Citizens for Justice and Peace
Sepember 30 2011
PRESS RELEASE
The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) strongly condemns the vindictive action of the Gujarat government in arresting Sanjeev Bhatt, senior IPS office in an action that is nothing short of an attempt to intimidate an important witness in the Zakia Ahsan Jafri and CJP criminal complaint against chief minister Narendra Modi and 61 others. This action of the Gujarat police under the direct intructions of the state’s Home Minister—Narendra Modi amounts to tampering with evidence and direct intimidation of a key witness. It is also a cheap attempt to slur his character and standing.
Key issues need to be raised here. One that trough his affidavit before the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated April 2011 he had testified to criminal and un-Constitutional inbstructions being issued by Modi at a late night meeting of 27.2.2002 the day of the Godhra incident. In his statements before the SC-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) he also gave documentary data about Modi’s abdication of responsibility on 28.2.2002 the day attacks on Gulberg Society and Naroda Patia in Ahmedabad were in full swing. Finally, and last but not the least in an affidavit filed before the High Court recently Shri Bhatt had even mentioned that both Modi and Amit Shah, then MOS Home had tried to intimidate and pressurise him into not giving facts and evidence in the possession of the State Intelligence Bureau releated to the assassination of former MOS Revenue Shri Haren Pandya. The CBI investigation into the Pandya assassination has been recently sevely criticised by the Guujarat High Court.
Most critically, Bhatt had challenged this FIR for which he was arrested through Writ Petition 135/2011 in the Supreme Court. The SC had issued notice to the Gujarat government on 29.7.2011. This hasty and vinductive, evend esperate action of the Gujarat police directly while the matter is under consideration of the Supreme Court raises serious issues of contempt of the highest court, due process and most importantly intimidating a witness critical to a trial to ensure public justice. The alleged offences for which Bhatt was arresred are sections 183,189, 193, 195, 341 of the IPC. With our matter now awaiting being charge hseeting before a Gujarat Magistrate’s Court the arrest of Bhatt is also a clear attempt by the state of Gujarat to warn us all collectively and individually of repercussions if we struggle for justice . It is a pathetic subversion of the Constitution and the Rule of Law
Teesta Setalvad
Secretary
Trustee
Other Trustees: IM Kadri, Alyqye Padamsee, Nandan Maluste, Cyrus Giuzder, Javed Anand, Arvind Krishnaswamy, Javed Akhtar, Rahul Bose, Cedric Prakash, Ghulam Pesh Imam
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September 30, 2011
September 29, 2011
Exhibition on Quran in trouble with the Muslim Right
From: The Hindu, NEW DELHI, September 24, 2011
Exhibition on teachings of Quran denounced
Madhur Tankha
Protest by Muslim Law Board member and Shahi Imam's brother
A three-day exhibition on the teachings of the Quran by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jammat, Delhi, that opened at the Constitution Club here on Friday ran into trouble when All-India Muslim Personal Law Board member Kamaal Farooqui and Syed Yahya Bukhari, brother of the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, along with their supporters denounced the event for “wrongly interpreting the tenets of Islam and the holy Quran”.
Talking to the media outside the Constitution Club, Mr. Farooqui said since Ahmadiyyas have been branded as non-Muslims in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and other Islamic countries they cannot mount an exhibition in which they have interpreted the teachings of the holy Quran.
“If we start interfering in other people's religion as it is being done through this exhibition, then it would create a dangerous precedent in the country. This exhibition cannot be allowed at any cost. Today we are demonstrating peacefully, but if this exhibition continues then on Saturday there will be a bigger demonstration,” he warned.
After the demonstrators had left, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat External Affairs Secretary Syed Tanvir Ahmed said: “Ahmadiyyas are Muslims because they follow what Hazrat Mohammad taught them, read namaz and keep roza. But as this exhibition seeks to promote peace and brotherhood we will discontinue our exhibition after 5 p.m. on Saturday.”
National Minority Commission Chairman Wajahat Habibullah said he had no problem if the Ahmadiyyas described themselves as Muslims. “The teachings of the holy Quran have been beautifully displayed.”
The exhibition is displaying the Quran in 53 Indian and foreign languages including Kashmiri, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gurmukhi, Russian, Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese. Seeking to dispel misunderstanding surrounding Islam, the exhibition is highlighting the tenets of Islam. “We want people to know that Islam stands for peace,” said Ahsan Ghori, while presenting the exhibition before guests. The exhibition highlights that Islam has assigned a position of dignity and honour to women and is a peaceful religion.
Exhibition on teachings of Quran denounced
Madhur Tankha
Protest by Muslim Law Board member and Shahi Imam's brother
A three-day exhibition on the teachings of the Quran by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jammat, Delhi, that opened at the Constitution Club here on Friday ran into trouble when All-India Muslim Personal Law Board member Kamaal Farooqui and Syed Yahya Bukhari, brother of the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, along with their supporters denounced the event for “wrongly interpreting the tenets of Islam and the holy Quran”.
Talking to the media outside the Constitution Club, Mr. Farooqui said since Ahmadiyyas have been branded as non-Muslims in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and other Islamic countries they cannot mount an exhibition in which they have interpreted the teachings of the holy Quran.
“If we start interfering in other people's religion as it is being done through this exhibition, then it would create a dangerous precedent in the country. This exhibition cannot be allowed at any cost. Today we are demonstrating peacefully, but if this exhibition continues then on Saturday there will be a bigger demonstration,” he warned.
After the demonstrators had left, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat External Affairs Secretary Syed Tanvir Ahmed said: “Ahmadiyyas are Muslims because they follow what Hazrat Mohammad taught them, read namaz and keep roza. But as this exhibition seeks to promote peace and brotherhood we will discontinue our exhibition after 5 p.m. on Saturday.”
National Minority Commission Chairman Wajahat Habibullah said he had no problem if the Ahmadiyyas described themselves as Muslims. “The teachings of the holy Quran have been beautifully displayed.”
The exhibition is displaying the Quran in 53 Indian and foreign languages including Kashmiri, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gurmukhi, Russian, Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese. Seeking to dispel misunderstanding surrounding Islam, the exhibition is highlighting the tenets of Islam. “We want people to know that Islam stands for peace,” said Ahsan Ghori, while presenting the exhibition before guests. The exhibition highlights that Islam has assigned a position of dignity and honour to women and is a peaceful religion.
September 28, 2011
Saffron terror might well be a much bigger phenomenon
Deccan Herald, September 20, 2011
'Saffron terror' role being probed
The "saffron terror" might well be a much bigger phenomenon than previously envisaged, with the investigating agencies suspecting involvement of Hindutva activists in as many as 16 explosions across the country. A special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is understood to have recently told the state police chiefs that the Hindutva activists have either been suspected or are under investigation in 16 incidents of bomb blasts in the country. The right wing activists' role in four incidents of bomb blasts so far has come into public domain, but the top intelligence official's remark during the annual conference of the Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police from the states last week revealed that the saffron terror had assumed a much larger proportion.
Sources said that the IB official had not specified the 12 other cases in which the investigating agencies suspected or probed the role of Hindu extremists. The phenomenon of 'saffron terror' first came to light with the arrest of Sangh Parivar activist Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Army officer Prasad Shrikant Purohit in connection with the September 29, 2008 blast at Malegaon near Nashik in Maharashtra. The explosion killed seven people and left many other injured. The Maharashtra Police on January 19, 2009 filed a charge sheet, accusing Purohit of being the prime conspirator, who arranged explosives for the blast. It also accused Thakur of arranging the men who planted the bombs in Malegaon.
Making a presentation during the state top cops' conference in New Delhi, the senior IB official is understood to have referred to the right wing Hindu organisations, who espoused emotive issues, leading to radicalisation of a section of majority community and thus contributing to spread of what is being called saffron terror. Thakur, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, has since long been actively involved with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Durga Vahini, Hindu Jagran Manch and other affiliates of the Sangh Parivar. Purohit, a lieutenant colonel in the army's intelligence wing, was also allegedly involved with Abhibav Bharat - another offshoot of the saffron brigade.
Hindutva extremists' roles in connection with the blasts on Samjhauta Express on February 18, in Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007 and in Dargah of Sufi saint Mainuddin Chisti in Ajmer on October 11, 2007 came to light during subsequent investigations, particularly in the wake of the confession of Swami Aseemanand. Aseemanand, who was arrested from Haridwar in November 2010, confessed in January this year that he and other right wing Hindutva activists had been involved with the Hindutva activists' conspiracies to trigger blasts at Muslim shrines in Hyderabad and Ajmer, killing 10 and three people, respectively. The National Investigation Agency on June 20 charged Aseemanand and four others - Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalasangra and Sunil Joshi - with triggering explosions on the India-Pakistan Samjhauta Express, killing 68 people. Joshi was later found dead and Thakur was being probed for her alleged role in the murder.
Dange and Kalasangra had been declared proclaimed offenders in the case and are currently on the run. Aseemanand, however, later claimed that the investigating agency had obtained the confession from him under duress. Home Minister P Chidambaram's remark on 'saffron terror' during the conference of the DGPs and the IGPs last year triggered widespread criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress, which leads the ruling United Progressive Alliance, too disapproved the remark, stating that terrorism had no colour. Chidambaram refrained from using the term 'saffron terror' in his inaugural address in this year's top cops' meet. However, while referring to Islamic extremists organizations like Students' Islamic Movement of India and Indian Mujahideen, he did refer to "other Indian modules that espouse the cause of right wing religious fundamentalism or separatism".
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/192456/saffron-terror-role-being-probed.html
'Saffron terror' role being probed
The "saffron terror" might well be a much bigger phenomenon than previously envisaged, with the investigating agencies suspecting involvement of Hindutva activists in as many as 16 explosions across the country. A special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is understood to have recently told the state police chiefs that the Hindutva activists have either been suspected or are under investigation in 16 incidents of bomb blasts in the country. The right wing activists' role in four incidents of bomb blasts so far has come into public domain, but the top intelligence official's remark during the annual conference of the Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police from the states last week revealed that the saffron terror had assumed a much larger proportion.
Sources said that the IB official had not specified the 12 other cases in which the investigating agencies suspected or probed the role of Hindu extremists. The phenomenon of 'saffron terror' first came to light with the arrest of Sangh Parivar activist Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Army officer Prasad Shrikant Purohit in connection with the September 29, 2008 blast at Malegaon near Nashik in Maharashtra. The explosion killed seven people and left many other injured. The Maharashtra Police on January 19, 2009 filed a charge sheet, accusing Purohit of being the prime conspirator, who arranged explosives for the blast. It also accused Thakur of arranging the men who planted the bombs in Malegaon.
Making a presentation during the state top cops' conference in New Delhi, the senior IB official is understood to have referred to the right wing Hindu organisations, who espoused emotive issues, leading to radicalisation of a section of majority community and thus contributing to spread of what is being called saffron terror. Thakur, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, has since long been actively involved with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Durga Vahini, Hindu Jagran Manch and other affiliates of the Sangh Parivar. Purohit, a lieutenant colonel in the army's intelligence wing, was also allegedly involved with Abhibav Bharat - another offshoot of the saffron brigade.
Hindutva extremists' roles in connection with the blasts on Samjhauta Express on February 18, in Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007 and in Dargah of Sufi saint Mainuddin Chisti in Ajmer on October 11, 2007 came to light during subsequent investigations, particularly in the wake of the confession of Swami Aseemanand. Aseemanand, who was arrested from Haridwar in November 2010, confessed in January this year that he and other right wing Hindutva activists had been involved with the Hindutva activists' conspiracies to trigger blasts at Muslim shrines in Hyderabad and Ajmer, killing 10 and three people, respectively. The National Investigation Agency on June 20 charged Aseemanand and four others - Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalasangra and Sunil Joshi - with triggering explosions on the India-Pakistan Samjhauta Express, killing 68 people. Joshi was later found dead and Thakur was being probed for her alleged role in the murder.
Dange and Kalasangra had been declared proclaimed offenders in the case and are currently on the run. Aseemanand, however, later claimed that the investigating agency had obtained the confession from him under duress. Home Minister P Chidambaram's remark on 'saffron terror' during the conference of the DGPs and the IGPs last year triggered widespread criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress, which leads the ruling United Progressive Alliance, too disapproved the remark, stating that terrorism had no colour. Chidambaram refrained from using the term 'saffron terror' in his inaugural address in this year's top cops' meet. However, while referring to Islamic extremists organizations like Students' Islamic Movement of India and Indian Mujahideen, he did refer to "other Indian modules that espouse the cause of right wing religious fundamentalism or separatism".
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/192456/saffron-terror-role-being-probed.html
September 24, 2011
Modi's nasty 'fast politics'
From: Rediff.com, September 23, 2011
Modi's nasty 'fast politics': Shifting the BJP rightwards
by Praful Bidwai
Modi's fast has failed to put even a paper-thin moderate or secular gloss on his image. But he has succeeded in shifting the BJP politically to the far right, decisively and firmly, says Praful Bidwai.
Through his contrived sadbhavana mission and outlandish three-day fast, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra 'Milosevic' Modi staged a grotesquely fraudulent act in ugly political theatre, which he hoped would catapult him to the apex of the Bharatiya Janata Party and make him the topmost contender as the prime ministerial nominee of the National Democratic Alliance.
But besides consolidating his image as a Hindutva hriday samrat, Modi's manoeuvres may achieve little. Yet they will inflict a heavy burden on the BJP by isolating it from its potential allies.
Modi's shenanigans will certainly do nothing to make him acceptable to the Muslims, who suffered Independent India's worst state-organised butchery under him in 2002. The presence of skull-capped men and burqa-clad women at his fast means nothing.
Modi didn't express remorse at the violence or signal moderation. He came through as an arrogant, duplicitous and hubris-driven politician bent on further humiliating Muslims. His fast wasn't about sadbhavana (goodwill or harmony), but about hyping himself up as a politician.
Modi even belittled his former mentor L K Advani
Yet much of the BJP's senior leadership danced attendance upon Modi. This encouraged him to flex his muscles. He even belittled his former mentor L K Advani by making him sit in a smaller chair than his own at the venue of the fast, thus symbolically challenging conservative notions of hierarchy.
Symbols apart, one of Modi's main objective was to undercut Advani's bid to regain his pre-eminence in the BJP through his unilaterally announced rath yatra, which is designed to politicise religious sentiment through the image of a mythical warrior riding a Bollywoood-style version of an ancient chariot.
Modi has queered the yatra's pitch and forced a shift in its starting-point to Bihar. Since then, the RSS has further snubbed Advani.
Two other motives inspired Modi: first, to celebrate the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Zakia Jafri petition as a 'clean chit' for him in the Gulburg Society massacre; and second, to use the fast, a tactic perfected by Anna Hazare, to show that the opposition space in politics isn't entirely occupied by civil society; the BJP still retains its relevance.
However, the Supreme Court by no means exonerated Modi or the Special Investigation Team's report which holds that there is no prosecutable evidence against him and 61 others named by Jafri. Although the court sent the case to a trial court in Gujarat, it directed it to examine that report, as well as the comments made on it by amicus curiae (friend of the court) Raju Ramachandran, and to give the petitioners a hearing.
Modi's credibility has been damaged by Mallika Sarabhai
The trial court can proceed against the accused even though the SIT didn't file a charge-sheet against them. Of course, how the court acts within Gujarat's vitiated political climate remains an open question, but it cannot simply bury the case or accept a closure report without hearing the petitioners, and summoning witnesses if necessary.
Meanwhile, Modi's credibility has been further damaged by the disclosure by dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai, based on an affidavit filed by former top police official R B Sreekumar, that his government tried to scuttle her writ petition for prosecuting him for the violence by paying a Rs 10-lakh bribe to her lawyer.
This showed that the Modi regime could stoop to the rock bottom to suppress efforts to bring the culprits of the 2002 communal violence to book.
The Modi government undermined its sadbhavana platform by cracking down on Sarabhai, Jan Sangharsh Morcha activist-lawyer Mukul Sinha -- who has done outstanding work in exposing the cover-up -- and others, for attempting a symbolic protest fast.
This fast would have carried much more credibility than Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela's own hunger-strike, not least because of his past association and numerous compromises with the Sangh Parivar. Preventing the activists' fast is one more black-mark against Modi.
It is shameful that Modi has not been criminally prosecuted
As for the objective of pressing the BJP's pre-eminent claim to the opposition space, Modi's fast was a laughable parody of the Anna Hazare original: pointless, artificial, insincere, cheaply self-justificatory, and patently lacking in introspection.
The farcical gimmick drew ridicule from the BJP's most valuable ally, the Janata Dal-United, with whom it shares power in Bihar.
The support extended to the fast by the Akali Dal, which is widely expected to lose the coming elections in Punjab and get marginalised, and the AIADMK, which isn't even remotely considering allying with the BJP, doesn't mean much.
Modi hasn't overcome even an iota of the stigma he earned by presiding over the anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002. It is of course utterly shameful that he hasn't been criminally prosecuted, and worse, even politically punished, for his role in falsely communalising the Godhra train fire, and systematically organising and colluding in the ensuing violence.
India's entire political class failed to compel the ruling NDA to dismiss the Modi government in March 2002 for manifestly violating the fundamental right to life of citizens and plotting the massacre of more than 1,000 people.
Modi's presence has been poisonous, not just in Gujarat
Arguably, had the secular opposition, including the Congress's Sonia Gandhi, the Communist parties' Harkrishan Singh Surjit, Jyoti Basu and A B Bardhan, and centrist leaders like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and others, insisted on its dismissal through a sustained agitation, the NDA might have had no choice but to impose President's Rule.
Similarly, assembly elections were held in December 2002 despite Gujarat's communally charged atmosphere, the terrorising and disenfrachisement of a whole community, and the near-total absence of rehabilitation of the violence-affected.
After rightly raising objections initially, the Election Commission unfortunately agreed to hold elections, citing a questionable legal precedent. Modi cynically capitalised on Hindutva hubris and won even as the Congress adopted a soft-Hindutva line, reducing itself to the BJP's 'B Team'.
Instead of cooling his heels in prison, Modi continues to occupy the seat of power in Gandhinagar. He has methodically covered up his crimes even as his police have brutalised people and intimidated witnesses.
