SACW | 26-27 Feb 2006 | Pakistan: Womens Rights; India US differ on Nepal; India: Army's Composition, Taking on Gujarat's Neros, Bopal survivors to Delhi . . .

Harsh Kapoor aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Feb 26 17:51:54 CST 2006


South Asia Citizens Wire | 26-27 February, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2225

(Interruption Announcement: There shall be no SACW dispatches between 28
Feb - 4th March 2006)

Contents:

[1] Pakistan: Speaking up for women's rights (Edits., Dawn, The News)
[2] U.S. and India part company on Nepal (Siddharth Varadarajan)
[3] Uproar over Muslims in Indian Army (Praful Bidwai)
[4] India: A Daniel to undo Gujarat’s Neros (Colin Gonsalves)
[5] India: Bhopal survivors take a padayatra to the capital (Nityanand
Jayaraman)
[6] India: Hindutva goons Attack on Emmanuel Church in Jaipur, Rajasthan
[7] Call for Papers: The Hindutva of Development: Capitalist Development
and Resistance in Gujarat

____________________________________


[1]

Dawn (Pakistan)
February 26, 2006

Editorial

CHANGING ANTI-WOMAN LAWS

WOMEN are in the news again, thanks to the interest being taken in their
rights and concerns by the Supreme Court and the new chairperson of the
National Commission on the Status of Women. The Supreme Court, which had
been looking into the vani cases relating to five girls in Mianwali, has
directed the police chiefs of the four provinces to protect women
against the unIslamic customs of vani and swara which require a woman to
be handed over to a man as compensation in a settlement of a dispute. Dr
Arifa Syeda, the chairperson of the NCSW, has demanded the repeal of the
Hudood Ordinances that have inflicted injustice of the worst kind on
women. She has taken up from where Justice Majida Rizvi of the Sindh
High Court left off when she retired.

Seen against the backdrop of the low status of women in Pakistan, these
moves are to be welcomed. They establish the growing empowerment of a
section of women in Pakistan who are willing to take up the issue of
women’s rights fearlessly. It is encouraging that their number is
increasing. WAF has extended support to Dr Syeda’s demand while
parliamentarians have also promised to support women’s rights by
introducing bills such as the Repeal of Hudood Laws Bill, Equality of
Opportunities for Women Bill and the Bill on Domestic Violence. If this
trend continues, the movement for winning legal sanctions for women’s
rights should gain momentum. Given the fact that it is not just the
social attitudes and customs that are anti-woman in Pakistan — vani and
swara are good examples — but laws like the Hudood Ordinances also work
against women, the need is to change these laws. The task may sound
relatively easy, but it is not. Vested interests have resisted changes
in laws even if they are dated and actually anti-social. But given the
awareness being shown by many parliamentarians, judges, legal aid bodies
and NGOs working in the field of law and legislation, one can hope for
many laws to be repealed or amended in due course. This is important if
protection has to be provided to women who are courageous and willing to
fight their cases. Mukhtaran Mai’s case clearly establishes how a legal
underpinning is essential to help women resist injustice and win their
rights.

It must be pointed out, however, that changes in laws are not enough by
themselves. Many of the crimes committed against women are rooted in
reprehensible customs and traditions that are discriminatory, sexist and
patriarchal. How else does one explain the practice of honour killings,
domestic violence and gender prejudices that create so much misery for
women? Laws alone cannot change these effectively as numerous cases have
shown. But education and a social campaign can. Unfortunately, the
significance of this is not adequately recognized. For instance, the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its report for 2005 recommends
many changes in the laws but does not speak about educating people and
changing their social attitudes. While there is need to sensitize
judges, police and lawyers about women’s rights, it is equally important
that the attitudes of society are also changed. Education can play an
important role in this respect, but NGOs and other bodies should also
work concertedly to persuade people to respect women and accord them
greater importance. Women themselves must learn to value their
self-esteem and outgrow the early conditioning they live with all their
lives.

o o o

The News International (Pakistan)
February 27, 2006

Editorial

FORCED ‘MARRIAGES’

"Verbal nikah." It’s about as Islamic as the bizarre phenomenon of
"Quran marriages" in some parts of rural Sindh. Since the victims of
vani "marriages" can be girls as young as, say, five, there is mostly a
verbal "nikah" for the arrangement to be touted as legal. No wonder the
Supreme Court has declared vani, and its equally criminal variant swara,
un-Islamic.

