India: ‘Given the political backlash in Kashmir, no Pandit can or will return to Valley’ - Sanjay Tickoo, Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS)

Rising Kashmir

‘Given the political backlash in Kashmir, no Pandit can or will return to Valley’

Published at June 27, 2016

• ‘With mainstream opposition, separatist leaders holding seminars, calling hartals and dictating terms for return, there is very little hope that anyone will or can return’
• ‘Perceived safety is paramount for returning KPs perhaps more than real safety’
• ‘Civil society has ignored plight of Pandits who stayed back in Kashmir’
• ‘I wonder if civil society is following written narrative on return of KPs’
• As per KPSS survey, 674 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in Valley

The return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland has been one of the most debated issues in the recent past. The Pandit families, which stayed put in Kashmir amid the mass migration of their community, have been following the developments closely under the banner of Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS). In an interview with Rising Kashmir Editor-in-Chief, Shujaat Bukhari, KPSS president, Sanjay Tickoo shares the concerns and challenges regarding the return of pandits to the valley.

 How do you see the return of Kashmiri Pandits to Valley?

It is a challenge to begin with, given the security concerns and rise in religious intolerance in Kashmir, but when mainstream opposition and separatist leaders are holding seminars and hartals against Pandits and dictating terms for their return, there is very little hope that anyone will or can return. Perhaps that is the true intent of these anti-KP demonstrations, but I can tell you that diplomats from around the world are watching how Kashmiris on one side pride themselves as being secular and on the other side are scaring off Pandits from returning, by putting forth pre-conditions.

Do you think the concept of separate colonies is a good idea?

It is not about good or bad idea. It is about how to take first step towards final settlement. As you know, almost 90 percent Kashmiri Pandit property is either encroached or sold or occupied, if State Government has to bring them back, then they have to create something new. If separatists and civil society in Kashmir are going to negate that idea then there should a Plan B from them. Let them take a decision and get the old houses of Kashmiri Pandits vacated. By the way, the concept as you are describing it is not a good idea. But that is not what is being proposed. What is being proposed is a composite township where all displaced Kashmiris, regardless of their religion, will be accommodated, and the focus will be on younger people who can demonstrate their talent, their entrepreneurship and their enthusiasm to development on the basis of which this township will be proposed as a “smart city” to the Central Government.

Finally, what other choice do you see? Can KP’s go back to their old homes currently in rubble or sold to others in distress sales?
I am telling you the reaction of the civil society is so strange and consistent, one has to wonder if all are following a “written narrative” prepared by some vested interests.

They are also giving it the name of composite townships or transit camps?

They are not giving it a name of Composite Township because it was always a composite township. It degenerated into Transit Camps because of the charged political environment by vested interests. But be sure it is just first step towards final settlement.

How do you see the reaction of separatist organizations or civil society to these colonies?

Sad – very sad, we should be building bridges not just with displaced Pandits but will all disfranchised people within Kashmir, and instead what we get are demands, diktats and threats. As I said before, the world powers are watching and my information is that their reaction has been very negative to what is happening. Please do not forget, KP’s are the aboriginal people of Kashmir. In the UN Charter their status to this land is higher than any of the rest.

Do you think KP's will be safe on their return?

Given the tense and alarming political backlash today, I will say that this question is premature as none can or will return in this environment.

How do you share experience as the one who did not opt to leave?

My experience is personal. The decision to leave or stay in the land of your forefathers is not made trivially. Each person’s experience, emotions, and sense of security are different. Those who left had a different perception of threats to their personal safety and well-being. That is why “perceived safety” will be paramount to returning Pandits, and what is happening in the valley presently degrades rather than improves that “perceived safety”. Notice perceived safety is different from real safety. There is no question that real safety situation has improved since the time these folks left, but perceived safety is more than real safety.

What is the condition of those who decided to stay back?

It is not good. And I must say that the civil society by ignoring the plight of Pandits, who stayed back, has not been helpful either. You must recall nearly 20,000 KP’s braved through the peak periods of militancy and stayed in the valley when the civilian rule returned to the state in 1996. Today fewer than 4,000 KP’s are left in the valley. Has anyone examined the reasons why that is so? Has any political party or separatist group shown concern why KP’s are leaving the valley even as security situation has improved steadily? You do some research on this subject and you will find out what is the condition of KP's who stayed back.

When was KPSS found and why?

Technically KPSS came into existence the day, Kashmiri Pandits had to flee their homes to save their lives. It all started with a group of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and was named as Hindu Forum. It was run by the then stalwarts of our society, H. N. Wanchoo, Dr. T. N. Ganjoo, Dr. Brij Mohan Bhan and many more. I was young at that time and I joined this group as executive member. The aim and objective of this Forum was to get in touch with the fear-ridden Kashmiri Pandit Community and try to reach out and to help them in distress. The main objective of this group was to give respectful last journey to the dead bodies of Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus who got killed during those days. Later on, when H. N. Wanchoo was killed, we had to stop all these activities, but after a gap of one year or so, we renamed the group as “Hindu Welfare Forum”. I was General Secretary of that Group. The aim and objective was same. As the time passed, we tried to do surveys to see how Kashmiri Pandits, who stayed back, are living in Kashmir. We travelled length and breadth of Kashmir to get in touch with all. And as time passed by, we made first registered NGO of Kashmiri Pandits who stayed back in Kashmir and renamed our small group as Hindu Welfare Society Kashmir. This NGO is still working at ground zero and is trying its best for development of the community. As NGO has its own limitation so in the year 2006, we made an organization, which is more political than just social or religious one. We named it Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti.  KPSS takes all the situations head on and from the past nine years we have done number of surveys and have taken bold initiatives like fighting legal battle for preservation, protection and restoration of Kashmiri Pandit religious places in Kashmir Valley, fought and won a long legal battle to include the educated left out youths from Kashmir Valley under the PM’s Return, Relief and Rehabilitation Programme. We initiated an ambitious battle to grant all religious minorities in the state minority status, grant of OBC status to Financially Backward families of Kashmiri Pandits who are below poverty line. Besides, KPSS organizes the celebration of Dusherra in Kashmir Valley and other socio-religious gatherings in Kashmir for the benefit of community members who are staying the valley.


You have been giving different figures about the killings of Pandits while the State says it is 219. What is the basis of that?

All our figures are based on surveys and collection of data from ground zero. When State government gives other data, almost every member of majority community rejects, then why do they accept and acknowledge the figure of Kashmiri Pandits circulated by government agencies? Till date, as per our own survey we could identify 674 Kashmiri Pandit killings, which is contrary to what government agencies are circulating. The matter is under active consideration and KPSS is now going to contest the official figures legally to ensure justice for those who became victims of violence and vicious bureaucracy of the state.

KP's are already in camps at Vessue, Hawl and Budgam. How has that experiment gone?

The results have been mixed. It demonstrates a desire of KP’s to be part of the valley mosaic. But that housing is dehumanizing both in shared interior spaces and exterior surroundings, and not conducive to normal family living. The employment terms specified in their contracts are not fair. The physical protection at these transit camps is spotty. These camps do not offer human dignity and certainly will fail the human rights test.

What do you think is the ideal solution for return of KP's?

A genuine desire by the majority community, civil society, and the state administration (in that order) to welcome KP’s back with open arms and with no pre-conditions or diktats. Let us show that people presently living in the valley are humans and worthy of the land of Rishis and Sufis.

Do you support Panun Kashmir as a separate territory?
I don't think it is feasible on the grounds as per the Constitution of India. It can afford more Union Territories that too only for minorities. I am opposed to Panun Kashmir as much as I do in respect of "Azaadi".

How do you see role of some prominent KP's such as Anupam Kher and Ashok Pandit?
I don't endorse what they do but here also some people from majority community are playing the same role. I do not expect my community putting onus of all what has happened to us migration, misery etc on the majority community.

India: Appeal to UP Chief Minister to Restore Peace and Harmony in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli by Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA)

The following is an appeal addressed on behalf of the Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA) to the Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, and the UP Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav, for restoring peace and harmony in the riot-affected districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh. It was released to the press on January 28, 2014.

The Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA) was established in July 1993. The main objective of the Forum is to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities; assist in the prevention of conflicts, riots and other acts of communal violence; and help the victims of such conflicts or violence to rehabilitate themselves and seek redressal of their grievances.

The FDCA held a meeting in New Delhi on December 30, 2013, to discuss, in general, the existential threat of communalism to Indian society and polity, and to consider, in particular, the possible role it can play to restore peace and harmony in the riot-affected districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh. At the end of the meeting, a decision was taken to dispatch a delegation of the FDCA to this area in order to study the current situation and the needs of the riot-affected people.

