SACW | Jan. 4-6, 2008 / Pakistan: Elections / Sri Lanka : War Mongering Full Time / Bangladesh Cartoonist / A manifesto of freedoms / Taslima Nasreen's Continued Confinement

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | January 4-6, 2008 | 
Dispatch No. 2484 - Year 10 running

[1] Pakistan:
   (i) Statement by Citizens Group on Electoral Process
   (ii) An assassination most foul (M B Naqvi)
[2] Sri Lanka: From half-war half-ceasefire to full time war
Annus Horribilis (Shanie)
[3] Bangladesh: Call for Release of cartoonist 
imprisoned for "hurting religious feelings" 
(Amnesty International)
[4] International: Old Questions, New Answers - A 
manifesto of freedoms (Ruchir Joshi)
[5] India - Freedom Speech: Tasmila Nasreen still 
remains confined in a glasshouse
- I want to be in Kolkata: Taslima
- Bengal in no mood to let Taslima return
[6] India: On Hindutva's anti christian violence 
in Orissa and Ban on RSS lifted in Himachal 
Pradesh
- A citizens fact finding report on violence in Orissa's Kandhamala district
- Himachal Pradesh BJP govt lifts ban on RSS 
shakhas at public places (Ashwani Sharma)
[7] India: Lessons from Gujarat Election Results (Kavita Krishnan)
[8] India: The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic 
Substances Act, 1985 - a draconian law (Rakesh 
Shukla)
[9] Announcements:  World Social Forum at CrossRoads (New Delhi, 11 January 2008)

______


[1]

(i)

Citizens Group Calls for:

1. A Non-Partisan President
2. Independent Inquiry Commission for the Benazir Bhutto tragedy
3. Appointment of a New CEC and Reconstitution of full ECP
4. Effective Use of Powers by the ECP
5. Restraint by the Political Parties
6. Responsibility by the Media
7. Peaceful Conduct by all Citizens
8. No Further Postponement of Polls on any grounds

Lahore, January 4; The Citizens Group on 
Electoral Process held its 16th Meeting at Lahore 
on January 4, 2008. Names of participants are 
attached.

The Group began its deliberations by offering 
fateha for the departed soul of Mohtarma Benazir 
Bhutto.

The Group held extensive deliberations on all 
aspects of the situation arising from the demise 
of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The Group formulated the following observations 
and recommendations for considerations and 
implementation by the Election Commission of 
Pakistan, the Government, Political Parties, 
Media and Civil Society:

1. The dastardly assassination of Benazir Bhutto 
is a tragic loss and an enormous blow to the 
democratic process.

2. Ultimate responsibility rests with the State 
and the Caretaker Government that have an 
obligation to secure the life of every citizen. 
In this instance, there was a special, additional 
duty of the Government to ensure optimal safety 
for a leader of great eminence who had already 
been unsuccessfully targeted on October 18, 2007.

3. Failing to conduct an autopsy on the slain 
leader as per the categorical requirements of the 
law and hastily hosing down the crime scene, the 
Caretaker Government has provided at least 3 
different versions of the causes of the death of 
Benazir Bhutto. Such premature, inconsistent 
claims raise well-founded concerns about the 
actual motivations behind the creation of such 
confusion.

4. The investigation into all aspects of the 
assassination should be conducted by an 
authentically independent Commission of Inquiry 
headed by a person whose integrity and ability 
are accepted by the heads of all major political 
parties.

5. The virtually unprecedented breakdown of law 
and order across the country and especially in 
Sindh from the evening of December 27, 2007 to 
December 31, 2007 is an abysmal, shameful failure 
of the Federal and Provincial Governments and the 
law enforcing agencies to anticipate and prevent 
the killing of innocent citizens and the massive 
destruction of public and private property.

6. There are substantive grounds for the view 
that, however large scale and spontaneous the 
violence was, in which criminal elements were 
brazenly allowed to kill, loot and burn, it 
appears that the invisibility of law enforcement 
agencies for the first 100 hours and then belated 
deployment was a deliberate ploy to create a 
situation that could justify the postponement of 
polls beyond January 8, 2008.

7. The Group is of the firm view that the 
postponement of elections to February 18 is 
beyond the prescribed Constitutional deadline. It 
violates the letter and spirit of the 
Constitution. Article 254 can not be invoked to 
postpone the elections beyond the prescribed 
limit.

8. The consensus in the Group was that the 
postponement of the election was motivated by 
partisan considerations which amount to 
pre-rigging the electoral process despite serious 
damage to property and facilities. There was no 
credible logistical reason to postpone the entire 
election. The postponement manifests the partisan 
disposition of the Election Commission and the 
Federal Government.

9. The Group strongly stands against any further 
postponement of polling for one reason or another.

10. The assassination of a major national leader 
has led to suspicions and speculations that have 
the potential to adversely impact on 
inter-provincial harmony. The Group therefore 
considers this aspect to be of utmost importance. 
We believe that considering all the dimensions 
and possible fall-out, the situation needs to be 
handled with extraordinary care and sensitivity 
so that the heat of the election does not worsen 
conditions and perceptions.

11. The Group was deeply disappointed at the 
failure of the Election Commission to enforce the 
Code of Conduct which is being repeatedly 
violated by some political parties, the 
administration and the local government officials.

12. The Group reiterated that free, fair and 
transparent elections are not possible in the 
absence of a truly independent judiciary.

13. A new Chief Election Commissioner, with the 
consensus of political parties, should be 
appointed immediately and the Election Commission 
should be reconstituted to represent all 
provinces as per the requirements of the 
Constitution because even as of January 4, 2008, 
the existing EC does not fulfill the requirements 
of the Constitution.

14. The Election Commission needs to take urgent 
and serious notice of the newspaper 
advertisements of a political party playing up 
regional-ethnic sentiments for the sake of votes. 
This effort, if not checked immediately, can 
sharpen regional polarization and pose a serious 
threat to internal harmony and stability.

15. The Election Commission should exercise 
vigilance and take strict action against any 
political party, or any other elements that 
provoke disharmony between the people of the four 
provinces.

16. The Group also appeals to the media to use 
its professional judgments for discouraging the 
publication of advertisements and statements that 
specifically play up regional and ethnic biases.

