From The Times of India
by Manoj Mitta, TNN, Apr 25, 2010, 04.28am IST
NEW DELHI: In what is possibly the first documentary evidence placed before the Supreme Court pertaining to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, activist Teesta Setalvad on Saturday pointed out 15 calls between his office and Ahmedabad police commissioner P C Pande on the first and worst day of the post-Godhra killings.
Those 15 calls were among the 302 made from or received on Pande’s mobile phone on February 28, 2002, Setalvad disclosed in an affidavit before the apex court on the basis of an analysis of the phone records obtained from the Nanavati Commission.
The significance of those 15 calls involving Modi’s office is that they could, as Setalvad said, be responsible for the errors of omission and commission by the Ahmedabad police in the two largest massacres that took place that day at Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patiya, both within 5 km from Pande’s office.
For, Pande’s mobile phone records also showed that, despite the bandh called by VHP in Ahmedabad and the eruption of large-scale violence, he had not stepped out of his office the whole day.
The break-up of Pande’s 15 phone conversations with the CM’s office are as follows: five with Modi’s PA Tanmay Mehta, two with his OSD Sanjay Bhavsar, seven with his additional principal secretary Anil Mukhim and one with his PA A P Patel.
Similarly, phone records showed that Shivanand Jha, who was then Pande’s No 2 and is now a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), had also not stepped out of the Ahmedabad police headquarters on that fateful day.
Responding to an affidavit filed last week against her by the Gujarat government, Setalvad came up with such analysis of the available data to convey to the Supreme Court “the extent and depth of concealment” by the SIT while dealing with eight major post-Godhra riot cases, including Gulbarg and Naroda Patiya.
On behalf of the victims, Setalvad also opposed SIT chairman R K Raghavan’s letter earlier this month requesting the apex court to reconsider its decision to keep Jha and another member Geeta Johri out of these investigations.
The apex court had ordered the exclusion of Jha because he is one of the 63 persons named as accused in victim Zakia Jafri’s complaint, which is being probed by the SIT. In the case of Johri, her continuance in the SIT was found untenable because of the strictures passed on her in January by the Supreme Court in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case on the ground of concealment of evidence.
In another major disclosure, the phone record analysis indicated that Pande had spoken to joint commissioner of police M K Tandon six times during the critical period when the latter was present at Gulbarg Society and the mob was growing restive. Though Tandon was accompanied by “striking force” equipped to disperse a riotous mob, he left Gulbarg Society without taking any corrective action and his departure led to the massacre in which 69 persons, including former Congress MP and Zakia’s husband Ahsan Jafri, were massacred.
As regards the allegation made by the Gujarat government that she had been “tutoring” witnesses, Setalvad pointed out the sheer improbability of it as 183 witnesses have deposed so far in the ongoing trial in the eight post-Godhra cases entrusted to the SIT spread across Gujarat. All those witnesses, barring two in the British national case and one in the Gulbarg case, have identified the accused and testified to the negligence of the police.
The trial in the Gulbarg case was stayed last month by the Supreme Court after the special public prosecutor R K Shah had resigned accusing the trial judge and the SIT of being soft on the accused. Having questioned Modi last month, the SIT is due to submit its report on Zakia Jafri’s complaint by April-end.
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April 27, 2010
[2010] Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes
From: The Economic and Political Weekly, VOL 45 No. 17 April 24 - April 30, 2010
Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes
By a Correspondent
The communal violence in Hyderabad in early April was the result of decades of abandonment of the Old City and its people by secular parties and the almost complete neglect of basic administration. The Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen or the Majlis party, which has been strengthened by the communal politics of other parties, is today helping to revive Hindu communalism through its own politics of keeping religious divides alive. Establishing a good and impartial administration and opening up the space for secular politics is the only way to break out of this trap.
For the Old City of Hyderabad, har- bouring rabble-rousing fundamen- talist elements on both sides of the religious divide, communal riots come as no surprise. But what makes the latest bout of riots between Hindus and Muslims somewhat different is the asinine "reason" behind it - the tying of buntings and flags across streets.
The Nizam's Legacy
Squabbling over such a petty issue is a sign of the changed times and the tenuous relations between the two communities of a city otherwise known for its legendary "ganga-jamni tehzeeb" (cosmopolitan cul- ture) and communal harmony for most part of its pre-independence history of 358 years, though uninterruptedly ruled by Muslim kings. The city itself, according to a legend, was founded on the basis of a Muslim-Hindu marriage between the Golconda ruler, Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah and his beloved, Bhagmathi (who was given the name Hyder Mahal). As late as the 20th century, the fifth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahabub Ali Khan had no problems applying a tilak on his forehead and performing puja to "propitiate" the Musi when it was in spate in 1908.
What then has gone wrong in the recent past?
The growing animosity seen now has historical reasons dating back to the tur- bulent period of the late 1940s when the seventh Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was un- able to reconcile himself to a new develop- ing situation where people, like in other parts of the nation, struggled for democ- racy, freedom and liberation from his rule. Resisting merger with the Indian Union, he became so desperate to hold on to power that he tried to align with the newly created Pakistan, alternatively spoke of "Azad" (Independent) Hyderabad, encour- aged a type of militia - the Razakars - to unleash a reign of terror, even while suppressing the unique communist-led peasant revolt now known as the Telangana armed struggle.
Whatever good the Nizam had done for the Hyderabad State was lost in these few years ending September 1948, when he finally had to surrender to the govern- ment of India. Atrocities committed by his forces and the Razakars have left behind deep scars in the minds of Hindu popula- tions who, while constituting the majority, had to bear the brunt of this communal violence. No surprise then that the Majlis- e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Majlis), a post- independence offshoot of the Razakars, has always been seen with suspicion by the Hindus, and largely explains the growth of organisations like the Arya Sa- maj first, and later, the Rashtriya Swayam- sevak Sangh (RSS), Jana Sangh and now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Majlis continues to feel that it is the true inheritor of the Nizam's ruling legacy and harps on how the Muslims, who were ruling the country for well over 700 years, have been reduced to the status of paupers by consecutive governments and their policies. Muslims in the Old City, who live in abysmal poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, are made to believe that they were born to rule, decades after the demise of the monarchy. Much like a clone of the BJP, the party's main campaign plank of exclusive and divisive politics has only helped communal polarisation in the city. This politics continues though the mantle of leadership has passed on from Salahuddin Owaisi to his son, Asaddudin Owaisi, who is a young barrister from Lincoln's Inn, UK.
The Uses of Riots
Significantly, the Majlis could hardly make any electoral impact during the first two decades after the Hyderabad State was liberated and the secular parties like the Congress and the Communist Party of India got most of the votes and seats from the Old City of Hyderabad in both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections. Neither the Majlis nor the saffron brigade were popular. The year 1978 was a major turning point in this, when the rape of a Muslim woman by policemen and death of her husband in a police station sparked off communal riots and ever since there have been a series of riots, the most serious being in 1990 when over 300 people lost their lives.
Riots in Hyderabad have also often been used for political purposes, as in August 1984 when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, who became chief minister after removing N T Rama Rao, faced a trust vote in the assembly. Bhaskara Rao used the riots and the resultant curfew to iso- late the Legislative Assembly and the leg- islators and thus ensure that he won the vote of confidence. Even in 1990, the then Chief Minister, Marri Chenna Reddy went on record in the assembly to blame a group within the Congress for triggering riots to dislodge him, indirectly hinting at Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a faction leader within the party then. Chenna Reddy was also implicated in the RSS efforts, in the late 1970s, to initiate Vinayak Chaturthi public processions in Hyderabad. He not only formally received this procession as chief minister, but also two important landmarks of the city, Mozamjahi market and Hussainsagar lake, were renamed "Vinayak Chowk" and "Vinayak Sagar" for the duration of this festival.
Political machinations apart, some- where down the line, the mainstream secular parties gave up the fight and passed on the mantle of the Old City of Hyderabad to the Majlis and the BJP. This process was accentuated with the polari- sation of the polity sparked off by the emotive Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir row. For some time it was an equal battle, with both the communal parties sharing the assembly seats from the Old City. With the Ram Mandir issue drying up, the BJP lost out and it is the Majlis all the way now winning all the seven possible seats encompassing the Old City.
Show of Strength
Yet, the Majlis seems dissatisfied, surpris- ing its ardent secular supporters who be- lieve that in the given circumstances, it is the best bet for Muslims. Otherwise there appears no reason why a party which had won so handsomely in the recent elections should resort to such crass politics of com- munity assertion through stringing flags and buntings on streets for an event (Milad ul Nabi) which is not considered a public festival, even in the holy land of Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim intellectuals of the city were aghast to see the unprece- dented, ugly, exhibitionism of religion,
similar to the equally condemnable, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The present Majlis- inspired Milad ul Nabi celebrations began on 27 February and it went on till 28 March when trouble broke out. Green religious banners and posters occupied every inch of space, sufficient to provoke the Hindu organisations into action.
It was as if the Hindu organisations were waiting for the opportune moment to show off their own strengths and used the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi (30 March) to do precisely this by replac- ing the green flags and buntings with saffron ones of similar dimensions. As with Milad ul Nabi, Hyderabad has had no previous history of public celebration of Hanuman Jayanthi, and it was clear that the hawks among the Hindus, with help from the saffron brigade, wanted to pay the Majlis in the same coin and show their own street strength. It led to avoidable tension, battle of words, scuffle and blood- letting, that left three dead and scores injured, for a "cause" that was so silly.
Majlis Party insiders say the extended festivities were consciously organised and funded, essentially to counter the Jamaat- e-Islami's rally organised a month ago to show the support of Muslims for Telanga- na. The Majlis, which has taken the stand that formation of Telangana would put the Muslims of the region at risk, wanted to show its dominance of the Muslims and its strength in the city.
The communal mobilisation by the Majlis, using Milad ul Nabi as an excuse, looked odd at a time when the BJP had become an almost spent force, and the Majlis itself has been able to expand its base both in votes and seats. Apart from making it a show of strength, there is a suspicion that the mobilisation was also intended to create a sense of fear and insecurity among Hindus living in the Old City, who have now been reduced to a minority in these areas with the hope that this would trig- ger their outmigration as in the past with communal riots.
There is now a feeling among many observers that the Majlis, by setting off a chain of provocative incidents in the Old City, has unnecessarily put the Muslims living in the newer parts of Hyderabad at risk. More importantly, it is now apparent that, perhaps unwittingly, their actions have had the effect of breathing life into an almost dead BJP. For, within hours of the incidents of stone pelting in Old City, a spate of attacks on Muslim properties in the new city, by young men participating in the Hanuman Jayanthi procession of the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Vahini (which were surprisingly allowed by the police even though prohibitory orders had been imposed), were reported.
If the Majlis strategy of mobilisation was politically wrong, it was criticised for other reasons too. This mobilisation of the community was not done for demanding educational facilities, political empower- ment or other social issues relevant to the minority community, like fighting against instances of poor Muslim girls being given in marriage to old Arab sheikhs. This ac- tion of the Majlis has strengthened the perception that it continues to keep the community under the spell of religion, wallowing in the past glory of being a ruling class, yet ignorant, illiterate and poverty-stricken in the present. That such a political strategy apes the BJP by banking on polarisation appears obvious. What is different is that the BJP's support- base constitutes a minority within the Hindu community, whereas it seems that the Majlis sway on Muslims in Hyderabad is almost complete, at least at the time of elections.
The large Muslim population of Hyderabad (42% in the 2001 Census) in- deed needs proper representation in both the legislative assembly and the Parliament. But the question arises, whether such representation should only be through a party which refuses to move beyond reli- gious agendas, to the exclusion of other issues afflicting the community. Is it not time for the Majlis, a party which has been there in the political arena for five decades and made more than its presence felt, to reinvent itself in tune with the changed times and prepare the community to face new challenges?
The Majlis has indeed set up a string of medical and engineering colleges in the name of minorities, but for many years it gave a majority of the seats to non-Muslim students, by accepting huge donations. Their defence then was that there were not enough Muslim candidates for these seats. But that merely begged the question. How could there be enough candidates for medical and engineering colleges when neither the state nor the Majlis had done anything to establish basic schools and colleges for Muslims? In fact, many Muslims have themselves found fault with Majlis' "top down ap- proach" of starting high level professional colleges while neglecting basic education. They allege that this was due to monetary considerations, professional colleges giv- ing a profit while basic schools providing none. There have been many cases where meritorious Muslim students have had to wage a battle to ensure their admission into these colleges.
With Majlis deeply entrenched in the political and public spaces of the Old City, secular parties as well as the government seem to have simply withdrawn from there. Any attempt made by secular par- ties to enter this part of the city has been met with stiff resistance from the Majlis and its cadre. Making the Old City its fief- dom, it does not allow even an alternative Muslim party to emerge, mounting physi- cal attacks on all those who threaten their leadership. Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Siasat, an established Urdu daily, too was not spared when he contested the Hydera- bad parliamentary seat with the backing of many secular parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also made sincere efforts to reach out to the people in the Old City, with its Rajya Sabha MP, P Madhu even learning Urdu, but that too proved largely unsuccessful in the face of Majlis' opposition. He was targeted and attacked repeatedly. Far from making any attempt to bring about visible changes, it appears as if the Congress and its government have left the political space of the Old City to the Majlis, in return for (not so) covert help during elections.
Administrative Neglect
Like the communal divide, administrative neglect of the Old City has a history. What is termed the Old City of Hyderabad was its seat of government and political power for centuries. The first shifts began in the pre-independence era itself with the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, himself shifting seat of administration from Purani Haveli in the Old City to King Kothi palace in the new one north of the Musi river. Despite the fact that Osman Ali Khan brought some of the top city planners and engineers, in- cluding M Visvesvaraya, to overhaul the Old City's water supply and sewerage sys- tem, plan residential colonies, besides putting up scores of buildings for public utilities, all in the 1930s, the shift from the Old City to the new city began with the nawabs of the Nizam too following him.
The neglect continued after independ- ence. There appears to have been, in the post-independence rulers, a feeling that the Old City deserved its neglect for the wrongs done by the rulers of the immediate past in pursuing communal policies. There was never this realisation that people who lived there were being unfairly punished for the follies of their rulers. The Municipal Corpo- ration of Hyderabad was shifted and then the Police Commissioner's Office. Recent- ly, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh too has made an appeal to the government for alternate accommodation in the new city.
Whatever importance the Old City still had, was lost further after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. For people who migrated from other regions of this new state, the Old City was a culture shock. Telugus of the Old City spoke more Urdu than their "own language", wore sherwani with flair and showed a marked weakness for biryani! The alienation was complete, as the new democratically elect- ed rulers after 1956, thought that the way of governing the Old City was to follow a policy of benign neglect at best and one of active deprivation at worst. At one time
there was this contemptuous suggestion that the entire Old City should be razed to the ground and a new one built in its stead.
As a corollary of this shift in political lo- cus, governance and policing too have taken a backseat in the Old City. Virtually all open spaces stand occupied by Majlis' cadre, while a search for relocating dilapi- dated government school buildings proves futile. There is no respect for rule of law. Much like in the newer parts of the city, where Congress and BJP have consciously allowed their cadre to encroach public lands, it is Majlis in Old City. Quite
often it is unsocial elements who run shops and put up carts on the encroached road space creating problems for free flow of traffic as well as for law and order. With regular income assured, they come in handy for political parties during elections as well as riots. They grow up, often, to become municipal corporators, MLAs and MPs. For all practical purposes, the decay- ing Old City has been left to rot and dete- riorate, completing the process of ghettoi- sation - a fertile ground for any trouble, communal or otherwise. All it requires is a spark, or a flag as recent events show.
Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes
By a Correspondent
The communal violence in Hyderabad in early April was the result of decades of abandonment of the Old City and its people by secular parties and the almost complete neglect of basic administration. The Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen or the Majlis party, which has been strengthened by the communal politics of other parties, is today helping to revive Hindu communalism through its own politics of keeping religious divides alive. Establishing a good and impartial administration and opening up the space for secular politics is the only way to break out of this trap.
For the Old City of Hyderabad, har- bouring rabble-rousing fundamen- talist elements on both sides of the religious divide, communal riots come as no surprise. But what makes the latest bout of riots between Hindus and Muslims somewhat different is the asinine "reason" behind it - the tying of buntings and flags across streets.
The Nizam's Legacy
Squabbling over such a petty issue is a sign of the changed times and the tenuous relations between the two communities of a city otherwise known for its legendary "ganga-jamni tehzeeb" (cosmopolitan cul- ture) and communal harmony for most part of its pre-independence history of 358 years, though uninterruptedly ruled by Muslim kings. The city itself, according to a legend, was founded on the basis of a Muslim-Hindu marriage between the Golconda ruler, Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah and his beloved, Bhagmathi (who was given the name Hyder Mahal). As late as the 20th century, the fifth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahabub Ali Khan had no problems applying a tilak on his forehead and performing puja to "propitiate" the Musi when it was in spate in 1908.
What then has gone wrong in the recent past?
The growing animosity seen now has historical reasons dating back to the tur- bulent period of the late 1940s when the seventh Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was un- able to reconcile himself to a new develop- ing situation where people, like in other parts of the nation, struggled for democ- racy, freedom and liberation from his rule. Resisting merger with the Indian Union, he became so desperate to hold on to power that he tried to align with the newly created Pakistan, alternatively spoke of "Azad" (Independent) Hyderabad, encour- aged a type of militia - the Razakars - to unleash a reign of terror, even while suppressing the unique communist-led peasant revolt now known as the Telangana armed struggle.
