SACW | February 23-28 , 2009 / Sri Lanka Petition / Bangladesh Mutiny / Pakistani Taliban / Elite Fantasies on N East India ; Human rights

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | February 23-28, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2608 -  
Year 11 running
From: www.sacw.net

[1] Stop the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Sri Lanka:  A letter to the  
Indian Mission to U.N. (Online Petition)
+ SLDF Calls for Immediate Measures to Address Humanitarian Crisis:
+ India Can Help End Civilian Killings (Praful Bidwai)
[2] Bangladesh: The barbarity is unimaginable, unforgivable (Mahfuz  
Anam)
[3] Rescuing Pakistan from the Taliban (Salman Ahmad)
+ NYT Video:
[4] India: Environmental Cost of Conflict in Kashmir (Editorial,  
Kashmir Times)
[5] India' North East: ’A Road, Smooth and Sleek like a Snake’:  
Development and the Rhetoric of Vision (Sanjib Baruah)
[6] China - Pakistan: A Sign of the Times - When the Left Sucks up to  
the Conservative Right
[7] India, Staged Killings by Police and Human Rights:
   - Rights Groups Probe India's Shoot-Out Cops (Madhur Singh)
   - New Encounter In An Old Bottle  (Neha Dixit)
   - ’Encounter’ at Batla House: Unanswered Questions - A Report by  
Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity group
[8] India: Online Petition in Defence of Labour and Tribal rights  
Activist Shamim Modi
[9] Announcements:
Invitation for interaction with Pakistani Peace delegation to India  
(New Delhi, 2 March 2009)

_____


[1]  Sri Lanka:


sacw.net
25 February 2009


STOP THE HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE IN SRI LANKA

To: Indian Mission to U.N.

February 25, 2009

Hon Nirupam Sen,
  The Permanent Representative,
  Republic of India, to the United Nations.

Dear Ambassador Sen,

We, the undersigned Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin, are  
writing to insist on urgent and effective action by the Government of  
India to stop the unfolding humanitarian disaster in northern Sri  
Lanka. The Sri Lankan government’s indiscriminate military actions  
have exacted an appalling toll on the civilian Tamil population.  
Unless India does its part to negotiate an immediate ceasefire,  
civilian casualties will continue to escalate, tarnishing India’s  
claim to be a morally responsible regional power.

Indeed, we have watched with growing dismay the Indian government’s  
effective complicity with the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing efforts  
to brutalize the Tamil minority. There is considerable evidence that,  
while publicly calling for a "political solution", the Indian  
government has covertly supplied military equipment and training to  
Sri Lanka. In July 2007, Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lieutenant General  
Sarath Fonseka, told journalists that India was training 800 officers  
annually, free of charge, describing India’s support as “huge”.  
Furthermore, there are credible reports indicating that India’s  
support for the Rajapakse government is based on base economic  
calculations:: that Tamil areas destroyed by Sri Lanka’s ferocious  
military offensive will offer lucrative investment opportunities for  
Indian companies under the guise of helping Tamils living there.

If these reports are true, India’s economic and political gain will  
have been purchased in blood and lives. The humanitarian situation in  
northern Sri Lanka is now catastrophic. According to Human Rights  
Watch and Sri Lankan rights groups, since January 2009 alone, at  
least 1,000, and perhaps as many as 2,000, Tamil civilians have been  
killed as a result of the Sri Lankan military’s continuing artillery  
attacks and aerial bombing offensive. The military has openly  
targeted urban areas, including schools, hospitals, and buildings  
that house civilians. As a result of these reprehensible tactics, a  
further 7,000 people have been injured; many young children have had  
their limbs amputated. The Sri Lankan government, believing it is on  
the verge of final victory over the LTTE, has resisted all calls for  
a ceasefire. For its part, the LTTE continues to prevent around  
200,000 civilians leaving the 50 sq. km. or so territory it still  
holds, effectively using these civilians as human shields.

The government is keeping those who have managed to flee the  
onslaught in detention camps that it has cynically and misleadingly  
termed “welfare villages”. Arguing that the population of internally  
displaced people includes “terrorists” in its ranks, the Sri Lankan  
government has announced plans to hold up to some 250,000 civilians –  
even very young children – in the camps for a period of three years.  
It has requested funds from the U.N. and other aid agencies to build  
schools, banks and hospitals inside these camps. There is credible  
fear that, while detaining this population, the Sri Lankan government  
will settle majority Sinhalese in northern Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan’s government’s ongoing offensive matches in scale and  
brutality the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, and deserves the same  
widespread condemnation. The recent appeal issued by the Indian  
External Affairs Ministry “to the Sri Lankan Government and to all  
concerned to work out appropriate and credible procedures for the  
evacuation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to safety, which  
would include the international agencies being able to oversee the  
movement of the IDPs” is a step in the right direction.

But it is not enough. We ask the Government of India to call for an  
immediate ceasefire in northern Sri Lanka, to provide urgent medical  
and humanitarian assistance to war refugees, and to challenge the Sri  
Lankan government’s proposal for compulsory confinement of these  
refugees in detention camps for as long as three years.

India claims to be a strong international voice for democratic  
rights. We think it is time for our government to speak up.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

to sign the above petition go to:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mannar/petition-sign.html

o o o

For Immediate Release

27 February 2009

SLDF CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE MEASURES TO ADDRESS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS:
Peace and Justice are Dependent on Democratization and a Political  
Solution

The humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka continues to deepen as tens of  
thousands of civilians remain trapped between the LTTE, in the final  
stages of its military defeat, and the advancing security forces. The  
safety of civilians is of paramount importance: too many have lost  
their lives while others continue to suffer from the devastation and  
displacement of war. An entire generation of youth has been decimated  
by the war effort on both sides. The LTTE has sacrificed vast numbers  
of Tamil youth as cannon fodder, many of whom were forcibly recruited  
for a war they did not choose. And the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL)  
has lured thousands of Sinhala youth from economically marginalized  
villages to fight its so-called “patriotic war”, concealing the high  
casualties that have been suffered by their families. Generations of  
youth, from all communities in Sri Lanka, have paid with their lives  
for successive governments’ lack of vision and leadership. Indeed,  
the war ultimately stems from the unwillingness and inability of  
political leaders to work towards a political solution, to abandon  
Sinhala majoritarianism, and to address the grievances and  
aspirations of minorities in Sri Lanka.
[. . .]
http://www.sacw.net/article708.html

o o o

Inter Press Service

INDIA CAN HELP END CIVILIAN KILLINGS

by Praful Bidwai

NEW DELHI, Feb 27 (IPS) - As Sri Lanka’s armed forces battle the  
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in their last stronghold, the  
island country’s influential neighbour, India, is weighing diplomatic  
options to goad President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government to save  
civilians trapped in the war zone.

The number of civilians is estimated to be as high as 200,000 to  
250,000. Many have been displaced by the war five or even 12 times  
over. Currently, according to the best estimates, 25 to 35 people are  
being killed every day.

India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is under pressure  
from its constituents from the southern state of Tamil Nadu to go  
beyond verbal exhortations to Colombo to stop civilian killings, help  
evacuate the large numbers of stranded people by creating safe  
corridors, and "meet their humanitarian needs for relief materials,  
medicines and medical care".

They want New Delhi to demand that Colombo declare a ceasefire, and  
reach badly needed relief to the trapped civilians.

Recently, India’s ethnic-Tamil parties threatened to resign en masse  
from the UPA, prompting Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to visit  
Colombo. New Delhi has repeatedly asked the Sri Lankan government to  
ensure the safety of Tamil civilians in the war zone.

However, the UPA government is keen to ensure that the LTTE is  
decisively defeated in the war. The group is banned in India for  
terrorist activities, including the assassination of former prime  
minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

The Indian government is also reluctant to get embroiled too deeply  
in the Sri Lankan crisis, having burnt its fingers by intervening in  
Sri Lanka by sending in the Indian Peace- Keeping Force in 1987. This  
was a disaster, which failed to accomplish the objective of disarming  
the Tigers. The IPKF quit the island in ignominy in 1990.

