South Asia Citizens Wire | October 1-2, 2008 | Dispatch No. 2575 -
Year 11 running
[1] Sri Lanka: Removal of international NGOs worsens civilian plight
[2] Nepal: Nepal’s Evolving Identity (Drew Haxby)
[3] India:
- Terrorism, Police and Minorities in India (Asghar Ali Engineer)
- Why Everybody Loves A Good Stereotype (Antara Dev Sen)
[4] India - Homophobia of the State: Home bias (Indian Express)
[5] India: Chhattisgarh - the illegal was of the state
- Letter from 139 academics to the Police Chief of Chhattissgarh
- Scrap Salwa Judum (Editorial, The Tribune)
[6] Announcements:
(i) Peoples March to protest against communal violence (New Delhi, 2
October 2008)
(ii) The National Public Meeting on Software Patents (Bangalore, 4
October)
______
[1]
New Age
October 1, 2008
REMOVAL OF INTERNATIONAL NGOS WORSENS CIVILIAN PLIGHT
It is important that the international humanitarian organisations led
by the UN should also insist that they be permitted to stay on to
monitor the distribution of the relief supplies, as that too is part
of their international obligation, Jehan Perera writes from Colombo
THE special representative of the UN secretary general on the Human
Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Professor Walter Kalin, who
visited Sri Lanka recently laid down the appropriate guidelines to be
followed in dealing with the victims of Sri Lanka’s earlier phase of
war, tsunami and displacement. He said that displaced persons have
the right to go back to their homes in the conflict zones or relocate
to any other part of the country. He said that the UN and
humanitarian organisations have a vital role to play in securing the
lives of the people. He also said that lasting peace was only
achievable if they were assured safety and security from war and
bombs, compensated for lost property, provided with reconstructed
houses and safeguarded against discrimination.
But with government troops nearing the LTTE’s administrative
capital of Kilinochchi statements by government spokespersons exude
confidence that Sri Lanka has had enough with foreign advice, and
will do things its own way. Those in charge of the war effort in
particular have reason to be upbeat in their mood. The government’s
progress on the battlefield has gone better than anticipated. The
town of Kilinochchi is within range of the government’s firepower.
There is a human trait when things go well to believe in the
correctness of one’s own assessment of the current position. But when
this is coupled with the narrowing of vision that accompanies ethnic
nationalism, the possibility of mistakes becomes higher.
One of the areas in which the government has taken strong but
questionable action has been with respect to international
humanitarian organisations. Earlier this month the government
requested the international humanitarian organisations working in the
north to vacate the battle ground areas. The government’s
justification for this order was that it could not guarantee the
safety of international humanitarian workers and did not wish to see
a repeat of the tragedy that occurred in the east. Two years ago 17
national aid workers belonging to an international humanitarian
organisation were summarily executed in a battle zone.
But there has also been a perception within the government, and
one that is shared by the wider population, that many international
organisations have been sympathetic if not downright supportive of
the LTTE. There have been many public speeches by government members
that NGOs are pro-LTTE and cannot be trusted, and this charge has
received wide publicity in the government-controlled media and also
in sections of the nationalist media. After the government forces
started to recapture territory held for a long period by the LTTE
they began to find equipment and other donations of international
NGOs within captured LTTE bases. This gave rise to the suspicion that
the NGOs had been deliberately supplying the LTTE.
Sections of the media, especially those of the government-
controlled media, gave wide publicity to these findings that were
adverse to the NGOs claim to be impartial and neutral humanitarian
actors. However, speaking to the UN General Assembly last week,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself admitted that the LTTE had been
taking a portion of the relief supplies that the government itself
was sending to the people in the LTTE-controlled areas. The president
did so to highlight the more important point that Sri Lanka was
unique amongst war-affected countries, in that it did not
discriminate against people living in rebel-held areas, but supplied
them irrespective of where they lived.
National interest
Despite President Rajapaksa’s statesmanlike speech in New York,
the government’s insistence that international NGOs should leave the
northern battle zones continues to prevail. Government spokespersons
have said they have evidence that some international NGOs have tried
to cover up the extent of LTTE take-over of their supplies, while
some of them may have permitted their supplies to fall into LTTE
hands. Powerful sections of the government believe that the
international NGOs are on the side of the LTTE. Accordingly, the
government’s decision to completely handle the distribution of food
and other relief items is seen as being in the national interest.
As its alternative to the presence of international humanitarian
organisations within the LTTE-controlled areas, the government has
requested them to deliver their assistance through the government’s
administrative system that continues to operate within the LTTE-
controlled areas. The government has reason to be satisfied that its
administrative system continues to function in LTTE-held areas. The
government has also offered the international NGOs an opportunity to
travel with the food and relief convoys into the LTTE-controlled
areas and to ensure that the relief supplies are handed over to the
care of the government agent of the area.
However, the problem is that the government officials working in
the LTTE-controlled areas have to be very mindful of what the LTTE
also wants. Their salaries are being paid by the government and they
are responsible to the government. But it is also likely that the
government officials in the north are more fearful and possibly
supportive of the LTTE, and are less independent of them, than the
international NGOs. In the past the LTTE has assassinated several
government officials, including government agents who headed the
district administration, presumably for non-compliance with their
directives. On the other hand, the LTTE has not dared to punish any
international member of an NGO in a similar manner.
What this means is that the government’s decision to evacuate the
international NGOs from the north is likely to lead to greater LTTE
dominance over the issuance of food and other relief items. It is not
reasonable to expect the government officials working in the LTTE-
controlled areas to be independent of the LTTE and to check them in
case of any abuse of those relief supplies. Ironically, with the
departure of the international NGOs at the government’s behest, there
will be no one who can independently monitor the distribution of
relief supplies and report back without fear of being punished by the
LTTE.