His presence has been poisonous, not just in Gujarat. No one has brought as much international disrepute to India. No other Indian chief minister has been denied a visa in numerous countries for complicity in gross human right violations.
Modi's ambition is to win the Gujarat elections due next year
Modi has ruled Gujarat despotically, and pampered big business by offering it huge tax breaks at the expense of public welfare and human development. Gujarat has stagnant or falling indices in health, education and gender equality:
Seventy four percent of Gujarat's women and 46 percent of its children are anaemic. The state's sex-ratio is an abysmal 487:1000 in the 0-4 age-group and 571 in the 5-9 age-group (national averages, 515 and 632 respectively). Gujarat's health indices are barely higher than Orissa's. In social sector spending as a proportion of public expenditure, Gujarat ranks a lowly 19 among 21 major states.
Modi's fast has failed to put even a paper-thin moderate or secular gloss on his image. But he has succeeded in shifting the BJP politically to the far right, decisively and firmly. Not only has he imposed his will upon the party; he has drawn praise from such unlikely sources as Sushma Swaraj, a party rival.
Even Advani now says Mr Modi can handle "any responsibility", presumably including the nation's top job.
Modi's ambition is to win the Gujarat elections due next year, probably by advancing their date, and then become BJP president when Nitin Gadkari's term ends in December 2012. This would give him a definite edge over other "second generation" leaders like Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh.
The BJP will soon realise Modi is more a liability than an asset
He then hopes that with the backing of powerful business lobbies, he will become the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.
However, such a pre-poll arrangement can be safely ruled out. The JD-U will certainly oppose it. It's also extremely unlikely that former NDA constituents like the Biju Janata Dal and Telugu Desam will return to the alliance under Modi's leadership.
It's only in the unlikely event of the BJP winning 200-plus Lok Sabha seats that a post-election alliance will emerge. But it's difficult to see how the BJP can increase its tally by 84 seats or over 70 percent (from the present 116) unless it does miraculously well in Uttar Pradesh, where it's currently Number 4.
Ironically, by shifting the BJP rightwards, Modi will have narrowed its base and electoral appeal. A hardline Hindutva party will massively and irrevocably repulse the religious minorities, which form one-sixth of the national vote, or roughly one-half of what's needed for a party to win a national election. That's a recipe for losing elections.
Narrowing of the BJP's base will probably open up new political spaces while weakening the trend towards bipolarism. This would offer interesting opportunities to secular Left-of-Centre forces, admittedly amidst some endemic national-level instability.
The BJP could soon find that Modi, with his insufferable arrogance, megalomania and obnoxious ultra-individualism, is more a liability than an asset both for itself and its allies. It stands warned.
Modi's nasty 'fast politics': Shifting the BJP rightwards
by Praful Bidwai
Modi's fast has failed to put even a paper-thin moderate or secular gloss on his image. But he has succeeded in shifting the BJP politically to the far right, decisively and firmly, says Praful Bidwai.
Through his contrived sadbhavana mission and outlandish three-day fast, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra 'Milosevic' Modi staged a grotesquely fraudulent act in ugly political theatre, which he hoped would catapult him to the apex of the Bharatiya Janata Party and make him the topmost contender as the prime ministerial nominee of the National Democratic Alliance.
But besides consolidating his image as a Hindutva hriday samrat, Modi's manoeuvres may achieve little. Yet they will inflict a heavy burden on the BJP by isolating it from its potential allies.
Modi's shenanigans will certainly do nothing to make him acceptable to the Muslims, who suffered Independent India's worst state-organised butchery under him in 2002. The presence of skull-capped men and burqa-clad women at his fast means nothing.
Modi didn't express remorse at the violence or signal moderation. He came through as an arrogant, duplicitous and hubris-driven politician bent on further humiliating Muslims. His fast wasn't about sadbhavana (goodwill or harmony), but about hyping himself up as a politician.
Modi even belittled his former mentor L K Advani
Yet much of the BJP's senior leadership danced attendance upon Modi. This encouraged him to flex his muscles. He even belittled his former mentor L K Advani by making him sit in a smaller chair than his own at the venue of the fast, thus symbolically challenging conservative notions of hierarchy.
Symbols apart, one of Modi's main objective was to undercut Advani's bid to regain his pre-eminence in the BJP through his unilaterally announced rath yatra, which is designed to politicise religious sentiment through the image of a mythical warrior riding a Bollywoood-style version of an ancient chariot.
Modi has queered the yatra's pitch and forced a shift in its starting-point to Bihar. Since then, the RSS has further snubbed Advani.
Two other motives inspired Modi: first, to celebrate the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Zakia Jafri petition as a 'clean chit' for him in the Gulburg Society massacre; and second, to use the fast, a tactic perfected by Anna Hazare, to show that the opposition space in politics isn't entirely occupied by civil society; the BJP still retains its relevance.
However, the Supreme Court by no means exonerated Modi or the Special Investigation Team's report which holds that there is no prosecutable evidence against him and 61 others named by Jafri. Although the court sent the case to a trial court in Gujarat, it directed it to examine that report, as well as the comments made on it by amicus curiae (friend of the court) Raju Ramachandran, and to give the petitioners a hearing.
Modi's credibility has been damaged by Mallika Sarabhai
The trial court can proceed against the accused even though the SIT didn't file a charge-sheet against them. Of course, how the court acts within Gujarat's vitiated political climate remains an open question, but it cannot simply bury the case or accept a closure report without hearing the petitioners, and summoning witnesses if necessary.
Meanwhile, Modi's credibility has been further damaged by the disclosure by dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai, based on an affidavit filed by former top police official R B Sreekumar, that his government tried to scuttle her writ petition for prosecuting him for the violence by paying a Rs 10-lakh bribe to her lawyer.
This showed that the Modi regime could stoop to the rock bottom to suppress efforts to bring the culprits of the 2002 communal violence to book.
The Modi government undermined its sadbhavana platform by cracking down on Sarabhai, Jan Sangharsh Morcha activist-lawyer Mukul Sinha -- who has done outstanding work in exposing the cover-up -- and others, for attempting a symbolic protest fast.
This fast would have carried much more credibility than Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela's own hunger-strike, not least because of his past association and numerous compromises with the Sangh Parivar. Preventing the activists' fast is one more black-mark against Modi.
It is shameful that Modi has not been criminally prosecuted
As for the objective of pressing the BJP's pre-eminent claim to the opposition space, Modi's fast was a laughable parody of the Anna Hazare original: pointless, artificial, insincere, cheaply self-justificatory, and patently lacking in introspection.
The farcical gimmick drew ridicule from the BJP's most valuable ally, the Janata Dal-United, with whom it shares power in Bihar.
The support extended to the fast by the Akali Dal, which is widely expected to lose the coming elections in Punjab and get marginalised, and the AIADMK, which isn't even remotely considering allying with the BJP, doesn't mean much.
Modi hasn't overcome even an iota of the stigma he earned by presiding over the anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002. It is of course utterly shameful that he hasn't been criminally prosecuted, and worse, even politically punished, for his role in falsely communalising the Godhra train fire, and systematically organising and colluding in the ensuing violence.
India's entire political class failed to compel the ruling NDA to dismiss the Modi government in March 2002 for manifestly violating the fundamental right to life of citizens and plotting the massacre of more than 1,000 people.
Modi's presence has been poisonous, not just in Gujarat
Arguably, had the secular opposition, including the Congress's Sonia Gandhi, the Communist parties' Harkrishan Singh Surjit, Jyoti Basu and A B Bardhan, and centrist leaders like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and others, insisted on its dismissal through a sustained agitation, the NDA might have had no choice but to impose President's Rule.
Similarly, assembly elections were held in December 2002 despite Gujarat's communally charged atmosphere, the terrorising and disenfrachisement of a whole community, and the near-total absence of rehabilitation of the violence-affected.
After rightly raising objections initially, the Election Commission unfortunately agreed to hold elections, citing a questionable legal precedent. Modi cynically capitalised on Hindutva hubris and won even as the Congress adopted a soft-Hindutva line, reducing itself to the BJP's 'B Team'.
Instead of cooling his heels in prison, Modi continues to occupy the seat of power in Gandhinagar. He has methodically covered up his crimes even as his police have brutalised people and intimidated witnesses.
His presence has been poisonous, not just in Gujarat. No one has brought as much international disrepute to India. No other Indian chief minister has been denied a visa in numerous countries for complicity in gross human right violations.
Modi's ambition is to win the Gujarat elections due next year
Modi has ruled Gujarat despotically, and pampered big business by offering it huge tax breaks at the expense of public welfare and human development. Gujarat has stagnant or falling indices in health, education and gender equality:
Seventy four percent of Gujarat's women and 46 percent of its children are anaemic. The state's sex-ratio is an abysmal 487:1000 in the 0-4 age-group and 571 in the 5-9 age-group (national averages, 515 and 632 respectively). Gujarat's health indices are barely higher than Orissa's. In social sector spending as a proportion of public expenditure, Gujarat ranks a lowly 19 among 21 major states.
Modi's fast has failed to put even a paper-thin moderate or secular gloss on his image. But he has succeeded in shifting the BJP politically to the far right, decisively and firmly. Not only has he imposed his will upon the party; he has drawn praise from such unlikely sources as Sushma Swaraj, a party rival.
Even Advani now says Mr Modi can handle "any responsibility", presumably including the nation's top job.
Modi's ambition is to win the Gujarat elections due next year, probably by advancing their date, and then become BJP president when Nitin Gadkari's term ends in December 2012. This would give him a definite edge over other "second generation" leaders like Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh.
The BJP will soon realise Modi is more a liability than an asset
He then hopes that with the backing of powerful business lobbies, he will become the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.
However, such a pre-poll arrangement can be safely ruled out. The JD-U will certainly oppose it. It's also extremely unlikely that former NDA constituents like the Biju Janata Dal and Telugu Desam will return to the alliance under Modi's leadership.
It's only in the unlikely event of the BJP winning 200-plus Lok Sabha seats that a post-election alliance will emerge. But it's difficult to see how the BJP can increase its tally by 84 seats or over 70 percent (from the present 116) unless it does miraculously well in Uttar Pradesh, where it's currently Number 4.
Ironically, by shifting the BJP rightwards, Modi will have narrowed its base and electoral appeal. A hardline Hindutva party will massively and irrevocably repulse the religious minorities, which form one-sixth of the national vote, or roughly one-half of what's needed for a party to win a national election. That's a recipe for losing elections.
Narrowing of the BJP's base will probably open up new political spaces while weakening the trend towards bipolarism. This would offer interesting opportunities to secular Left-of-Centre forces, admittedly amidst some endemic national-level instability.
The BJP could soon find that Modi, with his insufferable arrogance, megalomania and obnoxious ultra-individualism, is more a liability than an asset both for itself and its allies. It stands warned.
September 22, 2011
On Narendra Modi's Fast for Harmony - Cartoon by R Prasad
cartoon by R Prasad, Mail Today, 20 September 2011
Towards a riot-free India ( B S Arun and Gayathri Nivas)
Deccan Herald
Communal violence bill...The draft is guided by the experience of the last six decades
Towards a riot-free India
B S Arun and Gayathri Nivas
The proposed Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011, marketed by UPA-2 as a deterrent against habitual perpetuators of communal violence, has been shot down by state governments owing allegiance to NDA and political parties outside UPA, in its present form.
The bill, prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC), is seen by critics as infringing on federal structure of governance and discriminatory in the sense that it views minorities as the perpetual victims and majority community as the habitual aggressor.
The draft bill revolves mainly around the word “group”, which implies a religious or linguistic minority, in any State, or Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. “Victim” is any person belonging to a group who has suffered physical, mental, psychological or monetary harm or harm to his or her property.
“Communal and targeted violence” is any act or series of acts, spontaneous or planned, resulting in injury or harm to a person and/or property, knowingly directed against any person by virtue of his or her membership of any group, which destroys the secular fabric of the nation.
“Hostile environment against a group”, according to the bill, means an intimidating or coercive environment that is created against a person belonging to any group. The bill shall operate in addition to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Brutal forms of sexual assault (beyond the limited IPC definition of rape) and torture have been included in the bill. Additionally, it defines hate propaganda. It provides for punishment of a public servant – in other words the police - who intentionally inflicts pain or suffering on a person belonging to a group.
Public servants who act or omit to exercise authority vested in them under law and fail to protect or prevent offences or act with malafide and prejudice shall be guilty of dereliction of duty with penal consequences.
Article 355
Another controversial provision which has left the state governments crying hoarse is the power given to the Central Government in relation to `organised communal and targeted violence.’ The occurrence of such violence shall constitute “internal disturbance” within the meaning of Article 355 of the Constitution of India and it shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The bill provides for setting up of a National authority for communal harmony, justice and reparation (NAJCHR) consisting of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five other members. It is mandatory that at all times, not less than four members, including the chairperson and vice-chairperson, shall belong to a `group.’ Corresponding State authorities shall also operate.
The authority has been given sweeping powers, including requisitioning information from the Central or any state government, non-state actors etc. It will be deemed to be a civil court, have powers of investigation and utilise the services of any agency or official from any state.
Its objectives include preventing any act or acts of communal and targeted violence, including its build-up, incitement or outbreak, controlling the spread of organised communal and targeted violence, monitoring due investigation, prosecution and trial of offences, monitoring due relief, reparation and restitution.
One of the provisions include establishment of Communal and Targeted Violence Relief and Rehabilitation Fund and disbursement of compensation. In case of death, the compensation shall not be less than Rs 15 lakh and for rape not less than Rs 5 lakh.
Upholding federal principle, advisories and recommendations of NAJCHR are not binding on state governments. All powers and duties of investigation, prosecution, and trial remain with the state governments.
Communal flare-ups of the last decade “abundantly proves that communalism is a political and not a religious phenomenon and that communal graph goes up and down depending on political dynamics of a region. It gives us hope that bewildering diversity of Indian society cannot sustain communal violence on long term basis. If communal violence erupts it is more because of weakness of secular forces than the strength of communal forces”.
Dr Asghar Ali Engineer,
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.
(For bill details log on to: http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb.pdf)
Communal violence bill...The draft is guided by the experience of the last six decades
Towards a riot-free India
B S Arun and Gayathri Nivas
The proposed Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011, marketed by UPA-2 as a deterrent against habitual perpetuators of communal violence, has been shot down by state governments owing allegiance to NDA and political parties outside UPA, in its present form.
The bill, prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC), is seen by critics as infringing on federal structure of governance and discriminatory in the sense that it views minorities as the perpetual victims and majority community as the habitual aggressor.
The draft bill revolves mainly around the word “group”, which implies a religious or linguistic minority, in any State, or Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. “Victim” is any person belonging to a group who has suffered physical, mental, psychological or monetary harm or harm to his or her property.
“Communal and targeted violence” is any act or series of acts, spontaneous or planned, resulting in injury or harm to a person and/or property, knowingly directed against any person by virtue of his or her membership of any group, which destroys the secular fabric of the nation.
“Hostile environment against a group”, according to the bill, means an intimidating or coercive environment that is created against a person belonging to any group. The bill shall operate in addition to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Brutal forms of sexual assault (beyond the limited IPC definition of rape) and torture have been included in the bill. Additionally, it defines hate propaganda. It provides for punishment of a public servant – in other words the police - who intentionally inflicts pain or suffering on a person belonging to a group.
Public servants who act or omit to exercise authority vested in them under law and fail to protect or prevent offences or act with malafide and prejudice shall be guilty of dereliction of duty with penal consequences.
Article 355
Another controversial provision which has left the state governments crying hoarse is the power given to the Central Government in relation to `organised communal and targeted violence.’ The occurrence of such violence shall constitute “internal disturbance” within the meaning of Article 355 of the Constitution of India and it shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The bill provides for setting up of a National authority for communal harmony, justice and reparation (NAJCHR) consisting of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five other members. It is mandatory that at all times, not less than four members, including the chairperson and vice-chairperson, shall belong to a `group.’ Corresponding State authorities shall also operate.
The authority has been given sweeping powers, including requisitioning information from the Central or any state government, non-state actors etc. It will be deemed to be a civil court, have powers of investigation and utilise the services of any agency or official from any state.
Its objectives include preventing any act or acts of communal and targeted violence, including its build-up, incitement or outbreak, controlling the spread of organised communal and targeted violence, monitoring due investigation, prosecution and trial of offences, monitoring due relief, reparation and restitution.
One of the provisions include establishment of Communal and Targeted Violence Relief and Rehabilitation Fund and disbursement of compensation. In case of death, the compensation shall not be less than Rs 15 lakh and for rape not less than Rs 5 lakh.
Upholding federal principle, advisories and recommendations of NAJCHR are not binding on state governments. All powers and duties of investigation, prosecution, and trial remain with the state governments.
Communal flare-ups of the last decade “abundantly proves that communalism is a political and not a religious phenomenon and that communal graph goes up and down depending on political dynamics of a region. It gives us hope that bewildering diversity of Indian society cannot sustain communal violence on long term basis. If communal violence erupts it is more because of weakness of secular forces than the strength of communal forces”.
Dr Asghar Ali Engineer,
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.
(For bill details log on to: http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb.pdf)
Televised ‘sadbhavna fast’ or a law to challenge impunity
From: Hindustan Times
September 19, 2011
Courage under fire
Farah Naqvi
Sadbhavna is a great idea, but it has no meaning without justice for all. If after decades of communal violence what our nation sees is a televised ‘sadbhavna fast’ by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi instead of a law to challenge impunity, we stand to weaken our moral core.
It’s inevitable that justice for the weak will be a political hard sell. And laws around the world seeking to secure justice and equality for the weak have been forged through fires of hot contestation. The first Civil Rights Act of 1957 in the US was greeted by howls of protest from White chauvinists.
Even ‘liberal’ John F Kennedy chose political realism over principle and voted against it in Congress for he knew it had little popular support at the time. JFK became a ‘civil rights champion’ later; some say only when he sensed greater need for the Black vote.
Closer home, the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, was preceded by a robust Dalit rights movement, and high profile cases of Dalit atrocities set the stage for its passage.
