SACW | Oct. 6-7, 2008 / French want Afghan dictator / Whose Sri Lanka / India Sleeps, Fascism Creeps

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | October 6-7, 2008 | Dispatch No. 2577 -  
Year 11 running

[1] Afghanistan:
   - Afghan ‘Dictator’ Proposed in Leaked Cable (Elaine Sciolino)
   - The Guests at Kabul's Garden Parties (Nick Grono and Joanna Nathan)
[2] Sri Lanka: To whom does the country belong? (Jehan Perera)
[3] India administered Kashmir:
  - On confrontation course (Kashmir Times)
[4] India Sleeps While Fascism Seeps Into Its Pores
- Communalism, Centrestage (Shabnam Hashmi)
- Alienated Generation (Mushirul Hasan)
- A Report on Bangalore Citizens Rally Against Communalism (The Hindu)
- Full Text of the Report by Commission of Enquiry Consisting of  
Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta
[5] Pakistan: Surviving on the Faultline: 3 years after the  
earthquake . . .realities of people’s lives (Omar Asghar Khan  
Foundation)
[6] Announcements:
(i) Bombay silent rally to protest anti christian violence in India  
(Bombay, 8th October 2008)
(ii) Film Screening: "The Road to Kansat”: Latest documentary by  
Tareque and Catherine Masud (Dhaka, 9,10 October 2008)
(iii) Book Release: 'Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop' by Anand  
Teltumbe (New Delhi, 16 October 2008)

______


[1] Afghanistan:

(i) AFGHAN ‘DICTATOR’ PROPOSED IN LEAKED CABLE


by Elaine Sciolino
Published: October 4, 2008, on page A8 of the New York Times

PARIS — A coded French diplomatic cable leaked to a French newspaper  
quotes the British ambassador in Afghanistan as predicting that the  
NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban will fail. That was  
not all. The best solution for the country, the ambassador said,  
would be installing an “acceptable dictator,” according to the  
newspaper.


“The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting  
worse, so is corruption, and the government has lost all trust,” the  
British envoy, Sherard Cowper-Coles, was quoted as saying by the  
author of the cable, François Fitou, the French deputy ambassador to  
Kabul.

The two-page cable — which was sent to the Élysée Palace and the  
French Foreign Ministry on Sept. 2, and was leaked to the  
investigative and satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné, which printed  
excerpts in its Wednesday issue — said that the NATO-led military  
presence was making it harder to stabilize the country.

“The presence of the coalition, in particular its military presence,  
is part of the problem, not part of its solution,” Sir Sherard was  
quoted as saying. “Foreign forces are the lifeline of a regime that  
would rapidly collapse without them. As such, they slow down and  
complicate a possible emergence from the crisis.”

Within 5 to 10 years, the only “realistic” way to unite Afghanistan  
would be for it to be “governed by an acceptable dictator,” the cable  
said, adding, “We should think of preparing our public opinion” for  
such an outcome.

Sir Sherard, as quoted, was critical of both American presidential  
candidates, who have vowed, if elected, to substantially increase  
American military support for Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

In the short run, “It is the American presidential candidates who  
must be dissuaded from getting further bogged down in Afghanistan,”  
he is quoted as saying.

On Wednesday, General David D. McKiernan, the senior American  
military commander in Afghanistan, called on NATO to send more troops  
and other support as soon as possible to counter the insurgency.

British officials said that the comments attributed to Sir Sherard  
were distorted and did not reflect official British policy.

“It’s not for us to comment on something that is presented as  
extracts from a French diplomatic telegram, but the views it quotes  
are not in any way an accurate representation of the government’s  
approach,” said a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office, who,  
like other French and British officials, spoke on the condition of  
anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.

The spokeswoman confirmed, however, that the two men did have a  
meeting, but said that the British ambassador’s comments were taken  
out of context. But Sir Sherard, a British career Foreign Service  
officer who has served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Israel, is  
known for his frank talk, and other British officials who know him  
say that his words ring true.

Mr. Fitou, meanwhile, is considered a responsible and precise  
diplomat who would be unlikely to misreport a conversation, a senior  
French official said. The cable did not say whether the two men spoke  
in English or French.

