South Asia Citizens Wire | 26-27 February, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2225 (Interruption Announcement: There shall be no SACW dispatches between 28 Feb - 4th March 2006)
Contents: [1] Pakistan: Speaking up for women's rights (Edits., Dawn, The News) [2] U.S. and India part company on Nepal (Siddharth Varadarajan) [3] Uproar over Muslims in Indian Army (Praful Bidwai) [4] India: A Daniel to undo Gujarat’s Neros (Colin Gonsalves) [5] India: Bhopal survivors take a padayatra to the capital (Nityanand Jayaraman) [6] India: Hindutva goons Attack on Emmanuel Church in Jaipur, Rajasthan [7] Call for Papers: The Hindutva of Development: Capitalist Development and Resistance in Gujarat ____________________________________ [1] Dawn (Pakistan) February 26, 2006 Editorial CHANGING ANTI-WOMAN LAWS WOMEN are in the news again, thanks to the interest being taken in their rights and concerns by the Supreme Court and the new chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women. The Supreme Court, which had been looking into the vani cases relating to five girls in Mianwali, has directed the police chiefs of the four provinces to protect women against the unIslamic customs of vani and swara which require a woman to be handed over to a man as compensation in a settlement of a dispute. Dr Arifa Syeda, the chairperson of the NCSW, has demanded the repeal of the Hudood Ordinances that have inflicted injustice of the worst kind on women. She has taken up from where Justice Majida Rizvi of the Sindh High Court left off when she retired. Seen against the backdrop of the low status of women in Pakistan, these moves are to be welcomed. They establish the growing empowerment of a section of women in Pakistan who are willing to take up the issue of women’s rights fearlessly. It is encouraging that their number is increasing. WAF has extended support to Dr Syeda’s demand while parliamentarians have also promised to support women’s rights by introducing bills such as the Repeal of Hudood Laws Bill, Equality of Opportunities for Women Bill and the Bill on Domestic Violence. If this trend continues, the movement for winning legal sanctions for women’s rights should gain momentum. Given the fact that it is not just the social attitudes and customs that are anti-woman in Pakistan — vani and swara are good examples — but laws like the Hudood Ordinances also work against women, the need is to change these laws. The task may sound relatively easy, but it is not. Vested interests have resisted changes in laws even if they are dated and actually anti-social. But given the awareness being shown by many parliamentarians, judges, legal aid bodies and NGOs working in the field of law and legislation, one can hope for many laws to be repealed or amended in due course. This is important if protection has to be provided to women who are courageous and willing to fight their cases. Mukhtaran Mai’s case clearly establishes how a legal underpinning is essential to help women resist injustice and win their rights. It must be pointed out, however, that changes in laws are not enough by themselves. Many of the crimes committed against women are rooted in reprehensible customs and traditions that are discriminatory, sexist and patriarchal. How else does one explain the practice of honour killings, domestic violence and gender prejudices that create so much misery for women? Laws alone cannot change these effectively as numerous cases have shown. But education and a social campaign can. Unfortunately, the significance of this is not adequately recognized. For instance, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its report for 2005 recommends many changes in the laws but does not speak about educating people and changing their social attitudes. While there is need to sensitize judges, police and lawyers about women’s rights, it is equally important that the attitudes of society are also changed. Education can play an important role in this respect, but NGOs and other bodies should also work concertedly to persuade people to respect women and accord them greater importance. Women themselves must learn to value their self-esteem and outgrow the early conditioning they live with all their lives. o o o The News International (Pakistan) February 27, 2006 Editorial FORCED ‘MARRIAGES’ "Verbal nikah." It’s about as Islamic as the bizarre phenomenon of "Quran marriages" in some parts of rural Sindh. Since the victims of vani "marriages" can be girls as young as, say, five, there is mostly a verbal "nikah" for the arrangement to be touted as legal. No wonder the Supreme Court has declared vani, and its equally criminal variant swara, un-Islamic. After its landmark orders to the police in Punjab and the NWFP on Dec. 16 to protect women and girls from vani marriages, the Supreme Court on Friday instructed the inspector generals of the police in all four provinces and in the Northern Areas to act against the settlement of disputes through these mostly-rural customs. So as not to leave the matter at