SACW | Sept. 25-26, 2008 / Sri Lanka: War and crisis / Bangladesh 1971 war crimes film / India: Jamia Nagar and Communal Witch Hunt
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at gmail.com
Thu Sep 25 23:25:59 CDT 2008
South Asia Citizens Wire | September 25-26, 2008 | Dispatch No. 2572
- Year 11 running
[1] Sri Lanka:
- Humanitarian crisis has larger implications (Jehan Perera)
- Letter to Editor re - Efforts by the government to meet the
humanitarian needs
- Sri Lanka is losing its soul to war (Peter Foster)
[2] Bangladesh: "Juddhaporadh 71": Documentary highlighting war crimes
[3] India: Stem the Communal Turn after the Jamina Nagar Police 'Encounter'
(i) Jamia Teachers Condemn Communal Witch Hunt and Demand
Independent Impartial Enquiry
(ii) Sahmat Statement in Defence of Jamia Milia and its Vice Chancellor
(iii) Don't communalise anti-terror fight (Editorial, The Hindu)
[4] India: Reinvigorate secular nationalism (Malini Parthasarathy)
[5] India: Give Them A Chance (Ajay K Mehra)
[6] India: Proposed Protest letter to Director-General of Police of
Chattisgarh State
[7] Announcements:
- Public Discussion: Communal Violence: Against Christians And Other
Minorities (New Delhi, 26 September 2008)
- A Maoist Vision for a New Nepal - A Public Talk by Prachanda (New
York, 26 September 2008)
- [Late announcement] Anti Christian Violence in India White House
Prayer Vigil (Washington, 25 September 2008)
______
[1]
(i)
Daily Mirror,
September 17, 2008
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS HAS LARGER IMPLICATIONS
by Jehan Perera
A humanitarian crisis is looming over the northern Vanni region under
LTTE control. The prospects of escalated warfare and the government's
order to all international humanitarian organisations in the area to
withdraw from there with immediate effect signals a war without
limits and without witnesses. However, protests by civilians have led
the international humanitarian organisations to temporarily halt the
withdrawal of their staff from those areas. The UN has requested an
extra three weeks to complete its withdrawal. The government has also
demonstrated a measure of flexibility and permitted the ICRC to
remain in Kilinochchi indefinitely. The humanitarian crisis in Sri
Lanka has gained international attention with the UN Secretary
General's office making a statement regarding the issue.
Government spokespersons have responded critically to this statement,
pointing out that the situation in other countries with similar
problems is much worse and that Sri Lanka should not be compared to
them. On the other hand, objective statistics show that the Sri
Lankan conflict is one of the very worst in the world in terms of
deaths, including battlefield deaths. The Uppsala Conflict Data
Programme on Uppsala University in Sweden has shown that in 2007
there were four wars in the world with more than 1000 battle related
deaths. "The Iraq conflict had the highest number of battle related
deaths, followed by the ones in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia."
(Journal of Peace )Research, Vol. 45, No 51, September 2008. It is
therefore no surprise that the country's international image is
getting increasingly negative.
However, so far the government has not shown willingness to
compromise on its decision with regard to the eviction of
humanitarian agencies from the Vanni region. The Sri Lankan army has
now advanced sufficiently deep within LTTE controlled territory to
bring the LTTE's administrative centres within firing range of long
distance artillery. On the other hand, the advance of the government
troops has been accompanied by civilian displacement, with most of
the civilian population falling back along with the LTTE. The
prospect of a final victory may induce the government to seek the
war's end at any cost.
[. . .]
http://tinyurl.com/3euzmz
o o o
(ii)
The Daily Mirror
26 September 2008
Letters to the editor
EFFORTS BY THE GOVERNMENT TO MEET THE HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
At the plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri
Lanka (CBCSL) held on September 22 2008 the Bishops shared their
concerns about the plight of the thousands of internally displaced
people as a result of the ongoing war in the districts of Mullativu
and Killinochchi.
We appreciate the efforts taken by the government to ensure that food
and other essentials reach the internally displaced. However, we also
understand that sufficient stocks of food do not reach the people due
to certain hindrances. Thousands of people are living under trees and
open spaces without shelter and access to water and sanitation.
Difficulties in transporting essential commodities have resulted in
fuel, food, medicine, shelter materials etc., being in short supply.
Education of the children has been disrupted. It was noted that as a
result of aerial bombing several innocent civilians have been killed.
The trauma that the people, particularly the children, undergo is
noted to be unprecedented.
Therefore, we earnestly urge the government and the LTTE that utmost
care be taken to protect the lives of innocent civilians. It was
noted that the LTTE is not permitting the civilians to come out of
Mullativu and Killinochchi. This is a very unfortunate situation. We
ask the LTTE not to hinder the innocent civilians from proceeding to
safe areas as the war is escalating and the lives of these innocent
people are greatly endangered. Innocent civilians must not be used as
human shields.
We strongly urge that every effort be made by the government to be
conscious of this situation and meet the humanitarian needs and take
meaningful steps to take the people out of this trapped situation.
We also recommend that some alternate measures such as zones of peace
be taken to ensure the safety of the innocent in the districts of
Mullativu and Killinochchi.
We plead that humanitarian laws be respected by everyone, and that
institutions such as schools, hospitals and places of worship be
carefully avoided in the combat.
We wish to reiterate the position that we have always upheld that
lasting peace can be realized only through a negotiated political
solution which recognizes human dignity and equality ensuring the
legitimate rights and aspirations of all citizens.
Bishop Vianney Fernando
President, Catholic Bishops Conference
Bishop Norbert M. Andradi Omi
Secretary General
o o o
(iii)
The Telegraph - September 22, 2008
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/peter_foster
SRI LANKA IS LOSING ITS SOUL TO WAR
by Peter Foster
Predictably in a conflict which stirs such bitterness, my last post
on Sri Lanka and an analysis piece I wrote in Saturday's paper on Sri
Lanka's human rights record has generated a slew of emails accusing
me of failing to understand the conflict and 'siding with the
terrorists.'
I must preface this post, therefore, with the (I hope unnecessary)
disclaimer that I hold no candle for the Tamil Tigers or their
methods, which include recruiting child soldiers and the abduction,
intimidation and extortion of Tamils both home and abroad.
