CJP Sabrang Commemorate Years of Sikh Massacre, Demand Justice for the Victims
Twenty-five years ago Delhi, India’s capital, burned and no Sikh was safe. Eminent writer Khushwant Singh sought shelter at the Swedish embassy in Delhi, Justice SS Chadha of the Delhi high court had to move to the high court complex. His residence was not safe. Even General JS Arora, the hero of the Bangladesh war, had to flee for safety.
It is a shocking tale of impunity and non-deliverance of justice that there has been no punishment of the guilty. When the Indian Parliament met in 1985, it condemned the tragic and condemnable assassination of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But alas it has to pass a resolution condemning the massacre.
Though the official death toll in Delhi was 2,733, victims’ lawyers submitted a list to the officially appointed Ranganath Misra Commission recording that 3,870 Sikh persons had been killed. Of the 26 persons arrested on November 1 and 2 by the police, all were Sikhs!! Only nine cases have led to convictions so far. In all, 20 of the accused have been convicted in 25 years, a conviction rate of less than one per cent.The culture of impunity against politicians of the ruling party and policemen displayed during the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre has perpetrated a culture of impunity that was evident in the post-Babri Masjid violence in Bombay and again in Gujarat in 2002.
Teesta Setalvad Javed Anand
M.K. Raina Rajan Prasad Ram Rehman N.K. Sharma P.K. Shukla
|
October 30, 2009
Ishq Vishq Pyaar Vyaar -- Or Holy War?
Herald, 30 October 2009
When it comes to love and sex, communal politics acquires a particularly vicious and misogynistic edge, says VIDYADHAR GADGIL
Love conquers all – or so Bollywood would have us believe. Bollywood is adept at resolving complex social issues through simplistic solutions, deploying the alleged power of love to break social barriers. Class contradictions are resolved in one stroke in film after film when the poor boy marries the rich girl, or vice-versa. Not satisfied with solving the problem of class conflict through these means, Bollywood scriptwriters have been busy tackling issues like regionalism and, occasionally, caste, with the tried and trusted deus ex machina of love. The romantic couple may not always live happily ever after, but love itself does triumph, with its chastened opponents realising the folly of their ways as they sombrely contemplate the corpses of the lovers in the closing scene.
But even Bollywood is chary of storming certain bastions with the battering ram of love, and there are hardly any films which portray cross-religion love. Probably the only mainstream film of recent times which did this was Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’, though even here one wonders whether the film-maker would have dared to do a gender switch, with a Muslim hero and a Hindu heroine. Of course, Bollywood does recognise that there is a problem here, but the means to bridge the religious divide are scenes with Amar, Akbar and Anthony lying side by side donating blood, with images of a temple, mosque and church floating in the background. Rather tamely, if wisely, Amar, Akbar and Anthony all romance and marry heroines from their own religions, leaving this final Laxman Rekha intact.
By recognising this boundary for love, Bollywood is only reflecting the prejudices of the society that consumes its products. A cursory glance at the newspapers will show case after case where there is strong opposition, often escalating into violence, to marriage across religious barriers. Honour killings of women who have violated this norm are reported all too frequently. During the Gujarat communal violence of 2002, cross-community couples were especial targets. Recently, from Kashmir there were reports about protests over cross-community marriages. With all Kashmir’s problems between its religious communities, Sikh community leader Jagmohan Singh Raina zeroes in on this issue as the one that has “adversely affected the long-cherished brotherhood between the Valley’s communities,” a sentiment echoed by his counterparts on the other side of the religious divide.
What are the factors behind this kind of antediluvian prejudice? One common explanation is the feudal nature of Indian society, which puts notions of family and community purity above all else, and punishes transgressors viciously. But this is at best a partial explanation. What about Rizwanur Rehman and Priyanka Todi, a couple that lived in the midst of a capitalist society in Kolkata, in a state run by a party that flaunts its secular credentials? If Rizwanur Rehman had been a poor Hindu computer engineer, his super-rich prospective father-in-law may not have been particularly thrilled, but it is unlikely that Rizwanur would have ended up dead.
The prejudice on this issue is essentially rooted in the fact that women are treated in Indian society as chattels – of their parents and families first, then of their husbands, and ultimately of the community. When a woman marries outside her religious community, she is viewed as property that has been expropriated by a competing group, and the inevitable backlash follows. When a man marries outside his community, this may not meet with approval, but there is tacit support because he is at one level seen as a conquering hero, who has dared to grab property belonging to rivals. It is the woman who is killed by members of her own community; the man may have to face the wrath of the woman’s community, but his own will protect him.
Communal battles have long been fought over the bodies of women, as we see in episode after episode of communal violence. The communal violence of Partition, when thousands of women on both sides of the border were abducted and subjected to sexual violence, was a stark reminder of the status of women as property, chillingly documented in the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto.
The latest case of this kind of thinking is probably the most ludicrous, but also particularly worrisome, because it combines deep-rooted intolerance with politically organised communalism, resulting in a potent mix in which even the weirdest claims acquire a reality of their own. In February 2009, a Malayalam daily, Kerala Kaumudi, carried a report claiming the existence of a jihadi organisation which uses young Muslim men to get Hindu girls to fall in love with them and convince them to convert to Islam. The report did not excite much interest, except among fundamentalist organisations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal, which launched a shrill campaign against the ‘love jihad’ (alternatively described as ‘Romeo Jihad’). The campaign was particularly vociferous in Kerala and Karnataka.
One could be forgiven for dismissing the whole brouhaha as an interesting example of the sociopathology of the sexual insecurities of Indian males, and its linkages with the sexual politics of religious fundamentalism – a theme that has been explored in Anand Patwardhan’s film ‘In the Name of God’. But in September 2009, the situation acquired a surreal aspect, when the Indian judicial system got involved. On 30 November, the Kerala High Court directed the Kerala Police and Union Home Ministry to probe the alleged ‘love jihad’. This was in response to the claims by the families of a Hindu and a Christian woman, who married their Muslim classmates in a Pathanamthitta college and converted to Islam. On 22 October the Kerala DGP submitted a report to the court which stated that there was no evidence for any organisation called ‘love jihad’ functioning in Kerala so far. But the High Court termed the report as “contradictory” and has now asked for submissions from each of the state’s 14 district police superintendents on the matter!
In this theatre of the absurd, the latest players are the judges of the Karnataka High Court. On 21 October, during hearing of a habeas corpus petition by C Selvaraj – who claimed that his daughter Siljaraj had eloped with a Muslim youth to Kerala – the judges ordered that the CID conduct a probe into ‘love jihad’. Siljaraj, who was produced before the court by police, told the judges that she had married Aksar of Kannur in Kerala of her own free will, and was undergoing religious training after getting converted to Islam.
But the free will of an adult woman appears to be of less importance, the Constitution of India notwithstanding, than bogeys about holy wars being waged using the weapon of love. The judges directed her to stay with her parents till the police complete the investigations. Magnanimously, the court also said that since she was an adult, if it was found to be a ‘bonafide’ love marriage, she could go back to Aksar. One wonders if the police will now be devising and conducting tests for the genuineness of love.
The whole ‘love jihad’ episode shows once again how the first victims of communalism are women. It also demonstrates the extent to which communal mindsets have infiltrated the system, with alleged fundamentalist conspiracies, however bizarre, being given more value than the Constitutional rights of an adult woman. This is clearly a divide which even an accomplished matchmaker like Bollywood is going to find tough to bridge.
When it comes to love and sex, communal politics acquires a particularly vicious and misogynistic edge, says VIDYADHAR GADGIL
Love conquers all – or so Bollywood would have us believe. Bollywood is adept at resolving complex social issues through simplistic solutions, deploying the alleged power of love to break social barriers. Class contradictions are resolved in one stroke in film after film when the poor boy marries the rich girl, or vice-versa. Not satisfied with solving the problem of class conflict through these means, Bollywood scriptwriters have been busy tackling issues like regionalism and, occasionally, caste, with the tried and trusted deus ex machina of love. The romantic couple may not always live happily ever after, but love itself does triumph, with its chastened opponents realising the folly of their ways as they sombrely contemplate the corpses of the lovers in the closing scene.
But even Bollywood is chary of storming certain bastions with the battering ram of love, and there are hardly any films which portray cross-religion love. Probably the only mainstream film of recent times which did this was Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’, though even here one wonders whether the film-maker would have dared to do a gender switch, with a Muslim hero and a Hindu heroine. Of course, Bollywood does recognise that there is a problem here, but the means to bridge the religious divide are scenes with Amar, Akbar and Anthony lying side by side donating blood, with images of a temple, mosque and church floating in the background. Rather tamely, if wisely, Amar, Akbar and Anthony all romance and marry heroines from their own religions, leaving this final Laxman Rekha intact.
By recognising this boundary for love, Bollywood is only reflecting the prejudices of the society that consumes its products. A cursory glance at the newspapers will show case after case where there is strong opposition, often escalating into violence, to marriage across religious barriers. Honour killings of women who have violated this norm are reported all too frequently. During the Gujarat communal violence of 2002, cross-community couples were especial targets. Recently, from Kashmir there were reports about protests over cross-community marriages. With all Kashmir’s problems between its religious communities, Sikh community leader Jagmohan Singh Raina zeroes in on this issue as the one that has “adversely affected the long-cherished brotherhood between the Valley’s communities,” a sentiment echoed by his counterparts on the other side of the religious divide.
What are the factors behind this kind of antediluvian prejudice? One common explanation is the feudal nature of Indian society, which puts notions of family and community purity above all else, and punishes transgressors viciously. But this is at best a partial explanation. What about Rizwanur Rehman and Priyanka Todi, a couple that lived in the midst of a capitalist society in Kolkata, in a state run by a party that flaunts its secular credentials? If Rizwanur Rehman had been a poor Hindu computer engineer, his super-rich prospective father-in-law may not have been particularly thrilled, but it is unlikely that Rizwanur would have ended up dead.
The prejudice on this issue is essentially rooted in the fact that women are treated in Indian society as chattels – of their parents and families first, then of their husbands, and ultimately of the community. When a woman marries outside her religious community, she is viewed as property that has been expropriated by a competing group, and the inevitable backlash follows. When a man marries outside his community, this may not meet with approval, but there is tacit support because he is at one level seen as a conquering hero, who has dared to grab property belonging to rivals. It is the woman who is killed by members of her own community; the man may have to face the wrath of the woman’s community, but his own will protect him.
Communal battles have long been fought over the bodies of women, as we see in episode after episode of communal violence. The communal violence of Partition, when thousands of women on both sides of the border were abducted and subjected to sexual violence, was a stark reminder of the status of women as property, chillingly documented in the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto.
The latest case of this kind of thinking is probably the most ludicrous, but also particularly worrisome, because it combines deep-rooted intolerance with politically organised communalism, resulting in a potent mix in which even the weirdest claims acquire a reality of their own. In February 2009, a Malayalam daily, Kerala Kaumudi, carried a report claiming the existence of a jihadi organisation which uses young Muslim men to get Hindu girls to fall in love with them and convince them to convert to Islam. The report did not excite much interest, except among fundamentalist organisations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal, which launched a shrill campaign against the ‘love jihad’ (alternatively described as ‘Romeo Jihad’). The campaign was particularly vociferous in Kerala and Karnataka.
One could be forgiven for dismissing the whole brouhaha as an interesting example of the sociopathology of the sexual insecurities of Indian males, and its linkages with the sexual politics of religious fundamentalism – a theme that has been explored in Anand Patwardhan’s film ‘In the Name of God’. But in September 2009, the situation acquired a surreal aspect, when the Indian judicial system got involved. On 30 November, the Kerala High Court directed the Kerala Police and Union Home Ministry to probe the alleged ‘love jihad’. This was in response to the claims by the families of a Hindu and a Christian woman, who married their Muslim classmates in a Pathanamthitta college and converted to Islam. On 22 October the Kerala DGP submitted a report to the court which stated that there was no evidence for any organisation called ‘love jihad’ functioning in Kerala so far. But the High Court termed the report as “contradictory” and has now asked for submissions from each of the state’s 14 district police superintendents on the matter!
In this theatre of the absurd, the latest players are the judges of the Karnataka High Court. On 21 October, during hearing of a habeas corpus petition by C Selvaraj – who claimed that his daughter Siljaraj had eloped with a Muslim youth to Kerala – the judges ordered that the CID conduct a probe into ‘love jihad’. Siljaraj, who was produced before the court by police, told the judges that she had married Aksar of Kannur in Kerala of her own free will, and was undergoing religious training after getting converted to Islam.
But the free will of an adult woman appears to be of less importance, the Constitution of India notwithstanding, than bogeys about holy wars being waged using the weapon of love. The judges directed her to stay with her parents till the police complete the investigations. Magnanimously, the court also said that since she was an adult, if it was found to be a ‘bonafide’ love marriage, she could go back to Aksar. One wonders if the police will now be devising and conducting tests for the genuineness of love.
The whole ‘love jihad’ episode shows once again how the first victims of communalism are women. It also demonstrates the extent to which communal mindsets have infiltrated the system, with alleged fundamentalist conspiracies, however bizarre, being given more value than the Constitutional rights of an adult woman. This is clearly a divide which even an accomplished matchmaker like Bollywood is going to find tough to bridge.
October 25, 2009
Blast in Goa
Blast in Goa
Ram Puniyani
Goa, the paradise for tourists, witnessed a bomb kept in a scooter going off on the eve of Divali (17th Oct 2009) in Margao. It killed Malgonda Patil and seriously injured Yogesh Naik. Another bomb was detected in Sancoale in a truck carrying 40 youth for Narkasur competition. Interestingly Narkasur day, one of the five festivals of Divali, is celebrated in Goa on a big scale. Sanatana Sanstha, to which both the activists belong, is opposed to Narkasur festival on the ground that it is celebration of evil. The second aim of this blast was to create communal tension in Margao, which has a history of communal violence. Fortunately, the bomb went off before being planted in the crowded place and so the casualty was less.
This is the same Sanatan Sanstha, which came to light in the context of a blast which occurred in Gadkari Ragayatan in Thane on 4th June 2008, this had injured seven people. In one of the few cases of success in investigating such cases in Maharashtra or anywhere for that matter, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Police, succeeded in nabbing the culprits, against whom cases are going on still. It was a clear case of involvement of Hindu Right wing organizations involved in a case of terrorism. The culprits belonged to Hindu Janjagaran Samiti (HJS), an outfit of Sanatana Sanstha, whose one of the ashrams is based in Panvel near Mumbai. These culprits were also involved in other blasts, in Vashi, Panvel and Ratnagiri.
In Thane the blasts were done to protest against the play Amhi Pachpute, a satirical play on Mahabharata. The allegation was that the play insults Hindu Gods. The earlier blast in Panvel was in a theater where the film Jodha Akbar was being screened. In this film the Hindu princess is married to Akbar, a Muslim king, and that is regarded by these outfits as insult to Hindu religion.
Sanatan Sanstha founded by Dr. Jayant Balaji Athwale is inspired by the political ideology of Savarkar of Hindu Mahasabha and Hedgewar of RSS. It has branches spread all over, including one in Panvel near Mumbai, while its head office is in Ramnathi in Goa. In earlier Thane and nearby blasts also all the accused belonged to this organization. Sanatan Sanstha says it has nothing to do with the blasts, despite the fact that those involved were members of the organization. Police is investigating the links of these accused with the recent Miraj Sangli riots in Maharashtra on the eve of elections (2009).
The same organization also brings out a paper called Sanatan Prabhat, carrying the ideas of Hindu Rashtra, and propagating against minorities. Since the last overt action from this organization, no serious action has been taken against this organization, despite Maharashtra ATS asking for a ban on this organization. Now it surfaces that Goa transport miniter Dhavalikar’s wife Jyoti is also associated with this organization. It is again same organization which campaigned forcefully against the screening of M.F. Hussein’s film 'Through the eyes of a painter', due to which the screening of the film in the Goa Film Festival held in November 2008 was shelved.
One recalls that starting from April 2006, many acts of blasts done by the RSS associates, Bajrang Dal, Sadhvi Pragya group etc. came to light. The pattern of these was to target the mosque at time when the crowd of Muslims is maximum there, especially on the Jumma, Friday afternoon namaz (prayer). In case of Sanatan Sanstha associates the blasts so far seems to be taking place to protest against something which they don’t approve of, staging of play Amhi Pachpute, screening of Film Jodha Akbar to here in Goa the celebration of Narkasur festival. The Hindutva related terror seems to be having two types of operations, from which they can be demarcated. And so within the Hindutva inspired terror groups these two clear cut demarcations need to be understood.
What is strikingly painful is the police and media response to such events. One knows that in Bajrang Dal- Sadhvi Pragya variety of terrorism starting from Nanded to Malegaon, the investigation has been lukewarm and slow. Initially the investigators refused to believe that Hindu Right wing groups can be part of terror acts. It is only after Hemant Karkare’e immaculate investigation unearthing the role of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Dayananad Pande and company that it was taken with some seriousness. One recalls Karkare having stated that he has collected all the evidence against Sadhvi group. Despite that why the investigation is so slow?
One also recalls that while doing this investigation, Karkare was under immense pressure, he was called Deshdrohi (anti National) etc. His pain and anguish went to the extent that he shared this with a senior police officer, Julio Rebeiro, who in turn correctly advised him to continue doing his work with same degree of professionalism. It is same Karkare who got killed in the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai prompting the then Minorities Affairs minister A.R. Antuley to state that there may be something more than meets the eye in the murder of Karkare. Will the truth ever come out?
When any blast takes place, and what are popularly called ‘Jihadi terrorists’ are suspected, the newspapers generally devote front page banner headlines, with all details and suspicions spelt out day after day. In cases related to Nanded types or the ones related to Hindu Jagran Samiti type, the coverage is relegated to small columns in the back pages. The visual media which generally carries non-stop running commentary around such an event is now muted when it comes to Hindutva inspired terror.
Abhay Vartak, the spokesperson of Hindu Sanatan Sansthan said that his organization has nothing to do with these blasts. He went on to say that talk of his organization being part of it and so banning it, is meant to defame his organization. But still the problem remains, those who have done it are part of his organization. Why they are regularly involved in it, in personal capacity or as organization is a question which needs to be answered? What they preach, teach, indoctrinate due to which the terrorists are mushrooming in his Ashram needs to be investigated.
A terrorist is a terrorist. To mete out different treatments to them according to their religion is a product of biased minds and distorted social common sense, which needs to be overcome to strive for justice.
