
their homes, raping hundreds of women and girls, 
and murdering thousands of men, women, children 
and babies - seems an obvious reason for 
outlawing them.

Others, however, disagree. Even if we leave aside 
members and supporters of the VHP and Bajrang 
Dal, there are objections which can be summarised 
as follows: (1) Bans are undemocratic. (2) Who 
will ban them? Not this government! (3) It won't 
work - they will go underground, or change their 
names. (4) Endorsing the use of a ban against 
them will make it easier for the government to 
ban organisations and harass individuals engaged 
in legitimate activities.

Are we defending liberty or license?

A ban is defined as 'an official prohibition or 
interdiction,' and in our society, for example, 
robbery, arson, rape and murder are officially 
prohibited. People who commit these crimes are 
arrested if caught, and punished if found guilty. 
Even people who are staunch advocates of civil 
liberties do not object to this, provided the 
punishment is not cruel or inhumane. Why not? 
Presumably because they do not recognise anyone's 
'right' to violate the fundamental rights of 
others. In fact, it makes nonsense of the whole 
notion of human and democratic rights to say that 
whoever is powerful enough to rape, kill or 
generally oppress others should have the 
'freedom' to do so. That kind of 'freedom' is 
generally defined as license, not liberty.
When the same person plans and commits a crime, 
it is relatively easy to identify the criminal. 
But it becomes more difficult when one person 
hires another to kill someone, and even more 
complicated when a whole organisation is involved.

In such cases, the persons who directs the whole 
operation as well as a large number of people 
involved in planning and organising the crime may 
not be the actual perpetrators. Yet they are all 
responsible for it. The Gujarat carnage is a very 
good example of this kind of organised action. 
Participants have been identified as belonging to 
the VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS/ BJP. Investigations 
have shown it was planned meticulously months in 
advance, with detailed research into the 
locations where Muslims lived, worked or ran 
businesses, even into cases where Muslims owned 
only a small share in a business. Such planning 
was in evidence even during the massacre, with 
perpetrators using mobile phones to report back 
and get orders concerning the next target of 
violence. The people doing this research, 
providing information, giving orders, justifying 
and inciting the violence, etc., are all guilty 
of the mass rape and murder that took place, even 
if they were not on the scene of the crime.

Subsequent events, such as the exposure of BJP 
intentions to conduct elections in the wake of 
the bloodbath, reveal that the political purpose 
behind this violence directed at innocent unarmed 
civilians is the perpetuation and strenghtening 
of BJP rule in Gujarat. The connection between 
local events and the nationwide VHP campaign to 
build a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, as well as the 
total backing of Narendra Modi by the Central 
government, give rise to a very strong suspicion 
that similar pogroms have been planned in other 
parts of the country with the intention of 
bringing the BJP to power on its own at the 
Centre. The ramifications are not only national 
but international, since the VHP is an 
international organisation, and its activities in 
India are supported by substantial funding from 
abroad.

It makes no sense to say that an individual who 
commits murder should be punished, while an 
organisation that commits mass murder should go 
scot-free. It is hypocritical to say that an 
organisation should have the 'democratic right' 
to violate the fundamental human and democratic 
rights of others and destroy democracy itself, 
because then you are legitimising an attack on 
democracy while pretending to stand up for it, 
defending license rather than liberty.

Who will ban them?

Not the BJP - that is absolutely true! But this 
does not mean that a campaign for a ban is 
pointless. Firstly, it highlights the fact that 
these organisations are engaged in criminal 
rather than religious activities. Many people are 
confused about this; they are repelled by the 
atrocities committed in Gujarat, yet hesitate to 
denounce the organisations committing them, 
because these organisations claim to be defending 
Hinduism. A campaign for a ban, which would 
involve explaining why it is necessary, would 
help to clarify the distinction between religion 
and crime, and publicise the fact that terrorist 
acts, crimes against humanity and genocide are 
being committed in the name of religion.

