SACW | June 26 - July 1, 2009 / Human Rights / Resisting Illegal Religious Edicts, Homophobia, Communalism / Prisoners rights

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | June 26 - July 1, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2639  
- Year 11 running
From: www.sacw.net

[ SACW Dispatches for 2009-2010 are dedicated to the memory of Dr.  
Sudarshan Punhani (1933-2009), husband of Professor Tamara Zakon and  
a comrade and friend of Daya Varma ]
____

[1] Ensure the Freedom of Movement in Post War Sri Lanka  (National  
Peace Council)
    + The return of the white van (Editorial, The Island)
[2] Bangladesh: so-called rural religious leaders and their  
continuing illegal Fatwas
     - Fatwa leads to 303 whips
     - Put an end to this evil practice (Editorial, The Daily Star)
     - Another fatwa victim (Editorial, New Age)
[3] India: Dont give in obscurantists and religious organisations -  
Keep up the pressure on the State to decriminalise homosexuality
     - Queer Parade Defies Anachronistic Indian Law (Sujata B. Shakeel)
     - Don’t dither on Section 377 (Editorial, The Hindu)
     - Govt soft-pedals on gay law change (The Telegraph)
     - Gay sex against tenets of Islam: Deoband (Times of India)
     - Religious disquiet on gay law (The Telegraph)
[4] India: Support and Resistance to the Hindu Far Right Among the  
Middle Classes in Delhi (Subhash Gatade)
    + Update on The Communal Situation In Rohini, Delhi
[5] India: Forgotten behind prison walls (Harsh Mander)
    - India: Rights violation in govt home (Ambika Pandit)
[7] International Solidarity: Letter of Protest To The Prime Minister  
of Israel (Shabnam Hashmi)
[8] Book Review: History Without An End (Rudrangshu Mukherjee)
[9] Publication Announcement: Censorship in South Asia - Cultural  
Regulation from Sedition to Seduction

_____


[1] Sri Lanka:

National Peace Council of Sri Lanka

24.06.09

Media Release

ENSURE THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN POST WAR SRI LANKA

The government has announced that all restrictions on fishing in the  
northern seas have been removed. It has also stated that the A9  
Highway that connects the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the country  
would also be opened for commercial transportation.These two measures  
will help to restore normalcy in the day to day living of the people.  
The National Peace Council believes that this positive approach of  
the government needs to be extended to other areas of national life.

In particular we request the government to relax the tight security  
measures that make the northern parts of the country very difficult  
to access due the need to pass through security checkpoints. Vehicles  
need to obtain special military permission to transit, even to towns  
such as Vavuniya and Mannar that have long been under military  
control. The interaction and free mingling of people from the north  
and south for personal and business reasons is an essential component  
of the normalization process, which continues to be obstructed by the  
need to obtain government approval.

One of the stark realities of the post-war phase has been the  
continuation of tight security measures throughout the country,  
hampering the movement of people and goods, adding costs to economic  
activities. While alertness on the part of the security forces is  
necessary yet the need for greater security related checks and  
barriers must be weighed against the dead weight costs such barriers  
impose on economic activity. The economic cost may not be immediately  
visible but it is there.

We hope that the decision of the government to start the process of  
local government elections in the north will facilitate the opening  
up of north to the freedom of movement guaranteed in the Sri Lankan  
constitution. In addition to promoting more opportunities for  
reconciliation, the economy will be strengthened and new livelihood  
opportunities will be provided to thousands of people who are now  
languishing in poverty despite their willingness to earn their living.

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan  
organisation that works towards a negotiated political solution to  
the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and  
prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and  
democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of  
the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of  
20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all  
the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

o o o

The Island
28 June 2009

Editorial

THE RETURN OF THE WHITE VAN

The return of the white van, as evidenced by last Wednesday’s ordeal  
of journalist Krishni Ifham who was bundled into one and driven to  
Kandy, asked some questions by her abductors – that is what they were  
- before they dropped her off at the Kandy bus stand to get back home  
having given her Rs. 200 to pay her fare, raises many disturbing  
issues. By the victim’s own account there has been no rough housing  
or harassment. She had been well treated while she was in the custody  
of whoever took her; they had even given her a fish bun and a sachet  
of milk to ward off any pangs of hunger. While we commend the  
civilized conduct of whoever took her into their custody, that does  
not in any way mitigate from the outrage that had been committed.

Ifham, who once worked for the Virakesari, the Tamil language daily,  
currently works for an agency called Internews which is into media  
development. She had previously worked for the Colombo office of  
Panos South Asia, an NGO which describes itself as an organization  
that "encourages and facilitates public discourse and debate on a  
wide range of issues, particularly those that have a direct impact on  
the least privileged and most marginalized sectors of society.’’  
Panos works with the media in many matters and recently attracted  
attention from security related agencies as well as a parliamentary  
select committee that probed its activities. However, as far as is  
publicly known, the authorities have not faulted the organization for  
any acts of omission and commission. From all accounts, the questions  
directed at Ifham, had focused on Panos and her employment in that  
organization although other ground too had been covered. If an  
official agency was in fact responsible for taking this young mother  
of two to Kandy from Wattala to ask her some questions about her  
previous employer, to say the least this is conduct that is not only  
reprehensible but also unacceptable.

We have said so before and we repeat that journalists are not above  
the law. There is nothing sacrosanct about working for a media  
organization and if it is necessary for a law enforcement agency to  
ask a media person any legitimate question or questions relating to  
an ongoing investigation, it is perfectly in order that they are  
asked and statements recorded. It is of course open to a journalist  
to decline on ethical grounds to reveal sources of information and  
conflicts on this score between law enforcers and journalists are not  
uncommon both here and abroad. According to the police spokesman, as  
far as he knows, neither the police nor military were responsible for  
Ifham’s few hours in somebody’s custody - whoever that somebody may  
have been. The self-same spokesman said as much some weeks ago when a  
Tamil newspaper editor was dragged out of a funeral parlour where he  
was attending a relatives obsequies and bundled into, yes, a white  
van. This version changed later when it was established that the  
editor had in fact been taken to custody by the military and  
thereafter handed over to the Terrorism Investigation Division of the  
police. He was held in custody for several weeks and thereafter  
released.

In a front page editorial published yesterday our sister paper, The  
Island, made the point that the government may deny any hand in  
Wednesday’s incident but nobody would believe such denials. Who else  
but an agent of the state would dare engage in such a brazen act and  
drive past dozens of checkpoints from a suburb of Colombo right up to  
Kandy with a young woman they had abducted inside their vehicle? And  
who but an organization investigating Panos will want to ask  
questions about that organization from a former employee? This is  
only the latest of many such white van abductions, not one of which  
has been solved. Who then can blame the public for reaching the  
obvious conclusion? The victim in this case being a web-based  
journalist, fellow professionals are naturally concerned about yet  
another incident that aggravates the ever-growing climate of  
repression of the media. What is particularly sad about it all is  
that it is totally unnecessary. If Ifham had to be questioned, she  
could have been summoned to a police station, or taken to one  
properly chaperoned as the Sri Lanka Press Institute had said in a  
statement we publish today, and her statement duly recorded. We say  
this, of course, on the assumption that a state agency was involved  
in the abduction.