Accordingly, a seven-member team of the FDCA visited the riot-affected areas for three days (on January 4th, 5th and 10th, 2014) and met victims, their families, community leaders and senior members of the local administration. The team's report, which is in the process of being prepared, will be released to the press and made available to the authorities of the Central and State governments and to other concerned as soon as it is ready. However, on the basis of the oral presentation of their findings by the team members in a meeting of the FDCA held in New Delhi on January 20, 2014, the Forum calls upon the Central and the UP governments to take the following measures on an urgent basis:

Conditions must be created to enable those uprooted from their homes in the riot-affected villages to go back to the villages. They have the fundamental right under the Constitution to safe and peaceful stay at their homes and occupation of their properties. This will also be the most effective means of restoring communal harmony and amity in the riot-affected areas of these two districts. Finally, it will restore confidence among the Muslim population not only in the rest of UP but also in India.

The following steps should be taken in order to create the conditions conducive to the return of those displaced by the riots, to their hearths and homes:

(a) A suitable job should be given to a family member of the deceased;

(b) The State Government should forthwith withdraw the condition that those who have been provided compensation of Rs 5 lakhs will have to surrender this amount if they go back to their homes.

(c) Those who have not been given or are not qualified to receive this compensation but have fled their homes out of fear, should be provided, both as a means as well as an incentive, for returning and resettling in the homes/shelters from where they have fled out of fear of life. A sum of Rs 3 lakhs per person could be the appropriate level of such assistance.

(d) An additional incentive should be given as temporary employment until cultivation by those who have land is resumed and the landless on return are able to find jobs. For this, a fund of Rupees five crores should be created urgently either by the State or the Central Government or by both of them jointly. The operation of the fund should be entrusted to a committee consisting of local representatives of affected people, social activists of the area concerned and a qualified officer of the State Government of reasonable seniority.

(e) The State Government should deploy an appropriate number of personnel to liaise with the Gram Pradhans of the affected villages for locating and inviting those displaced to return to their villages. For this, help should be taken of the volunteers of the NGOs active in this area. The FDCA itself will be happy to designate a team for this purpose;

(f) In spite of these measures, the displaced families may not return to their villages so long as justice is not done to them and those directly involved in perpetrating the violence are freely roaming around in the affected villages. It is, therefore, essential that most of those against whom FIRs have been lodged should be arrested without delay and those involved in violence and arrested should not be released without a court order. (By all accounts, 540 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence in which 6000 persons have been named. Out of this, only 208 have so far been arrested. This is hardly conducive to restoring confidence and doing justice to the riot-affected people.)

(g) Immediate steps should be taken to make special arrangements for the education of the displaced children and special exami-nations should be conducted, if necessary, to ensure that these students do not lose their academic year.

{Signatories:}

Professor Muchkund Dubey (President, FDCA); Kuldip Nayar; Justice (Retd) Rajinder Sachar; Advocate N.D. Pancholi (Life Member, FDCA); Mohammad Salim Engineer (Acting General Secretary, FDCA); Nusrat Ali (Member, FDCA); Professor Prem Singh (Delhi University); Professor K.B. Saxena (Council for Social Development); Professor Imrana Qadeer (Council for Social Development); Shafi Madani (Social Activist); Dr Javed Jameel (Writer and Social Activist); Father M.D.Thomas (Social Activist); Muhammad Ahmed (Social Activist); Ms Rakhi Gupta (Social Activist); Dr Rakesh Rana (Bundelkhand University); Alaauddin (Social Activist); Dr Ashwani Kumar (Delhi University).

India - Kokrajhar or Muzaffarnagar: Camps shut, wounds open | Padmaparna Ghosh

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/deep-focus/Camps-shut-wounds-open/articleshow/30083664.cms

The Times of India

Camps shut, wounds open

Padmaparna Ghosh, TNN | Feb 9, 2014, 06.25 AM IST

Whether it's Muzaffarnagar in UP or Kokrajhar district in Assam, those displaced by riots have to eventually leave the shelters and return home. But the road back is full of anxieties and insecurities, reports Padmaparna Ghosh from the northeast

Everyone remembers two details distinctly — when they left home and what they left with. For Hamer Ali, 30, it was July 19, 2012. His most vivid memory is of the calm river that runs alongside his village Kanibhur. "The mobs set everything on fire. When I looked back, even the River Aie looked like it was on fire," he recalls. Samati Brahma, 45, from Aloorbui village, left at 9.30 am on July 23. "I still have the sandals I walked out in," she says.

Ali and Brahma are among over four lakh people displaced by Bodo-Muslim riots of 2012, where ethnic tensions over land and livelihood between indigenous Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims escalated after members of both communities were killed. Over the next two months, hundreds of villagers from Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang districts scurried to camps for safety.

Over the past year, most of the riot-affected have trickled back home, some as recently as last month. But no one remembers the exact date of return, symbolizing the aching finality of displacement and the hesitance of homecoming.

The road back is not merely retracing steps — there are insecurities about safety, anxiety about livelihoods, and a sinking realization that lives will have to be restarted . While the closure of relief camps means the evacuees are no longer the district administration's headache, does it mean a seamless return to the past? It's a question being asked about Muzaffarnagar, after the abrupt closure of relief camps barely three months after the September 2013 riots. Harsh Mander, founder of Aman Biradari, an organization working towards inter-communal solidarity, believes this 'invisibility' suits the district administration . "After they disappear from the camp, the government thinks its problem is over," says Mander, whose team will be tracking Muzaffarnagar camp evacuees.

The outsiders

What is the afterlife of camp evacuees? A crucial answer lies in the geographical reorganization of these Assamese villages post the riots. Before July 2012, 456 Muslim family homes in Kanibhur village, Chirang district, were set apart by vast swathes of fields. But when the Muslim families returned, they re-built their tiny, fragile bamboo shacks, really close to each other, seeking security in tight clusters. It was as if the Muslim houses had curled up into a protective, foetal position. Thirty-seven Muslim families of Chakrashila-2 village, Kokrajhar district returned, but didn't enter the village. Their huts stand inches from the highway on the village border, as if asking to be let in. Makram Ali, 46, and his parents moved to the village 40 years ago. "Historically, my family was always moving. Now we are back to the same life." The village, with its mixed population of Bodos, adivasis, Nepalis, Rajbonshis and Muslims, was looted and burned down. Without pucca houses or small businesses and their cattle — the major livelihood for Muslims — lost, Muslims like Ali's have been reduced to daily labour and NGO handouts. (Bodos are majority landowners and received the most compensation from state as well as central governments.) "Everyone used to be employed here. It was quite a nice village ," says Ali. The brand new bicycles, shiny water drums and liquid soap bottles which NGOs have distributed are incongruous in this backdrop. Bodiod Jamal, 40, of Chakrashila-1 did not receive compensation because he didn't have a land deed (for the land his house stood on) for rebuilding his house. "I made the walls stand with whatever I could find. We got some cycles though," he says.

Nirmala Brahma, 44, a Bodo woman in Muslim-dominated Aloorbui village in Kokrajhar, was a regular at the big weekly marketplace. After her return seven months ago, she doesn't venture out after dark. "It isn't that there is zero trust; we talk but there are small hesitations. Like I won't tie my cow far away," she says. Her village has sent about 30 Bodo children to an ashram 35 kms away which takes care of their education and food now. Muslim families in Bodo-majority villages have also sent their children to relatives elsewhere.

Rahul Dey, team leader with Indo-Global Social Service Society, one of the NGOs working in these villages, says these anxieties need to be addressed. "After one of the mixed-community peace meetings, a woman told me, 'I don't know why you are holding these meetings but I like the space I get' ," says Dey.

Livelihoods lost

Bodo or Muslim, loss of homes, granaries and property has set villagers back years. Kathiram Basumathary, a farmer in Chakrashila-1 village, used to own two cows. Now he rents a tractor to plough his four-bigha plot at Rs 300 per bigha. "They return but resources are gone — cattle, water, land. The biggest loss is that of bargaining power," says Dey. "No one wants to live in a relief camp but when they leave, they are completely on their own."
Kanibhur, a Bodo-majority village was a major supplier of vegetables to the local market. Even today, a variety of vegetables are grown here. But after the return, there was a diktat against buying from or selling to local Muslims or hiring them for field work, punishable by heavy fines. Hamer Ali, 30, whose 10-member family owns 16 bighas of land, no longer goes to the market to sell the vegetables he grows. Down to a tenth of his income now, Hamer took his teenage brothers out of school and sent them to cities to find work.
Access to borewells for irrigation has been reduced and Muslim families are also hesitant to work in fields far from home or very close to Bodo areas. Whether Assam or Muzaffarnagar, economic and social boycotts are being used to sustain hatred between communities, says Mander. "Boycotts work effectively in rural areas than urban because the bitterness of estrangement is also greater because social bonds are stronger," he says.