the mercy of the police, the court’s three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the IGPs to present a report on the implementation of the order, with a deadline of two months. These customs force parents of young or minor girls to compensate for their relatives’ crimes, such as murder, by sending their daughters to the homes of the injured parties. For some reason, the district of Mianwali in Punjab is a hotbed of vani. Shortly after the Meerwala gang rape in June 2002, there was another episode which caused international uproar: the vani marriages of six girls in a Mianwali village, with the "nikahs" duly performed by clerics. The government had promptly moved to have the illegalities annulled, but has since done little against the crime itself. Proof of the failure is the cases of five girls — the oldest nine and the youngest, two of them, five—years—old — which were heard by the court on Friday. In addition to these cases, in which the girls’ guardians have appealed to President Musharraf and Chief Justice Chaudhry to have the children freed from vani, the bench considered a petition by a private citizen, Samar Minallah, against these ugly customs. They can’t really be abolished unless ordinary citizens stand up against them too. A good beginning would be for more people to move the courts for this. ____ [2] The Hindu (India) Feb 22, 2006 U.S. AND INDIA PART COMPANY ON NEPAL Siddharth Varadarajan Washington has denounced an agreement between the Maoists and the Nepalese parliamentary parties that New Delhi sets much store by. THE UNITED States and India, never fully on the same page as far as King Gyanendra's illegal seizure of power in Nepal was concerned, have now decisively parted company with Washington publicly opposing a key aspect of Indian policy: the need for the Nepalese parliamentary parties and Maoists to make common cause for the restoration of democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. On February 15, James F. Moriarty, the American Ambassador in Kathmandu, delivered a blistering attack on the agreement reached last November between the Nepalese Maoists and the parliamentary parties, an agreement that has the implicit support of the Indian Government. The 12-point agreement of November 22, 2005, commits the parties and the Maoists to a common struggle against the "autocratic monarchy" of King Gyanendra and to the establishment of "lasting peace" through elections for a constituent assembly. The Maoists also declared their willingness to participate in multiparty democracy and internationally supervised elections — a commitment reiterated recently by their leader, Prachanda, in an interview to The Hindu . According to Mr. Moriarty, all of this is a ruse and the political parties are making a big mistake in joining hands with the Maoists against the palace. In prepared remarks aimed at sending a clear warning both to the parties and to India — which has encouraged the parties to work with the Maoists — the U.S. Ambassador said the 12-point agreement was "wrong-headed" and "fraught with danger." Accusing the parties of "wish[ing] away... the uncomfortable fact that their Maoist partners are committed to violence to achieve political ends," he posed three questions to the backers of the agreement. Are the Maoists truly committed to peace and democracy, as the 12-point understanding suggests? Are the Maoists committed to joining the political mainstream? If the parties and Maoists were ever able to topple the monarchy, what then? The U.S. Ambassador then proceeded to give his own "uncomfortable answer" to these questions — that the Maoists have not changed their policies and have instead managed to draw the parties closer towards their own agenda. The United States, he said, "views the uneasy partnership between the parties and the Maoists as wrongheaded... [W]e believe cooperation along current lines between the Maoists and the parties is fraught with danger — for the political parties themselves, and for the future of the Nepalese people." India must now choose Mr. Moriarty's remarks pose a particularly acute challenge for India. Since the February 1, 2005, royal takeover, New Delhi has believed that the crisis in Nepal cannot end unless the Maoists are given a "soft landing." Unlike the U.S., which sees the Nepalese Maoists as a detachment of that undifferentiated, amorphous threat known as "international terrorism," the Indian Government has worked on the assumption that a political rather than a military approach to the problem is the only way forward. Before King Gyanendra's coup and in its immediate aftermath, India believed the principal challenge to Nepal's stability came from the Maoists and that the palace and political parties had to join hands to find a political solution. Of late, however, Indian policymakers have grown increasingly wary of the King himself. They have also warmed to the idea of "mainstreaming" the Maoists by linking them in an alliance with the parliamentary parties. Though India is still officially