India has joined the European Union, the International Committee of  
the Red Cross and human rights organisations in demanding an end to  
the civilian killings, and a political settlement of the Tamil  
question. The EU has also asked the LTTE to lay down arms and  
renounce violence.

But unlike the EU, New Delhi balks at calling for an immediate  
ceasefire. India continues to provide military assistance to the Sri  
Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF), including radar surveillance, logistical  
support, armaments and helicopters.

"It is most unfortunate that the Sri Lankan government has exploited  
the absence of effective pressure from India to prosecute the war  
regardless of its human consequences," says Anuradha Chenoy, a  
professor of international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University  
here.

The Colombo government has said that if the LTTE heeds the EU’s call  
to lay down arms, the need for "immediate ceasefire" to protect  
stranded civilians would not arise.

Meanwhile, the battle is taking an unacceptable toll of Tamil  
civilian lives. According to the international civil liberties group,  
Human Rights Watch, 2,000 Tamils have been killed and 5,000 wounded  
since the fall of Kilinocchhi, the LTTE’s administrative centre, in  
January.

Both sides are targeting civilians—the SLAF through indiscriminate  
bombing and shelling, and the LTTE by firing on them to prevent them  
from fleeing to safety. "This constitutes a complete violation of the  
laws of war and of international humanitarian law, which grant  
immunity to civilians," says Chenoy.

The SLAF is keen to finish the war and declare victory before Sri  
Lanka’s New Year in April. This is likely to lead to a sharp increase  
in casualties among the more than 200,000 civilians trapped in the  
war zone, a 100-sq km strip.

Argue V. Suresh and D. Nagasaila of the People’s Union of Civil  
Liberies in Tamil Nadu: "As if to cover this up in advance, the SLAF  
is deliberately playing down the number of civilians originally  
living in the zone to 70,000. The Rajapakse government claims that  
half of them have already fled, although the actual number may be  
only a few hundred."

They add: "In the coming days, Colombo may declare that all the  
civilians have escaped, leaving only the LTTE there. The SLAF can  
then legitimately launch a no-holds-barred final offensive, including  
firebombing, ostensibly to finish the LTTE. This is liable to lead to  
mass slaughter or a holocaust."

As if to ensure India's continuing support to the military operations  
and stave off its pressure for a political settlement, Sri Lankan  
army chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka recently highlighted the "threat"  
that the air wing of the LTTE poses to India.

Referring to last week’s attack by two LTTE aircraft on Colombo, the  
general warned that the Tigers’ planes could penetrate 150-170 km  
inside Indian territory. "This greatly exaggerates the threat," says  
Chenoy.

The Lankan humanitarian crisis is deepening by the day. According to  
Human Rights Watch (HRW): "The Sri Lankan government has indicated  
that the ethnic Tamil population trapped in the war zone can be  
presumed to be siding with the LTTE and treated as combatants,  
effectively sanctioning unlawful attacks."

Adds HRW: The SLAF have "repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled  
areas crowded with displaced persons", including government-declared  
"safe zones" and "the remaining hospitals in the region."

The SLAF is herding civilians into internment camps, masquerading as  
"welfare villages". "The displaced persons, including entire  
families, detained in these… barbed-wire camps are denied their  
liberty and freedom of movement," says HRW. "The plight of the  
region's civilians has been made worse by the government's decision  
in September 2008 to order most humanitarian agencies out…".

The government has thrown a blanket of censorship over the war zone.  
It has failed to bring in enough food, medical supplies, and other  
relief and has only allowed a minimal role for the United Nations.  
Continued fighting, lack of oversight, and manipulation of the  
delivery of aid "have all contributed to the continuing humanitarian  
crisis," says HRW.

While it wages an open war in the North, the Sri Lankan government  
has launched a dirty war in the Sinhalese-dominated South. Critics of  
the government are harassed, taken into illegal confinement, and  
"disappeared", or like "The Sunday Leader" editor Lasantha  
Wickrematunga, gunned down.

On its part, the LTTE has proved ruthless towards the Tamils. With  
each battlefield defeat, it treats civilians with greater brutality.

According to a district official quoted by the Reuters news agency:  
"When people occupy particular places, the LTTE sends shells from  
that area, and then the army also targets the same area."

The LTTE also subjects civilians, including children, to forced  
recruitment and deadly labour on the battlefield and has few  
compunctions in shooting those trying to flee.

The LTTE has a long history of assassinating all those who disagree  
with it. Its victims include Rajiv Gandhi, progressive Sri Lankan  
Tamil intellectuals, and its own dissidents. It is probably the most  
murderous and pathologically militarised group in South Asia.

Says the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, a group that has a pluralistic  
vision of Sri Lanka: "An entire generation of youth has been  
decimated by the war effort on both sides. The LTTE has sacrificed  
vast numbers of Tamil youth, many of who were forcibly recruited for  
a war they did not choose.

It adds: "And the government of Sri Lanka has lured thousands of  
Sinhala youth from economically marginalised villages to fight its so- 
called ‘patriotic war’, concealing the high casualties that have been  
suffered by their families."

The LTTE cynically capitalised on the plight of Sri Lanka’s Tamils  
after the infamous Colombo pogrom of July 1983, in which 2,000 Tamils  
were killed by state-sponsored mobs. The world’s bloodiest civil war  
has since raged in Sri Lanka.

Until recently, the LTTE was a formidable military force, but had a  
poor political strategy. In 2005, it played a key role in bringing  
President Mahinda Rajapakse to power by forcing the Tamils to boycott  
the election, thus strengthening the forces of Sinhala chauvinism.

The SLDF holds that a ceasefire must give high priority to saving the  
lives of the trapped civilians: " why the LTTE is good faith  
commitment to a ceasefire may be suspect, a pause in the exchange of  
fire... will be useful for saving the trapped civilian population.''

Moreover, the SLDF wants any cessation of hostilities to be be  
coupled with pressure on the LTTE to permit United Nations agencies  
to enter LTTE-controlled areas so that they can ascertain the  
requirements of relief supplies and medical care.

Argues Achin Vanaik, a political science professor at Delhi  
University: "India bears a special responsibility in respect of Sri  
Lanka. It looms as a giant neighbour with a large Tamil population,  
and has a history of intervention in Sri Lanka."

He adds: "At stake today is the very survival of the Tamils as a  
political community. India has to play a proactive role here. It must  
launch a diplomatic campaign to insist that the Colombo government  
stop attacking civilians, declare a ceasefire under international  
monitors, create safe corridors, and permit relief delivery."

The challenge for India is to persuade Colombo to implement the  
promised devolution and merger of the North and the East within a  
federal structure, while resisting the temptation to install violent  
anti-LTTE and pro-government Tamil parties like People's Liberation  
Organisation of Tamil Eelam in power in the North, as it has done in  
the East.

Says Ahilan Kadirgamar, an SLDF spokesperson: "The Indian government  
and the international community should call on the government of Sri  
Lanka to come out with political proposals that go beyond the 13th  
constitutional Amendment enacted in 1987 (which promises provincial  
councils), and effect extensive devolution of power and a non-  
unitary state structure, along with power-sharing at the centre  
through a bicameral legislature."

_____


[2] BANGLADESH:


The Daily Star
February 28, 2009

THE BARBARITY IS UNIMAGINABLE, UNFORGIVABLE
Nation must stand united behind democracy, the elected govt and  
punishment of the killers

by Mahfuz Anam

As the bodies were being brought out from the sewer one by one, and  
as a mass grave was being excavated within the BDR headquarters, the  
people of Bangladesh, perhaps of the world at large, stood aghast at  
the extent of the barbarity perpetrated on the officers of our border  
security forces. As we watched on television the heart rending scenes  
of distraught families desperately trying to get a last glimpse of  
the mutilated bodies of their loved ones and others anxiously waiting  
for some news of those missing, the natural question that came to our  
mind was, for what “crimes” were these officers meted out such  
inglorious death? For what unprofessional acts were life snuffed out  
of them at the height of their career? For what possible action of  
theirs could a section of BDR jawans murder their officers in such an  
inhuman and un-soldierly manner? The answer escapes reason, words and  
logic. However, one thing can be said with certainty, if there were  
some sympathy for the points raised by the rebellious jawans, not an  
iota of it remained in the public mind after the initial extent of  
the crime became evident yesterday.

