SACW | August 27-28, 2007

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | August 27-28, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2441 - Year 9

[1] Pakistan: A stage-managed leak (I.A. Rehman)
[2] Sri Lanka: The politics of resettlement in East (Shakuntala Perera)
[3] Bangladesh: Repression, Rebellion, Reflection (Abeer Mustafa)    
[4] India: Hyderabad Bomb Blast the Blame Game begins
  - Hyderabad blasts (Editorial, Dawn)
  - Yet another massacre (Editorial, Kashmir Times)
  - Bombings and the blame game (Shameran Abed)
[5] Has Indian Democracy Failed? (Smitu Kothari)
[6] India: Noorani vs Nehru Library (Anita Joshua)
[7] Book Review [Paradise poisoned by John 
Richardson]: Divided societies (Reviewed by Qurat 
ul ain Siddiqui)
[8] Announcements:
(i) Film Screening: My own Private Tehran A film 
by Afsar Sonia Shafie (New Delhi, 29 August 2007)
(ii) The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells - Film 
Screening & Discussion (Karachi, 29 August 2007)
(iii) Conference: Second National Bioethics 
Conference (Bangalore, 6-8 December 2007)

______


[1]

Dawn
August 10, 2007  

A STAGE-MANAGED LEAK

by I.A. Rehman

ANY intention to issue a new proclamation of 
emergency has been firmly and authoritatively 
denied. Grapevine sources have not only confirmed 
this but also leaked out the identity of the 
overseas benefactor. But for hours on end on 
Wednesday evening and Thursday morning 
practically the whole country was in the grip of 
an emergency scare, and writers were in a 
competition to paint dread scenarios.

Considering that the people of Pakistan have 
survived a series of proclamations of emergency, 
issued under one pretext or another, the signs of 
anxiety bordering on panic seen were truly 
amazing.

Now that everybody believes a respite has been 
gained, it is possible to examine whether the 
fears fuelled by the media were genuine and what 
could happen if the move to impose a new 
emergency is not given up.

What needs to be understood at the outset is that 
a proclamation of emergency is only an enabling 
measure that makes it possible for the executive 
to assume certain powers that it normally does 
not have. What a government wishes to achieve 
under the cover of emergency, such as suspension 
of fundamental rights, requires separate 
legislative instruments.

Not only that all lights in the country do not go 
out the moment a proclamation is issued, the 
government's ability to act as it pleases under 
such a proclamation has been reduced much in the 
recent period. It cannot get away now with much 
of what it could do some years ago.

The first question that arose on Wednesday was 
about the status of the May 1998 proclamation of 
emergency. That proclamation was issued by a 
constitutional authority and it was repealed 
neither by the Nawaz Sharif government nor by 
General Pervez Musharraf.

The latter did issue a new proclamation of 
emergency on 14 October 1999 which made no 
reference to the 1998 measure. However, the 
Provisional Constitution Order No 1 released in 
the early hours of 15 October had the following 
paragraph (No 6):

"The Proclamation of emergency issued on 28th of 
May 1998, shall continue but subject to the 
provisions of proclamation of emergency dated 
14th day of October 1999 and this Provisional 
Constitution Order and any Order made thereunder."

In plain words on Oct 15, 1999 Pakistan came 
under two proclamations and the provisions of the 
latter measure overrode the contents of the 
former.

That the proclamation of 14th October 1999 as 
well as the PCO No 1 lapsed or could be deemed to 
have lapsed on the revival of the Constitution 
after the 2002 polls is not difficult to 
understand. But the convention governments have 
followed is that if a regular act amounting to 
law is interrupted or extinguished by a temporary 
measure (such as an ordinance) it stands revived 
the moment the intruding instrument disappears. 
It could thus be argued, by the traditional 
establishment at least, that the proclamation of 
1998 is still in force and will so remain until 
it is withdrawn in the prescribed manner.

The battery of heavy legal guns the government 
has at its disposal could not have been unaware 
of the status of the 1998 proclamation (at least 
Arbab Ghulam Rahim was not) and if they advised 
the issuance of a fresh proclamation they might 
have wanted to avoid litigation on this point, 
for which they did not perhaps have sufficient 
time. The issue may be described as 'pending'.

In order to understand what could have been done 
under a fresh emergency, one may recall the steps 
taken under the 1998 proclamation.

After issuing the proclamation under Article 232 
of the Constitution the president invoked Article 
233 (2) to suspend all fundamental rights. On 
this action, being challenged in the Supreme 
Court, the president amended his order and 
limited the damage to Articles 10, 15, 16, 17, 
18, 19, 23, 24 and 25 (guarantees against 
arbitrary arrest and rights to freedoms of 
movement, assembly, association, trade or 
profession, speech, property and equality before 
law.) Both orders were struck down by the Supreme 
Court.

The government also promulgated an ordinance to 
freeze all foreign currency accounts. This 
ordinance too did not survive a challenge in 
superior courts.

Another step taken by the government was 
suspension of the Sindh provincial government, 
which led to some quite hilarious episodes, and 
eventually the federal government took the 
judicial battle.

Now, theoretically, that is in terms of the 
on-and-off Constitution, a proclamation of 
emergency enables the federation to suspend 
fundamental rights and the right of access to 
courts for restoration of these rights. It can 
also get a provincial government 
suspended/dismissed by the governor.

However, the exercise of powers the Constitution 
gives the federal government can be challenged 
and can be overturned, as evident from the 1998 
cases. The ouster of superior courts jurisdiction 
in fundamental rights cases worked well only in 
1981 under Gen Zia's PCO. But that was after Z.A. 
Bhutto had been hanged, the hijacking of a PIA 
plane had given the CMLA an additional excuse, 
the world had started smiling on Gen Zia in the 
wake of Soviet Union's incursion into 
Afghanistan, and the masses had been brutalised.

Anybody who suggests 1981 can be repeated in 2007 
will only increase the regime's difficulties. The 
idea that courts could be locked up as soon as a 
proclamation of emergency was issued is a figment 
of an immature mind.

The fact is that the people at home and powerful 
patrons abroad have taken quite a strong position 
on the issues/situations that might have made the 
official troubleshooters think of an escape route 
via emergency. Postponement of the general 
election, retention of two offices by Gen 
Musharraf beyond Dec 31 or his election by an 
about-to-expire electoral college and this while 
in uniform, etc, under the cover of emergency 
will arouse much greater opposition than might be 
the case without emergency.

This too should be known to Islamabad's gurus. 
Then why did they try to cause a scare by an 
obviously stage-managed leak? Either they wanted 
to prevent the judiciary from taking its recent 
success too seriously or the idea was to test the 
public reaction to a new dose of emergency.

The move has backfired on both counts. Both the 
judiciary and the people have been given time to 
think up remedial/resistance plans. As it is, the 
proclamation of emergency seems to have been shot 
down by the public even before it was issued.

The lesson of the affair is that in the present 
climate it will be extremely difficult to sustain 
anti-democracy measures even under the cover of 
emergency and that such steps could produce a 
result completely opposite to the one desired by 
their authors. For once status quo is a welcome 
expression.


______


[2]


Daily Mirror
28 August 2007

THE POLITICS OF RESETTLEMENT IN EAST

by Shakuntala Perera

It is today irrelevant how the East was won. 
Liberation has embroiled the province in too many 
issues to pause and rejoice. The victories have 
brought far too many implications for the East. 
The criticism against the government for letting 
greater political agendas to be met over those of 
a human nature cannot be ignored.

A recent visit to the province proved much of the 
allegations true. The East is the theatre of more 
controversies than any it has experienced over 
the two decades of conflict. Government claims of 
wiping the province of terrorism holds little 
weight because there are over riding issues. At 
the moment they weigh far bigger and have the 
potential to threaten the entire future of the 
East.

--BOX--
     * In Vattamadu the GA had issued a land 
permit to both Muslims and Tamils for the same 
piece of land, which led to an inter-community 
dispute. The LTTE allowed Muslim people to 
cultivate the land for a certain period of time 
and then refused entry. - In Thirukkovil, 
Rasoolthotum coconut estates owned by a Muslim 
man were left in trust for the daughter but after 
the CFA the LTTE built houses for Tamils on the 
land with the help of World Vision.

     * In Pottuvil, town, (a 99% Muslim populated 
area), Muhuthumaha Vihara, an archeological site, 
was turned into a Buddhist temple with no 
worshippers. This has been contemplated as a move 
to create communal tense in this area.

     * Land at the 3rd mile post has been declared 
an archeological site, with the planting of a Bo 
tree on the Lahugala and Pottuvil road.

     * In Saasthraveli 1000 acres of Muslim 
agricultural land, (which were on renewal 
permits), have been taken over by the state and a 
Buddhist monk and 10 children with 50 homeguards 
for security have been settled in the area. The 
mission was told that the land is currently being 
divided into 2-3 acre plots and gradually being 
used to settle Sinhala people.

     * In Arugam Bay a large Buddha statue was 
placed opposite the main STF camp at the foot of 
the Arugam Bay Bridge. It should be noted there 
are no Buddhists residing in the vicinity. 
Immediately after tsunami another Buddha statue 
was erected by Ullai town on the beach. USAID 
which is building a bridge in the area was forced 
to shift the location of the bridge to avoid 
shifting the location of the statue.

     * In Pottuvil town a sign board which states 
that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country and belongs 
only to the Buddhist was placed on a Bo tree. The 
sign board which was installed a couple of years 
ago is in Sinhala.

-SAHR

--

The military exercises following the Mavil Aru 
debacle has impacted the province as never 
before. Land as a political weapon is only 
contributing to the issue. The work of certain 
nationalist political parties is having serious 
implications to the war torn districts of the 
East. The people are aware of the 'needs' being 
met and the moves to change the demography to 
meet larger political agendas.

The hundreds of thousands left destitute in the 
camps for the displaced are testimony of a 
situation gone far out of any one's grasp. It is 
a fact that some of these camps still provide 
refuge to those left homeless by the Tsunami.

The first movement of displaced persons, 6,000 
families, approx 30,000 persons, took place in 
April 2006 from the Trincomalee District to the 
Batticaloa District after the Mavil Aaru clashes 
between the Government and the LTTE. The IDPs 
first moved from Trincomalee to Vakarai in the 
Batticaloa district, then in late 2006 from 
Vaharai to Batticaloa. The third movement of 
persons was from West Batticaloa to Batticaloa 
East.

Those who vacated to Vakarai from Mutur east 
including Sampur after the commencement of aerial 
bombings are in transit camps in Killiveddi. 
There is no knowledge when they will be resettled 
in their own lands, because that has been 
declared a High Security Zone now. Resettlement 
in Echchampatthu also continues. Earlier plans to 
allow people to return as close to home as 
possible and start clearing and rebuilding homes 
and get back to former livelihoods are no longer 
'part of the plan'.

'Sinhalisation' is a serious charge levelled 
against the government. Moves by certain 
political organizations to settle Sinhala 
families within Muslim villages have only poured 
fuel to the sensitivities of the area. The plans 
have earned and aroused the wrath of the Muslim 
community. There is little security that even a 
military can provide to families thus forced in 
to the villages.

The people level charges against a 'political 
agenda' of colonization. Attempts to justify 
'homelands' through identifying certain areas as 
historic Buddhist places of worship are also 
seemingly part and parcel of the plan.

They allege moves were on to change the ethnic 
composition. In Mutur for instance, there is a 
52% Muslim population, a 47% Tamil and 1% 
Sinhalese. Member of the Mutur Pradeshiya Sabha 
M. Regis claims that the government has settled 
25 Sinhala families already. And moves were now 
underway to strengthen the claims by bringing a 
religious stamp to the issue.

He alleges certain nationalist parties of moves 
to claim a mountain at Munahattamallai a Buddhist 
site of archeological interest of late.

"The Muslims venerated this mountain for a long 
time. Then in 2003 a Christian group came and 
placed a cross on top and there was a conflict 
that left 10 people dead, Rs. 5 million damages 
in the town and two weeks of tension in the area."

"A few weeks back some Buddhist priests have come 
and visited the top of the mountain and after 
that there is a police point so we can't go and 
see what they have done. They are trying to 
create unrest again," he charged.

According to him since the visit people are 
banned carrying out work at the quarry at the 
foot of the hill. This was affecting the 
livelihoods of many.

Livelihoods are certainly a serious issue in the 
new liberated land today. Forcibly dumped in 
their thousands, far from their original 
habitats, there is no room for engaging in former 
livelihoods here. There are no attempts by the 
government to remedy this either. Farming is 
unthinkable in the mostly arid lands they are 
forced to make home.

The Coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and 
Co-existence (CMTPC) supports the allegations 
made. They allege that the current development 
plan for Trincomalee or the soon to be unveiled 
Eastern Development Plan is viewed with deep 
mistrust. "This concern of minority communities 
needs to be addressed and their fears allayed as 
speedily as possible" they maintain.

The eviction of 251 resettled farmers from Arafat 
Nagar on August 10th, without prior notice by the 
military, demonstrates that it is not purely 
security concerns that keep the Tamils out of 
their lands. Such actions and in some instances 
obstacles placed in the way of resettlement are 
prompted more by ethnic considerations and than 
by security safeguards. These Muslim families 
with permission from the then military commander 
began cultivation in March 2007. On the 10th, of 
this month, the military commanded the families 
to move out, placed a board at the entrance of 
the village stating that the area was a HSZ and 
that anyone who entered would be shot. Though 
negotiations are under way over this controversy, 
the area has been fenced off and the people are 
allowed only to cultivate and not re-settle on 
the land.

A massive highway has been constructed by the 
army, cutting across many paddy fields in 
Kinanthimunai, Perumpathu and Vellalanwetai. 
There is little evidence that any proper 
procedure was followed in acquiring this 
agricultural land. The farmers had no intimation 
of what was going on for they had been barred 
from entering their villages by the military as 
the area has been declared a HSZ.

The government by Gazette notification No 1467/3 
Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Law No 40(1978), 
declared a new High Security Zone covering Sampur 
and Mutur East on 16 February 2007. The 
declaration of HSZ for an Economic Zone will lead 
to the displacement of thousands. The government 
has reportedly already taken action to acquire 
land for relocation of the said displaced 
families. Eastern Security Forces Commander 
Parakrama Pannipitiya has been appointed as the 
Competent Authority for the implementation of the 
regulations.

There are suspicions that 'a new and trustworthy 
work force and new communities, most likely 
Sinhala will be moved into Trincomalee, 
'dramatically impacting on the demography and the 
ethnic balance in the Trincomalee District.' 
Already local communities are expressing fears 
that their areas are being marginalized and their 
needs and rights are being ignored in the 
proposed development plans.

Moves under the BOI Trincomalee Development Plan, 
to establish a nature park and in Seenanveli, 
north of Illankaiturai Muhattuvaram, a HSZ and a 
special fishing zone are all hold similar 
implications. The residents, most of them Tamils 
of Veddha descent, from about eight villages, 
have been transported and virtually dumped in the 
open. 'They are prevented from going home on the 
pretext of landmines while their meagre 
possessions have been reportedly looted by 
'Sinhalese' from the Mahindapura colony, acting 
allegedly in cooperation with the Army. The army 
is also engaged in constructing a Buddhist 
Temple, Samudragiri Vihara, in Seenanveli.

South Asians for Human Rights last week retorted 
against the moves to Sinhalise the area. 
"Appointment of numerous Sinhala government 
officials to the Provincial Council in the East 
after the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern 
province; establishment of Sinhala resettlements 
in Ampara; and building Viharas in Pottuvil, a 
predominantly Muslim area. The Muslim people, 
correctly, viewed themselves as being stuck 
between Sinhala and Tamil nationalisms," they 
allege.

Comparisons are drawn between schemes, such as 
the Mahaweli irrigation scheme, to move Sinhala 
settlers into Tamil and Muslim areas "with the 
aim of changing the ethnic demography of the 
province and thereby alter electoral politics."

Kaliachchai inside the village of Rithithanna, 
which is currently part of the Koralai West DS 
division, was a Muslim area from which people 
were moved to Ottamavadi and Sinhalese settled in 
1990 through the Mahaweli scheme. Some local 
sources claim that after the tsunami the 
Presidential Secretariat allocated houses in the 
post-tsunami resettlement scheme in Pottuvil to 
18 Sinhalese persons recruited by the government 
to work on post-tsunami reconstruction.

The Ports Authority has taken over lands on the 
Habarana- Trinco road which they fear will be 
used to resettle Sinhalese. The people believe 
the use of the lion as a symbol for the Muslim 
majority Ampara district in the new flag for the 
Eastern province is a further message by the 
government to the minorities that Ampara is a 
Sinhala division. These claims illustrate the 
fears of the minority communities which deepen 
existing divisions between communities.
Pottuvil DS is 269 sq km and separated into 27 GS 
divisions. The ethnic ratio in Pottuvil is 78.11% 
Muslims, 19.79%- Tamils and 2.11% Sinhalese. 
Pottuvil is an area that has been adversely 
affected by the demarcation of the tsunami buffer 
zone, Sinhala colonization and LTTE alienation.

Changing administrative boundaries is another 
means through which the demography of the Eastern 
Province is allegedly being changed, since it 
impacts upon the ability of minority groups to 
influence the political processes in their local 
areas.

For example, in Pottuvil, Navilaru, a farming 
area was declared sacred land by the Government 
Agent in March. The same took place in Oluvil. 
After the tsunami the government declared Ullai, 
a majority Muslim/Tamil village south of 
Batticaloa, as a tourist zone, constructed hotels 
and reportedly encouraged Sinhalese settlements.

Many groups and individuals the mission met 
opined that the murder of 10 Muslim men in 
Pottuvil in September 2006 was carried out with 
the intention of grabbing land and warning the 
Muslims that they should not contest control for 
land.

According to locals the Pottuvil murders took 
place between two Sinhala villages and there was 
continuing dispute between the villages, with the 
latest altercation occurring the morning before 
the murder. The dispute was regarding burying 
non-Muslims in he Muslim cemetery. Since 
fishermen settlers from Tangalle took over the 
non-Muslim cemetery and built houses, there has 
been no burial ground for non-Muslims. Hence, 
they attempted to bury non-Muslims in the Muslim 
cemetery which led to a dispute between the 
communities.

'The Muslim people are subjected to attempts by 
both state and armed groups to grab land. In many 
areas Muslims afraid to live on and farm their 
lands due to formal and informal threats by armed 
groups. In many cases, though they have deeds to 
the lands but are unable to use them'.

These moves were allegedly underway despite the 
existing issues relating to the Tsunami affected. 
The tsunami displaced are one of various groups 
that have no public space to articulate their 
grievances. Those displaced by the tsunami 
continue to live in camps in many parts of the 
East. The recent spate of conflict displacement 
has also led to the plight of the tsunami 
displaced being ignored by both the government 
and aid agencies. For example, though 
Maruthamunai was one of the most affected areas 
there has been minimal rehabilitation in the area.

'A tsunami displaced person said that in February 
2007 the people who hadn't yet been provided with 
housing staged a Sathiyagraha to reiterate their 
needs as IDPs. Discussions with the GA and DS 
resulted in promises being made that they'd be 
given land within a week. Four months later 
nothing has been done and the situation of the 
IDPs remains the same.

In many cases post-tsunami resettlement has been 
ill-conceived with people finding it difficult to 
engage in livelihood activities in the new 
settlement areas. In Ismailpuram for example, 
people do not want to resettle in the ICRC 
housing scheme as their livelihood is fishing and 
it is difficult to engage in livelihood from 11 
kms away from the sea.

'Emergency Architects' have reportedly been given 
the contract to build houses in this area, but 2 
1Ž2 acres of this land called 'theatre land' has 
been fenced off and claimed by a group of 
Sinhalese, who had not been affected by the 
tsunami, with help of military, police and a 
Viharadhipathy.

Land has as a political issue cost far too much 
to the country over two decades, to now be 
allowed to hamper any moves for co-existance. 
Nationalist politics must not be in the way of 
people's desire to live amicably with each other. 
The country has witnessed too much of the 
repercussions of such politics to be allowed to 
dominate once more.

______


[3]

Progressive Bangladesh
August 24, 2007

REPRESSION, REBELLION, REFLECTION 

by Abeer Mustafa  

What was most surprising about the recent round 
of violent events in Bangladesh was the rapid 
pace by which quarrels became processions, 
protests became revolts, and frustration became 
rage.
From protest to revolt

How can something that began with accidentally 
blocking someone's view of a football match 
escalate so quickly into anti-establishment 
riots, claiming two lives and hundreds of 
injuries across the country? What's going on here?

Rebellion is by nature risky and 
counter-intuitive. One can easily endanger one's 
life. A state of emergency makes it even more 
risky to speak out. The government's punishment 
can be swift and ruthless, as thousands of 
students, journalists, teachers, hawkers, and 
politicians have found out over the last months. 
Even Sheikh Hasina got jailed because she was 
being vocal.

Image
Rioters burn tyres on a street in Mirpur. Photo by E-Bangladesh
So it must have taken a good deal of pent-up 
anger for people to raise their fists in front of 
black-clad policemen and armored vans, especially 
at a time when the state has suspended the 
fundamental right to protest.

Not only did these students riot in different 
parts of Bangladesh, they came to be supported by 
locals, hawkers, rice-sellers, small businessmen, 
bostibashi-basically, the under-classes. Teachers 
got involved as well. The flames spread to at 
least a dozen cities, and threatened more.

Their demands also quickly escalated. What began 
as a cry to withdraw an army camp inside Dhaka 
University became a clarion call to restore 
democracy, continuing even after the government 
sincerely announced that they would remove the 
camp. In between the unruly mob burnt everything 
from effigies to trucks. If these events had not 
moved so fast, the government would not have 
declared a curfew, closed all universities, and 
imposed censorship.

The driving force

The authorities may treat this as a pre-planned 
event. But the reality is much simpler. Nearly 
everything about this, from the blocking of the 
view in the football stands to the rioting in 
Rajshahi, was a fit of spontaneous frenzy. Events 
like these are difficult to be controlled closely 
by politicians.

What brought people together is also simpler. It 
was not an 'evil force' guiding their behaviour, 
unless the word 'evil' means people's desire to 
be able to afford food, not to be evicted on whim 
and without warning, not to be arrested without 
showing reason and treated guilty unless proven 
innocent, not to be labeled readily as corrupt 
plotters or scheming hoarders or blackmailing 
bankers or thugs in the guise of students.

What was driving this is clear. Rebels are 
usually straightforward about what they want, 
because a rebellion is a way to publicise 
demands. What got the rebellion to expand was 
really a longing for democracy.
Why desire democracy?

This is something the caretaker government (CTG) 
will be well-advised to take very seriously. It 
should ask whether it is wise to wait another 15 
months before holding national elections.

Optimism had rightfully greeted the CTG when it 
was inducted in January. Devious political games 
and schemes began in Dhaka, but around the 
country people had a much simpler and more 
innocent hope: finally, now, free and fair 
elections would be held. That hope has turned 
into demand.

CTG is absolutely right about the poison of 
corruption in our society. But when the generals 
say that democracy has not worked in Bangladesh, 
what they show is how removed they are from what 
the people want. As one street vendor said in a 
BBC interview: "They are killing us to keep 
themselves in power. They think the public are 
idiots. But we are not idiots. They have come to 
organise elections, so they should just hold 
elections and leave."

So after such gross misrule during 2001-2006, why 
would ordinary people still prefer elections and 
democracy? Again, the reason is simple: Democracy 
gives them at least some access to decision 
makers, some security that if a bunch of them got 
together and demanded something, it might be 
heard.

Right now they have no access and no security. 
They are at the receiving end of the government's 
sharp stick, and they're hurting politically and 
economically. But CTG is responding with even 
more repression. After imposing a curfew, cutting 
off cell-phones and international lines (and 
blaming it on sabotage), cordoning off the 
campus, beating whomever they could find, and 
arresting an unknown number of students, it has 
now filed cases against 42,000 people!

It would be a mistake for the CTG to think that 
because the sophisticated urban 'civil society' 
supported its selective anti-corruption drive and 
its IMF-kissing economic agenda, it has similar 
overwhelming support all over the country. Alas, 
the Dhaka-based high society is nothing but an 
insignificant drop in an electorate of seventy to 
eighty million.

The right strategy for the government is to 
listen to, talk to, and treat these millions 
respectfully, de-politicize and humanize its 
actions, and accelerate the schedule for national 
elections. State power, which according to the 
Constitution clearly belongs to the people, needs 
to be returned to its lawful owner at the 
earliest.

______



[4]

Dawn
August 28, 2007

Editorial

HYDERABAD BLASTS

ONE fails to find the words to express one's 
anger and sorrow at the series of bomb blasts 
that killed at least 43 innocent people in the 
southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Saturday. 
This is the second - and a more serious - case of 
terrorism in that city in three months. The last 
incident was a blast in a mosque in May that 
killed 11 people, sending shock waves throughout 
the region. For those carrying out these heinous 
acts, human life is not sacred, though one does 
not know what they hope to achieve by killing at 
random. If the idea is to destabilise society and 
spread panic, the killers do succeed in doing 
that in the immediate aftermath. But in the long 
term the terrorists only strengthen the resolve 
of governments to fight violence with all the 
resources they have. The problem with incidents 
of violence of this kind - apart from their human 
dimension - is the implication it has for 
India-Pakistan relations. By hastily pointing a 
finger at the ISI and "terrorist organisations 
based in Pakistan and Bangladesh", the Andhra 
Pradesh chief minister did not serve the cause of 
good relations between the two South Asian 
countries. After all no evidence is yet available 
as to who the criminals behind the carnage were. 
Mercifully, the central government in New Delhi 
refrained from levelling similar charges.

Both India and Pakistan now agree that terrorism 
is a problem that can hurt both of them equally. 
In recognition of this fact they set up the 
Anti-Terrorism Mechanism subsequent to the summit 
meeting between the Pakistan president and the 
Indian prime minister last September in Havana. 
One hopes that New Delhi and Islamabad will 
activate the ATM to investigate the Hyderabad 
blasts. This mechanism provides the two countries 
with an institution for fighting terrorism, 
sharing intelligence, identifying sources of 
mischief, exchanging lists of wanted persons, 
developing counter-terrorism measures and, in 
specific cases, fixing responsibility to bring 
criminals to justice. Why the ATM has been 
allowed to remain dormant since March when its 
last meeting was held is not at all clear. If the 
ATM is activated at this point in time it will 
not only facilitate the investigation process to 
determine who is behind the Hyderabad blast. It 
will also serve as a confidence-building measure 
while helping to eliminate the menace of 
terrorism.

o o o

Kashmir Times
August 27, 2007

Editorial

YET ANOTHER MASSACRE
COWARDLY AND INHUMAN BUT LET'S NOT LOSE SENSE OF REASON

Hyderabad, the Pearl City of India, the birth 
place of Dakhni Urdu, and for long a show-piece 
of India's syncretic culture, has suddenly become 
the unimaginable victim of two cruel explosions. 
On Saturday accounted for over forty lives and 
have left over sixty wounded. None, so far, has 
claimed responsibility for this cruel act the 
twin blasts in the city. But, by all means this 
dastardly act has shaken and shocked everyone and 
needs to be condemned is strong words. Nobody who 
believes in justice or human rights would either 
indulge in such an act or condone it. But that 
apart, the incident also raises several pertinent 
questions. Why were not sufficiently stringent 
security measures adopted on time? Of course, no 
one can make any town absolutely safe from 
terroristic attacks, but security officials 
should have thought of the possibility of such an 
attack where, as on this occasion of a laser 
show, thousands are expected to gather. After 
all, Hyderabad, with Muslims constituting 47 
percent of its urban population, is one of the 
main centres of the SIMI and home to many hard 
core fanatics. Some of them, in their own way, 
had shown their teeth, when they organised an 
attack on Taslima Nasreen, exactly two weeks ago. 
So, intelligence should have been more alert, 
metal-detectors should have been installed, and 
every one coming in should have been thoroughly 
frisked. Apparently, no such precaution was 
taken, and we have paid the price. However, now 
that the worst has happened concerned authorities 
must see to it that the collective alienation of 
any community is not further deepened by the 
investigative agencies. Last year the situation 
was mis-handled by the security agencies who 
indulged in almost indiscriminate arrests and 
interrogation of the members of the minority 
community. While the leaders of that community 
protested against such indiscriminate arrests, 
some young men sought the road to revenge, in 
their own way. The Malegaon bombing is suspected 
to have been a response to the post-Mumbai-blasts 
conduct of the state police. So, police force 
should be very restrained and reasonable in their 
approach, in the days to come. Much of the 
responsibility for maintaining peace falls on the 
shoulders of the leaders of both the communities. 
While the leaders of the minority community 
should condemn this dastardly act in unequivocal 
terms, those of the majority community must 
ensure that no one even whispers of retaliation, 
or indulges in public vilification of the 
minority. Any retaliation, by word deed, will 
only indirectly help the organisers of this 
despicable deed, by provoking further some 
volatile members of the threatened minority. So, 
the best course for both the communities is to 
organise peace marches, condemn the cowardly 
murderers, and to practice, in words and deed, 
the principle of 'forgive and forget'. While 
these steps are to be taken at the local level, 
the leaders and senior officials in Delhi should 
desist from publicly directing their accusing 
fingers at Pakistan or Bangladesh. Often, in the 
past, Centre had to eat its own words hastily 
uttered. There is already within India enough of 
fuel for lighting such small fires occasionally, 
here and there. It need not be exported by the 
neighbours every time. Indiscriminate expression 
of suspicion is as dangerous as similar 
expression of allegations. But, unfortunately, 
while Home Minister exercised restraint, the 
chief minister of Andhra Pradesh indulged in 
freely expressing his apprehension that the 
sponsors of this carnage must have been based in 
either Pakistan or Bangladesh. Such ventilation 
of suspicion will ultimately do no one any good.

o o o

New Age
August 28, 2007

BOMBINGS AND THE BLAME GAME

Engaging in this mindless blame game only takes 
away from the real issue and plays directly into 
the hands of the terrorists. Instead of being 
faced with a united front, the terrorists are 
able to take advantage of the fact that the 
governments are so busy blaming each other for 
the attacks that the threat of terrorism is not 
properly tackled and the perpetrators are usually 
not brought to justice. This, at the end of the 
day, might work as the biggest factor in the 
terrorists' favour, writes Shameran Abed

ON SATURDAY, Hyderabad became the latest victim 
of terrorist bombs. Over 40 people were killed 
and more than 50 wounded in the twin blasts, one 
at a packed street restaurant and the other at an 
outdoor auditorium where hundreds of people were 
watching a sound and light show. This is not the 
first time that terrorists have attacked 
Hyderabad, but it is the most deadly attack in 
the southern Indian city to date. While the 
police have started a manhunt to find those who 
committed the 'dastardly act', the politicians 
have already started the blame game, even before 
any actionable intelligence has been gathered. 
The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Rajshekhar 
Reddy, suggested on Sunday, the very morning 
after the late-night attacks, that terrorist 
groups in Pakistan and Bangladesh were involved 
in the attack. For its part, the authorities in 
Dhaka have condemned the attacks in Hyderabad and 
have equally strongly rejected the allegation 
that a Bangladeshi terrorist group was behind it, 
again before carrying out any form of 
investigation of its own or before any of the 
facts have come to light regarding the bombing 
itself.
    While terrorism, as a phenomenon, is not new 
to this region, there has been a significant 
increase in the number of terrorist attacks in 
the subcontinent in recent years. Attacks have 
not only been carried out in major cities 
including Karachi, New Delhi and Dhaka but in 
many other places in all three countries as well. 
Also, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the 
Maoists in Nepal have used terror tactics to 
advance their causes. Such is the increased 
threat of terrorism in our region that the issue 
has been raised several times at regional forums 
including in ministerial meetings and summits of 
the South Asian Association for Regional 
Cooperation. Everyone seems to understand that in 
order to contain this threat, let alone to try to 
overcome it, the countries of this region will 
have to engage in an effective fight against 
extremism and terrorism, both from a law and 
order as well as an intellectual perspective. 
Yet, instead of doing so, either individually as 
countries or collectively as a region, it is 
clear that the countries of South Asia are still 
too busy pointing the finger of blame at each 
other and thereby adding to the existing mutual 
mistrust and suspicion.
    Returning to this week's bombing incident in 
Hyderabad, it is easy to understand the reasons 
for the accusation made by the chief minister of 
Andhra Pradesh. Although nothing is certain as of 
yet, the nature of the attacks suggest that the 
bombings were carried out by an Islamic 
fundamentalist group. And if that is indeed the 
case, it is possible that the group has 
connections to Pakistan and Bangladesh. We know 
that Islamist terrorists from all across the 
subcontinent, and from around the world, have 
trained together in Afghanistan and Pakistan and 
that there are direct links between the different 
outfits. We also know that there has been varying 
degrees of coordination between the different 
terrorist outfits in our region. Therefore, even 
if it is unlikely that the terrorist group that 
is responsible for the attack in Hyderabad on 
Saturday is from Bangladesh, it is not unlikely 
that it might have some sort of links to 
Bangladesh, in the same way that groups that have 
carried out attacks in Bangladesh have direct 
links with groups in neighbouring countries and 
have even received financial support from them.
    However, it is this international nature of 
the terrorist threat in general and the terrorist 
groups in particular that makes it so important 
to forge a united front and fight collectively 
against terrorism. It is only through the sharing 
of intelligence and coordinating anti-terrorism 
efforts region-wide that our countries might be 
able to curb this scourge. But for that too 
happen, the countries will have to first decide 
to coordinate activities and work together, 
rather than to point the finger every time an 
attack takes place. Following the bomb blasts in 
Hyderabad, the federal authorities in India ought 
to have pursued the more prudent approach of 
officially contacting the authorities in Pakistan 
and Bangladesh and sharing available intelligence 
in order to coordinate efforts to bring the 
perpetrators to task. But instead of doing that, 
the chief minister has already publicly accused 
India's neighbour to the east and the west, 
naturally making both countries defensive from 
the get-go and thereby effectively wrecking any 
chance for cooperation.
    Of course, this is not a tendency unique to 
the Indians. Following the deadly bomb blasts at 
the Awami League meeting in Dhaka in August of 
2004, which left several including the party's 
presidium member Ivy Rahman dead and scores 
including party chief Sheikh Hasina herself 
injured, the one-man enquiry commission, which 
was set up by the government of the time, found 
India to blame for the attacks. Of course, the 
commission's report did not mention India by 
name, but when an official report claims that 'a 
big foreign power' that 'helped the emergence of 
Bangladesh by cessation from Pakistan with 
oblique motive to make it a subservient 
stateŠorchestrated this dastardly and mindless 
attack', naming the country in question is hardly 
necessary.
    Engaging in this mindless blame game only 
takes away from the real issue and plays directly 
into the hands of the terrorists. Instead of 
being faced with a united front, the terrorists 
are able to take advantage of the fact that the 
governments are so busy blaming each other for 
the attacks that the threat of terrorism is not 
properly tackled and the perpetrators are usually 
not brought to justice. This, at the end of the 
day, might work as the biggest factor in the 
terrorists' favour.
    Having said that, while blaming ones 
neighbours willy-nilly for terrorist attacks are 
counterproductive to say the least, the 
defensiveness of the countries accused, though 
the most natural of reactions, is not useful 
either. Bangladesh certainly has the right to 
feel enraged at the way its name is dragged 
through the mud every time there is a terrorist 
attack in India, with politicians and the people 
alike blaming our country for an attack there. 
Yet, our government does not serve anyone's 
purpose by rejecting outright the allegations 
other than those of the terrorists. Does our 
government know for sure that the people who 
attacked Hyderabad do not have any links, direct 
or indirect, with our country? If not, on what 
basis did it so emphatically reject the chief 
minister's claim?
    The reaction on both sides shows further 
evidence of the suspicion and mistrust between 
our governments and our peoples. However, while 
we remain impeded by our inability to rise out of 
our respective complexes, the terrorists are 
coming together, forging closer ties and better 
coordinating their activities. They are neither 
bound by national boundaries and nor do they work 
at cross purposes to each other. That is why it 
is so important for our countries to stop looking 
at terrorism from a nationalist perspective, and 
seeing it instead as a regional problem, if not a 
global one. The fight against terrorism, instead 
of adding to the mistrust, could provide a way 
for the region to unite against a common threat. 
That is the only way for the countries to 
effectively tackle it.

______


[5]

Hard News
August 2007

HAS INDIAN DEMOCRACY FAILED?

We take pride in that defining moment in 1950 
when, despite a recognition of the enormous 
challenges of knitting together a 'nation' out of 
a staggering diversity of communities, 
ethnicities, languages and disparities, we 
decided to take the bold political step by 
pledging India to be a sovereign, socialist, 
secular, democratic republic. What remains today 
of this pledge?

by Smitu Kothari Delhi

In a dictatorship, censorship is used; in a democracy, manipulation.

Ryszard Kapuscinski, political commentator

Š.the level of indifference the nation now shows 
to the fate of its poor calls into question not 
only the justice of its fiscal policies but also 
their legitimacy.

Ronald Dworkin, in Is Democracy Possible Here?

Democracy requires citizens to stay alert, to 
open their eyes and their mouths-to understand 
that societies of sheep typically beget 
governments of wolves. It (democracy) facilitates 
criticism of power.

                  John Keane, political philosopher

From whose vantage point do we assess our 
democracy? The minority that celebrates our 
'economic miracle' and has found the means, both 
legitimate and devious, to enhance its comforts 
and privileges? Or the over 70 per cent who live 
on less than Rs 80 a day, some striving to 
improve their lives against grave odds and others 
living a life of penury and humiliation?

Why is a vantage point important? After all, 
people have regularly exercised their electoral 
options, sometimes changing governments who have 
let them down. But, apart from a few exceptions, 
have they not elected another set of leaders who 
are more or less the same? Have they had any 
power to hold the bureaucrats, who exercise 
enormous power, accountable?

Compared with many countries, we do not live 
under an authoritarian regime. We can organise 
protests and write freely. Unlike China, we have 
achieved over nine per cent growth with liberal 
democracy. We take pride in that defining moment 
in 1950 when, despite a recognition of the 
enormous challenges of knitting together a 
'nation' out of a staggering diversity of 
communities, ethnicities, languages and 
disparities, we decided to take the bold 
political step by pledging India to be a 
sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic 
republic.

But, what remains today of this pledge? Integral 
to democracy was the commitment to strive for 
social and economic justice. Any assessment of 
our democracy must start with an assessment of 
that commitment.

This essay is not to assess the failures of our 
political elite to steer democracy in ways in 
which it could accommodate the aspirations of the 
people of states and regions like Kashmir, 
Punjab, and the Northeast or its contentious 
maneuvering of 'higher' and 'lower' castes. Nor 
is it my intention to assess the success of the 
Congress party in representing the plurality of 
the country or in analysing its decline and the 
growth of other political forces representing 
regional and ethnic aspirations, including the 
rise of the BJP.

My intention is to illuminate how the dominant 
political, social and economic interest groups 
have consolidated their control and managed 
democratic aspirations without conceding their 
power. Of course, there are instances of dalits 
becoming presidents and sarpanches, of lower 
caste/class members demonstrating remarkable 
entrepreneurial spirit. However, those who have 
been able to build secure livelihoods are a small 
proportion of the economically and socially 
discriminated in the country. This reality 
highlights many questions. Here are a few.

n   What can we say about our democracy when an 
explosive amalgam of Hindu Rightwing politics, 
organised religion, and powerful capitalist 
leaders actively collaborate in a pogrom, shield 
the perpetrators and walk free to reinvent their 
game to corner huge gains from economic 
globalisation? This distortion of faith and 
nationalism, and the fear among secular parties 
to challenge these forces is a commentary on the 
state of our democracy.

n   Can we call our country democratic when, in 
the past few years, there have been a hundred 
thousand farmer suicides - a hundred thousand 
families devastated? These figures, spread in 
small digits over time, have a numbing effect. 
The numbers hide the millions of others who live 
at the edge of survival, away from the gaze and 
concern of the growing middle classes.

This reality points to our being integrated into 
an  undemocratic global economic system dominated 
by institutions which are silent when the US and 
Europe heavily subsidise their farmers 
undermining the very survival of millions of 
farmers in countries like ours - one of the 
reasons for the suicides. These institutions seek 
the liberalisation of policies to facilitate the 
accumulation of private wealth, not its 
democratic redistribution. They legitimise, even 
assist, predatory finance capital as it 
penetrates deeper into the country, appropriating 
and profiting from our resources.

n   What can we say about our democracy when the 
most predatory of hedge funds and finance 
institutions in the US and elsewhere are 
descending in India speculating in and 
capitalising on India's land? Over 26 per cent of 
FDI in the past year has been in real estate. In 
the process, laws are being violated with 
impunity and entire chains of illegal deals are 
the norms.

n   Is it not a mark of failure when fertile 
agricultural lands are carved off into Special 
Economic Zones (SEZs) that further privilege the 
rich, give them tax-free shelters and greater 
opportunities to indulge in speculation in land 
and property? The Union finance ministry's own 
internal assessment in 2005 suggests that in the 
period 2006-2009, the government will have to 
forgo Rs 90,000 crore in direct and indirect 
taxes on account of the SEZs. These zones will 
become corporate city-states where the Indian 
State will just be a rubber stamp. Is this the 
maturing of a democracy or a violation of its 
spirit?

n   How democratic can our society be when our 
rulers compete to attract more foreign investment 
by diluting or deregulating a wide range of 
protective democratic legislation and policy - 
from labour laws and environment impact 
assessments to land ceiling acts - legislation 
that was won after decades of political struggle?

n   Our democracy is reflected in the crippling 
neglect of our agriculture. We are witnessing an 
expansion of contract and corporate farming, 
industrialising and corporatising agriculture. 
Prominent NRI economists like Jagdish Bhagwati 
and Arvind Panagariya acclaim these developments. 
Addressing the Chambers of Indian Industries 
recently, Panagariya said, "There is a need to 
pull a substantial chunk of population from 
agriculture into labour intensive sectors." This 
arrogant recommendation, if implemented, would 
condemn most of those 'pulled' to a life of 
crippling labour at the bottom of the economy. Is 
such social engineering democratic? Are no 
lessons learned from the massive social and 
environmental harm that the present path of 
consumer capitalism is causing, including changes 
in the climate - a reality that urgently calls 
for a dramatic rethinking of our patterns of 
consumption and development?

n   Transnational and domestic private capital 
(and their academic apologists) are playing a 
powerful role in shaping the direction of the 
economy. This is not globalisation but an 
internationalisation of finance and corporate 
capital, undermining our democracy and eroding 
our sovereignty.

n   Should we admit failure when the police or 
the army fire on democratic protests often in the 
presence of district collectors and senior 
members of ruling parties? Are the firings and 
repression in Nandigram and Kalinganagar 
scattered incidents or are they part of a pattern 
where 'development flows from the barrel of a 
gun'?  Even a cursory look at what is unfolding 
in the Northeast highlights how projects ranging 
from uranium mines to scores of large dams are 
being implemented with minimal public discussion 
using lies, subterfuge, armed force and blatant 
bribery. An illustration of this is the 
announcement in early July by the National 
Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) to give 
over Rs 300 crore to the chief minister of 
Arunachal Pradesh as an 'advance' to build large 
dams.

n   Despite nine per cent growth, less than one 
per cent of the national budget goes towards 
public health spending? We have child 
malnourishment levels that are higher than 
sub-Saharan Africa. Highlighting this, a recent 
government of India-UNICEF study found that 56 
per cent of women and 79 per cent of children 
below three years old were anemic - a situation 
worse than seven years ago. Even a leading 
government consultant had to proclaim that this 
reality was, "Ša matter of national priority and 
shame".

n   Growth was meant to benefit all. Only select 
sectors have experienced rapid growth and only a 
few have benefited. Most governments have failed 
in democratising more equitable access to the 
processes and benefits of the market. So you have 
a classic situation of widening expectations 
created by a populist image of resurgent India 
and a reality of disenchantment. It is inevitable 
in this situation that Maoist movements are 
finding resonance among despairing populations. 
Vast areas in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya 
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa are 
now under their influence.

n   The iniquitous development has seen a huge 
growth in private security agencies. The elites 
live inside gated communities guarded by high 
walls and fences. We see the growing use of 
corporate resources to support State roles. 
Routinely now, private corporations provide 
vehicles to ferry police to break up democratic 
protests as has happened recently around the 
proposed POSCO plant in Orissa or at the site of 
the Maheshwar dam in Madhya Pradesh.

n   How democratic are we when corruption has 
been standardised, institutionalised and its 
scale is staggering. Visit the state of Jharkhand 
or Chhattisgarh. Routinely, you will hear of 
projects where 70-80 per cent of the money has 
been pocketed by a triumvirate of contractors, 
politicians and bureaucrats. Personal and/or 
party gain takes precedence over the effective 
implementation of socially and economically 
empowering projects.

There has been a boom in those sectors needed for 
the global economy. Uneven development has 
intensified. The wealth gap has grown. The IIM's 
and the IIT's are flourishing, with a virtual 
explosion of private management and IT 
institutions. However, we see an appalling dearth 
of teachers and facilities in an overwhelming 
majority of our primary schools. Even within the 
parameters of a 'Liberal Welfare State', the 
Indian State's record has become dismal. 
Privatising education and health sectors has 
meant that 50 per cent of our people can no 
longer afford adequate education and health care.

We are entering a phase of intensive predatory 
capitalism. The most that our governments are 
willing to reluctantly concede are steps to 
humanise this invasion - safety nets, employment 
generation sch-emes, micro-credit programmes. In 
no way do these create an equitable, democratic, 
ecologically secure society, in no way is there a 
recognition that people need more than a culture 
of materialism to lead a fulfilling life, and, 
conversely, that a fulfilling life does not need 
an immersion in rampant consumerism.

It is important to acknowledge that there is much 
to be grateful for. Our constitutionally 
protected institutions-like the Election 
Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General 
(CAG)-have performed their roles with diligence. 
Democratic struggles have led to progressive 
State intervention creating small but crucially 
important gains for dalits, tribals and women.

There are countless efforts of people with 
conscience, those who care, resist, speak out. 
They are the keepers of sanity, the true 
defenders of our democracy. It is their hand and 
their spirit that must be strengthened.

This may sound utopian, given the seemingly 
overwhelming odds. But, look at Latin America. 
After decades of authoritarian rule and massive 
US and IMF/World Bank-led economic adjustment, we 
are witnessing the dramatic collapse of regimes 
and policies that privileged the rich, diluted 
national sovereignty and destroyed millions of 
livelihoods.

As American historian Howard Zinn says, "Šif we 
do act, in however small a way, we don't have to 
wait for some grand utopian future. The future is 
an infinite succession of presents, and to live 
now as we think human beings should live, in 
defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself 
a marvelous victory."

The writer is Director, Intercultural Resources, 
and Visiting Professor, Tata Institute of Social 
Sciences, Mumbai

______



[6]


The Hindu
July 13, 2007

NOORANI VS NEHRU LIBRARY

by Anita Joshua

Both at loggerheads over 'Haksar Papers'

NEW DELHI: Can official files that form part of 
the 'Haksar Papers' in the Nehru Memorial Museum 
& Library (NMML) be accessed by scholars? This is 
the question confounding the NMML after 
constitutional expert A.G. Noorani requisitioned 
some files marked 'Top Secret' and 'NGO' ('Not To 
Go Out' in official parlance) from the 'Haksar 
Papers.'

Citing the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, 
Mr. Noorani has challenged NMML's contention that 
the papers cannot be accessed by him through the 
normal course. Instead, NMML has set up a 
three-member expert group to scrutinise all such 
papers having official files in its collection as 
part of a larger endeavour to "clear all of them, 
or nearly all of them, for public access as soon 
as possible."
Original files

The files in question are original files of the 
External Affairs Ministry. Unlike in the case of 
the National Archives, where official files are 
sent by departments after vetting them, much of 
the collection at NMML has been built up from 
private donations.

In the case of the 'Haksar Papers,' NMML got it 
in three batches - the first two from P.N. 
Haksar, who was the former Prime Minister, Indira 
Gandhi's secretary, and the third sent by his 
daughter after his death.
Official Secrets Act

According to NMML Director Mridula Mukherjee, 
experts have advised that "as the corresponding 
provisions of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 
1923, were consistent with the provisions of the 
RTI Act, in so far as there was no discordance 
the obligations and penalties of the OSA were 
applicable (sic)."

The eight experts consulted include National Book 
Trust Chairman Bipin Chandra, Magsaysay awardee 
Shanta Sinha, former NMML Deputy Director D.N. 
Panigrahi, historian and NMML Director's husband 
Aditya Mukherjee, the former Director of 
Historical Division in External Affairs Ministry, 
A.S. Bhasin, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Shekhar 
Singh of the National Campaign for People's Right 
to Information.

But, Mr. Noorani differs with them. In his 
opinion, the stamp of 'Secret' had "lost the 
intimidatory character it once possessed under 
the OSA, both by virtue of recent judicial 
rulings and above all by the RTIŠ Indeed, its 
main purpose is to end the culture of secrecy 
fostered by the Act of 1923 as Section 8(2) makes 
clear." Further, he has argued that the 'Haksar 
Papers' do not fall within any of the "bars" set 
out in Section 8 of the RTI.

Since the experts advised NMML to scrutinise 
these documents, a sub-group has been set up to 
examine all such papers.

And, as the papers in question pertain to the 
External Affairs Ministry, the library has asked 
it to send a representative to look at them and 
see if they can be opened to the public.
NMML in the dock

But a fact that has put NMML in the dock is that 
these very files have been accessed in the past. 
If government rules do not permit NMML to allow 
access to official files in its collection, then 
how was historian Ramchandra Guha allowed to 
access them while working on his book India After 
Gandhi is the question Mr. Noorani is asking.

______


[7]  BOOK REVIEW

Dawn
August 19, 2007

DIVIDED SOCIETIES

Reviewed by Qurat ul ain Siddiqui

John Richardson's Paradise Poisoned: Learning 
about Conflict, Terrorism and Development from 
Sri Lanka's Civil Wars is the product of at least 
17 years of analysis and research. It is a 
perceptive, eye-opening study of Sri Lanka's 
socio-political situation which sharply 
identifies and analyses particular situations and 
grievances of disgruntled groups which eventually 
led the country into a civil war that it can no 
longer control.

The book comprises of five major sections, four 
of which discuss the various stages after having 
gone through which a state ends up being marred 
by conflict and civil war at the hands of 
discontented groups. Sri Lanka makes an 
interesting study in this regard, not only 
because it still has not been able to resolve its 
issues but also because it was once cited as a 
success story in terms of political stability and 
economic development.

In the very first chapter of the book the author 
quickly directs his focus to the idea of conflict 
prevention which can produce best results only by 
curing symptoms that may develop into an 
incurable epidemic. Here Richardson also cites 
the example pf Rwanda where more than 800,000 
people lost their lives and many, many more had 
to seek refuge in different regions, eventually 
destabilising much of the Central African region, 
hence illustrating how treating early warning 
symptoms can be more cost-effective than believed 
to be. Richardson quotes the Carnegie Commission 
as saying: 'Since 1994, many knowledgeable 
people, including the commander of UNAMIR (UN 
Assistance Mission for Rwanda) at the time have 
maintained that even a small trained force, 
rapidly deployed at the outset, could have 
largely prevented the Rwandan genocide. But 
neither the force nor the will to deploy it 
existed at the time.'

Coming back to Sri Lanka, an island which has 
long been described as a 'paradise' by 
globetrotters, is a mix of different ethnicities 
with 74 per cent Sinhalese, 12.6 per cent Sri 
Lankan Tamils, 5.6 per cent Indian Tamils and 7.1 
per cent Muslims. This ethnic split is commonly 
understood to be the reason for the ongoing 
strife in Sri Lanka. Richardson says he chose to 
explore the relationship between development and 
conflict with his focus on Sri Lanka as this 
nation alone has faced countless situations which 
have been faced separately by different leaders 
of developing countries in the post-World War Two 
era.

There are certain factors that Richardson 
emphasises in this study of the relationship 
between development and conflict. He very 
strongly suggests that organised violence (mainly 
caused by disgruntled groups that see themselves 
as victims of injustice) at even low intensity is 
indicative of development failures that might 
eventually lead to a civil war if steps to 
rectify and cure the symptoms are not taken; and 
the earlier such steps are taken, the more 
productive they are.

Richardson also advocates reconsidering the 
concept of 'successful development', which he 
believes can surely prevent 'deadly conflict and 
terrorism'. He speaks of the 'vicious cycle' 
involving 'violence intensity, development 
failures and social pathologies,' each 
exacerbating the other and this cycle can only be 
broken effectively by displacing 'development 
failures' with 'successful development.' Peace 
also happens to be a decisive factor as far as 
development and more specifically sustainable 
development is concerned. Richardson quotes from 
the mission statement of the United Nations 
Development Program (UNDP) saying that 
'development is inseparable from the quest for 
peace and human security.'

Richardson dismisses problems that can be 
produced even in stable democracies -- problems 
which if not prudently handled can actually 
'produce disillusionment' among the population of 
democracies. He is of the opinion that Sri Lanka 
represents the coexistence of a certain degree of 
democracy with 'chronic political instability'. 
In the chapter titled 'How it came to this - 
learning from Sri Lanka's civil wars', Richardson 
analyses the causes and history of 'violent 
conflict and terrorism' in Sri Lanka, a nation 
which began as a peaceful, democratic and 
economically stable state but eventually became 
'a divided society' with a shattered economy as 
well as producing 'one of the world's most 
effective militant movements contesting the 
government's sovereignty over a third of the 
island'. Leading to the question of a nation 
within a nation (an idea not very outlandish in 
our part of the world) with symptoms which 
indicate increased and increasing conflict and 
terrorism, not only are development failures the 
most significant but also 'the most difficult to 
precisely measure.' Richardson also goes on to 
elaborate the ten development policy failures, 
the prevention or correction of which could have 
effectively prevented the conflicts in Sri Lanka 
which later turned very violent.

Another element that Richardson believes fuels 
conflicts among groups in ethnically diverse 
societies, such as Sri Lanka, is the practice of 
'politics without principle', which is one of the 
'eight blunders' that M.K. Gandhi maintained act 
as causes for conflicts and violence in society.

Richardson, as a conclusion to his study, 
explains how these conflicts can be prevented and 
what particular measures are necessary; keeping 
'public order' and a check on the degree of 
'social turbulence' being crucial imperatives in 
this regard. However, at the same time, he 
indicates that public order and repression are 
clearly distinct from each another. Another 
important measure that needs to be employed is a 
check on pernicious and polarising political 
rhetoric and tactics which seem beneficial in the 
short term, but could eventually backfire. The 
author cites the partition riots on the Indian 
subcontinent as probably the most taxing of all, 
and the costs of which the citizens of India, 
Pakistan and Bangladesh continue to bear. Also 
very importantly, deadly conflicts can only be 
effectively dealt with in countries where the 
internal security forces are capable of dealing 
with the complex challenges of keeping public 
order professionally. Along with these, just and 
constructive development policies can prove 
instrumental in pacifying different social and 
ethnic groups within the region and are in line 
with the ideas of good governance and 
democratization.

The research by John Richardson focuses on the 
analysis of states and systems and the 
relationship between conflict, development, 
terrorism. He has described how a stable state 
structure can be realised by dealing sensitively 
with the relevant factors.


PARADISE POISONED: LEARNING ABOUT CONFLICT, 
TERRORISM AND DEVELOPMENT FROM SRI LANKA'S CIVIL 
WARS
By John Richardson
International Centre for Ethnic Studies
554/6A, Peradeniya Road, Kandy, Sri Lanka
ISBN 955-580-094-4
764pp. Price not listed

______



[8]  ANNOUNCEMENTS

(i)

The Delhi Film Archive with History Society and 
Gender Forum Ramjas College present -

City Walls -- My own Private Tehran

87 minutes, Iran

A film by Afsar Sonia Shafie (present for the screening)

29 August at 1:15 pm
Venue: Seminar Room, Ramjas College, Delhi University

  In times where headlines about the so-called 
"Culture Clash" hunt each other, the Iranian 
filmmaker Afsar Sonia Shafie tells us a different 
story.

During her trip to her hometown Tehran, the 
filmmaker, who currently lives in Switzerland, 
confronts herself with the history of her own 
family. She is visiting her grandparents and lets 
them talk about their lives. In conversations 
with her grandmother, her mother, her sisters and 
aunts the director documents her own emancipation 
and that of her female relatives.

In a very private, sensitive and exemplary way 
"City Walls-My own Private Tehran" portraits 
remarkable mothers and women who, with every 
generation, gradually managed to free themselves 
from the chains of the oppressive patriarchal 
order. It shows us how women continue fighting 
for their right to progress.

o o o

(ii)

The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells - Film Screening & Discussion

Discover what Stem Cells are and why they're so 
important to medical science and so controversial 
to religionists. Is it ethical to tinker with 
potential life to generate embryonic stem cells? 
'Frankenstein science' or hope for a cure?

Join us at T2F's third Science Ka Adda as we 
screen a documentary and discuss the science and 
ethics of stem cells with 
<http://www.t2f.biz/events/science-ka-adda-3/>Biologist 
Dr. Ather Enam and 
<http://www.t2f.biz/events/science-ka-adda-3/>Medical 
Ethicist Dr. Aasim Ahmad.

Date: Wednesday, 29th August, 2007

Time: 7:00 pm

Entry Fee: Rs. 100

Venue: The Second Floor
6-C, Prime Point Building, Phase 7, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA, Karachi
Phone: 538-9273 | 0300-823-0276 | <mailto:info at t2f.biz>info at t2f.biz
Map: <http://www.t2f.biz/location>http://www.t2f.biz/location

Seats are limited and will be available on a 'first come, first served' basis.

About T2F's Science Ka Adda

Are you curious about the human genome project, 
but intimidated by ivory-tower scientists? Do you 
wonder whether the Big Bang actually happened? Is 
there life beyond earth? What happens when stars 
collide? What are the social implications of 
nanotechnology?

T2F's Science Ka Adda, hosted by Zakir Thaver, is 
a platform for debate and discussion about 
science and how it impacts our lives. Join us, in 
an informal café setting, to discover new ideas 
in science and technology, interact with 
scientists, and satiate your curiosity.


o o o

(iii)

Hello,

I am writing to you on behalf of the organisers 
of the Second National bioethics Conference of 
the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. 
Registrations for the conference are open.

Conference: Second National Bioethics Conference

MORAL AND ETHICAL IMPERATIVES OF HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGIES:
Scientific, legal and socioeconomic perspectives on use and misuse


Conference sub-themes
* Technologies in medical practice
* Research on health care technologies
* Health care technologies, public health and policies

Venue, Place: Convention Centre, National Mental 
Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore
Dates: 6th to 8th December 2007

Kindly note that you will avail of the early bird 
registration fee, if you are to register before 
31 August. Post August 31, Indian and Least 
developed National Participants will be charged 
at 1000 and international Participants at 75 US$, 
instead of 800 and 60US$ respectively.

Please register online at 
<http://nbc.ijme.in/registration.php> 
http://nbc.ijme.in/registration.php and print the 
generated invoice and send it in with your 
payment to " Indian Journal of Medical Ethics", 
payable at Bangalore and send it in to the 
address below.

Your payments can be made by Cheque, Draft or 
Western Union Money Postal Money Order


Thank you and sincere apologies for any cross-postings of this email.

Kind regards,
Abraham Thomas
---------------------------------------------------------------
Secretariat, Second National Bioethics Conference (NBC-07)
C/O -- IMB-Samata Project
No.42 (Ist Floor)
Muniga Layout, M.S.Nagar,
Banaswadi Main Road,
Bangalore. 560033 Karnataka

Mobile:  +91 98440 64704
Tel:       +91 80 25802563
email: <mailto:nbc.ijme at gmail.com>nbc.ijme at gmail.com

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