SACW | 5 Nov 2004

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire   |  5 November,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] Pakistan:  Minorities hail exclusion of religion column from passport
[2] The election of George W Bush and Pakistan (Dr Mubashir Hasan)
[3] Bangladesh: Stranded and languishing Pakistanis! What next? 
(A.K.Faezul Huq)
[4] Indian-Pakistani couples: The great divide (Shazman Shariff)
[5] India: Gujarat Riots Cases of 2002 and the desperate need for for 
witness protection programme:
- Flip-Flops and Justice  (Edit., The Hindu)
- 'Zahira acting under pressure' (SAHMAT Statement as reported in The Hindu)
- Zaheera misses date with Mumbai Court (Deccan Herald)
- Trust on Trial - Try Zahira Sheikh for perjury (Edit., The Times of India)
- Letter to the editor (Ram Puniyani)
[6] Upcoming events :
- Film Screening 'Final Solution' by Rakesh Sharma (University of 
Illinois at Chicago, November 5)


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

[1]

Daily Times
November 05, 2004

MINORITIES HAIL EXCLUSION OF RELIGION COLUMN FROM PASSPORT

LAHORE: The Commission for Peace and Human Development (CPHD), a 
minorities' non-government organisation, has welcomed the exclusion 
of religious column from the Pakistani passport.
The CPHD, in a statement on Thursday, praised the government, 
particularly the National Reconstruction Bureau for the initiative to 
curb religious discrimination from society. The CPHD observed this 
was another good move after the restoration of the joint electorate, 
but a lot was to be done as there were biased articles in the 
Constitution, prejudiced lawmaking and curricula and distinction in 
the electoral system.
"President Musharraf's 'enlightened moderation' could only be put 
into practice if all these symbols of discrimination, which have been 
the cause of intolerance and violence in Pakistan over the past many 
years, are eliminated," the CPHD said. The CPHD demanded the 
government hold forthcoming local council elections under the joint 
electorate and prepare a common list of voters irrespective of their 
religion. staff report

_____


[2]  Daily Times
November 05, 2004

THE ELECTION OF GEORGE W BUSH AND PAKISTAN
By Dr Mubashir Hasan

The election of George W Bush as president of the United States is 
neither good nor bad for Pakistan. The aims of the foreign policy of 
the United States will continue to be what they have been. The time 
is right for Pakistan to review its policies and try to emerge as a 
nation with humanity, self respect and dignity, to restore its izzat 
and viqar among the comity of nations. The image of a lackey of the 
United States must be shed. It will be good for Pakistan as well as 
the US.
Pakistan must keep in mind that the US needs it more than it needs 
the US. Pakistan muddled through the 13-year period from 1988 to 2001 
bearing the worst possible sanctions imposed by the United States and 
its allies. Now the situation is vastly different. South West Asia is 
in turmoil. Barring Iran, the rulers of the countries in the region 
are far from secure. Their people are seething with anger against 
their rulers for cooperating with America. The position of the US is 
vulnerable but for the use of violent physical force which never wins 
friends. Its need for Pakistan as an ally is strategic in nature.
For America, securing cooperation from Pakistan is crucial. The US 
badly needs help from Pakistan in what it calls "war against terror" 
and to pursue its imperial quest in Afghanistan. The cooperation with 
the US should be made not for the sake of cash, weaponry and for the 
bolstering of unpopular rule but in the interest of the greatest good 
of the people of Pakistan and the region. It also means that Pakistan 
cannot be an unconditional partner in the pursuit of foreign 
interests in Afghanistan. In taking such a stand, Pakistan shall not 
find itself alone. The whole world, Europe, Asia and Africa would 
take a sympathetic view of such an approach. Besides, the US has 
little option. It cannot afford to create difficulties for President 
Musharraf's regime for it cannot get anyone better.
The US bases in Jacobabad and reportedly at some other places are an 
affront to the dignity and honour of Pakistan. They must go as soon 
as possible.
Pakistan should pursue on its own its war on terror. The presence of 
personnel from the CIA, Special Forces or American military need also 
be declared non-grata. We need a full debate on the subject in the 
parliament as well as in the nation. American cooperation is a 
liability rather than an asset in the pursuit of this important 
objective.
Pakistan has to persuade the US not to press the government to pursue 
the policies enunciated by the World Bank and International Monetary 
Fund. The "good" economic achievements publicized by Islamabad are 
deceptive. These are dangerously similar to the evidence of 
Pakistan's economic progress presented by President Ayub Khan in the 
late sixties. The rates of growth, savings, exchange parity etc 
applauded by the whole world in those days sounded fine. The rich had 
grown richer but the political fallout proved to be fatal. The 
country disintegrated. The present state of the economy of Pakistan 
is untenable and conceals dangerous potential.
The elections in the United States offer an opportunity to Pakistan 
to wake up and take a fresh view of its policies.



