SACW | 16 Sept. 2005
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Sep 15 20:39:45 CDT 2005
South Asia Citizens Wire | 16 September, 2005
[1] Statement against Rights Violations in Bangladesh
[2] Sri Lanka: SLDF Calls to Support a Redesign of the Peace Process
[3] Media Alert: Upcoming Demo in New York City
against the Pakistani Government's Failure to
Protect Women (ANNA and Amnesty Int'l)
[4] Pakistan: An environmental disaster in the making (Omar R. Quraishi)
+ SC takes notice of New Murree plan: Punjab govt asked to submit details
[5] Statement of Federation of Nepali Journalists
[6] India: Communal bias in building blocks (Anuj Chopra)
[7] Upcoming Events:
(i) The Play Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions (New Delhi, 16 September, 2005)
(ii) Book Release of "In Search Of Faith
Unconquered" (Ahmedabad, 19 September, 2005)
______
[1]
STATEMENT AGAINST RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN BANGLADESH
International Bangladesh Foundation
Patron Lord Dholakia Chair Lord Avebury
131 Commercial Street. Banglatown. London E1 6BJ. UK
Tel Sujit Sen 07766 704005 or 07956 890689
Fax 020 8586 1098
Email admin at shadinata.org.uk or sujit7 at hotmail.com
www.secularvoiceofbangladesh.org
We, the undersigned members of legislatures,
Recognizing that religious extremism is
threatening democratic institutions and
constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion
in Bangladesh, as well as fomenting hatred and
violence towards minority ethnic and faith
communities of Bangladesh, and towards
secularists and secular institutions: Alarmed
that the Bangladesh authorities have not only
failed to stop extremist repression and
violence, but have colluded with religious
extremist groups to violate and usurp human
rights of minority groups, namely, but not
limited to, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians,
Ahmadiyya Muslims, secular civil society
members, NGOs, journalists and members of
opposition parties: Deploring the government ban
on Ahmadiyya publications, renaming of mosques
and the burning of books and important historical
documents which violates the freedom of religion
and _expression supposedly enshrined in the
Constitution of Bangladesh:
Regretting the state's abject failure, despite
clear evidence and warnings of intelligence
agencies that fanatic militant groups are
organising themselves, to investigate effectively
and prosecute the criminals responsible for
violent attacks and grenade blasts on leading
members of the opposition, the British High
Commissioner, arts and cultural events, members
and institutions of religious minorities and
others; Noting with concern the abuse of Islam,
a religion of peace, for political objectives
and the co-ordinated and orchestrated terrorist
explosions, which occurred throughout the country
in August 17;
Call upon the Government of Bangladesh to allow
and authorize independent, comprehensive and
transparent investigation by international
intelligence agencies, in order to
(i) to bring to justice the perpetrators and
planners of violence in Bangladesh including the
attack on Anwar Chowdhury, the British High
Commissioner; Shah AMS Kibria MP, the former
finance minister; and Ahsanullah Master MP
(ii) to halt immediately extrajudicial killings and custodial tortures
(iii) to bring to justice those responsible for
attempting to assassinate Leader of the
Opposition HE Sheikh Hasina by throwing grenades
at the anti-terrorism rally being addressed by
her on 21st August 2004, in which 24 people were
killed and hundreds maimed. (iv) to institute
an urgent impartial enquiry into the August 17
bombings and take effective action against the
perpetrators.
(v) to bring to justice those who smuggled
truckloads of illegal arms (particularly those
recovered from the government controlled jetties
in Chittagong port, Bogra, Kuril, Budda ),
including grenades, and to recover those arms
which have already found their way into terrorist
hands, and to publish a report on the origin of
those arms, the persons and organizations
involved in their smuggling
Call on the Government of Bangladesh to establish
an Inspectorate of Madrassas and to close down
those which are being used to incite the
commission of criminal offences and communal
hatred.
Demand that preparations be made and appropriate
reforms instituted to ensure a free and fair
election under a neutral administration,
conducted by a independent election commission
along with the interim government, to be chosen
in consultation with the Opposition;
Urge the Government of Bangladesh to ensure the
independence of the Judiciary, and to prevent
and reverse party politicisation of the police,
administration, the judiciary and other important
institutions;
Call upon the government of Bangladesh to repeal
the 5th and 8th amendment of the Constitution
and the anti minority and racist laws such as
the vested property legislation;
Demand the implementation of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord of 1997 and an end to the
demographic transformation of the CHT under
military occupation,
Remind the government of Bangladesh that in
accordance with the constitutional rights of the
people, Ahmadiyyas as well as all other
communities and minorities have equal rights in
all respect
Call upon the Government of Bangladesh to
establish a permanent and independent commission
for the promotion of ethnic, gender and
religious equality.