Whatever good the Nizam had done for the Hyderabad State was lost in these few years ending September 1948, when he finally had to surrender to the govern- ment of India. Atrocities committed by his forces and the Razakars have left behind deep scars in the minds of Hindu popula- tions who, while constituting the majority, had to bear the brunt of this communal violence. No surprise then that the Majlis- e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Majlis), a post- independence offshoot of the Razakars, has always been seen with suspicion by the Hindus, and largely explains the growth of organisations like the Arya Sa- maj first, and later, the Rashtriya Swayam- sevak Sangh (RSS), Jana Sangh and now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Majlis continues to feel that it is the true inheritor of the Nizam's ruling legacy and harps on how the Muslims, who were ruling the country for well over 700 years, have been reduced to the status of paupers by consecutive governments and their policies. Muslims in the Old City, who live in abysmal poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, are made to believe that they were born to rule, decades after the demise of the monarchy. Much like a clone of the BJP, the party's main campaign plank of exclusive and divisive politics has only helped communal polarisation in the city. This politics continues though the mantle of leadership has passed on from Salahuddin Owaisi to his son, Asaddudin Owaisi, who is a young barrister from Lincoln's Inn, UK.
The Uses of Riots
Significantly, the Majlis could hardly make any electoral impact during the first two decades after the Hyderabad State was liberated and the secular parties like the Congress and the Communist Party of India got most of the votes and seats from the Old City of Hyderabad in both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections. Neither the Majlis nor the saffron brigade were popular. The year 1978 was a major turning point in this, when the rape of a Muslim woman by policemen and death of her husband in a police station sparked off communal riots and ever since there have been a series of riots, the most serious being in 1990 when over 300 people lost their lives.
Riots in Hyderabad have also often been used for political purposes, as in August 1984 when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, who became chief minister after removing N T Rama Rao, faced a trust vote in the assembly. Bhaskara Rao used the riots and the resultant curfew to iso- late the Legislative Assembly and the leg- islators and thus ensure that he won the vote of confidence. Even in 1990, the then Chief Minister, Marri Chenna Reddy went on record in the assembly to blame a group within the Congress for triggering riots to dislodge him, indirectly hinting at Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a faction leader within the party then. Chenna Reddy was also implicated in the RSS efforts, in the late 1970s, to initiate Vinayak Chaturthi public processions in Hyderabad. He not only formally received this procession as chief minister, but also two important landmarks of the city, Mozamjahi market and Hussainsagar lake, were renamed "Vinayak Chowk" and "Vinayak Sagar" for the duration of this festival.
Political machinations apart, some- where down the line, the mainstream secular parties gave up the fight and passed on the mantle of the Old City of Hyderabad to the Majlis and the BJP. This process was accentuated with the polari- sation of the polity sparked off by the emotive Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir row. For some time it was an equal battle, with both the communal parties sharing the assembly seats from the Old City. With the Ram Mandir issue drying up, the BJP lost out and it is the Majlis all the way now winning all the seven possible seats encompassing the Old City.
Show of Strength
Yet, the Majlis seems dissatisfied, surpris- ing its ardent secular supporters who be- lieve that in the given circumstances, it is the best bet for Muslims. Otherwise there appears no reason why a party which had won so handsomely in the recent elections should resort to such crass politics of com- munity assertion through stringing flags and buntings on streets for an event (Milad ul Nabi) which is not considered a public festival, even in the holy land of Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim intellectuals of the city were aghast to see the unprece- dented, ugly, exhibitionism of religion,
similar to the equally condemnable, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The present Majlis- inspired Milad ul Nabi celebrations began on 27 February and it went on till 28 March when trouble broke out. Green religious banners and posters occupied every inch of space, sufficient to provoke the Hindu organisations into action.
It was as if the Hindu organisations were waiting for the opportune moment to show off their own strengths and used the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi (30 March) to do precisely this by replac- ing the green flags and buntings with saffron ones of similar dimensions. As with Milad ul Nabi, Hyderabad has had no previous history of public celebration of Hanuman Jayanthi, and it was clear that the hawks among the Hindus, with help from the saffron brigade, wanted to pay the Majlis in the same coin and show their own street strength. It led to avoidable tension, battle of words, scuffle and blood- letting, that left three dead and scores injured, for a "cause" that was so silly.
Majlis Party insiders say the extended festivities were consciously organised and funded, essentially to counter the Jamaat- e-Islami's rally organised a month ago to show the support of Muslims for Telanga- na. The Majlis, which has taken the stand that formation of Telangana would put the Muslims of the region at risk, wanted to show its dominance of the Muslims and its strength in the city.
The communal mobilisation by the Majlis, using Milad ul Nabi as an excuse, looked odd at a time when the BJP had become an almost spent force, and the Majlis itself has been able to expand its base both in votes and seats. Apart from making it a show of strength, there is a suspicion that the mobilisation was also intended to create a sense of fear and insecurity among Hindus living in the Old City, who have now been reduced to a minority in these areas with the hope that this would trig- ger their outmigration as in the past with communal riots.
There is now a feeling among many observers that the Majlis, by setting off a chain of provocative incidents in the Old City, has unnecessarily put the Muslims living in the newer parts of Hyderabad at risk. More importantly, it is now apparent that, perhaps unwittingly, their actions have had the effect of breathing life into an almost dead BJP. For, within hours of the incidents of stone pelting in Old City, a spate of attacks on Muslim properties in the new city, by young men participating in the Hanuman Jayanthi procession of the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Vahini (which were surprisingly allowed by the police even though prohibitory orders had been imposed), were reported.
If the Majlis strategy of mobilisation was politically wrong, it was criticised for other reasons too. This mobilisation of the community was not done for demanding educational facilities, political empower- ment or other social issues relevant to the minority community, like fighting against instances of poor Muslim girls being given in marriage to old Arab sheikhs. This ac- tion of the Majlis has strengthened the perception that it continues to keep the community under the spell of religion, wallowing in the past glory of being a ruling class, yet ignorant, illiterate and poverty-stricken in the present. That such a political strategy apes the BJP by banking on polarisation appears obvious. What is different is that the BJP's support- base constitutes a minority within the Hindu community, whereas it seems that the Majlis sway on Muslims in Hyderabad is almost complete, at least at the time of elections.
The large Muslim population of Hyderabad (42% in the 2001 Census) in- deed needs proper representation in both the legislative assembly and the Parliament. But the question arises, whether such representation should only be through a party which refuses to move beyond reli- gious agendas, to the exclusion of other issues afflicting the community. Is it not time for the Majlis, a party which has been there in the political arena for five decades and made more than its presence felt, to reinvent itself in tune with the changed times and prepare the community to face new challenges?
The Majlis has indeed set up a string of medical and engineering colleges in the name of minorities, but for many years it gave a majority of the seats to non-Muslim students, by accepting huge donations. Their defence then was that there were not enough Muslim candidates for these seats. But that merely begged the question. How could there be enough candidates for medical and engineering colleges when neither the state nor the Majlis had done anything to establish basic schools and colleges for Muslims? In fact, many Muslims have themselves found fault with Majlis' "top down ap- proach" of starting high level professional colleges while neglecting basic education. They allege that this was due to monetary considerations, professional colleges giv- ing a profit while basic schools providing none. There have been many cases where meritorious Muslim students have had to wage a battle to ensure their admission into these colleges.
With Majlis deeply entrenched in the political and public spaces of the Old City, secular parties as well as the government seem to have simply withdrawn from there. Any attempt made by secular par- ties to enter this part of the city has been met with stiff resistance from the Majlis and its cadre. Making the Old City its fief- dom, it does not allow even an alternative Muslim party to emerge, mounting physi- cal attacks on all those who threaten their leadership. Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Siasat, an established Urdu daily, too was not spared when he contested the Hydera- bad parliamentary seat with the backing of many secular parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also made sincere efforts to reach out to the people in the Old City, with its Rajya Sabha MP, P Madhu even learning Urdu, but that too proved largely unsuccessful in the face of Majlis' opposition. He was targeted and attacked repeatedly. Far from making any attempt to bring about visible changes, it appears as if the Congress and its government have left the political space of the Old City to the Majlis, in return for (not so) covert help during elections.
Administrative Neglect
Like the communal divide, administrative neglect of the Old City has a history. What is termed the Old City of Hyderabad was its seat of government and political power for centuries. The first shifts began in the pre-independence era itself with the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, himself shifting seat of administration from Purani Haveli in the Old City to King Kothi palace in the new one north of the Musi river. Despite the fact that Osman Ali Khan brought some of the top city planners and engineers, in- cluding M Visvesvaraya, to overhaul the Old City's water supply and sewerage sys- tem, plan residential colonies, besides putting up scores of buildings for public utilities, all in the 1930s, the shift from the Old City to the new city began with the nawabs of the Nizam too following him.
The neglect continued after independ- ence. There appears to have been, in the post-independence rulers, a feeling that the Old City deserved its neglect for the wrongs done by the rulers of the immediate past in pursuing communal policies. There was never this realisation that people who lived there were being unfairly punished for the follies of their rulers. The Municipal Corpo- ration of Hyderabad was shifted and then the Police Commissioner's Office. Recent- ly, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh too has made an appeal to the government for alternate accommodation in the new city.
Whatever importance the Old City still had, was lost further after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. For people who migrated from other regions of this new state, the Old City was a culture shock. Telugus of the Old City spoke more Urdu than their "own language", wore sherwani with flair and showed a marked weakness for biryani! The alienation was complete, as the new democratically elect- ed rulers after 1956, thought that the way of governing the Old City was to follow a policy of benign neglect at best and one of active deprivation at worst. At one time
there was this contemptuous suggestion that the entire Old City should be razed to the ground and a new one built in its stead.
As a corollary of this shift in political lo- cus, governance and policing too have taken a backseat in the Old City. Virtually all open spaces stand occupied by Majlis' cadre, while a search for relocating dilapi- dated government school buildings proves futile. There is no respect for rule of law. Much like in the newer parts of the city, where Congress and BJP have consciously allowed their cadre to encroach public lands, it is Majlis in Old City. Quite
often it is unsocial elements who run shops and put up carts on the encroached road space creating problems for free flow of traffic as well as for law and order. With regular income assured, they come in handy for political parties during elections as well as riots. They grow up, often, to become municipal corporators, MLAs and MPs. For all practical purposes, the decay- ing Old City has been left to rot and dete- riorate, completing the process of ghettoi- sation - a fertile ground for any trouble, communal or otherwise. All it requires is a spark, or a flag as recent events show.
April 24, 2010
Khap Panchayats: Arrested Transformation
Arrested Social Transformation
Khap Panchayats Asserting Caste-Gender Hierarchy
Ram Puniyani
Khap Panchayats, the age old upholders of caste norms have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. While these Panchayats (assembly) had some role in settling the community disputes, these exclusively male bodies, dominated by village elite have been asserting the values of past, gone by era and stand in the way of the values of Indian Constitution, the values of Liberty Equality and Fraternity. These are very active in Harayana region in particular, the same place where incidents of anti dalit brutalities against Dalits, and the incident where dalits were killed on the pretext that they are killing cows.
It is no coincidence that in the nearby Jhajjhar also similar incident had taken place just a few years ago. The recent (April 2010) developments in the aftermath of brutal killing Manoj and Babli are very disturbing and also reflective of the social situation prevailing in large parts of the region in the country. Manoj and Babli, belonging to same Gotra, got married and due to fear of the panchayat, fearing the threat to their lives, sought legal protection. While returning from court with police escort they were caught hold of and taken in a jeep, while police men and others were witnessing the act. The couple was killed mercilessly. The killers were from same village, belonging to the family and close relatives. The abettor was the panchayat chief. The Judge in a forthright judgment gave death punishment to five of them and life imprisonment to one and seven year jail term to anther.
The Khap panchayat rather than feeling the guilt and shame of the incident went on offensive and started saying that those youth going on the path of Manoj and Babli will be given similar treatment. Incidentally before this ghastly incident nearly hundred young couples have been done to death or punished in various ways by these Panchayats. After the judgment they called a bigger meeting and demanded that Hindu marriage law be amended to ensure that people from same Gotra (Sub caste) cannot marry. They are deciding to intensify their agitation.
There are parallel examples of many Muslim families killing their defiant youth, who preferred to get married on their own choice, transcending the boundaries laid by social customs. These killings are many a times called ‘Honor Killing’. Meaning the choice of girl and boy of their life partner has to conform to the norms of the community-family else killing those defying these norms is an “honor” for the family, caste. It is the make believe honor of the family which is carried forward by close relatives like brothers, uncles etc. One witnesses similar cases coming from Pakistan also as the social rigidities are probably much stronger in parts of the feudal dominated Pakistan society.
These incidents reflect the deepening of the process of caste rigidification during last few decades. Varna and jati system has been the norm of Hindu society, legitimized by various Holy Scriptures. The same caste system also affected partly the Muslims and Christians, whose scriptures don’t permit this but surely social practices are not merely guided by the Holy books.
The processes of caste and gender transformations always run parallel. These transformations began slowly during British rule, parallel with the growth of freedom struggle. The National movement and more particularly the process of education for dalits and women, initiated the social reformers resulted in the beginning of this transformation. The evil practices existing during that time were opposed and many a social reformers Jotiba Phule, Savitiribai Phule, Dr. Ambedkar, Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi fought against these practices. Ram Mohan Roy's main focus was on the evil of Sati, burning of bride on the funeral pyre of her husband. Gandhi’s major concern was against untouchability, the custom most abominable and deeply reflective of the caste system and the place of Shudras in the social system. While Phule-Ambedkar were demanding and agitating against these practices in a strong and radical way other reformers also chipped in and took the reform process far and wide.
These reform processes logically should have been accompanied by land reforms and relegation of the role of clergy to the private realms of social life. National movement did succeed to some extent in bringing forth these issues to social attention. Indian Constitution forthrightly puts forward these provisions. The process of industrialization and education gradually started loosening the grip of caste and gender hierarchy, and the retrograde norms during the first three decades of the republic though the speed of this transformation was slow. Women started entering social arena and dalits came up in good measure in social sphere during this time.
From the decade of 1980 the process seems to have been arrested and the economic policies, the adverse effects of globalization, cultural movement accompanying them, the global rise of fundamentalism and the ascendance of politics in the name of religion and Ram Temple agitation in India were the multiple factors due to which the process of transformation faced obstacles. These processes changed the cultural terrain of society and rather then rational progressive thoughts and practices, traditional conservatism started getting stronger. During this time the atrocities against dalits and women went up, samples of which were Roop Kanwar Sati in Deorala and Bhavri Devi case. The atmosphere of cultural terror got intensified. The major focus was on controlling the weaker sections of society in the name of ‘glorious traditions’. This did intimidate the dalits and women. Minorities also faced increasing violence against them during this time, resulting in their ghettoization and strengthening of orthodox elements within the community.
When Dr. Ambedkar introduced Hindu code bill, and made efforts to give equality and freedom to women, the bill was diluted before implementing itself. The conservatives in the society stood to oppose the same. Pundit Nehru went on to say that our constitution is progressive but society is in the grip of orthodox traditions. The hope was that these orthodox traditions will weaken with time, and as a matter of fact they actually started weakening during initial decades of the republic when the rational norms and practices started getting respectability.
Currently we seem to be seeing an arrest of this process of transformation in the progressive direction. The major causative factor does seem to be the cultural accompaniments of politics in the name of religion. This politics externally targets the minorities but its deeper agenda is that of opposing the equality of dalits and women. What these Khap Panchayats are doing is to put a control on the freedom of adults to choose their life partners and their style of living. Simultaneously they are attempting to control the lives of women, the core of patriarchal politics, a politics which is presented as nationalism and glorious tradition, by those doing politics in the name of religious identity.
--
Khap Panchayats Asserting Caste-Gender Hierarchy
Ram Puniyani
Khap Panchayats, the age old upholders of caste norms have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. While these Panchayats (assembly) had some role in settling the community disputes, these exclusively male bodies, dominated by village elite have been asserting the values of past, gone by era and stand in the way of the values of Indian Constitution, the values of Liberty Equality and Fraternity. These are very active in Harayana region in particular, the same place where incidents of anti dalit brutalities against Dalits, and the incident where dalits were killed on the pretext that they are killing cows.
It is no coincidence that in the nearby Jhajjhar also similar incident had taken place just a few years ago. The recent (April 2010) developments in the aftermath of brutal killing Manoj and Babli are very disturbing and also reflective of the social situation prevailing in large parts of the region in the country. Manoj and Babli, belonging to same Gotra, got married and due to fear of the panchayat, fearing the threat to their lives, sought legal protection. While returning from court with police escort they were caught hold of and taken in a jeep, while police men and others were witnessing the act. The couple was killed mercilessly. The killers were from same village, belonging to the family and close relatives. The abettor was the panchayat chief. The Judge in a forthright judgment gave death punishment to five of them and life imprisonment to one and seven year jail term to anther.
The Khap panchayat rather than feeling the guilt and shame of the incident went on offensive and started saying that those youth going on the path of Manoj and Babli will be given similar treatment. Incidentally before this ghastly incident nearly hundred young couples have been done to death or punished in various ways by these Panchayats. After the judgment they called a bigger meeting and demanded that Hindu marriage law be amended to ensure that people from same Gotra (Sub caste) cannot marry. They are deciding to intensify their agitation.
