SACW | 18 Oct 2004
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Oct 17 19:28:04 CDT 2004
South Asia Citizens Wire | 18 October, 2004
via: www.sacw.net
[1] [Pakistani Journalists] Visiting Jammu & Kashmir (Imtiaz Alam)
[2] Bangladesh: Women's football dribbling with fanatic fantasia (Tureen Afroz)
[3] Pakistan: No compromise on murder (Beena Sarwar)
[4] Indian Muslims' Hope Is One Good Policewoman (Manish Swarup)
[5] India: The Lesser Evil: Lack of Secular
Options Led to Democratic Front Win (Jyoti
Punwani)
[6] Book Review: "Eqbal Ahmad-Between Past &
Future: Selected Essays on South Asia
Edited by Dohra Ahmad, Iftikhar Ahmad and Zia Mian"
[7] Events: Talk on 'Perpetuating Culture and
the Production of Self: A Sociological
Understanding of Alig Identity' (New Delhi,
--------------
[1]
The News International
October 18, 2004
VISITING JAMMU & KASHMIR
Imtiaz Alam
Higher expectations, deeper suspicions,
conflicting demands and overwhelming welcome
underlined the first-ever visit of independent
Pakistani journalists to Indian-administered
Jammu and Kashmir. For reporters in search of the
other side of the story, to behave like diplomats
while keeping in mind disparate positions of the
antagonists was a journey through a minefield.
Yet, the members of the delegation kept their
cool and behaved the way they should have on a
good will-cum-reporting mission to ensure that
the window to access no-go areas, in this case
across the LoC, is wide opened and not shut on
their colleagues from both countries. Though
South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) broke
the barrier, has it helped the ongoing processes
or became a victim of paranoia?
This was made clearer by the organisers (SAFMA
chapters of Pakistan and India) that the
journalists' exchange across the LoC was a part
of their effort to allowing media persons freely
move across frontiers and accessing information
in South Asia. Carrying no briefs from anybody or
any party nor becoming instrument of this or that
partisan divide, SAFMA had set certain limits
while knowing well that the journalists'
delegation will come under tremendous pressure
from all and too demanding sides, since it was to
a territory under a bloody dispute between India
and Pakistan and zealously possessed and,
variously, claimed by the inhabitants of J&K. It
became 'historic' since what should have been a
very normal visit became 'abnormal' due to the
fact that this was the first-ever journey
undertaken by the Pakistani scribes in the last
57 years and against the backdrop of ongoing
composite dialogue process.
No doubt, the visit would not have taken place
without, thankfully, the clearance from India and
Pakistan at the highest level and, indeed, this
is what made the visit suspicious in the eyes of
some conspiracy theorists or certain sick minds,
who in fact suspect every move towards confidence
building between India and Pakistan. The kind of
reception and affection the delegation received
from across all divides and regions was in fact a
reflection of the longing the people feel for
each other in the subcontinent, especially in J&K
for Pakistan. Except for a very small section
among the displaced Pandits, living in most
miserable conditions in refugee camps in Jammu,
accusing Pakistan of displacing them and those
elements in Kashmir who consider negotiations
between India and Pakistan as a death knell to
their 'cause', the fraternity shown for the
Pakistani delegation from Jammu to Kashmir was
beyond our and their imagination. Even those who
expressed reservations, for reasons SAFMA or the
delegation could not be held responsible, in fact
wanted the delegation to visit whole of Kashmir
valley to assess the situation. Those who had
decided not to receive the delegation also lined
up behind the long queue.
Although there were no restraints on the media
team to meet anybody anywhere, the visit was
constrained by time and too tight a schedule
prepared by SAFMA India and the coordinator,
Editor Kashmir Times Mr Bhasin. The latter came
under tremendous pressure for allowing the
delegation to meet everybody from the local media
and all sections of society. Stay in Jammu,
although without doubts and acrimony except seen
at the Pandits' camps, was too ceremonious. What
was quite disturbing to find was that after being
displaced from the valley many among them had
abandoned their secular paradigm of Kashmiriat
and some among them have become communalised to
the extent that they now demand carving a Pandit
state out of the valley not many among the
community agree with. The criticism about the
neglect of their plight by the media in Pakistan
was right to a point since it is focused on the
valley and looked at Pandits with tinted glasses.
Yet, there are nationalists, also among the
Pandits, who differ with the tendency to treat
the Kashmir question as a communal issue and
insist on finding a way out of the quagmire of a
cyclical violence.
The overwhelming view among the middle classes in
Jammu takes 'accession to India' as a fait
accompli, while the Punjabis and Dogras underline
the need for greater room to allow reunion of the
divided communities and are much more flexible on
resolving the dispute. In fact their political,
intellectual and business representatives show
certain degrees of flexibility to bring peace to
their troubled region and for greater gains the
former J&K state can reap from a rapprochement
between India and Pakistan. Their major demand
was to open Jammu-Sialkot route and allow free
movement of people. The secular view dominant
among the urban people of Jammu, many among them
don't like to be called Kashmiris, preclude any
division on the basis of religion and feel at
greater ease with Indian secular ethos. The
nationalists, however, demand a untied and
secular J&K that will be relatively independent
of both India and Pakistan without being fully
sovereign. And there are those 'nationalists' who
would want a reunited J&K integrated with India,
given the level of assimilation that has already
taken place.
By contrast, the journey to and through Srinagar
brought too much pressure on the delegation due
to an awesome deployment of security forces,
inflated demands of the Kashmiris and high
passions of a people under siege for too long.
The two meetings that we had on our way to
Srinagar showed an area overburdened with the
crossfire of security agencies and the militants.
The people were living under visible harassment
and intimidation. Srinagar wore the look of a
capital scrawling on its knees under the burden
of both insurgency and counter-insurgency,
especially the heavy boots of security agencies,
while giving the false image of the summer
capital of a state that is supposed to 'enjoy' a
special status - in fact in reverse. The
passions, expectations and demands were too high,
as we met a large number of leaders, students,
lawyers, journalists, shopkeepers, men on the
street, political activists, wailing women
searching for their sons and rank and file of
most of the parties.
Regardless of what the parties from the opposite
or the same camps say, and there are too many,
the people of Srinagar from almost all walks of
life know to spell one word with close to total
unanimity and that is: Azadi
(freedom/independence). The alienation from New
Delhi is complete and, perhaps, irreversible.
More than 90 per cent of the public opinion is
tilted towards independence. Even those who raise
the slogan of accession to Pakistan and also
Nizam-e-Mustafa, although declining in numbers,
subscribe to the idea of independence. Alienation
from India does not mean that the Kashmiris want
to join Pakistan. Yet the expectations from
Pakistan are so high that even a non-official and
private visit by the Pakistani journalists on
Indian visa came under critical scrutiny,
including those who practice Indian law or demand
Indian passport to travel abroad. Suspicions
about and complaints against Islamabad are on the
rise after the division of All Parties Hurriyat
Conference (APHC). On the issue of opening
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, even those who
oppose it cannot afford the reaction from the
people who are craving to meet their own on the
other side.
The target of resentment are the Indian security
forces against whose excesses and human rights
violations the system of justice has failed to
provide any relief. Even the most moderate
daughter of Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed, Mehbooba
Mufti, who has come to the rescue of many
aggrieved families, feel helpless and seeks
refuge behind the excuses a heartless
administration provides to hide its crimes. It
does not mean that the people are not getting
irritated with the excesses committed by the
militants. So overwhelming is the support for
Azadi that even the senior rank and file of
National Conference of Abdullah, People's
Democratic Party of Mufti and the Kashmir unit of
Congress feel sympathetic to the aspirations of
their Kashmiri brethren. The leadership of these
parties exhibits a lot of flexibility, despite
their capitulation, on possible peaceful
solutions while supporting softening of the LoC
and opposing militancy. Although Hurriyat is
divided, and the Ansari faction accuses Islamabad
for the division and Geelani faction blames them
of hobnobbing with New Delhi, it can still play a
crucial role if reunited and the militant groups
took the back seat.
There are two broad views on the course to
resolve the conflict: The one who believes that
Indo-Pak dialogue will damage the Kashmir cause
and any kind of confidence building between the
two will be at the cost of Kashmiris. The other
view considers Indo-Pak reconciliation process
suitable to Kashmiris, if their representatives
are engaged to decide their destiny. Almost every
section of opinion in Srinagar emphasised the
urgency to include Kashmiri representatives in
the talks and want the composite dialogue to
succeed. About representation the Kashmiri
leadership has no problem in showing magnanimity
or presenting a foolproof electoral course. The
real issue is that both Islamabad and New Delhi
stop treating the Kashmir issue as a territorial
dispute and, instead, address together the
aspirations of the people of the valley in some
appropriate form that is to the satisfaction of
the two big brothers. The solution lies in the
process, not in any pre-determined formula. Can
New Delhi and Islamabad dare to get out of their
straitjackets and free the Indian and Pakistani
minds from remaining a hostage to annexationist
or irredentist view over Kashmir and take this
hurdle out of the way of greater cooperation? The
problem is not with the Kashmiris, it is with us.
Who are we, the Indians and Pakistanis, to decide
their destiny?
______
[2]
New Age - October 17, 2004
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL DRIBBLING
WITH FANATIC FANTASIA
by Tureen Afroz
The Bangladeshi girls can now 'bend it like
Beckham'. Or I must say that they have dared to
do so. The first ever women's football tournament
of Bangladesh began on October 4 this year.
Thanks to Bangladesh Football Federation and more
thanks to the women players and their supportive
families to take the country a step ahead. Women
in Bangladesh were already into sports like
volleyball, handball, swimming, shooting, judo
and karate. The recent addition of football to
the women's sports in Bangladesh is undoubtedly a
brave step towards globalization. I feel proud to
be a Bangladeshi woman. Sincere cheers for you
soccer-girls out there for making a mark by
creating a history for me and for all of us!
However, it is unfortunate to notice that
certain fanatic Islamic groups in Bangladesh have
become critical over the country's first-ever
women's football tournament. They have decided to
carry on a three-day agitation program in Dhaka
to stop the tournament. These groups have further
vowed to announce tougher programs against the
government if the competition is not stopped
immediately. According to media reports of last
few days, the Amir of Islamic Constitution
Movement (ICM) and Charmonai Pir Fazlul Karim
threatened to besiege the National Sports Council
on October 9 if the government had not stopped
the ongoing women's football tournament. The
Islamic group, Jamiatul Ulama Islami Bangladesh
has further declared that there members were even
ready to sacrifice their lives to stop the event
from going ahead.
It may be mentioned here that only a few
months back, Bangladesh's first women's wrestling
competition received the similar kind of threats
from Muslim fanatics who termed the event "vulgar
and indecent". However, this time the demand of
fanatic Islamic groups is not only limited to
stopping the football tournament as such. They
further demanded "a ban on all kinds of women
sports" in Bangladesh. The reasons forwarded by
these fanatic Islamic groups so far are two-folds
:
women sports destroy moral character; and
women sports are anti-Islamic.
I really do not understand how women sports
can be said to destroy moral character. Even if
it is, whose moral character are they talking
about - of the women or the men? As far as the
women are concerned, physical exercise and sport
are beneficial to their physical healthiness. Men
and women alike are in need of sport and exercise
to maintain their physical fitness. Benefits
derived from sport are keys to universal notions
of good health, confidence, success and overall
happiness. It is, therefore, a well acknowledged
fact all over the world that sports not only have
social and physical benefits but also essential
psychological consequences. Physical exercise and
fitness help to maintain a more balanced
emotional state, as it 'aids in the release of
harmful free radicals and excess hormones'.
Women have multi-dimensional roles to play in
family and the society. Therefore, women should
be physically and emotionally fit to provide
significant inputs to the society, as well as to
her relationship with husband, family and
friends. Therefore, the claim of fanatic Islamic
groups that women sports destroy moral character
of women is completely illogical. If, however,
these Islamic groups meant that women sports
would destroy the moral character of some men in
the society then it is those men who need
psychiatric treatment to restore the required
standard of morality. Ban on women's sport would
not help them much as they can still fantasize
women's sports in their mind and can suffer from
'continuous degradation of morality' syndrome.
The other reason for demanding a ban on women
sports by the fanatic Islamic groups in
Bangladesh is that women sports are anti-Islamic.
It is stated that Islam in general has always
encouraged sports as a way of refreshing one's
mind, be it of a man or women. The Prophet
Muhammad always advised his disciples (both men
and women) to engage in different forms of sport.
According to history, the Prophet himself would
engage in sports like wrestling, racing, archery
and horse races. Islam did not, therefore,
discriminate women on grounds of sports as such.
Moreover, the following hadith would illustrate
how women are treated equally with men in Islamic
precinct regarding physical capabilities :
While Aisha (r.a.a) was on a journey along
with the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w), she had a race
with him and outpaced him. As time passed, the
Prophet (s.a.w) wished to avenge for his loss, so
he raced her again, in which case he outpaced
her, and remarked: "This is for that outpacing."
Therefore, the claim made by fanatic Islamic
groups in Bangladesh as to women sports being
un-Islamic is completely baseless. Their demand
for banning the ongoing football tournament and
as such, the women's sports, does not merit any
consideration, what so ever. On the contrary, it
is strongly stated that their very demand for
banning women's sports in Bangladesh is itself
un-Islamic.
As a matter of fact women's sports are
encouraged in other parts of the Muslim world
too. Very specifically, football is played by
Muslim women in many other countries of the
world. Muslim women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar
and Oman have been playing football against all
odds. On September 18, 2004 women's football also
made its debut in Pakistan when a match was
played by its women's football team in Islamabad
to promote the spirit of fair play in
competitions. Football has been played by women
in Iran for several decades and according to
Khadijeh Sepanchi, the head of the Iranian
Women's Football Association, about 4,700 Muslim
women currently play football in Iran. Women
football tournaments are also a regular feature
of Kuwait University. Moreover, many non-Muslim
countries of the world currently have their own
all-Muslim women football teams participating in
national and international events. Ansar United
of the United States of America has its own
all-Muslim women football team. The United
Kingdom also sent its own all-Muslim girls'
football team to the 3rd Muslim Women's Games of
2001.
The question of banning women sports in
Bangladesh on Islamic grounds does also give rise
to various issues of discrimination and
Constitutional rights of women. Let's assume, to
meet the demand of fanatic Islamic groups, such a
ban is imposed by the government on Muslim women
in Bangladesh. It will create a discrimination
against Muslim women vis-à-vis non-Muslim women
of Bangladesh as the later would be outside the
scope of such ban. The government will thus be in
violation of Article 28 (1) of the Constitution
by which the citizens of Bangladesh have a right
not to be discriminated on grounds of religion.
If however, the ban is extended to non-Muslim
women, they would be forced to refrain from doing
something which otherwise their religion might
permit. Therefore, the state would be in
violation of Article 41 of the Constitution which
guarantees freedom of religion to every citizen
of Bangladesh.
Moreover, if a ban is imposed on women sports
(say, playing football) in Bangladesh while men
remain free to participate in such activities, it
would create a discrimination against women
vis-à-vis men. According to Article 28(2) women
in Bangladesh are guaranteed equal rights with
men in all spheres of the State and of public
life. Also, it is one of the fundamental
principles of our state policy that the
government should ensure women participation in
all spheres of national life (Article 10 of the
Constitution). Besides, the government has its
international commitment under the Women
Convention (CEDAW) to eliminate all forms of
discrimination against women from the society.
