SACW | June 5-6, 2008 / Sri Lanka in wartime / India - Gujarat / Maharashtra: Free speech under attack - bigotry and chauvinism rule / Bangladesh: Media rights

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | June 5-6 , 2008 | Dispatch No. 2519 - Year 
10 running

[1] Bangladesh: A lesson from the old for the new on struggle for media rights
[2] Sri Lanka: Critical thinking in wartime (Thushara Hewage and 
Ahilan Kadirgamar)
[3] V V Ganeshananthan interviewed: 'I wanted to write how war 
affects civil life'
[4] Pakistan: Whither defence details? (Editorial, Dawn)
[5] India - Gujarat: It's abuse of sedition law (Editorial, livemint)
[6] India - Maharashtra: Everyone's competing with the retrogressive 
'Shiv Sena'
- Editors Guild deplores attack on Ketkar's residence
- 'All the problems have been solved. Now let's build a statue' (Kumar Ketkar)
- Breeding intolerance will delay development (Kalpana Sharma)
[7] India: One Marathi play, two bombs, seven injured: cops search for script
[8] India: Bigotry on online message boards (Anastasia Guha)
[9] India: Dont Target Bengali-Speaking People In Rajasthan (Hannan Mollah)
[10] Obituary: A Rebel with a Cause - Prabhati Mukherjee, November 18 
1920 - April 8 2008
[11] India: Secularism sham of the state continues: Now post offices 
selling 'holy' water from the Ganges
[12] India: Delhi's big illegal Akshardham Temple if fine but not the 
nearby slums
[13] Announcements:
- Murder of right to work activist: state level rally and public 
meeting against repression (Ranchi, 10 June 2008)
- Citizens Protest Meeting Against Sedition Charge on Times of India 
(Ahmedabad, 5 June 2008)
______


[1]

New age
27 May 2008
Editorial

A LESSON FROM THE OLD FOR THE NEW ON STRUGGLE FOR MEDIA RIGHTS

We, the professional journalists who are now engaged in a struggle to 
retain our rights to free expression and ensure free flow of 
information for the people, are indeed moved by the back-to-back 
statements from four venerable journalists of the yesteryears - KG 
Mustafa, ABM Musa, Nirmal Sen and Kamal Lohani - extending their 
'full support' to the journalists protesting against 'overt and 
covert restrictions imposed on the mass media' and demanding that the 
government should exempt publications of all news items, commentaries 
and reports from restrictions contained in the Emergency Powers 
Rules. Their statements come as not only an inspiration but also a 
reminder that the fight to retain the rights to free expression has 
to be sustained, not sporadic.

    The four wise men of our news industry issued their first 
statement on May 13, the day when editors of print and electronic 
media, senior journalists, leaders of journalist unions, the National 
Press Club and the Dhaka Reporters Unity, in a joint statement, 
deplored interference by 'different military and non-military 
agencies of the government' in the 'day-to-day activities of the 
media' and pointed out that 'media organisations have been forced to 
work under pressure, limited freedom and an atmosphere of fear - 
thanks to the promulgation of the state of emergency on January 11, 
2007'. Since then, as direct or indirect interference by different 
military and non-military agencies of the government has eased a 
little, the exponents of mass media have seemingly relented in their 
struggle for freedom of expression although most of the media outlets 
continue to work in an atmosphere of fear and exercise 
self-censorship thereby denying their readers access to free flow of 
information.

    In such circumstances, the four venerable journalists issued their 
second statement, as if in a reminder for the present crop of 
journalists that the vigil against encroachment upon the space for 
free thoughts and expression, and the struggle for the right to 
freedom of expression should be relentless. They recounted their 
experience and the obstacles they faced, especially in times of 
different military and autocratic regimes in pre- and 
post-independent years, as if to emphasise that there is no scope for 
complacency in the fight for freedom of thoughts and expression.
    The four were also critical, and rightly so, of the political 
parties for remaining silent when the journalists were passing 
through a difficult time, and urged those joining the dialogue with 
the government to raise the issues of freedom of expression and 
harassment of media practitioners at the talks. The political parties 
have historically been vociferous in their call for press freedom, 
when in opposition, and deafening in their silence about impingement 
on freedom of expression, when in power. Now that all the political 
parties are in opposition, so to speak, one might have expected them 
to raise their voice against recurring instances of interference in 
media activities and harassment of media practitioners.
    Overall, the four venerable journalists have sought to highlight 
the cruel truth that, be it a civilian rule or otherwise, the 
journalists are on their own in the struggle for press freedom in 
particular and freedom of thought and expression in general. In the 
twilight of their life, if they can vow to fight on to make the media 
free, so should the current crop of journalists, especially those who 
have seemingly abandoned the struggle. We are grateful to them for 
reminding us who we are and what we are expected to do.

______


[2]

Himal
June 2008

CRITICAL THINKING IN WARTIME

The Rajapakse regime must be challenged, such that the 'national 
question' is put back in the discussion - including issues of 
devolution, language and citizenship.

by Thushara Hewage and Ahilan Kadirgamar

After the lengthy period of the Norwegian peace process, which 
informed commentators have termed no war in preference to peace, the 
return to outright war in Sri Lanka surprised few. Thousands have 
been killed since the beginning of 2006. In addition, close to 2000 
have been disappeared or abducted, and hundreds of thousands have 
been displaced. That the term crisis, then, most readily describes 
the situation in Sri Lanka today would appear almost intuitively 
apparent to many, and this is now evident in many analyses, 
especially those concerned with the work of human-rights advocacy. 
Indeed, faced by the Rajapakse regime's brand of authoritarianism, as 
well as its attacks on minority communities, its now favoured modus 
operandi of censorship and intimidation of dissenting opinion, its 
disregard for constitutional compunction and its belligerent refusal 
to address domestic and international advocacy on these issues, these 
analyses have diagnosed the present situation as one of human-rights 
crisis, and the situation in Sri Lanka more generally as one of 
overall crisis.

The current human-rights situation is indeed dire. The sequence of 
political assassination, displacement, massacre and abduction 
perpetrated by multiple armed actors, whether the security forces, 
the LTTE or other armed groups, demands scrutiny, condemnation and 
action, both within Sri Lanka and beyond. There is also an urgent 
need for continuous work at the level of civil society to highlight, 
expose and challenge the regime's abuse of power. However these 
writers suggest that such work must be supplemented by a strategy of 
critical political engagement.

[. . .]

http://www.himalmag.com/2008/june/essay_thinking.htm

______


[3]

Rediff.com
June 2, 2008

'I WANTED TO WRITE HOW WAR AFFECTS CIVIL LIFE'
Arthur J Pais in New York

June 02, 2008
In V V Ganeshananthan's thought-provoking and moving first novel Love 
Marriage, Kumaran, a dying former Tamil Tiger, triggers a series of 
reactions in his last days that provoke some people close to him to 
examine their political and family heritage.

Yalini, the daughter of Sri Lanka [Images]n immigrants who left their 
war-torn country and married in America, is caught between the 
history of her ancestors and her own little world. As she looks after 
Kumaran in Toronto, she begins to see that the violence that has been 
consuming Sri Lanka for over two decades is very much a part of her 
present. Slowly, she traces her family's roots and the conflicts 
facing them through a series of marriages. Adding tension to her 
investigation is the impending politically motivated wedding in the 
family.