17. The media should, therefore, exercise caution 
and show special responsibility to desist from 
printing, broadcasting or transmitting any 
advertisements which may lead to provoking 
regional and ethnic biases.

18. Political Parties should give national 
harmony primacy over point-scoring and refrain 
from statements and actions which may, in any 
way, hurt the feelings of the people of other 
provinces.

19. Recent developments underline the inescapable 
duty of the office of the Presidency to play a 
strictly non-partisan role. However, because the 
present President is an avowed partisan and his 
election on October 6, 2007 is devoid of legal 
and moral authority, it would be better in the 
national interest that he should step down.

Members of Citizens Group on Electoral Process who participated in the Meeting:

1. Justice (Retd.) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, 
Former Chief Justice of Pakistan: Chairman CGEP
2. Mr. Arif Nizami, Editor The Nation
3. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Asad Durrani, Former DG ISI/MI
4. Mr. Ghazi Salahuddin, The Jang Group
5. Dr. Hasan-Askari Rizvi; Defence and Political Analyst
6. Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Chairman, Gallup Pakistan Ltd.
7. Mr. Javed Jabbar, Former Senator & Minister
8. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider; Former Governor Sindh
9. Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Pakistan
10. Justice (Retd.) Nasira Iqbal, Former Judge Lahore High Court
11. Mr. Omar Khan Afridi, Former Chief Secretary NWFP
12. Dr. Parvez Hassan, Renowned Lawyer
13. Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Former Senator & Minister
14. Mr. Tasneem Noorani, Former Federal Secretary
15. Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob; Executive Director, PILDAT
16. Ms. Aasiya Riaz; Joint Director, PILDAT

Observers
- Justice (Retd.) Khalil ur Rehman, Former Judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan
- Mr. Shamshad Ahmad, Former Foreign Secretary

(ii)


The News International
January 4, 2008

AN ASSASSINATION MOST FOUL

by M B Naqvi

It appears Benazir Bhutto fell to an assassin's 
bullets and or the bomb blast meant for her. 
Passing away of a charismatic leader is always 
tragic and an unwelcome surprise. It always 
leaves behind a trail of bitterness. Even so this 
was exceptionally so. What the country has to 
grapple with is its consequences that may become 
trends.

Large numbers have gone on to protest and express 
an anger that has a long history. Superficially 
it may look like a sudden explosion of pent up 
emotions. The kind of disturbances that have 
followed and the loss of life and property have 
been involved is troubling. Certain conclusions 
follow.

It is rather sudden that otherwise law-abiding 
people have become rowdy in expressing their 
anger, vandals or even occasionally killers, 
shows the feelings had been pent up for long and 
people needed an occasion to explode. They want a 
change. Not knowing how to proceed or achieve 
what they vaguely wish to achieve, on the one 
hand, and, on the other, the inadequacy of 
national leadership -- government, political 
parties and other leaders of opinion -- 
underlines a dangerous all around confusion while 
too many interests are contending for supremacy.

Too many ideas about social reconstruction 
without adequately equipped leadership can cause 
a lot of trouble. This is what has happened. 
Political leaders are associated with vague 
ideals. Benazir was no exception. She embodied 
feelings of her followers that were not likely to 
be fulfilled by her and was perhaps not giving 
the lead that the people wanted or are ready for. 
The reality is that there is one, a widespread 
confusion of what should be done and how should 
things be reorganized; and two, there is a 
tendency towards violence that has grown over the 
years due to inadequate leadership or lack of 
guidance from saner elements, leading to 
disillusionment with what has happened. 
Structures of state that keep law and order are 
virtually breaking down. A growing section tends 
to take the law in their own hands because they 
do not expect anyone else to enforce the law. 
This is anarchy properly so-called.

Anyway, two questions arise the answers of which 
must be attempted. One is about the future of the 
PPP. While its charismatic leadership has made it 
into the largest party in Pakistan, it has now 
chosen a new leader. Then, there have been 
complaints of distortions in party's working 
because of non-democratic way of its internal 
functioning. Shouldn't there be democratic 
elections for its top leadership. A new crop of 
leaders should emerge with every generation. The 
current generation has produced competent and 
attractive leaders: mainly lawyers and judges. 
This genuine new leadership is outside the PPP. 
Why? Will PPP remain the property of a dynasty?

The next question is about the future of 
Pakistan. The rampant ideological confusion and 
an unhappy, angry people sans responsive 
leadership make for a dangerous situation. With 
state structures becoming ineffective and 
people's tendency towards violence remaining 
uncorrected, the society's and the state's future 
becomes vulnerable. Vacuous patriotism of 
shutting one's eyes to actual grassroots trends 
poses a danger.

The confusion arises from the deepening fissures 
in the polity over basic questions. The oldest 
confusion that is simultaneously easy and very 
difficult to resolve is the contention over the 
nature of the federation: On one side are 
believers in a strong central authority, presided 
over by a stronger individual, and, on the other, 
are people in the regions possessing their own 
identity through distinctive language, culture, 
traditions and perhaps also race. Pakistan had 
come to grief on this question. If we continue as 
hitherto, next tragedy should not be unexpected. 
Isn't there a solution?

Another issue that now ominously divides the 
people is over the rise of a new Islam, 
represented by al-Qaeda, Taliban and other 
extremist groups that seize power from time to 
time in their areas on the ground they are 
enforcing Shariah here and now, wanting to wipe 
out sins from society through Shariah punishment. 
The other side comprises traditional Islam where 
the same 'promotion of virtue and discouraging of 
sin' is taken to mean individual purity through 
good works and by persuasion. What is undeniable 
is that in Islam the relationship of individual 
with God is direct; there is no intermediary 
institution or group. Everything to be done 
desired by Islam is to be done at individual 
level by each Musalman without the use of force, 
except Jihad that requires all Muslims' consensus 
through a commonly accepted Caliph. In practice 
most schools believe that injunction about Jihad 
is no longer operative in the absence of its 
necessary requirements. Those who suppress sin by 
others and try to enforce piety and virtue in 
others with a gun is a new element in the body 
politic of Muslims the world over. It leads to a 
clash of civilizations, nations, and religions 
that can end in misery for all. Therefore it has 
to be contained. It will destroy the very fabric 
of Pakistan anyway -- and probably other Muslim 
countries.

