SACW | Oct. 21, 2006 | Sri Lanka: making war talking peace; Pakistan, India: Death penalty by state and non state actors; hindutva at work
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Oct 20 20:22:43 CDT 2006
South Asia Citizens Wire | October 21, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2307
[1] Sri Lanka: New Partnership Can Prevent More
Death, Destruction and Despair (NPC)
[2] Pakistan: Death penalty by non state actors
- "Swara" Killings Continue (Zofeen T. Ebrahim)
[3] Pakistan: Thousands await gallows in jails (HRCP)
[4] Pakistan: Online petition for the release of an Mirza Tahir Hussain
[5] India: 2 Online petitions against death penalty for Mohammad Afzal Guru
[5] India: Hanging Afzal Would be a Stigma on
Indian Democracy - a booklet (SPDPR)
[6] Pakistan -India: Halting the descent into
medieval barbarity (Praful Bidwai)
[7] India: 'We want life-term for Afzal' - Nandita Haksar speaks to Rustam Roy
[8] India: Hindutva assault on sathyagrahis against death penalty
[9] Letter to New Statesman in response to
William Dalrymple's article 'Neo-Cons and the
Raj' (SASG)
[11] India: [civil servants in 'khakhi shorts']
RSS - Political or Cultural (Ram Puniyani)
[12] India: Sangh Parivar, police blamed for Mangalore riots
[13] Upcoming Events:
(i) A meeting on Women, the 'War on Terror' and
Fundamentalism (London, 21 October)
(ii) Aijaz Ahmad lecture "Inheriting BJP's India:
Thoughts on the UPA Government"(NY, 23 October)
____
[1]
National Peace Council
of Sri Lanka
12/14 Purana Vihara Road
Colombo 6
20.10.06
Media Release
NEW PARTNERSHIP CAN PREVENT MORE DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND DESPAIR
The high cost of the continued confrontation
between the government and LTTE, and the resort
to the military option, has become clearer in
recent days. The previous weeks saw the
government utilizing the military to inflict
substantial losses on the LTTE especially in the
east. The National Peace Council condemned the
sufferings inflicted on the civilian population,
particularly on account of enforced displacement
and blocking of humanitarian relief. On the other
hand, the past few days have seen high costs
inflicted on the government in the battle at
Muhamalai, and by LTTE attacks at Dambulla and
Galle which are far from the north east conflict
zones.
As the theatre of war expands with the government
forces using aerial bombardment and the LTTE
using suicide cadres the possibility of a
successful peace initiative recedes and the cost
of human sacrifice increases. Extreme acts of
violence harden sentiments and place obstacles in
the path of dialogue and encourage elements to
attack innocent civilians.The Galle incident
raised the possibility of mob reaction which the
government was able to promptly quell on this
occasion. However, the breakdown of democratic
norms is a cause for grave concern as ethnic
polarisation grows and the economic costs become
more difficult for people to bear. In this
context we condemn the organised attack on a
peaceful meeting of the National Anti War Front
in Kandy.
The Geneva talks scheduled for October 28 and 29
offer another opportunityof a change of approach
to the conflict between the government and LTTE
that would help de-escalate the present
undeclared war that makes a mockery of the
ceasefire agreement. It is of utmost importance
to the welfare of the people that the two parties
opt for political means of conflict resolution
and move away from very costly belief that this
conflict could be resolved through military
means. We appreciate the unceasing efforts of the
Norwegian facilitators, and the Japanese and US
peace envoys, whose presence in Sri Lanka these
days have served to bolster confidence that the
situation will not slide further into
unrestrained violence. But in the absence of
genuine commitment by the government and LTTE all
these efforts will come to nought.
We believe that the agreement theopposition UNP
is entering into with the government can
contribute significantly to a fundamental change
of approach on the part of the government. NPC
consistently encouraged bipartisanship between
the two major political parties, and the UNP's
current willingness to work together with the
government in six areas, particularly in the
areas of the ethnic conflict and good governance
is potentially a very positive development for
which there is overwhelming public support as
well. We call for a full and genuine partnership
between the government and UNP at this time to
generate the new approach to conflict resolution
that can save the country and its people from
more death, destruction and despair.
Executive Director
On behalf of the Governing Council
_____
[2]
Inter Press Service
October 20, 2006
DEATH PENALTY:
"Swara" Killings in Pakistan Continue
by Zofeen T. Ebrahim
KARACHI, Sep 27 (IPS) - In 2005, 17-year-old
Rubina Bibi died under mysterious circumstances
after eating a meal in the small village of Kas
Koroona, in Pakistan's North West Frontier
Province (NWFP). She was living at the time in an
animal shed -- the only place where her in-laws
would allow her to stay.