Rebuilding trust

In 1971 there were just seven Muslim families in the three Chakrashila villages; now there are about 800. "The two communities managed quite well. Bodos and Muslims even did nightly guard duty together," says Prasanto Kumar Narjary, 70, former head of Bodo village Chakrashila-1 . He had witnessed the earlier riots of 1950. "I never thought it would happen again."
NGO workers believe that the toughest task of reconciliation is getting communities to trust the process. Shanti Gazun Manch, a team from Aman Biradari in association with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati, has been working towards this. Team leader Srinivas recounts the first time he went to a village right after the riots, "The villagers yelled at me for even thinking about peace. I left in tears." Today, they have mixed teams of Bodo and Muslims in 30 villages that have built peace committees and have made them talk to each other. His teams broke the ice in the villages by helping with children's education , health. They get some backing from student's unions and NGOs but not the government as an official in Kokrajhar says, "People have gone back. Peace has been announced. Why do you have to ask questions now?"

Neither friends nor foes

In Muzaffarnagar, Muslim organizations engaged in relief work have suggested Rs 5 lakh compensation for the riot-affected to move to new areas and not return, a measure Mander calls "incentivizing ethnic cleansing" . Landless Muslims in Assam's riot-hit areas have a similar offer — the state will give them Rs 50,000 to buy land elsewhere and sign an affidavit to not return. "We didn't take the offer. This is where I was born. Where will we go?" says Makram Ali.

It is this very land, and inter-dependency , that is bridging the distance between the two communities. In Aloorbui, a Bodo and Muslim woman pat rice cakes together to make 'Jogran' , a local liquor. Lokhiram Musahari, 40, in the neighbouring Tintilla, goes to the fields with his Muslim neighbour every morning. Musahari, a Bodo landowner, owned cattle while his landless but cattle-owning neighbour worked others' fields. After their cattle were looted, they forged a 50-50 sharecropping arrangement . "We are not friends. We don't joke around but it is okay," says Musahari. Seated in his hut, near the ruins of his concrete house, Musahari says that rioters removed his wooden doors and windows before burning down the house. They hang in the same village in another house, a sight that pains him. Yet, he is a regular participant in peace-committee meetings because he believes they can help. Local leaders and village elders are thankful for the interreliance between land and labour. Raju Kr Narzary, executive director, North East Research & Social Work Networking, an NGO, says: "It is a good thing that they need each other. It gives us a beginning."

India: Two Relief Camps in Uttar Pradesh Settle Into Permanency | Betwa Sharma

From India Ink / The New York Times, JANUARY 27, 2014

Two Relief Camps in Uttar Pradesh Settle Into Permanency
By BETWA SHARMA

Betwa Sharma
A house being constructed in Bhura camp in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.


BHURA CAMP, Uttar Pradesh — The Bhura relief camp set up for Muslims who were fleeing violent clashes with Hindu-Jats in western Uttar Pradesh over four months ago is starting to look more like permanent settlements, despite the local authorities’ efforts to force residents to move out. Residents here say this is the first camp to become a colony.

Last week, at the Bhura camp, which holds 60 families, men worked energetically to build houses to keep out the winter chill and rain. Feverish construction this month has transformed shelters of plastic sheets and tarps into houses of red bricks and tin doors.

Mohammed Islam, 48, divided the day between nursing his sick goat and shoveling mud out of the plot for his new house. Mr. Islam’s three sons and a few other residents of the camp were heaving and placing bricks. “We are all helping each other in building houses. It saves costs, but there is also a feeling of camaraderie since we have been here for so long together,” he said.

Residents have named their new colony Mujahidnagar, which means “a place for those who have struggled.”

More than 50,000 people were displaced and 61 lives were lost in the religious violence that spread across the sugarcane districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, where camps were later set up in Muslim-majority areas.

Media coverage over the cold conditions at the camps as the winter set in and the outrage over the deaths of children who were living in tents pushed local administration to close all camps in the Muzaffarnagar district by early January.

Residents were moved or told to find vacant buildings to keep warm or to return to their home villages. Recipients of 500,000 rupees ($8,000) in state compensation, who were barred from returning to their villages as a condition for aid, were told to construct their own houses.

The authorities have contended that many residents who refused to leave the camps were actually from villages that had been unaffected by the violence, accusing the Muslims of trying to squat on government land. In December, the district administration said that the Malakpur camp, about eight kilometers (five miles) from the Bhura camp, was no longer recognized as a relief operation.

Yet construction has continued at the larger camp, which now has about 30 brick houses and 700 families. The extra construction hasn’t helped protect children from the cold, however.

On Thursday, men gathered to offer a last prayer for Shabnam, a 7-month-old girl, who they said had died that morning from pneumonia, the 29th death of a child at the camp since November.


Betwa Sharma
Saira Bano, mother of Shabnam, being consoled by her relative in Malakpur camp in Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.
As the call for a mourning prayer rose from a makeshift mosque of plastic sheets and wood, her mother, Saira Bano, 35, sobbed into a neighbor’s chest. “She died on the last note of the morning prayer,” she said.

Sympathetic onlookers explained that Shabnam’s parents had spent 2,500 rupees, or $40, for a private doctor, but they could not protect her against the cold. Shabnam’s parents had built a small brick house for their seven children, but Ms. Bano said that rain had still seeped through the plastic roof this week.

Residents of Bhura and Malakpur camps said donations and Muslim charities are financing each of their houses for 15,000 rupees, which is just enough to buy poor quality bricks for the walls but not enough for a proper roof.

Haji Dilshad, manager of the Malakpur camp, said that more families were joining the 700 families from last year, including a few from those camps that were forcibly closed by the government since December.

The residents of Bhura and Malakpur said that they fended off the authorities by refusing outright to move and drawing steadfast support from the Muslim villages around them.

After seven vehicles of police personnel arrived on Jan. 1 to order residents of the Bhura camp to leave, and the residents of Malakpur camps felt similar pressure on Jan. 2, a delegation of camp supervisors met with Akhilesh Singh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

“We told him that these people are tired, scared and worried, so please don’t hassle them anymore,” said Hafiz Mohammed Kausar, a former resident of Bhura village, who manages the camp. “The police have not visited then so let’s hope for the best.”

Still, residents of the fledgling colony are wary since they have received legal notices from the local district officials about fines of 8,800 to 14,000 rupees for trespassing on protected forestlands. But Bhura camp residents say their colony is being built on land belonging to the village of Bhura.

On Thursday, the constable Hamid Chauhan visited the bustling construction site to deliver summons for eight people to answer charges of hurting the official who had been handing out the notices of the fines. But Mr. Chauhan left after an hour without finding anyone. “They are all hiding,” he said.

While watching him leave, Mr. Kausar said, “These are all pressure tactics, but nobody here is going to fall for it.”

Even if the houses that go up are of shoddy quality, they are giving hope to residents about building a future.

Mr. Islam, who was a laborer in the village of Lakh Bawdi, said he had lost his will to live shortly after moving to the Bhura camp with his wife, six children and a goat, especially after his application for compensation was denied because of bureaucratic hurdles and botched paperwork.

He had left his village work on Sept. 8 before phoning his nephew in the afternoon, only to hear him gasp his last breath after being shot. Neighbors later told Mr. Islam that his father’s brother and his aunt had been bludgeoned to death.

He and his family left their belongings, except for the goat, and moved into a Muslim house in Bhura village, the camp’s namesake, then into a cramped tent at the camp.

With the fear of eviction slowly dissipating, and a new house for his family soon to be ready, Mr. Islam spoke of feeling revived, which also motivated him to get back to work. He spends his days nursing his sick goat and shoveling mud out of the plot for his new house.

“I feel like this is home now,” he said. “People want to name it Mujahidnagar, but we’re another part of Bhura village so that’s what I want to call it.”

Betwa Sharma is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi.

Bhagalpur riot victims to get back land

Bhagalpur riot victims to get back land: District administration
Santosh Singh : Patna, Wed Dec 04 2013

Seventeen families who fled their homes after the 1989 Bhagalpur riots may finally get back their plots of land. "Our team will visit Garhotia on Thursday to restore all 17 plots... to the families," said Bhagalpur District Magistrate Prem Singh Mina.