Then there are social questions. Musharraf 
regime's propaganda of having reduced poverty and 
increased prosperity all around is contradicted 
by the behaviour of common Pakistanis. They are 
dissatisfied and angry; they had to tolerate 
injustice for long in silence; and that makes for 
building up of an anger that occasionally finds 
expression in violent protests. Benazir was 
associated with the idea of equitable reforms. 
She was taken to stand for the state that looks 
after the interests of common people and does not 
serve economic and social elites. It was thought 
she would run the economy for the benefit of the 
common people and would promote a development 
that is oriented to job creation and poverty 
reduction. The fact is no politician is paying 
any attention to these objectives. Most political 
parties are failing on that score, including the 
PPP. But old images too die hard, if accompanied 
with cynical rhetoric.

Insistent question is what should be done in 
today's political crisis. The year 2007 has seen 
one crisis after another. The world press informs 
us that authority and power of retired Gen(r) 
Pervez Musharraf is oozing out of him. But the 
observed fact is that his hold on governance is 
still complete with America, conservative Arab 
kings and NATO powers backing him; he remains a 
force who is suppressing the civil society and 
sacked an assertive judiciary, presiding over 
tumultuous events of the last few months with 
bomb blasts and suicide bombings in political 
gatherings. He does not look like fading away 
soon, though he had better take note of new 
stirrings and popular anger. State is becoming 
weak and Pakistan is in real danger. Larger 
forces can be unleashed. The way he acts will 
make or mar the future for Pakistan.

Without much ado, it has to be asserted that 
after him there will be no deluge. World's 
graveyards are full of indispensable men and 
women. He had better find a way out of his 
militarised "Islamabad". Otherwise the cost to 
Pakistan would be just too great. He should 
transfer effective governance to a national 
government formed after an All Parties Conference 
-- like the one called by Ayub Khan in 1969. A 
new Caretaker government comprising these leaders 
will help hold a free and fair election, sometime 
in late March or April. Postponement of Jan 8 
elections is anyhow necessary. Best course is to 
evolve a broad consensus over initial reforms but 
restoration of pre-Nov 3, 2007 situation in 
respect of judiciary and media is the necessary 
first step the ugly ducklings left behind by 
emergency and PCO need to be buried here and now.


_______


[2]


The Island - 5 January 2008

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY
Annus Horribilis

by Shanie

A journalist has referred to the year that has 
just past as an annus horribilis meaning a 
horrible year. She was using a Latin phrase that 
came into popular usage after Queen Elizabeth II 
used it fifteen years ago to define the year in 
England that had then just ended. If 2007 in Sri 
Lanka was an annus horribilis, 2008 has begun on 
a note that promises to be an annus terribilis or 
a more dreadful year. The assassination of a 
parliamentarian in A Hindu temple on New Year's 
Day was similar to the assassination of another 
parliamentarian in the Batticaloa Cathedral on 
Christmas Day two years ago, not long after 
Mahinda Rajapakse was elected to the presidency. 
The New Year's Day assassination is widely 
believed to have been by a paramilitary group 
close to the seats of governmental power. This 
has been followed in the next two days by bomb 
explosions that have killed at least seven 
soldiers and civilians in Colombo and 
Kebbitigollawa. The bomb attacks are believed to 
have been carried out by the LTTE. In between the 
two bombs, the Government announced the 
unilateral termination of the Ceasefire Agreement 
with the LTTE. All these do not portend well for 
the rule of law and peace in the year just begun.

There are three major actors on the 
politico-military scene now in Sri Lanka who 
contribute in varying degrees to this pall of 
gloom - the Government, the LTTE and the 
paramilitary groups. They continue to act with 
impunity, disregarding the Constitution and all 
democratic norms. The abductions and political 
killings not only continue on a daily basis in 
the North and East but take place in other parts 
of the country as well, as did the recent 
incidents. It is reported that in the East, armed 
paramilitaries brazenly walk into homes demanding 
money and jewellery. Men are abducted and 
released only on payment of ransom money. No one 
is arrested in this regard and the affected 
people have little faith that official complaints 
will bear any result; on the contrary, it can 
mean more trouble from the paramilitaries.

In the Jaffna Peninsula, there are several 
killings taking place on a daily basis. The 
latest report of the independent University 
Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) gives details 
of many of them. The assassinated Parliamentarian 
Maheswaran also referred to this in a TV talk 
show recently and made an oblique reference to a 
paramilitary group as being responsible. Since 
his revelations, there appears to have been a 
lull in the number of killings but the people of 
Jaffna believe that killings will resume once the 
heat is over.

The abductions, disappearances and targeted 
killings are similar to what the people of the 
North and East went through in the past at the 
hands of the LTTE. Then the targets were all 
those who dared to defy the LTTE or made public 
criticism of the LTTE's politico-military 
strategy. Today, the targets are those with even 
the remotest association with the LTTE - whether 
they be that willingly or unwillingly. The 
paramilitaries responsible this do so with 
complete impunity.

The 'war on terror'

Spokespersons for the Government, the Defence 
Secretary and the Army Commander in particular, 
have stated that the LTTE would be defeated 
militarily within the year. Military analysts 
however remain sceptical. The East was 
'liberated' with much fanfare. But the people 
have yet to experience liberation. They lived 
through difficult days when the LTTE was 
operational but now find conditions under the 
LTTE renegades who form the dominant paramilitary 
group even more difficult. They also know that 
the LTTE is only waiting on the wings to make a 
comeback. Rule by using discredited 
paramilitaries to carry out killings and land 
grabs will be counter-productive even in the 
short run. There is no alternative for the 
Government to adhere to the rule of law and to 
win, to use a cliché, the hearts and minds of the 
people. It takes time but the results are 
certain. This is what the University Teachers for 
Human Rights also reported about the spectacular 
success achieved by Gen Larry Wijeratne in 
winning the confidence of the people of Jaffna. 
The manner in which this paramilitary outfit is 
being used and its terror condoned will make even 
a military victory over the LTTE a hollow one.