French officials, who said they were deeply embarrassed about what  
they called a serious leak, criticized the broad dissemination of the  
cable and have started a leak investigation.

The senior French official described it as a “diplomatic disaster”  
that could put French soldiers at more risk.

Reached by telephone, Seyamak Herawy, a spokesman for President Hamid  
Karzai, attributed Afghanistan’s problems, in part, to the  
“multiplicity in the viewpoints of the international community about  
Afghanistan.”

Claude Angeli, one of the executive editors of Le Canard Enchaîné and  
the author of the article, defended its publication.

“This is not the first time we have been the target of a leak  
investigation,” he said in a telephone interview. “The cable is  
authentic, and we reported its contents accurately.”

The pessimistic British analysis comes as France has increased its  
troops in Afghanistan amid concern over a further erosion of popular  
support for French troops present there.

At the last NATO summit meeting in April, President Nicolas Sarkozy  
announced that he would send an additional 700 French soldiers to  
fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, bringing the total to about 3,000.  
He was criticized by the Socialist opposition, criticisms that grew  
louder after the deaths of 10 French soldiers in a Taliban ambush in  
August.

The deaths represented the highest death toll suffered by France in a  
military attack since the bombing of a French barracks in Beirut in  
1983 that killed 58 French paratroopers.

In his cable to Paris, Mr. Fitou quoted the British ambassador as  
saying that the reinforcement of military troops “would have perverse  
effects: it would identify us even more strongly as an occupation  
force and would multiply the targets” for the insurgents.

The cable also quoted the British envoy as saying that despite public  
statements to the contrary, “the insurgency, although still incapable  
of a military victory, has the capacity to make life more and more  
difficult, including in the capital.”

Acknowledging that there is no option other than supporting the  
Americans in Afghanistan, the ambassador reportedly added, “but we  
must tell them that we want to be part of a winning strategy, not a  
losing one.” The American strategy, he is quoted as saying, “is  
destined to fail.”

Sarah Lyall contributed reporting from London, and Sangar Rahimi from  
Kabul.


(ii)

The Boston Globe
7 September 2008

"THE GUESTS AT KABUL'S GARDEN PARTIES"

by Nick Grono and Joanna Nathan


Summer in Afghanistan is the fighting season, and the time for Kabul  
garden parties. At diplomatic, military, and donor agency receptions  
it is always interesting to count the number of known and rumored  
drug lords and human rights abusers in attendance.

This socializing sits incongruously with calls from the international  
community for President Hamid Karzai to stand up to the very same  
people. The Afghan administration does indeed need to demonstrate a  
real commitment to combating corruption and narcotics, so as to build  
accountable and sustainable institutions. But it will cost Karzai  
real political capital to move against high-level corruption and  
abuse, particularly in an environment of increasingly entrenched  
patronage, approaching elections, and vulnerability heightened by the  
insurgency.

Yet while the international community demands that Karzai take the  
tough measures, its member states are not prepared to do the simplest  
of things themselves. They need to stop inviting such people to  
receptions; and take them off the itineraries of visiting high-level  
delegations; stop providing them with visas and travel to Western  
capitals; raise questions about the foreign properties and assets  
they buy that are way beyond the means of someone on a government  
salary; and target senior officials, instead of their minions.

One of the most striking examples of everything wrong in Kabul is  
Sher Pur, a suburb right next to the main diplomatic enclave.  
Ministry of Defense land - public land - was parceled out to a number  
of members of the transitional government in 2003 for nominal fees,  
and existing occupants were forcibly removed. The UN special  
rapporteur on the right to housing raised the alarm at the time, but  
was criticized by others in the international community who didn't  
want to cause waves. Massive, gaudy mansions - many it is widely  
assumed funded from questionable sources - have now been built on  
this land. And who are the new tenants? Embassies and foreign  
contractors, putting thousands of dollars a month in these landlords'  
pockets.

The use of private security firms is another example of double  
standards. Foreigners demand that Afghans disarm their militias - and  
have paid millions for disarmament programs. But these groups often  
reinvent themselves as private security firms, and in many cases are  
then employed by foreign companies and organizations. It is the  
networks, rather than the guns in a country awash with weapons, that  
are important. The militia structures are kept intact, with the  
salary tab picked up by members of the international community.