This comes a day after The Indian Express reported that despite the Bihar government's claims, the land in Garhotia village is yet to be restored to its owners. Instead, the land, adding up to 7,405 square feet, is controlled by 75-year-old Patel Yadav, who has been illegally tilling it for the last 24 years.

Mina said the district administration has already got a written undertaking from Yadav stating that he will vacate the land. "All 17 families will be given fresh land possession papers, and the records will be updated," he said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bhagalpur-riot-victims-to-get-back-land-district-administration/1203314/

After Supreme Court rap, UP issues fresh notification on Muzaffarnagar relief

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/after-supreme-court-rap-up-issues-fresh-notification-on-muzaffarnagar-relief/articleshow/26425511.cms

After Supreme Court rap, UP issues fresh notification on Muzaffarnagar relief
By PTI | 26 Nov, 2013, 07.34PM IST

LUCKNOW: Following a Supreme Court directive, the Uttar Pradesh government today recalled its controversial notification issuing a grant of Rs 5 lakh for rehabilitation of "Muslim displaced families" in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts after the recent communal clashes.

The government, however, issued a fresh notification changing "Muslim displaced families" to all "displaced families" as eligible beneficiaries for the Rs 5 lakh compensation, an official said here.

The new notification also states that if any family is willing to return to its village, it would have to return the compensation amount.

On November 21, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi had said, "All victims are eligible and equal. Better you (UP government) withdraw the notification (issued on October 26)."

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for the state government, had said that no person would be denied relocation and rehabilitation (on the ground of religion) and it should not have gone into the notification the way it had gone. "We will recall it and issue a fresh one," he had said.

The state government had given an undertaking before the court that it would "recall" the October 26 notification and said that in the fresh notification it would be clearly mentioned that the concerned authority will take care of each and every affected person and relief and rehabilitation measures would be applied "universally".

Communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas of western UP in September claimed over 60 persons and rendered thousands homeless.

India: Rehabilitate UP riot victims for meaningful normalcy, says AB Bardhan

Economic Times

Rehabilitate UP riot victims for meaningful normalcy, says AB Bardhan
PTI Nov 6, 2013, 04.57PM IST


ALIGARH: Senior CPI leader A B Bardhan today said that no meaningful normalcy can be achieved in the riot-hit districts of western Uttar Pradesh till the victims are fully rehabilitated and return to their original homes.

"There can be no meaningful normalcy in the riot-affected districts of western Uttar Pradesh until all riot victims, presently staying in make shift camps, are fully rehabilitated and return to their original homes," Bardhan said.

The CPI leader was delivering the inaugural address at a two-day national conference here organised by All India Tanzeem-i-Insaf, a leading Muslim social organisation, to charter a course to ensure that the policies for the minorities are implemented by different state governments.

More than 300 delegates from 28 states are participating in the conference.

Bardhan also asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to ensure that the affected people are provided adequate security and they feel safe to return home.

"It is the prime responsibility of the Samajwadi government of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that all the displaced persons are provided full security for returning to their homes and leading their normal lives.

"If the SP Government is unable to do so, it will be failing in its constitutional obligation to the people of the country," Bardhan said.

Speaking on the occasion, national convener of the conference, A A Khan, urged that that all forces committed to communal harmony should join hands for national progress.

He also said that the leaders of Muslim community should share the responsibility and create awareness about welfare schemes for minorities.

Attacking the Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat, Khan said, "the present Gujarat Government has made a mockery of welfare schemes for minorities by refusing to implement these schemes on the flimsy ground that it does not believe in differentiation between communities while implementing public welfare schemes."

"It was only on the intervention of the Supreme Court that Gujarat was reluctantly forced to fulfil its constitutional obligations to the minorities of the state," he added.

source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-11-06/news/43733435_1_welfare-schemes-b-bardhan-minorities

Jamiat Colony, 100-house colony in Khampur village in Muzaffarnagar being built for riot-hit ; paid for by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind

Indian Express

Their homes lost, riot-hit victims unite to rebuild lives on their own
Apurva : Muzaffarnagar, Sun Oct 27 2013

MuzaffarnagarRiot victims who fled their homes work to build a new, 100-house colony in Khampur village in Muzaffarnagar. (IE Photo: Gajendra Yadav)


As the Congress and BJP continue to play their game of political football with the riot-hit people of Muzaffarnagar, the victims of the communal violence have begun to quietly rebuild their lives-on their own.

Ten kilometres away from the district headquarters town, in a place called Khampur, a cluster of brick buildings is coming up on land donated by local Muslims-the new home for families who fled from their villages as clashes broke out over a swathe of western UP early last month.

At least 130 men, all refugees who escaped with their families, have been toiling hard at the site every day since October 6. Once completed in a few months' time, this settlement of 100 houses will be the first permanent colony of the victims and survivors of the riots in the district. Similar colonies are in the pipeline in Bassikalan, Kamkheda and Khedi Firozabad.

"I fled from Badal village with my family on September 9 and lived in the Budhana refugee camp until early this month," Imamuddin Hassan (46), said. "We were then offered a house, free of cost, in Khampur as long as we helped build it, and we readily agreed. I have nothing left in Badal, and I never want to go back."

The driving force behind the Khampur settlement is the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, which is bearing the cost. Boards at the site announce the 'Jamiat Colony, Khampur'. Nazar Mohammed, president of Jamiat's Muzaffarnagar unit, said the organisation was forced to step in after the government failed to provide relief.

"The government has refused to help for two months now and we could not wait any longer. We spread the word to all villages and Khampur led the way," Nazar Mohammed said.

"We spent days trying to persuade families to return to their villages, but each and every victim refused. So we came up with this plan. They are too scared to return. In many cases their houses have been reduced to ashes," Nazar Mohammed said.

He said labour was not difficult to find. "Most of the villagers who had had to flee were construction workers, carpenters, blacksmiths and electricians. In this colony they work together to build their homes. They are given food and clothing. Their families are presently in the refugee camps," Nazar Mohammed said.

The idea of the settlement took concrete shape after Saeed-ul-Zama, a zilla panchayat member from Khampur, donated his land for the victims.

"I had some extra land in the village and decided to give it away for a permanent settlement. Soon, several other residents of the village came forward, and by the end, we had 17 bighas of land," Saeed-ul-Zama said. He said the size of the donations ranged from half a bigha to 2 bighas.

Nazar Mohammed explained that getting the plot had involved cooperation of many villagers. "People in Khampur agreed to a fair exchange. They sold parts of their land and gave us the money, which we used to buy enough land for the colony. This colony can house 100 families. Within a few months we hope to be able to give all survivors a home," he said.

Among those who will live in Khampur are victims from Lisarh, Lakh, Bhavdi, Kutba and Kutbi — the worst affected villages in the region. "We begged the government for help whenever they visited us in the camps. We told them we had lost everything and were desperately needed help for a fresh start. When the government failed, all we had left was community support," said Imaduddin Hassan.

30 days and counting . . . - The aftermath of violence in Muzaffarnagar & Shamli Districts, Uttar Pradesh | report by Joint Citizens’ Initiative (JCI)

http://www.sacw.net/article5920.html

India should rehabilitate and support victims of sexual assault in Muzaffarnagar communal violence says Human Rights Watch

[Links to human rights watch statement on Muzaffarnagar communal violence; They also have a translation in heavily sankritised Hindi that many ordinary mortals hardly understand]

India: In Aftermath of Riots, Support Sexual Assault Victims
Victims Fear Reprisals; Authorities Need to Map Relief and Rehabilitation Plan
October 7, 2013 - Human rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/07/india-aftermath-riots-support-sexual-assault-victims

Statement also available in Hindi at:
http://www.hrw.org/node/119618

Dhule Update - Media Release (28 January 2013)

DHULE UPDATE - MEDIA RELEASE

____________________________

Anhad team ( Shabnam Hashmi, Arun Kumar Tiwari) visited Dhule again on January 27 to take stock of the developments and to see if there was any progress vis-a vis the compensation and rehabilitation. 

Despite our taking up the issue with the collector on our earlier visit to Dhule on January 13-14, 2013 no arrangement has been made to run a relief camp. The 35 odd families ,whose houses were totally destroyed by mob attack and one of the houses set on fire even by the police( the footage of which was released at our Mumbai press conference) , continue to live without any support. Administration has not bothered to provide any immediate shelter. The families are dependent on the well wishers and relatives. Children's education has discontinued as they have no school bags, books, notebooks, in one family a young student who is doing BCA has been left in the lurch as the family has no money left, even the fee kept in the almirah was burnt. 

