SACW | Sept. 5-7, 2007
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Sep 6 20:26:33 CDT 2007
South Asia Citizens Wire | September 5-7, 2007 |
Dispatch No. 2445 - Year 10 running
[1] Bangladesh:
(i) Amnesty International calls for thorough
unrestricted inquiry into violations by security
forces
(ii) Bangladesh - The minus-two solution (The Economist)
(iii) B'Desh and regles du jeu (William B Milam)
(iv) Bangladesh: The Caretaker's Burden (Rineeta Naik)
[2] Pakistan: The destruction of Fatima Jinnah park (Isa Daudpota)
[3] India: Course of the Law on Riots and
Terror: Tyranny of Labels (Iqbal A Ansari)
[4] India: Intimidating Peace - Muslims in
Gujarat: Victims of a conspiring State (Vidya
Bhushan Rawat)
[5] India: Hashimpura killings: RTI response (Vrinda Grover)
[6] India: 'As I sang Khwaja Moinuddin, I could
hear the voices of the dying in Gujarat' (Sumathi
Murthy)
[7] India: Documentary Film Final Solution
Revisited - A request from Rakesh Sharma
[8] Upcoming events announcements:
(i) A debate on The New E-Crime Bill 2007 in
Pakistan (Karachi, 7 September 2007)
(ii) Seminar on Dissent and Debate in Society (Ahmedabad, 8 September 2007)
(iii) V.M.Tarkunde Memorial Lecture "Secularism
under the Indian Constitution" (New Delhi, 9
September 2007)
(iv) Public Meeting on Indo-US Nuclear Deal
What? Why? For Whom? (Bombay, 11 September 2007)
______
[1]
(i)
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ASA 13/011/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 169
4 September 2007
BANGLADESH: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR
THOROUGH UNRESTRICTED INQUIRY INTO VIOLATIONS BY
SECURITY FORCES
In a letter to Bangladesh ’s leader, Chief
Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Amnesty
International called on the authorities to ensure
that all violations reported in the context of
recent student unrest are thoroughly investigated
and those responsible brought to justice.
In the letter, Amnesty International refers to a
newly established judicial investigation by
Justice Habibur Rahman Khan which is to submit
its findings to the government on 11 September
2007.
The organization calls on the government to
ensure that the inquiry is fully independent, has
access to all persons and information that it
considers relevant to its inquiries, and is able
to ensure protection of witnesses. The inquiry’s
conclusions and recommendations should be made
public, and the government should issue a public
response indicating the steps it will take to
implement recommendations made by the inquiry.
The letter from Amnesty International’s Secretary
General Irene Khan comes after reports of
excessive use of force by security personnel
following outbreaks of violence involving student
demonstrators and law enforcement personnel in
Dhaka and several other cities between 20 and 22
August, 2007.
Use of excessive force by police as well as
reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees
while being interrogated by law enforcement
personnel is deeply concerning. Detainees have
also been denied access to lawyers and family
members in clear violation of international human
rights standards.
Demonstrations occurred after an altercation
between students and military personnel attending
a soccer match at Dhaka University on 20 August,
which resulted in a number of students being
beaten by soldiers. In subsequent, often violent,
protests hundreds were reportedly injured as law
enforcement personnel used batons, rubber bullets
and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. At least
one person was killed after being hit by a rubber
bullet at Rajshahi University on 22 August,
according to media reports. Several law
enforcement personnel were also injured by stones
and bricks thrown by protestors.
The organization also urged the authorities to
take concrete measures with regard to the reports
of torture and ill-treatment of detainees at the
hands of members of the security forces. Amnesty
International expressed concern for those
detained and for extended periods denied access
to lawyers and family members, including Dhaka
University professors Harun ur Rashid and Anwar
Hossain, and Rajshahi University professors
Sayedur Rahman Khan, Abdus Sobhan and Moloy Kumar
Bhowmik.
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty
International's press office in London , UK , on
+44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St. , London WC1X
0DW . web: http://www.amnesty.org
(ii)
The Economist
BANGLADESH - THE MINUS-TWO SOLUTION
Sep 6th 2007 | DHAKA
Both the country's leading civilian politicians
are in detention. One way or another, the future
looks green
AFP
EARLIER this year Bangladesh's generals tried and
failed to consign the countries' two leading
civilian politicians to exile. Now they have
locked them both up. On September 3rd police
arrested Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) and prime minister until
last October, and her younger son, on charges of
corruption. Mrs Zia (pictured above after her
arrest) will be the next-door prisoner in Dhaka's
idle parliament building to her nemesis, Sheikh
Hasina Wajed, prime minister from 1996-2001 and
leader of the Awami League, the other big party.
This will be uncomfortable for both women, who
loathe each other. Judging from the sentences
meted out in recent months by specially created
courts to members of their kleptocratic coteries,
they can expect long jail sentences. Until now,
despite Bangladesh's regular appearance at the
top of global corruption league tables, the only
politician ever convicted of graft was General
Hossain Muhammad Ershad, Bangladesh' s military
ruler in the 1980s. In a rare moment of unity,
the two women ousted him in 1990. Since then the
parties that they managed to turn into
patronage-based personality cults have won about
90% of votes in elections.
Click here to find out more!
But so appalling was the begums' record of
governing the country that most of its 150m
people were relieved when the generals took
control in January. The mechanism intended to
rescue democracy from viciously confrontational
two-party politics-an unelected caretaker
government to oversee elections-collapsed because
the BNP picked a partisan president to rig the
poll. Instead, the army forced him to resign as
the head of the caretaker government, cancelled
parliamentary elections, declared a state of
emergency and installed an interim regime to pave
the way for elections by December 2008.
Encouragingly, the army has so far resisted
following the example of so many military regimes
that form their own political parties to prolong
their rule. But this, of course, might change.
There is little to reassure Bangladeshis that the
generals' attempt to redesign society and stamp
out corruption will not end up as the
totalitarian disaster that follows so many coups.
It is not clear for how much longer the emergency
government will be able to keep people quiet.
Since January it has detained an extraordinary
number: more than 250,000, according to Human
Rights Watch, a monitoring group. The army chief,
Moeen U Ahmed, has accused "evil forces" of
instigating student riots last month. To
Bangladeshis, such language is as painfully
familiar as the repression that followed the
students' call for the early restoration of
democracy-censorship, arrests without warrants,
and the beating-up of intellectuals and
journalists.
Last week a magistrate's court heard two
professors allege they were tortured while
detained on suspicion of fuelling the campus
violence. The court released them back into army
custody. According to Odhikar, a Dhaka-based
human-rights group, 126 people have been killed
by law enforcement agencies since emergency rule
began; at least 22 were tortured to death.
Despite the elections promised for next year, and
efforts to mend a voters' list bloated with
millions of extra names, this is not a country
preparing for a return to democratic politics.
