SACW | Dec. 19-20, 2006 | Pakistan, Bangladesh: Secular Law or Fatwa-bazi; New Nepal; India: Communalism & Hindu Right
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Tue Dec 19 19:17:23 CST 2006
South Asia Citizens Wire | December 19-20, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2335 - Year 8
[1] Pakistan: Illegal Religious Edicts
(i) Call to murder must not go unpunished (HRCP)
(ii) Letter to the Pakistan Minister of Interior (Asma Jahangir)
+ Text of Fatwa by Mufti Khalid Shah
(iii) Editorial: Fatwas, legality and the state (Edit, Daily Times)
[2] Bangladesh: Secular Law or Illegal religious edicts
(i) The curse of illegal fatwa Where is the
rule of law? (Edit, Daily Star)
(ii) A parallel system of justice cannot be allowed (Edit, New Age)
[3] The Making of a 'New Nepal' (Rita Manchanda)
[4] India: Representation of Muslims in Police
Force and Communal Riots (Asghar Ali Engineer)
[5] India: Watching The Waves, Silently - BJP
has got a foothold in coastal Karnataka
[6] India: Indore to become Indur, Bhopal Bhojpal
[7] India: VHP's Moral Police targets young couples
[8] Upcoming Events:
(i) Public Hearing - Gujarat Genocide: Victim's
Account after 5 years (New Delhi, 20 December)
(ii) Nyaygrah campaign for legal justice and
reconciliation in Gujarat (Ahmedabad, 28 December)
____
[1]
(i)
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Press Release
19th, December 2006
CALL TO MURDER MUST NOT GO UNPUNISHED
LAHORE: HRCP has been shocked to receive a copy
of a horrifying Fatwa’ (edict) issued by a cleric
in the Darra Adam Khel area of the NWFP and has
written to the interior minister asking him to do
his duties.
The edict labels international organizations,
including those falling under the UN umbrella and
the International Red Cross, as well as local
NGOs working for human rights, as agents of the
Jews and the West. Most alarmingly, the Fatwa’
declares that it falls among the duties of all
Muslims to target these organizations all over
the world by murdering their members, using
weapons of mass destruction against them,
destroying their homes, targeting their vehicles
and seizing their assets.
This Fatwa’ is only one among many issued this
year in the NWFP targetting NGO activists,
particularly women. Three women working with NGOs
were murdered in the NWFP in 2006 alone. Another
Fatwa’ issued by a cleric in Mansehra, has called
on NGOs to pull out from the Hazara area or face
action against themselves. HRCP has received many
other complaints of harassment or intimidation,
which has already led to some organizations
curtailing their activities in the NWFP.
What is far more disturbing than the threats
themselves is the failure of authorities to
prosecute those responsible for making them. The
latest Fatwa’, like many others distributed
previously, is not anonymous. Its author has
affixed to it his name and qualifications. The
Fatwa’ has also been pasted up as posters across
the Darra Adam Khel area. Therefore, the
authorities cannot claim they are unable to trace
the source of incitement to hatred and murder.
Pretending ignorance of those guilty of preaching
violence amounts to collusion.
The latest call to kill is an outcome of a
failure to act previously against those
delivering such messages of hatred. HRCP can only
call upon those in authority to act now, before
it is to late, and some of the terrible crimes
called for are carried out.
Asma Jahangir
Chairperson
o o o
(ii) LETTER TO MINISTER OF INTERIOR
Mr Aftab Ahmed Sherpao
Minister for the Interior
Islamabad
19th December, 2006
Dear Mr Sherpao,
This is to bring to your notice an edict that has
been widely distributed and pasted ion to walls
in Darra Adam Khel. A copy is attached for your
information and record.
The edict labels international organizations,
including those falling under the UN umbrella and
the International Red Cross, as well as local
NGOs working for human rights, as agents of the
Jews and the West. Most alarmingly, the 'fatwa'
declares that it falls among the duties of all
Muslims to target these organizations all over
the world by murdering their members, using
weapons of mass destruction against them,
destroying their homes, targeting their vehicles
and seizing their assets.
This 'fatwa' is only one among many issued this
year in the NWFP targetting NGO activists,
particularly women. Three women working with NGOs
were murdered in the NWFP in 2006 alone. Another
'fatwa' issued by a cleric in Mansehra, has
called on NGOs to pull out from the Hazara area
or face action against themselves. HRCP has
received many other complaints of harassment or
intimidation, which has already led to some
organizations curtailing their activities in the
NWFP.