We were also shocked to get a partial copy of the official circular which clearly says that no compensation will be given to family of the dead or injured till the enquiry is over. ( copy of one page attached)

On one hand publicly CM under tremendous pressure from the civil society announced the compensation but the victims and their families will not get any of this for years to come. We were also shocked to hear that CM did not visit any of the areas or homes of the victims, he remained in the Circuit house. 

Despite the footage released to media which clearly shows the deep contempt of the police against the Muslims and the fact that all six dead in police firing are Muslims and all 40 odd persons injured in police firing are Muslims, the police has filed its own version of the incident where it has made up stories of the incident contrary to the reality. the police in effort to hide its role of killing, attacking and  targeting one community is refusing to file any FIRs on behalf of the victims. After a lot of pressure it has taken only complaints and written replies to the victimes saying that ' in this case enquiry is going on' 

With CM refusing to transfer the Collector, SP, DYSP we do not see any hope of a fare enquiry.

It is very clear from the situation that Muslim victims and their families have been abandoned by the state to fend for themselves and the police has been given a free hand to turn the victims into the accused as we have seen earlier in Gujarat and many other states. We see a sinister design and connivance of police and the state to further marginalize the economically and socially backward minority community. 

Reiterating our demand for the transfer the Collector, SP, DYSP , we appeal to the media not to abandon the case till justice is given to the mothers who have lost their sons and all other victims. 

Shabnam Hashm

Arun Kumar Tiwari

January 28, 2013

An Appeal to Prime Minister of India

An Appeal from Concerned Citizens of Assam

 

To

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

South Block, Raisina Hill,

New Delhi.

India-110011.

manmohan@sansad.nic.in

 

Copy to.

Smt. Sonia Gandhi

Chairperson, UPA

soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in

 

Respected Dr. Manmohan Singh

We the concerned citizens of Assam, wish to bring to your kind notice the continuing disturbed situation in Assam, post the violence of July, 2012. We request you to take urgent steps to alleviate the sufferings of the victims of the violence and displacement.

 

Just to recall, the communal riot in Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) of Assam between the Bodos and the Muslims shattered the lives of lakhs of people. Violence claimed many lives, injured many more and displaced lakhs of people. In the riot, thousands of houses of hundreds of villages of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of the BTAD areas were burnt into ashes. The riot spread in all the districts of BTAD areas and other contiguous districts of Assam viz. Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa (districts of BTAD) and Dhuburi, etc. Over four lakhs victims took shelter in more than three hundred relief camps and many of the victims found shelter in the houses of their relatives outside the BTAD areas. It was a type of ethnic cleansing, to clear out Muslims in particular from the areas controlled by BTAD. Apart from Muslims, other non Bodos, communities living in the Bodoland like the Santals, Koch-Rajbonshis, Nepalis, Bengalis and the Asamiyas are also the victims of this violence and displacement.

 

Unfortunately, the administration totally failed in controlling the situation. People in the relief camps suffered a lot. They did not get sufficient relief either from the government or non-government agencies to live minimum normal life. Again, the conditions of the people of many relief camps were much worse than the others as these camps were not adequately reached by the government and non-government agencies.

 

Nearly 36,000 Internally Displaced Persons (I.D.P.S) are still battling a cold winter in different camps of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts. Another 50,000 are in makeshift official camps, near their villages, fearful to return home. They are being threatened by the Bodo militants every day. On 24th December the IDPSof Nalbari camp in Basugaon area and of Nepalpapra of Chirnag district .were threatened by the militants. Muslims have been economically boycotted. Government is providing relief to those who are having land documents. Many of the displaced persons do not have these documents due to various reasons. The result of this policy of government is having disastrous impact on large number of people who have been deprived of govt. relief. Many people are starving. Last week ten people died of hunger and lack of proper medical treatment.

 

So we demand that

A) All the affected people should be provided with sufficient regular government relief and proper medical care. Sufficient warm clothes should also be provided urgently failing which many more people may lose their life.

B) As the B.T.C. administration and the state government is not taking proper steps to seize illegal arms, the central govt. should ensure that the work of seizing the illegal arms has to be done in all earnestness. Let’s not forget that armed groups are creating a law and order situation, which may become un-controllable over a period of time. All the insurgent groups which have been banned need to be disarmed with utmost seriousness.

C) The process of compensation must be completed on urgent basis. This will help the families to restart their lives afresh. Those whose houses have been burnt should be helped to rehabilitate with due protection.

Sincerely your

 

1.Dr. Monirul Hussain,Retd. Dean, Faculty of Arts, Gauhati University.
2.Dr.Dilip Borah, Convenor, All India Secular Forum, Assam.
3.Dr.Indrajeet Bezbaruah, Convenor, All India Secular Forum ,Assam.
4.Hafiz Ahmed, President, Char-Chapori Sahitya Parishad, Assam.
5.Hanif Mustak, General Secretary, Minority citizens Forum, Assam.

 

Endorsed by

Asghar Ali Engineer, L.S. Hardenia, Ram Puniyani, Irfan Engineer

All India Secular Forum

India: Mumbra the town - Muslim refugee settlements after the Mumbai riots of 1992

The Indian Express

A town on the fringes

Sukanya Shetty : Sun Dec 16 2012, 01:53 hrs


Mumbra, once a marshy strip of land in the suburbs of Thane, became one of the largest Muslim refugee settlements after the Mumbai riots of 1992. Twenty years on, Mumbra is trying hard to move on

It is easy to own a house in Mumbra, easier still to build one. “Buildings as tall as eight storeys have come up here in the past few years. Some do not even have lifts. But people buy them. After all, it is affordable. If a buyer is looking for a flat here, it is unlikely he will get one with all legal documents in place,” says Hussain Wagle, who calls himself a “legal builder” and a “native” of Mumbra—as opposed to the “outsiders” who fled Mumbai to make this wasteland their home after the riots of 1992. Much like Mumbra’s construction business, its residents know the best way to grow is vertically, with memories of the riots tucked away in layers of time.

Till about 20 years ago, Mumbra, sandwiched between Thane creek and Parsik hills, was a marshy strip of land with a population of 44,217—most of them Konkani Muslims like Wagle and a few migrants who worked in Thane and made Mumbra their home. That changed with the destruction of the Babri Masjid and the riots that followed in Mumbai. Muslims from different parts of Mumbai fled 35 km north to Mumbra. It’s now an ‘overpopulated’ suburb of Thane with a population of a little over nine lakh, 80 per cent of them Muslims.

Twenty years after the riots, Mumbra has come to represent the damage majoritarianism can do. Besides those who fled the riots of 1992, in the years that followed, as spaces in Mumbai shrunk, Muslims who sold their properties to cash in on the skyrocketing price of land, moved to Mumbra to be with their “own people”.

“With Mumbai witnessing a drastic change in the last two decades—Bandra Kurla complex simply transformed the city—many Muslims sold their land at handsome prices to resettle in Mumbra. It was a easy bargain and a better life with our own people,” says Ibrahim Kadri, who lived in Bharat Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra East until 2001 where he ran his hardware business. “I am glad I decided to shift to Mumbra. I invested half the amount in buying a spacious flat in Mumbra and also run a perfume business,” he says.

Cheap land also brought in migrant workers. “Everyone aspires for a pucca house. A hut in Mumbai is more expensive than a 2-BHK flat here. There has been a constant demand for newer buildings,” says Anwar Noorie of Mumbra Samachar, a weekly newspaper.

Seven years ago, 31-year-old Salman Abdullah left his village in Dharwad district of Karnataka to a rented space in Mumbai’s Behrampada slums. “I lived there with my wife and two sons. But the living conditions there were bad and so I moved here,” he says. Every morning, Abdullah takes the local train to travel almost 45 km to Mumbai’s western suburbs, where he works as an “executive” in a telecom company. It’s a routine most men in Mumbra follow to get to work.

***

It’s not easy to get people to talk of the riots. While people talk about victims getting off in hordes at Mumbra’s railway station between December 6 and 10 in 1992 and January 6 and 20, 1993, personal stories are told with great reluctance.

“Bhooli bisri baat hai. Kyon yaad kara kar zakhmon ko taaza karti ho (Why reopen old wounds)?,” says Mehmood Ashraf, whose wife and son were killed in a mob attack at Sewree, central Mumbai. Ashraf is now re-married. His wife, too, had lost her family in the riots. “Rehana’s brother Mohammad has been missing since the riots,” says Ashraf.

