SACW | 11 Feb 2005

sacw aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Feb 10 20:07:46 CST 2005


South Asia Citizens Wire   | 11 Feb.,  2005
via:  www.sacw.net

[1]  Pakistan: The Dr. Shazia Case - Press 
Statement by Joint Action Committee for People's 
Rights
[2]  Bangladesh: The Killing of Shah A.M.S. 
Kibria: Mounting Evidence of the Government's 
Ill-Intent
(Reza Kibria)
[3]  Aftershocks of "Anti-Terror" Tsunami in South Asia (J. Sri Raman)
[4]  India:  Outrageous Assault  [on S.A.R. Geelani] (Editorial, The Hindu)
[5]  India: For India's daughters, a dark birth day (Uma Girish)
[6]  India:  Hindu Far Right at Work !
(i)  Catholic Village Under Fundamentalist Siege
(ii) For Jhabua tribals, Sangh dams come with a check: Shivlings first
(iii) Culture cops geared up to strike this 
Valentine's Day . . .  (Anjali Singh Jaiswal)
[7] SANSAD Forum on recent goodwill mission to 
Pakistan and India (Vancouver, 26 Feb., 2005)


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

[1]

sacw.net |  9 Feb 2005
URL www.sacw.net/Wmov/JACstatement08022005.html

Joint Action Committee for People's Rights [Lahore, Pakistan]

Press Statement | 8 February 2005

THE DR. SHAZIA CASE

Once again, a Pakistani woman has been subjected 
to rape and torture. Once again attempts are 
being made to spare the real culprits. Once 
again, a woman, traumatized, her life endangered 
may be forced to leave her country. The woman is 
Dr. Shazia Khalid.

The Joint Action Committee is deeply disturbed at 
what appears to be concerted efforts to defeat 
justice in the Dr Shazia rape case by covering up 
matters and delaying the recording of evidence 
that is tantamount to its destruction.

We are concerned that now that the matter is 
being pursued at multiple forums including a 
Tribunal, will cause further delays, impeding the 
actual legal case of rape.

Joint Action Committee believes those culpable in 
this crime include the rapist, those who have/are 
concealing the facts and those providing 
"protection" to the people implicated.


Facts of the case

Dr. Shazia Khalid, an employee of Pakistan 
Petroleum Limited, has been working at the 
company's Sui hospital for the past 18 months and 
lived in accommodation provided by PPL. Security 
services for the entire facility is provided by 
the Defence Services Group (DSG).

On the night of 2 January, a masked intruder 
attacked and raped Dr. Shazia, threatening to 
call in an accomplice if she raised an alarm. She 
was severely injured on resistance and left tied 
up with telephone wires. When she finally freed 
herself from her bonds she related what happened 
to Sister Sakina of the PPL medical staff (who 
informed the administration) and several other 
doctors, including the PPL Chief Medical Officer, 
Dr Usman Waddah, and Deputy Medical Officer, Dr 
Mohammad Ali (two doctors subsequently accused 
and arrested for concealing/destroying evidence). 
Shazia was stopped from returning to her room 
where the incident took place to even recover her 
clothes and the staff did not comply with her 
plea to have her brother and his wife flown in 
from Karachi to be with her. No medical 
examination was carried out, nor was the police 
called by the PPL staff.

Shazia was kept sedated by PPL officials and 
doctors who did their level best to conceal the 
incident of rape. In the meantime, the police of 
the Sui Police Station learnt of the incident and 
came to investigate on the 3rd evening, but when 
the police party reached the PPL hospital, they 
found Dr Shazia unconscious. On searching Dr 
Shazia's room, the police did recover evidence of 
likely rape but no proper a medical examination 
of Dr. Shazia took place despite the police 
request.

PPL officials and doctors also obstructed the 
police from recording Dr Shazia's statement 
subsequently when the police returned on the 
morning of January 4th. Then, despite the 
specific request of the police that Dr. Shazia 
not be shifted before her statement could be 
recorded, PPL personnel shifted Dr. Shazia to 
Karachi before the police returned that afternoon 
and feigned ignorance of where she had been 
shifted. In fact, PPL officials had admitted Dr. 
Shazia into Asghar Psychiatric Hospital, Karachi 
claiming she was mentally disturbed and needed 
medical attention. It is only on the 4th that her 
family was contacted by PPL officials and wrongly 
informed that a "dacoity had taken place". The 
Police could not record Shazia's own statement 
until January 9th in Karachi.
Dr Shazia was later shifted to another location 
where she is being held incommunicado, denied 
access to all support, even legal.

During this time the PPL Company representatives 
tried to dissuade Dr Shazia and her family from 
registering a case of rape, and kept denying to 
the media that rape took place. However Shazia's 
medical examination in Karachi by the police 
surgeon confirmed rape. Only when PPL doctors 
were accused of concealing/destroying evidence 
and arrested by the police, did the PPL GM 
acknowledge the rape.

The police allegations of non-cooperation are 
very serious and support the contention of there 
being concerted efforts to subvert the whole case 
and protect the perpetrators.

