SACW | Jan. 23-24, 2008 / Afghanistan Blasphemy arrest / Rights award for Pakistan Lawyers / India: Justice for victims of Communal Riots
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at gmail.com
Wed Jan 23 22:08:39 CST 2008
South Asia Citizens Wire | January 23-24, 2008 |
Dispatch No. 2492 - Year 10 running
[1] Afghanistan: CPJ Fax urges Karzai to protect Afghan media
[2] Pakistan:
(i) Two leading Pakistani lawyers to receive
3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award
(ii) Mullah driven parallel legal system in
NWFP - HRCP objects (Robert Muggah)
[3] Himalayan Concerns of India's Far Right (J. Sri Raman)
[4] India: Justice for victims of Communal Riots
(i) Mumbai's incomplete tryst with justice (Jyoti Punwani)
(ii) Democracy's Bilkis Test (Ajay K. Mehra)
(iii) Beyond the Bilkis Bano case (Editorial, The Hindu)
(iv) Braveheart (Editorial, The Telegraph)
[5] India: Text of Report of the National
Commission for Minorities's (NCM) visit to Orissa
[6] India - Chattissgarh: Letter expressing
concern re Binayak Sen (People's Union for Civil
Liberties, Gujarat)
[7] Indian History Congress Award for 2007 given to Meera Nanda
[8] Announcements:
(i) Assembly of Social Movements for Rights and
Justice in Pakistan (Karachi, 26 January 2008)
(ii) Upcoming demo against Musharraf (London, 28 January 2008)
______
[1] CPJ URGES KARZAI TO PROTECT AFGHAN MEDIA
January 17, 2008
President Hamid Karzai
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
C/o The Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Via facsimile: 202-483-6487
Dear President Karzai:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned
about your government's failure to push through
proposed media reforms at a time when the Afghan
press is growing increasingly restricted. As a
nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization of
journalists committed to supporting our
colleagues around the world, CPJ is troubled by
our findings on Afghanistan, which suggest that
media policy is increasingly aimed at hampering
journalists.
Long-debated amendments to Afghanistan's media
law were delayed when you declined to endorse
them on December 26, according to many local
journalists. Shaped by a joint commission of the
upper and lower houses of parliament, with
informed critiques from journalists and media
commentators, the amendments represent a
promising step toward reaffirming media freedom.
In the interim negotiating period, while the
parliamentary houses choose whether to act on or
overrule your suggestions, journalists are left
vulnerable to prosecution for cultural
transgressions as determined by the Ministry of
Information and Culture. The ministry does so
with the backing of the National Directorate of
Security (NDS) and the Nationwide Council of
Religious Scholars of Afghanistan.
There have been several incidents that are indications of this trend:
* The Council of Religious Scholars has
recommended the death penalty for a young
reporter and student charged with blasphemy in
Mazar-i-Sharif, according to local press freedom
advocate Rahimullah Samander. Local journalists
are vocal in their support of Parwez Kambakhsh,
who was detained on October 27 for downloading
distributing to friends an article about the
Prophet Mohammed from the Internet. We share
their concerns that Kambakhsh is being targeted
in order to put pressure on his brother,
journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, who has
repeatedly offended officials with his articles
for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.
Although the Balkh provincial council appealed
for the 23-year-old Kambakhsh's release after
meeting with him on January 6, clerics renewed
their call for his execution on January 14,
Samander's colleague Naqibullah Taib told CPJ.
* On January 4, you met with influential
clerics who called popular music shows and Indian
soap operas broadcast by Tolo TV un-Islamic,
according to Agence France-Presse. Shortly after
that meeting a communication from Minister Abdul
Khuram to private TV channels banned programs
contrary to Afghanistan's culture and laws on
threat of referral to the attorney general for
prosecution. Saad Mohseni, who runs Tolo and
other networks, provided CPJ with a copy of the
letter last week. Mohseni told us that NDS
representatives reiterated the minister's ban in
a meeting with private TV station heads on
January 9.
* In 2002, you pledged to turn state-owned
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) into a public
service broadcaster. Yet your latest
recommendations on the proposed media law vetoed
the draft proposals to establish an independent
commission, including legislative and judicial
representatives, to govern RTA on the grounds
that they were unconstitutional, local news
reports say. RTA's director of planning and
foreign relations, Abdul Rahman Panjshiri,
resigned in September 2007, directly citing
Minister Khuram's efforts to curb the station's
independence as his reason. "During my 29 years
of service with RTA I have not seen such an
attempt to suppress freedom," he said in comments
published on the Web site of Radio Netherlands.
We do, however, applaud your recommendation for
increased clarity in the proposed media bill
regarding punishment for violations of new
restrictions against insulting Islam, which were
overly broad and open to misinterpretation.
As Afghanistan gears up for presidential and
parliamentary elections in 2009, it is more
important than ever to promote a professional
media industry, free from the threat of reprisal
and content restrictions on religious or any
other grounds.
We ask that you intervene to ensure that the
charges against Parwez Kambakhsh are immediately
dropped and, on a broader scale, we encourage you
to press for revisions to the media law that
guarantee increased protection for journalists.
We urge you to counteract the threat of
prosecution for private TV stations and allow
them to determine the cultural relevance of their
own programming.
We ask, finally, that you fulfill your promise to
develop Radio Television Afghanistan as a public
media outlet, and take steps to reduce the
Ministry of Information and Culture's editorial
and administrative influence over the broadcaster.
These actions will send a clear signal that you
will not tolerate moves to restrict the media but
rather to allow it to flourish as Afghanistan
grows as a democracy.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
______
[2]
(i)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-022-2008
January 23, 2008
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
ASIA: TWO LEADING PAKISTANI LAWYERS TO RECEIVE
3RD ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER AWARD
Today, January 23, 2008, the Board of Directors
of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is
pleased to announce that it has decided to grant
its 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award jointly
to Muneer Malik, former President of the Pakistan
Supreme Court Bar Association, together with his
successor, Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan.