The international community continues to seek to co-opt warlords and  
commanders, turning a blind eye to their abuses and perpetuating the  
deeply flawed strategy of the past six years. Some say that now is  
not the time to demand accountability for past abuses - but this  
often appears to be code for ignoring illegal activities by those  
prepared to mouth allegiance to the government and the fight against  
the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The UN drug agency has pointed out that the  
international military continues to ignore the involvement by some  
"allies" in the drug trade, in exchange for information.

The result of all this is that nascent institutions are corrupted  
from the outset. This creates incentives against stable and effective  
government, as corrupt government officials require instability to  
continue their illegal trade. Their interests are not those of the  
international community - nor those of the ordinary citizen. Cronyism  
and corruption among the favored few feed Taliban recruitment,  
fueling the insurgency, not quelling it.

The population watches with increasing dismay and anger as those  
responsible for so much of the country's recent violence entrench  
themselves and share out the spoils of billions in foreign assistance  
and state assets. And as foreigners fete and fund them, Afghans  
understandably view them as complicit. Foreign powers must now set an  
example in words and actions, as well as by placing demands on the  
newly entrenched Afghan elite.

Most of the population still sees the international community's  
intervention as the best chance of a life free from entrenched  
violence. But sometimes we make it very hard for them to trust us and  
the system we are helping build.

_____


[2] Sri Lanka:

New Age
October 7, 2008

TO WHOM DOES THE COUNTRY BELONG?

Those who are in agreement with General Fonseka’s assessment that Sri  
Lanka is a Sinhalese country need to put his statement in context. In  
an earlier statement, General Fonseka said that even if the LTTE is  
militarily defeated and the territory under its control is got back,  
the ethnic conflict will not end, Jehan Perera writes from Colombo


THE belief that victory on the military battlefield is imminent is  
bringing out inner feelings that are often suppressed by gentility  
and the desire not to offend others. Things not commonly said before  
in public in recent years are now being said so publicly with victory  
believed to be in sight. This is not unique to Sri Lanka, nor is it  
new to us. When the Tamil militancy seemed to be on the winning track  
there were those who referred to the militants as their boys, much to  
chagrin of their ethnic counterparts.
    Now the opposite seems to be the case. Army commander Sarath  
Fonseka’s much-quoted public statement that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese  
country and the ethnic minorities should not make undue demands is  
only one expression of Sinhalese nationalism. The army commander’s  
sense of national pride quite possibly has a wider Sinhalese  
consensus behind it. It is a Sinhalese construct. But it is not one  
owned or professed by either Tamils or Muslims, and in fact it has  
been denounced by the political leaders of those communities. It is  
not only the ethnic minorities who should not make undue demands of  
the state.
    When Fonseka speaks today there is a strong national and  
international inclination to listen to him. This is because he has  
promised much and also delivered much. He has given leadership to a  
resurgent Sri Lankan military and to the majority of Sinhalese who  
believe that a military victory over the LTTE is achievable. The  
LTTE’s strongholds that seemed impenetrable even a few months ago  
have been falling one after the other. Also the blame or credit for  
equating Sinhalese nationalism with Sri Lankan nationalism cannot be  
given to the army commander alone.
    The inability or the unwillingness of the political leadership of  
the government to contradict General Fonseka is revealing. It  
indicates that the dominant beliefs of the present government may be  
in conformity with those of Sinhalese nationalism. So General Fonseka  
is not speaking alone. He is speaking along with the government. But  
he is not only speaking for the government. He is also saying what  
government allies such as the JHU and opposition parties such as the  
JVP have also been saying.