If this was not so, it is even more frightening. That would imply  
that some extra-legal authority or gang intent on besmirching the  
reputation of the government is roaming our streets. If this be so,  
it is all the more important that the government and its various  
agencies should get to the bottom of the whole business, arrest the  
perpetrators and haul them up before the law. But investigations  
concerning recent attacks on the media and media professionals have  
led nowhere. Lasantha Wickrematunga was murdered in broad daylight in  
an area where there was a strong military and police presence and all  
that those working on the case have been able to do up to now is to  
arrest somebody who had stolen his mobile phone. Upali Tennakoon, the  
editor of the Rivira, a Sinhala Sunday paper run by no less than a  
relative of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was thereafter brutally  
attacked while driving to work. To borrow police jargon, there has  
still been no "breakthrough.’’ Ditto in the case of Poddala Jayantha,  
Secretary of the Working Journalists Association who had a leg broken  
by some toughs. The list of such unsolved cases is endless and  
Krishni Ifham believes that it will be the same where she is  
concerned. Meanwhile several media people, some who were physically  
attacked and others who are convinced that they risk the same fate,  
have fled the country and are afraid to return.

The war is over and extra-legal measures that the authorities may  
have had to rightly or wrongly resort to in the broader national  
interest are no longer necessary. But those who may have used such  
tactics with impunity – as well as a measure of justification - to  
counter a ruthless terrorist group may find it convenient to continue  
them, perhaps at the behest of their masters. This is a dangerous  
tendency and if the political establishment does not use its  
authority to crack down hard on such a development, there will be a  
serious erosion of the human rights of the Lankan people and the  
democratic fabric of the country.


_____


[2] Bangladesh: so-called rural religious leaders and their  
continuing illegal Fatwas

The Daily star
June 29, 2009

FATWA LEADS TO 303 WHIPS

Widow hospitalised; 6 held

A Correspondent, Comilla

Piara Begum, a widow of 40, and Mamun Miah, 25, fell victim to fatwa  
(religious edict) and were whipped before hundreds of people at  
Khaiyar under Debidwar upazila of Comilla Saturday night for their  
alleged involvement in anti-social activity.
Police, in this connection, arrested six people including a local  
religious leader who issued the fatwa. The conditions of the victims  
were stated to be critical.
The arrestees are Dakhil Madrasa Assistant Super Moulana Mohammad  
Manirul Islam, Dudmiah, Ibrahim, Wahed, Jalil and Mamun, the victim.
Dudmiah presided over the village arbitration while Wahed and Jalil  
executed the whippings, locals said.
Piara Begum filed a case with the Debidwar Police Station under the  
women and children repression prevention act accusing eight persons  
including the arrested six and 10 to 12 unidentified people.
ABM Atiqur Rahman Bashar from Devidwar reports: At the arbitration  
Piara was whipped 202 times and Mamun 101 times. They were also fined  
with Tk 30,000 each.
Piara, mother of five children, fell unconscious soon after the  
lashings and was taken to the Upazila Health Complex. The on-duty  
doctor ANM Bashir Ahmed said her condition was critical and she  
needed better treatment.
Deputy Commissioner of Comilla Manjurur Rahman and Superintendent of  
Police Shafiqul Islam visited the place.
Meanwhile, the six arrestees were produced before the Comilla court.
Dudmiah, acknowledging the fact, said, "I executed the fatwa issued  
by local religious leaders; I was given the task as a senior villager."
Officer-in-Charge of Debidwar Police Station Md Jahedul Islam said  
they had already arrested six people and are trying to arrest the  
rest involved in the incident.

The High Court in 2001 declared fatwa illegal.

o o o

The Daily Star
June 30, 2009

Editorial

PUT AN END TO THIS EVIL PRACTICE
Wider social awareness against it needed

WE are appalled at the incident of whipping of a 40-year old widow  
and a young man following announcement of "fatwa" by a self-arrogated  
local religious leader in Comilla. The victims were rounded up on  
alleged charges of having an illicit relationship and whipped in  
public. Reportedly, more than two hundred lashes of the whip on each  
of the accused have landed them in a hospital in critical condition.  
On top of it, both of them were fined Tk 30,000 each by the so-called  
arbitrators.

This incident reminds us of arbitrary edicts issued and enforced by  
so-called rural religious leaders perpetrating medieval atrocities on  
mostly young women in the villages of Bangladesh from time to time.  
If there is any complaint or dispute it should be taken to the normal  
court of law. We wonder how such men could take law into their own  
hands when the High Court declared the practice illegal in 2001?

Piara Begum, the widow and mother of five children, filed a case with  
the local police station under the Women and Children Repression  
Prevention Act accusing eight persons. The police acted promptly and  
arrested six persons including the fatwabaz. We strongly feel that  
the blatant violation of the law of the land deserves to be  
investigated properly and the violators tried in a court of law and  
given exemplary punishment. An expeditious trial and exemplary  
punishment would send strong messages to the exploiters of religion  
who might still be harbouring the motive of issuing such atrocious  
edicts.

These men continue to exploit the ignorance of the villagers and give  
wrong interpretation of religion to keep their sway in the community.  
Though mainstream religious leaders at the national level do not  
support this, yet small-time leaders under religious garb in the  
remote areas continue to defy the law. But to maintain stability and  
equilibrium in society, such people will have to be discouraged  
through taking strict legal action against them. People truly  
knowledgeable in religion can play an effective role in curbing the  
practice. At the same time, a campaign for building wider social  
awareness among the rural population has to be undertaken by the  
ministry of religious affairs as well as other ministries that work  
for social welfare.


New Age
30 June 2009

Editorial

ANOTHER FATWA VICTIM

The journey back into the medieval ethos is accelerating with each  
case of fatwa (arbitrary religious decree) atrocity against women.  
The women victimised under fatwa are being whipped and humiliated in  
public frequently in different parts of the country despite the  
outrage and protests aired in the leading media and fora, the women’s  
groups, civil society and enlightened citizenry. Last week a woman in  
a village in Moulvibazar was publicly flogged by order of village  
elders for talking to a non-relative male in the street. On May 22  
another woman, Rahima Akhtar, was whipped 39 times before she fell  
unconscious. At least three more cases have been reported within the  
last one month of women being flogged in different parts of the  
country for alleged sexual indiscretions.

    In the latest instance as reported in Sunday’s New Age, Peyara  
Begum of village Khaiver in Debidwar upazila in Comilla, a 45-year- 
old widow and mother of five, was whipped 200 times under a fatwa for  
her alleged extramarital relations with Mamun, a resident of the  
locality. She lay unconscious till a few workers of an NGO took her  
to the local health centre in critical condition. Later the police  
raided the area and arrested six persons (two absconded) including  
Monirul Islam who had issued the fatwa. What is further disturbing is  
the report that the flogging was made into a public spectacle watched  
by more than a thousand people. We would not want to assume that  
these watchers were vicariously participating in that repellent  
operation but to enjoy it as a show without protesting and resisting  
also proves a coarsening of sensibilities.

    This is a negative force threatening to tear our society apart.  
This is a new phenomenon alien to the religion as is traditionally  
understood and practised by the people of this land for centuries. It  
is alien to our culture. Some non-native influences seem to be  
warping the people’s faith, thinking and behaviour.. The rural people  
were conservative, sometimes even obscurantist but never extremist or  
cruel. But in recent years we are witnessing a social transformation  
which points to a complete negation of secularism. As the police  
usually act and arrests take place, we cannot say that the government  
is winking at the nefarious operation for fear of touching on a raw  
nerve. But the action has to be more drastic so that it acts as a  
real deterrence. The fatwa mongering is evidently catching on. It is  
true that if an insidious cultural remoulding is at work, police  
methods alone will not be sufficient to uproot it but the law and  
prescribed punishments must be harsh. A few days ago the Bangladesh  
Mahila Parishad called upon the government to make a law declaring  
the issuing of fatwa a criminal offence. Pending the framing of the  
law the home ministry can issue a circular to that effect. The High  
Court declared fatwa illegal eight years ago. But an appeal was  
preferred before the Appellate Division which issued a stay order.  
But in the eight years since, the successive governments did nothing  
to get the stay order vacated. This may have emboldened the fatwa  
mongers. Appeasement of extremists has always proved dangerous. And  
punishing women in a harsh method under fatwa is a slap on the face  
of the country’s existing justice delivery system and should not be  
brooked for a moment.