What is most disturbing is the failure of
authorities to prosecute those responsible for
making these threats. The latest 'fatwa', like
many others distributed previously, is not
anonymous. Its author has affixed to it his name
and qualifications. The 'fatwa' has also been
pasted up as posters across the Darra Adam Khel
area. Therefore, the authorities cannot claim
they are unable to trace the source of incitement
to hatred and murder.
We believe it is your obligation to act against
those responsible for disseminating hatred and
threatening lives.
Yours sincerely,
Asma Jahangir
Chairperson
Cc: Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Jan Orakzai, Governor NWFP
o o o
[see Text of Fatwa in Urdu by Mufti Khalid Shah
http://sacw.insaf.net/free/Fatwa1.jpg ]
o o o
(iii)
The Daily Times
December 16, 2006
EDITORIAL: FATWAS, LEGALITY AND THE STATE
A very curious case has been adjudicated by the
Peshawar High Court involving a man who is
alleged to have printed Quranic verses with some
changes (tehreef) in them. The man was hauled up
by the police and brought before a judge in
Peshawar who gave him life imprisonment. Earlier,
the same accused had been let off when the
witness against him repudiated his statement. But
after many years the same man turned around and
revived the case and got the accused in trouble.
The honourable High Court has now acquitted the
man of the charge.
The life sentence at the Sessions Court was
awarded on the basis of 12 witnesses and the
fatwa of a local cleric. While handing down the
acquittal, the High Court said that the
government should constitute a body of religious
scholars and authorise it to issue official
fatwas on grave issues, and that the practice of
unofficial fatwas should end. The cleric whose
fatwa was made the basis of a life sentence was
in favour of doing taweez with Quranic text
written on pieces of paper, but when the verse
apparently got changed in the process he
recommended severe punishment to the man. Another
sad fact is that the case was taken off the first
time but after six years the police arrested the
accused again because the plaintiff said he had
withdrawn the case earlier under police pressure.
We are sure that the honourable High Court made
its recommendations (about the need for an
official body of religious scholars or muftis to
issue fatwas) in jest, since Pakistan has a
functioning Federal Shariat Court attuned
especially to forestall the evil habit of issuing
fatwas. If the government appoints a grand mufti
then it is inevitable that he will be used for
the government's specific political purposes,
thus bringing Islam into disrepute. What, for
example, would happen if the fatwa of the mufti
were to be set aside by a court? Will the lower
courts be bound by it; and what will be the upper
courts' jurisdiction with regard to the fatwas
thus issued?
It is a matter of great concern that the police
should have registered a case against the man
accused of tehreef on the basis of a fatwa. In
fact there was no need for the fatwa at all
because it is not within the ambit of law. The
Sessions Court should have deemed it
inadmissible. But it did not, confirming that
there is a deep socio-pathological element
involved here. Over the years our judiciary has
become mentally soft on the clergy. Indeed, it
would not be far wrong to say that in some cases
our judges in the lower courts have assumed
without any legal grounds that they are equal to
the classical identity of a mufti appointed by a
Muslim sultan.
The fact is that all manner of fatwas have done a
lot of harm to our society. They are responsible
for gradually cutting the ground from under the
jurisdiction of the state. Fatwas have been
obtained by the powerful to intimidate the less
privileged and the muftis themselves belong to
religious organisations involved in jihad and
they are in a position to enforce the fatwa with
coercion. For example, when the Jaish-e-Muhammad
was riding high and had its 17 offices in Lahore
under the patronage of certain intelligence
agencies in Islamabad, its gun-toting youths made
their pocket money through the enforcement of
fatwas.
In Karachi the business of fatwas is rampant.
Even if in some cases they are helpful in ending
a dispute and getting one party to accept
arbitration, it is essentially suicidal for a
state to allow this activity. Pakistan's
sectarian curse is based on dozens of fatwas
issued by our Deobandi seminaries in 1986. The
greatest apostatiser of them all, Maulana Haq
Nawaz Jhangvi, gave the fatwa of takfeer in 1985
and challenged the courts to hear him out and
prove his fatwa wrong. When the state did not
act, the Shias began to be killed. Many fatwas
were also issued about the citizens of other
countries, asking the people of Pakistan to kill
them wherever they saw them.