A democratic election in the East for local 
self-government would normally have been welcome. 
But under the present circumstances, the people 
are not going to be given a free choice. The 
Tamil and Muslim voters are going to be 
intimidated and the Government will lose even a 
semblance of credibility. It will be the very 
negation of democracy. Many already have fears 
that such a farcical election in the East may 
only be a dress rehearsal for such 'elections' in 
the future in the rest of the country.

A 'political solution'

Within two years, the present Government has 
succeeded in polarising the country as never 
before. It has used the media and other resources 
at its command to divide the people. The recent 
public opinion poll conducted by the Centre for 
Policy Alternatives shows that almost half the 
Sinhalese interviewed agreed with President 
Rajapakse's view that peace can be restored only 
after the LTTE is defeated, whereas the 
overwhelming majority of Tamils and Muslims felt 
the war should be stopped and peace negotiations 
resumed immediately. In fact, it was the up 
country Tamils (90%) and Muslims (85%) who were 
most vocal in this regard. Even given a margin of 
error (not having a tradition of such polls and 
given the present climate of fear in airing one's 
political views), this polarisation is striking.

Many feel that President Rajapakse's statement 
that a political solution will be presented only 
after the military defeat of the LTTE is only a 
pretext for appeasing Sinhala ethno-nationalists 
whom he needs to prop up the Government. 
Otherwise his statement does not make any sense. 
If a reasonable political solution acceptable to 
moderate Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities 
(who no doubt form the majority in each of the 
communities) is presented and accepted, it will 
most certainly defeat the LTTE both militarily 
and politically. This is perhaps what the Snhala 
ethno-nationalists do not want. They need the 
LTTE; without it, they would become irrelevant in 
southern politics.

International Monitors

This is also the rationale for the polarisation 
between 'us' and 'them'. Anybody who is not with 
'us' is a traitor. The international community 
and the non-governmental organisations have been 
condemned for working with the enemy. That is 
also the rationale for deciding to terminate the 
Ceasefire Agreement. Over the last two years, it 
has been totally ignored but as long as it 
remained on paper, there was a need to 
accommodate international monitors. The mere 
presence of these monitors, even though they had 
no powers other than to report, acted as a 
restraint to unbridled militarism on the part of 
both parties. During the period when they were 
free to monitor, they reported to the 
international and local community over 3000 
violations by the LTTE and around 300 violations 
by the Government. This kept both parties under 
check. With the termination of the Ceasefire 
Agreement, the monitors will have to be withdrawn 
and with that the happenings in the war and 
conflict zones will cease to be reported. Would 
that be in the interests of the people of this 
country?

The monitors have been discharging their duties 
with impartiality and in conformity with 
internationally accepted norms. The 
ethno-nationalists among both Sinhala and Tamil 
communities did not find that acceptable. They 
wanted them to side only with 'us' and 
characterise 'them' as the violators. Without the 
presence of an independent group of monitors or 
an independent media, there is going to be 
greater reliance on stories that come down the 
grapevine - sometimes accurate and sometimes not 
so. Does that serve the interests of the people 
of this country?

The Government is dumping the Ceasefire Agreement 
and with it the international monitors against 
the advice of both the international community as 
well as pro-peace Sri Lankans. Undoubtedly 
domestic party political considerations have 
played a part in the decision. The Government in 
its anxiety to preserve its parliamentary 
majority wants to appease the Sinhala 
ethno-nationalists. The pro-peace elements within 
the Government have little manoeuvrability. They 
are caught in a real predicament. All indications 
are therefore that the Government's singular 
purpose in the coming year would be to secure a 
military victory over the LTTE. Economic and 
social development programmes, reduction of the 
cost of living, tackling rising lawlessness and 
unifying a divided people are going to be put on 
the backburner, in the hope that a military 
victory over the LTTE would divert people's 
attention from the negative impact of economic 
and social decline. Certainly, that is not going 
to be in the interests of the people of this 
country either in the short term or in the longer 
term.

_______


[3]

Amnesty International

RELEASE CARTOONIST IMPRISONED FOR "HURTING RELIGIOUS FEELINGS"

4 January 2008

Call on the Bangladesh authorities to release a 
cartoonist imprisoned for "hurting religious 
feelings"

Protestors against publication of cartoon burn 
copies of the newspaper in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21 
September 2007Mohammed Arifur Rahman, a 
cartoonist in Bangladesh, was arrested when 
street demonstrations by Islamist groups followed 
the publication of one of his cartoons. He has 
been detained since 18 September 2007. The 
cartoon was published in Alpin, a supplement of 
the leading daily newspaper in Bangladesh, the 
Prothom Alo.

Mohammed Arifur Rahman was subsequently charged 
with "hurting religious feelings" and detained in 
jail pending trial. The charge carries a maximum 
sentence of two years' imprisonment.

He is also held under the Special Powers Act, 
which allows for preventive detention without 
trial, whether or not the detainee has been 
charged with a criminal offence. The detention 
order was initially imposed for 30 days, but it 
is reported that it has been extended for another 
three months.

Mohammed Arifur Rahman is a university graduate 
with a keen interest in art and painting. He was 
awarded the first prize in a national 
anti-corruption cartoon competition by the 
Bangladeshi newspaper, the Daily Star. He is the 
sole breadwinner of his family and was supporting 
his mother and younger sister through the income 
earned from his drawings, supplemented by 
part-time work as a shop assistant.

He continues to deny that his cartoon, which he 
described as replicating the words of a joke 
popular in his home village, was in any way 
intended to offend religious sensibilities.

Amnesty International considers Mohammed Arifur 
Rahman to be a prisoner of conscience, having 
been detained and charged solely for the 
legitimate and peaceful exercise of his right to 
freedom of expression, and is calling for his 
immediate and unconditional release.

______



[4]


The Telegraph
  January 6 , 2008

OLD QUESTIONS, NEW ANSWERS
- A manifesto of freedoms
The thin edge / Ruchir Joshi

No fatwa

Here is a Counter-fatwa Manifesto for the new year.

Every citizen has the right and freedom to 
challenge, satirize and otherwise make fun of the 
beliefs of any other citizen, be those beliefs 
pertaining to religion, notions of morality, or 
politics. These challenges may come in the form 
of words, written, printed or spoken, and in any 
audio-visual form as well.

No citizen has a right to take recourse to 
violence using offence taken at such challenges 
as an excuse. The right to freedom of speech is 
an inalienable fundamental right and it becomes 
meaningless if it does not include the right to 
offend others.

The right to challenge and criticize is to be 
clearly differentiated from incitement to 
violence and murder. No individual or group has 
the right to call for physical harm to be caused 
to another person or group.

And here is an imaginary Q&A with a true 
believer, someone, say, who's not a cynical user 
of religion.

Does this mean you can criticize or create 
offensive stories about revered figures of my 
religion?

Yes, absolutely, so long as they are not alive. 
If they are alive, the criticism or satire may 
fall into the area of libel and that's a 
different area of contention. If the satirized 
figures are not with us in any corporeal sense 
then they belong, as it were, to everybody, and 
anybody can therefore say what they like about 
them, paint them in any way they choose. And, 
yes, that means I can make fun of any figure of 
reverence, real or fictional, mythical or 
historical.

But that's like saying I'm supposed to keep quiet 
while you insult my mother and father!

Yes and no. No, you don't need to keep quiet: if 
I insult your mother and father you can insult 
mine in return. Yes, we can both insult each 
others' near and dear ones but that doesn't give 
either of us the right to physically attack the 
other. Also, I can insult my own mother and 
father and that doesn't give my 'siblings' the 
right to attack me.

But god is the reason we are alive! How can I let you criticize god?

Yes? Okay, if god is criticized let god handle 
it. You, as a human being, cannot take on the job 
of being god's policeman or god's protector. It's 
like saying I'm going to kill you for spitting at 
the sun. Or for throwing a stone at the 
Himalayas. You can't have it both ways: either 
god doesn't exist or god is all-seeing and 
almighty and can therefore take care of himself 
or herself.

But my holy book says I have to protect my religion!

Your holy book is actually not a book but a later 
transcription of an oral tract. Neither you nor 
I, nor any priest alive today was around when the 
book was first written. The word of god was 
exactly that - word. People heard; others 
remembered what others said they heard and passed 
it down to yet other people who wrote it down; 
what they wrote has survived in incomplete, 
unreliable bits, other important bits were eaten 
by goats and camels or used by uncaring people as 
fuel for their fires; or there were fifteen or 
fifty writers all vying to write the same story 
in fifteen or fifty different ways. What you call 
your holy book, immutable and immovable, is 
actually a remnant of a remnant of a remnant 
which has been re-written and re-worked many, 
many times by the imagination of fallible humans. 
What you call your holy book has actually been 
debated and argued over for hundreds of years, 
the text and meaning changing with time like the 
shifting geological plates of the earth itself. 
It's not a good or moral idea to attack and kill 
people on the basis of an old and shifting text. 
Or even a new and verifiably unshifting one, 
because, if it's a text, then time will shift it 
and change it.

So, you are saying I can take nothing of value from my holiest of holy books?

No, that's not what I am saying. What I'm saying 
is that you and your holy book have to live with 
others and their holy books, and yet others who 
don't believe in holy books at all. So, the only 
things you can and should take from your holy 
book are the bits that talk about love, about 
getting along with others, about finding your 
own, individual, personal way to god and 
salvation. Any bits about killing others and how 
that is your duty, any bits about suspending your 
conscience in favour of your religion's 'law', 
are, frankly, suspect bits and you should only 
read them for entertainment. Because, if everyone 
takes the murder-orders in their holy books 
seriously, we won't survive as a species.

Survival of this earthly species is of no 
consequence, it's the after-life that matters. If 
I don't do my duty I will be punished by god.

Maybe, but you can't make that decision for 
others. Maybe god will punish you, but if you 
believe in a just god that's a risk you have to 
take - that you might burn in hell for eternity 
or be endlessly reborn as a tortured insect or 
animal. Your fear for your own after-life cannot 
be a justification for you to send others to 
theirs.

But my priest says I have to do my duty.

Ah, yes, the priest. Always ask yourself: where 
does the priest come from and what does he want? 
Has the priest met god personally? Were you there 
when they met? If not, then check the following: 
if the priest who sends you out to kill 
blasphemers doesn't want money, if he doesn't 
want political power, if he doesn't want glory, 
then he wants only one thing: to secure his 
after-life on the back of others' now-life, those 
others including you. And that's not worthy of a 
priest, that's a worse sin than mere blasphemy.

But people like you are in a minority! You are not mainstream!

Yup. And what about you? Somewhere or the other 
on this planet you and your religion are also in 
a minority. Somewhere on this planet, the fact 
that you believe in the god you believe in is 
actually blasphemous to others - it challenges 
their god. Does that mean they have a right to 
kill you or silence you?

______


[5]  TASLIMA NAREEN REMAIN'S CONFINED IN A GLASS HOUSE

ndtv.com

I WANT TO BE IN KOLKATA: TASLIMA

by Bano Haralu, Monideepa Banerji
Saturday, January 5, 2008 (Kolkata)

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has written an 
open letter to her friends in Kolkata describing 
how she is living virtually under house arrest in 
a safe house in Delhi.

In the letter, distributed at a literary fair in 
the city on Thursday, Taslima says she doesn't 
even know the address of her current residence. 
Taslima was forced to leave Kolkata in November 
after protests against her novel Dwikhandito by a 
section of the Muslim community.

''This existence cannot be called living,'' this 
is what Taslima has written in the open letter to 
her friends in Kolkata, penning for the first 
time her thoughts since her forced ouster from 
the city.

''I am virtually under house arrest. I don't even 
know the address of where I am being kept. Every 
visitor has to be cleared by the Home Ministry,'' 
Taslima writes.

Written from confinement in Delhi and undated, 
Taslima's two page letter was distributed at a 
literary fair in Kolkata and evoked sharp 
reactions from those protesting her ouster from 
the city.

''West Bengal government has done this to please 
the fundamentalist in the state. They think they 
will get Muslim votes by doing this. This is a 
very dirty thought,'' said Mahashweta Devi, 
writer.