But in the same breath, it must be said once again that Sri Lanka's
war on terror does not absolve Mahinda Rajapakse's government of its
basic responsibilities on human rights, any more than America's war
against Al Qa'eda absolves the US of those same responsibilities at
Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and all those other secret little hidey holes
where the CIA and its proxies beat and water-boarded suspects in the
name of 'freedom and democracy'.
I'm fully aware that the Bush Administration has questionable grounds
to preach on this subject, but Richard A. Boucher, Assistant
Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs was right
when, after a lengthy denunciation of the Tamil Tigers, he told a
meeting of South Asian leaders (SAARC) in Colombo this August:
"The violations of human rights, the horrible killings of the
terrorist groups -- we [the US] absolutely condemn them and are very
clear in our commentary, in our human rights reports, about that.
"But that does not mean that everyone is allowed to do it. It is
very clear, especially for a government that is democratic, for a
society that does have a strong democratic tradition, that we all
need to live up to our highest ideals, we all need to live up to our
founding principles."
Put America's hypocrisy to one side for a moment and absorb the
truth of those words.
What disturbs me about Sri Lanka now - and long time readers of this
blog will know the genuine affection in which I hold the country - is
that the fabric of society, Tamil and Sinhalese, is being torn apart
in the name of achieving a 'total victory' over the Tamil Tigers.
Even if that were possible - and most neutral observers doubt that it
is, notwithstanding recent military gains by Sri Lanka forces in The
Wanni - is the military victory worth the wider price currently being
paid?
Today my email inbox contains two stories, which illustrate the true
price of war in Sri Lanka.
The first, from the Asian Human Rights Commission, is part of a
common theme and concerns a man called Nishantha Fernando, 36, who
was shot dead by two men on a motorbike on Saturday while driving in
his van with his 11-year-old son. Mercifully, they left the boy.
Mr Fernando, a Tamil businessman, had made several complaints of
bribery and torture against the local police, several of whom,
including a senior officer, he had named in an on-going judicial
inquiry. He'd been in hiding for some time and only recently dared
venture back into the open.
There are almost too many of these kinds of murders to mention -
which is why they receive so little news coverage - and they are now
an almost daily demonstration of what Human Rights groups, the UN and
most Western governments have described as the 'culture of impunity'
existing in Sri Lanka.
The second is a follow-up to the story I wrote in May this year about
Keith Noyahr, a journalist on Sri Lanka's 'Nation' newspaper who was
abducted and savagely beaten after he written articles criticising
Sri Lanka's army top brass, including by implication its chief,
Sarath Fonseka, of using the army as a 'private fiefdom'.
In the last few months it seems that that brave newspaper, which had
dared on occasion to take a line independent of the Rajapakse
government, has now been taken over a 'kinsman' of the President and
a keen-to-please supporter.
Earlier this month one of the last free-thinking journalists at the
Nation, D.B.S (David) Jeyaraj felt compelled to resign from his
position after an article which contradicted the government's own
version of events in the war-torn north was not published.
In a long resignation letter he cited the "shameless sycophancy" of
the paper's new controllers towards the Rajapakse Government which in
practice amounted to censoring all 'bad' news - military or political
- while giving maximum profile to anything detrimental to the
opposition UNP.
These are the actions of a society that is rapidly turning in on
itself, led by a government unable to tolerate dissent, even from
people whose love of their country (and I know several of those at
the Nation and can vouch for their national loyalty personally) could
never be doubted.
As Tamils in Colombo line up to register - a policy with a reasonable
security justification, but extremely nasty overtones - I wonder what
will be left, even if Mr Rajapakse claims his promised victory
against the Tigers.
The cost of Sri Lanka's war will be counted in more than just blood
and (increasing amounts of Chinese and Iranian) treasure.
Along with truth, the traditional 'first casualty' of conflict, you
can add justice, freedom of speech and any hope of an equitable and
peaceful settlement of Sri Lanka's ethnic problem for years to come.
Even if the Tamil Tigers are driven into the sea; even if the elusive
Prabhakaran is dragged, Saddam-like from his bunker and exported to
India for trial, even then (as the American discovered in Iraq), the
victory will not be won.
As I said above, I've always had affection for Sri Lanka, and I don't
use that word lightly. I mean a feeling of genuine warmth and
goodness, which any tourist who has visited Sri Lanka on holiday,
will know is a characteristic of the Sri Lankan people.
This, for me, is why events in Sri Lanka are so sad. What is being
done in the name of the Sri Lankan people is not only wrong and
wrong-headed, but fundamentally antithetical to my experience of who
the Sri Lankan people are.
As a distant bystander, I dearly hope that the chauvinist
grand-standing of this Sri Lankan government, doesn't fool the Sri
Lankan people into giving up the soul of their country to division
and enmity for another generation.
______
[2] Bangladesh:
The Daily Star
25 September 2008
Film Screening
"JUDDHAPORADH 71": DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTING WAR CRIMES
Cultural Correspondent
Audience at the documentary screening. Photo: Mumit M.
Sundari Dasi was only seven months old at that time, when people
found her suckling from her dead mother's breast. Her mother was
brutally raped and killed by the Pakistani military and their Bengali
collaborators during the Liberation War. This incident stirred the
village Chuknagar of Khulna district, where one of the large-scale
genocides of 1971 occurred. Now in her late 30s, Sundari Dasi wants
the trial of the war criminals.
Lutfar Rahman was a school student when some influential people of
his village forced him to join the 'Razakar Bahini' -- to benefit
from the political situation and secure "a blissful afterlife," as
they put it. He went into training and was part of several crimes
against humanity. Rahman was punished with a year of imprisonment
after Independence. He knows what the 'Razakar Bahini' did at that
time and says, "I was almost a child then and even I was punished,
then why should the other war criminals go unpunished?"
The above two cases are featured in Juddhaporadh 71, a documentary by
renowned litterateur and working President of 'Ghatak Dalal Nirmul
Committee' Shahriar Kabir. A special screening of the documentary was
held on September 23 at WVA Auditorium. The documentary takes on the
task of defining what "war crimes" mean and the dreadful acts against
humanity that the war criminals committed during 1971. Through the
eyes of three youth who set out to search for the truth, the
documentary works on a vast canvas -- including facts, interviews
with eminent personalities and war victims, rare footage, documents
and more.