Furthermore, reports in a section of the media 
and the statements of the local and elected 
representatives from Balochistan and Sindh 
indicate the involvement of an officer of the 
Pakistan Army serving in the DSG at Sui. It is 
not known whether he has been questioned or 
apprehended. The fact that, according to Shazia's 
statement before the Tribunal, a colonel of the 
Military Intelligence contacted her brother and 
met the brother and her husband on the 11th 
suggests the implication of some army personnel.

The case may have been hushed up by the company 
and the security agencies, if it had not become 
embroiled with the ongoing agitation by the 
Baloch nationalists for a fair share of resources 
controlled by the center. Protest campaigns and 
pressure by various leaders, media and civil 
society finally led to the institution of a 
judicial tribunal on 11 January to inquire into 
the case and to submit a report within fifteen 
days. The tribunal recorded Dr. Shazia's 
statement in Karachi on 24 January. Three 
officials of PPL, including two doctors, have 
been held for interrogation.

The different actions taken lack cohesion and 
transparency, suggesting that the attempts to 
cover up the facts may go up to the highest 
echelons.

The persistent efforts to defeat justice in the 
case reflect the existing tendency to further 
repress people of the smaller provinces.

We fear that vested interests will once again 
ensure the denial of justice to a Pakistani 
woman, a survivor of violence.

We therefore demand:

- The safety and security of Dr Shazia and her 
family be ensured and that Dr. Shazia be allowed:
* to exercise her fundamental rights of legal 
counsel of her own choosing in all proceedings 
related to the case;
* to avail of all medical care required for her wellbeing;
* to interact freely with women's rights and 
human rights organizations and with doctors' 
associations.

- An inquiry be held to establish why the police 
is being prevented from doing its job
- All proceedings be made transparent, allowing 
observers from women's rights and human rights 
organizations and doctors' associations;
- The contents of the FIR be made public and the 
names of those accused revealed;
- Those obstructing justice be apprehended and prosecuted under the law;
- Dr Shazia's case not be made an excuse for 
intensifying militaristic operations in 
Balochistan.

We urge

- the Pakistan Medical Association to take 
immediate steps to ensure that none of those 
doctors and medical practitioners found to be 
responsible of obstructing justice are allowed to 
continue in the medical profession.


Joint Action Committee for People's Rights

______


[2]

[BANGLADESH] THE KILLING OF SHAH A.M.S. KIBRIA: MOUNTING
EVIDENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ILL-INTENT

by Dr. Reza Kibria

February 10, 2005

Recent statements by senior BNP-Jamaat leaders - 
at public meetings and in the Press - as well as 
certain actions of the Government have raised 
some disturbing questions in the minds of many 
people in this country and abroad. It seems that 
the BNP-Jamaat have not been able to "get their 
story straight" regarding the assassination of my 
father on 27 January, 2005. The obvious lies and 
contradictory statements of individuals such as, 
for example, Mr. Sircar, "the third most 
important personality of the country", have 
damaged the image of this "failed government", 
perhaps irreparably. 

There are three distinct sets of issues involved.


 The first set of issues that need to be 
considered involve the unsubstantiated 
allegations by senior Ministers and others in the 
Government as to the identity of those who 
carried out the grenade attack on my father, Shah 
A.M.S. Kibria, M.P., at a public meeting in his 
constituency on 27 January, 2005.

 There is also a second, quite distinct set of 
issues relating to the events in the aftermath of 
the attack, including the failure to arrange 
proper medical attention or helicopter 
transportation to Dhaka for my father. He died 
after about 4 hours, apparently without receiving 
even the most minimal medical attention.

 The third set of issues relates to the 
Government's handling of the local investigation 
so far (and the attempts to free some of the 
local BNP leaders that have been initially 
arrested) and the Government's failure to quickly 
arrange for a credible and thorough investigation 
led by a reputed international agency (the FBI of 
the United States).  

First: the allegations of Government ministers 
regarding the attack. It seems that BNP-Jamaat 
Ministers have a predilection for immediately 
assigning blame (to the Opposition) without 
bothering to obtain the results of any proper 
investigation. This is not the type of behaviour 
one expects from any responsible public 
representative. What worries me is that perhaps 
there is something much more sinister at work 
here. Mr. Saifur Rahman has made a statement 
about the possible nature of the attack that will 
no doubt interest investigators (see my 
commentary of February 7, 2005). Mr. Nizami also 
has made a statement indicating that he has 
information about the perpetrators of the attack. 
My father's activities during the 1971 War of 
Liberation and Mr. Nizami's rather different role 
are very well-documented, suggesting probable 
cause, or at least that there may be a connection 
here. Finally, we note with interest the 
statements of Mr. Mannan Bhuiyan on 7 February, 
in which he accused the Awami League (AL) - the 
party whose Government my father served in as 
Finance Minister - of carrying out the attack. 
This is a very serious charge, and I am sure that 
we all would like to know the basis of this 
allegation. I have a cursory knowledge of the 
nature of libel and defamation laws in this 
country, but unless he provides proof of these 
allegations, would not the AL have good grounds 
to sue Mr. Mannan Bhuiyan for libel?    

