SACW | April 11, 2007 | Pakistan: HRCP on state and society / Bangladesh: rights / India: derecognise BJP; Savarkar; Communalism in Goa; Stop the Hate Campaign

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | April 11, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2387 - Year 9

[1]  Pakistan: HRCP AGM slates dysfunctional State and anarchy
[2]  Bangladesh: A death on our conscience (Tazreena Sajjad)
[3]  Bangladesh: Democracy Saved or Sunk? (Jalal Alamgir)
[4]  India: Election Commission Must Derecognize BJP (Shamsul Islam)
[5]  India: The Myth of Early Savarkar (Nalini Taneja)
[6]  India: Goa : Communal Tinderbox Waiting To Explode ? (Subhash Gatade)
[7]  Laurie Baker: the country's only Indian architect (Gautam Bhatia)
[8]  Events:
    (i) Stop the Hate Campaign Anhad Release of 
Video CD - Secular Voices (Lucknow, 11 April 2007)
    (ii) Torture, Lies and Show Trials: India's 
'War On Terror' - meeting and book launch in 
support of the Save Afzal Guru Campaign (London, 
12 April 2007)

____


[1]

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
April 09, 2007

Press release:

HRCP AGM SLATES DYSFUNCTIONAL STATE AND ANARCHY

Lahore, April 8, 2007: The dysfunctional 
government, growing anarchy across the country, 
rising religious militancy, the issue of the 
country's 'disappeared' people and the current 
judicial crisis were some of the matters 
discussed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 
HRCP, held here on April 8th. HRCP members from 
across the country took part in detailed 
discussions, after which the following statement 
was issued:
This Annual General Meeting of the Human Rights 
Commission of Pakistan has found that the first 
hand reports of the situation in the different 
parts of the country point to:
i)	a strong link between state agents and 
militant groups that are operating in the country 
with impunity; and
ii)	that resolving such deep-seated rot in 
the system of governance is not possible unless 
unrepresentative organs of the state – the 
military, the mullah and the all-consuming 
intelligence agencies – are brought under control 
and prevented from undermining both the state and 
the societies.