Human shields
Fortunately, there is still time for the government leadership to
reconsider their stances in favour of the civilian population. At the
present time, it is reported that Kilinochchi has become a ghost town
with most of its inhabitants having fled to the eastern part of the
Wanni. Therefore the problem of civilian casualties and human shields
is reduced. The problem will arise after the battle for Kilinochchi,
if the government forces decide to carry on the battle to the last
LTTE-hold town of Mullaitivu in the Wanni. At that point there will
be nowhere left for the civilian population to flee.
The government needs to consider if it is doing right by ordering
the evacuation of the international humanitarian organisations. The
government’s most recent decision to permit the international NGOs to
accompany the humanitarian convoys into the LTTE-controlled areas is
a positive development, but it is unlikely to prove sufficient. If
limited to having the international community verify safe receipt of
the supplies, it will not help in the distribution process after the
convoys leave. After the international NGOs leave the area having
ensured that the supplies are delivered to the government agent,
there will be no one who can independently monitor what happens to
those supplies.
One of the fears expressed about the plight of the civilians is
that they will be utilised as human shields. If the international
humanitarian organisations do accompany the relief convoys sent in by
the government, without safeguards for longer-term monitoring, there
is the distinct possibility that they will be giving legitimacy to a
process that is open to abuse. There is a possibility of the LTTE
ordering the government officials to send the supplies to areas they
consider strategic in order to compel the people to also move there.
The government officials working in the LTTE-controlled areas may not
be in a position to give advance notice of such decisions, let alone
challenge the LTTE on them.
The UN spokesperson is reported to have said that relief workers
would be part of the convoys going into the LTTE-controlled areas in
keeping with international obligations during conflict situations.
The hope has also been expressed that this measure would be
reassuring to the people of those areas that they have not been
abandoned to the mercies of the two armed combatant parties, and that
the international community continues to watch over their welfare.
However, it is important that the international humanitarian
organisations led by the UN should also insist that they be permitted
to stay on to monitor the distribution of the relief supplies, as
that too is part of their international obligation.
_____
[2] Nepal: Prachanda's in New York
The Nation, October 1, 2008
NEPAL’S EVOLVING IDENTITY
Drew Haxby: Pushpa Kamal Dahal, newly elected Maoist Prime Minister
of Nepal, provides insight into his country’s political dilemmas.
But Nepal defied the usual story line. Galvanized by King Gyanendra’s
grab for power, the parliamentary parties put aside their differences
and began peace talks with the Maoist rebels. Weeks of protests
forced the King to reinstate the Parliament. The Maoists agreed to
peace accords overseen by the United Nations, and entered the
government as a nonviolent political party. The monarchy was soon
abolished and—in the first election of the new constitutional assembly
—the Maoists won the largest bloc of seats. And so it was on the
evening of September 26 that the newly elected Maoist Prime Minister
and former revolutionary leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (better known by
his guerilla nom de guerre "Prachanda," meaning "the Fierce One")
arrived at the New School in New York City, fresh from the UN, to
speak to of an audience of students, journalists, Western-style
communists and expatriate Nepalis.
Those expecting a fiery diatribe denouncing right-wing ideology and
foreign hegemony were in for a disappointment. "We will focus
ourselves on three major issues," the Prime Minister said, "taking
the peace process to a logical conclusion, writing a democratic,
inclusive and forward-looking constitution and thinking about the
socioeconomic transformation of the country." The speech sounded less
like Prachanda the guerilla warrior than Dahal the statesman, eager
to ameliorate rifts with Nepalis and to recast Nepal’s image as a
nation moving toward a peaceful, economically stable future. He
talked about the inclusion of women and "untouchable" castes in the
constitutional assembly. He referred to the UN’s help in brokering
the cease-fire and portrayed his government as an aspiring member of
the international community. He talked of stomping out corruption and
criticized Nepal for failing to tap its natural resources. He spoke
at length about plans to rebuild Nepal’s infrastructure and encourage
private enterprise and foreign investment in order to develop its
hydroelectric capabilities. By the time PM Dahal had finished
speaking, the vision he had painted resembled contemporary European
socialism much more than it did China, circa 1966.
The discrepancy between Dahal’s vision and Mao’s was not lost on
either the audience or on the prime minister himself. During the
question-and-answer period, one questioner asked if the Nepali
Maoists plan to disconnect themselves entirely from their communist
roots, to which Dahal quipped that, if they are supposed to dismiss
Engels and Mao, then what about Lincoln and Washington as symbols of
American democracy? Communism, he seemed to say, is a heritage, not
an orthodoxy, a point that he returned to repeatedly as he railed
against the condescending rigidity of Western Marxists and described
his movement as "the Prachanda Path," a new, more "scientific" step
in the evolution of communism. "Concrete analysis of concrete
conditions is the soul of Marxism," the Prime Minister said. "We are
devising our policy and program according to the changed situation of
the first decade of the twenty-first century."
Dahal’s willingness to adapt Maoist doctrine is partly a reflection
of how nebulous modern Maoism can be. Indeed, Maoism today is defined
as much by its military strategy as it is by its economic and
political ideals—the so-called "people’s war" that uses popular
peasant support and guerilla warfare to cripple the state and wear
down its military capabilities. But with the Maoists’ turn towards
peaceful multiparty democracy, this defining aspect no longer
applies. What then? Follow China’s lead of hyper-capitalism? Move
towards a centralized economic model? Even the original forty-point
platform the Maoists submitted to the Nepali government at the
beginning of this conflict was less a blueprint of radical leftist
economic and political models than a list of pragmatic, nationalistic
grievances aimed at reforming a failing democracy. One exception was
the condemnation of "so-called privatization and liberalization to
fulfill the interests of all imperialists," a position from which
Dahal now seems to be backing away.