The fatwa is simply impermissible. Whosoever
issues a fatwa commits a crime because he is
issuing a judgement and asking the receiver of a
fatwa to implement it. It is like opening a
parallel court. The matter of fatwas brings to
our notice the gradual erosion of state
institutions in the face of social disorder, just
like the diyat case where a killer can go
scot-free after paying blood money. In many cases
when a prisoner has been considered eligible for
blood money but cannot pay the aggrieved party he
languishes in jail forever. Here again "Islam"
has been exploited simply to keep someone
permanently in jail. Therefore the Supreme Court
has done well to ask the government to set up a
fund for payment of diyat for those prisoners who
don't have the money to buy their freedom. *
_____
[2]
The Daily Star
December 19, 2006
Editorial
THE CURSE OF ILLEGAL FATWA
WHERE IS THE RULE OF LAW?
According to a press report, for a so-called
'fatwa' issued by a local mufti in a village in
Sunamganj of Sylhet, a girl was to be caned until
she bled. This was a punishment to be meted out
to her for having had illicit relations with a
young man of the same village.
The girl is the daughter of a Freedom Fighter who
ekes out a living by begging. He was also
punished for the act of commission of his
daughter, by having to do the rounds of a local
mosque with shoes strung round his neck. To top
it all, when asked, the officer of the local
police station expressed his complete ignorance
about the incident.
We are deeply shocked by the incident. We find
the "judgment" passed by the local religious
leader abhorrent and against all ethics and civil
and religious norms. We cannot understand under
what authority the girl's father was made to
undergo such a humiliating punishment after being
ostracized with his family for seven days, and
going without food during that time. If anybody,
it should have been the boy who should have been
whipped for exploiting the girl and her father's
poverty
There are several things that need to be
addressed. First, who has given the authority to
the religious leader to award any punishment to
the girl and her father? Why are the authorities
silent when the law of the land is being violated
with impunity? Secondly, it is the poor and
hapless girl who is already a victim of the
lascivious act of the boy who walked her up the
garden path only to discard her. And now she is
being disgraced, and in a way violated in public,
by making her face the public punishment.
Thirdly, it exposes the moral bankruptcy and
hypocrisy of the society when it stands by while
a poor girl is humiliated, all in the name of
religion.
We must point out the fact that in the past we
have turned a blind eye to such incidents where
the girls were punished after having been lured
to immoral acts by men. And religion had been
used, wrongly, to perpetrate the shameful
injustice to women.
It was time the authorities came down heavily on
those who use religion to take the law into their
own hands and use it to pass judgments that are
repugnant, both to the letter and spirit of the
religion. We sincerely hope that the government
will take appropriate measures to put a stop to
all such acts, if the sanctity of our religion
and the ideal on which this very nation was
founded are to be preserved.
o o o
New Age
December 20, 2006
Editorial
A PARALLEL SYSTEM OF JUSTICE CANNOT BE ALLOWED
Another fatwa victim had a hairbreadth escape
from savage flogging and public humiliation and
possible death. Seventeen-year-old Mahmuda Begum
of village Manirgati-Noyagaon in Chhatak, Sylhet,
is the daughter of a freedom fighter who was
driven to destitution and lived by begging. A
last-minute rescue operation by the police saved
her from undergoing public beating in
implementation of a fatwa pronounced against her
by a local madrassah teacher and khatib of the
local mosque, Abdus Sobhan. This is not the first
case of public humiliation of a poverty-stricken
woman under the fatwa decree, nor will it
possibly be the last if the bigoted and
self-seeking ones and enemies of progress are not
resisted.
The case against unmarried Mahmuda was that
she bore an illegitimate child (who later died)
after being seduced by a local influential person
called Lala Mia. After Friday prayer the local
arbitrators decreed that Mahmuda would be flogged
publicly. But arbitrators ignored the seducer who
was the prime sinner but vented their wrath
against the poor girl who was obviously more
sinned against than sinning. At the same time a
humiliating punishment was inflicted upon the
girl's father, the poor freedom fighter. After
the story was published in the media police went
to the village and rescued the girl and held four
people. Abdus Sobhan who pronounced the decree
and Lala Mia the seducer are absconding.
Fatwa is legally untenable in a modern polity.
A parallel justice system cannot be tolerated. In
most cases the victims of fatwa are poor women.
The salish or arbitration court are welcome only
as means of dispute settlement through
reconciliation; they cannot be allowed to
pronounce sentence or assume the role of a court
of law. If Mahmuda were guilty, a first
information report with the police should have
been filed and the legal process started. In most
fatwa cases the victims are the poor who cannot
manipulate opinions in their favour. If fatwa is
allowed, it will roll back all social progress
and land us into the age of darkness.