No, these cannot be outbursts of anybody that ever wore any uniform  
of a disciplined force. These cannot be the soldiers of BDR as we  
knew them and respected them for their untiring work in guarding our  
borders. These were the work of premeditated murderers who planned,  
prepared and then executed what amounts to the biggest loss of life  
of our well-trained officers corps of our armed forces.

We express our deepest shock and heart felt condolences for the  
families, relatives and friends of those who gave their lives while  
serving the cause of our security. We join the nation in mourning for  
them and praying for the salvation of their souls and hoping that  
Almighty will grant them eternal peace. We express our solidarity  
with the families of the bereaved and promise to stand by them as  
their children and families struggle to move forward in life.

As we absorb the shock and the feel in our hearts of the true extent  
of the tragedy, we must also be aware that we have a nation to take  
forward, our armed forces to strengthen, our BDR to re-build and,  
most importantly our democracy to strengthen and make functional.

Before we spell out the tasks before us, we must commend the  
political leadership for the way it has handled the crisis so far.  
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina showed tremendous sagacity,  
farsightedness and patience in handling the crisis. She could have  
easily taken the harder line and ordered the army to recapture the  
Pilkhana area. That might have satisfied some who wanted precipitous  
action against the rebels who clearly needed to be captured. Fearing  
greater loss of life and wanting to avoid what she termed as  
“brothers shooting brothers”, she opted for a negotiated solution.  
Her address to the nation, especially directed at the rebels, had  
tremendous impact in resolving the crisis and hastening the surrender.

It would have been a most satisfactory ending but for the fact that  
much earlier, in fact within hours of the first act of rebellion (as  
narrated by Lt. Col. Kumruzzaman who miraculously survived assassins'  
bullets) and before the PM could know, “brothers” had already taken  
“brothers' lives” and in a most gruesome manner. Around 50 bodies of  
officers had already been found, some bayoneted either after or  
before being killed, and their bodies buried in mass graves or put in  
the sewer to be drained out into the Buriganga.

Given the evidence of mass murders that have come out and are likely  
to surface later, we categorically state that the general amnesty  
declared by Sheikh Hasina earlier cannot apply to those who indulged  
in the mayhem. We must institute investigation and find out the  
culprits and punish them according to our laws. There cannot be any  
compromise on this account.

Just as we praise the sagacity of the present political leadership,  
so also we commend the restraint, discipline and institutional  
dignity exhibited by our armed forces. Let us have no doubt that the  
provocation has been tremendous and the feeling of the officers of  
our armed forces and of the troops in general have been hurt very  
deeply. They have been devastated by the brutality of it all and are  
naturally in a mood for immediate justice. This is only natural. When  
we as journalists see one of our own brutally murdered or even  
assaulted, we ourselves demand immediate action.

However we want to point out that it is not only that of our armed  
forces whose feelings have been wounded and who want action against  
the killers. The whole nation mourns the death of the officers and  
our people are one in demanding expeditious pursuit, apprehension,  
prosecution and punishment of the murderers. At this moment our armed  
forces enjoy the love and sympathy of the whole nation. This is both  
because of the brutal crime that has been committed against them as a  
body and also because of the discipline, respect for order and  
restraint shown by them. We would like to point out here that the  
actions of the wayward jawans (who are only part and do not encompass  
the whole of BDR as testified to by Lt. Col. Kamruzzaman in his TV  
interview yesterday) have nearly destroyed the BDR which is itself a  
great national loss. Anything remotely amounting to a breach of  
discipline anywhere else will only weaken us further. This cannot be  
to our national interest.

We conclude with an appeal to all to unite as a nation and strengthen  
the hands of our newly elected government so that it can take the  
sternest measure under law against those who killed our valiant  
officers and brought such a disaster and shame on our country. We  
also need to restore the dignity, respect and self-respect of all our  
armed forces, especially that of the army whose morale has been  
affected by this brutal killing. But above all we need to strengthen  
our democracy and all institutions that make it functional.

_____


[3] PAKISTAN:

washingtonpost.com

RESCUING PAKISTAN FROM THE TALIBAN

by Salman Ahmad

In its 60-plus turbulent years as an independent country, Pakistan  
has been held together by its music, poetry, films, literature and  
sports. Pakistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, but culture —  
not religion — is the glue that binds people in this critical U.S.- 
allied country.

But now the Taliban are grafting an alien form of Islam onto  
Pakistan, with dire consequences for Pakistanis, the region and  
possibly the world. Earlier this month the Pakistani government and  
army made a deal with the Taliban and gave them control of the Swat  
valley. The government ceded this region near the Afghan border after  
countless suicide attacks resulted in the loss of many military and  
civilian lives.

President Asif Ali Zardari’s ill-conceived appeasement will only  
embolden the Taliban and may squelch more of Pakistan’s voices of  
peace just when Pakistanis and the world need to hear them most.

In Swat and elsewhere in the North-West Frontier Province, arts and  
culture are under attack, as are women’s rights. The city of Swat  
used to be a haven for arts, music and tourism. There is now eerie  
silence. The Taliban have shut down girls’ schools, imposed sharia  
law and destroyed music shops. Cinemas are being locked down. The  
fanatics’ idea is simple: to asphyxiate Pakistan’s rich and vibrant  
culture and replace it with their own.

President Obama has promised to listen to the Muslim world. The  
president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistan and  
Afghanistan envoy Richard Holbrooke can start by listening to  
Pakistani artists who embody peace, modernity and cross-cultural  
dialogue.

For the past 20 years Pakistani music and pop culture has built a  
national and global following. The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the  
iconic Qawwali singer, collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Eddie  
Vedder of Pearl Jam. Pakistani rock bands and singers like Junoon,  
Strings, Jal and Atif Aslam have been huge draws in India, America  
and Europe. Last year Pakistani director Shoaib Mansoor’s movie In  
the Name of God was a box office hit in both Pakistan and India. The  
film portrays the difficulties of being a liberal Muslim in Pakistan  
after 9/11 — something that’s just getting harder.

The U.S. has an important role to play. America must help strengthen  
Pakistani civil society - the artists, humanitarians and educators  
who have braved military dictators, corrupt politicians and religious  
fanatics and are the most natural American allies against extremism.  
By promoting Pakistani-American creative collaborations in films,  
television and music, the U.S. would be empowering the voices that  
the Taliban seek to silence the most. But with the Taliban creeping  
into mainstream Pakistan that window of opportunity is diminishing by  
the day.

Suicide bomb attacks and a weak economy in Pakistan have forced  
multinationals to pull their sponsorship of rock music festivals.  
Most Pakistani rock bands, artists and film makers are being  
intimidated to find other work. Some artists, like pop star Junaid  
Jamshed, have left music to become proselytizers for Islamic  
missionary movements. Pakistani artists, comedians and actors who had  
been working in India have been forced to return since the terrorist  
attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Indian visas for Pakistani  
artists have now been severely restricted.

Those restrictions help no one and must be lifted immediately.  
Nothing is more frightening to a terrorist than to see Indian and  
Pakistani artists collaborating in films and music and performing  
freely in each others’ countries. That’s why I got death threats from  
terrorists when my band Junoon performed in Kashmir in May 2008. We  
ignored them and the concert — the first rock concert to be held in  
the conflicted Himalayan territory between Pakistan and India — was a  
huge hit with thousands of Kashmiri college kids.

The United Nations also has a role. Terrorists who use Islam as an  
excuse to launch their attacks on innocents need to be countered by  
Islamic scholars who represent the U.N. member states. Islamic  
scholars from Muslim majority nations, America and the West need a  
global platform like the U.N. to send messages condemning the killing  
of innocents and labeling such actions un-Islamic.