As inspiring as it was to hear a revolutionary talk so pragmatically,
it did little to mask the fact that many difficult decisions lie
ahead. Three times audience members asked the Prime Minister whether
the government’s harsh treatment of its Tibetan refugee population
was a result of back-room dealings with the Chinese government. Each
time, the Prime Minister dodged the question, stating that the
government will respect human rights but cannot tolerate actions "on
our own soil" that might be taken as hostile towards its neighbors.
Questions about Nepal’s corrupt ministry of finance and the Maoists’
infamously violent youth wing were met with equally evasive answers.
And yet, more than undermining Dahal’s credibility, these questions
only emphasized the fundamental challenges facing Nepal as a small,
poor and unstable country, sandwiched between two rising Asian
superpowers. Despite advances in the last few years, Nepal’s economy
remains in shambles, its infrastructure nonexistent, and its future
as unclear as it has ever been. The bloodshed is over, at least for
now, and that alone is a miracle. But for Nepal to fulfill Dahal’s
vision, many more miracles will be necessary.
_____
[3] India: Communal Bias, Police, the Media
(i)
Secular Perspective,
October 1-15, 2008
TERRORISM, POLICE AND MINORITIES IN INDIA
by Asghar Ali Engineer
The police as such has strong minority bias right from the dawn of
freedom. Our freedom came at the cost of partition and partition
further increased Hindu-Muslim divide and the police could not remain
unaffected by communalization of society. Though communalism and
communal violence has changing graph in India it reached its
crescendo during Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy and during
the decade of eighties communal discourse became almost mainstream
discourse and BJP indulged in this discourse blatantly and
unabashedly while the Congress, being a secular party, had to
exercise caution in using it. But nevertheless Congress too displayed
its communal bias in a more restrained and sophisticated way.
The police was also communalized in the same way as political
rhetoric. Even when the Congress appealing to minorities to support
it in return for its secular credentials and also tried to assure
minorities of protection and security, it never tried seriously to
inject secularism into the minds of security agencies. The police
record, as various inquiry commission reports into various major
communal riots show has been extremely poor and tainted.
While the Congress Government shunned from giving proper ideological
training the Sangh Parivar made constant efforts to communalize the
police in various ways. Apart from the fact that it recruited those
trained in RSS ’shakhas’ (branches) into the police force whenever in
power in states or Central Government, its strident communal rhetoric
deeply affected police mind.
To what extent the police has been affected by the communal virus
became abundantly evident during its conduct in investigating terror
attacks. What happened in Delhi in Batla House on 21st September is
indeed hair raising story of police prejudice against Muslims. It is
indeed great mystery as to who is behind terror attacks in various
places. When Delhi had bomb explosions on 13th September the police
as usual assumed that SIMI is behind it who has assumed the new garb
of Indian Mujahidin (IM).
It raided Batla House on the morning of 21st September where five
students, all from Azamgarh district studying in Jamia Millia Islamia
University, Delhi. Let me emphasize one thing here that Jamia Millia
Islamia has been the centre of Nationalism and it was established at
the height of civil disobedience movement in post 1st World War by
Nationalist Muslims of great stature like Zakir Husain, Mohammad Ali
Jauhar and others at the instance of Mahatma Gandhi and when number
of Muslim teachers and students boycotted Aligarh Muslim University.
The Jamia has ever since has maintained its nationalist character and
Zakir Saheb and others made great sacrifices to keep it running
despite severe economic crunch. Later it became Central University.
Even today it has strong nationalist and secular credentials. It is
unimaginable that those studying there would be so badly affected by
communal ideology so as to turn terrorists.
But the police suspected these students and in fact claimed that Atif
(or Atiq) was the mastermind behind Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad
blasts and was responsible for sending the e-mail in the name of
Indian Mujahidin. The Delhi police killed Atif and Sajid in
’encounter’ and a police inspector Sharma was also killed. The police
also claimed to have found AK-47 and a country revolver in the place
where these students lived. It arrested one Saif and claimed that two
other escaped.
All leading human rights activists who carried out investigation on
the spot found serious gaps in the police claim and raised several
questions blasting the police theory of ’encounter’. Inspector Sharma
who was killed was ’encounter specialist’ in Delhi Police Force. Not
only Delhi police, but police all over India, particularly in
Maharashtra, Gujarat are known to carry out false encounters in
league with underworld dons and accumulate phenomenal wealth.
The police has not been able to answer these questions raised by
human rights activists and there seems to be genuine concern among
people about killing these ’dreaded terrorists’. They might have been
quite innocent. Police claimed that Sajid was 22 or 23 years old
without producing any proof. His parents showed certificates to prove
his age was 18 years and he had come to Delhi only three months ago
to seek admission in 11th standard in Jamia Millia Islamia.
This has created strong feeling of alienation among Muslims
throughout India. The police, after every blast arrests innocent
young Muslim boys, mostly from lower middle class and, accuses them
of being involved in the conspiracy to carry out terror attacks
despite total lack of any proof. After arrest it manages to obtain
’confession’ from them and gives out story of having cracked the
case. It is well known how this confession is obtained.