______



[3]

The New Nation - Nov 1, 2004

Stranded and languishing Pakistanis! What next?
By A.K.Faezul Huq

Munna and his disciple Pervez trace their ancestors from Bihar---Arra 
district to be exact. They were born in 1970 and 1971 respectively in 
the northern bustling railway town called Sayeedpur under the greater 
Rangpur district where their parents were settled and employed by the 
Eastern Bengal Railways. The Sayeedpur 'Loco' workshop in fact was a 
well equipped, reputed and huge establishment where hundreds of 
Biharis, who came over from the adjoining Bihar province after the 
partition of the sub-continent in 1947 [being direct victims of the 
heartrending communal riots of 1947/'48], were rehabilitated and 
meaningfully employed. Sayeedpur in course of time became their world 
or 'J awgoth', as we call it in Bangla. They were poor, but simple 
folks who had nothing to do with politics of any sort at that point. 
In course of time however some of them left their Railway jobs and 
set up their own small businesses like tea shops and groceries, while 
others gradually picked up handicraft related jobs in the textiles 
and knitting sector. One hardly came across anyone begging in that 
area and life was more or less peaceful and contended. There was a 
sizeable number of pure, local Bengali population also living side by 
side and the overall community rapport was fairly good enough without 
any signs of irritation or friction at any time. But the Biharis 
abinitio made one big blunder for which they had to pay a very heavy 
price later, in 1971. They sent their wards to their own schools and 
local educational institutions whose medium of instruction was 
invariably [all along] Urdu. And to make things further worse, the 
elders never learnt a single word of Bangla by m istake even. 
Gradually some sort of a rift started surfacing between the members 
of the two communities from the late '60s onwards and when the actual 
movement for an Independent Bangladesh entered its final stages in 
the later part of 1970, the Urdu speaking Biharis and local Bengalis 
were clearly seen as two different communities in the same area which 
used to be an abode of peace in the past. Even the traditional bonds 
of Islam which had bound them together for years, eventually failed 
to keep them as one entity. And if we further go down the 'history 
lane' we shall only come across the sordid tales of a brother killing 
his other sibling-in-faith for simple political reasons that could 
have been easily avoided had the Biharis accepted the reality in due 
time.

Today, 34 years later, Munna is a grown up young man and owns a 
grocery shop in Mohammadpur area having left the handicraft job, 
especially the one in which he specialized i.e the 'Zari' work [or 
the sophisticated embroidery] and production of wonderful 'Kattan' 
saris which have a huge market in India also. Pervez, the disciple, 
has of late taken Munna's place and is doing quite well 
independently. When I asked them about their views on migrating to 
Pakistan for good they put a counter question. "Why should we go to 
Pakistan? We were born and brought up here; we have married local 
girls and we can fluently converse in Bangla. Why should we even 
think of Pakistan as our home?" I must say I was quite impressed with 
their up-front views and the boldness with which they spoke. But I 
must also say that the number of 'Munnas' and 'Pervezs' is not very 
large by any chance. Many stranded Pakistanis [as they are commonly 
called] still dream of Pakistan as their final destination---or their 
dream home---especially those who have crossed the 50 years age-mark. 
Since 1972, when the Bangladesh government brought them to Dhaka and 
tried to rehabilitate them in camps [at Tongi, Mohammadpur, Rupganj 
and Adamjeenagar to be precise], which are popularly known as the 
'Geneva camps', having been alternately financed by the International 
Red Cross Society, some NGOs/ humanitarian organizations or mostly by 
the GoB itself. But life inside the camp has all along been anything 
but a miserable hell. The government has paid for their rations and 
el ectricity/water etc regularly but even then it has not been 
possible to salvage them from sub-human living conditions. And over 
the years, around 130,000 stranded Pakistanis have so far been sent 
to Pakistan through various channels since 1972. According to an 
official estimate, Bangladesh government had spent around Tk 10 crore 
each year since 1976 to provide for almost 2.4 lakhs stranded 
Pakistanis. As a matter of fact, a full new generation of humans has 
been added to the Bihari population; children have been regularly 
born since the time those camps were set up, while deaths either due 
to old age, or some disease or even due to sheer poverty in the camps 
have occurred quite frequently. A few fortunate ones have also found 
supplementary jobs or other avenues of supplementary income to 
support their families. And once again the more fortunate ones have 
managed enough funds and left for Pakistan either through India or 
Nepal or were officially repatriated from time to time as I mentioned 
above. [...]

