SACW | July 24-25, 2009 / Afghan Law / Sri Lanka: War and Future / Maldives Floggings / Nepal: Comrade Parvati / India: Batla House Scandal / Haryana Honour killing / Tyeb Mehta
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at gmail.com
Fri Jul 24 19:53:07 CDT 2009
South Asia Citizens Wire | July 24-25, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2649 -
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] Afghanistan women outraged at proposed family planning law
(Janine di Giovanni)
[2] Sri Lanka: War Without End (Robert Templer)
- Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam and the choices before Sri Lanka
(Lynn Ockersz)
- Interview, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (Inderjit
Badhwar)
[3] Bangladesh: The ominous extra-territorial terror link (Muhammad
Nurul Huda)
+ Hena Das: The Flame will go on (Aasha Mehreen Amin)
[4] Pakistan: HRCP against Encroaching personal freedoms
[5] Maldives: 150 Women Face Adultery Conviction Flogging (Andrew
Buncombe)
[6] Nepal : ‘We Still Fight, But With Words, No Longer With Guns’
- Interview with Comrade Parvati
[7] India: Chauvinism / Difference
- A Class Analysis of the ‘Bihari Menace’ (Awanish Kumar)
- A Goa Cemetery - a place for all dead, irrespective of
caste, community, creed, religion
[8] India: War on Terror at the cost of Human Rights:
- Citizens Statement on the NHRC clean chit to Special Cell on
Batla House
- Gaping holes in Batla House report (Praveen Kumar)
[9] India: Honour killing in Haryana
- Who rules Haryana?: The law or the khaps? (Editorial, The
Tribune)
- CPI(M) concerned over ‘honour killing’
- Mob kills youth for violating caste rule (Vikas Kahol)
- Caste cloud over law of the land (Vikas Kahol)
- Another ‘honour killing’ in Haryana
[10] Book Review: India’s past, revisited (Kesavan Veluthat)
[11] Tyeb Mehta: The Pure Artist (Ranjit Hoskote)
_____
[1] WOMEN OUTRAGED AT PROPOSED FAMILY PLANNING LAW
Eight years after the Taliban were toppled, Janine di Giovanni
returns to Afghanistan and sees how a proposed law is instilling fear
in its women
by Janine di Giovanni
(The Guardian, 24 July 2009
http://tt.ly/1F )
Afghan women protest at the proposed new family law Photograph:
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
A few days after the Taliban were toppled in 2001 I was in Kabul. The
city was jubilant and full of hope for the future, and I remember
talking to some laughing teenage girls in the street. One was excited
because she could now go back to school. Another sang terrible disco
songs and showed me dance steps she had been practising for five
years in secret. A third debated whether to take off her burka. "Is
it safe enough yet?" she asked me. "For five years, I lived inside
this prison."
Eight years later I returned, but the Afghanistan I found was far
from jubilant. Despite the money poured into reconstruction and
development, it is one of the five poorest countries in the world.
There is 40% unemployment – nearly 80% in some parts of the country.
A third of children under five are malnourished. Life expectancy is
43 – and it is one of only three countries in the world where women
die earlier than men.
I arrived to meet women before the presidential elections next month
and to talk about a new law, which if brought in, could have drastic
repercussions for women. The Shia Family Planning law was signed last
March by President Hamid Karzai in an attempt, many believe, to
appease powerful mullahs. The Afghan constitution allows Shias to
have a separate family law from the Sunni majority based on
traditional Shia jurisprudence, and some think the law is linked to
the August elections and the Shia electorate who would have to abide
by it (they could form up to 20% of the electorate).
The proposed law led to furious protests from women's groups. It
sanctioned marital rape and brought back Taliban-era restrictions on
women by outlining when a woman could leave her house and the
circumstances in which she has to have sex with her husband; Shia
woman would be allowed to leave home alone "for a legitimate purpose"
only which the law does not define, and could refuse sex with their
husbands only when ill or menstruating.
Following international outrage, Karzai backtracked and said the law
would be reviewed. This month it was amended and re-signed by the
president, but has not yet been ratified by parliament. Human rights
groups say it is unclear how much the amendments have done to improve
the law. And the law has already achieved its aim – instilling fear
and insecurity among an already traumatised female population.
Soraya Sobhrang, a human rights activist I meet in her Kabul office,
says, "The law will affect all women if it goes through. It opens the
door for other repressive laws to be passed, for Sunni Muslims as
well as Shia." A young doctor friend, Najeeb Shawal, says he is
seeing more female patients who were depressed since news of the law
emerged. "They have the kind of hopelessness that comes with knowing
your life is incredibly repressed. And might become more so."
On Mothers' Day, I had sat with Seema Ghani in her home as she blew
out candles on a small walnut cake. Her seven adopted children
surrounded her – six girls and a boy – dancing, practising judo
and lighting sparklers. "Dear Mother," Seema read above the din from
a card her children made. "We hope you are happy! Love from your
children."
Seema is 41, and a single mother. Born in Kabul, the daughter of a
high-ranking army officer, she moved to London with her family during
the Russian occupation. When the Taliban fell, she decided to return
home. "I wanted to do something for my country," she says. She worked
for the Ministry of Finance setting up budgets; and ran a boutique
hotel. Now she is a poet, management consultant, and runs her own
childrens' charity. A straightforward woman who gets what she wants,
Seema is a rarity in Afghanistan. When she did not find the man of
her dreams she adopted. "Because of the children, I am happy," she
says. "But the situation here for women is so tough. There are times
when I have been severely depressed. And I have resources. What is it
like for women who don't have that?"
I first met Seema on the day President Karzai was in America,
backtracking on TV about the Shia law. Her burst of colourful
clothing – a purple kaftan, skinny jeans and high heels – was
almost defiant in a city where women still scurry around in burkas.
"I'm not a feminist or an activist either," she says, ordering green
tea. "But this law, and what is happening now in Afghanistan, leave
me little choice." She has been trying, on a grassroots level, to
instill awareness, to raise a list of women who could enter the
political arena. But in a population of illiterate and repressed
women, it is not easy. "We don't want this law," she says quietly.
"It gets into our bedrooms."
Karzai's initial (ridiculous) defence was that he had not read the
law before signing it the first time. Most women here are cynical of
his about-turn. "It's an election year," Seema says. Business
developer Meena Sherzoy, 49, whom I meet a few days later, says,
"What is he supposed to say to the west? It makes him look like a
radical fundamentalist. "
To see the women who will be worst affected by this law, I drove for
10 hours through rural Afghanistan to Bamiyan. The road to this, the
least developed province, is unpaved, checkpointed and blighted by
bandits and the Taliban. We pass miles of country where there is
nothing but the vast earth and sky, mud houses, and everywhere,
women – out working in fields, pregnant, holding the hands of
children or walking in the rain. Most of the houses have no
electricity and no running water. I don't see many schools or
clinics. But it does have the only female governor Afghanistan has
seen since 2005.
Bamiyan is the home of the Shia Hazara, the third largest ethnic
group in Afghanistan. I am surprised by the "city's" remoteness
because there has been a huge outcry here from the women over the
law: demonstrations, protests on the radio, grass roots organisations
very quickly coming together. I meet one of the protest leaders in a
small restaurant overlooking the holes in the mountain left when the
Taliban blew up the ancient Buddha statues there in 2001. Batool
Mohammadi is 27, black-robed, and heavily pregnant. "The law does not
fit with humanitarian law," she says. Batool, a Hazara, comes from
the generation of Afghan women born after the Soviet invasion and
raised during the Taliban era. She has only known war, conflict and
repression. The small window of triumph after the fall of the
Taliban – who brutally repressed the Hazaras – has given her a
taste of freedom and she is not ready to give it up. "In an area as
traditional as Bamiyan, one of the major problems with this law is
that it will stop the trend towards modernisation." As Batool leaves,
she says that when her baby is born in June, she wants him or her to
enter a world moving towards equality, not repression.
The governor, Habiba Sarabi, is the former Minister of Women and as a
Shia will have to obey the law if it is passed. She meets us in her
sparse office, a grim, Soviet-style building set on a windswept
plain. There are plates of nuts and fruits and the governor, looking
exhausted, nibbles dried apricot. At 53, Sarabi is no-nonsense. She
is a chemist by trade and speaks good English. The daughter of an
illiterate mother who encouraged her daughter to read and write, she
tells me when she was young she was mocked as she walked to school
alone. Having struggled so hard it was particularly hard to see her
own daughter, now 24, denied education under the Taliban. The family
escaped to Pakistan and Sarabi worked on human rights and women's
projects.