The killing off of arts and culture in Swat is an ominous sign. It is  
the first step in the potential Talibanization of more of the  
country. If you give the Taliban an inch - as Zardari has done - they  
will take a mile.

Pakistan, India, the U.S. and the rest of the world all have a stake  
in peace and conflict resolution in South Asia. For President Obama  
to make good on his promise to mend fences with the Muslim world,  
he’ll have to tackle South Asian problems including the dispute over  
Kashmir. But he can start with something that should be much easier:  
speaking up for the artists, poets and musicians that give South  
Asians our deepest sense of self.

America needs a culture envoy and not just a political envoy for  
South Asia. To help the region win its war against the fanatics,  
President Obama should encourage the same kind of dialogue that the  
great Muslim emperor Akbar did. For 50 years, Akbar presided over  
peace and cultural harmony. Both will be lost if we allow the  
extremists to win.

[The above article is also available at: http://www.sacw.net/ 
article695.html ]

o o o

SEE ALSO:

Class Dismissed in Swat Valley

A short documentary profiling an 11-year-old Pakistani girl on the  
last day before the Taliban close down her school.
http://tinyurl.com/cl7xos

______


[4] KASHMIR

Kashmir Times
27 February 2009

EDITORIAL: ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF CONFLICT

Shrinking agricultural space, vandalism of forests

A study by the scientific journal 'Conservation Biology' has raised  
alarm bells with its findings that 80 percent of the world's major  
armed conflicts from 1950-2000 have occurred or are occurring in the  
most biologically diverse and threatened places on the earth. The  
study points out 34 bio-diverse hotspots in the world and one among  
them is the Himalayan region with its multiple conflicts -  
Afghanistan, Kashmir, Tibet and North-East India. The study has  
rightly pointed out the co-relation between conflicts and the  
environmental threat to the regions of conflict, something which  
should not come as a surprise since closer home one has seen visible  
signs of such environmental devastation, accelerated in the last two  
decades of the Kashmir turmoil. The conflict has wrecked havoc on the  
forests and water resources of Jammu and Kashmir. Though there may be  
other reasons for the threat to the environmental degradation of the  
Himalayan region including Kashmir, the two decade long conflict has  
only doubled up the speed of destruction. The highly militarised  
space has not only usurped agricultural lands and residential areas,  
it has also taken a heavy toll of the forests. While for years, the  
militants have used the dense forests as a cover, the security forces  
have been accused of clearing vast tracts of land including forest  
area, often in the name of security concerns, which has also lead to  
corruption within the ranks of forces, encouraging a nexus between  
smugglers, forest officials and also often the personnel of security  
forces operating in the state. The massive fencing of the borders in  
recent years and mining of vast tracts of land has also cost the  
environment dearly, taking a heavy toll also of the wildlife and  
often causing man-animal conflicts. The forests are shrinking and  
consequently wild beasts are forced to move closer to the residential  
areas, posing a unique conflict of its kind.
The unchecked pollution and depletion of water resources is equally a  
cause for concern. The already overburdened lakes of the state are  
further being contaminated by enormous presence of security forces  
inhabiting areas close to it. The famous lakes of Kashmir Valley have  
already been turned into vast dustbins and the acute militarization  
has only further multiplied the devastation. The melting glaciers  
have already been in debate for a long time, including the one at the  
world's highest and iciest battleground at Siachen. The India- 
Pakistan conflict has greatly disturbed the flora and fauna of the  
region since the mid-eighties when the icy heights were first  
militarized. Besides, the huge pressure of the soldiers on both sides  
is fast reducing this glacier, which is a major source of water of  
the Indus river to just a trickle at many places. Such glaring  
evidences of destruction and vandalism of the environment need to be  
taken up more seriously. The cost of each conflict, especially in  
regions of immense bio-diversity, is too immense to be ignored. The  
conflicts are causing the human kind, not just in terms of economic  
losses and loss of precious human lives or the psychological impact.  
The irreparable loss to the environment is also something to reckon  
with because it has a long term adverse effect on the geography,  
sociology and health of the humans in the ultimate analysis. The  
depleting water resources and the forest cover, which are crucial to  
life are a collective inheritance of humankind and so there is dire  
immediacy to resolve disputes that are taking a heavy toll of this  
wealth.


_____


[5]  NORTH EAST INDIA

http://www.sacw.net/article704.html

Eastern Quarterly
  (Publication of the Manipur Research Forum, Delhi)
  Vol. 5, Issue I, April – June 2008, pp. 61–65

’A ROAD, SMOOTH AND SLEEK LIKE A SNAKE’: DEVELOPMENT AND THE RHETORIC  
OF VISION

by Sanjib Baruah

"The World Bank will be replacing the old rundown road with a new  
road that will be smooth and sleek like a snake."
  –Zoramthanga, Chief Minister of Mizoram [1]

Zoramthanga’s choice of metaphor, though wonderfully resonant with  
the Northeast Indian landscape, is perhaps unusual. But to readers of  
‘vision statements’ about the region’s future, the spirit may be  
familiar. Development in this genre of writing, like Zoramthanga’s  
image of a road of the future, is a fantasized object, not a  
realistic vision of the future that people can relate to.

The editors of Eastern Quarterly [EQ] deserve our gratitude for  
organizing a discussion on a new document, Peace, Progress and  
Prosperity in the North Eastern Region: Vision 2020, put together by  
the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy [NIPFP] and  
brought out under the auspices of the Ministry of Development of  
North Eastern Region.

B. George Verghese, one of the authors of Vision 2020, opens the EQ  
discussion. “The stage appears now to be reasonably well set,” he  
writes, “for a major thrust forward. Things are changing and there is  
ground for cautious optimism. Development and opening up to its  
neighbours could provide impetus for the next stage.” [2] In contrast  
to the radical views of the other contributors, Verghese’s approach  
might seem conventional—though his ideas on institutional reforms are  
anything but that. I will refer to those proposals later in the  
essay. He estimates that the Northeast will have to grow by 12 to 13  
percent every year in per capita income and basic social indices, if  
it were to catch up with the rest of India by 2020—assuming a 9 per  
cent growth rate for India. “Closing the gap,” he believes, “will not  
be easy but is doable.” However, the centre will have to make major  
investments.

Contrast this way of thinking about development to that of Prasenjit  
Biswas who rejects the very idea of a region lacking development. The  
idea of “lack,” he says, “is not simply a negative idea, it is rather  
a complex outcome of developmental practices.” On a similar note,  
Rohan D’Souza rejects the foundational notion of economic  
backwardness. Once the absence of markets is “declared to be  
indicative of backwardness,” it “leads almost automatically to the  
desire for markets for development.”

Politics of Representation

The major question that Biswas, D’Souza and others raise is this: Can  
development theory and practice ignore the politics of  
representation? I mean ‘representation’ both in the political sense,  
and in the sense of ways of seeing, and portraying. The way we  
represent poverty and underdevelopment has consequences. Some of our  
official categories and those of the social sciences – Economics in  
particular – are good at capturing certain realities, but not others.

Let us take the example of a poor community with a degree of reliance  
on a public lake where people fish. We can see the people as a  
community that survives, using a mix of market and non-market goods.  
Or we can see them as part of an aggregated mass of people “living  
below the poverty-line.” If taking the latter view, a development  
agency decides to finance commercial fishing—even on a modest scale— 
it could make one or two people rich, a few more would find  
employment, but many more people might be worse off if they catch  
fewer fish, because of the mechanized fishing methods now in use in  
the same water. In terms of basic nutrition, they would be worse-off.  
Theoretically, the dynamism that the new enterprise could bring to  
the local economy might in future compensate for that. But the stakes  
are simply too high to take leave it at that.