Regrettably, Pakistan has so far failed to accept and rehabilitate 
their own citizens over the years---people who have been doubtlessly 
a security threat to the host country. What would happen, God forbid, 
if some mischievous quarter, in order to malign the government of the 
day which could be either BNP or Awami League, or to put the 
government in a seriously embarrassing situation, one fine morning 
slaughters a few hundred stranded Beharis and vanishes in the thin 
air? Who will carry the load of that blame then? And what would 
happen if some foreign power, inimical to Bangladesh for reason/s 
known and unknown, employs a few non-loca l Biharis and uses them 
effectively in any sabotage work? After all, the Biharis who have 
time and again displayed their weakness and opted for Pakistan 
unhesitatingly cannot be expected to be 'love-struck' for Bangladesh 
under any circumstances. They must be sent to Pakistan without any 
loss of time. But unfortunately, all previous governments in Pakistan 
had made some sort of commitment and then gleefully reneged on their 
promises, as if they had never committed anything on that count! 
Being quite curious, once I asked a close friend from Pakistan who 
was very well connected with different highly placed quarters there 
and who understood their politics quite w ell, as to why these poor 
people, who had willingly opted for Pakistan ages ago were not being 
taken back? His answer was: We have enough headaches [problem] in 
Pakistan, and we would not like to add one more to that list! In 
fact, for unknown reasons, Biharis are considered a great headache 
everywhere---a race of people who simply cannot assimilate themselves 
easily with their fellow citizens or the environment in which they 
are placed. That weakness people say, somehow lies in their blood 
streams. Of course there are many honourable exceptions to the above 
contention and the present generation, I must say, is quite different 
from what we have seen in the past. But unfortunately, reputations 
once tarnished are very difficult to be reconstructed so easily.

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her arch rival Nawaz Sharif, I was 
told, were both 'tremendously' allergic to the very word 'Biharis'. 
And I wonder if there is any other superlative that I can use to 
describe their exasperation, since every time the 'Bihari-bhai' case 
was placed or pleaded through the official/diplomatic channels, the 
two Pakistani leaders are reported to have spent sleepless nights 
till the matter was once again sent to the political archives for a 
cold storage status! However all said and done, there is also a great 
humanitarian side of the long, unresolved 'stranded Pakistani' 
problem and Pakistan under the able leadership of President Musharraf 
can very well solve it this time in a spirit of pure understanding 
and compassion. Without mincing words, let us admit the bare fact 
that what General Musharraf can do in minutes, his predecessors would 
have failed to do in ages even, because of their political tint and 
unscrupulous commitments. I have mentioned it in the past and I would 
like to mention it once again that Bangladesh being a much poorer 
country financially and completely war ravaged, did not fail in 1973 
and '74 to bring back home almost half a million of their citizens 
who were stranded in different make-shift camps in Pakistan, 
promptly. That was indeed a great feat no doubt. Only those few 
Bengalis were left out of the list who did not want to be repatriated 
willingly, for one reason or the other stayed back. However I would 
like to strongly assert here that those who have completely 
assimilated themselves with our language, culture and environment and 
who were born after 1971; those who are reluctant to go to Pakistan 
even if Pakistan accepts them, should be accorded Bangladeshi 
citizenship without any further loss of time. In this connection a 
recent welcome news indicates that a hig h-powered committee with the 
Minister for Food and Disaster Management has been formed to decide 
on stranded Pakistani's status. The committee will also examine 
whether the willing stranded Pakistanis can be given citizenship 
under the Bangladesh Citizenship [Temporary Provision] Order issued 
by the President in 1972. Some people have also suggested giving them 
'refugee status' but personally I do not think that it would be a 
wise or possible solution at this stage. The Foreign Office should 
concurrently and seriously take up the entire matter pertaining to 
the stranded Pakistanis this time, since it is not at all dead by any 
means like the 'assets and liabilities' issue. Let us get the 
stranded Pakistani issue resolved once and for all and let the 
languishing poor human beings be rehabilitated properly either here 
on the soil of Bangladesh or in the country of choice.