Second: the events after the attack. It appears 
be a case of the "dog that didn't bark". Before 
anyone with the word "Honourable" in front of 
their name gets agitated - No, I am not calling 
anyone a dog, it is merely a figure of speech. 
Frankly, at this point we do not know who carried 
out the initial grenade attack - that must await 
the results of a proper FBI-led investigation. 
What we do know is that there appears to be a 
consistent pattern of action - or inaction - on 
the part of this Government that suggests more 
than willful negligence. The remarkable public 
admission of ignorance on the part of the "third 
most important personality of the country" is a 
case in point. Moreover, Mr. Mannan Bhuiyan has 
publicly made the claim that an offer of a 
helicopter was made but that it was declined. To 
whom was this offer made? Who declined this 
offer? We want to know.  

Third: the investigation of the attack. That the 
Government has been dragging its feet on the 
issue of permitting the FBI to begin its 
investigations without restrictive conditions is 
already well-known. When was the request for FBI 
assistance made? What conditions is the 
Government trying to impose? Given the record of 
the Government with regard to past 
investigations, the extremely professional 
officials of the FBI have figured out that they 
should refuse to come here as a "token" presence 
under the direction and control of the 
Government. Such a practice has clearly not 
worked in past investigations.

There are competent and conscientious people 
within all agencies of the current Government - 
people who place their duties to the Republic 
above all else. But they are hampered by powerful 
forces within the Government, as has been 
reflected in the course of the local 
investigation so far. The Janakantha of Feb 9 
reports that investigators have told them (on 
condition of anonymity) "They have tied our hands 
and feet and then ordered us to run". Police have 
been told not to move against anyone without 
obtaining permission. There are "unwritten rules" 
(imposed from above) about whom they can arrest 
and those they cannot touch. After a local BNP 
leader called Qayum was arrested in Habiganj 
there has reportedly been strong pressure from 
"higher authorities" to have him released. Five 
individuals have been arrested so far - they are 
to be jointly interrogated. The focus of the 
investigation has been on the possible 
beneficiaries of the killing, notably a powerful 
local BNP leader who has become rich very quickly 
under the patronage of a powerful minister of the 
Government. It is reported that this local leader 
went overseas just prior to the killing, but his 
unsavoury record, his influence over the local 
administration and his connections have 
reportedly made him the focus of police 
enquiries. This and other reports suggest that 
those behind the assassination may have links 
that may extend quite wide - and reach high 
levels within this Government.

One must always fear the "plausible rogue" much 
more than the person who is so very obviously 
vicious and malevolent. The "gentlemen" in fancy 
suits able to mouth the right phrases - with 
frequent mentions of "transparency", 
"accountability", "rule of law", "dialogue", and 
"adherence to the Constitution and democratic 
processes" are those against whom the nation must 
remain vigilant. The avarice, ruthlessness and 
arrogance of these leaders have brought the 
entire political system into disrepute. They are 
clever people but they have made mistakes before 
- as the farce of the February 15 "elections" of 
1996 demonstrated. These same people now 
complacently believe that they have built up an 
unassailable framework for rigging the next 
elections - by filling the administration and 
Election Commission with their agents. They are 
under the impression that they can act with 
impunity because their return to power is assured 
through systematic electoral fraud. Certainly, in 
the past these individuals have been able to dupe 
some of the less perceptive of our citizens both 
here and abroad. But I feel that they 
underestimate the intelligence of the people of 
our country. I don't think too many people these 
days are taken in when they see large meetings 
addressed by these BNP-Jamaat "leaders" - 
gatherings attended largely by people who have 
been "trucked in" in exchange for 50 taka and a 
plate of biriyani. Not that there is anything 
wrong with giving these poor people a free meal. 
That is the least that this Government could do - 
given its abject failure in keeping down the 
price of rice and other essentials. I will write 
about the Government's warped economic priorities 
in another commentary. 

What is fascinating is that some important 
BNP-Jamaat leaders have chosen to expose their 
true natures in the aftermath of my father's 
assassination. Has not their "willful negligence" 
or even connivance in the death of my father 
become increasingly obvious? When an FBI-led 
investigation is completed, would not the true 
roles of these leaders become known to all? Their 
public denials and protestations of innocence 
fool no one.  I do believe that a time will come 
when the failure of this Government to 
successfully prosecute a single investigation of 
the numerous bomb, grenade and other attacks 
during their tenure will no longer remain a 
"mystery". The "charitable view" - that this 
Government is merely grossly incompetent - may 
then no longer be tenable.

Ironically, the campaign of lies, deception and 
unsubstantiated charges that senior BNP-Jamaat 
leaders (notably Messrs. Saifur Rahman, Nizami 
and Mannan Bhuiyan) have launched in the wake of 
my father's assassination have failed miserably 
as a subterfuge. Their statements have perhaps 
revealed much more than they intended. In this 
regard, I would recall Abraham Lincoln's famous 
words, "You can fool some of the people all of 
the time, and all of the people some of the time, 
but you cannot fool all of the people all of the 
time".         

______


[3]

truthout.org
09 February 2005

Aftershocks of "Anti-Terror" Tsunami in South Asia
By J. Sri Raman
   
     Aftershocks, Asia has learnt, continue long after
a tsunami. Washington launched its crusade against
"global terror" with wars on Afghanistan and Iraq way
back in October 2001 and March 2003, but tremors were
felt again in South Asia over the last two weeks.