    Sinhalese belief
    The opinion that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese country is not a new  
one. It is also there in the ancient history of the Sinhalese,  
compiled in the historical chronicle, the Mahavamsa, more than 1500  
years ago. The Mahavamsa records that Lord Buddha himself directed  
the Gods to protect Lanka and the Sinhalese with the duty of  
safeguarding Buddhism in the millennia to come. This thinking is  
deeply ingrained in the belief system of many Sinhalese including, it  
appears, the country’s political leaders.
    When I was a student doing research on the ethnic conflict many  
years ago, I stayed in a Sinhalese village in the North Western  
province. The farmer I stayed with was named ‘Ravul Dharme’ on  
account of his long beard. He explained to me that he had made a  
promise not to cut his beard until the government of the day was  
removed from power. As that government stayed in office for 17 years,  
his beard was exceedingly long. One day I asked him what was the  
cause of the ethnic conflict. He said it was easy to understand, and  
immediately launched into his explanation.
    Ravul Dharme had given me the front room of his house to stay in  
which was like an annex and could be separated from the rest of the  
house simply by closing the main door. He said, ‘You are my guest and  
I have given you the front room of my house to stay in for as long as  
you like.’ I thanked him. Then he went on to say, ‘Suppose that after  
staying here for six months you suddenly announced that this front  
room now belonged to you, would that not be unfair?’ I agreed with  
him. He replied that this was what the Tamils were trying to do to  
the Sinhalese.
    The relative absence of protest or dissent from members of the  
Sinhalese community to the words of the army commander either  
indicates that they also agree with him or they are not prepared to  
challenge him. Either way this would be a blow to the ethnic  
minorities who number about a quarter of the country’s population.  
They too are legally equal citizens of the country, with Sri Lankan  
identity cards and voting rights, and passports if they travel  
abroad. They are neither intruders nor outsiders. They too belong to  
the country, and the country belongs to them.

    Dissenting voice
    In the recent past there have been only a handful of prominent  
leaders from amongst the Sinhalese people who have been prepared to  
publicly challenge the forces of Sinhalese nationalism. One very  
special leader was former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
    Unfortunately, she delayed too long to have a real and lasting  
impact on the people. It was only in her last years in office that  
she rose most magnificently to the great duty she had before her, to  
educate the country about its being a multiethnic and multi-religious  
one. She delivered speech after speech, but before she could convert  
words into deeds, her time at the top was up.
    At the time that President Kumaratunga left office, more than 70  
per cent of those polled in public opinion polls expressed support  
for a political solution to the ethnic conflict rather than a  
military solution. But three years later, the good work that the  
former president did has been eroded by the nationalist propaganda of  
the present time, and the proportions are almost reversed amongst the  
majority Sinhalese component population. This support for militarism  
over political reform is also due to the LTTE’s intransigence and  
predictions of total victory over the LTTE that is said to be near at  
hand.
    Those who are in agreement with General Fonseka’s assessment that  
Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese country need to put his statement in  
context. In an earlier statement, General Fonseka said that even if  
the LTTE is militarily defeated and the territory under its control  
is got back, the ethnic conflict will not end. He predicted that a  
thousand cadres from the remnants of the LTTE could remain active to  
destabilise the country for another twenty years, and it was even  
possible that the ethnic conflict would continue indefinitely.
    Obtaining conditions of peace in a multiethnic, multi-religious  
and politically dynamic country requires a measure of consensus not  
only within the largest community, but also between the different  
communities. It is unlikely that the Tamil political consciousness  
that has sought power sharing, autonomy and equal rights for over  
seventy years, since the time of the Donoughmore Constitution of the  
pre-independence period, can be suppressed by military means. It is  
more likely that resentment will permeate the Tamil people in the  
absence of a negotiated political solution that they believe is just  
to them. In such a situation, even in defeat, the LTTE is likely to  
retain sufficient Tamil support both locally and from the expatriate  
Tamil community to continue to survive to fight, destabilise and  
impoverish Sri Lanka for the foreseeable future.
    Regardless of the battles to come, and to be won, there is a need  
for a political solution that will bring an end to the ethnic  
conflict. The willing consent of the ethnic minorities is necessary  
for such a lasting and stable solution. A political solution that is  
based on military victory and Sinhalese supremacy cannot be  
acceptable to any self respecting member of the ethnic minorities.  
This is the type of thinking that can lead to everlasting war. A  
viable political solution can only based on the position that Sri  
Lanka belongs equally to all its citizens, be they from the ethnic  
majority or minorities, and finding ways to accommodate all of their  
reasonable aspirations.