______


[4]


DAWN
28 October 2004

THE GREAT DIVIDE
By Shazman Shariff

The issue of Indian-Pakistani couples facing difficulty in getting 
visas or acquiring nationality after getting married tops the list of 
problems faced by divided families. Relatives living across the 
border long to build bridges, writes Shazman Shariff.
News of Naila's wedding to her cousin, an Indian, was received with 
raised eyebrows in her family. The reason for this skepticism about 
having a cross-border marriage was uncertain diplomatic ties and 
travel restrictions between the two countries.
As feared, Naila's decision backfired as a series of problems 
regarding her nationality and visa issuance arose. Although she has 
been living in India for the last seven years, her application to 
seek nationality was rejected when she failed to meet the condition 
of staying in India at a stretch of five years. She came to Pakistan 
to visit her ailing father within three years of her marriage. The 
girl is now staying on a permit, which is renewed every year.
Although, she has adjusted well there, the only thing that makes her 
feel insecure is her non-citizen status. Since she has applied again 
for nationality, she has to abide by the rule that puts restriction 
on her movement. Though she longs to see her father again, if she 
defies, she will have to restart her five-year uninterrupted stay.
Naila's case is not an exception. This is a fate faced by almost all 
the Pakistani girls leaving for India after marriage. The problems 
they face include difficulty in getting visas to their home country, 
and renewal of the stay permit, among others. But the biggest problem 
is winning the battle for nationality which stretches from six to 
eight years.
A case which recently made headlines in the newspapers was the ordeal 
of a Karachi-based girl who was jailed in Hyderabad Deccan, India, 
for overstaying her visa after she married her cousin there. The 
young bride had applied for nationality but her application was 
rejected twice.
Relevant to the issue is the case of two Karachi-based girls. Nida 
and Saima both who married Indian boys and moved to India. It did not 
take them long to realize that seeking nationality was an uphill task 
so within a short period of time both made a move to settle down in 
Canada.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The issue of Indian-Pakistani 
couples facing difficulty in getting visas or acquiring nationality 
after getting married tops the list of problems faced by divided 
families. Relatives living across the border long to build bridges 
and strengthen the family bond, but unfortunately the barriers are 
too high to overcome.
Although the recent wave of goodwill gestures taking place on the 
diplomatic level between India and Pakistan has superseded the 
haughtiness which has been the hallmark between the two for decades, 
the need for specifically addressing this area is still present.
However, the recently-issued statement of the Indian government 
regarding issuance of multiple visas to some categories of passengers 
such as accredited journalists and senior citizens, should be hailed 
as a welcome sign.
Going by the citizenship rules in India, it takes more than five 
years for an outsider woman to get nationality after marrying an 
Indian. The situation and procedure for an Indian girl to become a 
Pakistani national is comparatively less cumbersome.
Shakila, formerly an Indian national married to a Pakistani, says it 
took her six months to get her nationality after marriage and she is 
happily settled in Karachi for the last 16 years. "Maybe I was lucky 
to have some connections, but I personally know many girls who got it 
without any difficulty," she says.
For her Karachi is no longer a foreign place. "I don't miss India now 
but I do miss the food, clothes and my relatives, but a trip once in 
a couple of years is enough to keep alive the connection with my 
country," said Shakila, who was born and bred in Bangalore.
Another Indian girl, Meena, feels she made the right choice by 
surrendering her Indian passport in return for a Pakistani 
nationality after she married her cousin in Karachi, in 1998.
Hailing from New Delhi, and in her mid-twenties, she said her journey 
to become a Pakistani national took a year and unexpectedly the 
process proved to be a bit difficult for her.
Her husband said that it was his own lack of knowledge about proper 
paperwork that made the process difficult for them. They were 
misguided in the beginning and were cheated by agents who took a 
substantial amount of money to furnish the documents to them.
It is interesting to note Meena is not the only daughter from her 
family to have settled here. She has been joined by her three sisters 
all married to the Pakistani nationals. "We like the environment 
here," said Meena.
Giving information to TR about the official procedure of seeking 
nationality for Indian wives of Pakistani nationals, Ibadur Rehman, 
who is In Charge Nationality Counter, Passport Office, said there 
were proper and well defined rules for it in accordance with the 
citizenship laws of Pakistan which are clear on granting nationality 
to foreign wives of Pakistani nationals.
I.Rehman said: "People must come to the right place instead of going 
to agents who make things appear difficult and charge a heavy amount 
for furnishing the required documents." He said that the process was 
easy and did not cost more than a couple of hundred rupees.
For seeking nationality, the first step is to get a free-of-cost 
nationality form from the passport office. A girl has to surrender 
her Indian passport along with numerous other documents like 
verification of her marriage and nationality of her husband.
Surprisingly, one does not hear stories of trial and tribulation of 
the Indian women seeking Pakistani nationality. It was learnt that 
many Indian girls apply for the Pakistani nationality and within 
months it is granted to them.
However, there can be exceptions, and one case which recently made 
ripples was of Dr Hafsa Aman. The situation for an Indian man trying 
to settle here can be very hostile. The rules for giving nationality 
to men are stringent and a foreigner married to a Pakistani girl is 