After its landmark orders to the police in Punjab and the NWFP on Dec.
16 to protect women and girls from vani marriages, the Supreme Court on
Friday instructed the inspector generals of the police in all four
provinces and in the Northern Areas to act against the settlement of
disputes through these mostly-rural customs. So as not to leave the
matter at the mercy of the police, the court’s three-member bench headed
by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the IGPs to present a
report on the implementation of the order, with a deadline of two months.

These customs force parents of young or minor girls to compensate for
their relatives’ crimes, such as murder, by sending their daughters to
the homes of the injured parties. For some reason, the district of
Mianwali in Punjab is a hotbed of vani. Shortly after the Meerwala gang
rape in June 2002, there was another episode which caused international
uproar: the vani marriages of six girls in a Mianwali village, with the
"nikahs" duly performed by clerics. The government had promptly moved to
have the illegalities annulled, but has since done little against the
crime itself.

Proof of the failure is the cases of five girls — the oldest nine and
the youngest, two of them, five—years—old — which were heard by the
court on Friday. In addition to these cases, in which the girls’
guardians have appealed to President Musharraf and Chief Justice
Chaudhry to have the children freed from vani, the bench considered a
petition by a private citizen, Samar Minallah, against these ugly
customs. They can’t really be abolished unless ordinary citizens stand
up against them too. A good beginning would be for more people to move
the courts for this.



____


[2]

The Hindu (India)
Feb 22, 2006 	

U.S. AND INDIA PART COMPANY ON NEPAL

Siddharth Varadarajan

Washington has denounced an agreement between the Maoists and the
Nepalese parliamentary parties that New Delhi sets much store by.

THE UNITED States and India, never fully on the same page as far as King
Gyanendra's illegal seizure of power in Nepal was concerned, have now
decisively parted company with Washington publicly opposing a key aspect
of Indian policy: the need for the Nepalese parliamentary parties and
Maoists to make common cause for the restoration of democracy in the
Himalayan kingdom.

On February 15, James F. Moriarty, the American Ambassador in Kathmandu,
delivered a blistering attack on the agreement reached last November
between the Nepalese Maoists and the parliamentary parties, an agreement
that has the implicit support of the Indian Government.

The 12-point agreement of November 22, 2005, commits the parties and the
Maoists to a common struggle against the "autocratic monarchy" of King
Gyanendra and to the establishment of "lasting peace" through elections
for a constituent assembly. The Maoists also declared their willingness
to participate in multiparty democracy and internationally supervised
elections — a commitment reiterated recently by their leader, Prachanda,
in an interview to The Hindu .

According to Mr. Moriarty, all of this is a ruse and the political
parties are making a big mistake in joining hands with the Maoists
against the palace. In prepared remarks aimed at sending a clear warning
both to the parties and to India — which has encouraged the parties to
work with the Maoists — the U.S. Ambassador said the 12-point agreement
was "wrong-headed" and "fraught with danger." Accusing the parties of
"wish[ing] away... the uncomfortable fact that their Maoist partners are
committed to violence to achieve political ends," he posed three
questions to the backers of the agreement. Are the Maoists truly
committed to peace and democracy, as the 12-point understanding
suggests? Are the Maoists committed to joining the political mainstream?
If the parties and Maoists were ever able to topple the monarchy, what then?

The U.S. Ambassador then proceeded to give his own "uncomfortable
answer" to these questions — that the Maoists have not changed their
policies and have instead managed to draw the parties closer towards
their own agenda. The United States, he said, "views the uneasy
partnership between the parties and the Maoists as wrongheaded... [W]e
believe cooperation along current lines between the Maoists and the
parties is fraught with danger — for the political parties themselves,
and for the future of the Nepalese people."

India must now choose

Mr. Moriarty's remarks pose a particularly acute challenge for India.
Since the February 1, 2005, royal takeover, New Delhi has believed that
the crisis in Nepal cannot end unless the Maoists are given a "soft
landing." Unlike the U.S., which sees the Nepalese Maoists as a
detachment of that undifferentiated, amorphous threat known as
"international terrorism," the Indian Government has worked on the
assumption that a political rather than a military approach to the
problem is the only way forward.