On the new law, she tries to be diplomatic, but I can tell she is
concerned: "Fortunately, women raised their voice." She is confident
(perhaps overly so) that the law will not go through. But later, at
her residence, when she curls her stockinged feet under her, she
admits the wider crisis. Bamiyan is one of the few success stories in
Afghanistan: it is poppy-free, the government functions well, and as
she points out, "It is the safest place in Afghanistan. The rule of
law is important here." She has improved the education and health
services (instigating midwife programmes, for example, in a province
that has one major hospital). But can this last? If, following
elections, Karzai succumbs to the mullahs (who exercise huge
political power in Bamiyan and the rest of the country), for how long
will it be safe for women? Even Sarabi finally admitted that if the
law is ratified, it would affect her too.
Women who have managed to cross gender boundaries seem in a state of
shock over the law. Jamila Barekzai is a police officer whose female
colleague was killed by the Taliban last year in Kandahar for daring
to do a mans' job. When I go to meet her at the Central Afghan Police
Headquarters on the edge of Kabul, next to one of the biggest Shia
mosques in the city, she is wearing her olive uniform and heavy black
eyeliner. She was transferred from Kandahar last year to Kabul when
she thought she would be killed too. She takes out her mobile phone
and plays a recording of an unnamed Taliban telling her to stop
working, "or you will be taught the lesson we taught your friend".
She says she was mainly frightened for her children and touches the
gun at her hip.
Her face darkens when she mentions the new law. "The biggest problem
facing women today in Afghanistan, aside from illiteracy, is the lack
of support," she says. "It is always the intention of men to keep
women in their cages. To keep women down." As I leave she adds,
"women are strong here", but she does not sound convinced.
Jamila's role, advising other policewomen on gender issues, is not
heavy field work – and I wonder if the government uses her as a fig
leaf. I wonder the same when I meet a female general in the Ministry
of Defence in Kabul, Khatol Mohammedzai. She is heavily made up for
our meeting. A parachutist, she says she is used by the Afghan
government during parades. I ask if she has ever been in combat. She
seems surprised. "No. Of course not." Technically, women received the
right to vote in the early 1960s, and everyone talks about Kabul in
the 1970s, when women wore miniskirts and were the smartest ones in
the medical schools. But Afghanistan is scarred by decades of war and
occupation. The fact that a law like the family planning law could
even be conceived in 2009 – even if it did come through Iranian-
influenced radical mullahs as many believe – is surprising to most
Afghans.
"The speed of which this law has gone through [to the president] has
shocked me" says Soraya Sobrhang, . "It's not a law – it is theft."
In April, Sobrhang and some of her colleagues staged a protest.
"Suddenly, about 200 students from the madrassa surrounded us." The
women were stoned – Sobrhang , a grandmother, was hit on the
shoulder and nearly knocked to the ground. Their banners were torn as
the angry men blocked them from moving towards the parliament. I keep
thinking of this image – of the tiny grandmother and her brave
colleagues surrounded by hissing madrassa students. Soraya says she
is not afraid.
But other people are – for the future of their daughters. Back in
Kabul, Seema Ghani organises a lunch for her friends – all powerful,
emancipated women. It is true that they are a small class within
Afghanistan, but they have very different backgrounds. Some were
educated in the west; some lived in America. Some like Aziza Momman,
who ran girls schools during the time of the Taliban, or Fahima
Barati, who runs a school for dressmaking, hold traditional views.
But they are united on one point: the law stuns all of them.
As they talk it sounds like the kind of banter I could hear at home
in Paris. A middle- aged woman recounting how her husband left her
for a younger woman; an overworked mum talking of her daughter
resenting her job; a single woman complaining about finding a man in
your 40s. Except these stories have a deeper resonance: the husband
leaves his wife for a younger second wife; the daughter is
embarrassed by her feminist mother who does not wear a burka and is
threatened by the Taliban; the woman in her 40s complains that an
Afghan man is happy to have a spirited intelligent lover, but when it
comes down to it, "they want the virgin!" "The glass ceiling is very
thick here," admits Katrin Fakiri, "those who break it have to be
exceptional." And Meena Sherzoy, who runs her own business, says, "If
we had female leadership, this law would not be going through . . .
would not even be raised."
Before I leave, I meet Hasina Syed Jouvenal, who at 27 is managing a
fistful of different enterprises (including her latest, trying to
import tomato hot-houses to be run by a women-only farm) and the
mother of two small girls.
"Women can do anything," she says brightly when we talk about the
law – meaning that women can turn it around. "They make better
managers. They are more trustworthy. And they have kind hearts. I am
going to continue using them as managers because it is my way of
moving women forward." I am not surprised when I hear that Hasina is
being touted as a young politician. But the law won't affect her –
she has a British husband.
When I leave, someone tells me the Taliban spring offensive has
begun, American troops are pouring in, and President Karzai is
beginning his political campaign. I keep thinking of Batool, the
pregnant activist in Bamiyan, and her baby, and her life in 20 years'
time. If the law does not pass and women continue rolling on, she has
a chance. If not, she might still be wearing a burka and never learn
how to drive.
_____
[2] Sri Lanka:
The New York Times,
July 21, 2009
WAR WITHOUT END
by Robert Templer
The guns have fallen silent in Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, but the
deep wounds of ethnic animosity have not even begun to heal. An
estimated 300,000 Tamil civilians remain essentially prisoners in
internment camps run by a Sinhalese-dominated government.
To begin easing the deep mistrust between the communities, donor
countries will have to pressure the government to be as serious about
securing a just peace as it was earlier this year about winning the war.
The final months of combat in the decades-long war between the Sri
Lankan Army and the rebel Tamil Tigers were brutal. As government
forces tightened a noose around insurgent positions, hundreds of
thousands of civilians were caught in the middle.
The army was indiscriminately launching artillery shells and air
strikes into mixed areas of insurgents and innocents, and the Tigers
shot at people who tried to escape. The U.N. estimated some 7,000
civilians, including at least 1,000 children, died and more than
10,000 were injured in the last few months of the war.
The legacy of atrocities on both sides clearly needs to be
investigated if the Tamils and Sinhalese are to share the same island
peacefully in the future. The immediate concern is for the 300,000
Tamils still interned behind barbed wire in camps with no government
plan for returning them to their homes. Up to two thirds of them are
in the giant camp at Manik Farm, where lives are lost every day to
overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and
inadequate medical services.
The government has blamed the United Nations and international aid
agencies for the poor conditions, because those organizations are
reluctant to build permanent or semi-permanent shelters to house the
displaced. The real origin of the problem, however, is the
government’s refusal to expedite its “screening” process and
allow tens of thousands of the displaced to live with relatives or
host families.
Furthermore, access for international agencies is restricted in ways
that limit the effectiveness of aid delivery. Many of the
restrictions appear designed to prevent the disclosure of conditions
in the camps or the situation that civilians faced during the final
months of the war. No private consultations with the displaced are
allowed in the camps, and no cameras or recording equipment can be
brought in.
Many of the displaced remain uncertain about the whereabouts or fate
of family members from whom they have been separated. Many suspected
of involvement with the Tigers have been separated from their
families and detained for further questioning, some in undisclosed
locations. Some end up in detention and rehabilitation centers that
the Red Cross and Unicef have access to.
One case deserves special mention. Three Tamil government doctors and
one senior health official are known to be in government custody and
are now threatened with prosecution for cooperating with the Tamil
Tigers. As just about the only remaining officials inside the war
zone in the final weeks, they worked heroically to save lives and
alert the world to the humanitarian disaster endured by civilians
trapped in the fighting. On July 8, their captors forced them to
recant their stories. This farce should end: They should be freed.
After winning the war, the Sri Lankan government now risks losing the
peace with its approach toward ethnic Tamils displaced by the
conflict. Colombo needs to alter course if the country is to begin
overcoming years of animosity and avoid having old hatreds and
current antipathy turn into the next Tamil rebellion.
Specifically, the government needs to provide a clear timetable for
rapid and full resettlement of those currently interned in all the
camps. It also has to make significant improvements in access to and
conditions in those camps. Colombo should make public its lists of
the interned and allow the Red Cross access to all places of
detention and all aspects of the “screening” process conducted by
the military and intelligence agencies.
The international community has a clear role to play in convincing
the Sri Lankan government to take these steps. The cochairs of the
Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka —
the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway — have
particular responsibility as they prepare to meet in August. They
must send an unequivocal message.