There are parallel examples of many Muslim families killing their defiant youth, who preferred to get married on their own choice, transcending the boundaries laid by social customs. These killings are many a times called ‘Honor Killing’. Meaning the choice of girl and boy of their life partner has to conform to the norms of the community-family else killing those defying these norms is an “honor” for the family, caste. It is the make believe honor of the family which is carried forward by close relatives like brothers, uncles etc. One witnesses similar cases coming from Pakistan also as the social rigidities are probably much stronger in parts of the feudal dominated Pakistan society.
These incidents reflect the deepening of the process of caste rigidification during last few decades. Varna and jati system has been the norm of Hindu society, legitimized by various Holy Scriptures. The same caste system also affected partly the Muslims and Christians, whose scriptures don’t permit this but surely social practices are not merely guided by the Holy books.
The processes of caste and gender transformations always run parallel. These transformations began slowly during British rule, parallel with the growth of freedom struggle. The National movement and more particularly the process of education for dalits and women, initiated the social reformers resulted in the beginning of this transformation. The evil practices existing during that time were opposed and many a social reformers Jotiba Phule, Savitiribai Phule, Dr. Ambedkar, Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi fought against these practices. Ram Mohan Roy's main focus was on the evil of Sati, burning of bride on the funeral pyre of her husband. Gandhi’s major concern was against untouchability, the custom most abominable and deeply reflective of the caste system and the place of Shudras in the social system. While Phule-Ambedkar were demanding and agitating against these practices in a strong and radical way other reformers also chipped in and took the reform process far and wide.
These reform processes logically should have been accompanied by land reforms and relegation of the role of clergy to the private realms of social life. National movement did succeed to some extent in bringing forth these issues to social attention. Indian Constitution forthrightly puts forward these provisions. The process of industrialization and education gradually started loosening the grip of caste and gender hierarchy, and the retrograde norms during the first three decades of the republic though the speed of this transformation was slow. Women started entering social arena and dalits came up in good measure in social sphere during this time.
From the decade of 1980 the process seems to have been arrested and the economic policies, the adverse effects of globalization, cultural movement accompanying them, the global rise of fundamentalism and the ascendance of politics in the name of religion and Ram Temple agitation in India were the multiple factors due to which the process of transformation faced obstacles. These processes changed the cultural terrain of society and rather then rational progressive thoughts and practices, traditional conservatism started getting stronger. During this time the atrocities against dalits and women went up, samples of which were Roop Kanwar Sati in Deorala and Bhavri Devi case. The atmosphere of cultural terror got intensified. The major focus was on controlling the weaker sections of society in the name of ‘glorious traditions’. This did intimidate the dalits and women. Minorities also faced increasing violence against them during this time, resulting in their ghettoization and strengthening of orthodox elements within the community.
When Dr. Ambedkar introduced Hindu code bill, and made efforts to give equality and freedom to women, the bill was diluted before implementing itself. The conservatives in the society stood to oppose the same. Pundit Nehru went on to say that our constitution is progressive but society is in the grip of orthodox traditions. The hope was that these orthodox traditions will weaken with time, and as a matter of fact they actually started weakening during initial decades of the republic when the rational norms and practices started getting respectability.
Currently we seem to be seeing an arrest of this process of transformation in the progressive direction. The major causative factor does seem to be the cultural accompaniments of politics in the name of religion. This politics externally targets the minorities but its deeper agenda is that of opposing the equality of dalits and women. What these Khap Panchayats are doing is to put a control on the freedom of adults to choose their life partners and their style of living. Simultaneously they are attempting to control the lives of women, the core of patriarchal politics, a politics which is presented as nationalism and glorious tradition, by those doing politics in the name of religious identity.
--
April 20, 2010
Israt Jehan’s Case - Text of Supreme Court Order dated 19-4-2010
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 818 OF 2010
(Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.7305/2009)
SHAMIMA KAUSER ... …………………………… APPELLANT
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .…………………………… RESPONDENTS
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO_819_OF 2010
(Arising out of Crl.M.P.No.19538/2009 in SLP(Crl.)No.3431/2010)
M. R. GOPINATH PILLAI ………………………………. APPELLANT
VERSUS
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS. …………………….. RESPONDENTS
JUDGMENT
B. SUDERSHAN REDDY, J.
Crl. M. P. No.19538/2009 for permission to file Special
1. Leave Petition is allowed.
2. Leave granted in both the appeals.
3. These appeals are being disposed of by a common order since the same impugned order dated 09.09.2009 made in MCRLA No. 10625/2009 in SCRLA No.822/2004 of the High Court of Gujarat is under challenge in both the appeals. The High Court by the impugned order granted stay of the report submitted by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate dated 07.09.2009 in Crime No.8/2004 registered with DCB Police Station, Ahmedabad. The impugned order is challenged by the appellants on various grounds. In order to consider the same it may be just and necessary to notice few relevant facts:
4. The appellant in Criminal Appeal @ S.L.P. (Crl.) No.7305/2009 is the mother of the deceased Israt Jehan who is alleged to have been killed by the Gujarat Police in an alleged encounter dated 15.06.2004. The appellant in Criminal Appeal @ Crl. M. P. No. 19538/2009 is the father of the deceased Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh @ Pranesh Kumar Pillai who is also alleged to have been killed by the Gujarat Police in a fake encounter. The appellants have been moving from pillar to post seeking justice and a proper inquiry into the matter. They have been consistently asserting before all the authorities that their children were the victims of a fake encounter staged in the year 2004 by the officers of the Gujarat Police. The appellant Shamima Kauser filed a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, being Special Criminal Application No.822/2004, before the High Court of Ahmedabad, seeking an investigation into the death of her daughter, by the Central Bureau of Investigation, for the reason that she firmly believe that her daughter had been wrongfully done to death by the Gujarat Police in a fake encounter. The appellant in the other appeal filed Writ Petition in this court seeking appropriate directions to order investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the "fake encounter killing" of his son Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh @ Pranesh Kumar Pillai. The said Writ Petition was disposed of by this court granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court of Gujarat seeking appropriate remedy since a Writ Petition arising out of a similar incident was already pending before the High Court.
5. On 07.08.2009 a leaned Single Judge of the High Court passed an order adjourning the Special Criminal Application No. 822/2004 filed by Shamima Kauser to explore the possibility of handing over the investigation to higher officer/s from the cadre of Additional Director General of Police. The material portion of the order reads as under:
"With a view to explore the possibility of handing over the investigation to higher officer/s. i.e. officer/s above the tank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, more particularly, from the cadre of Additional D. G., matter is adjourned to 12.08.2009. To be taken up at 1630 hours."
6. On 13.08.2009, the learned Single Judge having considered the list of police officers produced by the State of Gujarat passed a detailed order constituting a Team of Investigation "for the purpose of carrying out the investigation." A team of three senior most officers was constituted for the aforesaid purpose. The High Courta lso granted permission to Shamima Kauser to make suggestions to the Investigating Team with regard to areas of investigation and to inspect the record qua the FSL report and the ballistic report.
The High Court further directed the Investigating Team to consider all the aspects from every angle relevant for the purpose of finding out whether the incident was a genuine encounter or a fake one. The report was directed to be placed before the court on the next date of hearing. The appellant promptly submitted an application before the Investigating Team for inspection of documents and a further application suggesting some areas of investigation.
7. On 07.09.2009, the Metropolitan Magistrate, Court No.1, Ahmedabad, having made an inquiry under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code pursuant to the orders dated 12.08.2009 of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate submitted an Inquiry Report in respect of death of (1) Israt Jehan, (2) Jishan Johar, (3) Amjad Ali Akbar Ali Rana @ Salim @ Raj Kumar and (4) Javed Ghulam Sheikh. The learned Magistrate having made a detailed analysis of the material available on record found that they were killed by "the ------ police officers and police personnel with their service revolver and unlicensed and illegally held AK-56 rifle and with other weapons fired bullets on body of deceased and thereby murdered ---- in a systemic manner, cold-bloodedly, mercilessly and cruelly."
8. On 09.09.2009, the State of Gujarat and as well as two police officers whose names were mentioned in the report filed Miscellaneous Applications in Special Criminal Application No.822/2004 with a prayer to set aside the report dated 07.09.2009 of the learned Magistrate where under the alleged encounters were found to be fake. The matter was orally mentioned for listing and they were taken up on the same day at about 4.30 p.m. by the learned Single Judge and disposed of by the impugned order. However, the Criminal Miscellaneous Applications filed by the individual police officers were withdrawn and only Miscellaneous Criminal Application No. 10625/2009 filed by the State of Gujarat was heard and disposed of.
9. The learned counsel for the appellant - Ms. Kaimini Jaiswal, and Mr. Huzefa Ahmadi appearing on behalf of the appellant in the other appeal expressed their serious objection to the manner in which the learned Single Judge took up the application filed by the State of Gujarat and granted stay of the report with a further direction to the Registrar General to make a detailed inquiry into the matter which led to holding a parallel inquiry and filing of the report by the learned Magistrate. The learned Judge was of the opinion that the inquiry made by the learned Magistrate was beyond "the provision of law." It was strenuously contended the very Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat in the Writ Petition filed by one of the appellants herein was not maintainable.
10. Notwithstanding various observations made by the Learned Single Judge in the impugned order the fact remains the order passed by the learned Single Judge is ad-interim in its nature granting stay of the operation of the report as at present. The learned Single Judge not yet finally disposed of the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat. The effect of the order passed by the learned Single Judge is that the operation of the report is kept in abeyance and therefore no further action based on the said report could be initiated in whatsoever manner. In such view of the matter we are not inclined to interfere with such ad-interim order in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. Interest of justice would be met if the main Writ Petition itself is heard and disposed of along with the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat. In the meanwhile, the Investigating Team already constituted by the High Court shall not deal with the report of the learned Magistrate in any manner whatsoever. However, the observations made in the impugned order with regard to the report of the learned Magistrate are set aside which are totally unnecessary. The observations so made if allowed to remain may result in far reaching consequences. We fail to appreciate as to why and what made the learned Judge to make such observations even while the very application filed by the State is kept pending for its adjudication. The directions issued to the Registrar General to make a detailed inquiry into the matter which led to holding of inquiry by the Magistrate under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is also set aside.
11. We must express our reservations the manner in which the proceedings went on before the High Court resulting in the impugned order. In the circumstances we consider it appropriate to request the learned Chief Justice of the High Court to place Special Miscellaneous Application No. 822/2004 along with Criminal Miscellaneous Applications including Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 10625/2009 filed by the State of Gujarat for their disposal in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within six months from today. It is needless to observe that the observations made in the impugned order shall have no bearing whatsoever upon the merits of the case. The Division Bench is required to adjudicate the Special Criminal Application on its own merits uninfluenced by the previous order passed by the learned Single Judge in the matter. It is also needless to observe that the Division Bench shall consider the very maintainability of the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat.
12. Impleadment Application in Criminal Appeal @ S.L.P. (Crl.) No.7305/2009: In view of the final orders passed in the Criminal Appeals no further order is required to be passed in this application. The application shall accordingly stand dismissed with liberty granted to the applicant to avail such remedies as may be available in law.
13. The appeals are accordingly disposed of.
................................J.
[B.SUDERSHAN REDDY]
................................J.
[SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR]
New Delhi,
April 19, 2010
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 818 OF 2010
(Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.7305/2009)
SHAMIMA KAUSER ... …………………………… APPELLANT
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .…………………………… RESPONDENTS
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO_819_OF 2010
(Arising out of Crl.M.P.No.19538/2009 in SLP(Crl.)No.3431/2010)
M. R. GOPINATH PILLAI ………………………………. APPELLANT
VERSUS
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS. …………………….. RESPONDENTS
JUDGMENT
B. SUDERSHAN REDDY, J.
Crl. M. P. No.19538/2009 for permission to file Special
1. Leave Petition is allowed.
2. Leave granted in both the appeals.
3. These appeals are being disposed of by a common order since the same impugned order dated 09.09.2009 made in MCRLA No. 10625/2009 in SCRLA No.822/2004 of the High Court of Gujarat is under challenge in both the appeals. The High Court by the impugned order granted stay of the report submitted by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate dated 07.09.2009 in Crime No.8/2004 registered with DCB Police Station, Ahmedabad. The impugned order is challenged by the appellants on various grounds. In order to consider the same it may be just and necessary to notice few relevant facts:
4. The appellant in Criminal Appeal @ S.L.P. (Crl.) No.7305/2009 is the mother of the deceased Israt Jehan who is alleged to have been killed by the Gujarat Police in an alleged encounter dated 15.06.2004. The appellant in Criminal Appeal @ Crl. M. P. No. 19538/2009 is the father of the deceased Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh @ Pranesh Kumar Pillai who is also alleged to have been killed by the Gujarat Police in a fake encounter. The appellants have been moving from pillar to post seeking justice and a proper inquiry into the matter. They have been consistently asserting before all the authorities that their children were the victims of a fake encounter staged in the year 2004 by the officers of the Gujarat Police. The appellant Shamima Kauser filed a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, being Special Criminal Application No.822/2004, before the High Court of Ahmedabad, seeking an investigation into the death of her daughter, by the Central Bureau of Investigation, for the reason that she firmly believe that her daughter had been wrongfully done to death by the Gujarat Police in a fake encounter. The appellant in the other appeal filed Writ Petition in this court seeking appropriate directions to order investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the "fake encounter killing" of his son Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh @ Pranesh Kumar Pillai. The said Writ Petition was disposed of by this court granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court of Gujarat seeking appropriate remedy since a Writ Petition arising out of a similar incident was already pending before the High Court.
5. On 07.08.2009 a leaned Single Judge of the High Court passed an order adjourning the Special Criminal Application No. 822/2004 filed by Shamima Kauser to explore the possibility of handing over the investigation to higher officer/s from the cadre of Additional Director General of Police. The material portion of the order reads as under:
"With a view to explore the possibility of handing over the investigation to higher officer/s. i.e. officer/s above the tank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, more particularly, from the cadre of Additional D. G., matter is adjourned to 12.08.2009. To be taken up at 1630 hours."
6. On 13.08.2009, the learned Single Judge having considered the list of police officers produced by the State of Gujarat passed a detailed order constituting a Team of Investigation "for the purpose of carrying out the investigation." A team of three senior most officers was constituted for the aforesaid purpose. The High Courta lso granted permission to Shamima Kauser to make suggestions to the Investigating Team with regard to areas of investigation and to inspect the record qua the FSL report and the ballistic report.
The High Court further directed the Investigating Team to consider all the aspects from every angle relevant for the purpose of finding out whether the incident was a genuine encounter or a fake one. The report was directed to be placed before the court on the next date of hearing. The appellant promptly submitted an application before the Investigating Team for inspection of documents and a further application suggesting some areas of investigation.
7. On 07.09.2009, the Metropolitan Magistrate, Court No.1, Ahmedabad, having made an inquiry under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code pursuant to the orders dated 12.08.2009 of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate submitted an Inquiry Report in respect of death of (1) Israt Jehan, (2) Jishan Johar, (3) Amjad Ali Akbar Ali Rana @ Salim @ Raj Kumar and (4) Javed Ghulam Sheikh. The learned Magistrate having made a detailed analysis of the material available on record found that they were killed by "the ------ police officers and police personnel with their service revolver and unlicensed and illegally held AK-56 rifle and with other weapons fired bullets on body of deceased and thereby murdered ---- in a systemic manner, cold-bloodedly, mercilessly and cruelly."
8. On 09.09.2009, the State of Gujarat and as well as two police officers whose names were mentioned in the report filed Miscellaneous Applications in Special Criminal Application No.822/2004 with a prayer to set aside the report dated 07.09.2009 of the learned Magistrate where under the alleged encounters were found to be fake. The matter was orally mentioned for listing and they were taken up on the same day at about 4.30 p.m. by the learned Single Judge and disposed of by the impugned order. However, the Criminal Miscellaneous Applications filed by the individual police officers were withdrawn and only Miscellaneous Criminal Application No. 10625/2009 filed by the State of Gujarat was heard and disposed of.
9. The learned counsel for the appellant - Ms. Kaimini Jaiswal, and Mr. Huzefa Ahmadi appearing on behalf of the appellant in the other appeal expressed their serious objection to the manner in which the learned Single Judge took up the application filed by the State of Gujarat and granted stay of the report with a further direction to the Registrar General to make a detailed inquiry into the matter which led to holding a parallel inquiry and filing of the report by the learned Magistrate. The learned Judge was of the opinion that the inquiry made by the learned Magistrate was beyond "the provision of law." It was strenuously contended the very Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat in the Writ Petition filed by one of the appellants herein was not maintainable.
10. Notwithstanding various observations made by the Learned Single Judge in the impugned order the fact remains the order passed by the learned Single Judge is ad-interim in its nature granting stay of the operation of the report as at present. The learned Single Judge not yet finally disposed of the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat. The effect of the order passed by the learned Single Judge is that the operation of the report is kept in abeyance and therefore no further action based on the said report could be initiated in whatsoever manner. In such view of the matter we are not inclined to interfere with such ad-interim order in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. Interest of justice would be met if the main Writ Petition itself is heard and disposed of along with the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat. In the meanwhile, the Investigating Team already constituted by the High Court shall not deal with the report of the learned Magistrate in any manner whatsoever. However, the observations made in the impugned order with regard to the report of the learned Magistrate are set aside which are totally unnecessary. The observations so made if allowed to remain may result in far reaching consequences. We fail to appreciate as to why and what made the learned Judge to make such observations even while the very application filed by the State is kept pending for its adjudication. The directions issued to the Registrar General to make a detailed inquiry into the matter which led to holding of inquiry by the Magistrate under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is also set aside.