What is more unfortunate is that the media publishes these stories
uncritically and describes these boys as ’dreaded terrorists’ and
masterminds. The police changes after every explosion the names of
masterminds and even then the media – both print as well as
electronic – does not question the police version. Some human rights
activists or the ’Tehelka’ team has done splendid work in exposing
serious flaws in the police claim.
Why this police approach? One obvious reason is its natural
assumption, due mainly to its communalization, that no one else but
Muslim boys belonging to SIMI who have also assumed the name of IM
can do it. Despite lack of any proof except self ’confession’ they do
not change their track. Many Bajrang Dal youth were caught making
bombs but police downplays these explosions and completely ignores
any possibility of their role.
Secondly police, apart from being infected by communal violence, is
under pressure to ’solve’ the case as any delay exposes it to not
being able to do its work efficiently. Thirdly, it has found easy way
out to arrest some innocent youth, obtain their confession, and claim
they have ’solved’ the case. Thus they are also able to satisfy their
political bosses under pressure from public to solve the case and
stop further terror attacks.
Such casual and communal approach on the part of police has serious
consequences for the country. After every police claim that it has
caught the mastermind further terror attacks take place as if to
ridicule their claim. Thus it is resulting in continuous terror
attacks. In no time after Batla House ’encounter’ wherein police
claimed that it has nabbed the masterminds of Delhi blast and even
killed them another blast took place on 27th September in which one
boy of 12 years was killed on the spot and another killed later in
the hospital and several persons seriously injured.
Unless police sheds its communal bias and does hard work through
collecting credible evidence terror attacks cannot be stopped.
However, no one, much less the media, is prepared to buy the theory
that police is lacking in its duty. In every blast several innocent
people are killed. The Governments, state as well central, are
failing to provide protection to its people. How many more will be
killed in such blasts?
The BJP, on the other hand, is further communalizing the situation in
the hope of getting more Hindu votes by demanding enactment of POTA
or POTA like law to nab the terrorists. It was BJP which had enacted
dreaded law and despite POTA several major terrorist attacks
including one on Parliament took place. More terrorist attacks will
give more advantage to the BJP in coming elections. Should this
dimension also not be taken into account for these repeated attacks
despite claim that real masterminds have been arrested?
The police approach is also creating anguish and anger among Muslims.
In several meetings with important Muslim leaders and intellectuals
that we held in different towns and cities, they said what is the
guarantee that my son’s turn will not come tomorrow? Today they are
feeling quite alienated and isolated and it is not healthy for a
multi-religious country like India to alienate the largest religious
minority to such an extent.
The Sangh Parivar has seriously damaged the secular character of our
country. It has completely destroyed its secular character and its
age-old tradition of tolerance and human values for its lust for
power and for making India Hindu Rashtra. Now the Christian minority
is under similar attack, Christians who have contributed so richly to
modern India. Christians are also anguished today like never before.
It is highly regrettable that our Prime Minister described these
attacks on Christians as ’sporadic’ during his trip abroad.
He also described these attacks as ’shameful’, which is more honest
description. Remember Mr. A.B.Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister, had
said after Gujarat riots of 2002 what face will I show abroad? And
now Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to face embarrassing situation
in France. Then why does he not act firmly against communal forces?
Why is he so soft towards the Sangh Parivar. Why does he not ban
Bajrang Dal and VHP for attacking Christians in Orissa (Kandhmal
district) and in Karnataka? The role of police has been no different
in Orissa and Karnataka. Its sympathies were obviously with Sangh
Parivar when Christians were being attacked.
Is not our country inching towards fascism?
o o o
(ii)
The Asian Age
October 2, 2008
WHY EVERYBODY LOVES A GOOD STEREOTYPE
by Antara Dev Sen
"You support terrorists?" my friend was horror-struck.
"We can’t presume they are terrorists," I begin, "there must be a
trial first."
"Rubbish! They are terrorists! And it’s indefensible that Jamia Milia
University is using government money to protect them."
"Everyone is entitled to legal aid and is innocent until proven
guilty..."
"They are guilty. The police nabbed them."
"That’s the police version…"
My friend, a secular and sensitive writer, is mortified. "The
terrorists shot an officer dead! But you still won’t believe them?"
"You believe police ‘encounters’?"
"Certainly. You don’t?"
"Maybe, if they’re credible."
"Why won’t you believe the police?"
"It would have been easier to believe the cops if they didn’t offer
several versions of the same ‘encounter’, if they could find the
bullets that killed Inspector M.C. Sharma and the gun that fired
them, or answer the questions locals and activists are throwing at
them punching holes in their theories, if fake ‘encounter’ killings
like Sohrabuddin’s and his wife’s were not fresh in our minds…"
"A police officer is killed, and you side with the terrorists!"
"No, a life cut short is tragic — especially for the family. But two
boys were also killed in the shootout. Terrorists? Prove it. Sharma
did have a reputation — remember his killing ‘terrorists’ in a fake
encounter at Ansal Plaza?"
"He faked his own killing, you say?"
With bombs going off every few days and our threat perception
spiralling, it’s not easy to root for civil rights. Logic and ethics
get all tangled up as fear spooling out of bombed markets and
grieving neighbourhoods flood your senses. Where does one draw the
line between safeguarding human rights and supporting terrorism? How
much of our rationality and morals are we ready to barter for some
more security? Would it really buy safety or are we being manipulated
into fighting others’ battles? Conversely, are we bending over
backwards so much to protect civil rights that we can’t see the obvious?
For example, you can’t deny that there is Muslim terrorism in India.