All donor countries, both acting alone and using their influence in
key institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank, should condition all new non-emergency economic assistance to
the country on their implementation. Creating the basic conditions
necessary for a sustainable and equitable peace demands no less.
Robert Templer is Asia program director of the International Crisis
Group.
o o o
The Island
23 July 2009
DR. NEELAN TIRUCHELVAM AND THE CHOICES BEFORE SRI LANKA
by Lynn Ockersz
When Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam was mindlessly and ruthlessly
assassinated by the LTTE 10 years ago, he was on a momentous mission
which promised to give democracy in Sri Lanka a new thrust and
dimension. Essentially, his endeavour was to develop this
countrydemocracy to such a degree that it was fully accommodative of
the legitimate interests and needs of all of Sri Lanka’s
communities. In other words, investing every group and citizen of
this country with total self-respect and dignity was foremost among
Neelan’s priorities.
At the time of his death, Neelan was helping out in the crafting of
the year 2000 draft constitution which was eventually consigned to
the flames in Parliament by some irate Opposition MPs, who, not
surprisingly, thought it wise to throw in their lot with the ultra
nationalism of Southern Sri Lanka, at the proverbial eleventh hour.
Through their shocking behaviour, these MPs established their lineage
with the destructive hordes in this country’s post independence
history, who, on numerous occasions, put a savage end to political
proposals aimed at resolving the National Question.
It is fierce, fire-breathing nationalism of this kind in Southern Sri
Lanka which set the stage for the unsettling emergence of the LTTE in
the North, but the brutality of the Tigers only served to heighten
communalism in the South, which, in turn, of course, unrelentingly
fed the flames narrow Tamil nationalism in the North.
Neelan’s inputs into efforts at resolving the conflict by political
means, since particularly 1994, would have helped in ending this
vicious circle of mutually-reinforcing virulent nationalisms, but it
was not to be because nothing would have been in accord with the LTTE
agenda more, than a Sri Lanka which was reeling and weakening in the
grip of fiercely competing, armed nationalisms, which would have
ensured for the Tigers, a commanding and unassailable position in the
politics of the North. By this Tiger logic, therefore, all attempts
at resolving the conflict politically had to be quashed and those in
the forefront of these efforts, to the LTTE, were ‘traitors’, who
needed to be eliminated.
[. . .]
FULL TEXT AT: http://tt.ly/1E
o o o
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 30, Dated August 01, 2009
‘PRABAKARAN CLOSED THE DOOR ON ME. I WANTED PEACE’
In an exclusive interview, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is
combative towards the West and conciliatory towards India
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?
filename=Ne010809prabakaran_closed.asp
_____
[3] Bangladesh:
The Daily Star
July 25, 2009
THE OMINOUS EXTRA-TERRITORIAL TERROR LINK
We wish to see them behind the bar. Muhammad Nurul Huda
THE two arrests of alleged Indian nationals linked to Pakistan-based
militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) and their statements bring to the
fore the schemes of the so-called religious extremists about which
there is not much awareness in public mind. It is quite ironic and
unsettling to find that some quarters continue to find inspiration
from Pakistan, which unfortunately finds itself handicapped in the
matter of operationalising the constitutional sources of legitimacy.
Readers may find it relevant to note that in Pakistan problems of
nation-building persisted for a painfully long period on account of
extended unrepresentative rule. In Pakistan, popular sources of
legitimacy based on a mass mandate lost their relevance and thus
perhaps as a substitute, divine sources of legitimacy were
articulated and cultivated by the vested interests.
Socio-political conditions in Bangladesh are much different from what
it is in Pakistan but if we look back we will find that in the
campaign for the 1970 elections, the army leadership under Yahya Khan
opted for an informal alliance with the Islamic parties against the
populist challenges spearheaded by Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The subsequent military-mullah nexus in Pakistan facilitated the
Islamisation of laws, education, morals and manners against what was
condemned as populist and progressive causes underscored by a
relatively diffuse class dynamics.
One may recall that the madrassa certificates were accorded a status
equivalent to a bachelor's degree in Pakistan on late General Zia-ul-
Huq's initiative in the 1980's. The question is, at whose insistence
something similar was done in Bangladesh in the not-too-distant past?
Are the so-called Islamic parties and the not-so-manifest extremists
going to wield a relatively high level of political influence that is
not generally commensurate with their electoral performance?
We would perhaps do well to appreciate that the sources of
mobilisation of the religious extremists, both external and internal,
and the pursuit of Islamisation of laws, institutions and the
economy, brought about crucial changes in the institutional balance
within the power structure of Pakistan.
Consequently, debates about democracy, economy, education, culture,
women's right, and human rights issues as well as the functioning of
bureaucracy and judiciary started to draw heavily on the divine
sources of morality, authenticity and accountability. The question
is; do we want a similar situation to develop in the People's
Republic of Bangladesh?
Our political leadership needs to realise that providing space for
the extremists, whether or not under domestic or external
compulsions, would encourage them to shape the country's ideological
discourses according to its own distorted priorities and preferences.
Such extremists, no admirer of our republican dispensation, would
always be on the opposite side of democratic and liberal elite. If
unchecked, the extremists would seek to define the State through
street agitation, lobbying, networking and vote politics.
We cannot afford to de-legitimise the liberal current of opinion in
the process of countering the bigots and extremists. Socio-economic
efforts geared towards a solution of the ongoing conflicts should be
accorded priority. What we need is a policy on the unresolved socio-
economic issues, not a policy on faith. In our agenda for a
meaningful democratic life, the drive against terrorism should not
lose the momentum. Measures towards that direction, nationally,
regionally and internationally should attract greater attention.
Muhammad Nurul Huda is a columnist of The Daily Star.
o o o
http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/07/04/postscript.htm
Star Magazine
July 24, 2009
HENA DAS: THE FLAME WILL GO ON
by Aasha Mehreen Amin
When people like Hena Das pass away, the sadness is felt by everyone,
even those who never even met her. For individuals who dedicate
themselves completely to serve humanity, they are not just people but
legends, guardian angels and the much-needed visionaries of a society
that needs all the help it can get.
Often it is hard to recognise them when they are alive for most of us
are too busy in our selfish pursuits and subjective definitions of
survival. Many of us want to do good things but just don't know how
to keep focus, how to extricate ourselves from worldly attractions.
Hena Das started focussing on what she wanted to do at the age of 13
when she joined the struggle for independence against then-undivided
India's British rulers. Trying to establish justice in the form of
fighting for the rights of the ordinary man and woman, seemed to be
an obsession for Hena Das. A pure communist who married a communist
leader, she was the central committee member of the Communist Party
of Bangladesh (CPB) and never missed an opportunity to take part in
any movement for the cause of equality and justice. She was a central
figure in the Language Movement and the War of Liberation. A
dedicated teacher, she worked to establish the rights of teachers and
was also a member of the first education commission headed by Dr.
Qudrat-e-Khuda. She organised female tea garden workers to form trade
unions to fight for their rights in the early fifties.
But her most significant and talked about role was that of a pioneer
of the women's movement. As the vice-president of the first committee
of Mahila Parishad she was it's president for eight years after the
death of Sufia Kamal.
Women in our country are far from being emancipated; they are still
victims of parochial customs and traditions, religious
misinterpretation and medieval barbarism. Every day the newspapers
give us an update on just how far the repression of women can go,
with religious edicts to flog a woman senseless for alleged looseness
and demented husbands setting fire to their wives to play out some
sick, sadistic game. Yes there is still a long way to go and we
continue to be the most vulnerable in human society.
But we are survivors and most of all, fighters. We have laws now to
put away these sadists and perverts, we have more men now who support
equal rights and we have a society that is more open to females being
educated, to women working, being financially independent and being
at the helm of government. All this did not just happen. It started
with Begum Rokeya and she left that spirit of fighting injustice, to
others who continued to bear the torch. Mahila Parishad has always
been a sincere upholder of that legacy, giving women a voice that had
never been heard before, bringing them together from the furthest
corners of the country to continue the movement. After Begum Sufia
Kamal it was Hena Das and then Ayesha Khanam that led Mahila Parishad
in its continued struggle to get policy makers and governments to
listen to that collective voice for justice and to make changes in
the way the state treats and views half of the country's population.
Hena Das inspired her colleagues and many prominent figures such as
Agni Kannya Matia Chowdhury, now our Agriculture Minister, who says
that she was inspired politically by the legendary Das.