The award is in recognition of the historic
leadership role that the lawyers of Pakistan have
had in fighting against military dictatorship
there during the past year, spearheading the
protests against General Pervez Musharraf's
unconstitutional removal and illegal confinement
of Chief Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary on 9 March
2007.
The lawyers' movement has attracted interest and
immense support of people from all walks of life
in Pakistan and the scheme to remove the chief
justice was thwarted, although he was again
illegally removed from his post, along with 55
other senior judges, including 13 from the
Supreme Court, when Musharraf seized power
through an unconstitutional declaration of
emergency rule at the end of the year.
The lawyers, judges and others of Pakistan have
been making great sacrifices to defend the
independence of their judiciary as a last bastion
against the otherwise unchallenged power of the
military. This struggle is continuing today.
The 3rd Asian Human Rights Defenders Award is
thus awarded to these two leading lawyers both in
recognition of their personal sacrifices as well
as to them as representatives of the entire
people's movement against dictatorship in
Pakistan.
For his leading role in fighting against the
removal of the chief justice and promoting the
struggle for an independent judiciary, Muneer
Malik was arrested and drugged, causing him to
suffer renal failure. He is still recovering
today. Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan has been kept under
detention since the emergency was imposed on 3
November 2007.
The two lawyers' leadership, courage and
unswerving commitment to their profession, their
integrity and their country are strongly symbolic
of their cause. In them we acknowledge and award
all of the lawyers, judges and others who have
refused to bow down to the immoral pressure of
military force, including all of those dismissed
from their posts and kept in their houses. They
stand today as the representatives of civilised
society and institutional commonsense in
Pakistan, in stark contrast to the barbarism and
primitive feudal order represented by Musharraf
and his allies.
By making this award we also again emphasise that
the international community is obliged to support
the people of Pakistan at a time that they are
faced with the very real threat of being
subjected to the sole authority of a merciless
and self-interested executive authority. We call
upon others to join with us in open expression of
support for these lawyers and their struggle.
ABOUT THE AWARDEES
Muneer A. Malik was President of the Supreme
Court Bar Association of Pakistan from October
2006 to October 2007. He has fought for the
independence of the judiciary and independence of
the legal profession consistently. When Chief
Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary was removed
unconstitutionally by General Musharraf, he was
among the senior lawyers who openly defied the
move and led his peers in their struggle to
oppose it, which swelled into a massive
outpouring of dissent against military
dictatorship from people in all quarters and
professions. As a result, he was arrested and
imprisoned. While held in the notorious Attock
Jail under supervision of the ISI, the military
intelligence agency, he was given drugs that he
was told were painkillers. Thereafter he suffered
renal failure. His life was saved only due to
massive locally and internationally pressure that
led to the authorities acquiescing to the needed
medical intervention. He is still undergoing
treatment.
For details of his views on the present crisis see:
www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1325/
Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan is the serving President
of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan
and he too has consistently fought for the
independence of judiciary and lawyers. He also
led the protests against the attack on the chief
justice. He successfully represented the chief
justice in the case for his reappointment,
despite heavy pressure being brought upon him not
to do so. He was put under house arrest together
with the senior judges and other lawyers when the
emergency was imposed illegally on 3 November
2007 and remains there to this day.
For his views see:
www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/opinion/23ahsan.html?ex=1199077200&en=c560e42dac0c2828&ei=5070&emc=eta1
o o o
(ii)
Daily Times
24 January 2008
Editorial
DON' T TOUCH QAZI COURTS YET!
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
has reacted to the plan of the NWFP caretaker
government to enforce a system of Qazi Courts in
regions coming under its jurisdiction as
Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).
This means that Swat, Dir and Chitral will be
separated from the judicial system in force in
the province and given special treatment. The
HRCP has objected to the creation of a parallel
system that will ultimately challenge the entire
system functioning in Pakistan under the
Constitution and its Sharia amendments. In fact,
if it is enforced, this could be the beginning of
the admission that the judicial system under the
Constitution is inadequate and should be replaced.
Unfortunately, the caretakers have acted just
days after the militant Uzbek warlord Tahir
Yuldashev demanded that Sharia be enforced in
Pakistan. Under the circumstances, it is shocking
that a caretaker government should kowtow
immediately after helping to bring a semblance of
peace to the Swat region. Reverting to Qazi
Courts has bad memories attached to it as it
takes us back to 1999 when, submitting to the
violence and outlawry of Maulvi Sufi Muhammad -
who is now in jail - the Nawaz Sharif government
had imposed Qazi Courts in Malakand. The rebel
mullah was acting at the behest of the smugglers
of the area and should have been sorted out
instead of being so accommodated.
The new scheme will require the normal
magistrates to get Islamic training and act as
Qazis while deferring to clerics whom the
administration will appoint as "helpers" through
a complex system of selection. The appeal will
not lie at the High Court but at the Federal
Shariat Court, which means that if the intent is
to provide quick justice it will be defeated. In
any case what the militants demand is
"Talibanised justice on the trot" through which a
peripatetic mullah-judge doles out Islamic
punishments without appeal and not such Qazis
appointed by the government. Thus, for example,
trouble will flare up after a sentence of the
cutting of hands awarded by a PATA court is
overturned by the Federal Shariat Court. Why
can't the caretaker government of NWFP let the
judicial system for PATA be decided by the new
elected government? Presenting the elected
government with a fait accompli of this kind
would be most unfair. *
_______
[3]
truthout.org
22 January 2008
HIMALAYAN CONCERNS OF INDIA'S FAR RIGHT
by J. Sri Raman
Two Himalayan states await general elections,
scheduled to be held within three months. The
polls are expected to decide the future of
monarchies and the fate of pro-democracy
movements in both - and India's far right is not
an uninterested observer.