committed to the `twin pillar theory' — that Nepal needs both multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy — the King's refusal to accept constitutional limits has led an important section of Indian officialdom to conclude that he is his kingdom's biggest problem. New Delhi's tacit support for the 12-point agreement was the product of that conclusion. At the same time, the Manmohan Singh Government still finds itself at a crossroads as far as the endgame of its Nepal policy is concerned. If Gyanendra's revanchist agenda suggests the monarchy is hell-bent on abolishing itself, the inherent conservatism of the Indian security establishment prevents New Delhi from totally abandoning the King. In his interview to The Hindu , Prachanda deliberately sought to allay some of India's misgivings on four specific counts. He stressed the strategic nature of his party's commitment to multiparty democracy, said Indian encouragement to the democratic forces did not constitute intervention, advised India's Naxalites to consider participating in competitive elections, and suggested China should coordinate its Nepal policy with India. One of the reasons Mr. Moriarty launched his broadside on the 12-point agreement was precisely in order to ensure that the Manmohan Singh Government is not seduced by the Maoists' attempt to mend fences with India. Though the U.S. Ambassador also had words of criticism for King Gyanendra in his February 15 speech, it is clear that Washington has emerged as the Nepalese monarch's principal international backer. For India, the choice is now a stark one. It can continue to sit on the fence and allow the United States to dictate the contours of yet another counterfeit political settlement in Nepal. Or it can get off the fence and give a fillip to the united struggle of the political parties for a permanent end to the absolutist monarchy via elections to a constituent assembly. King Gyanendra is already implementing the American plan. "To establish a foundation of trust, the United States believes it is up to the King to initiate [a] dialogue," Ambassador Moriarty had said on February 15. The King made an appeal to this effect three days later, with the judicially ordered winding up of the Royal Commission for Control of Corruption providing a convenient legal opening. So far the parties have been dismissive but the more resources Washington commits to this process, the greater the likelihood that some combination of leaders will come forward to claim a mandate that is neither King Gyanendra's to give nor theirs to receive. And once a "civilian" and "democratic" government is formed, said Mr. Moriarty, the U.S. "would look eagerly for ways to assist" it by, inter alia, "renewing assistance for the Royal Nepalese Army." Thereby putting Nepal back on the destructive cycle of repression, counter-insurgency, and insurgency. In response to the American challenge, India must now clearly state its belief that the 12-point agreement between the parties and the Maoists provides a viable road map for the restoration of peace and democracy in Nepal. It must also call on the parties to be bolder still in their campaign to force the palace to back down. A clear signal — or even a subtle hint — that the monarchy in Nepal is no longer the pillar it used to be and that a constituent assembly is needed to determine the country's political future would give a huge boost to the morale of the democratic forces. Difficult as this decision may be for some in New Delhi to take, the alternative is far worse. For remaining silent in the face of Ambassador Moriarty's provocation would be to cede the political initiative to the U.S. — a mistake that can only have disastrous consequences for both Nepal and India. ____ [3] The News International (Pakistan) February 25, 2006 UPROAR OVER MUSLIMS IN INDIAN ARMY Praful Bidwai The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and peace and human-rights activist based in Delhi Such are the prejudices that most Indians and Pakistanis grow up with about one another that they instinctively take shelter in rank stereotypes when thinking about, say, religious minorities in their countries. This is particularly true of the way many Pakistanis think of Indian Muslims and only slightly less so of the way most Indians see Pakistan's religious minorities. Take some stereotypes about Indian Muslims. One sees them as an undifferentiated, terribly oppressed and unremittingly persecuted minority with no future in India. A second assimilates them to Blacks in the United States. Yet another condescendingly sees them as backward, ultra-conservative, unwilling to change and resistant to reform. All these share a common view of Indian Muslims as the chosen target of majoritarian communal violence, against which they can never get any protection from any institution of the state. These stereotypes capture, like all stereotypes do, a part of the reality but miss out on many vital aspects, including the Indian minorities' struggle for equality and