11. We must express our reservations the manner in which the proceedings went on before the High Court resulting in the impugned order. In the circumstances we consider it appropriate to request the learned Chief Justice of the High Court to place Special Miscellaneous Application No. 822/2004 along with Criminal Miscellaneous Applications including Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 10625/2009 filed by the State of Gujarat for their disposal in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within six months from today. It is needless to observe that the observations made in the impugned order shall have no bearing whatsoever upon the merits of the case. The Division Bench is required to adjudicate the Special Criminal Application on its own merits uninfluenced by the previous order passed by the learned Single Judge in the matter. It is also needless to observe that the Division Bench shall consider the very maintainability of the Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed by the State of Gujarat.
12. Impleadment Application in Criminal Appeal @ S.L.P. (Crl.) No.7305/2009: In view of the final orders passed in the Criminal Appeals no further order is required to be passed in this application. The application shall accordingly stand dismissed with liberty granted to the applicant to avail such remedies as may be available in law.
13. The appeals are accordingly disposed of.
................................J.
[B.SUDERSHAN REDDY]
................................J.
[SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR]
New Delhi,
April 19, 2010
April 19, 2010
India: Jagdish Tytler case order coming up on 20th April 2010
Dear all
The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet stating that there was not sufficient evidence to charge sheet Congress (I) leader Jagdish Tytler for instigating, inciting the killing of Sikhs in Delhi in November 1984.
This has been challenged by Lakhwinder kaur whose husband Badal Singh was one of the 3 Sikhs killed by the mob incited by Tytler, outside Gurudwara Pulbangash on 1st November 1984. Her counsels - Rebecca John and Vrinda Grover have argued that there is sufficient evidence for the Court to take cognizance against J Tytler or in the alternative for the court to order the CBI to further investigate the case against Tytler as it has been pointed out that some available leads and evidence have not been explored by the CBI.
On 20th April 2010, the Court of Shri Rdakesh Pandit, ACMM, will pass an order in this matter pertaining to Jagdish Tytler at 2:00p.m. in Karkardooma court [New Delhi]
Vrinda Grover
The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet stating that there was not sufficient evidence to charge sheet Congress (I) leader Jagdish Tytler for instigating, inciting the killing of Sikhs in Delhi in November 1984.
This has been challenged by Lakhwinder kaur whose husband Badal Singh was one of the 3 Sikhs killed by the mob incited by Tytler, outside Gurudwara Pulbangash on 1st November 1984. Her counsels - Rebecca John and Vrinda Grover have argued that there is sufficient evidence for the Court to take cognizance against J Tytler or in the alternative for the court to order the CBI to further investigate the case against Tytler as it has been pointed out that some available leads and evidence have not been explored by the CBI.
On 20th April 2010, the Court of Shri Rdakesh Pandit, ACMM, will pass an order in this matter pertaining to Jagdish Tytler at 2:00p.m. in Karkardooma court [New Delhi]
Vrinda Grover
April 17, 2010
Narendra Modi-Travails of travel
by Ram Puniyani
While law of the land is trying to catch up with the acts of commission and omission in the Gujarat carnage, another set of laws, the global ones have been very clear about permitting the entry of a person like Narendra Modi into their country.
Recently (April 8, 2010), a group of German MPs justified the denial of visa to Modi. They advocated a ban on his visiting Europe. This parliamentary delegation was on a two day visit to the city of Ahmedabad to study the state of minorities in Gujarat. It concluded that the European Union (EU) decision not to grant visa to him was justified. They went to the extent of banning his trip to Europe in near future. They pointed out that “the Chief Minister of Gujarat has a radical tone to his politics and is described as dictatorial. He has a wrong perception of religious freedom.” This four member team has been closely following developments in the Gujarat riot cases.
One member of delegation pointed out that he was shocked by parallels between Germany under Hitler and Gujarat under Modi. Incidentally in Gujarat school books Hitler has been glorified as a great nationalist. Modi, in response to this has written to Prime Minister to seek apology from the German delegation for tarnishing the image of democratically elected head of state. The Congress Government endorsed Modi’s view and clarified that the EU had put a ban on Modi’s visit in the aftermath of Gujarat carnage but that has been withdrawn. Also that it was not an official delegation. Whatever that be, the opinion of the members of the delegation does reflect a deeper truth of our political phenomenon.
That apart, this is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Modi was earlier denied visa to US. On March 18, 2005 in a severe rebuke to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the United States denied him entry to America. US Consular division had taken a strong stand against Modi, the Hindutva icon. They denied him diplomatic visa apparently holding him responsible for communal carnage of 2002. In addition, his tourist/business visa which was already granted was revoked under a section of US Immigration and Nationality Act since he was not coming for a purpose that qualifies for a diplomatic visa.
In response to the query that he was already holding a tourist-cum-business visa, the Consulate pointed out that the "existing tourist/business visa has been revoked under Section 212 (a) (2) (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." According this section
any foreign government official who was responsible or "directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religions freedom" is denied the visa. The decision of US authorities was based on the observations of India's National Human Rights Commission findings and other independent Indian sources.
The observation of German delegation raises one additional major point about the state of Gujarat being similar to that of Germany under Hitler. Who will know it better than Germans who have suffered the political tragedy of fascism for bad many years? Modi’s point that he is an elected person again matches so well with Hitler. One recalls, Hitler came to power through democratic means and then he gradually eroded liberal-democratic norms from inside to bring in worst type of fascist state. The parallels are unmistakable. There are some differences from German fascism here but all the same the basic phenomenon is the same. Fascism is a politics where the liberal democratic space is abolished in the name of targeting some section of society for the supposed cause of National interest. In case of Germany the process was accompanied by a cultural paradigm shift and political aggression against communists, then trade unionists and then the Jews. Millions of Jews were subjected to the gas chambers, one of the greatest tragedies of the human history of twentieth century.
The politics of Hitler, and his clone Mussolini was praised by M.S. Golwalkar the ideologue of RSS, the organization where Modi has been indoctrinated and trained. Golwalkar’s formulations of aggressive nationalism and relegating minorities to second-class citizenship are being actualized by Modi and company in different ways.
While the similarities with German case are so glaring, there are some differences as well. The German fascism began to take social roots after the economic crisis generated in the aftermath of First World War. The cultural offensive in the field of arts, music, literature and the ‘glorification of ancient past’ picked up rapidly. In one of the major assaults on democracy, the fire at Reichstag was attributed to having been done by Communists, and physical violence was unleashed against them. Analogies with Godhra train burning are unmistakable.
Here the ascendance of Modi comes on the background of the economic crisis of the decade of 1980s, the adverse effects of globalization picking up, the loss of jobs of the downtrodden due to closure of textile mills, the attacks on the dalits OBCs in the name of anti reservation riots. The cultural manipulation began with Ram Temple movement, and spreading of hate against minorities, Muslims first and then the Christians, who by now have been relegated to second class citizenship in Gujarat and some other states and the trend in other states is going in that direction.
While in Germany whole of the Nation came under the grip of fascism, the saving grace in India is that the electoral face of ‘Indian fascism’, BJP, has not been able to come to absolute majority in the center by itself. That’s not to say that fascism is not marching. In Germany the defeat of Germany in Second World War led to the collapse of the nation along with the edifice of fascism with the fascist-in-chief committing suicide. In India here it has gripped Gujarat in full, while in other states like Karnataka, Orissa, MP its presence is getting strengthened by and by. At national level though BJP might have faced two electoral debacles, the infiltration of fascist ideology through the pores of Indian democracy is going on in various ways. The phenomenon is creeping slowly though section of media, communalization of education, and infiltration of the followers of this ideology in different section of state. The gradual attempt to erode the liberal and plural values is a dangerous portent for democracy. Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit’s alleged involvement in Malegon blast may just be the tip of the iceberg. The judicial pronouncements that ‘Gita should be our national book’ are also reflective of the same phenomenon.
Indian fascism is a slow growing one, capturing different aspects of society one by one. It is not for nothing that Modi is the darling of big capitalists, who stand to gain maximum from the fascist type set ups. One can label Indian phenomenon as a chronic fascism, going in a step ladder pattern. Those of us relived because of electoral debacles of BJP at center need to wake up and realize that fascism is marching, irrespective of BJP’s electoral debacle in last two general elections.
The incidental observation from German delegates report is that since Germany went through such a painful period of history, many Germans realize and can sense the symptoms of fascism so easily. Same applies to many Japanese joining anti-Nuke protests and campaigns against Nuclear weapons. Who knows better than them as to what a nuclear weapon can do to the society?
So while here in India the justice to Modi ilk is elusive, globally there are norms which do recognize the nature of incidents happening here, the politics which abuses religious identity to come to power is in essence a variant of fascism whatever be its other characteristics.
--
While law of the land is trying to catch up with the acts of commission and omission in the Gujarat carnage, another set of laws, the global ones have been very clear about permitting the entry of a person like Narendra Modi into their country.
Recently (April 8, 2010), a group of German MPs justified the denial of visa to Modi. They advocated a ban on his visiting Europe. This parliamentary delegation was on a two day visit to the city of Ahmedabad to study the state of minorities in Gujarat. It concluded that the European Union (EU) decision not to grant visa to him was justified. They went to the extent of banning his trip to Europe in near future. They pointed out that “the Chief Minister of Gujarat has a radical tone to his politics and is described as dictatorial. He has a wrong perception of religious freedom.” This four member team has been closely following developments in the Gujarat riot cases.
One member of delegation pointed out that he was shocked by parallels between Germany under Hitler and Gujarat under Modi. Incidentally in Gujarat school books Hitler has been glorified as a great nationalist. Modi, in response to this has written to Prime Minister to seek apology from the German delegation for tarnishing the image of democratically elected head of state. The Congress Government endorsed Modi’s view and clarified that the EU had put a ban on Modi’s visit in the aftermath of Gujarat carnage but that has been withdrawn. Also that it was not an official delegation. Whatever that be, the opinion of the members of the delegation does reflect a deeper truth of our political phenomenon.
That apart, this is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Modi was earlier denied visa to US. On March 18, 2005 in a severe rebuke to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the United States denied him entry to America. US Consular division had taken a strong stand against Modi, the Hindutva icon. They denied him diplomatic visa apparently holding him responsible for communal carnage of 2002. In addition, his tourist/business visa which was already granted was revoked under a section of US Immigration and Nationality Act since he was not coming for a purpose that qualifies for a diplomatic visa.
In response to the query that he was already holding a tourist-cum-business visa, the Consulate pointed out that the "existing tourist/business visa has been revoked under Section 212 (a) (2) (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." According this section
any foreign government official who was responsible or "directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religions freedom" is denied the visa. The decision of US authorities was based on the observations of India's National Human Rights Commission findings and other independent Indian sources.
The observation of German delegation raises one additional major point about the state of Gujarat being similar to that of Germany under Hitler. Who will know it better than Germans who have suffered the political tragedy of fascism for bad many years? Modi’s point that he is an elected person again matches so well with Hitler. One recalls, Hitler came to power through democratic means and then he gradually eroded liberal-democratic norms from inside to bring in worst type of fascist state. The parallels are unmistakable. There are some differences from German fascism here but all the same the basic phenomenon is the same. Fascism is a politics where the liberal democratic space is abolished in the name of targeting some section of society for the supposed cause of National interest. In case of Germany the process was accompanied by a cultural paradigm shift and political aggression against communists, then trade unionists and then the Jews. Millions of Jews were subjected to the gas chambers, one of the greatest tragedies of the human history of twentieth century.
The politics of Hitler, and his clone Mussolini was praised by M.S. Golwalkar the ideologue of RSS, the organization where Modi has been indoctrinated and trained. Golwalkar’s formulations of aggressive nationalism and relegating minorities to second-class citizenship are being actualized by Modi and company in different ways.
While the similarities with German case are so glaring, there are some differences as well. The German fascism began to take social roots after the economic crisis generated in the aftermath of First World War. The cultural offensive in the field of arts, music, literature and the ‘glorification of ancient past’ picked up rapidly. In one of the major assaults on democracy, the fire at Reichstag was attributed to having been done by Communists, and physical violence was unleashed against them. Analogies with Godhra train burning are unmistakable.
Here the ascendance of Modi comes on the background of the economic crisis of the decade of 1980s, the adverse effects of globalization picking up, the loss of jobs of the downtrodden due to closure of textile mills, the attacks on the dalits OBCs in the name of anti reservation riots. The cultural manipulation began with Ram Temple movement, and spreading of hate against minorities, Muslims first and then the Christians, who by now have been relegated to second class citizenship in Gujarat and some other states and the trend in other states is going in that direction.
While in Germany whole of the Nation came under the grip of fascism, the saving grace in India is that the electoral face of ‘Indian fascism’, BJP, has not been able to come to absolute majority in the center by itself. That’s not to say that fascism is not marching. In Germany the defeat of Germany in Second World War led to the collapse of the nation along with the edifice of fascism with the fascist-in-chief committing suicide. In India here it has gripped Gujarat in full, while in other states like Karnataka, Orissa, MP its presence is getting strengthened by and by. At national level though BJP might have faced two electoral debacles, the infiltration of fascist ideology through the pores of Indian democracy is going on in various ways. The phenomenon is creeping slowly though section of media, communalization of education, and infiltration of the followers of this ideology in different section of state. The gradual attempt to erode the liberal and plural values is a dangerous portent for democracy. Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit’s alleged involvement in Malegon blast may just be the tip of the iceberg. The judicial pronouncements that ‘Gita should be our national book’ are also reflective of the same phenomenon.
Indian fascism is a slow growing one, capturing different aspects of society one by one. It is not for nothing that Modi is the darling of big capitalists, who stand to gain maximum from the fascist type set ups. One can label Indian phenomenon as a chronic fascism, going in a step ladder pattern. Those of us relived because of electoral debacles of BJP at center need to wake up and realize that fascism is marching, irrespective of BJP’s electoral debacle in last two general elections.
The incidental observation from German delegates report is that since Germany went through such a painful period of history, many Germans realize and can sense the symptoms of fascism so easily. Same applies to many Japanese joining anti-Nuke protests and campaigns against Nuclear weapons. Who knows better than them as to what a nuclear weapon can do to the society?
So while here in India the justice to Modi ilk is elusive, globally there are norms which do recognize the nature of incidents happening here, the politics which abuses religious identity to come to power is in essence a variant of fascism whatever be its other characteristics.
--
April 16, 2010
Indian Americans Urge Fair Investigation into the Recent Riots in Hyderabad, India
Indian Muslim Council USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 16, 2010
Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA - http://www.imc-usa.org/), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India's pluralist and tolerant ethos urges the Andhra Pradesh State government to update the public on the status and the nature of the investigations into the recent communal riots in Hyderabad.
The riots were triggered due to unprecedented mobilization by Hindu extremist organizations that blanketed the entire city with Saffron flags for the Hanuman Jayanti - a festival that was hitherto celebrated with relative simplicity in Hyderabad. These Saffron flags and other Hindu religious symbols were provocatively planted on Mosques, Churches and sites of other religions. Rabble rousing speeches provoking violence against minority communities were also delivered at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad conference on March 24th that led to cases being filed against Hindu nationalist leaders as early as 3 days prior to the breakout of violence. According to reports three lives were lost, ninety people were injured. Police arrested two hundred and seventy two suspects while imposing the curfew within the jurisdiction of twenty five police stations.
Dubbing the situation as an overall failure of the state and its intelligence agencies, IMC-USA President Rasheed Ahmed commented that "Andhra Pradesh Government failed to preempt these communal riots. It appears that even the general public had begun to sense the communal tension following the hateful rhetoric at the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) conference but police intelligence was either oblivious to it or deliberately silent about it." He further added "It is high time the state police and intelligence forces reprioritize their focus on the Hindutva groups who are the main culprits and agent provocateurs in destabilizing communal harmony and provoking religious violence across the country"
IMC-USA is concerned that regular investigation may not be sufficient to get to the real story behind these riots. A judicial probe led by a judge of unbiased repute may be required to avoid further loss of life in yet another riot on yet another pretext. It is unfortunate that the current government allowed these riots to unsettle the years of communal harmony under the previous governments.
Indian Muslim Council-USA is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 10 chapters across the nation.
CONTACT:
Dr. Hyder Khan
phone/fax: 1-800-839-7270
email: info@imc-usa.org
RELATED LINKS:
Hyderabad communal riots: 272 arrested, 170 cases registered
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hyderabad-communal-riots-272-arrested-170-cases-registered-/articleshow/5785416.cms
A decade of calm, and now...
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/11/201003292010032920243620454dbf969/A-decade-of-calm-and-now-.html
Case booked against VHP leader
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/04/stories/2010040462700500.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 16, 2010
Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA - http://www.imc-usa.org/), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India's pluralist and tolerant ethos urges the Andhra Pradesh State government to update the public on the status and the nature of the investigations into the recent communal riots in Hyderabad.
The riots were triggered due to unprecedented mobilization by Hindu extremist organizations that blanketed the entire city with Saffron flags for the Hanuman Jayanti - a festival that was hitherto celebrated with relative simplicity in Hyderabad. These Saffron flags and other Hindu religious symbols were provocatively planted on Mosques, Churches and sites of other religions. Rabble rousing speeches provoking violence against minority communities were also delivered at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad conference on March 24th that led to cases being filed against Hindu nationalist leaders as early as 3 days prior to the breakout of violence. According to reports three lives were lost, ninety people were injured. Police arrested two hundred and seventy two suspects while imposing the curfew within the jurisdiction of twenty five police stations.