Development, in my view, is not just one thing: self-evident and  
predictable. It is not good or bad in some a priori sense. If it is  
about removing major sources of un-freedom, “poverty as well as  
tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social  
deprivation,” [3] we must ask very concretely, whether it enables or  
restricts freedoms and capabilities. These questions must be asked  
about each and every intervention that claims development as its  
goal. The answers will not be easy: inevitably, there will be winner  
and losers. But at least one thing is obvious. The state should not  
regard itself, to use Monirul Hussain’s words, as the “development  
giver,” and treat the people as “development takers.” And since  
increasingly, the central government is the major source of funds for  
the development of the region, [4] and the bureaucrats in Delhi are  
key players, questions of voice and representation are more important  
than ever.

It is not enough to point at elections, and ignore substantive  
questions about representation. “The restless and discontented,” says  
Verghese, “fall prey to adventurism and subversion.” Others  
understand the strength and persistence of insurgencies, at least  
partly, in terms of the diffuse presence — in the background — of an  
inchoate constituency that feels un-represented. Let us assume for  
the moment that Verghese is right. But does it allow the authors of  
Vision 2020 to go from there, and make a set of assertions implying  
that it is what, the people of the Northeast want? As Rohan D’Souza  
suggests insightfully, the authors of the NIPFP document appears to  
have the remarkable ability not only to speak for the people of the  
Northeast, but what the people want, happens to match exactly with  
what these “visionaries” want to see in the region.

The Pagladia Dam and the Politics of Development Finance

Monirul Hussain’s account of the protests against the on-again-off- 
again Pagladiya Dam project in Assam brings out the politics of  
development finance. The dam is likely to displace more than one  
hundred thousand people from agricultural lands and homes. Originally  
conceived as far back as 1968, it has been shelved a number of times  
because of grassroots opposition—but only to be brought back later  
when the political climate changes. At each phase of confrontation  
between the state and the protesters, an extraordinary gap becomes  
evident between official and local knowledge. The area where  
initially, the government intended to settle the displaced people was  
officially “vacant,” but the people about to lose their land found  
out that the land was already occupied, albeit “illegally.” Among the  
people that would be displaced by the project are some that lack  
legal documents to prove property ownership. The protesters knew only  
too well the reality of bureaucratic practice; that it would be hard  
to resettle and compensate those without proper land documents.

The interesting question that arises is this: why has the state and  
its agency, the Brahmaputra Board, been so persistent? The answer  
that emerges from Hussain’s study is simple, but quite revealing and  
persuasive. The government agencies —and the contractors lobby—seem  
to salivate at the prospects of laying their hands on the money  
allocated to the project by the central government. For politicians,  
the patronage possibilities that large sums of money open up far  
outweigh any other consideration. Hence, the persistence in efforts  
to revive the project.

International Finance Comes to Northeast India

If one goes by this insight, things are only likely to get worse,  
suggests Ramananda Wangkheirakpam. The coming of international  
financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank [ADB] and  
the World Bank, he fears, could only mean growing “disempowerment and  
helplessness of the people in the region.” The ADB, he points out,  
has completed technical assistances studies on sectors including  
tourism, roads, urban development, waste management, waterways and  
governance. Their entry could mean that, decisions that would impact  
millions of lives would be made in places, much further than New  
Delhi. Drawing on his experience as an activist, he writes, “getting  
access to key policy and project documents now requires writing to  
Manila and/or Washington DC and to complain against a project one  
might need to even spend meagre resources to go to these Headquarters  
to meet project officials.”

A Reform/Revolution Debate?

If D’Souza radically challenges the very idea of development, Biswas  
while sharing some of the vocabulary of post-development thinking,  
has instincts that are Marxist in a more familiar sense. He is  
concerned that Vision 2020 seeks to reproduce “capitalist relations  
of reproduction,” and the language of comparative advantage simply, a  
way of making the natural resources of the region available to global  
markets. His alternative does not threaten the old left-liberal  
consensus on development. The focus, be believes, must be “on  
improving economic condition for the poorest, through the creation of  
economic growth opportunities.” That would require “structural  
change”: a shift of employment opportunities from agriculture to  
industry and service.

Thingnam Kishan Singh is radical in his reading of colonial economic  
history. During that period, he says, economies of Northeast India  
went through “a transition from its various pre-capitalist social  
formations to a quasi-capitalist organization of productive forces.”  
When it comes to options today, however, he too settles for  
conventional left-liberal answers. He accepts that a low gross  
domestic product is not “congenial for improving the living  
conditions of the people” and “people in areas with low per capita do  
not live well.” He advocates strategies that would develop a  
production base that uses the region’s resources to benefit its people.

As I have indicated, Verghese’s proposals for institutional reforms  
are innovative. Northeasterners should not shy away from debating  
them. He proposes ending Inner Line and Restricted Area permits. He  
recommends Trusteeship Zones for disputed areas between Assam and  
Arunachal, as sites for “railheads, airstrips, communication hubs,  
warehouses, cold storages, entrepots, [and] training centres.” He  
proposes expedited cadastral surveys of land in hill areas, and non- 
territorial electoral constituencies for workers brought in from  
outside the state to work.

Development and the Democracy Deficit

The discussion in EQ brings out sharply one major weakness in our way  
of trying to develop Northeast India: the region’s democracy deficit— 
a consequence of decades of insurgency and counter-insurgency.  
Sources of funds being sources of power, and development financing  
becoming a way of imposing other people’s priorities, are not unique  
to Northeast India. But observers far less radical, than the  
contributors to this issue of EQ, have been struck by how democracy  
deficit presents unusual difficulties for development projects in  
Northeast India. A World Bank Strategy Report, for instance, finds  
“the paternalism of central-level bureaucrats, coercive top-down  
planning, and little support or feedback from locals” to be the  
principal obstacle to the utilization of the region’s vast water  
resources for sustainable development. These observers are struck by  
the extraordinary phenomena of potential beneficiaries of embankment  
projects, opposing them. There is deep distrust of the central  
government’s development-oriented institutions like the Brahmaputra  
Board. As the World Bank report puts it, local stakeholders in the  
Northeast simply do not believe that most developmental initiatives  
are designed to benefit them. [5]

Indian elites do not like to acknowledge that. Thus our bureaucrats  
and politicians quote World Bank reports on many other matters—mostly  
when they appear to authorize more money—but not when it comes to  
this crucial political insight. It is unlikely therefore that the  
radical voices represented in this issue of EQ, will get the  
attention they deserve. Given this state of denial in our national  
public intellectual life, vision statements about Northeast India’s  
future, like the epigraph at the beginning of this essay, are bound  
to sound like the marketing pitch of salesmen selling snake oil.

  [1] Cited in Lipokmar Dzuvichu, “How Many Roads Must the State  
Build?” p. 30. Biblio [New Delhi], May-June 2008.

  [2] Since this essay is a discussion of six articles published in  
Eastern Quarterly 4 (III & IV) 2008, only references to works other  
than these are footnoted.

  [3] Amartya Sen, Development and Freedom, Oxford University Press,  
1999, p. 3.

  [4] By saying that development funds originate in Delhi, I leave  
out an important structural question that insurgent intellectuals  
implicitly raise: Does the Northeast really get a fair share of its  
natural resources in our system of public finance? Are grants and  
subsidies, the most accurate way of describing what comes to us from  
Delhi?

  [5] World Bank, Natural Resources, Water and the Environment Nexus  
for Development and Growth in Northeast India. Strategy Report. (June  
28.) Washington D.C., World Bank, 2006, pp. 13-14.

_____


[6] A SIGN OF THE TIMES: WHEN THE LEFT SUCKS UP TO THE CONSERVATIVE  
RIGHT

[Kudo's to the Chinese comrades, for this pioneering move, wonder  
when they intend signing up with the India's RSS. Other sections of  
the left are already in love with the Hezbollah and the Hamas, or  
with the Rushdie book burning types in the UK . . . ]

o o o

The News International (Pakistan)

JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI, CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY INK MOU

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Our correspondent

Islamabad

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan and Chinese ruling Communist Party have  
signed a memorandum of understanding which says that both parties  
will collaborate in the fields of justice, development, security and  
solidarity. Following a weeklong visit to China, the seven members JI  
delegation signed the memorandum in Beijing, says a message received  
from JI office.

JI secretary general Syed Munawar Hasan and Secretary Foreign Affairs  
of Communist Party of China, Lio Hong Sai, signed the memorandum.  
Both parties have agreed upon four principles including independence,  
equality, and mutual respect and not to interfere in the internal  
matters of each country.

The document praised the principled stance of China on Kashmir issue  
and reiterated that this stance and vital cooperation of China will  
continue. It also expressed gratitude to China’s support to Pakistan  
at every world forum and both sides agreed that this valuable  
diplomatic and political support would continue.

The Memo expressed satisfaction over economic and developmental  
cooperation between the two countries and assured this journey for  
regional stability and prosperity will be carried on in future. Both  
sides assured full support to China’s national and geographical  
unity, and fully backed China’s stance on Taiwan, Tibet and Xin Jiang  
issues. JI Pakistan ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Liaqat Baloch, Prof.  
Mohammad Ibrahim, Sirajul Haq, Abdul Ghaffar Aziz and Asif Luqman  
Qazi were also present on the occasion.

o o o

The News International (Pakistan)

JI FLAYS 50PC JOB QUOTA FOR WOMEN

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

By Our Correspondent
LAHORE

LEADERS of Jamaat-e-Islami woman wing have strongly criticized the  
decision of allocating 50 per cent job quota for women by the Senate  
Standing Committee for women welfare, terming it highly dangerous and  
destructive for the family system and values.

JI woman wing secretary general Rukhsana Jabeen, Sameea Raheel Qazi,  
ex-MNA and chairman JI Woman Commission Aafia Sarwar alleged that pro- 
west women elite wanted to pull Pakistani women out of their homes to  
act as cynosure of all eyes. They reminded that the family system of  
western societies were totally destroyed along with family values  
because they made women to work hand in hand with men in all fields,  
reducing women to just a money making machine.

The JI women stressed that the moral degeneration caused by such  
greed undermined the western societies. They stressed that making  
women do jobs along with men was not necessary for national  
development because working women could not bring up and train their  
children properly that caused far greater problems than the meager  
money they earn. Instead, they said proper education and training of  
young generations and women’s role in achieving that objective was  
vitally important for national development.

They emphasized that Allah Almighty has fixed responsibility to earn  
livelihood on men, and not women. They said they were not against  
jobs of women since women could do jobs in education, health and  
other related sectors.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of Chinese parliament Ismail Tiliwaldi has  
stated that Pak-Sino friendship is strong, everlasting, comprehensive  
and above all kinds of differences. He said the visit of high level  
delegation of Jamaat-e-Isalmi would further strengthen the bilateral  
relations of the two countries.

He was talking to the members of visiting JI delegation headed by  
Qazi Hussain Ahmad which held a meeting with him.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, talking to the Deputy Speaker of Chinese National  
Peoples Conference and other office-bearers of the ruling party, said  
the Pak-Sino friendship was vital for the establishment of peace in  
the region and stability of the two countries. He said every  
Pakistani was proud of this friendship and both the countries had  
never allowed any harm to be caused to the bilateral confidence. He  
emphasized that Pakistan and China had always remained unanimous at  
every world forum and were in unison on every national and regional  
issue.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad noted that the bilateral friendship grew stronger  
with every passing day, whether a natural calamity or conspiracy by  
external or internal enemy. He praised the efforts of China for the  
solution of Kashmir issue and expressed hopes that Beijing would play  
due role in making India implement UN resolutions on the issue.

While welcoming JI delegation, Chinese Deputy Speaker expressed  
gratitude for Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan for sending such an  
important delegation to China. He said every citizen was entitled to  
freedom, and the nation believed in equality. He said 56 ethnic  
communities, living in China, accorded priority to mutual cooperation  
and national security over everything else.

The Chinese officials stressed the need for more development projects  
for strengthening the bilateral relations. They said construction of  
Friendship Highway had enhanced economic and social cooperation  
between the two countries and expressed the desire to construct more  
highways up to Islamabad and Arabian sea. Pakistani ambassador to  
China Masood Khan was also present during the meeting.


_____


[7]  INDIA: STAGES KILLINGS BY THE POLICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1878946,00.html

RIGHTS GROUPS PROBE INDIA'S SHOOT-OUT COPS
By Madhur Singh/New Delhi Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009


Scarcely a day passes in India by without news of an encounter  
between the police and criminals elements — "encounter" being the  
local jargon for shootouts involving the police, who are allowed to  
fire only in self-defense. On Wednesday, it was a "dreaded mafia don"  
who was gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh police — shot dead, and  
therefore unable to challenge the police account of the circumstances  
of the shooting. But some in India have begun to question the  
frequency of such "encounters".

A national conversation was sparked by a January 25 encounter, in  
which two men were shot dead by police in the southeastern Delhi  
suburb of Noida. They were allegedly carrying documents proving they  
were Pakistani nationals, and were allegedly armed to the teeth to  
wreak mayhem on India's Republic Day. Four Kashmiris were rounded up  
for interrogation, prompting a media frenzy about a "foiled terror  
attack". Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma,  
quickly pointed a finger at Pakistan-based terror groups. "[The]  
Noida encounter shows that terror groups are still active in  
Pakistan, though we have repeatedly told Pakistan to dismantle terror  
infrastructure," he told a TV channel.

Within two days, however, the detained Kashmiris were released, and  
it became clear that the investigations had reached a dead-end. That  
was when the media began to ask questions of the police account: Two  
terrorists tasked with staging a Republic Day attack on the national  
capital had stopped at a tea stall to seek directions; a police  
informer, who just happened to be present, spotted an AK-47 sticking  
out of a bag. An urgent tip-off prompted a dramatic chase and  
shootout, but the "terrorists" lived just long enough to "confess"  
their Pakistani nationality. Nor did it go unnoticed that this was  
the fourth such "encounter" between police and suspects in the same  
area in less than a month.

"Encounter" has been a dirty word in India for decades, especially  
since the Punjab insurgency of the 1980s and 1990s. Not only did an  
encounter allow the security forces to bypass the often slow and  
unreliable criminal justice system, it also brought promotions and  
gallantry awards. Human rights activists have for years protested the  
growing incidence of encounters, some of them allegedly staged.  
"Encounters have become the norm," says Vrinda Grover, lawyer and  
human rights activist. "They have become the police's preferred  
method to deal with not just terrorists, but criminals of all kinds."  
Legends of "encounter specialist" cops abound, and one of them was  
even the subject of the Bollywood film Ab Tak Chhappan ("So far 56",  
implying the number of people he had killed).

Activists allege that in numerous instances, evidence has been  
planted after a shooting in order to justify police claims that  
officers had acted in self defense. Encounters are meant to be probed  
by a magistrate following a post-mortem, but critics point out that  
the investigative work in such probes is undertaken by the police  
themselves. They also allege that such tactics enjoy tacit approval  
from the authorities in areas plagued by insurgencies. In 2003, a  
National Human Rights Commission proposal on new norms on encounters  
suggested that investigation on behalf of a magisterial probe be  
handled by a different police station from the one where the officers  
involved are based, but its recommendations have yet been adopted.

The growing incidence of encounters is viewed by some analysts as a  
symptom of police disenchantment with the justice system. "The system  
is so defective and the criminal justice machinery so lethargic that  
it takes years to bring the guilty to book," explains G.P. Joshi, a  
former police officer now a consultant with the Commonwealth Human  
Rights Commission. "But crime continues to increase, and statistics  
show that conviction rates are down. This tendency promotes  
vigilantism in the public and the police. And the state also comes  
out in support, in consonance with public reaction."