Secondly, today the NDA allies which call 
themselves secular are too unprincipled and 
self-seeking to quit the alliance, but if they 
are threatened with losing their secular 
supporters, they may eventually do so. Even 
otherwise, there will be elections, and the ban 
can be made an election issue. It can help to 
separate those who are truly secular from those 
who merely claim to be so. More immediately, 
non-BJP state governments can take steps to clamp 
down on these organisations if there is pressure 
on them to do so.
But, some people argue, the Congress and BJP are 
the same, and the Congress will never ban 
communal organisations because it is itself 
communal. There is a fundamental confusion in 
this argument. It is true that the Congress has 
acted in a communal manner on numerous occasions, 
that it is not principled on this issue, and is 
willing to play the communal card in order to win 
votes. But strong popular pressure can equally 
well push it in the opposite direction. Because 
its basis as a party is not communal, nothing 
prevents it from being secular. It can ban the 
RSS, and has in fact done so on two occasions in 
the past, whereas the BJP can never ban the RSS, 
because that would be like sticking a knife into 
its own heart.

It won't work - they will go underground or change their name
No one is under any illusion that these 
organisations will cease to exist if they are 
banned. Yet the loss of legitimacy and of the 
ability to function openly will hit them hard, 
especially if it is accompanied by a campaign to 
get the VHP proscribed as a terrorist 
organisation internationally. These organisations 
thrive on publicity, media attention, large 
crowds, public drills, schools they run, and so 
on; these activities will cease if they are 
banned. They also depend on huge donations, most 
of which would dry up if donors risk being 
jailed. What if they are reincarnated under new 
names? As it is, they operate behind the façade 
of numerous front organisations. If the ban is 
extended to all organisations that are dedicated 
to inciting communal hatred and violence, 
changing names will not protect them for ever.
But won't they be able to project themselves as 
martyrs? This depends on the way the ban is 
carried out. The first ban on the RSS was very 
successful, partly because it was implemented 
firmly - e.g. 20,000 RSS members were put behind 
bars - and partly because of popular revulsion 
against them after the assassination of Mahatma 
Gandhi. The second ban, during the Emergency, was 
not a success, because it was part of an 
extremely unpopular general attack on democratic 
rights, and many other organisations and 
activists were banned and jailed along with the 
RSS. In the current circumstances, the call for a 
ban would have to be preceded by widespread 
publicity of the barbaric acts committed by the 
VHP/Bajrang Dal/RSS/BJP forces in Gujarat. Only 
hard-liners would be willing to endorse these 
sickening atrocities openly.
Bans can be misused against individuals and 
organisations engaged in legitimate activities

This is a genuine problem, especially in the 
present context, when POTA has just been passed. 
The activities of the VHP and Bajrang Dal in 
Gujarat are certainly terrorist acts according to 
POTA: for example,
CHAPTER II, 3. (1): Whoever,- (a) with intent 
to...strike terror in the people or any section 
of the people does any act or thing by 
using...inflammable substances or firearms or 
other lethal weapons...or by any other means 
whatsoever, in such a manner as to cause, or 
likely to cause, death of, or injuries to any 
person or persons or loss of, or damage to, or 
destruction of, property...Commits a terrorist 
act.

Even according to a less one-sided definition of 
terrorism as 'the use or threat of violence 
against unarmed civilans in the pursuit of a 
political objective', the VHP and Bajrang Dal 
actions in Gujarat would certainly count as 
terrorist. The problem, however, is that POTA is 
a draconian act which can easily be used against 
individuals and organisations engaged in 
perfectly legitimate activities, and it would be 
inconsistent to use it on the one hand, and 
advocate its repeal on the other. However, it is 
still worth emphasising that these are terrorist 
groups, and that the VHP is in fact an 
international terrorist group which collects 
funds to support the families of terrorists and 
hire lawyers to represent them in court, etc., in 
exactly the way that is condemned so universally 
when Muslim groups engage in such activities.
What is the alternative to indicting them under POTO?