We are not immune to the global virus, especially since some
neighbours have been diligently breeding it for us. And it is naive
to pretend that all Muslim terrorism in India is retaliation against
discrimination and abuse, or to romanticise the murder of innocents.
But to prop up Muslims as the enemy, or suggest that every Muslim is
a potential terrorist, is ridiculous. For decades, we have faced
terrorism from non-Muslims, from Punjab to the Northeast to the
recent rash of terror across India by Maoists or Hindutva extremists.
We have lost one Prime Minister to Sikh killers and one to Hindu
terrorists. And lost thousands of lives to Muslim militants, from
Jammu and Kashmir to the Mumbai blasts.
Yet the trend today is to equate terrorism with Islam. Take Delhi.
Every recent bomb blast has been blamed on Muslims — the attack on
the Red Fort in December 2000 and on Parliament in December 2001, the
Diwali blasts of October 2005, the serial blasts of September 13,
2008, and the blast last Saturday. Even though 15,000 clerics had
congregated in February at Darul Uloom Deoband, the Muslim seminary
in Uttar Pradesh whose alumni include the Taliban, and denounced
terrorism as anti-Islam.
We love stereotypes. So while parading the three suspects in the
Delhi blasts — middle class kids, two of whom are students of the
Jamia Milia Islamia University — instead of the hood to protect their
identity, the police wrapped brand new red Palestinian scarves around
their heads, revealing only their eyes, like Hamas militants.
Manipulating the perception of the Muslim as terrorist, or the
terrorist as Muslim, was easy.
Religious profiling has been part of our anti-terrorism drive, and
with their socio-political deprivations, Muslims are easy targets.
According to the Sachar Committee Report, only 59 per cent of Muslims
are literate and their participation in governance is severely
limited: only 4 per cent in the IPS, 3 per cent in the IAS, barely
1.8 per cent in the IFS, etc. Marginalised for long, Muslims are now
being pushed dangerously close to the edge.
Apart from violating the constitutional guarantee of equality,
religious profiling hinders the fight against terror. It diverts
attention from those who are tangibly linked to terrorism but do not
fit the religious profile. So stereotypes about Muslim terrorists
make us ignore State-sponsored Hindu terrorism like in Gujarat, where
justice was so beyond reach that the Supreme Court had to transfer
the 2002 "riot" cases outside of the state. Or the continuing terror
attacks on Christians in Orissa (about 50 killed in Kandhamal this
time), and Karnataka by Hindu extremists. Bajrang Dal activists have
been found making bombs, like in Kanpur a month ago. Maharashtra’s
Anti-Terrorism Squad found them making bombs in Nanded in 2006 and
also recovered a false beard, moustache and sherwani. This Hindu
group had bombed three mosques since 2003. Once free from
stereotypes, the police can efficiently counter terror.
But stereotyping terrorists is easier. We remember the jailing and
torture of Iftikhar Gilani, Delhi bureau chief of Kashmir Times, for
almost seven months, before intense lobbying by the media and
politicians got him released in January 2003. Similarly, Tariq Ahmed
Dar, a young Kashmiri model, was jailed for several months in 2006,
as a "Pakistani spy". He was released after intervention by the media
and top politicians. In August, cops picked up Milan Molla, a tea-
shop owner in Kolkata, threatening to brand him a terrorist unless he
paid up Rs 150,000. His mother paid part of it with borrowed money,
freed him and went public with a complaint. Every year, there are
dozens of such cases. Given that young Muslim men are routinely
targeted in the name of fighting terrorism, Jamia’s decision to
provide legal aid to its students is perhaps essential.
"But would Jamia have provided this support if the boys were accused
of rape?" exclaimed my friend. Maybe not. But then, being accused of
a crime against an individual is not the same as being charged with a
crime against the nation. The loyalty of Indian Muslims is regularly
questioned — from India-Pakistan cricket matches to national
politics. In a terrified society, officially branding them anti-
national would be easy. To prevent our strained social fabric from
falling apart, we need to pursue the truth, not myths, and protect
civil rights. That does not make us supporters of terrorism, it helps
us curb it.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted
at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
______
[4] India: Homophobia of the State
The Indian Express
Oct 02, 2008
HOME BIAS
Editorial
In reports emerging of the reactions of the judges of the Delhi High
Court who are hearing the government’s arguments against the
legalisation of homosexuality, the outrage and confusion that they
clearly feel at the illiberal and contradictory stand that the
additional solicitor-general has taken on behalf of the Government
come through quite clearly. The court’s incredulity is something that
is, needless to say, shared by all of liberal India, as the
government has in succession said that homosexuality “disturbs the
public peace”, impacts health adversely for homosexuals, impacts
health adversely for non-homosexuals, that it would “open the
floodgates for delinquent behaviour”, that it is a “social vice” and
a “reflection of a perverse mind”. This cavalcade of antediluvian
attitudes and half-formed misinformation is supposed to serve as
justification for keeping an unknown but large number of otherwise
law-abiding citizens of India in a state of permanent criminality.
Let us be clear on this: as the court implied, in asking for
empirical evidence, there is absolutely no data that can back up the
government’s claims. Indeed, in Brazil, for example, increased public
and administrative acceptance of homosexuality in an otherwise macho
culture was one prong of a multi-pronged effort to contain the spread
of AIDS. Some years later, the number of HIV/AIDS patients was barely
half the figure that had been predicted by the World Bank. Compare
that to famously homophobic Jamaica, where efforts to stem the HIV
epidemic have stumbled on the fact that no homosexuals come forward
to be treated, according to its own health ministry. India’s health
minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, has repeatedly said that it is his
ministry’s position that criminalisation of homosexuality impedes
anti-HIV work. He is to be lauded for this. What is even more
laudable, and impressive, is that he has chosen to publicly take on
the home minister on the subject, not only as a doctor and health
practitioner but as a liberal, demanding that Patil be “more
progressive” and “a lot more sensitive”, while pointing out that
acceptance of alternate sexualities has grown “the world over”.
Fortunately, this is a question of rights — fundamental rights in the
Constitution clearly prohibit sex-based discrimination — and the
domain of the courts. But whatever the decision, it is also a
question of basic dignity, and the government has already failed
miserably in ensuring that one of India’s minorities is provided the
minimum respect that any liberal...
______
[6] India: Chhattisgarh
(i)
http://www.freebinayaksen.org/wp-content/
2008/10/139faculty_todgpchhattisgarh.pdf
http://www.sacw.net/article79.html
Letter from university faculty to the Police Chief of Chhattissgarh
September 27, 2008
Berkeley, California
To: Mr. Vishwa Ranjan
Director-General of Police, Chhattisgarh
We, concerned members of university and college faculties, write to
condemn the ongoing violations of the human and civil rights of its
citizens by the state of Chhattisgarh, primarily through the agency
of your department, the Chhattisgarh police force. These violations
include the arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention of hundreds of
people, including Dr. Binayak Sen, an internationally respected
provider of medical services to Chhattisgarh’s tribal communities,
threats and assaults against civil liberties activists, lawyers and
journalists, and most egregious of all, the growing depredations of
the state-sponsored violent militia known as the Salwa Judum. We
regret to note that not only have you been unsuccessful in halting
these violations of human rights, but you have actively justified
them and accused anyone opposing them as “demoralis[ing] the state
machinery.”
In a report released this past July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has
documented in detail the human rights abuses committed by the Salwa
Judum against civilians in Chhattisgarh. HRW’s report gives the lie
to your oft repeated claim that the Salwa Judum is a spontaneous
unarmed peaceful anti- Naxalite movement by documenting eyewitness
accounts of “police participating in violent Salwa Judum raids on
villages - killing, looting, and burning their hamlets.”1 Similar to
earlier investigative reports by the People’s Union of Civil
Liberties (PUCL) and People’s Union for Democratic Rights, among
others, the HRW report also documents the arbitrary detentions and
torture of villagers by the Chhattisgarh police. Reporters without
Borders noted with concern that “[journalists] are prevented from
reporting and investigating by corrupt politicians, police and Salwa
Judum members, many receiving harassment, intimidation and beating …
Currently journalists report from press releases produced by the
government or risk their life and career by reporting objectively
both sides of the struggle.”2
Perhaps the best-known case of a non-violent dissenter being arrested
and jailed in Chhattisgarh is that of Dr. Binayak Sen, a prominent
and early critic of the Salwa Judum and of state violence. Dr. Sen, a
physician serving the poorest and most marginalized communities in
the interior and tribal areas of Chhattisgarh for more than 25 years,
has been a guiding light for peace and community health. He has won
many awards for his work, including the Paul Harrison Award in 2004
from CMC Vellore, his alma mater, from which he had been graduated
over 30 years ago following a most distinguished academic career, and
most recently the Jonathan Mann Award from the Global Health Council
in May 2008. Binayak Sen appears to have earned the government’s ire
by being a vocal critic of the high-handed and illegal ways adopted
by the state in the name of suppressing the Maoist insurgency in
Chhattisgarh. For instance, Dr. Sen’s and PUCL’s investigations had
exposed that 12 alleged Maoists, killed by the police in Santoshpur
village in a supposed gunfight on March 31, 2007, were unarmed
tribals executed at close range. The State Human Rights Commission
took note of this investigation, and ordered the bodies of the
victims exhumed. Shortly afterward, Dr. Sen was arrested.3 Not only
have you and the state prosecutor failed to present any legally valid
evidence against Dr. Sen, the responsible police officers appear to
be blatantly concocting fables and planting false evidence.4
Other citizens who have been harassed by the police include: Amarnath
Pandey and DP Yadav, two lawyers who had filed lawsuits regarding the
‘encounter killing’ of one Narayan Khairwar and the custodial rape of
one Ledha Bai; filmmaker Ajay TG, a member of the State Executive
Committee of the Chhattisgarh Unit of PUCL, and journalist Sai Reddy,
both of whom had to be released on bail when the police failed to
file a chargesheet even after ninety days; Himanshu Kumar of the
Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, an NGO that implements implements government
programs on health, nutrition, and education, for the “crime” of
assisting fact-finding teams investigating human rights abuses;
journalists Santosh Poonyem and Kamlesh Paikra for daring to write
about the violence committed by Salwa Judum; and even the
participants at the third annual meeting of Chhattisgarh Net
(www.cgnet.in), an online citizen journalism initiative.
It bears noting that such actions by the law enforcement machinery of
any state are not only in violation of the laws of India, but also
run counter to India’s international treaty obligations. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), which
India acceded to in 1979, declares in relevant part that:
• All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that
right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development. (Article 1.1)
• Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall
be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life. (Article (6.1)
• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. (Article 7)
• Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. (Article
9.1)
• Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention
shall have an enforceable right to compensation. (Article 9.5)
• All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with
humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human
person. (Article 10.1)5 We strongly urge you, as the highest police
official in the state of Chhattisgarh, to:
• Follow in letter and spirit, the values enshrined in the Indian
Constitution and the CCPR.