not entitled to apply for nationality.
According to the sources, one way for an Indian man willing to live 
in Pakistan is to deposit Rs5 million in a non-residence account 
opened in his name here. Such cases were handled entirely by the 
Intelligence and the Interior Ministry.
The ordeal Indian men are likely to face in their struggle to seek 
nationality can fairly be illustrated by taking the case of Ali; a 
young man who came here from India in 1992 after marrying a Pakistani 
girl and applied for a nationality. His story highlights the 
magnitude of the complications involved and created by the 
authorities to discourage any Indian trying to settle down in 
Pakistan.
In 1992, the amount required was Rs500,000 and Ali, an IT 
professional, easily arranged the money. He had no idea of the 
hurdles he would be facing in the process. Though, he had adopted the 
right channel and fulfilled all the legalities and formalities, 
things were not destined to go in his favour. For four years his case 
remained pending and all this time he stayed here by getting 
extensions in his visa, the process of which was very agonizing.
With no apparent factor that could hinder his case, he was shocked 
when one fine day he was informed that his visa couldn't be extended 
any more and the Interior Ministry had issued his deportation order.
It happened because the intelligence agencies did not issue him a 
clearance report and to his utter amazement he was declared a RAW 
agent. Disheartened, he was left with no choice but to pack. He now 
resides peacefully in the Middle East with his family.
The Citizenship Act of Pakistan entitles nationality to foreign wives 
of the Pakistani husbands. However, the act does not grant the same 
to foreign husbands of the Pakistani women.
Speaking of the issue, Kunwar Khalid Yonus, MNA, who has been vocal 
about this issue, said that although children born to Pakistani wives 
and foreign husbands now have the right to apply for nationality, 
which was not the case earlier, the discrimination between 
nationality rights of men and women must end. He has presented a bill 
in the National Assembly for making amendments in the act, but no 
action has been taken in this regard.
Majida Rizvi, head of the Commission on the Status of Woman, said 
that the commission has sent recommendations to the government to 
make some changes in the act. "Its language is discriminatory, both 
the genders should be written at places where only male gender is 
addressed." She emphasized that women should also have equal 
citizenship rights.
Seeking nationality here or in India can be a long process, but the 
other complication most commonly faced is the problem in getting 
visas. The problems to visit her family in India after her marriage, 
put Meena to so much trouble that she has ceased to think about 
visiting India again. "I had to go to Islamabad four times and I got 
the visa after a year," she narrated one ordeal she faced when she 
went to India recently.
Meena deplores the cumbersome visa rules. She strongly supports the 
need for relaxation in the rules. "The authorities should ease the 
rules and should not create unnecessary problems for visa seekers. 
Visa issuance is a grave problem, which surely discourages people 
from venturing into cross-border marriages."
Mumtaz Quraishi, who runs a marriage bureau, observed that people 
felt reluctant to marry their daughters in India, but were happy in 
marrying them off in America or England. She claimed that the trend 
of marrying Indian girls to Pakistani boys is common mainly because 
they proved to be good wives.
"It is heartening to see that both the countries are making an effort 
towards smoothening relationships. But why has nothing has been done 
to reopen the Indian embassy in Karachi?" an indignant interviewee 
expressed his view. "Since it is from Karachi that most of the people 
go to India, the visa office should be opened on a priority basis 
here."
After the thaw in the relationship which was visible after the 12th 
Saarc summit, held earlier this year in Islamabad, there were signals 
that the two countries had reached some agreement in increasing the 
people-to-people contact.
This was gathered from the announcement made in the increasing of 
train, air and bus services. But with time it proved to be a mere eye 
wash, as signs of practical implementation of many of these plans are 
still nowhere in sight.
Saying that the people-to-people contact should greatly be enhanced 
between the two by adopting effective confidence building measures, 
Anis Haroon, Secretary General of Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for 
Peace and Democracy, added that the forum had taken up the issue of 
visa issuance since its inception in 1994. However, she opined some 
reluctance was still there as the governments' backed out and shelved 
the plans which should be implemented.
"There is a need for unilateral effort to settle things, particularly 
those concerning restriction on travel between the two countries." 
Saying that the visa rules between the two countries are 'inhuman,' 
Anis felt that visas should be abolished between the Saarc countries. 
"The issue of the non issuance of tourist visa to people of both the 
countries was raised by us, and that tourist visa would now be 
issued."
Radha, a Gujarat-based Indian, said she came here after her marriage 
in 1996 to Sanjay, a Pakistani Hindu, born and brought up in Karachi. 
"Because of the strained relationship between both the countries my 
father was not in favour of this proposal, but since Sanjay was our 
relative and I, too, was not getting good proposals in my native 
country, my parents eventually agreed." She said: "I have never faced 
any form of discrimination for being a Hindu or for my association 
with India."
Can India and Pakistan push aside their acrimony and rivalry to reach 
some peaceful solution to solve the problems of divided families. Now 
when the relationship between the two countries is said to be at a 
comfortable level in its 56-year history, can one hope that something 
concrete will be done about this problem? Perhaps, the time is not 
faraway when both the governments will ease the restrictions on 
travelling and staying on each other's soil.