''She alone is not in a predicament. It is as 
much a predicament for the people in Bangladesh 
for people in West Bengal, a predicament that 
faces humanity at large. The freedom of 
expression is an inherent human right,'' said 
Ashok Mitra, former Finance Minister of West 
Bengal.

The controversial writer clearly believes her rights are being violated.

''I do not believe my writings are the cause of 
protests. I believe the attack on me is 
politically motivated and that the events of 
November 21 have no connection with my 
writings,'' Taslima writes.

However, the letter, ends with an appeal.

''India has in the past been a refuge for so many 
people. I am one of them,'' she writes. ''I long 
to be back in Kolkata.''


o o o

Times of India
30 Dec 2007

BENGAL IN NO MOOD TO LET TASLIMA RETURN

KOLKATA: Bad news for controversial Bangladeshi 
writer Taslima Nasreen. Despite CPM patriarch 
Jyoti Basu and external affairs minister Pranab 
Mukherjee's assurances that she could return to 
the city, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government 
in West Bengal is unlikely to let her return.

Soon after Basu's statement that Taslima could 
return to Kolkata provided the Centre agreed to 
arrange security for her, Mukherjee said the 
central government would do so, but the request 
had to come from the state government.

Sources in the state home department said the 
government was in no mood to write to the Centre 
for Taslima's security before the panchayat 
polls. Asked about Mukherjee's statement seeking 
a letter of request from the state government for 
the author's security, chief secretary Amit Kiran 
Deb said, "Only the chief minister can reply to 
the question."

But the chief minister has been consistently 
refusing to take any questions pertaining to 
Taslima ever since she was escorted out of 
Kolkata to Jaipur and from there to somewhere in 
NCR - post-November 21 protests by a minority 
forum against her presence in Kolkata.

Reacting to the Bengal government's reluctance, 
Taslima told TOI, "Will they allow me to come 
back after the panchayat elections?" When she was 
told that the state government has, for now, 
chosen not to think beyond the polls, she said, 
"I can't imagine I will never return to Kolkata. 
I hope... Oh, how I hope they (the Bengal 
government) will change their mind."

And what if they don't? Would she go to Kerala - 
as offered by the UPA government? "No, why should 
I go there? I'm not a Malayali. I am a Bengali. 
It's Kolkata where I want to live," she said. "I 
really don't understand how my living in Kolkata 
will affect the panchayat votes."


______


[6] India: On Hindutva's anti christian violence 
in Orissa and Govt functionaries free to join RSS 
in Madhya Pradesh

(i)

NON GOVERNMENT WHITE PAPER ON THE VIOLENCE IN THE KANDHAMALA DISTRICT

Preliminary report of the fact finding team led 
by Dr John Dayal which visited the Kandhamala 
district, Orissa on 29th December - 3rd January 
and from 1st January to 3rd January 2008

Released at Bhubaneswar 5th January 2008

http://communalism.blogspot.com/2008/01/orissa-non-govt-white-paper-on-violence.html

o o o

(ii)

Indian Express
January 06, 2008

DHUMAL LIFTS BAN ON RSS SHAKHAS AT PUBLIC PLACES
Ashwani Sharma

Shimla, January 5:Within a week of coming to 
power in the state, the BJP Government led by 
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has lifted the 
ban on holding RSS shakhas at public places.

Moreover, government servants will also be free 
to participate in the shakhas and other 
activities of the Sangh Parivar now. Earlier, the 
Virbhadra Singh Government had banned shakhas in 
public spaces and also barred government staff 
from attending such functions.

Dhumal announced the decision at a public meeting 
in his native district of Hamirpur last night.

"We had opposed the Congress decision and staged 
protests both inside and outside the Assembly, 
demanding freedom to hold RSS shakhas. But, 
Virbhadra Singh did not budge," recalled state 
BJP president Jairam Thakur.

In another decision, Dhumal announced that the 
functioning of the religious shrines would be 
handed back to their managements, as per the 
BJP's poll promise. The Congress Government had 
taken over the management of some temples to 
ensure their smooth functioning.

[. . .]

______


[7]


ML International Newsletter
January-February 2008

Indian Elections
LESSONS FROM GUJARAT RESULTS

by Kavita Krishnan

The widespread factionalism in the Gujarat 
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ranks and the fact 
that on the eve of the polls Modi stood firmly 
indicted for his regime's role in the Gujarat 
genocide and custodial killings of Sohrabuddin 
and others created a uniquely favourable 
situation for its main contender, the Congress. 
If in spite of this, Modi scripted a win, there 
is no escaping the fact that it is the craven 
capitulation by the United Progressive (UPA) 
Government at the Centre as well as the Congress 
in Gujarat on the issue of state sponsored 
communal violence, accompanied by the failure to 
offer any meaningful alternative to Modi's brand 
of neoliberal 'development' which is 
dispossessing Adivasis, Muslims and rural and 
urban poor, that are to blame. The last minute 
rhetorical flourishes by Sonia Gandhi failed 
woefully to compensate for the bankruptcy of the 
Congress on the question of offering a credible 
and consistent challenge to the communal fascism 
of the Sangh Parivar and BJP. Its reliance on BJP 
rebels as candidates and its official embrace of 
the 'soft Hindutva' slogan further announced the 
Congress' surrender on this issue.

Modi has entered his third term strutting with 
impunity, declaring that he has always been and 
will always remain the Chief Minister (CM). The 
BJP camp, riding the Gujarat euphoria, is already 
claiming that Gujarat marks 'BJP rising', and 
hopes that the 'Modi mask' that symbolises the 
Gujarat win can give BJP a facelift nationally. 
The corporate houses are celebrating the victory 
of the 'CEO CM'. Meanwhile the Congress is hoping 
that the debacle may have the silver lining of 
pressurising the secular parties to close ranks 
and unite with the Congress in the name of 
countering communalism.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) - 
CPI (ML) contested seven seats in Gujarat. We 
polled third with 7289 votes in the Kherbrahma 
seat in Sabarkantha district where the CPI (ML) 
is leading struggles of the tribal poor against 
eviction from land and dispossession from water 
sources, and for rights over forest land. 
Kherbrahma and Meghraj (where the CPI (ML) 
candidate polled 3031 votes), are both seats in 
the Sabarkantha district, an Adivasi area that 
was one of the hotpots of the communal pogrom of 
2002. CPI (ML) started work in this area in 
2003-04, reaching out to marginalized Adivasis 
(this section had been mobilised in Modi's mobs 
in 2002 but who were worst hit by Modi's 
'development' and had in many cases been cheated 
of their land by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and 
Bajrang Dal). In the process we attracted many 
democratic forces towards us.  Encouraged by our 
initiative, local CPI (M) ranks including a 
member of the CPI (M) district committee too 
joined us. Our main slogan in this constituency 
was 'Jhanda par teen tara hai; jal jangal zamin 
hamara hai' [Three stars on a flag (the CPI (ML) 
election symbol); water, forests and land are 
ours'].