dignity, the relative strength of many of India's democratic institutions, and growing resistance to oppression and injustice within civil society. They also erase huge differences among Muslims in literacy, education and other social indicators along North-South, caste and class lines. While a majority of Indian Muslims are poor and socially underprivileged, a significant and growing middle class has emerged. Winds of change and modernisation are blowing through the community. Contrary to stereotypes, not all institutions of the state are irreformably hostile to Muslims. True, the police in many states have been communalised by right-wing politics and are not impartial in Hindu-Muslim conflict situations. Three years ago, Gujarat provided gory evidence of this. Even paramilitary forces are no longer immune to sectarian influence. But this is not true of the defence forces, in particular the army. The Indian army has a distinguished record of professional conduct subordinate to full civilian control and of impeccably impartial behaviour in situations of communal strife. Nobody can seriously question its secular credentials and its impartial role in protecting the life and property of the minorities when ordered to do so. One of the main demands of the Gujarat victims was that the army should be called. (It wasn't, in time.) Yet there is a strange paradox. In composition, India's secular army remains largely Hindu and to an extent Sikh. It does not reflect the rich diversity and plurality of Indian society. It suffers from under-representation of certain ethnic-religious and social groups, and from over-representation of others, most notably the so-called 'martial races' favoured under the colonial system of recruitment, including Sikhs, Gorkhas, Dogras, Jats, Rajputs, etc. This imbalance has provoked growing concern. Last year, the Indian government set up the Prime Minister's High-Level Committee (PMHC) on "the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community", whose remit included the armed forces besides other institutions. But such was the uproar against the PMHC's attempt to collate data on the status of Muslims in the armed forces that the government dropped the move. This is singularly unfortunate. The government caved in to unreasonable pressure generated by the Bharatiya Janata Party and former army officers and bureaucrats, who attacked the PMHC as a 'divisive' initiative to 'weaken' and 'communalise' the armed forces. The numerous arguments advanced by the PMHC's critics miss a major point: viz. the army needs to reform its recruitment procedures. Among those under-represented in it are Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. According to a January 9 note by the army to the defence ministry, it had only 29,093 Muslims in 2004 in a total of 11 lakh personnel. This 2.7 per cent ratio compares poorly with the Muslims' 13 per cent population share. To demand that recruitment of Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis be increased is not to advance an anti-national, communal or divisive agenda but to ask for balance. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's greatest prime minister, who cannot even be remotely accused of a communal bias, noted in 1953 that "in our Defence Services, there are hardly any Muslims left … What concerns me most is that there is no effort being made to improve this situation, which is likely to grow worse unless checked." This concern was reiterated by Mahavir Tyagi, junior defence minister, who disclosed that "the percentage of Muslims in the armed forces, which was 32 per cent at the time of Partition, has come down to two". The PMHC wasn't being wayward in asking for information about the status of Muslims in the army. It is vital to collect authentic information and establish a data bank. Without it, we won't know whether there is under-representation, what its extent is, and what its causes might be. True, such information is relevant not just for Muslims; it's necessary for other groups too. But the PMHC's brief pertains to Muslims. It was legitimate for it to solicit information about Muslims --in keeping with the ruling alliance's National Common Minimum Programme, which promised to promote the welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities. Muslim under-representation in India's defence forces must be situated in context. As MIT-based scholar Omar Khalidi argues in his Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India (Three Essays, Delhi, 2003), the army embraced the discredited colonial 'martial races' theory which favoured certain 'fixed classes' like Gorkhas and Sikhs in recruitment. Muslims were excluded from this, except for groups such as the Qaimkhani community, and units like the Grenadiers, Armoured Corps and the J&K Light Infantry. It was only in 1984, after the 'revolt' by some soldiers of the Sikh Regiment following 'Operation Bluestar,' that the army adopted what's called the 'All-India Class'. Yet, the proportion of Muslims in the army remains