_____


[3] Pakistan:

SURVIVING ON THE FAULTLINE: 3 YEARS AFTER THE  
EARTHQUAKE . . .REALITIES OF PEOPLE’S LIVES

In 2007-08, Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation and its local  
community partners in the earthquake-affected areas of Hazara  
conducted research on the government’s rehabilitation policies and  
performance. The findings of the research provide evidence showing:

1. The pace of rehabilitation is unacceptably slow. There is little  
progress against the government’s planned targets for rehabilitation  
which is adversely impacting the lives of people already affected by  
the quake. People’s testimonies of slow pace are also supported by  
ERRA’s own data drawn from its August 2008 report;

2. The government’s rehabilitation policies are not supporting  
people. The research has focused on the government’s subsidy for  
house reconstruction. The analysis shows that even if an affected  
individual/household is able to access the full subsidy amount of Rs. 
175,000, net loss incurred is Rs.23,671. This is due to the out-of- 
pocket expenses incurred to access the subsidy and the opportunity  
costs due to loss of income while pursuing the subsidy. Moreover, the  
value of the subsidy promised in 2006 has nearly halved in 2008 due  
to inflation.

These findings demand urgent policy attention. Without prompt reform  
measures, the people affected by the devastating 2005 earthquake will  
continue to shoulder the burdens placed by ineffective policies that  
are inefficiently implemented.

[. . .]
http://www.sacw.net/article112.html

_____


[4] India Administered Kashmir

Kashmir Times
October 5, 2008

ON CONFRONTATION COURSE
Need of the hour was reconciliation and purposeful dialogue process

Paradoxically the Indian state has opted to embark on a course of  
confrontation, with all its dangerous consequences, with the  
alienated people of Kashmir at a time when there was opportune time  
and right kind of climate for moving forward on the road to peace  
through a process of reconciliation and dialogue for resolving the  
prolonged crisis. With the Governor’s administration, admittedly  
acting on New Delhi’s directions, clamping indefinite curfew as a  
knee-jerk response to the the call for Lal Chowk march on October 6  
and the coordination committee of the so-called separatists  
determined to go ahead with their plan of a massive peaceful  
demonstration the stage is set for a head-on-collision with all its  
dangerous implications. The authorities have already taken steps to  
curb the freedom and movements of a number of “separatist “leaders  
and activists to abort the move for Lal Chowk rally. Syed Ali Shah  
Geelani is under house arrest while Shabir Ahmed Shah and many other  
leaders and activists have been detained under the draconian Public  
Safety Act (PSA). Mohammed Yasin Malik, JKLF chief, who was to lead  
the march was also put under arrest on Saturday and many others are  
similarly being hauled up. Even members of a human rights group which  
arrived in Srinagar on Saturday on a fact finding mission and to look  
into the human rights situation were taken into custody and  
interrogated. These are ominous signs of return to the policy of  
strong-arm methods to deal with the situation and to crush the  
genuine political aspirations of the people by using brutal force,  
which can only prove counter-productive. The coordination committee,  
which gave the call for Lal Chowk march had made it abundantly clear  
that it will be a peaceful rally aimed at reiteration of the people’s  
demand for right of self-determination and inalienable human rights.  
The leaders of the coordination committee have repeated a number of  
times, individually and collectively, that they are opposed to any  
kind of violence and want to pursue only peaceful methods for  
achievement of their right. They, on the eve of the march, had even  
warned those joining the massive rally that neither stone pelting nor  
any other kind of violence will be allowed and tolerated. There was  
certainly no justification in preventing the people from peacefully  
voicing their sentiments and demonstrating for their inalienable  
right to determine their future by imposing curfew, arresting  
political leaders and activists and adopting other coercive measures.  
Holding peaceful rallies and demonstrations is the basic right of the  
people and there was no reason why this right should have been denied  
to them.
Clearly, by adopting a course of confrontation, New Delhi is losing  
another opportunity of finding a peaceful and lasting solution of the  
problem through a process of reconciliation and dialogue. Though firm  
in their resolve to achieve their democratic rights the people in the  
State are yearning for peace and believe that gun is no solution of  
the problem. The separatist leaders too have been reiterating their  
resolve to pursue their struggle for azadi in a peaceful manner. The  
JKLF leader Yasin Malik, who since 1994 has been stressing on a  
peaceful solution of the Kashmir problem, reiterated on October 1 the  
demand for including the people of J&K in the ongoing dialogue  
process between India and Pakistan. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while  
expressing his faith in peaceful struggle, has urged for  
reconciliation and dialogue. He urged New Delhi to adopt  
reconciliatory methods for the solution of the Kashmir problem. Even  
the socalled hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been talking of a  
peaceful struggle for the achievement of the people’s right of self- 
determination. Instead of responding to these gestures positively by  
removing all curbs on the peaceful rallies and demonstrations and  
taking other confidence building measures like release of all  
detainees, scrapping of all draconian laws and reduction of troops  
etc for creating a conducive climate for pursuing the process of  
dialogue, the authorities have opted for harsh and repressive  
measures even to curb the people’s democratic right for peaceful  
rallies and demonstrations. It appears that they have not learnt any  
lesson from the recent past when denial of all democratic channels  
for voicing their genuine demands, feelings and aspirations to the  
people forced them to take guns in their hands for launching a  
violent struggle. The consequences of the present course of  
confrontation and repression, being adopted by the authorities cannot  
be different. They and they alone will be held responsible for any  
ugly situation caused by their policy of brinkmanship.