The government refuses to lift the state of
emergency. Even if it did, that would not
resuscitate the political process. The BNP is in
a mess. Hours before her arrest, Khaleda Zia
expelled Mannan Bhuiyan, the BNP's
secretary-general, for "a conspiracy to split the
party". The League, for its part, has found it
impossible to part with Sheikh Hasina, who
remains popular. No self-respecting politician
will enter the fray while the army runs the show.
Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel-prize-winning microcredit
pioneer once seen as a potential candidate to
fill the political vacuum, floated a party
earlier in the year, but has scrapped plans to
enter politics.
The generals and their civilian front are finding
that their legitimacy, which rests on their
competence, is eroding. In part, this stems from
bad luck. Devastating floods and rising
international prices for oil and food have
worsened the plight of the poor. But the economic
consequences of military rule have become
apparent. Garment exports, the economy's
backbone, have plummeted. Investment has ground
to a halt. To reverse the trend, business
leaders, the army chief and the pliable head of
the civilian administration, Fakhruddin Ahmed,
this week held a "brainstorming" session. It is
more likely to have made investors cringe than
reach for their wallets. The state is desperately
trying to hold down prices through administrative
measures, though they will inevitably rise
further during Ramadan later this month. Last
month it decided, in effect, to use $300m of its
foreign reserves to pay for fuel subsidies.
Meanwhile Western governments and donors, who
backed the army's seizure of power, are getting
cold feet as human-rights abuses mount and public
opinion turns. Even so, diplomats say that the
present regime is "the only game in town". The
generals' secular stance and tough opposition to
Islamist extremism still make them attractive to
Western governments. But with the two big parties
decapitated, the fear is that the Islamists, both
the mainstream and a more radical margin, will
profit from the political vacuum and growing
economic discontent.
This week India, alarmed by the alleged
involvement of Bangladeshi terrorists in last
month's bombings in the southern city of
Hyderabad, urged its neighbour to speed up the
restoration of democracy. It would be messy, but
as India knows from watching its other neighbour,
Pakistan, so is the alternative.
o o o
(iii)
Daily Times
September 05, 2007
B'DESH AND REGLES DU JEU
by William B Milam
It is up to the leaders of civil society to speak
out and continue to speak out to ensure that the
caretaker government does not lose focus again
and does not let an over-ambitious agenda detract
from its original objectives
Last week, the situation in Bangladesh appeared
to be falling apart. There was a scuffle between
some soldiers and some students on the
always-volatile Dhaka University campus, and
within minutes it seemed the trouble had spread
to other universities and to the streets. There
is some suspicion that the problems were not
spontaneous.
Swift government action to impose a curfew for a
few days seems to have cooled the situation down.
The question is whether what happened last week
serves as a wake-up call to this
military/civilian regime, and to the usually
dynamic Bangladeshi civil society (which has been
unusually silent) or whether it is a harbinger of
worse things to come.
I think it is clear that one of the problems has
been the lack of a political safety valve so far
during the tenure of this un-elected government.
Many observers, including this writer, have
advocated lifting the ban on political activity,
at least partially. The first step could be
permitting indoor political meetings, which inter
alia, would permit the Election Commission to
begin consulting the parties on the changes in
electoral rules and the party and political
reform it has in mind.
Among the first items of business in these
consultations is the voters' list. After months,
I have still seen no indication that the election
commission will be able to complete the list with
photos that it has so ambitiously set as its
target. The aim was to have this ready by the end
of 2008, but recent headlines screamed that the
16,000 laptop computers needed for this operation
would not be available by then. Even if they
were, I wonder if the 16,000 operators that would
be needed can be trained in time.
I have argued that a voters' list with photos is
a laudable longer-run objective, but insistence
on such a list for the next election is a case of
complicating the present by projecting from the
past. A photo voters' list would have been useful
in the national elections of 1996 and 2001, and
was thought necessary by the opposition in the
2006 run-up to the aborted 2007 election because
it was the clearly skewed list that was a main
bone of contention.
However, it seems to me that almost all parties
could agree that an election conducted under this
caretaker government is virtually certain to be
free and fair. Why not get the parties to agree
to a list without photos for this election, with
the idea that such a simple list could be
completed more quickly and lead to an earlier
election than thought possible when this
caretaker government took over.
The dialogue between the government and the
parties must also get down to brass-tacks on
party reform and leadership. Both are necessary
if what comes out of this interim period is to
lead to a sustainable democratic system. It will
not be easy to get agreement on changed
leadership in the two major parties, let alone
their reform, but the promise of earlier
elections may prove an attractive incentive.
In fact, that is part of the problem. In addition
to the lack of a forum for dialogue between the
caretaker government and the public and political
parties, there is the perception of fumbling and
halting progress towards an election that would
turn things back over to an elected civilian
government. That perception is not all wrong.
Progress has been halting, in part because the
caretaker government's agenda has been too
ambitious. A photo voters' list is one example of
that; there are several others.
Progress has also been halting, in part, because
of problems that the government cannot completely
control and that often derive from global or
regional trends. These problems take time and
energy from the main tasks of the caretaker
government, time and energy not available in
infinite amounts in a cabinet limited in size by
the constitution and, to some extent perhaps,
wedded to outdated philosophies. The economy is
sagging and inflation is increasing. The primary
response should be to protect the poor through
income transfers, not price controls, which just
impact more negatively on the economy.
I hope that the events of the past ten days have
also been a wake-up call to the leaders of
Bangladesh civil society. There are a number of
outstanding individuals who I know are well
regarded by the military and the civil sides of
this interim regime - perceived as objective,
neutral, and supportive. It is time they spoke
out clearly, and publicly if possible, about the
need for the government to increase its capacity
and focus its attention on the immediate tasks it
set out in January to accomplish: a free and fair
election as soon as technically possible; a
change in the political culture through
democratising the parties and agreeing with them
to a set of regles du jeu (the rules of the game)
that the politicians should live by.
I do not omit the pursuit of the corrupt
politicians and allied businessmen, but I have
never been convinced that the Anti-Corruption
Commission would be able to more than begin its
work by the time an election should be held. Just
the threat that it poses, under its dynamic and
straightforward Chairman right now, would be a
major disincentive to attempts to corrupt the
next election. What is important is that this
election brings on an honest government that will
pursue the anti-corruption campaign with
determination and neutrality throughout the next
decade.
It is up to the leaders of civil society to speak
out and continue to speak out to ensure that the
caretaker government does not lose focus again
and does not let an over-ambitious agenda detract
from its original objectives. It is another case
of "the best is the enemy of the good". Of all
those who have a stake in the success of the
experiment underway in Bangladesh, it is the
civil society of the country that has the largest
stake.