Not far away, in another village called Gumbat
Banda, villagers have "disclosed to me in hushed
tones that young Tayyaba, who died a month and a
half after her marriage in June 2006, was
actually poisoned by her in-laws," Samar
Minallah, an anthropologist and rights activist
heading Ethnomedia and Development, a
non-governmental organisation, told IPS. Tayyaba
Begum, 20, was tortured by her in-laws from the
day she entered their home, Minallah believes.
Zarmina Bibi, 19, married in February 2006, was
allegedly shot dead by her brother-in-law two
months after her marriage. Her mother-in-law
claimed the girl was cleaning her husband's rifle
and it went off. Zarmina's mother believes her
daughter was murdered by the in-laws, Rafaqat
Bibi, a social activist working in Mardan -- and
no relation to Zarmina or Rubina -- told IPS.
All three young women were given in marriage to
hostile families as compensation for a relative's
crime in a practise called "swara" in Pashtun,
parts of Afghanistan and the NWFP -- and "vanni"
in the Punjab. Although officially outlawed in
Pakistan, the custom prevails.
"For as long as I can remember, I've witnessed
swara, but killing these poor women is a fairly
recent phenomenon," said Rafaqat Bibi, who has
observed the trend since 1998.
Kamila Hayat, joint director of the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) told IPS via email
from LaHore, "Swara is a virtual death penalty
for young women who become victims of the
tradition."
"Even in cases where they are not physically
killed, the humiliation and misery they face,
sometimes for an entire lifetime, is a terrible
punishment. It is made all the worse by the fact
that the women concerned are of course not guilty
of any crime," Hayat added.
Assistant professor Fouzia Naeem Khan, a clinical
psychologist teaching at SZABIST Institute of
Science and Technology in Karachi, belongs to a
village in the NWFP where swara originally was
designed to stop decades old blood feuds between
two clans.
The root cause for most blood feuds is land, Khan
said. To resolve conflicts the jirga, or village
council, dictates sending a bride from the
assailant's family to the aggrieved to put an end
to all further killings.
Sometimes girls just a few months old are given
as 'blood money' and married once they reach
adulthood. At times when there are no women in
the family, girls are purchased from another
family.
"It's like proclaiming a death sentence," Khan
told IPS. "A swara may be alive but her spirit
has long been snuffed out. She is a constant
reminder (to the in-laws) of the death of their
loved one...The physical abuse may not always be
there, but it's the psychological scars that she
has to live with and which never seem to heal."
Minallah has been studying the custom since 2002.
She produced a documentary film, 'A Bridge Over
Troubled Waters' in 2003. In a new research
project, 'Swara - The Human Shield', Minallah
writes: "The hatred towards her does not end. At
times even her children face verbal abuse and are
taunted."
Minallah continued, "Contrary to the belief that
a swara marriage is a form of lasting peace that
binds two families together through a marriage
alliance, rarely is it so." She, like Bibi,
believes the number of women who have died in
mysterious circumstances has risen in recent
years.
While there are no statistics indicating how many
girls are given in swara annually, the number,
Minallah believes, is significant. During her
research she met 60 swara women in the districts
of Mardan and Swabi alone. Around 20 were women
who had been swara for many years, but the rest
were given away in 2006.
In 2005, the HRCP recorded at least 1,242 cases
of violent crime against women in the first eight
months of the year. According to the
Karachi-based Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal
Aid, 31,000 crimes against women had been
reported in the last five years throughout
Pakistan. The group does not separate swara
crimes from its statistics.
IPS reported earlier this year how some voluntary
groups are holding regular workshops and informal
meetings to raise awareness about this brutal
custom, which is as difficult to uproot as honour
killings. In the case of swara, if the woman
complains, her father could be arrested. This
stops the woman from speaking up. These
organisations also provide free legal aid to
victims.
To end swara, the country must first wipe out the
prevalence of the jirga system. The recent rise
of the jirga's power denotes a failure on the
part of Pakistan's weak judicial system, which is
marred by a virtually non-existent investigative
capacity on the part of police and lack of
sensitisation of lower-level judges.
It is imperative, Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia
researcher for Human Rights Watch said, that "the
government authorities ensure that village
panchayats, tribal jirgas and other customary
councils are abolished and local influentials act
in accordance with the law and do not usurp the
proper judicial role of the civil courts."
