SACW | 2-3 Nov. 2005 | Kashmir Quake & Delhi Blasts+Anti Narmada resistance+ Ambedkar & RSS; Assam Killings / Mau riots in UP

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | 2-3 Nov,  2005 | Dispatch No. 2170


[1]  Kashmir border to open for divided families 
only; NGOs not allowed to cross; 10-day wait for 
security clearance
[2]  The blame game will dry no tears in India or in Pakistan (Ahmed Rashid)
[3]  India: Press Release - Dahshat Virodhi, 
Shanti Aman Samiti [Peace Committee Against Fear]
[4]  Kashmir's Quake Victims Face Hate Campaign, Too (J. Sri Raman)
[5] India: Celebrating 20 years of Resistance Against the Narmada Dam!
[6]  India: Ambedkar and RSS (Ram Puniyani)
[7]  India: The killing spree in Assam's Karbi Anglong (Sanjib Baruah)
[8]  India: A Report on Maunath Bhanjan Riots in U.P. (Subhashini Ali)

______

[1]

Daily Times
November 02, 2005

LOC WILL OPEN FOR DIVIDED FAMILIES ONLY

/* APHC leaders, NGOs not allowed to cross
* Relief work will be carried out by govts only
* 10-day wait for security clearance

Daily Times Monitor/

SRINAGAR: Only Kashmiris who are members of 
families divided by the Line of Control will be 
allowed to cross the de-facto border when five 
crossing points are opened on November 7, the 
Kashmir Times reports.

The newspaper says relief work at the five points 
will remain firmly in government hands. Though a 
public announcement of the modalities of the 
agreement to open the LoC has not been made - the 
Indian External Affairs Ministry in expected to 
make an announcement today - the paper has learnt 
that except for members of divided Kashmiri 
families who have undergone a security screening 
process, no other individual, political or 
non-political group, or non-government 
organisation will be allowed to approach the five 
points.

An Indian defence spokesman said Hurriyat 
Conference leaders and NGOs intending to go to 
Azad Kashmir would not be allowed to cross the 
LoC. A political decision would have to be made 
at the top level of government to allow this, he 
said.

Even the Kashmiris crossing the LoC will not be 
allowed to carry additional relief goods apart 
from their luggage, which will be of the same 
quantity allowed to passengers of the 
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, according to the 
Kashmir Times report.

The Independent reports that Kashmiris wishing to 
visit relatives on the other side of the LoC will 
have to undergo rigorous screening by security 
services - a process that will take at least 10 
days. Under the opening agreement, Kashmiris 
wishing to cross will have to submit to the same 
vetting process as those who took the bus service 
between the two sides that started in April. That 
involves filling out six different application 
forms, and many of those who applied were 
rejected as security risks.

The two governments say aid relief, however, will 
be allowed through immediately when the LoC opens 
on November 7.

The Kashmir Times reported that relief work will 
be carried out exclusively at a government level. 
The Pakistani army would forward relief goods for 
Indian-held Kashmir to the Indian army, which 
would then hand them over to the civil 
administration.

Similarly, tents, blankets, food and medicine 
sent by the government of Indian-held Kashmir or 
New Delhi would be handed over to Indian army 
officers on the LoC, who would forward them to 
the Pakistani army, which would then distribute 
them in the earthquake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir.


______


[2]

The Telegraph
2 November 2005

THE BLAME GAME WILL DRY NO TEARS IN INDIA OR IN PAKISTAN
By Ahmed Rashid, Lahore

Natural catastrophes tend to bring even warring 
parties together, but the hope and the 
opportunity presented by last month's devastating 
earthquake in Kashmir for an improvement in 
relations between India and Pakistan are slipping 
away. Halting the slide before relations 
seriously deteriorate once again will require 
serious policy changes by both sides, as well as 
sustained international diplomacy and pressure.

A series of acrimonious comments between the two 
foreign ministries about the nature of relief 
aid; massive ego problems on both sides; the 
suspicious revival of Pakistan's Islamic 
militants in the humanitarian relief efforts; and 
the subsequent terrorist attacks in New Delhi 
have all helped to muddy the waters.

Despite the suspicions after the earthquake, the 
two countries had concluded an agreement at the 
weekend whereby Kashmiris from both sides would 
be able to cross the Line of Control that divides 
the two Kashmirs in order to meet bereaved 
relatives.

But events took a turn for the worse after 
Saturday's bomb blasts in New Delhi, which killed 
62 people. The following day, on a balmy winter's 
evening, the litany of events seems to have 
endangered two years of bonhomie between the two 
countries.

On Sunday, Pakistan's president, Pervez 
Musharraf, had invited the media to a press 
conference, followed by a jovial "Iftar" dinner 
in the garden of his home, for the closure of the 
day's fast in Ramadan.

He strongly condemned "the dastardly terrorist 
attack" in New Delhi and offered all help from 
Pakistan. At the end, he casually got up, saying 
he was going to ring India's prime minister, 
Manmohan Singh, to offer him Pakistan's 
condolences and support.