Ask donors, including the World Bank, USAID, the
EU and others, to concentrate on good
governance, and in particular, on the maintenance
of stable democracy in Bangladesh, based on
respect for human rights, the rule of law and
the independence of the judiciary.
Decide to establish an international civil
society network to monitor the progress of
Bangladesh towards compliance with international
human rights standards, to make representations
to governments and to the UN Human Rights
Commission and to hold further meetings.
______
[2]
15 September 2005
For Immediate Release
SLDF Calls on Sri Lanka Donor Co-Chairs to Support a Redesign of the Peace
Process
Norway's Foreign Minister has called for an urgent meeting of the Sri
Lanka Donor Co-Chairs on 19 September 2005 to address the increasingly
difficult security situation in Sri Lanka and the need to strengthen the
Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). This meeting of Norway and the other Co-Chairs
is a necessary initiative given the escalating violence and threat of war.
However, the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) believes the grave risk to
the ceasefire is related to the character of the underlying peace process
and calls on the Co-Chairs to re-evaluate the parameters of the peace
process while finding ways to strengthen the CFA.
SLDF supports the call by the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives
for a "fundamental review and redesign of the peace process", which SLDF
believes is necessary to ensure a principled and sustainable peace
process. Such a review would have to address issues of continuity,
inclusivity, democratisation, the protection of human rights, as well as
the root causes of the conflict and its consequences.
The deterioration of the ceasefire and the standstill in the talks can be
traced to the withdrawal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
from formal talks in April 2003. Following its withdrawal, the LTTE then
escalated its campaign of political killings and insisted that
negotiations resume on the basis of its proposal for an interim
administration. Had the peace talks continued, the advisor on human rights
to the peace process, Ian Martin, would have presented a draft human
rights agreement at the next session. Furthermore, this seventh session
of talks was to "expand some preliminary issues and a framework for
political matters into a complete plan" and move closer to discussing a
permanent political solution which, as per the Oslo agreements of 2002,
committed the LTTE to exploring a federal political solution. The LTTE,
however, has always shown a strong aversion to redressing the root causes
of the conflict. Instead, it has used the threat of war to consolidate
its control over the North and East and to entrench its ad hoc and interim
mechanisms. The LTTE refuses to even reiterate the Oslo agreement.
Similarly, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has also failed to develop a
consensus for a permanent political solution.
The international community's commitment to the peace process and the
principles underlying its support were stated in the Tokyo Declaration of
June 2003. However, neither the GOSL nor the international community have
backed their commitment to the Tokyo Declaration with the political will
necessary to ensure the Declaration's relevance to the peace process. The
breaks in the peace talks and the overall lack of continuity in the peace
process have undermined the confidence of ordinary Sri Lankans and those
constituencies that were not included in the internationalised peace talks
but who nevertheless were called upon to support the peace process. In
short, the peace process was more internationalised than internalised.
Internal and External Inclusivity
It is therefore critical that any redesign of the peace process should
seek the inclusion of all communities and political formations in Sri
Lanka. The Hon. Bob Rae, advisor on federalism to the peace process, has
often emphasised that while ceasefires involve the warring armed parties,
a peace process and a permanent political solution must involve all the
people of Sri Lanka. Indeed, greater inclusivity is of principled and
practical relevance. Without inclusivity, the interests of all will not
be addressed; nor will the peace process be durable if all legitimate
stakeholders are not involved either directly or through a process of
consultations. This is of particular salience now, when conditions are
ripe to alienate larger and larger sections of the population, and there
is a vocal opposition to the parties to the peace process. The broad
opposition in Sri Lanka to the P-TOMS agreement, which was widely
supported by the international community, and vocal opposition to Norway's
role in the peace process have, among other factors, emerged due to a lack
of inclusivity.
This principle of inclusivity should be extended to the international
backers of the peace process who need to stand by their support for the
Oslo agreement and commitment to the Tokyo Declaration instead of merely
vocalising their support of Norway. Instead, it is time for the Donor
Co-Chairs to transform their role to that of the Co-Chairs to the peace
process, and to constructively and critically engage all parties. An
active and enhanced role for the international community will require a
division of roles:
§ Norway and possibly a co-facilitator could be involved in the mediation
of the peace talks.