______


[5] India:

Tehelka
1 October, 2008

COMMUNALISM, CENTRESTAGE

by Shabnam Hashmi

Life and liberty are not the gift of society, state or Constitution  
but inalienable rights of every individual. The flame of liberty will  
glow so long as there are persons who have guts, grit, and vision to  
expose and disprove those nibbling away liberty in the name of  
expedients.


A journalist of a well-known television channel recently asked me why  
the community to which I belong (of human rights activists) always  
takes stands which are opposed to the stand of the whole nation. Can  
the shrill voices of the electronic media replace our whole being?  
Can they replace the Indian Constitution and the rule of law? The  
strong judgements passed by the media after every terror attack,  
every encounter and every arrest of a ‘mastermind’, can sway the  
middle classes and the executives working in the multinational  
companies. But can they stop a nation from questioning?

Even at the height of Hitler’s rule in Germany, when benches on the  
roadside had signs saying, ‘Not for Jews’, someone had the guts to  
put a black cross on them, establishing that such politics of  
genocide was not acceptable.

Though India is being transformed at a fast pace where all minorities  
are being forced to realise that they are second-class citizens, the  
difference is that there are many more people in India who are  
challenging the fascist agenda of those who are in power and others,  
who are desperately trying to capture power in the coming election.

The ascent of these forces has been systematic and well planned.  
Twenty years ago, most of the secular forces believed that the  
communal fascist forces were on the fringe of society and laughed at  
the possibility of their ever moving centerstage. Today the situation  
has reversed — the communal forces are so centrestage, it is  
difficult to differentiate between what is right and what is centre.  
They have invaded all spaces and areas including the minds of our  
secular politicians.

Among the plenty of weapons that they have used in this journey —  
from the peripheral to the Centre — fake encounters occupy a fairly  
important position. They have cleverly used different weapons at  
different stages. Beginning from ordinary bhajan mandalis, they moved  
to more organised kathas, to new age gurus. Working at different  
levels over 15 years — shishu mandirs, shakhas, ekal vidyalayas, sant  
samagams, television serials, the rath yatras, leaflets, videos, CDs  
— they have slowly entered the consciousness of an entire society  
with targeted messages against minorities. Only those sections of  
society who strongly and consciously contested this ideology could  
retain their sanity. After the seeds of hatred were sowed  
successfully and the harvest was being reaped, started the more  
decisive phase — the physical attacks and largescale genocide. Most  
of the experiments were done in Gujarat and the remote areas of other  
states. For example, the experiment within the tribal belts started  
in the late 1960s and early 1970s.Almost simultaneously, the VHP  
swamis then moved into these areas.