CPI (ML) candidates polled 3031 votes in Meghraj; 
2209 votes in Bulsar; 1123 in Umbergaon; 899 in 
Bhavnagar North; and 265 in Bhiloda. CPI (ML) had 
also fielded a candidate in Maninagar against 
Modi, advocate and youth leader Amit Patanwariya, 
who polled 1045 votes. On polling day (December 
16), our candidate and supporters braved a 
violent mob attack by Modi supporters led by the 
notoriously criminalised local BJP corporator 
Jayas Patel who is a close aide of Modi. Our 
supporters fought back, and our candidate, his 
father Lakshman Patanwariya who is our Town 
Committee Secretary and three brothers were all 
arrested by the partisan police force on serious 
charges of attempt to murder and Arms Act. Our 
supporters rallied around at the thana lock up, 
mounting a spirited pressure, even as Modi 
visited the thana gate with his convoy to buoy up 
his supporters.  Eventually our perseverance paid 
off, the police booked our candidate and his 
family on less serious charges of rioting and was 
also forced to book Modi's supporters on the same 
charges.

In the wake of the Gujarat results, the CPI (M) 
has advised the Congress that the BJP cannot be 
defeated in a mere electoral battle, communal 
fascism needs to be tackled ideologically. For 
the Left movement in the country, Gujarat indeed 
poses tough questions. Can the Left afford to 
wash its hands off responsibility for the state 
of Gujarat merely by advising the Congress to 
correct its course and abandon soft Hindutva? 
Isn't it true that the absence of a powerful Left 
movement inside Gujarat has also left the state 
vulnerable to the unchallenged domination of the 
communal fascists?  In Gujarat, the CPI contested 
two seats, polling 1236 votes in one and 4236 in 
the other, while the CPI (M) contested only one 
seat in a seat-sharing arrangement with the 
Congress and NCP. The UPA Government betrayed its 
single raison d'etre by abandoning the fight 
against communalism. But equally, the CPI (M) led 
Left camp too, in spite of its 60-plus tally of 
MPs in Parliament, did precious little to utilise 
its impressive parliamentary profile as a 
foundation for any serious Left presence in 
Gujarat. For all its pontificatory advice to the 
Congress now, the fact is that the CPI (M) too 
chose to toe the Congress' bankrupt line rather 
than take up the arduous task of developing a 
Left movement in the Sangh stronghold of Gujarat.

With the Congress' dismal failure to combat 
communal fascism underlined, it is all the more 
clear that what Gujarat urgently needs is a 
powerful Left movement and a credible third force 
that is willing to challenge the communal forces 
head on and mobilise the poor and marginalised on 
issues of livelihood and survival. The CPI (ML) 
has made a small but encouraging beginning in 
this direction. The encouraging response to CPI 
(ML)'s campaign in a sharply polarised election 
and against a BJP tide, despite its fledgling 
presence in the state, is a sign that there is a 
real space in Gujarat for progressive, 
democratic, Left politics. The CPI (ML) is 
committed to consolidating this response and 
expanding this space in the days to come.


______


[8]

  Times of India
11 Dec 2007

A DRACONIAN LAW

by Rakesh Shukla

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 
(NDPS) Act, 1985, is a draconian law because it 
places the state in the capacity of a moral 
guardian vis-a-vis the citizen. The recent uproar 
over former Union minister Jaswant Singh serving 
an opium-based drink, riyan, points to the 
draconian nature of the NDPS Act. Singh could get 
a 10-year jail term if the serving of the drink 
is established.

The restrictions imposed on grant of bail under 
NDPS Act amount to virtual denial and ensure 
years of incarceration. Section 37(1) declares 
that an accused person is not to be released on 
bail unless the court has reasonable grounds to 
believe that the accused is not guilty and is not 
likely to commit an offence while on bail. This 
provision is identical to provisions of the 
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) 
Act and Preven-tion of Terrorism Act which 
resulted in long periods of imprisonment without 
trial, evoking strong criticism from the human 
rights movement.

Like in the West, the NDPS Act provides for 
stringent punishment for cultivating, possessing 
or purchasing the "substances" enumerated in it. 
Sadhus smoking chillums on the ghats of the Ganga 
are a fairly common sight. However, the law in 
its majesty has forbidden the mere possession of 
charas and ganja.

Section 2(iii)(a) defines cannabis (hemp) to mean 
charas and includes the "separated resin, in 
whatever form, whether crude or purified, 
obtained from the cannabis plant" and subsection 
(b) includes "ganja, that is, the flowering or 
fruiting tops of the cannabis plant". Sections 
2(xv) to (xix) define the entire spectrum of 
opium, opium derivatives and poppy and bring it 
within the ambit of the Act. Sections 17 to 20 
prescribe stringent punishments extendable to 10 
and 20 years' imprisonment with respect to use, 
possession, sale, purchase of opium, charas and 
ganja.

Generally, a person is punished for acts which 
cause harm to others, such as murder or theft. 
Statutorily created offences like those under the 
NDPS Act fall under the category of victimless 
crimes. There is no harm done to anyone by a 
person being in possession of marijuana or 
partaking of an opium-laced drink and there is no 
victim.

An offence comprises two elements, the specific 
action and the guilty mind or dishonest intention 
which leads up to it. According to criminal 
jurisprudence, it is the responsibility of the 
prosecution to establish both before a person is 
convicted and punished. However, NDPS Act 
dispenses with 'dishonest intention' and Section 
35 directs the court to presume the existence of 
a culpable mental state for all the offences 
under the Act.