Instead of a grateful Singh on the other end of 
the line, the Indian prime minister dropped a 
bombshell, telling Musharraf that the terrorists 
who carried out the attacks were linked to 
Pakistan. In a well-orchestrated media blitz, Mr 
Singh's comments were on the news wires within 30 
minutes, undermining Musharraf's entire press 
conference.

In coming days, India will clearly try to pin the 
terrorist attacks on Pakistan-based extremist 
groups. Pakistan will demand proof. India will 
say the evidence is secret, and so things will 
steadily worsen. We will be back to the days of 
tensions, recriminations and shelling across the 
Line of Control.

Two things need to be done immediately. Musharraf 
needs to rein in the militant groups that have 
had a new lease of life since the earthquake, 
while Singh needs actually to start a political 
process to resolve the Kashmir dispute, instead 
of procrastinating.

Musharraf has stubbornly refused to control the 
extremists. They have been repeatedly banned by 
the government, but have reappeared under new 
names. None of their leaders or commanders has 
been jailed, and their training camps in 
Pakistani Kashmir continue to flourish.

Earthquake victims in outlying villages in 
Pakistani Kashmir recount how, just hours after 
the earthquake and three days before the Pakistan 
army was to reach them, bearded young militants 
were pulling people from the rubble and providing 
medical aid.

Islamic militants were always there: they had 
never gone away. Their knowledge of the terrain 
and of the people have proved invaluable in 
earthquake relief. Now the army is favouring 
their relief efforts rather than those of secular 
Pakistani relief agencies.

Many of these extremist groups are closely linked 
to al-Qa'eda and they have every inclination to 
scuttle the Indo-Pakistan peace process and 
continue the jihad until victory. Yet reining in 
the militants has never been an option for 
Musharraf and his army until India offers 
something concrete on the negotiating table - a 
political process in which India negotiates with 
the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line and with 
Pakistan, to come to a resolution of the dispute.

Instead, for the past two years, India has 
stalled over the political process, confident 
that, being far stronger than Pakistan, it need 
not grant concessions. India has refused to 
discuss Kashmir and has instead demanded numerous 
"confidence-building measures" (CBMs) with 
Pakistan.

The Pakistanis, not to speak of the Kashmiris, 
are fed up with this never-ending list of CBMs, 
which India says will ultimately lead to 
"political" talks on Kashmir.

On both sides of the Line, the earthquake has 
destroyed Kashmir, turned its towns and villages 
into rubble and its people into homeless refugees 
in their own land. Kashmir - as a cause that has 
sparked three wars between the two nations and 
led to a bloody 15-year insurgency - is now in 
ruins.

The past cannot be reconstructed. The quicker the 
two leaders realise this, and actually offer the 
Kashmiris an end to the conflict through a 
political process, the faster the world can help 
the Kashmiris get back on their feet.

______


[3]

Dahshat Virodhi, Shanti Aman Samiti  [Peace Committee Against Fear]
November 1, 2005 | Bombay

PRESS RELEASE

Light more diyas this Diwali
Diwali is not a Hindu festival but a festival of 
all Indians and the best way to frustrate the 
evil design of terrorists, the forces of 
darkness, is to light a few more diyas this 
Diwali, said poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar at a 
public meeting on Diwali eve.

"Diwali and Idd festivities have come close to 
each other this year and those behind the 
massacre of innocents in Delhi are enemies of a 
culture that celebrates such diversity, said the 
editor of Apla Mahnagar, Nikhil Wagle, who also 
addressed the "Dahshat Virodhi, Shanti Aman 
Samiti meeting organised by Sabrang 
Communications (Javed Anand and Teesta Setalvad), 
Citizens for Justice and Peace and Muslims for 
Secular Democracy at the Shivaji Nagar basti in 
Juhu on October 31. The meeting was called to 
condemn those responsible for the series bomb 
blasts in Delhi that killed 62 persons and 
injured many more and to condole with the 
bereaved families in Delhi. Local activists from 
Shivajinagar, Ashok Shingre and Pandudada Mangre 
and Lawrence helped organise the meeting. Social 
activists from different groups and from all over 
Mumbai participated in the meeting. These 
included Sumedh Jadhav, People's Union for Human 
Rights [PUHR], Dolphy D'Souza, Bombay Catholic 
Sabha, Sadik Khan and Rajesh Singh[Human Rights 
Citizens Option] and Adam Shaikh from Dharavi.

The meeting started with Acharya Randhir Shastri 
(Arya Samaj), Bashir Bakaya (All India Bakia 
Committee), Fr. Navin (Holy Cross Church, Juhu), 
Fr. Vincent Thomas (Sacred Heart Church, Santa 
Cruz), Bhikshu Sadhananada and Bhikshu Bimlananda 
of the Buddhist faith reciting prayers or citing 
quotations from holy texts to emphasise that all 
religions preached peace and the universal 
brotherhood of man. To commit acts of terror in 
the name of religion is the worst form of 
blasphemy against any religion, said Islamic 
scholar Asghar Ali Engineer. He also pointed out 
that various Muslim religious bodies such as the 
Jamaat-e-ulema, Jamaat-e-Islami, the All India 
Muslim Personal Law Board among others had 
condemned the bomb blasts as being inhuman and 
un-Islamic.
Cinema artise,Shabana Azmi thanked the gathering 
for participating in the protest despite it being 
the night before Diwali, an auspicious occasion 
to be with the family.
All the speakers emphasised the fact that 
inter-communal amity was the best way to defeat 
the diabolical plot of the terrorists. The 
meeting ended with the lighting of diyas and a 
two-minute silence to condole the innocent 
victims of violence in the bomb blasts.