But, Hasan added in his conversation with IPS,
"These informal forums of justice can only be
effectively eliminated if the judicial system is
truly effective."
So far, in Pakistan, it is not. (END/2006)
____
[3]
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
reported in early August that more than 7,400 men
and 36 women are being held on death row waiting
to be hanged.
PAKISTAN: Thousands await gallows in jails
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54944&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
-----
[4]
PAKISTAN: Online petition for the release of an
Mirza Tahir Hussain facing the death penalty
after 18 years in prison
Human rights organisations and legislators from
around the world, including Amnesty International
and members of the European Parliament and
British Parliament, have appealed on different
occasions to the president of Pakistan to pardon
the death penalty of Mirza as the trial was not
fair and Mirza has already spent 18 years in
prison. In addition, demonstrations and protests
in numerous countries against the decision of the
sharia court have taken place.
We thus urge you to sign the petition at
<http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/tahir_hussain/>http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/tahir_hussain/
to stop the execution of Mirza.
_____
[5]
India:
Online Petition against death penalty for Mohammad Afzal Guru
http://www.petitiononline.com/ekta1/petition.html
Online petition - Save the life of Mohammed Afzal
http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveAfzl/petition.html
-----
[6]
HANGING AFZAL WOULD BE A STIGMA ON INDIAN DEMOCRACY:
Afzal's Story in his Words
Published by Society for the Protection of Detainees' and Prisoners' Rights
October 2006
is available at:
http://www.sacw.net/hrights/AfzalBooklet.pdf
-----
[7]
http://www.sacw.net/hrights/bidwiOct2106.html
www.sacw.net
21 October 2006
HALTING THE DESCENT INTO MEDIEVAL BARBARITY
by Praful Bidwai
(Appeared in print in The News International)
Is South Asia destined to repeat the history of
the Middle Ages, when executions of criminals
used to be public events in much of the world,
elaborately organised to the applause of mobs
drunk with revenge?
Going by the clamour for hanging Mohammed Afzal
for the Parliament House attack case in India and
Mirza Tahir Hussain for murdering a cab driver in
Pakistan, this could well be the case. That would
be a terrible retrogression from the twentieth
century, which witnessed, first, the end of
executions as a public spectacle, and later, the
abolition of capital punishment in nearly 130
countries.
A major reason for this retrogression at least in
India is the post-September 2001 global political
climate, and the dawning of the age of terrorism
and counter-terrorism, which has brought back
revenge and retribution. As the Latin American
writer Eduardo Galeano puts it: "In a world that
prefers security to justice, there is loud
applause whenever justice is sacrificed at the
altar of securityŠ" Galeano says executions have
'a pharmaceutical effect' on the elite.
'Pharmacy' is derived from the Greek 'pharmakos'
-- "humans sacrificed to the Gods in times of
crises".
A section of Indian society is seeking just such
pharmaceutical relief through the demand for
hanging Afzal. A medieval lynch mob is being
mobilised through lurid media stories. Some
describe how the families of those killed in the
attack cannot get justice unless Afzal is hanged.
There must be no clemency for the traitor. He
must die.
Contrary to the widely held impression, the
clamour for executing Afzal does not derive
primarily from anti-Kashmiri prejudice and
Islamophobia. But it's nevertheless unspeakably
sad that it is driven by rank bloodthirst and a
literalist interpretation of 'justice' for the
victims of the attack, and what constitutes
'adequate punishment' for that terrible episode.
All manner of arguments are being cited to claim
that the president has no power to pardon Afzal,
including a recent (October 11) verdict by
India's Supreme Court.
However, India's former solicitor-general T.R.
Andhyarujina has clarified that the power of
pardon is not an individual 'act of grace', but
an integral part of the criminal justice system
and India's Constitutional scheme. It does not
interfere with the courts' directives.
The president, as the Supreme Court has itself
said, is entitled to re-appraise a case, and come
to a conclusion different from the courts'. The
purpose of the clemency power is to ensure that
"the public welfare would be better served by
inflicting less punishment than what the judgment
has fixed." President Kalam, acting on the
cabinet's advice, would be fully within his
rights to take a fresh look at Afzal's case. It's
his constitutional, moral and legal duty to
ensure that there are no grey areas in the body
of evidence on which Afzal was sentenced.
Consider the bare facts. Afzal was not the
mastermind or chief conspirator in the Parliament
attack. He didn't personally commit murder or
participate in the attack. Yet, he was sentenced
to death for murder (Sec 302 of the Indian Penal
Code), waging war against the state (Sec 121 and
121A), and criminal conspiracy (Sec 120A & B).