Dubbing the situation as an overall failure of the state and its intelligence agencies, IMC-USA President Rasheed Ahmed commented that "Andhra Pradesh Government failed to preempt these communal riots. It appears that even the general public had begun to sense the communal tension following the hateful rhetoric at the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) conference but police intelligence was either oblivious to it or deliberately silent about it." He further added "It is high time the state police and intelligence forces reprioritize their focus on the Hindutva groups who are the main culprits and agent provocateurs in destabilizing communal harmony and provoking religious violence across the country"
IMC-USA is concerned that regular investigation may not be sufficient to get to the real story behind these riots. A judicial probe led by a judge of unbiased repute may be required to avoid further loss of life in yet another riot on yet another pretext. It is unfortunate that the current government allowed these riots to unsettle the years of communal harmony under the previous governments.
Indian Muslim Council-USA is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 10 chapters across the nation.
CONTACT:
Dr. Hyder Khan
phone/fax: 1-800-839-7270
email: info@imc-usa.org
RELATED LINKS:
Hyderabad communal riots: 272 arrested, 170 cases registered
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hyderabad-communal-riots-272-arrested-170-cases-registered-/articleshow/5785416.cms
A decade of calm, and now...
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/11/201003292010032920243620454dbf969/A-decade-of-calm-and-now-.html
Case booked against VHP leader
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/04/stories/2010040462700500.htm
April 13, 2010
Book Review:
Frontline, Volume 27 - Issue 08 :: Apr. 10-23, 2010
BOOKS
Secular riddle
V. VENKATESAN
Two books that enrich our understanding of the distinctiveness of Indian secularism.
These are relatively normal times for India’s secularism: there has been no serious internal threat to it, at least since the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat. Therefore, the present appears to be the appropriate time to seek dispassionately and understand the true meaning of secularism in India without being influenced by the compulsions of crisis-like events. Predictably, there has been no dearth of scholarly interest in the subject in recent months. Such interest is welcome as it helps to achieve clarity on what Indian secularism entails, well before we confront the next crisis.
The two books under review attempt to unravel the meaning of Indian secularism in the light of contemporary challenges. In the first book, Rajeev Bhargava, Director, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, and a long-time student of Indian secularism both as an activist and as a scholar, has put together his essays written between 1990 and 2003 with a unifying theme. Those familiar with his earlier writings are sure to feel a sense of déjÀ vu while reading some of these essays. However, rereading them in the light of new contemporary issues, interspersed with his fresh insights, is a stimulating experience.
Ronojoy Sen is a young journalist with The Times of India, New Delhi, and his book began as a PhD dissertation when the author was a research scholar at the University of Chicago. Sen had the advantage of using, among other sources, the scholarly output of Bhargava for his analysis of the Supreme Court’s judgments on religion and secularism from 1950 onwards. Reading these two books together helps one to understand the similarities and differences in their approach to secularism.
Both the books start with Donald Smith’s India as a Secular State, published in 1963, which is the locus classicus on the subject. Smith’s conception of the secular state involves three distinct but interconnected relations involving the state, religion, and the individual. The first relation concerns individuals and their religion, from which the state is excluded. That is, individuals are free to decide the merits of different religions without any coercive interference by the state. This is the liberal ingredient within secularism.
The second concerns the relation between individuals and the state, from which religion is excluded. Here, the state views individuals without taking into account their religious affiliation. This is the egalitarian component of secularism.
As for the third, Smith argues that secularism entails the mutual exclusion of the state and religion in order that they may operate effectively and equally in their respective domains. A strict separation of religion and the state, he suggests, would help achieve religious liberty and equal citizenship.
The ideal of neutrality or equidistance is an essential component of Smith’s view of secularism; this view does not tolerate the state’s interference to promote Dalits’ entry into temples or the minorities’ right to run their own educational institutions.
Rightly, both Bhargava and Sen disagree with Smith. According to Bhargava, Smith remained in the grip of a particular model of Western secularism and, therefore, was unable to get a handle on the basic features of Indian secularism. The distinctiveness of the Indian variant of secularism can be understood, he argues, only when the cultural background and social context of India is properly grasped.
The first feature of Indian secularism is the mind-boggling diversity of religious communities and the consequent conflicts over values. The second is the greater emphasis on practice rather than belief. Third, many religiously sanctioned social practices are oppressive, and they desperately need to be reformed. Fourth, reform can hardly be initiated without help from the state, in view of the tendency to resist change prevalent among all religions, especially within Hinduism.
Despite their shared disagreement with Smith’s thesis, however, Bhargava and Sen depart from each other while explaining the Indian variant of secularism.
According to Bhargava, the separation of religion from the state could mean a policy of principled distance, which entails a flexible approach on the question of state intervention or abstention. In this, whether or not the state intervenes or refrains from action depends on what really strengthens religious liberty and equality of citizenship. Under this policy, the state may not relate to every religion in exactly the same way or intervene to the same degree or in the same manner. All it must ensure is that the relation between religious and political institutions is guided by non-sectarian principles that remain consistent with a set of values constitutive of a life of equal dignity for all.
Bhargava illustrates this policy of principled distance through some examples. By its refusal to allow separate electorates, reserved constituencies for religious communities, reservation for jobs on the basis of religious classification, and organisation of states on religious basis, the Indian state excluded religion from its purview, and the grounds for this was that its inclusion would inflame religious and communal conflict and produce another Partition-like scenario.
However, the state included religion in policy matters of cultural import. Thus, the state did not consider the adoption of a uniform civil code as absolutely essential for national integration. The Constitution granted separate rights to minority religious communities to enable them to live with dignity.
By making polygamy illegal, introducing the right to divorce, abolishing child marriage, legally recognising inter-caste marriages, regulating the activities of criminals masquerading as holy men, introducing temple entry rights for Dalits, and reforming temple administration, the state intervened in religious matters to protect the dignified life of its citizens. A secular state, in other words, need not be equidistant from all religious communities and may interfere in one religion more than another, explains Bhargava.
Sen, however, finds the “principled distance” argument somewhat problematic. One could question, he says, what “principled” exactly amounts to and who decides its content. Sen does not elaborate his disagreement with Bhargava further, as that is not the primary object of his book. He indicates that his proximity lies with the legal scholar Rajeev Dhavan, who disaggregates Indian secularism into three components: religious freedom, celebratory neutrality, and reformatory justice. Religious freedom covers not just religious beliefs, but also rituals and practices. Celebratory neutrality entails a state that assists, both financially and otherwise, in the celebration of all faiths. Reformatory justice involves regulating and reforming religious institutions and practices as well as setting aside some core elements that are beyond regulation.
On the basis of a wide range of Supreme Court rulings, Sen suggests that the Indian state has pushed its reformist agenda at the expense of religious freedom and neutrality. In particular, he makes two broad claims. First, the court rulings have had the effect of homogenising and rationalising religion and religious practices, particularly of Hinduism. Second, there is a significant overlap between the judicial discourse and the ontology of Hindu nationalism. This, he argues, strengthened the hand of Hindu nationalists, inadvertently.
P. GOUTHAM
Caste Hindus form a human wall in front of the Sri Draupathi Amman temple at Kandampatti in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, to keep out Dalits, in June 2007. Has the Indian state pushed its reformist agenda at the expense of neutrality by introducing temple entry rights for Dalits?
Sen alludes here to Justice J.S. Verma’s judgment in R.Y. Prabhoo vs P.K. Kunte (1996), laying down that Hindutva is a way of life and that any reference to Hindutva in the course of an election campaign does not make it communal. In conflating Hindutva with Hinduism, Justice Verma ignored the antecedents of Hindutva, Sen suggests. For example, Justice Verma did not consider V.D. Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar’s use of the ideas of the sacred soil and race to include some and exclude others as foreigners.
The judgment made Hindu nationalists jubilant. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 1999 election manifesto used Justice Verma’s judgment to justify its Hindutva plank. Sen suggests that the precursor to Justice Verma was the former Chief Justice of India, P.B. Gajendragadkar, who authored the judgment in the Satsangi case in 1966. In this case, he described Hinduism as a way of life. While he remained Nehruvian in his commitment to the marginalisation of religion in the public sphere, he was a key figure in the tendency to rationalise and ultimately homogenise Hinduism, Sen states. In 1996, Justice Verma cited his judgment in the Satsangi case to achieve a result that went against secularism.
As Sen explains, the court’s description of Hinduism as a way of life was based on the idea that there were certain foundational features of Hinduism, one of them being the centrality of the Vedas. In rejecting the claim of Satsangis that they were distinct from Hindus, the court appealed to the idea of a “subtle indescribable unity” underneath the “divergence” of Hinduism. This allowed the court to ignore the issue of the multiplicity of sects and beliefs within Hinduism and deny the right of exit to any sect or group. However, this propensity towards homogenisation – due to Justice Gajendragadkar’s nation-building and unification concerns – reinforced the Hindu nationalist dual project of unifying Hinduism on the one hand and subsuming all religions under the umbrella of Hindutva on the other.
Similarly, Justice Gajendragadkar is credited with developing the “essential practices” doctrine, which sought to cleanse religion of superstition and irrationalities. It was based on the premise that the state must protect only the “essential and integral part” of religion. While it was certainly desirable that the state would play a role in passing laws to abolish social practices such as untouchability and denial of permission to lower-caste people to enter temples, the Supreme Court permitted the state to become deeply involved in administering religious institutions, and even regulating rituals and modes of worship, Sen’s book shows. The involvement of the state in religious institutions flew in the face of the Nehruvian assumption that the domain of religion would shrink gradually. Instead of religion disappearing from the public sphere, the state became the principal agent of Hindu reform. This, Sen argues, resulted in the virtual takeover of temples, which completely undermines any form of secularism.
There is one important aspect over which Sen and Bhargava fundamentally differ. Sen suggests that it is the celebratory neutrality of the Indian state, or a state-sponsored tolerance, namely, sarva dharma sambhava, which is a sine qua non of Indian secularism.
Bhargava, however, argues that there are three interpretations of sarva dharma sambhava: religious coexistence, inter-religious tolerance, and equal respect for all religions. There are many good reasons why the ideals of religious coexistence and inter-religious tolerance should not be conflated. The mainstream idea of tolerance is that it enjoins us to refrain from interfering in the affairs of others, even when one has the power to do so, and, additionally, even when one finds the beliefs and practices of others morally repugnant. In this sense, tolerance is entirely consistent with a total refusal to respect the religion of others. It is also compatible with gross inequality and hierarchy. One may tolerate the religion of another person even as one treats that person as inferior. Secularism, Bhargava argues, on the other hand, is grounded in notions of equality – equal concern and respect – and therefore, goes beyond the notion of inter-religious tolerance.
Bhargava also finds it inappropriate to identify secularism with equal respect for all religions. Respecting other religions as equals does not entail their blind acceptance or endorsement, he says. Indeed, it is precisely because respect is consistent with difference and critique that the idea of equal respect for all religions is closely linked with the proposal for an inter-faith dialogue. Thus he suggests that Indian secularism does, in a way, respect all religions but by embodying the idea of respectful transformation of religions.
The distinctiveness of Indian secularism is also explained by Bhargava in terms of a significant facet of post-Independence history. The idea of separate electorates for Muslims was rejected in post-Independence India not by an appeal to a secularism of a strict separationist variety but on highly contextual grounds. The idea was rejected keeping in mind not some general moral necessity of separating religion and state but, as Sardar Patel put it, because separate electorates had “sharpened communal differences to a dangerous extent and prevented the development of a healthy national life”. The implication, according to Bhargava, is that if they were compatible with or somehow fostered a healthy national life, then they could easily have been endorsed.
Notwithstanding such subtle nuances, these two books enrich our understanding of Indian secularism.
Bal Thackeray and Subramanian Swamy: Two Crusaders of the Hindu Right
The Daily Times
April 09, 2010
HUM HINDUSTANI: The two crusaders
by J Sri Raman
Swamy and Thackeray are past masters at political lynching, though Thackeray’s followers may get physical about it as well. And both continue with their series of crusades, regardless of either results or reactions
The dissimilarities between Bal Thackeray and Subramanian Swamy are many and manifest. There is, however, no mistaking their striking similarity as practitioners of the politics of dementia.
The main dissimilarity consists in the fact that the Shiv Sena chief enjoys a nationwide notoriety, while very few know of Swamy as the Führer of the Janata Party. Even fewer are those who know of the existence of such a party. Thackeray, with his saffron apparel and strings of beads, can still mobilise scores of musclemen in Mumbai streets for causes beyond others’ comprehension. Swamy, in his ‘angavastram’ (shoulder cloth) of ornamental borders, presides over a practically one-man party and prefers to conduct his campaigns in courts, with select media substituting for mass supporters of any size.
On the face of it, the fundamental similarity between the two politicians of blackmail from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu lies in the loyalty of both to the lie called ‘Hindutva’, a philosophy of religious bigotry to which the average Indian citizen of the majority community does not subscribe. What makes Thackeray and Swamy birds of the same feather, in fact, is the method behind their madness. Both are past masters at political lynching, though Thackeray’s followers may get physical about it as well. And both continue with their series of crusades, regardless of either results or reactions.
By normal standards, for example, the Shiv Sena should be sulking in a corner now, after the resounding snubs it received on its latest campaigns. Thackeray himself took on Sachin Tendulkar, asking the master batsman not to get ‘run out’ by asserting non-Maharashtrian Indians’ right to live and work in Mumbai. Sachin hit the Sena for a six by reiterating his stand, turning the entire nation into a cheering stadium. The goons turned to another glamour boy, Shahrukh Khan, and mounted a furious campaign against his latest film, ‘My Name Is Khan’, to punish him for wanting Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. The film became an instant box-office hit.
The never-say-die Sena has been quick to seize its next issue. The announcement of Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik wedding plans was just the kind of opportunity it had been waiting for. The party’s slogan-shouters and stone-throwers were back in the streets. They clamoured for the deportation of the only Indian woman in world tennis if she defied the Sena and wedded — yes, you guessed it right — a Pakistani cricketer, even if he was no contender for the gala IPL event.
Thackeray has received no support in the matter from any section of political opinion — not even its otherwise staunch ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), trying hard to look liberal without losing its traditional base. The Sena can, however, be counted upon to soldier on. So can Swamy.
He returned from Harvard in the mid-70s to embrace ‘Hindutva’ and enlist in the Jan Sangh, the more brazenly communal parent of the BJP. Through over the three decades of political turbulence since then, legions espoused the lost causes Swamy has endorsed. Swamy is often accused of defamation but never gets deterred by such charges. In fact, he grew so used to them that he wrote an article captioned ‘Defamation litigation: a survivor’s kit’ way back in 2004.
We can leave it to professional muckrakers to peruse and profit by the manual. Nor need we be detained by the diverse issues and individuals involved in his past campaigns. The latest instance of his intervention in public affairs should suffice as an illustration of his mission and methods.
The case of Nalini Sriharan, the target of tireless Swamy, is 19 years old. Forty-five-year-old Nalini is the unlucky one who did not get away after the assassination of former prime minister by a human bomb on the night of May 21, 1991. Many of the sympathisers say she played only a peripheral role in the affair, and none of her detractors claims she played anything like the primary part in the assassination. She was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended. This was reportedly done at the behest of Rajiv’s widow, Sonia Gandhi, who did not want the daughter born to Nalini in jail orphaned. By all accounts, Nalini has been a model prisoner and used her days in captivity to pursue higher education through correspondence courses.
In an e-mail interview in August 2008, she said she “regrets” Rajiv’s killing. She called him a “great leader” and his death a “loss” to the country. In April 2008, Rajiv’s daughter Priyanka Vadra met Nalini in prison. Priyanka said later that she had “forgiven” the convict, while Nalini reportedly talked of her “sins” being “washed away” after the meeting.
Nalini has also been quoted as saying that “the real conspirators” had not been brought to book. New Delhi, which has always held the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) responsible for the assassination, was never able to force its top leaders including Velupillai Prabhakaran and Anton Balasingham to face the law of the land.
It is a plea of Nalini for premature release that moved Swamy into a paroxysm of patriotic rage. He is claimed to have won a victory with the rejection of the plea on the ground that the prison authorities perceiving no ‘regret’ in her and the state government of Tamil Nadu (where she is incarcerated) talking darkly of a threat to law and order in the event of her release though the Tigers may be an extinct species.
In a television debate, Swamy was nearly in tears as he talked of what Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination meant to the nation. Watching him, few could recall that Swamy had been among the belligerent campaigners against Rajiv on the ‘Bofors scam’, on which successive regimes — including non-Congress ones — have been able to prove nothing. It is another matter that as the law minister in one of these governments (under Chandra Shekhar as the prime minister), the same Swamy tried his best to stall investigations into the case.
The rejection of Nalini’s plea does not quite rob Swamy of this particular issue. In September 2008, he had taken the stand that commutation of her death sentence was ‘vitiated by illegality’. There is nothing to stop him from going to the court and questioning the commutation again.
He is sure to find strong support from Thackeray, who has also been fighting against commutation of another death sentence — with an even greater ferocity than those glamour boys and girl have faced. The Sena chief has never forgiven former President A P J Abdul Kalam for not rejecting the plea for clemency to Mohammad Afzal or Afzal Guru sentenced to dearth in the ‘parliament attack’ case.
No noose is bad news for the nation — that is a common message from the two colourful politicians. The people may not agree. But the dramatics of the Thackerays and Swamys are, perhaps, the price a country has to pay for democracy.
The writer is a journalist based in Chennai, India. A peace activist, he is also the author of a sheaf of poems titled At Gunpoint
April 09, 2010
HUM HINDUSTANI: The two crusaders
by J Sri Raman
Swamy and Thackeray are past masters at political lynching, though Thackeray’s followers may get physical about it as well. And both continue with their series of crusades, regardless of either results or reactions
The dissimilarities between Bal Thackeray and Subramanian Swamy are many and manifest. There is, however, no mistaking their striking similarity as practitioners of the politics of dementia.