But the backlash soon followed and attempts continue till today to stymie its implementation. The Draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011, (PCTV) faces similar challenges.
These laws are different from the spate of legislative and policy measures in recent years ensuring basic entitlements. Take the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Education (RTE) — one promised employment to the rural poor, the other elementary education.
These are unexceptionable wares to peddle in the political marketplace of populist ideas, lending themselves easily to sound byte debates in TV studios, apparently the new testing ground for ‘popular will’.
The arguments that NREGA and RTE faced weren’t social or political, but economic (with neo-liberals asking: ‘Will there be too much burden on the exchequer?’ Or ‘Why do the poor deserve such generous hand-outs?’).
But special protection legislations, within a civil rights framework, seeking to install systems of justice for the weak are different. They demand that we as a nation acknowledge inequality and discrimination as a fact of our society, polity and criminal justice system. They demand the naming of particular classes of citizens as weak and others as strong.
They demand from our political class a will to embrace principles of equal, secular citizenship over the politics of populism.
The PCTV bill is anti-secular, it should be burnt, it should be put in a trashcan — these are are some of the unnecessarily strident remarks we’ve heard in recent TV debates.
Curiously, the government’s discredited Communal Violence Bill of 2005 didn’t elicit such shrill abandonment of civilised discourse because the 2005 bill didn’t challenge the biased use of State power that allows communal violence to spread.
In fact, it augmented and further concentrated powers in the hands of the State (Modi would have embraced such a bill).
The 2011 PCTV Bill, by comparison, attracts vicious protest partly because it does threaten the communal violence machinery, by making the State accountable for discriminatory use of its powers.
Evidence of this does not need to be excavated from the recesses of distant history — because State bias in cases of identity-based attacks is not a thing of the past, as critics claim. Look at the fate of Dalits and Muslims in recent weeks and months — in Madurai (September 2011), Moradabad (August 2011) or Bharatpur (September 2011); look at Tamils in Karnataka (March 2008) or Biharis in Mumbai (October 2008). They are why we need this bill.
There may be much in the draft PCTV Bill, 2011 that its critics can improve, but its core (robust State accountability) represents the hope of securing equal protection of laws for all citizens; of giving meaning to the idea of sadbhavna.
Political momentum follows from acts of political courage and for true sadbhavna we need that courage from our political class.
(Farah Naqvi is a member of the National Advisory Council. The views expressed by the author are personal)
© Copyright © 2011 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.
September 19, 2011
Courage under fire
Farah Naqvi
Sadbhavna is a great idea, but it has no meaning without justice for all. If after decades of communal violence what our nation sees is a televised ‘sadbhavna fast’ by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi instead of a law to challenge impunity, we stand to weaken our moral core.
It’s inevitable that justice for the weak will be a political hard sell. And laws around the world seeking to secure justice and equality for the weak have been forged through fires of hot contestation. The first Civil Rights Act of 1957 in the US was greeted by howls of protest from White chauvinists.
Even ‘liberal’ John F Kennedy chose political realism over principle and voted against it in Congress for he knew it had little popular support at the time. JFK became a ‘civil rights champion’ later; some say only when he sensed greater need for the Black vote.
Closer home, the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, was preceded by a robust Dalit rights movement, and high profile cases of Dalit atrocities set the stage for its passage.
But the backlash soon followed and attempts continue till today to stymie its implementation. The Draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011, (PCTV) faces similar challenges.
These laws are different from the spate of legislative and policy measures in recent years ensuring basic entitlements. Take the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Education (RTE) — one promised employment to the rural poor, the other elementary education.
These are unexceptionable wares to peddle in the political marketplace of populist ideas, lending themselves easily to sound byte debates in TV studios, apparently the new testing ground for ‘popular will’.
The arguments that NREGA and RTE faced weren’t social or political, but economic (with neo-liberals asking: ‘Will there be too much burden on the exchequer?’ Or ‘Why do the poor deserve such generous hand-outs?’).
But special protection legislations, within a civil rights framework, seeking to install systems of justice for the weak are different. They demand that we as a nation acknowledge inequality and discrimination as a fact of our society, polity and criminal justice system. They demand the naming of particular classes of citizens as weak and others as strong.
They demand from our political class a will to embrace principles of equal, secular citizenship over the politics of populism.
The PCTV bill is anti-secular, it should be burnt, it should be put in a trashcan — these are are some of the unnecessarily strident remarks we’ve heard in recent TV debates.
Curiously, the government’s discredited Communal Violence Bill of 2005 didn’t elicit such shrill abandonment of civilised discourse because the 2005 bill didn’t challenge the biased use of State power that allows communal violence to spread.
In fact, it augmented and further concentrated powers in the hands of the State (Modi would have embraced such a bill).
The 2011 PCTV Bill, by comparison, attracts vicious protest partly because it does threaten the communal violence machinery, by making the State accountable for discriminatory use of its powers.
Evidence of this does not need to be excavated from the recesses of distant history — because State bias in cases of identity-based attacks is not a thing of the past, as critics claim. Look at the fate of Dalits and Muslims in recent weeks and months — in Madurai (September 2011), Moradabad (August 2011) or Bharatpur (September 2011); look at Tamils in Karnataka (March 2008) or Biharis in Mumbai (October 2008). They are why we need this bill.
There may be much in the draft PCTV Bill, 2011 that its critics can improve, but its core (robust State accountability) represents the hope of securing equal protection of laws for all citizens; of giving meaning to the idea of sadbhavna.
Political momentum follows from acts of political courage and for true sadbhavna we need that courage from our political class.
(Farah Naqvi is a member of the National Advisory Council. The views expressed by the author are personal)
© Copyright © 2011 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.
September 20, 2011
Available now: Godse's Children: Hindutva Terror In India by Subhash Gatade
Godse's Children: Hindutva Terror In India
by Subhash Gatade
Contents:
1. Introduction: Terror sevaks!
2. First Terrorist of Independent India
3. Spectre of Terrorism
4. Legitimate Violence and Terrorism
5. Are You Joking Mr. Bhagwat? - Conflating Hinduism and Hindutva
6. Thus Spake the Masters!
7. Gurukul for Explosives
8. Diary of a Pracharak-Terrorist: Why RSS wants to forget Sunil Joshi’s Murder?
9. Ajmer Sharief Bomb Blasts: Journey of a Case
10. Friendship in Flames? Unravelling the Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast
11. Was Purohit an Exception?
12. Villain in Life: Hero in Death
13. Where is Hemant Karkare’s Bullet-Proof Jacket?
14. Modasa Blast: The H Factor
15. In the Name of Criminals: How Hindutva Terrorists operate in Karnataka
16. Asna’s Prayer: Parivar Bomb Makers in ‘God’s Own Country’
17. Terrorism’s ‘Tenkasi’ Moment, 18. Kanpur: Bomb Blasts That Were Not?
19. Destruction of Evildoers’ as “Spiritual Practice”
20. Who is watching the Spies?: Revisiting Malegaon bomb blast I
21. The Nanded Way: What Maharashtra Thinks Today
22. Global Dimensions of Hindutva Terror
23. Welcome Mossad!
24. When Lawyers Masquerade as Judges!
25. Manufacturing “Encounters,” Fabricating “Terrorists”
26. Shastrapujas: What is Religious about Worshipping Weapons?
27. The New Age Gurus: Subscribers of Militant Hindutva
28. Criminals for Hindutva: The Hidden Arm
29. RSS: 1948 of 2011
30. Hindutva Terror and Secular Formations
31. How Can Terrorism Become History? - Eliminating the Menace of Hindutva Terror.
Publisher: Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd
Edition: 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9788172210526
ISBN-10: 8172210523
Book binding: Paperback
No. of pages: 400
Possible to order via:
1. sales@milligazette.com
or
2 simply books
by Subhash Gatade
Contents:
1. Introduction: Terror sevaks!
2. First Terrorist of Independent India
3. Spectre of Terrorism
4. Legitimate Violence and Terrorism
5. Are You Joking Mr. Bhagwat? - Conflating Hinduism and Hindutva
6. Thus Spake the Masters!
7. Gurukul for Explosives
8. Diary of a Pracharak-Terrorist: Why RSS wants to forget Sunil Joshi’s Murder?
9. Ajmer Sharief Bomb Blasts: Journey of a Case
10. Friendship in Flames? Unravelling the Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast
11. Was Purohit an Exception?
12. Villain in Life: Hero in Death
13. Where is Hemant Karkare’s Bullet-Proof Jacket?
14. Modasa Blast: The H Factor
15. In the Name of Criminals: How Hindutva Terrorists operate in Karnataka
16. Asna’s Prayer: Parivar Bomb Makers in ‘God’s Own Country’
17. Terrorism’s ‘Tenkasi’ Moment, 18. Kanpur: Bomb Blasts That Were Not?
19. Destruction of Evildoers’ as “Spiritual Practice”
20. Who is watching the Spies?: Revisiting Malegaon bomb blast I
21. The Nanded Way: What Maharashtra Thinks Today
22. Global Dimensions of Hindutva Terror
23. Welcome Mossad!
24. When Lawyers Masquerade as Judges!
25. Manufacturing “Encounters,” Fabricating “Terrorists”
26. Shastrapujas: What is Religious about Worshipping Weapons?
27. The New Age Gurus: Subscribers of Militant Hindutva
28. Criminals for Hindutva: The Hidden Arm
29. RSS: 1948 of 2011
30. Hindutva Terror and Secular Formations
31. How Can Terrorism Become History? - Eliminating the Menace of Hindutva Terror.
Publisher: Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd
Edition: 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9788172210526
ISBN-10: 8172210523
Book binding: Paperback
No. of pages: 400
Possible to order via:
1. sales@milligazette.com
or
2 simply books
Gujarat's Wounds
Can Fasting bring harmony, while the scars remain unattended to?
by Ram Puniyani
Life is full of strange paradoxes. Narendra Modi undertook fast for three days for Sadbhavna (Harmony), to mark complete peace, unity and harmony (Sept 2011). This came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict which has asked the trial court to examine all the evidence and amicus curie’s report so that his culpability or otherwise in Gulbarg society case is decided. The Supreme Court order has directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file its final report into the allegations of Narendra Modi being the architect-in-chief of the 2002 Gujarat massacre. This was interpreted by BJP as a clean chit to Modi. Modi in turn took sigh of relief and pronounced, ‘God is great’. Shrewd as Modi is, he has tried to project that this has exonerated him from his sins of Gujarat carnage 2002.
On one hand this fast is seen as an attempt to project him on the national scene, as after the political absence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the eclipse on the fortunes of Lal Krishna Advani, there is tussle for the top slot in BJP. So far Modi has been projecting an image of man for development, but we know that the minorities and many allies of NDA are keeping a safe distance from Modi. This is a hindrance for his Prime Ministerial ambitions. BJP on other hand is celebrating the Supreme Court verdict just to create an impression of victory, which it is not. Now the process of justice is wide open and the path is open for the legal battle in times to come. It also seems that many goals have merged together leading to this fast by Modi.
One aim of course has been that Modi can never be acceptable for the Prime Ministerial candidate by NDA, unless he comes clean of his role in Gujarat 2002 by seeking an apology. This has a problem as seeking apology will also be a confession of guilt, which will alienate his hard core constituency who were made to believe that they are insecure because of the tiny Muslim minority. Cleverly Modi even refused to take the moral responsibility of 2002 by mocking the interviewer by retaliating as to what is this moral responsibility! The second goal seems to be a longing for image change over without really apologising for the 2002. The idea for such a fast must have come from the Anna’s fast, which was successfully elevated into a spectacle for the hidden goals of RSS and the corporate, the backbones of Anna movement. Seeing the success of Anna experiment, Modi has been quick to grab the idea of creating similar spectacle by using the public money. Thirdly, it seems that the ground is slipping from under Modi’s feet, so in order to retrieve the ground he undertook this exercise with the hope that it may help him retain Gujarat and then claim National leadership.
As such the truth is that at National level most of the allies of NDA know that the allegations against Modi have gone down too deep in the psyche of people. The acts of commission and omission of this person who was called as the ‘classic fascist person’ by the prominent social scientist, Ashish Nandy, are too glaring to be put under the carpet. Modi is trying to deflect all the criticism against him by saying that it is an insult to the six crore Gujaratis. This ploy may not work as a large number of citizens from Gujarat know that Modi may be the elected Chief Minister of Gujarat, but he is not the one who represents the essence of ‘Gujarat of Gandhi’ or Gujarat of dalits, Adivasis and Minorities, who also live in Gujarat in large numbers. Modi has done his best to create an image of ‘man of development’, thanks to the policies which have supported the large corporate houses, who have got state loans at minimal rate of interest, while the farmers continued to commit suicide burdened by loans etc. It is remarkable that while ‘shining Gujarat’ is projected, the ‘whining Gujarat’ is cleverly hidden from public vision.
The claims of Harmony in Gujarat are far from true. Those working at ground level know that post Gujarat carnage the divides between religious communities have widened. The place like Juhapura, Ahmadabad is a good example of that. In Juhapura Muslims from all over the state are trying to settle, in search of safety, physical and emotional, in the hostile environment created by post carnage situation. The average banking and other social facilities are not reaching to such places. Not only Muslims, even the Christians minorities are feeling insecure despite the lapse of close to a decade after the carnage. The Godhra train burning verdict clarified the attitude of state authorities, where the chief accused of the train burning Haji Umarji was tried for years without any evidence whatsoever and then was exonerated by the Court. The minorities are feeling discriminated against and marginalized. On the top of that the lack of justice for the victims is a major issue. Despite one after other police officer coming out with sworn affidavits the high handed attitude of state leadership continues.
The beginning of Sadbhavna has to be by seeking sincere apologies by Naremndra Modi. You cannot have peace and amity on the foundations of ‘hidden hate’ and ‘overt injustice’ prevailing in Gujarat. The polarization of religious communities has become more or less structural and the victims of carnage are finding no respite in their daily lives. Even the Human rights activists who have been taking up the cases on behalf of victims are being targeted and there are no brakes on the authoritarian nature of Narendra Modi. The gimmick of fasting for peace is a hollow move as the beginning of harmony has to be with the remorse for injustices which have been heaped on the minorities. Times and over again the TV anchors and social activists have tried to urge upon Modi to begin the process of harmony by apologizing for the carnage of 2002, but all these well meaning appeals have fallen on the deaf years.
The process of Harmony fast revealed many things about the nature of politics being pursued by Modi. While he was more than keen to be wearing the head gears offered by other priests, he refused to put on the Muslim cap. While he could mobilise some victims on the stage, many a victims of injustices were not permitted to come anywhere close to him. We also witnessed that protesters were not allowed to vent their grievances while the fast for amity was in progress. All this is a clear reflection of the shape of things to come. The attempt to win over minorities of the state and the country will not cut any ice. The factors related to mis-governance may come to the fore and be a counter to the five star fast undertaken by Modi.
This present move of fasting has deeper political agenda and has nothing to do with the longing for peace. One wishes the genuine aspirations for harmony are begun through a process of remorse, reparation and proper justice to the victims who have been languishing in ghettoes, bereft of proper rights as citizens. We do need to distinguish between genuine efforts for harmony from these hollow attempts meant to consolidate the politics of Hate...
by Ram Puniyani
Life is full of strange paradoxes. Narendra Modi undertook fast for three days for Sadbhavna (Harmony), to mark complete peace, unity and harmony (Sept 2011). This came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict which has asked the trial court to examine all the evidence and amicus curie’s report so that his culpability or otherwise in Gulbarg society case is decided. The Supreme Court order has directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file its final report into the allegations of Narendra Modi being the architect-in-chief of the 2002 Gujarat massacre. This was interpreted by BJP as a clean chit to Modi. Modi in turn took sigh of relief and pronounced, ‘God is great’. Shrewd as Modi is, he has tried to project that this has exonerated him from his sins of Gujarat carnage 2002.
On one hand this fast is seen as an attempt to project him on the national scene, as after the political absence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the eclipse on the fortunes of Lal Krishna Advani, there is tussle for the top slot in BJP. So far Modi has been projecting an image of man for development, but we know that the minorities and many allies of NDA are keeping a safe distance from Modi. This is a hindrance for his Prime Ministerial ambitions. BJP on other hand is celebrating the Supreme Court verdict just to create an impression of victory, which it is not. Now the process of justice is wide open and the path is open for the legal battle in times to come. It also seems that many goals have merged together leading to this fast by Modi.
One aim of course has been that Modi can never be acceptable for the Prime Ministerial candidate by NDA, unless he comes clean of his role in Gujarat 2002 by seeking an apology. This has a problem as seeking apology will also be a confession of guilt, which will alienate his hard core constituency who were made to believe that they are insecure because of the tiny Muslim minority. Cleverly Modi even refused to take the moral responsibility of 2002 by mocking the interviewer by retaliating as to what is this moral responsibility! The second goal seems to be a longing for image change over without really apologising for the 2002. The idea for such a fast must have come from the Anna’s fast, which was successfully elevated into a spectacle for the hidden goals of RSS and the corporate, the backbones of Anna movement. Seeing the success of Anna experiment, Modi has been quick to grab the idea of creating similar spectacle by using the public money. Thirdly, it seems that the ground is slipping from under Modi’s feet, so in order to retrieve the ground he undertook this exercise with the hope that it may help him retain Gujarat and then claim National leadership.
As such the truth is that at National level most of the allies of NDA know that the allegations against Modi have gone down too deep in the psyche of people. The acts of commission and omission of this person who was called as the ‘classic fascist person’ by the prominent social scientist, Ashish Nandy, are too glaring to be put under the carpet. Modi is trying to deflect all the criticism against him by saying that it is an insult to the six crore Gujaratis. This ploy may not work as a large number of citizens from Gujarat know that Modi may be the elected Chief Minister of Gujarat, but he is not the one who represents the essence of ‘Gujarat of Gandhi’ or Gujarat of dalits, Adivasis and Minorities, who also live in Gujarat in large numbers. Modi has done his best to create an image of ‘man of development’, thanks to the policies which have supported the large corporate houses, who have got state loans at minimal rate of interest, while the farmers continued to commit suicide burdened by loans etc. It is remarkable that while ‘shining Gujarat’ is projected, the ‘whining Gujarat’ is cleverly hidden from public vision.