"It took almost two years to complete the documentary. I'm grateful
to the district correspondents of 'Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee' and
especially to the local journalists, who helped me to go to remote
places for interviews and collect proof. I think it would be a hard
blow to the war criminals who now dare to deny the facts," said the
documentary-maker in his welcome speech.
An important aspect of the documentary as recognised by Shahriar
Kabir is that it includes interviews with those social and human
rights activists in the then West Pakistan who protested against the
military regime of Pakistan during 1971 and were punished for their
efforts. Shahriar Kabir also sheds some light on the legal procedures
for the trial of war criminals and tries to clarify the issue of
'general amnesty' declared by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
A brief discussion was held after the documentary screening, presided
over by Justice Golam Rabbani. Noted journalist Kamal Lohani, human
rights activist Ayesha Khanam, architect and art critic Rabiul
Hossain and Professor Ajay Roy, among others, were the discussants at
the event. The discussants emphasised taking the documentary to the
masses to generate awareness on the need for trial of the war
criminals.
The documentary has been produced by South Asian People's Convention
against Fundamentalism and War Crime. Noted cultural personality
Asaduzzaman Noor has done the narration in the film, Lucky Akhand is
the music director and Said Kajol, Nafis Ahmed Nadvi and Zahir Ahmed
(Pakistan) are the cinematographers.
______
[3] Delhi's Jamia Nagar 'Encounter' - Stem the communal turn
[ Media manipulation by police to create a distinct communalised imagery
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2008/09/media-manipulation-by-police-to-create.html
]
(i)
http://www.sacw.net/article21.html
24th September 2008
Press Statement
Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group.
Jamia Teachers Condemn Communal Witch Hunt and Demand Independent
Impartial Enquiry
The events of 19th September and subsequent days have left the Jamia
community shocked, aggrieved and fearful. In particular the manner
and the suspicious circumstances in which young boys, many of them
students of Jamia Millia Islamia, have been picked up by the Special
Cell, and pronounced "dreaded terrorists" by a trial by an utterly
sensationalist and prejudiced media has created an atmosphere of fear
and suspicion.
On the day of the operation indiscriminate arbitrary detentions were
made that included five school children living in the flat opposite
and were released only late in the night. Arrests are continuing
unabated. Even as some teachers had accompanied senior lawyers to
meet with the families of boys picked up, on 23.09.2008, around 5 o'
clock, news arrived that Saqib Akhtar, a 17-year-old boy, a distant
cousin of slain Atif Amin, had been picked up from his residence in
Abul Fazal Enclave. A complaint with the police was filed at the
Jamia Nagar Police Station. Within an hour the Special Cell
communicated to the boy's family that he would be released. It
appears that the presence of a well-known Supreme Court lawyer,
teachers from Jamia, and senior journalists pressured the Special
Cell enough to refrain from detaining an innocent boy, and ensured
that Saqib returned home safe the same evening. This incident
illustrates the vulnerability of the people residing in the locality:
not only are they subject to arbitrary 'arrests' by the Special Cell,
which whisks them off to undisclosed locations, the local police
refuses to file complaints or feigns ignorance. Further, they lack
recourse to proper legal aid.
We as teachers feel that we cannot afford to isolate ourselves in
intellectual ivory towers. There is an urgent need to reach out to
the community which lives at our very doorstep, and where a large
number of teachers, administrative staff and our students reside. The
locality has been besieged by a sense of alienation, terror and
insecurity. We unequivocally condemn this brazen witch hunt in the
name of fighting terror and pledge solidarity with the people of
Jamia Nagar, and especially the families of those whose boys have
been picked up and arrested without a shred of evidence.
Independent fact finding teams and even sections of the media have
raised doubts about the veracity of the police version regarding the
'encounter' on 19th September and the subsequent arrests made on that
basis. We demand that an impartial and independent enquiry be
constituted to examine this entire episode.
We further demand that a list of students who have been picked up by
the Delhi Police/ Special Cell should be provided to the University
immediately. The University must demand that no students (whether
living in the hostel or not) shall be picked up/ arrested without
intimating the university authorities. And upon receiving such
information, the administration must actively intervene and ensure
that students are not tortured in custody and that their rights as
citizens are not denied.
The Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group also resolves to extend legal or
any other assistance to the students arrested/ implicated in this
entire episode. We shall work to extend the movement to include
teachers from other universities, as well as other bodies such as the
DUTA, JNUTA, IGNOUTA, and other democratic and secular individuals
and organisations.
Signed:
Prof. Farida Khan (Faculty of Education)
Prof. A. K. Ramakrishnan (Centre for West Asian Studies)
Prof. Janaki Rajan (Faculty of Education)
Prof. Azra Razzack (Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies)
Prof. Navnita Behera (Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution)
Dr. Neshat Quaiser (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Padmanabh Samarendra (Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies)
Dr. Sanghamitra Misra (Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution)
Dr. Ravi Kumar (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Narendra Kumar (Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies)
Dr. Rahul Ramangundam (Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies)
Dr. Farah Farooqi (Faculty of Education)
Dr. Anuradha Ghosh (Department of English)
Manisha Sethi (Centre for the Study of Comparative religions and Civilizations)
Sreerekha (Centre for Women's Studies)
Tanweer Fazal (Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution)
Ahmed Sohaib (Centre for the Study of Comparative religions and Civilizations)
Kamei Aphun (Department of Sociology)
Dr. Shahid Jamal Ansari (Centre for West Asian Studies)
Dr. Sabiha Hussain (Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies)
Ambarein Qadas (Mass Communication Research Centre)
M.G. Shahnawaz (Department of Psychology)
Waseem Ahmed Khan (Faculty of Education)
Meher Fatima Hussain (Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies)
Harpreet Kaur Jass (Faculty of Education)
Arshad Ahmed (Faculty of Education)
Dr. Sarwat Ali (Institute of Advanced Studies in Education)
Dr. Rafiullah Azmi (Centre for West Asian Studies)
Arshad Alam (Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies)
Dr. Arif Ali, (Department of Biotechnology)
Adil Mehdi (Department of English)
Haris Ul Haq (Jamia Middle School)
Dr. Ranjeeta Dutta, (Department of History)
o o o
(ii)
http://www.sacw.net/article31.html
Press Statement
SAHMAT
8, Vithalbhai Patel House,
Rafi Marg,New Delhi-110001
Telephone- 23711276/ 23351424
e-mail: sahmat@ vsnl.com
25.9.2008
Appeal to Defend Jamia's Secular Character
We applaud the Vice Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia, Professor
Mushirul Hasan and the entire academic community of the university
for their calmness and courage in what is proving to be a testing and
traumatic time.