It is remarkable that though our rural society
is orthodox and social boycott, etc against
transgressors was occasionally enforced, public
beating of women for real or imagined crimes and
sins was not known. The first well-publicised
case of this nature took place in 1993, also in a
Sylhet village, where Noorjahan, a poor woman was
publicly flogged because a religious leader of
the locality ruled that her second marriage was
not in conformity with religious injunctions. The
woman in her agony committed suicide. Since then
this kind of persecution of women in the garb of
religious ruling has been going on. A few years
ago, in the context of one such incident of
persecution of a woman, the High Court decided
that fatwa is illegal. The government, in order
to appease the fundamentalists, preferred an
appeal against the ruling. The government must
make its position clear whether fatwa as a
do-it-yourself justice can be allowed to continue.
_____
[3]
Economic and Political Weekly
December 9, 2006
THE MAKING OF A 'NEW NEPAL'
by Rita Manchanda
http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=12&filename=10837&filetype=pdf
______
[4]
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2006/12/representation-of-muslims-in-police.html
REPRESENTATION OF MUSLIMS IN POLICE FORCE AND COMMUNAL RIOTS
by Asghar Ali Engineer
(Secular Perspective December 16-31)
Sachar Committee Report has given figures of
Muslim representation in police force in various
states. Praveen Swami, a noted columnist and
commentators of current events on Kashmir in
particular, and Muslims in general, has written
an article in Frontline (December 16, 06) "Bias
and the Police" which is quite interesting to
read. He examines these figures of Muslim
presence in various states and maintains that it
is not necessary that greater representation of
Muslims in police force can ensure absence of
communal violence.
Thus Parveen Swami says, "Representative policing
is a seductive slogan, offering a one pill
solution to an infinitely complex and apparently
incurable malaise (emphasis in original). At
best, however, it is a placebo -- not a
prescription for building professional police
force,"
It is not that one disagrees with Mr. Swami but
one has to put things in perspective by examining
various factors, which lead to communal violence.
Before we do so we would like to throw some light
on representation of Muslims in the police force
and communal situation in different states. For
example in Kerala Muslims are 24.7 per cent of
population and their representation in the state
police is 12.96 per cent. Thus their presence in
police is half their presence in the state
population. Yet, Kerala is, by and large, free of
communal violence.
Similarly, in Tamil Nadu Muslim constitute 5.46
per cent of state population and Muslims are just
0.11 in the police force and Tamil Nadu too, is
not communally sensitive pace and barring few
riots, it has been by and large free of communal
violence. But then in Maharashtra Muslims are
10.60 per cent in population and their presence
in police is 4.71 per cent. But Maharashtra
witnesses communal violence repeatedly and
several parts of Maharashtra are communally
sensitive.
In Uttar Pradesh Muslims are 18.50 per cent and
their presence in police is only 4.24 per cent
and who does not know how sensitive several parts
of U.P. were ultra sensitive until yesterday. Yet
today both U.P. and Bihar (in Bihar too Muslims
are just 5.4 per cent in the police force as
against their population of 16.53 per cent) are
free of communal violence for last few years.
Thus Parveen Swami is right in asserting that one
should not think that Muslim presence in police
force will ensure communal violence free state.
In fact no one maintains that presence of Muslims
in adequate numbers in police force by itself can
ever ensure riot-free society. What is
maintained, and Mr. Swami also accepts it, is
that proper presence of Muslims in police force
would lead, and I would like to emphasise not
entirely, but to some extent, proper handling of
communal riot and post-communal-riot situation.
A prejudiced police force can further aggravate
the situation after out-break of communal
violence and also can implicate more and more
number of innocent Muslims on false charges of
rioting, as often happens.
Let us remember that communalism and communal
violence are fundamentally political phenomenon.
Even if there is zero representation of Muslims
in police force but political situation is
congenial to communal harmony, there will be no
outbursts of communal violence. And, on the other
and, even if there is over-representation of
Muslims in the police force, there is absolutely
no guarantee that there will be no communal
violence. In Andhra Pradesh Muslim presence in
police force is 13.25 per cent as against their
population of 9.17 per cent and yet Hyderabad
area is communally quite sensitive and frequent
communal riots take place.
Where there is political determination not to
have communal violence, there will be none, even
if police is highly prejudicial to Muslims and
Muslim presence in police force is minimal. One
has to carefully study the political situation in
order to understand dynamics of communal violence.