The claims of Harmony in Gujarat are far from true. Those working at ground level know that post Gujarat carnage the divides between religious communities have widened. The place like Juhapura, Ahmadabad is a good example of that. In Juhapura Muslims from all over the state are trying to settle, in search of safety, physical and emotional, in the hostile environment created by post carnage situation. The average banking and other social facilities are not reaching to such places. Not only Muslims, even the Christians minorities are feeling insecure despite the lapse of close to a decade after the carnage. The Godhra train burning verdict clarified the attitude of state authorities, where the chief accused of the train burning Haji Umarji was tried for years without any evidence whatsoever and then was exonerated by the Court. The minorities are feeling discriminated against and marginalized. On the top of that the lack of justice for the victims is a major issue. Despite one after other police officer coming out with sworn affidavits the high handed attitude of state leadership continues.
The beginning of Sadbhavna has to be by seeking sincere apologies by Naremndra Modi. You cannot have peace and amity on the foundations of ‘hidden hate’ and ‘overt injustice’ prevailing in Gujarat. The polarization of religious communities has become more or less structural and the victims of carnage are finding no respite in their daily lives. Even the Human rights activists who have been taking up the cases on behalf of victims are being targeted and there are no brakes on the authoritarian nature of Narendra Modi. The gimmick of fasting for peace is a hollow move as the beginning of harmony has to be with the remorse for injustices which have been heaped on the minorities. Times and over again the TV anchors and social activists have tried to urge upon Modi to begin the process of harmony by apologizing for the carnage of 2002, but all these well meaning appeals have fallen on the deaf years.
The process of Harmony fast revealed many things about the nature of politics being pursued by Modi. While he was more than keen to be wearing the head gears offered by other priests, he refused to put on the Muslim cap. While he could mobilise some victims on the stage, many a victims of injustices were not permitted to come anywhere close to him. We also witnessed that protesters were not allowed to vent their grievances while the fast for amity was in progress. All this is a clear reflection of the shape of things to come. The attempt to win over minorities of the state and the country will not cut any ice. The factors related to mis-governance may come to the fore and be a counter to the five star fast undertaken by Modi.
This present move of fasting has deeper political agenda and has nothing to do with the longing for peace. One wishes the genuine aspirations for harmony are begun through a process of remorse, reparation and proper justice to the victims who have been languishing in ghettoes, bereft of proper rights as citizens. We do need to distinguish between genuine efforts for harmony from these hollow attempts meant to consolidate the politics of Hate...
September 19, 2011
Gujarat govt shows riot victims the stick
From Mail Today
Gujarat govt shows riot victims the stick
By D. P. Bhattacharya in Gandhinagar
UNDERLINING the stark contrast between its claims and deeds, the Narendra Modi government on Sunday launched a vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters, comprising the victims of the 2002 riots and human rights activists, when they gathered for a demonstration at Naroda Patiya.
Ironically, the lathicharge and subsequent detention of the restful agitators came about on the second day of the Gujarat chief minister’s fast proclaiming the so- called sadbhavna ( harmony and goodwill).
The police, citing the unavailability of security personnel as the reason, had initially denied permission to the demonstrators.
However, when the protesters went ahead with their programme, the police swooped down and detained lawyer- activist Dr Mukul Sinha — besides danseuse- activist Mallika Sarabhai, riot victim and activist Noorjahan Diwan and many others — and forcibly dispersed the gathering.
Around 20 persons, including Sinha and Sarabhai, were detained in the Naroda Patiya locality — which saw one of the most brutal killings during the 2002 riots in the state — even before they could start protesting against the chief minister’s fast. Since early in the day, the police had formed a khaki ring around Naroda Patiya.
Salim Mahammad Sheikh, a riot victim and witness against Modi’s former cabinet colleague Maya Kodnani, said the administration dispatched 500 cops at short notice to break up the demonstrators even though it had earlier claimed not having enough police strength.
“ We had called the sadbhavna Mission a sham and they have proved us correct,” Sheikh added.
Mocking the government for using force on peaceful protesters, Sinha called himself “ the first beneficiary of Modi’s sadbhavna ”. He added that the use of force on the victims “ exposes the real face” of Modi’s goodwill facade.
“ All we had asked for was justice,” Diwan said, adding that Sarabhai was detained along with her supporters only because she had come to pledge her support to the cause of the 2002 riot victims. “ They pushed us into a van and unleashed lathis on the crowd to disperse it per force,” she added.
Sarabhai said the police gave her no reason while taking her away. “ We had planned a silent and peaceful protest. I have no idea what I am being charged with,” she added.
In another blow to Modi, Darul Uloom Deoband’s sacked V- C Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi termed Modi’s fast “ a political gimmick”. He said: “ It is just a pretence... a political gimmick for the assembly polls.”
Gujarat govt shows riot victims the stick
By D. P. Bhattacharya in Gandhinagar
UNDERLINING the stark contrast between its claims and deeds, the Narendra Modi government on Sunday launched a vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters, comprising the victims of the 2002 riots and human rights activists, when they gathered for a demonstration at Naroda Patiya.
Ironically, the lathicharge and subsequent detention of the restful agitators came about on the second day of the Gujarat chief minister’s fast proclaiming the so- called sadbhavna ( harmony and goodwill).
The police, citing the unavailability of security personnel as the reason, had initially denied permission to the demonstrators.
However, when the protesters went ahead with their programme, the police swooped down and detained lawyer- activist Dr Mukul Sinha — besides danseuse- activist Mallika Sarabhai, riot victim and activist Noorjahan Diwan and many others — and forcibly dispersed the gathering.
Around 20 persons, including Sinha and Sarabhai, were detained in the Naroda Patiya locality — which saw one of the most brutal killings during the 2002 riots in the state — even before they could start protesting against the chief minister’s fast. Since early in the day, the police had formed a khaki ring around Naroda Patiya.
Salim Mahammad Sheikh, a riot victim and witness against Modi’s former cabinet colleague Maya Kodnani, said the administration dispatched 500 cops at short notice to break up the demonstrators even though it had earlier claimed not having enough police strength.
“ We had called the sadbhavna Mission a sham and they have proved us correct,” Sheikh added.
Mocking the government for using force on peaceful protesters, Sinha called himself “ the first beneficiary of Modi’s sadbhavna ”. He added that the use of force on the victims “ exposes the real face” of Modi’s goodwill facade.
“ All we had asked for was justice,” Diwan said, adding that Sarabhai was detained along with her supporters only because she had come to pledge her support to the cause of the 2002 riot victims. “ They pushed us into a van and unleashed lathis on the crowd to disperse it per force,” she added.
Sarabhai said the police gave her no reason while taking her away. “ We had planned a silent and peaceful protest. I have no idea what I am being charged with,” she added.
In another blow to Modi, Darul Uloom Deoband’s sacked V- C Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi termed Modi’s fast “ a political gimmick”. He said: “ It is just a pretence... a political gimmick for the assembly polls.”
India: Photos of 11 right wing Hindutva fugitives revealed
From Mail Today, 19 September 2011
NIA unveils face of saffron terror
By Aman Sharma in New Delhi
Photos of fugitives wanted in several blasts released
THE Hindutva face of terror has been bared. Desperate for leads into the whereabouts of 11 rightwing militants who are on the run, the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has now made their photographs public. The fugitives are wanted for major blasts, including those in Goa, at Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid and on Samjhauta Express.
Some of them are also believed to have murdered RSS worker Sunil Joshi, who was himself the prime conspirator in a number of terror attacks. The NIA took over the probe of the Joshi murder case from the Madhya Pradesh Police in June. It is also investigating the Goa, Ajmer Sharif, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon blasts.
The agency has now opened a 24- hour- assistance line for any information on the wanted men.
A ministry of home affairs ( MHA) official said catching the absconders could expose the links of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) with Hindutva terror.
Furthermore, the alleged role played by the sangh’s senior member, Indresh Kumar, in the incidents would also come to light. In a reply to Parliament on September 7, the MHA admitted that the role of the RSS had not been specifically confirmed as yet in the Samjhauta, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid investigations.
“ However, some of the key accused in these cases — Swami Asimanand, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who have been arrested and chargesheeted — were reportedly involved in RSS activities earlier. This was revealed during the course of the probe and also from the confessional statements of Asimanand,” the home ministry told Parliament. Asimanand told the CBI that Joshi may have been killed at the behest of Indresh.
Among those whose photographs have been put out are five key accused, all from Gujarat, wanted for transporting and planting bombs at the Ajmer Sharif dargah on Joshi’s directions.
Each of them — Bhavesh Patel, Mehul, Jayant Gohil, Ramesh Gohil and Suresh Nair — carries a reward of ` 2 lakh.
Soon after the Ajmer blast on October 11, 2007, Joshi was found killed. Mehul and Jayant, who lived with Joshi, are suspected to have murdered him on December 29, 2007. Mehul is also wanted for the Best Bakery massacre in Gujarat. Catching him, the NIA emphasises, is the key to cracking the Joshi murder case and ascertaining whether he was bumped off because it was feared that he knew too much about the terror module.
The big fish who controlled the Hindutva terror machinery after Joshi’s death are Ramji Kalsangre and Sandeep Dange, both from Indore. Their photographs were made public by the NIA last year and carry a reward of ` 10 lakh each.
The duo is thought to have been deeply involved in all the major blasts linked to Hindutva terror- ists. “ We believe they planted the bombs on Samjhauta Express in 2008. A massive hunt for them has not yielded results so far,” an MHA official said.
Among the latest batch of photographs released now is that of another Samjhauta plotter, Amit alias Ashwini Chauhan, on whom there is a reward of ` 2 lakh. The NIA does not know from where this man hails.
The Bureau of Immigration has also issued lookout circulars against the three men to stop them from fleeing India.
Three other terrorists on the run whose pictures have been released are the ones wanted for the Goa blast of 2009 in which two people were killed and two IEDs were defused just in time to prevent a much bigger strike.
Right- wing organisation Sanathan Sanstha was found to be behind the blasts and some of its cadre were arrested. The NIA is still hunting for three more men of this group — Jay Prakash @ Anna, Praveen Limkar and Rudra Patil.
A home ministry official confirmed Maharashtra Police had recommended to the state government to ban Sanathan Sanstha and Abhinav Bharat by including them in the Schedule of Terrorist Organisations under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities ( Prevention) Act, 1967.
NIA unveils face of saffron terror
By Aman Sharma in New Delhi
Photos of fugitives wanted in several blasts released
THE Hindutva face of terror has been bared. Desperate for leads into the whereabouts of 11 rightwing militants who are on the run, the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has now made their photographs public. The fugitives are wanted for major blasts, including those in Goa, at Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid and on Samjhauta Express.
Some of them are also believed to have murdered RSS worker Sunil Joshi, who was himself the prime conspirator in a number of terror attacks. The NIA took over the probe of the Joshi murder case from the Madhya Pradesh Police in June. It is also investigating the Goa, Ajmer Sharif, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon blasts.
The agency has now opened a 24- hour- assistance line for any information on the wanted men.
A ministry of home affairs ( MHA) official said catching the absconders could expose the links of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) with Hindutva terror.
Furthermore, the alleged role played by the sangh’s senior member, Indresh Kumar, in the incidents would also come to light. In a reply to Parliament on September 7, the MHA admitted that the role of the RSS had not been specifically confirmed as yet in the Samjhauta, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid investigations.
“ However, some of the key accused in these cases — Swami Asimanand, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who have been arrested and chargesheeted — were reportedly involved in RSS activities earlier. This was revealed during the course of the probe and also from the confessional statements of Asimanand,” the home ministry told Parliament. Asimanand told the CBI that Joshi may have been killed at the behest of Indresh.
Among those whose photographs have been put out are five key accused, all from Gujarat, wanted for transporting and planting bombs at the Ajmer Sharif dargah on Joshi’s directions.
Each of them — Bhavesh Patel, Mehul, Jayant Gohil, Ramesh Gohil and Suresh Nair — carries a reward of ` 2 lakh.
Soon after the Ajmer blast on October 11, 2007, Joshi was found killed. Mehul and Jayant, who lived with Joshi, are suspected to have murdered him on December 29, 2007. Mehul is also wanted for the Best Bakery massacre in Gujarat. Catching him, the NIA emphasises, is the key to cracking the Joshi murder case and ascertaining whether he was bumped off because it was feared that he knew too much about the terror module.
The big fish who controlled the Hindutva terror machinery after Joshi’s death are Ramji Kalsangre and Sandeep Dange, both from Indore. Their photographs were made public by the NIA last year and carry a reward of ` 10 lakh each.
The duo is thought to have been deeply involved in all the major blasts linked to Hindutva terror- ists. “ We believe they planted the bombs on Samjhauta Express in 2008. A massive hunt for them has not yielded results so far,” an MHA official said.
Among the latest batch of photographs released now is that of another Samjhauta plotter, Amit alias Ashwini Chauhan, on whom there is a reward of ` 2 lakh. The NIA does not know from where this man hails.
The Bureau of Immigration has also issued lookout circulars against the three men to stop them from fleeing India.
Three other terrorists on the run whose pictures have been released are the ones wanted for the Goa blast of 2009 in which two people were killed and two IEDs were defused just in time to prevent a much bigger strike.
Right- wing organisation Sanathan Sanstha was found to be behind the blasts and some of its cadre were arrested. The NIA is still hunting for three more men of this group — Jay Prakash @ Anna, Praveen Limkar and Rudra Patil.
A home ministry official confirmed Maharashtra Police had recommended to the state government to ban Sanathan Sanstha and Abhinav Bharat by including them in the Schedule of Terrorist Organisations under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities ( Prevention) Act, 1967.
Modi is creating a smokescreen to cover his fragile position in Gujarat
From Mail Today, 19 September 2011
Fast is a ploy to confuse voters
by Jyotirmaya Sharma
Modi is creating a smokescreen to cover his fragile position in Gujarat
DESPITE certain television channels consecrating Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate for 2014, the sober view that still prevails is that prime ministers in India are elected by the voters and citizens of this country and not named by excitable anchors. And despite the increasingly presidential character of our election campaigns, people still vote for parties and political formations rather than individuals alone.
Therefore, the travesty of much of the media actually pushing the lie of Modi being exonerated by the Supreme Court will one day be found out. That the reverse has happened is something that ought to worry Modi and his promoters within the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The story here is a simple one.
Mrs Jakia Jafri, widow of Ahsan Jafri, who was brutally murdered by a mob during 2002, approached the Gujarat High Court asking her complaint to be treated as an FIR. The Court rejected her plea. She approached the Supreme Court against the order of the Gujarat High Court.
Motivation
The Supreme Court has now admitted the evidence of the SIT investigating the case, allowed the placing of the findings of the amicus curiae, and asked the SIT to file a report under section 173( 2) of the Cr. P. C., which amounts to filing of a charge- sheet. The magistrate in Gujarat will now consider the case as directed by the Supreme Court.
Narendra Modi has sought to convert his misfortune into an advantage by announcing a fast for peace and amity in Gujarat and has attempted to project the apex court’s verdict as a sign of his innocence.
Given the media’s appetite for street- corner spectacles after the recently concluded one in Ramlila grounds, Modi has sought to capitalise on this and announced that he will fast for sadbhava or peace and harmony. But for the fast to have any moral legitimacy, the legitimacy of the individual has first to be established.
Here again, there is no attempt at the Gandhian idea of self- purification. And even the Gandhian idea of self- purification is open to question, since it diverts attention from the issue on to the individual.
The truth of the matter is that Modi’s national ambitions are a smokescreen to cover his fragile position in the state. The sense in Gujarat among BJP voters currently is one of deep disquiet about Modi’s governance and his misplaced priorities.
Modi’s greatest worry is to win the next assembly elections, scheduled for late 2012, in Gujarat, without which all his ambition will amount to nothing. Therefore, his fast is really an early start to his re- election campaign in Gujarat. The hype that Modi has generated for his attempts at good governance and creating Gujarat as a Mecca for economic investment is just that: hype.
Challenge
Here, he is following the footsteps of N. Chandrababu Naidu. During his tenure as chief minister, Naidu liked to be known as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh. Everyone from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates came to Hyderabad and Naidu stood with them and got himself photographed. Business leaders extolled Naidu’s virtues as a great administrator and as someone who had tamed the bureaucracy, cut red tape and had launched Andhra Pradesh as the model for the rest of India.
All of this came down like a pack of cards in the 2004 assembly elections, when Naidu and his former ally, the BJP, did not even manage a three figure tally in an assembly of 294 seats. Modi knows that a similar fate stares him in the eye.
But unlike Naidu, Modi has an even tougher act to follow. While he might make whimpering noises about hurting certain sections in Gujarat, namely, the Muslims, and show a degree of remorse, there is no way in which he can express unconditional apology for what happened in Gujarat in 2002. The people who have voted for Modi over the years believe that the carnage in 2002 was right and legitimate. They neither have regrets for what happened, nor do they even remotely want to be contrite about it.
If he appears to be more liberal than the most illustrious liberal, he risks losing support of his key constituency. If he thinks his hype about good governance will propel him to the national stage, he is mistaken, as the NDA allies will refuse to accept him without his having offered an unconditional apology to the Muslims of Gujarat. If he does so, it would amount to a clear admission of guilt. If he doesn’t do it, he will carry the burden of 2002 for as long as he is in public life.
The sadbhav gimmick is nothing more than a ploy to confuse the voters of Gujarat. It keeps his core constituency in good humour, while confusing them about who he really is, just in case they started entertaining doubts about him. Those who had voted for him earlier, but are not in the category of committed voters would get even further confused, especially because Modi is attempting to wrest the middle ground from the Congress in the state.
He hopes that the Congress would shoot itself once again in the foot by attacking him. He can, then, flash his pseudo- liberal persona and taunt the Congress and its potential voters. The many masks of Modi, it is hoped, will help him win Gujarat.
Endorsement
If he fails to win Gujarat, his national ambitions will certainly be over and his rivals in the BJP will have much to celebrate.