_____


[3] India: Resist Homophobic Religious Organisations - Keep up the  
pressure on the State to decriminalise homosexuality

Inter Press Service, June 30, 2009

RIGHTS:  QUEER PARADE DEFIES ANACHRONISTIC INDIAN LAW

by Sujata B. Shakeel

"No Fear, We are Queer" - More than 1,500 people participated in New  
Delhi’s second Queer Parade

Credit:Sudhanshu Malhotra/IPS

NEW DELHI, Jun 30 (IPS) - "Not all females are women," reads a poster  
emblazoned in red. "I am the pink sheep of my family!" is the message  
on another, while a third, very cheekily proclaims, "I don’t give a  
f***, I am a greedy bisexual"!

New Delhi’s second Queer Pride parade was flamboyant, riveting and  
raucous - a medley of rainbow hues, music, and in-your-face attitudes  
that infused an infectious energy and verve to a sultry, simmering  
Sunday evening.

On Jun. 28, more than 1,500 people joined the parade in central  
Delhi. Among them women and men from the city’s urban villages like  
Khanpur and Kapashera and well-heeled residents of South Delhi. A  
group of students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and also  
visitors from Mumbai, Dehradun and Assam, and a few foreigners.

Like 27-year-old Liz from Texas, studying Hindi at the American  
Institute of Indian Studies in Jaipur, who did the four-hour bus  
journey just for the Queer Pride. "I am a lesbian," she said. "My  
partner is in Toronto but will be joining me soon. This march is an  
excellent way to express solidarity and see the community come out in  
the open."

India’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)  
people are only now more openly coming out of the closet.  
Homosexuality is a criminal offence under an anachronistic law,  
Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which has been used by  
the police and religious orthodoxy to harass and terrorise same sex  
couples.

"No Fear, We are Queer" says one of the posters, challenging the  
authority of the state that seeks to "criminalise and throttle an  
individual’s right to profess and practice their sexual preferences,"  
asserts 44-year-old Pramada Menon, a Delhi-based activist and  
consultant on women’s rights and gender issues.

"We are just asking to be allowed to live the way we want," according  
to Anusha, 23, a political science student who describes herself as  
bisexual. "We are not impinging on anyone’s rights, so why is it so  
difficult to allow us our rights of self expression and choices? It  
is discrimination when you ask me whether I am straight or queer, or  
if I can’t talk about my sexuality freely."

Under Indian law, only heterosexual couples can get a house loan from  
a bank, apply for medical insurance jointly, adopt a child as a  
couple, or will their property to a partner. "We are marginalised at  
every step," Menon states.

Activists have been campaigning to scrap the British colonial era  
law. "We need to resist the heterosexual matrix," says social  
scientist and activist, Aditya Nigam.

Also known as the anti-sodomy law, Sec 377 penalises "voluntary  
carnal intercourse against the order of nature with a man, woman or  
animal." The punishment, though rare, includes life imprisonment and  
fines, which are frequently resorted to by the police to extort money  
from bisexual, homosexual and transgendered women and men.

But repealing Section 377 is a contentious issue in India with  
religious organisations strongly opposing the move under the plea  
that "it would lead to sexual anarchy."

Talk of sexual anarchy is a big joke, feel many gay rights activists.  
"Should they not address more lethal issues like child marriage,  
female foeticide, domestic violence, rape, murder for dowry and  
pedophile? There has to be reconciliation and there has to be support  
for this marginalised section," says Menon.

Support is essential, according to 35 year-old cabin crew personnel  
Varun, who was "dismayed and confused when I discovered myself in  
college." Eye-catching in a black and gold ensemble and flamboyant  
feathered headgear, Varun says he could come out in the open only  
because of the support of his family. What scares him is the  
"potential HIV/AIDS factor and access to unbiased treatment!"

In 2001, Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO working on HIV/AIDS  
issues filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in the Delhi  
High Court demanding repeal of Article 377 on the grounds that it  
discriminates against LGBTI people who may need HIV/AIDS treatment.

The petition also raises another contention: describing people with  
different sexual preferences as criminals is a violation of human  
rights guaranteed under India’s Constitution. The court began  
hearings in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Manmohan Singh government is believed to be "back- 
pedalling" on the issue of supporting the demand for amendment of  
Article 377 for fear of religious backlash, say activists.

Anjali Gopalan, director of the Naz Foundation Trust, says, very  
angrily: "How can you place religion over human rights!"

There is no doubt that "it (repealing) is about human rights and  
about acceptance," says Dr Kumar, a professor at Delhi University,  
who was at the parade with her daughter Ria, 26, (name changed) a PhD  
scholar. "Isn’t it discrimination that compels many present here to  
hide (their faces) behind a mask or a shade. It is humiliating and  
very confidence eroding!"

"I was not shocked when I learned of her (Ria’s) sexual orientation.  
The issue brought us closer, forging a deeper understanding. I’m  
proud that my daughter could express herself. She won’t tell herself  
a lie and I don’t want her to be a fraud. It is important to be able  
to experience what one really is," she adds.

Kumar who describes herself as a "proud mother" says: "Freedom and  
progress is not just about economic progress, but also about  
uninhibited thought, progressive attitude, and the courage of  
conviction to confront natural reality. The great Indian middle class  
needs to change its mindset to become a more inclusive society."

o o o

The Hindu
1 July 2009

Editorial:  DON’T DITHER ON SECTION 377

Are the winds of change that seemed to be blowing through the  
corridors of the central government on the issue of ending legal  
discrimination against gay sex petering out? Hope that the infamous  
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code would be either quickly repealed  
or suitably amended — raised when the Union Home Ministry boldly  
described it as an “absurdity in the present day” — have receded with  
the Law Minister, Veerappa Moily, announcing that the Centre was in  
no hurry to take such a step. Calls for a parliamentary debate to  
reach a ‘wider consensus’ on a basic issue of human rights and equal  
justice are nothing but an excuse to put off a hard decision on  
ending an obnoxious colonial-era provision that has absolutely no  
place in the statute book of a modern democratic and secular state.  
Section 377, which punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of  
nature” with imprisonment up to 10 years, is not specifically  
targeted at homosexuality. But by criminalising any penetrative sex  
that does not lead to reproduction, it has become a weapon in the  
hands of the police to harass those who have alternative sexual  
orientations. It also stands out as a symbol of 19th century  
intolerance.