Therefore, the government should encourage and
provide women of Bangladesh with equal
opportunity and patronization in sports.
In conclusion, I see no valid ground for
fanatic Islamic group's agitation against the
ongoing women's football tournament in
Bangladesh. Rather, the very demand raised by
fanatic Islamic groups for banning women's sports
in Bangladesh is illogical, un-Islamic and above
all, un-constitutional.
The writer is a barrister and currently doing
her Ph.D. in Law at Monash University, Australia
______
[3]
The News on Sunday
October 17, 2004
NO COMPROMISE ON MURDER
Beena Sarwar
Murder by any other name still smells foul. It is still murder.
Unfortunately, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2004 against 'honour
killings' introduced by the treasury bench in the National Assembly deems
this crime compoundable, allowing for a 'compromise' (razinama) between the
parties. Thus the accused in 'honour killing' or karo kari cases will
continue to be able to escape punishment.
Most karo kari cases are committed by a close relative - father, brother,
son, or husband of the woman. Often, the victims are the most vulnerable
members of the family or community. In either case, if and when the case
reaches a court of law, the victim's family may 'pardon' the murderer (who
may well be one of them), or be pressurised to accept diyat ('blood-money')
as compensation. The murderer then goes free.
The motive is often other than the stated ghairat or honour, often related
to land disputes or old enmities. Such cases continue to take place because,
very simply, the murderer knows he will get away with it. The statistics
speak for themselves: according to one estimate, around 1,261 cases of
honour killings were reported in 2003 alone - 938 women and 323 men. That
is, over a hundred such cases a month.
The present bill does nothing to change this state of affairs, which appears
to have worsened since the promulgation of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance of
1990. Like other laws enacted in the name of religion, this one too has its
flaws and critics, as well as supporters who appear more interested in
preserving the status quo than in the ground reality of its negative effects.
On the positive side, this law did away with the concept of 'grave and
sudden provocation' introduced by the British and incorporated in Section
300 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The 'provocation' clause allowed
someone who had been 'provoked' into spontaneous murder, to receive a
lighter sentence if he could justify his act. Then, as now, a woman's
perceived infidelity was justification enough.
The Qisas & Diyat Act's omission of this clause leaves no room in the law
for any concessions. "But the law and the judiciary are apparently two
different things," writes the Lahore-based criminal lawyer Hassam Qadir
Shah, in 'Don't let them get away with murder', a booklet on criminal
procedures (Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Centre, 2002). "While the law is
clear and unforgiving on this account, some judges of the superior courts of
Pakistan have tried to read between the lines to apply the earlier concept
of justified anger. Quite a few reported judgments in the form of case-law
have once again mitigated the offence of murder in the context of so-called
'honour' crimes."
However, as Shah notes, several judgments also criticise this trend.
"Neither the law of the land nor religion permits so-called 'honour'
killings and it amounts to intentional murder ('qatl-i-amd')," states one
Supreme Court judgment, noting that "such iniquitous and vile" acts violate
the fundamental rights as enshrined in Article 9 of the Pakistan
Constitution which provides that no person shall be deprived of life or
liberty except in accordance with law. "Any custom in that respect is void
under Article 8 (1) of the Constitution" (PLD 2001 SC 96).
The major flaw in the Qisas and Diyat law, which covers all offences against
the human body, is that it makes such offenses compoundable (open to
compromise as a private matter between two parties) by providing for qisas
(retribution) or diyat (blood-money). The heirs of the victim can forgive
the murderer in the name of God without receiving any compensation or diyat
(Section 309), or compromise after receiving diyat (Section 310).
Most cases result in one or the other compromise, thus allowing murderers to
go free, even though Pakistani law does not contain any provision which
allows the offence of murder to be mitigated. Contrary to common belief,
Islam also explicitly forbids such killing in the name of ghairat or honour.
Prior to this change, the state was a party to murder cases, which were
non-compoundable, in keeping with the principle that the state must ensure
the right to life of all citizens, regardless of class, gender or creed. Now
the poor "may be cornered into compromising even for the most heinous crimes
in lieu of a hefty payoff, for instance. This promotes the practice of
settling murder cases, and especially cases of karo kari through a
compromise or razinama," notes Shah.
Many lawyers and human rights activists believe that there is no need to
define 'honour crimes' or 'karo kari' murders separately, as the existing
provisions of the PPC and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) are sufficient,
provided that such murders are registered as murder. In cases where guilt is
established, through confession or trial, the perpetrator must be convicted
at least on paper, even if there is a razinama, so that the criminal record
is established.
No matter how well-intentioned, the government's bill on 'honour killings'
is a farce as long as these factors are ignored. And finally, no law can
bring about changes unless it is implemented, and unless society changes to
accept the status of women as equal human beings.
______
[4]
New York Times, October 17, 2004
INDIAN MUSLIMS' HOPE IS ONE GOOD POLICEWOMAN
Manish Swarup/Associated Press
Angry mobs rioted in Ahmadabad in 2002 to protest
the deaths of 59 Hindus in a train attack.
By Amy Waldman
KALOL, India - So indecent was his younger
brother's death that Idris Yusuf Ghodawala never
imagined the indignity that was to follow.