The main dissimilarity consists in the fact that the Shiv Sena chief enjoys a nationwide notoriety, while very few know of Swamy as the Führer of the Janata Party. Even fewer are those who know of the existence of such a party. Thackeray, with his saffron apparel and strings of beads, can still mobilise scores of musclemen in Mumbai streets for causes beyond others’ comprehension. Swamy, in his ‘angavastram’ (shoulder cloth) of ornamental borders, presides over a practically one-man party and prefers to conduct his campaigns in courts, with select media substituting for mass supporters of any size.
On the face of it, the fundamental similarity between the two politicians of blackmail from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu lies in the loyalty of both to the lie called ‘Hindutva’, a philosophy of religious bigotry to which the average Indian citizen of the majority community does not subscribe. What makes Thackeray and Swamy birds of the same feather, in fact, is the method behind their madness. Both are past masters at political lynching, though Thackeray’s followers may get physical about it as well. And both continue with their series of crusades, regardless of either results or reactions.
By normal standards, for example, the Shiv Sena should be sulking in a corner now, after the resounding snubs it received on its latest campaigns. Thackeray himself took on Sachin Tendulkar, asking the master batsman not to get ‘run out’ by asserting non-Maharashtrian Indians’ right to live and work in Mumbai. Sachin hit the Sena for a six by reiterating his stand, turning the entire nation into a cheering stadium. The goons turned to another glamour boy, Shahrukh Khan, and mounted a furious campaign against his latest film, ‘My Name Is Khan’, to punish him for wanting Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. The film became an instant box-office hit.
The never-say-die Sena has been quick to seize its next issue. The announcement of Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik wedding plans was just the kind of opportunity it had been waiting for. The party’s slogan-shouters and stone-throwers were back in the streets. They clamoured for the deportation of the only Indian woman in world tennis if she defied the Sena and wedded — yes, you guessed it right — a Pakistani cricketer, even if he was no contender for the gala IPL event.
Thackeray has received no support in the matter from any section of political opinion — not even its otherwise staunch ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), trying hard to look liberal without losing its traditional base. The Sena can, however, be counted upon to soldier on. So can Swamy.
He returned from Harvard in the mid-70s to embrace ‘Hindutva’ and enlist in the Jan Sangh, the more brazenly communal parent of the BJP. Through over the three decades of political turbulence since then, legions espoused the lost causes Swamy has endorsed. Swamy is often accused of defamation but never gets deterred by such charges. In fact, he grew so used to them that he wrote an article captioned ‘Defamation litigation: a survivor’s kit’ way back in 2004.
We can leave it to professional muckrakers to peruse and profit by the manual. Nor need we be detained by the diverse issues and individuals involved in his past campaigns. The latest instance of his intervention in public affairs should suffice as an illustration of his mission and methods.
The case of Nalini Sriharan, the target of tireless Swamy, is 19 years old. Forty-five-year-old Nalini is the unlucky one who did not get away after the assassination of former prime minister by a human bomb on the night of May 21, 1991. Many of the sympathisers say she played only a peripheral role in the affair, and none of her detractors claims she played anything like the primary part in the assassination. She was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended. This was reportedly done at the behest of Rajiv’s widow, Sonia Gandhi, who did not want the daughter born to Nalini in jail orphaned. By all accounts, Nalini has been a model prisoner and used her days in captivity to pursue higher education through correspondence courses.
In an e-mail interview in August 2008, she said she “regrets” Rajiv’s killing. She called him a “great leader” and his death a “loss” to the country. In April 2008, Rajiv’s daughter Priyanka Vadra met Nalini in prison. Priyanka said later that she had “forgiven” the convict, while Nalini reportedly talked of her “sins” being “washed away” after the meeting.
Nalini has also been quoted as saying that “the real conspirators” had not been brought to book. New Delhi, which has always held the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) responsible for the assassination, was never able to force its top leaders including Velupillai Prabhakaran and Anton Balasingham to face the law of the land.
It is a plea of Nalini for premature release that moved Swamy into a paroxysm of patriotic rage. He is claimed to have won a victory with the rejection of the plea on the ground that the prison authorities perceiving no ‘regret’ in her and the state government of Tamil Nadu (where she is incarcerated) talking darkly of a threat to law and order in the event of her release though the Tigers may be an extinct species.
In a television debate, Swamy was nearly in tears as he talked of what Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination meant to the nation. Watching him, few could recall that Swamy had been among the belligerent campaigners against Rajiv on the ‘Bofors scam’, on which successive regimes — including non-Congress ones — have been able to prove nothing. It is another matter that as the law minister in one of these governments (under Chandra Shekhar as the prime minister), the same Swamy tried his best to stall investigations into the case.
The rejection of Nalini’s plea does not quite rob Swamy of this particular issue. In September 2008, he had taken the stand that commutation of her death sentence was ‘vitiated by illegality’. There is nothing to stop him from going to the court and questioning the commutation again.
He is sure to find strong support from Thackeray, who has also been fighting against commutation of another death sentence — with an even greater ferocity than those glamour boys and girl have faced. The Sena chief has never forgiven former President A P J Abdul Kalam for not rejecting the plea for clemency to Mohammad Afzal or Afzal Guru sentenced to dearth in the ‘parliament attack’ case.
No noose is bad news for the nation — that is a common message from the two colourful politicians. The people may not agree. But the dramatics of the Thackerays and Swamys are, perhaps, the price a country has to pay for democracy.
The writer is a journalist based in Chennai, India. A peace activist, he is also the author of a sheaf of poems titled At Gunpoint
April 12, 2010
BJP, Congress and Communal VIolence
BJP and Congress in the Dock for Communal Violence
Ram Puniyani
The interrogation of Narendra Modi by SIT, appointed by Supreme Court was a major landmark in the investigation of Gujarat carnage. Over a period of years the gradual erosion of democratic values has led the situation to a sorry pass where the Gujarat related cases had to be shifted out of Gujarat, and finally even Supreme Court had to step in, to take charge of investigation of the brutal killing of Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, who was brutally massacred by a mob. Jafri had made multiple calls, and the top police official Pandey had visited the place few hours before the tragedy took place. Congress was totally helpless as the total chain of command from local level to the central level was controlled by the BJP.
Modi did try to create some more haloes around his head by appearing for being questioned. There were reports that he was to appear in front of SIT on 21st March, SIT Chief R K Raghavan stated on March 11 that Modi was summoned to appear before SIT for questioning on March 21. The SIT office was kept open the whole day but the chief minister did not turn up. Contrary to this fact Modi lashed out on the media and ‘vested interests’ saying they are trying to defame Gujarat (for Modi, Gujarat is Modi and Vice versa). Now those demanding the justice for the victims of Gujarat carnage are presented as vested interests. This statement of his was hardly challenged by anyone. SIT kept quiet about it and it sounded as if he carried the day. Truth is the contrary, the SIT office was kept open for him. And who has vested interests in Gujarat, those using religion to come to power or those human rights activists who are struggling for the rights of minorities which are being reduced to second class citizenship?
Modi presented himself to SIT in grand style and this was pronounced as a political victory for him. It was claimed that the faith of BJP workers went up in his leadership. Now what does one say to this? Does fulfilling a legal obligation tantamount to political victory? This formulation was deliberately floated to hide the ignominy of a Chief Minister having to appear before an investigating agency for the first time in India. A matter of shame projected as political victory! Only the followers of Gobbels can do it for sure.
Whenever BJP is caught with blood on its hands or doing partiality or discrimination the first thing it does is to deflect the issue by citing other cases with some parallels. If one talks of rehabilitation for victims of communal violence, the rhetoric is what about Kashmiri Pundits? As if two wrongs make a right! The comparison of Gujarat carnage is immediately done with the anti Sikh pogrom of 1984. Of course there are lot of similarities between the anti Sikh pogrom and the anti Muslim Gujarat carnage, but there are many a differences also. By all accounts it seems the anti Sikh pogrom; equally tragic was a spontaneous one while Gujarat carnage in all probability was a preplanned one, using the train burning of Godhra as a pretext for the violence. The dead bodies of victims of train burning were deliberately paraded on the streets of Ahmedabad, under full glare of TV cameras, top level meetings were held instructing officers concerned to let the Hindus vent their anger and the rest is too well known to be recounted.
Congress can never be exonerated from the cruel role it played in the anti Sikh pogrom. There is an interesting sidelight to the tragic pogrom also. What was BJP doing when the pogrom was underway? About this some inference can be drawn from the article by the then veteran RSS worker Nanaji Deshmukh. In his article in Hindi magazine Pratipaksh 'Moments of Soul searching', which was written in 1984, in the wake of Anti Sikh pogrom, Deshmukh blames the Sikh community for the murder of Indira Gandhi and advices Sikhs to keep patience and tolerance while they were being butchered. One can draw one’s own inference about the role of followers of this ideology.
All said and done, Congress workers played pro active to passive role during this pogrom for three full days after which military took over and brought this insanity to a halt. Babu Bajrangi and others involved in the massacres in Gujarat told Tehelka, sting operation, that they had been given three days to complete the retaliation. But here the processes were so complex that the violence went on and on for a painfully long period.
Tavleen Singh a senior journalist, points out that if Rajiv would have to face SIT, the Gujarat violence would not have taken place. There is some truth in that as by now the section of political groups have known the rewards of unleashing these murders, Rajiv came back to power with largest majority ever for Congress and Modi has returned to power twice after the carnage. As a matter of fact, culprits of most of the acts of communal violence have generally not been punished. The chain of command culpability is not there and while most of the perpetrators of communal violence get away with the crime, the top one’s who are really behind the violence are hardly touched as their culpability is not direct.
A demand is coming up from a section of Sikh community that a similar SIT should be formed for the anti Sikh pogrom also. The demand has all the merit, despite the lapse of long years after the pogrom. While one does not hope BJP can keep aloof from communal politics, one hopes Congress gets over its crime of 1984 in an honest way. Congress, despite its serious fallacies, is not a child of organization like RSS, which is opposed to Indian Democracy and Constitution and wants a Hindu nation. Congress needs to get over such tendencies lurking within its massive umbrella, those who are there despite no faith in the values of freedom movement. This needs to be sorted out and Congress needs to come out clean from this murky past. Justice must be done to all irrespective of whose victims they had been.
--
Ram Puniyani
The interrogation of Narendra Modi by SIT, appointed by Supreme Court was a major landmark in the investigation of Gujarat carnage. Over a period of years the gradual erosion of democratic values has led the situation to a sorry pass where the Gujarat related cases had to be shifted out of Gujarat, and finally even Supreme Court had to step in, to take charge of investigation of the brutal killing of Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, who was brutally massacred by a mob. Jafri had made multiple calls, and the top police official Pandey had visited the place few hours before the tragedy took place. Congress was totally helpless as the total chain of command from local level to the central level was controlled by the BJP.
Modi did try to create some more haloes around his head by appearing for being questioned. There were reports that he was to appear in front of SIT on 21st March, SIT Chief R K Raghavan stated on March 11 that Modi was summoned to appear before SIT for questioning on March 21. The SIT office was kept open the whole day but the chief minister did not turn up. Contrary to this fact Modi lashed out on the media and ‘vested interests’ saying they are trying to defame Gujarat (for Modi, Gujarat is Modi and Vice versa). Now those demanding the justice for the victims of Gujarat carnage are presented as vested interests. This statement of his was hardly challenged by anyone. SIT kept quiet about it and it sounded as if he carried the day. Truth is the contrary, the SIT office was kept open for him. And who has vested interests in Gujarat, those using religion to come to power or those human rights activists who are struggling for the rights of minorities which are being reduced to second class citizenship?
Modi presented himself to SIT in grand style and this was pronounced as a political victory for him. It was claimed that the faith of BJP workers went up in his leadership. Now what does one say to this? Does fulfilling a legal obligation tantamount to political victory? This formulation was deliberately floated to hide the ignominy of a Chief Minister having to appear before an investigating agency for the first time in India. A matter of shame projected as political victory! Only the followers of Gobbels can do it for sure.
Whenever BJP is caught with blood on its hands or doing partiality or discrimination the first thing it does is to deflect the issue by citing other cases with some parallels. If one talks of rehabilitation for victims of communal violence, the rhetoric is what about Kashmiri Pundits? As if two wrongs make a right! The comparison of Gujarat carnage is immediately done with the anti Sikh pogrom of 1984. Of course there are lot of similarities between the anti Sikh pogrom and the anti Muslim Gujarat carnage, but there are many a differences also. By all accounts it seems the anti Sikh pogrom; equally tragic was a spontaneous one while Gujarat carnage in all probability was a preplanned one, using the train burning of Godhra as a pretext for the violence. The dead bodies of victims of train burning were deliberately paraded on the streets of Ahmedabad, under full glare of TV cameras, top level meetings were held instructing officers concerned to let the Hindus vent their anger and the rest is too well known to be recounted.
Congress can never be exonerated from the cruel role it played in the anti Sikh pogrom. There is an interesting sidelight to the tragic pogrom also. What was BJP doing when the pogrom was underway? About this some inference can be drawn from the article by the then veteran RSS worker Nanaji Deshmukh. In his article in Hindi magazine Pratipaksh 'Moments of Soul searching', which was written in 1984, in the wake of Anti Sikh pogrom, Deshmukh blames the Sikh community for the murder of Indira Gandhi and advices Sikhs to keep patience and tolerance while they were being butchered. One can draw one’s own inference about the role of followers of this ideology.
All said and done, Congress workers played pro active to passive role during this pogrom for three full days after which military took over and brought this insanity to a halt. Babu Bajrangi and others involved in the massacres in Gujarat told Tehelka, sting operation, that they had been given three days to complete the retaliation. But here the processes were so complex that the violence went on and on for a painfully long period.
Tavleen Singh a senior journalist, points out that if Rajiv would have to face SIT, the Gujarat violence would not have taken place. There is some truth in that as by now the section of political groups have known the rewards of unleashing these murders, Rajiv came back to power with largest majority ever for Congress and Modi has returned to power twice after the carnage. As a matter of fact, culprits of most of the acts of communal violence have generally not been punished. The chain of command culpability is not there and while most of the perpetrators of communal violence get away with the crime, the top one’s who are really behind the violence are hardly touched as their culpability is not direct.
A demand is coming up from a section of Sikh community that a similar SIT should be formed for the anti Sikh pogrom also. The demand has all the merit, despite the lapse of long years after the pogrom. While one does not hope BJP can keep aloof from communal politics, one hopes Congress gets over its crime of 1984 in an honest way. Congress, despite its serious fallacies, is not a child of organization like RSS, which is opposed to Indian Democracy and Constitution and wants a Hindu nation. Congress needs to get over such tendencies lurking within its massive umbrella, those who are there despite no faith in the values of freedom movement. This needs to be sorted out and Congress needs to come out clean from this murky past. Justice must be done to all irrespective of whose victims they had been.
--
April 05, 2010
From Debranjan Sarnagi regarding his film on Kandhamal communal violence
From: debaranjan sarangi
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM
Subject: My film on Kandhamal communal violence
My film on Kandhamal communal violence
Dear friend
I have traveled to the Kandhamal area several times (with and without camera). I was surprised, how much hatred human hearts could be filled with in name of religion. The same thing should not be repeated any where in this world.
Apart from all other efforts this film should be screened more and more in all other areas including adivasis areas. I would request leaders of mass organizations, different political organizations, NGOs, educational institutions, clubs, proprietor of local channels and individuals to screen it. If I be informed earlier I will try to be present there. Also I am trying my best to organize such screenings and your initiatives are most welcome.
This film was made out of individual contributions from like minded friends. I am thankful to them. I am planning to do my next film on a similar way. Your contribution may help me to make another.
Language of the film : Oriya and Oriya with English subtitle. Hindi subtitle will be available soon. I would welcome voluntary efforts to make it into other regional languages.
Price:
Individual : Rs 100 per DVD copy (excluding courier)
Institutions : Rs 250 per DVD copy (excluding courier)
Pl add Rs 60/ for courier charges inside India.
Contributions (and price for outside India) : Rs 500/Rs 1000 per copy (including all charges).
All remittances should be through cash/DD/Money Order in favor of “Debaranjan Sarangi”. For cheques please add Rs 40. Don’t forget to write your complete address and phone numbers while ordering for the copy.
My film has been reviewed by Prof. Ram Puniyani. His review is pasted below.
Yours,
Debaranjan
Postal Address
DEBARANJAN SARANGI
A/202
SONALI PALACE
SAILASHRI VIHAR
BHUBANESWAR – 751021
ORISSA
Email : debasar11@yahoo.co.in
Cell : 09437762272
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM
Subject: My film on Kandhamal communal violence
My film on Kandhamal communal violence
Dear friend
I have traveled to the Kandhamal area several times (with and without camera). I was surprised, how much hatred human hearts could be filled with in name of religion. The same thing should not be repeated any where in this world.
Apart from all other efforts this film should be screened more and more in all other areas including adivasis areas. I would request leaders of mass organizations, different political organizations, NGOs, educational institutions, clubs, proprietor of local channels and individuals to screen it. If I be informed earlier I will try to be present there. Also I am trying my best to organize such screenings and your initiatives are most welcome.
This film was made out of individual contributions from like minded friends. I am thankful to them. I am planning to do my next film on a similar way. Your contribution may help me to make another.
Language of the film : Oriya and Oriya with English subtitle. Hindi subtitle will be available soon. I would welcome voluntary efforts to make it into other regional languages.
Price:
Individual : Rs 100 per DVD copy (excluding courier)
Institutions : Rs 250 per DVD copy (excluding courier)
Pl add Rs 60/ for courier charges inside India.
Contributions (and price for outside India) : Rs 500/Rs 1000 per copy (including all charges).
All remittances should be through cash/DD/Money Order in favor of “Debaranjan Sarangi”. For cheques please add Rs 40. Don’t forget to write your complete address and phone numbers while ordering for the copy.
My film has been reviewed by Prof. Ram Puniyani. His review is pasted below.
Yours,
Debaranjan
Postal Address
DEBARANJAN SARANGI
A/202
SONALI PALACE
SAILASHRI VIHAR
BHUBANESWAR – 751021
ORISSA
Email : debasar11@yahoo.co.in
Cell : 09437762272
India: Modi's clarifications on the Gujarat & the Truth
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264873
What About The Truth?
Mr Modi can greatly benefit from the film A Few Good Men in which Colonel Nathan Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, authoritatively roars, “You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
by Najid Hussain
In recent times, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to be taking great pains to provide frequent clarifications about the 2002 riots in his state, which, judging from his eight years of near silence, seems quite intriguing. The latest ones, "Modi Himself Has Opposed The Riots And Still Does", and "Canards Have Been Spread Against Me" make for interesting reading.
For the last eight years, critics have accused Mr Modi of masterminding the Gujarat massacre of 2002. In eight years, he had little to say to them about charges levelled against him, with any amount of specificity. His responses have been generally vague and loaded with distractions. That does not seem changed even today. Here is an example.
In his article of March 22, Mr. Modi claims he feels “constrained” to write about the alleged “canards” spread against him. “Truth cannot be suppressed”, asserts Mr. Modi, “It is now my duty to place before you the facts that brings out the importance of understanding what the truth really is.”
That was enough to get the attention of his critics who are still hopeful that the moment of truth has perhaps arrived. Their long wait finally will come to an end.
“It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and who started spreading lies that SIT summons Narendra Modi on March 21, 2010”, wrote Mr Modi. He went on to correct, ‘SIT only sent a notice not a summons’, and ‘the date was not March 21st but March 27th’. End of clarification.
That’s all? End of clarification on eight years of alleged ‘canards’! In just two recent so called media “lies” -- neither relevant nor important -- with a conclusion that critics are trying to malign him! Wow! As they say: khodaa pahaaR niklaa chuuhaa! [Dug a mountain, found a mouse]
Either Mr Modi does not understand the charges levelled against him, or is simply hoping that he can succeed in hood-winking us and our legal system, with distractions over non-issues, long enough to make the cases against him get cold, his critics get old, and his acts of omissions and commissions of human rights violations get sold to the pages of history, just like the past massacres and human rights violations in our country. It's a clever strategy.
There was yet another clever strategy of a “72 hour riot” in the planning of the massacre of 2002. In the days after the massacre, Mr Modi publicly declared that the Gujarat riots of 2002 were controlled in a record time – 72 hours – which he claimed had never happened in the history of India in cases of major rioting. That statement was echoed repeatedly by his administration and other supporters, many a times where that clarification was not even needed. Mr Modi even requested the then president of India, Honourable APJ Abdul Kalam, to compile a list of pastriots in India and show how long it took for authorities to control them. The idea being that such statistics from the President will show no major Indian riots of the past had been controlled within 72 hours, which will exonerate Mr Modi, and his administration of the charge of dereliction of duty in controlling the riots.
Too bad that President Kalam ignored his request. Or maybe, he saw the clever motive hidden behind the request.
Former Defense Minister George Fernandes, during his visit to Gujarat in the aftermath of the riots, also admired the “three day control”. He also confirmed that such control was unprecedented in our history of rioting. Though in his momentum, he got slightly carried away to assert there was nothing new in killing children, raping women, extracting foetuses and tossing them in fire during Gujarat massacre. He said, we Indians have done all of this before.
The ground soldiers of 2002 massacre – Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt and their other team mates – also talked about the three day rule. They were hardly exaggerating before Ashish Khetan ofTehelka (Tehelka, November 5, 2007) when they said, “Narendrabhai gave us three days to do whatever we wanted”. They further added, “Narendrabhai’s only condition was the riots must stop in three days”.
Besides, over-defending an allegation often indicates guilt. The three-day-mantra is a pattern written across the board of 2002 massacre – amongst the planners as well as the executioners – prompting us to look beneath the surface.
Exploiting the weakness of our justice system was also a part of the planning. That weakness was seen as the best insurance and the most potent defence tool. The riot planners were certain that our justice system, and those charged to enforce it, will see the Gujarat administration’s riot control admirable and will not treat them differently compared to those of the past who also had committed similar crimes against humanity and had escaped accountability.
Many massacres of the past had lasted for days, even weeks, essentially because they were unplanned and more often than not, ran out of control. Gujarat riots, on the other hand, were meticulously planned with a strict three day rule to be enforced. Modi administration's oft-repeated mantra could well be seen as a corroboration of what Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt et al boasted. If anything, it should be used against the administration.
Mr Modi has already become the first Chief Minister in the history of our country to be summoned and questioned about the role his administration played in the massacre, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court of India to investigate Gujarat riots. Our justice system is already treading the path that will lead us to the ultimate truth about the Gujarat massacre of 2002. Mr Modi can now choose to give the truth himself, or our legal system will deduce it based on the testimonies, and other evidence.
A strong leader is characterized by a noble ideology, admirable vision, and a matching character to boldly take the country where no one has taken it before. In that pursuit, he (or she) can not be weak-hearted to act, can not be afraid to speak the truth, and always ready to pay the price if and when needed. Otherwise, he is not a strong leader. If you can’t face the music, you shouldn’t lead the band.
Our history is replete with strong leaders. Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Vallabhbhai Patel … who chose jail, even death, for their cause, but did not lie, or hide the truth. In their foot-steps, Mr Modi also can choose to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Besides, it is not leadership to sacrifice your foot soldiers for saving your skin by dissociating yourself from the cause. Captains don’t abandon sinking ships if there are others on-boad!
Mr Modi can greatly benefit from the film A Few Good Men. Colonel Nathan Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) could be an inspiration. Having illegally ordered operation “code red” (death) on one of his soldiers, Col. Jessep under intense legal questioning by Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) authoritatively roars, “You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" But the colonel does not lie. He takes the responsibility and speaks the truth.
Mr Modi also writes about the oft repeated claim that a majority of Gujaratis support him and see anything said against him as hurting ‘the pride of Gujarat’. That claim is simply inaccurate, even absurd. True, Mr Modi has won state elections two times after the massacre, but he did not receive even 50% of the total electorate.
A hateful ideology unites its followers despite their other differences. Result: they often vote as a block. Secular minded people on the other hand have lesser unity among themselves because they have many other issues they care about and so never vote as a block. Despite a net minority support, extremists can, and do, win elections and come to power. But that win is not a mandate on the nature of a majority of voters, or their support to extremism.
Gujaratis are some of the best people our nation has produced. Many are working diligently to bring the current atmosphere of hate and communal discrimination in Gujarat to an end. They are not the supporters of extremism. The pride of Gujarat does not come from ideologues of hate. It is the ideology of Bapu, which guides us in Gujarat and beyond.
Bapu’s teachings of love and brotherhood will live on. His appeals of communal harmony will live on. His dream of one powerful India will live on. Extremism will not. That is the pride of Gujarat.
This is no canard. It’s the truth.
What About The Truth?
Mr Modi can greatly benefit from the film A Few Good Men in which Colonel Nathan Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, authoritatively roars, “You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
by Najid Hussain
In recent times, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to be taking great pains to provide frequent clarifications about the 2002 riots in his state, which, judging from his eight years of near silence, seems quite intriguing. The latest ones, "Modi Himself Has Opposed The Riots And Still Does", and "Canards Have Been Spread Against Me" make for interesting reading.
For the last eight years, critics have accused Mr Modi of masterminding the Gujarat massacre of 2002. In eight years, he had little to say to them about charges levelled against him, with any amount of specificity. His responses have been generally vague and loaded with distractions. That does not seem changed even today. Here is an example.
In his article of March 22, Mr. Modi claims he feels “constrained” to write about the alleged “canards” spread against him. “Truth cannot be suppressed”, asserts Mr. Modi, “It is now my duty to place before you the facts that brings out the importance of understanding what the truth really is.”
That was enough to get the attention of his critics who are still hopeful that the moment of truth has perhaps arrived. Their long wait finally will come to an end.
“It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and who started spreading lies that SIT summons Narendra Modi on March 21, 2010”, wrote Mr Modi. He went on to correct, ‘SIT only sent a notice not a summons’, and ‘the date was not March 21st but March 27th’. End of clarification.
That’s all? End of clarification on eight years of alleged ‘canards’! In just two recent so called media “lies” -- neither relevant nor important -- with a conclusion that critics are trying to malign him! Wow! As they say: khodaa pahaaR niklaa chuuhaa! [Dug a mountain, found a mouse]
Either Mr Modi does not understand the charges levelled against him, or is simply hoping that he can succeed in hood-winking us and our legal system, with distractions over non-issues, long enough to make the cases against him get cold, his critics get old, and his acts of omissions and commissions of human rights violations get sold to the pages of history, just like the past massacres and human rights violations in our country. It's a clever strategy.
There was yet another clever strategy of a “72 hour riot” in the planning of the massacre of 2002. In the days after the massacre, Mr Modi publicly declared that the Gujarat riots of 2002 were controlled in a record time – 72 hours – which he claimed had never happened in the history of India in cases of major rioting. That statement was echoed repeatedly by his administration and other supporters, many a times where that clarification was not even needed. Mr Modi even requested the then president of India, Honourable APJ Abdul Kalam, to compile a list of pastriots in India and show how long it took for authorities to control them. The idea being that such statistics from the President will show no major Indian riots of the past had been controlled within 72 hours, which will exonerate Mr Modi, and his administration of the charge of dereliction of duty in controlling the riots.
Too bad that President Kalam ignored his request. Or maybe, he saw the clever motive hidden behind the request.
Former Defense Minister George Fernandes, during his visit to Gujarat in the aftermath of the riots, also admired the “three day control”. He also confirmed that such control was unprecedented in our history of rioting. Though in his momentum, he got slightly carried away to assert there was nothing new in killing children, raping women, extracting foetuses and tossing them in fire during Gujarat massacre. He said, we Indians have done all of this before.
The ground soldiers of 2002 massacre – Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt and their other team mates – also talked about the three day rule. They were hardly exaggerating before Ashish Khetan ofTehelka (Tehelka, November 5, 2007) when they said, “Narendrabhai gave us three days to do whatever we wanted”. They further added, “Narendrabhai’s only condition was the riots must stop in three days”.
Besides, over-defending an allegation often indicates guilt. The three-day-mantra is a pattern written across the board of 2002 massacre – amongst the planners as well as the executioners – prompting us to look beneath the surface.
Exploiting the weakness of our justice system was also a part of the planning. That weakness was seen as the best insurance and the most potent defence tool. The riot planners were certain that our justice system, and those charged to enforce it, will see the Gujarat administration’s riot control admirable and will not treat them differently compared to those of the past who also had committed similar crimes against humanity and had escaped accountability.
Many massacres of the past had lasted for days, even weeks, essentially because they were unplanned and more often than not, ran out of control. Gujarat riots, on the other hand, were meticulously planned with a strict three day rule to be enforced. Modi administration's oft-repeated mantra could well be seen as a corroboration of what Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt et al boasted. If anything, it should be used against the administration.
Mr Modi has already become the first Chief Minister in the history of our country to be summoned and questioned about the role his administration played in the massacre, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court of India to investigate Gujarat riots. Our justice system is already treading the path that will lead us to the ultimate truth about the Gujarat massacre of 2002. Mr Modi can now choose to give the truth himself, or our legal system will deduce it based on the testimonies, and other evidence.
A strong leader is characterized by a noble ideology, admirable vision, and a matching character to boldly take the country where no one has taken it before. In that pursuit, he (or she) can not be weak-hearted to act, can not be afraid to speak the truth, and always ready to pay the price if and when needed. Otherwise, he is not a strong leader. If you can’t face the music, you shouldn’t lead the band.
Our history is replete with strong leaders. Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Vallabhbhai Patel … who chose jail, even death, for their cause, but did not lie, or hide the truth. In their foot-steps, Mr Modi also can choose to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Besides, it is not leadership to sacrifice your foot soldiers for saving your skin by dissociating yourself from the cause. Captains don’t abandon sinking ships if there are others on-boad!
Mr Modi can greatly benefit from the film A Few Good Men. Colonel Nathan Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) could be an inspiration. Having illegally ordered operation “code red” (death) on one of his soldiers, Col. Jessep under intense legal questioning by Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) authoritatively roars, “You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" But the colonel does not lie. He takes the responsibility and speaks the truth.
Mr Modi also writes about the oft repeated claim that a majority of Gujaratis support him and see anything said against him as hurting ‘the pride of Gujarat’. That claim is simply inaccurate, even absurd. True, Mr Modi has won state elections two times after the massacre, but he did not receive even 50% of the total electorate.
A hateful ideology unites its followers despite their other differences. Result: they often vote as a block. Secular minded people on the other hand have lesser unity among themselves because they have many other issues they care about and so never vote as a block. Despite a net minority support, extremists can, and do, win elections and come to power. But that win is not a mandate on the nature of a majority of voters, or their support to extremism.
Gujaratis are some of the best people our nation has produced. Many are working diligently to bring the current atmosphere of hate and communal discrimination in Gujarat to an end. They are not the supporters of extremism. The pride of Gujarat does not come from ideologues of hate. It is the ideology of Bapu, which guides us in Gujarat and beyond.
Bapu’s teachings of love and brotherhood will live on. His appeals of communal harmony will live on. His dream of one powerful India will live on. Extremism will not. That is the pride of Gujarat.
This is no canard. It’s the truth.
April 04, 2010
Reservations: Dilemmas Galore ISP I April 2010
Reservations: Dilemmas Galore
Ram Puniyani
Heated debate has been generated around women’s reservation bill (WRB) with both sides having their inflexible positions. On one side there are those calling for its implementation and on the other those who are opposing it. This is a superficial view of debate. As such the debate is, on side are those saying that it should be implemented as it is and on the other side are those who say that there should be quota for OBC dalit, minorities within the quota. There are very few who are totally opposed to WRB, there are many willing to support it if quota within quota is accepted, so to paint them as being against Women’s reservation is unfair. The bill is hanging fire from last one and a half decade, and the rigidity of both sides is so obvious. In democracy it need not be just a brute majority which should work; a process of consensus should be tried before polarizing the issue.
One can very well say it is a bit of the reminder of Mandal days. Many of those opposing Mandal are the strongest champions of this bill while the supporters of Mandal are trying to argue that if implemented in the present form, it will increase the hegemony of upper castes, as the upper caste women are in a better position to compete, while the lower castes and Minorities will be left behind. The supporters of reservation as WRB is, rhetorically dismiss the concern of quota within quota by saying that if these parties are so concerned with that section of women, why have they not given them more seats so far? The same argument can be turned up side down to say that those who are strong proponents of the bill as it is; how much they have bothered to give the tickets to women. By present estimates the three major parties Congress, BJP and Communists, if they would have followed this in allotting more tickets to women, by now the composition of parliament would have been very different.
The point is that, precisely because parties give tickets on winnablity criterion, women are not given tickets in proportion to their percentage in population, and so the need for reservation. The opponents of quota within quota argue that this will divide the women! Question is, are all the women united? The upper caste women, do they supp comfortably with the lower caste? What type of unity of women prevails when a large section of Muslim women have been forced into ghettoes in the aftermath of massive carnage, which in turn has created fear amongst minorities and a situation where they are excluded from social space.
One recalls with pain and horror that during communal violence a section of the women from majority community have been bystanders, if not outright assisters, when the women from minority community were raped! What unity we are talking about? There are surely many concerns which are common to all the women, but in our society unfortunately the caste, class and religion divide has affected the concerns of different sections of women.
The empowerment of women is an absolute must for democratization process of society, so rather than polarizing the debate there is a need to pass the bill with some modifications with a consensus, brought in by taking the concerns of its opponents in present form seriously. Those who oppose the women’s reservations in toto can be bypassed but the opinion of quota within quota is a different terrain.
There is another glaring phenomenon taking place in the society since independence. The representation of Muslims in Parliament is on a constant decline. From last Lok Sabha to the present one there is a reduction, from 36 to current just 29 of them. The present number of Muslim MPs is close to half of what it was in the initial period of the republic. One welcomes the move to ensure the improvement of empowerment of women, but what about declining representation of Muslim minority? One is sure with present social dynamics it is going to slide down further. Is it a sign of health of democracy or does it indicate that democratic process is being subverted from deep within the system by the communalization of society.
At another level one can safely talk about the reservation for dalits, OBC's and women, but when it comes to the question of Muslim minorities; all the antennas are up to sense that it is dividing the nation. What in fact is dividing the nation is the regular occurrence of violence against minorities, what is dividing the nation is the ghettoisation of minorities and the constant propaganda demonizing them on one pretext or the other.
It is in this context that the Judgment of Supreme Court restoring the Andhra Pradesh law for 4 percent quota for backward Muslims in Jobs and colleges is most welcome. We are going through delicate times when there is some superficial concern shown for minorities, Sachar Committee is appointed, Rangnath Mishra Commission is appointed, but the rulers get cold feet when their recommendation are to be implemented. Rangnath Mishra Commission recommends 15% reservation for Muslims, but not much is being heard on this front.