Suggestions that Section 377 would be reviewed coincided with  
hundreds of members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,  
transgendered) community dancing and marching through the streets of  
five Indian cities last Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary of the  
Stonewall uprisings in New York, now a universal symbol of gay  
resistance to obscurantist oppression. What is clear is that the gay  
rights movement is slowly coming of age in India — emboldened by such  
developments as President Barack Obama’s promise to bring the “full  
spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans” and his administration’s  
decision to endorse a United Nations resolution calling for the  
worldwide decriminalisation of homosexuality. In an age where there  
is growing acceptance of the idea that LGBTs must be allowed to live  
in dignity and respect, it is shame that India cannot bring itself to  
legalise gay behaviour. It is time the United Progressive Alliance  
did the right thing by either repealing Section 377 or (as some  
social activists have proposed) amending it so that it excludes  
consensual sex between all adults, whether of the same sex or  
otherwise. Having promised to review this provision, the government  
must not give in to the pressure of religious fundamentalists, moral  
obscurantists, and others who argue that Indian society is not ready  
to accept such change. Especially on non-negotiable social issues,  
governments must lead public opinion — not tail its least enlightened  
strands or go for the lowest common denominator.

o o o

The Telegraph
June 30 , 2009

GOVT SOFT-PEDALS ON GAY LAW CHANGE

Our Special Correspondent

Participants at a gay parade in Delhi

New Delhi, June 29: Vocal opposition from religious minority groups  
and consequent fears of a political backlash have forced the  
government into cautious — and hasty — retreat on removing the  
“illegal” tag from homosexuality.

Within 48 hours of indicating a bold move to amend section 377 and  
give gay people the right to profess their brand of sexuality, the  
Centre sent out clear signals it was backtracking.

While Union law minister Veerappa Moily claimed he had been  
“misquoted” as saying the government was planning to legalise  
homosexuality, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke of the need for  
“debate and consensus” on the issue before any move. This is a sure  
way of putting amendments to section 377 in the cold storage as  
consensus appears unlikely.

On the heels of objections from the Catholic Church yesterday, an  
influential Islamic seminary spoke out strongly against lifting the  
ban on homosexuality, saying “unnatural sex” was against the tenets  
of Islam.

“Homosexuality is an offence under Shariat law and haram (prohibited)  
in Islam,” Maulana Abdul Khalik Madrasi, deputy vice-chancellor of  
the Darul Uloom of Deoband said. Madrasi also asked the government  
not to repeal IPC Section 377 which criminalises homosexuality.

Terming gay activities as crime, Maulana Salim Kasmi, vice-president  
of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, said homosexuality was  
punishable under Islamic law and Section 377 should not be tampered  
with. Other prominent spokespersons for Islamic organisations too  
have strongly opposed any changes.

The law, home and health ministries are expected to meet soon to  
discuss the issue.

“We need more debate on the positives and the negatives... and there  
can’t be a better forum than Parliament,” Azad said. “We need a broad  
consensus within the government and [other] political parties. I  
don’t think my personal or anyone else’s personal thinking on this  
should prevail.”

Asked about his personal views on the issue, Azad said: “I don’t come  
in that category.”

The debate on Section 377 has simmered in India since the early-1990s  
but has intensified in recent years with health experts arguing it  
obstructs action to prevent the spread of HIV infection among men who  
have sex with men. Non-government agencies have also been calling for  
a change in the law saying it is used by police to harass individuals  
for their sexual orientation.

Azad said the debate on the proposal to repeal the law would be  
multifaceted. Some might link the issue with culture, while others  
may point out its implications for infections or the potential of the  
existing law to induce harassment. “We need a debate... and then a  
broad consensus.”

But lawyers who have campaigned for the repeal of Section 377 said  
history suggests that a majority view or consensus may not be easy to  
obtain on progressive laws.

“When Raja Rammohun Roy opposed sati and advocated widow remarriage  
in the early 19th century, there was massive opposition to it —  
specially from upper-caste Hindus,” said Leena Menghaney, a civil  
rights lawyer in New Delhi. “In every era, there are unpopular  
reforms to be made.”

o o o

GAY SEX AGAINST TENETS OF ISLAM: DEOBAND
29 Jun 2009, 1353 hrs IST, PTI

Muzaffarnagar, UP: A leading Islamic seminary on Monday opposed  
Centre's move to repeal a controversial section of the penal law which
criminalises homosexuality saying unnatural sex is against the tenets  
of Islam.
"Homosexuality is an offence under Shariat Law and haram (prohibited)  
in Islam," deputy vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana  
Abdul Khalik Madrasi said.
Madrasi also asked the government not to repeal section 377 of IPC  
which criminalises homosexuality.
His objection came a day after law minister Veerappa Moily said a  
decision on repealing the section would be taken only after  
considering concerns of all sections of the society, including  
religious groups like the church.
Terming gay activities as crime, Maulana Salim Kasmi, vice-president  
of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said  
homosexuality is punishable under Islamic law and section 377 of IPC  
should not be tampered.
Maulana Mohd Sufiyan Kasmi, an AIMPLB member, and Mufti Zulfikar,  
president of Uttar Pradesh Imam Organisation have also expressed  
similar views on the issue.
Kasmi said it would be harmful for the society to legalise gay sex.
Buoyed by the news that the Centre is considering repealing the  
controversial section of the IPC, members of the gay community on  
Sunday held parades in several cities.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Gay-sex-against-tenets-of-Islam- 
Deoband/articleshow/4715517.cms

o o o

The Telegraph
June 29 , 2009

RELIGIOUS DISQUIET ON GAY LAW
Our Bureau
A participant at the Delhi parade.
(Prem Singh)

New Delhi, July 28: An attempt to decriminalise homosexuality has set  
up for the UPA government a sensitive test reminiscent of the Shah  
Bano case.

Some religion-driven organisations have opposed the government’s  
effort to build a consensus on repealing Section 377 of the Indian  
Penal code, which makes punishable “carnal intercourse against the  
order of nature”.

The government initiative for a meeting of its three relevant  
ministries to scrap or modify the section has rekindled hope among  
gay activists and liberal opinion-makers.

But two Muslim outfits — the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and the Jamaat  
Islami — and the VHP have categorically opposed any change in the law.

A Christian organisation — the Catholic Bishops Conference of India  
(CBCI) — restated the Church’s objections but suggested that it was  
not against the repeal as such. The CBCI does not want homosexuality  
to be treated as a criminal offence but it will oppose measures, such  
as gay marriages, intended at “legalising” same-sex relationships.

Law minister M. Veerappa Moily and home minister P. Chidambaram are  
said to be in favour of repealing the 1860 law. Moily today said the  
concerns of all sections, including religious groups, would be taken  
into account before the final decision.

He said the department of law, home and health would soon meet on the  
issue but did not commit a date. Sources said health minister Ghulam  
Nabi Azad, who hails from Kashmir, had not yet articulated his  
position. “He may want to gauge the mood in the Valley,” a Congress  
source said.

“Section 377 makes no sense,” said Ponni Arasu, a law student and  
organiser of the Gay Pride March in Delhi today. “You cannot deny  
people their basic civil rights.”

The younger section in the Congress appears to favour what one leader  
called “a liberal step in the right direction”.

But a veteran associated with minority affairs in the Congress said:  
“This cannot be a black-and-white decision. The party will have to  
discuss the issue in detail.”

Government sources stressed no decision had been taken to repeal the  
section that is also invoked to fight child abuse. The government  
could suggest modifications that will prevent harassment of  
homosexuals and squeeze in some clauses aimed at addressing the  
concerns of religious groups.

For the Congress, the controversy has brought back memories of the  
Shah Bano case. In 1986, the Rajiv Gandhi government, under pressure  
from Muslim organisations, had nullified a Supreme Court order  
awarding maintenance to the divorced woman.