______

[4]

www.truthout.org/
01 November 2005

KASHMIR'S QUAKE VICTIMS FACE HATE CAMPAIGN, TOO
by J. Sri Raman

     Like every humble scribe forced to speak up now
and then against fascists, I am used to hate mail. But
this was different. In my last article of October 13
on the earthquake and its aftermath in South Asia, I
hardly mentioned my otherwise favorite subject of the
subcontinent's far right. Even the title, "Disaster
Finds India, Pakistan Divided Still," I thought,
testified to an even-handedness.

     The mere suggestion that India had not exactly
rushed relief to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which
bore the brunt of the tragedy, however, sufficed to
elicit a hate-dripping e-mail. At the end of a
diatribe, the Indian reader declared: "Not a penny
from my pocket for the terrorists."

     I try to answer my critics, and have convinced
some of them that talking peace is not necessarily
traitorous. I tried telling the present reader that
not all quake-hit Kashmiris could be "terrorists." My
persuasive powers were no match to a provoked
"patriotism" in this case. The next e-mail only asked
me to go and settle in Muzaffarabad, capital of the
Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. I politely informed the
detractor that fascists here had not yet acquired the
power to dispatch anyone to any place, and closed the
correspondence.

     This, however, was not the only response of the
kind to an appeal for a greater relief effort by
India. And, more importantly, I was not the only one
to receive a response of this kind.

     My last article focused on official reluctance to
extend such relief. That remains. Five days after the
disaster of October 8, as we saw, New Delhi and
Islamabad were playing political games even as the
toll mounted to over 50,000 in Pakistan-administered
Kashmir and to over 1,300 in India-controlled Kashmir.
Today, more than three weeks after the calamity, the
two governments have just agreed to open the nearly
720-km-long Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir at five
points for "free" passage of Kashmiris under the
vigilant eyes of two armies. The governments are ready
at last to countenance the prospect of divided
Kashmiri families, if not the two countries, uniting
in the wake of the shared disaster.

     My hope, as that of the peace movements in the two
countries, was that the people would have preferred a
different response to the tragedy. The people-driven
India Pakistan peace process, which has made progress
despite rulers on both sides, appeared to prove the
point. Evidence, alas, makes it hard to go on
entertaining this hope.

     It may be that people who want peace and
cooperation between the two calamities-stricken
countries are a silent majority. It is certain,
however, that purveyors and peddlers of hate have
found this an appropriate occasion for freer
articulation than in the past few years.

     Yogi Sikand, peace activist and editor of
Countercurrents, describes as "shocking" and
"shameful" the responses he personally encountered in
Bangalore to a door-to-door campaign for relief goods.
Some denizens of the city styled as India's Silicon
Valley told Sikand that it was only a "Muslim
tragedy." Some others, like my reader, traumatized him
by asking why they should help "terrorists."

     A subterranean campaign against aid from India, in
fact, would seem to have gathered strength over the
past three weeks. The campaigners must be pretty
content with the very visible results.

     Not only is there no organized relief, official or
non-official, but no organized appeal for such aid
either. Not even a ritual appeal of the kind has been
reported even from political parties with highly
distinguished records of pious hypocrisy. And it is
not only the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
that has refrained from the ritual. Even the ruling
Congress Party has not deemed it necessary to go
beyond Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's stress on the
quake relief as a "humanitarian issue," while his
mandarins try to make any relief cooperation
impossibly complicated.

     The Kashmir disaster, which has killed 17,000
children according to UNICEF, has elicited not even a
fraction of the public response that the tsunami
tragedy of December 26, 2004, or the earlier Gujarat
earthquake did. As we saw before, no major official or
media campaign for relief has been announced. The
corporate sector has not let public relations concerns
conceal its callousness, and has largely confined its
aid to the Indian side of Kashmir.

     The clout of the counter-aid campaigners is also
seen in the fact that no film star has rushed to offer
photo-op relief to the victims, unlike at the time of
the tsunami and other disasters.

     The hate-mongers have now received a further shot
in the arm from another human tragedy. The serial bomb
blasts of October 29 in the heart of New Delhi,
claiming a toll of 55 lives so far, can only help the
campaign against aid for victims projected as the
vilest of terrorists. All the more so for the
government publicizing its suspicion that the
terrorist strike was staged by a Kashmiri militant
organization, Lashkar-e-Toiba (Soldiers of the
Community).

     Those who plead for the aid also come up with an
argument that, unwittingly, makes a serious concession
to the counter-relief campaigners. The argument is
that India will weaken its own case on Kashmir by
abandoning people on either side of Kashmir to their
fate. It is simply an argument for diplomatic
dividends from the disaster.

     An uphill task awaits the peace movement of India,
as temperatures dip further below the freezing point
for the tens of thousands of Kashmiri victims of one
of the most terrible of South Asian tragedies.