William B Milam is a senior policy scholar at the
Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington and a former
US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh. His
columns reflect his personal views and not those
of the United States Government
o o o
(iv)
Economic and Political Weekly
September 1, 2007
BANGLADESH: THE CARETAKER'S BURDEN
by Rineeta Naik
The imposition of emergency by Bangladesh 's
caretaker government has seen the curtailment of
civil liberties along with several human rights
violations. Initially greeted with some approval,
the excesses of the emergency have now evoked
widespread apprehension amongst the people.
http://www.epw.org.in/uploads/articles/10976.pdf
______
[2]
The News
September 05, 2007
THE DESTRUCTION OF FATIMA JINNAH PARK
by Q Isa Daudpota
A year ago I stood in the middle of a roundabout
with a hideous centrepiece of two interwoven
concrete arches. Hidden within their inners is a
fountain which is barely visible even when it
works. This is Ghauri Chowk named in honour of
the conqueror that was the rival of the Hindu
ruler Prithvi Raj in the late 12th century.
Before the current tasteless structure was put
up, a tall Ghauri missile stood in its place
after its test in April 1998 -- also called
Hatf-5 (meaning "deadly" or "vengeance").
Looking north at the southern tip of Fatima
Jinnah Park I spot the small group of NGO-types
with placards whom I have come to join in protest
against the illegal allocation of land for a
junk-food outlet. Behind them and the park's
fence shrouded in green synthetic sheets away
from public view rises the international eatery,
the food franchise owned by a well-known business
group.
The US Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine has criticised the food of this chain of
restaurants as generally high in fat and
cholesterol. As a result their products
contribute to heart disease, certain forms of
cancer, and other diseases. The company that
sells a well-known brand of cigarettes in the
country, having killed many with smoke and
cigarettes, has now moved to doing it with
cholesterol and high fat.
The CDA has carved out a large corner (6,000 sq
yards to be precise) of the park for the outlet
at a ridiculously low rental of about Rs0.3
million per month, and a lease of 33 years. Even
at domestic rates, which are much lower than
applicable commercial ones, the rental should be
at least Rs0.36 million or 20 per cent higher
than what the CDA will receive. Five additional
acres will be taken and developed by this eatery.
The controversy surrounding the use of parks by
private developers was laid to rest in February
2007 when the Supreme Court ordered Shah
Sharabeel to stop building a mini-golf course in
F-7 Jubilee Park. This judgment with direct
bearing on the illegal activities of CDA in the
Fatima Jinnah Park, including this lease, has
been elaborated in papers and the petition lodged
with the court by Senator Saadia Abbasi. Sadly,
the CDA has also flaunted the Environmental
Protection Act for nearly 10 years, and never as
blatantly as during the current chairman's reign.
Since the early 90s, when I started to live near
the Park, the CDA has failed to pay it much
attention. There was once talk of the park being
converted into a housing estate for Peoples'
Party parliamentarians. This was averted by the
astute Iqbal Jaffer, the then CDA chairman, who
pre-empted this request and declaring that the
park was to be preserved according to the city's
revised master plan of 1988.
Before long, though, there was a successful
attack on the park. This was the setting up of
Hot Shots, a large entertainment complex inside
the F-10 gate of the park. It was common
knowledge that this business had the blessings of
Pakistan's bomb maker, Dr A Q Khan, and no one
would dare oppose it. The traders and sycophants
in the F-10 Markaz cashed in on the explosion of
the atomic bomb and named the Markaz after Dr
Khan, and set up a black marble obelisk honouring
him. After Dr Khan became the fall guy to quell
the nuclear proliferation allegations against
Pakistan, Hot Shots fell on hard times, as did
the black marble monument, which has crumbled.
Also, the Ghauri missile vanished from the
roundabout to be replaced with even more ugly
concrete arches.
As one comes out of the park's F-10 gate and
heads towards the Margallas, one comes across the
site of Margalla Tower. Its owner and contractor
fled the country to escape punishment. The second
anniversary of the falling of the towers is close
but its former residents and owners have not yet
been compensated for loss of property. Why,
though, have the engineers and surveyors of CDA
who certified the building not been hauled up?
Soon as you cross this tragic site, on the right
you witness death of another kind. Here a
cigarette-selling corporation has been given the
western corner of the sector by CDA to set up a
nursery of trees from its city plantation. It is
allowed to put up billboards to soften its image
while it continues to manufacture cigarettes,
which in turn cause diseases that are among the
leading cause of death in this country. It is
rivalled in this by its arch-competitor, whose
parent company now cleans its image by selling
food having captured the southern corner of the
park.
As you turn northwards onto Margalla Road you
notice a new large development on the left. Here
army engineers have taken over two sectors
covering eight square kilometres for
transplantation of the Pindi Cantonment. Billions
worth of infrastructure will be left behind in
the town that the British set up for the
military. There's no promise that the military
land and buildings in Pindi will be returned to
the public. Also, what about the environmental
and cultural impact of such an invasion of
Islamabad? No one dare ask, least of all the
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency or the
political parties. Such a hugely expensive and
wasteful move in times of electronic
communication and video conferencing cannot be
justified on rational grounds.
Take one example of the environmental impact of
this move extrapolating from the tube-well water
usage in two sectors currently occupied by the
navy and air force. There are about 30-odd
tube-wells working 20 hours daily and pumping
water up from a depth of 250 feet at huge cost.
The water table of Islamabad, fast sinking, will
need to cope with 30-odd more tube-wells for the
army, thereby further depleting the ground water
that's needed by the civilians.
Nearby, as one enters the E-9 gate of the park,
Mr Lashari is busy filling the place with
concrete at huge cost. Alteration on this scale
needed an environmental impact assessment but
PEPA was never consulted. What ought to have been
a haven for shady trees and beautiful natural
paths and places for wildlife to prosper is being
turned into a concrete jungle.
On the northern corner of the park one finds an
intact missile on display. This is the Shaheen
missile (Haft 6, based on a Chinese design) built
by a team headed by Dr Khan's rival bomb-maker Dr
Samar Mubarakmand. His missile is proudly
displayed showing off our ability to kill our
neighbours with nuclear weapons that this beast
is capable of carrying and delivering in 10
minutes with little chance of interception.
Should a country be proud of having such deadly
ability?
Our military and political hawks tell us that the
nukes and the missiles are merely a deterrent to
an Indian attack. The real enemy is deprivation
though, and it lies within. This is born out of
lack of good education, health, justice and
enlightenment, which are essential social
responsibilities of the state, which are
currently subverted to build lethal weapons.
Look towards the presidency at the park's eastern
corner and you see nearby the biggest
construction project in Islamabad's history, the
Centaurus. This elitist enterprise inaugurated by
General Musharraf is illegal as it was started
without a proper EIA. The press has covered this
project in considerable detail, as has this
author - use Google on the Internet.
One wonders what Miss Fatima Jinnah would have
thought of the park that bears her name were she
alive today, surrounded by woeful structures and
with its centre fast filling up with cement.
Paying tribute to her sister, the Quaid once
said, "My sister was like a bright ray of light
and hope whenever I came back home and met her.
Anxieties would have been much greater and my
health much worse, but for the restraint imposed
by her". The park named after her was meant to
provide the same peace to those who lived in
Islamabad as she provided to her brother.