We fully endorse the decision by the Vice Chancellor, to provide the
university students who have been swept up in the terrorism dragnet,
with a competent legal defence. This decision has to be recognised as
a sign of abiding commitment to the basic rule of natural justice:
that a person is innocent until proven guilty.
We appeal to :
All democratic and secular individuals and organizations to support
all steps of the University administration and the faculty to
maintain and strengthen the secular character of this premier
institution.
We condemn the vituperative attacks that have been launched against
Professor Mushirul Hasan by spokesmen of the BJP and its affiliates.
Anil Chandra Arjun Dev
Atluri Murali
Badri Raina Biswamoy Pati
C.P.Chandrasekhar
Chanchal Chauhan D. N. Jha
Girish Mishra
H. C. Satyayarthi Indira Chandrasekhar
Iqtidar Alam
Irfan Habib Jabri Mal Parekh
Jayati Ghosh
Lata Singh Lima Kanungo M.K.Raina
Madangopal Singh Madhu Prasad
Manmohan
Mihir Bhattacharya MMP Singh
N. Rajendran
Parthiv Shah Prabhat Patnaik
R. L. Shukla
R. S. Sharma Rajan Gurukul
Rajen Prasad
Ram Rahman Ramkrishna Chatterjee S Kalidas
Saeed Mirza Shireen Musvi
Sohail Hashmi
Suvira Jaiswal Utsa Patnaik
V Ramakrishna
V. N. Jha Veer Munshi
Vivan Sundaram
o o o
(iii)
The Hindu
September 26, 2008
Editorial
DON'T COMMUNALISE ANTI-TERROR FIGHT
The Bharatiya Janata Party, it seems, is incapable of distinguishing
between the offer of legal aid to an accused and the moral
justification of a heinous crime. What other conclusion can be drawn
from its militant outburst against Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia Islamia, for offering legal aid to two students of his
university arrested by the police in connection with the recent Delhi
bomb blasts? What is dangerous about the demand for his dismissal,
apart from its communal motivation, is the attack on a foundational
principle of the rule of law and on fundamental rights guaranteed by
the Constitution. The right to legal representation is a vital part
of the right to a free trial. Embedded in the idea of providing
accused with the means of defending themselves competently is a
jurisprudential principle that forms the bedrock of modern law - the
presumption of innocence unless the person is proved guilty. The
effectiveness of an adversarial legal system such as India's - where
the judge comes to a conclusion after hearing out the prosecution and
the defence - depends critically on how evidence is marshalled in
support of a person's case. The high responsibility of providing
"equal justice and free legal aid" to all citizens is enshrined in
Article 39A of the Constitution, which mandates the state, through
suitable legislation, schemes, or other means "to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by
reason of economic or other disabilities." Ironically, the BJP's
spokesperson who denounced the Jamia Millia Vice-Chancellor's offer
of legal aid as "most objectionable" and "despicable" was Ravi
Shankar Prasad, an experienced lawyer. He must have known that the
attack on the principle of offering legal aid to persons charged with
the most heinous crimes had no constitutional leg to stand on. So he
shifted ground and falsely accused the central university, which
notwithstanding the 'Islamia' in its name prides itself on its
non-denominational character, of using "taxpayers' money" to provide
legal assistance to those accused of terrorist activities.
What is clear is that Dr Hasan, who is respected not only for his
historical scholarship but also for his secular credentials (and
ironically, in an earlier chapter in the same university, was
targeted by Muslim fundamentalists), has acted by the book in this
sensitive case. Offering legal aid to the two students is not just in
accordance with the constitutional principle that "opportunities for
securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic
or other disabilities." It is specifically sanctioned by university
regulations and precedents and the practice of several universities
round the world. Dr Hasan has pointed out that Jamia Millia has, in
the past, provided legal aid for accused students and helped them get
justice, without any controversy. He has also made it absolutely
clear that the legal aid to the two students will come not from
central funds channelled through the University Grants Commission -
but from Jamia Millia's own income from student fees and other
sources. The BJP's attempt to communalise the fight against terrorism
by insinuating that the offer of legal aid by Jamia Millia Islamia in
the latest case amounts to being soft on Islamist terrorism must be
strongly condemned.
______
[4]
The Hindu
September 26, 2008
REINVIGORATE SECULAR NATIONALISM
by Malini Parthasarathy
The fundamental duty of any state is to ensure that its citizens are
not rendered vulnerable to terrorists out to subvert the nation's
political structure and destroy its social fabric. It is equally the
responsibility of the state to ensure that the social and political
cohesion built up over decades is not undermined by groups with
political agendas that will subvert and destroy national unity.
The deadly terror strikes in the heart of the national capital, which
manifested themselves in five bomb explosions within the space of
twenty minutes, shattering familiar landmarks, one such in an upscale
neighbourhood like Greater Kailash, brought fear into the home of
every Indian. With television images in living rooms nationwide
relentlessly replaying the horrifying aftermath of the terrorist
savagery - the agony of the bereaved, the struggle of the injured for
their lives - the police and other authorities appeared to be
scrambling to get control of the evidently perilous situation. It was
becoming increasingly impossible to ignore the pervasive sense of
vulnerability and dread.
The potency of terrorism lies in its disconcertingly accurate reach
and seeming ability to penetrate the most inviolable and
high-security areas, the safety of which ordinary citizens take for
granted. By exposing the fragility of political and social
structures, terrorism is able to strike fear at the deepest level of
the psyche. Therein lies its strategic utility for its perpetrators.
Historical experience has demonstrated repeatedly that terror tactics
are adopted by alienated groups to express their strong anger against
the system that they believe has denied them justice. Terrorists bank
heavily on creating sharp anxiety and insecurity among citizens so
that their faith in the state's ability to protect them is severely
eroded. Certainly, no political or social argument can validate the
premise that terror is a legitimate response to any perceived
injustice or a denial of rights. Nor can it be suggested that
unleashing violence and death constitute morally permissible acts of
retaliation.