Before King Gyanendra's coup and in its immediate aftermath, India
believed the principal challenge to Nepal's stability came from the
Maoists and that the palace and political parties had to join hands to
find a political solution. Of late, however, Indian policymakers have
grown increasingly wary of the King himself. They have also warmed to
the idea of "mainstreaming" the Maoists by linking them in an alliance
with the parliamentary parties. Though India is still officially
committed to the `twin pillar theory' — that Nepal needs both multiparty
democracy and constitutional monarchy — the King's refusal to accept
constitutional limits has led an important section of Indian officialdom
to conclude that he is his kingdom's biggest problem. New Delhi's tacit
support for the 12-point agreement was the product of that conclusion.

At the same time, the Manmohan Singh Government still finds itself at a
crossroads as far as the endgame of its Nepal policy is concerned. If
Gyanendra's revanchist agenda suggests the monarchy is hell-bent on
abolishing itself, the inherent conservatism of the Indian security
establishment prevents New Delhi from totally abandoning the King. In
his interview to The Hindu , Prachanda deliberately sought to allay some
of India's misgivings on four specific counts. He stressed the strategic
nature of his party's commitment to multiparty democracy, said Indian
encouragement to the democratic forces did not constitute intervention,
advised India's Naxalites to consider participating in competitive
elections, and suggested China should coordinate its Nepal policy with
India. One of the reasons Mr. Moriarty launched his broadside on the
12-point agreement was precisely in order to ensure that the Manmohan
Singh Government is not seduced by the Maoists' attempt to mend fences
with India.

Though the U.S. Ambassador also had words of criticism for King
Gyanendra in his February 15 speech, it is clear that Washington has
emerged as the Nepalese monarch's principal international backer. For
India, the choice is now a stark one. It can continue to sit on the
fence and allow the United States to dictate the contours of yet another
counterfeit political settlement in Nepal. Or it can get off the fence
and give a fillip to the united struggle of the political parties for a
permanent end to the absolutist monarchy via elections to a constituent
assembly.

King Gyanendra is already implementing the American plan. "To establish
a foundation of trust, the United States believes it is up to the King
to initiate [a] dialogue," Ambassador Moriarty had said on February 15.
The King made an appeal to this effect three days later, with the
judicially ordered winding up of the Royal Commission for Control of
Corruption providing a convenient legal opening.

So far the parties have been dismissive but the more resources
Washington commits to this process, the greater the likelihood that some
combination of leaders will come forward to claim a mandate that is
neither King Gyanendra's to give nor theirs to receive. And once a
"civilian" and "democratic" government is formed, said Mr. Moriarty, the
U.S. "would look eagerly for ways to assist" it by, inter alia,
"renewing assistance for the Royal Nepalese Army." Thereby putting Nepal
back on the destructive cycle of repression, counter-insurgency, and
insurgency.

In response to the American challenge, India must now clearly state its
belief that the 12-point agreement between the parties and the Maoists
provides a viable road map for the restoration of peace and democracy in
Nepal.

It must also call on the parties to be bolder still in their campaign to
force the palace to back down. A clear signal — or even a subtle hint —
that the monarchy in Nepal is no longer the pillar it used to be and
that a constituent assembly is needed to determine the country's
political future would give a huge boost to the morale of the democratic
forces. Difficult as this decision may be for some in New Delhi to take,
the alternative is far worse. For remaining silent in the face of
Ambassador Moriarty's provocation would be to cede the political
initiative to the U.S. — a mistake that can only have disastrous
consequences for both Nepal and India.

____


[3]

The News International (Pakistan)
February 25, 2006

UPROAR OVER MUSLIMS IN INDIAN ARMY

Praful Bidwai

The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and
human-rights activist based in Delhi

Such are the prejudices that most Indians and Pakistanis grow up with
about one another that they instinctively take shelter in rank
stereotypes when thinking about, say, religious minorities in their
countries. This is particularly true of the way many Pakistanis think of
Indian Muslims and only slightly less so of the way most Indians see
Pakistan's religious minorities.