Today the park named after her is in jeopardy of
being surrounded by illegal projects and
developments that smack of inequity and poor
taste.
The writer is an engineer and physicist with an interest in environment.
______
[3]
Economic and Political Weekly
September 1, 2007
COURSE OF THE LAW ON RIOTS AND TERROR: TYRANNY OF LABELS
by Iqbal A Ansari
http://www.epw.org.in/uploads/articles/10971.pdf
______
[4]
INTIMIDATING PEACE
MUSLIMS IN GUJARAT: VICTIMS OF A CONSPIRING STATE
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Nafisa Bi lost her eyesight three years back
after three of her sons were arrested under the
notorious Prevention of Atrocities & Terrorist
Act (POTA) after the Sabarmati Express, was burnt
by the miscreants in Godhara railway station in
February 2002. Today, Nafisa, 60 is completely
blinded in her isolated home, which used to have
a bakery. There are 11 such families living in
Rehmat Nagar area of Godhara who have lost
everything after their male members were arrested
and kept in prison. Charges have not been framed
yet, said Rehana Bi whose husband Shabir Hussein
was a conductor in a private bus and was randomly
arrested along with other 'conspirators' for
their alleged role in the incident. The meager
earning were not enough to sustain their family
of four. Her younger daughter Shamim Bano was not
born yet and has not seen her father so far.
Rehana does not have any other members to support
and is earning her livelihood through
domesticated work at the houses of nearby Muslim
locality of Boharas. " I go at 8 in the morning
and return at 12 pm. They give me the left over
food, which I eat and bring for my children. In
cash, I just get Rs 250/-. My husband was getting
Rs 1,200/- as monthly salary. How can my family
survive in a meager Rs 250/-, she asks. No body
comes here to ask us about our problems. A few
social work organizations were here for some year
but now they too have left leaving us in lurch.
We have no clue about when our people will be
released from the jail, despite the fact that we
are informed that Supreme Court has ordered them
bail, she explains.
Gujarat has witnessed systematic isolation of the
Muslims in the past 10 years. Their movements are
traced and livelihood shattered. It is very
difficult for them to get even the work in the
Hindu households. Even if the community wants to
restart its life forgetting the past, there is no
certainty whether the product that they make
would sale in the market or not. Efforts were
made by many NGOs, which failed because of the un
written economic blockade by the powerful group
of the Hindutva brigade. In fact, the tribal and
Dalits face the same wrath in the village if they
ally with any likeminded organizations which
talks of their identity and rights.
The pain of Nafisa bi needs to be understood in
terms of the ailing Gujarati society and the
crisis Muslim women face in Gujarat. With most of
the male members gone behind the bar, these women
today face the uphill task of reviving their
lives in a deeply polarized and hostile
atmosphere. Rehmat Nagar area reflects the mood
of the state government and their zeal to isolate
Muslim further. There is no activity in the area,
which is completely cut off from the main high
way. No link road and if it rains then perhaps it
would become nearly impossible for these women to
go to earn. Most of the women are surviving on
the alms which their employer give them apart
from a salary of Rs 250/- per family per month.
Activists come and promise that our people would
be released soon as the Supreme Court has
ordered, said Rehana Bi. But Nafisa Bi seems to
be resigned to her fate. 'It is more than three
years that I saw my sons. Now even if they come,
I would not be able to see them.' Neighbors
inform that Nafisa weeps all the time. Her
husband divorced her long back without caring
their children. Fortunately, her sons were
hardworking and earned their livelihood well to
take care of her. Today, she is thoroughly
dejected at the plight of her sons who she
alleges were beaten up mercilessly in the police
lock up. Her son Shabir Anwar Ansari have three
sons and one daughter while Alauddin, the other
son got married the same year. The locality is
about 5 kilometers away from the railway station
where the Sabarmati Express's coach were burnt. '
The police came in the evening with their face
covered and asked the male members to accompany
them to their bosses office', say Rehana. She
further added that there were no women police
personnel when they came. They were all men
showering the choices abuse on us.
Fakharuddin Yusuf was a Bus driver. He was
arrested as soon as he returned from his trip. He
was put in Sabarmati jail where he died one year
later. He was beaten up mercilessly in the police
lock up. Obviously, the Gujarat police whose
track record is worst while tackling with the
minorities cannot escape the blame. Many young
children who were born after their father was
arrested often ask their mothers when would their
father return.
The police and administration has become so nasty
that it does not even allow the
detainees to meet their ailing parents even when
they were waiting for a peaceful death. Rehana's
mother in law died weeping and crying to see her
son who could not come to see her before her
death. Payroll was granted to Rehana's husband
three days later after his mother was cremated.
Mother and son did not see each other for three
years says Rehana wiping her moisted eyes. When
the Gujarat police come here they do not bring
any women constables and on our defiance we are
beaten up. She was arrested for one day. Rehana
is outspoken when I ask about who burnt the
train. " we did not know about the burning of
train before the police came and started
arresting the people. They informed that all the
male members would be required to go to SP sahib
but once they were put in the police vehicles
they never returned and families only came to
know about the whereabouts of their male members
about three months later when they started
writing to them.
' I too was arrested but they released me the
very next day but my father was kept up in the
lock up for six days', she says. Her moist eyes
narrate the innocence inside her ', we do not
burn even the dead, why would we burnt people
alive?'
A total of nearly 100 families are charged under
POTA in Godhara. The eleven families whose male
wards have been arrested immediately after the
train was burnt hail from this locality of Rehmat
Nagar which is located on right hand side of the
Godhara-Badodara high way. There is no
connectivity road to this locality and one has to
take off from the vehicle to reach here. The
narrow muddy lane is the only way for you to
reach the place. None of the man in the area has
any work. In fact, they do not get any work
outside. Tragedy is that Nafisa and like her many
women's pains and agonies are compounded with the
fact that with in their own community they have
lot of resistance. When there is no work, man
have no work to do and mere domesticated work in
nearby locality of the Bohras cannot make them
survive. It is ironical that many of the women
are being pushed in the flash trade since there
is virtually a crisis of survival. Immediately
after the riots, many NGOs started working among
the victims but two-three years after the
incident when they are faced with a hostile state
administration which is hell bent on keeping the
Muslims in particular and minorities in general
out of the mainstream, organizations winded up
their charity work. Of course, some of them are
still working creating awareness in an otherwise
thoroughly communalized atmosphere of Gujarat.
The Modi government kept quiet and even the press
has not been able to follow up all the cases. How
long the select few would come every day to
expose a government, which has been corrupted at
every level. The water in Rehmat Nagar area is
totally contaminated, as there are factories in
the area, which release chemical waste every day
and therefore have turned the ground water
totally undrinkable. The families go to fetch
water from high way, nearly half a kilometer away
from the area. Most of the families, which lived
here before February 27 th, 2002, have now left
for other areas leaving 11 of the families here
in complete isolation.
Rehana's mother in law died. When she was on bed,
her husband applied for a payroll but was denied.