Yet the undeniable reality, as has been seen elsewhere in Sri Lanka
or in the Palestinian crisis, is that the rise of terrorist groups
like the LTTE or Hamas reflects extreme responses in polarised
situations, in which the minority groups feel pushed to the wall.
Terrorism is often the recourse of minorities who turn to
fundamentalist doctrines to retaliate against what they see as a
suffocating dominance by ethnic or communal majorities. The intention
to disrupt political or social structures is a clear reflection of an
alienated perspective that sees no light at the end of the tunnel,
believing as it does that the entire state machinery, the courts, and
other public institutions are in the hands of the majority that it
sees as its oppressor.
It is unquestionably the fundamental duty of any state to ensure that
its citizens are not rendered vulnerable to the homicidal impulses of
terrorists bent on subverting the political structure and destroying
the social fabric of the nation. But it is equally the responsibility
of the state, especially in India, to ensure that the social and
political cohesion built up over decades is not undermined by groups
with subversive political agendas, out to destroy national unity for
their own strategic gains.
It cannot be disputed that it was a conscious decision taken by the
leaders of the Indian nationalist movement after Independence to
ensure that India became a democratic republic, secular and pluralist
in its moorings. It was this scrupulous adherence to the ethos of
secular nationalism and the premium placed on national unity by
India's early leaders, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru, that insulated
the Indian nation-state from disintegrative tendencies and allowed it
to harness all its productive energies, transforming itself rapidly
into a major power among developing countries.
Undeniably, the rise of an abrasive genre of Hindu cultural
nationalism in the early 1990s - the first flashpoint being the Rath
Yatra campaign of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani - set in motion a
dangerous process of communal polarisation. The destruction of the
Babri Masjid was viewed as an ominous sign by the Muslim community
that its culture and cultural symbols would no longer be safe in a
Hindu India. It must be recalled that the very first instance of
horrific retaliation by extremists in the Muslim community was the
series of bomb blasts in Mumbai in early 1993, which signalled that
the costs of strategies of communal polarisation were indeed going to
be high.
If the BJP and its allies in the Sangh Parivar appeared to be
determined to mount a challenge to the secular and democratic
orientation of the state, the failure of the Congress and other
so-called secular formations to grasp the true import of this
challenge to Indian nationhood contributed in large measure to the
increasing alienation of the minority communities. The carnage in
Gujarat in 2002, perceived as having the implicit support of the
state administration, which saw more than a thousand people killed in
the violence targeting ordinary Muslims, has clearly radicalised some
of the elements of the community, driving them to extreme forms of
anti-social and destructive behaviour.
The latest wave of terrorist bombings, which surfaced first in Jaipur
in May 2008, then in Ahmedabad in July, and recently in Delhi, have
an eerily similar pattern in timing and execution. These terrorist
strikes have all been traced back to the Students Islamic Movement of
India (SIMI) and a sinister new group that has emerged from the
shadows, calling itself the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and cold-bloodedly
claiming responsibility for these gruesome and homicidal attacks.
The sudden escalation of terrorist attacks is clearly designed to
suggest that a war of sorts against the Indian state is in progress.
The IM aggressively declared that the terror strikes in Gujarat were
"revenge" or "Qisaas", an Islamic concept of "equal punishment," for
the Gujarat pogrom; it has also implied that the terrorist attack in
Delhi was a similar retributory act. That Islamist terrorism has
become a full-blown phenomenon and taken on a life of its own, with
dangerous links to a larger global network, suggests that it is still
regrettably able to draw momentum from the fact that there is a
continuing crisis of confidence among the minority communities as
regards the Indian state.
It is true that initially the Manmohan Singh administration made
earnest efforts to reach out to the minority communities. One
path-breaking initiative was the commissioning of the Sachar
Committee report, which highlighted the deep deficiencies and
deprivation that exist among the Muslim community, thus exposing the
hollowness of the propaganda that minorities are being 'appeased.'
However, recent events have served to undermine this promising start.
In the controversy relating to the Amarnath Shrine Board, the UPA
should have made it emphatically clear that there was no question of
entertaining the proposition that state land could be handed over to
the Shrine Board.
The failure to unambiguously uphold a basic tenet of the Indian
Constitution, that the state should not mediate in religious
activities or allow its properties to be used for religious purposes,
was a dismaying indication that the UPA was yielding to Hindu
cultural nationalist pressures. The provocative economic blockade of
the Kashmir Valley by the Jammu-based activists of the Amarnath
Sangarsh Samiti, with the encouragement of the BJP and the VHP,
reopened old wounds and gave a lease of life to what was until then a
moribund separatist agitation. This dalliance with the politics of
Hindu cultural nationalism, particularly in the context of the
Kashmir issue, marked a senseless tactical blunder on the part of the
Congress-led UPA.
It has become imperative for the Congress leadership, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, and party president Sonia Gandhi to acknowledge that
costly mistakes have been made in the recent period. The latest
savagery displayed by Bajrang Dal activists against Christians in
Orissa and Karnataka shows that Hindu nationalism is trying to stage
a comeback in the political arena. With general elections a few
months away, it is clear why the BJP and the Sangh Parivar find it
useful to return to the strategies of majoritarian Hindu communalism.
A weak-kneed response on the part of the Congress at this critical
juncture will invite disaster. The Prime Minister is justifiably
elated over his foreign policy coup in having India beat the odds and
become a member of an elite group of nuclear power nations. But he
must also remember that India's greatness and national pride lie
primarily in the astonishing success story of its secular democracy.
It is that ethos of secular nationalism that provided the
underpinning for India's economic advance and increasing global
significance.
The failure to act decisively and punitively against anti-social
saboteurs, be it Bajrang Dal militants or Islamist terrorists, will
cost the UPA dearly. The costs of prevarication are too high. The
time has come to affirm assertively that India cannot survive as a
republic unless the structure of its democracy is anchored firmly to
a secular national vision. The Congress party must take the lead in
launching a nationwide struggle against the destructive forces of
cultural nationalism. Such a campaign should also make clear that
India's future as a nation-state is critically tied to its capacity
to uphold the original commitment to its citizens to provide secular
and democratic governance.