     A summit conference of South Asian leaders,
scheduled for February 6 in Dhaka, capital of
Bangladesh, was called off in the wake of dramatic and
disturbing developments in two countries of the
region. The connection with the crusade, in both
cases, has not been lost upon long-time observers of
Nepal and Bangladesh.

     India, in effect, called off the summit of the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) when its foreign ministry announced on
February 2 that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had
canceled his visit to Dhaka. The events in the two
neighboring countries were cited as the grounds, with
emphasis, in the host-nation's case, on security
concerns. In the SAARC's scheme of things, no summit
could be held without the attendance of the heads of
governments of all the seven member-nations (the other
four being Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the
Maldives)

     The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal shot into the
headlines on February 1, with King Gyanendra Bir
Bikram Shah Dev dismissing a quasi-representative
government and declaring himself a ruling monarch,
instead of a reigning one adorning a constitutional
post. Giving himself unqualified power for an
uninterrupted three years, he pronounced democracy
practically dead. Erstwhile government and political
leaders found themselves under house arrest, and the
press was politely and firmly told that its freedom
could "not be guaranteed."

     Bangladesh did not exactly erupt into headlines
with an unexpected bout of bloodshed. The death of
former finance minister Shah A.M.S. Kibria and four
others in a grenade attack in Habiganj on January 27
did, however, send fresh shock waves through the
country and beyond. The opposition Awami League (AL)
has attributed the assassination to Islamic
"fundamentalists" enjoying the patronage of the
government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia of the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

     Nepal has waged a long and tortuous struggle for
democracy, but its most recent phase began last year,
when King Gyanendra dismissed multi-party democracy
and allowed parliamentary parties to form a proxy
government under appointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur
Dueba. The King has now sacked this government on the
ground of its "incompetence." What has emboldened him
to declare a full-fledged war on democracy, as every
Nepal-watcher knows, is the opportunity he sees to
project it as part of a war on terrorism.

     He has been promoting himself as the staunchest
opponent of the internal "terrorism" of a Maoist
insurgency that has found fertile ground in a feudal
setup that cries out for rudimentary land reforms. And
he has been running down the parliamentary politicians
as incapable of taming the "terrorists." This too may
seem a transparent a trick but, astonishingly, it has
found a taker in Washington.

     Writes US journalist Conn Hallinan: "The Bush
administration has concluded that the civil war
threatens to make Nepal a 'failed state' and a haven
for international terrorists, leading it to place the
CPNM (the Maoist party) on the State Department's
'Watch List,' along with organizations like al Qaeda,
Abu Sayyaf, and Lebanon's Hezbollah." According to
Hallinan, US Ambassdor to Nepal Michael E. Malinowski
has been engaging in enthusiastic endorsement of the
King's line.

     Result: the heavy influx into South Asia's poorest
nation of US weaponry and military equipment, along
with British helicopters and American advisers, to
aggravate a civil war that has taken a toll of
thousands of Nepali lives. The King's takeover can
only make matters worse - not only for Nepal, but also
for India and China, which have reasons to fear a
spillover of the war into their own regions of
separatist activity.

     In the case of Bangladesh, Kibria's assassination
was hardly the first incident of its kind. Nor was
this the first time that the hand of fundamentalist
groups was seen in such terrorist strikes. Many see a
link between the growing fundamentalist rampage,
including violence against religious minorities
(notably the Ahmadaiyas and the Hindus) and liberal
writers and journalists, and the BNP's coexistence, in
the ruling coalition, with the far-right
Jamat-e-Islami.

     Many, many - and not only in Bangladesh - see an
even more notable link between the growing phenomenon
of Bangladeshi fundamentalism and the war on "global
terror." Quite a few of the "jihadi" groups and
chieftains in Bangladesh claim to have returned from
Afghanistan to continue their "holy war" at home. "We
will all become Taliban, and Bangladesh will become
Afghanistan" - so runs their favorite slogan. Nothing
could have strengthened fundamentalism so much as the
Bush wars for "liberation" of Afghanistan and Iraq.

     India has an additional ground for anxiety over
the bloody mess in Bangladesh. Here too, it has reason
to fear the role of the fundamentalist groups in
support of India's separatist forces. These include
the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), known to
have found bases in Bangladesh, ironically, despite
its official opposition to Bangladeshi "infiltration"
into Assam, an embattled State in the east of India.

     Talking of the tremors from the Bush-unleashed
tsunami, India and Pakistan felt the first of these.
As strange partners in the US-headed "alliance against
global terror," they became more implacable
adversaries than ever before, each hoping and trying
to turn the alliance decisively against the other.
Their uneasy "alliance" led to the dangerous standoff
in Kashmir in the early months of 2002, when South
Asia did not see an improbable venue for the world's
first nuclear war.

     India and Pakistan have, since then, initiated
talks and kept up the pretense of a "peace process"
without real progress on such nut-and-bolt items as
the nuclear issue. The SAARC summit was supposed to
have helped both sides find a way out of the stalemate
reached in the talks. The people of the two countries
- and the rest of South Asia with stakes in salvaging
the "process" - will have to wait for the next
opportunity to present itself.