The punishment is prima facie excessive and
disproportionate.
Assistant Commissioner Rajbir Singh of the Delhi
police's anti-terrorism 'Special Cell' completed
the investigation in just 17 days. An 'encounter
specialist', Rajbir Singh stands disgraced for
extortion and corruption. Huge gaps remain in
reconstructing the sequence of events, links
between Afzal and the claimed masterminds
(Jaish-e-Mohammed's Masood Azhar, Ghazi Baba and
Tariq Ahmad), or the attackers' identity.
The biggest gaps pertain to the role of the
Special Task Force of the J&K police, to whom
Afzal, a former JKLF militant, surrendered. Afzal
claims -- without being contradicted -- that he
was introduced to Tariq Ahmad at an STF camp.
Tariq took him to a police officer, Dravinder
Singh, who introduced him to Mohammad alias
Burger, named as the leader of the five attackers.
Afzal admits that he brought Mohammad to Delhi
and helped him buy the car used in the attack.
But he says Dravinder Singh and Tariq ordered him
to do so. Here, the investigation goes cold.
There is no trace of Tariq or Dravinder. In the
murky world of Kashmir's
insurgency-counter-insurgency, it's hard to
pinpoint crime and complicity. And it's a mystery
why the police knew nothing about the activities
of a surrendered militant on whom they kept tabs.
Besides his own testimony, circumstantial
evidence of Afzal's involvement in conspiracy
hinges on the recovery of explosives, and
crucially, on records of cell phone calls to the
five attackers. However, the explosives recovery
record isn't watertight. The police couldn't
explain why they broke into Afzal's house during
his absence -- when the landlord had the key.
The cell phone record traced several calls from
the five men to number 98114.89429, which
allegedly belonged to an instrument seized from
Afzal during his arrest. The instrument had no
SIM card. The only identity mark was its IMEI
number, unique to each instrument.
How did the police discover the IMEI number?
There are only two ways: open the instrument, or
dial a code and have the number displayed. But
the officer who certified the recovery said on
oath that he neither opened nor operated the
instrument. Besides, the testimonies on the date
of purchase of the phone with a new SIM card
(December 4) and its first recorded operation
(November 6) don't match!
This means that there's a large grey area in the
evidence. This puts a big question mark over the
conclusion that Afzal must be awarded the
severest possible punishment. Afzal's personal
deposition describes how he was drawn into
secessionist militancy, but got disillusioned.
After surrender, he was harassed and subjected to
extortion by the STF. The picture that emerges is
that of a person who can act in good faith and
isn't beyond reform.
Afzal's death sentence violates the Indian
Supreme Court's own guidelines, which say that
capital punishment should be awarded in 'the
rarest of rare cases' -- when a murder is
extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical and
revolting, targets a community or caste. These
criteria don't apply to Afzal.
India's judiciary has often distinguished between
the commission of an act and conspiracy to commit
it. Thus Nahuram Godse was hanged for Gandhiji's
assassination, but not his fellow-conspirator
Gopal. In the 1995 Purulia arms-drop case -- the
worst breach of security in modern India -- the
state commuted life sentences awarded to six men.
Five ethnic-Russian Latvians were freed -- at the
request of the Russian government. Peter Bleach
was freed in February 2004 at the repeated
urgings of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The
reasons for releasing them involved a judgment on
political relations with foreign governments.
In Afzal's case, the government must apply the
'public welfare' test and take a statesman-like
view based on a compassionate and humane vision.
Finally, we must recall the all-important moral
argument against capital punishment. It violates
a principle at the heart of any civilised society
-- prohibiting the planned killing of a person.
Capital punishment does not deter heinous crime.
All legal systems are fallible. It's absurd to
extinguish a human life by assuming the opposite.
When will we learn this in the subcontinent?
The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a
researcher and peace and human-rights activist
based in Delhi
-----
[8]
The Times of India
20 Oct, 2006
'WE WANT LIFE-TERM FOR AFZAL'
Rustam Roy
Nandita Haksar, human rights activist and Supreme
Court lawyer, has been closely associated with
the Parliament attack case having represented one
of the accused SAR Geelani, who was finally
acquitted last year. She is now passionately
supporting clemency for Afzal Guru who has been
handed a death sentence. The court had ordered
Afzal's hanging on Friday, but it was put off
because a mercy plea by his wife is pending with
the President. Nandita Haksar spoke to
Timesofindia.com.