• Stop encouraging an all-out civil war in Chhattisgarh in the name
of Salwa Judum, an organization whose violent activities are so
distasteful and blatant that the Supreme Court of India recently
noted that support of Salwa Judum by the state amounts to abetment of
murder by state officials, and whose excesses as documented in a
recent NHRC report were deemed “very painful to read” by the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of India.
• Drop all charges against political prisoners, including Dr Binayak
Sen, filmmaker Mr. Ajay TG, journalist Mr. Sai Reddy, release them
unconditionally, pay compensation for the harassment and loss of
liberty they have suffered due to their unwarranted detention, and
arrest and prosecute all police officers involved in arresting and
holding all these political prisoners.
• Stop victimizing dissenters in Chhattisgarh;
• Ensure a just and honest governance that improves the lives of
millions of desperately poor people in Chhattisgarh.
— EndNotes
1 http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/07/14/india19345.htm
2 http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Report•Chhattisgarh-2.pdf
3 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/013/2007/en/
domASA200132007en.html
4 http://www.phmovement.org/cms/en/node/751
5 http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a•ccpr.htm
-
Signed,
Concerned Faculty of Universities and Academic Institutes
Itty Abraham
Associate Professor of Government Director of South Asia Institute
University of Texas at Austin
Meena Alexander
Poet & Distinguished Professor of English Hunter College, City
University of New York
Bernardo Attias
Professor and Chair of Communication Studies California State
University, Northridge
Niharika Banerjea
Assistant Professor, Sociology University of Southern Indiana
Pranab Bardhan
Professor of Economics University of California at Berkeley
Dilip Basu
Professor and Founding Director Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center
University of California at Santa Cruz
Amitabh Behar
Executive Director National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Pune
Kim Berry
Associate Professor of Women’s Studies Humboldt State University
Arcata, California
Satindar Mohan Bhagat
Professor of Physics University of Maryland College Park
Nirveek Bhattacharjee
Senior Research Fellow University of Washington
Arabinda Bhattacharya
Reader in Statistics & Business Management Calcutta University
Purnima Bose
Associate Professor of English Indiana University
Peter E. Caines
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering McGill University
Montreal, Canada
Mia Carter
Associate Professor of English University of Texas at Austin
Rabin Chakraborty
Reader in Applied Physics Calcutta University
Nandini Chandra
Visiting Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Minnesota
Shefali Chandra
Assistant Professor of South Asian History University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
Sharad Chari
Assistant Professor of Geography London School of Economics
Angana Chatterji
Associate Professor of Anthropology California Institute of
Integral Studies San Francisco
Indrani Chatterjee
Associate Professor of History Rutgers University, New Jersey
Kalyan Chatterjee
Distinguished Professor of Economics and Management Science
Pennsylvania State University
Kumkum Chatterjee
Associate Professor of History Pennsylvania State University
P.S. Chauhan
Professor of English Arcadia University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
B. J. Cherayil
Associate Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Lawrence Cohen
Associate Professor of Anthropology and South & Southeast Asian
Studies University of California at Berkeley
Dia Da Costa
Assistant Professor Queens University Kingston, Canada
Om Prakash Damani
Associate Professor of Computer Science Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay
Veena Das
Professor of Anthropology; The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore,
Maryland
[. . .]
SEE FULL TEXT at: http://www.freebinayaksen.org/wp-content/
2008/10/139faculty_todgpchhattisgarh.pdf
o o o
The Tribune
September 27, 2008
Editorial
SCRAP SALWA JUDUM
Brigandry in the name of self-defence
THE Supreme Court has strongly disapproved of the Chhattisgarh
government’s Salwa Judum or self-defence group to combat the
increasing Naxalite menace. It has directed the government to follow
the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in
this regard. The NHRC’s report, presented to the court, is believed
to have pointed out innumerable instances of human rights violations
and high-handed behaviour by the Salwa Judum activists. Chief Justice
K.G. Balakrishnan, who headed the Bench hearing the case, said: “If
private persons, so armed by the state government, kill other
persons, then the state is also liable to be prosecuted as an abettor
of murders.” Salwa Judum was initiated by the government in June 2005
as a people’s movement against Naxalism and terrorism. However, the
remedy proved to be worse than the disease. It became a violent
institution and its activists are charged with rape, loot and arson.
In all fairness, Salwa Judum was introduced for ensuring effective
coordination between the security forces and the local people in
tackling Naxalism. However, it soon degenerated into a private
militia that behaved in much the same manner as the Naxalites,
killing villagers to settle old scores and perpetrating atrocities on
those who opposed them. The government’s strategy of picking up local
men, giving them arms training and inducting them as Special Police
Officers (SPOs) to assist the security forces in the anti-Naxal
operations also backfired. The SPOs used the opportunity to enforce
their might in the villages and indulged in arson, loot and mayhem.
The Planning Commission, the Administrative Reforms Commission, the
National Commission for Women and several other organisations have
pointed out the dangerous track record of the ill-conceived campaign.
The Raman Singh government should understand that Salwa Judum is not
the answer to the Naxalite violence. Besides improving governance, it
must focus on socio-economic measures to help the downtrodden. Giving
arms to civilians is illegal and it does not have the force of the
law. The Chhattisgarh government would do well to follow the court’s
advice to scrap Salwa Judum.