One possibility is to use Section 153A of the 
Indian Penal Code, states that:Whoever,-(a) by 
words, either spoken or written, or by signs or 
by visible representations or otherwise, 
promotes, or attempts to promote on grounds of 
religion, race, place of birth, residence, 
language, caste or community or any other ground 
whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, 
hatred or ill-will between different religious, 
racial, language or regional groups or castes or 
communities, or (b)commits any act which is 
prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between 
different religious, racial, language or regional 
groups or castes or communities and which 
disturbs or is likely to disturb the public 
tranquillity, or (c) organizes any exercise, 
movement, drill or other similar activity 
intending that the participants in such activity 
will use or be trained to use criminal force or 
violence...against any religious, racial, 
language or regional group or caste or community 
and such activity for any reason whatsoever 
causes or is likely to cause fear and alarm or a 
feeling of insecurity amongst members of such 
religious, racial, language or regional group or 
caste or community,shall be punished with 
imprisonment which may extend to three years, or 
with fine, or with both.

This is in fact a very important section, which 
could, if implemented strictly, outlaw hate 
propaganda and incitement, which play such an 
important role in the build-up to every instance 
of genocide, including Gujarat. The Genocide 
Convention, which India has signed and ratified 
although a law in accordance with it has not been 
enacted, should be made into law, and would help 
in punishing those involved in the Gujarat 
genocide. But the Convention is stronger on 
punishing than on preventing genocide, and 
Section 153A would be an important supplement to 
it, banning hate propaganda in order to prevent 
genocide.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, 
defines an "unlawful association" as, among other 
things, 'any association-...
(ii) which has for its object any activity which 
is punishable under section 153A or section 153B 
of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), or which 
encourages or aids persons to undertake any such 
activity, or of which the members undertake any 
such activity.'

Chapter III, Section 10. Penalty for being 
members of an unlawful association.- states that: 
'Whoever is and continues to be a member of an 
association declared unlawful...or takes part in 
meetings of any such unlawful association or 
contributes to, or receives or solicits any 
contribution for the purpose of, such unlawful 
association, or in any way assists the operation 
of any such unlawful association, shall be 
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may 
extend to two years, and shall also be liable to 
fine.'
This, of course, refers to those members who have 
not been involved in any other criminal activity. 
13. punishment for unlawful activities.-states 
that: 'Whoever-(a) takes part in or commits, 
or(b) advocates, abets, advises or incites the 
commission of, any unlawful activity, shall be 
punishable for a term which may extend to seven 
years, and shall also be liable to fine.(2) 
Whoever, in any way, assists any unlawful 
activity of any association declared unlawful 
under section 3,..shall be punishable with 
imprisonment for a term which may extend to five 
years, or with fine, or with both.'

Finally, Section 15. Continuances of 
association.-states that 'An association shall 
not be deemed to have ceased to exist by reason 
only of any formal act of its dissolution or 
change of name but shall be deemed to continue so 
long as any actual combination for the purposes 
of such association continues between any members 
thereof', which means that simply changing the 
name of the association will not get around the 
ban.

Campaign Needed

The pros and cons of a campaign to ban communal 
organisations need to be discussed thoroughly 
amongst those who claim to be secular and 
democratic. If it is agreed that they do need to 
be banned, then this could be a demand at the 
next general elections, and, in the shorter term, 
could lead to a campaign for booking members of 
these organisations under Section 153A in non-BJP 
states. Frivolous arguments against a campaign 
for a ban need to be combated. Such implicit 
legitimisation of the most horrific crimes 
against minorities is what urgently needs to be 
challenged if we are to avoid the Gujarat 
genocide from spreading to other parts of the 
country.

Rohini Hensman is associated with the Trade Union 
Solidarity Committe, Bombay and Women Working 
Worldwide.