It is unfortunate but true that individuals with such integrity,
unfailing determination and an unbridled passion to fight for the
cause of justice have become more and more a rarity. But Hena Das's
teachings of life will continue to be taught to inspire and ignite
the fire that urges us to take the un-trodden, sometimes unpopular
path as long as it is the right one. She truly remained a teacher for
she taught us the most important lesson in life: how to be human.
.Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2009
_____
[4] Pakistan:
HRCP AGAINST ENCROACHING PERSONAL FREEDOMS
July 17, 2009
Press Release, July 17, 2009
LAHORE,: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemns the
government’s move intended to use state power to prosecute and
punish certain kind of messaging through cellular phone networks and
content on the websites and calls upon the government to withdraw
such measures and desist from introducing any law to this effect.
The HRCP statement said:
In recent days, federal government representatives have expressed the
government’s intention to introduce a law to prosecute and punish
people who indulge in certain kind of messaging (SMS) through
cellular phone networks.
The government has announced that messages containing any content
against the state or immoral material would be punishable under the
law. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan views proposed measures
with concern and as an intrusion into the personal liberties of
citizens. The government seems to be embarrassed by criticism of
certain government officials and policies and actions in the
messaging of the people on cell phones and blogs on websites and
intends to muzzle the people’s voice by curtailing their freedom of
expression.
The Commission is of the view that this is not the way to persuade
people to respect a government which does not earn this status by its
deeds. The Commission also believes that the recent modification in
the government’s stance that the law would be directed against those
who speak against the state and not against those who only attack the
government is meaningless because in Pakistan the government has
often been treated as the state.
The Commission demands of the government to stay away from enforcing
any legislation to this effect which will not only be violation of
people’s human rights but hamper the nascent democratic process in
the country. The HRCP is of view that the new means of electronic
communication pose a challenge to all governments and societies and a
way will have to be found to deal with the explosion of communication
without encroaching upon personal freedoms.
Asma Jahangir
Chairperson
_____
[5] MALDIVES
The Independent, 22 July 200
MALDIVES - WOMEN FACE ADULTERY CONVICTION FLOGGING
by Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
Almost 150 women living in the Maldives face a public flogging for
indulging in extra-marital sex after being convicted by the Muslim
country's conservative courts. Around 50 men also face the punishment.
Earlier this month, an 18-year-old woman fainted after she was
flogged 100 times having been found guilty of having sex with two
different men. The woman, who was pregnant at the time of sentencing,
had her punishment deferred until after the birth of her child and
the court said the teenager's pregnancy was proof of her guilt. In
contrast, the accused men were acquitted, with one of them escaping
punishment simply because he denied the charge.
The head of the country's Criminal Court, Judge Abdulla Mohamed, told
the island's Minivan News that flogging was a deterrent and not
designed to cause injury and said the person carrying out the
punishment was prohibited from raising his arm higher than his
shoulder. "The public should know this lady or man have done these
things and they will stay away from these things," he said. As to why
fewer men were prosecuted, he said: "A man, after making this
problem, will go away and maybe the woman will have relations with
more than one man and won't know who was responsible. Or the man
denies it."
But Amnesty International's Maldives specialist, Abbas Faiz, called
flogging "a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment which is banned
by international human rights law. The practice is humiliating and
leads to psychological as well as physical scars for those subjected
to it for years. [It is] a form of torture." The most recent official
statistics available to the group date from 2006 and show that a
total of 184 people were sentenced to flogging for extra-marital sex
under a penal code that includes elements of Sharia law. Of those 146
were women, with the majority of the punishments still to be carried
out.
In the Maldives, an island nation made up of more than 1200 atolls,
the issue of flogging has become a political battleground following
the whipping of the teenager earlier this month outside a government
building in the capital, Male. Reports said that the women required
hospital treatment after she was flogged in front of a jeering crowd
of men.
Since then there have been a number of demonstrations in favour of
flogging and several articles published defending its use. Since the
case was publicised there have been a number of demonstrations in
support of flogging, some calling for the deportation of a British
journalist, Maryam Omidi, who published reports of the incident in
the local Minivan News. "It's hard to tell whether this is indicative
of a wider feeling, because people are afraid to speak out," Omidi
said. "But I had people calling me up to offer their support."
In its first free polls held last year, the Maldives elected as its
president Mohammed Nasheed, a former prisoner of conscience. But
campaigners say the liberally-inclined Mr Nasheed feels prevented
from speaking because of his dependence on Islamist coalition allies
and because of opponents who are using a debate over Sharia law as
political lever.
The Islamist Adhaalath Party, which is a member of the coalition
government, has denied organising these demonstrations.
Yet, some voices have spoken out. "We don't cut off the hands of all
those who steal and we don't implement the death sentence so why do
we continue with these very inhumane practices, especially when the
statistics show that the victims are women," said MP Eva Abdulla.
Reports suggest that in recent years, many mosques in the Maldives
have fallen under the influence of foreign, conservative imams. The
previous president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been Asia's longest-
serving ruler and who positioned himself as the country's "defender
of Islam", had sought to use the religion to bolster his dwindling.
The government in turn said that more conservative forms of the
religion had been able to spread as restrictions on freedom of
expression were lifted.
For Mr Nasheed, a former political activist who served six terms in
jail, the controversy is a severe test. While his inclinations may be
of a moderniser, he remains dependent on the support of the
conservative Adhaalath Party. Indeed, the party is said to have a
grip on the ministry of Islamic Affairs which Mr Nasheed created last
year, apparently a political reward for its support.
Last night, presidential spokesman Mohamed Zuhair told The
Independent the government was committed to fulfilling its
obligations to international treaties that prohibit torture. He
added: "The president is holding meetings with all concerned parties
to try and deal with this."
_____
[6] NEPAL:
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 30, Dated August 01, 2009
NEPAL : ‘WE STILL FIGHT, BUT WITH WORDS, NO LONGER WITH GUNS’
50-year-old Hisila Yami alias Comrade Parvati, Nepal’s most powerful
woman Maoist leader, dispells the myth that Maoist guerillas are
bellicose and unkempt. She is suave, soft-spoken and smiles often.
Educated in India and England, this architect taught in a college for
13 years before going underground during the Maoists’ 11-year-long
armed struggle. From guerilla camps to becoming Minister for Tourism
to being elected to Nepal’s Constituent Assembly, Hisila has had a
long and eventful journey. Despite being a political heavyweight — a
Member of the Politburo of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-
Maoist (CPNM), a former Minister and wife of Baburam Bhattarai, the
ideological fount of the CPN-M — Hisila wears her identity lightly.
In a smart business suit, a salt-andpepper- haired Hisila spoke to
AMRITA NANDY-JOSHI of the Nepali Maoists’ transition from revolution
to realpolitik, from military offensives to political offensives and
the roadblocks faced in between.
image
Despite years of a violent war, what brought the Maoists victory in
Nepal’s Constituent Assembly elections?
Our armed struggle was a people’s war. The people of Nepal had grown
intolerant of a corrupt and inefficient government. The monarch and
other non-left parties have promoted and taken advantage of the
dominant Hindu belief systems. With the Army supporting and
protecting monarchy and imperialism, people eventually saw who stood
for what. The CPN-M declared total war against these forces. We had
even thought of taking over Kathmandu but we realized that this would
not be appropriate. Besides, we knew how India and China would have
responded.
Meanwhile, the Maoists gained popularity and our strategy gained
momentum because we delivered what the government could not. For
example, justice was Kathmandu-centric and archaic. So we appointed
two legal officers, a man and a woman, to every district. We started
a crude banking system and cottage industries as well. We almost ran
a parallel government. People knew and appreciated our values of
egalitarianism.
How difficult is it for Maoists to deal with realpolitik?
Entering a multi-party parliamentary democracy system is certainly a
departure from certain models of communist revolution. Yet, in
another way, war and democracy have a dialectical relationship.
Nepal has a rich leftist tradition and movement, with many shades of
red. We have fully used this to our advantage to enter the peace
process. We are following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a
timetable for the Maoists to enter Parliament, lay down arms, join
the Government and participate in the electoral process.
At the Constituent Assembly (CA) meetings, I watch our cadre members
and am amazed at how quickly they have learnt the ropes. Yet, the
struggle is on. We fight now with words and not with guns – we argue
over the expressions to be used in drafting the Constitution (smiles).
What roadblocks are causing the current stalemate?