If possession is to constitute an offence, it 
must mean conscious possession. For example, if a 
thing is put in the hand of a sleeping person A, 
then it cannot be said that A is in pos-session 
of it. Similarly, if something is slipped in the 
handbag of B, then B cannot be said to be in 
possession of it.

However, under the NDPS Act knowledge of the 
contents is imputed to the accused. Section 54 
says that it is to be presumed that a person has 
committed an offence under the Act, if he fails 
to account satisfactorily for the possession of 
any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or 
any other incriminating article.

Under the blanket of drug menace to society, the 
draconian nature of the legislation has passed 
unnoticed. Section 31-A provides for mandatory 
death sentence, without the alternative of life 
imprisonment, in the case of a second conviction, 
which could be restricted to abetment or attempt 
to commit an offence. There is no doubt that with 
its unduly harsh punishments - death penalty, 
virtual denial of bail, presumption with regard 
to intention and knowledge, virtually leading to 
the burden-of-proof being placed on the accused 
to establish innocence - the NDPS Act should be 
reviewed from the viewpoint of civil liberties.

The larger jurisprudential question whether the 
state should criminalise vices needs to be 
debated. The assump- tion that those who practise 
vices like recreational drug use are mentally 
infirm and need to be protected from 
self-destruction is open to question.

The writer is a Supreme Court advocate.

______


[9] ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Dear Friends !

Greetings for the New Year !

Looking ahead to the 'Global Day of Action' that 
has been called by the World Social Forum on 
January 26 2008, but also focussing on the steep 
decline that some observers feel that the WSF and 
the global social justice movement is going 
through, CACIM (India Institute for Critical 
Action - Centre in Movement) and SADED (South 
Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy) had each 
planned to call meetings in Delhi in mid January 
to take advantage of the presence in town of 
Teivo Teivainen, from Finland, a critical thinker 
and actor who is deeply involved with the WSF. 
Rather than do separate events, we now jointly 
invite you to a day-long event focussed on the 
theme

  World Social Forum at CrossRoads

on Friday, January 11 2008, from 11 am onwards, 
at ISI (Indian Social Institute).

Details are given below.  Please join us for the 
discussions and also spread the word around about 
the event to all those who you feel might want to 
take part in such an exchange. Please do also 
print out the attached note and pin it up in your 
organisation's notice board.

ALL ARE WELCOME !

WSF at CrossRoads

A critical engagement with the emerging dynamics 
of the Forum process in India and globally

Session 1, organised by SADED :

11:00 - 1:00            Genesis of the Forum

Panel discussion. Speakers :

Teivo Teivainen, Professor of World Politics and 
Head of the Political Science Department at the 
University of Helsinki, Finland, and as 
representative of NIGD (Network Institute for 
Global Democratisation), Finland, founding member 
of the International Council of the World Social 
Forum

(Other speakers to be confirmed)

Lunch break

Sessions 2 and 3, organised by CACIM :

CACIM Multilogues

Under its Multilogues Series, CACIM cordially 
invites you to two sessions to critically discuss 
and debate the future of the Forum :

2:00-4:00                The Idea of the Global 
Day of Action and its Political and Cultural 
Significance

Panellists :

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, media artist, member of 
the RAQS Collective and Sarai, CSDS, Delhi 
(tentatively confirmed)

Teivo Teivainen, University of Helsinki, and NIGD, Finland

(Third panellist to be confirmed)

Tea break

4:30-6:30                The Future of the Forum 
: Is the World Social Forum approaching a point 
of crisis ?

Panellists :

Kamla Bhasin, member of Sangat (South Asian 
Network of Gender Activists and Trainers), New 
Delhi

Teivo Teivainen, University of Helsinki, and NIGD, Finland

Sitaram Yechury, MP, member of the Politburo of 
the CPI(M), and handling the party's 
international affairs (tentatively confirmed)

Friday, January 11 2008

@

Indian Social Institute

Lodhi Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 003

(Behind Sai Baba Mandir)

The Panel Discussions will also be attended by 
members from the WSF India Organising Committee, 
academics, activists, students and others who 
have played an active role in the Forum 
organising process.

This set of events also looks forward to another 
event that CACIM, perhaps together with others, 
will be organising in Delhi on January 25 2008, 
as its observance of and contribution to the 
Global Day of Action.

With warm regards,

Jai Sen & Madhuresh Kumar 
Rakesh Bhatt & Hrishikant

CACIM, New Delhi 
SADED, New Delhi

Attached :
- Discussion Brief for the Session
- Programme Leaflet

*******

CACIM (the India Institute for Critical Action - 
Centre in Movement) is an initiative towards 
cultivating and nurturing a culture of critical 
reflexivity and action in individual and public 
work. In principle we expect to work in many 
fields, but our focus at the moment is on 
activism, research, and publication in relation 
to social and political movement. CACIM is 
involved in detailed research on and 
documentation of the Forum and other related 
processes (such as social movements); plays an 
active role in the organising process of WSF in 
India and globally; publishes books, reports, 
newsletters, and bibliographies on the Forum, 
both in Hindi and English; and organises debates 
and discussions around related issues. Visit 
<http://cacim.net/twiki/www.cacim.net>www.cacim.net 
and 
<http://cacim.net/twiki/www.openspaceforum.com>www.openspaceforum.com 
for details. 
<mailto:cacim at cacim.net>cacim at cacim.net

SADED (South Asian Dialogues on Ecological 
Democracy) is an initiative for defining a 
relationship between nature and human beings that 
protects nature's bounty and allows it to be 
available for all its children -- human beings 
irrespective of class, caste, colour, race, 
religion, sex or age, as well as all non-human 
living beings. 'Development', as known in the 
20th century, has wreaked havoc with nature and 
human societies. SADED attempts to identify ways 
of life that are ecological, egalitarian and 
individuality fulfilling and contribute to 
evolving visions for future development while 
preserving the positive of the past and present. 
<mailto:saded.bharat at gmail.com>saded.bharat at gmail.com


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

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