He came to see his mother three days after her
death. That is the tragedy of the entire
incident. Says Rehana,' Narendra Modi is not a
married man. Had he been married and had some
children, he would have been sensitive to the
issues of family, pain of a mother or anguish of
a wife or cry of the children who miss their
father. How would he explain to a mother who died
crying without seeing her son?
In the global war on terror, it is very clear
that it is the educated elite, which is now
becoming a tool in the hands of the deeply
religious fanatics. Poor were actually never were
part of it. They might be looked down upon as
'fundamentalists' but never as 'terrorists'. In
this age when war are psychological as well as
more so on modern techniques, a look at the
profile of 11 POTA victims would tell how
government was hell bent on making the innocent
as terrorists.
Shabbir Hussain was bus conductor with a happily
married life with children has been arrested.
Shabbir Anwar Ansari and Alauddin Ansari were
brothers with their families. Both were with
their mother and running a bakery shop. Sadiq
Khan Sultan Khan was a painter. Shamsher Khan is
brother of Sadiq Khan. Yusuf Khan used to make
bamboo Pinjara while Feroj Khan was working with
Yasin Habib in a hotel. Feroj Khan was working in
a steal company and Jabir Binyamin was working
with a dairy. Fakhruddin Yusuf was working as a
driver and was not even in the town. He returned
in the evening only. The work profile of all
these people may not suggest whether they had
time to conspire against people. He has six
daughters and 2 sons. Now all of them have left
this place, as there was no security of life and
livelihood for them. Jabir's wife Jainab informs
how her two children miss their father. Daughter
Saima Bano 4 and son Shehjad 5 have not got their
fathers live as he is in jail. In fact Saima was
born after her father was in jail.
Jabir's brother Ramjani was a rikshawpullar with
a school. He was arrested from school where he
was taking school children. Ramjani has six
children with the eldest daughter Naseem Bano
aged 12 and the youngest son Sarfaraj aged 5.
Another brother Habib is also arrested. He has
two children Shamir and Ferhan. The families are
virtually living in despair and starvation. All
the women are working as domestic servants in the
relatively middle class Muslim households and get
a maximum of Rs 250/- added with left over food.
Irony is that the children are looked after at
home by the neighbors or elders like Nafisa bi
and other elderly women who cannot work. Some of
the children go to a nearby school but majority
of them dropped out.
Now Gujarat will face elections and the
government of Narendra Modi has started divising
methods, which can create communal wage. Dalits
are being charged in false cases. Inter caste and
inter religious marriages are being blown out of
proportion. The state administration is
thoroughly Hinduised. Even inside the booking
windows of the railway stations one can find the
pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, which is
against our secular ethics. Cases are not
registered for Muslims. Take the case of Jatun
Bibi whose house was burnt by the rioters in
village Mirapuri which is about 13 kilometer from
Godhara. They have a total of 12 acres of land in
the family of six yet even 5 years after the
riots Jatun can not go back to her village. She
now stays in the slums of Rehmat Nagar on a
rented house along with her husband. Jatun Bibi
filed a case against Sarpanch and won at the
session court. The case was challenged in the
high court where she lost. She does not even know
about the case and files. It was never challenged
later. Her husband says that they will never go
back to the village as the village Sarpanch and
his goons would kill them. Today, Jatun Bibi
lives on rent in a small one-room house at Rehmat
Nagar. She pays Rs 200/- per month as rent. Her
husband is a labour. She used to own a Kirana
shop in the village. Both husband and wife worked
on the shop and had a big house for them along
with others in the family. The three relatives
(brothers and sisters) lived together but now
they are not ready to return. Her husband
expresses his fears that if they return to
village, the Sarpanch would kill them. Police
does not help in these matters. In fact, a BJP
MLA has been supporting the sarpanch.
Jatun Bibi lost her mother in the childhood. She
has four sisters and one brother. The one
brother, according to her, has turned out to be
an anti social element who would not share his
parental property with the sisters. Tragically,
Jatun Bibi has no sources to challenge the high
court order. One does not know what her lawyers
are doing at the moment. The condition of rule of
law in Gujarat is that Muslims do not come out in
open; you have to prove to them that you really
care for their issues. Such things may shock
people outside Gujarat but this unjust peace in
Gujarat must be opposed. Peace building groups
are roaming around but how can there be peace in
Gujarat if the second majority of Gujarat lives
in abject poverty, isolation and complete fear.
Can such peace be supported which prohibit people
to speak against injustice?
It is not that only Muslims are being targeted in
Gujarat. The Dalits and tribals are used against
the Muslims and are intimidated if they do not
cooperate. Recently, a tribal leader of a social
movement who was fighting for the forest rights
of the tribals was barred from entering into four
districts by the administration. The wife of a
well respected Muslim doctor in Godhara was
disturbed so much in the aftermath of Godhara
that she shifted from Gujarat along with her
children as safety of the children was paramount
to her.
Gujarat is on the verge of history today.
Gujarati's enjoyed the fruits of globalisation.
People greeted them everywhere from Africa to
America and England where they went for their
business and succeeded. Today, the same
Gujarati's particularly the Non-resident Indian
variety are conspicuously silent on the
functioning of the governance, which want to weed
the fellow Gujarati Muslims out from the state.
Often, Gujarati's use Mahatma Gandhi and his
message of social reconciliation for their own
benefits abroad particularly in Africa, it is
time, they realize that Bapu's dream of
reconciliation hold true for their own state
also. In the so-called war against terror we
should not forget that it also call for a just
government. It also calls for justice against
those who are terrorists but not Muslims. They
too are terrorists who kill innocent people, rape
their women and publicly support killing and
humiliation of human being who happens to be
Muslims. War against terror should not only be
against the terrorists who happen to be Muslims
but all those also who kill Muslim selectively.
If this so-called war has to be won against the
evil designs of all those then those in power or
those who wish to come to power must show their
resolve in providing governance and protecting
all those who are citizens of state. One hope our
governments in the Center and states listen to
those cries of the victims of the mass killing in
Mumbai after the demolition of Babari Masjid or
those killed in Hashimpura, Bhagalpur, Kanpur and
elsewhere. Not only war against terror, we will
need to define genocide in present day term and
its linkages to fundamentalist ideologies
supported by the state. All those ideological
dictators need to be brought to book for abetting
the riots, supporting the killing or threatening
them with dire consequences. Unfortunately,
deeply prejudiced mindset cannot change. Gujarat
needs a strong civil society as well as a strong
rainbow coalition of the Dalits, Adivasis,
Muslims, Christians and OBCs to tackle fascist
onslaught on people's right and livelihood. The
real target of the saffron forces in Gujarat is
actually not Muslims but Dalits and Adivasis as
we only talks of Gujarat issue in terms of
Muslims but not in terms of socio political
issues, which have threatened the very basis of
this government. Adivasis are threatened from
their livelihood as Modi goes abroad inviting big
industrialists to suck the blood of poor Adivasis
and Dalits. All Dalits and Adivasis who are
trying to assert are boycotted and pitched
against Muslims and Christians. Public land in
Gujarat is being given to private companies and
nothing has been done to eliminate poverty. The
only thing Gujarat has these days is rabid
Hinduisation or I would simply say, brahminsation
process. It is sickening to see such ritualistic
symbols present in everyday life from posters in
railway stations to Panchayat Bhavans, you will
find not one or two Gods but large number of
Godmen. Nowhere, in India such naked neglect of
the secular laws of the country. Why should
railways allow a picture of Hanuman in its
reservation counters or why should the schools
and Panchayat buildings have Asha Ram Bapu or
Murari Bapu. If you love so much your Gods please
do allow the other gods also. And definitely,
then will have to put a Mao and a Marx also to
satisfy the nonbelievers. This hypocrisy must be
challenged. Gujarat is communalized very
systematically and the disease is spreading like
a virus.