Take some stereotypes about Indian Muslims. One sees them as an
undifferentiated, terribly oppressed and unremittingly persecuted
minority with no future in India. A second assimilates them to Blacks in
the United States. Yet another condescendingly sees them as backward,
ultra-conservative, unwilling to change and resistant to reform. All
these share a common view of Indian Muslims as the chosen target of
majoritarian communal violence, against which they can never get any
protection from any institution of the state.

These stereotypes capture, like all stereotypes do, a part of the
reality but miss out on many vital aspects, including the Indian
minorities' struggle for equality and dignity, the relative strength of
many of India's democratic institutions, and growing resistance to
oppression and injustice within civil society. They also erase huge
differences among Muslims in literacy, education and other social
indicators along North-South, caste and class lines. While a majority of
Indian Muslims are poor and socially underprivileged, a significant and
growing middle class has emerged. Winds of change and modernisation are
blowing through the community.

Contrary to stereotypes, not all institutions of the state are
irreformably hostile to Muslims. True, the police in many states have
been communalised by right-wing politics and are not impartial in
Hindu-Muslim conflict situations. Three years ago, Gujarat provided gory
evidence of this. Even paramilitary forces are no longer immune to
sectarian influence. But this is not true of the defence forces, in
particular the army.

The Indian army has a distinguished record of professional conduct
subordinate to full civilian control and of impeccably impartial
behaviour in situations of communal strife. Nobody can seriously
question its secular credentials and its impartial role in protecting
the life and property of the minorities when ordered to do so. One of
the main demands of the Gujarat victims was that the army should be
called. (It wasn't, in time.)

Yet there is a strange paradox. In composition, India's secular army
remains largely Hindu and to an extent Sikh. It does not reflect the
rich diversity and plurality of Indian society. It suffers from
under-representation of certain ethnic-religious and social groups, and
from over-representation of others, most notably the so-called 'martial
races' favoured under the colonial system of recruitment, including
Sikhs, Gorkhas, Dogras, Jats, Rajputs, etc.

This imbalance has provoked growing concern. Last year, the Indian
government set up the Prime Minister's High-Level Committee (PMHC) on
"the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community",
whose remit included the armed forces besides other institutions. But
such was the uproar against the PMHC's attempt to collate data on the
status of Muslims in the armed forces that the government dropped the move.

This is singularly unfortunate. The government caved in to unreasonable
pressure generated by the Bharatiya Janata Party and former army
officers and bureaucrats, who attacked the PMHC as a 'divisive'
initiative to 'weaken' and 'communalise' the armed forces.

The numerous arguments advanced by the PMHC's critics miss a major
point: viz. the army needs to reform its recruitment procedures. Among
those under-represented in it are Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. According to
a January 9 note by the army to the defence ministry, it had only 29,093
Muslims in 2004 in a total of 11 lakh personnel. This 2.7 per cent ratio
compares poorly with the Muslims' 13 per cent population share. To
demand that recruitment of Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis be increased is
not to advance an anti-national, communal or divisive agenda but to ask
for balance.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's greatest prime minister, who cannot even be
remotely accused of a communal bias, noted in 1953 that "in our Defence
Services, there are hardly any Muslims left … What concerns me most is
that there is no effort being made to improve this situation, which is
likely to grow worse unless checked." This concern was reiterated by
Mahavir Tyagi, junior defence minister, who disclosed that "the
percentage of Muslims in the armed forces, which was 32 per cent at the
time of Partition, has come down to two".

The PMHC wasn't being wayward in asking for information about the status
of Muslims in the army. It is vital to collect authentic information and
establish a data bank. Without it, we won't know whether there is
under-representation, what its extent is, and what its causes might be.

True, such information is relevant not just for Muslims; it's necessary
for other groups too. But the PMHC's brief pertains to Muslims. It was
legitimate for it to solicit information about Muslims --in keeping with
the ruling alliance's National Common Minimum Programme, which promised
to promote the welfare of socially and economically backward sections
among religious and linguistic minorities.

Muslim under-representation in India's defence forces must be situated
in context. As MIT-based scholar Omar Khalidi argues in his Khaki and
the Ethnic Violence in India (Three Essays, Delhi, 2003), the army
embraced the discredited colonial 'martial races' theory which favoured
certain 'fixed classes' like Gorkhas and Sikhs in recruitment. Muslims
were excluded from this, except for groups such as the Qaimkhani
community, and units like the Grenadiers, Armoured Corps and the J&K
Light Infantry. It was only in 1984, after the 'revolt' by some soldiers
of the Sikh Regiment following 'Operation Bluestar,' that the army
adopted what's called the 'All-India Class'.