Today, we have reached a stage when an innocent person can be killed  
in a fake encounter, and declared a terrorist. A large number of  
innocent young Muslim boys are being victimised by the police on  
charges of terrorism. In most cases, they are not shown to be  
arrested by the police until many days after their arrest in gross  
violation of the law. Their families are also not informed about  
their arrest and while in police custody, they are made to ‘confess’  
and sign blank papers. The courts routinely deny them bail. When the  
police chargesheet them, the trials go on almost endlessly during  
which the poor victims are virtually defenceless. GUJCOC, MCOCA, POTA  
and many other such draconian laws are required only so that the  
statements which the police force out of the victims can be  
considered as evidence.

After years of torture and confinement, when the case against the  
victims is found to be baseless, no action is taken to hold police  
officials accountable. The young patriotic journalists, of course,  
are then not around to report the horrors of all those years lost in  
the dark cells of a jail. Stopping the victimisation of the innocents  
will be the first step towards finding a solution against terrorism.

(Hashmi is a social activist with Anhad)


o o o

Tehelka, Oct 11, 2008

ALIENATED GENERATION

Nobody dare question our commitment to education and the Indian  
Constitution

by Mushirul Hasan

THE EXTENT to which our society is getting polarised along religious  
lines is very disturbing. If this is the state of affairs almost  
seven decades after independence, what might happen a few decades  
later? This is not the time to attribute responsibility to different  
parties or communities. This is a moment of self-reflection; of  
trying to find out what gives rise to this mindless violence.

The other very disquieting fact is how the electronic media and  
sections of the Hindi print media have taken upon themselves the  
responsibility of being the custodian of the nation’s interest. The  
arrogance and intolerance in their coverage reflects a very ominous  
trend in the history of journalism. I have experienced this recently.  
The Jamia incident is not a big affair, it could have been easily  
sorted out, but it was turned into a campaign against a university.  
Our doors are open to non-Muslims; our teachers are drawn from all  
communities. Compare our record with that of other so-called secular  
universities where Muslims have limited access — Benaras Hindu  
University, Allahabad University, Delhi University itself — then what  
are we questioning?

A student at the London School of Economic (LSE) was nabbed very  
recently by the police — does it mean that the LSE has become a  
hotbed of terrorism? This is senseless. I think we have to fight  
back. We have tolerated this nonsense for far too long. We should  
take on the media and demonstrate to the people that they are not  
trustworthy and are out to basically sensationalise events. Jamia  
Millia is being seen as the Muslim institution that it is not; it is  
a secular institution funded by the Central Government. The question  
of legal aid is not being looked at from the perspective of a  
teacher’s responsibility to her students. As the head of the  
institution, I feel I have an obligation towards my students. And I  
am not using the taxpayer’s money for it. But the real issue is of  
principle. If this had happened to a non-Muslim student, I would have  
done the same. I am also upholding the rule of law. Why have we  
forgotten the principle that says that an accused is innocent until  
proven guilty?

In the ultimate analysis, our society, which has gone through the  
Khalistan movement and experienced terrorism in the Northeast, must  
look at these incidents in a more cool-headed manner. Because you  
can’t fight it by reacting in a hysterical manner. Also, our police  
is becoming more politicised and communalised. We haven’t reoriented  
them into becoming the custodians of the secular values enshrined in  
the Constitution. Over the past 10 years, there has been a systematic  
pattern — Deoband University, an institution with a glorious record,  
has been targeted. So has Nadvat-ul-Ulema in Lucknow. Aligarh  
University has always been targeted, despite its being a modern  
institution with its doors open to all. Is there a pattern in this  
madness? We need to reflect on these issues. The alienation is very  
deep, and has to stop. But instead of supporting us, which would also  
mean supporting an institution committed to secular values, there are  
attempts to undermine our secular foundations.

And now we are dealing with a younger generation of Muslims. I  
believe in a liberal, eclectic and pluralist idea of Islam, but I  
suspect this vision will not be shared by those who are feeling  
insecure and excluded, socially and culturally. Why have the guilty  
in Gujarat not been punished? Why? Why? Why is the VHP and Bajrang  
Dal not banned for killing innocent Christians and desecrating their  
churches?