This powerful phalanx - with the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) as its political front and the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a major participant
in the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, and other outfits
of comparably virulent and grisly records as
other members of the "parivar" or the far-right
"family" - is evincing particular interest in the
electoral fortunes of Nepal.
The country has just mourned the death of New
Zealand's mountaineer Sir Edmund Percival
Hillary, who scaled Nepal's and the world's
highest peak, Everest, in 1953 (along with local
hero Tenzing Norgay). The polls to be held on
April 10, after two postponements, will represent
an equally challenging peak to conquer for
Nepal's people, who overthrew a despotic monarchy
in April 2006 but have been waiting ever since to
move forward to a full-fledged democracy.
What made the victory of the pro-democracy
and anti-palace struggle possible in 2006 was an
alliance between the parliamentary parties and
the Maoists who had been raging an armed
rebellion for a decade. It is this newfound unity
that has since been the target of forces inside
Nepal and outside seeking to rescue King
Gyanendra Bikram Bir Shah Dev and, if possible,
restore his rule
These forces have ranged from James Francis
Moriarty, US envoy to Nepal until recently, to
former Indian princes with family links to the
Palace in Kathmandu and elements in southern
Nepalese plains (the Terai) seeking to thrive on
the regional grievances of an ethnic Indian
population.
The BJP and its band have not concealed their
unhappiness over a recently reforged unity
between the Maoists and the Seven-Party Alliance
(SPA) of Prime Minister G. P. Koirala that has
made the coming elections to a constituent
assembly possible.
The Maoists have had more than a minor share
of blame for the delay in the pro-democracy
process. Many well-wishers of the movement have
had more than one occasion to be critical of the
lapses of the Maoist leadership, including the
most prominent among them, Pushpa Kumar Dahal,
better known by his nom de guerre of Prachanda.
Not many in Nepal would dismiss his fears of a
possible derailment of the process of democracy.
At a recent public rally, Prachanda voiced
the apprehension that Nepal might be in for a
Bangladesh-type army-backed rule, which might be
established under the excuse of countering a
challenge to Nepal's unity and sovereignty from
the Terai. Accusing "Hindu elements" in India of
trying to sabotage the polls, he added: "I don't
blame the whole of India, but a section of Indian
politics and the Hindu elements do not want to
see elections being held in Nepal and the country
turning into a republic."
The accusation would not appear unfounded,
even to the political adversaries of Prachanda in
Nepal. The BJP and the "parivar" had never made a
secret of their pro-monarchy predilection, though
the party may have been more circumspect in its
past statements.
The BJP, in fact, kept up a pro-democracy
pretense as early as February 2005, when the king
suspended a partial democracy. The party said:
"The events in Nepal have seriously affected the
cause of legitimate democracy. India has been
consistently supporting the development of a
political system that truly reflects people's
aspirations. King Gyanendra's actions have caused
a serious setback to this process." No strong
denunciation, but a disapproving statement, which
suggested that the suspension of the process is
temporary. The statement cleverly avoided comment
on the ground - "Maoist terrorism" - the king
cited for his action.
Along with the party's statement, however,
came the far right's true response, articulated
by its far less circumscribed fronts. The always
quotable Praveen Togadia of the VHP, who had
glorified the Gujarat massacre as a great 'Hindu'
upsurge, said: "There was anarchy in the Hindu
kingdom before the king's takeover". He warned
that, "if India remained a mute spectator to the
unfolding events in Nepal, China might take
advantage of the situation." VHP president Ashok
Singhal, who had proclaimed he was "proud of
Gujarat," said that "increased extremist terror
targeting innocent people had prompted the
palace" to place even a guided democracy under
suspension.
On January 22, 2004, in Kathmandu, capital of
Nepal, Singhal attended a ceremony to honor King
Gyanendra as the world's only Hindu monarch.
Ordained the VHP oracle: "It is the duty of 900
million Hindus the world over to protect the
Hindu samrat (king) ... God has created him to
protect Hindu dharma." Singhal also proposed to
organize a world Hindu meet in New York under the
king's leadership. The proposed event "would
project Hindus as a global power ... with the
Nepalese king leading the way". The pro-king
stance has always been an integral part of the
essentially anti-minority, "Hindutva" politics of
the "parivar."
The BJP is more outspoken now. The party's
most prominent leader, with the added stature of
a shadow prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani told
a public meeting days ago: "My party and I stood
firmly by the side of the people of Nepal in
their desire for effective and fully empowered
democracy. But we also backed their other
aspiration, which was suppressed by the rise of
Maoist forces in the politics of Nepal: namely,
preservation of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom with
constitutional monarchy. Maoism and democracy are
a contradiction in terms. The two cannot go
together. It is unfortunate that they have gained
ascendancy in the polity of Nepal." He asserted:
"The monarchy in Nepal was a symbol of its unique
national identity and a source of its stability."
He demanded to know why friends of the
pro-democracy movement applauded "when the
identity of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom was erased
even before the Constituent Assembly had
discussed it? Would they demand that Pakistan or
Bangladesh cease to be Islamic republics?"
The Advani-speak raises legitimate
apprehensions in Nepal that India's main
opposition party may not remain a mere spectator
of the election process. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's repeated statements on "Maoist
insurgencies" in India as the country's "worst
threat of terrorism" can give the Advanis of the
land an opportunity to advance the Nepal agenda.
Curiously, the BJP has refrained from taking
a similar stand in relation to the coming general
election in Bhutan. Monarchy may not quite be the
same issue in the mountain state of enchanting
landscapes to Nepal's east. It is the palace here
that has ordered the polls to be held on March
24. Democracy, however, still remains an issue of
bitter debate, with bomb blasts marking the
run-up to the event no less than in Nepal.