The following are some of the issues arising out 
of this review of the dysfunctional state and 
governance that have been identified.
Descent into anarchy: The complete collapse of 
the rule of law, coupled with the emergence of 
many forms of militias that have taken control of 
parts of the country, most notably in the NWFP, 
denotes a descent into a state of total anarchy. 
Taliban-style militias control areas of Tank, 
Darra Adam Khel and Dera Ismail Khan. A struggle 
continues for control over an area disputed 
between Peshawar and the Mohmand Agency, 
affecting at least 100,000 people.
Elsewhere too, across the country, there has been 
a complete collapse of law and order. Violent 
crimes are a daily occurrence in larger cities 
and small towns across the Punjab and Sindh. A 
sharp rise in the number of cases of kidnapping 
for ransom has been seen everywhere, with 
inter-provincial gangs operating with apparent 
impunity. In Sindh, Hindus are being especially 
targetted. In Balochistan, rocket attacks and 
bomb blasts  take place regularly, even in Quetta 
as well as in towns like Pasni and Turbat. 116 
bomb blasts were recorded in the province during 
the last six months.
Power-supply installations have recently been 
targetted, inflicting immense hardships on 
citizens and especially farmers. This AGM warns 
that the anarchy currently prevailing shows the 
State has lost all writ, and is longer able to 
protect the lives or property of citizens 
anywhere. It noted the government's flawed 
devolution schemes has been partly responsible 
for this.
Judicial crisis: The struggle waged by citizens, 
and particularly lawyers, against the removal of 
the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the blatant 
intervention in the judicial process by the 
military regime, has underscored the people's 
commitment to safeguarding what remains of 
judicial independence and democratic norms. This 
HRCP AGM supports the efforts of people to 
protest the actions taken by rulers who now seem 
to believe even the most basic rules of democracy 
and good governance can be pushed aside. We also 
call on all human rights activists across the 
country to join in this campaign. The AGM 
reiterates its demand that democracy be restored 
immediately, and holds that this is the only way 
to end the current crisis, begin the process of 
restoring judicial independence and avoid a 
plunge into further disaster. The AGM pays its 
tribute to members of the bar associations for 
leading the movement on the independence of the 
judiciary.
Rising religious militancy: The excesses 
committed against innocent citizens by the female 
students of the Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad are only 
the latest phase in an accelerating process of 
Talibanization.
The dire warnings of forced 'Islamization', 
suicide attacks and the setting up of a 'Qazi' 
court by the clerics running the controversial 
Lal Masjid, are even grimmer. The closure of 
girl's schools, video and music shops, barber's 
shops and the delivery of edicts against NGOs has 
continued unchecked over the past two years
in the NWFP. Areas in Bannu, Malakand and Tank 
are under Taliban- rule. Video shops have been 
bombed and barbers' threatened. The MMA 
provincial government, for its part, is reported 
to be considering bans on dance and music, and 
has already stopped cultural events at 
educational institutions. The failure of 
authorities to act against those committing these 
crimes has inevitably emboldened religious 
fanatics, who are now expanding their activities 
in major cities.
This AGM is not convinced by President Pervez 
Musharraf's assertion that the rampaging women 
armed with sticks are not being stopped to avoid 
injuring them. This is ironic since over the past 
months, dozens of female political workers, 
labour leaders, NGO activists and others have 
been beaten by police with batons, dragged on the 
ground and their clothes ripped. HRCP expects the 
government to resort to legal measures against 
anyone defying the law. The only action by the 
government cannot be excessive use of force that 
it often uses against its opponents. The lack of 
action in this case only exposes the deep-rooted 
links between the military and religious jehadi 
groups, which is the prime factor behind the 
rising threat in the country. It can be ended 
only by ensuring the rule of law is upheld. All 
those responsible for committing crimes must be 
punished, and all citizens, especially women, 
protected. Holistic, long-term policies that 
address the root causes of anarchy in the name of 
religion can only be devised by the people and 
their representatives rather than left to rulers 
suspected of ulterior motives.. 
'Disappearances':  The campaign against 
'disappearances' by local human rights groups and 
international monitors has highlighted the extent 
of the problem. Even as the apex court hears 
petitions on the issue, more people continue to 
be whisked away by the secret agencies over which 
the State seems to have no writ. In many cases 
their families have been warned not to speak out. 
This AGM is also horrified by the violence 
inflicted by police early in 2007 on the 
relatives and friends of 'disappeared' people 
trying simply to draw attention to the terrible 
plight of people whose husbands, fathers, sons 
and brothers have been held in secret detention 
for months or years. The official contention that 
these people had themselves left their homes, 
possibly to take part in 'jihad', is simply 
incredulous. We demand that rather than resorting 
to a policy of lies and deception, the government 
make an honest effort to locate these persons, 
try them for any crime they are accused of and 
inform families of their whereabouts.
Socio-economic distress: The socio-economic 
plight of people has been highlighted by the 
notable increase in the number of suicides 
committed through 2006 and the first few months 
of 2006. In 2006, at least 2090 people committed 
suicide, according to data collected by HRCP. 
Most cited fiscal difficulties for their 
desperate actions.
The attempt by a father in the Mian Channu area 
of the Punjab to sell his sons was also reported. 
This AGM asserts that rather than doling out 
meaningless individual charity, as was done in 
this case, the extent of the crisis facing people 
in the country due to rising poverty, inflation 
and unemployment be addressed. Acute disparity 
between provinces and regions makes matters 
worse. Ensuring people have a means to livelihood 
is a basic duty of State. It must not be ignored 
any longer, and the plight of the millions of 
poverty-stricken citizens put atop the national 
priority list.
Balochistan unrest: Conflict and unrest continues 
in Balochistan. In Dera Bugti and Kohlu, where 
military personnel staged an operation through 
much of 2006, repressive tactics continue to be 
used by law enforcers. There have been many 
reports of illegal arrests of political 
activists, of 'disappearances' and of harassment. 
The treatment meted out to Akhtar Mengal, of the 
BNP, who was held in a 'cage' while appearing 
before an anti-terrorism court in Karachi, is 
just one example of victimization of Baloch 
nationalist leaders.  HRCP has received news of 
fighting in areas such as Awaran and Panjgur.. 
This AGM believes the problems of Balochistan 
will remain unsolved until people are fully 
involved in decision-making, issues related to 
provincial autonomy addressed and a process of 
political dialogue involving all parties 
initiated.
Attacks on the media: Threats to media freedoms 
have continued to come from both official and 
non-official quarters. Journalists have been 
abducted, threatened and beaten as part of a 
campaign to suppress dissent. Whereas some cases, 
such as the 'picking-up' by agencies of the BBC's 
Dilawar Wazir in November last year or the 
abduction of Peshawar-based journalist Sohail 
Qalandar early this year by unknown persons, have 
been extensively reported, HRCP has continued to 
receive many other reports of threats and 
harassment by reporters who have sought 
anonymity. Private television channels have also 
been targetted. The mayhem inflicted by police 
within the offices of the 'Geo' channel in 
Islamabad is one of the worst incidents. Other 
channels too have been warned to tone down 
criticism of the government. This AGM reiterates 
its view that suppression of dissent can only 
aggravate existing social tensions, while the 
claims of a free media made by official quarters 
today fool no one.
Forced conversions: Attacks on non-Muslim 
citizens have taken place across the country. 
These include violence against persons belonging 
to different faiths and attacks on temples, 
churches and other places of worship. This AGM is 
particularly alarmed that the trend of 'forced 
conversions', especially of young women, is 
continuing most notably in Sindh. Reports of 
false cases registered against Hindus in Sindh, 
as a means of political victimization are equally 
disturbing. Until policies that can ensure 
protection of non-Muslims and a recognition of 
their status as equal citizens are not adopted, 
such violations will continue.
Political detainees:  This AGM condemns in the 
strongest terms the establishment's policy of 
detaining political dissidents and denying them 
due process. Such unlawful tactics have never 
helped any regime
in suppressing democratic opposition and will 
fail now also. All political workers who are 
being held without charge must be freed forthwith 
if they cannot be tried under law.
Mayhem in Northern Areas: Government failure to 
rein in sectarian militants and its tendency to 
turn a blind eye to the years-old confrontation 
between armed groups, especially in the Northern 
Areas, have again caused a wave of fratricide in 
Parachinar and Chitral. More than two scores of 
people have already perished in this seasonal 
madness and the entire population of the 
riot-torn areas is living in unbearable fear and 
anxiety. The government will lose whatever little 
credit it has with the people if it cannot 
restore peace in the Northern Areas and all 
citizens, regardless of their belief, cannot be 
guaranteed security of life and liberty.
Jirga justice: Despite a ban, jirgas still 
continue to be held in Sindh and other parts of 
the country. In most cases, the decisions they 
mete out inflict suffering on women and other 
vulnerable citizens. The recent incidents of 
people being killed as a result of mob violence 
and jirga verdicts are especially shocking.

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson    

Iqbal Haider
Secretary General

______


[2]

The Daily Star
April 11, 2007
  	 
A DEATH ON OUR CONSCIENCE
by Tazreena Sajjad

Reading Naeem Mohaiemmen's article "Sorry, 
Choles" (The Daily Star, April 6) reminded me of 
a UNICEF session that was held in Dhaka several 
years back. The topic of the conference was women 
and children's health and security. As the 
discussions about the status of both women's and 
children's health flowed, the topic of the 
indigenous people was also touched on. I will 
never forget the government official burst out 
laughing, as if sharing a joke: "What rights are 
you talking about? They are not a civilised 
people -- they need to first read and write 
Bengali; if the Bengali people are already 
suffering from health and security concerns, the 
rights of the indigenous people are certainly not 
a priority."

I remember finding these statements not only 
shocking. They were crude, frightening and 
reflecting the realities of the complacency 
always felt by a majority population anywhere. 
They reeked of self-indulgent justification that 
legitimises why the "others" can never lay claim 
to what is "ours."

The laugh in itself delivered a simple, yet clear 
message. In laying claims to the "golden Bengal," 
we have also graciously accepted the mantle of 
the oppressors. And so the legacy of the rights 
denied to a people, not just to rights but also 
to dignity, plays out again.

While the death of Choles alone is shocking, and 
a vicious reminder of the status of minority 
people in Bangladesh, it is also a reality check 
for those of us congratulating ourselves on the 
brink of hope of a new nation emerging from the 
ashes of the old.

Undeniable, these are times of change. Political 
possibilities are opening up to a nation denied 
for over thirty years, demanding greater 
dedication, participation and contribution from 
every citizen. Pride in the liberation struggle 
is being reinstalled; memories are being recalled 
of how the Bengalis, the oppressed, stood up to 
their oppressors.