Bilal Sarguroh was a 19-year-old in Bhandup, Mumbai, when rioters struck on December 10, burning down his house in Pathan Colony. After spending half a year in a relief camp and later with some relatives, Bilal and his family decided to do what over 1,000 other riot-affected families did—“resettle” in Mumbra.

Bilal, now 39 and a graphics designer in Mumbra, says his lasting image of the riots is that of a man in white shorts, wielding a knife. “I don’t recall the man’s face. Only that he held a knife menacingly and how I ran for my life. Now it seems unreal, almost as if I were hallucinating,” says Bilal. He was then in his second-year of graduation at a local college in Bhandup. “The first 19 years of my life were long and satisfying, but for some reason, I do not have anything exceptional to say about my next 20 years in Mumbra. Maybe I forgot to live after moving here,” says Bilal.

One of the most serious findings of the Justice B N Srikrishna Commission, which probed the Mumbai riots, was that the riots resulted in the ghettoisation of Muslims. It’s what Hasina Khan, one of the most vocal voices in Mumbra on women’s issues, calls “a systematic process of ghettoisation”. Khan runs Awaaz-e-Niswaan, an organisation that works on women’s empowerment.

“Personal security was the only thing in the minds of the community when they moved here. Mumbai amongst the majority seemed unsafe and most middle-class and lower middle-class Muslims made Mumbra their permanent address,” she says, adding that it was this feeling of persecution that continued to bring people to Mumbra in later years. “The Bhiwandi riots of 1984 and the post-Godhra riots of 2002 uprooted a few hundreds. Many shifted to be with their relatives in Mumbra,” says Khan.

This insecurity heightened the sense of identity. Many more skull caps and burqas define the town of Mumbra now, earning this place uncomfortable names—“mini Pakistan” and “terror city” to name a few. “There are common biases—every man in a skull cap is a potential terrorist and every burqa-clad woman in a local train will disembark at Mumbra,” says Shafi-ullah Ajmeri, a teacher at a private school at Kurla.

It worsened after the police claimed to have unearthed a few SIMI links and with the death of Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old from Mumbra who was killed along with three others in an alleged police encounter in Ahmedabad in 2004. But Mumbra is trying hard to put the past behind, says Noorie of Mumbra Samachar. “Ask the new generation about SIMI and you will be met with a frown,” he says.

“After the Ishrat Jahan case, political intervention has been so high that no such police excesses have happened here. Mumbra’s name has been virtually cleared off the terror list,” says NCP leader Jitendra Ahwad, the MLA from Thane. “Crime rates have gone down too. The first half of the decade was a volatile one. But with community involvement and political pressure, things have got better.”

***

But not everything has changed for the better. It is a town in neglect, faring worse even when compared to Diva and Kalva, poor neighbourhoods that lie on either side of Mumbra on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Rail Network. “While Diva and Kalva do not have more than two hours of load shedding, Mumbra is plunged in darkness for nearly eight hours a day,” says Javed Ahmed, who works for a tailor in Mumbra.

There are few job opportunities, barring those in Mac Industrial Estate, a small-scale company that manufactures automobile spare-parts. “It is not that we do not have educated people in the community, but there are no options available. Development has not kept pace with the population explosion,” says Mohammad Ali, a primary school teacher in a municipal school in Mumbra.

The population of 9 lakh has no municipal hospital, only two primary health centres that remain open for a few hours in the morning. Mumbra has a 13-bed private maternity home with no paediatrician. The nearest hospital is in Kalva, six kilometres outside the city.

The town has two municipal schools. One, a shabby four-storey building, serves as the space for nine municipal schools of Thane. “Children sit in crammed rooms, there are few teachers, the toilets are overflowing and there is no potable water connection in the school,” says Parvez Fareed of Umeed Foundation, which has been working towards accountability and better governance in Mumbra.

But these crowded schools also spell hope for Mumbra, says Mohammad Ali, a teacher in a municipal school. “It’s a sign that more and more families want to send their children to school. Formal education has almost phased madarsas out of Mumbra,” claims Mohammad Ali. There are only three functional madarsa in Mumbra now. Private schools have moved into this space—about 70 of them cater to the growing aspiration of the town’s people.

Farhana Khan, whose daughter Firdaus studies in the private Abdullah Patel Girls High School, blames the local MLA for not taking note of this aspiration. “He is more concerned about Taliban militancy in Pakistan or the attack on a girl (Malala Yousafzai) there. He fails to understand there are thousands of Malalas here, who want to study and do something with their lives,” she says.

A town in numbers

The 1991 Census put Mumbra’s population at 44,217. Mumbra’s population is now a little over nine lakh, says MLA Jitendra Ahwad. But registered voters are a mere 1.75 lakh. In the 2011 Census, the cumulative population of Thane, of which Mumbra is part, is 1,10,54,131

Only two municipal schools in Mumbra, which caters to over 6,000 girls and boys. Three madarsas—Al-Hadis, Darul-fallah and Gareeb

Nawaz Ashrafiya

According to the Thane Municipal Corporation, 123 illegal buildings in Mumbra have been served notices. Hundreds more have been accused of flouting CRZ rules along with other violations

While a small budget flat is available for Rs 4-5 lakh, newer one-BHK flats sell for anything between Rs 16 lakh and Rs 22 lakh

Brush with infamy

In September 2011, the ATS arrested Haroon Naik, a resident of Mumbra, in a fake currency case and later booked him for his alleged role in the July 13, 2011, blast

On September 25, 2010, the ATS picked up 10 maulanas for alleged terror links and released them later

In 2009, Parvez Shaikh, a computer professional, was questioned for his alleged role in hatching a conspiracy to eliminate the then Chief Minister Ashok Chavan

In June 2004, Ishrat Jahan Shamim Raza, a 19-year-old college student from Mumbra, was killed by the Gujarat police. The Ahmedabad police claimed she and three co-passengers were Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives on their way to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi

In April 2003, two terrorists owing allegiance to the Lashkar-e-Toiba were nabbed from Mumbra

In March 2002, Thane police raided a flat in Mumbra and arrested four men who they alleged were Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists

In December 2001, Abu Hamza was arrested in Mumbra in the Parliament attack case

In April 2001, SIMI activists were held in Mumbra

Assam riots of 2012: Displaced families in Kokrajhar struggle

From: The Hindu

BHOWRAGURI (KOKRAJHAR), November 7, 2012

Displaced families in Kokrajhar struggle to rebuild their lives

by Sushanta Talukdar


Compensation and ration inadequate, feel people of BTAD

Houses and granaries were razed, cattle and other livestock looted and hand tube-well heads taken away when violent clashes broke out in July in Kokrajhar and neighbouring districts of Assam forcing people to take shelter in relief camps.

After nearly three months’ stay in relief camps, the refugees have now returned home, thanks to the official rehabilitation process, with 21 tin sheets, a tarpaulin sheet, six pieces of bamboo, a cheque for Rs. 22,700 as rehabilitation grant and ration of rice, dal and salt to last them just a month. Most of these families have only one piece of blanket and no woollens though winter is knocking at the door.

Thousands of displaced families in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) who have returned home are now grappling with endless woes of rehabilitation.
Yet to get grant

More than a week since their return from the camps, the displaced families of Dangaibari, the Muslim villages and Aminkhata and the nearby Bodo villages in Kokrajhar district have not been able to start any new cultivation. For, there are no cattle left and the miscreants have taken away tractors, power tillers and shallow tubewell pumpsets. Many families are yet to get the rehabilitation grant, while some who got it don’t have bank accounts to encash them.

At Dangaibari village, some families have constructed makeshift shelters with tarpaulin sheets and bamboos on their land. Some others have built a cluster of such shelters in an open area.

Village headman Sumer Ali told The Hindu on Monday that of the 74 families in the village, only 29 figure in the list for grant. Only 13 families have received the cheques and tin sheets. “We don’t know how to rebuild our lives. We are farmers but now we have no means to resume agricultural activities,” he said. “Every family has lost at least three or four houses. The materials and rehabilitation grant are inadequate even to build one semi-permanent structure to accommodate all the family members.”

Village anganwadi worker Sakila Khatun has reopened the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) centre in the village. She said that about 100 children now regularly attend the centre, but they were not being provided food because miscreants had taken away all the utensils.
Tales of woe

The stories of 58-year-old headman Lalmohan Goyari and other residents of Aminkhata Bodo village are no different. “The miscreants took away the cattle, tractors and power tillers after razing our houses. How will we till our land now?” asks Mr. Goyari. His wife was seen clearing the debris and clearing the land for building a makeshift shelter. So far, 72 of the 133 families whose houses were destroyed have received rehabilitation grants.