In Buddhist Bhutan too, the electoral process
faces a challenge from the minority of Hindu
Nepalese, a hundred thousand of whom are reported
to have fled the country since 1990 and are still
"languishing" in refugee camps in Nepal. As part
of what they described as a "pro-democracy
movement," they have made several attempts to
return but failed - with no help from India and,
now, with the US offering them an alternative
American asylum.
Proclamations from the palace in Thimphu,
Bhutan's capital, however, describe the
"pro-democracy" movement as nothing more than a
terrorist campaign. It is officially condemned as
an offensive by organizations identified as the
Bhutan Tiger Force, the Bhutan Maoists Party, and
the Communist Party of Bhutan based in Nepal.
Significant, if not eloquent, may be the
silence of the BJP and its brigade on the
scenario, involving a Buddhist monarchy on
China's border and an alleged Hindu-Maoist
opposition.
A freelance journalist and a peace activist
in India, J. Sri Raman is the author of
"Flashpoint" (Common Courage Press, USA). He is a
regular contributor to Truthout.
______
[4] India: Justice for victims of Communal Riots
(i)
The Times of India
January 24, 2008
MUMBAI'S INCOMPLETE TRYST WITH JUSTICE
by Jyoti Punwani
Only Mumbai's riot victims will understand the
irony. Bilkis Bano, hounded and threatened in her
own state, got justice in their city. Even while
her tormentors, including the police, were being
convicted and sentenced in a Mumbai court, the
city's riot victims, who had been similarly
targeted with the help of the police 15 years
ago, were discovering that their city, which had
given Bilkis a new faith in the system, had
nothing to offer them.
Forced by public pressure to take a fresh look at
Mumbai's riot cases, a high-level committee,
after weeks of scrutiny, has released a list of
cases to be sent to fast-track courts, which
would try them exclusively. They had found "no
case which was not registered because of
oversight, delay or refusal by the police,"
announced a senior home department official.
The Srikrishna Commission's two-volume report is
only 238 pages long. Of these, two pages are
spent on the 'Diamond Jubilee incident'. Haroon
Rashid, resident of the Diamond Jubilee Compound
and editor at that time of Urdu Blitz and later
of the Urdu daily Inquilab, had travelled
throughout the country, telling the story of how
the compound had been attacked and finally burnt
by Shiv Sainiks, with whom the compound's boys
used to play cricket, and how the policemen on
duty had simply stood by. The Commission found
that assistant inspector A.N. Kamat had not even
bothered to record statements of the residents.
This case was closed by the police as 'true, but
undetected'. Kamat is one of the 31 policemen
against whom the Commission had recommended
'strict action' for "utter dereliction of duty;
serious lapses in investigation; passive and
active collaboration with Shiv Sainiks". Kamat
has indeed been punished: his increments were
stopped for six whole months. CR 25/93, LT Marg
police station, was re-opened in 2001 by the
special task force (STF) set up to act on the
report, but closed again as 'true, but
undetected'. Why? Residents recall a perfunctory
visit by two cops when most of the men were away
at work, asking if they were interested in
pursuing the case. No assurances were given of
protection; no encouragement to come forward and
help bring the culprits to book.
Two more pages are devoted to what the Commission
describes as 'cold-blooded murder by the police'.
The victim: 16-year-old college student Shahnawaz
Wagle. The testimony of his sister, mother and
other eye-witnesses convinced Justice Srikrishna
that Shahnawaz had been shot in the back by the
police as he was being led to a police vehicle,
not while rioting, as the police claimed. He
ordered an inquiry. Disgusted by the 'eyewash'
that was conducted, he recommended in the report
that the incident be probed by an impartial
agency. The STF probed it and repeated the police
version. Shahnawaz's case features nowhere in the
new list, though his father has given his
statement afresh to the zonal DCP.
An entire paragraph in the report is devoted to
the attack on Azmi Stores, a small shop in
Dongri. Its owner, Mohamed Ismail told the police
how his Hindu neighbours stopped the miscreants
from setting fire to it. But the police didn't
bother to take the neighbours' statements, which
could have helped identify the miscreants. The
case was closed, re-opened by the STF, closed
again.
Byculla's Shabbir Tambawalla's complaint about
his building being attacked by Shiv Sainiks, was
registered six weeks after the incident. The
report describes how assistant inspector Jaiswal
called the local shakha pramukh and asked
Tambawalla to compromise. In a recent interview
to this reporter, Tambawala expressed readiness
to pursue the case. But his name does not figure
in the latest list.
Perhaps the most vivid example of the blind alley
Mumbai's riot victims find themselves in is CR
718/92, Dharavi Police station, described by the
Commission as the very first violent incident of
the riots. Contrary to popular belief, the first
stone wasn't thrown by Muslims angry at the
demolition of the Babri Masjid. It was thrown at
namazis in Dharavi, by a victory cycle rally of
Shiv Sainiks celebrating the demolition, on the
evening of December 6, 1992. The report devotes
two pages to the rally, taken out in defiance of
the police, its incendiary slogans, and the
police's delay in registering a case against the
organisers, all Sena corporators and local
leaders.
Guess what? The Congress government has still not
given permission to prosecute these worthies, and
surprise! CR 718/92 does not feature in the
recent list.
So where do Mumbai's riot victims go for justice?
The writer is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist
who has covered the '92-'93 Mumbai riots
o o o
(ii)
Indian Express
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
DEMOCRACY'S BILKIS TEST
by Ajay K. Mehra
The judgment on the Bilkis Bano case provides an
opportunity to reflect on a range of issues
relating to inter-community relations as well as
the state and legal mechanisms available to deal
with riots in India. Above all, an increasing
political patronage to rioters and political
justification of organised collective violence of
a majority community against a minority, and the
abuse of power and state-machinery by a ruling
party, deserve debate. But the question is: will
a law against communal riots, like the one
contemplated by the UPA, solve this complex
problem?