______
[6] Announcements:
(i)
http://www.anhadin.net/article58.html
In Defence of Pluralism, Harmony and Peace
People’s March in New Delhi on 2nd October 2008
Come and join
People’s March on 2nd October
Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and the International Day of Non-Violence
The march is a protest against communal violence and increasing
brutal attacks on innocent people, minorities and human rights’
defenders by fanatics and terrorists of all kinds
The March will start at 1400 hours (2 pm) from Jantar Mantar till
Rajghat New Delhi
PLEASE come in large numbers for a show of strength and solidarity!
o o o
(ii)
http://www.sacw.net/article87.html
On behalf of the organizers, the Free Software users Group-Bangalore
cordially invites you to The National Public Meeting on Software Patents
==Venue==
2nd Floor, Ecumenical Resource Centre, United Theological College,
Millers Road, Benson Town. (Behind Cantonment Railway Station)
Bangalore-560046
==Date and Time==
10:00-17:00
Saturday, October 4, 2008
==Background==
Software patents in India occupy a contentious and indeterminate
legal space. While recent amendments to the Patent Act have sought to
bring our law in conformity with WTO-mandated standards, these
amendments have shied from pronouncing conclusively on the
patentability of software. The result is an equivocation in the law
which is being wrestled aggressively and effectively by corporate
interests, patent attorneys and the Patent Office in favour of
granting software patents. Unheard, and so unrepresented in this
powerful triad are the interests of millions of citizen-consumers who
are either presumed too ignorant to be credited with a view on the
issue, or are presumed to be irrelevant to the determination of
issues which are seen as purely "business" matters (as opposed to
"citizen" matters).
Software is everywhere you look (and many places you never think of
looking). With the explosion of low-cost computing devices (think
mobile phones and iPods), software has leaked out of its traditional
home-the PC-and begun infiltrating various aspects of our lives. From
traffic signals to toilet commodes in some countries, refrigerators
to railway tickets, vacuum cleaners and electronic voting machines,
TVs, refrigerators and electronic pacemakers, inanimate objects of
all sizes are humming to themselves, chattering amongst themselves in
an intricate, highly complex tongue called ’software’ that few of us
can ever hope to understand. On the impulses of software, we stop or
move on streets, fill up on petrol, and elect governments. Someone’s
heart beats. Someone else receives land records on a village kiosk.
Someone is standing by helplessly for fourteen years (the un-
evergreened term of a patent) because software failed to factor in
her disability.
There are big stakes involved in the control of software in an era
when software is becoming increasingly central to the way we humans
organize our lives and inhabit a democracy. At one level this is
about preserving the right of agency and self-direction that citizens
have in their own lives. At another, it is about the right not to be
silenced when our long-fought democratic republic is at risk of being
diminished by a few lines of software in a machine. Whether or not we
are all in fact capable of deciphering software is inessential. Those
of us who are ought not to be denied the freedom to interrogate,
tinker and improve.
Patents have the effect of adding an additional layer of ’protection’
to already existing copyright protection of software, while
simultaneously overriding the various affordances and safeguards
built into copyright law. For instance, the right of "fair dealing"
under copyright law permits users to examine and modify any software
in order to make it interoperable with other software. This is an
extremely potent right that reasserts our right to intervene in the
shaping of our surroundings. It is also one of the rights that is
most imperiled by software patents.
The present "public hearing" on software patents is an invitation for
dialogue on the various issue surrounding software patents. Although
the Patent Office had scheduled a public consultation on its Draft
Patent Manual to be held in Bangalore in August this year, that
meeting was abruptly cancelled (or postponed indefinitely, or to an
unannounced date-we can’t be sure) without any reasons having been
assigned by the Patent Office. This signals either of two unpleasant
scenarios: first, the Patent Office is proceeding with its
consultations in an extremely mechanical fashion, not intending
inputs received in the course of these consultations to qualitatively
impact their functioning in any way; or secondly, perhaps the Patent
Office underestimates the amount that citizens living in the IT
capital of India might have to say on the subject of software
patents. It is our attempt in this public hearing to organize the
kind of consultation that the Indian Patent Office ought to have
conducted. We hope also hereby, to serve as a gentle but firm
reminder to the Patent Office that its task is as yet undone.
==Agenda==
1000-1100
Presentation on the principles of patent law and software patents
Sudhir Krishnaswamy (National Law School)
Prabir Purkayastha (Delhi Science Forum)
Nagarjuna G. (Free Software Foundation of India)
1100-1130
Discussion on software patents in the Indian context: Indian Patent
Act, and the draft patent manual
Prashant Iyengar (Alternative Law Forum)
Venkatesh Hariharan (Red Hat)
1130-1150
Tea break
1150-1240
Discussion on patents and the development sector (freedom of
speech, open standards, healthcare, biotech, agro-sector, etc.)
Sunil Abraham (Centre for Internet and Society)
Anivar Aravind (Movingrepublic, FSUG-Bangalore)
Others
1240-1300
Presentation on the software patents that have been granted so far
in India
Pranesh Prakash (Centre for Internet and Society)
1300-1400
Lunch break
1400-1700
Open House
Those speaking will include:
Joseph Matthew (Special IT Adviser to the Government of Kerala)
T. Ramakrishna (National Law School)
Abhas Abhinav (DeepRoot Linux)
Sreekanth S. Rameshaiah (Mahiti Infotech)
Vinay Sreenivasa (IT for Change)
(And any others who wish to speak)
==Organizers==
Centre for Internet and Society;
Free Software Users Group-Bangalore;
Free Software Foundation of India;
SPACE;
IT for Change;
Alternative Law Forum;
Delhi Science Forum;
Movingrepublic;
Sarai/CSDS;
OpenSpace;
Swathanthra Malayalam Computing;
Servelots - Janastu;
Mahiti;
DeepRoot Linux;
Wiki Ocean;
Turtle Linux Lab;
Zyxware Technologies;
INSAF;
Aneka
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at: http://sacw.net/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
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