It is also, important to understand that in India
we have no professional policing. Even if it is
our ideal, reality is far from the ideal. Our
society is divided vertically in caste hierarchy
and horizontally in religious, regional and
linguistic communities. Thus we all are carriers
of caste, communal, regional and linguistic
prejudices. Apart from our society, even our
education system inculcate these prejudices in
us. And our police being part of our society and
having been educated in the same educational
system cannot be free of these prejudices.
I have been to various institutions of police
training and have examined there training system,
there is nothing in it that can free the
policemen of these socially acquired prejudices.
Thus more often than not, a policeman becomes a
Hindu or a Gujarati or Maharashtrian, a Brahmin
or Rajput when there are caste, communal or
linguistic clashes and often unabashedly so. When
I was interviewing a police constable in Deonar,
a Mumbai suburb during 1992-93 riots, he told me
take off my police uniform and I am a Shivsainik
at heart. It did not surprise me. The police
behaviour was highly partisan during Mumbai riots.
Let alone, state police force (this category
generally includes constabulary, sub-inspectors
and inspectors) even IPS people are often not
free of communal and upper caste prejudices. One
should not treat the police force as homogenous
one. The state recruits carry more raw prejudices
both caste and communal whereas IPS force tends
to be more sophisticated.
Undoubtedly there are secular and honest officers
and also those who are secular but yet
politically ambitious or aspiring to better and
more lucrative posts. Such officers are equally
dangerous though they may not be communal or
casteist by inclination. Politicians use police
officers for their own political purposes. Those
police officers who do not give in to political
demands are dumped into obscure posting rendering
them quite ineffective.
It is well-known fact that there will be no
communal violence, if it does not suit
politicians in their power game. Both U.P. and
Bihar were inflammable states for decades. The
battle for partition was also fought mainly in
these two states in north India. This legacy
continued for decades after partition. But the
scenario dramatically changed after
implementation of Mandal Commission. The backward
caste Hindus now entered into alliance with
Muslims in U.P. and Bihar, in order to seize
political power from upper caste Hindus. Thus MY
(Muslim and Yadav) alliance created different
compulsions. In both the states Yadav chief
ministers curbed communal violence with
determination lest they loose Muslim votes.
Nitish Kumar, the present Bihar chief Minister
though an NDA ally and part of BJP communal
outfit, is pursuing ‘secular politics' in his own
political interests. He is also trying to win
over Muslim votes for his survival. He is
competing with Lalu Prasad in luring Muslims. He
is ensuring that no communal violence occurs in
Bihar. Not only that he demanded that the guilty
of Bhagalpur communal riots (of 1989) be punished
and Muslims given compensation.
He is even justifying the Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's statement that Muslims should get due
share in development funds though BJP rocked the
Parliament on this issue and did not allow it to
function. It also threatened to launch a week
-long agitation. But they are keeping quiet on
Nitish Kumar's opposite viewpoint. They know in
Bihar they cannot maintain coalition in power
without such tactics. They even justified Nitish
Kumar's stand. BJP pursued hard Hindutva policies
in order to promote its own upper caste and
middle caste Hindu vote bank.
Thus it will be seen that whole issue of communal
violence is very complex one. We need secular
police force not because it is the only effective
way of fighting communal violence; even otherwise
we need ideally a secular and professional police
force. But problem again is political. Most of
our politicians misuse police for their partisan
politics and do not want professional and
autonomous police force. It suits them to have
casteist and communal police servile to their
needs.
In order to have professional political force,
they must be thoroughly grounded in secular
values and constitutional spirit, something
hardly any politician wants. An autonomous
police force is also double-edged sword. Autonomy
can be effective only if police is really
professionally trained and is freed from all
prejudices. But ridden with these prejudices an
autonomous force can be more dangerous for
religious and linguistic minorities.
Also representation of minorities in police is
highly desirable as Swami also points out in his
article. Not to prevent communal violence as
simple solution but to give justice to minorities
and also to reduce gravity of communal violence,
if it breaks out for political reasons. A secular
police may not be able to prevent communal
violence but can certain reduce its gravity with
even-handed handling. And presence of minorities
will certainly help in this respect. Post-riot
investigations will also become more just.
Despite all political factors, a secular and
representative police force (representative of
minorities) is highly desirable.