The homosexuality debate comes at a time the Congress feels it has  
won back the support of minorities. The UPA government also takes  
care to project a minority-sensitive face.

o o o

Hindustan Times
June 29, 2009

Long march to real rights

Don’t be fooled by Sunday’s gay parades in India’s major metros.  
There is still a social stigma against sexual minorities in our  
country and the law is there to firm up this taboo. Add to this Law  
Minister Veerappa Moily’s remarks that the Cabinet would be ‘re- 
looking’ at Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which penalises  
“voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any  
man, woman or animal”, and the picture emerging in 21st century India  
is not exactly encouraging. The law states that even consensual anal  
or oral sex between two people — regardless of gender — is punishable  
by a fine and up to ten years imprisonment. That the government  
intends to take into account the concerns of all sections of society,  
including religious groups, suggests that it will be a good long time  
before this retrograde law is repealed.

A common argument against doing away with this law is that this would  
enable paedophiles to prey on young children, especially boys. This  
makes little sense. The protection of all children from sexual abuse  
cannot come within the ambit of an omnibus law that also governs  
adults. There has to a comprehensive law dealing with child abuse  
that includes issues like incest and domestic sexual violence. The  
existence of this law has driven the majority of the gay community  
underground. This means that, by and large, they do not have access  
to either information or healthcare when it comes to safe sex. As it  
stands, the law has been used to harass gays, transgender people and  
eunuchs. They are often targeted by the police who take advantage of  
the law being weighted against them.

Powerful religious organisations have already made it clear that they  
would oppose any move to dilute or repeal this law. Resistance to  
changing this law is evident from the fact that not much has moved  
from the time it was first challenged in the courts in 1994. Issues  
of sexuality are still very much taboo in India though we pride  
ourselves on having traditionally been an open society. Arguments  
that any discrimination on grounds of sexuality amounts to a  
violation of a person’s fundamental rights have not cut much ice with  
those opposing it. All governments have been wary of grasping this  
nettle and the current one seems to be no exception. Many other  
countries have moved ahead to the extent of openly gay people holding  
high office. In India, a beginning would be made if, for starters,  
legal discrimination was done away with.

_____


[4] India:

http://www.sacw.net/article980.html

Support and Resistance to the Hindu Far Right Among the Middle  
Classes in Delhi

by Subhash Gatade

Protest by Hindutva organisations against construction of a mosque in  
Rohini Sector 16, Delhi…Prayer by the MUSLIMS not allowed by hindutva  
forces on 26.6.2009 and those who were coming for the NAMAZ were  
beaten up and chased back. .. Hooligans marched in street to look out  
for muslims…Women also participated in large numbers..Timely  
intervention by the police..19 arrested……Appeal to maintain communal  
harmony by citizens groups .

According to reliable sources, a piece of land was alloted by the DDA  
to the ’Dargah Islamiya Intezamiya Committee’ for a mosque in the  
area in North-West Delhi to cater to the longtime demand of the  
minority community. In fact people from Rohini have to either to go  
to Badli or Avantika, if they have to offer Namaz on anyday..
— Based on newspaper reports appearing in Rashtriya Sahara, Rojnama  
Sahara (27 th June 2009) and others)

I

Wahidbhai, who is nearing sixties, is feeling low since last few  
days. A doctor by profession, he is suddenly contemplating shifting  
to his paternal home in Jama Masjid area from his own flat in Rohini.  
In fact it was only a few years ago that he had purchased this flat  
despite opposition from his other relatives.

To be very frank the recent developments in his own neighbourhood  
have left him completely devastated. He had not imagined in his  
wildest dreams that many of his own neighbours - who were regular  
visitors to his house as well as clinic - would have no qualms in  
raising slogans which stigmatised the whole minority community.

It was true that in this part of Delhi, people owning allegiance to  
his faith - who were not in significant numbers - had to travel a few  
kilometres just to offer Namaz on special occasions. And during the  
time of Ramzan when people fasted for the whole day, it became  
further difficult to do so. Sometime back the government had agreed  
to the proposal put forward by a local organisation for a mosque and  
had granted a piece of land in the area. Many community members in  
the area had contributed wholeheartedly and a token amount was  
deposited with the government in lieu of the piece of land.

Wahidbhai shivers to think if the police had not shown enough  
alertness what could have happened on the day when people had  
gathered there to offer Namaz. (Friday, 26 th June 2009). It was a  
mere coincidence that he was away on that day and had gone to meet  
his relatives in the other part of the city. Although he had noticed  
the manner in which Hindutva forces had become hyperactive supposedly  
to stop the construction of the mosque, it was beyond his  
comprehension that they would resort to violence. He was also told  
that fanatic elements also attacked a man in his cutting saloon. And  
the most tragic part of the whole episode was that many youth from a  
poor neighbourhood which housed many victims of the tragic 1984 riots  
were also to be seen in the melee. The only silver lining to the  
otherwise disturbing situation was the manner in which few ordinary  
wo/men who stood the ground and resisted the lumpens who were  
attacking innocents and talked of unity of all religions.

II

As of now there is calm in the area but it seems deceptive. Police is  
vigilant and is taking extra precaution but mischievous forces may  
again become active to keep the tensions high. Nobody can deny that  
they are more keen to keep the pot boiling. It was no coincidence  
that a temple ’came up’ suddenly one night on a piece of government  
land, near the mosque itself. And a ’bhandara’ was also organised at  
this temple supposedly to mobilise people. This temple was in  
addition to many other illegally constructed temples which have come  
up in recent times in the area (Rohini Sector 15, 16, 17 and others)  
by encroaching public land. Few such temples have even proved to be  
moneyspinners for their promoters

For outsiders the manner in which communal forces have become active  
in a middle class dominated area of Delhi may sound incomprehensible.  
But close watchers of the situation know the desperation in the ranks  
of the pro Hindutva forces when the results to the elections to the  
parliament were out. To the surprise of all, this area which use to  
be a stronghold of the saffrons, registred more votes to the Congress  
candidate vis-a-vis the saffrons. And thus apart from the national  
context where the saffrons faced humiliating defeat, the sense of  
vengeance among them had an added local context.

However can it be said that this is for the first time that Delhi has  
witnessed such majoritarian attempts to deny even the  
constitutionally granted right to freedom of religion. It was only  
last year that a church in Delhi was attacked by the Hindu Right  
(Delhi church attacked 2 weeks ago, cops mum, Times of India, 4  
October 2008).

New Delhi: The fanatical Hindu mobs have struck in the Capital. And  
the police has kept it under wraps. A good fortnight ago, a mob  
attacked a handful of Christian families at the Peeragarhi Relief  
Camp and demolished the frontal portion of the Christian prayer hall  
in the camp.

This camp in west Delhi is barely 15 km from Parliament House. To  
this day, this group of Christians is holding weekly mass with police  
protection. The families say they are living in constant fear of  
local miscreants allegedly owing allegiance to ’’some religious  
organisations’’ who accuse them of carrying out ’’forced  
conversions’’ and threaten to ’’take away’’ their daughters unless  
they ’’mended their ways.’’

The mob had struck on September 16. Despite repeated attempts, the  
community has not managed to get a FIR registered for what they call  
’’vandalism’’ and police describe as ’’regular land dispute’’.

Ezik Malik, the priest-in-charge of the prayer hall says that a day  
before the actual demolition, he had got a call from an unidentified  
caller saying that the roof of the hall had collapsed.

’’We promptly went to rebuild it when suddenly this mob of 500  
reached the place carrying saffron flags and sticks. They started  
pelting stones that left six people injured. There were anti- 
Christian slogans and then they demolished part of the hall.  
Policemen just looked on. On hindsight I realised that they had  
damaged the roof to create a situation that could later be used as an  
excuse for unrest.’’ He added that despite repeated attempts the  
local police station refused to lodge a FIR but gave the community  
protection.