§ Another Scandinavian member of the Sri
Lanka Monitoring Mission could be
made the lead monitor of the SLMM and hence be placed in charge of
monitoring adherence to the CFA.
§ The UN could be encouraged to take on the
work of monitoring, protecting
and promoting human rights.
§ India, as the regional power with past
experience and involvement in Sri
Lanka's conflict and peace process, will need to assume a proactive role
in the peace process, with an understanding of both the positive and
negative consequences of its past involvement. Likewise, the Donor Co
Chairs should coordinate with India on crucial matters, since the regional
dimensions of the peace process are no less important than its
international dimensions.
Such a division of roles will ensure that Norway is neither overburdened
by its role nor have to face the torrent of both due and undue criticism
for the failings in a fragile process.
Democracy and ‘Sole Representation'
SLDF has always maintained that democracy and human rights are the twin
pillars of any real and just peace. Perhaps the most sustained attack on
democracy throughout the last three and a half years has been the LTTE's
claim to "sole representation", through which it refused any independent
Tamil and Muslim participation in the peace process. The LTTE has further
sought to consolidate this claim within the Tamil community by
intimidating alternate political parties to come under its fold through
the force of arms and terror. As John Cushnahan of the EU Election
Monitoring Mission for parliamentary elections in April 2004 noted, the
"primary source of the violence was the LTTE who were determined to ensure
that the TNA would emerge as the sole representative of the Tamil people."
Finally, the LTTE has sustained a campaign of political killings that has
eliminated more than 300 Tamils since the ceasefire.
"Sole representation" is antithetical to democracy and under its banner,
the LTTE has sought to suppress all pluralism and dissent within the Tamil
community. A major omission of the Southern political parties, the
international community and the Norwegian facilitators was their
reluctance to definitively reject the undemocratic claim of sole
representation. If the redesign of the peace process is to have even a
semblance of democracy, the Co-Chairs should publicly refute the claim of
sole representation to signal instead their commitment to democracy and
pluralism.
Human Rights
Finally, the protection and promotion of human rights should be central to
the peace process. Other peace processes have often made human rights
agreements at the outset. Such agreements are critical first steps in
ensuring the rights to life and freedom of association that are brutally
denied during the conflict years, but that are respected by warring
parties to illustrate their commitment to peace. And as peace processes
move forward, past abuses and questions about impunity can be addressed.
The absence of a concrete human rights agreement has been a fundamental
flaw in the Sri Lankan peace process and has allowed the escalation in
human rights violations during the ceasefire. During the three and half
years of the ceasefire, thousands of children have been recruited,
hundreds of political killings have been committed and over a thousand
adults have been abducted - - all in a climate of impunity. Indeed, the
bulk of the ceasefire violations are human rights violations against the
civilian population, and this underscores the urgent need for:
§ A Human Rights Agreement that will ensure
a central focus on human rights.
§ An independent international human rights monitoring mission that
complements and operationalises the Human Rights Agreement on the ground.
Such a mission could be led by the UN and should be empowered with
enforcement mechanisms.
SLDF calls on Norway and the Co-Chairs to work towards such a review and
redesign of the peace process. Three and a half years ago the people of
Sri Lanka were encouraged to support this peace process because of the
third party facilitation and its internationalised character. After
decades of conflict, ordinary Sri Lankans, many of whom were victims, were
given a renewed hope that Sri Lanka would emerge from its bloody history
of violence and militarisation. Now, as Norway and the Co-Chairs meet to
review the peace process, they have the opportunity and responsibility to
assist in making it a principled peace process that enshrines democracy
and human rights.
Sri Lanka Democracy Forum
www.lankademocracy.org
______
[3]
Asian American Network against abuse of women (ANAA)
MEDIA ALERT
What: DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT'S FAILURE TO
PROTECT WOMEN FROM RAPE, MURDER, AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
Who: Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Women (ANAA) and
Amnesty International's New York City Women's Human Rights Action Team.
When: Saturday, September 17th, 2005 , from 12 noon to 3 pm
Best media opportunities are between 1 and 1:30 pm .
Where: Outside the Roosevelt Hotel, Madison and East 45th Street, New
York City, where Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf will be
staying.