Q. Ms Haksar, Afzal was supposed to be hanged
today - do you think the deferment has worked in
your favour?
A: I suppose so, but I cannot say it has really
worked in our favour because the final decision
is yet to be taken.
Q. How will you take the case ahead from here?
A: We are filing a curative petition in the
Supreme Court and hope to take it from there.
Q. Do you have some kind of an approximate
deadline, an indication or a timeframe, on the
President's decision?
A: We have not been given any timeframe. That is
for the President to decide of his free will.
Q: Legally, what do you think has been the lacuna
in the case which you have been fighting against?
A: Firstly, it is a POTA case which has been
withdrawn. Secondly, he never got a fair trial
because he didn't get a lawyer in the lower court
when the case was underway there. He should have
been given a lawyer of his choice.
Q. There is also another side to the whole issue:
The families of those who died in the attack,
what about them?
A: See, it won't act as a deterrent neither will
taking revenge help anyone. There is no such case
in the world which has been able to stop or
rectify something which is going happen. Making
an example of someone doesn't help. The thing is
most people don't know the facts.
Q. So what is your demand: Retrial or life imprisonment?
A: We first want the death sentence to be
stopped. We want it to be converted into a
life-term.
Q. The Kashmir angle has made the issue even more volatile...
A: The people of Kashmir are not saying don't
hang Afzal because he is a Kashmiri. They are
only asking for a fair trial. They are not making
any political demand.
Q. How did the President react when Afzal's wife
presented him the mercy petition?
A: He was very warm; he read the whole document
in front of her and told her he will decide on
the matter. We told him Afzal is too poor to
engage a lawyer, he heard us all patiently.
Q. Have you met Afzal of late? What are his thoughts?
A: I haven't met him lately, but he is hoping he gets justice.
Q. And how is his wife?
A: How will a wife whose husband is on death row
take the whole thing? She is hoping for justice.
Q. Do you think delay has confused matters even more?
A: No, there has been no delay. In fact, I think
it has been going quite fast because the
President has had petitions lying with him for
years. Compared to that, this case is going quite
fast.
Q. Politically, the case seems to have divided the nation. Comment.
A: Only the BJP is opposed to clemency and they
don't represent the whole of India. Rahul Mahajan
campaigning against Afzal doesn't mean anything
because he doesn't represent the people. An
Indian citizen will never ask for a death
sentence without a fair trial.
Q. What kind of support have you received?
A: There has been a signature campaign where a
lot of people have given us their support.
Activists like Medha Patkar, JNU students and
several intellectuals have supported us. I don't
see how this issue has divided the nation as you
keep saying.
Q. What has irked you the most as far as the case is concerned?
A: The thing is there is something terribly wrong
with the judicial system which does not allow
proper investigation of a case. The media too has
played a role; they showed Afzal in handcuffs and
took his statement illegally. A section of the
media gave a totally wrong picture about Afzal.
_____
[9]
- - - Forwarded Message - - -
From: Dileep Raj <delve2 at gmail.com>
Date: Oct 20, 2006 8:45
Friends,
Today, a group of yuvamorcha activists entered
the satyagraha pandal of anti death penalty
committe at trivandrum and assaulted the
satyagrahi, Rajmohan K K. They were returning
after "hanging" Muhammad Afsal Guru's effigee.
this is a grave development. Do think of ways in
which we could effectively condemn this fascist
move and strengthen the democratic movement.
please forward this message to friends and suggest what you could personally
do in this
The satyagraha movement is gaining momentum . K.
K. Koch, T. K . Vasu, Chandran.K.K, Anoop
Chandran, Sanni Kapikkad,Shaju. V .V, Fr. George
Pulikkuthityil, Civic Chandran and Ambalathara
Krishnan observed hunger strike till now.
The movement is against death penalty and for the
rights of prisoners in kerala jails.
loking forward to your response,
Dileep Raj,
Kizhakke Chathen Velil,
N C C Junction,
Cherthala, 688532
Alappuzha Dist, Kerala
Tel: 09447316701
_____
[10]
20 October 2006
(SOUTH ASIA SOLIDARITY GROUP SENT THE FOLLOWING
LETTER TO THE NEW STATESMAN IN RESPONSE TO
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE'S ARTICLE 'NEO-CONS AND THE
RAJ' ABOUT THE 1857 UPRISINGS.)
While the US establishment tries to persuade us
to understand current events through the
distorted lens of the 'clash of civilisations',
William Dalrymple (16 October) appears to be
attempting to remake history in the same image.