     A freelance journalist and a peace activist of
India, J. Sri Raman is the author of Flashpoint
(Common Courage Press, USA). He is a regular
contributor to t r u t h o u t.

______



[4]

The Hindu
February 11, 2005

Editorial    
OUTRAGEOUS ASSAULT

THE OUTRAGEOUS ATTACK on S.A.R. Geelani is not 
merely "disturbing" as the Supreme Court has 
observed. It also raises the gravest of 
suspicions. It is well known that the acquittal 
of the Delhi University lecturer in the 
Parliament attack case - in which he was 
implicated on the flimsiest of grounds - caused 
considerable embarrassment and annoyance to those 
who had hoped the prosecution's case would stand 
up in its entirety. The identities of those who 
shot and seriously injured Mr. Geelani are yet 
unknown and their motives unclear. But the Delhi 
police, who obstinately pursued the case against 
him in the face of serious reservations expressed 
by eminent people within and without the legal 
fraternity, have a lot to answer for. Why did the 
police fail to provide Mr. Geelani with security? 
After all, the lecturer in Arabic was not 
implicated in any ordinary case, but in an 
extremely high profile one that aroused 
tremendous (often irrational and jingoistic) 
passions.

Moreover, as his lawyers have pointed out, Mr. 
Geelani himself expressed apprehensions about a 
threat to his life in an affidavit submitted 
recently in court. It is pertinent to recall that 
Mr. Geelani has repeatedly maintained he was also 
the victim of several attacks "with blades, knife 
and even poisoning" during the 23 months he spent 
in Delhi's Tihar jail. The Delhi police's 
explanation - that he was not provided with 
security because he did not ask for it - is weak 
and unconvincing. Security is offered on the 
basis of threat perceptions; it is not something 
that is handed out on request. The Supreme Court, 
which has asked the Delhi police to submit a 
report on the assault and the progress of the 
investigation, has shown the required urgency 
about getting to the bottom of this murky and 
deeply disturbing incident. However, the Court 
would have done even better had it accepted the 
plea made by Mr. Geelani's counsel and entrusted 
the investigation to the Central Bureau of 
Investigation. The entire circumstances 
surrounding the case call for a probe that is not 
only sincere and independent but that is also 
perceived, in the eyes of an increasingly wary 
and suspicious public, to be so. It is arguable 
that having failed to protect Mr. Geelani, the 
Delhi police have morally forfeited the right to 
investigate who attempted to kill him and why.

The All India Defence Committee for Syed Abdul 
Rahman Geelani, which is headed by the 
distinguished social scientist, Rajni Kothari, 
and with dedicated human rights activists and 
social workers as members, has been in the 
forefront of highlighting the grave injustice 
done to him. Its efforts were rewarded last year 
when the Delhi High Court acquitted Mr. Geelani 
on the ground that the prosecution had failed to 
provide any evidence against him in critical 
areas. There was nothing to suggest that Mr. 
Geelani was in touch with the five terrorists 
killed in the attack, nothing to show he had a 
role in arranging hideouts or in procuring arms 
and explosives used in pursuance of the 
conspiracy. As a result, the Court concluded that 
the prosecution's case "did not even remotely, 
far less definitely and unerringly, point towards 
the guilt of the accused S.A.R. Gilani" (State 
vs. Mohd Afzal and Others, 2003). In arriving at 
this conclusion, the Court overturned an 
extremely ill-reasoned judgment of the designated 
POTA court, which made a string of presumptions 
in favour of the prosecution and convicted and 
sentenced Mr. Geelani to death. The final verdict 
in his case will be delivered by the Supreme 
Court. Meanwhile, it is the responsibility of the 
state to keep him safe, secure, and out of harm's 
way.


_______


[5]


The Christian Science Monitor
February 09, 2005

AIRBORNE: Girls play on a swing in Allahabad, 
India. In some parts of the country, bias against 
baby girls remains ingrained despite efforts to 
counter such attitudes. The practice of 
sex-selective abortion has exacerbated India's 
gender imbalance.
RAJESH KUMAR SINGH/AP/FILE

FOR INDIA'S DAUGHTERS, A DARK BIRTH DAY
Infanticide and sex-selective abortion yield a more skewed gender ratio.
By Uma Girish | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
MADRAS, INDIA - The oleander plant yields a 
bright, pleasant flower, but also a milky sap 
that, if ingested, can be a deadly poison. It's 
one of the methods families use to kill newborn 
girls in the Salem District of Tamil Nadu, a part 
of India notorious for female infanticide.

Though the government has battled the practice 
for decades, India's gender imbalance has 
worsened in recent years. Any progress toward 
halting infanticide, it seems, has been offset by 
a rise in sex-selective abortions. Too many 
couples - aided by medical technology, unethical 
doctors, and weak enforcement of laws banning 
abortion on the basis of gender - are electing to 
end a pregnancy if the fetus is female.

The consequence of female infanticide and, more 
recently, abortion is India's awkwardly skewed 
gender ratio, among the most imbalanced in the 
world. The ratio among children up to the age of 
6 was 962 girls per 1,000 boys in 1981, but 20 
years later the inequity was actually worse: 927 
girls per 1,000 boys.