Issues in Secular Politics
Ram Puniyani
Goa, the paradise for tourists, witnessed a bomb kept in a scooter going off on the eve of Divali (17th Oct 2009) in Margao. It killed Malgonda Patil and seriously injured Yogesh Naik. Another bomb was detected in Sancoale in a truck carrying 40 youth for Narkasur competition. Interestingly Narkasur day, one of the five festivals of Divali, is celebrated in Goa on a big scale. Sanatana Sanstha, to which both the activists belong, is opposed to Narkasur festival on the ground that it is celebration of evil. The second aim of this blast was to create communal tension in Margao, which has a history of communal violence. Fortunately, the bomb went off before being planted in the crowded place and so the casualty was less.
This is the same Sanatan Sanstha, which came to light in the context of a blast which occurred in Gadkari Ragayatan in Thane on 4th June 2008, this had injured seven people. In one of the few cases of success in investigating such cases in Maharashtra or anywhere for that matter, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Police, succeeded in nabbing the culprits, against whom cases are going on still. It was a clear case of involvement of Hindu Right wing organizations involved in a case of terrorism. The culprits belonged to Hindu Janjagaran Samiti (HJS), an outfit of Sanatana Sanstha, whose one of the ashrams is based in Panvel near Mumbai. These culprits were also involved in other blasts, in Vashi, Panvel and Ratnagiri.
In Thane the blasts were done to protest against the play Amhi Pachpute, a satirical play on Mahabharata. The allegation was that the play insults Hindu Gods. The earlier blast in Panvel was in a theater where the film Jodha Akbar was being screened. In this film the Hindu princess is married to Akbar, a Muslim king, and that is regarded by these outfits as insult to Hindu religion.
Sanatan Sanstha founded by Dr. Jayant Balaji Athwale is inspired by the political ideology of Savarkar of Hindu Mahasabha and Hedgewar of RSS. It has branches spread all over, including one in Panvel near Mumbai, while its head office is in Ramnathi in Goa. In earlier Thane and nearby blasts also all the accused belonged to this organization. Sanatan Sanstha says it has nothing to do with the blasts, despite the fact that those involved were members of the organization. Police is investigating the links of these accused with the recent Miraj Sangli riots in Maharashtra on the eve of elections (2009).
The same organization also brings out a paper called Sanatan Prabhat, carrying the ideas of Hindu Rashtra, and propagating against minorities. Since the last overt action from this organization, no serious action has been taken against this organization, despite Maharashtra ATS asking for a ban on this organization. Now it surfaces that Goa transport miniter Dhavalikar’s wife Jyoti is also associated with this organization. It is again same organization which campaigned forcefully against the screening of M.F. Hussein’s film 'Through the eyes of a painter', due to which the screening of the film in the Goa Film Festival held in November 2008 was shelved.
One recalls that starting from April 2006, many acts of blasts done by the RSS associates, Bajrang Dal, Sadhvi Pragya group etc. came to light. The pattern of these was to target the mosque at time when the crowd of Muslims is maximum there, especially on the Jumma, Friday afternoon namaz (prayer). In case of Sanatan Sanstha associates the blasts so far seems to be taking place to protest against something which they don’t approve of, staging of play Amhi Pachpute, screening of Film Jodha Akbar to here in Goa the celebration of Narkasur festival. The Hindutva related terror seems to be having two types of operations, from which they can be demarcated. And so within the Hindutva inspired terror groups these two clear cut demarcations need to be understood.
What is strikingly painful is the police and media response to such events. One knows that in Bajrang Dal- Sadhvi Pragya variety of terrorism starting from Nanded to Malegaon, the investigation has been lukewarm and slow. Initially the investigators refused to believe that Hindu Right wing groups can be part of terror acts. It is only after Hemant Karkare’e immaculate investigation unearthing the role of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Dayananad Pande and company that it was taken with some seriousness. One recalls Karkare having stated that he has collected all the evidence against Sadhvi group. Despite that why the investigation is so slow?
One also recalls that while doing this investigation, Karkare was under immense pressure, he was called Deshdrohi (anti National) etc. His pain and anguish went to the extent that he shared this with a senior police officer, Julio Rebeiro, who in turn correctly advised him to continue doing his work with same degree of professionalism. It is same Karkare who got killed in the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai prompting the then Minorities Affairs minister A.R. Antuley to state that there may be something more than meets the eye in the murder of Karkare. Will the truth ever come out?
When any blast takes place, and what are popularly called ‘Jihadi terrorists’ are suspected, the newspapers generally devote front page banner headlines, with all details and suspicions spelt out day after day. In cases related to Nanded types or the ones related to Hindu Jagran Samiti type, the coverage is relegated to small columns in the back pages. The visual media which generally carries non-stop running commentary around such an event is now muted when it comes to Hindutva inspired terror.
Abhay Vartak, the spokesperson of Hindu Sanatan Sansthan said that his organization has nothing to do with these blasts. He went on to say that talk of his organization being part of it and so banning it, is meant to defame his organization. But still the problem remains, those who have done it are part of his organization. Why they are regularly involved in it, in personal capacity or as organization is a question which needs to be answered? What they preach, teach, indoctrinate due to which the terrorists are mushrooming in his Ashram needs to be investigated.
A terrorist is a terrorist. To mete out different treatments to them according to their religion is a product of biased minds and distorted social common sense, which needs to be overcome to strive for justice.
Issues in Secular Politics
October 23, 2009
Who Killed Karkare? a book by a former IG of Maharashtra police
Book: Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face of Terrorism in India
Author: SM Mushrif
Price: Rs 300
Pages: 319
Publisher: Pharos Media (www.pharosmedia.com), New Delhi
Author: SM Mushrif
Price: Rs 300
Pages: 319
Publisher: Pharos Media (www.pharosmedia.com), New Delhi
Police Fumbles in booking Sanatan Sanstha / Citizens Groups Want Sanstha Banned
The Times of India
SIT raids Sanatan offices
TNN 23 October 2009
PANAJI: The special investigation team probing Friday’s blast at Margao raided the offices of the Sanatan Sanstha on Thursday. The raid, which
commenced in the afternoon, was on till late night. Sources said they SIT was looking through the computers at the offices for evidence to link the Sanstha with the blast. They are also searching for documents that could verify Malgonda Patil’s links with the Sanstha, and the possibility of any conspiracy being hatched in the Sanstha.
“Since Patil was a member of the Sanstha, it is important to check his records and that is why the search is being conducted,” DIG Ravindra Yadav said. Patil, who died in the blast, was one of the accused in the case. Patil’s body lies unclaimed at the GMC morgue. Sources said the police sent a wireless message to his family in Sangli to collect the body. Earlier, his uncle had come to claim the body, but the police were unable to hand it over as the post-mortem had not been conducted.
o o o
The Times of India
'Delay led to loss of crucial evidence'
TNN 22 October 2009
MARGAO: Even as the SIT probing the role of the Sanatan Sanstha in the Margao blast is tightlipped, there is apprehension of crucial evidence
having been lost owing to the delay in conducting a through search of the Sanstha's ashram in Ponda.
"Had we zeroed in on the ashram immediately after the blast, by this time we could have got some important leads," said a source in the police department. When pointed out that the police had conducted search operations at the ashram within hours of the blast, sources said that so far there have been neither any seizures, nor arrests.
The Sanatan Sanstha's ashram at Ponda has around 150 computers, sources said, adding that it would be a gargantuan task for the special investigation team probing the Margao blast to find details of communication exchanged by the inmates over a period of time. The computer hard disks were not sealed by the police, sources said. Till now the police have the mobile phone recovered from the deceased and some documents. They are, however, not revealing what other evidence they have gathered.
Sources pointed out that the Sanstha has separate wings for members undertaking specific tasks. "They (Sanstha) work in a different way which is shrouded in secrecy," said the source.
"The Sanstha featured prominently in the aftermath of Malegaon blast and we in Goa have a task in hand. It will be a long-drawn investigation as the incident is different in nature," confided a senior officer.
On Tuesday police had claimed they had never said the Sanstha was linked to the blasts. The Sanstha, too, had denied any involvement.
Meanwhile, the South Goa police headquarters was a meeting point of senior police officers on Wednesday. DIG R S Yadav monitoring the overall operation and Mumbai anti terrorism squad DIG Sukhwinder Singh along with SP (south) Allen de Sa and others had a closed door meeting. Thereafter, sources said the senior officers left for the ashram.
The SIT also held inquiries with several sanstha members at the south headquarters and recorded their statements.
o o o
The Times of India
Ban Sanatan Sanstha, citizens' panel tells govt
TNN 23 October 2009
MARGAO: `Citizens for secularism and communal harmony', at its meeting held in Margao on Thursday, unanimously demanded that the government
impose a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha, and that its premises be sealed and assets frozen.
"The antecedents and past activities of the Sanatan Sanstha should also be scanned and their possible links with other extremist organizations investigated. Their possible involvement in other anti-social activities, particularly the spate of temple desecrations, should also be checked," the resolution reads.
Social activist and former convenor of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), Oscar Rebelo, in a spirited eloquence, urged the people to overcome the ideology of hate, as professed by Sanatan Sanstha, with the intrinsic power of human values.
"I am convinced that the intrinsic power of wisdom, love and morality contained in the Hindu religion, will defeat this ideology of hate. As a born Catholic, I salute this religion (for its potential to overcome such negative tendencies and harmful ideologies). A day will also come when a Muslim will defeat the al-Qaida. This is the beauty of humanity. The politics of hate should be killed at the family level itself (by refraining from passing adverse comments on other religions in our homes). We will be heading towards the end of the civilization, if we do not get our act together," Rebelo warned.
He further held the Sanatan Sanstha responsible for exerting adverse influence on young radical minds by using vile language in its periodicals, that eventually leads them to adopt ways of terror.
Uday Bhembre, speaking on the occasion, called upon the government to ban the Sanstha as there was overwhelming evidence of its complicity in the bomb blast case.
Mohandas Loliencar, in his speech, alleged that the Sanatan Sanstha was "trying to make Goa a laboratory to foment communal discord in society."
Pradeep Kakodkar, expressing his views, said that all "acts of fanaticism need to be condemned and not politicized." "Terrorism knows no religion, and it's a mistake to brand any terrorist as belonging to any particular religion," he added.
Francisco Colaco urged the people to oppose all divisive forces to ensure that the communal harmony of the state was not disturbed. "Every religion teaches to live in love and harmony, which has been the hallmark of Goa for centuries. We need to preserve this identity of Goa at all costs," he said.
SIT raids Sanatan offices
TNN 23 October 2009
PANAJI: The special investigation team probing Friday’s blast at Margao raided the offices of the Sanatan Sanstha on Thursday. The raid, which
commenced in the afternoon, was on till late night. Sources said they SIT was looking through the computers at the offices for evidence to link the Sanstha with the blast. They are also searching for documents that could verify Malgonda Patil’s links with the Sanstha, and the possibility of any conspiracy being hatched in the Sanstha.
“Since Patil was a member of the Sanstha, it is important to check his records and that is why the search is being conducted,” DIG Ravindra Yadav said. Patil, who died in the blast, was one of the accused in the case. Patil’s body lies unclaimed at the GMC morgue. Sources said the police sent a wireless message to his family in Sangli to collect the body. Earlier, his uncle had come to claim the body, but the police were unable to hand it over as the post-mortem had not been conducted.
o o o
The Times of India
'Delay led to loss of crucial evidence'
TNN 22 October 2009
MARGAO: Even as the SIT probing the role of the Sanatan Sanstha in the Margao blast is tightlipped, there is apprehension of crucial evidence
having been lost owing to the delay in conducting a through search of the Sanstha's ashram in Ponda.
"Had we zeroed in on the ashram immediately after the blast, by this time we could have got some important leads," said a source in the police department. When pointed out that the police had conducted search operations at the ashram within hours of the blast, sources said that so far there have been neither any seizures, nor arrests.
The Sanatan Sanstha's ashram at Ponda has around 150 computers, sources said, adding that it would be a gargantuan task for the special investigation team probing the Margao blast to find details of communication exchanged by the inmates over a period of time. The computer hard disks were not sealed by the police, sources said. Till now the police have the mobile phone recovered from the deceased and some documents. They are, however, not revealing what other evidence they have gathered.
Sources pointed out that the Sanstha has separate wings for members undertaking specific tasks. "They (Sanstha) work in a different way which is shrouded in secrecy," said the source.
"The Sanstha featured prominently in the aftermath of Malegaon blast and we in Goa have a task in hand. It will be a long-drawn investigation as the incident is different in nature," confided a senior officer.
On Tuesday police had claimed they had never said the Sanstha was linked to the blasts. The Sanstha, too, had denied any involvement.
Meanwhile, the South Goa police headquarters was a meeting point of senior police officers on Wednesday. DIG R S Yadav monitoring the overall operation and Mumbai anti terrorism squad DIG Sukhwinder Singh along with SP (south) Allen de Sa and others had a closed door meeting. Thereafter, sources said the senior officers left for the ashram.
The SIT also held inquiries with several sanstha members at the south headquarters and recorded their statements.
o o o
The Times of India
Ban Sanatan Sanstha, citizens' panel tells govt
TNN 23 October 2009
MARGAO: `Citizens for secularism and communal harmony', at its meeting held in Margao on Thursday, unanimously demanded that the government
impose a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha, and that its premises be sealed and assets frozen.
"The antecedents and past activities of the Sanatan Sanstha should also be scanned and their possible links with other extremist organizations investigated. Their possible involvement in other anti-social activities, particularly the spate of temple desecrations, should also be checked," the resolution reads.
Social activist and former convenor of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), Oscar Rebelo, in a spirited eloquence, urged the people to overcome the ideology of hate, as professed by Sanatan Sanstha, with the intrinsic power of human values.
"I am convinced that the intrinsic power of wisdom, love and morality contained in the Hindu religion, will defeat this ideology of hate. As a born Catholic, I salute this religion (for its potential to overcome such negative tendencies and harmful ideologies). A day will also come when a Muslim will defeat the al-Qaida. This is the beauty of humanity. The politics of hate should be killed at the family level itself (by refraining from passing adverse comments on other religions in our homes). We will be heading towards the end of the civilization, if we do not get our act together," Rebelo warned.
He further held the Sanatan Sanstha responsible for exerting adverse influence on young radical minds by using vile language in its periodicals, that eventually leads them to adopt ways of terror.
Uday Bhembre, speaking on the occasion, called upon the government to ban the Sanstha as there was overwhelming evidence of its complicity in the bomb blast case.
Mohandas Loliencar, in his speech, alleged that the Sanatan Sanstha was "trying to make Goa a laboratory to foment communal discord in society."
Pradeep Kakodkar, expressing his views, said that all "acts of fanaticism need to be condemned and not politicized." "Terrorism knows no religion, and it's a mistake to brand any terrorist as belonging to any particular religion," he added.
Francisco Colaco urged the people to oppose all divisive forces to ensure that the communal harmony of the state was not disturbed. "Every religion teaches to live in love and harmony, which has been the hallmark of Goa for centuries. We need to preserve this identity of Goa at all costs," he said.
October 19, 2009
Hindutva Fundamentalists and Margao blast in Goa
India - Goa:
Herald front-page editorial, 18 October 2009
Tackle terrorists with iron hand
Terrorism has no religion. It must be put down with an iron hand. The blast in Margao, as well as the one averted in Sancoale, have brought to the fore the ugly face of terrorism in Goa. Fortunately, the bomb exploded before it could be planted, killing Malgonda Patil and critically injuring Yogesh Naik, the terrorists who planned to massacre dozens of innocent people. The bomb in Sancoale was detected by an alert youth. Had it exploded where it was planted – in a truck carrying 40 youth and a Narkasur for a competition – it would have taken a large number of lives. Those who made and planted it are yet to be brought to justice.
`
This dastardly terrorist attack was, first, intended to target the Diwali Narkasur festival, which is unique to Goa and Goans, but which the Hindu fundamentalist Sanatan Sanstha denounces as a glorification of evil. The second objective, far more sinister, was to instigate religious riots in Margao, which has a history of communal tension. This cowardly attempt to hurt Goan traditions and destroy the State’s communal harmony must be put down swiftly and decisively.
This is the second terrorist act linked to the Sanatan Sanstha, which is active mainly in Maharashtra and Goa, and has its national headquarters at Ramnathi. It is not linked, as police said yesterday, to the Malegaon bomb blasts, but to a crude bomb made from gelatine sticks that went off in the parking lot of Gadkari Rangaytan, a drama auditorium in Thane, Maharashtra, on the evening of June 4, 2008, just before the Marathi play ‘Aamhi Paachpute’ was about to begin, in which seven persons were injured.
The Sanatan Sanstha alleged that the play ridiculed Hindu Gods and the Hindu religion, and demanded that it should be stopped. The producers of the play refused to oblige. That is why it was targeted. Four days earlier, a similar unexploded explosive was found and defused in the Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, where the play was
also to be performed. This was just a day ahead of the IPL-2008 finals at the D Y Patil Stadium in nearby Nerul. A third bomb exploded outside a cinema theatre in Panvel that was showing the Bollywood film ‘Jodhaa-Akbar’, which the Sanatan Sanstha had denounced as denigrating the Hindu religion. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that blast.
Ramesh Gadkari, Mangesh Nikam, Vikram Bhave, Santosh Angre, Haribhau Divekar and Hemant Chalke, all Sanatan Sanstha activists, were arrested for making and planting these bombs, and are presently on trial for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder and under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act. The Sanstha claimed it had nothing to do with the bombs and bombers, just as it has done this time.
When these blasts took place last year, through these very columns, we urged the government and the police that they should thoroughly investigate the Sanstha, which has its national headquarters in Ramnathi, Goa, lest something similar happens here. Our plea was completely ignored by the powers-that-be. That could be because the wife
of a powerful minister in the Goa Cabinet is a strong sympathiser of the Sanatan Sanstha. Or it might be because of complacency and plain sloth.
But this time, the cause of action is in Goa itself. The objective of the bombs was to kill, maim and injure Goans. It was to try and shut down a unique Goan tradition – the Narkasur – which the Sanatan Sanstha hates. It was to take advantage of existing communal tensions and trigger riots in a State that prides itself on communal harmony and tolerance. It was to destroy the Goan way of life for some twisted fundamentalist religious beliefs. The government and the police must disregard interference from ministers and MLAs. They must investigate this case thoroughly, book all those suspected under the most stringent laws possible, and ensure that terrorism is never allowed to raise its ugly head in Goa.
---
Indian Express,
Oct 18, 2009
Margao blast: ATS searches Sanatan Sanstha office
Agencies
Goa blast
Police personnel help a person injured after a blast in Margao
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths on Sunday conducted searches at an office here run by Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindu right-wing organisation allegedly linked with the Margao blast in which two of its members were killed.
The ATS personnel, who arrived here today, conducted searches along with state police at the office of the Sansthan, linked to 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in Nesai near Margao town.
The ATS personnel will help the police ascertain whether there are links between Margao blasts and explosions that occurred in Maharashtra in 2008, police said.
Officials of the Sanstha, who were detained and interrogated yesterday, were again called today for questioning.
Five people, including ashram's manager Virendra Marathe and Prithviraj Hazare, editor of Sanstha's mouthpiece 'Sanatan Prabhat', were detained yesterday.
Ads by Google Maruti Ritz The Unanimous Winner, Has Been Rated the Best In Class By Auto Experts. Read More!www.MarutiSuzukiRitzRecord 45 Hours of TV Buy Tata Sky+ For Just Rs 4999 Limited Period Offer!www.tataskydth.inManchester-Qatar Airways All Inclusive Fares to Manchester! Best Deals Available on the Websitewww.qatarairways.com
"They were interrogated for more than 10 hours on Saturday at Margao police station," a senior police official stated. Raids were also conducted in Sanstha's ashram at Ramnathi village, near temple town of Ponda yesterday. Goa police had defused three bombs at the site after the blast on diwali eve. Police had confirmed that IED was used in the blast.
Herald front-page editorial, 18 October 2009
Tackle terrorists with iron hand
Terrorism has no religion. It must be put down with an iron hand. The blast in Margao, as well as the one averted in Sancoale, have brought to the fore the ugly face of terrorism in Goa. Fortunately, the bomb exploded before it could be planted, killing Malgonda Patil and critically injuring Yogesh Naik, the terrorists who planned to massacre dozens of innocent people. The bomb in Sancoale was detected by an alert youth. Had it exploded where it was planted – in a truck carrying 40 youth and a Narkasur for a competition – it would have taken a large number of lives. Those who made and planted it are yet to be brought to justice.
`
This dastardly terrorist attack was, first, intended to target the Diwali Narkasur festival, which is unique to Goa and Goans, but which the Hindu fundamentalist Sanatan Sanstha denounces as a glorification of evil. The second objective, far more sinister, was to instigate religious riots in Margao, which has a history of communal tension. This cowardly attempt to hurt Goan traditions and destroy the State’s communal harmony must be put down swiftly and decisively.
This is the second terrorist act linked to the Sanatan Sanstha, which is active mainly in Maharashtra and Goa, and has its national headquarters at Ramnathi. It is not linked, as police said yesterday, to the Malegaon bomb blasts, but to a crude bomb made from gelatine sticks that went off in the parking lot of Gadkari Rangaytan, a drama auditorium in Thane, Maharashtra, on the evening of June 4, 2008, just before the Marathi play ‘Aamhi Paachpute’ was about to begin, in which seven persons were injured.
The Sanatan Sanstha alleged that the play ridiculed Hindu Gods and the Hindu religion, and demanded that it should be stopped. The producers of the play refused to oblige. That is why it was targeted. Four days earlier, a similar unexploded explosive was found and defused in the Vishnudas Bhave Auditorium at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, where the play was
also to be performed. This was just a day ahead of the IPL-2008 finals at the D Y Patil Stadium in nearby Nerul. A third bomb exploded outside a cinema theatre in Panvel that was showing the Bollywood film ‘Jodhaa-Akbar’, which the Sanatan Sanstha had denounced as denigrating the Hindu religion. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that blast.
Ramesh Gadkari, Mangesh Nikam, Vikram Bhave, Santosh Angre, Haribhau Divekar and Hemant Chalke, all Sanatan Sanstha activists, were arrested for making and planting these bombs, and are presently on trial for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder and under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act. The Sanstha claimed it had nothing to do with the bombs and bombers, just as it has done this time.
When these blasts took place last year, through these very columns, we urged the government and the police that they should thoroughly investigate the Sanstha, which has its national headquarters in Ramnathi, Goa, lest something similar happens here. Our plea was completely ignored by the powers-that-be. That could be because the wife
of a powerful minister in the Goa Cabinet is a strong sympathiser of the Sanatan Sanstha. Or it might be because of complacency and plain sloth.
But this time, the cause of action is in Goa itself. The objective of the bombs was to kill, maim and injure Goans. It was to try and shut down a unique Goan tradition – the Narkasur – which the Sanatan Sanstha hates. It was to take advantage of existing communal tensions and trigger riots in a State that prides itself on communal harmony and tolerance. It was to destroy the Goan way of life for some twisted fundamentalist religious beliefs. The government and the police must disregard interference from ministers and MLAs. They must investigate this case thoroughly, book all those suspected under the most stringent laws possible, and ensure that terrorism is never allowed to raise its ugly head in Goa.
---
Indian Express,
Oct 18, 2009
Margao blast: ATS searches Sanatan Sanstha office
Agencies
Goa blast
Police personnel help a person injured after a blast in Margao
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths on Sunday conducted searches at an office here run by Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindu right-wing organisation allegedly linked with the Margao blast in which two of its members were killed.
The ATS personnel, who arrived here today, conducted searches along with state police at the office of the Sansthan, linked to 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in Nesai near Margao town.
The ATS personnel will help the police ascertain whether there are links between Margao blasts and explosions that occurred in Maharashtra in 2008, police said.
Officials of the Sanstha, who were detained and interrogated yesterday, were again called today for questioning.
Five people, including ashram's manager Virendra Marathe and Prithviraj Hazare, editor of Sanstha's mouthpiece 'Sanatan Prabhat', were detained yesterday.
Ads by Google Maruti Ritz The Unanimous Winner, Has Been Rated the Best In Class By Auto Experts. Read More!www.MarutiSuzukiRitzRecord 45 Hours of TV Buy Tata Sky+ For Just Rs 4999 Limited Period Offer!www.tataskydth.inManchester-Qatar Airways All Inclusive Fares to Manchester! Best Deals Available on the Websitewww.qatarairways.com
"They were interrogated for more than 10 hours on Saturday at Margao police station," a senior police official stated. Raids were also conducted in Sanstha's ashram at Ramnathi village, near temple town of Ponda yesterday. Goa police had defused three bombs at the site after the blast on diwali eve. Police had confirmed that IED was used in the blast.
October 18, 2009
UN Anti Caste Charter -Annihilation of Caste
UN Anti-Caste Charter: Annihilation of Caste
Ram Puniyani
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held in Geneva (September 2009) deliberated on the recognition of caste as race. It proposed to ensure that descent and work based discriminations need to be fought against at global level. Nearly 200 million people all over the World are victims of such discriminations, which are associated with notion of purity, pollution and practices of untouchability. These are deeply rooted in our society and have also assumed cultural forms. India so far has been taking the stand that caste issues should not be internationalized as caste is not race and it is our internal matter. On this issue, earlier Nepal, a Hindu Kingdom, also was toeing similar line. With overthrow of Hindu Kingdom and coming in of democracy, Nepal has come to take the stand that caste based discriminations are akin to race based one’s and so international efforts need to be thought of to supplement the national efforts. India still is trying to hide its underbelly, which is quite unfortunate.
There are two types of pressures on India currently. The Human Rights activists are urging that India should take leadership in ensuring that UN norms are brought up, caste recognized as race and the caste discrimination should invite censures from UN as well. On the other hand BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad stated that India should oppose such a move as that will involve UN sanctions if such violations take place in India. He went to say this internationalizing the issue of caste is a failure of India’s foreign policy. At the same time we read that dalits were beaten up (15th Oct 2009) while trying to enter temple in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. This is a matter of great shame. This temple entry was part of several such programs planned to ensure that dalits are not discriminated against in temples. We recall that nearly eight decades earlier Dr. Ambedkar also met a similar fate when he organized Kalaram Temple agitation on the issue of Dalits entry into temples. How little things have changed after such a lapse of time!
In consequence, Nepal has been the first country in South Asia, where untouchability has been traditionally practiced, to articulate its opposition to those abysmal practices in a very strong manner at International level as well. UNHRC document is proposing a regional and international mechanism, UN and its organs are to complement national efforts to combat caste discrimination. It proposes to equate all discrimination on the basis of caste occupation and descent as violation of Human rights. India’s opposition to this is shocking despite an earlier (2006) statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which compared untouchability to apartheid. It seems that the state machinery has elements that are deliberately tilting the policies in this retrograde direction. BJP’s opposition to the UN Human rights efforts is quite understandable, as BJP politics is based around the goal of Hindu Rashtra. In all the concepts of religious nationalism, based on any religion for that matter, there is a neat division between rights and duties. Rights are for elite dominant sections and duties are for the downtrodden! So as per that human rights for dalits and women are unthinkable. But how come Manmohan Singh who equated untouchabilty with apartheid is keeping quiet on this?
Despite the provisions enshrined in our constitution and various prevalent laws the practice of untouchability, caste based discriminations do persist. There are also political tendencies, which want to undo the affirmative action directed to uplift those discriminated due to caste. In India today various theories are doing rounds as to the origin of the caste. Many of these are mere propaganda of vested political interests in the guise of theories.
It is being propagated that caste system came into being due to the invasion of Muslim Kings, who were out to convert the local people by sword. According to this those Hindus who were very proud of their religion escaped to forests, resulting in their social down slide and so the caste system came into being. The other such Hindus who opposed their conversion were forced to clean the toilets of Muslim kings and elite. Due to this, caste system came in and untouchability became a norm! These ‘theories’ of caste system are merely a figment of ‘politically necessary’ imaginations, not based on any historical scholarship or deeper social understanding of those times.
Some of the more serious theories revolve around Aryan-Dravid race theories, some around Marxist class theory of division of labor. About the Aryan-Dravid theory of caste, recently Genome studies have ruled out any water tight Aryan-Dravid divide, as there is unrecognizable mixture. Aryans took some as Dasas, but later intermixing was very extensive to be able to maintain race boundaries. As far as class theories, division of labor, Ambedkars’s comments are very apt, caste is not a division of labor, it is a division of laborers.
The origin of caste is much more complex. Ambedkar in his various contributions presents highly nuanced theory of caste origin. Two of his books, ‘Who were the Shudras?’ and ‘Untouchables’ deal with it. His ‘Revolution and Counter Revolution in Ancient India’ also throws light on the topic. Ambedkar rejects the race theory to a great extent. As per him caste is a social division of people, created by ideological and religious factors. The concept of caste can traced to first Millennium BC. Let’s remember here that Muslim kings’ influence in India began around eleventh century only.
Multiple factors operated in converting the locally organized tribes into castes. The process was not sudden and went on getting rigid over a period of time. The factors converting these local tribes into caste entities were, coming of Aryans and Brahminical ideology. The Aryans who came here were divided loosely into three groups, warriors; priests and trader-farmers. The Dasas were added up here in India. Over a period of time this loose arrangement became birth based and tribes in local areas got transformed into fixed endogamous groups, belonging to a particular caste, performing a fixed economic function. This in turn created a social hierarchy between castes. By second century AD its contours are very marked.
The Vedic period is a one of Varna. Purush Sukta of Rig Veda tells us that Lord Brahma created four varnas from the body of Virat Purush. With coming of Buddhism, Brahmanical values of Varna got challenged and were not adhered to. This resulted in the betterment of condition of Shudra and women. This period is followed by the period of Manu Smriti (2nd Century AD) where Varna gets converted in to caste, with consequent downgrading of shudras and women.
The Muslim Kings who ruled areas of the country did not disturb the local social arrangements. As a matter of fact they had many associates and advisors, who were Hindus and they were also part of top echelons of administration and army during this period. Two other phenomena took place during this period. One, Indian caste system affected Muslim community as well, because of which there came into being castes amongst Muslim community, Ashraf; Azlaf and Arzal, quiet akin to the caste hierarchy in Hindu society. Two, some low caste Hindus tried to escape the Brahminical tyranny by embracing Islam under the influence of Sufi saints. Bhakti tradition also talked against caste system. Most of the Bhakti saints themselves were from low caste.
The period of freedom movement, in contrast, is a period of the beginning of processes demanding the equality of caste and gender. Movement for Indian nationalism was accompanied by these values while the politics based on Muslim Nationalism and Hindu nationalism, had not much to do with these social processes. Low caste Muslims and Hindus both kept aloof from Religious nationalism and followed the concept of composite Indian nationalism. We see the contrast that the protagonists of equality for Shudras burn Manusmriti, the codification of caste and gender hierarchy, while the one’s based on religious nationalism called for ancient glories when Manu Smriti was ruling the roost. Some of them (Deen Dayal Upadhyay) went on to state that different varnas are like different limbs of the body politic of the society, needed for proper equilibrium in society.
Today sixty years after Independence and coming into being of Indian Constitution, the prevalence of untouchability and caste practices are a matter of shame for us. It is time we intensify our own efforts to eradicate it and join the global efforts to end this carry over from our past.
--
Ram Puniyani
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held in Geneva (September 2009) deliberated on the recognition of caste as race. It proposed to ensure that descent and work based discriminations need to be fought against at global level. Nearly 200 million people all over the World are victims of such discriminations, which are associated with notion of purity, pollution and practices of untouchability. These are deeply rooted in our society and have also assumed cultural forms. India so far has been taking the stand that caste issues should not be internationalized as caste is not race and it is our internal matter. On this issue, earlier Nepal, a Hindu Kingdom, also was toeing similar line. With overthrow of Hindu Kingdom and coming in of democracy, Nepal has come to take the stand that caste based discriminations are akin to race based one’s and so international efforts need to be thought of to supplement the national efforts. India still is trying to hide its underbelly, which is quite unfortunate.
There are two types of pressures on India currently. The Human Rights activists are urging that India should take leadership in ensuring that UN norms are brought up, caste recognized as race and the caste discrimination should invite censures from UN as well. On the other hand BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad stated that India should oppose such a move as that will involve UN sanctions if such violations take place in India. He went to say this internationalizing the issue of caste is a failure of India’s foreign policy. At the same time we read that dalits were beaten up (15th Oct 2009) while trying to enter temple in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. This is a matter of great shame. This temple entry was part of several such programs planned to ensure that dalits are not discriminated against in temples. We recall that nearly eight decades earlier Dr. Ambedkar also met a similar fate when he organized Kalaram Temple agitation on the issue of Dalits entry into temples. How little things have changed after such a lapse of time!
In consequence, Nepal has been the first country in South Asia, where untouchability has been traditionally practiced, to articulate its opposition to those abysmal practices in a very strong manner at International level as well. UNHRC document is proposing a regional and international mechanism, UN and its organs are to complement national efforts to combat caste discrimination. It proposes to equate all discrimination on the basis of caste occupation and descent as violation of Human rights. India’s opposition to this is shocking despite an earlier (2006) statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which compared untouchability to apartheid. It seems that the state machinery has elements that are deliberately tilting the policies in this retrograde direction. BJP’s opposition to the UN Human rights efforts is quite understandable, as BJP politics is based around the goal of Hindu Rashtra. In all the concepts of religious nationalism, based on any religion for that matter, there is a neat division between rights and duties. Rights are for elite dominant sections and duties are for the downtrodden! So as per that human rights for dalits and women are unthinkable. But how come Manmohan Singh who equated untouchabilty with apartheid is keeping quiet on this?
Despite the provisions enshrined in our constitution and various prevalent laws the practice of untouchability, caste based discriminations do persist. There are also political tendencies, which want to undo the affirmative action directed to uplift those discriminated due to caste. In India today various theories are doing rounds as to the origin of the caste. Many of these are mere propaganda of vested political interests in the guise of theories.
It is being propagated that caste system came into being due to the invasion of Muslim Kings, who were out to convert the local people by sword. According to this those Hindus who were very proud of their religion escaped to forests, resulting in their social down slide and so the caste system came into being. The other such Hindus who opposed their conversion were forced to clean the toilets of Muslim kings and elite. Due to this, caste system came in and untouchability became a norm! These ‘theories’ of caste system are merely a figment of ‘politically necessary’ imaginations, not based on any historical scholarship or deeper social understanding of those times.
Some of the more serious theories revolve around Aryan-Dravid race theories, some around Marxist class theory of division of labor. About the Aryan-Dravid theory of caste, recently Genome studies have ruled out any water tight Aryan-Dravid divide, as there is unrecognizable mixture. Aryans took some as Dasas, but later intermixing was very extensive to be able to maintain race boundaries. As far as class theories, division of labor, Ambedkars’s comments are very apt, caste is not a division of labor, it is a division of laborers.
The origin of caste is much more complex. Ambedkar in his various contributions presents highly nuanced theory of caste origin. Two of his books, ‘Who were the Shudras?’ and ‘Untouchables’ deal with it. His ‘Revolution and Counter Revolution in Ancient India’ also throws light on the topic. Ambedkar rejects the race theory to a great extent. As per him caste is a social division of people, created by ideological and religious factors. The concept of caste can traced to first Millennium BC. Let’s remember here that Muslim kings’ influence in India began around eleventh century only.
Multiple factors operated in converting the locally organized tribes into castes. The process was not sudden and went on getting rigid over a period of time. The factors converting these local tribes into caste entities were, coming of Aryans and Brahminical ideology. The Aryans who came here were divided loosely into three groups, warriors; priests and trader-farmers. The Dasas were added up here in India. Over a period of time this loose arrangement became birth based and tribes in local areas got transformed into fixed endogamous groups, belonging to a particular caste, performing a fixed economic function. This in turn created a social hierarchy between castes. By second century AD its contours are very marked.
The Vedic period is a one of Varna. Purush Sukta of Rig Veda tells us that Lord Brahma created four varnas from the body of Virat Purush. With coming of Buddhism, Brahmanical values of Varna got challenged and were not adhered to. This resulted in the betterment of condition of Shudra and women. This period is followed by the period of Manu Smriti (2nd Century AD) where Varna gets converted in to caste, with consequent downgrading of shudras and women.
The Muslim Kings who ruled areas of the country did not disturb the local social arrangements. As a matter of fact they had many associates and advisors, who were Hindus and they were also part of top echelons of administration and army during this period. Two other phenomena took place during this period. One, Indian caste system affected Muslim community as well, because of which there came into being castes amongst Muslim community, Ashraf; Azlaf and Arzal, quiet akin to the caste hierarchy in Hindu society. Two, some low caste Hindus tried to escape the Brahminical tyranny by embracing Islam under the influence of Sufi saints. Bhakti tradition also talked against caste system. Most of the Bhakti saints themselves were from low caste.
The period of freedom movement, in contrast, is a period of the beginning of processes demanding the equality of caste and gender. Movement for Indian nationalism was accompanied by these values while the politics based on Muslim Nationalism and Hindu nationalism, had not much to do with these social processes. Low caste Muslims and Hindus both kept aloof from Religious nationalism and followed the concept of composite Indian nationalism. We see the contrast that the protagonists of equality for Shudras burn Manusmriti, the codification of caste and gender hierarchy, while the one’s based on religious nationalism called for ancient glories when Manu Smriti was ruling the roost. Some of them (Deen Dayal Upadhyay) went on to state that different varnas are like different limbs of the body politic of the society, needed for proper equilibrium in society.
Today sixty years after Independence and coming into being of Indian Constitution, the prevalence of untouchability and caste practices are a matter of shame for us. It is time we intensify our own efforts to eradicate it and join the global efforts to end this carry over from our past.
--
October 17, 2009
October 12, 2009
Hate politics in Sangli: In the shadow of Maharashtra assembly elections
Mail Today, 10 October 2009
Politics of hatred grips Maharashtra hinterland
By Krishna Kumar in Sangli ( Maharashtra)
BJP may gain as Sangli boils over clashes between two communities
POLITICS of hatred has cast its dark shadow over assembly elections in Maharashtra’s Sangli district.
A riot triggered by Muslim miscreants has led to the consolidation of Hindutva forces here.
On September 3, a poster put up by a local Ganesh utsav mandal showing Maratha warrior Shivaji slaying Mughal general Afzal Khan sparked a riot, the wounds of which are fresh.
Some Muslim radicals in Miraj took objection to the poster that led to stone throwing incidents in which Ganesh idols were damaged.
A month on, peace prevails, but political parties, especially the BJP, are out to cash in on communal sentiments.
Suresh Khade, the BJP candidate from Miraj in Sangli, is not campaigning in minority- dominated areas — he doesn’t have to — and by all accounts, would win hands down.
The riots have communally polarised the populace to such an extent that a huge percentage of Hindus will vote for Khade. A similar situation prevails in the Sangli seat where another BJP candidate Sambhaji Pawar is sitting pretty knowing the polarisation will see him through.
The Hindus are angry after the idols were vandalised. Many mandals refused to immerse their idols till they were allowed to put up the poster. But the administration did not budge and after more than a week of stalemate, the police forced the mandals to immerse the idols.
To cash in on these sentiments, the saffron party is telling the electorate to take ‘ revenge’ on the Congress- NCP government for the “ humiliation”. “ The Muslims did not have any reason to be angry as the poster was not against their community, yet they broke our idols and the police and the government did nothing. Why should we vote for the Congress- NCP?” asks Sanjay Kadam of Miraj.
Imran Ilyas Naikwadi, a social worker in Miraj, who also runs an NGO, admits that a few criminals were involved in the stoning incident which sparked off the violence.
“ The situation could have been controlled, Muslims do not have a problem with the poster, I repeat that it was some criminals who did it and we went and apologised, but no one was ready to listen,” Naikwadi adds.
He says the clashes were controlled the same day, but CDs and photographs of the damaged idols began circulating which sparked riots again on September 4. Naikwadi believes the situation will become normal soon.
However, the BJP, which is assured of victory, is still talking of “ vengeance”. Two nationallevel leaders have come to Miraj over the past week and have been telling people to show their “ anger” through the ballot boxes.
Khade, however, justified BJP’s campaigning. “ The Hindus are bound to be angry with the government for the way the whole issue was handled. We are going to get benefit out of it as the people know we are a Hinduvadi party,” Khade says.
The saffron party and its rhetoric have led to a few parts of Sangli and nearby areas like Kolhapur witnessing vandalising and looting of shops and business establishments belonging to people of the minority community.
In many villages, local Hindu outfits have told villagers not to patronise shops belonging to Muslims. Areas like Kavte Piran, Ichalganji ( a textile town), Elavi and Kolhapur have seen Hindus boycotting Muslim shops.
This ‘ economic blockade’ appears to be the result of a systematic campaign by radical Hindu outfits. For instance, immediately after the riots, incendiary pamphlets were distributed freely among the Hindu populace.
Sangli district collector acknowledged the pamphlets were distributed but said they have been stopped.
October 11, 2009
Love Jihad- A New Phrase Being Added to Lexicon of Hate Politics!
Comment from Venugopalan K M
11 October 2009
What is so much there to probe about love affairs between people of different faiths?
What is there to probe into cases of conversion from on faith to other so long as proselytizing is perfectly recognized as constitutional and legal in secular India?
You convince me by reason (or even by giving me soaps) that Islam or
Christianity is a better faith than Hiduism; I start thinking that Hinduism is really not good for ME and take a decision to covert as a Muslim or a Christian.
How can then one assume that all this happen only because of inflow of mysterious foreign funds plus destabilizing motivations linked with
it?
Why the mysterious inflow of foreign funds, rather,is not checked by routine regulatory measures than by resorting to ways producing hypes and instilling fears in the minds of people about forcible conversion?
True that parents of at least two Hindu girls allegedly lured by the activists of so called 'Love Jihadis' did come up with habeous corpus writs following the disappearance of these girls from their houses.
It may also be true that the girls ultimately decide to go back to their parents on the basis of own choice, in a court of law.
But why should this be a reason for widespread fear about girls of mature age being trapped into 'Love Jihad'? What is the connection between love, choice of life partner on the one side, and the interventions by the parents of girls,the police and the court on the other in making out such inter religion love marriages involving conversions as a huge security threat for the entire nation?
Would it not have made more sense for the media to take up such stories beyond the 'user friendly' but boundlessly ridiculous new coinage in the lexicon of hate politics like "Love Jihad"?
The latest response to the so called Love Jihad by the VHP and the obscur Durgavahini is also being enthusiastically propagated by a section of the Malayalam press; the eveninger Flash News(of M/s Kerala Kaumudi)on 10th October carried a two page featured item about how Durgavahini, the womens wing of the VHP is planning to appear in a big way by campaigning in favour of imposing more parental controls on educated Hindu girls. Going by such reports, moral policing perhaps even more ugly than the one resorted by Sri Ram Sene in Karnataka is to set to take off in Kerala under the direct patronage of VHP employing its women cadres.
(Fortunately, not many of them are here around for the time being though the Flash News & Co apparently want to get them more popularity and legitimacy.)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Subject: [indiathinkersnet] Love Jihad ?
To: indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com
Kerala HC wants probe into 'love jihad'
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-hc-wants-probe-into-love-jihad/523630/
Kerala has a new concern: "love jihad". The state High Court on
Wednesday directed the Kerala Police and Union Home Ministry to probe
the alleged movement, under which young Muslim boys reportedly target
college girls for conversion by feigning love.
The court also asked the state and Centre to look into the sources
that "fund" the love jihad, the number of girls who have got "trapped
in the racket" in the past three years and its extremist links, if
any.
Justice K T Sankaran was hearing anticipatory bail applications of two
Muslim youths, accused of "luring" two MBA students into marriage for
reportedly the purpose of religious conversion. The court rejected
their bail pleas.
The two youths were allegedly associated with Campus Front, a student
outfit of the right-wing Muslim organisation Popular Front of India
(PFI).
Earlier this month, the parents of the two girls had filed a habeus
corpus in the high court after their daughters were found missing. On
being produced in court, the girls deposed that they were "trapped" by
the youths and forced to convet to Islam. Allowing them to go with
their parents, the court had asked the police to probe the charges of
forced conversion after trapping girls in love affairs. The students,
originally residents of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, had been
studying in a college in Pathanamthitta. According to them, one of
them fell in love with a senior and eloped to marry him. This senior
allegedly "handed over" the other girl to his friend. The girls told
the court that they were taken to a centre in Malappuram where they
were given literature and shown visuals promoting religious extremism.
Police officials admit that there are cases of girls having been
converted forcibly or "trapped" into adopting Islam. "The groups
focused on girls from well-settled families, a majority of them
Hindus," sources said.
Senior PFI leader Naseerudheen Elamaram refuting charges against his
organisation said, "Religious conversion is not a crime; conversion
takes place to Hinduism and Christianity also... One cannot paint all
love affairs as cases of forced conversions meant for extremist
activity."
--------------------------------------
Conversion: court seeks details
DGP told to file a statement
Two persons file petitions for anticipatory bail
High Court also seeks statement from Centre
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/01/stories/2009100154570500.htm
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Director
General of Police to furnish the court details regarding the number of
cases in which women of other religion were forcibly converted to
Islam.
Justice K. T. Sankaran, while considering anticipatory bail petitions,
directed the DGP to file a statement within three weeks on the
following aspects as well: is there a movement called `Romeo Jihad' or
`Love Jihad' working in the State; if so, what are their plans and
projects; which organisations are involved in such activities; where
does the money come for all these activities; how many school and
college students and youngsters were thus converted into Islam in the
last three years; does the alleged project have an all-India basis and
magnitude; has it got financial support from abroad; is there any
connection between the `Love Jihad' movement and counterfeiting,
smuggling, drug trafficking and terrorist activities?
The anticipatory bail petition was filed by Shahan Sha and Sirajudeen
who have been charged with abduction and forcibly converting two MBA
students to Islam. According to the police, the petitioners feigning
love had abducted the girls and put pressure on them to convert to
Islam. They were taken to a person who was stated to be an organiser
of the women's wing of the Popular Front of India. The girls were
later produced before the High Court after their parents filed a
habeas corpus petition. The court allowed them to go with their
parents as per their request.
The court, which went through the case diary, said there were
indications that several similar instances took place in the State.
It was stated that there was a movement called Romeo Jihad or Love
Jihad, conceived by a section of the Muslims, by which Muslim boys
were directed to pretend love to girls of other religion and get them
converted to Islam.
The court pointed out that every citizen was entitled to "freedom of
conscience and the right to freely to profess, practice and propagate
religion as enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution. This right
did not extend to the right to compel a person professing a religion
to convert to another religion."
11 October 2009
What is so much there to probe about love affairs between people of different faiths?
What is there to probe into cases of conversion from on faith to other so long as proselytizing is perfectly recognized as constitutional and legal in secular India?
You convince me by reason (or even by giving me soaps) that Islam or
Christianity is a better faith than Hiduism; I start thinking that Hinduism is really not good for ME and take a decision to covert as a Muslim or a Christian.
How can then one assume that all this happen only because of inflow of mysterious foreign funds plus destabilizing motivations linked with
it?
Why the mysterious inflow of foreign funds, rather,is not checked by routine regulatory measures than by resorting to ways producing hypes and instilling fears in the minds of people about forcible conversion?
True that parents of at least two Hindu girls allegedly lured by the activists of so called 'Love Jihadis' did come up with habeous corpus writs following the disappearance of these girls from their houses.
It may also be true that the girls ultimately decide to go back to their parents on the basis of own choice, in a court of law.
But why should this be a reason for widespread fear about girls of mature age being trapped into 'Love Jihad'? What is the connection between love, choice of life partner on the one side, and the interventions by the parents of girls,the police and the court on the other in making out such inter religion love marriages involving conversions as a huge security threat for the entire nation?
Would it not have made more sense for the media to take up such stories beyond the 'user friendly' but boundlessly ridiculous new coinage in the lexicon of hate politics like "Love Jihad"?
The latest response to the so called Love Jihad by the VHP and the obscur Durgavahini is also being enthusiastically propagated by a section of the Malayalam press; the eveninger Flash News(of M/s Kerala Kaumudi)on 10th October carried a two page featured item about how Durgavahini, the womens wing of the VHP is planning to appear in a big way by campaigning in favour of imposing more parental controls on educated Hindu girls. Going by such reports, moral policing perhaps even more ugly than the one resorted by Sri Ram Sene in Karnataka is to set to take off in Kerala under the direct patronage of VHP employing its women cadres.
(Fortunately, not many of them are here around for the time being though the Flash News & Co apparently want to get them more popularity and legitimacy.)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Subject: [indiathinkersnet] Love Jihad ?
To: indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com
Kerala HC wants probe into 'love jihad'
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-hc-wants-probe-into-love-jihad/523630/
Kerala has a new concern: "love jihad". The state High Court on
Wednesday directed the Kerala Police and Union Home Ministry to probe
the alleged movement, under which young Muslim boys reportedly target
college girls for conversion by feigning love.
The court also asked the state and Centre to look into the sources
that "fund" the love jihad, the number of girls who have got "trapped
in the racket" in the past three years and its extremist links, if
any.
Justice K T Sankaran was hearing anticipatory bail applications of two
Muslim youths, accused of "luring" two MBA students into marriage for
reportedly the purpose of religious conversion. The court rejected
their bail pleas.
The two youths were allegedly associated with Campus Front, a student
outfit of the right-wing Muslim organisation Popular Front of India
(PFI).
Earlier this month, the parents of the two girls had filed a habeus
corpus in the high court after their daughters were found missing. On
being produced in court, the girls deposed that they were "trapped" by
the youths and forced to convet to Islam. Allowing them to go with
their parents, the court had asked the police to probe the charges of
forced conversion after trapping girls in love affairs. The students,
originally residents of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, had been
studying in a college in Pathanamthitta. According to them, one of
them fell in love with a senior and eloped to marry him. This senior
allegedly "handed over" the other girl to his friend. The girls told
the court that they were taken to a centre in Malappuram where they
were given literature and shown visuals promoting religious extremism.
Police officials admit that there are cases of girls having been
converted forcibly or "trapped" into adopting Islam. "The groups
focused on girls from well-settled families, a majority of them
Hindus," sources said.
Senior PFI leader Naseerudheen Elamaram refuting charges against his
organisation said, "Religious conversion is not a crime; conversion
takes place to Hinduism and Christianity also... One cannot paint all
love affairs as cases of forced conversions meant for extremist
activity."
--------------------------------------
Conversion: court seeks details
DGP told to file a statement
Two persons file petitions for anticipatory bail
High Court also seeks statement from Centre
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/01/stories/2009100154570500.htm
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Director
General of Police to furnish the court details regarding the number of
cases in which women of other religion were forcibly converted to
Islam.
Justice K. T. Sankaran, while considering anticipatory bail petitions,
directed the DGP to file a statement within three weeks on the
following aspects as well: is there a movement called `Romeo Jihad' or
`Love Jihad' working in the State; if so, what are their plans and
projects; which organisations are involved in such activities; where
does the money come for all these activities; how many school and
college students and youngsters were thus converted into Islam in the
last three years; does the alleged project have an all-India basis and
magnitude; has it got financial support from abroad; is there any
connection between the `Love Jihad' movement and counterfeiting,
smuggling, drug trafficking and terrorist activities?
The anticipatory bail petition was filed by Shahan Sha and Sirajudeen
who have been charged with abduction and forcibly converting two MBA
students to Islam. According to the police, the petitioners feigning
love had abducted the girls and put pressure on them to convert to
Islam. They were taken to a person who was stated to be an organiser
of the women's wing of the Popular Front of India. The girls were
later produced before the High Court after their parents filed a
habeas corpus petition. The court allowed them to go with their
parents as per their request.
The court, which went through the case diary, said there were
indications that several similar instances took place in the State.
It was stated that there was a movement called Romeo Jihad or Love
Jihad, conceived by a section of the Muslims, by which Muslim boys
were directed to pretend love to girls of other religion and get them
converted to Islam.
The court pointed out that every citizen was entitled to "freedom of
conscience and the right to freely to profess, practice and propagate
religion as enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution. This right
did not extend to the right to compel a person professing a religion
to convert to another religion."
Assault & intimidation in Gujarat - former mayor of Baroda attacked: press release from Anhad
URGENT RELEASE
Anhad had organised a press conference on September 29, 2009 to bring in front of the media the illegal detention, torture in a private farm house of five young men in Vadodara by the Vadodara Police headed by the Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
The delegation of parents/ relatives accompanied by Mohd Bhai Vora (former deputy mayor of Vadodara) and Yusuf Shaikh addressed the media in Delhi, met NHRC and National Minority Commission. Following the complaint National Minority Commission sent its member Dr Bengalee to Gujarat and she met the officials in Gandhinagar to take up the issue of illegal detention and torture.
Yusuf Shaikh and Mohdbhai were receiving threats through the ‘mukhbirs’ and other sources to stop raising these issues.
Today Mohdbhai Vora was attacked brutally around 12.30pm. We have come to understand that the police is using miscreant elements from within the community to organize these threats and attacks.
The earlier press release is attached with this for reference.
I request you to urgently intervene and take action to stop this harassment and attacks on human rights defenders.
Shabnam Hashmi
Social activist, Member, National Integration Council
New Delhi
2.00pm, October 11, 2009
[For Reference]
[The below release from Anhad is also available at:
http://www.anhadin.net/article87.html
PRESS RELEASE -September 29, 2009
[...]
Anhad had organised a press conference on September 29, 2009 to bring in front of the media the illegal detention, torture in a private farm house of five young men in Vadodara by the Vadodara Police headed by the Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
The delegation of parents/ relatives accompanied by Mohd Bhai Vora (former deputy mayor of Vadodara) and Yusuf Shaikh addressed the media in Delhi, met NHRC and National Minority Commission. Following the complaint National Minority Commission sent its member Dr Bengalee to Gujarat and she met the officials in Gandhinagar to take up the issue of illegal detention and torture.
Yusuf Shaikh and Mohdbhai were receiving threats through the ‘mukhbirs’ and other sources to stop raising these issues.
Today Mohdbhai Vora was attacked brutally around 12.30pm. We have come to understand that the police is using miscreant elements from within the community to organize these threats and attacks.
The earlier press release is attached with this for reference.
I request you to urgently intervene and take action to stop this harassment and attacks on human rights defenders.
Shabnam Hashmi
Social activist, Member, National Integration Council
New Delhi
2.00pm, October 11, 2009
[For Reference]
[The below release from Anhad is also available at:
http://www.anhadin.net/article87.html
PRESS RELEASE -September 29, 2009
[...]
RSS, “Shastra Puja” and and offences under Arms Act
No.: 16039 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009
CONTROVERSY OVER WORSHIP OF WEAPONS BY RSS IN BHOPAL
CM IN EYE OF STORM; OFFENCES PUNISHABLE UNDER ARMS ACT
By L. S. Herdenia
BHOPAL: The death of an RSS worker during “Shastra Puja” (Weapons’ worship), the handling of an automatic firearm by the seven-year-old son of the district Superintendent of police and firing in the air from a gun of prohibited bore by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan -- all on Dusshera day in Bhopal -- have kicked up a controversy.
In view of the death of the RSS worker, the RSS is thinking in the terms of changing the way it conducts its traditional “Shastra Puja” and “Pathsanchalan” (Street march) on Dusshera.
On Dusshera day, the RSS volunteers bring all sorts of weapons to the designated places for “Shastra Puja”. Earlier, only non-firearms were brought for the ritual. For the past few years, even firearms are included. This year, “Shastra Puja” was performed at 15 different places by the RSS. One such venue was the premises of a school. After the ritual was over and the RSS volunteers were standing outside, a loud report was reportedly heard from one of the rooms in which the weapons were stored. The volunteers rushed to the room and found one of their colleagues—Narendra Kumar Motwani—lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. There was a gunshot wound in his body.
Immediately after the shocking incident, the police were at a loss to determine whether it was a case of murder, accident or suicide. It took almost five days to find the weapon that had caused the death of Motwani. The mystery was ultimately solved on October 2, thanks to the sustained efforts of the police. Shyamlal Gurjar, an RSS worker, surrendered at a police thana along with a 9 mm pistol, which, he said, had got discharged accidentally. As to how he got possession of the arm, Gurjar had a rather unbelievable story to relate. He claimed he had found the pistol lying in a “jungle” while he was returning from Salkanpur---a town about 45 km away---and had decided to keep it.
Gurjar’s statement has raised many inconvenient questions about RSS’s ‘Shastra Puja”. It has confirmed the allegations that unauthorised and unlicensed firearms are used in the Puja. No one checks whether the weapons brought by the workers are licensed and legal. Then, there is the question as to why loaded guns were kept for the ‘Puja”. Gurjar told the police that he became panicky after the incident and absconded. The RSS workers, who were present at the place where the untoward incident took place, claimed that there was nobody in the room in which Motwani was killed. This has been contradicted by Gurjar’s statement, who said that the gun had gone off during a meeting in which several RSS workers were present.
Initially, the police had registered a case against unidentified workers. Later, Gurjar's name was added as an accused. Gurjar did not come to the police after the incident but suddenly surfaced on October 2. Motwani’s family members have firmly rejected the accident theory and alleged that it was a case of cold-blooded murder. The police have, so far, not registered a murder case. Whatever the RSS leaders may claim but it is now established that “shastra puja” is a patently dangerous and illegal activity.
Three more incidents on the Dusshera day were subject of harsh criticism. One of them was the performance of “Shastra puja” by the Chief Minister himself. The function was held at his official residence. The Chief Minister, along with his family members, was photographed performing “Shastra puja” of automatic and semi-automatic weapons belonging to the police. Under section 7 of the Arms Act, 1959 the possession, even temporarily, of prohibited arms and ammunition is banned unless specially authorised by the Central Government. Automatic weapons being worshipped on private premises, which includes an official bungalow allotted to a government functionary, would amount to temporary possession of prohibited weapons and would be punishable under the Arms Act. Not only that, after worshipping the weapons, the Chief Minister also fired in the air.
On the same day, another offence was committed, that too by an IPS officer. There are photographs of SP of Bhopal firing an AK-47 rifle in the air and his son also being assisted in handling the above weapon. The firing of a weapon in a built-up area is likely to cause injury to people at large and would fall within the definition of public nuisance given in section 268 of the IPC. Every bullet is an explosive substance, and therefore, any act which is likely to cause injury would fall within the broad definition of section 286 IPC. Clearly, it was wrong on the part of the SP to discharge the firearm in a public place or to allow his minor son to handle it.
Another act of impropriety was committed by the RSS when, in its “Pathsanchalan”, even minor children carried and brandished naked swords. Under the Arms act, minors are prohibited from carrying any kind of weapons. Thus, the RSS violated several laws of the land.
The RSS used the premises of a school for its ‘shastra puja” and it was there that a workers was killed in mysterious circumstances. The incident has put pressure on the RSS to either stop the practice of holding ‘shastra puja” or to make it a symbolic affair. There is also a section of the opinion, which feels that worship of weapons was against the basic tenets of the Constitution. We, as a nation, are committed to resolving all disputes by peaceful means. And worshipping weapons is surely not compatible with this ideal. (IPA Service)
CONTROVERSY OVER WORSHIP OF WEAPONS BY RSS IN BHOPAL
CM IN EYE OF STORM; OFFENCES PUNISHABLE UNDER ARMS ACT
By L. S. Herdenia
BHOPAL: The death of an RSS worker during “Shastra Puja” (Weapons’ worship), the handling of an automatic firearm by the seven-year-old son of the district Superintendent of police and firing in the air from a gun of prohibited bore by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan -- all on Dusshera day in Bhopal -- have kicked up a controversy.
In view of the death of the RSS worker, the RSS is thinking in the terms of changing the way it conducts its traditional “Shastra Puja” and “Pathsanchalan” (Street march) on Dusshera.
On Dusshera day, the RSS volunteers bring all sorts of weapons to the designated places for “Shastra Puja”. Earlier, only non-firearms were brought for the ritual. For the past few years, even firearms are included. This year, “Shastra Puja” was performed at 15 different places by the RSS. One such venue was the premises of a school. After the ritual was over and the RSS volunteers were standing outside, a loud report was reportedly heard from one of the rooms in which the weapons were stored. The volunteers rushed to the room and found one of their colleagues—Narendra Kumar Motwani—lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. There was a gunshot wound in his body.
Immediately after the shocking incident, the police were at a loss to determine whether it was a case of murder, accident or suicide. It took almost five days to find the weapon that had caused the death of Motwani. The mystery was ultimately solved on October 2, thanks to the sustained efforts of the police. Shyamlal Gurjar, an RSS worker, surrendered at a police thana along with a 9 mm pistol, which, he said, had got discharged accidentally. As to how he got possession of the arm, Gurjar had a rather unbelievable story to relate. He claimed he had found the pistol lying in a “jungle” while he was returning from Salkanpur---a town about 45 km away---and had decided to keep it.
Gurjar’s statement has raised many inconvenient questions about RSS’s ‘Shastra Puja”. It has confirmed the allegations that unauthorised and unlicensed firearms are used in the Puja. No one checks whether the weapons brought by the workers are licensed and legal. Then, there is the question as to why loaded guns were kept for the ‘Puja”. Gurjar told the police that he became panicky after the incident and absconded. The RSS workers, who were present at the place where the untoward incident took place, claimed that there was nobody in the room in which Motwani was killed. This has been contradicted by Gurjar’s statement, who said that the gun had gone off during a meeting in which several RSS workers were present.
Initially, the police had registered a case against unidentified workers. Later, Gurjar's name was added as an accused. Gurjar did not come to the police after the incident but suddenly surfaced on October 2. Motwani’s family members have firmly rejected the accident theory and alleged that it was a case of cold-blooded murder. The police have, so far, not registered a murder case. Whatever the RSS leaders may claim but it is now established that “shastra puja” is a patently dangerous and illegal activity.
Three more incidents on the Dusshera day were subject of harsh criticism. One of them was the performance of “Shastra puja” by the Chief Minister himself. The function was held at his official residence. The Chief Minister, along with his family members, was photographed performing “Shastra puja” of automatic and semi-automatic weapons belonging to the police. Under section 7 of the Arms Act, 1959 the possession, even temporarily, of prohibited arms and ammunition is banned unless specially authorised by the Central Government. Automatic weapons being worshipped on private premises, which includes an official bungalow allotted to a government functionary, would amount to temporary possession of prohibited weapons and would be punishable under the Arms Act. Not only that, after worshipping the weapons, the Chief Minister also fired in the air.
On the same day, another offence was committed, that too by an IPS officer. There are photographs of SP of Bhopal firing an AK-47 rifle in the air and his son also being assisted in handling the above weapon. The firing of a weapon in a built-up area is likely to cause injury to people at large and would fall within the definition of public nuisance given in section 268 of the IPC. Every bullet is an explosive substance, and therefore, any act which is likely to cause injury would fall within the broad definition of section 286 IPC. Clearly, it was wrong on the part of the SP to discharge the firearm in a public place or to allow his minor son to handle it.
Another act of impropriety was committed by the RSS when, in its “Pathsanchalan”, even minor children carried and brandished naked swords. Under the Arms act, minors are prohibited from carrying any kind of weapons. Thus, the RSS violated several laws of the land.
The RSS used the premises of a school for its ‘shastra puja” and it was there that a workers was killed in mysterious circumstances. The incident has put pressure on the RSS to either stop the practice of holding ‘shastra puja” or to make it a symbolic affair. There is also a section of the opinion, which feels that worship of weapons was against the basic tenets of the Constitution. We, as a nation, are committed to resolving all disputes by peaceful means. And worshipping weapons is surely not compatible with this ideal. (IPA Service)
October 10, 2009
Systematic discrimination oozing out of the pores in Gujarat
Muslim families forced out; Police repression, Digging and demolition of graves in Dahod district
10 October, by Shabnam Hashmi
http://www.anhadin.net/article90.html
10 October, by Shabnam Hashmi
http://www.anhadin.net/article90.html
Is it a crime to be born a Muslim in India?
Is it a Crime to be born a Muslim in India?
Ram Puniyani
The rising tide of communal violence from the decade of 1980 has consolidated the communal politics, politics in the name of religion. The party riding on the chariot of religious nationalism became the second largest party and tasted power at center for six long years and is now entrenched in few states and is knocking at the door of power in few other states. The hope that its recent defeat in Lok Sabha elections will reduce the impact of communal politics in society or will ensure that all communities can breathe the air of civil rights and equal citizenship rights with ease, seems to be like distant drums!
The impact of the rise of this politics and accompanying effect on minorities has resulted in worsening their lot. This downward slide in the condition of minorities is very obvious, is going from bad to worse, to worst. It has resulted in the conditions for minorities where they have to live in fear, alienation and the impact of constant profiling in different walks of life. This communal politics has been talking of Hindu nation, has been spreading hate against minorities, against Muslims in particular. The Muslim community has been the major target of attack and has been bearing a huge brunt of the divisive politics being spearheaded by RSS, its progeny and by those influenced by the RSS ideology. They are not only there in the state machinery and media but also in other crucial spots of Indian social, economic and political life. The worsening plight of Muslim community got reconfirmed in the recently held national meet on ‘What it means to be a Muslim in India Today’, organized by Anhad in Delhi (Oct 3-5).
The meeting was addressed by the victims and social activists working in the area of human rights particularly of minorities. The pain and anguish of the Muslim community was heart rending, coming through different narrations of illegal arrests, tortures, detentions and adverse judgments. The latest trick is to implicate the Muslim youth in multiple cases in different states. This will ensure their being behind the bars for good. The communal violence which has broken the back of the Indian community is being supplemented by the intense and blind police action against innocent Muslim youth, in the name of terror attacks. While the communal violence is now being orchestrated at low intensity and is scattered far and wide, in the post 9/11 period another front for torturing the community has been opened. Here the modus oprendi is simple enough, there is ‘Intelligence’ tip and that makes our efficient police machinery to arrest the Muslim youth, being Muslim is the major ‘tip’ for arresting and torturing innocent youth by the guardians of law. Many a youth in the middle of their education for professional lives face immense obstacles, their illegal arrests are never compensated for and nor are they supported to complete their education despite being proved innocents.
There had been many such arrests followed by all sort of illegal steps by the police. Using cars without number plates, taking victims blindfolded to farm houses for third degree tortures are new addition to the ‘efficient methods’ of the police machinery. There are enough grounds of doubts in Batla House encounter, but it will not be taken up for honest investigation. The argument to avoid honest investigation is that it will demoralize the police force. Can we have such a police force whose morale depends hiding truth?
Following Mecca Masjid blast, there was a shooting by the police which killed more people than the number killed by blast. The pretext was that the crowd was menacing, which it was not. Truth of Ishrat Jahan case is out in the open but the perpetrators will remain in the seats of power unscathed, barring an odd official living in jail. While such enthusiasm in arresting Muslim youth is there for all to see, those arrested by Hemant Karkare’s ATS in Malegaon blast case, are currently being treated with kid gloves. The apprehension is that these guilty gang against whom evidence was collected by late Hemant Karkare may not get the punishment it deserves.
The families battered by such brutal police actions and the families shattered by communal violence are on the streets unattended, marginalized and neglected by society and state. Those Muslims having successful business have been targeted to ensure breaking their economic backbone. This not only in Gujarat but also in other BJP ruled states. This economically marginalized community is practically boycotted by financial institutions, telephone companies and other. There are many cases where the community is being denied space for graveyards, which are either being taken away or not allowed to expand where there is need for more space. The plight of Shabana Azmi or Imraan Hashmi not getting the house in desired locality is not isolated; this phenomenon is becoming more widespread. The walls of separation along religious community lines are becoming stronger. The Sachar Commission and the Prime Minister’s 15 point program remain a showpiece for purposes best known to the state!
The myths and stereotypes in the media and social space are very much there. The large section of school text-books reinforces the stereotypes and myths about the community. So where does all this lead us? In a democracy, in a secular state the minorities should be provided safety and dignity irrespective of their religion. The present condition of Muslims in India is nothing but abysmal from the point of view of security, economic condition and social life. A large section has started feeling the deprivations in a very painful manner.
One recalls under the domination of Brahmanical values, caste based exclusionary social-political-system, the caste of Shudras was systematically denied the life of dignity and made to live in subjugation and ghettoization. The efforts of ‘Brahmanical ideology based politics’, the one of RSS and its progeny, is achieving the same pattern with some difference. Now Muslims are being reduced to second class citizens. This is precisely what RSS wants, this is what is coming to be practiced at all the levels in the country. RSS progeny being in power or out of it does not matter as far as the life of Muslim community is concerned. The RSS workers and ideology have infiltrated the ‘social common sense’ through media and education. It has infiltrated the state machinery. The limit of this can be seen that RSS controlled Bhonsla Military School in Nasik is supplying large number of recruits for Indian army one of them being Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an accomplice of Pragya Singh Thakur, alleged culprits of Malegaon blast. If RSS, a fascist organization wrapping its politics in the cloak of Hindu religion, swaymsevaks can infiltrate army, which institution in the society is safe from slow communal fascist infiltration? Which institution can be trusted for upholding Indian Constitution?
It is with this gloomy scenario around that many a victims deposing in the meeting said with pain and anguish, “Is it a crime to be born a Muslim in India?”
--
Ram Puniyani
The rising tide of communal violence from the decade of 1980 has consolidated the communal politics, politics in the name of religion. The party riding on the chariot of religious nationalism became the second largest party and tasted power at center for six long years and is now entrenched in few states and is knocking at the door of power in few other states. The hope that its recent defeat in Lok Sabha elections will reduce the impact of communal politics in society or will ensure that all communities can breathe the air of civil rights and equal citizenship rights with ease, seems to be like distant drums!
The impact of the rise of this politics and accompanying effect on minorities has resulted in worsening their lot. This downward slide in the condition of minorities is very obvious, is going from bad to worse, to worst. It has resulted in the conditions for minorities where they have to live in fear, alienation and the impact of constant profiling in different walks of life. This communal politics has been talking of Hindu nation, has been spreading hate against minorities, against Muslims in particular. The Muslim community has been the major target of attack and has been bearing a huge brunt of the divisive politics being spearheaded by RSS, its progeny and by those influenced by the RSS ideology. They are not only there in the state machinery and media but also in other crucial spots of Indian social, economic and political life. The worsening plight of Muslim community got reconfirmed in the recently held national meet on ‘What it means to be a Muslim in India Today’, organized by Anhad in Delhi (Oct 3-5).
The meeting was addressed by the victims and social activists working in the area of human rights particularly of minorities. The pain and anguish of the Muslim community was heart rending, coming through different narrations of illegal arrests, tortures, detentions and adverse judgments. The latest trick is to implicate the Muslim youth in multiple cases in different states. This will ensure their being behind the bars for good. The communal violence which has broken the back of the Indian community is being supplemented by the intense and blind police action against innocent Muslim youth, in the name of terror attacks. While the communal violence is now being orchestrated at low intensity and is scattered far and wide, in the post 9/11 period another front for torturing the community has been opened. Here the modus oprendi is simple enough, there is ‘Intelligence’ tip and that makes our efficient police machinery to arrest the Muslim youth, being Muslim is the major ‘tip’ for arresting and torturing innocent youth by the guardians of law. Many a youth in the middle of their education for professional lives face immense obstacles, their illegal arrests are never compensated for and nor are they supported to complete their education despite being proved innocents.
There had been many such arrests followed by all sort of illegal steps by the police. Using cars without number plates, taking victims blindfolded to farm houses for third degree tortures are new addition to the ‘efficient methods’ of the police machinery. There are enough grounds of doubts in Batla House encounter, but it will not be taken up for honest investigation. The argument to avoid honest investigation is that it will demoralize the police force. Can we have such a police force whose morale depends hiding truth?
Following Mecca Masjid blast, there was a shooting by the police which killed more people than the number killed by blast. The pretext was that the crowd was menacing, which it was not. Truth of Ishrat Jahan case is out in the open but the perpetrators will remain in the seats of power unscathed, barring an odd official living in jail. While such enthusiasm in arresting Muslim youth is there for all to see, those arrested by Hemant Karkare’s ATS in Malegaon blast case, are currently being treated with kid gloves. The apprehension is that these guilty gang against whom evidence was collected by late Hemant Karkare may not get the punishment it deserves.
The families battered by such brutal police actions and the families shattered by communal violence are on the streets unattended, marginalized and neglected by society and state. Those Muslims having successful business have been targeted to ensure breaking their economic backbone. This not only in Gujarat but also in other BJP ruled states. This economically marginalized community is practically boycotted by financial institutions, telephone companies and other. There are many cases where the community is being denied space for graveyards, which are either being taken away or not allowed to expand where there is need for more space. The plight of Shabana Azmi or Imraan Hashmi not getting the house in desired locality is not isolated; this phenomenon is becoming more widespread. The walls of separation along religious community lines are becoming stronger. The Sachar Commission and the Prime Minister’s 15 point program remain a showpiece for purposes best known to the state!
The myths and stereotypes in the media and social space are very much there. The large section of school text-books reinforces the stereotypes and myths about the community. So where does all this lead us? In a democracy, in a secular state the minorities should be provided safety and dignity irrespective of their religion. The present condition of Muslims in India is nothing but abysmal from the point of view of security, economic condition and social life. A large section has started feeling the deprivations in a very painful manner.
One recalls under the domination of Brahmanical values, caste based exclusionary social-political-system, the caste of Shudras was systematically denied the life of dignity and made to live in subjugation and ghettoization. The efforts of ‘Brahmanical ideology based politics’, the one of RSS and its progeny, is achieving the same pattern with some difference. Now Muslims are being reduced to second class citizens. This is precisely what RSS wants, this is what is coming to be practiced at all the levels in the country. RSS progeny being in power or out of it does not matter as far as the life of Muslim community is concerned. The RSS workers and ideology have infiltrated the ‘social common sense’ through media and education. It has infiltrated the state machinery. The limit of this can be seen that RSS controlled Bhonsla Military School in Nasik is supplying large number of recruits for Indian army one of them being Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an accomplice of Pragya Singh Thakur, alleged culprits of Malegaon blast. If RSS, a fascist organization wrapping its politics in the cloak of Hindu religion, swaymsevaks can infiltrate army, which institution in the society is safe from slow communal fascist infiltration? Which institution can be trusted for upholding Indian Constitution?
It is with this gloomy scenario around that many a victims deposing in the meeting said with pain and anguish, “Is it a crime to be born a Muslim in India?”
--
October 09, 2009
Karnataka govt begins work to alter architecture of the Sufi Shrine
Frontline
Frontline, Volume 26 - Issue 21 :: Oct. 10-23, 2009
THE STATES
Communal work
VIKHAR AHMED SAYEED
in Chickmagalur
Restoration work begins at Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah, violating a court order.
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
The Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah at Bababudangiri on September 26, when the restoration work was on. The collapsed cave is covered with metal sheets.
CONSTRUCTION work has begun at the contested shrine of Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah to restore a part of the cave that collapsed in June 2008. The shrine is located on the Inam Dattatreya hill, close to Chickmagalur town in western Karnataka. The work began on September 8 after “bhoomi puja” at the venue by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the State in the presence of district officials. Members of the Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike (KKSV; Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum), a State-wide forum of activists who have been leading the movement against the Sangh Parivar’s attempts to convert the syncretic shrine into an exclusive Hindu place of worship, have criticised the district administration for its lapses with regard to the restoration work. One of the allegations is that it violated a 2008 stay order from the Supreme Court.
Members of the KKSV point out that the restoration work will fundamentally alter the architecture of the shrine. Opposition leaders have criticised the State government for allowing the construction work to begin. In a press conference, H.D. Deve Gowda, the national president of the Janata Dal (Secular), accused the BJP government and the district administration of Chickmagalur of showing disrespect to the judiciary.
The Supreme Court on December 1, 2008, ordered a stay on any new activities at the shrine. The order said: “Status quo to be maintained in terms of order dated 25.2.1989 passed by the Commissioner for Religious & Charitable Endowments in Karnataka.” If this ruling is interpreted correctly, all the restoration activity, starting from the “bhoomi puja”, is illegal. Present at the “bhoomi puja” were D.V. Sadananda Gowda, the State president of the BJP; K.S. Eshwarappa, the State Minister of Energy; and C.T. Ravi, the BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Chickmagalur. It was performed just outside the cave.
When this correspondent tried to visit the premises of the shrine, the Deputy Commissioner of Chickmagalur, R. Narayanswamy, flatly refused permission. He said the area was a contested one and no one could be given the permission to visit it. How then did he allow senior BJP leaders, who have no stake in the management or administration of the shrine, to perform a “bhoomi puja” on the shrine premises? “It is our tradition to perform a ‘bhoomi puja’ before any new construction work is undertaken,” said Narayanswamy. C.T. Ravi made a similar statement in a conversation with Frontline.
The KKSV objects to the restoration activity because any change in the architecture of the shrine will alter the status quo and affect the spiritual ethos of the area. The proposed plan involves the erection of 52 pillars that will support a massive roof for the entire premises. Officials in the district administration say that this has been done to provide protection for the restored cave because the area is prone to heavy rainfall, and humidity is very high around the year.
The KKSV has also objected to the fact that no religious leaders, particularly from among the Sufi followers of the shrine, were consulted while envisaging such a massive restoration project. Even the Shah Khadri (chief priest) of the shrine, Syed Ghouse Mohiyudden, who in a 2000 district administration order was designated as the person to manage the religious rituals, was not consulted or shown the blueprint of the proposed construction. “The district administration refused to consult me or even inform me about the proposed restoration work,” he said.
The work has been allotted to a Bangalore-based private limited company called Binyas Contech, which describes itself as “structural rehabilitation engineers”. According to documents obtained under the Right to Information Act and which are in the possession of Frontline, Binyas was formed only in 2002. Its expertise is in demolition work and it has not been involved so far in any major construction or restoration work. The contract was awarded without a tender being floated. The recommendation was made by the Torsteel Research Foundation of India (TRFI) and the Geological Survey of India, the consultants for the project. The district administration had requested exemption from the Karnataka Transparency Act, 2003, for the process of choosing a company for the restoration work.
The haste with which the district administration has gone ahead and begun the construction is intriguing. There is speculation that it wants the work completed before Datta Jayanthi, a religious event held in December every year on the shrine premises, so that the restored structure gets the approval of Hindutva forces in the State and achieves legitimacy among devout Hindus.
Narayanswamy denied that there was any basis for any of these allegations. He said that the restoration work was unique and no company in India had been involved in the kind of engineering work that restoring a cave involved. “Three companies were shortlisted for the restoration work, which is estimated to cost Rs.2.09 crore by the TRFI, but two of these companies are Mumbai-based. Binyas was chosen as it is based in Bangalore,” he said.
The picturesque hills surrounding Chickmagalur town are enveloped in a misty haze for most of the year. Verdant coffee plantations, interspersed with sturdy silver oaks, surround the narrow and steep road of 30 kilometres that leads up to the cave-shrine from Chickmagalur. No one is allowed within several hundred metres of the cave. Zinc sheets cover the cave site, but thousands of devotees visit the area every day.
The trouble first started in these beautiful hills, scattered with religious ruins – both Hindu and Muslim – in the 1970s after the formation of the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs, which tried to extend its control over the shrine. The Shah Khadri resented the move. The shrine’s administration was governed by the Muzrai Department, which oversees the administration of temples. (It is an ode to the syncretic tradition of the shrine that it has traditionally been managed by a Muslim; its administration came under the Muzrai Department from the time of the Mysore maharajas.)
The shrine is believed to date back to the 11th century when a Muslim saint with miraculous powers, Dada Hayath Qalandar, is supposed to have first visited the area. While there are no written records about his visit, the legend lives on strongly in the minds of the thousands of devotees who visit the shrine from across the country.
Some others believe that the cave-shrine was the abode of Dattatreya, the incarnation of the divine trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. But there was no conflict between worshippers because Dada Hayath and Dattatreya were believed to be one and the same person. Bababudan, whose real name was Jamal Ahmed Maghribi and after whom the hills have been named, was a 15th or 16th century Yemeni saint who is said to have first brought coffee to the hills. “He settled in the shrine and his descendants lived on heading the administrative and religious affairs of the shrine,” said the current Shah Khadri.
Written records about the shrine began to be available after this, and it is usually referred to as Bababudan Dargah or the Datta Peetha. There is a reference to this shrine in the Imperial Gazetteer of 1887. Historical documents show that the Shah Khadri of the shrine was recognised by the Wodeyars of Mysore to be the administrator of the shrine. Yoginder Sikand, a scholar of South Asian Islam, has written several articles on the issue and has cited several Muslim and Hindu practices that make the shrine syncretic.
The Wakf Board’s attempt to take over the shrine led to competing claims on its status. The matter was first settled by the Chickmagalur District Court, which, in its judgment in 1980, said that the shrine belonged to both Hindus and Muslims and that it should be governed by the Muzrai Department. A series of legal battles took the issue to the High Court, which gave the Commissioner of Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments a brief to codify the rituals practised in the shrine before 1989.
His report describes the practices prevalent at the shrine, also mentioning some practices that were prevalent in Hindu temples, such as the breaking of coconuts. The only event involving a large gathering, as recorded by the Commissioner, was the urs (death anniversary) of Bababudan, held over three days in March. The Shah Khadri was recognised as someone who could appoint the daily priests and, indirectly, administer the shrine.
In the early 1990s, Datta Jayanthi was a small affair. However, after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, efforts to make a grand affair out of the event began to gather momentum. In the late 1990s, a Datta Mala event was introduced and, along with Datta Jayanthi, it began to attract considerable media attention. As these new rituals gained some public legitimacy, the Bababudan Dargah increasingly began to be known as the Datta Peetha, a process that involved considerable erasure of public memory. While a section of worshippers had always referred to the Dargah as the Datta Peetha, it did not connote, in any way, an exclusively Hindu temple.
After the death of the Shah Khadri in 1999, his son, who had clearly been nominated to the hereditary post several years earlier, was made a salaried employee of the Muzrai Department who could manage only the religious rituals. The administration of the shrine would be under the district administration. Thus, over the past couple of decades, the nature of the shrine has been completely changed under gradual pressure from the Sangh Parivar.
Members of the Sangh Parivar claim that the actual Bababudan Dargah is situated some 3 km away, which can be reached only by hard trekking. It is a place which local residents call Jannat Nagar. “To call the Datta Peetha a disputed shrine is wrong. The real Bababudan Dargah is situated in Nagenhalli village [Jannat Nagar],” said C.T. Ravi. A visit to the area shows that there are some graves of Muslim saints in this gorgeous valley surrounded by green hills and forests, but none of the local Muslims has known the place as the shrine of Bababudan.
The current Shah Khadri is in a difficult position. Apart from losing out on his hereditary right to manage the shrine, he has been deserted by local Muslims because of the increasing influence of a scripturalist understanding of Islam which does not give space to sacerdotalism. He is hemmed in by an increasingly aggressive administration, which over the past decade has demolished several ancestral properties near the cave-shrine. He is not consulted by the district administration on any proposed changes, such as the restoration project.
The KKSV has filed an urgent application in the Supreme Court, pointing out that construction work is already in full swing. It hopes that the court, recognising the various lapses of the district administration, will pass an interim order stopping the construction work.
Sadananda Gowda has no regrets about having participated in the “bhoomi puja” and has announced to the media that the idol of Dattatreya will be a part of the restored shrine. The political implications of this move are tremendous as the BJP has used this issue to mobilise serious support for itself in the 1990s and in the early part of this decade in Karnataka. Several political leaders of the BJP in the State, including C.T. Ravi, owe their rise to the way in which this issue was communalised.
In an aggressive speech in 2002, BJP leader Ananth Kumar referred to the shrine as the “Ayodhya of the South”.
Frontline, Volume 26 - Issue 21 :: Oct. 10-23, 2009
THE STATES
Communal work
VIKHAR AHMED SAYEED
in Chickmagalur
Restoration work begins at Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah, violating a court order.
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
The Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah at Bababudangiri on September 26, when the restoration work was on. The collapsed cave is covered with metal sheets.
CONSTRUCTION work has begun at the contested shrine of Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah to restore a part of the cave that collapsed in June 2008. The shrine is located on the Inam Dattatreya hill, close to Chickmagalur town in western Karnataka. The work began on September 8 after “bhoomi puja” at the venue by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the State in the presence of district officials. Members of the Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike (KKSV; Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum), a State-wide forum of activists who have been leading the movement against the Sangh Parivar’s attempts to convert the syncretic shrine into an exclusive Hindu place of worship, have criticised the district administration for its lapses with regard to the restoration work. One of the allegations is that it violated a 2008 stay order from the Supreme Court.
Members of the KKSV point out that the restoration work will fundamentally alter the architecture of the shrine. Opposition leaders have criticised the State government for allowing the construction work to begin. In a press conference, H.D. Deve Gowda, the national president of the Janata Dal (Secular), accused the BJP government and the district administration of Chickmagalur of showing disrespect to the judiciary.
The Supreme Court on December 1, 2008, ordered a stay on any new activities at the shrine. The order said: “Status quo to be maintained in terms of order dated 25.2.1989 passed by the Commissioner for Religious & Charitable Endowments in Karnataka.” If this ruling is interpreted correctly, all the restoration activity, starting from the “bhoomi puja”, is illegal. Present at the “bhoomi puja” were D.V. Sadananda Gowda, the State president of the BJP; K.S. Eshwarappa, the State Minister of Energy; and C.T. Ravi, the BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Chickmagalur. It was performed just outside the cave.
When this correspondent tried to visit the premises of the shrine, the Deputy Commissioner of Chickmagalur, R. Narayanswamy, flatly refused permission. He said the area was a contested one and no one could be given the permission to visit it. How then did he allow senior BJP leaders, who have no stake in the management or administration of the shrine, to perform a “bhoomi puja” on the shrine premises? “It is our tradition to perform a ‘bhoomi puja’ before any new construction work is undertaken,” said Narayanswamy. C.T. Ravi made a similar statement in a conversation with Frontline.
The KKSV objects to the restoration activity because any change in the architecture of the shrine will alter the status quo and affect the spiritual ethos of the area. The proposed plan involves the erection of 52 pillars that will support a massive roof for the entire premises. Officials in the district administration say that this has been done to provide protection for the restored cave because the area is prone to heavy rainfall, and humidity is very high around the year.
The KKSV has also objected to the fact that no religious leaders, particularly from among the Sufi followers of the shrine, were consulted while envisaging such a massive restoration project. Even the Shah Khadri (chief priest) of the shrine, Syed Ghouse Mohiyudden, who in a 2000 district administration order was designated as the person to manage the religious rituals, was not consulted or shown the blueprint of the proposed construction. “The district administration refused to consult me or even inform me about the proposed restoration work,” he said.
The work has been allotted to a Bangalore-based private limited company called Binyas Contech, which describes itself as “structural rehabilitation engineers”. According to documents obtained under the Right to Information Act and which are in the possession of Frontline, Binyas was formed only in 2002. Its expertise is in demolition work and it has not been involved so far in any major construction or restoration work. The contract was awarded without a tender being floated. The recommendation was made by the Torsteel Research Foundation of India (TRFI) and the Geological Survey of India, the consultants for the project. The district administration had requested exemption from the Karnataka Transparency Act, 2003, for the process of choosing a company for the restoration work.
The haste with which the district administration has gone ahead and begun the construction is intriguing. There is speculation that it wants the work completed before Datta Jayanthi, a religious event held in December every year on the shrine premises, so that the restored structure gets the approval of Hindutva forces in the State and achieves legitimacy among devout Hindus.
Narayanswamy denied that there was any basis for any of these allegations. He said that the restoration work was unique and no company in India had been involved in the kind of engineering work that restoring a cave involved. “Three companies were shortlisted for the restoration work, which is estimated to cost Rs.2.09 crore by the TRFI, but two of these companies are Mumbai-based. Binyas was chosen as it is based in Bangalore,” he said.
The picturesque hills surrounding Chickmagalur town are enveloped in a misty haze for most of the year. Verdant coffee plantations, interspersed with sturdy silver oaks, surround the narrow and steep road of 30 kilometres that leads up to the cave-shrine from Chickmagalur. No one is allowed within several hundred metres of the cave. Zinc sheets cover the cave site, but thousands of devotees visit the area every day.
The trouble first started in these beautiful hills, scattered with religious ruins – both Hindu and Muslim – in the 1970s after the formation of the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs, which tried to extend its control over the shrine. The Shah Khadri resented the move. The shrine’s administration was governed by the Muzrai Department, which oversees the administration of temples. (It is an ode to the syncretic tradition of the shrine that it has traditionally been managed by a Muslim; its administration came under the Muzrai Department from the time of the Mysore maharajas.)
The shrine is believed to date back to the 11th century when a Muslim saint with miraculous powers, Dada Hayath Qalandar, is supposed to have first visited the area. While there are no written records about his visit, the legend lives on strongly in the minds of the thousands of devotees who visit the shrine from across the country.
Some others believe that the cave-shrine was the abode of Dattatreya, the incarnation of the divine trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. But there was no conflict between worshippers because Dada Hayath and Dattatreya were believed to be one and the same person. Bababudan, whose real name was Jamal Ahmed Maghribi and after whom the hills have been named, was a 15th or 16th century Yemeni saint who is said to have first brought coffee to the hills. “He settled in the shrine and his descendants lived on heading the administrative and religious affairs of the shrine,” said the current Shah Khadri.
Written records about the shrine began to be available after this, and it is usually referred to as Bababudan Dargah or the Datta Peetha. There is a reference to this shrine in the Imperial Gazetteer of 1887. Historical documents show that the Shah Khadri of the shrine was recognised by the Wodeyars of Mysore to be the administrator of the shrine. Yoginder Sikand, a scholar of South Asian Islam, has written several articles on the issue and has cited several Muslim and Hindu practices that make the shrine syncretic.
The Wakf Board’s attempt to take over the shrine led to competing claims on its status. The matter was first settled by the Chickmagalur District Court, which, in its judgment in 1980, said that the shrine belonged to both Hindus and Muslims and that it should be governed by the Muzrai Department. A series of legal battles took the issue to the High Court, which gave the Commissioner of Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments a brief to codify the rituals practised in the shrine before 1989.
His report describes the practices prevalent at the shrine, also mentioning some practices that were prevalent in Hindu temples, such as the breaking of coconuts. The only event involving a large gathering, as recorded by the Commissioner, was the urs (death anniversary) of Bababudan, held over three days in March. The Shah Khadri was recognised as someone who could appoint the daily priests and, indirectly, administer the shrine.
In the early 1990s, Datta Jayanthi was a small affair. However, after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, efforts to make a grand affair out of the event began to gather momentum. In the late 1990s, a Datta Mala event was introduced and, along with Datta Jayanthi, it began to attract considerable media attention. As these new rituals gained some public legitimacy, the Bababudan Dargah increasingly began to be known as the Datta Peetha, a process that involved considerable erasure of public memory. While a section of worshippers had always referred to the Dargah as the Datta Peetha, it did not connote, in any way, an exclusively Hindu temple.
After the death of the Shah Khadri in 1999, his son, who had clearly been nominated to the hereditary post several years earlier, was made a salaried employee of the Muzrai Department who could manage only the religious rituals. The administration of the shrine would be under the district administration. Thus, over the past couple of decades, the nature of the shrine has been completely changed under gradual pressure from the Sangh Parivar.
Members of the Sangh Parivar claim that the actual Bababudan Dargah is situated some 3 km away, which can be reached only by hard trekking. It is a place which local residents call Jannat Nagar. “To call the Datta Peetha a disputed shrine is wrong. The real Bababudan Dargah is situated in Nagenhalli village [Jannat Nagar],” said C.T. Ravi. A visit to the area shows that there are some graves of Muslim saints in this gorgeous valley surrounded by green hills and forests, but none of the local Muslims has known the place as the shrine of Bababudan.
The current Shah Khadri is in a difficult position. Apart from losing out on his hereditary right to manage the shrine, he has been deserted by local Muslims because of the increasing influence of a scripturalist understanding of Islam which does not give space to sacerdotalism. He is hemmed in by an increasingly aggressive administration, which over the past decade has demolished several ancestral properties near the cave-shrine. He is not consulted by the district administration on any proposed changes, such as the restoration project.
The KKSV has filed an urgent application in the Supreme Court, pointing out that construction work is already in full swing. It hopes that the court, recognising the various lapses of the district administration, will pass an interim order stopping the construction work.
Sadananda Gowda has no regrets about having participated in the “bhoomi puja” and has announced to the media that the idol of Dattatreya will be a part of the restored shrine. The political implications of this move are tremendous as the BJP has used this issue to mobilise serious support for itself in the 1990s and in the early part of this decade in Karnataka. Several political leaders of the BJP in the State, including C.T. Ravi, owe their rise to the way in which this issue was communalised.
In an aggressive speech in 2002, BJP leader Ananth Kumar referred to the shrine as the “Ayodhya of the South”.
Secular Ideals Go to Dogs: Left Run Govt of Kerala goes for Sharia Compliant Banking
Frontline
October 10-23, 2009
FINANCIAL SECTOR
Kerala shows the way
THE fact that there is a strong need for interest-free banking and also the means to establish it has been proved in Kerala where the CPI(M)-led government has decided to establish a Shariah-compliant financial institution by March 2010. This was announced by State Finance Minister Isaac Thomas recently. The institution will be started with a share capital of Rs.1,000 crore and the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation will have a share of 11 per cent in it. It will be gradually expanded to a full-fledged banking institution.
State Industries Secretary T. Balakrishnan recently told newspersons in Thiruvananthapuram that the government had commissioned Ernst & Young to give a feasibility report and that the institution would be set up on the basis of the recommendations of the report.
Ernst & Young pointed out in its report that interest money to the tune of Rs.5,000 crore could be lying unclaimed in various banks, as devout Muslims considered it ribaah, or usury, which is prohibited in Islam. Kerala has a high Muslim population, over 27 per cent, and receives over Rs.37,000 crore worth of remittances from the Gulf countries annually.
Purnima S. Tripathi
October 10-23, 2009
FINANCIAL SECTOR
Kerala shows the way
THE fact that there is a strong need for interest-free banking and also the means to establish it has been proved in Kerala where the CPI(M)-led government has decided to establish a Shariah-compliant financial institution by March 2010. This was announced by State Finance Minister Isaac Thomas recently. The institution will be started with a share capital of Rs.1,000 crore and the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation will have a share of 11 per cent in it. It will be gradually expanded to a full-fledged banking institution.
State Industries Secretary T. Balakrishnan recently told newspersons in Thiruvananthapuram that the government had commissioned Ernst & Young to give a feasibility report and that the institution would be set up on the basis of the recommendations of the report.
Ernst & Young pointed out in its report that interest money to the tune of Rs.5,000 crore could be lying unclaimed in various banks, as devout Muslims considered it ribaah, or usury, which is prohibited in Islam. Kerala has a high Muslim population, over 27 per cent, and receives over Rs.37,000 crore worth of remittances from the Gulf countries annually.
Purnima S. Tripathi
Hydel Projects in Uttrakhand: Objections by environmentalists may be well placed but they should take distance from the Hindu Right groups
The Tribune (Chandigarh), September 17, 2009
Faith interrupts power generation:
Right-wing Hindu groups and environmentalists are against hydro projects on the Ganga
by SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, September 16
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will find it increasingly difficult to decide the fate of the two stalled power projects, Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati phase-1 and 2 of the state government, to be built on the Bhagirathi upstream of Uttarkashi town following strong objections from Sangh Parivar affiliate - the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Ashok Singhal, international president of the VHP and the Ganga Raksha Manch, a body of Hindu saints, have decided to march towards the Lohari Nagpala power project being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on the Bhagirathi river if the work is not completely stopped on the project by Sharad Purnima which falls on October 3.
Singhal, who was in Dehradun last week, was candid in his demand for stoppage of all power projects.
He, in the presence of the Chief Minister, voiced his demand against any power project on the Ganga.
The Chief Minister could only nod in the affirmative in front of the VHP chief. Since Nishank comes from an RSS background and is not a political heavyweight, it is believed that he will toe the right wing Hindu line on the Ganga than have his own policy on power projects.
Even former Chief Minister Maj-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), who was much more powerful, had to stop work on the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects following an indefinite fast by Prof GD Agarwal, a noted environmentalist, in June 2008.
Professor Agarwala restarted his fast in January 2009 in protest against the construction of the Lohari Nagpala project built by the NTPC forcing the Union government to stop work.
With the Mahakumbh Mela starting in January 2010, the BJP state government headed by Chief Minister Nishank will be in no position to annoy the saints and sadhus who will be gathering in large numbers at Haridwar by this year-end.
Singhal said the announcement by the Prime Minister to declare the Ganga as the national river and the formation of the Ganga River Basin Authority comprising Chief Ministers of riparian states had no meaning unless the sanctity of the Ganga was maintained by stopping work on all hydroelectric projects being built on the river.
Amid all this, Uttarakhand finds itself at the crossroads on the issue of generation of hydropower from rivers, particularly the Ganga, as there is pressure from the right-wing Hindu groups as well as environmentalists.
The state wants to harness the hydro-power potential of its water bodies to make itself an “energy state” by allowing tapping of 20,000 MW of power in the next 10 years.
On the other hand, following a petition by environmentalists, the Nainital High Court has directed the newly formed Ganga Basin River Authority to decide the fate of the hydroelectric projects on the Bhagirathi.
The Uttarakhand government finds itself in a piquant situation on the important issue of speedy construction of hydroelectric projects that can bring prosperity to the state.
Politics has affected power projects earlier as well. The state government has had to abandon the Pala Maneri and Bharion Ghati hydroelectric projects under pressure from right-wing activists who demand that there should not be any power project on the Bhagirathi between Gangotri and Uttarkashi.
Cost overrun and inordinate delays have plagued the Lakhwar-Vyasi multi-purpose hydel project on the Yamuna near Dakpathar. The project will produce 420 MW of power on completion.
Vijay Bahuguna, MP, Tehri Garhwal, recently organised a bandh in Uttarkashi in protest against the decision of the Union government to stop work on the Lohari-Nagpala project built by the NTPC in February 2009 following the threat by environmentalist Professor Agarwal to resume his indefinite fast.
“Politics should not determine the fate of power projects that are essential for the development of our nascent state. The Chief Minister should come out with a policy on power projects,” said Bahuguna.
The Uttarakhand government had taken over the Lakhwar project from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) after work on the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects was stopped.
Singhal said the Ganga River Basin Authority should not be a tool of politics, but an autonomous body of sadhus, saints and eminent scientists.
He said since it was a question of faith of crores of Hindus, there should not be any activity that could spoil the sanctity of the Ganga.
He also announced the formation of a group of specialists to study the negative impact of hydroelectric projects. The group will give its report before October 3 to let the Ganga Raksha Manch decide about its march towards Lohari Nagpala project in Uttarkashi district.
Singhal added that the power needs of the country could be catered to through other methods like nuclear, solar or gas-based projects. Hence, there was no need to tamper with the Ganga by constructing hydroelectric projects.
Apart from right-wing Hindu groups, environmentalists are also up in arms against these big hydroelectric projects. Led by noted Gandhian Radha Behn, common people from various river valleys protested for over a year against the damage caused to flora and fauna and their own lives through these projects in the state last year.
“The existence of rivers, including the Ganga, is threatened by the 330 big, medium and small dams planned throughout the state.
“Not only are the rivers and their ecosystems in peril, but the lives and livelihood of hundreds of villages are bound to be affected," said Dr Ravi Chopra of the People’s Science Institute, a voluntary group campaigning for better management of rivers and their eco-systems.
Amid all this din, the state government seems completely confused.
Faith interrupts power generation:
Right-wing Hindu groups and environmentalists are against hydro projects on the Ganga
by SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, September 16
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will find it increasingly difficult to decide the fate of the two stalled power projects, Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati phase-1 and 2 of the state government, to be built on the Bhagirathi upstream of Uttarkashi town following strong objections from Sangh Parivar affiliate - the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Ashok Singhal, international president of the VHP and the Ganga Raksha Manch, a body of Hindu saints, have decided to march towards the Lohari Nagpala power project being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on the Bhagirathi river if the work is not completely stopped on the project by Sharad Purnima which falls on October 3.
Singhal, who was in Dehradun last week, was candid in his demand for stoppage of all power projects.
He, in the presence of the Chief Minister, voiced his demand against any power project on the Ganga.
The Chief Minister could only nod in the affirmative in front of the VHP chief. Since Nishank comes from an RSS background and is not a political heavyweight, it is believed that he will toe the right wing Hindu line on the Ganga than have his own policy on power projects.
Even former Chief Minister Maj-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), who was much more powerful, had to stop work on the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects following an indefinite fast by Prof GD Agarwal, a noted environmentalist, in June 2008.
Professor Agarwala restarted his fast in January 2009 in protest against the construction of the Lohari Nagpala project built by the NTPC forcing the Union government to stop work.
With the Mahakumbh Mela starting in January 2010, the BJP state government headed by Chief Minister Nishank will be in no position to annoy the saints and sadhus who will be gathering in large numbers at Haridwar by this year-end.
Singhal said the announcement by the Prime Minister to declare the Ganga as the national river and the formation of the Ganga River Basin Authority comprising Chief Ministers of riparian states had no meaning unless the sanctity of the Ganga was maintained by stopping work on all hydroelectric projects being built on the river.
Amid all this, Uttarakhand finds itself at the crossroads on the issue of generation of hydropower from rivers, particularly the Ganga, as there is pressure from the right-wing Hindu groups as well as environmentalists.
The state wants to harness the hydro-power potential of its water bodies to make itself an “energy state” by allowing tapping of 20,000 MW of power in the next 10 years.
On the other hand, following a petition by environmentalists, the Nainital High Court has directed the newly formed Ganga Basin River Authority to decide the fate of the hydroelectric projects on the Bhagirathi.
The Uttarakhand government finds itself in a piquant situation on the important issue of speedy construction of hydroelectric projects that can bring prosperity to the state.
Politics has affected power projects earlier as well. The state government has had to abandon the Pala Maneri and Bharion Ghati hydroelectric projects under pressure from right-wing activists who demand that there should not be any power project on the Bhagirathi between Gangotri and Uttarkashi.
Cost overrun and inordinate delays have plagued the Lakhwar-Vyasi multi-purpose hydel project on the Yamuna near Dakpathar. The project will produce 420 MW of power on completion.
Vijay Bahuguna, MP, Tehri Garhwal, recently organised a bandh in Uttarkashi in protest against the decision of the Union government to stop work on the Lohari-Nagpala project built by the NTPC in February 2009 following the threat by environmentalist Professor Agarwal to resume his indefinite fast.
“Politics should not determine the fate of power projects that are essential for the development of our nascent state. The Chief Minister should come out with a policy on power projects,” said Bahuguna.
The Uttarakhand government had taken over the Lakhwar project from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) after work on the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects was stopped.
Singhal said the Ganga River Basin Authority should not be a tool of politics, but an autonomous body of sadhus, saints and eminent scientists.
He said since it was a question of faith of crores of Hindus, there should not be any activity that could spoil the sanctity of the Ganga.
He also announced the formation of a group of specialists to study the negative impact of hydroelectric projects. The group will give its report before October 3 to let the Ganga Raksha Manch decide about its march towards Lohari Nagpala project in Uttarkashi district.
Singhal added that the power needs of the country could be catered to through other methods like nuclear, solar or gas-based projects. Hence, there was no need to tamper with the Ganga by constructing hydroelectric projects.
Apart from right-wing Hindu groups, environmentalists are also up in arms against these big hydroelectric projects. Led by noted Gandhian Radha Behn, common people from various river valleys protested for over a year against the damage caused to flora and fauna and their own lives through these projects in the state last year.
“The existence of rivers, including the Ganga, is threatened by the 330 big, medium and small dams planned throughout the state.
“Not only are the rivers and their ecosystems in peril, but the lives and livelihood of hundreds of villages are bound to be affected," said Dr Ravi Chopra of the People’s Science Institute, a voluntary group campaigning for better management of rivers and their eco-systems.
Amid all this din, the state government seems completely confused.
Shun Western Music and English! Retrograde demands of BJP and Samajwadi Party
The New Indian Express
06 October 2009
Editorial
Primitivism for political yield
Two recent manifestos issued by political parties reflect a retrograde trend which is typical of the Hindi heartland. Apart from their sectarianism, for which they are known, their declaration of intent underlines an aggressive opposition to any hint of modernism. Since their objective is to win hearts and minds, the curiously backward-looking outlook emphasises a belief that a promised retreat to primitivism can yield political dividends. Strangely, the BJP, which is regarded as a national party, is one of them. It is surprising, therefore, that its manifesto for the Haryana assembly elections promises to outlaw ‘western music’.
It is clear that the party believes that an expression of its aversion to firangi tunes will boost its prospects in Jat territory, which is not exactly known for cosmopolitanism. But the party does not seem to care that such condemnation of a form of western culture may restrict its appeal elsewhere, and especially among the younger generation. Apparently to hedge its bets, a spokesman clarified that it did not favour a blanket rejection of western music, but only the vulgarity associated with it. However, it is not the music which is vulgar, but the behaviour of those who misinterpret its liveliness. Besides, such music not only comprises rock n’ roll and its later-day innovations, but also classical compositions like Beethoven’s ninth symphony whose first impact has been compared to the opening of the gates of paradise.
If such views are ignored by the BJP, the reason perhaps is that it wants to revive the old equation of western culture with colonialism, which was thought to be politically useful immediately after Independence. It is also no secret that the party’s associates in the saffron brotherhood, like the VHP, are equally adamant in their opposition to pub culture, which is depicted as another aspect of the western lifestyle.
If western music is the target of the BJP in Haryana, English is the SP’s bete noire in UP. In addition to demanding a ban on it, the party wants to do away with computers. Again, the belief apparently is that a fairly large section of voters is not in favour of anything which reminds them of a world outside their immediate environs, where Hindi is the lingua franca and local folk songs are the only source of entertainment. Yet, how far this preference for backwardness will help them in the long run is open to question.
06 October 2009
Editorial
Primitivism for political yield
Two recent manifestos issued by political parties reflect a retrograde trend which is typical of the Hindi heartland. Apart from their sectarianism, for which they are known, their declaration of intent underlines an aggressive opposition to any hint of modernism. Since their objective is to win hearts and minds, the curiously backward-looking outlook emphasises a belief that a promised retreat to primitivism can yield political dividends. Strangely, the BJP, which is regarded as a national party, is one of them. It is surprising, therefore, that its manifesto for the Haryana assembly elections promises to outlaw ‘western music’.
It is clear that the party believes that an expression of its aversion to firangi tunes will boost its prospects in Jat territory, which is not exactly known for cosmopolitanism. But the party does not seem to care that such condemnation of a form of western culture may restrict its appeal elsewhere, and especially among the younger generation. Apparently to hedge its bets, a spokesman clarified that it did not favour a blanket rejection of western music, but only the vulgarity associated with it. However, it is not the music which is vulgar, but the behaviour of those who misinterpret its liveliness. Besides, such music not only comprises rock n’ roll and its later-day innovations, but also classical compositions like Beethoven’s ninth symphony whose first impact has been compared to the opening of the gates of paradise.
If such views are ignored by the BJP, the reason perhaps is that it wants to revive the old equation of western culture with colonialism, which was thought to be politically useful immediately after Independence. It is also no secret that the party’s associates in the saffron brotherhood, like the VHP, are equally adamant in their opposition to pub culture, which is depicted as another aspect of the western lifestyle.
If western music is the target of the BJP in Haryana, English is the SP’s bete noire in UP. In addition to demanding a ban on it, the party wants to do away with computers. Again, the belief apparently is that a fairly large section of voters is not in favour of anything which reminds them of a world outside their immediate environs, where Hindi is the lingua franca and local folk songs are the only source of entertainment. Yet, how far this preference for backwardness will help them in the long run is open to question.
Law Commission on Bigamy as cognisable (non-bailable) offence
The Telegraph, 16 September 2009
Two much!
If the Law Commission of India has its way, men who change their religion to commit bigamy will not go scot free any more, says Shabina Akhtar
When Rajesh Kumar moved into Ayesha Khanum’s apartment near Park Street after a whirlwind affair, it led to a lot of gossip. But when Kumar, who is married and has two children, changed his religion to Islam to marry Ayesha, his family and friends were shell shocked.
Kumar is not alone. Indian men regularly take recourse to changing their religion so that they can marry again without undergoing a legal divorce. Last year, Haryana politician Chander Mohan did this to marry his mistress Anuradha Bali. After absconding for a few days the two resurfaced as Chand Mohammad and Fiza, respectively. The couple had changed their religion to Islam and had got married at a mosque in Meerut. Evidently, Chander Mohan thought that as Chand Mohammad, he had every right to commit bigamy because the Muslim Personal Law allows it in the case of men.
Of course, since then, Chander Mohan’s, alias Chand Mohammad’s, second marriage has fallen apart. But the point is that men like Kumar and Chander Mohan regularly misuse their constitutional right to change their faith for the sole purpose of indulging in bigamy.
But that may not be so easy to do any more. The Law Commission of India recently recommended that all major matrimonial laws like the Hindu Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act and so on should have specific insertions that will make second marriages by conversion null and void.
In its report, the Commission recommends, “In the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, after Section 17 a new Section 17-A be inserted to the effect that a married person whose marriage is governed by this Act cannot marry again even after changing religion unless the first marriage is dissolved or declared null and void ... and if such a marriage is contracted it will be null and void and shall attract application of Sections 494-495 of the Indian Penal Code 1860.”
In other words, if the Law Commission’s recommendations come into effect, even if a man changes his religion to Islam, it will not make him immune to the punishment for bigamy.
Welcoming the recommendations, Justice Samaresh Banerjea, the first lokayukta of West Bengal, says, “There is already a Supreme Court verdict stating that marriages where conversion is used as a way to marry a second time are illegal. However, given its rampant violation, perhaps it is necessary to bring in a clear legislative reform by inserting certain provisions in all matrimonial law statutes of India.”
According to Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), bigamy is a non-cognisable and bailable offence. A person committing bigamy can be punished with a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Under Section 198 of the IPC, only the aggrieved person can complain to the police or the magistrate in case of bigamy. If the aggrieved person is the wife, then her father can also complain under Section 494 or 495 of the IPC.
Of course, the reality is that very few wives do complain against bigamous acts by their husband. The Mumbai film industry, for instance, is rife with actors and producers who have committed bigamy but their respective legal wives choose not to make formal complaints against them.
Says Kirti Singh, director of Women’s Legal Forum, New Delhi, “Most cases of bigamy go unregistered because very often women accept the situation and baulk at the idea of prosecuting their husbands. Besides, single and deserted women have a very poor status in our society. So if they are promised maintenance, usually women back out from registering a complaint or dragging the bigamous husband to court.”