He bends over backwards to portray the 1857
uprisings as a clash between militant Islam and
Christianity, dismissing in half a sentence the
fact that the great majority of soldiers who
mutinied against the British and identified the
(Muslim) Mughal Emperor in Delhi as their leader
were Hindus.
Dalrymple claims to have uncovered 'jihad' in
1857, pointedly ignoring the many established
Indian historians (notably the Subaltern Studies
group) who have over the last thirty years
documented the religious idioms through which
resistance to imperialism was expressed among
people of a variety of classes. In the case of
1857, people sharing a syncretic culture but
identifying with distinct religions consciously
united to fight the British colonizers. Dalrymple
omits to tells us, for example, that many of the
rebel proclamations were explicitly addressed to
'Hindus and Muslims of the land of Hindusthan'.
Dalrymple contrasts his apocalyptic, proto-9/11
view of 1857 with a previous golden age where
British officers of the East India Company
adopted Indian dress and 'cohabited' with 'Indian
Bibis'. To characterise this phase of imperialist
plunder as a 'multicultural' idyll on this basis
shows a remarkable insensitivity to issues of
power, race and gender. The 'knowledge' generated
by the British orientalists who studied India in
this period - and whom Dalrymple so clearly
admires - was to form an important element in the
racial supremacist discourse which was
consolidated in the latter half of the 19
Century, and it is now informing anti-Muslim
racism.
Kalpana Wilson
South Asia Solidarity Group
299, Kentish Town Road
London NW5 2TJ
_____
[11]
http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/puniyani20oct06.html
www.sacw.net
20 October 2006
RSS: POLITICAL OR CULTURAL
by Ram Puniyani
Recently (Sept 2006) MP Government has lifted the
ban on the civil servants joining RSS and
participating in its activities. As such civil
servants are banned from participating in the
political organizations. RSS calls itself
cultural, and that's what has been used as a ruse
by the state governments on couple of occasions
to permit the civil servants from joining RSS. In
Gujarat when this permission was granted (Jan
2000), the President on receiving the protests
intervened, and at the same time Mr. Vajpayee
prevailed upon the state BJP and got this
permission revoked. Now Chouhan Govt. in MP has
lifted the ban, thereby the government servants
can now join and carry on the RSS work openly.
The basic premise of Indian constitution and
parliamentary democracy is that the civil service
should be neutral. Already RSS has infiltrated
into various wings of the state apparatus by
sending its trained swayamsevaks to work in
different areas of bureaucracy in states as well
as at Center. In addition to these elements the
'social common sense' is so doctored that in the
times of violence a big chunk of police and other
state officials aid and abet the violence against
minorities, putting aside the norms of
constitution and even the civic decency. Thus far
many a reports on the communal carnage have
indicted the role of RSS and the complicity of
police and other officials in the anti minority
pogroms. Such permission to the civic service
will open the flood gates for the total
communalization of the civil service which is the
backbone of the state apparatus.
What about the argument that RSS is not a
political organization; it is an organization
which is cultural, committed to build a Hindu
nation. This claim itself gives the game away;
building a nation is a political process so how
can this organization claim to be merely a
cultural one. After seeing the actions of RSS and
its role in the political arena, its role in
dictating its political progeny, the BJP, any
doubt about it's being a cultural organization
vanishes into thin air. RSS is a political
organization which operates through its different
porgies to achieve its political goal of creating
a Hindu Rashtra and undoing the Indian
constitution and the present democratic norms.
Initially, it was just training the political
volunteers, swayamsevaks and from 1951 it started
floating the direct political organizations,
first Bharatiya Jana Sangh and then BJP. It acted
as controller of Janasangh and whosoever
disagreed with its polices was removed from
being the office bearer, Balraj Madhok being the
major example. It does dictate about the cabinet
making, the allotment of portfolios, like wanting
to have Yashwant Sinha as Finance minister, in
stead of Jaswant Singh. Recently it came out
openly against, its ex blue eyed boy Lal Krishna
Advani, when he stated that Jinnah was a secular
person. The swayamsevaks easily switch there
roles from one RSS progeny to the other depending
on the planning done at the RSS headquarters.
Many of swayamsevaks are appointed as secretaries
of BJP and later take up roles in the Government.
Modi was one such swayamsevak. They retain their
primary loyalty to RSS.