The womenfolk and children of Aminkhata and adjacent Bodo villages are still staying in the Gambaribil relief camp although the authorities have closed it down. “The women come to the village to help clear the debris till 3 p.m. and then return to the camp. They can return only after some makeshift structure is raised,” said Mr. Goyari.

Be it Bodo or Muslim villages, the fear of fresh attack still lingers. Despite round-the-clock patrolling by contingents of the CRPF, the villagers are taking turns as night guards and sleep in groups.

A waiting shed at one entrance to Aminkhata village is the point where Muslims of nearby villages are allowed to come and discuss mutual issues with the village headman and other residents of the Bodo village. “We have agreed to divide the harvest from the paddy fields 50:50 with those from the nearby Muslim villages who worked as sharecroppers in our fields and cultivated paddy,” said Mr. Goyari, owner of 52 bigha of cultivable land.

However, the Bodo villages have clamped a ban on commercial transactions such as buying or selling of vegetables or other produce at the village markets with the residents of the nearby Muslim villages.

Appeal for Contributions for Relief Camps in Assam

Over two lakh persons are still housed in relief camps in Dhubri, Chirang and Kokrajhar districts of Lower Assam, in the wake of a series of violent clashes. This is down to about half the peak of nearly five lakh people in camps, making it one of the largest humanitarian emergencies in independent India. All these internally displaced persons fled from their villages in fear of violence, and many because their homes were torched and belongings looted. There is little hope that everyone will be able to return home in the immediate future.

The camps are lodged mostly in schools and college buildings; sometimes a few classrooms and a courtyard house a few thousand people. The Assam state government assumed full responsibility for the camps, and its officials coped with the sudden explosion of the refugees. The state supplied food, some money for utensils and clothes, and ensured primary health protection.

So far the camp residents are only surviving on bare rice and dal everyday. They need at least a plastic sheet to sleep on and mosquito nets. The camps desperately require many more toilets and clean drinking water, the lack of which threatens epidemic outbreaks of cholera, gastro-enteritis and malaria.

Children suffer in many ways. There are no arrangements to study in the camps, and most students lost their books to the fires that consumed their homes. Since most camps are housed in schools and colleges, local students also cannot study.

The state and humanitarian agencies — the latter regrettably substantially absent so far — must help people return and rebuild their homes, schools and livelihoods. Children and young people must be assisted to resume their studies and normal life, without fear and dislocation.

The major duty for relief and rehabilitation lies with the central and state governments. But in a humanitarian emergency of this magnitude, it is important for people of goodwill everywhere to reach out to help and heal, to assist in relieving immediate suffering, but also as a gesture of solidarity and caring with the suffering people of both affected communities, the Bodos and Bengali Muslims.

In a very small initiative, humanist young people have decided to work together for relief and reconciliation. This initiative would be in collaboration with TISS Guwahati. Initially joint teams of young Bodo and Bengali Muslims will supply relief materials and services in the camps together. The initial focus is to support children and youth in these camps with textbooks, play things, clothes, etc, and women with clothes, sanitary napkins etc; and also utensils, treated mosquito nets etc.

We reiterate that this is a very small modest effort, and is not suggesting that this is contributing to any solution of a very complex and old problem. It is just intended as a very small gesture of collective caring. We have set a target to raise at least around 20 lakh rupees initially, to make a small tangible contribution.

We appeal to people of goodwill everywhere to contribute to this small effort. The entire money would be transferred to the joint youth group in Assam, to use entirely for purchase and distribution of relief material in both the Bodo and Bengali Muslim camps. The accounts will be managed by the Centre for Equity Studies, which will get these independently audited, and the audited accounts will be placed in the public domain.

We would also like to request you to widely circulate this appeal amongst your friends and family.

With best wishes,

Amita Joseph, Amitav Ghosh, Anu Aga, Aruna Roy, Avi Singh, Bela Bhatia, Biraj Patnaik, Dipa Sinha, Harsh Mander, Jean Drèze, Karuna Nundy, Kavita Srivastava, Mathew Cherian, Nandita Das, Nikhil Dey, Pervin Varma, Rahul Bose, Ram Punyani, Reeta Dev Barman, Ritu Priya, Sajjad Hassan, Sejal Dand, Sharmila Tagore, Vandana Prasad, Vijay Pratap and Warisha Farasat

For Aman Biradari

For further details, please contact

Jeevika Shiv (9899572770, jeevikas@gmail.com) or Ankita Aggarwal (9818603009, aggarwal.ankita87@gmail.com)

Details for donations


For Indian citizens

(Please mention the purpose of the donation while making the contribution and e mail your PAN card number and postal address at anoop_wdk@yahoo.com)

Name of A/c: Aman Biradari Trust
Bank Name: IDBI Bank Limited
Branch: 1/6, Siri Fort Institution Area, Khel Gaon Marg, New Delhi 110049, India
A/c No: 010104000156950, IFSC Code: IBKL0000010, BSR Code: 110259002


For foreign citizens

(Please mention the purpose of the donation while making the contribution and e mail a scanned copy of your passport and postal address to anoop_wdk@yahoo.com)


Name of Organization: Centre for Equity Studies
A/c Number: 4114000100539095, Swift Code: PUNBINBBISB, IFS Code: PUNB0411400
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Assam: Refugees from hate

From: The Hindu

BAREFOOT

Refugees from hate

BY HARSH MANDER

Inside Assam’s relief camps…

Refugees from hate crowded in sparse makeshift spaces, cradling subdued, bewildered children. Sunken eyes, haunted with fear and grief. Reeking toilets, makeshift open stoves on bricks, a single change of clothes received in charity. Private sorrow exposed for public exhibition. Quiet weeping, nightmares, heavy silences laden with terrifying memories — of murderous mobs, burning homes, betrayal, loss and overnight destitution. Restive young people, whispering menacingly of fantasies of revenge. Dread, the unseen presence in every corner of the camp, battling the aching longing to return home.

I have seen many relief camps — too many, indeed, for several lifetimes. Camps which housed the survivors of the anti-Sikh carnage of 1984, persons attacked during the Babri agitation of the late 1980s and early 90s, people driven out of their homes by the brutal massacre in Gujarat in 2002, and by waves of violence against various ethnic groups in Assam.

More than 200 relief camps sprang up after ferocious violence convulsed Bodo regions this monsoon, driving nearly five lakh people from their homelands. I travelled recently to eight camps in Dhubri, Chirang and Kokrajhar districts of Lower Assam.

Similar stories

The narratives of the Bengali Muslim and Bodo refugees which I heard in these camps strikingly mirrored each other. They talked of neighbours of the ‘other’ community suddenly turning foes, burning their homes and fields, and looting their cattle and chicken. Some young men were shot or hacked to pieces. None acknowledged that men of their community had also attacked the ‘other’; they saw people of their community only as victims, not simultaneously as perpetrators of atrocities and arson. Such selective memory is intrinsic to the grammar of siege in relief camps everywhere.

There were the same terrible stories of flight, through dark nights, fugitives hiding in fields and forests, crossing swollen rivers, dreading fresh attacks. A woman wept as she recounted running for two days in her ninth month of pregnancy. She was nursing her emaciated baby born in the camp.

The one major difference in the stories told by the two communities was that the Bengali Muslims charged that the police deliberately stood by when they were attacked. “We have no orders to protect you”, they told the victims.

The camps were lodged in schools and college buildings; sometimes a few classrooms and a courtyard were temporary home to a few thousand people. Unlike in Gujarat in 2002, the Assam state government assumed full responsibility for the camps, and its officials coped with the sudden explosion of four to five lakh refugees. The state supplied food, a little money for utensils and clothes, and ensured primary health protection. But the camp residents complained that they could not live on just bare rice and dal everyday; they needed at least a plastic sheet to sleep on and mosquito nets; and the camps desperately required many more toilets and clean drinking water, the lack of which threatened epidemic outbreaks, of cholera, gastro-enteritis and malaria.

The state and humanitarian agencies — the latter culpably absent so far — must help people return and rebuild their homes, schools and livelihoods. From the peak of nearly five lakh residents in the camps, the numbers thinned to about half by the end of August 2012, when I visited the camps. But the official count of 2.35 lakh internal refugees still reflects a continuing, enormous humanitarian emergency. Those who returned are people who fled in fear but their homes were not destroyed. However, those whose habitats were set aflame and houses destroyed cannot think of returning home soon.

