SACW | Dec 24-26, 2009 / Pakistan Judiciary / Nepal: Militarisation; witch hunts / Kashmir Autonomy? / India: Guns or Butter ; Patriarchy and the Power of the Uniform?

Sat Dec 26 04:34:45 CST 2009

South Asia Citizens Wire | December 24-26, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2679 -  
Year 12 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]  Pakistan: Pause, sirs, and ponder (I.A. Rehman)
       - Bill to prevent domestic violence lapses (Amir Wasim)
[2]  Nepal: Neighbours with each other to militarise the Nepali state  
(CK Lal)
      - Nepal: UN human rights official voices concern about  
promotion of army officer
      - Witch-hunts: Medieval barbarity continues to blight the  
landscape of New Nepal (Mallika Aryal)
[3]  India Administered Kashmir: Fate of working groups (Editorial,  
Kashmir Times)
[4]  Pakistan - India:  A Letter to the Editor (Karamat Ali)
[5]  India: Guns or Butter?
      - An Evaluation of India’s Defence Expenditure (Pavan Nair)
      - Will My Fast Against Violence and Dispossesion Help the  
Adivasis? (A Letter from Himanshu Kumar)
      - India: 'Corporate Crimes and Environmental plunder' Press  
Release by Champa – the Amiya and B.G.Rao Foundation
      - State-sponsored lawlessness at Narayanpatna (Javed Iqbal)
      - Stop torture and arbitrary arrests of peace activists and  
human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh (Press Release, Amnesty  
International)
      - Chidambaram to attend Dantewada public hearing
      - Should We Have Talked to the Chhattisgarhi Mother? (Somnath  
Mukherji)
      - Terrified villagers seek solace in ‘IDs’ (Sahar Khan in  
Dantewada)
      - Tribals fear being caught in assault on Bastar Maoists
[6]  India: Impunity for Men in Uniform
      (i) Ten reasons why criminals in khaki get away (Siddharth  
Varadarajan)
      (ii) Rape of the law - State machinery has failed to act  
(Kuldip Nayar)
      (iii) Editorial: Justice Interrupted
      (iv) Shopian: Manufacturing a Suitable Story(IWIJ)
[7]  India: Resources For Secular Activists
        (i) BJP: Is it a new chapter? ()
        (ii) That Big Dalit Party and its politics of forging  
alliances with the Hindutva forces (Badri Narayan)
[8]  Announcements:
       (i) Solidarity Vigil to commemorate the beginning of the  
indefinite fast by Himanshu ji of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (Delhi, 26  
December 2009)
       (ii) India-Pakistan Conference: Roadmap Towards Peace (New  
Delhi, 10-12 January 2010)

_____

[1] Pakistan:

dawn, 24 December 2009

PAUSE, SIRS, AND PONDER
by I.A. Rehman

The fact that in its response to the Supreme Court judgment of Dec 16  
the nation is divided cannot be denied, and prudence demands that the  
causes of this division should not be brushed aside without careful  
scrutiny.

A large section of society believes that Pakistan has become a  
corruption-free entity and a judicially controlled democracy while a  
none-too-small section feels deeply hurt. Much can be said for and  
against both sides.

The hailers are largely guided by their desire to wipe off the shame  
of becoming one of the most corrupt states in the world. They appear  
full of zeal for righteousness. However, they will do their cause  
enormous harm if they fall for the universally repudiated view that  
the ends always justify the means. The people of Pakistan paid a  
heavy price for taking this route when they welcomed the usurpation  
of power by Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

The wailers are largely moved by the apparent setback to their group.  
They think the law has been used for a political purpose. They have  
strong memories of the Tamizuddin and Nusrat Bhutto cases and the  
judgment against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. They could be wrong. However,  
they will do themselves enormous harm if they appear to be defending  
corrupt persons or practices.

Somewhere between the two extremes stand those who wish to make sure  
that good intentions do not lead to the dreaded hell. Some of them  
have a longer record of denouncing corrupt rulers and condemning the  
NRO than the born-yesterday anti-vice squad. They believe the NRO was  
a bad law, that it should not have been made, that no one claiming  
public support should have sought to benefit from it and that those  
who made this obnoxious law as well as its beneficiaries should pay  
for their lapses.

According to them the Supreme Court verdict has two parts: one  
dealing with the NRO, the other with broader themes. They have no  
quarrel with the first part. They only want to have their fears of  
the long-term implications of some of the assumptions underlying the  
court order duly and properly addressed.

The NRO was such an easy target that a single shot (Articles 4, 8 and  
25 of the constitution) was enough to demolish it. A fusillade from  
heavy cannons (Articles 62 (f), 63 (i and p), 89, 175, and 227) has  
created problems.

The clauses of Articles 62 and 63 cited now constitute part of Ziaul  
Haq’s arbitrary amendments. They have never been debated by a  
representative assembly and have been consistently denounced by  
democratic opinion. It has often been said that the legislatures have  
not touched them. But this argument should be examined in the context  
of the circumstances in which the post-Zia assemblies have been  
elected and the conditions under which the democratic regimes have  
been allowed to function. Invoking Ziaul Haq’s interpolations in the  
1973 constitution, whose revival in its original form is the battle  
cry of all democratic parties, is like quoting a PCO judge’s ruling  
before today’s independent judiciary.

Further, reference has again been made to the 'salient features of  
the constitution, i.e., independence of the judiciary, federalism,  
parliamentary form of government blended with Islamic provisions' and  
'no change in the basic features of the constitution is possible  
through amendment'. The argument was last heard in May 2000 when 12  
judges of the Supreme Court had not only upheld the Pervez Musharraf  
coup of October 1999 but also allowed him the power to amend the  
constitution.

Now, the debate over certain parts of a national constitution being  
outside parliament’s authority to amend them has been going on in  
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh for over 40 years (Indian Supreme  
Court verdicts of 1967, 1973 and 1975; Pakistan Supreme Court  
verdicts of 1963, 1997 and 2000). Professor Conrad, the German  
scholar who has done much to promote this principle, has succinctly  
put it thus: 'Any amending body organised within the statutory  
scheme, howsoever verbally unlimited its power, cannot by its very  
structure change the fundamental pillars supporting its  
constitutional authority.'

An essential question is: are courts the sole forum for determining  
the basic or fundamental or salient features of a constitution? In  
many countries (including Canada, Germany and India) the provisions  
that cannot be routinely amended by parliament are identified in the  
constitution itself. This is an issue that calls for a thorough debate.

In any case the issue before the Supreme Court was not an amendment  
to the constitution that would have attracted the basic features  
theory. The issue before it was an ordinary presidential ordinance.  
And for laws and ordinances that conflict with the constitution clear  
remedies are available.

By invoking Article 227 in the present case the Supreme Court seems  
to have put Islamic injunctions in command of the whole constitution.  
Quite a few lawyers argue that this amounts to overruling the  
court’s judgments in the Hakim Khan (1992) and Kaneez Fatima (1993)  
cases.

The position as far as a lay writer can understand is this: the power  
to strike down a law for being repugnant to Islamic injunctions lies  
with the Federal Shariat Court and no other court. Article 227 only  
allows the Council of Islamic Ideology to recommend changes in laws  
on the ground of repugnancy to Islam. The article does not empower  
any forum to strike down any law. When 17 judges of the highest court  
invest Article 227 with the power to nullify a law it could amount to  
constitution-making. It is necessary to dispel the fears that the  
courts could start striking down any law they consider violative of  
Islamic injunctions.

Besides, the matter is not one of law alone, it is essentially  
political. The 'salient features of the constitution' theory has no  
answer for conflicts between these features — between a  
parliamentary form of government and Islamic injunctions, for  
instance. And what will happen to the independence of the judiciary  
if one accepts the view propounded by many Islamic scholars that in  
an Islamic order the ameer is the head of all state organs — the  
executive, the legislature and the judiciary?

One cannot forget the case started by Mr Kaikaus, a former Supreme  
Court judge, in a Shariat appellate bench but which was dismissed by  
the Federal Shariat Court on a technical ground. He appealed to the  
bench but withdrew his plea because he did not think the judges on it  
were Muslims! Mr Kaikaus had branded the parliamentary form of  
government, the system of elections, and the existence of political  
parties as un-Islamic! Fears of many such cases coming up are not  
groundless. The people of Pakistan have every right to ask whether  
Ziaul Haq’s agenda has been revived.

o o o

dawn,  25 December, 2009

BILL TO PREVENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAPSES

by Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD: A good piece of legislation that the National Assembly  
passed with a rare unanimity in August to protect women and children  
from domestic violence could not become a law because the government  
seemingly lost sight of it.

The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, which was  
aimed at fighting the curse through quick criminal trials and a chain  
of protection committees and protection officers, was passed by the  
National Assembly on Aug 4.

Under Article 70 of the Constitution, the government was required to  
get the bill passed through the upper house and to make it a law  
within 90 days of its receipt.

After its passage in the National Assembly amid cheers from all sides  
of the house, the bill was sent to the Senate, which made it a part  
of the agenda on Oct 5. However, when the bill was moved in the  
Senate, Mohammad Khan Sheerani, of the JUI-F, raised some objections,  
leading to deferment of hearing. However, the government slept on the  
matter and now the bill has lapsed.

Now the government will have to get the bill passed again from both  
the houses, but only after the approval of yet-to-be-constituted  
mediation committee comprising members of both the houses.

Article 70(3) of the Constitution states: ‘Where a bill is referred  
to the Mediation Committee under clause (2), the Mediation Committee  
shall, within ninety days, formulate an agreed Bill which is likely  
to be passed by both Houses of the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) and  
place the agreed Bill separately before each House, and if both the  
Houses pass the Bill, it shall be presented to the President for  
assent.’

It is interesting to note that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had  
himself spoken on this bill on the floor of the house and termed it a  
big achievement of his government.

He declared that the bill had been moved in pursuance of the  
guidelines of the late party chairperson, Benazir Bhutto.

After passage of the bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan  
had congratulated all parties for approving the legislation.

The comprehensive 28-clause bill, which was first moved in August  
last year, and apparently went through a thorough vetting by an 18- 
member house Standing Committee on Women Development, was piloted by  
an activist of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party Yasmeen Rahman,  
with a party veteran Shakeela Khanum Rashid, and Chaudhry Mohammad  
Birjees Tahir of the Pakistan Muslim League-N as co-sponsors.

Ms Rehman said it was ‘unfortunate’ that the government could not  
get the bill passed through the Senate despite the fact that it had  
unanimously been passed by the lower house. She said that she was not  
aware if the speaker had constituted the mediation committee, adding  
that she would soon raise the matter with Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza.

ACTIVISTS ANGERED: Women rights activists also showed their concern  
over the government’s failure to get the bill passed from the upper  
house.

Dr Fouzia Saeed, a leading civil society activist, expressed  
disappointment and criticised the government for letting the bill  
lapse only because of the objection raised by just one member. She  
said it was after 62 years that a bill providing protection to women  
and children had been initiated. She said as they were fighting  
Taliban, there was a need to show ‘some progressiveness’.

Another woman activist, Dr Farzana Bari said it was sad that the  
government was not serious in resolving women and children’s issues.  
She said it seemed that it would take years to change the mindset of  
those sitting at the helm of affairs.

The bill proposed payment of monetary and other relief to aggrieved  
persons through protection orders, whose violators will be punished  
with jail terms and fines. The money collected from fines will be  
paid to sufferers.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Women Development, in its  
meeting on Thursday, also showed ‘grave concern’ over the  
government’s failure to place the bill within the stipulated time  
and held the ministry of parliamentary affairs responsible for this  
lapse.

According to the bill, domestic violence includes – but is not  
limited to – ‘all intentional acts of gender-based or other  
physical or psychological abuse committed by an accused against  
women, children or other vulnerable persons, with whom the accused  
person is or has been in a domestic relationship’.

The bill gives an aggrieved person the right to approach a first  
class magistrate’s court personally with an application or through  
another authorised person and the court must fix a hearing within  
three days and give a decision within 30 days.

The court’s protection orders could prohibit an accused from  
committing or aiding or abetting domestic violence, dispossessing an  
aggrieved person of household, give monetary relief to meet expenses  
and losses as well as for maintenance.

_____

[2] Nepal:

Nepali Times, 11 Dec 2009 - 17 Dec 2009

FRIENDS LIKE THESE
With our friends homing in on security, Nepali democracy really will  
have to be home-grown

by CK Lal

NEPAL ARMY
Chief of Army Staff Chhatra Man Singh Gurung is on an official visit  
to India where he was conferred Honourary Rank of General of Indian  
Army this week.

The Joint Secretary of India's external affairs ministry Satish Mehta  
has decided that an army airstrip at Surkhet and the resumption of  
non-lethal military supplies are the two most important needs of  
Nepal. Chief of Army Staff Chhatra Man Singh Gurung is leaving today  
for India for a week-long visit. For the Indian security  
establishment, the imperilled peace process of Nepal has suddenly  
become a low-priority issue. Security cooperation rather than  
political interactions is going to be the focus of Indo-Nepal  
relations in the coming days.

These days, few Nepali politicians can access top-rung Indian  
leaders. They have to go through featherweight politicos like D.P.  
Tripathi, who was here some time ago to bolster the resolve of the  
anti-Maoist coalition in Singh Darbar.

Officers of the Nepal Army, however, can boast of high-profile batch  
mates from Sandhurst, West Point or the Indian Military Academy at  
Dehradun. General Gurung is an alumnus of the latter and will be  
attending a graduation ceremony there during his visit, but he will  
also have a crucial meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's  
national security advisor M.K. Narayanan.

Meanwhile, the Chinese sent a team under Gen Shu Yu Tai, its deputy  
force commander in Tibet, to assess ways of enhancing military  
assistance. Another Chinese team is likely to arrive soon to discuss  
the modalities of improving security along the 1400km Nepal-Tibet  
border, much of which remains impassable throughout the year anyway.  
The agenda for Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal's scheduled visit to  
Beijing from December 26 is thus more or less set: there may be some  
development assistance thrown in to sweeten the deal, but he will be  
asked to accept security assistance first and foremost.

With friendly neighbours like these competing with each other to  
militarise the Nepali state, democrats and peaceniks in Nepal need no  
enemies. But that doesn't mean they don't have to contend with more  
friendly advice from further afield; everyone seems to have designs  
for the vulnerable, geopolitically strategic state of Nepal.

The Eurozone is still a marginal player in global affairs, often  
playing second fiddle to Uncle Sam. But individual European countries  
wield considerable clout in the capital cities of the Third World,  
where the academic elite and the INGO/NGO sector are important actors  
in national politics.

This sector may be naturally more comfortable with the suave social  
elite than with the rustic political class. The problem arises when  
opinion leaders begin to play favourites with the transfer and  
promotion of officers in the Nepal Police or the Nepal Army at the  
instigation of their sponsors at various aid agencies. Playing  
politics with the defence establishment is a bigger cause for concern  
than even militarisation.

Till the early 1960s, the India Desk at the State Department in  
Washington looked after its interests - meagre as they were back then  
- in Nepal. With Af-Pak emerging as a global hotspot, the concept of  
the India Desk may yet see a revival. But if the experiences of the  
past are anything to go by, there is nothing to cheer in the decision  
of the Embassy of the United States in Nepal to develop American  
Centers in four different towns in the country. Intelligence  
gathering rather than strengthening of democracy will probably be  
their priority.

It seems Nepalis will have to learn the ropes of democracy on their  
own. All foreign aid is invariably aimed at strengthening the  
establishment, of which the military is the most prominent part.  
Hillary Clinton affirmed this viewpoint by vowing to restore American  
leadership through a 'smart power' mix of diplomacy and defence at  
her Senate confirmation as the US Secretary of State earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the queues at the KFC and Pizza Hut outlets, to say  
nothing of the booming sales of Coke and Pepsi, will ensure that  
Americans taxpayers needn't worry about the source of funds that go  
in the name of aid to Nepal.

o o o

 From UN News Center

NEPAL: UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL VOICES CONCERN ABOUT PROMOTION OF  
ARMY OFFICER
[Richard Bennett of the human rights office (OHCHR) in Nepal (file  
Photo)]

25 December 2009 – A top United Nations official in Nepal today  
expressed serious reservations over the controversial promotion of a  
military General with ties to breaches of human rights to be second- 
in-command in Nepal's army.

The Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR- 
Nepal), noted widespread oppostion to Major General Toran Jung  
Bahadur Singh taking the step up to Lieutenant General.

OHCHR issued a report in 2006 on its investigation into torture,  
arbitrary detention and disappearances carried out at Maharajgunj  
Barracks, which was under the control of a battalion led by Maj.-Gen.  
Singh in 2003-04 during the conflict between Government forces and  
Maoists.

The report concluded that Maj.-Gen. Singh “knew or ought to have  
known about these actions,” and recommended the suspension from  
official duties of those potentially connected to the human rights  
abuses, either directly or indirectly through command, pending the  
investigation.

“Those implicated in human rights violations committed by members of  
the 10th Brigade in 2003 and in 2004, when General Singh was in  
command, should not be promoted pending completion of a full,  
transparent and impartial investigation,” said Representative of  
OHCHR-Nepal Richard Bennett.

“This would enhance, not diminish, the prestige of the Nepal Army at  
home and abroad,” added Mr. Bennett.

o o o

Nepali Times,
25 Dec 2009 - 31 Dec 2009

WITCH-HUNTS: MEDIEVAL BARBARITY CONTINUES TO BLIGHT THE LANDSCAPE OF  
NEW NEPAL
by Mallika Aryal
http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2009/12/26/INTERESTINGTIMES/16636

_____

[3] India Administered Kashmir:

Kashmir Times
25 December 2009

Editorial

FATE OF WORKING GROUPS
It betrays non-seriousness of the centre

Justice Sagheer Ahmed's act of forwarding the report of prime  
minister's Working Group on Centre-State relations, he was heading,  
to chief minister Omar Abdullah instead of the prime minister  
signifies not just an aberration. Rather it exposes the non- 
seriousness of the Centre in showing some interest in the report.  
This has already been manifested in the non-implementation of the  
recommendations of the reports of the other four working groups,  
which have been gathering dust for quite some time in the prime  
minister's office. Even though the working groups were part of an  
initiative taken by the Centre and comprised mainly of a cross  
section of mainstream parties and groups from the state, essentially  
headed by people of eminence and repute from outside the state, none  
of the reports have been taken up seriously till date. From the day  
that they were submitted to the prime minister till now, they have  
simply been bolted up and forgotten about. The latest one, mired in  
mystery and controversy, is just another one of those that more or  
less follows the official line and is ambiguous to the core. The  
manner in which it superficially treats questions of Autonomy and  
Article 370, stating that this can be decided or left to the people  
or the Prime Minister, it only leaves room for interpretation. This  
should have been best suited to the Centre but it never did show much  
interest in the fifth working group right from the very beginning  
with delayed meetings, or those that never took place, leading to  
this report, finally surfacing in a mysterious manner. Even the  
members of this working group have been in the dark about the outcome  
of the report and recommendations all along. The group that was set  
up in 2006 along with the other four groups had not even met in two  
years. That the Centre had something to do with the delay in the  
meetings or the confusion that persisted is obvious from the fact  
that the meetings were to be arranged through New Delhi. Another  
stumbling block was the different members pulling in different  
directions and the final recommendations characterised by so much  
ambiguity are also a pointer in the direction, having sought to  
reconcile so many dissenting voices - ranging from demand for  
abrogation of Article 370 to autonomy or self-rule. The  
recommendations have finally suggested that all these ticklish issues  
are best left to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to debate and decide.

While it would be interesting to know who, what and why these  
meetings were stalled, it would be more revealing to understand the  
politics behind freezing the reports of all the working groups, four  
of which were submitted to the prime minister long back. The reports  
of the four working groups on strengthening relations across the Line  
of Control, Confidence building measures across segments of the  
society in the state and Economic development and Good governance  
have been lying with the prime minister since 2007. However, there  
has not been much headway even though they were much in tune with the  
official line and well within the framework of the Indian  
constitution, which has been the parroted stance of the establishment  
in New Delhi. A year later, the government even set up a high-level  
committee headed by the union home secretary for examining the  
recommendations of the four groups. There has been no movement since  
then. Though, the recommendations are limited, they are nonetheless  
significant in terms of offering equitable development with greater  
accountability as also cleaner and good administration. If  
implemented in their proper spirit, the reports on facilitating co- 
operation across the Line of Control and confidence building  
measures, will to a great deal provide a conducive atmosphere for a  
genuine peace process. Relaxation on the movement across Line of  
Control and the CBMs like reduction of armed forces and revocation of  
draconian laws as suggested by the working group would give the  
people a natural sense of belonging and arrest the trend of their  
growing alienation. It is not known why the government is dragging  
feet over an initiative it started on its own. None of the working  
groups have suggested any major radical concessions. But the  
recommendations, if implemented, can still be a small step in the  
right direction. Centre must, therefore in the larger interests,  
begin some basic spade work on the basis of these reports.

_____

[4]  Pakistan - India: Letter to the Editor

To
The Editor
Times of India

Dear Sir,

Ref.  my interview by Mohammed Wajihuddin (TOI 13.12.09)  as printed  
is regretably a distortion of  what I had said. First of all the  
reporter had promised to show the draft of the interview before  
publication. He failed to honour that committment. The interview  
attributes statements to me out of context, selects half a sentence I  
made and adds the reporter’s own opinions as quotes from me. This is  
unethical journalism. Specifically the interview misrepresents my  
views which were focused on the prevaling socio economic and  
political situation in South Asia and the need for regional  
cooperation to tackle the common issues of poverty and terrorism.  
Some general remarks were made about the elitist nature of all South  
Asian states, the fact that all governments use various  
justifications to get out of agreements, the discriminatory aspects  
in most South Asian constitutions and the importance of making them  
accountable to citizens - I did not talk about any specific country  
or any one individual only as attributed by the reporter. The  
reporter has twisted my statements and missed the main point I made  
about the escalation of militarisation, military expenditures and  
dependence on the US and the detrimental effects of this in the  
region. Finally I spoke about the SAARC Convention on Terrorism 1987  
and the need for regional cooperation through creation of a joint  
mechanism for investigation and proscecution of terrorists in a South  
Asian Court of Justice. As a Pakistani enagaged for many years in  
building peace between India and Pakistan I had expected a level of  
maturity and political awareness from a reporter from your newspaper.  
I wish to state strongly that this interview is a distortion of my  
views and politics and a trivialisation of very serious issues  
affecting the South Asian region.

Karamat Ali

_____

[5]  India: Guns or Butter?

EPW, December 19 - December 25, 2009

AN EVALUATION OF INDIA’S DEFENCE EXPENDITURE
by Pavan Nair

http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/14265.pdf

o o o

INDIA: WILL MY FAST AGAINST VIOLENCE AND DISPOSSESION HELP THE ADIVASIS?
http://www.sacw.net/article1306.html

From: vcadantewada ashram
Date: Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Subject: UPWAAS

In a country ,where most Adivasi men women and children suffer from  
chronic hunger, and are often starved, hunger can hardly be a form of  
protest. I can only express solidarity with their sufferings. So as I  
decide to go on voluntary self purificatory fast as long as my  
strength permits. I am not protesting, but requesting all of us to  
look inwards and seek justice in our own eyes.
The administration, organizations and individuals at all layers  
should ask themselves whether it is justified in repressing violently  
and detaining forcibly in camps and/or forcing them to flee to  
jungles or to other states to save their lives and livelihood,  
without meeting their minimal requirement of resettlement back in  
their villages, a requirement recognized by the supreme court.

Is the desire to be resettled back in their own villages a crime?
Maoists should ask themselves whether resort to violence can improve  
the conditions of adivasis without drawing them into the killings and  
sufferings of a civil war among our own people. Violence breeds  
violence and spirals into a situation which goes totally out of  
control. This applies both to the government and to the Maoists  
irrespective of their intentions.
The large mining corporate's should ask themselves whether profit and  
more profit is all that matters irrespective of the suffering they  
bring to the people. They should ask themselves how many people they  
have dispossessed and displaced without their consent in our democracy.
Finally, this is the time for me to introspect through this fast on  
the right path, because my actions so far have not helped the  
Adivasis with whom I share only a little their daily suffering.
Himanshu
9425260031

o o o

INDIA: CORPORATE CRIMES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLUNDER
Press Release by Champa – the Amiya and B.G.Rao Foundation
http://www.sacw.net/article1305.html

PRESS RELEASE

The Madhu Koda* episode is just the tip of an iceberg. In Karnataka,  
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa private mining companies enjoy vast illegal  
mining empires – and the corporate loot of resources is closely  
linked to political power. Meanwhile, resistance by Adivasi people –  
at Kalinganagar, Niyamgiri and Narayanpatna – has been met with  
savage repression and police firings. This offensive has intensified  
with the ongoing Central Government military offensive, ostensibly  
aimed at ‘Maoists’, but in fact clearing the way for mining  
operations

At a meeting held on 17 December, 2009 at the Indian Law Institute,  
organized by Champa – the Amiya and B.G.Rao Foundation, Samarendra  
Das,activist, film-maker and researcher, laid bare the destruction of  
the adivasi communities livelihood as well as environment as a result  
of unscrupulous plunder by the mining companies in collusion with  
Central and State Governments.

  The meeting began with the screening of “Wira Pdika” (Earthworm  
and Company-man) about the struggle of the Adivasi Dongria Kondh and  
Majhi Kondh communities against eviction to pave the way for British  
MNC Vedanta’s mining operations.

The film screening was followed by a talk by Mr. Das on Mining Policy  
and corporate plunder. The talk was chaired by Professor Amit Bhaduri.

Samendra Das traced the shifts in India’s mining policies. The New  
Mineral Policy (NMP) 1993, he said, began paving the way for  
increased control of private corporations over India’s mineral  
resources. The latest NMP 2008 has opened up the mining sector  
completely – allowing for 100% FDI in mining. Das pointed out that  
such a policy flew in the face of government claims of  
‘development’ – since the mineral resources are looted by  
private corporations while the lives and livelihoods of Adivasi  
people are devastated. He also presented  documentary evidence  of  
the ‘hijack of people’s  struggles by a corporate cartel’ of the  
plundering corporations, international fund banks and some NGOs;  
whereby the latter are paid huge amounts to subvert anti-mining  
movements.

He showed reports brought out by consultants like Pricewaterhouse  
Coopers anticipating people’s resistance to mining landgrab, that  
proposed ‘corporate partnerships’ to hijack movements with  
propaganda about Corporate Social Responsibility. For instance, he  
emphasized that ‘International Watch’ received Rs.22 crore to  
create a ‘pro-Posco’ mood in the face of the people’s movement  
against the Korean steel company Posco’s land grab in Jagat  
singhpur, Orissa. He also showed how Action Aid was part of a  
corporate partnership – ‘Partners in Change’ funded by Ford  
Foundation (which in turn is headed by someone who used to head the  
Aluminium Corporation of America (ALCOA)) – claiming to stand for  
‘pro-poor corporate responsibility’. While the mining companies  
indulge in illegal mining, land grab and devastation of livelihood  
and environment, such corporate cartels attempt to mask the mining  
companies’ role with talk of ‘CSR’.

In the case of Vedanta’s landgrab in the Niyamgiri hills he showed  
how a similar role had been played by corporate partnerships like  
Business Partners for Development. The latter, funded by the World  
Bank and DFID has changed its name to Building Partnerships for  
Development, after its infamous role in Colombia and Orissa too, was  
exposed.

He showed how in platforms like the Indo-US Business Forum, leading  
mining CEOs like Guy Elliot advise  Indian planners and leaders to  
change India’s “mining code” in order to open it up. He  
emphasized that mining policy cannot be seen only as a “dig and  
sell” activity, since its externality costs are extremely high, and  
so are its long term costs in terms of impact on future generations,  
land and livelihood. Home Minister P Chidambaram has been on the  
Board of Directors of Vedanta, and as a UPA Minister, he is pushing  
such pro-corporate policies, including the latest war on people.

Chairing the meeting, Prof. Amit Bhaduri said that the corporate grab  
of land and resources in the poorest districts in the country  
represented “internal colonization”.

At the end, the consensus of the meeting was the mining resources of  
the country should be utilized to subserve the internal and local  
needs of the people, rather than allowing the corporations to grab  
the said resources for their profit-making at the expense of  
people’s interests.

N.D. Pancholi

Convenor,
Champa – the Amiya and B.G.Rao Foundation

Note added by sacw.net [* Madhu Koda the former chief minister of the  
state of Jharkhand, has been arrested on charges of being the kingpin  
multi million dollar mine lease scandal. Mining rights in the mineral- 
rich Jharkhand were granted by the Koda government to powerful  
private companies who paid massive bribes.]

o o o

express Buzz
24 December 2009

STATE-SPONSORED LAWLESSNESS AT NARAYANPATNA

by Javed Iqbal

After the November 20 police firing at Narayanpatna, Orissa, which  
left two tribals dead and many injured, the situation has not only  
turned grim for the adivasis but a media blackout is helping to hide  
the complete militarisation of the area.

There are reports that around 73 adivasis and members of the Chasi  
Mulia Adivasi Sangh have been beaten and arrested. While the jailer  
of Koraput was instructed not to allow the detainees to meet anyone,  
their lawyer, Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, claims that around 15 of the  
arrested are minors. Considering they are in Koraput jail, it is a  
violation of the Juvenile Justice Act for minors are meant to be held  
in a juvenile remand home.

Added to this was the recent attack on the all-India, all-women fact- 
finding team by the newly formed ‘Shanti Committee’ with the  
alleged patronage of the police.

The Shanti Committee itself consists  of non-tribals such as the  
Sondis and Patnaiks and includes numerous Schedule Caste members of  
the Dom and Paidi Castes. It was formed to curtail the growing  
influence of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh which reclaimed vast areas  
of Fifth Schedule land from them. The burning of the homes of the  
Dalits by CMAS activists had taken place in the villages of  
Padapader, Tolagoomandi and Upurgoomandi in May this year. The  
administration had provided the displaced with makeshift shelters,  
and after the November 20 firing, there are only 329 Harijans out of  
674 Harijans displaced at the shelter.

The liquor prohibition diktat of the CMAS had also seriously hampered  
the liquor mafia whose stranglehold over the Narayanpatna tribals had  
all but vanished. There are reports that the liquor mafia has  
reclaimed lost territory in Narayanpatna after the firing, after  
which the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh was suppressed and their members  
went into hiding.

When it came to the fact-finding team, the Shanti Committee was wary  
of the intentions of the fact-finding team, believing that they were  
there in support of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh. Superintendent of  
Police, Koraput, Deepak Chouhan Kumar, had no sympathy for the fact- 
finding team, “We didn’t beat this ‘so-called’ fact-finding  
team, we protected them from the mob.” The activists on the other  
hand claim that the mob was instigated by the police. Yet their case  
is not an isolated incident. There are many other activists and party  
workers who have been beaten, harassed, arrested and killed at  
Narayanpatna. A few members of the CPI (ML) (Liberation) and the  
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee who openly support the CMAS  
were beaten while returning from the funeral of the adivasis killed  
in the firing.

Tapan Mishra, an activist, who is associated with the CMAS, and is an  
official member of the legal CPI (ML) (Kanu Sanyal group), was  
arrested under Section 121 (waging war against the state) and 124A  
(sedition). Amnesty International has already condemned his arrest  
and called for his unconditional release stating that he has no links  
with the Maoists and he was only arrested after it became known that  
he accompanied a seven member fact-finding team to Narayanpatna.  
Along with him, a member of the legal UCCRI (ML) (Unity Centre of  
Communist Revolution in India), was also arrested.

The deceased adivasis themselves were activists. K. Singanna was one  
of the leaders of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh and was allegedly  
shot ten times in the back. On the day of the shooting, it was  
alleged that the adivasis had gathered to protest the mistreatment of  
adivasi women that was taking place during combing operations.

The police claimed that they had fired in self-defence after the  
adivasis tried to seize weapons. The local press was only allowed  
into the area, some two hours later. And when they arrived, they  
found the camp shot full of arrows. Interestingly, the police had  
also barged into adivasi homes and confiscated traditional weapons  
during their combing operations.

Yet the murder of activists is not new to Narayanpatna. On May 9,  
2008, Narayan Hareka was allegedly murdered on the outskirts of  
Narayanpatna. The police claimed he was killed in an accident while  
his wife and his colleagues believe he was murdered.

His body was found brutally disfigured — his eye had been gouged  
out, his neck was gashed and his hand was smashed in multiple places.  
He was alive when they first found him but beyond recognition. He was  
taken to the local PHC around 8 p.m. but he had to be referred to  
Vishakapatnam. Yet the journey only commenced after a long delay  
around 11 p.m. Narayan Hareka died just 20 km from the PHC.

As an activist from the Kondh tribe, he struggled against the illegal  
liquor trade, land alienation of the tribals, the debt trap and he  
was, during his last few days, investigating irregularities in the  
implementation of NREGs. It was no secret that Hareka had made a lot  
of enemies amongst the powerful. Yet it was always the debt trap that  
led to the growing resentment between tribals and non-tribals at  
Narayanpatna. It was well known that the tribals often found  
themselves addicted to liquor, and would end up parting with their  
lands and their freedom to cover the debts that alcohol had brought  
on to them. Bonded labour was not a secret in Narayanpatna. Nachika  
Linga, leader of the Charsi Mulia Adivasi Sangh, himself was a bonded  
labourer who used to receive around Rs. 60 a year, just ten years ago.

When it came to legal or illegal acquisition of tribal land by the  
non-tribals, the Joint Commissioner (Settlements) was instructed to  
receive complaints regarding irregularities in the earlier 1961  
settlement. However, no one approached him. He instead recommended  
that the adivasis take the matter to court. The recommendations were  
accepted by the collector who had informed the lawyer Nihar Ranjan  
Patnaik, president of the Bar Association, Koraput, to take up the  
matter.

However, he’s not able to visit the Tehsildar at Narayanpatna to  
collect land records considering allegations that his life is in  
danger. He is instead dealing with a flood of cases regarding the  
arrest of many activists and villagers from Narayanpatna.

Adding to the woes of the tribals and non-tribals, is the threat of  
rotting paddy as there is no one there to harvest it. Both the  
collector and the sub-collector have made numerous visits to the area  
to assess the situation.

Oddly, the Shanti Committee even called for the suspension of the  
collector of Koraput for his close association with the adivasis  
after the CMAS had burnt down their homes in May. Some have gone so  
far to condemn the fact that he speaks Jatapur, the local dialect.  
The collector, Gadhadhar Parida, had initially brought both  
communities together for a hearing after the initial burning of the  
village of Padepadar. He was eventually transferred for a period of  
four months during the elections, when the situation had escalated  
beyond reconciliation.

“90 per cent of the people of Narayanpatna are tribals, and I’m  
not supposed to listen their grievances? And if I don’t who will?”  
he asked in his office on the day of the attack on the fact-finding  
committee.

Addressing the socio-economic causes is now more difficult and many  
activists have raised the alarm concerning mass atrocities. The  
Maoists too have called for punishment to the parties concerned.

In a letter written to the press, Comrade Rumal, of the CPI (Maoist)  
Malkangiri Divisional Committee, has called for a ‘death sentence’  
to be delivered to the MLAs and MPs of Malkangiri and Koraput if the  
atrocities did not stop.

Many observers believe this is just another attempt by the Maoists to  
hijack a people’s movement. Similarly, observers find that the story  
that the CMAS is a Maoist-front, suspect, while Pramod Samantaraya,  
an award-winning journalist of Dhariti newspaper, an Oriya Daily, has  
his own idea.

“Whether they’re supported by the Maoists or not, it’s  
irrelevant,” he says, “their grievances are all too real. What  
some people in the state want to do is to brand them as a Maoist  
front so that they can deal with the movement militarily.” Yet the  
police can justify their reason for a presence in the area.

Nine security personnel were killed in an IED blast at nearby  
Bandhugaun on June 18.

The explosives used were allegedly the same explosives stolen from  
the Nalco raid on April 12, that left nine CISF personnel and five  
Maoists dead.

Similarly at Bandugaum, the Maoists have killed Bhogi Ramesh of  
Kattulapet village, Bijoy Pigal of Sulupolamada village and Balram  
Sahukar from Nellawadi village over the last year and a half. In  
neighbouring Khumbari, they also killed Patra Khosla from Bagam  
village. In all the cases, the victims were described as police  
informers. In two cases the villagers were killed in completely  
arbitrary circumstances — without any knowledge of the allegations  
against them.

o o o
See Also:

Stop torture and arbitrary arrests of peace activists and human  
rights defenders in Chhattisgarh (Amnesty International Press Release)
http://www.sacw.net/article1302.html

CBI files chargesheet against 18 cops in Dehra Dun 'fake encounter'
http://tinyurl.com/ykh83oy

Chidambaram to attend Dantewada public hearing
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091117/jsp/frontpage/story_11749605.jsp

  Should We Have Talked to the Chhattisgarhi Mother?
by Somnath Mukherji
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1759.html

Terrified villagers seek solace in ‘IDs’
by Sahar Khan in Dantewada
Tribals fear being caught in assault on Bastar Maoists
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=16112009

Radio Documentary: Maoist India: The search for economic justice
http://tinyurl.com/ygzltrq

_____

[6] India: Patriarchy and the Power of the Uniform?

The Hindu
December 25, 2009

TEN REASONS WHY CRIMINALS IN KHAKI GET AWAY

by Siddharth Varadarajan

Former Haryana DGP S.P.S. Rathore and his advocate wife Abha Rathore  
coming out of special CBI court on Monday. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

Behind every man like S.P.S. Rathore who abuses his authority stand  
the generals and footsoldiers who help and support him. We need to  
take them all down.

S.P.S. Rathore, the criminal former top cop of Haryana, may appear  
alone today but we must never forget that he was able to get away  
with the sexual molestation of a young child and the illegal  
harassment of her family for 19 years because he had hundreds of men  
who supported him in his effort to evade justice.

The fact that these men – fellow police officers, bureaucrats,  
politicians, lawyers, judges, school administrators – were willing  
to bend the system to accommodate a man accused of molesting a minor  
speaks volumes for the moral impoverishment of our establishment and  
country. Decent societies shun those involved in sexual offences  
against children. Even criminals jailed for ‘ordinary’ crimes like  
murder treat those serving time for molesting children as beyond the  
pale. But in India, men like Rathore have their uses for their  
masters, so the system circles its wagons and protects them.

The CBI’s appeal may lead to the enhancement of Rathore’s sentence  
and perhaps even the slapping of abetment to suicide charges, since  
his young victim killed herself to put an end to the criminal  
intimidation her family was being subjected to by Rathore and his  
men. But the systemic rot which the case has exposed will not be  
remedied unless sustained public pressure is put on Prime Minister  
Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, two men who  
have it in their power to push for simple remedies in the way the  
Indian law enforcement and justice delivery system works.

First, abolish the need for official, i.e. political sanction to  
prosecute bureaucrats, policemen and security forces personnel when  
they are accused of committing crimes. The original intent behind  
this built-in stay-out-of-jail card was to protect state  
functionaries from acts done in the course of discharging their  
duties in good faith. Somewhere along the line, this has come to mean  
protecting our custodians of law and order when they murder innocent  
civilians (eg. the infamous Panchalthan case in Kashmir where the  
trial of army men indicted by the CBI for murdering five villagers in  
2000 still cannot take place because the Central government will not  
grant permission), or assault or molest women and children. No  
civilised, democratic society grants such impunity. It is disgusting  
to see former officials and bureaucrats from Haryana saying how they  
had wanted Rathore prosecuted but were prevented from doing so  
because of pressure. Such officials should either be made formally to  
testify in a criminal case against the politicians who so pressured  
them or they should themselves be hauled up for perverting the course  
of justice.

Second, stop talking about how making the police and army answerable  
to the law will somehow demoralise their morale. Does anybody care  
about the morale of ordinary citizens any more? Or the morale of  
upright police and army officers, who do not think it is right for  
their colleagues to be able to get away with criminal acts?

Third, bring an end to the cosy relationship between the police and  
politicians. Rathore was protected by four chief ministers of  
Haryana. He served them and they served him by ensuring his  
unfettered rise. It is absurd that the Indian Police is still  
governed by a colonial-era Act dating back to 1861. A number of  
commissions have made recommendations for reforming the police over  
the years; but no government or political party wants to give up its  
ability to use and misuse the police for their own benefit.

Fourth, ensure that police officers who abuse their authority and  
engage in mala fide prosecutions are dismissed from service and  
sentenced to jail for a long period of time. Mr. Chidambaram should  
use the considerable resources at his command to find out who were  
the policemen involved in filing 11 bogus cases against the teenaged  
brother of the young girl Rathore molested. He should then make sure  
criminal proceedings are initiated against all of them. The message  
must go out to every policeman in the country: If you abuse the law  
at the behest of a superior, you will suffer legal consequences.

Fifth, ensure that criminal charges against law enforcement personnel  
are fast-tracked as a matter of routine so that a powerful defendant  
is not able to use his position to delay proceedings the way Rathore  
did for years on end. The destruction or disappearance of material  
evidence in such cases must be treated as a grave offence with strict  
criminal liability imposed on the individual responsible for breaking  
the chain of custody.

Sixth, empower the National Human Rights Commission with teeth so  
that police departments and state governments cannot brush aside  
their orders as happened in the Rathore case. This would also require  
appointing to the NHRC women and men who have a proven record of  
defending human rights in their professional life, something that is  
done today only in the breach. The attitude of the Manmohan Singh  
government to this commission and others like the National Commission  
for Women (NCW) and National Commission for Minorities is shocking.  
Vacancies are not filled for months on end.

Seventh, ensure the early enactment of pending legislation broadening  
the ambit of sexual crimes, including sexual crimes against children.  
Between rape, defined as forced penetrative sex, and the vague,  
Victorian-era crime of ‘outraging the modesty of a woman’, the  
Indian Penal Code recognises no other form of sexual violence. As a  
result, all forms of sexual molestation and assault short of rape  
attract fairly lenient punishment, of the kind Rathore got. In his  
case, the judge did not even hand down the maximum sentence, citing  
concerns for the criminal’s age. Sadly, he did not take into account  
the age of the victim and neither does the IPC, which fails to  
distinguish between ‘outraging the modesty’ of an adult woman and  
a young child.

A draft law changing these provisions and bringing India into line  
with the rest of the modern world has been pending with the NCW and  
Law Ministry for years. Perhaps the government may now be shamed into  
pushing it through Parliament at the earliest.

Eighth, take steps to introduce a system of protection of witnesses  
and complainants. The fate that the family of Rathore’s young victim  
had to endure is testament to the fact that people who seek justice  
in India do so at their own peril.

Ninth, ensure that robust interrogation techniques like narco- 
analysis, which are routinely used against other alleged criminals,  
are also employed against police officers accused of crimes.

Tenth, the media and the higher judiciary must also turn the light  
inward and ask themselves whether they were also derelict in their  
duty. The Rathore case did not attract the kind of constant media  
attention it deserved, nor do other cases involving serving police  
officers accused of crimes against women, workers, peasants and  
minorities. As for the upper courts, their record is too patchy to  
inspire confidence. It was, after all, the high court which chose to  
disregard the CBI’s request for including abetment to suicide charges.

o o o

The Tribune
25 January 2009

RAPE OF THE LAW
STATE MACHINERY HAS FAILED TO ACT
by Kuldip Nayar

India is not a banana republic. But certain incidents indicate that  
the country is rapidly forfeiting the right to be counted among the  
civilized nations. Take the rape of a Russian girl in Goa. Shanta Ram  
Naik, a member of the Rajya Sabha, the House which sets tone to  
public debates, wants a different treatment of the rape cases in  
which women move around with strangers after midnight. The member  
expressed no regret for the rape because the Russian girl was outside  
her place past 12 at night.