His message to the people of Gujarat is: ‘ the nation is poised to accept me as prime minister, so you would be foolish to reject me just because I played a little trick on you in the name of good governance’. Neither is the bit about endorsement from some alleged “ congressional committee” in the USA likely to tip the balance in favour of Modi. The United States is now a badly governed country and can neither manage its economy nor large scale corruption in its banking and corporate sector.
Any endorsement from a poor cousin is hardly what Modi is looking for, except that he can do nothing to make the United States realise that it is no longer the superpower it used to be, and that it ought to forget the cold war habit of giving certificates to all and sundry. For once, Modi stares nemesis in the face and feels that the ground under his feet is slipping.
Indian democracy has forced him to sing a different tune, but will that tune top the charts is something that even Modi in his saner moments does not believe.
The writer is a professor in the University of Hyderabad
Fast is a ploy to confuse voters
by Jyotirmaya Sharma
Modi is creating a smokescreen to cover his fragile position in Gujarat
DESPITE certain television channels consecrating Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate for 2014, the sober view that still prevails is that prime ministers in India are elected by the voters and citizens of this country and not named by excitable anchors. And despite the increasingly presidential character of our election campaigns, people still vote for parties and political formations rather than individuals alone.
Therefore, the travesty of much of the media actually pushing the lie of Modi being exonerated by the Supreme Court will one day be found out. That the reverse has happened is something that ought to worry Modi and his promoters within the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The story here is a simple one.
Mrs Jakia Jafri, widow of Ahsan Jafri, who was brutally murdered by a mob during 2002, approached the Gujarat High Court asking her complaint to be treated as an FIR. The Court rejected her plea. She approached the Supreme Court against the order of the Gujarat High Court.
Motivation
The Supreme Court has now admitted the evidence of the SIT investigating the case, allowed the placing of the findings of the amicus curiae, and asked the SIT to file a report under section 173( 2) of the Cr. P. C., which amounts to filing of a charge- sheet. The magistrate in Gujarat will now consider the case as directed by the Supreme Court.
Narendra Modi has sought to convert his misfortune into an advantage by announcing a fast for peace and amity in Gujarat and has attempted to project the apex court’s verdict as a sign of his innocence.
Given the media’s appetite for street- corner spectacles after the recently concluded one in Ramlila grounds, Modi has sought to capitalise on this and announced that he will fast for sadbhava or peace and harmony. But for the fast to have any moral legitimacy, the legitimacy of the individual has first to be established.
Here again, there is no attempt at the Gandhian idea of self- purification. And even the Gandhian idea of self- purification is open to question, since it diverts attention from the issue on to the individual.
The truth of the matter is that Modi’s national ambitions are a smokescreen to cover his fragile position in the state. The sense in Gujarat among BJP voters currently is one of deep disquiet about Modi’s governance and his misplaced priorities.
Modi’s greatest worry is to win the next assembly elections, scheduled for late 2012, in Gujarat, without which all his ambition will amount to nothing. Therefore, his fast is really an early start to his re- election campaign in Gujarat. The hype that Modi has generated for his attempts at good governance and creating Gujarat as a Mecca for economic investment is just that: hype.
Challenge
Here, he is following the footsteps of N. Chandrababu Naidu. During his tenure as chief minister, Naidu liked to be known as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh. Everyone from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates came to Hyderabad and Naidu stood with them and got himself photographed. Business leaders extolled Naidu’s virtues as a great administrator and as someone who had tamed the bureaucracy, cut red tape and had launched Andhra Pradesh as the model for the rest of India.
All of this came down like a pack of cards in the 2004 assembly elections, when Naidu and his former ally, the BJP, did not even manage a three figure tally in an assembly of 294 seats. Modi knows that a similar fate stares him in the eye.
But unlike Naidu, Modi has an even tougher act to follow. While he might make whimpering noises about hurting certain sections in Gujarat, namely, the Muslims, and show a degree of remorse, there is no way in which he can express unconditional apology for what happened in Gujarat in 2002. The people who have voted for Modi over the years believe that the carnage in 2002 was right and legitimate. They neither have regrets for what happened, nor do they even remotely want to be contrite about it.
If he appears to be more liberal than the most illustrious liberal, he risks losing support of his key constituency. If he thinks his hype about good governance will propel him to the national stage, he is mistaken, as the NDA allies will refuse to accept him without his having offered an unconditional apology to the Muslims of Gujarat. If he does so, it would amount to a clear admission of guilt. If he doesn’t do it, he will carry the burden of 2002 for as long as he is in public life.
The sadbhav gimmick is nothing more than a ploy to confuse the voters of Gujarat. It keeps his core constituency in good humour, while confusing them about who he really is, just in case they started entertaining doubts about him. Those who had voted for him earlier, but are not in the category of committed voters would get even further confused, especially because Modi is attempting to wrest the middle ground from the Congress in the state.
He hopes that the Congress would shoot itself once again in the foot by attacking him. He can, then, flash his pseudo- liberal persona and taunt the Congress and its potential voters. The many masks of Modi, it is hoped, will help him win Gujarat.
Endorsement
If he fails to win Gujarat, his national ambitions will certainly be over and his rivals in the BJP will have much to celebrate.
His message to the people of Gujarat is: ‘ the nation is poised to accept me as prime minister, so you would be foolish to reject me just because I played a little trick on you in the name of good governance’. Neither is the bit about endorsement from some alleged “ congressional committee” in the USA likely to tip the balance in favour of Modi. The United States is now a badly governed country and can neither manage its economy nor large scale corruption in its banking and corporate sector.
Any endorsement from a poor cousin is hardly what Modi is looking for, except that he can do nothing to make the United States realise that it is no longer the superpower it used to be, and that it ought to forget the cold war habit of giving certificates to all and sundry. For once, Modi stares nemesis in the face and feels that the ground under his feet is slipping.
Indian democracy has forced him to sing a different tune, but will that tune top the charts is something that even Modi in his saner moments does not believe.
The writer is a professor in the University of Hyderabad
Strange Sadbhavna with arrest of riot victims and social activist Mallika Sarabhai (edit Times of India)
From The Times of India
Strange Sadbhavna
September 19, 2011, 12.00AM IST
By arresting protesting riot victims as well as celebrated danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai, the Gujarat government has defeated the spirit of sadbhavna or compassion that was supposed to be the hallmark of chief minister Narendra Modi`s three-day fast. Any definition of compassion has to include the tolerance of dissent. Besides, compassion and harmony in Gujarat necessarily have to come to terms with the destructive legacy of the 2002 riots, whose victims still await justice. But Modi has turned an unapologetic face to the victims, while recognising the issue in the stagey manner of greeting Muslims who have reportedly been advised to turn out in regulation skull caps and burqas - to advertise their identity for the purpose of the photo-op it represents.
If the spirit of compassion is abroad, surely it should extend to people who are merely exercising their democratic right to speak their mind about what they see as flaws in Modi`s rule? Not just that, on the same day the state home ministry chargesheeted suspended police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had questioned Modi`s role in the riots. Such actions look more like vindictiveness than compassion. Modi has an impressive development record going for him. But if he is to build his image and pitch himself on the national stage, such displays of vindictiveness have exactly the opposite effect. They rake up the ghost of the state administration`s partisan role during the 2002 riots, rather than settle the issue and move Gujarat on to a new plane. Modi needs to apologise for the riots, or at least find some way of reaching out to the victims.
Strange Sadbhavna
September 19, 2011, 12.00AM IST
By arresting protesting riot victims as well as celebrated danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai, the Gujarat government has defeated the spirit of sadbhavna or compassion that was supposed to be the hallmark of chief minister Narendra Modi`s three-day fast. Any definition of compassion has to include the tolerance of dissent. Besides, compassion and harmony in Gujarat necessarily have to come to terms with the destructive legacy of the 2002 riots, whose victims still await justice. But Modi has turned an unapologetic face to the victims, while recognising the issue in the stagey manner of greeting Muslims who have reportedly been advised to turn out in regulation skull caps and burqas - to advertise their identity for the purpose of the photo-op it represents.
If the spirit of compassion is abroad, surely it should extend to people who are merely exercising their democratic right to speak their mind about what they see as flaws in Modi`s rule? Not just that, on the same day the state home ministry chargesheeted suspended police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had questioned Modi`s role in the riots. Such actions look more like vindictiveness than compassion. Modi has an impressive development record going for him. But if he is to build his image and pitch himself on the national stage, such displays of vindictiveness have exactly the opposite effect. They rake up the ghost of the state administration`s partisan role during the 2002 riots, rather than settle the issue and move Gujarat on to a new plane. Modi needs to apologise for the riots, or at least find some way of reaching out to the victims.
Gopalgarh ( Bharatpur) police firing report by the PUCL
PEOPLES’ UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES, RAJASTHAN
Gopalgarh (Bharatpur, Mewat) Police Firing Incident
Preliminary Findings of the Fact Finding Team
Released in the Press Conference on 19th Sept, 2011
This preliminary report of the PUCL team pertains to the incident of the police firing in Gopalgarh, district Bharatpur, Rajasthan. As per the media reports, the police resorted to firing to quell rioting mobs. The government has acknowledged eight deaths and 23 injured in this incident. Following this, the PUCL, Rajasthan constituted a Fact Finding Team to conduct independent inquiry into this incident. The team comprised Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary, PUCL, Professor Shail Mayaram (Delhi), Professor Yogendra Yadav(Delhi), Ms. Nishat Hussain (Vice President, PUCL, Rajasthan) Mr. Sawai Singh (Organising Secretary PUCL, Rajasthan), Mr. Noor Mohammed (PUCL, Alwar), Mr Virendra Vidrohi (PUCL, Alwar), Adv. Ramjan Chowdhary (PUCL, Mewat district, Haryana), Mr Gaurav Srivastava(PUCL intern). Mr. Neelabh Mishra, Editor, Outlook (Hindi) and a section of progressive members of the Gurjar and Meo community also accompanied and assisted the fact finding team.
The team visited Gopalgarh and nearby villages on the 16th and 17th of September and, spoke to victims and their families, eyewitnesses and locally informed persons. The team also spoke to the District Magistrate, SP on duty (before they were transferred), the SHO of the Gopalgarh Police Station and senior police and administrative officials.
The government version, widely reported in the media, is that this was an outcome of rioting between two communities. It is said that since the mobs had turned violent, the police was left with no option except to open fire.
Our preliminary inquiry, however, raises many serious questions about this official account:
1. All the eight dead bodies identified are of Meo Muslims. Of the 23 persons officially acknowledged to be injured, 19 are Meo Muslims. This preponderance of Muslims among the dead and injured is intriguing, if the police was, as is claimed, acting neutrally and firing on both sides to control rioting mobs. .
2. Every eye-witness we spoke to said that there was no death before the police force intervened. According to senior police authorities as many as 219 rounds were fired by the police, which appears prima facie an excessive use of this measure of the last resort. Other than the use of tear gas shell, we did not hear about other precautionary steps to disperse the crowds such as lathi charge, use of rubber bullets. Since most of the deaths took place inside the Mosque, there is compelling reason to think that the firing targeted one community.
3. Local persons reported that to several dead bodies were burnt. In addition, three dead bodies were discovered from a nearby well. This aspect requires thorough investigation, since it is reasonable to presume that the police was in-charge of the site after firing had taken place and the mobs dispersed.
4. There are many aspects that point to a collusion between the local police, an aggressive section of the Gujjar community and some local RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP leaders. The composition of the Police Station (eight police personnel were from the Gujjars community, while none was Muslim) and its conduct in the recent past gives rise to the impression that the police was not neutral.
5. The Mosque bore evidence of extensive vandalism, which lends credence to the allegation that after the firing the Mosque was ‘captured’ by a section of the Gujjar community in complicity with the police.
6. The burning and mutilation of at least three or more dead bodies and of those who were alive (some of the patients in the SMS bear witness to this) again gives rise to the suspicion that the local police and a section of the Gujjar community may have colluded in the aftermath of police action. There is a serious apprehension that this could have been done in order to destroy all evidence of bullet and other injuries.
7. The conduct of the administration in handiling the original dispute concerning the graveyard land and during the crisis of 14 September leaves many questions unanswered. There were confirmed reports about violent confrontation between the two communities (thousands from each side) around 11 a.m. But once the initial clash was put down by noon, the crowds were allowed to remain and rearm for five hours, even though the District Magistrate and SP were at the site. There is a strong belief among the Meos that that the District Magistrate was pressured into ordering firing by self-styled Hindu leaders. There are widespread allegations that firearms from the police station’s armory were taken and used by some elements from the Gujjar community. This needs to be investigated.
The state government has announced several steps following this incident. The District Magistrate and SP have been transferred, a judicial inquiry has been announced, the investigation has been handed over to the CBI and compensation announced for the victims. These are steps in the right direction. But these are not sufficient. We suggest the following steps on an urgent basis to restore peace and public confidence.
There are still many reports of missing persons which need to be verified immediately.
There is a need for credible post-mortem of the dead to be done by a high level and independent panel of doctors.
The official list of injured needs to be revised so as to include those who did not report out of fear or those who went over to Haryana to get private treatment. There is a need for a fresh MLC for all the injured.
Arrangements should be made to bring back the Muslim families of Gopalgarh who have fled in order to save their lives.
The entire local police should be transferred and be replaced by a multi-community police force with adequate representation of minority community.
The local community needs to be taken into confidence in carrying out repairs and restoration of the Mosque.
The case files should be handed over to the CBI within the next seven days.
Confidence building measures in this region to reduce the possibility of communities coming to a flashpoint and to restore trust among the minority community need to be undertaken.
As a longterm measure all disputes pertaining to community spaces such as temples, mosques, graveyards, cremation grounds, etc should immediately be identified and special courts set up to resolve the legal disputes. Simultaneously, steps should be taken to amicably settle such disputes by bringing the communities in question together through proactive measures.
The terms of reference of the Judicial Enquiry must specifically include
The conduct of the District Collector and SP of Bharatpur, the Additional SP on the site, the SHO of Gopal Garh police station, The Circle Officer of the area and the Tehsildar who issued notices under sec 91 of LRA, which precipitated the situation.
The role of outsiders on the 14th of September during the inconclusive mediation meeting between the leaders of both communities held to further intercommunal resolution at the police station, which compelled the Collector to give written orders for firing.
The persons responsible for vandalising the Mosque, scorching the dead, putting the dead bodies in the well and those who allowed these persons to enter the mosque when it was in complete control of the police
Conduct of police and administration in the five hours from noon to 5 pm so as to find out why the weapons were not seized from both the communities during the course of day and why section 144 CrPC was not imposed when several thousand people had gathered
The handling of the original revenue dispute to find out why the concerned Tehsildar issue notices of eviction under section 91 of the Land Revenue Act when the SDM Pahari was already dealing with the Kabristan Land issue underr section 136 of the Land Revenue Act
The fire in the stacks of cowdung cakes (the Baterwas-hut shaped structures made for the storage and safety of cow dung cakes) around the site of firing that raged for two days and why were the fires not doused despite the local availability of the fire engine.
The exact circumstances in which the orders of firing were issued and the possibility that some police arms were used by private persons.
PUCL
Address for correspondence :
76, Shanti Niketan Colony, Kisan Marg, Jaipur- 302015
Phone number: 0141-2594131E-mail : pucl.rajasthan@gmail.com
Gopalgarh (Bharatpur, Mewat) Police Firing Incident
Preliminary Findings of the Fact Finding Team
Released in the Press Conference on 19th Sept, 2011
This preliminary report of the PUCL team pertains to the incident of the police firing in Gopalgarh, district Bharatpur, Rajasthan. As per the media reports, the police resorted to firing to quell rioting mobs. The government has acknowledged eight deaths and 23 injured in this incident. Following this, the PUCL, Rajasthan constituted a Fact Finding Team to conduct independent inquiry into this incident. The team comprised Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary, PUCL, Professor Shail Mayaram (Delhi), Professor Yogendra Yadav(Delhi), Ms. Nishat Hussain (Vice President, PUCL, Rajasthan) Mr. Sawai Singh (Organising Secretary PUCL, Rajasthan), Mr. Noor Mohammed (PUCL, Alwar), Mr Virendra Vidrohi (PUCL, Alwar), Adv. Ramjan Chowdhary (PUCL, Mewat district, Haryana), Mr Gaurav Srivastava(PUCL intern). Mr. Neelabh Mishra, Editor, Outlook (Hindi) and a section of progressive members of the Gurjar and Meo community also accompanied and assisted the fact finding team.
The team visited Gopalgarh and nearby villages on the 16th and 17th of September and, spoke to victims and their families, eyewitnesses and locally informed persons. The team also spoke to the District Magistrate, SP on duty (before they were transferred), the SHO of the Gopalgarh Police Station and senior police and administrative officials.
The government version, widely reported in the media, is that this was an outcome of rioting between two communities. It is said that since the mobs had turned violent, the police was left with no option except to open fire.
Our preliminary inquiry, however, raises many serious questions about this official account:
1. All the eight dead bodies identified are of Meo Muslims. Of the 23 persons officially acknowledged to be injured, 19 are Meo Muslims. This preponderance of Muslims among the dead and injured is intriguing, if the police was, as is claimed, acting neutrally and firing on both sides to control rioting mobs. .
2. Every eye-witness we spoke to said that there was no death before the police force intervened. According to senior police authorities as many as 219 rounds were fired by the police, which appears prima facie an excessive use of this measure of the last resort. Other than the use of tear gas shell, we did not hear about other precautionary steps to disperse the crowds such as lathi charge, use of rubber bullets. Since most of the deaths took place inside the Mosque, there is compelling reason to think that the firing targeted one community.
3. Local persons reported that to several dead bodies were burnt. In addition, three dead bodies were discovered from a nearby well. This aspect requires thorough investigation, since it is reasonable to presume that the police was in-charge of the site after firing had taken place and the mobs dispersed.
4. There are many aspects that point to a collusion between the local police, an aggressive section of the Gujjar community and some local RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP leaders. The composition of the Police Station (eight police personnel were from the Gujjars community, while none was Muslim) and its conduct in the recent past gives rise to the impression that the police was not neutral.
5. The Mosque bore evidence of extensive vandalism, which lends credence to the allegation that after the firing the Mosque was ‘captured’ by a section of the Gujjar community in complicity with the police.