     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.


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[5]


Call for International Solidarity Actions: 23-27th Nov. 2005

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF RESISTANCE AGAINST THE NARMADA DAM!

JOIN US IN CHALLENGING DESTRUCTION AND DISPLACEMENT
Over 150,000 tribal people and farmers already 
displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), 
7,000 hectares of prime forest already submerged, 
and still thousands of families continue to be 
pushed off their ancestral lands without adequate 
compensation or alternative land to turn to for 
their livelihood.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF RESISTANCE
Thanks to huge international support for the last 
20 years, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) became 
one of the first peoples' movements to take on 
the mighty World Bank and make it conduct a 
thorough independent review of one of its 
projects. Following a damning review published in 
1992, which stated that the project was flawed, 
the World Bank was forced to pull out of the 
project.

Following this, the Indian government continues 
to build the dam with taxpayers' money. It has 
been only through the NBA's 20 years of struggle 
that the government has been pressured to 
rehabilitate about 10,000 families with land. 
This is the first project in the country where 
land-based rehabilitation has been carried out.

HOWEVER, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS THE DAM 
CONSTRUCTION HAS ACCELERATED and it is clear that 
the Governments want to complete the dam at any 
cost, without rehabilitating the families 
affected, without evaluating whether or not the 
dam is producing the much-publicised benefits. 
Against this situation, the struggle of the 
people in the Narmada Valley continues, and they 
are responding with even more determined and 
innovative strategies to resist this incredible 
breach of law and justice. 

There is so much still to fight for! Still so much of the Valley to save!

AT THIS VITAL STAGE, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT MORE THAN EVER!

STOP THE HOMICIDE OF AN ENTIRE VALLEY!

To coincide with the 20-year celebrations of 
resistance here in the valley, we appeal for 
SOLIDARITY ACTIONS 23-27TH NOVEMBER 2005

PROTEST at Indian Embassies- Protests planned at 
Indian Embassies across the globe: Is your city 
involved yet? Find the Indian embassy nearest to 
you: http://meaindia.nic.in

FILM NIGHT
Why not publicize the campaign and current 
situation by screening the Narmada films such as 
'Drowned Out', 'Words on Water' and 'Narmada 
Diary'? Email baroda at narmada.org for more 
information.

CONTACT US
All your support is appreciated so please let us 
know of your solidarity actions by emailing 
baroda at narmada.org

JOIN US!
We also warmly welcome internationals to join us 
between 23rd-27th November 2005 for our 20-year 
commemoration program to celebrate people's 
struggles and resistance to large dams across the 
world. Please see www.narmada.org for the full 
program or contact baroda at narmada.org for more 
details. If you can't make it to the Valley at 
such short notice, do visit us anytime to show 
your support.

We would also like to take this opportunity to 
give our warmest thanks for all the support and 
actions over the last 20 years.  We hope you will 
continue to stand with us for as long as it takes 
to get justice for the people of the Narmada 
Valley! As we say in the Valley, "Ammu akkha, ek 
se!" (We are all one!). "Ladenge! Jeetenge!" (We 
will fight, we will win!)

With your help, we will continue to fight.

In solidarity,

Narmada Bachao Andolan
(Save Narmada Movement)

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[6]

Issues in Secular Politics
Nove 2005 I

AMBEDKAR AND RSS

Ram Puniyani

When RSS Sarsanghchalak said that Ambedkar supported
RSS ideology (16th Oct. 2005), it was not for the
first time that a political movement was trying to
fabricate lies to co-opt a major thinker and political
leader of totally opposite views, for its’ selfish
interests. Mr. Sudarshan was trying to buttress the
RSS ideology of opposition to reservations by saying
that Ambedkar did not support reservations as they are
for political purposes. One recalls that reservations
were part of the protective affirmative clauses for
the weaker sections. The only point was that as per
his scheme of things reservations will be for ten
years by which time the social disabilities would be
overcome and reservations will not be needed. Who
could have foreseen that the machinery already in
place for implementation of the government policies
would partly sabotage the implementation of
reservation policy in such a way so that the desired
goals would not be achieved? No society can be
democratic and strive to go in egalitarian direction
unless the victims of centuries old discrimination are
given special protection and nobody conceptualized it
better than Dr. Ambedkar.

Sudarshan’s assertion that Ambedkar drafted a Western
constitution under the pressure of Congress, insults
Dr. Ambedkar in a deeper way. He was not the one to
buckle under pressure. He had the values and ideas of
his own, and the example of this was when he resigned
from the Cabinet because Hindu Code Bill drafted by
him did not pass through and also because he was side
tracked in other matters of policy and planning. It’s
a comment which is derogatory to the thinker and
leader who did all possible to ensure that he stands
for his values and ideas rather than compromises for
the sake of power and pelf. At the same time Sudarshan
seems to be promoting his own postulate that Indian
constitution, is based on Western values and should be
replaced by the one based on Hindu holy books. It is
in that direction that BJP led NDA coalition appointed
the constitution review committee, which of course was
a dismal failure, thanks to the opposition of RSS
formulation by most of the people of this country.
Ambedkar did not buckle under any body’s pressure
while drafting the constitution as he was committed to
the democratic values of Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity (community), the one’s which have been
enshrined in this book. Also it was the constituent
assembly, a reasonably accurate representative body of
Indian people, which guided the constitution and not
the Western influence. One can go on to say that the
constitution itself was one of the major contributions
of Babasaheb.