Why: The Government of Pakistan has consistently failed to provide
protection for its citizens, especially women, who are denied the most
basic human rights. Pakistan has no law against domestic violence, and
rape and honor killings are committed with impunity. Two recent cases
have received a great deal of publicity. Dr. Shazia Khalid was raped
by an army officer who was never prosecuted, and she was forced to seek
asylum in the United Kingdom. A tribal court sentenced Mukhtar Mai
(also known as Mukhtar Bibi) to gang rape as punishment for an offense
allegedly committed by her brother. Pakistan's
President will be in New York for the United
Nation's World Summit. In an unprecedented
protest, human rights activists will
gather outside his hotel to demand that he repeal unjust laws and
defend the human rights of women against Taliban-like religious
extremists.
Speakers: A statement from Muktar Mai will be read.
Dr Shazia Khalid (by speakerphone from England);
Dr Amna Buttar, Asian-American Network Against
the Abuse of Women; Anis Haroon, Aurat Foundation
Purvi Shah, Sakhi; Nisha Varia, Human Rights Watch
Nadia Gareeb, Amnesty International US; Raza Ali Mir, Activist and Scholar
Afrasiab Khatak, Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan; Sonia Mansoor, Sanctuary for Families;
Taina Bien-Aime, Equality Now; Archi Piyati,
Human Rights First
Saadia Toor, PAGE - Pakistani Activists for Gender Equality
Visuals: Hundreds of chanting women, men and children; vivid signs with
images of victims of violence; powerful speakers.
Website : www.4anaa.org
Contact: Ijaz Syed (ANAA): 408-838-0952; syedi at sbcglobal.net
Jeanne Bergman (Amnesty): 212-979-7213; wheedle at earthlink.net
______
[4]
[The below op-ed piece in Dawn by Omar R.
Quraishi (Assistant Editor, Dawn) on the
controversial New Murree project being planned by
the Punjab government, led the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Sept 14 to take
suo motu notice of the planned project and gave
the Government of Punjab 10 days notice to
respond to the court's questions regarding the
proposed New Murree project. ]
o o o
Dawn
September 8, 2005
AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN THE MAKING
By Omar R. Quraishi
DESPITE its rejection by the National Assembly's standing committee on
environment, concern shown by the Capital Development Authority, and
disapproval by local elected representatives and its own forest and
irrigation departments, the Punjab government seems intent on steamrolling
its much-vaunted development project, the New Murree tourist resort.
Planned 24 kilometres south-east of present-day Murree in the Patriata
Hills, the project will use 4,111 acres of what is known as a 'reserve
forest' in the area north of Islamabad, for which hundreds of thousands of
coniferous trees will have to be cut. The Patriata forest boasts of the
highest average annual rainfall in the country - around 1,770 millimetres
annually - and is situated in the catchment area of both Simly and Rawal
dams, which provide almost half of the drinking water for Rawalpindi and
Islamabad.
The building of New Murree - being billed by the Punjab government as a
major tourist resort which will do the provincial as well as national
economy much good - will disturb the water collected by the two dams and
will lead to their eventual silting. Other than that, the project will lead
to soil erosion, increased risk of landslides, and will eventually end up
robbing the whole area of its precious forest cover. Proof of that can be
seen in the hills in and around Murree which have over the years become
completely barren and hardly any trees can be found on them).
Despite strong opposition from the NA standing committee (whose
recommendations are unfortunately only in an advisory capacity and not
binding) and by local residents and concerned citizens, the Punjab chief
minister has managed to get on his side a most powerful supporter, President
Pervez Musharraf himself. In fact, those now opposing the project are being
portrayed as being anti-development. In remarks on TV channels, Chief
Minister Pervez Elahi said that those opposing New Murree "did not know
anything", implying that such opposition was merely for the sake of
opposition and might be due to a vested interest.
In the same vein, the president, in remarks to foreign correspondents based
in Islamabad, was quoted as saying that cutting of trees could not take
precedence over development.
The point is not as simple as that, and perhaps the president is being
misled by those who are for this project. Most reasonable people would not
argue with the fact that development is quite important for a country like
Pakistan. However, what can be argued is the form of such development and in
what manner it should take place. The Punjab government's whole argument
seems to rest on promoting New Murree as a project with great tourist
potential. According to the master plan, a tourist city will be built,
complete with five-star hotels, golf courses, residential apartment
complexes, shopping malls and even a monorail.
First, if promoting tourism is indeed such a top priority for the Punjab or
even the federal government, it should first try and improve the mess that
Murree, the country's oldest and most well-known tourist resort, has become.