The dialogue of the past and discussion of a 
future are running parallel. Yet, lurking in the 
shadows is another side of the new political 
change -- the ease with which we make heroes of 
mere mortals and the complacence we slip into 
once a victory is won.

Lulled into the comfort of political stability, 
we are forgetting to hold those in control 
accountable, this time for the death of a 
citizen. The torture and death of a political 
leader, and a leader of the minorities is a 
discomforting development, and we choose to rally 
around the flag and talk about ideals and 
principles, pride and glory of a nation, rather 
than put them to practice.

The nation is not mourning the death of a leader. 
The nation is not protesting the torture and 
extra-judicial killing of a Bangladeshi. The 
nation is being strangely silent about the simple 
argument not being Bengali does not deny a 
citizen his rights, his privileges and access an 
echo of he same demands we had in '71.

The similarities are strikingly obvious, and our 
commitment to silence and our own exclusivity 
glaringly obvious. It seems in our desire to be 
special; we prove once again that we are nothing 
but the same.

Over the past few years, I have attempted to 
raise an interesting though highly controversial 
argument. In doing so, I concede my intention to 
be both polemical and provocative. Yet, form an 
objective point of view, what we know to be facts 
are irrefutable.

In our, i.e. Bangladeshi practice to be a Bengali 
nation, and legitimise claim to the state as 
exclusively as possible in terms of assumed 
superiority of language, religion, cultural 
values and practice, the distinction between us 
and the nation of Israel becomes quite blurry.

In stating this, I do not undermine the 
sufferings of the Palestinian people, nor do I 
downplay the magnitude of destruction wreaked by 
the Israeli military in West Bank and the Gaza. I 
do not dismiss the extent of military prowess, 
access and technology and arsenal at the IDF's 
disposal to carry out war crimes and crimes 
against humanity.

I recognize the humanity with not just impunity, 
but also, with international support and 
complacence. I also recognize that the dynamics 
of the insider vs outsider, majority vs minority 
in the case of Israel/Palestine is to some extent 
shaped by, and understood and couched in terms of 
a "holy war."

Despite these differences however, I argue there 
is a glaring list of similarities, when instead 
of scale of atrocities, one compares the 
similarity of ideology, and mindset of the 
politics of exclusivity, of legitimacy of the 
insider (Bengalis) over the constructed 
interloper (the indigenous). Displacement, 
disproportionate access to social and political 
structures, land grabs by the military, severe 
human rights violations, rape, unequal access to 
political, social and cultural space, 
extra-judicial killings and a culture of fear and 
tyranny has percolated in indigenous areas in the 
36 years of "our" independence.

Except in terms of scale, some degrees of 
magnitude and international recognition, the 
plight of the indigenous in many ways echoes the 
realities of Palestinians, the realities of 
Darfurians, and dare I say, of Bengalis in 1971. 
In our demand to be different and special, we 
emerge as the same. Yesterday's oppressed -- 
today's oppressors.

The game of exclusivity is a manipulative one. It 
not only proves might is right; it makes it the 
only defining truth there is. It limits our 
capacity to see shades of grey, or digest the 
ugliness that truth also exposes.

In the case of the rights of the situation of 
minority rights in our country, it has 
constrained the frame of our critical lens -- how 
to embrace the military that performs so well in 
international peacekeeping operations to protect 
the weak and vulnerable, to maintaining the law 
and order situation of today's Bangladesh, could, 
in some ways, fall from the heights of heroism 
perhaps descend to committing mortal but 
unpardonable crimes? Surely something is amiss.

We might seek answers to explain away such an 
anomaly. A country in crisis needs to make 
certain critical decisions some might say. This 
is the price one has to pay for law and order. 
Lest we forget, this is the same price Pakistan 
tried to extort from us in 1971. It was a price 
that we refused to pay yet demand from our own 
indigenous communities.

Our hearts bleed for the Palestinians. It is time 
to let them bleed for our own.

Tazreena Sajjad is a PhD student, American University, Washington DC.


______


[3]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
BANGLADESH: DEMOCRACY SAVED OR SUNK?
by Jalal Alamgir

Posted April 2007
Many in Bangladesh are relieved that the military 
stepped in to liberate them from political chaos. 
But this move has set the country on a slippery 
slope to authoritarian rule. In the long run, the 
best formula for success is to build Bangladesh 
into a showcase for democracy in the Islamic 
world.

FARJANA K. GODHULY/AFP/Getty Images
Guardians of democracy? Bangladesh's new 
authoritarian rulers are destroying what's left 
of the country's democratic institutions.

On January 11, Bangladesh began yet another 
tumultuous political transformation. A caretaker 
government backed by the military took over 
power, declared a state of emergency, and 
postponed national elections. Most Bangladeshis 
sighed relief.

Within weeks, the newly installed government 
began a "war" against corruption, arresting 
scores of top politicians in dramatic midnight 
raids and sending them straight to prison. Most 
Bangladeshis became exuberant, and many are 
demanding summary trials for the corrupt.

While stressing that democracy needs to be 
restored eventually, foreign diplomats also 
cheered on the new government's assertive line. 
The British High Commissioner said he was 
"pleased with the approach that was taken," and 
more recently, the U.S. assistant secretary of 
state said his country was "strongly supportive 
of the reform steps." After a 16-year experiment 
with democracy, Bangladesh's return to 
authoritarianism feels to many like a refreshing 
change.

It wasn't always like this. Both the Clinton and 
Bush administrations used to hail Bangladesh as 
an example to the rest of the Islamic world: a 
moderate Muslim democracy. As recently as 2002, 
public support for democracy was overwhelming in 
the country, as several surveys showed. 
Bangladesh enjoyed secular institutions and a 
growing economy. It held regular elections, and 
power rotated between the two major parties, the 
center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) 
and the center-left Awami League. But, despite 
the public's commitment to democratic 
institutions, contempt was growing against the 
many politicians who regularly subverted those 
institutions.

That contempt peaked toward the end of BNP's 
2001-06 tenure. The party's reign had been 
anything but democratic. With its Islamist 
allies, it had gone on a rampage against 
political and religious minorities. Its feared 
paramilitary force, the Rapid Action Battalion, 
operated with impunity, and extrajudicial deaths 
jumped to nearly 400 in 2005, a 20-fold increase 
from the average during the Awami League 
administration (1996-2001). Corruption had become 
so rampant that Transparency International rated 
Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the 
world four out of the last five years. Extortion 
was commonplace, especially for businesses. Some 
could not even pay their utility bills without 
bribing someone. Gruesome terrorist attacks took 
place, but the cases went mysteriously unsolved. 
Finally, BNP tried to rig the January 2007 
elections, a move that was protested en masse by 
the opposition, and the country came to a 
standstill. That's when the military intervened.