. . .DCP (west) Sharad Aggarwal denies any religious angle in the  
unrest. ’’It was entirely a land dispute,’’ he claimed. ’’The  
Christians were trying to extend the prayer hall beyond the boundary  
wall which is when locals objected. There was an agitation but  
everything was under control because we were right there when it  
happened. There was no demolition and we have given them police  
protection.’’

The MCD, which is the sole body that can carry out demolitions, is  
not aware of any unauthorised construction here. MCD commissioner K S  
Mehra said he was unaware of the incident. A MCD spokesman, however,  
said that the police or anyone else is not authorised to carry out  
demolitions. ’’We carry them out and ask for police protection,’’ he  
said.

A similar piece of news was reported from Dilshad Garden, Delhi when  
thirty Hindutva extremists had disrupted the prayer service of St.  
Sebastian Church on February 23, 2008 in Dilshad Garden, Delhi. Fr.  
Antony William, the priest of the church had told Christian Legal  
Association that they had prior information that local goons might  
attack the church, and had requested police protection for the Sunday  
worship service. However, the attack came after the worship service  
concluded and the constable had left the premises. The Hindutva  
extremists, who had been hiding in a nearby temple, came to the  
church and started shouting anti Christian slogans and disrupted the  
prayer service. The miscreants resorted to stone pelting at the  
vehicles belonging to the congregation members. Nobody was injured in  
this incident.The concerned police station was duly informed and a  
case was registered under Section 427 of the Indian Penal Code.

III

It need be noted that the day after the incident in Rohini, many  
citizens and political groups in the area organised a meeting to take  
stock of the situation and decide an apporpriate response to the  
machinations of these anti-human forces. They have already sent a  
memorandum to the higher authorities - signed by many residents of  
the area as well as few resident welfare associations - communicating  
to them that they do not approve of such actions by the fanatic  
forces to vitiate the atmosphere. They have also demanded that  
administration maintains extra vigilance so that these mischievous  
forces are not allowed to raise their head again.

The said memorandum can also be said to be an open appeal to all  
people/formations yearning for secularism and democracy..

Is not it high time to understand that political defeat of an idea  
like Hindutva in an election does not necessarily mean its social  
defeat. And the recent developments in Rohini suggest that such  
forces can utilise every other opportunity to further polarise the  
situation and try to capitalise it politically.

One still remembers the famous poem by the legendary poet Gorakh  
Pandey ’ Is saal Danga bahut hua, bahut hui hai khoon kee baarish,  
agale saal acchi hogi fasal matdanki’ ( This year there were many  
riots, much blood got spilled, next year it would reflect in voting).

o o o

June 30, 2009
UPDATE ON THE COMMUNAL SITUATION IN ROHINI, DELHI
From: Subhas Gatade

This is to give you an update on the communal situation in Rohini  
(the area in NorthWest Delhi) Sector 16 which saw sudden flaring up  
of tension last week. As can be expected the Hindutva forces are  
playing a very mischievous and criminal role to aggravate the  
situation. The building of a new mosque in this area, on a piece of  
land alloted by the Delhi Development Authority, has given them a  
pretext to polarise the population.

Last friday (26 th June 2009) these communal elements had mobilised  
hundreds of people to stop people from offering Namaz at the mosque.  
If police would not have been there, things could have taken a turn  
for the worst.

Some of us who happen to live in this area had organised a meeting of  
citizens groups, social-political organisations to decide our  
strategy (27 th June). It was decided to organise a signature  
campaign and also submit a memorandum to the higher authorities.  
Today a eight member delegation of these organisations met concerned  
officials and conveyed to them our concern.

The memorandum submitted to them emphasised three things :
- A significant section of the local population does not support such  
attempts to create new divisions in the society
- It is expected that the administration would play a proactive role  
to ensure constitutionally guaranteed right to faith and would also  
take steps to remove the feeling of terror in the minority community.
- The administration would make extra efforts to nab the real  
'ringleaders' of this agitation.

A few friends have talked to the media but as of now the matter is  
severly underreported.

Coming Friday is crucial. It would reveal the level of preparations  
of these fanatic elements.We will have to monitor the situation closely.


_____


[5] India:


FORGOTTEN BEHIND PRISON WALLS

by Harsh Mander (June 21, 2009, The Hindu)

Tens of thousands of deprived men and women are trapped in jails  
throughout the country, often for many years, without trial or  
conviction, separated from their families, exiled from hope. The  
predicament of these "under-trial" prisoners, who constitute as many  
as two-thirds of our overcrowded jail populations, have for many  
decades - but all too briefly and ineffectually - stirred the  
conscience of courts, official commissions and human rights  
activists, but little has changed for them. Most of these  
unfortunate, incarcerated men and women - and sadly children - are  
very poor, and from socially disadvantaged groups. It is by no means  
a fact that most crimes in our country are committed by very poor  
people. It is just that these dispensable and forgotten people are  
too powerless to free themselves from the vice-like grip of the law:  
they lack the money, education and political clout to walk free. They  
cannot muster the resources to afford bail and lawyers, and over- 
burdened courts do not find the time to try them. Individuals who are  
charged with grave offences are arrested, and magistrates have the  
discretion to either release them on bail, or order their detention  
in the custody of the police or prisons. An "under-trial" prisoner is  
one against whom there is a charge of violation of law, but this  
charge has still not been proved in a court of law, and who has, for  
whatever reason, not been released on bail. Individuals who cannot  
access bail remain in prison until they are discharged or acquitted,  
or convicted and sent to jail, or released after completing their  
sentence, paying a fine, admonition, or on probation.

An estimated 66 per cent of all prison inmates are under-trials, but  
in some States the proportion goes up to as high as 80 per cent. The  
total prison population as on December, 2006 for all categories of  
inmates was 3,73,271. Of these 2,43,244 were under-trials. An  
overwhelming 96 per cent of these are men. Uttar Pradesh reports the  
highest number of under-trails, followed by Bihar. As far back as in  
1978, K.F. Rustamji, Member of the National Police Commission,  
observed compassionately in his report on under-trials that prisons  
are "a system which is slowly grinding thousands of people into  
dust". He found hundreds of under-trials to be "dumb, simple persons,  
caught in the web of the law, unable to comprehend as to what has  
happened, what the charge against them is, or why they have been sent  
to jail. These are the people without a calendar or a clock, only a  
date in a court diary, extended from hearing to hearing…There are  
many charged with ticketless travel, possession of weapons, or  
illicit liquor or some minor infraction of the law…" He found to his  
dismay that "several of them have been undertrials for more than five  
years". It is important to remember that under-trials are  
incarcerated for these long periods even though no offence has  
actually been proved against them. It is possible that at the end of  
the trial they are discharged, but nothing can bring back their  
irretrievably lost years spent behind jail walls, and the stigma,  
separation and abuse they suffered, as did their loved ones. Even  
more tragic is that many of these under-trial prisoners are not even  
charged with any offence. They are picked up under preventive  
detention sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, like Section  
109, which enable State authorities to detain people when they  
consider this to be necessary to prevent crimes.