That the Bilkis Bano case was shifted out of
Gujarat, where her family fleeing from the brutal
riots in 2002 was murdered by a frenzied mob and
that she was gang-raped, is a stark reminder of
the collapse of the criminal justice system and
lower judiciary in the country. The police not
only cheated an illiterate Bilkis in registering
the FIR, they also tampered with the evidence in
the cruelest fashion by severing the heads of the
victims after post-mortem.
While there is a reason to celebrate in Bilkis's
resolute and successful fight for justice, there
is equally a reason to introspect whether it is
possible to shift a case to another state every
time a case of this kind comes up. The
partisanship and disregard for the rule of law
injected into an already politicised and
incompetent police in this case may lead to more
violence against minority communities.
The judgment in the Bilkis Bano case has laid
bare the soft underbelly of democracy, which has
virtually justified the communalisation of state
and society and subverted the rule of law. In a
sense, the justification of this social and
ethical aberration, which appears to have been
institutionalised in Gujarat, has economic
underpinnings. The middle class that has gone
gaga over 'development' has no time to ask
whether these newfound opportunities are
available for every citizen, or how the
deep-seated animus, now perpetuated through a
'majoritarian' politics, is aggravating the
divides.
Communal riots in India over the years have
turned from spontaneous manifestations of local
conflict between communities over resources,
faith or politics to more organised political
pogroms against a minority community. The 1984
riots against the Sikhs soon turned into a
violence that was politically instigated and
supported, and finally explained away by Rajiv
Gandhi in the most cavalier fashion. The
intermittent violence as the Hindutva campaign of
the BJP/VHP built up momentum with L.K. Advani's
rath yatra and culminated in the demolition of
the Babri Masjid, was politically backed. Whether
initially spontaneous or planned, they all
eventually showed a macabre preparation that came
into play. Those like Bilkis may show
determination to fight the system and find
justice, but can individual grit alone reverse
this dreadful situation?
Finally, as we grope for solutions to the
hydra-headed monster of communal riots, the
question remains: Will a law on communal riots
help us tackle the menace? This leads us to
another question: What is required to tackle
collective and communal violence?
Communal riots can normally be treated as a
social aberration, and the local administration
is responsible for tackling it. When it acquires
a political hue, which it has lately, then it is
wholly different in scale and implication. The
local administration in such a case is handling a
double-edged weapon, which is sharp enough to cut
them both ways. Obviously, in such a case, any
law could become toothless.
However, in the first case, the local
administration, and the police in particular, has
sufficient legal instruments both in the Cr PC
and the IPC. Sections 41 (arrest without
warrant), 42 (refusal to give name and address),
46 (use of necessary force for arrest if
required), 149 (prevention of cognisable
offence), 151 (preventive arrest on knowing of a
design) and others are effective instruments in
the Cr PC. Sections in chapter 6 of the IPC make
waging war against the state, conspiracy and
sedition a cognisable offence. Sections 120 A & B
as well as 153 A are harsh enough against those
promoting disunity in society as well as hatching
criminal conspiracy to create communal
disharmony. Then there are provisions against
offences at places of worship.
Indeed, a new law can be framed, but we need to
use the available instruments first. The lessons
offered by judgments in cases such as this must
not be lost in politics.
The writer is Ford Foundation Professor, Centre
for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia
Islamia
o o o
(iii)
The Hindu - January 23, 2008
Editorial
BEYOND THE BILKIS BANO CASE
Justice was manifestly done in Mumbai with a
special court sentencing 11 of the 12 found
guilty to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano
gang-rape and massacre case. This landmark
judgment, which is bound to reinforce public
faith in the judicial system, was preceded by a
series of Machiavellian attempts to subvert
justice by lending a friendly hand to the
accused. One of the most heinous of the
post-Godhra cases, a pregnant Bilkis Bano was
gang-raped while 14 members of he r family were
killed when they were trying to flee their
riot-affected village during the Gujarat pogrom
in 2002. The case might have been easily derailed
if it wasn't for the Supreme Court, which
entrusted it to the Central Bureau of
Investigation. In response to a petition from Ms
Bano - who maintained that the Gujarat police
were hand in glove with the accused, that
evidence was being tampered with, and that
witnesses were being threatened - the apex court
also transferred the case from Gujarat to
Maharashtra. But it was not such judicial
intervention alone that saved the case from
collapse. A heap of praise is due to Ms Bano, who
pursued the case doggedly and with great
determination, refusing to be cowed down by
threats or tempted by inducements. The remarkable
courage of this young woman sends a powerful
message to the victims of other riot cases -
namely, that justice is possible even when one is
up against a State government that is hell-bent
on circumventing it.
Like the Best Bakery massacre, which was also
transferred by the Supreme Court out of Gujarat,
the Bilkis Bano case became a symbol of the
communal carnage in the State. While there is
reason to celebrate the intervention of the apex
court and to applaud Ms Bano's resolve, it is
important to remember that this is but one of the
several hundreds of pending cases relating to the
Gujarat riots. Six years have passed since the
dreadful incident that shattered Ms Bano's life
and it is a matter of conjecture how many more
will elapse before the other Gujarat riot victims
receive justice. The question assumes a worrying
character given the country's extremely poor
record in providing justice to the riot-affected
- consider the fate of the victims of the 1984
anti-Sikh riots or those who suffered in the
Mumbai riots in 1993. The question must also be
seen against the backdrop of the attitude of the
Gujarat government, which had closed more than
1,600 riot cases - these were reopened in 2004
after the Supreme Court directed that they be
reviewed. In a way, the real challenge for the
criminal justice system lies in how it deals with
the remaining Gujarat riot cases.