Public reaction is far from uniformly supportive of tough police  
tactics, however. A recent encounter in New Delhi's Jamia Nagar  
district sparked a protest from members of the Muslim community, who  
claimed that the police had presented no evidence to back their claim  
that the two Muslim men killed in the action had been linked with  
bombing in the capital. "It is no wonder that the minority community  
feels victimized," says Joshi. "Even within the police, there is a  
divide which shows up in their dealing of communal problems. Numerous  
inquiry commissions have noted that prejudice exists among the police."

More worrying are increasing allegations of encounters being staged.  
In February 2007, two senior officials of Jammu and Kashmir police  
were stripped of their rank and arrested on charges of running a  
rogue operation in which fake encounters were staged in the central  
Kashmir district of Ganderbal in December 2006. The officers remain  
in custody facing charges of killing at least five innocent people,  
and planting evidence to imply that the victims had been insurgents.

In April 2007, a top cop in Gujarat, D.G. Vanzara, was arrested along  
with nearly a dozen other officers, in connection with the killing of  
a petty criminal, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, and his wife Kausarbi, in  
November 2005. Vanzara was convicted of planting false evidence at  
the scene of the shooting to create the impression that the pair had  
been involved with a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist plot against Chief  
Minister Nahendra Modi. The state of Maharashtra has a list of nearly  
half a dozen disgraced "encounter specialists" — earlier hailed as  
heroes, they now face charges ranging from staging encounters to  
amassing wealth through corrupt means. "This trend has criminalized  
the entire police force," says Joshi, "It has serious implications  
for our democracy, for our social fabric, for our criminal justice  
system. It is undermining the very foundations of democratic policing."

Adds Grover, each time Indian security forces are shown to have cried  
wolf about Pakistan-based terror plots, they undermine India's  
credibility in the face of genuine foreign-sponsored terrorism.


o o o

NEW ENCOUNTER IN AN OLD BOTTLE
by Neha Dixit (Feb 14, 2009, Tehelka)

They could only have been teenagers. Who else would mount an assault  
on the natio - nal capital without knowing the way there? Or flaunt  
an AK-47 while asking for directions at a tea stall? Or display  
extraordinary bravado by not returning fire even when the police was  
chasing them to death? Or include such personal sundries as a  
passport and a diary in packing for the mission but neglect to bring  
a mobile? Or make dying declarations of their identities? The names  
of the two young men the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and  
the state police shot dead in the January 25 Noida encounter have  
been given out as Abu Ismail and Farooq. Both are said to have been  
in their late teens. The police version of events charts a car chase  
that began at 2.15 am on Republic Day as the two zoomed through  
Lalkuan in Ghaziabad in a stolen Maruti 800. They were gunned down  
half an hour later in Noida's Sector 97, 25 km away. A Pakistani  
passport, two AK-47 rifles, 120 cartridges, five Chinese hand  
grenades, three detonators, 1.5 kg RDX, a rucksack and a diary are  
recorded as having been recovered from their car. Materials allegedly  
seized from the car indicate that the two were trained in making  
plastic explosives.

While the duo certainly netted the Indian security system some  
muchneeded credit for a swift, post-26/11 response to a terror  
threat, some crucial questions remain. How, for starters, was Abu  
Ismail and Farooq's plot uncovered? "The ATS had been working for the  
last one-and-a-half months on specific information about jehadis  
trying to enter the capital via Ghaziabad on the eve of Republic  
Day," Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal said. As soon as  
there was information about two persons trying to sneak into Delhi,  
the ATS took action. The Noida police fill in the details recounting  
how the 'terrorists' stopped to ask for directions at a tea stall  
from a man who, coincidentally, was a police informer. He saw a gun  
jutting out from one of the boys' rucksacks, recognised it as an  
AK-47 rifle and informed the police. The police are yet to name the  
terror outfit to which the two belonged. Key questions remain  
unanswered. Why would a terrorist try entering the capital on, of all  
days, Republic Day, when security is at its peak? Again, were these  
two really so reckless as to risk suspicion by letting their weapons  
show? Would the plotters of a terror strike really need directions to  
their target? If the police has the answers, they're not letting on.

Establishing the identity of the two dead 'terrorists' has also  
proved tricky. According to the police, Farooq 'confessed' on his way  
to hospital that he and Ismail were Pakistanis. The police also say  
Farooq confessed he was from Akora in Baluchistan and Ismail hailed  
from Rawalkot. The passport recovered from the car identifies Farooq  
as Ali Ahmad, son of Mohammad Fateh of Rahim Yaar Khan, Pakistan. A  
dying 'confession' may raise scepticism, but even more questionable  
is Farooq's setting out for a terror strike with his passport but  
without either a satellite or a mobile phone, used in practically  
every terror attack of the past few years. Meanwhile, DIG (Meerut  
Range) Aditya Mishra has told the press that the terrorists were also  
carrying two ID cards issued in the names of Rakesh, supposedly of  
the College of Engineering and Technology in Parbhani, Maharashtra,  
and Sameer, purportedly from Shivam Old Senior Secondary School,  
Vijay Nagar, Delhi. Which version is the truth? Conflicting reports  
over the route the chase took have also emerged. The ATS claims the  
terrorists were chased from the Amity University check post, six km  
from Sector 97 in Noida, where they were shot down. Sector 97 is also  
the site of two other recent encounters. The Noida police, on the  
other hand, report a 25-km chase from Lal Kuan in Ghaziabad that  
would have crossed at least five police posts. Why did the police at  
these posts not check the fleeing terrorists?

The police say the car the duo used had a fake registration number,  
of a twowheeler scooter, registered in the name of a Ghaziabad- 
resident Pawan Verma. Other reports, however, said a couple of number  
plates were also seen in the police Gypsy immediately after the  
encounter. The Gypsy has since gone missing and the police and the  
ATS refuse to talk about it. The Gypsy would, perhaps, have raised  
some of the greatest contradictions of all. The police explain away  
the lack of bullet marks on the terrorists' Maruti 800 with the claim  
that they targeted only the lower parts of the car to puncture its  
tyres. But there is only one bullet hole on the windshield of the  
police vehicle. Even though an AK-47 fires at least eight or nine  
bullets at one go. The windshield mark is also unusual for an AK-47  
bullet, which would normally have broken the pane.

The holes in the Noida police and UP ATS'S versions of events are  
compounded by the refusal of both agencies to confirm details they  
initially gave out. "They may be terrorists. But details will be  
given after the investigation," says HN Singh, Western UP head, ATS.  
A four-member team headed by Lucknow DSP RK Singh is now to  
investigate the case.Singh says, "We are carefully examining the  
details and file the chargesheet soon." Till such time as the  
findings are filed, the story of the 'terrorists' will have to rest  
as the less-than convincing tale of the failed expedition of two  
reckless boys.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp? 
filename=Ne140209new_encounter.asp

o o o

’ENCOUNTER’ AT BATLA HOUSE: UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

A Report by Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity group

60 pp., Rs 35, February 2009.

For Copies contact: Adil Mehdi, Dept of English, JMI (9990923027)  
indianlit at yahoo.com / Ahmed Sohaib, Centre for Comparative Religions,  
JMI (9899462042) sohaibnirvan at gmail.com / Ghazi Shahnawaz, Dept. of  
Psychology, JMI (9868221506) mgshahnawaz at gmail.com

______


[8] INDIA: ONLINE PETITION IN DEFENCE OF LABOUR AND TRIBAL RIGHTS  
ACTIVIST SHAMIM MODI


http://www.petitiononline.com/Shamim/petition.html

     To:  Concerned citizens and civil rights groups

     Ex-TISSIAN Activist Working for Rights of Tribal People Arrested

     Ms Shamim (nee Meghani) Modi ex-TISSIAN, law graduate, has had  
to pay a heavy price for taking up the cause of tribal people and  
other industrial workers, exposing the corrupt nexus between the  
politician and the mining mafia and for working towards bringing  
about a change in the political functioning. She was arrested in  
gross violation of democratic rights on 10th February 2009 from her  
residence at Harda, M.P. and is presently lodged in Hoshaganbad jail.  
Procedure to secure bail from M.P High Court is now.