______



[4]


INDIA: DRACONIAN LAWS, INCLUDING GHOSTS OF LAPSED LAWS HAUNT OUR DEMOCRACY

Citizens Speak Out
Against TADA, POTA and AFSPA
6 August 2004, New Delhi.
Organised By Forum For Democratic Initiatives (FDI)

It came as a shock to the citizens of the country 
that inspite of the tall claims of not having 
implemented the draconian POTA in Bihar, the 
government, administration and police in the 
state have been using the lapsed law TADA, to 
imprison and victimise political activists and 
agrarian poor.  These violations could be carried 
out because the government did not withdraw the 
TADA cases after it lapsed but instead allowed 
the states to apply its own discretion. This left 
ample scope for the rich and the powerful to 
escape while allowing the police and 
administration to crackdown upon the asserting 
poor and those organising them.
   Since the NDA government introduced POTA with 
an unprecedented joint session of the parliament, 
several political parties have expressed their 
opinion against POTA.  Though no action has been 
taken as yet, the UPA government after assuming 
power has announced  the withdrawal of POTA. 
However this also been announced prospectively 
and not with retrospective effect as has been the 
demand of dozens of civil liberty organisation 
and human rights groups who have pointed out 
violations in case after case. The fate of 
thousands of innocents across the country, who 
have been booked under POTA continue to face 
hopelessness, particularly in the light of the 
fate of the TADA prisoners of Bihar, who found no 
justice even after the law that they had been 
booked under had long lapsed since the cases 
against them were never withdrawn.
If 9 years after TADA has lapsed, activists, 
children and agrarian poor can be picked up and 
tried under the law, what is to assure that a 
child booked under POTA would not be tried under 
the law 20 years from now? Why is it that black 
laws are being given in a platter to the police 
and administration for strangling the democratic 
voices of those engaged in social change? 
Addressing these questions a broad spectrum of 
political leaders from the Left and prominent 
citizens from all walks of life including 
jurists, advocates, human rights activist, 
academicians, artists, writers, journalists and 
students joined the convention, called on 6 
august 2004, in New Delhi by Forum for Democratic 
Initiatives (FDI). The convention endorsed by the 
speakers and participants called for a nationwide 
movement against the murder of democracy at the 
hands of black laws like TADA and POTA. Speaker 
after speaker demanded the repeal of POTA and 
TADA retrospectively and condemned the Bihar 
Government for not withdrawing the TADA charges 
against activists and agrarian labourers in 
Jehanabad, Bihar.  The convention also discussed 
the situation in Manipur and passed a resolution 
demanding the repeal of AFSPA, which has left the 
North Eastern states under the terror of Army 
rule.
The convention was chaired by eminent journalist 
and human rights activist Kuldeep Nayyar and 
addressed by a host of political leaders and 
prominent citizens from Delhi.  The meeting was 
addressed by CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar 
Bhattacharya, CPI-M Parliamentarian Dipankar 
Mukherjee, RSP leader and MP Abani Roy, Forward 
Bloc leader Devararjan, CPI leader Atul Anjan, 
Justice Rajinder Sachar, writer and activist 
Arundhati Roy, Editor of Mainstream Sumit 
Chakravarty, Supreme Court lawyers  Nandita 
Haksar and Prashant Bhushan, Associate Editor of 
EPW Gautam Navlakha, JNU Professor Kamal Mitra 
Chenoy,  Delhi University teacher Tripta Wahi and 
those battling POTA, TADA and AFSPA like DU 
lecturer SAR Geelani , CPI-ML activist from 
Jehanabad, Mahanand  Prasad and a representative 
of Manipuri Students Association of Delhi, Seram 
Rojesh. The Convention was conducted by Radhika 
Menon, Convenor of  FDI.
Initiating the Convention, eminent jurist, 
Rajinder Sachar said that UPA government's 
failure to repeal POTA retrospectively and its 
attempt to retain some of its clauses through 
other laws is an instance of its ‘hypocrisy in 
politics?
   CPI-ML activist and leader from Jehanabad, 
Mahanand Prasad presented a detailed account of 