______


[5]  [Gujarat Riots Cases of 2002 and the desperate need for for 
witness protection programme in India]


Editorial | The Hindu
Nov 05, 2004

FLIP-FLOPS AND JUSTICE

THE THIRD VOLTE-FACE in as many years by Zahira Sheikh, a key witness 
in the Best Bakery burning case, might in the end do more damage to 
her own credibility than to the cause of the prosecution in the 
ongoing retrial in a Mumbai court. In the latest turnaround, Ms. 
Sheikh directed her anger at Teesta Setalvad, the social activist who 
helped her move the Supreme Court to transfer the case from Bharatiya 
Janata Party-ruled Gujarat. Ironically, Ms. Setalvad, who made a 
reputation fighting for justice for the victims of the post-Godhra 
Gujarat riots in 2002, now stands charged with `holding' Ms. Sheikh 
and her brother `hostage' in solitary confinement for seven months to 
`coerce' them into making false charges against the accused in the 
case. The present retraction by Ms. Sheikh, which is on the lines of 
her testimony before the trial court in Vadodara, contradicts both 
her deposition before the National Human Rights Commission and her 
statements to the media and in public fora in the days following the 
burning down of the Best Bakery on March 1, 2002. Long before Ms. 
Setalvad actively took up the case, Ms. Sheikh had implicated several 
of the 21 accused who were brought to trial in the Vadodara court. 
Indeed, the suspicion that the judicial process could have been 
manipulated in the original fast track trial court arose because of 
the contradictions between her initial statements made in public fora 
and the subsequent testimony in court, which was made during a period 
she was in the "protective custody" of members of the ruling 
establishment.

While it is entirely possible that those seeking justice in the case 
persuaded Ms. Sheikh to revert to her original statements, this 
surely cannot be construed as using underhand means to coerce her 
into any testimony. Indeed, the circumstances surrounding her 
testimony at the trial court gave the impression that she had been 
pressured not to give evidence against the accused in the case. If 
anything, coercion was apparent in the circumstances surrounding her 
claim in the Vadodara court that she did not know any of the accused. 
Moreover, after that court acquitted the accused, Ms. Sheikh alleged 
to the media that a BJP member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly 
had warned her not to testify against the accused. In short, the 
flip-flops have comprehensively eroded Ms. Sheikh's credibility as a 
witness and indicated the play of extraneous factors.

Although the latest retraction is a setback to the prosecution in the 
Best Bakery case, the intervention of the Supreme Court and the 
retrial in a court outside have ensured that most of the witnesses 
are able to depose freely. Already, three of them have identified 
several of the accused. While Raes Khan, deposing for the first time, 
identified five of the accused, Taufel Ahmed identified seven and 
Shezad Khan 12. It is highly unlikely that the entire case will 
collapse on account of Ms. Sheikh's latest flip-flop. However, 
non-governmental organisations that have taken up issues relating to 
the Gujarat riots, as also the NHRC, must work to ensure continued 
monitoring of this sensitive case by the apex court. To reinforce the 
people's faith in the country's criminal justice delivery system, 
shaken by the twists and turns in this case, it is important to guard 
against manipulation of witnesses. The Best Bakery case will be seen 
as a test for the rule of law and justice in India.


o o o o

The Hindu
Nov 05, 2004

'ZAHIRA ACTING UNDER PRESSURE'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 4. Reacting to the statement by the key witness in 
the Best Bakery case, Zahira Sheikh, in Vadodara on Wednesday, the 
Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) today said it was confident 
that the ``course of justice will not be derailed by this episode''.

In a statement issued here, SAHMAT noted that Ms. Zahira's change in 
position indicated that the ``sinister forces operating to deny 
justice to the victims of communal genocide in Gujarat are still very 
active''. According to the Trust, Ms. Zahira's statement that Teesta 
Setalvad of Communalism Combat was coercing her ``lacks total 
credibility''.