under three per cent. Is this because of reluctance of Muslims to join the army, skewed distribution of recruitment or unacknowledged barriers to entry, including prejudices? We need to know. There's nothing illogical or 'divisive' about documenting the status of different communities in India's institutions. The United States army, for instance, regularly compiles data on Muslims, Blacks and other ethnic groups. The armed forces aren't an exception to the general concept of citizenship in a multi-ethnic society. Nor can they be exempt from scrutiny because they perform a role in defence. All citizens have a valid role to play in national life. Security derives not just from military defence but is linked to human security, justice, social cohesion and human rights. A data bank on the ethnic-religious composition of all public institutions is a precondition for measures to promote welfare, including affirmative action favouring the underprivileged. This need not take the form of quotas and job reservations. But that's not an argument against diversifying recruitment or promoting equal opportunity. The government can unilaterally announce that it will recruit more under-represented groups without embracing a quota system. A caring-and-sharing society must have room for such measures. In many countries, promotion of inclusive multicultural policies became possible only when they abandoned ostrich-like attitudes and confronted reality. After the 1980s race riots, the British police extensively surveyed its ethnic composition and prevalence of race- and ethnicity-related biases. This prepared the ground for diversity-sensitisation programmes, retraining and positive discrimination. Such examples are worthy of emulation. ____ [4] Tehelka (India) Mar 04 , 2006 A DANIEL TO UNDO GUJARAT'S NEROS The judicial history of the Best Bakery case puts faith back in some institutions By Colin Gonsalves The decision of Justice Arijit Pasayat in the Best Bakery case (overturning acquittals by the trial courts in Gujarat) is probably one of the finest examples of how a court can reassert the secular fabric of Indian democracy and stand up to militant communal elements when they seek to undermine democratic processes. In March 2002, the Best Bakery at Vadodara was burnt by an unruly mob killing 14 persons. Zaheera was the eyewitness. After she resiled from her statement in the trial court Zaheera appeared before the nhrc and complained that she was threatened by powerful politicians. The case arose when Zaheera Sheikh, one of the victims of the Gujarat carnage, resiled from her statements made in court earlier on her being threatened when she was in the witness box. The trial court without considering the circumstances leading to the witness turning hostile, acquitted the accused. The high court upheld the acquittal. The nhrc moved the Supreme Court questioning the acquittals. In criminal cases, the fate of the proceedings cannot always be left in the hands of the parties because crimes are public wrongs and they violate the public rights and duties of society in general. A fair trial therefore is a three-way situation where the victim, the accused and the community are vitally concerned. The role of a judge is to actively get all relevant materials on record to determine the truth and administer justice fairly. The role of the trial court judge becomes even more important when unruly crowds attempt to obstruct judicial hearings putting the safety of the victim and her witnesses in peril. So too, when the police or prosecutor acts in a manner favourable to the accused. The Supreme Court held: “In a country like ours with heterogeneous religions and multiracial and multilingual society which necessitates protection against discrimination on the ground of caste or religion, taking lives of persons belonging not to one or the other religion... may tend to encourage fissiparous elements to undermine the unity and security of the nation... strikes at the very root of an orderly society, which the founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of.” “When the ghastly killings take place in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, it raises a very pertinent question as to whether some people have become so bankrupt in their ideology that they have deviated from everything which was so dear to him. No religion teaches violence and cruelty-based religion is no religion at all, but a mere cloak to usurp power by fanning ill feeling and playing on feelings aroused thereby. The golden thread passing through every religion is love and compassion. The fanatics who spread violence in the name of religion are worse than terrorists and more dangerous than an alien enemy.” Looking through the records of the case, the Supreme Court found the public prosecutor acting as if he were the defence counsel, the (trial) court a silent spectator indifferent to the “sacrilege being committed to justice” and the investigation showing no interest to determine the truth. “The modern-day ‘Neros’ were