Besides, the cultural attractions of Mughal monuments in Lahore are perhaps
one of Punjab's biggest potential tourist attractions, along with the
Harappa ruins near Sahiwal, or the ruins in Uch in the province's south and
even these have failed to attract tourists in large numbers.
In the case of the Mughal monuments, the Punjab government has not batted
even an eyelid - in fact, it has acquiesced in their neglect and decay - as
its own senior officials have seen it fit to organize fashion shows, musical
evenings and, more recently, even a wedding on the monument premises. Or
take a look at the ancient Harappa ruins, where a ruling party MNA applied
for and almost managed to get permission from the government to build a
commercial establishment within the premises of the ruins.
Besides, at the national level, the country has natural treasures like the
Karakorum, Hindukush and the Western Himalaya ranges, it has the natural
wonder that is the Makran coastline (more accessible now thanks to the
coastal highway) and there are countless mountain treks in valleys in
Chitral, Swat, Kaghan, the Galiyat region, the more pristine and relatively
unexplored Neelum and Leepa valleys of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and then, of
course, the more serious treks further north around Gilgit, Hunza, Skardu
and the Shimshal region.
The point in listing all these is that if such marvels of nature cannot
attract many tourists, then it is doubtful that a new tourist resort -
situated 24 kilometres from one that is already in bad shape and polluted to
the hilt - will. This means that rather than develop new resorts, the
government needs to improve the existing ones and also improve law and order
and do something about its negative image abroad.
Second, development for a country like Pakistan is indeed imperative. But at
what cost and of what nature? Shouldn't the Punjab government's energies and
ample finances be spent on other more pressing issues? It is perhaps the
richest of all the four provinces but that does not make it a Switzerland,
with lots of money left over to develop Alpine-style tourist resorts.
Besides, why not work on the existing tourist resorts like Murree and
improve their deteriorating infrastructure and non-existent capacity to
accommodate tourists.
Also, for the sake of argument, if one were to accept the fact that tourism
promotion is a valid priority for Mr Elahi's government, then why do it at
the expense of 4,000-plus acres of pristine forest, and whose consequence
could well be a silting up and pollution of Islamabad and Rawalpindi's
primary sources of drinking water. In addition, it has been widely reported
that no environmental impact assessment has been carried out for the
proposed project, a requirement (mandated by the federal government itself)
for all major infrastructure projects. Would it be then fair to presume that
such an assessment has not been done because the Punjab government does not
want to risk further opposition to an already controversial project?
For the record, the ecological and environmental value of the Patriata
forest is such that it has been designated a 'reserve' or protected forest
since the days of the British - 1886 to be precise. After independence the
protected status of the forest was kept intact and remained so till 2004
when the Punjab Assembly passed the New Murree Development Authority (NMDA)
Act. The NMDA is chaired by the chief minister of Punjab and includes the
chief secretary and several provincial secretaries. The Act, like most other
pieces of legislation, has an indemnity clause which exempts the authority,
its chairman and members from being sued in a court of law "in respect of
anything done or intended to be done in good faith".
Interestingly, the Act also authorizes the NMDA to "perform any or all
powers and functions of local government" as defined under the Punjab Local
Government Ordinance, 2001, which perhaps explains why the provincial
government is acting in complete disregard of concerns expressed by the
former nazim and naib nazim of Murree tehsil who said that the project would
be disastrous for their area.
The chairperson of the National Assembly's standing committee on
environment, which in principle rejected the New Murree project, is a ruling
party follower. In early July, she told newspapers that the committee would
write to the president, prime minister and the Punjab chief minister to
review the decision and to look for some alternate site. According to her,
the NA committee's members had pointedly asked Punjab government officials
in a meeting questioned the wisdom of cutting down a forest that was over
200 years old to build hotels and golf courses, especially when alternate
sites were available.
She said that the members had noted that in the past as well, influential
figures like then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had toyed with the idea of
developing a tourist resort in the Patriata hills but had backed off after
told of the environmental consequences and of the impact the project would
have on Simly and Rawal dams. The members had also told the provincial
government officials that the priority was not building tourist resorts but
rather conservation of water and ecology and that New Murree would adversely
affect the capacity of the forest area to act as a catchment area for two
important local dams.
The chairperson of the NA standing committee also told this newspaper in
early August that the NA standing committee had suggested some alternatives
and hoped that these would be incorporated. However, given that the NA
committees act in an advisory capacity, and given that the New Murree
project is a pet project of the Punjab chief minister, it is quite unlikely
that the project will either be reviewed or an alternate site considered.