_____
[5]
Outlook
December 25, 2006
KARNATAKA
WATCHING THE WAVES, SILENTLY
The BJP has got a foothold in coastal Karnataka-thanks to the Congress
As the Sangh parivar paints coastal Karnataka
saffron, the Congress remains a helpless
bystander. Party veteran and ex-Union minister
C.K. Jaffar Sharief told Outlook: "Unfortunately,
Congress leaders from this region, Oscar
Fernandes, Veerappa Moily, Janardan Poojary and
Margaret Alva are all in Delhi. The people's
representatives must be there to counsel partymen
to tackle the Sangh. But there seems to be a lack
of ideological commitment. Earlier, S.M. Krishna
as chief minister allowed the communal elements
to grow."
Today, within the Congress' Karnataka unit, there
is division and despair. Some feel the only way
out is the Gujarat route, playing the soft
Hindutva card. Take Poojary who was MP from
Mangalore (1977 -1991), now riot-scarred. In
1991, the Ram temple movement swept him aside-or
so he believes. He responded by renovating the
city's Gokarnath temple, getting Rajiv Gandhi to
inaugurate it before launching an annual Dussehra
yatra to rival the royal one in Mysore. He
defends this today, saying this shrine was one of
the first in the south open to Dalits-and
therefore the renovation and the Dussehra yatra
was as much about social reform as religion. But
clearly, it was an attempt to win back the Hindu
vote.
Journalist and member of Karnataka's Communal
Harmony Forum Gauri Lankesh says, "The coastal
belt has a long tradition of peaceful
Hindu-Muslim co-existence. But no more. And the
Congress here-like in Gujarat-is rapidly becoming
the BJP's B team." Party general secretary
Margaret Alva disagrees: "The BJP has no issue
but communalism, and Deve Gowda (former prime
minister) is making them respectable. We are
fighting them politically." Asked why this isn't
evident, she retorts, "Do you expect us to take
to the streets?"
Some Congressmen are worried that targetting Deve
Gowda will only help the BJP fill the
non-Congress space: Says a local leader, "If that
happens, Karnataka will be the first southern
state where the BJP will establish itself as a
major party-thanks to us."
_____
[6]
The Times of India
NOW, INDORE TO BECOME INDUR, BHOPAL BHOJPAL
[ 18 Dec, 2006 0242Hrs Ist Times News Network ]
BHOPAL: After Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata,
Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru, the Jabalpur
Municipal Corporation has passed a resolution to
rename the city to Jabalipuram.
The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government is also
mulling renaming Bhopal to Bhojpal and Indore to
Indur.
The resolution was passed in the Jabalpur
Municipal Corporation meeting on Saturday, both
by BJP and Congress members. Corporators said the
city was being renamed after a sage in the
'Ramayana'. The resolution has been sent to the
state government.
According to some BJP members, every part of the
country should be renamed after carrying out
historical analysis and research.
BJP leader Anil Dave told TOI, "Post
Independence, we removed British statues from the
country. So why can't we remove the British names
of our cities?"
"It was a demand by the people of Jabalpur to
name it after 'rishi' Jabali who had his
meditation camp here," Jabalpur mayor Sushila
Singh said. "Let us connect our city with the
history and culture of our country. Jabalpur on
the banks of river Narmada is a sacred place of
Hindu sages."
Congress corporator Jagat Bahadur Singh said,
"Sadhus gathered in my ward in Narsingh and
proposed that the city be renamed after sage
Jabali. This was Congress agenda, not the BJP's."
Renaming Bhopal to Bhojpal (the city of king
Bhoj) after Bhoj Deva - the Paramara king who
ruled the region from 1010 AD to 1055 AD and was
a soldier, builder, scholar and patron of
learning - was BJP's agenda.
Bhoj Deva's position in history matched
Vikramaditya Chandragupta II who ruled from
Ujjaini (now Ujjain).
The first attempt to connect Bhopal to Raja Bhoj
was made in 2002 when the name of the city's
airport was changed to Raja Bhoj International
Airport.
_____
[7]
ibnlive.com
December 09, 2006 at 20:23
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/vhp-workers-thrash-young-couples/28066-3.html
VHP WORKERS THRASH YOUNG COUPLES
MORAL POLICE: The workers were armed with hockey
sticks and lathis and thrashed the young men.
Ahmedabad: After the Meerut Police carried out
Operation Majnu to crack-down on pesky
eveteasers, it was the VHP's turn to moral police
the society.
VHP and Bajrang Dal activists misbehaved with
young couples and beat up boys in a park in
Ahmedabad.
The party workers alleged that some boys were
"harassing girls" and thus they decided to teach
them a lesson.
Among the VHP workers were some girls as well.
The workers were armed with hockey sticks and
lathis and thrashed the young men.