With these conditions, Bangladeshis could be 
forgiven for welcoming their new military rulers 
with open arms. After the chaos of the past six 
years, who can blame them?

The new caretaker government's stated goal is to 
"save" democracy by ensuring "a level playing 
field" before holding elections. In the process, 
it wants to change the system comprehensively, 
involving everything from how political parties 
operate, to the authority of the courts, to the 
balance of power between the president and the 
prime minister, to even considering a "National 
Charter" to rival the Constitution.

All this is a familiar refrain. From Burma and 
Pakistan in the 1950s to Thailand or Fiji in 
2006, saving democracy or saving the nation 
through enacting large-scale reforms has been the 
common pretext for authoritarian power grabs. 
Bangladesh itself experienced such takeovers in 
1975, 1977, and 1982.

Already, there are troubling signs that the 
country's new authoritarian order may be more 
than just temporary. The caretaker government's 
drive to "clean up" politics has reached far 
beyond the top rungs of power. As of early April, 
more than 70 people have been killed 
extrajudicially. More than 100,000 people- many 
of them mid-level workers of various political 
parties-have been detained so far, often without 
charges, and thousands more are being added every 
day in what amounts to a massive political purge.

To speed up the process, the government has 
substantially increased its authority to arrest 
without charges, deny bail, and conduct summary 
trials. It has curtailed the right of citizens to 
appeal its verdicts. Military personnel now head 
most of the important administrative committees, 
such as the Anti-Corruption Commission. A 
powerful National Security Council is in the 
works that will allow authorities to interpret 
political issues as security issues.

As for elections, the civilian face of the 
government has dismissed any possibility of 
holding them in the next year and a half. The 
Army chief has gone much farther, declaring 
outright in a recent speech, "We do not want to 
go back to an elective democracy," and proposing 
that some kind of a homegrown system be devised 
as an alternative.

This is exactly what Islamists, happy to see the 
principle of popular sovereignty eviscerated, 
want to hear. But a homegrown system could be 
disastrous for both national and regional 
stability. Accustomed to political freedom, 
Bangladeshis would eventually resist 
authoritarianism, ushering in another round of 
violent conflict.

This unsavory outcome can only be nipped through 
continuous pressure on the temporary government. 
But because political activity is banned and 
fundamental rights are suspended, it's up to 
outside powers to take the lead, especially in 
four key areas.

First, Western diplomats should keep pressing the 
government to announce an election date soon. The 
caretaker government is going well beyond its 
initial mandate of organizing elections. It is 
making major policy decisions that should be the 
preserve of an elected government.

Second, international organizations and trading 
partners should resist the urge to cut easy 
deals. Sensing quick wins, the World Bank and the 
Asian Development Bank are pushing policy reform 
initiatives, while individual countries, like 
India and China are dangling lucrative business 
agreements. Big contracts signed away from the 
public eye will reopen doors for corruption.

Third, Britain, the United States, and the 
European Union should insist that the government 
restore fundamental rights. Its current path of 
rule by fiat threatens to destroy the very 
political and legal institutions that need to be 
revived from the damage wrought on them in the 
last six years.

Finally, Western powers should support the 
democratic process and resist the urge to pick 
preordained winners. The entry of Dr. Muhammad 
Yunus, the microfinance pioneer and Nobel Peace 
laureate, who wants to form a political party in 
which power would be decentralized, has shaken up 
the dinosaurs of BNP and Awami League. The 
ongoing political purge will improve his 
electoral prospects. Some, however, want to hold 
off elections in favor of an appointed, 
Palestinian-style "national unity government." 
More extreme would be a Pakistan-style outcome, 
in which a secular military dictatorship acts as 
a U.S. ally in its war on terror. As tempting as 
these options may be, the West must let 
Bangladeshis decide for themselves through free 
elections, held reasonably soon. For a working 
democracy that protects fundamental rights would 
be a much better showcase for the larger Islamic 
world than another pliable regime whose domestic 
legitimacy is becoming increasingly questionable.

Jalal Alamgir is assistant professor of political 
science at the University of Massachusetts, 
Boston.


______


[4]

http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/election-commission-must-derecognize.html

ELECTION COMMISSION MUST DERECOGNIZE BJP

by Shamsul Islam

11 April, 2007

Immediately after taking over as the president of 
the BJP, Rajnath Singh made two significant 
statements. Firstly, he reaffirmed his commitment 
to the Hindutva ideology. According to a report 
(The Statesman, January 21, 2006) while admitting 
his total commitment to the pet project of the 
RSS, the Hindutva, he said: "Hindutva is not only 
an icon of Indian culture and traditions, but 
also the source of economic resourcefulness, 
surviving strength and intellectual faculty." He 
described it as a panacea for all the troubles 
India was facing. He also called upon the party 
cares to emulate the ideals of second 
sarsanghchalak of the RSS, M. S. Golwalkar. 
Secondly, in an interview to a senior columnist, 
Manini Chatterjee he admitted: "I am an RSS 
swayamsevak. I have no hesitation in consulting 
RSS, but decisions are taken by the BJP. The RSS 
does not interfere in the BJP's working. It is a 
socio-cultural organization with lakhs of 
committed volunteers. We stand to gain from their 
advice and experience." He was under the sway of 
RSS, was once again underlined by him while 
talking to Aaj Tak, a TV news channel when he 
said: "Whenever I feel I have to take some big 
decision, since I come from that family [the 
RSS], I will seek their direction."

Let us first understand what Hindutva is which 
Rajnath is talking about. The concept of Hindutva 
was developed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 
book Hindutva, published in 1923. According to 
him only Hindus constituted the Indian 
nationality. Savarkar argued that only Hindus had 
the claim over India as it were their past, 
present and future that most closely bound with 
the soil of 'Hindusthan' as 'Fatherland' and 
'Holyland'. They constituted the foundation, the 
bedrock and the reserved forces of the Indian 
state. According to his definition, a Hindu "is 
he who looks upon the land that extends from 
Sindu to Sindu-from the Indus to the Seas-as the 
land of his forefathers-his Fatherland 
(Pitribhu), who inherits the blood of that race 
whose first discernible source could be traced to 
the Vedic Saptasindhus and which.has come to be 
known as the Hindu people, who has inherited and 
claims as his own the culture of that race as 
expressed chiefly in their common classical 
language Sanskrit and represented by a common 
history, a common literature, art and 
architecture, law and jurisprudence, rites and 
rituals, ceremonies and sacraments, fairs and 
festivals; and who above all, addresses this 
land, this Sindhusthan as his Holyland 
(Punyabhu), as the land of his prophets and 
seers, of his godmen and gurus, the land of piety 
and pilgrimage. These are the essentials of 
Hindutva-a common nation (Rashtra) a common race 
(Jati) and a common civilisation (Sanskriti)."