The question remains: if indeed a tourist resort on such a massive scale
needs to be built, then why at the cost of a vast forest which is important
not only from an ecological/environmental point of view but whose
destruction could well lead to a negative impact on the primary sources of
drinking water for Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Also, what is the need for
building New Murree when Murree is already there, and when local residents,
environmental experts, departments within the Punjab government, the CDA and
concerned citizens are strongly against it?
No wonder, the insistence by the Punjab government seems to lend credence to
the rumours doing the rounds these days that those backing the project have
a direct stake in its success - they or their proxies have bought land
earmarked for the project and whose price will shoot through the roof once
the project gets underway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[The report in Dawn regarding the Supreme Court's suo motu action]
Dawn
September 15, 2005
SC takes notice of New Murree plan: Punjab govt asked to submit details
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Sept 14: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has
taken suo motu notice of reports on environmental aspect of the proposed
'New Murree project' and sought details of the project from the Punjab
Government within 10 days.
"Notice be issued to the chief secretary, Government of Punjab, to submit
report on the issue within 10 days," said a one-page order issued by the CJ
on Wednesday.
The chief justice took notice after reading an article in Dawn on September
8.
The writer had criticised the project for having potential to cause adverse
effects on environment, threaten the Murree Hill Forests and pollute the
waters of the Simly and Rawal dams on which residents of Rawalpindi and
Islamabad depend.
The CJ noted that the project was being pursued despite its rejection by the
National Assembly Standing Committee on Environment and the concern
expressed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), local government
representatives and the irrigation department.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan had accused the Punjab
government of destroying the Patriata forests in the name of constructing a
tourist resort.
The New Murree tourist resort is being built 24 kilometres south-east of
Murree in the Patriata Hills over 4,111 acres of reserve forest.
According to the said article, hundred of thousands of coniferous trees
would have to be cut or uprooted for building the resort. It would damage
Patriata forests and affect the average annual rainfall.
The forest is situated in the catchement area of both Simly and Rawal dams,
which cater for almost half of the drinking-water needs of Rawalpindi and
Islamabad residents.
The New Murree project, the article said, would affect the flow of water
into the dams and would lead to their eventual silting. It would also
increase soil erosion, hence risk of landslides.
______
[5]
STATEMENT OF FEDERATION OF NEPALI JOURNALISTS
Police attacks scribes at work
Kathmandu, September 13: Several Nepalese journalists
on field assignment have been left seriously injured
as wanton policemen went on a journalist-hunting spree
while they were reporting a protest program organized
by major political parties on September 13.
The rally was organized to protest against the Nepal
king's coup staged on February 1 this year.
Apparently, security personnel attacked the
mediapersons on purpose. Eyewitnesses say they were
virtually spotted out of the thousands of protestors
gathered at Bagh Bazaar, the heart of the Nepalese
capital, on Tuesday afternoon.
Despite his showing his press card to them,
baton-wielding police personnel attacked journalist
Tilak Mahat. He was mercilessly baton-charged right in
front of his fellow journalists leaving him seriously
injured in his head and sensitive parts. Presently he
is being treated at Miteree Hospital while
photojournalist Suresh Sainju was released after minor
treatment at the same hospital. Immediately after the
incident, FNJ president Bishnu Nisthuri and secretary
general Mahendra Bista took stock of the situation by
visiting the injured mediapersons at the private
hospital.
Several other scribes including Dinesh Bhattarai,
Suman Malla and Rupak Adhikari also were at the
receiving end in today's excessive use of force by the
paranoid government.
Given the latest developments, today’s excessive use
of force is not an isolated incident. In the districts
outside the capital, journalists covering protest
rallies have risked being targets of the police and in
many cases they have been repeatedly beaten up. Also,
many journalists have received threats of being ‘taken
care of’ for their writing or broadcasting what they
witness first hand during the forceful police
intervention.
A press statement issued by the FNJ secretariat has
condemned today's attack on journalists in strong
terms and further went on to declare, "We condemn the
government's restriction and intervention into the
peaceful programs organized by the political parties
and the civil society calling for the protection of
the constitution and the restoration of the people's
rights and democracy. FNJ expresses its sincere
commitment to every single movement launched in favor
of press freedom and democracy."