6. The burning and mutilation of at least three or more dead bodies and of those who were alive (some of the patients in the SMS bear witness to this) again gives rise to the suspicion that the local police and a section of the Gujjar community may have colluded in the aftermath of police action. There is a serious apprehension that this could have been done in order to destroy all evidence of bullet and other injuries.
7. The conduct of the administration in handiling the original dispute concerning the graveyard land and during the crisis of 14 September leaves many questions unanswered. There were confirmed reports about violent confrontation between the two communities (thousands from each side) around 11 a.m. But once the initial clash was put down by noon, the crowds were allowed to remain and rearm for five hours, even though the District Magistrate and SP were at the site. There is a strong belief among the Meos that that the District Magistrate was pressured into ordering firing by self-styled Hindu leaders. There are widespread allegations that firearms from the police station’s armory were taken and used by some elements from the Gujjar community. This needs to be investigated.
The state government has announced several steps following this incident. The District Magistrate and SP have been transferred, a judicial inquiry has been announced, the investigation has been handed over to the CBI and compensation announced for the victims. These are steps in the right direction. But these are not sufficient. We suggest the following steps on an urgent basis to restore peace and public confidence.
There are still many reports of missing persons which need to be verified immediately.
There is a need for credible post-mortem of the dead to be done by a high level and independent panel of doctors.
The official list of injured needs to be revised so as to include those who did not report out of fear or those who went over to Haryana to get private treatment. There is a need for a fresh MLC for all the injured.
Arrangements should be made to bring back the Muslim families of Gopalgarh who have fled in order to save their lives.
The entire local police should be transferred and be replaced by a multi-community police force with adequate representation of minority community.
The local community needs to be taken into confidence in carrying out repairs and restoration of the Mosque.
The case files should be handed over to the CBI within the next seven days.
Confidence building measures in this region to reduce the possibility of communities coming to a flashpoint and to restore trust among the minority community need to be undertaken.
As a longterm measure all disputes pertaining to community spaces such as temples, mosques, graveyards, cremation grounds, etc should immediately be identified and special courts set up to resolve the legal disputes. Simultaneously, steps should be taken to amicably settle such disputes by bringing the communities in question together through proactive measures.
The terms of reference of the Judicial Enquiry must specifically include
The conduct of the District Collector and SP of Bharatpur, the Additional SP on the site, the SHO of Gopal Garh police station, The Circle Officer of the area and the Tehsildar who issued notices under sec 91 of LRA, which precipitated the situation.
The role of outsiders on the 14th of September during the inconclusive mediation meeting between the leaders of both communities held to further intercommunal resolution at the police station, which compelled the Collector to give written orders for firing.
The persons responsible for vandalising the Mosque, scorching the dead, putting the dead bodies in the well and those who allowed these persons to enter the mosque when it was in complete control of the police
Conduct of police and administration in the five hours from noon to 5 pm so as to find out why the weapons were not seized from both the communities during the course of day and why section 144 CrPC was not imposed when several thousand people had gathered
The handling of the original revenue dispute to find out why the concerned Tehsildar issue notices of eviction under section 91 of the Land Revenue Act when the SDM Pahari was already dealing with the Kabristan Land issue underr section 136 of the Land Revenue Act
The fire in the stacks of cowdung cakes (the Baterwas-hut shaped structures made for the storage and safety of cow dung cakes) around the site of firing that raged for two days and why were the fires not doused despite the local availability of the fire engine.
The exact circumstances in which the orders of firing were issued and the possibility that some police arms were used by private persons.
PUCL
Address for correspondence :
76, Shanti Niketan Colony, Kisan Marg, Jaipur- 302015
Phone number: 0141-2594131E-mail : pucl.rajasthan@gmail.com
September 18, 2011
Gujarat secular activists and 2002 riot victms arrested for protest agianst Narendra Modi
The Hindu
Ahmedabad, September 18, 2011
Modi fast: Sarabhai, riot victims detained
PTI
Social activist and dancer Mallika Sarabhai being detained along with some Gujarat riot victims in Ahmedabad ahead of their planned protest against Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Sadbhavana fast, on Sunday.
PTI Social activist and dancer Mallika Sarabhai being detained along with some Gujarat riot victims in Ahmedabad ahead of their planned protest against Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Sadbhavana fast, on Sunday.
At least 25 persons, including activist Mallika Sarabhai, were detained as 2002 Gujarat riot victims were on Sunday barred from protesting against Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s fast for communal harmony.
Post Godhra riot victims of Naroda Patiya area, Mukul Sinha of NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) and Ms. Sarabhai were among 25 people detained when they tried to protest against Mr. Modi’s Sadbhavana fast in Naroda area, police said.
Naroda Patiya, about 8 km from the fast site at Gujarat University Convention hall, had witnessed the worst ever riots incident in 2002, when more than 90 people were killed.
“Police tried to prohibit riot victims meeting at Naroda Patiya by denying permission today,” JSM convener Mr. Sinha told reporters before being detained by the police.
He said that JSM and riot victims of Naroda Patiya would go ahead with their protest despite not getting permission from police.
Police have cordoned off the Naroda Patiya area to stop the riot victims from attending the meeting, Mr. Sinha claimed, adding, “The real face of Modi’s Sadbhavana is now exposed.”
A large number of people, meanwhile gathered at the venue of Modi’s fast for peace, unity and harmony under ‘Sadhbhavna Mission.’
At one point of time, police resorted to baton-charge to control the large crowds which tried to enter the Gujarat University Convention hall here.
While BJP leaders exulted, the riot victims in an open letter to the Chief Minister on Sunday said that, “No amount of power or arrogance gave Midas his glass of water nor will you get your ‘sadbhavana’ with all your developmental publicity.”
“If you were so great a Chief Minister as you claim today, why couldn’t you protect these innocent, helpless Muslims? In fact, why did you fail to protect the innocent 58 passengers of Sabarmati Express who also died in the terrible fire on 27th February, 2002?,” they asked and dismissed the fast as a publicity stunt.
o o o o
From: The Times of India
Sarabhai, Gujarat riots victims detained
IANS | Sep 18, 2011, 06.00PM IST
AHMEDABAD: Danseuse and activist Mallika Sarabhai was on Sunday detained along with some Gujarat riots victims and others here ahead of their planned protest against chief minister Narendra Modi's 'sadbhavana' (goodwill) fast.
While being taken to the police station, Sarabhai said a police official told her that they were instructed Saturday morning to arrest her before her protest at Naroda Patia.
"A young police official told me that they were told yesterday (Saturday) morning that you are responsible to arrest Sarabhai as she comes here," Sarabhai said.
The activist added that the police gave her no reasons while taking her to the police station.
"No reason was given... The police said they were instructed," she said. Activist Mukul Sinha has also been detained.
Condemning Modi's three-day fast which continued for the second day Sunday, Sarabhai asked what was the point of 'sadbhavana' when even after nearly 10 years, the 2002 Gujarat riots victims have got no justice.
"We were to hold a silent protest. I have no idea what I am being charged with," she said.
Ahmedabad, September 18, 2011
Modi fast: Sarabhai, riot victims detained
PTI
Social activist and dancer Mallika Sarabhai being detained along with some Gujarat riot victims in Ahmedabad ahead of their planned protest against Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Sadbhavana fast, on Sunday.
PTI Social activist and dancer Mallika Sarabhai being detained along with some Gujarat riot victims in Ahmedabad ahead of their planned protest against Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Sadbhavana fast, on Sunday.
At least 25 persons, including activist Mallika Sarabhai, were detained as 2002 Gujarat riot victims were on Sunday barred from protesting against Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s fast for communal harmony.
Post Godhra riot victims of Naroda Patiya area, Mukul Sinha of NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) and Ms. Sarabhai were among 25 people detained when they tried to protest against Mr. Modi’s Sadbhavana fast in Naroda area, police said.
Naroda Patiya, about 8 km from the fast site at Gujarat University Convention hall, had witnessed the worst ever riots incident in 2002, when more than 90 people were killed.
“Police tried to prohibit riot victims meeting at Naroda Patiya by denying permission today,” JSM convener Mr. Sinha told reporters before being detained by the police.
He said that JSM and riot victims of Naroda Patiya would go ahead with their protest despite not getting permission from police.
Police have cordoned off the Naroda Patiya area to stop the riot victims from attending the meeting, Mr. Sinha claimed, adding, “The real face of Modi’s Sadbhavana is now exposed.”
A large number of people, meanwhile gathered at the venue of Modi’s fast for peace, unity and harmony under ‘Sadhbhavna Mission.’
At one point of time, police resorted to baton-charge to control the large crowds which tried to enter the Gujarat University Convention hall here.
While BJP leaders exulted, the riot victims in an open letter to the Chief Minister on Sunday said that, “No amount of power or arrogance gave Midas his glass of water nor will you get your ‘sadbhavana’ with all your developmental publicity.”
“If you were so great a Chief Minister as you claim today, why couldn’t you protect these innocent, helpless Muslims? In fact, why did you fail to protect the innocent 58 passengers of Sabarmati Express who also died in the terrible fire on 27th February, 2002?,” they asked and dismissed the fast as a publicity stunt.
o o o o
From: The Times of India
Sarabhai, Gujarat riots victims detained
IANS | Sep 18, 2011, 06.00PM IST
AHMEDABAD: Danseuse and activist Mallika Sarabhai was on Sunday detained along with some Gujarat riots victims and others here ahead of their planned protest against chief minister Narendra Modi's 'sadbhavana' (goodwill) fast.
While being taken to the police station, Sarabhai said a police official told her that they were instructed Saturday morning to arrest her before her protest at Naroda Patia.
"A young police official told me that they were told yesterday (Saturday) morning that you are responsible to arrest Sarabhai as she comes here," Sarabhai said.
The activist added that the police gave her no reasons while taking her to the police station.
"No reason was given... The police said they were instructed," she said. Activist Mukul Sinha has also been detained.
Condemning Modi's three-day fast which continued for the second day Sunday, Sarabhai asked what was the point of 'sadbhavana' when even after nearly 10 years, the 2002 Gujarat riots victims have got no justice.
"We were to hold a silent protest. I have no idea what I am being charged with," she said.
Mallika Sarabhai's lawsuit on 2002 riots in Gujarat was scuttled through bribes
From: The Times of India
Modi bribed my lawyers to derail PIL on 2002 riots: Mallika Sarabhai
PTI | Sep 18, 2011, 03.12PM IST
Mallika Sarabhai had filed a PIL in April 2002 in which she contended that the state administration and Modi were 'complicit' in the 2002 riots in the state.
AHMEDABAD: Noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai today accused Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi of using public funds to "bribe her lawyers" in an attempt to derail proceedings of the PIL filed in the Supreme Court by her on the post-Godhra 2002 riots case.
Sarabhai had filed a PIL in April 2002 in which she contended that the state administration and Modi were 'complicit' in the 2002 riots in the state.
"Chief minister Narendra Modi had called the then State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief RB Sreekumar and another IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was his deputy in SIB at that time, and asked them to pay my lawyers Rs 10 lakh to derail the proceedings of PIL filed in the Supreme Court by me," she alleged.
Sarabhai provided to the media, copy of an affidavit filed by Sreekumar recently before the G T Nanavati and Akshay Mehta Commission probing the riots here.
"Police officer Sanjiv Bhatt had also in his deposition in May to the Nanavati Commission said that he was given instructions by Shri Narendra Modi to use secret services' money to bribe the lawyers who were involved in my case to delay what the Chief Minister felt was a very dangerous PIL for the health of the government," she claimed.
"I then went to the (Nanavati) Commission and asked them if I could cross examine Sanjiv Bhatt and who was then Sanjiv Bhatt's boss and whether Mr Sreekumar was also involved," Sarabhai said.
"The Commission turned me down and I then wrote to them saying that Sreekumar should be asked to file an affidavit about this. The Commission gave me the permission and I requested Sreekumar, on behalf of the Commission to file an affidavit, which he filed on Friday," she said.
Modi bribed my lawyers to derail PIL on 2002 riots: Mallika Sarabhai
PTI | Sep 18, 2011, 03.12PM IST
Mallika Sarabhai had filed a PIL in April 2002 in which she contended that the state administration and Modi were 'complicit' in the 2002 riots in the state.
AHMEDABAD: Noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai today accused Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi of using public funds to "bribe her lawyers" in an attempt to derail proceedings of the PIL filed in the Supreme Court by her on the post-Godhra 2002 riots case.
Sarabhai had filed a PIL in April 2002 in which she contended that the state administration and Modi were 'complicit' in the 2002 riots in the state.
"Chief minister Narendra Modi had called the then State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief RB Sreekumar and another IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was his deputy in SIB at that time, and asked them to pay my lawyers Rs 10 lakh to derail the proceedings of PIL filed in the Supreme Court by me," she alleged.
Sarabhai provided to the media, copy of an affidavit filed by Sreekumar recently before the G T Nanavati and Akshay Mehta Commission probing the riots here.
"Police officer Sanjiv Bhatt had also in his deposition in May to the Nanavati Commission said that he was given instructions by Shri Narendra Modi to use secret services' money to bribe the lawyers who were involved in my case to delay what the Chief Minister felt was a very dangerous PIL for the health of the government," she claimed.
"I then went to the (Nanavati) Commission and asked them if I could cross examine Sanjiv Bhatt and who was then Sanjiv Bhatt's boss and whether Mr Sreekumar was also involved," Sarabhai said.
"The Commission turned me down and I then wrote to them saying that Sreekumar should be asked to file an affidavit about this. The Commission gave me the permission and I requested Sreekumar, on behalf of the Commission to file an affidavit, which he filed on Friday," she said.
September 17, 2011
Anna to Modi, Are we seeing a new acceptability of fascist means ?
From: Deccan Chronicle
Mistaken identity
September 17, 2011
By Antara Dev Sen
Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.
But wait. While burning rubbish, could you be burning down your home? In this quick-fix age of immediate gratification we seem to be doing just that. One big casualty is our fundamental belief in freedom and democratic rights. We seem to be veering towards a fascist, illiberal society that tramples on truth, human rights and basic freedoms.
Take Narendra Modi’s five-star fast that is being flagged off right now, as you read this and sip your morning cuppa. It is part of his “sadbhavana mission” to bring “peace, unity and harmony” to Gujarat. While cynics snigger that next year’s state elections might have something to do with the iron-fisted chief minister’s sudden resort to Gandhiji’s noble methods, others believe it’s his attempt to clean up his image as a Hindutva fanatic and be more acceptable as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. The very fact that Mr Modi can be discussed as a possible candidate for the top job, without the nation erupting in hiccups or swooning in fear, shows how far we have strayed from our original idea of democracy and equality. And how liberal discourse, freedom and human rights can be swept away to usher in a strong, corporate-friendly ruler.
Mr Modi is a visionary. He can see victory where there is none. And make others believe it. Like in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Zakia Jafri’s case, instructing the SIT and the trial court to take up the matter of the Gulberg massacre of 2002. “God is great!” he tweeted happily. Then declared in an open letter to citizens: “The unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.” This was far from true, but when has truth stood in the way of politics?
Mr Modi has always had this magical touch. He is saluted for his governance. For not being corrupt. For being among the best performing chief ministers in India. For his contribution to development. For Gujarat’s amazing economic growth. Even those who disagree with Mr Modi’s violent Hindutva praise his performance in these respects. This image of Mr Modi as a super-efficient chief minister has travelled beyond borders and even popped up in the US Congressional Research Service report released this month. “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat,” it declares, “where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth.”
I hate to spoil the party, but I am a bit curious about the definition of “effective governance”. Doesn’t it include safeguarding the citizen’s right to life? When the state government fails to protect minorities, when about 2,000 people are killed in sectarian violence at one stretch, when trials are so badly biased that cases are moved out of the state, can we really praise Mr Modi’s governance skills? And when we say he is “clean” and has “curtailed corruption” do we mean that fake “encounter” killings (like Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s or Ishrat Jahan’s) are justified? Or the systematic denial of minority rights, or clapping Muslims in jail for crimes they didn’t commit (like Mr Modi’s rival Haren Pandya’s murder), or persecuting policemen who speak up against Mr Modi (like top cops R.B. Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt)? Are these elements of a clean administration?
Finally, when we talk of “economic growth” can we really ignore the way that growth has been achieved? Land has often been forcibly acquired to woo big business that props up that economic growth. Corporates get the land at negligible rates, often at `1 per square metre. Several land scams have not been probed and critical public accounts reports not tabled. The economic growth and development is certainly not as clean as advertised.
But then, everyone likes the rich and powerful. In fact, we have been hankering after the strong and ruthless everywhere. We are tired of sloth. We are tired of democratic freedoms and liberal means that trammel efficiency. We don’t want to pay the price for democracy if we can’t enjoy the results soon. We would much rather have a dictator. A lauha purush or iron man. We would rather have quick encounter killings and draconian security laws and salwa judum. It makes us feel safe. Never mind that it does nothing to make us safe. So even our new non-violent messiahs come in the form of benevolent dictators.
Like Anna Hazare. Who has brilliantly energised the country against corruption but by a completely non-liberal approach. Democratic dialogue and dissent have no place in his scheme of things — it’s his way or the highway. The Constitution is disregarded, Parliament is sidelined, democracy is undermined. And like Mr Modi, he has the propagandist’s tool — he powerfully presents a simplistic picture in black and white, where he is white and all others are black. We are either with him or against him. The God-fearing choose to be with him.
We are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means justified by useful ends. It’s not about party politics. It’s about us — the impatience and exasperation of Indian citizens. This does not sit well with our democratic rights or freedoms. For starters, we should recognise it as a dangerous trend. Unless we want to discard our democracy altogether.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com
Mistaken identity
September 17, 2011
By Antara Dev Sen
Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.
But wait. While burning rubbish, could you be burning down your home? In this quick-fix age of immediate gratification we seem to be doing just that. One big casualty is our fundamental belief in freedom and democratic rights. We seem to be veering towards a fascist, illiberal society that tramples on truth, human rights and basic freedoms.