Most hypocritical stance on the issue of reservation has been that of BJP. It has been the constant opponent of reservations for dalits and OBCs on the ground that this is discriminatory, and due to this the meritorious candidates will be left behind. During the speech in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitly of BJP (March 09, 2010) while defending the WRB, stated that it is a myth that reservation creates privileged society. He also said that with WRB politics of tokenism will be replaced by that of representation. Sane words. Only thing is there are double standards in this. So far we heard something totally contrary from BJP worthies as far as reservations were concerned.
Unfortunately the reservation has to be resorted to in our democracy as the proper democratic process has failed to take care of the needs of deprived sections of society. A holistic approach to reservation to all sections of deprived communities is what we need and that’s what will ensure that the gross disparities are done away and justice reaches to all section of society.
--
Ram Puniyani
Heated debate has been generated around women’s reservation bill (WRB) with both sides having their inflexible positions. On one side there are those calling for its implementation and on the other those who are opposing it. This is a superficial view of debate. As such the debate is, on side are those saying that it should be implemented as it is and on the other side are those who say that there should be quota for OBC dalit, minorities within the quota. There are very few who are totally opposed to WRB, there are many willing to support it if quota within quota is accepted, so to paint them as being against Women’s reservation is unfair. The bill is hanging fire from last one and a half decade, and the rigidity of both sides is so obvious. In democracy it need not be just a brute majority which should work; a process of consensus should be tried before polarizing the issue.
One can very well say it is a bit of the reminder of Mandal days. Many of those opposing Mandal are the strongest champions of this bill while the supporters of Mandal are trying to argue that if implemented in the present form, it will increase the hegemony of upper castes, as the upper caste women are in a better position to compete, while the lower castes and Minorities will be left behind. The supporters of reservation as WRB is, rhetorically dismiss the concern of quota within quota by saying that if these parties are so concerned with that section of women, why have they not given them more seats so far? The same argument can be turned up side down to say that those who are strong proponents of the bill as it is; how much they have bothered to give the tickets to women. By present estimates the three major parties Congress, BJP and Communists, if they would have followed this in allotting more tickets to women, by now the composition of parliament would have been very different.
The point is that, precisely because parties give tickets on winnablity criterion, women are not given tickets in proportion to their percentage in population, and so the need for reservation. The opponents of quota within quota argue that this will divide the women! Question is, are all the women united? The upper caste women, do they supp comfortably with the lower caste? What type of unity of women prevails when a large section of Muslim women have been forced into ghettoes in the aftermath of massive carnage, which in turn has created fear amongst minorities and a situation where they are excluded from social space.
One recalls with pain and horror that during communal violence a section of the women from majority community have been bystanders, if not outright assisters, when the women from minority community were raped! What unity we are talking about? There are surely many concerns which are common to all the women, but in our society unfortunately the caste, class and religion divide has affected the concerns of different sections of women.
The empowerment of women is an absolute must for democratization process of society, so rather than polarizing the debate there is a need to pass the bill with some modifications with a consensus, brought in by taking the concerns of its opponents in present form seriously. Those who oppose the women’s reservations in toto can be bypassed but the opinion of quota within quota is a different terrain.
There is another glaring phenomenon taking place in the society since independence. The representation of Muslims in Parliament is on a constant decline. From last Lok Sabha to the present one there is a reduction, from 36 to current just 29 of them. The present number of Muslim MPs is close to half of what it was in the initial period of the republic. One welcomes the move to ensure the improvement of empowerment of women, but what about declining representation of Muslim minority? One is sure with present social dynamics it is going to slide down further. Is it a sign of health of democracy or does it indicate that democratic process is being subverted from deep within the system by the communalization of society.
At another level one can safely talk about the reservation for dalits, OBC's and women, but when it comes to the question of Muslim minorities; all the antennas are up to sense that it is dividing the nation. What in fact is dividing the nation is the regular occurrence of violence against minorities, what is dividing the nation is the ghettoisation of minorities and the constant propaganda demonizing them on one pretext or the other.
It is in this context that the Judgment of Supreme Court restoring the Andhra Pradesh law for 4 percent quota for backward Muslims in Jobs and colleges is most welcome. We are going through delicate times when there is some superficial concern shown for minorities, Sachar Committee is appointed, Rangnath Mishra Commission is appointed, but the rulers get cold feet when their recommendation are to be implemented. Rangnath Mishra Commission recommends 15% reservation for Muslims, but not much is being heard on this front.
Most hypocritical stance on the issue of reservation has been that of BJP. It has been the constant opponent of reservations for dalits and OBCs on the ground that this is discriminatory, and due to this the meritorious candidates will be left behind. During the speech in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitly of BJP (March 09, 2010) while defending the WRB, stated that it is a myth that reservation creates privileged society. He also said that with WRB politics of tokenism will be replaced by that of representation. Sane words. Only thing is there are double standards in this. So far we heard something totally contrary from BJP worthies as far as reservations were concerned.
Unfortunately the reservation has to be resorted to in our democracy as the proper democratic process has failed to take care of the needs of deprived sections of society. A holistic approach to reservation to all sections of deprived communities is what we need and that’s what will ensure that the gross disparities are done away and justice reaches to all section of society.
--
April 03, 2010
Sena threatens agitation against play in Bombay
The Hindu, 4 April 2010
Mumbai: Objecting to the Hindi play Sara, based on the life of a Pakistani poet, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said it received complaints that the drama had obscene dialogues and asked the producer to remove them.
The Sena also submitted a letter at a local police station regarding the same.
However, the play's director, Mahesh Dattani, said the allegations were baseless. “Their complaint letter does not mention any specific dialogue. Initially, they objected to the play, saying it was written by a Pakistani, which is not true. None of the Sena activists have seen the play.”
The play is written by Shahid Anwar on the life and times of Sara Shagufta, one of Pakistan's most controversial poets. Her life was troubled with personal conflicts, expressed through her writings. It is mostly based on her letters to well known Punjabi poet and novelist Amrita Pritam. — PTI
Mumbai: Objecting to the Hindi play Sara, based on the life of a Pakistani poet, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said it received complaints that the drama had obscene dialogues and asked the producer to remove them.
The Sena also submitted a letter at a local police station regarding the same.
However, the play's director, Mahesh Dattani, said the allegations were baseless. “Their complaint letter does not mention any specific dialogue. Initially, they objected to the play, saying it was written by a Pakistani, which is not true. None of the Sena activists have seen the play.”
The play is written by Shahid Anwar on the life and times of Sara Shagufta, one of Pakistan's most controversial poets. Her life was troubled with personal conflicts, expressed through her writings. It is mostly based on her letters to well known Punjabi poet and novelist Amrita Pritam. — PTI
Fascism of division of labour
Magazine Section / The Hindu, 4 April 2010
by Nissim Mannathukkaren
When celebrities compartmentalise their lives into convenient ‘public' and ‘private' selves, they are making way for fascism to take root…
The politics of the Thackerays does not come in the way of Khan admiring them in the private realm…
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.
Albert Einstein
Shah Rukh Khan is the nation's newest hero of secularism and democracy. But despite the high voltage media coverage, what went unnoticed was how his seemingly ethical defence of the freedom of speech was built on highly dangerous assumptions. The tragedy of our age of capitalist rationality is that its core economic principle, division of labour, has escaped the factory and enveloped our entire existence. We have fragmented and compartmentalised all aspects of our life so much that there is a different code of conduct and morality for each sphere. Ultimately, what triumphs from these contradictions is a moral vacuum which perpetuates fascism. The response of Khan and other Bollywood celebrities to the latest threat of Shiv Sena's fascism betrayed in no uncertain terms this tragedy of compartmentalisation of our morals and ethics.
While Khan's bravado in standing up (however unintended) has to be recognised, his position reeked of double standards. Thus, for Khan, despite disagreement at the level of political ideologies, at the personal level, there were no problems in interacting with the Thackerays; in fact, as Khan mentions, they had some ‘great times' together. Balasahib is a venerable old man who calls Khan home and shows him his caricatures and even promises to make one of his. ‘Uddhav jiis a very sweet person', who pursues passions like photography in his private life and they indulge in mutual appreciation of each other's work. The politics of the Thackerays does not come in the way of Khan admiring them in the private realm — after all, the private and the public realms are separate. The refusal of Khan to issue an apology was simultaneously accompanied by statements like how ‘awful' and ‘ sad' he felt that the Thackerays had misconstrued his words. And considering the ‘good relationship' that they shared, he would have retracted his words only if they had personally called him. Not because he did not believe in what he said, only that he did not have to say in public what are essentially his private beliefs. Compartmentalisation ensures that even a fulcrum of democracy like the freedom of speech can be exercised silently without troubling other spheres. Ultimately, the whole issue seemed less about the defence of the freedom of speech and democracy than about the hurt ego of ‘King Khan' in which the fascist friends aired their grievances in public rather than thrashing them out in private.
Shocking silence
The other side of the fracas was the shocking and deafening silence on the part of the film fraternity. Even when Bollywood celebrities dared to ‘tweet' about the whole issue, they were in the form of Miss World pageant-style twaddle about ‘world peace and harmony'. An industry which thrives the most on the freedom of expression and secularism abdicates its responsibility in utter cowardice, or love for the unofficial first family of Maharashtra. Division of labour triumphs unabashedly: leave politics to the Thackerays, let us carry on with the business of entertainment and ‘making people smile'. This is sadly demonstrated in the figure of the greatest film (dare we say national) icon of independent India, Amitabh Bachchan. In the midst of the Sena threats and attacks, he gushes about the praise showered on his latest film by the Thackerays. He writes admiringly about Bal Thackeray: ‘He is resolute and firm as ever and in that resoluteness you discover an endearing, that sudden soft moment, which has always made his presence so strong and affectionate'.
Now, Thackeray might be a fascist in the public realm and his brand of politics might have cost the life and limbs of hundreds of people, but like Shah Rukh Khan, Bachchan discovers endearing qualities about him in the private and personal realm which are compelling reasons to associate with him. The compartmentalised world is also curiously an adulterous world. Thus a few days after not only silently acquiescing to, but actively endorsing practitioners of fascism, Bachchan is invited by a prominent television channel to honour ‘citizen journalists'! There he implores to the nation: ‘When one citizen upholds an individual right for another, they enact their duty to themselves. When one citizen fulfils their duty to others, that citizen upholds their own rights again... This is the essence of our collective necessity for vigilance. To be eternally vigilant, that is liberty's strenuous price'. Ironically, there could not be a more eloquent defence of liberty. But when confronted with criticisms of showering encomiums on the Thackerays, Bachchan irritatingly responded that he is apolitical: ‘we are not activists, we are actors'. We are back to the division of labour.
Quest for profits
Bollywood argued that it could not be expected to fight fascism because the ‘stakes are too high'. It seems the realm of business and the quest for economic profits are so sacrosanct that they are seemingly above all ethical principles. As Shah Rukh Khan puts it, on the day of a film release, ‘principle is the weakest' and that ‘does not make us cowards'. He does not expect any other film personality to stand up for him as he has ‘never stood up for any one'. Guess when the most powerful celebrities of the country argue that the stakes are too high to defend democracy, it might be very easy for the poor and the hungry to do so for they have nothing to lose. The controversy and its aftermath thus saw bizarre arguments from both Khan and Bachchan, people who routinely top the ‘most powerful' lists of not only the nation, but also the world, that they are ‘vulnerable' and ‘powerless' because they are celebrities! This argument of powerlessness, however, is conspicuously missing when they exercise the power and goodwill they have earned to convince people that they should buy the hundreds of products that they endorse, including brands like the Gujarat of Narendra Modi.
Fascism is dangerous when it can bring around people to think like it. But it is even more dangerous when people who do not think like it accept its logic. Thus celebrities like the Bachchans and the Khans sup with those who have caused the greatest damage to the secular and democratic fabric of India and still tell us it is normal and apolitical. Unless this compartmentalisation is exposed, we will keep on worshipping those who joyfully march to music in rank and file as our national icons.
Dr. Nissim Mannathukkaren is Director of Graduate Program, International Development Studies, Dalhousie University.
by Nissim Mannathukkaren
When celebrities compartmentalise their lives into convenient ‘public' and ‘private' selves, they are making way for fascism to take root…
The politics of the Thackerays does not come in the way of Khan admiring them in the private realm…
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.
Albert Einstein
Shah Rukh Khan is the nation's newest hero of secularism and democracy. But despite the high voltage media coverage, what went unnoticed was how his seemingly ethical defence of the freedom of speech was built on highly dangerous assumptions. The tragedy of our age of capitalist rationality is that its core economic principle, division of labour, has escaped the factory and enveloped our entire existence. We have fragmented and compartmentalised all aspects of our life so much that there is a different code of conduct and morality for each sphere. Ultimately, what triumphs from these contradictions is a moral vacuum which perpetuates fascism. The response of Khan and other Bollywood celebrities to the latest threat of Shiv Sena's fascism betrayed in no uncertain terms this tragedy of compartmentalisation of our morals and ethics.
While Khan's bravado in standing up (however unintended) has to be recognised, his position reeked of double standards. Thus, for Khan, despite disagreement at the level of political ideologies, at the personal level, there were no problems in interacting with the Thackerays; in fact, as Khan mentions, they had some ‘great times' together. Balasahib is a venerable old man who calls Khan home and shows him his caricatures and even promises to make one of his. ‘Uddhav jiis a very sweet person', who pursues passions like photography in his private life and they indulge in mutual appreciation of each other's work. The politics of the Thackerays does not come in the way of Khan admiring them in the private realm — after all, the private and the public realms are separate. The refusal of Khan to issue an apology was simultaneously accompanied by statements like how ‘awful' and ‘ sad' he felt that the Thackerays had misconstrued his words. And considering the ‘good relationship' that they shared, he would have retracted his words only if they had personally called him. Not because he did not believe in what he said, only that he did not have to say in public what are essentially his private beliefs. Compartmentalisation ensures that even a fulcrum of democracy like the freedom of speech can be exercised silently without troubling other spheres. Ultimately, the whole issue seemed less about the defence of the freedom of speech and democracy than about the hurt ego of ‘King Khan' in which the fascist friends aired their grievances in public rather than thrashing them out in private.
Shocking silence
The other side of the fracas was the shocking and deafening silence on the part of the film fraternity. Even when Bollywood celebrities dared to ‘tweet' about the whole issue, they were in the form of Miss World pageant-style twaddle about ‘world peace and harmony'. An industry which thrives the most on the freedom of expression and secularism abdicates its responsibility in utter cowardice, or love for the unofficial first family of Maharashtra. Division of labour triumphs unabashedly: leave politics to the Thackerays, let us carry on with the business of entertainment and ‘making people smile'. This is sadly demonstrated in the figure of the greatest film (dare we say national) icon of independent India, Amitabh Bachchan. In the midst of the Sena threats and attacks, he gushes about the praise showered on his latest film by the Thackerays. He writes admiringly about Bal Thackeray: ‘He is resolute and firm as ever and in that resoluteness you discover an endearing, that sudden soft moment, which has always made his presence so strong and affectionate'.
Now, Thackeray might be a fascist in the public realm and his brand of politics might have cost the life and limbs of hundreds of people, but like Shah Rukh Khan, Bachchan discovers endearing qualities about him in the private and personal realm which are compelling reasons to associate with him. The compartmentalised world is also curiously an adulterous world. Thus a few days after not only silently acquiescing to, but actively endorsing practitioners of fascism, Bachchan is invited by a prominent television channel to honour ‘citizen journalists'! There he implores to the nation: ‘When one citizen upholds an individual right for another, they enact their duty to themselves. When one citizen fulfils their duty to others, that citizen upholds their own rights again... This is the essence of our collective necessity for vigilance. To be eternally vigilant, that is liberty's strenuous price'. Ironically, there could not be a more eloquent defence of liberty. But when confronted with criticisms of showering encomiums on the Thackerays, Bachchan irritatingly responded that he is apolitical: ‘we are not activists, we are actors'. We are back to the division of labour.
Quest for profits
Bollywood argued that it could not be expected to fight fascism because the ‘stakes are too high'. It seems the realm of business and the quest for economic profits are so sacrosanct that they are seemingly above all ethical principles. As Shah Rukh Khan puts it, on the day of a film release, ‘principle is the weakest' and that ‘does not make us cowards'. He does not expect any other film personality to stand up for him as he has ‘never stood up for any one'. Guess when the most powerful celebrities of the country argue that the stakes are too high to defend democracy, it might be very easy for the poor and the hungry to do so for they have nothing to lose. The controversy and its aftermath thus saw bizarre arguments from both Khan and Bachchan, people who routinely top the ‘most powerful' lists of not only the nation, but also the world, that they are ‘vulnerable' and ‘powerless' because they are celebrities! This argument of powerlessness, however, is conspicuously missing when they exercise the power and goodwill they have earned to convince people that they should buy the hundreds of products that they endorse, including brands like the Gujarat of Narendra Modi.
Fascism is dangerous when it can bring around people to think like it. But it is even more dangerous when people who do not think like it accept its logic. Thus celebrities like the Bachchans and the Khans sup with those who have caused the greatest damage to the secular and democratic fabric of India and still tell us it is normal and apolitical. Unless this compartmentalisation is exposed, we will keep on worshipping those who joyfully march to music in rank and file as our national icons.
Dr. Nissim Mannathukkaren is Director of Graduate Program, International Development Studies, Dalhousie University.
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