As the British newspaper The Independent pointed our recently, 
Michael Ondaatje visited Sri Lankan brutality in Anil's Ghost, a 
story about a forensic pathologist returning home to investigate 
abuses. Romesh Gunesekera dealt with its pain obliquely in Reef and 
The Sandglass. And Ganeshananthan focuses on the journey of one 
family, in the process painting a broader truth.

A 2002 graduate of Harvard College, Ganeshananthan, who was born and 
raised in America, received a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from the 
Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 2007, she graduated from the new master's 
programme at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She has 
written and reported for The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street 
Journal, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She is the vice 
president of the South Asian Journalists Association.

She spoke to rediff India Abroad Managing Editor (Features) Arthur J Pais.

What are some of the things that the world does not understand about 
the war in Sri Lanka?

I don't know if people understand how hard it is to have a 
conversation about Sri Lanka, which has a complicated population and 
history. If you don't acknowledge those nuances, the conversation 
isn't inclusive and can't move forward.

What are some of the most important things you are conveying through 
this novel?

I intended to write about the love of families, morality, and how war 
affects civil life. We reduce things: Arranged marriage versus love 
marriage, good versus evil. Very little actually works that way.

What kind of stories about the Sri Lankan civil war did you grow up 
listening to?

It's hard to remember. The war technically started after my parents 
were in the United States, so I suspect that a lot of what I 
originally heard was from the news. It wasn't something relatives 
would have offered to me directly -- I was young. Of course, I heard 
people's various stories of immigration after 1983, and eventually I 
was able to put those into context.

You wrote the novel over a period of several years. How did it change 
from the first draft to the last?

The version I turned in as my Harvard thesis was missing a character, 
Kumaran. He showed up the year after I graduated. The book became 
more political as the world did.

To what extent did your perspective change following the research?

I became more aware of the complexity of Sri Lanka's population, 
history and politics. The standard line about Sri Lanka says simply 
that the Tamil Tigers are fighting the Sinhalese-dominated 
government. But that leaves out the histories of both groups -- not 
to mention the other people who are involved, including civilians. In 
recent years, I have read a lot about Tamil civilians, journalists 
and aid workers disappearing. Investigations of these disappearances 
are never concluded. The people who are left live with a high degree 
of uncertainty. What could happen to them? Who would be responsible? 
How is this happening in areas under government control? The Tigers 
and the Sri Lankan government have both been criticised for human 
rights violations.

I also began to learn how the war had affected other minority 
populations. For example, in 1990, the Tigers expelled some Muslims 
in the northern areas from their homes. That displaced group has 
suffered tremendously. And I started to understand more about 
upcountry Tamils, whom the British brought from India to work on tea 
plantations. This population's history is different from that of the 
Tamils who were there before them. I also learned more about how 
caste functions in Sri Lanka. It's different than it is in India. I'm 
still studying all these things now. Not all of them ended up in the 
book, but it's important for me to know.

How did you research Love Marriage?

I went to and read about Sri Lanka; I interviewed people. I took a 
Tamil class and a South Asian anthropology class. I asked different 
people, including academics, to read parts of the book to check its 
plausibility. I took creative writing classes at every possible 
opportunity; I worked as a journalist. All these things ended up 
influencing the book, directly or indirectly.

How often many times have you visited Sri Lanka as an adult and what 
role did those visits play in the writing of this novel?

I have visited Sri Lanka twice as an adult. In 2003, a year before 
the tsunami, I went with my cousin and her friends. Some of them were 
Sinhalese and spoke that language. They were generous travel 
companions. We went to some of Sri Lanka's most famous sites: 
Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, the Temple of the Tooth, the Galle Face... It 
was an extraordinary trip. We went to Kandy and Galle and Bentota, 
and everything was beautiful. At the time, I was a student at the 
Iowa Writers Workshop.

My father accompanied me on the second trip, after I graduated from 
the workshop, and we went to Jaffna. I did research at the Jaffna 
Public Library and also interviewed people. Everyone was very kind, 
and my father was the best guide. It was remarkable to see places 
after reading about them.

When I do research, I rarely have a specific question. I'm trying to 
absorb everything that interests me. It's hard for me to pin down how 
these visits helped me to write Love Marriage. Still, they clearly 
did. They also got me started on the research for book two.

How difficult was it to you emotionally to write this book?

Some of my interviewees talked about times that had been difficult 
for them. I wanted to honour that, so I tried to listen. A lot of the 
research I did was unpleasant. But people went through horrible 
experiences, which clearly is harder than reading or writing about 
them.

Was Love Marriage the original title? Or did you have to work hard on 
deciding on this title?

This has always been the title.

What is the significance of the title?

The book is about marriages and families, but it's also a metaphor. 
Love Marriage implies choice. You are free to choose, and responsible 
for what you choose. But a love marriage can also take many different 
forms. And that's laid out on the very first page: You can choose, 
but there's a lot of gray.

Your characters undergo intense conflicts. Who do you think is the 
most conflicted character in the book? And why?

Probably Kumaran and Yalini. Yalini has to ask herself what it means 
for her family to have gone through what it's gone through, and for 
her uncle to have done what he has done. All this love and all these 
disagreements and different choices co-exist. She has to determine 
where she fits.

Kumaran's quandaries are different: Does he regret what he's done? 
What does his arrival mean for his family? How can he shape his 
daughter's fate? What kind of person is he going to be publicly? 
Privately?

One decides how she is going to live, and the other decides how he is 
going to die.

What reactions have you gotten from Tamil communities?

There's a range of opinions and feelings. In almost any situation, 
that is the case. That said, of course some people see references to 
things that have been relevant to them. The 1983 riots, for example, 
or stories of immigration, or places in Toronto.

And the Sinhalese readers?

Sinhalese readers, like Tamil readers, have a range of responses.

When did you first want to become a writer?

I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, because I 
love to read.

Who are some of the people who encouraged you the most, and how?

My parents always told me that I could do whatever I wanted in terms 
of a career. My mother encouraged me to read and told me I should try 
journalism. My father traveled to Sri Lanka with me and helped me to 
do research. Both my parents read the book to check the parts set in 
Sri Lanka. My brother and sister-in-law are also very supportive. 
They encourage me in my work and also make sure I take breaks from it!

My friends have cheered me on at every step. Some of them study Sri 
Lanka and helped me with research; some gave me feedback on the 
writing. One actually edited the book for Random House. My editor is 
an old, old friend of mine. We met on our first day of kindergarten. 
She has always supported my writing, and we have always discussed 
books. I feel very lucky that she ended up getting the book.

How does your background as a journalist aid your research?

Journalism helped me to find the right reading and to ask -- 
hopefully -- the right questions. And to be unafraid to ask! In the 
worst case scenario, someone doesn't want to talk or doesn't know the 
answer. Then you're no worse off than if you had never asked in the 
first place.

You studied creative writing at a number of levels. Do you think 
writing can be taught?

Some things about writing can definitely be taught. I've had some 
wonderful teachers. But also you can create a supportive environment 
for writers, and give them room and time to work. In Iowa I joined a 
community that discussed writing. That was very valuable. In fact, my 
first class there commented on this book.