--RB KHATRY
______
[6]
The Telegraph
September 14, 2005
Communal bias in building blocks
A SUPREME COURT RULING HAS GIVEN HOUSING SOCIETIES THE LICENCE TO RESTRICT
THEIR MEMBERSHIP TO PARTICULAR COMMUNITIES, SAYS ANUJ CHOPRA
No outsiders, please! Several housing societies
want to turn themselves into community-based
enclaves
A recent resolution passed by his housing society
in Tardeo, Mumbai, has left Nirav Shah an
embittered man. At its annual general meeting
last month, the Talmakiwadi Housing Society
decided to cancel its "open membership" policy
and make amendments to its bylaws so as to permit
it to deny membership to all non-Saraswat
Brahmins. Shah, one of the few Gujaratis among
nearly a 100 Saraswat Brahmins in the complex, is
obviously peeved. "If I move to a Gujarati
society, I'll make sure no Saraswat Brahmins are
allowed there," he says vengefully.
In fact, Shah - and others who think like him -
can actually do that, thanks to a Supreme Court
ruling in April this year. In a case brought by
the Zoroastrian Co-operative Housing Society,
Ahmedabad, challenging a Gujarat High Court
verdict that the society's bylaws restricting
membership to non-Parsis were illegal, the
Supreme Court ruled: "It is open to the members
of the Parsi community, who came together to form
the co-operative society, to prescribe that
members of the community for whose benefit the
society was formed alone could aspire to be
members of the society."
The verdict, many feel, has brought communal
prejudices out into the open. For instance, once
passed, the resolution by Shah's housing society
would mean that while 'outsiders' like Shah would
be allowed to stay on, they would not be able to
buy more property in the complex. Nor would they
be able to sell their existing property to anyone
but a Saraswat Brahmin. This resolution will be
sent to the registrar of co-operative societies
in Mumbai for approval, but that's just a
formality, informs society committee member
Vithal Nadkarni. The Supreme Court verdict has
made it legal for them to pass such laws.
Housing societies have been known to deny
membership to people on grounds of religion,
caste, community and eating habits. In fact, the
Co-operative Societies Act, a state Act, says
that such societies are free to frame their own
rules. It neither bars nor allows housing
societies to exclude any particular community or
section of the society from becoming its members.
"Since they are private bodies, they are within
their rights to keep membership restricted. There
is nothing in the law that prohibits that,"
explains Calcutta-based lawyer Joymalya Bagchi.
"Only the government can't do that for it would
be a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution
which forbids discrimination on the basis of
caste, creed, religion, sex and so on. This
clause is not applicable to private bodies and
that explains the Supreme Court ruling," he adds.
The only argument against this clause, lawyers
feel, could be that since housing is a public
domain, it is unfair to allow communities to make
it restrictive. In fact, a clause in Section
22(1)(a) of the Maharashtra Co-operative
Societies Act makes it illegal for a co-operative
society to refuse membership to any person who is
eligible under the Indian Contract Act, 1972. And
there have been several instances when the Mumbai
High Court has turned down appeals by housing
co-operatives to make their societies exclusive.
In 2001, for instance, the court rejected an
eviction suit filed against a non-Parsi man by
the Zoroastrian Radih Society that contended that
only Parsis could reside in that complex. The
Supreme Court verdict, however, is about to
change all that.
Mumbai-based property lawyer P.V. Kamath says
that at least 15 housing societies in the city
are seeking to amend their bylaws. "This will
spread like wildfire once housing societies see
others going exclusive," he says. However, Murali
Chaturvedi, editor of Accommodation Times,
chooses to highlight the positive side of the
ruling. "Prices of real estate shoot up if
builders concentrate on building community
centres to lure members of a particular community
to them," he argues.
Author and human rights activist Ali Asgar
Engineer feels that private institutions can see
this verdict as a licence to openly refuse
membership to people. "It's a dangerous verdict,"
he says.
Yet there are those who hail the apex court's
vision. "Parsis will disappear if there are no
societies meant exclusively for them," says
Rustom Chottia, president of the Dadar-Matunga
Parsi Zoroastrian Association. Vithal Nadkarni
agrees: "Saraswat Brahmins are a small community.
Mingling with other communities could adulterate
our culture."