the repression of agricultural labourers by the 
feudal-kulak-criminal-police nexus which was 
enjoying the protection of the state 
government.He said that this nexus led to the 
conviction for life of 14 activists of CPI-ML and 
implication of 17 others who are still awaiting a 
trial, in a case where the dalits and 
agricultural labourers led a wage struggle and 
resisted the tyranny of a landlord who forced a 
dalit youth to lick spit.  He described the Arwal 
TADA case of 1988, in which a dispute over the 
harvest of water-chestnut pond became an excuse 
for imposing TADA on innocent citizens arrested 
at random which included two children aged 13 and 
14 years, as well as local leaders of agrarian 
and democratic struggles. The main accused in 
this case is Shah Chand , who along with 13 
others have been sentenced to life imprisonment 
by a TADA court. Shah Chand, is the founding 
secretary of Inquilabi Muslim Conference, and a 
former mukhiya of Bhadasi village, whose work to 
introduce innovations in canal irrigation and 
free development work from corruption was hailed 
by the official quarters as the “Chand Model". 
Shah Chand and 13 others are in jail today, after 
the Supreme Court upheld the TADA court judgement 
in which possession of easily available Marxist 
and Kisan Sabha literature was cited as the sole 
‘evidence?for their being “terrorists?
Mahanand narrated the events that led to another 
case from Jehanabad, where 17 agricultural 
labourers are facing trial today, under TADA. 
They had been charged under TADA in 1989, when 
they complained to a labour inspector and led an 
agitation against a landlord, who had planted a 
dead cow outside the house of a dalit labourer, 
and forced another to “lick spit?in public. He 
questioned the intent of the “social 
justice?government of RJD, a key ally of the UPA, 
which had  chosen to open TADA cases against the 
likes of Shankar Mehtar, a sweeper, Vijay Paswan 
and other dalit labourers, whose only crime was 
that of protesting against humiliations and 
paltry wages imposed by feudal landlords- a 
matter of shame for independent India.  Mahanand 
notably pointed out that the TADA case, in that 
very district of Bihar, against the notorious 
Ramadhar Singh, the chief of ‘Sawarn Liberation 
Front? a private army of upper caste landlords 
and the prime accused in the Sawanbigha massacre 
was withdrawn by the same RJD government.
CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya 
hailed the people of Manipur and the rural poor 
of Bihar and others, who had paid with their 
blood, their liberty and their lives to make laws 
like TADA, POTA, AFSPA a national issue. He said 
it was sustained protests alone that have made 
violations a matter of national concern. He 
recalled the unrelenting struggle of the people 
of Bihar, including those who are today 
imprisoned under TADA, that made the police 
firing on labourers in Arwal a national issue. He 
said that today it was the protests sparked by 
Manorama Devi’s killing that has forced the 
horrors of AFSPA onto the consciousness of the 
nation. He said that the democratic forces in the 
country, who had made POTA an issue in the 
elections, were now being taken for granted and 
stressed the need for mass movements to exert 
pressure on the govt. He called upon people to 
participate in the various campaigns to bring 
justice to the wronged TADA victims and visit 
Jehanabad to see the situation for themselves 
first hand.
CPI-M leader Dipankar Mukherjee, Forward Block 
leader  Devarajan, CPI leader Atul Anjan, and RSP 
parliamentarian Abani Roy expressed solidarity 
with the struggles against black laws. Abani Roy 
questioned the definition of terrorism, saying 
even Bhagat Singh was branded a terrorist by 
colonialists, and today workers and poor peasants 
are being booked under “Terror Laws? He said that 
capitalist states did not consider the masses to 
be humans and capitalists of the world have 
united through globalisation and have resorted to 
newer forms of repression through agreements like 
WTO. He stressed the need to fight unitedly 
against TADA and POTA. Dipankar Mukherjee pointed 
out with examples how ordinary corporate laws 
were becoming terror laws for workers.