Who are some of your favorite writers?

I have always loved Michael Ondaatje and Shyam Selvadurai. I 
repeatedly read Funny Boy and The English Patient. I also read other 
Sri Lankans: Romesh Gunasekara, Mary Anne Mohanraj, A Sivanandan. I 
also especially like (Gabriel) Garcia Marquez, James McPherson, 
Marilynne Robinson, Elizabeth McCracken, and (William) Faulkner. Of 
course, I have been fortunate to have a few of these writers as 
teachers. I have probably been most influenced by Jamaica Kincaid, 
who supervised Love Marriage when it was my thesis at Harvard. Her 
writing and method are very exact, and she's a great teacher.

What advice would you give a young writer?

Part of it is about building good habits. Just as you would practice 
anything else, you practice writing.

What is your next book and what themes would it cover?

The next book is set in Sri Lanka awhile ago and does not jump around 
in time as much. I can't say much more. I've learned that if you talk 
about a novel in its early stages an uncle might show up and throw 
everything for a loop!


_____


[4]


Dawn
June 4, 2008

Editorial

WHITHER DEFENCE DETAILS?

IT really doesn't say much for the democratic credentials of the 
current government when its defence minister indicates that military 
spending would not be a subject of parliamentary debate in the 
current budget session. In economic terms at least, this means that 
the military retains its status as a sacrosanct institution that is 
above accountability when it comes to explaining defence costs. Few 
question the billion-rupee figure in annual budgets that is supposed 
to cover undisclosed overheads. With no one to demand an explanation 
for such secrecy, it is no wonder that military finances are not 
without severe irregularities as occasionally comes to light.

Such a situation makes it even more incumbent on legislators to 
carefully scrutinise the defence outlay - for much of the money that 
goes to finance the military and its questionable ambitions could 
easily have been spent on the people's welfare. With the combined per 
capita spending ($23) on education and health considerably less than 
the per capita spending ($34) on defence, it is clear where our 
priorities lie. At a time of double-digit inflation that is causing 
millions to fall deeper into the poverty trap, to make defence a 
major concern (as the steady rise in annual budgetary allocations 
shows) is criminal. True, although the India threat has abated, the 
Taliban and Baloch insurgents are proving more than a handful for the 
military which, like the common man, also has to contend with 
pressures such as rising oil prices. But this can hardly be a 
justification for greater military spending - unless the defence 
establishment shows the need for a certain amount of funds by giving 
a comprehensive list of its requirements and detailing what it has 
spent previous resources on. That is a fair demand, especially when 
the vast external military aid is factored in.

Unfortunately, so entrenched is the notion of impregnable defence 
(despite having nuclear weapons) that the welfare of the people has 
ceased to matter. What use is it to protect the people from 'external 
enemies' but allow hunger and disease to wipe them out? There is no 
government reflection on how limiting military expenditure could 
reduce the budget deficit, or allow more funds to be released into 
the socio-economic sector, making the pinch of projected subsidy 
removal more bearable. And little thought is given to serious, 
long-term political solutions to external threats which would 
automatically reduce the role of the military and hence the high cost 
of maintaining it. Sadly, in a situation where a military institution 
like the army is a business empire unto itself, it is unlikely that 
curtailment on spending would be countenanced by the men in uniform. 
This makes it all the more necessary for our legislators to raise a 
strong and unified voice for civilian supremacy over all 
institutions, especially the military.

______


[5]

livemint.com
June 3 2008

Editorial

IT'S ABUSE OF SEDITION LAW
THE LAW ON SEDITION SEEMS QUITE PRONE TO ABUSE

The sedition charge against The Times of India, Ahmedabad, filed by 
the city's new police chief is unacceptable. If the press debates the 
appointment of a senior police officer on the basis of official 
records about his alleged role in a police-criminal nexus, can he 
simply slap a case of sedition?
Filing such a charge of waging war against the state with impunity 
only amounts to deplorable abuse of power and gross violation of the 
freedom of the press. That's how O.P. Mathur, the new police 
commissioner of Ahmedabad, has responded to reportage by a 
correspondent of the city edition of the paper by charging him and 
his resident editor.

The reporter had pointed to allegations against Mathur by an 
underworld don with suspected terrorist links - which he had found in 
court records. He said these were never investigated as they were 
explosive. Adding that it had faded out of "collective memory", he 
sought to flag the issue in the public domain.

That's one of the jobs of the free press which a democratic polity is 
bound to protect and nurture. If there is irresponsible reportage, 
one could file a case of defamation - and let the law take its 
course. There's something very wrong somewhere if the press can't 
express its concerns with the freedom that our democracy offers it as 
a constitutional right. India is showing increasingly disturbing 
signs of intolerance for the freedom of expression. In 2006, for 
instance, Narendra Modi's government had charged Manoj Shinde, editor 
of the Surat Saamna, for his "abusive words" against Modi and his 
officers, alleging administrative failure in tackling the flood 
situation in Surat.

The law on sedition seems quite prone to abuse. It does say that mere 
criticism of the government does not amount to sedition if it does 
not incite people to disobey it and lead to anarchy - but, in fact, 
it seems to support the tendency of the powers-that-be to hold 
themselves beyond reproach. There have been several cases of sedition 
charges against civil rights activists expressing their concerns 
against state-led violations as well. In Uttar Pradesh, Magsaysay 
award winner Sandeep Pandey and his fellow activists were charged 
(later dropped) a few years ago. A very recent example is the case 
against T.G. Ajay who, as Amnesty International says, is a film-maker 
documenting problems faced by local communities in protecting their 
rights in Chhattisgarh. We feel it's time to rethink the sedition law 
itself.

______


[6]  SHIV SENA-ISATION OF POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY: SHIVAJI 
PACKAGED AS THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE


The Hindu
June 5, 2008

EDITORS GUILD DEPLORES ATTACK ON KETKAR'S RESIDENCE

New Delhi (PTI): The Editors Guild of India on Thursday strongly 
condemned the attack on the residence of Kumar Ketkar, the Editor of 
Marathi daily Loksatta, by activists of a little known outfit.

The Guild also demanded stringent action against those who vandalised 
the residence of Ketkar.

Activists of the Shiv Sangram Sangathan attacked Ketkar's residence 
for an editorial critical of the Maharashtra government's decision to 
erect a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji off Marine Drive in Mumbai at a 
cost of Rs 100 crore.

"In a democracy every editor and journalist has the unfettered right 
to express his or her views on public issues," the Guild said in a 
statement here.

Such independent views need not necessarily meet the approval of the 
dominant groups and personalities in government and politics and they 
cannot attack the editor for expressing such views, said the 
statement issued by Alok Mehta and K S Sachidananda Murty, the 
President and the Secretary General of the Guild respectively.

The Guild expects stringent action against those who vandalised the 
residence of Ketkar, they said.