On March 1, 2002, as Hindu-Muslim riots convulsed
the state of Gujarat, a Hindu mob armed with
shiny new swords set upon Imran Ghodawala, an
18-year-old Muslim, dragged him into the Rabbani
mosque and burned him to death. Idris, hiding on
a balcony next door, saw the attack and then the
smoke billowing from the mosque.
When Idris Ghodawala went to the police to claim
Imran's remains, he said the top local police
officer, a Hindu named R. J. Patil, told him
there were no remains to claim. Mr. Patil had
burned them, knowing full well that Muslims,
unlike Hindus, bury their dead.
The sacrilege still makes Mr. Ghodawala, 31, weep.
"We are Muslims, and they burned our body," he said.
Mr. Patil's action appears to have been part of a
broader effort to conceal evidence and thwart
prosecutions after the riots in Gujarat state,
which left at least 1,100 Muslims dead and up to
600 missing. Mr. Ghodawala could name four
members of the mob that killed his brother, two
of whom he had played cricket with as a child.
But he said Mr. Patil refused to let him name
names, or even file a complaint. So Mr.
Ghodawala's case essentially disappeared, as did
thousands of others stemming from the riots.
In a state controlled by Hindu nationalists, the
police either refused to register the names of
the accused or simply summarily closed cases;
prosecutors did not oppose bail for suspects, and
judges delivered acquittals in cases where dozens
of people died.
Only a small number of Hindus have been convicted
for any action in the riots, although the Supreme
Court has now intervened to force more than 2,000
cases that had been closed to be re-examined and
at least two retried.
What happened in this area was typical except in
one respect. Late last year, Neeraja Gotru Rao, a
policewoman of uncommon courage, arrived here
after being sent by the state police to
reinvestigate the cases. Her work led to the
arrests of about 30 suspects, including the
personal assistant to a state government
minister. It also led to the arrest of Mr. Patil
on suspicion of destroying evidence by burning
the remains of Imran Ghodawala and at least 12
other Muslims.
The fate of these two police officers, whose
interpretation of duty so diverged, will test
more than whether justice will be done in the
riots, which were set off by the immolation on
Feb. 27, 2002, of 59 Hindus in a train carriage.
It may also determine whether Muslims here can
once again believe in the impartiality of the
Indian state.
On a recent afternoon, the corpulent Mr. Patil
was found not in jail, but sipping tea in his
pajamas in the local government hospital. The
minister's personal assistant and another
well-connected accused person - all three
ostensibly under arrest - were with him. Pleading
illness, they were seeking bail from the comfort
of the hospital.
Ms. Rao, meanwhile, was back in Ahmedabad, having
been ordered by the Gujarat state police to wrap
up her unfinished work. She is not granting
interviews, but victims and their advocates say
the order is another effort to thwart
prosecutions.
"She was removed because she was doing good
work," Mr. Ghodawala said. "And because she said
she would try to find out who were the superior
officers who gave the orders. Now I don't think
anybody will take up this case." The director
general of the Gujarat police says Ms. Rao, who
is Hindu, was taking too long with her work, and
that her investigation was finished.
The rioting lasted for weeks, but was most
ferocious in the first few days. Sixty-eight
Muslims died in this area, many of them from
Delol, a village nearby.
Muslims died in the village and the surrounding
fields, where Yaqub Adam, a tailor, saw his
father, mother, uncle, cousin, nephew and two
other relatives killed.
"Their only work in those days was to find the
Muslims, kill them and burn them," Mr. Adam, 40,
said.
Eleven more Muslims died next to the Ambika
Society housing colony, when the truck in which
they were trying to flee ran straight into a
Hindu mob.
"Nobody came to save us," said Medina Yaqub
Sheikh, who said she saw her husband hacked by a
sword, then set on fire. One young woman said she
was raped by five men.
More Muslims died at Derol station, and 17 more
fleeing rioters at the Goma River. Two small boys
were reportedly thrown on a fire, then when they
crawled off, thrown on again. In Kalol, where
about one-fourth of the 20,000 residents are
Muslim, 165 Muslim properties and vehicles were
looted and burned. One Muslim man, injured in the
police firing, was burned to death in the
hospital compound. Imran Ghodawala was burned to
death in the mosque.
If each killing had its horrific particularity,
the aftermath was strikingly similar. Victims and
witnesses went to the local police station,
controlled by Mr. Patil, to register complaints
and claim their dead.
Survivors said Mr. Patil refused to let them file
complaints, saying he would write what needed to
be written. In the end, he wrote a single
complaint bunching all the killings together and
not listing the suspects whom witnesses had
named. Survivors of the Ambika Society massacre
said he told them that he had burned the remains
of their loved ones.
When Mr. Ghodawala sought a certificate proving
his brother's death so his family could get
compensation from the state, he said the police
told him that if he named names his family would
get no money.
He would see his brother's killers in town, but
was powerless, he said, tears flowing again. "If
we chase them we cannot live here, we cannot work
here," he said. "We do not have anybody to help."
That changed when Ms. Rao arrived at the end of
last year. The state police had dispatched her to
investigate the killings and rape at the Ambika
Society after pressure from human rights and
women's groups and the Supreme Court.