Further, the statement said: ``Even before Citizens for Peace and 
Justice took up the Best Bakery Case asking for retrial in the 
Supreme Court, Ms. Zahira had approached the National Human Rights 
Commission and given a lengthy deposition before it. The eyewitness 
accounts of several other witnesses in the Best Bakery retrial in 
Mumbai also go to show that Ms. Zahira is now acting under pressure.''

o o o

Deccan Herald - November 05, 2004

Zaheera misses date with Mumbai Court
Zaheera's allegations against Teesta Setalvad have shocked social 
activists across the state.
VADODARA/MUMBAI, DHNS:

A day after she accused social activist Teesta Setalvad of 
threatening her of dire consequences and claimed that her original 
statement made in Vadodara court was correct, Zaheera Sheikh, key 
witness in the infamous Best Bakery case, missed date with the Mumbai 
Court on Thursday.

After remaining confined to a room of a luxury hotel throughout the 
day on Thursday, Zaheera along with her lawyers left for Ahmedabad in 
the evening. Sources said she was likely to take flight to Mumbai. 
The reasons behind her movements are not known and repeated attempts 
to get through her lawyers failed. It is still unclear whether she 
will stay in Ahmedabad or will fly to Mumbai.

Surprise revelation

Meanwhile, in a surprise revelation, the special public prosecutor 
Majula Rao on Thursday stated that the prosecution and the NGO led by 
Teesta Setalvad were "expecting" the star witness "to turn hostile". 
According to sources close to the prosecution and the NGO 
'Communalism Combat' run by Ms Setalvad, Zaheera's relations with Ms 
Setalvad had been strained allegedly over "monetory" issues. Ms Rao 
said Zaheera will have to appear before the court as she has been 
issued summons. If she failed to honour the summons, the court can 
issue a warrant to ensure her presence in the retrial. It is learnt 
that Zaheera and her family were "reluctant" to depose in the 
retrial, and all efforts by Ms Setalvad to convince her apparently 
failed. A lawyer associated with the retrial told reporters on 
condition of anonimity that Zaheera's family "wanted to open a bakery 
in Mumbai and sought money from Ms Setalvad".

Vadodara Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha told Deccan Herald that 
Zaheera's lawyer Jal Unwala told police that she wanted to go to 
Ahmedabad. "She has left for Ahmedabad and the IB has provided her 
the protection as per the Supreme Court's order," Mr Sinha said in 
the evening. According to the police chief, the lawyer told him that 
Zaheera wanted to go to Ahmedabad for security reasons.
The Sheikhs have not filed any police complaint against Ms Setalvad, 
Mr Sinha added. On Wednesday, Zaheera stayed in a three-star hotel 
Surya Palace and on Thursday Hotel Airport, opposite the domestic 
airport.

However, mystery still shrouds as to who has footed her bills. 
Zaheera stayed in these hotels along with her family members.

Like Zaheera, her brother Nafitullah also did not appear before 
Mumbai Court on Thursday.

Zaheera's latest allegations of Wednesday have perturbed social 
activists across Gujarat. Her allegations came a day before newly 
elected BJP president L K Advani came to Gujarat and she was supposed 
to appear in the Mumbai Court, an activist requesting anonymity says. 
"Wednesday's press conference appears pre-planned," he feels.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Shehzad Khand, the third eyewitness in the 
retrial, appeared in the court and identified 12 out of 17 accused in 
the court as having participated in the Best Bakery carnage. During 
the first trial in the Fast Track court at Vadodara last year, the 
prosecution there had declared Shehzad as "mentally unfit" and 
therefore, had not examined him. However, the special public 
prosecutor Ms Rao told the court that Shehzad was "perfectly fine and 
wasn't mentally unfit". He will be cross-examined on Friday.

In Ahmedabad

Late evening on Thursday, Zaheera reached Ahmedabad along with her 
lawyers. According to reports, she was spotted at the Siliver Oak 
Club on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway. She then disappeared from 
there.

Meanwhile, Citizens' Initiative, a coalition of secular 
organisations, has described the "volte-face" Zaheera as sad, but not 
surprising given the constant attempts to neutralise the witnesses of 
all riot related cases.

In a joint statement after a meeting in Ahmedabad, social activists 
like Bhushan Oza, Gagan Sethi, Mukul Sinha and Mukhtar Mohammad said 
that these witnesses had been consistently subjected to threats and 
intimidation all along. This only proved the on-going conspiracy to 
sabotage the process of justice, they said.