looking elsewhere when Best Bakery and innocent children and helpless women were burning, and were probably deliberating how the perpetrators of the crime can be saved or protected.” Dealing with the approach of the high court and the acquittal, the Supreme Court said: “The entire approach of the High Court suffers from serious infirmities, its conclusions lopsided and lacks proper or judicious application of mind...Irresponsible allegations, suggestions and challenges may be made by parties. Decency, decorum and judicial discipline should never be made casualties by adopting such intemperate attitudes of judicial obstinacy.” Justice Pasayat’s order should also not give rise to complacency. The rise of the militant Hindutva rightwing has caused considerable confusion in the ranks of the judiciary. Judges ultimately come from the society from which they are chosen. Should the process of choosing judges not include an intrusive enquiry into their attitudes relating to secularism and the minority community? After all, we have had a former President Giani Zail Singh remark, while he was Union home minister, that he was an admirer of Hitler. Therefore when policemen, public prosecutors and judges are appointed to uphold the high values of the justice system, should we not during the selection process subject them to a scathing public scrutiny where their attitudes toward the poor, women, dalits and minorities are X-rayed? I shudder to think what would be the fate of the judiciary had Justice Pasayat not taken action. What would be the opinion of the judiciary in the minds of Muslims and other minorities who have suffered massacres again and again? Perhaps a time will come when the decision of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court in SR Bommai’s case — “the State has no religion” — will remain only a pious wish with communalism infiltrating and corrupting all the organs of the state. The writer is Executive Director, Human Rights Law Network ____ [5] OneWorld South Asia (UK) 26 February 2006 BHOPAL SURVIVORS TAKE A PADAYATRA TO THE CAPITAL Nityanand Jayaraman On February 23, 2006, Day 4 of the padayatra, we heard from the marchers. Sathyu Sarangi, one of the marchers, called from Pillukhedi, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, with breathtaking spreads of wheat fields, the gently flowing Parvati River, and smelly factories. Since they set off on February 20 on a padayatra (long march), survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster and their supporters have been out of coverage of cell-phone networks. Tired of broken promises, and lies and deceit, the Bhopalis have said enough is enough. About 150 of them set off on a march by foot from Bhopal to New Delhi, announcing beforehand that they would like to meet the prime minister and have him address all their demands. Of the 150-odd people who started out, only 58 padayatris are currently on the road. They are in great spirits. The youngest participant is getting a ride the whole way. One-year-old Karuna, fondly known as Moti or ‘the plump one’, is the only child on the march. They start walking early in the morning, by about 4.30 am and go on until 10 or so. They start again after a long rest at about 4 pm and go on for another four hours. The going has been tough, though, especially for those with health problems. It is likely to remain so for the next few days, after which the starting pains will disappear as the rhythms of walking assert themselves. They don't have a doctor with them yet. But last night, Biju (the ayurved masseur and therapist), Dr Mrityunjay (an ayurved doctor) and Anand, a community health researcher -- all from Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal – visited and treated people. Pillukhedi is the site of four big factories -- a spinning mill, the Vindhyachal Distilleries, a Coca Cola factory and a gelatine factory. "Very few people speak up against Coca Cola. Those that do say Coke and the other factories have spoilt the groundwater. One of the villagers who said he's a doctor -- I don't think he's really a doctor -- said that water samples from here showed high levels of fluoride. I think that is because of super-extraction -- when large quantities of water are sucked from the ground at a very high rate, it tends to erode the fluorides from the sub-surface rock formations," says Sarangi. The Bhopalis are at home here, in a sinister way. All the handpumps in the village have signs put up by the district administration saying: Water Unfit for Consumption. The water here is like "donkey urine," concur the villagers. It is yellow and smelly. It's been this way for three years, they say. While there is little overt resistance to pollution, all villagers speak out derisively about the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board. "Everybody says the Pollution Control Board officials come, take money and go. They're all corrupt," says Sarangi. Just like Bhopal. The distillery gives farmers the toxic sludge that remains after their