The answer lies in strong ties of real Gujaratis
who do not have golden plates in their homes or
who do not have NRIs in their family. Yes,
Gujarat could be saved by a strong people's
movement involving every segment of the
marginalized sections of our society including
Muslims and all those victims of Narendra Modi's
rabid anti Dalit, anti tribal and anti farmer
policies. It is also time to take these religious
lunatics head on otherwise they will deny every
one a right to live with dignity and freedom to
express.
______
[5]
Press Release
HASHIMPURA KILLINGS: RTI RESPONSE
On 24th May 2007, to mark the twentieth
anniversary of the communally motivated
Hashimpura PAC custodial killings, victim
families and survivors had filed 615 RTI
applications in Lucknow.
613 RTI applications were filed at the office of
the D.G.P. at 1 Tilak Marg, Lucknow. Shri
D.C.Pandey, DIG, who is the Public Information
Officer (PIO). The survivors and families of the
victims asked the State why the accused PAC men
charged by a Delhi Sessions Court for the murder
of 42 Muslim men, continue to be in active
service of the PAC? Was any departmental inquiry
initiated against them? Was any disciplinary
action taken against them? Or were they rewarded
with promotions in rank and emoluments? Were the
19 accused PAC men ever suspended from service?
What were the grounds on which they were
reinstated? They asked for copies of the Annual
Confidential Report (ACR) of each of the accused
persons to be made available.
In reply to these RTI applications some information
has been made available. The A.C.R. of the
accused PAC men reveals that mass custodial
killing of Muslims does not even invite a
negative comment in the Report. To the contrary
the ACR noting for the year 1987 gives the PAC
accused a glowing and congratulatory report. The
ACR of 14 of the PAC accused that has been
supplied states for the year 1987, "Kaam aur
Aacharan Achha Hai. Satyanishtha Pramnit hai.
Shreni Achha.". The career prospects of the
accused were in no way hurt by the fact that the
CBCID was enquiring into their role in the brutal
killings of over 42 innocent Muslims.
The reply received from the State states that no
Departmental Enquiry was ever conducted against
any of the 19 PAC accused men, nor any
disciplinary action taken. Was the mass killing
of Muslims in custody not a cause serious enough
to warrant a departmental enquiry?
Further documents obtained through RTI disclose
that they were suspended very briefly in 1995
after the charge sheet was submitted by the
CBCID. Within a year or more the accused PAC
personnel were reinstated on flimsy and untenable
grounds. Shockingly the reinstatement orders
disclose that they were being reinstated, as the
PAC required their services. So are we to
conclude that the PAC requires the services of
those men who have been charged with and are
currently being prosecuted for the murder of over
42 innocent Muslim men. Other PAC men were
reinstated as they were facing financial
hardships. Of course no thought was spared for
the families of Hashimpura who were rendered
destitute due to the PAC custodial killings. The
attitude and approach both of the State and the
Police Department sends a clear signal condoning
the communally motivated custodial killings and
encouraging State impunity.
It is shocking to see that some of the documents
supplied in reply are completely blank and the
concerned officer has even attested the same.
Such a brazen disregard for the rights of the
people belies all claims of good and transparent
governance.
RTI was also deployed to expose the complicity of
the State and unmask the truth. The counsel for
the victim families, Advocate Vrinda Grover, had
filed 2 RTI applications with the Home
Department. These RTI applications asked for a
copy of the Inquiry Report submitted by the CBCID
into the Hashimpura killings of Muslims by the
PAC, to be made available. The State was asked to
reveal how many persons were indicted by the
CBCID Report as complicit in the PAC killings and
why did the State sanction criminal prosecution
only against 19 PAC men and not all the others
indicted in the CB CID Report? The RTI
application also pointedly asks the reasons for
the delay in the prosecution of the PAC accused
and the names of those responsible for the same.
The response of the State to these 2 RTI
applications is very disappointing. The CBCID
report has not been made available nor have
answers been given to any of the above questions.
The State has simply chosen to stonewall and
blatantly violate the citizens right to
information.
Against this 4 Appeals and 4 Complaints were been
filed under the RTI Act with the Appellate
Authority.
On 3rd September 2007 the Appeals were argued
before Mr. Harmol Singh Director General CBCID,
in Lucknow, by Adv. Vrinda Grover who was
accompanied by Magsaysay award winner Sandeep
Pandey, journalist Nasiruddin Haider Khan and
Vanagna activist Puneet Goel. The D.G. admitted
that as per the RTI Act they ought to have
answered the RTI's filed more than 3 months ago.
The DG sought time and assured that information
would be supplied shortly. The D.G. CBCID also
assured the delegation that CBCID as the
prosecuting agency would ensure that the criminal
trial pending in Delhi court is prosecuted
effectively and efficiently. Appeals are also
pending before the State Information Commission.
No date for hearing has yet been given.
Vrinda Grover
Advocate
New Delhi
09810806181 (m)
______
[6]
Tehelka
September 15, 2007
'AS I SANG KHWAJA MOINUDDIN, I COULD HEAR THE VOICES OF THE DYING IN GUJARAT'
Sumathi Murthy is a hindustani classical musician
and composer. Is in her mid-30s. Lives in
Bangalore. Is also active in the queer rights
movement
I think I was six or seven years old when I was
first asked to sing during Ganesha puja. In a
Brahmin family, a girl needs to be 'cultured'.
She is supposed to know some music, some dance,
some traditions. Being Brahmin is itself a
pressure, but being 'cultured' is pure drudgery.
All along my extended family, I had cousins who
wouldn't even wait to be asked before they'd
exhibit the prizes they'd won in temple music
competitions. I have seven uncles - while they
took turns to boast about their children's
brilliant talents, one called me a dimregoddu (a
dumb ass) for not knowing any songs. Another
advised my mother to send me to play with his
children more often so I could become 'cultured'.