Take Narendra Modi’s five-star fast that is being flagged off right now, as you read this and sip your morning cuppa. It is part of his “sadbhavana mission” to bring “peace, unity and harmony” to Gujarat. While cynics snigger that next year’s state elections might have something to do with the iron-fisted chief minister’s sudden resort to Gandhiji’s noble methods, others believe it’s his attempt to clean up his image as a Hindutva fanatic and be more acceptable as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. The very fact that Mr Modi can be discussed as a possible candidate for the top job, without the nation erupting in hiccups or swooning in fear, shows how far we have strayed from our original idea of democracy and equality. And how liberal discourse, freedom and human rights can be swept away to usher in a strong, corporate-friendly ruler.
Mr Modi is a visionary. He can see victory where there is none. And make others believe it. Like in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Zakia Jafri’s case, instructing the SIT and the trial court to take up the matter of the Gulberg massacre of 2002. “God is great!” he tweeted happily. Then declared in an open letter to citizens: “The unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.” This was far from true, but when has truth stood in the way of politics?
Mr Modi has always had this magical touch. He is saluted for his governance. For not being corrupt. For being among the best performing chief ministers in India. For his contribution to development. For Gujarat’s amazing economic growth. Even those who disagree with Mr Modi’s violent Hindutva praise his performance in these respects. This image of Mr Modi as a super-efficient chief minister has travelled beyond borders and even popped up in the US Congressional Research Service report released this month. “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat,” it declares, “where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth.”
I hate to spoil the party, but I am a bit curious about the definition of “effective governance”. Doesn’t it include safeguarding the citizen’s right to life? When the state government fails to protect minorities, when about 2,000 people are killed in sectarian violence at one stretch, when trials are so badly biased that cases are moved out of the state, can we really praise Mr Modi’s governance skills? And when we say he is “clean” and has “curtailed corruption” do we mean that fake “encounter” killings (like Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s or Ishrat Jahan’s) are justified? Or the systematic denial of minority rights, or clapping Muslims in jail for crimes they didn’t commit (like Mr Modi’s rival Haren Pandya’s murder), or persecuting policemen who speak up against Mr Modi (like top cops R.B. Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt)? Are these elements of a clean administration?
Finally, when we talk of “economic growth” can we really ignore the way that growth has been achieved? Land has often been forcibly acquired to woo big business that props up that economic growth. Corporates get the land at negligible rates, often at `1 per square metre. Several land scams have not been probed and critical public accounts reports not tabled. The economic growth and development is certainly not as clean as advertised.
But then, everyone likes the rich and powerful. In fact, we have been hankering after the strong and ruthless everywhere. We are tired of sloth. We are tired of democratic freedoms and liberal means that trammel efficiency. We don’t want to pay the price for democracy if we can’t enjoy the results soon. We would much rather have a dictator. A lauha purush or iron man. We would rather have quick encounter killings and draconian security laws and salwa judum. It makes us feel safe. Never mind that it does nothing to make us safe. So even our new non-violent messiahs come in the form of benevolent dictators.
Like Anna Hazare. Who has brilliantly energised the country against corruption but by a completely non-liberal approach. Democratic dialogue and dissent have no place in his scheme of things — it’s his way or the highway. The Constitution is disregarded, Parliament is sidelined, democracy is undermined. And like Mr Modi, he has the propagandist’s tool — he powerfully presents a simplistic picture in black and white, where he is white and all others are black. We are either with him or against him. The God-fearing choose to be with him.
We are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means justified by useful ends. It’s not about party politics. It’s about us — the impatience and exasperation of Indian citizens. This does not sit well with our democratic rights or freedoms. For starters, we should recognise it as a dangerous trend. Unless we want to discard our democracy altogether.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com
Anna to Modi, Are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means ?
From: Deccan Chronicle
Mistaken identity
September 17, 2011
By Antara Dev Sen
Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.
But wait. While burning rubbish, could you be burning down your home? In this quick-fix age of immediate gratification we seem to be doing just that. One big casualty is our fundamental belief in freedom and democratic rights. We seem to be veering towards a fascist, illiberal society that tramples on truth, human rights and basic freedoms.
Take Narendra Modi’s five-star fast that is being flagged off right now, as you read this and sip your morning cuppa. It is part of his “sadbhavana mission” to bring “peace, unity and harmony” to Gujarat. While cynics snigger that next year’s state elections might have something to do with the iron-fisted chief minister’s sudden resort to Gandhiji’s noble methods, others believe it’s his attempt to clean up his image as a Hindutva fanatic and be more acceptable as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. The very fact that Mr Modi can be discussed as a possible candidate for the top job, without the nation erupting in hiccups or swooning in fear, shows how far we have strayed from our original idea of democracy and equality. And how liberal discourse, freedom and human rights can be swept away to usher in a strong, corporate-friendly ruler.
Mr Modi is a visionary. He can see victory where there is none. And make others believe it. Like in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Zakia Jafri’s case, instructing the SIT and the trial court to take up the matter of the Gulberg massacre of 2002. “God is great!” he tweeted happily. Then declared in an open letter to citizens: “The unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.” This was far from true, but when has truth stood in the way of politics?
Mr Modi has always had this magical touch. He is saluted for his governance. For not being corrupt. For being among the best performing chief ministers in India. For his contribution to development. For Gujarat’s amazing economic growth. Even those who disagree with Mr Modi’s violent Hindutva praise his performance in these respects. This image of Mr Modi as a super-efficient chief minister has travelled beyond borders and even popped up in the US Congressional Research Service report released this month. “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat,” it declares, “where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth.”
I hate to spoil the party, but I am a bit curious about the definition of “effective governance”. Doesn’t it include safeguarding the citizen’s right to life? When the state government fails to protect minorities, when about 2,000 people are killed in sectarian violence at one stretch, when trials are so badly biased that cases are moved out of the state, can we really praise Mr Modi’s governance skills? And when we say he is “clean” and has “curtailed corruption” do we mean that fake “encounter” killings (like Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s or Ishrat Jahan’s) are justified? Or the systematic denial of minority rights, or clapping Muslims in jail for crimes they didn’t commit (like Mr Modi’s rival Haren Pandya’s murder), or persecuting policemen who speak up against Mr Modi (like top cops R.B. Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt)? Are these elements of a clean administration?
Finally, when we talk of “economic growth” can we really ignore the way that growth has been achieved? Land has often been forcibly acquired to woo big business that props up that economic growth. Corporates get the land at negligible rates, often at `1 per square metre. Several land scams have not been probed and critical public accounts reports not tabled. The economic growth and development is certainly not as clean as advertised.
But then, everyone likes the rich and powerful. In fact, we have been hankering after the strong and ruthless everywhere. We are tired of sloth. We are tired of democratic freedoms and liberal means that trammel efficiency. We don’t want to pay the price for democracy if we can’t enjoy the results soon. We would much rather have a dictator. A lauha purush or iron man. We would rather have quick encounter killings and draconian security laws and salwa judum. It makes us feel safe. Never mind that it does nothing to make us safe. So even our new non-violent messiahs come in the form of benevolent dictators.
Like Anna Hazare. Who has brilliantly energised the country against corruption but by a completely non-liberal approach. Democratic dialogue and dissent have no place in his scheme of things — it’s his way or the highway. The Constitution is disregarded, Parliament is sidelined, democracy is undermined. And like Mr Modi, he has the propagandist’s tool — he powerfully presents a simplistic picture in black and white, where he is white and all others are black. We are either with him or against him. The God-fearing choose to be with him.
We are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means justified by useful ends. It’s not about party politics. It’s about us — the impatience and exasperation of Indian citizens. This does not sit well with our democratic rights or freedoms. For starters, we should recognise it as a dangerous trend. Unless we want to discard our democracy altogether.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com
Mistaken identity
September 17, 2011
By Antara Dev Sen
Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.
But wait. While burning rubbish, could you be burning down your home? In this quick-fix age of immediate gratification we seem to be doing just that. One big casualty is our fundamental belief in freedom and democratic rights. We seem to be veering towards a fascist, illiberal society that tramples on truth, human rights and basic freedoms.
Take Narendra Modi’s five-star fast that is being flagged off right now, as you read this and sip your morning cuppa. It is part of his “sadbhavana mission” to bring “peace, unity and harmony” to Gujarat. While cynics snigger that next year’s state elections might have something to do with the iron-fisted chief minister’s sudden resort to Gandhiji’s noble methods, others believe it’s his attempt to clean up his image as a Hindutva fanatic and be more acceptable as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. The very fact that Mr Modi can be discussed as a possible candidate for the top job, without the nation erupting in hiccups or swooning in fear, shows how far we have strayed from our original idea of democracy and equality. And how liberal discourse, freedom and human rights can be swept away to usher in a strong, corporate-friendly ruler.
Mr Modi is a visionary. He can see victory where there is none. And make others believe it. Like in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Zakia Jafri’s case, instructing the SIT and the trial court to take up the matter of the Gulberg massacre of 2002. “God is great!” he tweeted happily. Then declared in an open letter to citizens: “The unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.” This was far from true, but when has truth stood in the way of politics?
Mr Modi has always had this magical touch. He is saluted for his governance. For not being corrupt. For being among the best performing chief ministers in India. For his contribution to development. For Gujarat’s amazing economic growth. Even those who disagree with Mr Modi’s violent Hindutva praise his performance in these respects. This image of Mr Modi as a super-efficient chief minister has travelled beyond borders and even popped up in the US Congressional Research Service report released this month. “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat,” it declares, “where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth.”
I hate to spoil the party, but I am a bit curious about the definition of “effective governance”. Doesn’t it include safeguarding the citizen’s right to life? When the state government fails to protect minorities, when about 2,000 people are killed in sectarian violence at one stretch, when trials are so badly biased that cases are moved out of the state, can we really praise Mr Modi’s governance skills? And when we say he is “clean” and has “curtailed corruption” do we mean that fake “encounter” killings (like Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s or Ishrat Jahan’s) are justified? Or the systematic denial of minority rights, or clapping Muslims in jail for crimes they didn’t commit (like Mr Modi’s rival Haren Pandya’s murder), or persecuting policemen who speak up against Mr Modi (like top cops R.B. Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt)? Are these elements of a clean administration?
Finally, when we talk of “economic growth” can we really ignore the way that growth has been achieved? Land has often been forcibly acquired to woo big business that props up that economic growth. Corporates get the land at negligible rates, often at `1 per square metre. Several land scams have not been probed and critical public accounts reports not tabled. The economic growth and development is certainly not as clean as advertised.
But then, everyone likes the rich and powerful. In fact, we have been hankering after the strong and ruthless everywhere. We are tired of sloth. We are tired of democratic freedoms and liberal means that trammel efficiency. We don’t want to pay the price for democracy if we can’t enjoy the results soon. We would much rather have a dictator. A lauha purush or iron man. We would rather have quick encounter killings and draconian security laws and salwa judum. It makes us feel safe. Never mind that it does nothing to make us safe. So even our new non-violent messiahs come in the form of benevolent dictators.
Like Anna Hazare. Who has brilliantly energised the country against corruption but by a completely non-liberal approach. Democratic dialogue and dissent have no place in his scheme of things — it’s his way or the highway. The Constitution is disregarded, Parliament is sidelined, democracy is undermined. And like Mr Modi, he has the propagandist’s tool — he powerfully presents a simplistic picture in black and white, where he is white and all others are black. We are either with him or against him. The God-fearing choose to be with him.
We are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means justified by useful ends. It’s not about party politics. It’s about us — the impatience and exasperation of Indian citizens. This does not sit well with our democratic rights or freedoms. For starters, we should recognise it as a dangerous trend. Unless we want to discard our democracy altogether.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com
Supreme court ruling of 12 september 2011 has'nt cleared Modi (comment by Javed Anand)
From: Indian Express
Should Modi feel vindicated?
by Javed Anand
September 17 2011
After the September 12 Supreme Court order in the Zakia Jafri case, the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, claimed it was clear that “the unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and the government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.”
Really? Should we then not be questioning the wisdom of the highest court in the land in ordering the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit a fresh charge-sheet (also called a final report) before a trial court, naming a chief minister (Modi), 11 of his cabinet ministers, three sitting BJP MLAs, six BJP and VHP leaders and 38 high-ranking police officers and civil servants, in response to the “unfounded and false allegations” made by Zakia Jafri and her co-petitioner, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP)?
Perhaps a look back at the November 2007 petition before the Supreme Court that culminated in the order of September 12 might help. In June 2006, Jafri, assisted by CJP, submits a 128-page complaint to Gujarat’s then-director general of police (DGP), P.C. Pande. The complaint is supported by 2,000 pages of documents, including certified copies of depositions before the Gujarat government-appointed Nanavati-Shah commission of inquiry into the 2002 carnage by two senior serving IPS officers, R.B. Sreekumar and Rahul Sharma.
The complainants seek the DGP’s help in registering an FIR, as earlier efforts to lodge it at the lower rungs of the police hierarchy got no response. The DGP is not very helpful either. How can he be, when his name also figures in the list of the 62 accused of serious crimes? When the charges include criminal conspiracy to commit murder, the punishment for which under Section 302 of the IPC is death or life imprisonment plus fine? Next, the complainants file a writ petition in the Gujarat high court, which is rejected. Then in November 2007, they petition theSupreme Court with two prayers: directions for the FIR registration and ordering that investigations be carried out by the CBI.
Had the Supreme Court found the allegations in the petition to be prima facie “unfounded and false”, the obvious thing to do would have been to dismiss the petition in 2007 itself. In lay terms, the apex court could have told the appellants something like: “Ms Jafri, we understand your pain and your search for justice. But your appeal alleging heinous crimes by Mr Modi and others are based on ‘unfounded and false allegations’. This, frankly is a bit over the top. Sorry.”
But the apex court did not dismiss the appeal. Now, four years later, the opening words of the order of September 12 read: “Leave granted”. Keeping the petitioners’ first prayer (FIR registration) on hold, in response to the second prayer for CBI investigations, in April 2009 the bench instead asked the SIT (appointed by it in March 2008 to investigate the nine major Gujarat carnage cases) to also “look into” the June 2006 complaint of the petitioners. Earlier this year, the court asked amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran to “independently” examine all the material collected by the SIT in view of the serious mismatch between the “findings” placed before the court (which are damning of several acts of commission and omission of many of the 62 accused by the petitioners) and the “inference” of its director, R.K. Raghavan (insufficient evidence for criminal prosecution).
The September 12 order directs the SIT to “forward a final report (also called a charge-sheet), along with the entire material collected by the SIT” to the specially constituted court before which the trial in the Gulberg Society carnage case is being conducted. The SIT would obviously also need to place the amicus curiae’s independent report before the trial court.
The Supreme Court is a court of appeal, not a trial court. For it to have passed any remarks or observations on the SIT report could be seen as influencing the conduct of the trial court. Jafri’s and CJP’s prayer before the apex body was never to short-circuit the judicial process. And they got more than what they asked for.For the first time in India’s history, a trial court is to examine whether a chief minister, along with 61 other top politicians and officers, should be charged with criminal conspiracy for murder and other serious offences. The court’s order clearly says that the charges against any of the 62 accused cannot be “closed” by the magistrate before giving a proper hearing to Jafri and CJP. The order also reiterates the petitioners’ right to appeal should they believe the magistrate has erred in his decision.
Should Modi and party be laughing or crying?
The writer is a founding member of Citizens for Justice and Peace.
Should Modi feel vindicated?
by Javed Anand
September 17 2011
After the September 12 Supreme Court order in the Zakia Jafri case, the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, claimed it was clear that “the unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and the government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.”
Really? Should we then not be questioning the wisdom of the highest court in the land in ordering the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit a fresh charge-sheet (also called a final report) before a trial court, naming a chief minister (Modi), 11 of his cabinet ministers, three sitting BJP MLAs, six BJP and VHP leaders and 38 high-ranking police officers and civil servants, in response to the “unfounded and false allegations” made by Zakia Jafri and her co-petitioner, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP)?
Perhaps a look back at the November 2007 petition before the Supreme Court that culminated in the order of September 12 might help. In June 2006, Jafri, assisted by CJP, submits a 128-page complaint to Gujarat’s then-director general of police (DGP), P.C. Pande. The complaint is supported by 2,000 pages of documents, including certified copies of depositions before the Gujarat government-appointed Nanavati-Shah commission of inquiry into the 2002 carnage by two senior serving IPS officers, R.B. Sreekumar and Rahul Sharma.
The complainants seek the DGP’s help in registering an FIR, as earlier efforts to lodge it at the lower rungs of the police hierarchy got no response. The DGP is not very helpful either. How can he be, when his name also figures in the list of the 62 accused of serious crimes? When the charges include criminal conspiracy to commit murder, the punishment for which under Section 302 of the IPC is death or life imprisonment plus fine? Next, the complainants file a writ petition in the Gujarat high court, which is rejected. Then in November 2007, they petition theSupreme Court with two prayers: directions for the FIR registration and ordering that investigations be carried out by the CBI.
Had the Supreme Court found the allegations in the petition to be prima facie “unfounded and false”, the obvious thing to do would have been to dismiss the petition in 2007 itself. In lay terms, the apex court could have told the appellants something like: “Ms Jafri, we understand your pain and your search for justice. But your appeal alleging heinous crimes by Mr Modi and others are based on ‘unfounded and false allegations’. This, frankly is a bit over the top. Sorry.”
But the apex court did not dismiss the appeal. Now, four years later, the opening words of the order of September 12 read: “Leave granted”. Keeping the petitioners’ first prayer (FIR registration) on hold, in response to the second prayer for CBI investigations, in April 2009 the bench instead asked the SIT (appointed by it in March 2008 to investigate the nine major Gujarat carnage cases) to also “look into” the June 2006 complaint of the petitioners. Earlier this year, the court asked amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran to “independently” examine all the material collected by the SIT in view of the serious mismatch between the “findings” placed before the court (which are damning of several acts of commission and omission of many of the 62 accused by the petitioners) and the “inference” of its director, R.K. Raghavan (insufficient evidence for criminal prosecution).
The September 12 order directs the SIT to “forward a final report (also called a charge-sheet), along with the entire material collected by the SIT” to the specially constituted court before which the trial in the Gulberg Society carnage case is being conducted. The SIT would obviously also need to place the amicus curiae’s independent report before the trial court.