Our strongest opposition is from the military because their supremacy
is challenged in a parliamentary democracy. They enjoyed impunity
under the monarchy and do not like us for our egalitarian ideals and
the idea of civilian supremacy. Other non-Marxist parties such as the
Nepali Congress, too, see the military as their last saviour, and so
cling to each other and to imperialist agents.
The Comprehensive Peace Process clearly states that the cadres of the
People’s Liberation Army will be integrated into the Nepal Army. The
Army Chief has overruled this. Since the army’s loyalties to the
monarchy are well known, we suggested that the terms of generals not
be extended. In fact, new officers were recruited to the top echelons
of the police and paramilitary forces. We faced no opposition. Yet,
when it came to the Army, the same idea became untenable. We are keen
to end the impasse and want to be flexible but our flexibility is not
absolute.
Is there democracy within the party?
Internal democracy in the CPN-M is very strong. Prachanda encourages
diversity of ideas but has the knack of keeping the team together.
There are some who do not agree with our struggle within the
parliamentary framework. There are contradictions, old and new. Yet,
we are all firm that we will not let realpolitik overcome our people-
oriented agenda.
Have you left the path of armed struggle for good?
We have given up violence for the time being. In fact, we want to
integrate our People’s Liberation Army into the Nepal Army so that
our boys receive good training. To us, this was part of a
restructuring exercise. The Army is rather feudal and is resisting this.
If the peace process is long, some cadres may leave us. Some of them
have joined the Terai movement. Even within our party, some want to
go back to the path of revolution. A philosophical churning is on,
not just within our party but within other parties as well.
In other South Asian countries, federal decentralisation has defeated
the collective spirit. How will you ensure you don’t repeat the
mistake?
Federalism helps reach out to every person in a parliamentary
democracy. We are discussing this at the CA and are proposing 15
states to accommodate all communities. Religious and ethnic conflicts
happen in Nepal as well. In the Terai, there have been clashes
between Hindus and Muslims but things do not flare up like they do in
India.
As Maoists, however, we believe that as economic development takes
over, religious and ethnic sentiments will wither away. All three
regions of Nepal have to be economically viable and integrated in
order to keep conflict at bay. There will have to be an inch-by-inch
adjustment.
In the name of culture, religious and ethnic issues can take the
stage. By ensuring that that workers and peasants have representation
within ethnic groups, we hope to resolve ethnic and class conflicts.
When we went to war in 1996, our agenda was a new, democratic
revolution. This stage — the peace process — is penultimate. The
goal is still the total restructuring of the state.
It is momentous to be part of a country’s constitution-making
exercise. How are you ensuring that it is progressive, particularly
with regard to women?
We have been preparing for this moment for a long time. Women are
part of all CA sub-committees on planning and development. There are
several young women from the dailt, sherpa, madhesi and Muslim
communities representing different political parties. They are
planning land reforms while keeping the interests of women, dalits
and other marginalised groups in mind. Inheritance rights will be re-
looked at. The sub-committee will recommend that inheritance take
place in the name of the mother, daughter and so on.
As per a Supreme Court ruling, the ‘third sex’ will be a
recognised category of sexual identity. Our forms and other papers
should soon have a box with ‘third sex’, besides the usual
‘man’ and ‘woman’ options. Nepal’s society is quite liberal
about sexual identities and orientation. The left, in particular, is
tolerant towards these issues. In fact, Sunil Pant is Nepal’s first
openly gay Member of Parliament.
Yet, women’s struggle against patriarchy will be long and hard. When
my name was to be registered for elections to the CA, the officials
assumed that I use my husband’s name and registered me as Hisila
Yami Bhattarai!
At this juncture, what role do you expect India to play in Nepal?
India’s role should be mature. During the debate over Army Chief
Katawal’s unconstitutional response, India supported him and
pressurised us to give in to an Army that has always supported the
monarchy and been status quoist.
The Indian government has declared the CPI (Maoist) as terrorists and
has banned them. What is your reaction? Do you have any links to them?
Banning the outfit will not help. Economic issues should be dealt
with through economic measures. The Indian Maoist parties concentrate
on their own work. We focus on ours. We do sympathise with them.
How is China reacting to the developments in Nepal?
China is busy doing business (smiles).
_____
[7] INDIA: Chauvinism and Difference
A CLASS ANALYSIS OF THE ‘BIHARI MENACE’
by Awanish Kumar
Migrants from Bihar are accused of taking over urban areas and jobs,
most recently in Mumbai. Bihar has come to represent a cultural
symbol of backwardness, “dirtyness” and trouble, which is almost
impervious to “development”. This article attempts to understand
the class and caste locations of these prejudices and analyses the
reasons why Bihar and Biharis are the target of such singular
chauvinism.
http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/13707.pdf
A Goa Cemetery - a place for all dead, irrespective of caste,
community, creed, religion
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6718542.ece
_____
[8] India: War or Terror at the Cost of Human Rights
http://www.anhadin.net/article84.html
Media Release - 23 July 2009
STATEMENT ON THE NHRC REPORT ON THE ALLEGED ENCOUNTER AT BATLA HOUSE
On 20th May, the Delhi High Court, acting on a petition filed by the
People’s union for democratic rights and Anhad, had asked the
National Human rights commission to conduct their own inqury into the
alleged Batla House encounter of September 2008 and give a report
upon it. This order of the High Court was made after the High Court
was shown reports of four independent organisations into the
encounter, including the report of PUDR, the Delhi union of
journalists, the Jamia Teachers Solidarity group, all of which
seriously questioned the version of the Delhi police regarding the
encounter. These reports and the petition filed by the PUDR had
pointed out several specific problems with the version of the Delhi
police. In particular, the following questions were raised about the
version of the Delhi police.
1. If these boys were killed in a genuine encounter, how did the
17-year-old boy Sajid have four bullet holes on the top of his head,
which could only happen if the boy was made to sit down and shot from
above.
2. How is the skin peeled off from Atif’s back? This was clearly
visible in the photograph taken before his burial which is annexed to
the PUDR petition. Obviously Atif had been tortured before being killed.
3. How are the other blunt injuries on the bodies of the boys
explained by the police version of the encounter?
4. If the police knew in advance (as they claimed) that these
boys in the flat were the terrorists involved in the Delhi and other
bomb blasts, why did Inspector Sharma go in without a bullet proof vest?
5. How could 2 of the boys escape from the flat which had only
one exit (two doors next to each other) and from a building which had
only one exit?
It was expected that in these circumstances, the NHRC, would conduct
its own investigation into the matter. The report dated 20th July
2009 of the NHRC given to the High Court on 22nd July, however shows
that far from conducting any investigation into the matter, the NHRC
has merely relied upon the Police reports for their report. They have
not even examined or investigated the above questions which were
squarely raised in the PUDR petition on which the High Court order
was issued to the NHRC. They have not even examined Saif, the third
boy picked up by the police from the flat, nor even any of the
witnesses of the Batla house area who had deposed before the
People’s Tribunal. They have just swallowed the police version hook,
line and sinker. And this is despite the fact that there has been no
independant police investigation or even a Magisterial enquiry into
the encounter as mandated by the NHRC’s own guidelines.
It is extremely unfortunate that the premier Human Rights Body set up
to investigate Human Rights violations is becoming a rubber stamp for
the police. The same attitude of the NHRC was evident when the
Supreme Court asked the NHRC to investigate allegations of Rape and
Murder against the Salwa Judum. The NHRC send a team of essentially
police officers who spoke mainly to the local police and other
officials and gave a white washing report.
The time has come to seriously reexamine the manner of appointment of
members of the NHRC and its powers. The present system of appointment
by a committee of Prime Minister, Home Minister, Speaker and Leader
of Opposition etc. is not working satisfactorily. All of them seem to
want a toothless and tame body which will not question those in power.
Since the NHRC report does not address or answer the disquieting
questions raised by the several independent fact finding reports
about encounter, it is therefore essential that there be an
investigation into the "encounter" by an SIT appointed by the Delhi
HIgh Court.
Signed by:
Shabnam Hashmi (Anhad)
Moushumi Basu (Secretary, PUDR)
Dr. Anoop Saraya (Jan Hastakshep)
Harsh Mander (Director, Center for Equity Studies)
Sreerekha & Tanvir Fazar (Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group)
Colin Gonsalves (Director, Human Rights Law Network)
Arundhati Roy (Writer)
Kavita Krishnan (CPI ML Liberation)
Kamini Jaiswal (Advocate)
Mehtab Alam (Association for the protection of democratic rights)
Prashant Bhushan (Advocate)
Harsh Dobhal (Human Rights Law network)
o o o
Mail Today
24 July 2009
GAPING HOLES IN BATLA HOUSE REPORT
NHRC has chosen to overlook key evidence that defy the police theory
by Praveen Kumar in New Delhi
THE NATIONAL Human Rights Commission (NHRC)’s Batla House encounter
report is based, by its own admission, primarily on the claims of the
police and the forensic evidence shown to it. The rights body did not
find it necessary to cross-check these claims — even though there
are glaring contradictions in the versions submitted by two police
officers of how the September 19, 2008 encounter took place.