o o o
The Telegraph
January 24, 2008
Editorial
BRAVEHEART
Bilkis Bano has been an unforgettable face of the
Gujarat riots of 2002 ever since the world came
to know of the horrific crime perpetrated against
her and her family. Now that face, apart from
being a reminder of the remorseless cruelty man
can inflict on another, will also stand testimony
to what courage and dogged determination can
achieve. The judgment of the special Mumbai
sessions court, which convicted 12 of the
suspects and gave life term to 11, is based
primarily on the evidence given by Ms Bano. In
providing the court this evidence, Ms Bano has
had to battle not only an overwhelming personal
tragedy that drove her to the verge of insanity,
but also life threats and, above all, the
unsettling lure of money and safety that has
derailed the Best Bakery case. In replacing the
other well-known face associated with the riots -
that of Zahira Sheikh - in public memory by
virtue of her unwavering resolve to see the
guilty punished, Ms Bano does a profound service
to the cause of justice. The Bilkis Bano case is
bound to rekindle dying hopes inside Gujarat and
beyond.
It is not Ms Bano's grit and dedication alone
that helped her case. The judiciary's response to
the aftermath of the Gujarat carnage and its
understanding of the plight of the riot victims
have been exemplary. The Supreme Court had taken
it upon itself to order the review, and even the
reopening, of closed cases, following petitions
from human rights bodies and organizations in
2004. It also ordered the transfer of the cases
to the Mumbai court when the environment in
Gujarat appeared ill-suited to the search for
justice. While doing so, it was unsparing in its
criticism of the Narendra Modi government. The
ruling of the Mumbai sessions court in the Bilkis
Bano case, and the clear indication it provides
of the complicity of the administration in
suppressing and distorting evidence, and its
indifference to the sufferings of its citizens,
is unlikely to improve the image of the Gujarat
government. In fact, the Bilkis Bano case may
retrain the spotlight on the crime that the
Gujarat government is trying hard to hide behind
the veneer of a caring, flourishing state. The
resilience of Bilkis Bano, the organizations that
help the fight of victims like her, and judicial
activism will bear fruit when they, together,
force the state authorities to look the crime in
the face.
______
[5]
TEXT OF REPORT OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR
MINORITIES'S (NCM) VISIT TO ORISSA, 6-8 January
2008
is available at http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/orissa%20report.pdf
[Also at Communalism Watch:
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2008/01/report-of-ncm-visit-to-orissa-6-8.html
]
______
[6] INDIA - SECULAR DEMOCRACY AND COMPOSITE CULTURE
by Rajindar Sachar
23 January 2008, New Delhi
I have read with chilling apprehension Arun
Shourie's two articles in Indian Express (28th
and 31st December, 07) because these are not
merely his individual views but seem to represent
the election oriented strategy of B.J.P. He
presents Hinduism having a strong fundamentalist
face of ferocious response not excluding
violence. He also tells us that Hinduisms most
sacred book Bhagwad Gita openly supports the
maxim of "Wickedness to the wicked - and for
these" gems of wisdom" Shourie quotes Lokmanya
Tilak as his source (I refuse to attribute this
sacrilege to the great Tilak - I hope more
knowledgable people will scotch this heresy). No
wonder Shourie ridicules Gandhiji for claiming
his inspiration from Bhagwat Gita for his true
law " Truth even to the wicked". Paradoxically
Shourie's view of Hinduism as being capable of
meanness and vengeful is such that not even an
opponent of Hinduism had even remotely suggested.
Uptill now most people readily accepted
defination of Hinduism, as a way of life, as
propounded by Sir Radhakrishanan. Thus
"Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" (the world is one family)
was proudly proclaimed by Hindus to show the
spirit of tolerance. Of course unbiased
knowledgable people also accept that the same
message of humanity and common good runs through
all religions. Thus Holy Quaran proclaims, "All
the created ones belong to the family of
GodŠŠ.so, an Arab has no precedence over a
non-Arab, a White over a Black". And Christ said
succinctly, "All are children of God."
I do not take Arun's articles as an intellectual
exercise. As an openly converted Narinder Modi
Cheer follower. Shourie wants to send a message
of BJP for next lok Sabha elections - that
violence, deception will be the election tools
and that minorities must know that if they wear
different dress it will be treated as a
conspiracy by the Muslims to stick together and
be charged with offence of separatism.
Thus Shourie's objection to some Muslim
women wearing head scarf is not on the ground of
gender discrimination or at curbing the freedom
and personality of women (incidentally Shourie
must be seeing Muslim women in India and more in
Lahore, Karachi without head scarves; as against
Hindu women in villages in Rajasthan, Up covering
their head and faces even when talking to a
stranger.) But Shourie would not treat this as a
cultural practice having nothing to do with
religion. He would read it is a deliberate ploy
by Muslims in India to show their
separateness. I find this conclusion figment of
imagination. Shourie and my family come from W.
Panjab (now in Pakistan). May be Arun is too
young to remember but even when after partition
(1947) Hindus came to India all elderly ladies
and even younger generation coming from rural
areas and even many from urban areas willingly
continued covering their heads in public as a
part of cultural tradition they had been brought
up in, and yet they were all devout Hindus.
Carried to the extreme the conclusion would be
that men in south ( who wear Dhoti, they are
trying to forge a separate force against North
(where we wear pyjamas). Dhoti is worn by Hindus
and Muslims in South - so where does the communal
divide come in.