She set up shop in a separate room at the Kalol
police station, and victims began coming to see
her. They found a woman, about 35, in a police
uniform, with short hair, small glasses, a strong
build and a soft voice.
She listened with compassion, and spoke with
affection. Medina Yaqub Sheikh is illiterate, but
as she recounted how her husband died, she knew
it mattered that Ms. Rao took notes.
"Earlier when we used to talk to the police they
never used to write," Ms. Sheikh said.
As word spread about Ms. Rao, more victims began
visiting her. Idris Ghodawala told her of his
brother's killing. She visited the scene,
photographing the spot, still preserved in the
mosque, where his brother had burned.
"She used to encourage us: 'Don't be afraid of anybody,' " Mr. Ghodawala said.
Yaqub Adam told her of his family's deaths. "No
one knew about this case because it was never
reported," he said. "Because of R. J. Patil,
nothing came on the surface."
Ms. Rao worked as late as midnight and avoided
talking to witnesses in front of the local
police, bringing her own staff to write
affidavits.
"She wanted that whatever injustice happened to
us, at the end of the day we should get justice,"
said the young woman who had been gang-raped.
Local Hindus looked on her less favorably.
"Neeraja Rao used to call people and they would
be sitting all day in her office," huffed Tushat
Patel, a town official. "She was very tough."
By the time she was taken off the investigation,
22 Delol men had been arrested. So had at least
three of the four men Idris Ghodawala had named
in his brother's killing, although they are free
on bail.
One of them, Ajay Soni, a lecturer and member of
the Association of National Volunteers, India's
most powerful Hindu nationalist organization,
called the charge fabricated. "This is all
political," he said. "The minority cannot rule
this country. This will not go any further."
Mr. Patil denied any wrongdoing as well. "All the
senior officers knew what was the situation at
the time," he said from his hospital bed.
For now, whether he was a renegade or following
orders from superiors will remain unanswered
since Ms. Rao is no longer here to pursue it.
Not a single Muslim has returned to live in
Delol. Instead, they live in a ready-made ghetto,
a colony built for them on the edge of Kalol by
an Islamic relief organization. The houses are
filled with widows and absence.
The young woman who said she was raped said she
also lost her father, brother and husband - every
male member of her household. She said she is
still too fearful to go to town on her own, where
her rapists wander free on bail.
She and the other victims want Ms. Rao back. "We
had complete confidence in her, and we were
getting justice through her," said Ms. Sheikh.
"Now we are not sure."
In trusting Ms. Rao, the victims went out on a
limb. Now, they say, it has been snapped beneath
them.
Idris Ghodawala said he again sees no hope for
justice, and he feels more threatened than ever.
When he crosses paths with those who were
arrested in the killing of his brother, he said,
"It is I who try to hide, not them."
______
[5]
The Times of India, October 18, 2004
THE LESSER EVIL: LACK OF SECULAR OPTIONS LED TO DEMOCRATIC FRONT WIN
Jyoti Punwani
Even before noon on Saturday, the relief was
palpable. Those who had threatened to launch an
agitation against the Congress, or had decided
not to endorse the ruling combine in the
Maharashtra elections, were filled with an
overriding thought: The BJP ogre had been kept
out; no chance here of another Gujarat.
After a long time, the old Congress ruse worked,
this time, without them even having used it. For
20 years, the Congress used the BJP to frighten
the Muslims - and others repelled by Hindutva -
into voting for it. This strategy failed after
the Babri masjid demolition. After December 6,
1992, it seemed that the Congress had moved to
the fringes of Muslim, if not secular,
consciousness. But Gujarat 2002 changed all that.
And the BJP's defence of Narendra Modi was the
final straw.
Yet, last week, Muslims in Maharashtra didn't
come out in droves as they had in 1999 to vote
out the Sena-BJP. Some Muslim areas of Mumbai saw
poor turnout. Yet, even here, Muslim candidates
backed by the ruling combine won. The poor
turnout was the latest indication of the
despondency with which Muslims in Maharashtra
regard the five years of rule by a 'secular'
government. When the Vilasrao government was
formed in 1999, Mumbai's Muslims were dancing on
rooftops. Never before had there been as many as
five ministers from their community. After the
Sena-BJP drought, this was a bounty. Every Muslim
home now had a direct connection to Mantralaya,
it was said gleefully. The sight of the Samajwadi
Party Maharashtra president and 1993 bomb blast
TADA accused (discharged by the Supreme Court)
Abu Asim Azmi, till then reviled by the Sena
mouthpiece Saamna, striding along the corridors
of Mantralaya as a partner in the government,
sent a thrill through even those Muslims for whom
he'd done nothing.
Azmi's loss this time from Bhiwandi, more than 50
km away from his domain in south Mumbai, is both
a tragedy and a relief. A relief because had he
won, his claim of being the messiah of Mumbai's
Muslims would have gained strength, despite his
doing little other than resorting to
Thackeray-style rhetoric. A tragedy because his
defeat, despite his closeness to the ulema and a
public endorsement by two mainstream Muslim
organisations, represents the failure of the
elusive 'Third Force', so desperately sought by
Muslims sick of the Congress-NCP.