Speaking at the Convention writer Arundhati Roy 
said that India was showing the world how 
terrorism laws can be used. For the US, terrorism 
replaced communism as a bogey to justify 
imperialist aggression. In their view, 
“terrorism?means those who resist colonial 
occupation. She said all over the world, poverty, 
too is conflated with “terrorism?  She drew 
attention to the machinations of neo-liberal 
capitalism and it’s functioning, which imposes 
one law after another to suppress those who 
resist it. Taking a dig at the UPA government’s 
announcements for not withdrawing POTA 
retrospectively, she claimed that POTA may go but 
mota (intending the Hindi pun) would be in. She 
said that to view these laws as mere “human 
rights violations?is to wish away their political 
implications. The machine that assaults the poor, 
the colonised and the minority cannot be reduced 
to ‘Bush?or ‘BJP?said the writer and called for a 
movement against the system itself.
Supreme Court lawyer Nandita Haksar cautioned 
against the trend in the human rights movement to 
divorce struggle against such laws from the 
politics that surround it.  She said it is to be 
remembered, that the ruling political 
establishment would not guarantee the democratic 
space for rising in favour of people’s interest, 
even if TADA and POTA  are removed.She reiterated 
the need to to unite in the struggle against 
black laws.
According to DU teacher Tripta Wahi, state 
atrocities have been directed against minorities, 
dalits and agrarian labourers in particular, who 
do not have the ability to fight cases and 
circumvent loopholes in the act. She pointed out 
that AFPSA had been brought in during Congress 
rule under Nehru to repress the nationality 
question in North-East. She wondered why the land 
reform agenda introduced in1929 was never 
implemented while those who were asking for its 
implementation were being repressed.  She spoke 
of how an Exhibition on the State’s lies in the 
Parliament attack case had been banned in Delhi 
University and raised the issue of the thousands 
of youth of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and 
North-East who have gone missing.
Gautam Navlakha, Associate editor EPW, pointed 
out that leaders of landlord armies which 
massacre dalit poor are never convicted under 
“Terror Laws? whereas even lapsed laws like TADA 
are invoked to sentence dalit landless labourers 
to life imprisonment and even death. He said, 
clearly the issue is not merely of ‘civil 
liberties?but one of politics- since such laws 
had the political intention of snuffing out 
specific movements.  He said the judicial 
procedures need to be probed as well, as there 
have been three judge benches which have given 
verdicts against the poor even when one of them 
has said that the evidences cited before the 
court was appalling
DU lecturer SAR Geelani spoke of systematic 
shrinkage of democratic space in India, saying 
that India could be considered “free?only if it 
was truly democratic. He said that laws like 
TADA, POTA, AFSPA were a threat to each citizen, 
not just Kashmiris, Manipuris or the dalit poor 
of Andhra and Bihar. Alluding to the criminal 
nexus between the police and judiciary he said 
that black laws permitted statements to be taken 
from the victims in a state of duress. 
Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy of JNU pointed out that 
the ruling class always brands class struggles as 
“anti-national? and uses “national security?as an 
excuse to crush dissent. When such laws are 
contested by the civil liberties groups in the 
Supreme Court they have always been upheld by the 
latter because of the stated objective of dealing 
with terrorism. He said that while international 
agreements like WTO are complied with, there is 
no conformance to international human rights 
laws. The AFPSA which was brought in as a 
temporary measure continues to be used after 50 
years. Its high time that black laws, which lead 
to human rights violations, be acclaimed as 
anti-national.
Supreme Court lawyer, Prashant Bhushan said that 
most of the cases of TADA were in states like 
Gujarat, which were not affected by terrorism. 
The arbitrariness of TADA is evident from the 
fact that only one percent of the arrested was 