Shourie of course has his pet theory that Islam
was spread in India by sword. But this false
premise is repudiated by Vivekanand the greatest
exponent of Hinduism thus - "The Mohammedan
conquest of India came as a salvation to the
downtrodden, to the poor. That is why one-fifth
of our people have become Mohammedans". He denied
that it was all the work of sword and fire and
said that to call it so was " the height of
madness". He also told Hindus not to talk of the
superiority of one religion over another. Even
toleration of other faiths was not right; it
smacked of blasphemy. He pointed out that his
guru, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, had accepted
all religions as true.
Vivekanand in fact profusely praised
Islam and remarked that "without the help of
practical Islam, theories of Vedantism,
however fine and wonderful they may be, are
entirely valueless to the vast mass of mankind.
For our own motherland a junction of the two
great systems, Hinduism and Islam - Vedanta brain
and Islam body - is the only hope". Vivekanand
was not, as Shourie obliquity was referring. to
"Islamic body" as brutal strength but to the
freshness of approach and message of equality
brought in by Islam.
Vivekanand castigated the orthodoxy thus
" No man, no nation, my son, can hate others and
live; India's doom was sealed the very day they
invented the word mlechchha and stopped from
communion with others".
Shourie castigates Christians because they speak
against idolatry and refers to Ramakrishana
Paramhans devotion to the Goddess of
Dakshineshwar and which according to him restored
respectability to the image of idolatry. The
greatness and spiritual height of Ramakrishan
Paramhans is undisputed. His devotion to Goddess
was his way of becoming one with God. But then
Christians are not the only ones against
idolatry. There have been and are great souls and
intellectuals who speak against the practice of
idolatry. This is what Swami Dayanand one of the
greatest exponent of Vedas and Hinduism in 19th
century, (though born in a priestly family and
brought up to worship idol of Shiva) has to say
"that there is not a single verse in the Vedas to
sanction the invocation of the Deity, and
likewise there is nothing to indicate that it is
right to invoke idols". He also said, "Idol
worship is a sin. " His remedy, in his own
words: "Under a righteous government these lovers
of idols (priest) would have been compelled to
earn their living by breaking stones; making
bricks and carrying materials for building
purposes or doing the like work."
I am firm in my conviction that any attempt to
dilute the composite culture and inclusive
democracy of our country can only bring harm.
Maulana Azad's soul stirring speech (1940), puts
it in beautiful prose, "I am a Muslim and proud
of the fact. I am indispensable to this noble
edifice. Without me this splendid structure of
India is incomplete. Everything bears the stamp
of our joint endeavour. Our languages were
different, but we grew to use a common language.
Our manners and customs were different, but they
produced a new synthesisŠŠ..No fantasy or
artificial scheming to separate and divide can
break this unity".
______
[7]
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 20th January 2008
We at the PUCL, Gujarat are appalled by the
arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen, General Secretary of
the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil
Liberties and Vice-President of the National PUCL
by Chhatisgarh police on 14th May 2007 in
Bilaspur under the most undemocratic and barbaric
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006 and
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 2004.
Letter to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh send by PUCL, Gujarat.
We are also concerned over Dr. Binayak Sen's
deteriorating health, as he is reported to have
lost 20 kilograms of weight over the past six
months of his imprisonment. We appeal to the
authorities to take cognizance of this medically
significant development by immediately shifting
him to a competent hospital where relevant
investigations and treatment can be provided. -
PUCL
People's Union for Civil Liberties
C/o Shishu Milap, 1 Shrihari Apartment,
Behind Express Hotel,
Vadodara – 390 007, Gujarat
Email: sahajbrc at yahoo.com, rt_manav at sancharnet.in
________________________________________________________________________
Date: 20th January 2008
To,
Dr. Raman Singh
The Chief Minister,
Raipur
Chhattisgarh.
Sub: We request you to revisit afresh the arrest
of Dr. Binayak Sen General Secretary of the
Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties
and Vice-President of the National PUCL and to
ensure conditions for his release.
Dear Sir,
As members of a human rights organization working
for the poor and the marginalised, we are
disappointed that the Sessions Court in Raipur in
its hearing on the 28th of December '07 granted
neither parole nor bail to Dr. Binayak Sen. This
is particularly dismaying as it meant that Dr.
Binayak Sen could not be present in Mumbai on
30th December 07 to receive in person a
prestigious gold medal, the Paul Keithan Award,
from the Indian Academy of Social Sciences at
their national convention. This award was given
in recognition of Dr Binayak Sen's lifetime
contribution in the fields of public health and
human rights.
We at the PUCL, Gujarat are appalled by the
arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen, General Secretary of
the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil
Liberties and Vice-President of the National PUCL
by Chhattisgarh police on 14th May 2007 in
Bilaspur under the most undemocratic and barbaric
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006 and
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 2004.
The charges leveled against Dr. Sen for arrest
are fictitious and it is an unjust attempt to
silence the voice of a conscientious person
against the State’s unlawful actions perpetrated
on the poor and especially tribal community of
Chhattisgarh through different mechanisms such as
Salwa Judum.
We are also concerned over Dr. Binayak Sen's
deteriorating health, as he is reported to have
lost 20 kilograms of weight over the past six
months of his imprisonment. We appeal to the
authorities to take cognizance of this medically
significant development by immediately shifting
him to a competent hospital where relevant
investigations and treatment can be provided.
The arrest of such an eminent person and denial
even of bail to him is a threat to all those
fighting for civil liberties and basic human
rights. On the one hand, we want doctors to go to
remote areas and to work among the poorest of
people. On the other hand, if doctors like
Binayak are arrested, young medical graduates are
going to receive mixed and fearsome messages
about what their future fate might be. It is
never possible to work with people without being
confronted with poverty and discrimination, which
are the root causes of ill-health. One cannot be
punished for raising valid concerns about the
dismal situation of a large part of our
population.