I thought Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat would have taken Naik to  
task. But nothing like that happened. Instead, the Chief Minister  
said that a girl who went out with a man at night was asking for  
something like rape. He did not care for the impression he was  
creating through his statement inside India and in foreign countries.

Asked about the action his government would take against the member,  
the Chief Minister said: “Let the Russian government write to me.”  
Yet his police has been trying to bribe the girl repeatedly. The last  
offer made to her was Rs. 15 lakh.

Congress Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna had no word of condemnation  
either. He merely said: “Foreigners should be more careful.” I do  
not know whether the Minister for Tourism would agree with the  
Foreign Minister. But how does Goa expect foreigners or, for that  
matter, Indians to visit the place where one of the ministers of the  
state says that Goa is the “rape capital of the world.”

The incident prompted Moscow’s Consul General in Mumbai, Alexander  
Mantytsky, to write to the Indian authorities about the concern he  
felt on behalf of his nation.

According to one estimate, the Russians make up about 40,000 of the  
400,000 international tourists who visit Goa every year.

Sabina Martins, who runs the NGO, Bailancho Saad, has let the cat out  
of the bag when she says: “No longer does tourism advertisements  
talk about the natural beauty or the hospitable nature of the state.  
It is now promoted along the ‘wine, women and song’ line, which is  
different from the local culture.”

What has shocked me the most is the silence of Sonia Gandhi, the  
Congress president. She is probably busy calculating what political  
repercussion the action against the accused, John Fernandes, a  
heavyweight in the state, would have on the Congress government in Goa.

True, the party rule hangs in balance because the revolt of a few  
members can make the government fall or bring the opposition to  
power. But is this what counts ultimately? No morality, only politics!

A television network has asked for three days in a row why no action  
has been taken against the rapist. Some Parliament members have also  
posed the same question to the government. But it has preferred to  
remain silent.

The question is whether the state machinery has any responsibility to  
pursue the case where a rape has been committed. The accused may be  
let off or there may be nothing proved against him. But how can the  
police, looking after the law and order machinery, sit silent? It is  
apparent that political pressure can let off
the rapists.

This is confirmed by a case in Haryana. After 19 years, a special  
court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sentenced  
former state Director General of Police SPS Rathore to six months’  
imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000. He was accused of molesting a 14- 
year-old girl. It is a travesty of justice that the police Director  
General gets only six months in prison. The court is not to blame for  
a light sentence because the CBI, for obvious reasons, refused to  
charge the DGP for the real crime. The FIR was filed nine years after  
the molestation and that too was changed to a memorandum. The  
pressure used can well be imagined. Still the state government found  
Rathore so useful, then IG, that he was promoted after four years of  
his committing the crime.

How powerful was Rathore can be judged from the fact that goons were  
placed outside the victim’s house to accost and harass her whenever  
she stepped out. Her house was pelted with stones, smattering the  
windows.

Three years later she consumed insecticide and died a day later. Her  
father sold the house in Panchkula, near Chandigarh, and went to  
Kolkata. Two brothers of the victim faced 11 cooked-up cases which  
went on for years before they were acquitted.

The mother says in a statement: “We were threatened when we filed a  
memorandum against Rathore for exemplary punishment.” But Rathore  
was given a bail even for the light imprisonment. The entire police  
system in Haryana and the CBI, which played with the investigation  
have to be cleaned up.

Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal can appoint  
a special team to reinvestigate the case. The Supreme Court did so in  
the case of Gujarat where it found the judgment was not correct.

It is time that the government introduces the much-awaited police  
reforms and overhauls the judicial system. How can a case of  
molestation against a former DGP go on for 19 years? All those  
ministers, bureaucrats and police officials who are responsible for  
the cover-up should be brought to justice.

Let this be a test case to punish even the highest in the country.  
After knowing the details, the nation feels abhorred and inaction  
would look like a compromise with pressure and power.

(iii)

The Times of India
24 December 2009

EDITORIAL: JUSTICE INTERRUPTED

If ever there was a travesty of justice this was it. Former Haryana  
inspector-general of police, S P S Rathore, has got away with a six- 
month

sentence and a fine of Rs 1,000 for molesting a teenager, Ruchika  
Girhotra, who was driven to commit suicide three years later. What's  
more the sentence by the special court was handed 19 years after the  
molestation incident took place.

The details of the case are by now well known. What bears repetition  
however is the way the victim herself, her family and later the  
couple responsible for pursuing justice Anand and Madhu Parkash,  
parents of Ruchika's best friend and key witness Aradhana were  
systematically harassed. The victim was not only suspended by the  
state tennis association, she was later thrown out of her school. The  
situation was such that the Parkashes filed a petition before the  
court alleging harassment by goons under Rathore's pay.
The story of people in powerful places trying to suppress evidence or  
abort justice is sickeningly familiar. How often have we seen  
politicians or senior government officials using their clout to  
subvert justice? What was slightly different here was that the victim  
was a budding tennis player and the accused the president of the  
state lawn tennis association, something that exposed the seamier  
side of the way sports is run in India.

But this case isn't just about subversion of justice. It's also about  
gaps in our laws. Shockingly the Indian Penal Code, in large parts a  
relic of the colonial times, has no special provisions for child  
victims of sexual molestation. The Law Commission had spotted this  
and recommended in 2000 a provision recognising and punishing child  
abuse with imprisonment up to seven years. But nearly a decade has  
passed and nothing has been done.

The gaps in the law meant that at worst Rathore could get a prison  
term of up to two years under existing provisions in the IPC for  
sexual harassment. But he got away with even milder punishment. This  
case yet again highlights the need for speedy dispensation of justice  
and protection for the victim and key witnesses.
More importantly it highlights the urgency of drafting legal  
provisions to treat abuse of children as a special category and to  
penalise it stringently. Until that happens we might continue to see  
tragedies of the sort that forced a teenager to take her life, and  
for monsters who molest children to roam free.

o o o