Significantly, the Law Commission has also recommended that bigamy be made into a cognisable (non-bailable) offence. Says law expert Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, “The best thing about the Law Commission’s recommendation is that bigamy will become a cognisable and non-bailable offence. Now the law enforcement authorities are bound to take action if an aggrieved wife lodges a complaint with the local police station.”
Many legal experts feel, however, that the Law Commission missed an opportunity here to recommend that complaints of bigamy can come in not just from the wife but also from neighbours and other family members. Justice Banerjea, for instance, says that the Commission could have taken a leaf out of the Dowry Act (Section 498A of the IPC) and recommended that locals and neighbours or activists can also raise the alarm if they come to know of bigamy being committed. “I suggest this because a lot of women just don’t have it in them to come out and protest,” he says.
But nearly everyone agrees that the government should immediately act upon the Commission’s suggestion and strip would-be bigamists of the fig leaf of converting to Islam. As early as 1988 Justice Bhaskar Rao of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had severely criticised the practice of bigamy by conversion. He had observed that the old rule that the motive behind religious conversions could never be questioned had to be rejected at least in cases of a conversion that was associated with bigamy.
“The motive behind such conversions is quite clear. It is definitely not for the love of the religion. They are just hiding behind the religion to protect themselves from the consequences of their wrongdoing,” says Calcutta High Court counsel Amjad Ali Sardar.
Muslim religious leaders too decry this kind of conversions. “Islam does not approve of a conversion that is used for the purpose of indulging in polygamy. According to the Prophet, the effect of an action is governed by its underlying intention. So such conversions definitely have a doubtful religious validity,” says Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, Shariat expert and general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Two much!
If the Law Commission of India has its way, men who change their religion to commit bigamy will not go scot free any more, says Shabina Akhtar
When Rajesh Kumar moved into Ayesha Khanum’s apartment near Park Street after a whirlwind affair, it led to a lot of gossip. But when Kumar, who is married and has two children, changed his religion to Islam to marry Ayesha, his family and friends were shell shocked.
Kumar is not alone. Indian men regularly take recourse to changing their religion so that they can marry again without undergoing a legal divorce. Last year, Haryana politician Chander Mohan did this to marry his mistress Anuradha Bali. After absconding for a few days the two resurfaced as Chand Mohammad and Fiza, respectively. The couple had changed their religion to Islam and had got married at a mosque in Meerut. Evidently, Chander Mohan thought that as Chand Mohammad, he had every right to commit bigamy because the Muslim Personal Law allows it in the case of men.
Of course, since then, Chander Mohan’s, alias Chand Mohammad’s, second marriage has fallen apart. But the point is that men like Kumar and Chander Mohan regularly misuse their constitutional right to change their faith for the sole purpose of indulging in bigamy.
But that may not be so easy to do any more. The Law Commission of India recently recommended that all major matrimonial laws like the Hindu Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act and so on should have specific insertions that will make second marriages by conversion null and void.
In its report, the Commission recommends, “In the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, after Section 17 a new Section 17-A be inserted to the effect that a married person whose marriage is governed by this Act cannot marry again even after changing religion unless the first marriage is dissolved or declared null and void ... and if such a marriage is contracted it will be null and void and shall attract application of Sections 494-495 of the Indian Penal Code 1860.”
In other words, if the Law Commission’s recommendations come into effect, even if a man changes his religion to Islam, it will not make him immune to the punishment for bigamy.
Welcoming the recommendations, Justice Samaresh Banerjea, the first lokayukta of West Bengal, says, “There is already a Supreme Court verdict stating that marriages where conversion is used as a way to marry a second time are illegal. However, given its rampant violation, perhaps it is necessary to bring in a clear legislative reform by inserting certain provisions in all matrimonial law statutes of India.”
According to Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), bigamy is a non-cognisable and bailable offence. A person committing bigamy can be punished with a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Under Section 198 of the IPC, only the aggrieved person can complain to the police or the magistrate in case of bigamy. If the aggrieved person is the wife, then her father can also complain under Section 494 or 495 of the IPC.
Of course, the reality is that very few wives do complain against bigamous acts by their husband. The Mumbai film industry, for instance, is rife with actors and producers who have committed bigamy but their respective legal wives choose not to make formal complaints against them.
Says Kirti Singh, director of Women’s Legal Forum, New Delhi, “Most cases of bigamy go unregistered because very often women accept the situation and baulk at the idea of prosecuting their husbands. Besides, single and deserted women have a very poor status in our society. So if they are promised maintenance, usually women back out from registering a complaint or dragging the bigamous husband to court.”
Significantly, the Law Commission has also recommended that bigamy be made into a cognisable (non-bailable) offence. Says law expert Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, “The best thing about the Law Commission’s recommendation is that bigamy will become a cognisable and non-bailable offence. Now the law enforcement authorities are bound to take action if an aggrieved wife lodges a complaint with the local police station.”
Many legal experts feel, however, that the Law Commission missed an opportunity here to recommend that complaints of bigamy can come in not just from the wife but also from neighbours and other family members. Justice Banerjea, for instance, says that the Commission could have taken a leaf out of the Dowry Act (Section 498A of the IPC) and recommended that locals and neighbours or activists can also raise the alarm if they come to know of bigamy being committed. “I suggest this because a lot of women just don’t have it in them to come out and protest,” he says.
But nearly everyone agrees that the government should immediately act upon the Commission’s suggestion and strip would-be bigamists of the fig leaf of converting to Islam. As early as 1988 Justice Bhaskar Rao of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had severely criticised the practice of bigamy by conversion. He had observed that the old rule that the motive behind religious conversions could never be questioned had to be rejected at least in cases of a conversion that was associated with bigamy.
“The motive behind such conversions is quite clear. It is definitely not for the love of the religion. They are just hiding behind the religion to protect themselves from the consequences of their wrongdoing,” says Calcutta High Court counsel Amjad Ali Sardar.
Muslim religious leaders too decry this kind of conversions. “Islam does not approve of a conversion that is used for the purpose of indulging in polygamy. According to the Prophet, the effect of an action is governed by its underlying intention. So such conversions definitely have a doubtful religious validity,” says Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, Shariat expert and general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
October 07, 2009
Key Recommendations from Anhad's National Meet on Status of Muslims
National Meet on the Status of Muslims in Contemporary India
Delhi 3 to 5 October 2009
A national meet was organised on the theme ‘What it Means to be a Muslim in India Today’ by Anhad in collaboration with Siasat and other organisations Delhi from 3 to 5 October 09. A large number of individuals as well as representatives of organisations participated and spoke about their experiences and problems late into the evenings. A detailed report is under preparation. However, this is a very brief summary of some of the major findings and recommendations that emerged from the hearings.
Overall
The predominant finding of the meet was that there is an intense, almost universal sentiment of fear and growing despair among Muslim citizens of the country. Many of those who testified in the meet went so far as to declare that they felt reduced to second class citizenship. They shared their mounting disillusionment with all institutions of governance, and more so with the police and judiciary, as well as with political parties and to some extent the media.
There is on the one hand the constant dread of being profiled as a terrorist, or of a loved one being so profiled, with the attendant fears of illegal and prolonged detention, denial of bail, torture, unfair and biased investigation and trial, and extra-judicial killings. There is on the other hand the lived experience of day to day discrimination, in education, employment, housing and public services, which entrap the community in hopeless conditions of poverty and want. This is fostered in a situation of pervasive communal prejudice in all institutions of the state, especially the police, civil administration and judiciary; and also the political leadership of almost all parties; large segments of the print and visual media; and the middle classes, and the systematic manufacture of hate and divide by communal organisations.
It was repeatedly emphasised that this is not simply a problem of victimhood of or injustice to a particular community. It is a grave challenge to the basic values of the Indian Constitution, including democracy, secularism, fraternity and the rule of law.
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.anhadin.net/article89.html
Delhi 3 to 5 October 2009
A national meet was organised on the theme ‘What it Means to be a Muslim in India Today’ by Anhad in collaboration with Siasat and other organisations Delhi from 3 to 5 October 09. A large number of individuals as well as representatives of organisations participated and spoke about their experiences and problems late into the evenings. A detailed report is under preparation. However, this is a very brief summary of some of the major findings and recommendations that emerged from the hearings.
Overall
The predominant finding of the meet was that there is an intense, almost universal sentiment of fear and growing despair among Muslim citizens of the country. Many of those who testified in the meet went so far as to declare that they felt reduced to second class citizenship. They shared their mounting disillusionment with all institutions of governance, and more so with the police and judiciary, as well as with political parties and to some extent the media.
There is on the one hand the constant dread of being profiled as a terrorist, or of a loved one being so profiled, with the attendant fears of illegal and prolonged detention, denial of bail, torture, unfair and biased investigation and trial, and extra-judicial killings. There is on the other hand the lived experience of day to day discrimination, in education, employment, housing and public services, which entrap the community in hopeless conditions of poverty and want. This is fostered in a situation of pervasive communal prejudice in all institutions of the state, especially the police, civil administration and judiciary; and also the political leadership of almost all parties; large segments of the print and visual media; and the middle classes, and the systematic manufacture of hate and divide by communal organisations.
It was repeatedly emphasised that this is not simply a problem of victimhood of or injustice to a particular community. It is a grave challenge to the basic values of the Indian Constitution, including democracy, secularism, fraternity and the rule of law.
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.anhadin.net/article89.html
Bigamy, Conversion and Women's Rights In India
Deepali Gaur Singh's blog
by Deepali Gaur Singh (RH Reality Check, Asia, October 5, 2009)
A reasonably popular TV show in India has a highly respected retired senior police officer holding an informal civil court that attempts to dispense with disputes - mostly matrimonial - before they find their way into the local courts and take on legal ramifications. A noble cause, nevertheless, had the normally unflappable retired civil servant fly into a fury during one of the episodes. The reason - she had already tired of the innumerable times she had to explain to the men that their wives were not their property to dispense with as and when they felt the need. The latest report and controversy surrounding the bigamy law hinges on the very same discourse – the dispensability of one wife for another and the ease with which more and more men and even couples have been able to circumvent the restrictions of Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code.
Bigamy is outlawed in India with the exception of the Muslim minority community which is governed by its own personal/ family law. What this has, in effect, meant is that even non-Muslim men have been able to use the method of quick-fix conversions to undermine the law. From revered film stars to powerful politicians, the professional elite to the educated populace, almost everyone has milked the benefits of this exception made for Muslim personal law. While the last conducted survey on the subject as far back as 1974 points to the prevalence of the practice more commonly amongst the tribal’s of the country, even between the Hindu and Muslim communities it is the former who showed higher incidence (at 5.8% as opposed to 5.6 %) which when converted to actual numbers with reference to the actual strength of both populations is a substantial difference.
The Supreme Court of the country had already made a very clear judgment in 1995 in what is famously called the Sarla Mudgal vs. the Union of India case whereby a conversion to Islam would not protect a man from the bigamy law if the first marriage was prior to his conversion and as a non-Muslim. It is on the basis of this judgment and another in 2000 that the law commission filed a report seeking for amendments in the family law under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) as well as other religious personal laws.
While the Muslim clergy have been quick to come to the defense of bigamy and polygamy within Muslim law the truth is that, in practice, even the Muslim men do not use bigamy and polygamy in the spirit that it was meant to be. Many of the religious clergy have been quick to explain the beginnings of the practice - at a time of war when women – widows and orphans – outnumbered men necessitating such a practice. The point that seems to be missed is that the practice was introduced as an adaptation to the circumstances. Perhaps it is time for this practice to be reviewed according to the present circumstances.
The law commission, on its part, has been on the defensive as experience has shown that any attempts at revisions in laws, particularly those pertaining to women with respect to religious groups have always been a volatile issue. It has been quick to reassure the religious leaders that it does not intend to change any laws with relation to bigamy within the Muslim personal law and only wants insertions that would prevent the misuse of conversions to break a law. But conversions-for-marriage do not make a significant number of the bigamy cases. It is the use of this method by the powerful elite of the country that makes salacious media events out of these episodes only to shift focus away from women who actually bear the consequences of such alliances. In many parts of the country it is seen as a male prerogative and with tacit social acceptance many do not even feel the need to use conversion’s flimsy cloak of legality.
Multiple marriages have socially and legally punished women rather than men. The Bigamy Law has been under cloud for some time especially since the Supreme Court passed a decision that women in substantially long live-in relationships should be given the same rights as a legally wedded wife. This was to protect the second wife who under the bigamy law loses all rights since the marriage is considered null and void in the absence of the dissolution of the former. Besides, in the event of the death of the spouse the family often disinherited them since the marriage would not be legally recognized. And with uneducated women very often duped into such marriages or unable to get out of them for fear of ostracism, social boycott and stigma continuing to live within such a legally tenuous alliance, this was the protection that the courts were offering.
On the flip side men simply deserted the first wife to live with the next with no support or maintenance which a Muslim wife is eligible to (but might not necessarily get). Bigamists often go scot free because courts can only act on a formal complaint, the onus of which lies on the wife. Thus, most cases of bigamy often go unregistered because women fear stigmatization for prosecuting their own husbands. Besides, single and deserted women have a very poor status in our society. Both the instances of the SC decision - of awarding women in live-in relationships the status of a wife and of capping conversions-for-marriage - stems from these situations that women find themselves in.
But conversions are merely a symptom of a much larger problem that exists, irrespective of religious affiliations, in communities which see women as either commodities or unequal entities in the social hierarchy. Neither is bigamy common only among the Muslim community and nor is there enough evidence to suggest that every Muslim man who enters a bigamous relationship does ‘equal’ justice – by way of social and legal rights - to all his spouses as stipulated by their personal law. Most of the times the women are simply deserted, left to fend for themselves and their children. The irony is that despite the fact that progressive groups both within and outside Muslim society in India do not favor bigamy, religious leaders continue to block legislative reform. There have been instances of demands that Indian Muslim girls be exempted from the provisions of the law restraining child marriage. And it is against this background that there once again lies the potential of the issue trickling down to one of religious sensitivities over women’s rights.
by Deepali Gaur Singh (RH Reality Check, Asia, October 5, 2009)
A reasonably popular TV show in India has a highly respected retired senior police officer holding an informal civil court that attempts to dispense with disputes - mostly matrimonial - before they find their way into the local courts and take on legal ramifications. A noble cause, nevertheless, had the normally unflappable retired civil servant fly into a fury during one of the episodes. The reason - she had already tired of the innumerable times she had to explain to the men that their wives were not their property to dispense with as and when they felt the need. The latest report and controversy surrounding the bigamy law hinges on the very same discourse – the dispensability of one wife for another and the ease with which more and more men and even couples have been able to circumvent the restrictions of Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code.
Bigamy is outlawed in India with the exception of the Muslim minority community which is governed by its own personal/ family law. What this has, in effect, meant is that even non-Muslim men have been able to use the method of quick-fix conversions to undermine the law. From revered film stars to powerful politicians, the professional elite to the educated populace, almost everyone has milked the benefits of this exception made for Muslim personal law. While the last conducted survey on the subject as far back as 1974 points to the prevalence of the practice more commonly amongst the tribal’s of the country, even between the Hindu and Muslim communities it is the former who showed higher incidence (at 5.8% as opposed to 5.6 %) which when converted to actual numbers with reference to the actual strength of both populations is a substantial difference.
The Supreme Court of the country had already made a very clear judgment in 1995 in what is famously called the Sarla Mudgal vs. the Union of India case whereby a conversion to Islam would not protect a man from the bigamy law if the first marriage was prior to his conversion and as a non-Muslim. It is on the basis of this judgment and another in 2000 that the law commission filed a report seeking for amendments in the family law under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) as well as other religious personal laws.
While the Muslim clergy have been quick to come to the defense of bigamy and polygamy within Muslim law the truth is that, in practice, even the Muslim men do not use bigamy and polygamy in the spirit that it was meant to be. Many of the religious clergy have been quick to explain the beginnings of the practice - at a time of war when women – widows and orphans – outnumbered men necessitating such a practice. The point that seems to be missed is that the practice was introduced as an adaptation to the circumstances. Perhaps it is time for this practice to be reviewed according to the present circumstances.
The law commission, on its part, has been on the defensive as experience has shown that any attempts at revisions in laws, particularly those pertaining to women with respect to religious groups have always been a volatile issue. It has been quick to reassure the religious leaders that it does not intend to change any laws with relation to bigamy within the Muslim personal law and only wants insertions that would prevent the misuse of conversions to break a law. But conversions-for-marriage do not make a significant number of the bigamy cases. It is the use of this method by the powerful elite of the country that makes salacious media events out of these episodes only to shift focus away from women who actually bear the consequences of such alliances. In many parts of the country it is seen as a male prerogative and with tacit social acceptance many do not even feel the need to use conversion’s flimsy cloak of legality.
Multiple marriages have socially and legally punished women rather than men. The Bigamy Law has been under cloud for some time especially since the Supreme Court passed a decision that women in substantially long live-in relationships should be given the same rights as a legally wedded wife. This was to protect the second wife who under the bigamy law loses all rights since the marriage is considered null and void in the absence of the dissolution of the former. Besides, in the event of the death of the spouse the family often disinherited them since the marriage would not be legally recognized. And with uneducated women very often duped into such marriages or unable to get out of them for fear of ostracism, social boycott and stigma continuing to live within such a legally tenuous alliance, this was the protection that the courts were offering.
On the flip side men simply deserted the first wife to live with the next with no support or maintenance which a Muslim wife is eligible to (but might not necessarily get). Bigamists often go scot free because courts can only act on a formal complaint, the onus of which lies on the wife. Thus, most cases of bigamy often go unregistered because women fear stigmatization for prosecuting their own husbands. Besides, single and deserted women have a very poor status in our society. Both the instances of the SC decision - of awarding women in live-in relationships the status of a wife and of capping conversions-for-marriage - stems from these situations that women find themselves in.
But conversions are merely a symptom of a much larger problem that exists, irrespective of religious affiliations, in communities which see women as either commodities or unequal entities in the social hierarchy. Neither is bigamy common only among the Muslim community and nor is there enough evidence to suggest that every Muslim man who enters a bigamous relationship does ‘equal’ justice – by way of social and legal rights - to all his spouses as stipulated by their personal law. Most of the times the women are simply deserted, left to fend for themselves and their children. The irony is that despite the fact that progressive groups both within and outside Muslim society in India do not favor bigamy, religious leaders continue to block legislative reform. There have been instances of demands that Indian Muslim girls be exempted from the provisions of the law restraining child marriage. And it is against this background that there once again lies the potential of the issue trickling down to one of religious sensitivities over women’s rights.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