The counsels of the families of the two youth who were killed and
those who were arrested have blamed the NHRC for turning a blind eye
to eyewitnesses and not even speaking to the arrested youth. Worse,
the four-member panel which com compiled the report also seems to
have overlooked cru- cial evidence available from the autopsy
reports — which it had complete access to. Details like the position
from which shots were fired, the range of firing and the kind of
weapons used punch more holes into the police theory.
An NHRC representative said the commission found the evidence
proferred by the police was sufficient to report that no human rights
violations took place in the encounter. But how does it explain the
difference in the versions of the encounter submitted by additional
commissioner of police R.P.
Upadhayay and joint commissioner of police Karnail Singh?
Upadhayay’s version, filed on October 23, says inspector M.C. Sharma
led a police team into the L-18 building to raid the flat where the
special cell believed the terrorists to be holed up.
“The remaining team members (of the police party) remained at the
ground floor to cover the building,” Upadhayay’s report adds.
“The team knocked at the main door of the flat and disclosed its
identity, but the occupants of the flat did not respond.”
This differs from Karnail Singh’s report, submitted on November 19,
in two key aspects: how the police team that carried out the
encounter entered the flat, and where the rest of the police party
was positioned.
Karnal Singh writes: “A back-up team in bullet-proof jackets and
AK-47 assault rifles was stationed at a distance. Inspector M.C.
Sharma, who was heading the first team, directed SI Dharmendra to go
into the flat in the garb of an executive of one of the mobile
service providers with the purpose of fixing the identity of the user
of mobile number 9811004309.” Dharmendra went upstairs to the top
floor the building and heard a couple of voices from flat no. 108,
which they had come to raid. He “ decided to come back to inform
inspector Sharma, who then decided to go together to check the
inmates in the apartment”, says Karnal Singh.
There is no mention of SI Dharmendra in the earlier report, which
also says the back- up team stood downstairs, and not “ at a
distance”. MAIL TODAY has shown the photographs of the bodies of the
two youth to forensic experts. They revealed a number of flaws in the
official account of the encounter.
For instance, Atif Ameen took two bullets on his chest while Mohammad
Sajid had three bullets on his right temple, one at the centre of his
head and another on top of his right shoulder. This bullet travelled
diagonally and pierced the torso, exiting through the back of the
left shoulder.
This clearly meant Sajid was shot from a height. He could have been
sitting, squatting or trying to get up when the bullets hit him. But
the NHRC report flies in the face of evidence when it says the
policemen shot the two from the front in retaliation to bullets fired
by them.
The nature of their wounds also suggests the two were shot only from
a range of 1- 5 metres. Multiple injuries on the bodies implies that
firing was carried out with an intent to kill. The police used either
a pistol or an assault rifle like AK- 47 during the shootout. B UT
THE NHRC report is silent on the distance from which the police shot
them and the weapons that were used. It also says the police fired in
self- defence, rather than with an intent to kill. Indeed the report,
while dwelling at length on the autopsy of inspector Sharma, makes
only a passing reference to the autopsies of Atif and Sajid.
Not surprisingly, the defence lawyers are saying the NHRC has acted
as a mouthpiece of the government by preparing the report almost
entirely according to the police version.
“ They have not investigated the questions that were raised by
us,” said Prashant Bhusan, a defence counsel. “ They have not
interrogated Mohammad Saif, the boy picked up by the police from the
flat. They have not even spoken to eyewitnesses who had deposed
before the People's Tribunal. They have just swallowed the police
version hook, line and sinker.” Another lawyer added the NHRC should
have been more rigorous about this investigation as the encounter
violated many of its own guidelines. “ If they had examined the
witnesses, they would have mentioned their names and statements,”
said M. S. Khan, the counsel for Zia- ur- Rehman, one of the accused.
The commission is staunchly defending its report, saying the
examination of eyewitnesses is not a regular process and it depends
from case to case.
“ If there is no mention of witnesses in the report, it is obvious
that the commission felt the scientific evidence provided by the
police was sufficient. Hence, the examination of witnesses was not
required,” an NHRC representative said.
Perhaps anticipating a backlash, the NHRC attempts to cover up for
its lapses in the report itself by saying its inquiry is consistent
with the provisions of Section 17 of the Human Rights Act, 1993. “
Section 17 does not contemplate an adversarial proceeding. It
empowers the commission to call for information or report from the
central government, state government or any other authority. If on
the material placed before it, the commission is satisfied that no
further inquiry is required, it may not proceed with the complaint,”
reads the report.
But the fact remains that the commission has, at best, assumed a very
blinkered view of its role and, at worst, ended up in cahoots with an
assault on the most basic of all human rights — the right to live.
_____
[9] India: Killings in the name of Community Honour
HONOUR KILLING IN PATIALA
July 24, 2009 , NDTV
http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1138603
o o o
The Tribune, 25 July 2009
Editorial: WHO RULES HARYANA?: THE LAW OR THE KHAPS?
Haryana has drifted a step further towards lawlessness after angry
villagers lynched a youth, right in the presence of the police, for
marrying a girl of the same “gotra”. A warrant officer of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court, who had been drafted to help the
husband bring back his wife from her parents’ house in Singhwala
village of Jind district, was rescued by the police but was injured.
The youth was simply killed because of the failure of the district
police to intervene effectively and forcefully. The police would have
acted firmly had the state government continuously not been a mute
spectator to the running of a parallel system of justice by the khap
panchayats.
Politicians belonging to the ruling party as well as the opposition
parties have, over the years, watched in silence and helplessness the
khap panchayats usurping the authority of the state and delivering
their own brand of cruelty passed on audaciously by the khaps as
justice. Lack of decisive action by the successive governments in
Haryana has contributed to the rise of the Jat-run khap panchayats,
which, incidentally, are also a major vote bank. That is why the
Hoodas and Chautalas of the state do not come out openly against the
ruthlessness of khap panchayats, which issue fatwas as to who can
marry whom and who should live and who should die. The state
government has willingly surrendered its authority and even
diminished the status of the high court. This is mainly because the
political leadership treats the khap’s writ as a social phenomenon
and not as a challenge to the law and the Constitution. The failure
of the authorities to help the couple and save the life of the
husband is inexcusable.
The spread of education and awareness about one’s rights and
increasing opportunities of interaction for youngsters have led to a
growing number of inter-caste marriages and, consequently,
“honour” killings in Haryana, Punjab and elsewhere. The khap
panchayats have refused to change with the times. They have become
not only irrelevant but also dangerous to social harmony. Their
disruptive role needs to be countered with a heavy hand. Exemplary
punishment to those violating the law of the land should deter others
from taking law into their own hands. The least the Hooda government
can do is to take severe action against the policemen and officers
who failed to protect the youth. The government’s resolve will be
tested how soon it hauls up the killers — whatever their number —
for the punishment they deserve under the law for what is nothing but
a sheer murder with a vengeance.
o o o
The Hindu, 25 July 2009
CPI(M) CONCERNED OVER ‘HONOUR KILLING’
Special Correspondent
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana unit of the CPI (M) has expressed anguish
over the gruesome murder of a married young man, Ved Pal Maun, in
Singhwal village of Jind district on Wednesday.
“The gruesome criminal act is yet another sad episode in the series
of so-called honour killings in the recent past in Haryana. It has
sent shock waves all over the country as it comes at a time when
another such act by a khap panchayat is being widely criticised”,
said CPI (M) State secretary Inderjit Singh in a statement on Friday.
Mr. Inderjit Singh recalled that the marriage between Ved Pal Maun of
Mataur village in Kaithal district and Sonia Bhanwala of Singhwal
village of Jind ditrict was “disputed” by a khap panchayat which
issued a diktat last March that the couple be killed.
Claiming that it was not a marriage within the sub-caste or gotra, he
said the bizarre premise for declaring the marriage unacceptable was
that the villages of the boy and the girl were in the neighbourhood
and so there was “bhaichara” (brotherhood) between the adjacent
villages.