Sudarshan also asserts that Dr. Ambedkar stuck to
Hindu culture while embracing Buddhism. Nothing could
be farther from truth. By no stretch of imagination
one can call all the tendencies prevailing in India as
Hindu. The dominant tradition, which passes off as
Hinduism is Brahmanism. Dr. Ambedkar called Hinduism
as Brahminic theology and went on to say that he was
born a Hindu that was not in his hands, but surely he
will not die a Hindu. Buddhism is not a part of Hindu
culture. The central part of dominant Hinduism is
caste system, while Buddhism stands for social
equality.

As per Ambedkar the clash between Braminic Hinduism
and Buddhism is the major part of Indian history. In
his understanding of Indian History he divides it into
three parts. Part one Revolution, i.e. coming in of
Buddhism to oppose Brahmanic caste and gender
hierarchy. This is followed by counterrevolution,
during which the Brahmanism attacks Buddhism at
ideological level through Shankaracharya and at the
social and political level by the onslaughts of kings
like Pushmitra Shunga and Shashak. It is due to this
that Buddhism, became extinct from India till Dr.
Ambedkar brought it back.

He chose this religion, while rejecting Hinduism,
mainly because its values of Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity (Community). To present him as supporter of
RSS and RSS ideology is a clever deceit, a political
move, to win over sections of Dalits to RSS-Hindutva
politics.


______


[7]

The Telegraph
  November 02, 2005

EVIL DESIGNS

The violence in Karbi Anglong shows that the 
government should be more sceptical about demands 
for ethnic homelands, says Sanjib Baruah The 
author is visiting professor, Centre for Policy 
Research, New Delhi

Spare a thought
We may never be able to name and punish the 
individuals directly responsible for the recent 
killing spree in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. 
But one thing is quite clear: there is a 
connection between the political agendas of 
groups engaged in the early stages of 
negotiations with the government of India and 
what the violence has tried to achieve on the 
ground. The displacement of targeted ethnic 
groups from their hearth and home in certain 
areas fits well with what leaders of some ethnic 
militias seek to achieve at the negotiating 
table. Given this pattern, many apparently 
moderate leaders of ethnic movements in the 
North-east could be accused of complicity with 
ethnic cleansing. But our legal and political 
processes do not take the crime of ethnic 
cleansing as seriously as international law does.

To ensure that such violence is not repeated, it 
is important to understand the logic of de facto 
exclusive ethnic homelands that has come to 
capture the imagination of ethnic militants in 
the region. Our decision-makers have taken a far 
too benign view of this phenomenon and given 
little attention to the long-term costs of 
perpetuating the idea.

There is now a perception in the North-east that 
exclusionary ethnic agendas - no matter how 
unfair they are from the perspective of other 
ethnic groups living in the same area - have a 
chance of success if there is a demonstrated 
capacity for sustained political mobilization. 
And with appropriate positioning vis-à-vis rival 
ethnic militias, the local counter-insurgency 
establishment could even become an ally.

Officials who enter into negotiations with ethnic 
militias do not seem to realize that a demand for 
a homeland may enjoy the support of a particular 
ethnic group, but other ethnic groups living in 
the same area may feel threatened by it. The 
government's readiness to concede to such demands 
has gradually weakened political forces that 
stand for a more pluralistic form of politics.

This is not the first time in recent years that 
Karbi Anglong and the adjacent North Cachar Hills 
districts have seen such mayhem. There has been 
widespread violence between Karbis and Kukis in 
Karbi Anglong, and between Dimasas and Hmars in 
the North Cachar Hills. The two were part of a 
single district until 1970, and the present 
conflicts in the districts are related. The Mikir 
Hills district was renamed Karbi Anglong in 1976. 
The Dimasas are a minority scheduled tribe in 
Karbi Anglong, but constitute a majority of the 
tribal population in North Cachar Hills district. 
The demand of the Karbi ethnic militia, the 
United Peoples Democratic Solidarity, for a 
homeland for the Karbis, and the demand of the 
Dima Halam Daogah for a "Dimaraji state" - and 
the efforts to rename the North Cachar Hills 
district "Dima Halili"- provide the backdrop to 
these episodes of ethnic violence.

But a homeland for one ethnic group often 
translates into second-class citizenship status 
for another, even though materially one may be no 
worse off than the latter. Homeland demands in 
the North-east therefore inevitably invite 
conflict. Ethnic militias seeking a homeland come 
in conflict with groups that are seen as 
obstacles to the demand. That was the source of 
the Dimasa-Hmar violence of 2003. The Dimaraji 
envisioned by Dimasa activists is not limited to 
North Cachar Hills district. It extends to areas 
in neighbouring Karbi Anglong and Cachar 
districts, and it also includes Dimapur, the 
commercial centre of Nagaland.