     The arrest was made on false charges of instigating tribals to  
attack forest officials and another case of kidnapping with the  
intention to kill the same tribal people, leveled against her (and  
her husband) in 2007. Subsequently no enquiries were conducted. But  
the immediate cause of her arrest is that on 9th February local  
industrialists belonging to 60 saw mills and factories issued an  
ultimatum to local administration that Shamim Modi and Anurag Modi be  
arrested in 48 hours or else they would shut down their  
establishments since they felt harassed by the growing complaints  
raised by their employees. The Shramik Adivasi Sanghathana (SAS), the  
local community based organisation was instrumental in raising the  
issue of non-implementation of Labour Act in 60 saw mills and plywood  
factory of the town. She had also taken up the concerns of more than  
1000 load workers working in various Krishi Upaj Mandi in Harda  
District.

     There is a need to protest this and bring the issue in the  
public domain.

     What You Can Do -
     We should not let the corrupt and unjust to prevail and squash  
democratic voices and processes. Even from the comfort of our homes  
and spaces, can’t we register our protest? Kindly do so by signing  
the petition online.

     Details of the case:
     For the past 2 years or more, Shamim’s life has been under  
threat and she was given state protection during a P.I.L. which had  
crucial implications for illegal quarrying in the forest land of  
Betul District. The current charges and the circumstances of the  
arrest point towards the bias of the local administration against Ms  
Modi, Mr. Modi and the SAS. SAS has faced a lot of harassment from  
the local administration for taking up various issues of the tribal  
people like, non-payment of wages by the forest and other officials,  
bonded labour, alleged contentions to the title of land, inclusion of  
names of the tribal persons in the below-poverty-line list, etc.

     Given the nature of constant and difficult dealings with the  
administration to make their ends meet, the SAS over the past 6 years  
took a decision to become politically active in the hope of  
instilling democratic practices in the region. They are members of  
Samajwadi Jan Parishad, floated by peoples’s movement striving to  
change the political system. They have been contesting the local,  
assembly and even Lok Sabha elections. The growing impact of the SAS  
activities and the fight for democratic space is being met by  
resistance from the local political and other power structures.

     Ms Shamim and her husband, Mr Anurag are educated/professionally  
qualified persons who have taken up the unpleasant task of working  
towards the rights of others (the tribal people and the marginalized)  
by sacrificing their careers and middle class security. Shamim has a  
B. A. from Jesus and Merry College, Delhi; M.A. from LSR, Delhi, M.  
Phil from TISS and Law Degree from Barkatullah University, Bhopal.  
The values adopted for work are Gandhian and socialist and it is to  
improve the ill-functioning systems of our society so that the  
marginalized have access to basic needs like food, shelter, health  
and education and can live in dignity under the law of the land.


     The Current Charges:
     The charges under which Shamim Modi has been arrested are  
clearly trumped up in character. This is in spite of the use of  
democratic and constitutional means by the Modis and the SAS to  
secure tribal and other sections of society their rights.

     The charges relate to an old case of 11th July, 2007, when  
forest department officials assaulted a tribal Ramdas and his sister- 
in-law Phoolwati in village Dhega for allegedly cultivating forest  
land. The official was armed and the people of the village in self  
defense overpowered him; subsequently the SAS activist and Shamim  
tried to lodge an F.I.R. which the police did not register. On the  
contrary, a case of kidnapping (Sec. 364 IPC) of the ranger (O.P.  
Patel), and robbery with intent to kill (Sec. 397 IPC), etc. were  
filed against Shamim and Anurag Modi, who were never even present at  
the site of the incident in village Dhega. Consequently, on 13th July  
2007, Shamim along with Phoolwati and other women on proceeding to  
file the complaint at Harda District Court were stopped from doing  
so. They were then dragged away forcibly and taken to Bhopal for  
treatment. Ironically another case of kidnapping with intention to  
kill were lodged against Shamim. However the women were not given  
treatment at Bhopal. Due to a P.I.L. lodged it was possible to have a  
hearing in the High Court of M.P. at Jabalpur, where the women were  
heard and medical treatment arranged.

     Therefore, I seek solidarity from concerned citizens and  
citizens groups, and hope that this statement would be endorsed by  
you. It will be forward it to the C.M. of M.P., Chairperson of  
National Human Rights Commission, Chief Justice of M.P. and Prime  
Minister of our country.

     Sincerely,

     The Undersigned

View Current Signatures


     The Petition for the Release of Social Activist Working for  
Tribal People Petition to Concerned citizens and civil rights groups  
was created by and written by Rajani Konantambigi

o o o

[The above petition can also be read at: http://www.sacw.net/ 
article709.html ]

_____


[9] Announcements:

(i) Invitation for interaction with Pakistani Peace delegation March  
2nd 2009
12.00 noon to 2.30 pm
Chelmsford Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi

Dear

South Asian Network for Social & Agricultural Development (SANSAD)  
and Confederation Of Voluntary Agencies (COVA) cordially invite you  
to an Interaction Session between Media Leaders and a Peace  
Delegation from Pakistan followed by lunch. The Pakistani Peace  
Delegation is visiting India from 28th February to 9 March 2009 and  
to New Delhi between 1st and 3rd March 2009. (The profiles of the  
Pakistan Peace Delegation are enclosed.) The delegation is visiting  
India as part of the Joint Signature Campaign that was launched in  
India and Pakistan on 9th January and concluded on 18th February 2009.

Launch and Successful Conclusion of the Joint Signature Campaign
A Joint Signature Campaign against terrorism, war posturing and to  
promote cooperation and peace between the two countries was  
successfully organised by the civil society organizations in India  
and Pakistan from 9th January 2009 to 18th February 2009.
Launched after the terrorist attack on Mumbai in end November 2008,  
the Joint Signature Campaign received tremendous response in both the  
countries. Hundreds of organizations working on a variety of issues  
in different cities, towns and villages spread throughout the  
Subcontinent participated in the Campaign against terrorism and for  
peace and cooperation between India and Pakistan.
Exchange of Peace Delegations

As a part of the Campaign, a 17 member Peace Delegation from Pakistan  
is going to visit India, and along with some Indian representatives,  
is seeking to submit copies of the Petition on which signatures were  
obtained in both the countries to the President, Vice President and  
Prime Minister of India between 2nd and 3rd of March 2009.  
Subsequently, this Peace Delegation from Pakistan will visit the  
cities of Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur, Ajmer, Kolkatta,  
Durgapur, Lucknow, Patna, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Chennai to meet and  
interact with the Indian civil society leaders. The 17 member  
Pakistani delegation comprises of social activists, trade unionists,  
writers, and political leaders.

During the same time a 16 Member Peace Delegation from India is going  
to visit Pakistan and submit a similar Petition with copies of  
signatures collected in both the countries to the President and Prime  
Minister of Pakistan. The Indian delegation will also meet and  
interact with the citizens of Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore,  
Karachi, Haiderabad, Nankana Saheb and Multan. The 16 member Indian  
Peace Delegation comprises leading religious leaders, social  
activists, media persons and peace activists. Profiles of the Indian  
Peace Delegation are enclosed.

It is expected that the exchange of Peace Delegations from India and  
Pakistan crossing over on the same day will send across very positive  
messages in both the countries. Both delegations comprise activists  
with large grassroots base and their exposure to the ground realities  
of the neighboring country and the large reservoirs of goodwill  
available will enable them to positively enlighten their  
constituencies back home on their return.
We look forward to your
participation in the Interaction Session.

Anil K Singh,
SecretaryGeneral SANSAD


South Asian Network for Social & Agricultural Development (SANSAD)
N-13, Second Floor
Green Park Extension
New Delhi -110 016, India
Phone (Work) : +91-11-41644845, 41758845,41644576
Fax : +91-11-41644576
Mobile : +91-9810015250
Phone (Home) : +91-11-64144189
E-mail : sansadasia at hotmail.com
anilsingh2005 at rediffmail.com


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

S o u t h      A s i a      C i t i z e n s      W i r e
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. An offshoot of South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/

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