He alleged that since Sonia was being held captive in her parental
home, Ved Pal had to seek the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s
intervention for restoration of his legal wife to him.
It was all the more deplorable, he said, that the young man was
killed in full public view in the presence of the Court’s Warrant
Officer who had gone with him and the police.
“The manner in which this crime was committed illustrates that
ordinary citizens in Haryana were at the mercy of certain reactionary
forces as there was no rule of law as had been often stated by
democratic organisations and many distinguished citizens, ” Mr.
Inderjit Singh added.
Meanwhile, the CPI (M) has also criticised the “highly objectionable
comments” of the Member of Parliament from Rohtak, Deepender Singh
Hooda, describing “illegal activities of the khap panchayats as a
social affair”.
“He has abdicated his constitutional obligation as a public
representative and such attitude would encourage the retrograde
forces which may become a serious challenge for society if not
checked in time”, the statement added while calling upon all
responsible people to come forward and isolate anti- social elements
working in the garb of khap panchayats.
The CPI (M) has also demanded immediate arrest of all those who
provoked the gruesome murder of Ved Pal as well as steps to save the
life of Sonia.
o o o
Mail Today
24 July 2009
MOB KILLS YOUTH FOR VIOLATING CASTE RULE
by Vikas Kahol in Chandigarh
LOVE may know no barriers, but it is yet to overcome a lot of them.
Especially those of religion, caste and community.
So, when 21- year- old Ved Pal invited Sonia into his life, he had
little idea he was inviting his own death. On Wednesday night, the
young man from Haryanas Jind district paid with his life for having
married a girl from the same community.
Ved was lynched by some men in his wifes village who were blinded by
the death warrant issued by a caste panchayat.
The incident took place at Singhwal village near Narwana.
Over a dozen armed policemen remained mute spectators to the cold-
blooded murder. The villagers later dragged Veds lifeless body to the
main crossing in the village and did not let the authorities touch it
for hours.
Ved had gone to Singhwal to meet Sonia. He was accompanied by a
warrant officer, Suraj Bhan, who was deputed by the Punjab and
Haryana High Court. Bhan was also injured in the melee.
Trouble started when Sonia, a teenager from Singhwal, went missing on
March 10. The villagers suspected she had eloped with Ved, a medical
practitioner from the neighbouring village of Mataur.
Proving them right, Ved and Sonia, both belonging to the Jat
community, had got married.
The khap ( caste panchayat) was outraged and on March 20, issued a
death warrant against the siblings. A few weeks later, the khap also
forced Sonia to return to her parents. Ved then moved the high court
requesting that his wife be sent with him.
The court ruled in Veds favour and gave him police protection.
Veds family alleged the policemen had abandoned him when the
villagers attacked. “ Ved was aware of the danger awaiting him in
Singhwal and didnt want to go there. He was planning to send his
brother instead,” said Joginder Pal, Veds cousin.
Joginder said it was Bhan who called Ved to the Narwana police
station and convinced him to go to Singhwal. He also alleged the
police had connived with the villagers to kill his cousin.
The Jind SP, Sateesh Balan, said: “ We have registered a case of
murder against the girls family and some unidentified villagers.”
o o o
Mail Today, July 22, 2009
CASTE CLOUD OVER LAW OF THE LAND
by Vikas Kahol in Chandigarh
THE FAMILY of a boy in Haryanas Jhajjar district who married a girl
from his own subcaste has been hounded out of their village by the
panchayat.
The khap at Jhajjars Dharana village had ordered Ravinder Gahlot to
annul his four- month- old marriage to Shilpa Kadyan, a native of
Siwah village near Sonipat, because they both were of the same gotra
( sub- caste).
After Ravinder refused to obey the panchayats diktat, his family was
boycotted by the villagers and ordered to sell their property and leave.
Not being able to handle the mounting pressure, Ravinder attempted
suicide last Friday.
But if he expected the dictatorial panchayat members to unclench
their fists after this, he was mistaken.
After the khap refused to budge, Ravinders family was forced to leave.
Sources in the village said the family boarded a bus for the
neighbouring Jugana village on Tuesday evening.
They left all their belongings and valuables behind.
The district administration also confirmed the family was not in the
village.
However, they claimed the family had not left permanently and had
only gone to visit relatives in Jugana.
“ They are staying with a relative and we are offering them police
protection in the village,” an official said.
But villagers claimed the family had left Dharana forever. “ The
khap had directed them to leave the village. They have left Dharana
now,” said a native.
The Gahlot family may be down at the moment but certainly not out.
They reportedly plan to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court on
Wednesday, to protect the lives of the couple.
Chandigarh- based human rights activist Ranjan Lakhanpal has also
planned to move a petition in court, demanding that the government
end the “ khap injustice”. Lakhanpal said khap verdicts in Haryana
were increasingly becoming unfair, sometimes even becoming barbaric.
“ The parallel system of so- called justice should be brought to an
end,” Lakhanpal said.
“ Many couples are killed in the name of upholding values. Many are
ousted. The state also evades the responsibility of protecting the
citizens lives. It looks like a new form of Taliban is running the
system here,” he added.
“ The khaps hard- heartedness even led to the poor boy attempting
suicide.
What kind of justice is this?” he asked.
Sources in Dharana said the village panchayat had been putting
pressure on the boys family to sell their property and leave the
village by Sunday. Before that, the family had become pariahs in
their native place after the khap ruled that anyone who interacted
with them would be heavily fined.
By Sunday, however, the family had not left. Following this, the
panchayat held another meeting in a neighbouring village. After the
meeting, the villagers started marching towards Ravinders house to “
execute” the khap order.
When the police attempted to stop them, the violent villagers pelted
stones on them. The administration has since imposed prohibitory
orders against the assembly of four or more persons at one spot.
o o o
The Hindu
July 24, 2009
ANOTHER ‘HONOUR KILLING’ IN HARYANA
Youth had come to take back his wife
Body cremated ; tension grips Youth’s village
Court asks State to provide security to Jhajjar groom
Chandigarh: In yet another case of honour killing, villagers
allegedly lynched a young man in the presence of the police when he
had come to take back his newly-wed wife belonging to the same sub-
caste in Haryana’s Jind district.
The incident took place on Wednesday night in Singhwal village, about
165 km from here, when 21-year-old Ved Pal, accompanied by a Warrant
Officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and 15 Haryana
policemen, came to take his wife Sonia along with him.
After getting reports about the presence of Ved Pal, who had married
the girl belonging to the same ‘gotra’ four months back against
the wishes of her family, a mob of 400 villagers attacked the police
party and Warrant Officer Suraj Bhan who were in different vehicles,
Jind’s police chief Satheesh Balan said.
Mr. Bhan was dragged out of the vehicle even as Ved Pal tried to
escape under the cover of darkness.
While the accompanying policemen managed to rescue Mr. Bhan, Ved Pal
fell into the hands of the irate mob which lynched him, Mr. Balan said.
He denied reports that Ved Pal was left to the mercy of the mob by
the accompanying policemen.
Mr. Balan said the policemen managed to rescue Mr. Bhan who was
injured and taken to Narwana.
Ved Pal’s body was kept on the village road before being removed by
the police for post- mortem and was later handed over to his
relatives. The body was later cremated in his native Matour village
in neighbouring Kaithal district, which was gripped by tension.
The victim’s family members told reporters in Matour that had the
police acted on time, they could have saved him.
Cops deployed
Meanwhile, policemen have been deployed near the house of Sonia.
The latest incident comes amid a raging ‘gotra’ controversy
involving a young couple from Jhajjar district, where a youth’s
family had been directed to leave the village by a local panchayat
after he married a girl of the same sub-caste.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Haryana
Government to provide adequate security to the family of the groom.
Earlier, decomposed bodies of Manoj (23) and his wife Babli (19),
residents of Karora village in Kaithal district who belonged to the
same ‘gotra’, were fished out from a canal in Narnound town in
Hisar district after a panchayat opposed their marriage. PTI
______
[10] Book Review:
http://www.hindu.com/br/2009/06/30/stories/2009063050061300.htm
June 30, 2009
Book Review / The Hindu
India’s past, revisited
by Kesavan Veluthat
This collection of seminal essays by the author deals with every
aspect of early Indian history
RETHINKING INDIA’S PAST: R. S. Sharma; Oxford University Press, YMCA
Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 695.
Professor Ram Sharan Sharma is among those historians of India who
gave a totally new orientation to the study of early Indian history.