I regard myself, as do millions of others, as part of the edifice  
that is called India. The idea of India is my idea. There is no India  
without me, and I will not let that change. We have already taken  
certain steps to counter subversive ideas that might fracture our  
secular society. I appeal to civil society and the media to let us  
live in peace, and get on with our simple and innocent job — pursuit  
of knowledge. There is a limit to what one can tolerate. Nobody dare  
question our commitment to education, and our loyalty to the Indian  
Constitution.

(Hasan is Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)
 From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 40, Dated Oct 11, 2008

o o o

A Report on Bangalore Citizens Rally Against Communalism
http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/07/stories/2008100760150600.htm

Full Text of the Report by Commission of Enquiry Consisting of  
Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta
Part I (Sabarmati Express Train Incident at Godhra)
http://www.sacw.net/article101.html

______


[6]  Announcements:

(i) Bombay silent rally to protest anti christian violence in India
Friends,
On the 8th of October, women's organizations like Akshara, Awaaz-e- 
Niswan, Women's Centre and others of Mumbai, are organizing a Silent  
Rally to mark the protest of civil society organizations against the  
continuing attack against Christians, especially in Orissa, but now  
in other states as well.

The Rally will start at 3.30 pm from the Churchgate Station on the  
Maharishi Karve Rd side and go up Veernariman Road to Hutatma Chowk  
and then via DN Road to Azad Maidan.
At the maidan, there will be a public meeting with several speakers.  
Students of the Nirmala Niketan and of TISS and some of the faculty  
are expected to join the rally and the public meeting

We invite all of you who would like to register your protest against  
this fresh attack on the secular fabric of India to join us on the  
8th. [. . .]
In solidarity with all whose right to life, right to equal  
citizenship and dignity are violated,
Ammu Abraham
[Women's Centre Bombay]

--

(ii)

The Daily Star
October 7, 2008   	
   	
“The Road to Kansat”: Latest documentary by Tareque and Catherine Masud

by Ershad Kamol

Internationally acclaimed directors Tareque and Catherine Masud have  
completed their latest documentary titled The Road to Kansat. The  
documentary features the general public agitation for access to  
electricity in the township of Kansat, Rajshahi, which continued for  
nine months (starting from September 2005 to April 2006). The  
government eventually yielded to the citizens' demands. Eighteen  
civilians died during the movement.

Tareque and Catherine Masud filmed the documentary for over the past  
couple of years. The filmmaking process included a painstaking  
reconstruction of the events.

On making a documentary on this issue, Tareque Masud told The Daily  
Star, "The Road to Kansat is an attempt to explore the accounts of  
the Kansat movement, and its positive impact on the continuing  
struggle for justice and democracy. The unique non-violent character  
of the movement made us interested in making a documentary on the  
incidence. What began as a small-scale attempt to reform the local  
electricity administration evolved into a full-blown mass struggle  
for justice and an end to corruption."

Sharing his experience of making the documentary, Masud said, "We  
were surprised learning about the active participation of the masses  
for their right. We had no idea that women played a central role in  
this movement -- even in the face of overwhelming and brutal force  
applied by the authorities. I went over footages of the movement  
featuring people in a mango orchard (where they had to remain for  
three days) and used those in the documentary."

"Comments of a local freedom fighter also struck me, who compared his  
experience of this recent movement for access to electricity with  
that of Liberation War," Masud added.

Tareque Masud further informed that the film, which combines  
interviews with movement leaders and archival footage of key events,  
was made with support from 'Manusher Jonno', the Asia Foundation, and  
BLAST.

The Road to Kansat will be premiered on October 9 at 4 pm at the  
Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Central Public Library. Kansat movement  
leader Golam Rabbani, along with other distinguished guests and  
activists will attend the premier, said Masud.

A special screening of the documentary will be held on October 10 at  
4 pm at the British Council Auditorium followed by a brief discussion  
with eminent guests.

--

(iii)

Navayana
invites you to the launch of

Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop
Anand Teltumbe

with a panel discussion featuring

Rajendra Yadav
Sukhadeo Thorat
Arundhati Roy
Harsh Mander
Nivedita Menon &
Anand Teltumbde

on 16 October 2008, 6.30 pm
at the Indian Social Institute
10, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi

All are welcome.

For further details
call 9971433117
www.navayana.org

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

Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at: http://sacw.net/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.