According to Savarkar's logic Hinduism, Hindutva 
and Indian nationality were inseparable and 
worked as natural corollary to each other. "The 
actual essentials of Hindutva are.also the ideal 
essentials of nationality. If we would, we could 
build on this foundation of Hindutva a future 
greater than what any other people on earth can 
dream of, greater even than our own past; 
provided we are able to utilise our 
opportunities." Thus Hindus belonged to a common 
nation because they hailed from the same Aryan 
race, belonged to a common civilisation and 
treated Hindusthan as their Fatherland and 
Holyland. Savarkar had no qualms in holding the 
opinion that Muslims and Christians remained out 
of this nationhood because they did not 
assimilate into Hindu cultural heritage or Hindu 
religion. Savarkar argued that they "can not be 
recognised as Hindus; as since their adoption of 
the new cult they had ceased to own Hindu 
civilisation (Sanskriti) as a whole. They belong, 
or feel that they belong to, a cultural unit 
altogether different from the Hindu one. Their 
heroes and their hero-worship, their fairs and 
their festivals, their ideals and their outlook 
on-life, have now ceased to be common with ours." 
And since they were not Hindus, they could not be 
treated as part of 'Hindusthan' led by the spirit 
of Hindutva.

Savarkar took care that Hindutva should not be 
confused with geographical terms like Indian or 
Bhartiya (also meaning 'Indian') or Hindi (term 
used by Arabs and Persians for 'Indian'). He made 
it clear that though "the root-meaning of the 
word Hindu, like the sister epithet, Hindi may 
mean only an Indian, yet as it is, we would be 
straining the usage of words too much-we fear, to 
the point of breaking-if we call a Mohammedan a 
Hindu because of his being a resident of India."

Thus Savarkar's Hindutva had no space for Muslims 
or Christians in the Hindu Nation. M. S. 
Golwalkar, who headed the RSS between 1940-1973, 
further developed this kind of Hindu Separatism 
in his highly controversial booklet, We Or Our 
Nationhood Defined (1939) with a foreword by a 
prominent Congress leader and member of the 
Central Legislature, M. S. Aney. Golwalkar held 
that "indisputably Hindusthan was the land of the 
Hindus and was the terra firma for the Hindu 
nation alone to flourish upon." And if this was 
so "what was to be the fate of all those who 
happened to live upon the land, though not 
belonging to the Hindu race, religion and 
culture?" his reply was "all those who fell 
outside the limits of that idea could have no 
place in the national life. They could be 
considered part of the nation only if they 
abandoned their differences, adopted the 
religion, culture and language of the nation and 
completely merge themselves in the national race. 
As long as they maintained their racial, 
religious and cultural differences, they could be 
only foreigners."

Total cleansing was the mantra prescribed by 
Golwalkar to deal with the problem of minorities 
in India. According to him, old nations solved 
their minorities' problem by not recognising any 
separate elements in their polity. Muslims and 
Christians, who were 'emigrants', must get 
themselves naturally assimilated in the principal 
mass of population, the national race. They must 
adopt culture and language of the national race 
and lose all consciousness of their separate 
existence. And if they do not do so, "they live 
merely as outsiders.deserving of no special 
protection, far less any privilege or rights. 
There are only two courses open to the foreign 
elements, either to merge themselves in the 
national race and adopt its culture, or to live 
at its mercy so long as the national race may 
allow them to do so and to quit the country at 
the sweet will of the national race. That is the 
only sound view on the minorities' problem. That 
is the only logical and correct solution. That 
alone keeps the national life healthy and 
undisturbed. That alone keeps the nation safe 
from the danger of a cancer developing into its 
body politic of the creation of a state within 
the state. From this standpoint, sanctioned by 
the experience of shrewd old nations, the foreign 
races in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu 
culture and language, must learn to respect and 
hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain 
no idea but those of the glorification of the 
Hindu race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation 
and must lose their separate existence to merge 
in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, 
wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming 
nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any 
preferential treatment not even citizen's rights. 
There is, at least should be, no other course for 
them to adopt. We are an old nation; let us deal, 
as old nations ought to and do deal, with the 
foreign races, which have chosen to live in our 
country."

So, if Rajnath Singh is a follower of Hindutva, 
he surely intends to exclude minorities like 
Muslims and Christians from the orbit of Indian 
nation. The BJP president has also reaffirmed his 
status of being a cardholder of the RSS. Let's 
find out what it means to be a swayamsevaks. The 
RSS admits only those who take the following 
oath: "Before the all powerful God and my 
ancestors, I most solemnly take this oath, that I 
become a member of the RSS in order to achieve 
all round greatness of Bharatvarsha by fostering 
the growth of my sacred Hindu religion, Hindu 
society, and Hindu culture. I shall perform the 
work of the Sangh honestly, disinterestedly, with 
my heart and soul, and I shall adhere to this 
goal all my life. Bharat Mata Ki Jai." Moreover, 
swayamsevaks have to recite the following prayer 
everyday: "Affectionate Motherland, I eternally 
bow to you/O Land of Hindus, you have reared me 
in comfort/O Sacred Land, the Great Creator of 
Good, may this body of mine be dedicated to you/I 
again and again bow before You/O God lmighty, we 
the integral part of the Hindu Rashtra salute you 
in reverence/For Your cause have we girded up our 
loins/Give us Your Blessings for its 
accomplishment." Both these RSS rituals make it 
abundantly clear that every member iis committed 
to the creation of a theocratic Hindu state in 
India. If it's a reality that Rajnath Singh as 
the president of BJP believes in Hindutva and is 
committed to the politics of RSS, then, 
doubtlessly, he has grossly violated the 
mandatory undertaking that his party must have 
submitted to the Election Commission of India at 
the time of seeking recognition. According to 
Section 29A of the Representation of the People 
Act, 1951 a political party can be recognized 
only when it submits the following undertaking 
that it "shall bear true faith and allegiance to 
the constitution of India as by law established, 
and to the principles of socialism, secularism 
and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, 
unity and integrity of India". The Election 
Commission of India has also made it obligatory 
that the above provision must be included in the 
text of party constitution. It is high time that 
the Election Commission of India should take 
serious note of the anti-national utterances of 
the BJP president and initiate proceedings for 
the de-recognition of the BJP. It is unfortunate 
that none of the organs of the Indian 
Democratic-Secular State has so far bothered to 
challenge BJP and its president on this account.