DHD activists have reportedly encouraged and 
facilitated new Dimasa settlements in the 
Dhansiri and Kheroni Charali area in Karbi 
Anglong. There were signboards proclaiming 
Eastern Dimaraji in these areas. These moves led 
to significant tensions between Dimasa and Karbi 
militants prior to the recent outbreak of 
violence. The government of India's decision, 
following the ceasefire with the DHD, to set up 
one of the designated camps for DHD militants in 
this area, became a source of irritation for 
Karbi militants. Indeed, according to several 
reports, militants housed in that camp were 
responsible for some of the most gruesome 
killings of Karbis.

Like the DHD, the UPDS too has signed a ceasefire 
agreement with the Centre in 2002. As it often 
happens in such situations, it produced a 
dissident faction. Members of the anti-talks 
factions, now known as the Karbi Longri North 
Cachar Hills Liberation Front and the Karbi 
Longri North Cachar Hills Resistance Force, 
appear to be major players in the revenge attacks 
against Dimasas as well as in earlier outbreaks 
of violence against Kukis.

Certain peculiarities of property rights in the 
hills of north-east India give ethnic militias 
unusual capacity to change demographic realities 
on the ground. In places that are designated as 
forest areas and in lands that are set aside for 
shifting cultivation, there is considerable 
fluidity in settlement patterns. Many groups may 
have settled and begun to cultivate such lands 
relatively recently. Since these people do not 
have legal papers to prove property rights - and 
in any case, most of these lands have not been 
surveyed - ethnic militias seeking to displace 
them can do so with relative ease.

The only security that such a group can get is 
from an ethnic militia of its own. The government 
is not in a position to defend their property 
rights, especially since the settlement itself, 
say in what is technically a forest reserve, may 
be illegal.

Thus, whether a particular population is 
indigenous to an area or not often becomes a 
highly contested issue. At the root of the 
Karbi-Kuki violence of 2003 was the Karbi view 
that Kukis are an immigrant community occupying 
their land. While Kukis living in the Hamren 
subdivision of Karbi Anglong are indigenous, say 
Karbi militants, those living in the 
Singhason-Khonbamon Hill range of Diphu 
subdivision are recent migrants from Nagaland and 
Manipur.

Yet the latter group of Kukis cultivate a 
highly-valued commercial ginger crop that not 
only finds its way to other parts of India, but 
has invited recent export orders from as far away 
as Germany. But Kuki farmers today are too scared 
to go to their fields. Plans to set up ginger 
candy and ginger paste producing plants in the 
area have been shelved. The economic costs of the 
violence accompanying homeland politics can be 
quite high.

As the plight of these ginger growers highlight, 
responding to ethnic militancy and meeting the 
challenges of economic development of the 
North-east are not separate issues. By giving in 
uncritically to the demands for ethnic homelands 
we have encouraged more such demands, leading to 
more ethnic violence. By giving a short shrift to 
the democratic value of equality among citizens 
we have risked making the North-east permanently 
ungovernable.

_____


[8]

Communalism Watch - 2 Nov. 2005
URL: communalism.blogspot.com/2005/11/india-up-report-on-maunath-bhanjan.html

INDIA: A REPORT ON MAUNATH BHANJAN RIOTS IN U.P.

by Subhashini Ali

On the 14th of  October, communal rioting broke out in
the weaving center of Maunathbhanjan – known as Mau –
in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.  The population of Mau
consists largely of weavers and others connected with
the various aspects of the weaving business.  Most of
them belong to the minority community.  There have
been incidents of rioting and communal tension in the
past but, for the last twenty years, there have been
no clashes or major incidents.  Prompt administrative
action has contributed significantly to this because
there are certain ‘traditions’ in Mau that lend
themselves very easily to communal conflict.  At the
end of the Ram Lila every year, a Bharat Milap
processions is taken out which stops in front of the
main mosque of the town in the Shahi Katra Maidan.  A
stage is erected here and the Bharat Milap is enacted.
  For a couple of hours, the Maidan is full of those
participating in the procession and loudspeakers are
used while bhajans etc. are sung and recited.  The
entire population around this area is Muslim and they
also participate in the celebrations.  Before
Independence, when the mosque was repaired and
renovated the Ram Lila committee raised an objection
saying that the mosque had been extended by a few
feet.  The administration of the time arrived at a
peculiar compromise according to which the wall of the
mosque is hit three times by Ram’s chariot.
Similarly, the Tazia procession during Moharram passes
in front of the nearby Sanskrit Vidyalaya.  In the
same period, when this was renovated the Muslims
alleged that this building had also been extended by a
few feet and the administration resolved this issue by
deciding that those carrying the Tazias at the head of
the procession would climb two step leading up to the
Vidyalaya (but only two) and then descend and continue
on their way.   As a result of these strange
administrative decisions, there is often tension in
the town at the time of Moharram and Dussehra and the
administration has to be very alert.  For a long time
in the ‘40s and until the early ‘70s, Mau was a
stronghold of the CPI and activists and cadres of the
Left played an important role in maintaining communal
harmony.  The influence of the Left, however,
diminished rapidly and today politics in Mau like in
the rest of UP are dominated by caste and communal
mobilizations, propaganda and voting.