But can a country like ours, that prides itself
on its secularism, afford to institutionalise
such communal bias? Till the law gets its act
together, the argument will go onŠ
With Prithvijit Mitra in Calcutta
______
[7] Upcoming Events:
(i)
MAHESH DATTANI's FINAL SOLUTIONS
DIRECTED BY ARVIND GAUR
_____________________________________
Where :
Hindu College
University of Delhi
When :
September 16, 2005 @ 11.15 am
Translation by Shahid Anwar
Music By Dr.Sangeeta Gaur
AN ASMITA PRODUCTION
_____________________
On Stage
Hridika: Anupam Pachauri
Daksha(young Hridika):Sangeeta Das
Smita: Manisha
Ramnik: Girish Pal
Aruna: Amita Walia
Babban: Naresh Kabir
Javed: Susan Brar
Chorus:
Ajit Kr Mahato, Akhilesh Kr (Praveen), Vipin
Arora,Shailender Bisht, Sanjay,
Siddharth Dubey, Rohan Madhesia, Shamim Gandhi, Amit
Rana, Pushpraj Rawat,
Prageet Pandit, Rakesh Kumar, Rajesh Kr Sangwan,
Tanmay, Rajesh Mishra,
Sandeep Srivastava
Off Stage
Set Execution : Ajit Kr Mahato, Akhilesh Kr (Praveen),
Sandeep Srivastava,
Girish Pal
Property: Prageet Pandit, Pushpraj Rawat
Production Controller: Sandeep Srivastava
Brochure: Anupam Pachauri
Music: Dr. Sangeeta Gaur
Direction: Arvind Gaur
The Play was recently staged at the National Theatre
Festival organised by
Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai on 29th Aug,05 & also at
Paavas Theatre
Festival, Patna on 10th sept 2005.
THE PLAY
_________
"Final Solutions" has a powerful contemporary
resonance as it addresses as issue of utmost
concern to our society, i.e. the issue of
communalism. The play presents different shades
of the communalist attitude prevalent among
Hindus and Muslims in its attempt to underline
the stereotypes and clichés influencing the
collective sensibility of one community against
another. What distinguishes this work from other
plays written on the subject is that it is
neither sentimental in its appeal nor simplified
in its approach. It advances the objective
candour or a social scientist while presenting a
mosaic of diverse attitudes towards religious
identity that often plunges the country into
inhuman strife. Yet the issue is not moralised,
as the demons of communal hatred are located not
out on the street but deep within us.
The play moves from the partition to the present
day communal riots. It probes into the religious
bigotry by examining the attitudes of three
generations of a middle-class Gujrati business
family, Hardika, the grandmother, is obsessed
with her father's murder during the partition
turmoil and the betrayal by a Muslim friend,
Zarine. Her son, Ramnik Gandhi, is haunted by the
knowledge his fortunes were founded on a shop of
Zarine's father, which was burnt down by his
kinsmen.
Hardika's daughter-in-law, Aruna, lives by the
strict code of the Hindu Samskar and the
granddaughter, Smita, cannot allow herself a
relationship with a Muslim boy. The pulls and
counter-pulls of the family are exposed when two
Muslim boys, Babban and Javed, seek shelter in
their house on being chased by a baying Hindu
mob. Babban is a moderate while Javed is an
aggressive youth. After a nightlong exchange of
judgements and retorts between the characters,
tolerance and forgetfulness emerge as the only
possible solution of the crisis. Thus, the play
becomes a timely reminder of the conflicts raging
not only in India but in other parts of the world.
o o o o
(ii)
ANHAD INVITES YOU TO A BOOK RELEASE
"IN SEARCH OF FAITH UNCONQUERED"
A Journey In Three Acts
And AN evening of Sufi Music
On Monday, 19th SEPTEMBER, 2005
FROM 7.30pm onwards
AT THE UPASANA KHAND AUDITORIUM,
GUJARAT VIDYAPEETH
ASHRAM ROAD
AHMEDABAD
TWO YOUNG STUDENTS AND AN ANHAD ACTIVIST ( MANAN
TRIVEDI) UNDERTOOK A JOURNEY ACROSS GUJARAT
COVERING 18 SUFI SHRINES AND DISCOVERED THE
VIBRANT SUFI TRADITION , THE TRADITION OF LOVE
AND HARMONY. MANASA PATNAM A GRADUATE FROM DELHI
UNIVERSITY'S MIRANADA COLLEGE AND SAHIR RAZA A
SECOND YEAR HISTORY STUDENT PUT TOGETHER A BOOK
ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY ACROSS GUJARAT. PLEASE DO
COME AND JOIN US AT THE BOOK LAUNCH
Programme:
Introducing the Book Harsh Mander
Book Release HAKU SHAH
The Journey Manasa Patnam & Sahir Raza
Sufi Music
SUPPORTED BY ACTION AID, GUJARAT
Anhad
4, Windsor place
New Delhi-110001
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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