Infanticide is illegal in India (though never 
prosecuted), and laws are also in place to stop 
sex- selective abortions. But in some places, 
national rules don't hold enough sway to overcome 
local religious and social customs - which remain 
biased in favor of sons over daughters.

"Factors like dowry, imbalance in the employment 
sector whereby the male is seen as breadwinner, 
and societal pressure to abort female fetuses 
conspire to increase the antigirl bias," says 
Ajay K. Tripathi of the Advanced Studies in 
Public Health Programme, of the Institute of 
Health Systems in Hyderabad. Government and the 
medical profession, he says, need to put more 
resources - and more political will - into 
strengthening and enforcing the laws.

A case in point is legislation - introduced last 
year but now stalled - that would prohibit all 
genetic-counseling facilities, clinics, and labs 
from divulging the sex of the fetus. The hope is 
that if parents don't know "it's a girl," fewer 
will resort to abortion. But the proposal, which 
would amend a 1994 law, is opposed by medical 
groups. They argue that technology used to 
monitor fetal health - such as ultrasound scans 
and amniocentesis - cannot be put under such 
intense scrutiny.

Others, though, see another reason for the 
opposition: Abortion is a lucrative business that 
many doctors do not want to see curtailed. 
"Abortions are a low-risk, high-profit business. 
As a specialist in fetal medicine, I can tell you 
that no pregnant woman would suffer if the 
ultrasound test were banned," says Puneet Bedi, a 
gynecologist at Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi. 
"Right now, it is used to save 1 out of 20,000 
fetuses and kill 20 out of every 100 because [it 
reveals that the baby] is the wrong gender."

India stipulates that only a government hospital, 
registered facility, or medical practitioner with 
appropriate qualifications may perform an 
abortion. The reality, however, is that only 
about 15 percent of all abortions take place 
under such circumstances, according to the Indian 
Medical Association. About 11.2 million illegal 
abortions are performed each year off the record. 
Such abortions are often "female feticide," 
experts say.

In Salem district, for instance, signs posted in 
towns reinforce the societal message: "Pay 500 
rupees and save 50,000 rupees later," a 
suggestion that aborting a female fetus now could 
save a fortune in wedding expenses in the future.

Salem district, a mostly rural part of Tamil 
Nadu, has a longstanding reputation as a 
deathtrap for baby girls. The Vellala Gounder 
community, the dominant caste there, owns most of 
the land and is intent on retaining property 
rights within the family. Sons represent lineage; 
daughters marry and relocate to their husbands' 
homes. As a result, local women, like Lakshmi, 
who gave birth to a girl early last year, may 
refuse to nurse their newborns. They leave it to 
midwives or mothers-in-law to administer the 
oleander sap, say anti-infanticide activists.

Nearly 60 percent of girls born in Salem District 
are killed within three days of birth, according 
to the local social welfare department. That 
doesn't count the growing number of abortions 
there to ensure a girl baby won't be carried to 
term.

Amid such stubborn statistics, activists are at 
work to counter the forces of tradition. A focus 
of their work: improving the standing and 
self-image of women themselves.

Community Services Guild (CSG), a nongovernmental 
organization, works with rural women in 
particular to discourage female feticide. One of 
CSG's interventions targets women who already 
have at least one girl. Now 20 years old, the 
program sends workers to visit these mothers, 
teaching them and their daughters skills that 
contribute income to their families (such as 
basket-weaving or selling produce) and 
reeducating them about the value of girls to 
society.

"Educating the new-generation girl - and 
empowering her with the skills necessary for 
economic independence - is the only long-term 
solution," says G. Prasad, CSG deputy director. 
Though CSG works in a patriarchal culture where 
female inferiority is ingrained, the group 
encourages women to become decisionmakers.

In pockets of India where female infanticide 
persists, the practice is rooted in a complex mix 
of economic, social, and cultural factors. 
Parents' preference for a boy derives from the 
widespread belief that a son lighting his 
parents' funeral pyre will ensure that their 
souls ascend to heaven; that he will be a 
provider in their later years (India has no form 
of social security); and that he will preserve 
the family inheritance.

Conversely, a daughter is considered an economic 
burden. Pressure to conform can be intense in 
rural areas, and some families borrow heavily to 
pay for the rituals prescribed for a girl - the 
ear-piercing ceremony, wedding jewelry, dowry, 
and presents for the groom's family on every 
Hindu festival.

The Tamil Nadu government has started several 
programs to protect girls - with mixed results. 
One urged families to hand over their baby girls 
to local officials, who saw that they were 
adopted by childless couples. Between May 2001 
and January 2003, officials received 361 baby 
girls. An informal survey by CSG, however, found 
that many women would abort rather than have a 
baby and give her up for adoption.

Tamil Nadu's "Girl Protection" program may be 
more practical. Here, the government opens a bank 
account in a girl's name at her birth, depositing 
between 15,000 and 22,000 rupees during her 
childhood, depending on the number of girls in 
the family.

"The only way to wipe out this evil is by an 
attitudinal shift," says CSG's Mr. Prasad. 
"Educate a girl beyond eighth grade and encourage 
her to find her voice."


______


[6]   [Hindu Far Right at Work !]