This year, Durga Puja and Dussehra co-incided with
Ramzan and the situation, therefore, became more
sensitive than ever.  Unfortunately, the UP Government
today takes administrative decisions based on
political considerations and important officials are
posted because they are pliable and/or corrupt rather
than because of their administrative abilities.  The
administration in Mau was particularly inept and
completely under the influent of important politicians
belonging to the ruling party.  The criminalisation of
politics in general and the fact that the local MLA,
Mukhtiar Ansari, has an impressive criminal record
obviously made matters worse.  It is also extremely
important to remember that the whole of Eastern UP is
the region in which the Hindu Mahasabha
(BJP-supported) MP from Gorakhpur, Mahant Avaidyanath
has formed various militant organizations like the
Hindu Yuva Vahini.  For the last few years, he has
been indulging the most vicious anti-Minorities
campaign going to the extent of attacking their homes,
shops and persons all with complete impunity.  He has
consistently put himself to the right of the Sangh
Parivar itself and has outdone it in the shrillness
and violence of his campaigns and activities.   All of
these factors had a role to play in the tragedy that
enveloped Mau after 13th October.

A CPI(M) delegation consisting of Premnath Rai (State
Sectt. Member), Ram Kripal (MLA) and myself visited
Mau on the 30th October when curfew was lifted in the
entire town for the first time.  The District
Committee Secretary of the Party, Veerendra Singh and
other comrades – Chow. Shamsul, Imtiaz, Ramavadh
Singh, Misra, Faheem etc. – joined the delegation in
Mau and we went round most of the affected areas, met
many of the riot victims, members of the press and
also the district magistrate and other officials.  At
the end of our visit, we were able to come to some
conclusions about what happened in Mau.

Soon after the main Durga Pandal was erected on 7th
October, a tense situation developed because part of
the structure was in front of some Muslim-owned
buildings.  When objections were raised, crowds
collected and there was some verbal altercation and
then stone-throwing.  The police had to intervene and
a police officer was injured but they acted
determinedly and removed the structure.  A few days
before this there had been an incident when an idol
from a temple was removed and then found the next day.
  It was very clear, therefore, that there was a great
need for prompt administrative alertness and
intervention. 

On the 13th evening, the Bharat Milap procession was
taken out and the crowd assembled in front of the
mosque.  Because of Ramzan, the worshippers inside the
mosque were there for much longer than usual in order
to recite the Taravi (Quranic verses).  While their
recitations were going on, the loudspeakers were
turned on by the Ram Lila committee and the playing of
bhajans started.  Unfortunately, the members of the
administration present did not do anything and some
members of the Muslim community voiced their
objections and verbal altercations started.  There was
a lot of confusion and hullabaloo after this and, it
is alleged, that some miscreants removed the
loudspeaker wires.  In any case, senior administrative
officers arrived and intervened and then spent several
hours talking to Ram Lila committee members who had
announced that they were suspending the Bharat Milap
program.  Ramjit Singh a BJP MLC who is a leader of
the Committee was present and he, along with others,
finally decided that the Bhartat Milap would now be
held on the 29th October.  After this, everyone left
the place thinking that the matter had been resolved.

On the 14th morning at about 8.00 a.m., however, the
local unit of the Hindu Yuva Vahini sat on dharna in
front of the adjacent police chowki, protesting
against interference in their religious observances.
The local police did precisely nothing and soon large
crowds collected and verbal altercations were followed
by stone-throwing.  And then Ajit Singh Chandel of the
HYV allegedly starting firing injuring 3-4 Muslim
youths.  This news spread like wildfire and in the
nearby Rauza and Sindhi Colony area, shops and
buildings belonging to Hindus were set on fire.  A
large printing press, several cloth shops etc were
burnt.  The policemen standing here ran away.  The
administration remained paralysed for several hours
before curfew was finally imposed but by then there
had been several incidents of arson and looting.

Soon after the imposition of curfew, Mukhtar Ansari
made a public appearance in Mau aboard an open jeep.
It has been reported that the local administration
requested him to come to help them restore peace.  In
any case, his moving around openly after curfew had
been imposed was an extremely provocative and
unjustifiable act and, if the administration had in
fact asked him to come, this only proves their total
incompetence and criminal ineptness.  In any case, he
went to the Kotwali and met the wounded young men and
then proceeded to an area on the main highway called
Salahabad Mod (Turning).

On one side of the Turning is a very large building
that houses a Sizing and Calendaring unit that belongs
to Hali Atiq Simla and his brothers.  This had been
set on fire and a large crowd of Muslims had collected
in front of it.  The road turning off the Highway has
many small shops and tenements inhabited by Yadavs.