A site of the battle royale between the cynical imperialists and the
romantic nationalists, historical writing in India had hardly
admitted questions related to society, economy, and so on, not to
speak of the less fortunate sections in it who were “untouchables”
even to historians. Along with D.D. Kosambi, Sharma brought a
materialist approach to bear upon Indian history, thus bringing
people into history, which was otherwise crowded with kings and
queens. Included in this appropriately titled collection are some of
the seminal essays he wrote forcing a rethinking of India’s past.
Landmark lectures
It was Sharma’s path-breaking book on the Sudras, a “social
history of the lower orders,” that catapulted him, more than half a
century ago, into Indian historical writing. Even earlier, he had
published a paper on the feudal formations in the Gupta and post-
Gupta periods, which he developed in the landmark lectures he gave in
the University of Calcutta in 1965. This began to show that, contrary
to the received wisdom that the age of the Guptas represented a
“golden age,” the period actually saw the feudalisation of the
economy and society and the subjection and immiserisation of a vast
section of population. Along with the feudal relations, or as a
causative factor of the emergence thereof, Sharma identified a
decline in trade and decay of urban centres in the archaeological
records of the Gangetic valley as well as a major social crisis in
the descriptions of the Kaliyuga in the Puranic accounts.
He also traced the formation and transformation of political
institutions and ideas in early India and did a thorough-going
analysis of the material culture and social formations in early India.
Thus, touching nearly every aspect of the history of early India, he
revolutionised the understanding of the processes and structures
associated with it.
Defend
The present collection offers a cross-section of the significant
interventions that Sharma has made over the past half-a-century. The
first few articles are historiographical reviews which also defend
his position in an authentic manner. A few others, such as those on
different stages in the economy and the mode of production in ancient
India, and the transition from the ancient to medieval are clear
statements of the historiographical position that he has taken. With
this, Sharma defends his thesis of Indian feudalism, urban decay, and
Kaliyuga.
The introduction is a bold statement of the article of faith of the
historian. In the context of the onslaught of obscurantist theories
at the expense of evidence, Sharma makes a plea for the practice of
history in the classical manner, where the utmost loyalty should go
to evidence. For him, a materialist interpretation of the evidence
makes the most sense. This is perhaps the most comprehensive
deposition that we have had from the master.
Marxist point
Read with another essay, “the need for an integrated approach”, we
can get the best Marxist position on the subject. In the article on
“How feudal was Indian feudalism?” Sharma makes a bold defence of
the concept when it came under attack from various quarters. Whether
one goes all the way with him or not, the persuasive way in which he
argues, and adduces evidence in support of his argument, is hard to
miss. So also, it is not by mechanically filling in a checklist of
the constituents of feudalism but by going to the totality of the
experience that he makes the argument. That is why the “feudalism
debate” in Indian history became so productive from both sides of
the barricade.
A few other articles , such as the one on historical archaeology and
urban decay, social change in early medieval India, add supportive
evidence to this defence of Indian feudalism. The review of Romila
Thapar’s book, ‘From Lineage to State,’ is very significant. The
essay on ‘Rahul Sankrityayana’ is homage to a polymath. In sum,
the collection is indispensable to every serious student at all levels.
For a book of this importance, a little more editorial care would
have been in order. As these are essays reproduced from already
published sources, there are repetitions which could have been
avoided. The essays could have been better arranged. For instance,
the third chapter, “Writings on early Indian polity” takes the
story from the 1950s, while the fourth chapter, “Studies in ancient
polity” is concerned with the writings up to the 1950s. These could
have been transposed. These irritants notwithstanding, the book is of
lasting value.
______
[11]
Forbes India Magazine of 31 July, 2009
TYEB MEHTA: THE PURE ARTIST
His biographer reflects on the iconic artist and the legacy of his life
by Ranjit Hoskote | July 24, 2009
His biographer reflects on the iconic artist and the legacy of his
life Share
I first met Tyeb Mehta when I was 19 and had just begun to write art
criticism. Tyeb’s resplendent images, his falling figures, trussed
bulls, shamanic women, and rickshaw-pullers fused with their soul-
destroying vehicles, had already won critical acclaim; but had only
just begun to be matched by commercial success.Besides, the critical
acclaim had come couched in the colonised idiom then still current:
To many, Tyeb was the ‘Indian Bacon’, a condescending label, given
the palpable difference between the two masters.
Bacon’s screaming popes and twisted models are painted in their
human fallibility, ruthlessly rendered as though in the body’s
effluents, in spittle, sweat and semen. By contrast, Tyeb’s figures
are painted in radiance, in luminous, smoothly brushed colour that
transforms the death-marked bull into a symbol of resistance, the
plunging body into a creature redeemed from gravity.
Tyeb cloaked, in dignified silence, any bitterness he may have felt
at this faint praise and tardy acceptance. By the late 1980s, he had
already embarked on the series of encounters with the surgeon’s
knife that would constitute his medical history for the rest of his
life. These experiences did nothing to blunt the edge of his
imagination, which grew more intensely probing in its exploration of
the epic turbulences of postcolonial South Asia. His images became
more refined and icon-like, but reverberated deeply with the
intimations of violence and renewal that came into his studio from
the streets and hinterlands beyond: The all-devouring Kali, the
frenzied drummer, the goddess battling the buffalo demon.
I enjoyed the privilege of Tyeb’s friendship, meeting him at
irregular intervals over two decades; but not often enough, I now
think. I admired not only his paintings, but also his sculptures and
drawings (neither of which bodies of work have been properly seen by
the public), and the magnificent Koodal, the only film that he, who
had grown up around the cinema and hoped to become a filmmaker, ever
made.
Tyeb was a conversationalist and promoter of conversations, listening
far more than he spoke, generous in his reception of fresh thoughts.
This surprised people who were overawed by his reputation for being
exacting in his intellectual and ethical standards. His friends came
from the many domains of creative expression that fascinated him:
Among them, his fellow painters M.F. Husain and Bal Chhabda, the poet
Prabodh Parikh, the philosopher Ramachandra Gandhi, the architect Sen
Kapadia, the theatre director Naushil Mehta.
Untitled (Figures with Bull Head), 1984, 150 x 106cms, oil on canvas
Image: Chemould Prescott Road
Untitled (Figures with Bull Head), 1984, 150 x 106cms, oil on canvas
Our meetings fell into a regular pattern during the two years when we
worked closely on a book on his life and art, published in 2005 as
Ideas Images Exchanges. The title enshrines the process of art-
making, as Tyeb practised it: First, conceptions swirling up in the
consciousness; then, images springing from these ideas, drafted and
re-drafted, painted and re-painted, tuned up until they were just
right; and finally, animated conversations among the circle of
friends who were the first to see the completed paintings in Tyeb’s
studio.
My wife, Nancy Adajania, was preparing an extensive interview with
Tyeb about his preoccupation with cinema and theatre, and I was
writing a monographic essay offering a new interpretation of his art
and its cultural and political contexts. We would spend long
afternoons with Tyeb and Sakina, his wife, companion, confidante and
lifelong protector. And while he rarely wanted to discuss his art,
Tyeb was eager to share it. After a round of tea or a couple of
beers, he would signal to us to follow him into the spare bedroom
that served him as a studio in his apartment in suburban Mumbai’s
Lokhandwalla Complex: “Come, let me show you what I’ve been
doing!”
In the last two years, this had become an anxiety-fraught experience.
Tyeb’s eyesight was failing. When he started making a line in
charcoal on his canvas, he told us, it would disappear beneath his
fingers. And yet, he would spend several agonising months to produce
an amazingly magisterial, meticulously rendered image: A falling bird
or a human spirit wrenched out of an animal body. Whether in his
decision to renounce the options offered by the Bohra business
community of his birth or in his battle against a heart pumping at
one-fourth its capacity, Tyeb embraced adversity with quiet courage,
never once descending into self-pity.
Cultural reporters have asked what legacy Tyeb leaves behind. His
images will endure among the finest achievements of Indian art, but
his true legacy lies in his life choices. Despite the high auction
prices some of his paintings have fetched in recent years, Tyeb’s
art embodied the enduring difference between price and value. He
lived out the ideal of the pure artist. He never used his art as an
instrument of social advancement and short-term profit, dedicating
himself instead to the unforgiving logic of the quest for perfection.
(Ranjit Hoskote is a poet, cultural critic and independent curator.
He is the author of Tyeb Mehta, Images of Transcendence, due out in
2010)
FULL text at: http://tt.ly/1G
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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.
More information about the SACW
mailing list