But I observed in many years in rural districts that these sections  
are widely used against impoverished and destitute people, including  
those who are homeless, uprooted, mentally disturbed or destitute. As  
observed by Rustamji: "Some of them looked as if they have been  
youngsters wandering over the country, drop-outs from school, and the  
law had picked them up because the number of cases had to be brought  
up to the specified figure". It is only rarely that their condition  
comes to light through public-spirited legislation. In response to  
one such petition, the Supreme Court observed that an "alarmingly  
large number of men and women, including children are behind prison  
bars for years awaiting trial in courts of law. The offences with  
which some of them are charged are trivial, which, even if proved,  
would not warrant punishment for more than a few months, perhaps for  
a year or two, and yet these unfortunate forgotten specimens of  
humanity are in jail, deprived of their freedom, for periods ranging  
from three to ten years without even as much as their trial having  
commenced". It also notices that "a large number of remand and  
undertrial prisoners are languishing in prisons because of their  
poverty. They are there because they are not able to furnish the  
bail, whereas the affluent can afford to do so". In another case, it  
observed: "Some of the undertrial prisoners have been in jail for as  
many as 5, 7 or 9 years and a few of them even more than 10 years,  
without their trial having begun.

What faith can these lost souls have in the judicial system which  
denies them a bare trial for so many years and keeps them behind  
bars, not because they are guilty, but because they are too poor to  
afford bail and the courts have no time to try them". Instances of  
some mentally ill under-trials, apprehended for petty offences like  
ticketless travel and theft, and languishing in prisons for more than  
20 years, were brought to the notice of the Supreme Court. All  
incarcerated persons also face extreme psychological stress. This has  
been poignantly described by Jawaharlal Nehru, who spent many years  
behind jail walls: "High walls and iron gates cut off the little  
world of prison from the wide world outside. Here in this prison  
world everything is different; there are no colours, no changes, no  
movement, no hope, no joy. Life runs its dull round with a terrible  
monotony; it is all flat desert land with no high points and no oases  
to quench one's thirst or shelter one from the burning heat. Days run  
into weeks and weeks into months and years till the sands of life run  
out. All the might of the State is against him and none of the  
ordinary checks are available. Even the voice of pain is hushed, the  
cry of agony cannot be heard beyond the high walls".

Contrary to express provisions in the jail manual, all categories of  
inmates tend to be huddled together in most prisons. Thus under- 
trials, many of them innocent or young impressionable petty  
offenders, are thrown together with hardened criminals, who are able  
to initiate them into the world of crime. Many prisons also illegally  
house juvenile offenders, "vagrants", destitute children and mentally  
ill persons. Since under-trial prisoners are not yet confirmed law  
violators, even correctional and rehabilitation services, such as may  
exist for convicts, are denied to them. Under-trials therefore are  
usually left idle with no productive work. They sit idle in the  
company of others in the same situation as them. In this sense they  
are even worse off than confirmed convicts. The Supreme Court has  
directed repeatedly that under no circumstances can any persons be  
held in prison as under-trials, if they spend more than half the time  
they would if they were ultimately convicted of the crime that are  
charged with. Yet this direction is ignored and flouted with impunity  
almost universally in jails across the country. And the muffled  
suffering and casual injustice against these most dispossessed men  
and women, forgotten behind the tall prison walls, persists without end.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/06/21/stories/2009062150090300.htm

o o o

The Times of India
22 June 2009

RIGHTS VIOLATION IN GOVT HOME

by Ambika Pandit

NEW DELHI: As many as 75 inmates died between 2004 and 2008 at  
Rohini's Asha Kiran Complex the lone state government-run complex of  
homes for mentally challenged men, women and children, most of whom  
have been abandoned by their families. A majority of these deaths  
were caused by epileptic seizures indicating neglect in terms of  
healthcare on the part of the authorities.

A committee constituted by the Delhi Commission For Protection of  
Child Rights (DCPCR) in keeping with Delhi High Court orders noted in  
its preliminary report, following a surprise inspection, that most  
deaths were due to epileptic seizures.

The complex has a capacity to house 250 inmates, but the homes are  
overcrowded with about 750 inmates. The report submitted to the HC  
about a fortnight ago, which talks of gross human rights violations  
at the overcrowded complex, further notes that the homes lacked any  
preparation to deal with emergency situations.

Moreover, for most deaths, no postmortem report was found. In fact,  
according to highly placed sources, the report talks of a peculiar  
case that the inspection team came across while scanning the death  
records. In the case of the death of an inmate named Jayanti, the  
authorities had resisted providing information on a petition under  
the Right To Information Act.

According to the home administration, there were almost 31 deaths in  
the girls' wing during 2004-08. This included 12 deaths in 2006, six  
each in 2004 and 2005, four in 2008 and three in 2007.

Citing tales of human rights violation, the committee's findings show  
that the male wing registered 44 deaths. There were 14 deaths in 2008  
alone. Earlier, an equal number had died in 2005. There were six  
deaths in 2007 and five each in 2004 and 2006.

Despite notices from bodies like the National Human Rights Commission  
and the Public Grievances Commission and directions by the state  
government at various stages in the past as face-saving exercises to  
ameliorate things, the state of the complex has remained deplorable.

The inspection committee found that at the common medical care unit,  
children were suffering from tuberculosis, seizures, skin diseases  
among others due to gross overcrowding, lack of hygiene and pathetic  
sanitary conditions. To look after 750 inmates, most of whom need  
specialized care, the complex had just one doctor, two nurses and two  
hospital attendants. The doctor was not a mental illness specialist,  
and there were no regular periodical check ups by specialists like  
psychiatrists and neurologists.

On an average, 40 children were found suffering from tuberculosis, 40  
from skin diseases and another 40 from seizure disorders. One child  
was also reported to be HIV positive. Worse still, the report reveals  
that there are no shifts for the doctors and nurses, who are  
available only between 9am and 5pm. In case of an emergency during  
the night, Asha Kiran has only the house aunt, having no medical  
knowledge, to take the child to the nearby hospital. And while there  
are three vehicles provided with drivers during the day, none are  
available in the night.

That the complex is a death trap becomes apparent as the report  
asserts upon the fact that children suffering from communicable  
diseases like tuberculosis and skin ailments do not have an isolation  
room. Moreover, there is no facility to carry out an X-ray,  
ultrasound, MRI, besides basic tests for blood, stool and urine.  
According to the doctor, there's high probability of bad prognosis  
under the present conditions.

Ironically, the committee found that while six neat beds at the  
medical care unit remained unoccupied, children were languishing in  
overcrowded stinking cottages and dormitories. While some had no  
clothes on them, others wore dirty and torn clothes. The choked  
bathrooms added to the stench the committee members found unendurable.

At the end of the visit the committee concluded that "to the utter  
frustration of the team, the homes in the Asha Kiran Complex were  
found in the most derogatory condition as far as human rights are  
concerned. Most of the inmates were leading a life even worse than  
animals''.

The team ruefully questioned whether the home was in any way catering  
to the welfare of its inmates. The committee summed up its sentiments  
in three words "pathetic, inhumane and unhygienic''. The team members  
put on record the fact that after the visit to the complex, members  
had nightmares for many days. Though the committee pointed out that  
the state of the female wing was much better, it was quick to add  
that there were telltale signs that the arrangements had been  
executed in a rush to impress the committee.

The inspection team in its report sought an urgent in-depth  
investigation into the affairs of the homes in the complex.

_____


[6]



_____


[7]  LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

The Prime Minister
Israel

                                                                         
          June 30, 2009

Dear Mr Benjamin Netanyahu,

I am writing to you on behalf of thousands of Human Rights Activists  
and people from India who believe in peace and want to leave a  
peaceful world for the next generation.