In one of the affidavits filed, miscellaneous
application No 17 of 1978, two of its
functionaries, Deoras and Rajendrasingh, stated,
"The work of RSS is neither religious nor
charitable, but its objects are cultural and
patriotic as contra-distinguished religious or
charitable. It is akin to political purposes,
though RSS is not at present a political party as
much as RSS constitution bans active
participation by the RSS as such, as a policy
Tomorrow the policy could be changed and RSS
could participate even in day-to-day political
activity as a political party because policy is
not a permanent or irrevocable thing." There is
a division of labor between different RSS
organizations. RSS is controller, planner and
coordinator, BJP operates on the political arena,
VHP brings together sadhus of different hues
along with traders etc., Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram
works in Adivasi areas to co-opt Adivasis into
Hindu fold, Bajrang dal specializes in street
violence, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad works
amongst students, one of its task being to rein
in the dissenting voices by physical threat as
seen in the case of murder of Prof. Sabharwal.
Apart from this many other RSS progenies work in
the area of education, and every field of
political life to push forward RSS agenda.
One understands culture as an expression of human
aspiration and values in the form of literature,
performing arts, living patterns, religious
practices and a gamut of activities related to
human social life. One has never heard of RSS
promoting, literature, arts etc. Of course one
has heard about RSS affiliates destroying
artistic paintings, Maqbool Fida Hussein s Gufa
in Ahmadabad, attacking the Ram Katha panels of
Sahmat exhibition, disrupting Gazal concerts of
Gulam Ali, preventing the filming of Deepa Mehta
s film Water and to cap it all in destroying an
architectural heritage of Babri Masjid. Can this
destroyer of cultural expressions be called
cultural by any sense of the word? Its culture
has politics oozing from every nook and corner of
its fields of activity. The RSS culture is
disguised politics, a cleverer way to achieve its
goal by remaining insulated from the adverse
effects of those political actions. It has been
banned on occasions for its political
interventions in society, Gandhi murder,
(Nathuram Godse was an RSS trained swayamsevak),
after Babri demolition, which was spearhead by
its progenies VHP, BJP and Bajrang Dal including
many a luminaries who came to occupy the
positions of power.
How do we assess the nature of organizations, by
their own claims or from the outcome of their
activities? One has to note the claims of RSS
being a cultural organization is a pure make
believe. It operates in the political arena by
remote control, by mechanisms which are direct as
well as indirect. Its swayamsevaks have been
involved in Gandhi murder, murder of Pastor
Stains, demolition of Babri masjid and running of
political parties. Two noteworthy incidents are
one when the Jansangh component of Janata party
broke the party since their double membership, of
RSS and of Janata party was challenged. Also
Vajpayee himself claimed with pride that he is
first a swayamsevak and than the prime minister
of India.
Different progenies of RSS have been allotted the
work in diverse social arenas to be able to
control the basic thought process of society,
starting from Saraswati Shishu Mandir right up to
RSS shakha where through the bauddhiks the
indoctrination into political ideology is carried
on. It does monitor all its braches and
coordinates their activities through All India
Pratinidhi Sabha (All India representatives
Association) which meets regularly to for this
purpose. Its goal is political, its actions are
political and its outcome is political through
and through. Surely RSS is able to use the
democratic space to work for abolition of
democracy in the long run. One recalls Hitler
also did use the democratic means to come to
power to abolish the same in the most ruthless
way guided by the aim of Sectarian Nationalism,
in the course of which he went on butchering
Jews, Communists and other minorities in the
society. On similar lines RSS and its affiliates
have been targeting Muslims and than the
Christians, secularists being next on the
chopping block.
Even without being in power it is able to control
the politics through various mechanisms, by
having a compliant state Government its agenda
runs exponentially faster, the way Gujarat has
demonstrated. In the states where BJP governments
rule, the process of communalization goes on in
top gear. With the employees being openly
participating in RSS the divisive processes will
move faster and running the administration on the
lines of Indian Constitution will become all the
more difficult. Despite knowing that such a
provision is not legally tenable, Mr. Chouhan is
implementing it for the purpose of giving the
right signal to followers of RSS ideology and to
the RSS controllers in the running feud with his
rivals for the seat of power which he is
occupying.
The present move of MP Govt is neither legally
permissible nor in tune with the principles of
Constitution of India. This major attack on the
character of civil services will not be able to
hold the legal scrutiny that's for sure but it
will lot of political advantage to those who are
bringing this in.