The Medico Friend Circle and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan
had conducted an investigation into the Public
health conditions in Dantewada in June this year,
in the context of Salwa Judum related
displacement. The findings of this team confirmed
initial observations of Dr. Binayak Sen's team in
2005, about the involuntary nature of Salwa Judum
camps and the dismal conditions in which the
inmates were staying there. The MFC-JSA
investigation also revealed that several hundred
villages in Dantewada are not receiving any
public health services due to blockade and
threats by Salwa Judum since the last two and
half years. The pressure on the international
humanitarian organization MSF to close down its
medical work and reports of threats to doctors
and health professionals by Salwa Judum are also
matters of serious concern. The Dantewada
investigation has reiterated the concerns
expressed by Dr. Binayak Sen about the negative
public health impact of Salwa Judum.
We request you to revisit afresh the arrest of
Dr. Binayak Sen and to ensure conditions for his
release. We are sure that the due process of
legal justice will prove his innocence. But to
make him languish in jail until then, especially
without any credible evidence, will only
undermine people's faith in the democratic
credentials of the law enforcement agency in the
country. As socially oriented professionals, we
call upon all media persons to give wide coverage
regarding Dr. Sen's exceptional work and to the
facts as they have emerged up till now, to
strengthen the process of justice.
Dr. J. S. Bandukwala
Amitaben Verma
Chinu Srinivasan
Rohit Prajapati
Trupti Shah
Maya Valecha
Ambrish Mehta
Trupti Parekh
Rajni Dave
Members of People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat.
______
[8]
Indian History Congress
Professor Hira Lal Gupta Research Award
endowed by
Professor Hira Lal Gupta
formerly of the
Sagar University and Sectional President, Section III, IHC (1973)
General President, IHC (1990-91) & Vice President, IHC (1991-92)
AWARD FOR THE YEAR 2007
Awarded to
MEERA NANDA
for her work
PROPHETS FACING BACKWARD: POST-MODERNISM, SCIENCE AND HINDU NATIONALISM
"Meera Nanda is a philosopher of science who has
pursued questions important to contemporary modes
of thought many of which have a bearing on
historical debates. In critiquing post-modernist
thinking she draws
attention to its undermining of the role of
rationality in historical analysis. Her
exploration of the influence of these ideas is
insightful, and her work thus contributes to the
refinement and rigour of the historical method."
--Committee of Awards
Presented at the
68th Session Indian History Congress
University of Delhi, Delhi
December 28, 2007
signed
(Professor BP Sahu)
Secretary, Indian History Congress
______
[9] ANNOUNCEMENTS:
(i)
Dear Friends,
Network for Women's Rights and National
Organization for Working Communities are jointly
organizing a Social Movements Assembly for
solidarity among the deprived and marginalized
communities "to act together-to change the world
for better".
The topic of the assembly is The Social Movements
for Rights and Justice in Pakistan: Need,
Problems and Prospects.
You are cordially invited to participate fully in the assembly.
Regards,
Farhat Parveen
Nigar Barkat
General Secretary
General Secretary
National Organization for Working Communities
Network for Women's Rights
Programme [on 26th of January, at Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi]
Registration 9:00am to 9:30am
First Session Part I 9:30-11:30
Guest of Honour: Justice (retired) Majida Razvi
Chair: Kaisar Bengali
Aims and Objectives of the Assembly Farhat Parveen
Introduction of Network for Women's Rights Nigar Barkat
Introduction of National Organisaiton for Working
Communities
Mir Zulfiqar Ali
Political Situation in Country
Saleha Athar
Presentations of Movements
Urban Labour Movement
Ghulam Mehoob
Peasants Movement
Aqila Naz
Fisher Folk movement
Tahira Muhammad Ali Shah
Minorities Movement
Joe Paul
Tea Break 11:30-11:45
First Session Part II 11:45-12:30
Chair: Anis Haroon
Guest of Honour: Noor Naz Agha
Writers movement
- Zahida Hina
Teachers/lecturers movement
Dr.Riaz Ahmed
Student movement
Gul Hassan Jakhrani-
First Session Part III 12:30PM-1:15PM
Chair: Justice (R) Wajeehuddin
Guest of Honour: Shameem-ur-Rehaman
Journalists' movements
Ehfaz ur-Rahman
Lawyers and judges Movement
Justice (retd) Rasheed Rizvi
Doctors Movement
Dr. Shershah Syed
Lunch Break 1:15-2:15
Second Session: Group discussions 2:15-3:00pm
Group Discussion among all representatives of different social movements
Presentations from all groups. 1 hour
Third Session: Work plan by joint working group 3:00pm-4:15pm
Concluding Remarks by I.A. Rahman
4:15-pm-4:30pm
Vote of Thanks
Mehtab Akbar Rashidi
Rally for Peace and Democracy
_____
(ii)
Dear All,
A massive protest is being planned against
Musharraf in UK. All concerned, students,
lawyers, civil societies, political party
workers, etc. are invited to come to this
protest. If you are in or around London on the
28th [January 2008], please try to come. The plan
is to bring people from all backgrounds holding
the flags of their political parties or the flag
of Pakistan in case you don't support any
political party to represent the much united
resistance movement against Musharraf.
Please circulate this mail widely. As with any protest, numbers matter!
In total solidarity,
Samad
-------------
JOIN ASMA JEHANGIR, IMRAN KHAN, JEMIMA KHAN, PTI,
PML-N, PPP, OTHERS AT DEMO OUTSIDE DOWNING STREET
GO MUSHARRAF GO DEMO
TO
RESTORE JUDICIARY AND THE CONSTITUTION
RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
FREE THE MEDIA
HOLD FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
ON
Date: Monday January 28th 2008
Time: 11.30 AM
Location: 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
Tube: Westminister Station
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT :
KHWAJA IMTIAZ 07886318577, SHAHID DASTGIR 07939114451 OR RABIA 07515 549541
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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