"The Maharashtra Government should ensure that no one, however 
powerful they might be, would threaten the freedom of the press," the 
statement said.



o o o

Indian Express
June 06, 2008

'ALL THE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN SOLVED. NOW LET'S BUILD A STATUE'

by Kumar Ketkar

This is the editorial that appeared in Loksatta (published by the 
Indian Express Group) on Wednesday, June 4, on the Maharashtra 
government's decision to install a massive statue of Shivaji off the 
coast of Mumbai. The house of Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar was 
attacked on Thursday


  It appears that all the problems of Maharashtra have been solved. 
People are not only happy and contented but are looking forward to a 
magnificent future. There are no indebted farmers in the state now, 
no suicides, no deaths caused by malnutrition. All children go to 
school, there is no unemployment among the educated as there is 
tremendous growth of industry as well as the knowledge sector and 
everyone has been employed. There is no question of the unskilled or 
the uneducated being unemployed because there is no such person. All 
the rivers and small and big dams on them have irrigated most of the 
land, including the drought-prone rainshadow belts. Obviously, there 
is no food shortage and, in fact, Maharashtra is surplus in food. 
There is no load shedding and not only is Nariman Point-Colaba 
shining but the whole state is illuminated. Dr Abhay Bang had 
espoused the cause of Arogya-Swarajya. That cause has already been 
achieved and the average lifespan in the state is 100 years.

This great success could not have been achieved without the 
farsighted leadership, commitment, conviction and vision of the state 
government. The credit for this goes to Chief Minister Vilasrao 
Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil. That is why the whole 
state is applauding and saluting their leadership. Indeed, that is 
why the people of the state are immensely delighted that the duo that 
rules the state has taken up the grand project of erecting a 
magnificent statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, right in the 
Arabian Sea, across Nariman Point, about one kilometre away. The 
government has decided that the statue will be taller and more grand 
than the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour.

The very idea of such a statue, mooted by the Congress-NCP four years 
ago, was welcomed by the whole Marathi people. Such a monument was 
the necessity of the hour, to announce to the world that Maharashtra 
is a state of warriors and patriots and the symbol of that spirit is 
Shivaji Maharaj. That is why Victoria Terminus was renamed as 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Instantly after the renaming, 
trains began to run on time, crowds could be managed, corruption 
disappeared, the local train journey became comfortable, like in the 
European suburban railway, and there were no accidents. Could this 
have happened without the glory of the name of Shivaji Maharaj that 
adorns the station now? Then the state and the people took the 
initiative to rename the domestic as well as international airport of 
Mumbai. Both are now renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj airport 
terminal. Like a magic wand, the airports became efficient, employees 
began to behave courteously, flights were punctual, take-offs and 
landings perfect, no more hovering in the sky looking for landing 
spots. Who would have believed this if it had not actually been 
experienced by the people? Was it possible without the miracle called 
Shivaji Maharaj?

Naturally, the government felt that having solved all the problems of 
the people, what remains to be done is to tell the whole world of the 
greatness of Shivaji. The government has decided to have more than 
one acre of land inside the sea acquired and filled so as to build 
the monument, which will attract all global tourists. All facilities 
will be given to the tourists. There will be a museum near the 
statue, artifacts of the 17th century, Shivaji's personal effects, 
swords and shields and attire. There will also be directives issued 
by the Maharaj to his administrators on how to govern and make the 
people happy. Along with the museum, there will be shopping malls, 
selling T-shirts with Shivaji's painting. There will be Shivaji key 
chains, Shivaji gift items, including cutlery.

Of course, there will be no beer bars. So obviously, there will be no 
dance bars, which the Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil detests so 
much. There will be perhaps wine, which according to the leader of 
NCP, Sharad Pawar, is not alcohol. So wine will be sold and served 
along with Coke and Pepsi and other soft drinks. There will be 
swadeshi McDonald's as well as vintage Marathi vada-pau, which has 
been renamed by Uddhav Thackeray as 'Shiv Vada-Pau'. There will also 
be 'pani puri' sold by the MNS activists of Raj Thackeray. No 
'bhaiyyas' will be allowed to do business, only locals will be 
engaged.

The monument will inspire not only the people of the state but all 
those who visit Mumbai. The globe-trotters will go back to their 
respective countries with the message of Shivaji Maharaj, and the 
glory of the state called Maharashtra, where every person is happy 
and contented. It is the most ideal place on earth and anybody 
looking for a role model should look at the creation of Vilasrao 
Deshmukh-R.R. Patil. Did anyone else think of and visualise such a 
fantastic idea?

The monument would be ready soon. In the year 2010, on May 1, the 
state will be celebrating its golden jubilee. Could there have been a 
greater tribute to the image, symbol and glory of Shivaji Maharaj 
than such a statue, standing in the middle of the sea, warning all 
the terrorists to keep off Mumbai, and to keep away from India 
because the people of Maharashtra protect and promote the idea of a 
Great India?

The piece originally appeared in Marathi. It has been translated into 
English by the writer


o o o

The Hindu
June 06, 2008

BREEDING INTOLERANCE WILL DELAY DEVELOPMENT

by Kalpana Sharma

By endorsing a narrow, partisan agenda, the Congress and the NCP are 
reinforcing intolerance and violence that can only harm the future of 
Maharashtra.

Saffron flags, crowbar wielding men shouting pro-Shivaji slogans - 
you would be forgiven if you thought this was a group of Shiv 
Sainiks. But the group of around 70 men, who converged on the Thane 
home of Kumar Ketkar, Editor-in-Chief of the Marathi daily Loksatta 
and one of the most respected journalists in Maharashtra on Thursday 
morning, was an offshoot of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), 
part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra.

With a television crew in tow, members of the Shiv Sangram Sangathana 
tried to kick open the front door. When that did not work they used 
crowbars to break the glass of the windows and above the door. All 
this while the television crew filmed them. They also arranged copies 
of Loksatta in a pile and set it alight. No one stopped them. After a 
while, satisfied with their handiwork, they left only after spilling 
a can of black paint on the wooden front door. Mr. Ketkar and his 
wife were inside the house when all this happened.

There was no sign of the police. The police intercepted members of 
the group some distance from the Ketkar residence, after they had 
already wreaked considerable damage. Their leader, Vinayak Mete, 
vice-president of the state unit of the NCP and a former MLC, told a 
television channel that he had only recently stepped down from his 
position as leader of the group and did not know of their plan to 
attack Mr. Ketkar's house. At the same time, he said that in a 
democracy people had the right to express their anger when they felt 
that Shivaji had been insulted. That is what members of his group 
were doing, he claimed. Asked why he and members of his group were so 
upset, he said they did not like the tone of the editorial written by 
Mr. Ketkar in Loksatta about the proposed statue of Shivaji that the 
Maharashtra government out at sea, a la Statue of Liberty. Mr. Ketkar 
had questioned the expense that would be incurred to build the 
proposed 309-ft statue in a state facing many other problems. Mr. 
Mete said that this questioning tone showed disrespect towards 
Shivaji.
Attack on symbols of democracy

The Thane incident is just one in of several instances over the last 
years in Maharashtra where small groups like this have seen fit to 
attack journalists, newspaper offices, cultural centres, libraries 
and research institutes - in other words symbols of a modern and 
secular democracy. In 2004, the Sambhaji Brigade, another offshoot of 
the NCP vandalised the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) 
in Pune because the Institute had helped James Laine with the 
research for his controversial book on Shivaji.

What is disturbing about such incidents is that the state appears 
almost indifferent at best and complicit at worse. Little is done to 
stop such incidents or to prosecute those involved once they happen. 
Mr. Ketkar had apprehended the attack and alerted the Thane police. 
Yet nothing was done.

The incident on Thursday is also illustrative of a deeper insecurity 
that inflicts the NCP in particular and the ruling coalition in 
Maharashtra in general. With elections due at the end of next year, 
the Congress-NCP coalition appears to be flaying about looking for a 
way to hold on to its support.

The results of the Thane Lok Sabha by-election in May, in particular, 
must have come as a blow where a political novice like the Shiv 
Sena's Anand Pranjape beat the NCP's Sanjeev Naik, a former Sainik 
and son of NCP strongman Ganesh Naik by a whopping 90,000 votes. 
Thane has gained importance in Maharashtra post-delimitation as it 
will now have four Lok Sabha seats as opposed to the current one and 
its Assembly seats will almost double going up from 13 to 24. Hence 
the political message from Thane should give both NCP and Congress 
sleepless nights.

Instead of assessing what they should do to check the evident erosion 
in their political base, the NCP in particular seems hell bent on 
pursuing its old strategy of trying to woo the Marathi-speaking away 
from the Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. So even as Raj 
Thackeray continues his attacks on north Indians unhindered, the 
State government has announced that it will insist on 80 per cent of 
jobs in new industries to be kept for locals.
Impact of fear

Already the impact of the fear injected in migrant workers from the 
North has become evident in the declining numbers of construction 
workers in a city like Pune, which is experiencing a construction 
boom. Infosys, for instance, has announced a delay of at least six 
months in the completion schedule for its campus in Hinjewadi. Others 
are also reporting similar problems in finding enough workers for 
their projects. None of this helps to project Maharashtra as an 
industry-friendly state.

The project of building a huge statute of Shivaji out at sea is part 
of this overall projection of being Shivaji-friendly and therefore 
Maharashtrian friendly. Earlier, in attempts to out-do the Sena, the 
Congress government renamed Victoria Terminus train station to 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The domestic and international airports 
also bear the same name, as does the Prince of Wales Museum.
Unjustified populism

Such populism might be justified if it is accompanied by actions that 
have more substance. But even as the State government tries to match 
the pro-Marathi campaigns of its opponents, it is doing precious 
little to deal with the urgent urban problems of cities like Mumbai 
and Pune or the rural distress that has resulted in the widely 
reported farmers' suicides.

What is worse, by endorsing the narrow, partisan agenda of parties 
that have shown little commitment to democratic values, the Congress 
and the NCP are reinforcing intolerance and violence that can only 
harm the future of Maharashtra. Such a strategy will certainly not 
guarantee victory for them in future elections. On the contrary, they 
might well be writing their own script for an electoral defeat.

______


[7]

Indian Express
June 05, 2008

ONE MARATHI PLAY, TWO BOMBS, SEVEN INJURED: COPS SEARCH FOR SCRIPT
Express News Service

Thane, Mumbai, June 4: A low-intensity, crude bomb exploded at an 
auditorium in Thane today and wounded seven people, the second time 
an auditorium showing the same Marathi play - which apparently takes 
a dig in passing at chhat puja performed by north Indians - was 
targeted in the area in four days. But police said they were also 
probing the role of some Hindu groups that had protested against the 
play for "denigrating Hindu mythology".

Wednesday's explosion in Thane hit the municipal corporation-managed 
Gadkari Rangayatan minutes before the start of Amhi Pachpute (We 
Pachputes), a Marathi satire. The device, which was packed with 
nails, was placed in the basement of the building near the booking 
office and went off at 4.10 p.m. before a ticket clerk who spotted it 
could call the police.

On Saturday, an auditorium in nearby Navi Mumbai, which was staging 
the same play was also targeted by a crude bomb. That bomb was found 
under the seats during the interval and had to be exploded in a 
controlled detonation outside the hall as it could not be defused.

"There are just too many similarities in both cases for it to be a 
coincidence. We are investigating along with the Thane police," said 
D Sivanandan, Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department.

Amhi Pachpute is a satire that revolves around two middle-class 
Maharashtrian families that are struggling to make ends meet, said 
its producer Santosh Kanekar. Written and directed by well-known 
Marathi playwright Santosh Pawar, its actors are mostly new faces, he 
added.

"We have a scene where a character has to leave and punning on chhat 
puja, the other character says 'chhat, chhat, chhat' asking him to go 
away," Kanekar told The Indian Express. "This is more suggestive and 
not direct and is made just in pure humour. We do not know why this 
has to be targeted."

Ramrao Wagh, Navi Mumbai's police commissioner, said police were 
investigating the contents of the play but added that "from what I 
have heard, the humour is not very caustic". Chhat Puja, performed by 
Hindus in Bihar and eastern UP, has become controversial in 
Maharashtra in recent months after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief 
Raj Thackeray opposed it during his campaign against migrants from 
north India.

Marathi theatre critics, however, said the play also had a 
mythological subtext with a subtle reference to similarities between 
the five Pachputes and the Pandavas. The plot revolved around a 
property dispute between the five brothers and their cousins, they 
said, adding that director Pawar had run into trouble with pro-Hindu 
groups as his plays had Hindu mythological parallels.

A little-known group called the 'Hindu Janajagruti Samiti' (HJS) had 
protested against Pawar's play Yada Kadachit in Sangli in Maharashtra 
in June last year saying "incidents from Ramayana and Mahabharata 
have been ridiculed in the play". While the play was staged under 
tight security in some districts, shows in some others were 
cancelled, said the website of the organisation known to be active in 
Maharashtra and the Konkan region.

Thane Police Commissioner Anil Dhere said, "We are aware that some 
groups had protested in the recent past against Santosh Pawar's 
plays. We are probing this angle as well. These groups will be under 
the scanner."

A May 29 'news report' on the HJS website said that "the producer and 
writer of the play have once again played with religious sentiments 
of Hindus by staging the same play in a new form", alleging that Amhi 
Pachpute was a new version of Yada Kadachit. A note from the editor 
of the website added, "It seems that the producers, taking advantage 
of over-tolerance of Hindus, do not understand gentleman's language. 
God (Dharma) will not forgive such heretics for making mockery of 
Hindus' objects of worship."

______


[8]

Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 22, Dated June 07, 2008
	 

CTRL. ALT. SPEW

Online message boards are rife with unabashed bigotry. Anastasia Guha reports

THEY HAVE WRATH, and it is growing ever more fierce. Their comments 
are vitriolic, often profane, frequently bordering on diabolical and 
their punch bag of choice is the Muslim community in India.

The day after the BJP has by all accounts won decisively in 
Karnataka, reader response sections on the Rediff.com message boards 
are clocking comments in impressive numbers. And they are frothing at 
the mouth. At the time of going to press, an article analysing the 
weekend results has already 156 comments.

"Now why do you hesitate, come and join BJP. Your commies and will be 
wipe away by next two to three years along with Muslims (sic)" says 
one. Another proclaims "United we can rule the world. If all Hindus 
get united in India we can easily become a super power and the 
world's policemen by 2012." "Hinduism means superiority, patriotism 
and equality. Hinduism means live and let other live." We are 
reliably informed that all "educated, patriotic, prosperous people 
choose the BJP." Someone declares India a Hindu country and demands 
"saffron colour in every state of India. And make our flag only 
saffron and white". And in case you are interested the saffron stands 
for purity and the white for peace. "Jai Hind. Jai Sri Ram, Jai 
Hanuman bring back Ram Rajya, throw these traitors out," writes 
someone and you can almost hear the anthemic, chanting voice he would 
use to yell that sentiment at a political rally.

The Internet was meant to herald the liberating power of anonymity. 
It hid race, gender, age, nationality, disabilities - phy sical and 
otherwise. It was supposed to go a long way in terminating prejudice 
in public discourse. Yet even a casual perusal of these comment 
boards reveals how crushingly, self-evidently, dangerously false - 
that original vision has been rendered.

Who are these people? How do they get away with expressing opinions 
that are not as much irrational diktats as they are prejudices 
sprayed with pure unadulterated hatred? The kind that would never be 
publicly expressed, save perhaps, at the most vocally saffronised 
gathering. Is there anything but the most perfunctory policing of 
these virtual spaces? Unlike a lot of other sites, which can be a 
free for all, Rediff scrupulously removes all abusive text yet, there 
seems little censorship of content. TEHELKA went to the offices of a 
leading national television channel and found a 22-year-old in charge 
of monitoring comments on their news casts, she had been told to 
remove posts with specific cuss words like f**k and its variations.

Narendra Modi's victory speech after his party retained power in 
Gujrat has over 52 thousand views on Youtube and even 6 months and 
381 comments later, people are continuing to engage with the clip. 
"Why are Muslims terrorists, criminals, and burden to any society 
they live in - we should throw then out of India?" demands one. 
"Islam and Muslim backwardness is the main cause of poverty, crime, 
and drag in India, also Muslim countries are the most backward and 
poor such as gutter countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and 
Afghanistan," says another. These are the sorts of comments that 
would make liberals shudder and rummage around frantically for their 
passports.

The blankness of the Internet, the apparent distance between 
conversants, their shifting personas, the dizzying succession of 
far-flung connections, perhaps even the hypnotic qualities of the 
computer screen itself, all powerfully invite us to project ourselves 
into the electronic ether under the illusion that we are in a valid 
discourse. The next time you are online, take a good look around; we 
may be labouring under a dangerous illusion.

______


[9]

People's Democracy
June 01 , 2008

DONT TARGET BENGALI-SPEAKING PEOPLE IN RAJASTHAN

Hannan Mollah Writes To C M

Hannan Mollah, CPI(M) MP and central secretariat member has written 
the following letter to Vasundhara Raje, chief minister of Rajasthan, 
on May 21 regarding Jaipur blasts.

Dear Vasundhara ji,

I was shocked to hear about the barbaric terrorists strike in Jaipur 
and I express my heartfelt sympathy to the members of the families of 
the victims and wish early recovery of the injured. We stand by the 
genuine efforts of the government to nab the culprits and bring them 
before law for their proper punishment.

I visited the affected areas and interacted with a cross section of 
the people but it was surprising that most of the blasts took place 
within 100 meters of police headquarters.

I think the government should have proper perspective about the 
terrorists activities and to check it they should be guided by 
objectivity. No other consideration - ideological, communal or 
sentimental - must shroud the decision of the government in 
formulating its action to combat this menace.

In this context, I would like to draw your kind attention to one 
aspect of the government decision. The police is concentrating to 
find the criminals among Bangladeshi foreign nationals allegedly 
living in the state. This is a hotly debated matter that large number 
of Bangladeshi citizens are staying in different parts of the 
country. It is the duty of the government to identify foreign 
nationals living in the country illegally, take action as per law of 
the land and deport them after following proper judicial process. But 
always this action leads to the harassment of the Bengali-speaking 
Indian citizens and more so to the Bengali-speaking Indian Muslims. 
Such things happened in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, Delhi, Haryana, 
Rajasthan and many other states in the past. We repeatedly warned all 
those governments and government of India to be extremely cautious 
while dealing with this matter. While the government must discharge 
its duty by identifying and deporting foreigners, it is equally the 
constitutional obligation of the government to protect its own 
citizens from any action of harassment in the name of identifying 
foreigners. Many times in the past such things have happened and 
Bengali-speaking Indians were at the receiving end. I raiseDont 
Target Bengali-Speaking People In Rajasthand this matter on several 
occasions during the last many years to take appropriate action but 
this has happened again and again. This has forced me to think that 
the government's attitude is determined not by objective and secular 
legality but by communal consideration.

In the present context of the Jaipur blasts I am afraid such mischief 
is not being meticulously avoided. I reiterate my firm opinion that 
the government must identify culprits, whether Indians and foreigners 
and punish them but they should be extremely cautious to see that no 
peace loving, patriotic Indian citizens become the target of the 
government. It is reported to me that in Jaipur, Bengali-speaking 
people from West Bengal are also being terrorised in the garb of 
identification of Bangladeshis. I am told that landlords are being 
asked by the police to remove their Bengali-speaking tenants. Many 
people from various districts of my state are working in Jaipur and 
other parts of Rajasthan and they are being chased by the police. 
They are so terrorised that they are leaving Rajasthan and going back 
to their home in West Bengal. If this happens, it will jeopardise the 
relations among the people of the two states and it will be dangerous 
for our national unity and communal harmony.

Under the circumstances, I would request you to be extremely cautious 
on this matter in the national interest and hope that administration 
will not be allowed to take any step on communal or linguistic 
consideration. Instead there should be stress on the efficiency of 
the police administration and intelligence by which the terrorists 
menace could be combated and unity of people will be more helpful to 
avoid the terrorists activities. I compliment the people of Jaipur 
and Rajasthan for facing the situation courageously and maintaining 
peace and communal harmony. This atmosphere will strengthen the 
efforts of the government to fight the terrorist menace.

I wish you all success in fighting the terrorism in your state which 
is a big challenge to the safety and security of the people of the 
country.


______


[10]  Obituary of Prabhati Mukherjee


A REBEL WITH A CAUSE: Prabhati Mukherjee, November 18 1920-April 8 2008

Born in Noakhali, now in Bangladesh, Prabhati Ghosh moved to Kolkata 
with her family after her father's death. In her very middle class 
family, she was earmarked for a meager education and early marriage, 
as were her several older sisters; but her indomitable spirit led her 
to graduate from Calcutta University and marry a young man she loved. 
Overruling disapproval from her own and husband's family, she entered 
the job market to be economically independent, not content with 
remaining a housewife, although her conjugal life was enriched with 
the birth of a daughter. At this time, her husband introduced her to 
a Left party of which she became a mid level leader. The rebel in her 
prevented her from submitting to the cultural orthodoxy of both her 
husband and party and she left both to marry another rebel.

Suffering from cultural isolation and deprivation in political and 
economic aspirations, Prabhati, now Prabhati Mukherjee, went to 
England for equipping herself as a scholar to fight obscurantism. 
After securing a Diploma in Anthropology from Oxford under the 
tutelage of E.E.Evans-Pritchard, she went on to Humboldt Universitat, 
Berlin, securing the degree of D. Phil under the supervision of 
renowned Indologlist Walter Ruben. Thereafter, she taught at that 
university as a junior professor; but when she learnt that she was to 
become a mother again she insisted that both she and her husband 
return to India as her child must not be born on foreign soil. They 
returned to Kolkata in 1957.

By the time Prabhati Mukherjee returned to Kolkata, a sea change had 
taken place in the cultural outlook of what Somnath Lahiri had 
characterized as 'husbandiarchy', at the behest of leaders such as 
Jyoti Basu and Muzaffar Ahmed. She was approached by women leaders 
for resuming political activities, but she preferred fighting 
obscurantism as an academic. Well versed in Sanskrit and German, in 
addition to Bengali, Hindi and English, and with a remarkable 
knowledge of French, Prabhati pursued her researches on ancient 
Indian texts and their interpretations by reputed academics, leading 
to the publication of many papers in India and outside, and two 
notable books: Hindu Women: Normative Models (Orient Longman, 1978) 
and Beyond the Four Varnas: The Untouchables in India (1989, Reprint, 
Shimla, 2002). The first substantiates how the normative models of 
Hindu society violate the contemporaneous model enforced by the 
sanctimonious upholders of social norms; the second exposes the roots 
of untouchability which make both traditional views and modern 
measures superfluous. Her papers, and especially her two books which 
went through several editions, were acclaimed in India, Japan, Europe 
and the US.

Prabhati Mukherjee was affiliated as Senior Fellow to Sanskrit 
College (Kolkata), the UGC and the ICSSR (New Delhi) and to the 
Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, twice. She was Visiting 
Professor and Visiting Scholar at several academic institutions and 
universities, most notably at State University of New York, 
Binghampton, where she received a distinguished citation as an 
erudite and popular teacher, the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 
Paris and the Max Plank Institute at Starnberg, Germany.

Ailing since 2006, she has left behind two unfinished papers: one, 
eliciting a singular mention of Draupadi in the battlefield in a 
Bengali version of the Mahabharata, the other recording the 
conversation of a Brahmin with Alexander. The latter evokes the 
independent spirit of scholars of the time, as the Brahmin refused to 
come to Alexander, the latter met him on his way back from India. As 
Alexander died shortly after, this conversation is of immense 
importance to scholars of Indian and Hellenic studies.

Pursuing a cause all her life-honestly, purposively and 
fruitfully-Prabhati Mukherjee left behind her husband, her two 
daughters, three cherished grandsons and one son in law at 9.45 am on 
April 8 2008, when the encapsulated energy in the rebel merged with 
the energy at large.


______


[11]  SECULARISM SHAM OF THE STATE CONTINUES: NOW POST OFFICE SELLING 
HOLY WATER FOR THE GANGES

The Times of India
5 June 2008

KEEP OFF THE BUSINESS OF FAITH

Who said the government is insensitive to the needs of the public? 
Keeping in mind the religious sentiments of many Hindus, post offices 
in Ghaziabad have started to sell bottled Ganga water.

They will earn a commission on each bottle sold. A private company 
and Garhwal Vikas Mandal, a government body, are responsible for 
procurement and packaging of the water sourced from Gaumukh in the 
Himalayas.

There may be a mass market for Gangajal, but is it the business of a 
government-run entity to market it? Ours is a secular country.

Yes, our secularism, unlike say the French version, is porous in 
theory and practice. There is no firm separation of state and church, 
and, more importantly, the Constitution allows the government to 
facilitate religious practices.

Government subsidies for Haj pilgrims and management of Hindu temples 
would not have been possible but for this peculiar character of 
Indian secularism. In the Indian social context, active government 
intervention may even be necessary. But there is an urgent need to 
draw a line, somewhere.

It is not the job of the government to peddle faith. The Gangajal 
promotion is clearly an attempt to make money by exploiting a 
religious superstition. People do value superstitions here. The 
government can't help that, of course. But surely it need not promote 
superstition.

There is demand for black magic, witchcraft, faith healing and 
astrology. Would the government now open counters to help believers 
access these? People have the right to believe in these in their 
private spaces. The government has no business to promote faith 
through public utilities.

The postal department is also exposing itself to legal hassles by 
entering the retail business. Every retailer is responsible under the 
law for the products on offer in the shop. Can a post office 
vouchsafe for the Gangajal sold through its counter?

By all means, let post offices expand their services and make profits 
in a range of new areas, but please keep off the faith business. 
There are enough private enterprises to do that.


______


[12] INDIA: AN E-MAIL FROM SAVE THE YAMUNA RIVERBED CAMPAIGN

On 6/2/08, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan <yamunajiye at gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Friends,

Today's incident at the Satyagrah Sthal not only highlighted the true 
face of the highly controversial structure called the Akshardham in 
the river bed bringing to fore its evil existence but a strange 
dilemma that we Satyagrahis came to be faced with as a result.


A phone call during mid day alerted us to impending demolition of the 
Satyagrah Sthal by the police.


Rushing to the scene we found that while the Satyagrah Sthal was 
untouched all the jhuggies nearby (about 10 of them) had been 
demolished by a strong police force on orders from the 'top'. These 
are labourers (migrants from East UP and nearby) who used to tend the 
nurseries, many plants from which grace the residences of the 
greenery lovers in the city.

Discreet enquiries revealed that the Akshardham authorities had 
written to the Home Department about a security threat to the so 
called temple and hence these jhuggies had to go. And lo ! with no 
political voice whatsoever they were brought to ground by a police 
force obeying orders from their superiors. As if now Akshardham, not 
withstanding a prison like walls all around it, extra special 
security at its 'restricted' entrance, prison like watch towers in 
all corners could sleep in peace. If jhuggies and the like around the 
'precious' Akshardham is a security risk then almost the whole of 
Pandav nagar (incidently the area where the Akshardham had first been 
allotted a piece of land for an educational and cultural centre that 
they refused to 'accept' - we have official documents to support 
this) and some part of the Samaspur Jagir village and Mayur Vihar 
should also have no right to exist ! But would the state have the 
guts to bring them down like wise?

What is this Akshardham after all? Claiming to be a 'temple' as its 
public face it is a cultural centre on paper run by a private trust 
of monied and politically connected swamis (sic). It today encroaches 
upon about 100 acres of the river bed against its initially allotted 
18 acres which had later on been extended to 30 acres. It must be 
perhaps the only temple anywhere with a highly restricted entry, paid 
parking and paid visits to some of its facilities. The MCD which is 
today controlled by the Party that facilitated its construction in 
the first place have surreptitiously also exempted it from payment of 
commercial taxes, despite it being an out and out commercial facility 
making crores of rupees annually through entry charges as well as 
payments for other commercial activities within the premises.

A temple is ideally a place of worship where the devout get attracted 
for spiritual rejuvenation in a voluntary manner with no restricted 
entrance and receive whatever is given out freely as a parshad. Is 
any of this true of Akshardham?

It is an illegal structure (has never sought any permission from the 
Yamuna Standing Committee) that is founded on deceit and illegal 
appropriation of farmer's land abetted by a party in power. (Even the 
so called approval by the SC of it on a dismissed PIL is based more 
on default rather any merit of the case - the fact that a sprawling 
concrete parking space stands where the SC was made to understand 
that no land use change would happen is a glaring example of the SC 
having been taken for a ride by the temple managers).