We understand that today while you were meeting with over 20  
ambassadors from EU member states and telling them that your foreign  
minister is committed to peace , Israeli Forces attacked and boarded  
the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21  
human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate  
Mairead Maguire.around at 3.30pm, 23 miles off the coast of Gaza.

We fail to comprehend  what harm could a small boat carrying toys for  
children and humanitarian help for the people of Gaza could have  
brought to Israel.

The boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot  
Port Authorities before it departed, and at no time did it ever  
approach the Israeli waters.

Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on the unarmed boat which  
was carrying a message of peace and hope for the people of Gaza is a  
clear violation of international law.

We demand immediate and unconditional release of all the occupants as  
well as restoring the material that the boat was carrying as  
humanitarian help for the people of Gaza.

Shabnam Hashmi Ms.
Human Rights Activist
Anhad
23, Canning Lane
New Delhi-110001, India
Tel: 00 91 11 23070740/ 22
anhad.delhi at gmail.com
www.anhadin.net


List of Kidnapped Passengers from the Spirit of Humanity :


Khalad Abdelkader, Bahrain
Khalad is an engineer representing the Islamic Charitable Association  
of Bahrain.

Othman Abufalah, Jordan
Othman is a world-renowned journalist with al-Jazeera TV.

Khaled Al-Shenoo, Bahrain
Khaled is a lecturer with the University of Bahrain.

Mansour Al-Abi, Yemen
Mansour is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera TV.

Fatima Al-Attawi, Bahrain
Fatima is a relief worker and community activist from Bahrain.

Juhaina Alqaed, Bahrain
Juhaina is a journalist & human rights activist.

Huwaida Arraf, US
Huwaida is the Chair of the Free Gaza Movement and delegation co- 
coordinator for this voyage.

Ishmahil Blagrove, UK
Ishmahil is a Jamaican-born journalist, documentary film maker and  
founder of the Rice & Peas film production company. His
documentaries focus on international struggles for social justice.

Kaltham Ghloom, Bahrain
Kaltham is a community activist.

Derek Graham, Ireland
Derek Graham is an electrician, Free Gaza organizer, and first mate  
aboard the Spirit of Humanity.

Alex Harrison, UK
Alex is a solidarity worker from Britain. She is traveling to Gaza to  
do long-term human rights monitoring.

Denis Healey, UK
Denis is Captain of the Spirit of Humanity. This will be his fifth  
voyage to Gaza.

Fathi Jaouadi, UK
Fathi is a British journalist, Free Gaza organizer, and delegation co- 
coordinator for this voyage.

Mairead Maguire, Ireland
Mairead is a Nobel laureate and renowned peace activist.

Lubna Masarwa, Palestine/Israel
Lubna is a Palestinian human rights activist and Free Gaza organizer.

Theresa McDermott, Scotland
Theresa is a solidarity worker from Scotland. She is traveling to  
Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Cynthia McKinney, US
Cynthia McKinney is an outspoken advocate for human rights and social  
justice issues, as well as a former U.S. congressperson
and presidential candidate.

Adnan Mormesh, UK
Adnan is a solidarity worker from Britain. He is traveling to Gaza to  
do long-term human rights monitoring.
Adam Qvist, Denmark
Adam is a solidarity worker from Denmark. He is traveling to Gaza to  
do human rights monitoring.

Adam Shapiro, US
Adam is an American documentary film maker and human rights activist.

Kathy Sheetz, US
Kathy is a nurse and film maker, traveling to Gaza to do human rights  
monitoring.

o o o

[See Online Petition: Release Gaza Aid Ship Spirit Of Humanity and  
all its passengers
http://www.iacenter.org/palestine/gazashippetition/ ]

______


[8] Book Review

The Telegraph, June 26 , 2009

HISTORY WITHOUT AN END

Indian Secularism: A Social and Intellectual History 1890-1950 By  
Shabnum Tejani, Permanent Black, Rs 695

This is a serious book on a very important subject which does not  
quite live up to the promise of its subtitle. Despite this, what it  
does achieve is significant.

Secularism in the Indian context has become a contentious and an  
ambiguous subject. The author does not attempt to support any of the  
existing definitions or to arrive at a new one of her own. She argues  
that secularism in India can be understood in particular historical  
contexts. She defines her own project thus: “This book reconstructs  
such a history [of secularism] as a series of acts, focusing on six  
historical moments from 1890 to 1950. I argue that each moment  
represents both possibility and closure, marking a point when the  
meaning of a certain political concept crystallized. These concepts  
include Hindu community, patriotism, communal, communalism, the  
democratic majority, and secular citizenship.’’

Of the six moments she chooses, three are popular movements located  
in Maharashtra and Sind: cow protection, Swadeshi and Khilafat; the  
other three are related to the constitutional debates in 1909, 1932  
and 1950. In western India, in the period 1893-1911, movements that  
were self-consciously political claimed the mantle of “nationalism’’.  
Shabnum Tejani argues that “the cultural and political idioms of this  
period became integral to formulations of Indian nationalism in later  
years.’’ The term, ‘communalism’, acquired its Indian connotation  
between 1906 and 1909, and the distinction between nationalism and  
communalism sharpened during the Khilafat movement and its aftermath.  
The beginnings of democracy in India in the 1930s witnessed the  
separation between majority and minority communities and their  
appropriation by different political formations. This process defined  
minorities not just in terms of religion but also in terms of castes.

Apart from its thematic importance, there is another aspect of this  
monograph that should be noted. Each chapter and the sections to  
which they belong follow a chronological framework. The chapters are  
also written as narratives. But the book as a whole does not follow  
an obvious narrative line. It also does not chase an overarching  
question or hypothesis that it seeks to answer. On the contrary, the  
author, in a series of nuanced and open-ended arguments, tries to  
show how words and concepts changed and shifted their meanings and  
definitions in particular political contexts. These shifts in meaning  
— and the author acknowledges her debt to the work of Quentin Skinner  
in this regard — do not suggest that critical concepts like  
nationalism, communalism and secularism always moved in one clearly  
defined direction. She is emphatic that her concerns are anti- 
teleological for “the end of the story was neither obvious nor  
inevitable.’’ Her stated project is to reconstruct the genealogies of  
secularism and of communalism. Those genealogies are still incomplete  
and open. In a very vital sense, we still live within the history of  
Indian secularism.

The book is theoretically informed but the theory never dominates the  
histories that the author tries to set out. It is good to have a  
history book that revels in the open-endedness of its argument and  
its mode of writing. The author deserves to be congratulated for  
having the courage to choose for her first book an extremely complex  
subject and for having written about it with exemplary courage.

RUDRANGSHU MUKHERJEE


______


[9]  Announcement:

Indiana University Press is pleased to announce the recent  
publication of:

CENSORSHIP IN SOUTH ASIA: CULTURAL REGULATION FROM SEDITION TO SEDUCTION
Edited by Raminder Kaur and William Mazzarella

"This is an exciting and innovative volume that will become the  
standard reference in the field for some time to come." -Thomas Blom  
Hansen, author of The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism  
in Modern India

Censorship in South Asia offers an expansive and comparative  
exploration of cultural regulation in contemporary and colonial South  
Asia. These provocative essays by leading scholars broaden our  
understanding of what censorship might mean by considering  
censorship's productive potential and its intimate relation to its  
apparent opposite,"

For more information, please visit:
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php? 
isbn=3D978-0-253-22=093-6

256 pp., 19 b & w photos
cloth 978-0-253-35335-1 $65.00
paper 978-0-253-22093-6 $24.95


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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.