The Supreme Court is a court of appeal, not a trial court. For it to have passed any remarks or observations on the SIT report could be seen as influencing the conduct of the trial court. Jafri’s and CJP’s prayer before the apex body was never to short-circuit the judicial process. And they got more than what they asked for.For the first time in India’s history, a trial court is to examine whether a chief minister, along with 61 other top politicians and officers, should be charged with criminal conspiracy for murder and other serious offences. The court’s order clearly says that the charges against any of the 62 accused cannot be “closed” by the magistrate before giving a proper hearing to Jafri and CJP. The order also reiterates the petitioners’ right to appeal should they believe the magistrate has erred in his decision.
Should Modi and party be laughing or crying?
The writer is a founding member of Citizens for Justice and Peace.
After Anna, Crowd Pulling Black Comedy . . . by BJP leaders LK Advani and Narendra Modi
From: The Times of India
COMMENT
Anna games that politicos play
Sep 17, 2011, 12.00AM IST
In politics, nothing succeeds like imitative success. Coming on the heels of Anna Hazare's crowd-pulling anti-corruption movement, at least two politicians so far are attempting to follow in the self-styled Gandhian's footsteps, blithely disregarding the awkward fact that the main target of the anti-graft crusader was the political class as a whole.
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has announced that he will go on an anti-corruption yatra, which will possibly begin in Gujarat. The proposed starting point of Advani's yatra, the fourth such excursion of his career, lends support to the theory being floated by some that this is an attempt by the never-say-die neta to project himself as a future prime ministerial candidate and to do so on the home turf of Narendra Modi, viewed by many as the saffron party's most likely choice to grace the PM's gaddi.
Not to be outdone, NaMo in the meantime has declared that he will go on a three-day fast for the sake of 'peace and harmony' in Gujarat. Both NaMo's fast and Advani's yatra are obvious exercises in demagoguery a la Anna. That Advani's anti-corruption expedition could pass through BJP-ruled Karnataka, which of recent times has become literally a mine of graft and scandal, will not be lost on those who might view this yatra more as a jatra, or folk theatre, replete with unintentional dramatic irony.
Similarly, Modi's fast for peace and harmony in a state scarred by the post-Godhra riots, in which many claim he is complicit, could be likened to a black comedy of terrors. Interestingly, Modi's fast coincides with BJP president Nitin Gadkari's plans to undergo an abdominal surgical procedure which will reduce his food intake capacity and help him shed unwanted kilos. By curtailing calories, one aims to lose weight while by fasting the other seeks to become even more of a political heavyweight than he already is.
But, like chickens and conspiracies, political spoils should not be counted before they are hatched. The best- laid plans of might and mien often go awry, and backfire on those who devise them. Indira Gandhi's much-touted slogan of 'Garibi hatao' was lampooned by her detractors who morphed her mantra into 'Garib hatao: garibi bachao'. In much the same way, the NDA's catchphrase 'India Shining' lent itself to mischievous metamorphosis and became 'India Whining'. Despite such lessons of the past, in politics as in marriage, hope persistently triumphs over experience with netas and would-be netas in search of a sure-fire formula for success. This being the case, Advani and Modi apart, other political players may soon jump onto the Anna bandwagon. A word of caution, however, is advisable. An Anna by any other name or anagram becomes 'Na, na', which is the vernacular version of what in English might be called a strict 'no-no'.
COMMENT
Anna games that politicos play
Sep 17, 2011, 12.00AM IST
In politics, nothing succeeds like imitative success. Coming on the heels of Anna Hazare's crowd-pulling anti-corruption movement, at least two politicians so far are attempting to follow in the self-styled Gandhian's footsteps, blithely disregarding the awkward fact that the main target of the anti-graft crusader was the political class as a whole.
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has announced that he will go on an anti-corruption yatra, which will possibly begin in Gujarat. The proposed starting point of Advani's yatra, the fourth such excursion of his career, lends support to the theory being floated by some that this is an attempt by the never-say-die neta to project himself as a future prime ministerial candidate and to do so on the home turf of Narendra Modi, viewed by many as the saffron party's most likely choice to grace the PM's gaddi.
Not to be outdone, NaMo in the meantime has declared that he will go on a three-day fast for the sake of 'peace and harmony' in Gujarat. Both NaMo's fast and Advani's yatra are obvious exercises in demagoguery a la Anna. That Advani's anti-corruption expedition could pass through BJP-ruled Karnataka, which of recent times has become literally a mine of graft and scandal, will not be lost on those who might view this yatra more as a jatra, or folk theatre, replete with unintentional dramatic irony.
Similarly, Modi's fast for peace and harmony in a state scarred by the post-Godhra riots, in which many claim he is complicit, could be likened to a black comedy of terrors. Interestingly, Modi's fast coincides with BJP president Nitin Gadkari's plans to undergo an abdominal surgical procedure which will reduce his food intake capacity and help him shed unwanted kilos. By curtailing calories, one aims to lose weight while by fasting the other seeks to become even more of a political heavyweight than he already is.
But, like chickens and conspiracies, political spoils should not be counted before they are hatched. The best- laid plans of might and mien often go awry, and backfire on those who devise them. Indira Gandhi's much-touted slogan of 'Garibi hatao' was lampooned by her detractors who morphed her mantra into 'Garib hatao: garibi bachao'. In much the same way, the NDA's catchphrase 'India Shining' lent itself to mischievous metamorphosis and became 'India Whining'. Despite such lessons of the past, in politics as in marriage, hope persistently triumphs over experience with netas and would-be netas in search of a sure-fire formula for success. This being the case, Advani and Modi apart, other political players may soon jump onto the Anna bandwagon. A word of caution, however, is advisable. An Anna by any other name or anagram becomes 'Na, na', which is the vernacular version of what in English might be called a strict 'no-no'.
Modi's high spectacle Fast opens with hindutva map of india
in presence of top brass of the BJP the lamp was lit on the hindutva laden image of the Indian map [Picture on hindustantimes.com]
September 15, 2011
upcoming press conference on Bharatpur communal violence (16 Sept 2011, New Delhi)
From: Anhad
16.9.2011
The Chief Reporter / Bureau Chief / News Desk
URGENT
PRESS CONFERENCE
IWPC, 5 WINDSOR PLACE, NEW DELHI-110001
16 SEPTEMBER 2011, 3 PM
Releasing footage of Bharatpur Carnage - So far suppressed by the administration from the media.
We were shocked to find charred bodies in a well.
Anhad Team was arrested to stop us from further investigation.
Needs urgent attention of the Nation
Shabnam Hashmi, Navaid Hamid(member, NIC), Ramzan Choudhry (Mewat), Ashim (NCDHR) will address the press conference.
Please Depute A Reporter And A Photographer To Cover The Press Conference.
Yours Sincerely
Bhavna Sharma
9810503298
16.9.2011
The Chief Reporter / Bureau Chief / News Desk
URGENT
PRESS CONFERENCE
IWPC, 5 WINDSOR PLACE, NEW DELHI-110001
16 SEPTEMBER 2011, 3 PM
Releasing footage of Bharatpur Carnage - So far suppressed by the administration from the media.
We were shocked to find charred bodies in a well.
Anhad Team was arrested to stop us from further investigation.
Needs urgent attention of the Nation
Shabnam Hashmi, Navaid Hamid(member, NIC), Ramzan Choudhry (Mewat), Ashim (NCDHR) will address the press conference.
Please Depute A Reporter And A Photographer To Cover The Press Conference.
Yours Sincerely
Bhavna Sharma
9810503298
Granting bail or even acquittal does not mean resolution of the crimes
by Mustafa Khan
Milli Gazette Correspondent, Malegaon
Human intelligence is the most resourceful as well as helpful in
solving the mystery of a crime. In the case of Malegaon 2006 it was
preposterous to accept the police charge sheet that Muslims would use
the pious occasion of Shab-e-barat and kill fellow Muslims in order to
create a Hindu Muslim riot. The night of the festival is the occasion
when their life is judged and future is shaped for them as well as
their dead are forgiven their sins. All this hinges on their
prayerfulness. So the question does not arise of causing terror.
Compare this with the carnage at Hashimpura, Meerut, on such a similar
night on May 22, 1987 when Provincial Armed Constabulary had killed 42
Muslim youths at point blank and let their bodies flow down the river.
Writing on Malegaon has been extremely delicate and dangerous. There
are cases of adultery, homosexuality, rackets, illegal activities of
police informants, in which politicians, policemen (by no means all)
and their informers are involved. There was a typical case reported by
The Milli Gazette (1-15 May 2008): “April 2008. The Malegaon police
raided a pathological laboratory situated in the basement of a private
hospital and recovered five live RDX explosives, three used RDX
explosives, one pistol, a laptop, a scanner, two mobile phones, four
fake currency notes of Rs one thousand each and Rs 5000 in cash and
arrested three persons, viz., Nitish Ashire, Sahebrao Dhurve and
Jitendra Khema belonging to some unknown organization.” The case made
headlines for several days in Marathi newspapers like Lokmat and then
the matter simply disappeared from the paper and also the minds of the
people. Students Islamic Movement of India has been so much etched in
the minds that people do not bother about the ‘unknown organizations’
to which the three belonged.
However, there is very serious angle to this. Were the three used RDX
explosives remains of the three bombs that went off at the graveyard
on September 8, 2006? And, was the bomb that went off at Bhiku chowk
on September 29, 2008 from the five live ones seized? In the absence
of the resolution of the case of seizure it would be logical to ask
what happened to the arms cache.
The police had also seized arms and ammunition from Malegaon in the
second week May, 2006 and some of the accused were also arrested in
the bomb explosions three months later. The police allegedly recorded
statements on phone in which one who planted the bomb speaks of
difficulty in bringing ‘material’ into the town. Was this a reference
to the RDX seized? In another failed attempt to record phone
conversation, a witness Hamid Iqbal is asked to issue ominous threat
that betraying Muslims would result in bloody revenge. Was this made
out to be a threat of a terrorist group? Un/fortunately, Hamid Iqbal
refused to oblige the police or their informer. He wrote all this in
affidavit and submitted to the court. Today, September 13, 2011 I ran
across him on his way to meet National Investigation Agency (NIA). He
had the same clear determination that he would depose the same truth
to the officer.
Another instance of human intelligence is that of the retired teacher
Sadique Ansari whom the police had especially taken to Nasik from
Malegaon to depose before the chief of CBI Kandasamy. He had said that
he had heard a colleague in the Home Guard making frequently calls on
his two mobiles to Nagpur. One of them has the number 9422253996. He
was retailing information of the explosions. His house is in Satana
naka where Tulsi lodge is located, a place where the alleged
terrorists may have stayed. When NIA officer Pradeep Mani called me to
discuss some points I argued with him that if the bombers had bought
cycles from Pangrapole shopping complex then it would be in the
fitness of things that they started from the west at Satana naka and
came to the shopping complex and then went straight to Super market
near Juna Faran hospital and turned into the Ghalib road that first
reaches the Mushawarat chowk and leads to the adjoining graveyard.
One of the cycles was assembled by quarter to one by one employee
Iqbal who gave a trial by riding to the post office a couple of shops
in the south. It was past 12. 45 mid day, that is, less than 40
minutes before the explosions. Then the buyer rode it towards the
Shivaji statue and disappeared. It would be unimaginable for him to
ride all the way to the workshop of Shabbir Masiullah and have the
bombs fitted and then return to the graveyard environs.
Afterwards the investigation agencies and the Home Minister
Chidamrbrum claimed that they had got the addresses where the bombers
had stayed. This is another example of human intelligence whose
absence in the case of 13/7 has created a vacuum.
Even so having said all this is not to say that the guilt has been
proved. The named persons, Aseemanand, Sunil Joshi, or organizations,
like Abhinav Bharat, have every right to enjoy the benefit of doubt.
They can also be innocent unless proved guilty. Earlier this day NDTV
reported that the agencies have given a clean chit to the 9 Muslims
accused and under detention for the last five years. How wonderful it
would have been if the agencies had done an honest job much earlier or
do the same in the case of the newly alleged right wing extremists,
from outside and within the town!
Today also saw a meeting of the brother of one of the nine accused
with Gangurde, Shaikh Rafiq and Ghatkoper crime branch officer Rathor.
The brother asked havaldar Shaikh Rafiq who had taken away the accused
assuring the scared family that he would return with the accused
within fifteen minutes. The brother asked the havaldar why he has
taken away five years of his brother’s life!
There was no answer.
Sometimes back I accompanied Sanjoy Majumdar, India Representative of
BBC, to the house of that accused there sat the woebegone wife of his.
The grief had aged her and changed the contour of her face. She had
spent just a month with him after their marriage and then her husband
was snatched away. Destiny had played such a cruel joke. What for?
There was no answer.
--------
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/nine-muslim-men-in-jail-for-malegaon-blasts-are-innocent-concludes-nia-sources-133209&cp
Milli Gazette Correspondent, Malegaon
Human intelligence is the most resourceful as well as helpful in
solving the mystery of a crime. In the case of Malegaon 2006 it was
preposterous to accept the police charge sheet that Muslims would use
the pious occasion of Shab-e-barat and kill fellow Muslims in order to
create a Hindu Muslim riot. The night of the festival is the occasion
when their life is judged and future is shaped for them as well as
their dead are forgiven their sins. All this hinges on their
prayerfulness. So the question does not arise of causing terror.
Compare this with the carnage at Hashimpura, Meerut, on such a similar
night on May 22, 1987 when Provincial Armed Constabulary had killed 42
Muslim youths at point blank and let their bodies flow down the river.
Writing on Malegaon has been extremely delicate and dangerous. There
are cases of adultery, homosexuality, rackets, illegal activities of
police informants, in which politicians, policemen (by no means all)
and their informers are involved. There was a typical case reported by
The Milli Gazette (1-15 May 2008): “April 2008. The Malegaon police
raided a pathological laboratory situated in the basement of a private
hospital and recovered five live RDX explosives, three used RDX
explosives, one pistol, a laptop, a scanner, two mobile phones, four
fake currency notes of Rs one thousand each and Rs 5000 in cash and
arrested three persons, viz., Nitish Ashire, Sahebrao Dhurve and
Jitendra Khema belonging to some unknown organization.” The case made
headlines for several days in Marathi newspapers like Lokmat and then
the matter simply disappeared from the paper and also the minds of the
people. Students Islamic Movement of India has been so much etched in
the minds that people do not bother about the ‘unknown organizations’
to which the three belonged.
However, there is very serious angle to this. Were the three used RDX
explosives remains of the three bombs that went off at the graveyard
on September 8, 2006? And, was the bomb that went off at Bhiku chowk
on September 29, 2008 from the five live ones seized? In the absence
of the resolution of the case of seizure it would be logical to ask
what happened to the arms cache.
The police had also seized arms and ammunition from Malegaon in the
second week May, 2006 and some of the accused were also arrested in
the bomb explosions three months later. The police allegedly recorded
statements on phone in which one who planted the bomb speaks of
difficulty in bringing ‘material’ into the town. Was this a reference
to the RDX seized? In another failed attempt to record phone
conversation, a witness Hamid Iqbal is asked to issue ominous threat
that betraying Muslims would result in bloody revenge. Was this made
out to be a threat of a terrorist group? Un/fortunately, Hamid Iqbal
refused to oblige the police or their informer. He wrote all this in
affidavit and submitted to the court. Today, September 13, 2011 I ran
across him on his way to meet National Investigation Agency (NIA). He
had the same clear determination that he would depose the same truth
to the officer.
Another instance of human intelligence is that of the retired teacher
Sadique Ansari whom the police had especially taken to Nasik from
Malegaon to depose before the chief of CBI Kandasamy. He had said that
he had heard a colleague in the Home Guard making frequently calls on
his two mobiles to Nagpur. One of them has the number 9422253996. He
was retailing information of the explosions. His house is in Satana
naka where Tulsi lodge is located, a place where the alleged
terrorists may have stayed. When NIA officer Pradeep Mani called me to
discuss some points I argued with him that if the bombers had bought
cycles from Pangrapole shopping complex then it would be in the
fitness of things that they started from the west at Satana naka and
came to the shopping complex and then went straight to Super market
near Juna Faran hospital and turned into the Ghalib road that first
reaches the Mushawarat chowk and leads to the adjoining graveyard.
One of the cycles was assembled by quarter to one by one employee
Iqbal who gave a trial by riding to the post office a couple of shops
in the south. It was past 12. 45 mid day, that is, less than 40
minutes before the explosions. Then the buyer rode it towards the
Shivaji statue and disappeared. It would be unimaginable for him to
ride all the way to the workshop of Shabbir Masiullah and have the
bombs fitted and then return to the graveyard environs.
Afterwards the investigation agencies and the Home Minister
Chidamrbrum claimed that they had got the addresses where the bombers
had stayed. This is another example of human intelligence whose
absence in the case of 13/7 has created a vacuum.
Even so having said all this is not to say that the guilt has been
proved. The named persons, Aseemanand, Sunil Joshi, or organizations,
like Abhinav Bharat, have every right to enjoy the benefit of doubt.
They can also be innocent unless proved guilty. Earlier this day NDTV
reported that the agencies have given a clean chit to the 9 Muslims
accused and under detention for the last five years. How wonderful it
would have been if the agencies had done an honest job much earlier or
do the same in the case of the newly alleged right wing extremists,
from outside and within the town!
Today also saw a meeting of the brother of one of the nine accused
with Gangurde, Shaikh Rafiq and Ghatkoper crime branch officer Rathor.
The brother asked havaldar Shaikh Rafiq who had taken away the accused
assuring the scared family that he would return with the accused
within fifteen minutes. The brother asked the havaldar why he has
taken away five years of his brother’s life!
There was no answer.
Sometimes back I accompanied Sanjoy Majumdar, India Representative of
BBC, to the house of that accused there sat the woebegone wife of his.
The grief had aged her and changed the contour of her face. She had
spent just a month with him after their marriage and then her husband
was snatched away. Destiny had played such a cruel joke. What for?
There was no answer.
--------
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/nine-muslim-men-in-jail-for-malegaon-blasts-are-innocent-concludes-nia-sources-133209&cp
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