______


[5] 


www.sacw.net  - 9 April 2007  > Communalism Repository
THE MYTH OF EARLY SAVARKAR
by Nalini Taneja
(Source: People's Democracy, March 25, 2007)

It has now become a truism of modern secular 
historiography on India that there was an 'early' 
Savarkar and a 'late' Savarkar (much in the same 
way as intellectuals refer to early and late 
Marx!), and that the early Savarkar was secular, 
humanist, and a nationalist revolutionary who, 
only in his later years became the theoretician 
of Hindutva. His nationalist, secular credentials 
are based on his activities in Europe and his 
escape from a ship mid-voyage, and more and more 
frequently now on his book, First War of National 
Independence, 1857, written by him, originally in 
Marathi, in 1907. That we happen to be 
celebrating the 150th anniversary of 1857 will 
doubtless add to Savarkar's glory, particularly 
as it is easy to prove that the Indian National 
Congress to begin with, did not uphold 1857.

This distinction between an early and a late 
Savarkar is clearly misplaced in so far as his 
secular credentials are concerned, or even his 
espousal of modern nationalism. A careful reading 
of the very text so often cited for his 
secularism brings out clear continuities in his 
communalist, parochial and elitist stance; 
between what he wrote in this text and in his 
Hindutva text written in 1924 after he became a 
leader of Hindu Mahasabha. His vision of an 
independent India was less forward looking in 
1907 than that of many of his contemporaries, and 
certainly also as compared with many of the 
participants themselves in the 1857 rebellions.

The break with the tradition of a composite, 
lived unity spontaneously acted upon in 1857, 
came with the consolidation of communalist 
tendencies in the late 19th century, after which 
it had to be consciously campaigned for by 
secular nationalists. Savarkar was very much a 
child of this communal consolidation and its 
reliance on revivalism, which colours his view of 
1857 even when he defends the rebellions and 
marks the unity of Hindus and Muslims against the 
British.
[. . . ]
In 1909 communal historiography had still not 
gained hegemony, 1857 was not that far away-- 
just about 50 years--and many people of that 
generation would still have been alive: it was 
simply not possible to have given a version of 
1857 in those days which did not recognize the 
role of the Muslims in the 1857 rebellions, to 
give a communal version that could vilify or 
negate their role in 1857. Savarkar could hardly 
have done otherwise, once he decided to defend 
1857--unlike many who just maintained a silence 
or opposed it.

The areas of most intense rebellions--Delhi, 
Meerut, Bareilly, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gwalior, 
Jhansi, North-west Frontier--had sizeable Muslim 
populations and 1857 could not have assumed the 
form of civil rebellions without participation of 
both Hindus and Muslims. All armies, without 
exception, at that time were mixed, including 
that of Rani of Jhansi and Nana Saheb, and all 
armies, of the British as well as the states 
continued to be so in 1909 as well; so not even a 
sepoy Mutiny was conceivable without 
participation of all sections of the population 
in the country. Every family in the regions 
affected would have had a member--parents, 
grandparents--either for or against 1857. 1857 
was a live, not distant memory in 1909. Even the 
British revenge against Muslims, their policy of 
marking out enemies and weeding them out of 
administration was part of 'current affairs' of 
that time. Folk songs abounded all over the 
country, personifying their heroes who came from 
all castes and regions, not to speak of 
religions. Just as today, it is just not possible 
for even the most rabid among RSS to be able to 
say about 1947 that killings were not on both 
sides, even as they may blame Muslims for 
partition, it was not possible to present in 1909 
the communalist version of 1857 current in the 
shishu mandir texts and RSS shakhas, which 
completely erase the role of Muslims in any 
struggle against the Muslims. Mass media did not 
exist in the form that it does today when even 
contemporary events can be easily falsified by 
the might of a hegemonic media.
[. . . ]
A sub-chapter in the book is precisely titled: 
'Hindu dharma and Hindu rajya must be Struggled 
For', and Nana Saheb on departure after defeat is 
quoted as saying: "Efforts will have to be made 
once again to re establish Hindu dharma and Hindu 
rashtra." Throughout the 1857 book he refers to 
Hindustan as "Hindusthan", and specific areas as 
"Brahmavarta" and so on. The only heroes to whom 
separate chapters are devoted and the chapters 
titled after their names are only Nana Saheb, 
Tantia Tope, Laxmi Bai, Mangal Pandey, Kunwar 
Singh and Amar Singh; no Muslim heroes, though in 
details of various areas they do emerge as local 
heroes. The old Hindu royal houses are described 
in a way that leaves no doubt of his admiration 
for the feudal order, including of the preference 
of sati of Rajput women in the face of defeat and 
so on.

More significantly, all the imperialist 
stereotypes about the people--including the 
racial sterotypes--are reproduced in all their 
glory by Savarkar. His easy characterization of 
the Sikh, the Bengali, the Rohilla, the Maratha, 
the Gurkha as playing their ethnic and racially 
designated roles is revealed in the fashion made 
familiar by old British or rabidly communal 
historians and administrators. Therefore the Sikh 
emerge as the betrayer, the south Indian keeps 
quiet, and the Bengali is indifferent or black 
sheep, and so on.

Also, in what has become the hallmark of communal 
historiography, in characterizing it as the 
"first war of independence", there is complete 
silence on all struggles that cannot be termed as 
"Hindu". So while we have glowing passages of the 
kind quoted above with regard to Marathas, there 
is no mention of Tipu Sultan and Haider Ali, of 
the peasant and tribal revolts against the 
British rule all over the country and almost 
every year since the coming of the British, the 
entire real pre-history of 1857 that culminated 
in the great rebellions of 1857.