Not even the most vehement opponent of BJP-SS
could endorse the last five years of 'secular
rule' in Maharashtra. The omissions and
commissions are startling: 53 communal riots (in
contrast to the Sena-BJP's three); the shielding
of guilty policemen indicted by the Srikrishna
Commission; the targeting of Muslims in fake
encounters; POTA's communal use; a refusal to
advertise police recruitment drives in the Urdu
press (for the state's constables/inspectors,
Muslims remain landyas); the benign relationship
between both Congress CMs and Bal Thackeray (he
helped Sushil Kumar Shinde become CM by not
fielding an opponent); continuous tirade against
Muslims in Saamna ("All the murderers in the
country - those that are found - are all Muslims.
Tear apart not just by law but by force" are
editorial statements from last month's issue);
impunity to the VHP to conduct poisonous
campaigns across interior Maharashtra; the
bureaucratic functioning of the Maulana Azad
Financial Corporation set up specially for
Muslims.
For the first time in a decade, Maharashtra's
normally expressive Ulema Council refused to
endorse any party, asking Muslims to vote for the
'best' candidate. That statement brought the
favourite of the secularists to the ulema's
doorstep four days before election day. Digvijay
Singh's belated rush to the heart of Mumbai's
Muslim area was another first; normally, the
Congress sends emissaries to the community weeks
in advance. Why, in 1999, even former Sena
strongman Chhagan Bhujbal had wooed Muslims, only
revealing his reluctance to shed his ideological
roots after he became home minister.
It was this 'arrogance' of the Congress that
Maharashtra's politically conscious Muslims
wanted to dent by supporting potential Third
Force candidates, hoping to pressurise them into
pushing for Muslim demands. Alas, not only were
such candidates too few, had they won, they would
have sold themselves for a ministerial berth.
Muslim activists knew this, yet, from all sides
one heard the anguished question: What else can
we do?
There were two other factors, which made votes
drop into Congress's lap: Sonia Gandhi's
'sacrifice' and Thackeray's last-minute
anti-north Indian outburst. Despite Sonia not
having lifted a finger to ensure a genuine
secular government in Maharashtra, not even the
most disgusted Muslim could resist her grand
gesture, the final stamp which set her apart from
her predecessor, Narasimha Rao, in the eyes of
the Muslims.
Now that Maharashtra is set for another five
years of non-Hindutva rule, should we expect
genuine secular politics, some tough stands
perhaps, from the new government? There's no
reason why that should happen. All the Muslim
ministers described as nikammey by the community
are back. The Congress has seen it can win even
without wooing its vote bank. What prevents it
from lapsing into complacency?
Yet, Muslims across the board are happy. Yes, all
the rascals have returned, but they shrug that
it's only rascals who win anyway. Communal forces
have been kept out, that's what matters.
______
[6] [Book Review]
Dawn
17 October 2004
REVIEW: Predicting the future
Reviewed by Uzma Aslam Khan
Between Past & Future is a collection of essays
and talks delivered by Eqbal Ahmad over a period
of almost 30 years. Though he wrote regularly
throughout his life, this is the first
compilation of his work to appear in print, and
the editors, Dohra Ahmad, Iftikhar Ahmad, and Zia
Mian, must have excruciated over which articles
to include or omit. But the result is not only a
precious anthology of one of the most
encyclopedic and thought-provoking minds of the
20th century, but an urgently needed reference
point: almost all the 44 essays are as relevant
today as when first written, some perhaps even
more. Eqbal Ahmad not only analyzed the past but
also predicted the future; the extent to which
the predictions have come true are often so
chilling that this book serves as a kind of
compass to the 21st century.
Despite his overall opposition to
nationalist-separatist movements, in the 1972
"Notes on South Asia in crisis", Ahmad explained
why he ultimately supported Bangladeshi
nationalism. The piece illustrates his compassion
and objectivity on many levels: it was mailed an
hour before he was taken to trial in the US for
protesting against the Vietnam war, revealing how
he could engage with several outrages at the same
time, with equal devotion and clarity; it
condemns the Pakistani military's heinous
treatment of Bengalis, as well as India's
military intervention, and the massacring of
around 10,000 Biharis by the Bengalis. Yet,
despite being a Bihari himself, he refused "to
equate the actions of the Bengali vigilantes with
those of the government and the criminal acts of
an organized, professional army".
In the 1980 interview "Pakistan in crisis", he
spoke for two other disenfranchised groups: the
Sindhis and the Baloch. He called Sindh "the
second place in 20th century history where the
indigenous people have become a minority in their
own homeland - the first being Palestine". He
argued that the southern provinces were "for all
practical purposes completely excluded from the
structure of the state". His warning about Baloch
nationalism is chillingly pertinent to today.
One of the most illuminating articles in the
collection is on Afghanistan. From the
Anglo-Russian rivalry played out on Afghan soil,
to the growing Soviet influence soon after the
departure of the British and subsequent growth of
rival elitist communist groups, to Daud Khan's
1973 Kremlin-approved military coup, "Bloody
games" is a vivid chronicle of a land "torn to
pieces by teams sponsored by outsiders". Events
leading up to the 1979 Soviet invasion are
unnervingly convoluted, yet Ahmad was able to
pick apart the knitting and expose individual
strands more clearly than many other analysts.