effluents are treated to be used as fertiliser. Farmers say that it is okay for the first two years, but then the yield starts dropping. The Bhopalis have been here since last evening. They are waiting for friends to arrive from Mehdiganj, near Varanasi, where villagers are waging a vociferous battle against a Coca Cola factory for sucking local aquifers dry. Last night, they screened Bhopal Expressin the village. They talked about Bhopal, and about how to begin addressing the local problems of pollution. "We also told them about the Right to Information Act and how to use it in the local context. But these places need a lot more attention. We should see how we can do that," Sarangi notes. The villagers have given the padayatris vegetables and buttermilk. So last night there was Khaddi and Roti for dinner. The ex-sarpanch (village head) was also arranging for some milk, and if that comes, there will be kheer as well. The cooking is reportedly awesome. People take turns. The other day, Chotte Khan -- an imposing man with hennaed beard -- made the food, and it was excellent, they said. Chotte Khan is one of the long-distance runners in the justice struggle in Bhopal. In reminiscing during the mid-day breaks, he talked about how he was part of the massive demonstration against Union Carbide and Warren Anderson in December 1984, in the days after the disaster. His spirit is unflagging. Probably the reason why 21 years after the disaster, the struggle for justice and its supporter network worldwide is stronger than it ever was in the past. Petitions, emails and faxes have begun flooding Indian embassies worldwide, and in New Delhi. Supporters of the survivors are outraged at the insensitivity of the Indian and Madhya Pradesh governments to the needs of the survivors of the world's worst disaster. "More than 20,000 people in Bhopal are forced to consume poisoned water. Medical facilities for survivors are virtually non-existent, and survivors have to beg and bribe to access healthcare. Unemployment and desperation are at an all-time high. Toxic wastes abandoned by Union Carbide continue to poison people, and create a new generation of victims," the letter to the prime minister reads. Even more shocking two decades after the disaster is the realisation that the Indian government has decided to help Union Carbide and its owner Dow Chemical expand and consolidate its business in India. During the prime minister's September 2005 visit to New York, Dow CEO Andrew Liveris was one of the special invitees to a luncheon meeting. Within months of that meeting, a special cell was set up in the Planning Commission to facilitate the setting up of two petrochemical industrial estates in which Dow Chemicals and DuPont would invest substantially. When the Bhopalis reach Delhi, they will decide whether to launch an indefinite fast depending on the response of the Indian government. "We have had enough. If all our demands are not met, we're not leaving New Delhi," said Champa Devi Shukla, a woman leader from the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh. The march is being led by four Bhopal-based survivor and advocacy organisations: Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information and Action, and Bhopal ki Aawaaz. Lasting about 800 km, the marchers will cover about 30 km every day, and are completely dependent on local communities for food and shelter. SOURCE: Infochange India News and Features ____ [6] EFI NEWS PRESS RELEASE 805/92, Deepali Building, Nehru Place, New Delhi - 110 019, India Phone: +91 011 26431133; 26423726 Attack on Emmanuel Church in Jaipur, Rajasthan EFI expresses deep concern over the recent persecution of Christians at the hands of Hindu radicals. The agitated activists, said to be members of the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, reportedly broke into the Emmanuel Mission Senior Secondary School and made their way on to the roof of the church where they burnt the effigy of M A Thomas, founder of the Emmanuel Mission based in Kota. The activists were protesting against a book titled “Haqiquat” reportedly published and distributed by the Mission founder. The book allegedly derides Hindu and Jain deities. The activists also scribbled the “Om” sign on the cross, adding “Shri Ram” underneath. A similar act of vandalism was reported from the Pratap Nagar area of Sanganer on Wednesday where activists took over a Mission School and forced its children to leave school. Hindu outfits in the Hadoti region have been protesting against the book, authored by M J Matthew. The protest has now spread to different parts of the State, including Jaipur. The outfits have organised under the Matantaran Virodhi Manch and are demanding that the government take over the institute being run by Emmanuel Mission in Kota and appoint and administrator. The Emmanuel Mission was confronted by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists last year for allegedly indulging in religious conversion. We hope the Administration and Government in the State