[. . .]
The celebration and glorification of violence so 
characteristic of fascist/sectarian 
organizations, and the intense hatred towards 
those characterized as enemies, the belief that 
might is right and justification of unprincipled 
violence and cruelty is evident throughout the 
book. The way the descriptions go, of attacks on 
"white men women and children" "attacked for 
their very whiteness", Savarkar may have lifted 
descriptions of senseless violence and cruelty 
from the most prejudiced colonial accounts, 
except that he is proud of them. It is sickening 
to read such descriptions, where the killing of 
children is justified as killing of the litter of 
serpents who would grow up to be poisonous. He 
has completely accepted the imperialist logic in 
inverting the picture of 1857. Nobody who reads 
these descriptions and the glorification of 
killing by treachery and senseless hatred can 
even consider the proposition that Savarkar's 
1857 book reveals that the early Savarkar was a 
secular, nationalist and humane personality. It 
covers so many passages in so many pages, that 
one can make a full book of it. There is 
everything in that book which does the spadework 
for the later, well defined and well developed 
communal historiography, and it very much shows 
the future course that Savarkar was to take.

FULL Text at : 
http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/NTaneja9April2007.html

______


[6]


GOA : COMMUNAL TINDERBOX WAITING TO EXPLODE ?

by  Subhash Gatade (April 10, 2007)

(Curchorem a city in South Goa District, part of 
Quepem Taluka, with a population of 25,000 people 
and neighbouring Savordem have today come to 
define what shape Goan polity takes in future. In 
fact the simultaneous vandalisation of two 
temples in the area which are five kilomenters 
away from each other and the planned mobilisation 
of people belonging to particular community who 
came out on streets immediately to protest the 
incident has sent shivers down the spine of the 
police.

As of now,  security has been beefed up after 
this deliberate attempt to create communal divide 
has come to the fore. But looking at a weak 
Congress Party regime in the state, which has yet 
to come out of its internal bickerings, the 
marginal status of the secular forces and an 
aggressive BJP which is gearing itself up for 
coming elections, it is impossible to guarantee 
that communal peace would be maintained at every 
cost.)

[. . .]
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/goa-communal-tinderbox-waiting-to.html

______


[7]

Indian Express
April 03, 2007

BAKER: THE COUNTRY'S ONLY INDIAN ARCHITECT
by Gautam Bhatia

  What can you say about a man who spoke little, 
abhorred theory, propagated no style, and issued 
no grandiose proclamations about the state of 
architecture. And yet did more buildings in his 
lifetime than ten architectural practices put 
together, each done with the diligence and 
personal commitment to detail, and built with the 
implicit belief that all creative and innovative 
work grows out of ordinary concerns.

In a career that spanned six decades and a firm 
commitment to Kerala, his adopted home, Laurie 
Baker built over two thousand houses, numerous 
fishing villages, institutional complexes and 
low-cost cathedrals. It is hard to discount the 
remarkably varied spectrum of projects that came 
out of his solitary practice. (Baker employed no 
draughtsmen, had no office staff, and worked 
directly with teams of masons and carpenters.) 
And yet for someone with such a large and varied 
body of work, Baker had virtually no following in 
India. His ability to give 'a better building at 
half the cost' found few takers in a profession 
that relies on hefty fees and kickbacks; his 
insistence on discarding coloured tiles, fake 
veneers and the other useless fripperies of 
design, left him friendless in the building 
trade, a trade intent on promoting expensive 
products. Moreover, his method of practising as 
architect, builder and contractor all in one 
defied the antiquated norms of professional 
practice where each role is specified according 
to a code of ethics.

Baker lived and worked by his own rules. He 
needed no blueprints or unnecessary architectural 
details. An idea drawn on the back of an envelope 
became a building; a coconut palm on a site 
acquired a courtyard for its future growth. By 
letting his clients design the house during 
construction, he even flouted standard municipal 
approvals. And, in doing so, created his own 
architectural types, innovated building details, 
formulated methods of cost reduction, suggested 
improvements in vernacular technology, and even 
found new ways of practising the profession. In 
virtually every building he designed, Baker 
asserted the appropriateness of traditional 
methods of construction to local conditions, 
adopting available materials to newer forms. The 
single-mindedness with which he pursued his 
vision of building, the devotion to his craft, 
and the unwillingness to compromise on quality, 
was the outcome of the way he himself lived. 
Simply and without fuss. There was no formal 
living or dining room in his house. If a visitor 
were present, he or she merely ate with the 
family in the kitchen under a ceiling of utensils.

A recognition of Baker's contribution to 
architecture has a singular timeliness today. His 
death has come at a time when a questing 
conscience is provoking the developing world, 
concerned with growth that is appropriate, to 
look inwards and find solutions of its own 
making. In such circumstances, Baker remained a 
lone protagonist, experimenting singly and 
quietly in a distant corner of the country. The 
causes and results of his numerous architectural 
interventions are now the valuable gifts he has 
left the profession.

Over half a century in India, marked by a deep 
commitment to architectural ideas and personal 
principles, made Baker an unfortunate misfit 
among his contemporaries. Sadly in his home state 
of Kerala much of the larger public work 
incorporates none of the ideas he sought to 
express in his own buildings. To most in the 
profession he was an enigma, an uncomfortable 
professional conscience. In death other 
architects will doubtless remember him in the 
same way as in life. Without pain or gain. But to 
the millions who were touched by him and his 
low-lying, low-cost but infinitely thoughtful 
brick landscapes, his passing will be mourned. 
And he will be remembered as much as a caring, 
doting architect as the only Indian architect in 
India.

The writer is a Delhi-based architect


______


[8]   EVENTS:

(i)

http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/anhad-invites-you-to-release-of-video.html

ANHAD INVITES YOU TO THE RELEASE OF A VIDEO CD - SECULAR VOICES

Produced by two young students (Mohd. Zabeeh 
Afaque & Mir Basit Hussain) as part of Anhad's 
Stop Hate Campaign for Youth

Date: April 11, 2007

Venue: Press Club, Lucknow

Time: 4 pm

Programme:

Chairperson: Shri VN Rai
Chairperson's Introductory Remarks

Introducing the Stop Hate Campaign - Shabnam Hashmi

Young Filmmakers Share their Experience

Release of the VCD by Dr. Rooprekha Verma

Screening of the VCD

Open Session and Interaction

Tea

Join the Stop Hate Movement

Secular Voices

27 celebrities lend their voice to the Stop Hate Campaign

aditi mangaldas ( dancer), arpana caur ( 
painter), barkha dutt (eolitical editor, ndtv), 
colin gonsalves ( supreme court advocate), geet 
seethi ( billiard's champion), ghanshyam shah ( 
academician), haku shah (painter), kiran segal( 
dancer), mallika sarabhai ( dancer), nafisa ali 
(actress), nandita das (actress), pankaj pachori 
(ndtv), purushottam agarwal ( academician), rahul 
ram ( singer, Indian Ocean), rajdeep sardesai ( 
ceo, cnn ibn), s.k. throat ( academicians),saeed 
akthar mirza ( film maker), sharon lowen ( 
dancer), shubha mudgal ( singer, musician), 
sudharshan iyengar( academician), sudhir tailang 
( cartoonist ,Hindustan times), sushmit sen ( 
Indian ocean band), syeda hamid ( writer, 
activist), tarun tejpal ( editor in chief, 
tehelka), vivan sundaram ( artist), yoginder 
yadav ( election analyst), zohra segal ( actress).

______


(ii)

TORTURE, LIES AND SHOW TRIALS: INDIA'S 'WAR ON TERROR'

A meeting and book launch in support of the Save Afzal Guru Campaign

Speakers include Amrit Wilson (Save Afzal Guru 
Campaign),Deepak Gupta (Campaign Against 
Criminalising Communities CAMPACC) and

Guest speaker Moazzam Begg

Thursday 12 April [2007]  6.30pm

Conway Hall
Red Lion Square
London WC1
(nearest tube Holborn)

Afzal Guru is a Kashmiri currently detained in 
India's notorious Tihar jail and facing a death 
sentence. He is accused of involvement in the 
attack on the Indian Parliament five years ago.

He  faces hanging although:

There is no direct evidence against him and he is 
known not to have injured or harmed anyone
The Courts have found that the investigating 
agencies deliberately fabricated evidence and 
forged documents against him and others accused
Afzal Guru was denied an opportunity to defend 
himself - he did not even have a lawyer

Moazzam Begg is one of nine Britons detained at 
Guantanamo - imprisoned for a crime he did not 
commit and whose precise nature has never been 
determined. He is the author of 'Enemy Combatant 
- a British Muslim's journey to Guantanamo and 
back'.

'Patriotism in the time of terror - Framing 
Geelani, Hanging Afzal' Bibliophile (2007) 
examines the cases of those accused of the attack 
on the Indian Parliament. The author, Nandita 
Haksar, is a well-known human rights lawyer and 
activist now representing Afzal.

The Attack on the Indian parliament

On December 13, 2001 the Indian parliament was 
attacked by five men. They were killed by the 
security forces but even today their identity 
remains a mystery. Three other men, who according 
to the police masterminded the attack, have also 
not been found.

However, on 14 and 15 December, 2001 the 
investigating agencies together with the Special 
Cell of the Delhi Police picked up four persons, 
all Kashmiris, and charged them with the offence 
of conspiring to attack the parliament under 
India's notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act 
(POTA). 

After a nationwide campaign for a fair trial, two 
of them, Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani and Navjot 
Sandhu who was jailed along with her newborn 
baby, have been acquitted of all charges, a 
third, the husband of Navjot Sandhu, has had his 
death sentence converted to ten years in prison. 
But the fourth Afzal Guru was due to be hanged on 
October 20, 2006. A stay on his execution has 
been obtained by the Save Afzal Campaign through 
a Mercy Petition, and he is now being held in 
Tihar jail in Delhi. But he is still facing a 
death sentence.

Who is Afzal Guru?

Afzal  Guru was involved with the JKLF for only 
three months in 1990 when large numbers of 
Kashmiri youth were attracted to the movement. 
During these three months he neither received any 
training nor took part in any activities. For 
details see his wife Tabassum's letter:  
<http://justiceforafzalguru.org/background/tabassum.html>http://justiceforafzalguru.org/background/tabassum.html

After he surrendered he was constantly picked up 
by security forces, asked to spy on people and 
also routinely tortured. He eventually decided to 
move to Delhi hoping to be left alone but even 
here the notorious Special Task Force caught up 
with him and continued to harass him.

Afzal's  trial

His trial was a mockery of justice since he was 
denied an opportunity to defend himself - he did 
not even have a lawyer.  Afzal was not involved 
in the actual attack on the Indian parliament and 
he did not kill or injure anybody and the Indian 
Supreme Court has ruled that there was no direct 
evidence against him, only circumstantial. 
However the court has sentenced him to death 
because in their words the  "the collective 
conscience of the society will be satisfied if 
the capital punishment is awarded to the 
offender... The appellant, who is a surrendered 
militant Š   is a menace to society and should 
become extinct." 

Abu Ghraib style torture and media collusion

In the Special Cell of the Delhi police Afzal was 
kept naked for two days and beaten mercilessly - 
once by a man who later appeared as a prosecution 
witness; police officers urinated in his mouth 
saying 'This is the way you can break your 
Roza(fast)'. After he was tortured he was 
handcuffed and made to sit on a chair and forced 
to 'confess' at a media conference. But 
television broadcasts did not show the handcuffs 
and did not show the men who tortured and 
humiliated him. On the 15 and 16 of December 
2006, New Delhi Television (NDTV) re-ran the 
'confession' several times although they had been 
informed that by now that the Supreme Court of 
India had rejected it and the High Court had 
reprimanded the police for it. The programme was 
accompanied by remarks such as  'See how natural, 
how truthful, how fluent his statement appears' 
and 'Who can believe that such a statement can be 
given under torture'. They then invited viewers 
to act as a virtual lynch mob by soliciting SMS 
messages from them asking whether Afzal should be 
hanged in light of the tape telecast by them.

Right-wing Hindu chauvinist forces of the Sangh 
Parivar have continually harassed members of 
Afzal's campaign while calling for Afzal to be 
hanged.


Afzal Guru  faces a death penalty although:

There is no direct evidence against him and he is 
known not to have injured or harmed anyone

The Courts have found that the investigating 
agencies deliberately fabricated evidence and 
forged documents against him and others accused.


Currently Afzal is waiting for the results of a 
Mercy Petition but the decision of the courts is 
extremely uncertain. Even after enormous efforts 
by his campaign he is being denied basic rights 
in prison - he is not allowed to go out of doors 
for even half an hour of sunlight and the Red 
Cross who have access to Kashmiri prisoners have 
not been allowed to visit him.

The meeting is organised by South Asia Solidarity 
Group sasg at southasiasolidarity.org  Tel. 0781 498 
3105
Supported by Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)
Further details from: 0781 498 3105

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

Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), 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.