We visited this area and met many people here.  Ashok
Gupta’s house is in front of the Simla unit and, in
fact, he and his family helped the Simla family rescue
their workers and salvage some of their belongings and
then, they themselves, had to face arson and loot.
Many of the poor Yadav families also met us.  All
their shops and tenements had been completely
destroyed and everything they possessed had been burnt
to ashes.  They claimed that the crowd that was
watching the Simla unit being torched was greatly
provoked by Mukhtar Ansari’s arrival here and they
followed his vehicle and were then responsible for the
losses they suffered.  In the middle of this road is
the neem tree under which one Ram Pratap Yadav – a
poor man who had come from his village a kilometer
away to Mau for some work and to make some purchases –
was shot dead.  The people we talked to said that at
the time that he was killed, they were running away
for their lives or trying to save their families or
some of their possessions and so they did not see who
shot him but that the shot was fired by someone around
the MLA.  When we asked them if any of the Simla
family were there at that time they said that did not
see any of them and in any case they were busy saving
themselves at the time.  Only one man said that one of
the brothers may have been in the crowd.  These points
are important because in the FIR filed by Ram Pratap
Yadav’s brother, he has named Mukhtar Ansari as his
brother’s killers.  Subsequently, when he met the
Chief Minister along with Mukhtar’s brother, Afzal, an
SP MP, he retracted his earlier statement and said
that, in fact, one of the Simla brothers had killed
his brother.

In the afternoon of the same day, there was a mob
attack on the railway station where a train was
waiting and it was only because the few GRP personnel
present reacted and fired into the mob that a major
calamity was averted.  There are two mosques near the
station and one of them has suffered some damage and 2
people were killed in this incident.  After this, all
trains running to and from Mau were stopped for two
weeks.

Further down the road from Salahabad, on the left is a
large settlement of very poor weavers known as
Alinagar and beyond this is another similar
settlement, Chhoti Rahjaniya.  176 homes in the former
and 56 in the latter have been totally destroyed.
There is not a scrap of clothing left in any of them.
A man and a woman were burnt
  alive and one man is being treated for serious burn
injuries.  All the looms have been either burnt or
looted and all the families are completely destitute.

Damage to property all over Mau has been tremendous.
While several shops and buildings belonging to the
majority community have been burnt and looted, the
minority community has suffered immeasurably greater
losses.  Large wedding halls, educational
institutions, hospitals and nursing homes, shops, seed
stores and hundreds of homes have been looted, burnt
or reduced to rubble.  In the outlying areas and
semi-rural areas also there were many attacks on
Muslims.

In the midst of all the madness and viciousness, there
was much evidence of humanity.  Com. Veerendra, whose
own home was looted, saved many shops and homes with a
few other people in his area.  Com. Shamasul and
others kept 4 Hindus in their home for several days
before handing them over into the safekeeping of the
police.  And in the whole area of Mirza Hadi pura
which comprises of a large section of Mau town which
is completely dominated by the Muslim community no
harm whatsoever befell the majority community.

On the 16th October, the District Magistrate and
Supdt. of Police were changed and the new officers
were able to restore peace almost immediately.  As a
result of this, the Alvida Namaz on the 28th was also
permitted and it passed off peacefully.  By the time
we visited Mau, the town was limping back to normal
but the scars will not heal for some time.

It is important to remember that the Sangh Parivar and
the HYV left no stone unturned in their effort to
spread the violence and to gain as much political
mileage from the tragic events as possible.  Panchayat
elections were on in UP when the rioting broke out and
the BJP called for bandhs in many of the  nearby towns
like Ghazipur and Ballia.  They also made very
provocative speeches and statements at press
conferences in which they repeatedly referred to
“Hindu genocide in Mau”.  Avaidyanath tried to enter
Mau with a huge mob of his supporters within days of
the outbreak or rioting and had he not been prevented
by the Gorakhpur administration, all hell would
certainly have broken loose. 

After we had gone around the town, we met the press,
some political leaders and also members of the
administration.  From what we gathered in these
conversations, there are very disturbing developments
which may lead to more unfortunate events in the
future.  For one thing, there is intense political
rivalry not only between but within political parties
which results in their indulging in one-upmanship in
promoting both caste and communal polarization.  There
is also an almost complete absence of secular
individuals and groups in the public arena.  With a
few honourable exceptions of some journalists and
Communists, all others were badly infected with the
communal virus.  The result was that leaders and
activists of so called ‘secular’ parties were also
seen looting and encouraging rioting.  Another very
dangerous development is that members of the Sangh
Parivar and Hindu Yuva Vahini are also convinced that
communal polarization and conflict is the only way out
of their political decline and are also engaged in
one-upanship.  An example of this is the fact that
while some BJP leaders were in favour of going ahead
with the Bharat Milap on the 29th October, they were
shouted down by the hotheads in their entourage who
said that while they would not only not hold the
Bharat Milap but would not celebrate Diwali either.
While it is certainly true that they will have few
takers for this new announcement, their determination
to keep tempers high is clearly visible.

It is absolutely imperative, therefore, for the
Government to come down strongly against all communal
elements and to ensure peace and harmony but also to
ensure that effective and able officers are posted in
districts especially those that are known to be
sensitive.  It must also take steps to curb the
dangerous activities of Avaidyanath and his cohorts
and of criminals of every hue and persuasion. 

While all those who died or were injured during the
riots must be compensated, those who have suffered
great economic losses must be helped in every way to
resume their economic  and livelihood related
activities. 

What is most important is that all left and secular
groups, organizations, parties and individuals must do
all that they can in Mau and in the neighbouring areas
to restore some sense of trust and amity between
different communities.



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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
matters of peace and democratisation in South 
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit 
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