The girls said that they wanted to weed the
society of men who used girls for their own means.
The Ahmedabad police were nowhere to be seen and
the VHP activists were law unto themselves for
quite some time.
Says a girl who was beaten up, "When I tried to
stop them, they hit me four times with stick. I
hope no other girl is treated like this."
The man behind the lathicharge is said to be
Bajrang Dal activist Babu Bajrangi.
"We have not taken the law into our hands. We
just want to teach girls how to live decently,"
was all Babu Bajrangi had to say.
Bajrangi is accused of one of the deadliest
massacres during the 2002 Gujarat riots, the
Naroda Patia massacre.
o o o
http://www.rxpgnews.com/
BAJRANG DAL TARGETS YOUNG COUPLES AGAIN
Dec 17, 2006 - 11:08:06 PM
Bhopal, Dec 17 - Activists of the Bajrang Dal
have warned young couples here against meeting in
public places or be ready to be punished.
Resorting to so-called moral policing, Bajrang
Dal members raided Manuabhan Ki Tekri - a picnic
spot here - that also has a Jain temple within
its premises and made young couples do sit-ups
for indulging in actions against the 'culture of
our country'.
Though the incident took place Thursday, it came
to light Saturday when a regional news channel
showed clips of couples being subjected to
'punishment'.
The Bajrang Dal has now warned of intensifying
their movement against what they call 'obscenity'.
'Bajrang Dal will not tolerate any obscenity at
places of religious importance. We took action
after we found them in a compromising position
and we will continue to take action against such
activities,' Vishal Purohit, a Bajrang Dal
leader, told IANS.
The hardline Hindu group, however, says it was
forced to resort to extreme action since the
police had failed to check such 'indecent' acts.
'We were compelled to take the law into our hands
after police took no steps against our complaints
regarding obscenity in public places. We once
again urge that police personnel be deployed at
religious shrines to curb the display of such
obscenity,' Purohit said.
Said Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh: 'No one
has made any complaint in this connection. We
will act if we get a complaint from anyone.'
In the past few years, Bajrang Dal has disrupted
Valentine's Day celebrations by vandalising gift
shops and burning hundreds of cards.
_____
[8] UPCOMING EVENTS:
(i)
GUJARAT GENOCIDE: VICTIM'S ACCOUNT AFTER 5 YEARS
- Wednesday December 20 th from 11a.m to 4 p.m at
the Indian Social Institute, Lodhi Road, New
Delhi.
SAHMAT
8, Vithalbhai Patel House, Rafi Marg
New Delhi-110001
Tel-23711276/23351424
e-mail: sahmat at vsnl.com
19.12.2006
To: The Chief Reporter
Citizens for Justice and Peace, a Citizens group
working with the victims of the Gujarat Genocide
of 2002, and SAHMAT wish to invite you to be part
of a Public Hearing on the plight of the victims
five years after the State sponsored Genocide.
The day long Public Hearing is scheduled for
Wednesday December 20th in New Delhi from 11a.m
to 4 p.m at the Indian Social Institute, Lodhi
Road,New Delhi.
Present will be victims of the violence and legal
representatives to give an update on the current
status of relief and justice, five years after
the events.
This is a follow-up to the victims testimony which we organised in 2002.
Please send a photographer and a reporter to cover the hearing.
Citizens For Justice and Peace
SAHMAT
Teesta Setalvad
Ram Rahman
____
(ii) Nyaygrah campaign for legal justice and reconciliation in Gujarat
Dear Friends
On Dec 28 morning from 10 to 12.30 pm, workers,
friends and supporters of the Nyaygrah campaign
for legal justice and reconciliation in Gujarat
will gather at Ahmedabad. On this morning, Indira
Jaisingh has kindly agreed to release the legal
manual prepared by Lawyers Collective and Aman
Biradari, and Ram Kumar Narayan will release the
report of the survey of the latest condition in
all 81 relief colonies.
We are on this occasion going to invite all the
justice workers, as well as affected people who
have resisted, fought fear and boycott, spoken
the truth in courts under very adverse
circumstances, and shown extraordinary compassion
and courage. It would be great if it is possible
for you to kindly join us at Ahmedabad on this
occasion.
Gandhiji spoke of Satyagraha as a people's
struggle for truth. In the context of continued
injustice, impunity and economic blockade faced
by people in Gujarat only because they follow a
different faith, a people's campaign for justice
and equal rights guaranteed under the
constitution, peace and reconciliation in under
way in Gujarat called Nyayagrah.