Yet, the proportion of Muslims in the army remains under three per cent.
Is this because of reluctance of Muslims to join the army, skewed
distribution of recruitment or unacknowledged barriers to entry,
including prejudices? We need to know. There's nothing illogical or
'divisive' about documenting the status of different communities in
India's institutions. The United States army, for instance, regularly
compiles data on Muslims, Blacks and other ethnic groups.

The armed forces aren't an exception to the general concept of
citizenship in a multi-ethnic society. Nor can they be exempt from
scrutiny because they perform a role in defence. All citizens have a
valid role to play in national life. Security derives not just from
military defence but is linked to human security, justice, social
cohesion and human rights.

A data bank on the ethnic-religious composition of all public
institutions is a precondition for measures to promote welfare,
including affirmative action favouring the underprivileged. This need
not take the form of quotas and job reservations. But that's not an
argument against diversifying recruitment or promoting equal
opportunity. The government can unilaterally announce that it will
recruit more under-represented groups without embracing a quota system.
A caring-and-sharing society must have room for such measures.

In many countries, promotion of inclusive multicultural policies became
possible only when they abandoned ostrich-like attitudes and confronted
reality. After the 1980s race riots, the British police extensively
surveyed its ethnic composition and prevalence of race- and
ethnicity-related biases. This prepared the ground for
diversity-sensitisation programmes, retraining and positive
discrimination. Such examples are worthy of emulation.

____


[4]


Tehelka (India)
Mar 04 , 2006

A DANIEL TO UNDO GUJARAT'S NEROS

The judicial history of the Best Bakery case puts faith back in some
institutions

By Colin Gonsalves

The decision of Justice Arijit Pasayat in the Best Bakery case
(overturning acquittals by the trial courts in Gujarat) is probably one
of the finest examples of how a court can reassert the secular fabric of
Indian democracy and stand up to militant communal elements when they
seek to undermine democratic processes.

In March 2002, the Best Bakery at Vadodara was burnt by an unruly mob
killing 14 persons. Zaheera was the eyewitness. After she resiled from
her statement in the trial court Zaheera appeared before the nhrc and
complained that she was threatened by powerful politicians. The case
arose when Zaheera Sheikh, one of the victims of the Gujarat carnage,
resiled from her statements made in court earlier on her being
threatened when she was in the witness box. The trial court without
considering the circumstances leading to the witness turning hostile,
acquitted the accused. The high court upheld the acquittal. The nhrc
moved the Supreme Court questioning the acquittals.

In criminal cases, the fate of the proceedings cannot always be left in
the hands of the parties because crimes are public wrongs and they
violate the public rights and duties of society in general. A fair trial
therefore is a three-way situation where the victim, the accused and the
community are vitally concerned. The role of a judge is to actively get
all relevant materials on record to determine the truth and administer
justice fairly.

The role of the trial court judge becomes even more important when
unruly crowds attempt to obstruct judicial hearings putting the safety
of the victim and her witnesses in peril. So too, when the police or
prosecutor acts in a manner favourable to the accused.

The Supreme Court held: “In a country like ours with heterogeneous
religions and multiracial and multilingual society which necessitates
protection against discrimination on the ground of caste or religion,
taking lives of persons belonging not to one or the other religion...
may tend to encourage fissiparous elements to undermine the unity and
security of the nation... strikes at the very root of an orderly
society, which the founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of.”

“When the ghastly killings take place in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, it
raises a very pertinent question as to whether some people have become
so bankrupt in their ideology that they have deviated from everything
which was so dear to him. No religion teaches violence and cruelty-based
religion is no religion at all, but a mere cloak to usurp power by
fanning ill feeling and playing on feelings aroused thereby. The golden
thread passing through every religion is love and compassion. The
fanatics who spread violence in the name of religion are worse than
terrorists and more dangerous than an alien enemy.”

Looking through the records of the case, the Supreme Court found the
public prosecutor acting as if he were the defence counsel, the (trial)
court a silent spectator indifferent to the “sacrilege being committed
to justice” and the investigation showing no interest to determine the
truth.