I was nine when I started learning Hindustani
classical vocal music, what my family called
'non-brahminical, Muslim' music. Another Ganesha
puja rolled around. My uncles and grandmother
asked me to sing. I began singing Allah Jaane
Maula Jaane in Raag Todi. I sang what I was
taught and did not know what songs were
considered appropriate to be sung 'in front of
God'. My uncles and my grandmother stopped me
mid-note. "Learn some songs that show bhakti,"
they scolded me. I really did not understand what
they meant. I was obviously not cultured enough
to be a Mulknadu Brahmin.
I continued to feel like a failure even though,
at age 11, I had become the youngest in the
family to perform in public. Years later, these
memories returned once just before a performance,
bringing with them troubling feelings of being an
imposter. My guru (my dearest friend) suggested a
change in my repertoire. He asked me to sing the
Sufi bandish, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, in Raag
Shree, and I complied. Singing this bandish while
trying to control my thoughts was a strange
experience. Chishti dragged me to notes that
soothed, yet I felt a desire for revenge that
disturbed me and my notes. It unsettled me when I
should have been expressing bhakti.
I never understood my family's notions of culture
but I walked the most unexplored paths of music
with my guru. He was a staunch Brahmin who would
fast and change his sacred thread almost
everyday. He was also a man who had lived and
worked in a Muslim guru's house so he could learn
music. I trained under him for 17 years of my
life. It was not a child's life. It was a
thousand years of music and his company.
When I showed signs of climbing the lofty tower
of 'being' a musician, he drew me down to earth,
to this world and its reality, with his very
unmusician-like behaviour and his profound
understanding of music.
I am now in my mid-30s and have found a path that
makes music, a path that makes me a human being.
People, friends and relatives still occasionally
disapprove. Anyone who practices an art form for
more than 10 years has to become a superstar,
preferably world famous. My desire to be a queer
rights activist, or sometimes to just have a life
without labelled identities, does not impress
most people. Sometimes even my music does not
impress them.
A few years ago, a 'cultural association' asked
me to perform on Guru Purnima - I did not know
then that they had links with fundamentalist
organisations. This was soon after the Gujarat
riots. The mazaar of my guru's guru, Ustad Faiyaz
Khan Saheb, had been destroyed in the riots.
Those months had been devastating for many
people, and this incident around Faiyaz Khan
Saheb's mazaar had made my feelings on Gujarat
very raw.
I was in the green room, practicing for my
performance. Something one of the organisers said
made me connect the dots that read 'RSS'. Within
a few minutes I was on stage and by then I had
changed my entire performance. I dedicated the
programme to all my gurus and to Ustad Faiyaz
Khan. I talked about the Gujarat carnage and the
destruction of Ustad's mazaar. To the outrage of
some, I made it a point to sing only Sufi
bandishes. Again I sang Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
in Raag Shree. Those intense notes had humbled me
often enough. They had taught me about the life
of struggle. They had questioned my ideas of what
being a musician meant. I still could not express
the much-expected bhakti though. Singing Chishti
now in front of this audience was a surreal
experience. I could hear the voices of those
running in terror for shelter. Moinuddin
Chishti's notes became the dying screams of the
pregnant woman who had been raped and whose
foetus had been pulled out of her.
I am not cultured. I'm not settled. I can't be
Brahmin. Probably 'not being settled' is going to
be a permanent feeling as long as 'being settled'
requires certain labels. Very recently, I
composed a verse for my lover in Shree. It has no
bhakti. Like love, it is merely itself.
______
[7]
DOCUMENTARY: FINAL SOLUTION REVISITED - A REQUEST FROM RAKESH SHARMA
Please forward this appeal to other like-minded
institutions, organisations and individuals as
well .
Over the last couple of years, some of you have
spoken to me about revisiting Final Solution and
making a new film - Gujarat: 5 years after the
carnage. You'd be happy to know that I have been
filming in Gujarat for the last several months
for the follow-up film. The filming has been done
in Modasa, Idar, Kalol, Halol, Godhra, Lunawada,
Baroda, Chhota Udepur, Himmatnagar, Ahmedabad,
Limdi, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot etc. We've
already done a bulk of our filming, though we
plan to continue filming till the election
results are announced and the new Assembly is
sworn in.
We hope to offer a comprehensive film sometime
next year. However, all of us in the team also
feel that we must release at least a short
version of the film pre-elections to enable
activists, NGOs and others to intervene during
the electoral process by holding screenings and
discussions.
We aim to finish these in early/mid October and
make them available on VCD. These early versions
would be available only in Gujarati as they are
most likely to be used in Gujarat during November
2007.
I write to you to seek your assistance. While I
have so far managed all the filming and editing
related expenses personally (thanks to a grant
from the Singh Foundation and damages received
from NYPD!), I'm now seeking completion funds to
be able to release the version in October.
Broadly speaking, we propose the following:
a. To approach a broad network of individuals and
like-minded organisations and individuals for
funding assistance.
b. To invite contributions not exceeding Rs
10,000 from a single organization and Rs 5,000
from an individual.
c. Against the contribution, the individual/
organisation will get a credit in the film. The
title would normally read - " Funding support
from" followed by the full list.
d. The individual/ organisation will also get VCD
copies of the film against this contribution. The
proposal is to offer
* Contribution (individuals only): Rs 2000; VCDs offered: 21
* Contribution (organizations/ individuals): Rs 5000; VCDs offered: 51
* Contribution (organizations only): Rs 10000;VCDs offered: 120
We hope that these multiple copies would be
distributed by the concerned organisation/
individual free to their activists, friends and
colleagues so they can be circulated and screened
widely, especially in Gujarat before the
forthcoming elections. The VCDs offered are total
number of discs - the first film is on 2 VCDs
while the farmer film is on a single VCD (ie,
each set is 3 VCDs). Details about the proposed
films are enclosed below.
I request you to lend your support to the films
under production. Please write to me personally
at the earliest ( rakeshfilm at gmail.com or PO Box
12023, Azad Nagar, Mumbai 400053).
With Gratitude
Rakesh Sharma
website: www.rakeshfilm.com
blog: rakeshindia.blogspot.com
ps: Please do not circulate to the Press - we'd
like no speculation or publicity till the films
are formally released.
The films currently being edited for an October
release deal broadly with the following:
After the Storm:
Five years after the carnage, what is the state
of Relief and Rehabilitation? The Supreme Court's
intervention in carnage-related cases has
dominated media headlines, but what really is the
true story behind the victims' quest for Justice?
Away from major cases like the Naroda Patiya
massacre or Gulberg or Best Bakery and
Pandarwada, what is the fate of other FIRs and
court cases filed by the victims?
The film goes beyond highlighting the plight of
the Muslim community in Gujarat. It probes other
dimensions of the issue by specifically looking
at the patterns of arrests and litigation. A
majority of those charged with rioting, arson,
murder etc are either tribals or Dalits and OBCs.
An analysis of those arrested from 32 police
stations in Ahmedabad suggests that of the 1577
detainees, only 30-odd were upper caste! Are
these footsoldiers victims too? Cynically
recruited, then discarded, left to rot in jails,
what do the 'perpetrators of the violence feel
today about the VHP and the BJP?