With so much of evil intent, ill-gotten land and artificial security 
how can any devout really visit it with faith and fervour is beyond 
our comprehension. But people either attracted by its architectural 
grandeur (which indeed it exhibits) or blinded by faith continue to 
visit it in hordes almost everyday enriching the coffers of the trust 
managers.

It is time that the civil society exposed its real face and advocated 
its public boycott as a structure which is not only illegal but is 
'evil' in its existence in the river bed.

That today it has taken toll of the hapless jhuggies in the river bed 
is but yet another instance of its power and reach. That the party 
that created it may yet again come into power more by default of the 
present regime's poor governance than any positive vote for the party 
in question may have played a part in today's action by the concerned 
authorities.

Whatever, it presented a serious dilemma in front of us Yamuna 
Satyagrahis whereby us being better 'secured' politically by our high 
moral (?) ground of a public cause stood watching helplessly the 
demolitions of the homes of the helpless and the hapless.

Two scenes of the day add to our dilemma.

Two small kids of the 'homeless' labourers 'swinging' away to glory 
without a care on a 'vine swing' while their parents searched for 
their belongings amongst the demolished jhuggies and a police wallah 
carrying away a small plant home (presumably free) from a nursery 
whose help he had just dispossessed and made homeless !

Shall we call it 'Karma' and consign the happenings of the day to history?

manoj
www.yamunajiyeabhiyaan.blogspot.com

______




[13] Announcements:

(i)

Dear Friends

This has reference to Lalit Mehta's murder in Palamau of Jharkhand. 
Lalit was a full time activist of the Right to Food Campaign, 
Jharkhand, Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Jharkhand and secretary of Vikias 
Sahayog Kendra, a local organization with Palamau, Garhwa and Latehar 
districts as its area of operation. Lalit had his life snuffed out on 
14 may, 2008. He was barely 36. Lalit leaves behind his activist and 
teacher wife Ashrita and their two sons aged four and two. Lalit was 
a committed activist, who fought relentlessly for the implementation 
of government programs - especially those related to food, employment 
and child rights. He along with local people has been demanding the 
implementation of the PDS, the NREGA and the Integrated Child 
Development Scheme (ICDS) entitlements.


Lalit was killed for raising his voice against corruption in the 
implementation of the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Palamau. 
At the time of this incidence, Lalit was helping a team of volunteers 
led by noted economist and Right to food activist Prof. Jean Dreze to 
conduct a social audit of NREGA works in Chainpur and Chatarpur 
blocks of Palamau district.

It is indeed ironical that Rights- which are guaranteed by the 
constitution and by various statutes, programs and budgetary 
allocations and reinforced by the Supreme Court of India as legal 
entitlements-do not get implemented by the authorities responsible 
for it.

In this situation, the task of implementation often falls on the 
shoulders of people, of right holders and of civil society 
organizations. And when such democratic forces seek the 
implementation of these Rights under the 'RULE OF LAW' framework, 
then the vested interests gang up with the bureaucracy and commit 
such brutal murders and get away.

Lalit's murder is not the first stance, many activists have lost 
their lives for raising their voices against corruption and stand by 
poor people. The list is long - Satyendra Dubey, Sarita and Mahesh, 
S.. Manjunath, Mahendra Singh, Chandra Shekhar - Lalit's death is a 
link to that chain only.

There is an environment of fear and tension constantly created by the 
nexus of local contractors, middlemen, bureaucrats and politicians. 
Activists voicing against human rights violation and against 
displacement and fighting for the right to food and livelihood are 
being threatened and harassed.

Friends, if this murder was an act of intimidation, it did not 
succeed. Friends and supporters from all over Jharkhand and other 
places came together and have formed a state level platform namely 
'Daman Evam Bhrashtachar Virodhi Sangharsh Samity' ( Anti repression 
and corruption struggle committee ). A number of organizations and 
individuals have condemned Lalit's murder and demanded for CBI 
enquiry into the matter. Letters have also been written to the Chief 
Minister of Jharkhand. The samity has launched its campaign against 
Lalit Mehta's murder with a Dharna (Sit-In protest) in Ranchi , the 
state capital on 25th May, Sunday. On May 26 a massive public hearing 
had been organized in Chatarpur, which was attended by NREGA Council 
Members namely Annie Raja and Jean Dreze. The Samity has been 
demanding for CBI enquiry into the matter. It is in this context, the 
Samity has planned to organize a state level rally and public meeting 
in Ranchi on June 10, 2008. The rally would build pressure on the 
state for ordering a CBI enquiry into the Lalit's murder case. We 
appeal all social activists, human rights activists and masses to 
join the rally to demand for CBI enquiry into the Lalit's murder and 
to come together in solidarity in the struggle for Justice. The 
details of the venue and logistic arrangeements shall be sent to you 
in a couple of days. On June 11, the Samity has organized a seminar 
on "Social Activism vis a vis Backlashes and Threats" in Ranchi . We 
appeal you to stay for the seminar also and be a part of it.

A team from Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) attended the social audit 
held by VSK on the 26th of May. VSK has authorised SPS to issue an 
appeal to raise funds for Lalit's family -- his 34-year old wife 
Ashrita and two sons, Nikhil (4) and Lali (2).

The aim is to
1. Raise a sum of Rs 6 lakhs that would enable Ashrita to receive an 
interest of Rs.4000 per month through a Post Office MIS.
2. In addition, we would like to deposit Rs.1 lakh each in FDs in the 
names of the two children, which they could use after they become 
adults.

Thus, the target is to raise at least Rs.8 lakhs.

Kindly donate generously to support the family of a fearless activist 
who gave his life fighting for the India we all believe in.

Please send in your donations in the name of VIKAS SAHYOG KENDRA.

The account details are: State Bank of India, Daltonganj Bazar 
Branch, A/c no. 10801981840.

For direct transfers, the IFSC code is: SBIN0001221

In case you are mailing a cheque, please send it to:

Manoj Singh
President
Vikas Sahyog Kendra
Chhatarpur
District Palamu
Jharkhand 822113
[snip]

For FCRA donations, the bank account details are: State Bank of 
India, Daltonganj Bazar Branch, A/c no. 10801935906. The IFSC code 
is: SBIN0001221

In either case, please also send a letter/email 
(vskmanoj[at]yahoo.co.in) stating the purpose of the donation as 
"support for Lalit Mehta's family"

  Thanking you in advance for your generous support
Dr. Mihir Shah
Secretary
Samaj Pragati Sahayog
Village Jatashankar
Tehsil Bagli
District Dewas
Madhya Pradesh 455227
[snip]

Thanking you in advance for your generous support

Balram, Gopinath Ghosh, Gurjeet, Byomkesh


On behalf of Daman Evam Bhrashtachar Virodhi Sangharsh Samity, Jharkhand


---


(ii)

CITIZENS PROTEST MEETING AGAINST SEDITION CHARGE ON TIMES OF INDIA

Date-5-6-08   THURSDAY, TIME- 6 P.M.

PLACE- HIMAVAN, PALDI [Ahmedabad]

Concerned citizens, activists and the media person will be attending 
the meeting.Pl. Join.

From-

Gautam Thakker, People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Dwarika Nath Rath - Movement for Secular Decocracy (MSD)

Fr.Cedric Praksh - PRASANT



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