(i)

CATHOLIC VILLAGE IN INDIA UNDER FUNDAMENTALIST SIEGE
Bishop of Amravati Calls the Situation "Very Serious"

AMRAVATI, India, FEB. 7, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Hindu fundamentalists are
subjecting the people of a Catholic village to threats and attacks,
says a bishop in the state of Maharashtra.

Rajura is the only Catholic village in Amravati, one of the six
divisions of Maharashtra with an independent municipal administration.

The Catholics, all tribals, are descendants of migrants from Madhya
Pradesh; their families have been in the village for centuries. They
now live in fear for their lives, if they do not reconvert to the
Hinduism of their ancestors.

"All the people in the village are Catholics, very poor, illiterate,
mainly agricultural laborers, but very faithful to the religion,"
Bishop Edwin Colaço told AsiaNews.

"A few days ago, a Munni, or Hindu holy man, from Ayodhya ... held a
huge religious meeting here; it was well attended" by Hindus, the
bishop said.

"The saffron-clad, spear-bearing Munni attacked the Catholic Church
and denounced the missionaries," he said. "He launched into a tirade
against the Adivasi [tribals] of Rajura, alleging that missionaries
had originally converted them by force, and said that it was his
mission to reconvert them to Hinduism."

Bishop Colaço, 67, believes that the event was "very well planned by
the Hindu Religious Convention. The Munni had done his homework well
and knew the place. ... He urged Hindu villagers to 'kill the
Christian Adivasi with swords.'"

The group "drove into the Christian village in jeeps, carrying swords
and shouting fanatical Hindu slogans. But they found only women,
since the men were away at work," the bishop said.

"They threatened to kill the women if they did not follow them to the
Hindu meeting. The terrified women were then huddled into the jeeps
and forcibly brought before the Munni," continued Bishop Colaço.

The prelate said that the "situation is very serious. The Munni has
threatened the people of neighboring villages, saying they would be
ostracized and would be fined 10,000 rupees if they maintained any
contact with tribal Christians."

For Bishop Colaço of Amravati, "this is a violation of human rights.
Christian Adivasi are poor and illiterate and depend on Hindus for
employment. If they are ostracized, they will be denied their means
of livelihood. Worse still, many Adivasi have daughters and sisters
married to Hindu men and living in other villages. Now the
fundamentalists have forbidden any contact with their families."

Bishop Colaço said he wrote the Union Home Minister and the chief
minister of Maharashtra asking them to investigate the escalating
violence against Christians in Amravati. He also approached the
Indian bishops' conference requesting that it intervene.


(ii)

The Indian Express, February 08, 2005

FOR JHABUA TRIBALS, SANGH DAMS COME WITH A CHECK: SHIVLINGS FIRST
Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad: Ganga flowed through 
Shiva's jata, now Shivlings will not let water 
flow out of villages
Rohit Bhan

JHABUA, FEBRUARY 7: Deep inside Madhya Pradesh's 
Jhabua, where the Sangh Parivar battles Christian 
missionaries for the attention of tribals, a new 
factor has been thrown into the equation: check 
dams.

On March 8, Shivratri day, Vanvasi Kalyan 
Parishad, a Sangh affiliate, will launch its 
Shivganga project to set up talavs (ponds), check 
dams and stop dams in 131 tribal villages.

On the surface, it looks like another 
well-intentioned scheme to manage rainwater 
better.

But this one comes with a catch. Each village 
that launches the project must first instal a 
Shivling-so what if the local administration says 
these villages already have enough talavs and 
dams.

Says Mahesh Sharma, general secretary of the 
Parishad: ''The Ganga flowed through the jata 
(mane) of Lord Shiva. We want the rainwater to 
stop here and the jata of Lord Shiva will stop 
the water from flowing out of the villages.'' 
However, the project organisers are silent on 
whether Christian tribals will be allowed to reap 
its benefits.

The 131 Shivlings have already been moved from 
Indore to Jhabua and will be installed on 
Shivratri when the project gets underway. But the 
Sangh Parivar sees this only as a starting point.

Eventually, it wants to extend the programme to 
some 2,500 tribal villages in the Jhabua-Dhar 
belt, says Harsh Chauhan, the Parishad's state 
president. Nor will the process of reaching out 
to the tribals stop at installing Shivlings. On 
Friday, 20 tribals youths from each village were 
invited to a camp where they took a pledge to 
contribute to the success of the project.

''The tribal boys will be asked to do shram daan 
(manual labour) for two months while money will 
be raised in the cities,'' says Laxman Goud, BJP 
MLA from Indore.

Some Christian tribals in the area are worried. 
''For obvious reasons, Christians cannot take 
part in a programme to instal a shivling,'' says 
Joseph Peter Mandoria, a villager from Pipalia. 
''But there could be friction if the Hindus try 
to monopolise the talavs and check dams.''

K T Chacko, the Jhabua Bishop, picks his words 
carefully. 'There is nothing wrong with the 
programme as long as it does not interfere with 
someone's religious beliefs,'' he says.

Some fear it could do precisely that. And the 
district administration questions the basic 
rationale behind the project.

The Parishad says it is launching the scheme 
because tribals are forced to leave their 
villages in search of work as there is a shortage 
of water for irrigation. Says Jhabua additional 
collector P R Katrolia: ''In every village, there 
are at least half-a-dozen check dams and talavs 
already in operation. So why start more?''