Nyayagrah's efforts for legal justice is founded
on the strategy of mass community based
lawyering. Most organisations decided to focus
all their attention and resources on selected
major 'test cases', where there was a great deal
of loss of life, and to fight these with the best
legal talent, and considerable resources and
efforts for witness protection and support. The
outcome of these efforts has been very salutary.
Nyayagrah attempts to complement and support
these major efforts for justice. Despite the very
important wider impact of the legal efforts
focussed on a few major cases, in a practical
sense an estimated 80 to 90 percent of
the victims still had to struggle on their own to
fight their legal cases. This would be a
formidable human rights challenge even in more
'normal' circumstances, but it can be devastating
both for justice and people's morale in the
situation of massive unprecedented state
subversion of justice. This is compounded further
by the atmosphere and intimidation, in which
large numbers of people are being coerced to
concede to humiliating 'compromises' of agreeing
to withhold or even reverse their evidence
that can bring the guilty to book.
Legal justice for the victims of 2002 is the
core of our work but we are also committed to
working towards building trust and peace between
the two communities. The fundamental philosophy
underpinning the campaign is that justice is a
prerequisite to peace and work of building trust
between the two communities has to be on terms
which are fair and grounded on values of
equality, respect and care for the other. We
therefore are against compromises that were
reached under coercive and unjust
circumstances. We have heard of Muslim citizens
being denied the right to legal justice as a
precondition to returning to their village homes.
We are resolutely against any reconciliation
based on such unjust foundations.
The Nyayagrah team is a mix of Hindus/Muslims,
men/women, middle class/working class,
believers/non-believers who are drawn together by
their commitment to the ideal of equal
citizenship rights for all Gujaratis irrespective
of their religion, class or gender. We are
committed to pursuing our aims within certain
ethical parameters, to struggle to pursue the
path of truth and justice by striving to follow a
truthful and just path. We are clear in our
advice and guidance to nyaypathiks not to offer
any inducements to victims and witnesses to fight
their cases and not to make their willingness to
fight a condition of our support. The battle for
justice and healing will be a long drawn out one.
The campaign is presently primarily working in
the four districts of Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha,
Kheda and Anand. One major part of our efforts
for legal justice has focussed on the Supreme
Court. Nyaygrah with Lawyers' Collective fought a
long battle in the Supreme Court to challenge the
closure without trial of more than 2000
cases registered after the carnage. The historic
order from the Supreme Court in September 2004 to
re-examine all cases that were summarily closed
or acquitted opened up the opportunity to secure
justice for thousands of survivors of the
Gujarat carnage. We persisted with our efforts in
the Supreme Court. An enormous success of
Nyayagrah is that the Gujarat government in
January 2006 has finally had to bow down to the
repeated pressures in the Supreme Court as well
as on the ground, and ordered the reopening of
all but 22 of the closed cases. This means that
the opportunity t! o secure justice has been
successfully reclaimed for thousands of the
victims of the massacre. But we realised that now
the battle has to be strengthened on the ground,
directly with the survivors who live each
day with fear and hate.
Overall, we have now contacted affected
persons/families in 844 cases in the four
districts. This indicates a progress of 627
further contacts since February. It is estimated
that about 50% of the affected people
are internally displaced. The justice activists
have to make many visits before they are able to
win the confidence and trust of the victims to
start discussing the details of their individual
cases and ascertain what the problems in each
particular case are. Taken across the four
districts, we have managed to convince affected
persons in 334 out of 844 cases which translates
to about 4 in every 10 case
contacted so far has agreed to fight his/her
/their case. It is important to remember that
because of the phenomenon of omnibus FIRs (First
Investigation Report) where entire villages,
sometimes 2-3 villages were included in a single
FIR. The result is that a case may easily have
30-40 victims/witnesses and the justice activists
in such cases have to contact numerous people and
call group meetings to inform and advise the
people about their legal rights and the nature of
support Nyayagrah can give them to fight for
justice.
It would be wonderful if you can make the time to
join us at Ahmedabad on the morning of 28 Dec,
for the release of the legal manual and report on
colonies, to reflect and share in the on-going
work for justice and reconciliation, to meet the
justice workers and survivors, and to celebrate
their courage, compassion and humanity.
Thank you for your on-going solidarity.
Warm regards,
Harsh Mander
Darkness can never drive out darkness. Only light can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
------------------
Aman Biradari
R-38/A, Second Floor, South Extension Part II,
New Delhi 110 049
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