Several strands lead to the Pakistan-backed
Islamic fundamentalists' opposition to the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which
overthrew Daud's government, also unpopular with
Pakistan. Support of these Islamic groups began
during Z.A. Bhutto's rule, in retaliation for the
support Daud extended to the Pakhtoonistan
movement. Daud repented and tried to reestablish
links with Pakistan, but the Islamic groups
continued to be used as "bargaining chips". The
stakes were raised by General Zia, but they had
already been introduced. A point seldom conceded
enough here is that these threads are firmly
rooted in Pakistan.
Once the Soviets invaded, the Mujahideen
organized into eleven main groups: four were
headquartered in Iran, seven in Pakistan. The
article appeared in 1988, but today this warning
rings even louder: "(Decades) of war have
undermined the old Afghan ways; to the ancient
ethnic and tribal divisions of Afghanistan have
been added the conflict of ideologies and the
irreconcilable ambitions of armed political
organizations. In the Afghan code of honour,
badal - the obligation to take revenge - has an
important place. Neither time nor space limits
the obligation. Unless a truce is made and
compensation is paid, harm done in Peshawar or
Kabul may be avenged years later in New York or
Moscow."
When will the Soviet Union, Pakistan, the United
States and Iran deign to offer a truce? The cost
to Pakistan of failing to do so is spelled out in
the 1998 article, "What after strategic depth?":
"However inadvertently, Islamabad is setting the
stage for the emergence in the next decade of a
powerful Pakhtoonistan movement."
No one subject Ahmad wrote on was more important
to him than any other. I selected these articles
simply because I had not read them before, and
there is no room to discuss more. So, for
instance, the three on de-nuclearization, some of
his last to appear in Dawn, are not discussed,
though "India's obsession, our choice," in which
he pleaded that trying to match India's nuclear
capability is not deterrence but suicide, cannot
be read enough. Ditto for the eloquent "A
Kashmiri solution for Kashmir", the articles
toward the end on Islam and politics, and the
very moving piece on Akhtar Hameed Khan.
A minor concern: The book is divided into four
sections; articles within each are not organized
chronologically. Fair enough, but how are they
organized? Except for the fourth, the headings
are too vague to provide a thematic link, and
although occasionally articles do run smoothly in
series, some juxtapositions appear perfunctory.
An example is "Reason as spectator", about a
stampede that erupted at a conference. Why did it
follow the articles on the nuclear tests? It
would have made more sense in the last section,
with the others on the religious right.
A deeper doubt is the inclusion of excerpts from
three talks delivered on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, at
the launch of the Jinnah Papers in 1995, in the
presence of President Farooq Leghari. In the
introduction, the editors explain that the
purpose of the publication of the Jinnah Papers
was to begin a national debate on Pakistan's
history. They quote Ahmad as saying: "I do not
know of any country's educational system that so
explicitly subordinates knowledge to politics."
But the excerpts do not begin to fill those gaps
in knowledge. Moreover, the change in Ahmad's
tone was stark: "Jinnah led (Pakistanis) with
unassailable integrity along a path that promised
economic justice, liberation from a constricting
past, and an enlightened future. They followed
with enthusiasm and dedication, without fear or
misgiving". Nowhere did he himself tackle
pressing questions, such as: what "constricting
past" was Jinnah "liberating" Muslims from? And
what about those Muslims who chose not to
migrate, or came with a great deal of fear and
misgiving? If he did write on such topics, the
articles were unfortunately excluded from the
book, though Ahmad believed (as he stated in
another article) that "opposition is to democracy
what oxygen is to life".
But the rest of the book is a searing, poignant
gift, and the publisher and editors cannot be
thanked enough for providing it. Eqbal Ahmad's
last words in "South Asia in crisis" should be on
bumper stickers: "In order for Pakistan to
prosper in freedom and dignity we must withdraw
the power presently vested in the army and
bureaucracy and restructure both institutions...
I hope (we will be compelled) to creativity and
innovation rather than to put on more military
fat and to harden the authoritarian arteries of
the bureaucracy."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eqbal Ahmad-Between Past & Future: Selected Essays on South Asia
Edited by Dohra Ahmad, Iftikhar Ahmad and Zia Mian
Oxford University Press, Plot # 38, Sector 15, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi
Tel: 111-693-673
Email: ouppak at theoffice.net
Website: www.oup.com.pk
______
[7]
The Centre for Studies on Indian Muslims, Hamdard
University, invites you to attend a talk on
'Perpetuating Culture and the Production of Self:
A Sociological Understanding of 'Alig' Identity'
(Reflections on What it Means to be a Student of the Aligarh Muslim University)
By
S. M. Faizan Ahmed
S. M. Faizan Ahmed received a Bachelor's degree
in Sociology from the Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, and did his post-graduation from the
Dept. of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics,
Delhi. Apart from his independent research, he
has also been involved with several research
institutions in Delhi. He has worked on
Partition, Masculinities, Labour issues, the
Students' movement and Muslim Politics. He is
currently engaged in writing a monograph entitled
"Making Democarcy Meaningful: Towards a New Brand
of Muslim Politics".
Date: 21st October, 2004 (Thursday)
Time: 2:45 pm
Venue: Board Room (Near VC's office), Main
Administrative Building,Hamdard University, New
Delhi (Near Batra Hospital)
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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