would not let the perpetrators of the crime go scott free and would do the essential to protect the christian community. Suggested action: The EFI is deeply concerned about this case and requests your immediate intervention. * Please uphold the Christians in Rajasthan in your prayers * Please write a letter to the addresses listed below expressing your concern about this issue. Respectfully, Rev. Richard Howell General Secretary Evangelical Fellowship of India EFI is a Charter member of the World Evangelical Alliance, an NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations your prayers and intervention. President of India, His Excellency Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Azad Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi - 110 004, India Phone: +91 11 23015321, Fax: +91 11 23017290/ +91 11 23017824 Website: http://presidentofindia.nic.in E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Prime Minister's Office Hon'ble Dr. Manmohan Singh Office Address Room No. 152, South Block, New Delhi 110001, India Phone: +91 11 23012312 Fax: +91 11 23016857 Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt. Vasundhara Raje Pratap Chowk, Jhalawar 326001, Rajasthan, India Fax: +91 0141 2227687 Phone: +91 0141 2227351 / +91 0141 2227462; Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home Minister of Rajasthan Shri. Gulab Chand Kataria Room No. 129 Secretariat Jaipur Rajasthan, India Phone: +91 0141 2227362 / +91 0141 2229300 Jaipur Collector, Government of Rajasthan Rajendra Bhanawate District Collector and District Magistrate, Jaipur Rajasthan, India Fax: +91 0141 5111411 Phone: +91 0141 5111412 Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India Honb'le Dr. Justice A. S. Anand Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg New Delhi-110001, India Tel: +91 11 23074448 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____ [7] The Hindutva of Development: Capitalist Development and Resistance in Gujarat Call for papers for Panel 48: 19th European Modern South Asian Studies Conference To be held in Leiden, The Netherlands 27-30 June 2006 Deadline for paper proposals: 1 March 2006. Convenor: Dr. Radhika Desai, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Abstract The political stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat has attracted much attention in recent years. However, the socio-economic background against which it is taking place that of one of the most successful capitalist development among the states of India – has received less attention. In many ways, the stabilization of Hindutva in Gujarat challenges much established understanding of the conditions of its growth in that much established understanding focuses on its hold on some of the least developed parts of India, such as UP. What are the principal patterns of economic growth in Gujarat? How are they related to the patterns of support for, and opposition to, Hindutva by class, gender, caste and community? What are the chief regional and sectoral variations in capitalist development? What are the specific patterns of labour exploitation? How do they vary by gender, caste, tribe and community? What forms of struggle, by workers, women, peasants, tribals and minorities have sprung up to resist this exploitation? How has the recent recession and agricultural crisis changed these patterns of economic growth of past decades? What are the solutions to those crises? What are the political patterns associated with these patterns of economic growth and the struggles to which it gives rise? How, in particular, are the patterns of economic growth associated with the political stabilization of Hintutva in the state? And what forces of resistance to Hindutva have these patterns of growth generated? In this panel I invite papers for the 19 ECMSAS in Leiden on the sorts of questions listed above and any kindred questions. Interested paper presenters should submit paper proposals by 1 March 2006 at the conference website at http://easas.org/ Just click on the link on the left which says 'panels' and then scroll down to Panel 48. If you have written the proposal already you will find it easy to paste it in the required field. Alternatively they can submit papers proposals clearly stating the name and number of the panel via post or fax via the ECMSAS Secretariat in Leiden at: ECMSAS Secretariat c/o International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) P.O. Box 9515 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands T +31-71-527 2227 F +31-71-527 2227 [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ . . . ] Any further questions and queries can be directed to the Panel Convener, Dr. Radhika Desai at [rdesai AT uvic.ca] _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, 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: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. _______________________________________________ Sacw mailing list [email protected] http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/sacw_insaf.net