“The modern-day ‘Neros’ were looking elsewhere when Best Bakery and
innocent children and helpless women were burning, and were probably
deliberating how the perpetrators of the crime can be saved or protected.”

Dealing with the approach of the high court and the acquittal, the
Supreme Court said: “The entire approach of the High Court suffers from
serious infirmities, its conclusions lopsided and lacks proper or
judicious application of mind...Irresponsible allegations, suggestions
and challenges may be made by parties. Decency, decorum and judicial
discipline should never be made casualties by adopting such intemperate
attitudes of judicial obstinacy.”

Justice Pasayat’s order should also not give rise to complacency. The
rise of the militant Hindutva rightwing has caused considerable
confusion in the ranks of the judiciary. Judges ultimately come from the
society from which they are chosen. Should the process of choosing
judges not include an intrusive enquiry into their attitudes relating to
secularism and the minority community? After all, we have had a former
President Giani Zail Singh remark, while he was Union home minister,
that he was an admirer of Hitler.

Therefore when policemen, public prosecutors and judges are appointed to
uphold the high values of the justice system, should we not during the
selection process subject them to a scathing public scrutiny where their
attitudes toward the poor, women, dalits and minorities are X-rayed?

I shudder to think what would be the fate of the judiciary had Justice
Pasayat not taken action. What would be the opinion of the judiciary in
the minds of Muslims and other minorities who have suffered massacres
again and again?

Perhaps a time will come when the decision of the Constitutional Bench
of the Supreme Court in SR Bommai’s case — “the State has no religion” —
will remain only a pious wish with communalism infiltrating and
corrupting all the organs of the state.

The writer is Executive Director,
Human Rights Law Network



____


[5]

OneWorld South Asia (UK)
26 February 2006

BHOPAL SURVIVORS TAKE A PADAYATRA TO THE CAPITAL

Nityanand Jayaraman

On February 23, 2006, Day 4 of the padayatra, we heard from the
marchers. Sathyu Sarangi, one of the marchers, called from Pillukhedi, a
small town in Madhya Pradesh, with breathtaking spreads of wheat fields,
the gently flowing Parvati River, and smelly factories. Since they set
off on February 20 on a padayatra (long march), survivors of the 1984
Union Carbide disaster and their supporters have been out of coverage of
cell-phone networks. Tired of broken promises, and lies and deceit, the
Bhopalis have said enough is enough. About 150 of them set off on a
march by foot from Bhopal to New Delhi, announcing beforehand that they
would like to meet the prime minister and have him address all their
demands.

Of the 150-odd people who started out, only 58 padayatris are currently
on the road. They are in great spirits. The youngest participant is
getting a ride the whole way. One-year-old Karuna, fondly known as Moti
or ‘the plump one’, is the only child on the march. They start walking
early in the morning, by about 4.30 am and go on until 10 or so. They
start again after a long rest at about 4 pm and go on for another four
hours. The going has been tough, though, especially for those with
health problems. It is likely to remain so for the next few days, after
which the starting pains will disappear as the rhythms of walking assert
themselves. They don't have a doctor with them yet. But last night, Biju
(the ayurved masseur and therapist), Dr Mrityunjay (an ayurved doctor)
and Anand, a community health researcher -- all from Sambhavna Trust
Clinic in Bhopal – visited and treated people.

Pillukhedi is the site of four big factories -- a spinning mill, the
Vindhyachal Distilleries, a Coca Cola factory and a gelatine factory.
"Very few people speak up against Coca Cola. Those that do say Coke and
the other factories have spoilt the groundwater. One of the villagers
who said he's a doctor -- I don't think he's really a doctor -- said
that water samples from here showed high levels of fluoride. I think
that is because of super-extraction -- when large quantities of water
are sucked from the ground at a very high rate, it tends to erode the
fluorides from the sub-surface rock formations," says Sarangi.

The Bhopalis are at home here, in a sinister way. All the handpumps in
the village have signs put up by the district administration saying:
Water Unfit for Consumption. The water here is like "donkey urine,"
concur the villagers. It is yellow and smelly. It's been this way for
three years, they say. While there is little overt resistance to
pollution, all villagers speak out derisively about the Madhya Pradesh
Pollution Control Board. "Everybody says the Pollution Control Board
officials come, take money and go. They're all corrupt," says Sarangi.
Just like Bhopal.