______
[5]
Times of India
22 Sep 2008
GIVE THEM A CHANCE
by Ajay K Mehra
The reported rejection of the Sachar committee proposal for an Equal
Opportunity Commission (EOC) - for which a distinguished expert group
prepared a blueprint - by the HRD ministry recently invites a
holistic debate. The Sachar Committee recommended equal opportunity
and diversity perspectives to deal with the discrimination and
disabilities the oppressed and dispossessed face in a diverse India:
"It is a well accepted maxim in law that not only must justice be
done, but it must appear to be done... the committee recommends that
an EOC should be constituted by the government to look into the
grievances of deprived groups."
Consequently, the government of India set up two expert groups - one
chaired by N R Madhava Menon to design an EOC and the other chaired
by Amitabh Kundu to design a Diversity Index to measure diversity in
public spaces (education, employment and housing). Obviously, the
discourse on issues in the Sachar committee report deserves
elaboration with the three reports now in the public domain.
The concern of the Sachar committee was "an urgent need to recognise
diversity in residential, work and educational spaces" and "to ensure
equity and equality of opportunity to bring about inclusion" in a
manner "that diversity is achieved and at the same time the
perception of discrimination is eliminated". The committee,
therefore, recommended that the "idea of providing certain incentives
to a 'Diversity Index' should be explored."
The Madhava Menon group envisaged the EOC to "address the concerns of
all deprived groups, with respect to equality of opportunity in
education, employment and other sectors in a proactive manner."
Arguing that the idea of equality was founded on the provisions
relating to the Right to Equality in Part III of the Constitution of
India (Articles 14-17 and 29), considerably strengthened by the
Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV, which expand the
scope of the idea of equality beyond political equality to include
equality in the socio-economic sphere (particularly Articles 38, 39,
41, 43, 45-47), it stressed an urgent "need to develop a wide variety
of context-sensitive, evidence-based policy options that can be
tailored to meet specific requirements."
As the Indian nation enters its diamond jubilee decade of
independence, the aspirations for equal opportunities among those
from socially excluded groups are growing. The demands of the
disadvantaged are best summed in the words of former US president,
Lyndon Johnson, who said: "We seek not just freedom but opportunity.
We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as
a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a
result... To this end equal opportunity is essential, but not enough,
not enough."
The demand for a job quota for the OBCs, the assertion for
application of such criterion cutting across religious lines,
increasing contestations on majority-minority issues, attacks
(physical and political) by the majoritarianists on hyphenated
identities such as Christian- Dalits, Muslim-Dalits, Christian and
Muslim OBCs and Christian-tribals, invite public policy interventions
on equal opportunities supervised by an autonomous institution.
The Amitabh Kundu-led expert group on the Diversity Index, on the
other hand, based its analysis and recommendations on the fact of
concentration of individuals in "say, a housing complex, an
educational institution or a production distribution unit" not
because of personal choice, but because of "discrimination and the
denial of opportunities to groups that are different, not on grounds
of merit, but on grounds of their ethnic characteristics or group
affiliations". Admitting the complexity of representing diversity
across multiple social spaces in India, the expert group attempted a
pathway beyond reservation, in developing an index to measure
diversity for the purpose.
Taking its cue from diversity indices used in ecology to measure the
number of species in an ecosystem, the Kundu group applies it to the
contentious arena of social diversity, an exercise that was attempted
by the 'USA Today' in 1991 to measure that any two people are of a
particular race in the US society. In the Indian case, first
measuring, and then increasing, social diversity in public spaces is
built on the notion of fair and proportional representation of the
social mosaic consisting of religious, linguistic, caste, tribe, race
and gender identities.
Social exclusions of the past and present in a competitive and
volatile democratic milieu make the representational dimension
complex. Faced with operationalising the proposed Diversity Index,
the expert group has recommended a diversity commission entrusted
with the complexity of applying incentive and disincentive mechanisms.
Indeed, this makes the fear of a multiplicity of institutions a real
one. The three expert group reports nevertheless are a result of the
first serious attempt in the country to look at diversity beyond
caste, communal and sectarian prisms. They deserve an integrated
reading if we are to debate and critique their proposals. Any
rejection of their proposals before such a debate is like throwing
the baby out with the bathwater.
The writer is a member of the expert group on the Diversity Index.
______
[6] Proposed Protest letter to Director-General of Police of Chattisgarh State
Univ. of California, Berkeley, invites Director-General of Police of
Chattisgarh State
If you are in the academia, this is a special request to you. It came
to me only today; I have endorsed it, and am obliged to send it to
you all in the hope that those in the academia, in North America or
else where, will kindly add their name to the growing list. IT MUST
BE DONE RIGHT AWAY.
Of all the academic places in North America, it is the University of
California, Berkeley, that has invited the Director-General of Police
of the Chattisgarh State in India to be a speaker at a seminar on
"Indian Democracy: Justice and the Law",
The note below is self explanatory. If you agree with the protest
letter, kindly send your e-mail to:
"Aravinda <paravinda at gmail.com>"
listing your
i) Name,
ii) Title/Designation and
iii) Affiliation
you could copy it to us at <sansad at sansad.org> too.
Many thanks
hari sharma
for SANSAD
This note is to ask for your endorsement of the attached protest
letter to Mr. Vishwa Ranjan, the Director-General of Police of
Chhattisgarh. You may remember that the Chhattisgarh state
government has imprisoned noted physician and human rights activist
Dr. Binayak Sen for the last 16 months. Despite an international
campaign to ensure due process, including an appeal signed by 22
Nobel laureates, Dr. Sen and other human rights activists, lawyers
and journalists in Chhattisgarh continue to be harrassed by the
Chhattisgarh police.
This coming Saturday, the DGP is an invited speaker at a panel on
Chhattisgarh as part of a seminar at UC Berkeley on Indian Democracy,
entitled "Justice and the law." The seminar is organized by the
Center for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley and the Foundation for
Democratic Reforms in India (fdri.org). In light of what's happening
in Chhattisgarh, the participation of the top police official of
Chhattisgarh in a seminar about Justice and Law in India assumes
special significance. We've attached the draft of a protest letter to
the DGP, which we plan to hand-deliver to the DGP this Saturday. We
hope you will sign on to the letter, and also forward this request to
your colleagues. Please send your endorsement to "Aravinda
<paravinda at gmail.com>" listing your
i) Name,
ii) Title/Designation and
iii) Affiliation
To: Mr. Vishwa Ranjan, Director-General of Police, Chhattisgarh
We, concerned members of university and college faculties, write to
condemn the ongoing violations of the human and civil rights of its
citizens by the state of Chhattisgarh, primarily through the agency
of your department, the Chhattisgarh police force. These violations
include the arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention of hundreds of
people, including Dr. Binayak Sen, an internationally respected
provider of medical services to Chhattisgarh's tribal communities,
threats and assaults against civil liberties activists, lawyers and
journalists, and most egregious of all, the growing depredations of
the state security forces, including the police and the so-called
special police officers (SPOs), as well as the state-sponsored
violent militia known as the Salwa Judum. We regret to note that not
only have you been unsuccessful in halting these violations of human
rights, but you have actively justified them and accused anyone
opposing them as "demoralis[ing] the state machinery."