convicted.  Referring to the TADA case where 14 
activists of CPI-ML had been given life sentence 
he said his study of the case indicated how it 
was completely unfair. He said that even as talks 
of repealing POTA were on , there were 
apprehensions that anti people provisions of POTA 
would be included in the Indian Penal Code to 
eliminate the need for establishment of a 
separate draconian law like POTA. He pointed out 
that the police and law and order machinery in 
the country is able to undermine democracy even 
without these laws and emphasised the inherent 
bias in our criminal jurisprudence, whereby 
white-collar criminals roam free under bail and 
have their cases withdrawn by buying witnesses 
off, while the poor are implicated in false cases 
and end up fighting losing legal battles for years
Seram, a representative of the Manipur Students 
Association, Delhi while addressing the 
Convention said that the AFSPA which legitimised 
state repression is more dangerous than colonial 
laws. The procedural provisions of the act like 
detention without formal charges on the basis of 
suspicion and admitting confessions to the 
hawaldar as evidence is unjust in regard to the 
accused. He appealed that the law be repealed in 
toto and not just from the Central part of 
Manipur.
Civil libertian and eminent lawyer ND Pancholi, 
Social scientist Yogendra Yadav,  Historian Uma 
Chakravarty, Film Makers Sanjay Kak, Pankaj 
Butalia,  and Shri Prakash, writers Pankaj Bisht 
and  Pankaj Singh, journalists Latha Jishnu, 
Satya Sivaraman, Anil Chamadia also participated 
in the convention.
The Chair, Kuldeep Nayyar concluded by calling 
for a movement, not simply against the draconian 
Laws but against the system, which branded the 
movements of the poor and marginalised as 
“terrorism? He appealed to the leaders of the 
Left parties, who were supporting the government 
to exert a greater pressure on the UPA government 
for withdrawing TADA and POTA retrospectively. 
He also expressed the feelings that if the 
government does not pay any serious attention 
they should resign  from the Coordination 
Committee of the UPA in protest against the 
continued use of such draconian laws.
The Convention passed a series of resolutions
?That the Parliament repeal POTA.
?That the Union Govt. withdraws all cases of TADA 
and POTA with retrospective effect, remitting 
sentences against those convicted under these 
laws.
?The Bihar govt. withdraw TADA charges against 
the labourers of Jehanabad and ensure the 
immediate and unconditional release of the 14 
convicted for life in the Arwal case and the 4 
dalits sentenced to death in the Bara case.
?The immediate scrapping of the AFSPA in Manipur 
and other areas where it is in use, and 
punishment for custodial rape and murder by army 
officials, as in the case of Manorama Devi.
   297 persons from various walks of life at the 
convention endorsed the resolutions.

Contact
Radhika Menon
Printed by
Forum for Democratic Initiatives (FDI)


______


[5]

Penguin Books India and British Council
cordially invite you to the launch of

Husband of a Fanatic
by Amitava Kumar

on Friday 27 August 2004 at 7.00 p.m.
at British Council, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110 001

The author will read extracts from the book 
followed by a panel discussion featuring

Professor Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia University
Urvashi Butalia, Writer and Publisher, Zubaan Books
Professor Gurpreet Mahajan, Centre for Political 
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Edmund Marsden, Director, British Council India (chair)
and
Amitava Kumar, the author

The launch will be followed by a reception


RSVP: Ratna 26494401, Nisha 51497333

Please bring the invite with you

Sujo Jacob
Ph: 26494401/ 02
www.penguinbooksindia.com
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme!
Visit the fabulous exhibition and sale of 
Ladybird titles and other children's books at

The British Council, 17 KG Marg New Delhi
From 21 to 29 August 2004
and
Landmark Bookstore Chennai
Apex Plaza and Spencer Plaza
from 20 to 30 August 2004

For more information on Penguin Books, visit us at www.penguinbooksindia.com



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