The truth is that the Sangh does not want to give 
any quarter. It has become particularly active in 
the area after the Gujarat riots and has been 
distributing pictures of Lord Hanuman and Ganesha 
in the villages. The BJP managed to bag all five 
Assembly segments in the 2003 polls.

And although infighting saw the party lose the 
Parliamentary elections here last year, it is 
hoping that check dams will check the slide.


(iii)

The Times of India, February 11, 2005

THE RUMBLE WITHIN...
Anjali Singh Jaiswal
Times News Network[ Friday, 12:00:28 Am ]

Culture cops are all geared up to strike this 
Valentine's Day and oppose celebrations everywhere

Call them spoilsports or kabab mein haddi but 
culture cops are gearing up again this year to 
dampen Val Day spirits. With Shiv Sena, Vishwa 
Hindu Parishad and even the Akhil Bhartiya 
Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) all having already 
planned their strategy to tame those hit with 
cupid's love darts, it seems young lovers in the 
city will really have to try hard to express 
their fondness for their sweetheart this year.

Says Uday Nath, deputy chief and spokesperson UP 
wing of Shiv Sena, "Valentine's Day is a symbol 
of decadent western culture. Gifting of cards, 
flowers, presents and making a public show of an 
emotion that is meant to be very private and 
personal will not be accepted by us. Love should 
be expressed behind closed doors and if it is 
not, people will be taught to do so."

BN Shukla, acting president, Vishwa Hindu 
Parishad UP on the other hand feels, "There is no 
point in celebrating festivals that do not 
reflect the Indian culture and ethos. Christmas, 
Good Friday and Valentine's Day must not be 
celebrated at all. Videshi tyoharon ko manane ka 
matlabkya hai? Do the western countries celebrate 
Diwali, Holi or Dussehra? This Valentine's Day 
too we will oppose celebrations. Such days are 
also misused by all to take advantage of the 
vulnerability of our youth who are exploited in 
the name of love. Markets are flooded with gift 
items and also buyers. There is no such scope in 
Indian festivals which are purely divine and 
spiritual."

Shiv Bhushan Singh of ABVP concedes, "Being in 
love is the ultimate emotion, the purity of which 
is demeaned by occasions like Valentine's Day, 
Rose Day etc. This year ABVP plans to have a 
Saraswati Puja on Feb 14, Valentine's Day too, a 
day after Basant Panchami, and distribute sweets 
to all. Hum ashleel dikhawe ke virodh mein 
campaign chalaenge ."

The need to focus on other similar issues round 
the year is also felt by these groups. Uday Nath 
agrees that there needs to be more concerted 
efforts against obscene videos and remixes. He 
maintains, "Our women's wing is planning to 
launch a stir against vulgarity on TV channels. A 
statewide meeting will be held to discuss the 
issue on Feb 28."

While BN Shukla of VHP prefers to focus on other 
ghambir samasyas facing the nation all through 
the year, ABVP is very clear of its objective. 
"Days like Valentine's Day need to be focussed on 
more ardently," avers a spokesperson.

_______

[7]

SANSAD
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Suite 435, 205 - 329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC, Canada. V3K 6Z8
phone : (604) 420-2972; FAX: (604) 420-2970
Electronic mail : sansad at sansad.org

SANSAD
invites you to an afternoon Forum to hear the 
experiences in Pakistan and India from

Mr. Muhammad Mahtab of Vancouver (formerly Capt. in Pakistani Navy)
and
Drs. Pritam and Kundan Rohila, of Portland, Oregon

on their recent trip to Pakistan and India.

The three were part of a 21-member delegation of 
Non-Resident Indians and Non-Resident Pakistanis 
living in Canada, the USA and UK, which recently 
went on an unprecedented
Peace and Goodwill Mission to Pakistan and India.

The two week trip took the delegation to Peshwar, 
Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore in Pakistan, and 
Delhi, Amritsar, Jammu and Mumbai in India. They 
met government leaders, leaders of political 
parties, grass-root organizations, academics, 
journalists, artists, and of course lots of 
ordinary people.

And the Delegation conveyed the message to the 
rulers of the two countries that good, peaceful, 
neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan, 
and the well-being of the people in the two 
countries, are matters of as much concern to the 
Indians and Pakistanis living abroad as they are 
to those living within the countries.

Participatory, interactive, discussion will be 
followed by recital of poems and ghazals by the 
local artists.

Saturday, February 26, 2005
2-5 p.m.
Collingwood Neighbourhood House
5288 Joyce Street, Vancouver.

The Collingwood Neighbourhood House is located 
about two blocks south of the Joyce Street 
Skytrain station. Plenty of free parking is 
available on the street; as well as in the 
underground parking lot (entrance to the lot is 
from Euclid Ave.)

Co-sponsored by Canada Urdu Association.


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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
matters of peace and democratisation in South 
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit 
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South 
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at:  bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

Sister initiatives :
South Asia Counter Information Project :  snipurl.com/sacip
South Asians Against Nukes: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org
Communalism Watch: communalism.blogspot.com/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.




More information about the Sacw mailing list