The distillery gives farmers the toxic sludge that remains after their
effluents are treated to be used as fertiliser. Farmers say that it is
okay for the first two years, but then the yield starts dropping.

The Bhopalis have been here since last evening. They are waiting for
friends to arrive from Mehdiganj, near Varanasi, where villagers are
waging a vociferous battle against a Coca Cola factory for sucking local
aquifers dry. Last night, they screened Bhopal Expressin the village.
They talked about Bhopal, and about how to begin addressing the local
problems of pollution. "We also told them about the Right to Information
Act and how to use it in the local context. But these places need a lot
more attention. We should see how we can do that," Sarangi notes.

The villagers have given the padayatris vegetables and buttermilk. So
last night there was Khaddi and Roti for dinner. The ex-sarpanch
(village head) was also arranging for some milk, and if that comes,
there will be kheer as well. The cooking is reportedly awesome. People
take turns. The other day, Chotte Khan -- an imposing man with hennaed
beard -- made the food, and it was excellent, they said. Chotte Khan is
one of the long-distance runners in the justice struggle in Bhopal. In
reminiscing during the mid-day breaks, he talked about how he was part
of the massive demonstration against Union Carbide and Warren Anderson
in December 1984, in the days after the disaster. His spirit is
unflagging. Probably the reason why 21 years after the disaster, the
struggle for justice and its supporter network worldwide is stronger
than it ever was in the past.

Petitions, emails and faxes have begun flooding Indian embassies
worldwide, and in New Delhi. Supporters of the survivors are outraged at
the insensitivity of the Indian and Madhya Pradesh governments to the
needs of the survivors of the world's worst disaster. "More than 20,000
people in Bhopal are forced to consume poisoned water. Medical
facilities for survivors are virtually non-existent, and survivors have
to beg and bribe to access healthcare. Unemployment and desperation are
at an all-time high. Toxic wastes abandoned by Union Carbide continue to
poison people, and create a new generation of victims," the letter to
the prime minister reads.

Even more shocking two decades after the disaster is the realisation
that the Indian government has decided to help Union Carbide and its
owner Dow Chemical expand and consolidate its business in India. During
the prime minister's September 2005 visit to New York, Dow CEO Andrew
Liveris was one of the special invitees to a luncheon meeting. Within
months of that meeting, a special cell was set up in the Planning
Commission to facilitate the setting up of two petrochemical industrial
estates in which Dow Chemicals and DuPont would invest substantially.

When the Bhopalis reach Delhi, they will decide whether to launch an
indefinite fast depending on the response of the Indian government. "We
have had enough. If all our demands are not met, we're not leaving New
Delhi," said Champa Devi Shukla, a woman leader from the Bhopal Gas
Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh.

The march is being led by four Bhopal-based survivor and advocacy
organisations: Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for
Information and Action, and Bhopal ki Aawaaz. Lasting about 800 km, the
marchers will cover about 30 km every day, and are completely dependent
on local communities for food and shelter.

SOURCE: Infochange India News and Features

____


[6]


EFI NEWS PRESS RELEASE
805/92, Deepali Building, Nehru Place, New Delhi - 110 019, India
Phone: +91 011 26431133; 26423726


Attack on Emmanuel Church in Jaipur, Rajasthan


EFI expresses deep concern over the recent persecution of Christians at
the hands of Hindu radicals.

The agitated activists, said to be members of the Bajrang Dal and Shiv
Sena, reportedly broke into the Emmanuel Mission Senior Secondary School
and made their way on to the roof of the church where they burnt the
effigy of M A Thomas, founder of the Emmanuel Mission based in Kota.

The activists were protesting against a book titled “Haqiquat”
reportedly published and distributed by the Mission founder. The book
allegedly derides Hindu and Jain deities.

The activists also scribbled the “Om” sign on the cross, adding “Shri
Ram” underneath.

A similar act of vandalism was reported from the Pratap Nagar area of
Sanganer on Wednesday where activists took over a Mission School and
forced its children to leave school.

Hindu outfits in the Hadoti region have been protesting against the
book, authored by M J Matthew. The protest has now spread to different
parts of the State, including Jaipur.