According to them, this further vindicates the Supreme Court's 
rationale for having transferred the prosecution of the Best Bakery 
case to Mumbai. They demanded a thorough inquiry into the 
circumstances in which Zaheera was made to change her statement.

o o o o

Editorial, The Times of India
November 5, 2004

TRUST ON TRIAL
Try Zahira Sheikh for perjury

Zahira Sheikh, the main complainant in the Best Bakery retrial, has 
retracted her statement made before a court for the second time. She 
now wants the world to believe what she had told a fast track court 
in Vadodara a year ago - that she was unable to recognise the people 
accused of massacre at the bakery. Zahira stands accused of perjury. 
She should be tried and punished. Let the charges levelled by her 
against social activists also be investigated, as well as the role of 
the police and all others involved in this bizarre episode. The Best 
Bakery retrial has emerged as a benchmark for the disbursal of 
justice to victims of the Gujarat pogrom. The actions of Zahira and 
her mother Shehrunnisa underline much that is wrong with the state 
and its instruments. When both of them claimed that they were forced 
to lie under oath after being threatened by local politicians and 
goons, the Supreme Court took the unusual and laudable step of 
ordering a retrial of the case outside Gujarat. The apex court did 
much to restore public confidence in the judicial process. 
Depositions before the Nanavati-Shah Commission investigating the 
pogrom severely indict the police brass as well as politicians. The 
vigil maintained by the Supreme Court and the media as well as the 
change in the political climate hold out hope that perpetrators of 
the Gujarat carnage would be brought to book. But unreliable 
witnesses like Zahira could derail the process of justice and healing.

Gujarat 2002 was a failure of the state. The riots and the manner in 
which law enforcement agencies behaved - corroborated by testimonies 
of senior police officers - ripped apart the social fabric and 
destroyed the faith of people in the state. The most disturbing issue 
concerns the options before law-abiding citizens when the state abets 
violence. The apex court may have done its best to restore confidence 
in the judiciary. However, not much has changed with the police 
and/or the manner in which investigations are conducted. The state 
fails to inspire confidence when it can't protect victims and deliver 
expedient justice. This lack of faith in the arms of the state, to a 
large extent, explains why prosecution witnesses turn hostile during 
court trials. Two decades after goons of the then ruling party 
massacred Sikhs in New Delhi, only a few hatchetmen have been booked. 
We need separate redressal forums like riot tribunals independent of 
state police and local courts to ensure that justice is delivered in 
a proper and prompt manner. Justice delayed is justice denied.


o o o o

Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 11:50:16 +0530 (IST)

Subject: LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Madam/Sir

The latest U turn by Zahira Shiekh on the eve of her crucial witness in
the Mumbai court speaks volumes about the type of pressures working on
her. It is a travesty of justice that we have to transfer the case to
another state because of the prevailing intimidating situation in Gujarat.
It is time that Zahira is left alone. No democracy can sustain unless
justice is done and also seen to be done.

In case of Gujarat in addition to Best Bakery there are hundreds of other
cases, which require to be looked at. Supreme court suo motto should take
cognizance of these and go to the depth of the reasons of witnesses
turning hostile, else this flip flop will not only delay the deliverance
of justice but will also make the mockery of the whole process.

It is one of the greatest tragedies of communal riots that in these riots
innocents get killed and the guilty get away without any punishment. This
has been the fate of most of the earlier riots. We have to wake up to
modify our laws in such a way that the political authorities in state
should be made culpable for these crimes, and the process of justice is
spruced up.

Ram Puniyani

______


[6]  [Film Screening]


FINAL SOLUTION

India, 2004, 87 minutes)

Film Screening and Discussion with  Director Rakesh Sharma


Set in Gujarat, India between February 2002 and July 2003, Final Solution
examines the aftermath of the deadly violence that followed the burning of
58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra on February 27, 2002. In
"reaction" to that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally murdered,
hundreds of women raped, and more than 200,000 families driven from their
homes. Borrowing its reference from European history, the title of the film
exposes what the film director calls "Indian Fascism." Banned in India until
just a few weeks ago, this is a powerfully and skillfully developed witness
account of the fearsome mechanisms generated by religious hate. A brilliant
documentary, which performs the autopsy of a pogrom in South Asia, this film
is also relevant to a broader audience interested in exploring the global
geo-politics of hate, violence, and terror.

The film will be screened on Friday, November 5th at 7:00 PM, at the
Behavioral Sciences Building (BSB), Room #250, 1007, W. Harrison Street,
University of Illinois at Chicago.  Following the screening there will be a
discussion with the director.


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