In a report released this past July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has
documented in detail the human rights abuses committed by the Salwa
Judum against civilians in Chhattisgarh. HRW's report gives the lie
to your oft repeated claim that the Salwa Judum is a spontaneous
unarmed peaceful anti-Naxalite movement by documenting eyewitness
accounts of "police participating in violent Salwa Judum raids on
villages - killing, looting, and burning their hamlets." Similar to
earlier investigative reports by the Independent Citizen's Initiative
and a joint report by the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL)
and People's Union for Democratic Rights, among others, the HRW
report also documents the arbitrary detentions and torture of
villagers by the Chhattisgarh police. Reporters without Borders
noted with concern that "[journalists] are prevented from reporting
and investigating by corrupt politicians, police and Salwa Judum
members, many receiving harassment, intimidation and beating ...
Currently journalists report from press releases produced by the
government or risk their life and career by reporting objectively
both sides of the struggle."
Perhaps the best-known case of a non-violent dissenter being arrested
and jailed in Chhattisgarh is that of Dr. Binayak Sen, a prominent
and early critic of the Salwa Judum and of state violence. Dr. Sen, a
physician serving the poorest and most marginalized communities in
the interior and tribal areas of Chhattisgarh for more than 25 years,
has been a guiding light for peace and community health. He has won
many awards for his work, including the Paul Harrison Award in 2004
from CMC Vellore, his alma mater, from which he had been graduated
over 30 years ago following a most distinguished academic career, and
most recently the Jonathan Mann Award from the Global Health Council
in May 2008. Binayak Sen appears to have earned the government's ire
by being a vocal critic of the high-handed and illegal ways adopted
by the state in the name of suppressing the Maoist insurgency in
Chhattisgarh. For instance, investigations by ETV-Madhya Pradesh and
others had exposed that 12 alleged Maoists, killed by the police in
Santoshpur village in a supposed gunfight on March 31, 2007, were
unarmed tribals executed at close range. Dr. Sen's insistence, along
with others, finally forced the Chhattisgarh State Human Rights
Commission to take note of this investigation and order the bodies of
the victims exhumed. Shortly afterward, Dr. Sen was arrested. Not
only have you and the state prosecutor failed to present any legally
valid evidence against Dr. Sen, the responsible police officers
appear to be blatantly concocting fables and planting false evidence.
Other citizens who have been harrassed by the police include:
Amarnath Pandey and DP Yadav, two lawyers who had filed lawsuits
regarding the 'encounter killing' of one Narayan Khairwar and the
custodial rape of one Ledha Bai; filmmaker Ajay TG, a member of the
State Executive Committee of the Chhattisgarh Unit of PUCL, and
journalist Sai Reddy, both of whom had to be released on bail when
the police failed to file a chargesheet even after ninety days;
Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, an NGO that implements
implements government programs on health, nutrition, and education,
for the 'crime' of assisting fact-finding teams investigating human
rights abuses; journalists Santosh Poonyem and Kamlesh Paikra for
daring to write about the violence committed by Salwa Judum; and even
the participants at the third annual meeting of Chhattisgarh Net
(www.cgnet.in), an online citizen journalism initiative.
It bears noting that such actions by the law enforcement machinery of
any state are not only in violation of the laws of India, but also
run counter to India's international treaty obligations. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), which
India acceded to in 1979, declares in relevant part that:
* All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that
right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development. (Article 1.1)
* Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall
be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life. (Article (6.1)
* No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. (Article 7)
* Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. (Article 9.1)
* Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention
shall have an enforceable right to compensation. (Article 9.5)
* All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with
humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human
person. (Article 10.1)
We strongly urge you, as the highest police official in the state of
Chhattisgarh, to:
* Follow in letter and spirit, the values enshrined in the
Indian Constitution and the CCPR.
* Stop encouraging an all-out civil war in Chhattisgarh through your
support of the Salwa Judum. The extra-judicial killings by the state
security forces and the SPOs are so distasteful and blatant that the
Supreme Court of India recently noted that this amounts to abetment
of murder by state officials. Excesses committed by the security
forces, as documented in a recent NHRC report, were deemed "very
painful to read" by the Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India.
* Stop victimizing dissenters in Chhattisgarh. Drop all charges
against political prisoners, including Dr Binayak Sen, filmmaker Mr.
Ajay TG, journalist Mr. Saii Reddy. Release all political prisoners
unconditionally, pay compensation for the harassment and loss of
liberty they have suffered due to their unwarranted detention, and
arrest and prosecute state officials and police officers involved in
harassing, arresting and holding all these political prisoners.
* Ensure a just and honest governance that improves the lives of
millions of desperately poor people in Chhattisgarh.
Signed,
______
[7] Announcements:
The Centre for Policy Analysis cordially invites you for a
Discussion on:
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE: AGAINST CHRISTIANS AND OTHER MINORITIES
at Conference Room I
India International Centre
Lodhi Estate on
Friday, September 26,2008
At 2.0 p.m.
The discussion will be joined by senior leaders from the
CPI(M), CPI, BSP, TDP and other political parties.
S.P.Shukla
Deepak Nayar
Anuradha Chenoy
Kamal Morarka
Seema Mustafa
---
A Maoist Vision for a New Nepal
A Public Talk by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), Prime Minister of Nepal,
friday September 26th, 2008
September 26, 2008
6:00-8:00 pm (must be seated by 5:45)
Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall
66 W. 12-th St. (Corner of 5th Ave. and 12th St.)
New York City
[event flyer:
http://tinyurl.com/47bz7q ]
Nepal's Prime Minister, *Pushpa Kamal Dahal*, also known as Prachanda
(`The Fierce One'), came to power in August 2008 following his party's
success in the country's first-ever Constituent Assembly elections.
Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and leader of its
People's Liberation Army, he led a decade-long People's War
(1996-2006) with the goals of ending Nepal's monarchy and creating a
new federal
republic.
Introductory remarks will be by:
Professor Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political
and Social Theory, The New School.
Q&A session moderated by:
Kul Chandra Gautam, Senior Fellow, India China Institute.
Admission is free and open to the public. Limited seating on a first
come basis. Seating must be completed by 5:45 pm.
Co-sponsored by: Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Nepal |
American Nepal Friendship Society | Association of Nepali Tarain in
America | Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Nepal in America |
United Nepalese Democratic Forum | Ashikaar | Nepalese Americas
Council |
Friends of Nepal-New Jersey
- - -
[Delayed Announcement]
White House Prayer Vigil Press Release
Published : Sep 23, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: John PD
September 23, 2008
Office: 202-547-6228
Cell: 301 346 5736
Announcing The Prayer Rally To Highlight The Violence Against
Christians In India During Prime Minister Singh's Visit To The White
House.
The Prime Minister Of India Mr. Manmohan Singh Is Meeting President
Bush To Sign The Nuclear Agreement On Thursday At The White House. We
Will Be Holding Our Prayer Rally Out Side The White House At The Same
Time To Draw Attention To The unprecedented Levels Of Religious
Violence Against Christians In India By Extremist Religious Radicals.
Event: Rally Demanding An End To The Violence Against Christians In India
Time And Date: September 25. 2008, 2 PM
Venue: Lafayette Square (in Front Of The White House), Washington DC.
Background:
Radical Religious Extremist Outfits Like VHP (World Hindu Council)
And RSS (National Hindu Volunteer Corps), Both Associated With
India's Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Have Unleashed A
Wave Of Unprecedented Level Of Violence And Bloodshed Against
Christians In The Indian States Of Orissa And Karnataka For The Past
Several Weeks.
Members Belonging To VHP/RSS/BJP Have Killed Or Burnt Alive At Least
49 Christian Priests, Nuns And Members Of Local Congregations. Over
300 Churches (among Them 90% Catholic And Protestant Churches),
Besides Number Of Convents/orphanages Were Burnt Or Destroyed; Over
3000 Houses Belonging To Christian Villagers Were Burnt And Destroyed.
On Christmas Eve, Nine Months Ago, Violence Exploded Against The
Christians In Orissa. Number Of Churches And Convents Were Burnt And
Over 100,000 Christians Were Forced To Flee Their Homes On The Day Of
Christmas. This Is The Same State Where An Australian Missionary,
Graham Stains And His Two Young Boys (10 And 12 Years Old) Were Burnt
Alive In 1999 By The Same Hindu Religious Groups. Orissa Is
Projecting An Image That They Love To Burn People Alive.
VHP/RSS/BJP Members Claim That The Christian Mission Work And The
Christian Schools Are Causing Religious Conversions. Underground
Maoist Insurgent Have Reportedly Gunned Down A Hindu Leader
Laxanananda Saraswati On August 23rd Who Was Engaged In Forceful
Re-conversions Of Christians Into Hindu Faith. Though Christian
Leaders Have Condemned The Killing The VHP, RSS And BJP Leaders Took
Advantage Of This Assassination, To Mount An Offensive Against The
Christians.
On August 27, Pope Benedict Condemned This Ongoing Violence In
Orissa Saying He Was, "profoundly Saddened By The Violence That Has
Left As Least 11 People Dead (official Count As On Aug 27), nearly
All Christians And By Destruction Of Christian Homes, Churches And
Orphanages At The Hands Of Hindu Mobs In Orissa". But International
Leaders, Including The US And UK Have Largely Remained Silent So Far.
Today, It Is Shameful To Allow Such Things To Take Place While India
Is On Its Way To Becoming An Economic Power. This Kind Of Behavior
Needs To Be Discouraged If India Must Become A Member Of The
Civilized Global Society.
Mr. Narendra Modi: What Is Happening In The States Of Orissa And
Karnataka Are Very Similar To The Tactics They Used Successfully In
Another Indian State - Gujarat In 2002. There Also, The Chief
Minister Of The State Ordered The Police To Stand Down While
VHP/RSS/BJP Party Workers Enjoyed A Free Hand In Killing And Burning
The Properties Of Muslims. (under The International Religious Freedom
Act Of 1998 Mr. Narendra Modi Has Been Banned From Entering The US
Since 2005)
US Based Organizations Affiliated To These Radical Indian Religious
Outfits Support A Number Of Things From Restricting The
Constitutional Rights Of People To Follow A Religion Of Their Own
Choice, To Supporting The Creation Of A Hindu Religious State In
India.
Groups In The US, Affiliated Or Sympathetic To VHP/RSS/BJP,
Operating As Cultural, Social And Business Associations, Often Spread
False Propaganda And Hate Against Christians. These Outfits Accuse
Church Based Services Such As Education Of Tribal Children, Rural
Primary Health Care In Remote Areas And Safe Drinking Water Projects
In Villages As A "part Of An Effort To Convert People To
Christianity". These Groups In The US Raise Funds Under Various
Banners But These Funds Often End Up Being Used For Staging Violent
Attacks Against Christians.
Demands: We Ask The US And International Governments To Strongly
Condemn This Religious Violence Directed Against A Particular Group
Solely Because Of Their Religious Faith And To Tell The Prime
Minister Of India To Do All That Is Necessary To Provide Adequate
Security To The People Of Orissa And Karnataka. US And Members Of
Other International Community Must Tell The Prime Minister Of India
That He Should Not Risk India's Friendship With The Rest Of The World
By Allowing The Culprits To Walk Away Freely.
We Ask The US To Help Hold The People Responsible For This Violence
Accountable And Bar Them From Entering The US As Per The
International Religious Freedom Act Of 1998 Passed By The US Congress.
We Ask The Justice Department To Investigate The Activities And Fund
Raising Efforts By Organizations Affiliated To Radical Hindu Groups
In The US And How These Funds Used For Supporting Violence Against
Christian Religious Groups.
Rev. Bernard Malik,
President
110 Maryland Ave, NE Suite 506, Washington, DC 20002. P:202 547 6228
F:866 844 8316 WWW.FIACONA.ORG
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
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