The outfits have organised under the Matantaran Virodhi Manch and are
demanding that the government take over the institute being run by
Emmanuel Mission in Kota and appoint and administrator.

The Emmanuel Mission was confronted by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists
last year for allegedly indulging in religious conversion.

We hope the Administration and Government in the State would not let the
perpetrators of the crime go scott free and would do the essential to
protect the christian community.


Suggested action:

The EFI is deeply concerned about this case and requests your immediate
intervention.


*	Please uphold the Christians in Rajasthan in your prayers
*	Please write a letter to the addresses listed below expressing
your concern about this issue.

Respectfully,
Rev. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India



EFI is a Charter member of the World Evangelical Alliance, an NGO in
special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations your prayers and intervention.


President of India,

His Excellency Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Azad
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi - 110 004, India
Phone: +91 11 23015321,
Fax: +91 11 23017290/ +91 11 23017824
Website: http://presidentofindia.nic.in
E-mail: presidentofindia at nic.in

Prime Minister's Office
Hon'ble Dr. Manmohan Singh
Office Address Room No. 152,
South Block,
New Delhi 110001, India
Phone: +91 11 23012312
Fax: +91 11 23016857

Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Smt. Vasundhara Raje
Pratap Chowk,
Jhalawar 326001,
Rajasthan, India
Fax: +91 0141 2227687
Phone: +91 0141 2227351 / +91 0141 2227462;
Email cm at mp.nic.in


Home Minister of Rajasthan
Shri. Gulab Chand Kataria
Room No. 129
Secretariat Jaipur
Rajasthan, India
Phone: +91 0141 2227362 / +91 0141 2229300

Jaipur Collector, Government of Rajasthan
Rajendra Bhanawate
District Collector and District Magistrate, Jaipur
Rajasthan, India
Fax: +91 0141 5111411
Phone: +91 0141 5111412


Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India
Honb'le Dr. Justice A. S. Anand
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001, India
Tel: +91 11 23074448
E-mail: chairnhrc at nic.in


_____


[7]

The Hindutva of Development: Capitalist Development
and Resistance in Gujarat

Call for papers for Panel 48: 19th European Modern
South Asian Studies Conference

To be held in Leiden, The Netherlands 27-30 June 2006


Deadline for paper proposals: 1 March 2006.

Convenor: Dr. Radhika Desai, University of Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada

    Abstract

    The political stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat has attracted
much attention in recent years. However, the socio-economic background
against which it is taking place that of one of the most successful
capitalist development among the states of India – has received less
attention. In many ways, the stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat
challenges much established understanding of the conditions of its
growth in that much established understanding focuses on its hold on
some of the least developed parts of India, such as UP. What are the
principal patterns of economic growth in Gujarat? How are they related
to the patterns of support for, and opposition to, Hindutva
by class, gender, caste and community? What are the chief regional and
sectoral variations in capitalist development? What are the specific
patterns of labour exploitation? How do they vary by gender, caste,
tribe and community? What forms of struggle, by workers, women,
peasants, tribals and minorities have sprung up to resist this
exploitation? How has the recent recession and agricultural crisis
changed these patterns of economic growth of past decades? What are the
solutions to those crises? What are the political patterns associated
with these patterns of economic growth and the struggles to which it
gives rise? How, in particular, are the patterns of economic growth
associated with the political stabilization of Hintutva in the state?
And what forces of resistance to Hindutva have these patterns of
growth generated? In this panel I invite papers for the 19 ECMSAS in
Leiden on the sorts of questions listed above and any kindred questions.

Interested paper presenters should submit paper proposals
by 1 March 2006 at the conference website at
http://easas.org/

Just click on the link on the left which says 'panels'
and then scroll down to Panel 48. If you have written the
proposal already you will find it easy to paste it in
the required field.

Alternatively they can submit papers proposals clearly
stating the name and number of the panel via post or
fax via the ECMSAS Secretariat in Leiden at:

ECMSAS Secretariat
c/o International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)
P.O. Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
T +31-71-527 2227
F +31-71-527 2227
Ecmsas2006 at ...

[ . . . ]
Any further questions and queries can be directed to
the Panel Convener, Dr. Radhika Desai at [rdesai AT uvic.ca]


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

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/

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





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