_____
[12]
The Hindu
Oct 21, 2006
SANGH PARIVAR, POLICE BLAMED FOR MANGALORE RIOTS
Special Correspondent
Fact-finding team gets an impression of `severe polarisation of communities'
# Team visited trouble-hit areas on Wednesday, Thursday
# Demands a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge
Bangalore: A 40-member fact-finding team drawn
from various parts of the country, which visited
Mangalore and nearby areas, has held the Sangh
Parivar and the local police responsible for the
recent communal riots there.
Speaking to The Hindu on Friday on behalf of the
team, G.K. Ramaswamy of the People's Democratic
Forum said the team visited trouble-hit areas
such as Ullal, B.C. Road, Thokkattu, Farangipet,
Gudinabali and Suratkal, local hospitals, police
stations, various local organisations and spoke
to victims on October 18 and 19.
Though the immediate cause of the riots may have
be an incident at Bajpe, the disturbances can be
traced to a simmering communal situation in the
region for over a decade, which has resulted in
"severe polarisation of the communities,"
according to the findings of the team.
The team feels that the Sangh Parivar forces have
gained strength after B. Nagaraja Shetty of the
Bharatiya Janata Party took over as the
district-in-charge Minister. It alleges that some
"communal-minded" police officers, who were
earlier transferred, were reinstated after Mr.
Shetty took charge. They played "a significant
role" in worsening the communal situation,
according to the team.
Using the bandh as the pretext, Sangh Parivar
forces targeted Muslims. Following this, the
police ransacked the houses of Muslims and
indiscriminately beat up and arrested people,
especially in Ullal and Gudinabali, resulting in
a "unilateral onslaught on the minority
community," according to the team. This has
resulted in Muslims losing faith in the police
force and the administration in general, observes
the team.
Judicial probe sought
The team has demanded a judicial investigation,
headed by a sitting judge, into the incidents
within a specified timeframe. The other demands
of the team include filing First Information
Reports against erring police officials,
revamping the force to purge it of "communal
elements" and dropping Mr. Shetty from the
Ministry. The long-term objective of the State
should be to create peace and harmony in the
district, which is now "simmering with
deep-rooted prejudices." Peace-loving people on
both sides should come forward to restore mutual
trust in order "not to create another
Gujarat-like situation," it adds.
Members of the fact-finding team include
Badhukwala of the People's Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL), Baroda; C. Subbanna of the
Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh; Sudhakar and
Kranti Chaitanya of the Andhra Pradesh Civil
Liberties Committee; Damayanti and Hari Babu of
the Committee to Protect Civil Liberties, Tamil
Nadu; T.S. Vivekananda and A. Selva of the
PUCL-Karnataka; members of Pedestrian Pictures,
Bangalore; Aravind Narain of the Alternative Law
Forum; and independent intellectuals such as
Yogindar Sikand, G. Rajashekar and Pattabhirama
Somayaji.
_____
[13] Upcoming Events
(i)
WOMEN, THE 'WAR ON TERROR' AND FUNDAMENTALISM
Saturday 21st October
2pm - 5pm
Upper Hall, University of London Union
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HY
A meeting organised by Women Against Fundamentalism
Please join us to discuss the threat to
progressive movements in the mainstream as well
as in Black, migrant and refugee communities by
both the state's 'War on Terror' and by the
collusion of elements on the Left with
fundamentalist religious leaders who are
attempting to
undermine rights and freedoms.
Speakers
Pragna Patel, Southall Black Sisters
Nadje Al-Ali, Act Together: Women's Action for Iraq
Mai Ghoussoub, writer, artist and founder of Saqi Books
Chair: Julia Bard, Jewish Socialists' Group
Entrance £5/£2
Nearest tube stations: Russell Square, Goodge Street, Euston Square
For more info contact:
Julia Bard: bardrose at dircon.co.uk;
___
(ii)
"INHERITING BJP'S INDIA: THOUGHTS ON THE UPA GOVERNMENT"
Aijaz Ahmad
Date: October 23, 2006
Time: 6-8pm
Place: Rm 1512 School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)
International Affairs Building
Columbia University, New York
India has gone from one coalition government to
another, each supported by a radically different
set of forces 'from the outside'. This was
originally construed as a great shift of power
from one end of the political and ideological
spectrum to the other. What has changed, and what
remains the same? Aijaz Ahmad, the Senior
Editoral Consultant at Frontline magazine, offers
a mid-term assessment of a whole range of
domestic and foreign policies, from poverty
alleviation to corporatization, from `war on
terror' to the communal-secular divides, from
hydrocarbons to nuclear fuels, and from Indo-US
relations to Indo-Pak relations.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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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