The film is likely to be in two parts of
approximately an hour each, both complete in
themselves (to enable a separate showing of just
one part, if necessary) and may possibly be split
into two films.
Seeds of Sorrow:
Though the BJP romped home with a brute majority
in the 2002 assembly elections, it suffered an
electoral reverse during the 2004 Lok Sabha
elections. The BJP managed to get 14 seats while
the Congress won the other 12. The result is
attributed in part to agitations by the Sangh's
own Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, which was then
agitating against the power tariff hike. In many
pockets, it even asked its members to abstain
from voting, which perhaps also explains the far
lower turnout for the Lok Sabha elections.
Over the last several months, we have been
tracking what can only be termed as an unreported
story - Farmer suicides in Gujarat. We have
primarily been filming in the Saurashtra region,
though suicides are not confined to this belt. A
few months ago, we got queries filed under the
RTI Act to dig up details of all suicides. Though
the government denied us the data initially,
after appeals and hearings, some details have now
been formally handed to us. While Modi recently
told the Gujarat Assembly that only 148 farmers
have committed suicide in Gujarat, the data
handed to us is for 366 suicides! We have also
managed to dig up the data for all claims paid
and denied under the Kisan Bima Yojana that cover
farmers' accidental deaths. Of the 1200-odd
claims, several have been denied - we are now
probing the grounds of denial (eg, was it
actually a suicide reported as an accident to
help fudge the figures?)
This film would also deal with the issue of
farmer debts, BT cotton cultivation, power
tariff, irrigation (where is the promised Narmada
water?) and the opposition to SEZs Rajula and
Jasapara.
We are aiming to finish a version in early/mid
October. To begin with, there would only be one
version of the film - Gujarati, possibly with
English subtitles.
______
[8] Announcements:
(i)
The New E-Crime Bill 2007 is one of the most
draconian laws yet to emanate from the
Government. It conflicts with international
treaties, usurps fundamental human rights,
violates the Constitution and effectively lays
the legal foundation for a police state. It also
obstructs any international cooperation on cyber
crime, terrorism and enforcement.
The legally and technically incorrect definitions
in the E-Crime Bill 2007 ensure that rather than
preventing cyber crimes, perpetrators will view
Pakistan as a safe haven. The innocent will fall
victim to its abuse, and for international and
domestic businesses and investors, Pakistan will
not be a destination of choice but a jurisdiction
to stay away from.
Recommended Reading
<http://www.t2f.biz/events/wp-content/cyber-crime-faq.pdf>Cyber
Crime FAQ |
<http://www.t2f.biz/events/wp-content/prevention-of-electronic-crimes-act.pdf>Prevention
of Electronic Crimes Act |
<http://www.t2f.biz/events/wp-content/letter-to-cabinet.pdf>Letter
to the Cabinet
What does the E-Crime Bill 2007 mean for you, as
a citizen of civil society? Essentially, it
adversely affects everyone who uses a computer or
electronic device in Pakistan. We, the people,
can still prevent this Bill from being passed.
Find out more at a session led by Barrister Zahid
Jamil at T2F this Friday.
Date: Friday, 7th September, 2007
Time: 6:30 pm
Free Entry (This event has been made possible
through the support of
<http://www.alchemya.com/>Alchemy Technologies)
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. No reservations.
____
(ii)
You are invited to a
DAY LONG SEMINAR ON THE TOPIC DISSENT AND DEBATE IN SOCIETY
Date: September 8, 2007
Time: 10.00 am to 5pm
Dalal Hall, Near Paldi Charrasta, In front of Zaveri Hall, Ahmadabad
10.00-10.30- tea
Session I- 10.30-1.00
Chair: Dr Ghanshyam Shah
10.30-12.00
Speakers:
Tridip Suhrud-Associate Professor, Dhirubhai
Ambani Institute of Information & Communication
Technology
Ashok Vajpayee-Writer, Poet, former Joint Secretary MHRD
Rita Kothari-Associate Professor, Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad
12.00-1.00
Interactive Session
1.00-2.00: Lunch
Session II - 2.00-5.00
Chair: Gagan Sethi
2.00-3.30
Speakers:
Hiren Gandhi-Theatre and Social Activist, Director, Darshan
Mallika Sarabhai-Artist, dancer, Director , Darpana Academy of Performing Arts
3.30-5.00
Interactive Session
Anhad Yuva Manch
1914, Karanjwala Building
Opp Khanpur arwaza, Khanpur
Ahmedabad-380001
Tel- 25500844/ 25500772
anhadideas at gmail.com
____
(iii)
2ND V.M.TARKUNDE MEMORIAL LECTURE
BY
Justice B.N.Srikrishna,
Former Judge Supreme Court of India
On
"Secularism under the Indian Constitution"
Mr. Ashok Desai,
Former Attorney General will preside.
at 6 P.M. on Sunday, the 9th September,07 at
Auditorium, India International Centre, Maxmuller
Road, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-03.
All are cordially invited to attend.
TARKUNDE MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
(M) 9810067899,9810125640,9811099532
_____
(iv)
Public Meeting On Indo-US Nuclear Deal What? Why? For Whom?
Venue: Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh
Date: 11th September (Tuesday) 2007
Time: 5.30pm
Speakers: M V Ramana (Bangalore), Seema Mustafa (Asst.
Editor Asian Age, Delhi), T. Jayaraman and Sukla Sen
(Mumbai).
Chair: Kalpana Sharma
Peace Mumbai, an umbrella organisation of several
NGOs and mass organisations committed to the goal
of a just
and peaceful world - and of course India at peace
with itself and its neighbours, in collaboration
with Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
(CNDP), a national coalition of about two hundred
organisations, is organising a public meeting to
discuss and explore the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.
The 'Deal', rather paradoxically, is an extremely
hot topic today and yet scarcely understood. So
the meeting, with the help from engaged experts,
will try to put under scanner its history,
different dimensions and likely impacts e.g. on
India's relations with its immediate neighbours
and the larger
world, the prospects of regional and global nuclear
disarmament and India's energy security scenario.
At the end of the presentations by listed speakers,
there will be an intense interactive session to
clarify queries from the floor and also evolve a
better collective comprehension of the issue on hand.
Hope you will love to join.
Please circulate widely.
Meena Menon, Jatin Desai, Feroze Mithiborwala, Varsha
Berry & Asad Bin Saif
---
Scholars for Critical Practice, a small
> interdisciplinary group of teachers from Delhi
> University, invites you to a lecture by the
> distinguished French philosopher, Etienne Balibar,
> on Monday, September 17th 2007, at 11 am.
> Venue: Auditorium of the Academic Research Centre,
> Delhi University (opposite Khalsa College).
>
> Professor Balibar will speak on his current work in
> progress:
> "From Internationalism to Cosmopolitics?"
> This work is a critical confrontation with the
> Marxian legacy, but also involves considerations on
> citizenship, universalism and difference.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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/
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