Teams of young men and boys from both Bodo and Bengali Muslim communities keep day and night vigil at their settlements, often brandishing arms. The entire region resembles a war zone. Armed soldiers patrol the regions, and a stray round of gun-fire or a stealthy assault with knives, or even rumours, are enough to set off a fresh round of arson and blood-letting.

Most affected

Children suffer a triple whammy. There are no arrangements to study in the camps, and most students lost their books to the fires that consumed their homes. Since most camps are housed in schools and colleges, local students cannot study. And adolescent boys and youth are recruited and armed to guard their villages.

Former Bodo militants flaunt automatic weapons, and there is evidence of a growing radicalisation of Bengali Muslim youth, reflected in violent protests and intemperate speeches. The major political parties — the weak-kneed Congress, the BJP, the AIUDF and the AGP — are all fishing in troubled waters. In this dangerous maelstrom, hotheads from both sides are holding maximalist positions. Bodos insist that Bengali Muslims must prove their Indian citizenship before they are ‘allowed’ by them to return to their villages. Bengali Muslims on the other hand demand the disbanding of the Bodo Tribal Council.

There are legitimate anxieties among the Bodo people that they will be culturally swamped and economically subordinated in their own historic homelands. At the same time, Bengali Muslims claim — and independent demographers bear them out — that the large majority of them are lawful Indian citizens; still, all Bengali Muslims are demonised as illegal ‘foreigners’. The descendants of Santhal tea garden labour brought in centuries back by colonial plantation owners and missionaries inhabit Bodo regions and have nowhere else to go. Many other indigenous tribal and caste-Hindu groups live here as well, part of the colourful tapestry of this achingly beautiful land.

I believe that a large silent majority on both sides of the dispute are ready for a peaceful search for solutions. They recognise that due legal process cannot be accomplished at gunpoint. People must first be assisted and supported to return home. We must find ways to disarm all civilians; rein in communal and violent elements; effectively seal international borders; and establish effective, transparent and lawful ways to identify illegal immigrants. But the long haul is to rebuild trust; and to affirm the rights of different people to live together, in Assam and in India, with mutual respect, while protecting local cultures and economies.

Without all of this, Assam will continue to bleed. And refugees from hate will search endlessly for a safe homeland.

A Fact Finding Report on Kandhamal Communal Violence: Four Years Later

One of the most severe communal violence took place in Kandhamal in 2008 following the alleged murder of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, a front-line leader of Sangh Parivar by the Communist Party of India (Maoists). The violence forced 55000 minority Christians to displace, 5600 homes in 415 villages were looted and burnt down, 38 persons were killed, two women were gangraped, several people were tortured, disabled. A Fact Finding Team visited 16 villages during 10th to 14th August, 2012; interviewed about fifty persons including victims, witnesses, leaders of different political and social organisations, District Collector and Superintendent of Police and reviewed various documents and records.

http://www.sacw.net/article2802.html

Kokrajhar Riot in Assam - A Report by MASUM

The persistent violence in districts of lower Assam shook the democratic conscience of the country. The skirmishes and conflicts between warring factional identities took several lives. A sizeable section of populace took refuge to scattered ‘rehabilitation centers’ in Assam and neighbouing state of West Bengal. Though, rehabilitation seems to be a far cry as people are living in utter distress and duress, the every day life is under constant threat and situation compounded with absence of basic amenities.

The age old feud between Bodos and impoverished Bangla speaking religious minority took a perplexing proportion as the groups are not willing to succumb to rationality. The recent conflicts are only reminding the live loss during the Bodo- Adivasi discord in 80s and 90s. Bloody conflicts between Bodo and Muslims or Bodo and Santhals are recurring incidents in this part of Assam.
[. . .]

Full Text at: http://www.sacw.net/article2798.html

John Dayal on the fourth anniversary of anti Christian violence of Kandhamal

So how do we observe the fourth anniversary of the worst violence against the Christian community in India. The pursuit of Justice would be a good way, I think. Justice at all levels. And holding the State – not Orissa alone, but the Indian State – to account, learning our Constitutional lessons from developments in Gujarat which saw a near genocide against the Muslim community in 2002, and the violence against Sikhs in Delhi and other cities in 1984.

Full text at: http://www.sacw.net/article2728.html

CFP: Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction in Asia

H-ASIA
April 13, 2012

CFP - Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction
in Asia
******************************************************************
From: "Levi McLaughlin"


CALL FOR PAPERS – Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief,
and Reconstruction in Asia.

Dates: 22 (Thursday) and 23 (Friday) November 2012
Venue: Asia Research Institute
Seminar Room
Tower Block Level 10, 469A Bukit Timah Road
National University of Singapore
Bukit Timah Campus
Organisers: Dr. Philip Fountain
Dr. Levi McLaughlin


What does it mean to offer salvation in the midst of catastrophe? What
dynamics are in play at the intersection of religion and disaster
relief in Asia? Over the past few years, Asia has witnessed frequent
massive and high profile disasters, notably the Indian Ocean tsunami
(2004), the Kashmir earthquake (2005), Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
(2008), the Pakistan floods of 2010, and most recently the 2011
earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters in northeast Japan. In the
wake of these tragedies – and the numerous smaller-scale disasters
that also afflict the region – religious organizations have played
pivotal roles in disaster response initiatives. Millions of relief
workers and billions of dollars in aid have been mobilized through
their networks. However, despite having a profound impact on the lives
of disaster victims, these initiatives have gone largely
under-reported, and there has been no comprehensive attempt to present
research on religion and relief in contemporary Asia. ‘Salvage and
Salvation’ will be the first interdisciplinary conference to bring
together researchers, humanitarian workers, and policy makers to
address this theme.

Analysis of religion and disaster relief introduces practical and
theoretical concerns. Understanding the full ramifications of disaster
requires attention to specific religions involved in recovery and the
different positions they assume. Additionally, it cannot be presumed
that Asian states are religiously neutral. Disasters and relief
efforts open new forms of communality among affected populations,
thereby altering religion and politics and inspiring novel social and
spiritual trajectories. Humanitarian actors and grassroots
mobilizations are also deeply implicated in these shifts. Even
self-consciously secular humanitarian organizations inevitably engage
with the religious realities they encounter in their disaster
responses through varying strategies of collaboration, accommodation,
or exclusion of different religious activities. A region-wide
comparative approach to disaster and recovery should be concerned with
the broadest possible spectrum of what ‘salvation’ may comprise,
whether associated with the state or non-governmental actors or
whether designated ‘religious’ or ‘secular.’

We are seeking paper presentation proposals that will address the
following topics (and related themes) as they relate to the Asian
region:
• Analysis of the types of humanitarian work undertaken by Buddhist,
Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and other religious groups in response to
disasters, including rescue operations, medical and post-traumatic
care, fundraising, reconstruction, mitigation, proselytizing,
spiritual counseling, and other interventions
• Doctrinal, ritual, clerical, and/or institutional innovations
occasioned by religious disaster responses
• Imaginations and perceptions of religion by state actors and
humanitarian organizations
• Collaborations between religious organizations, state actors,
humanitarian organizations, and community groups in disaster response
initiatives
• Emerging transnational networks forged between religious groups,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donor organizations, and other
actors engaged in disaster responses
• Reconfigurations of local communities following religious and/or
secular disaster relief initiatives
• Contrasting visions of ‘salvation’ offered in response to disasters
and the ramifications of these visions

Papers from any field in the humanities or social sciences that employ
any type of methodology are welcome. We are particularly interested in
submissions that employ data from fieldwork. Analytical papers by
development practitioners or representatives of religious
institutions/groups drawing on field experience relevant to this topic
are also encouraged.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Paper proposals must be for original, previously unpublished work.
Selected papers from the conference proceedings will be compiled for
an edited volume. Proposals should include a title, abstract (250-300
words), and a brief personal biography (150 words). For more detailed
guidelines or questions regarding specific paper proposals, and for
obtaining a Paper Proposal Form, please contact the conference
organizers.

Please submit all applications to Dr Philip Fountain
(aripmf@nus.edu.sg) by 15 May 2012. Successful applicants will be
notified by 15 June 2012 and will be required to send a draft paper
(5,000-8,000 words) by 15 October 2012. Travel and accommodation
support is available from the Asia Research Institute, depending on
need and availability of funds.

CONTACT DETAILS

Conference Convenors
Dr Philip FOUNTAIN aripmf@nus.edu.sg
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Dr Levi MCLAUGHLIN lmclaug2@ncsu.edu
North Carolina State University
SECRETARIAT
Ms. Valerie Yeo
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Email: valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg