South Asia Citizens Wire | January 3-4, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2343 - Year 8 [1] Pakistan: Dangerous phase of sectarianism (Edit, Daily Times) [2] India: Communal Riots 2006 (Asghar Ali Engineer) [3] India : Inside Gujarat's Relief Colonies - Surviving State Hostility and Denial (Harsh Mander) [4] India: organizations of survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster condemn Tata's offer to clear the path for Dow-Union Carbide's investments (Harsh Mander () [5] India: Press Release Narmada Bachao Andolan [6] India: How the Congress fudged the language question (Mukul Kesavan) [7] India: Constitutional Provisions Religion, Quota and Law (Pran Chopra)
____ [1] The Daily Times January 04, 2007 EDITORIAL: DANGEROUS PHASE OF SECTARIANISM According to our security agencies, three incidents of terrorism in Karachi in 2006 - the blast at the US Consulate, the Nishtar Park massacre and the murder of Allama Hasan Turabi - were all carried out by the sectarian militia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and were planned in South Waziristan under the tutelage of Al Qaeda. The new combination is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Wana and Al Qaeda. One can also say that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is the blanket term now used for all manner of jihad in which all the Deobandi-Ahle Hadith militants have made common cause. We also know that all three incidents were staged through the device of suicide-bombings. This is clearly the Arab signature in the violence spreading in Pakistan. The same signature was appended to the attempts made on the lives of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz earlier. Therefore one of the lessons that those who object to the hanging of Saddam Hussein on the day of Hajj should remember is that sectarianism is blind to such considerations: the Nishtar Park massacre in which scores of Barelvi leaders died took place on Eid Miladun Nabi! All three incidents have been traced to Wana by the investigators: one ostensibly committed for Al Qaeda and two for the local sectarians. The bombing jacket of the boy who killed Allama Turabi was made in Darra Adam Khel at the behest of Al Qaeda, now spearheaded by Abdullah Mehsud who was released by the Americans from Guantanamo Bay in 2003. He returned to Pakistan and took his first revenge for the death of his mentor Mufti Jamil at the Banuri Mosque by abducting two Chinese engineers in the Tribal Areas, one of whom was killed during the rescue operation. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has finally moved to centre stage. Past news of its demise after the capture of Akram Lahori were, it seems, highly exaggerated. In fact now the entire conglomerate of jihadi militias has accepted a common sectarian banner, and this has come in the wake of Al Qaeda's own transformation from an intellectually fashioned anti-American organisation into an intra-Islamic exterminator of the Shia. This has been done through the mental somersault of equating the Shia - the government in Iraq plus, strangely, Iran - as allies of the United States! To understand what is going on we have to go back to the late 1980s when Al Qaeda was formed in Peshawar in the midst of a gathering sectarian storm in Pakistan. Because this wave was orchestrated by Saudi Arabia, Al Qaeda tried to keep away from it. But later, starting with the return of Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda elements to Jalalabad from Sudan after 1996, Al Qaeda had to accept a kind of coexistence with the sectarian militias which were taking training in its camps. That is why whenever Pakistan demanded the return of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi killers from the 'friendly' Taliban government, a deaf ear was turned to it, and the Lashkar terrorists continued to live in Al Qaeda camps outside Kabul. There were times when Al Qaeda was actually helped by Iran, especially during the tenure of Abu Musab Zarqawi as head of a training camp in Herat from where he infiltrated into Kurdistan through Iranian territory. After 2003, however, there was a cleavage of opinion inside Al Qaeda. Mr Zarqawi spearheaded the new trend of viewing the Shia of Iraq - and Iran itself - as the beneficiaries of the American invasion. At first Mr Al Zawahiri resisted this trend and Al Qaeda officially advised him in Iraq to stay away from Shia-killing, but later the prospect of a grand Sunni Arab consensus against Iran became irresistible and Mr Zarqawi was hailed as a martyr when he finally died in Iraq. Now Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is supposed to have planned a fresh targeting of the Shia community in the cities where they are found in large numbers: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Khanewal, Layya, Bhakkar, Jhang, Sargodha, Rahimyar Khan, Karachi, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Parachinar, Hangu, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpur Khas and Quetta. This is certainly a new challenge for the government in charge of facing up to sectarian violence in the country. Both the mainstream parties - the PPPP and the PMLN - faced it when they were in government but failed because of the exclusive handling of jihad by the intelligence agencies. Today all parties must stand united to reject what is coming. Above all, it is the MMA which has to look deep into its conscience and separate the biggest curse of religion, sectarianism, from the Taliban-style governance it supports. The alliance has lost many of its leaders to this curse without taking any effective action against some of its own members. It must not exploit the new situation by pinning the blame on the current government alone. If the opposition takes some sneaking pleasure in the rise of sectarianism in Pakistan as an instrumentality of removal of government, it will live to regret it. Pakistan is a large Muslim state with Shias that outnumber the Shias of Iraq. Its population has never been sectarian but is now gradually succumbing to the fear of violence. All politicians must come together to save the next generation of Pakistanis from the new orientation spreading in the Muslim world. Already, in some of the cities - like Gilgit, Parachinar, Bannu, etc - a kind of sectarian war among the people seems to have started. It must not spread further. So far the venting of anger has been targeted and not general. But the very foundation of a state founded by a Shia leader - the Quaid - is now at risk. Once they throw down roots these budding ethnic and sectarian conflicts never go away. And the states that allow them to become embedded are then faced by their own annihilation. We must learn this lesson before such a fate befalls us. * _____ [2] COMMUNAL RIOTS 2006 by Asghar Ali Engineer (Secular Perspective Jan. 1-31, 2007) This is as usual our annual survey of communal riots and events during 2006. This was comparatively an year with few riots. In fact post-Gujarat India has witnessed fewer riots. Gujarat was indeed another watershed like the one after post-Babri riots. It has been witnessed that after some major riot, subsequent years witness smaller and fewer riots. Mumbai riots after demolition of Babri Masjid by Sangh Parivar fanatics were also very intense and widespread in 1992-93 in which more than one thousand persons perished. After Mumbai riots there was no major riot with the exception of Coimbatore riots (in which 40 persons were killed) until Gujarat happened. Gujarat was really earthshaking both in its intensity and in its brutality and direct involvement of state machinery. In fact nothing like Gujarat had happened in post-independence period. Gujarat happened in 2002 and since Gujarat no major riot like it has happened. Such major riots perhaps make even communal forces make so nervous by exposure of media that it takes quite sometime for them to gather courage for next major communal riot. Also, after riots like the ones in Gujarat, 2002, it becomes difficult for communal forces to get peoples support for another one for quite some time. It is also important to note that the next major riot does not usually occur at the same place. For example, after Mumbai riot of 1992-93 next major riot took place in Gujarat, not in Mumbai. Similarly earlier during eighties many major riots took place but subsequent riot never occurred at the same place. So after Gujarat there has been no major riot so far. During 2006 several small riots took place in different places. The first riot occurred at Baroda on 17th January. Two groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed on some petty matter in which two persons were injured. The police and Rapid Action Force came into action and prevented further trouble. Three persons were arrested. On 3rd February there were clashes between those going for Friday prayers in Kamalmaula Masjid and Bhojshala temple for worship in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. The Hindu Jagran Manch, a Sangh Parivar unit has been claiming that Kamalmaula Masjid is a Hindu temple and Dhar has become communally highly sensitive place and clashes occur here frequently. More than 300 Muslims were prevented from entering the sque to pray and police had to resort to lathicharge and fire teargas shells and impose curfew. Muslims had to pray in a temporary structure outside. Later on curfew was relaxed and Hindus were allowed to perform puja. Very surprisingly clashes between Muslims and Buddhists occurred in Leh in J&K on 10th February. The mob set ablaze a house at Horay Gonpa in protest against the alleged desecration of Quran. 31 persons were arrested in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. The Quran was allegedly kept inside the mosque in Bodh Kharboo in Kargil. Curfew had to be imposed which continued for few days and Army had to stage flag march. Leh, in a sense, is communally sensitive as earlier too clashes had occurred between Muslims and Buddhists. There were clashes in Muzaffarnagar, U.P. between communities on 17th February during demonstrations against cartoons of the Prophet of Islam. Six persons were injured. The sentiments were inflamed as U.P.s minister of Haj Haji Muhammad Yaqoob announced reward of 51 crores of rupees for anyone who brings the head of the cartoonist. PAC was posted to control the situation. In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh also clashes occurred between Muslims and Hindus in which one shop was set on fire and 5 persons were injured on same day i.e. on 11th February in Char Minar and other areas. Hyderabad witnessed similar disturbances again on 24th February when a religious place was desecrated in Karwan locality. The faces of lions installed outside the religious place were found broken. Immediately large number of people collected and began stoning the houses of other community. Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the mob. On 3rd March Lucknow which is not so communally sensitive witnessed communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims in which 4 persons were killed while Muslims were staging demonstrations against Prophets cartoons after Friday prayers in Aminabad, Qaiserganj, Latoosh Road when Muslims forced shopkeepers to down their shutters. However, according to Muslim source disturbances started when Khatiks (Hindu slaughterers) stoned Muslims protesting against Prophets cartoons. Then firing started from both sides in which 4 persons were killed. Majority of those injured were Muslims. In retaliation Muslims stoned many vehicles and damaged them and set fore to effigies of Bush. Goa also witnessed communal violence on 4th March when Muslims took out protest march against demolition of a structure used for prayer by the minority community. To save the minority community, police claimed, they were evacuated. The Congress blamed the Hindu fundamentalists for disturbances. The Hindus stoned the Protest march. Then the mob ransacked several establishments and torched vehicles. Police fired in the air when someone attacked inspector Gaad and snatched his revolver. Two persons were injured in the firing. About 100 persons were arrested. Bangalore saw communal violence on 10th March when dispute started between members of two communities in a Muslim majority area of city on the question of barking of dog. The argument between youths of two communities and 9 persons were injured when stoning started and one person was seriously injured in stabbing. The police brought the situation under control. On March 26 Baroda witnessed communal violence once again in Fatehpura area. More than 100 persons gathered and stoned in which 6 persons were injured. The dispute between the two communities arose on small matter and soon engulfed the area in violence. Of the injured four were seriously injured and had to be hospitalised. Aligarh flared up on the eve of Navratri on April 6 and four persons were killed. The two communities indulged in stoning and firing. It was alleged that Muslims removed the decorative lighting of a temple and violence flared up. Then the clash occurred with Muslims in Sabzi Mandi and Daiwali Gali. In fact, some alleged that when a piyao (structure for drinking water) was sought to be used as temple and was decorated with lights on the occasion of Navratri, the dispute started and took violent form. Besides 4 persons who died, 13 were injured of which 6 were in critical condition. Curfew had to be imposed in the area of five police stations. On April 11, on the occasion of Prophets birth day Khandwa was engulfed in communal violence and in Pali in Rajasthan was also affected on this occasion. Twelve persons were injured in stoning in Khandwa. In both the places indefinite curfew was imposed. The police sources in Khandwa said that dispute started when some Muslims removed a Raavi Pandal in Jalebi chowk. In Pali, 10 persons were injured when a procession of Mahavir Jayanti was stoned. Some Muslims objected to procession being taken from Pinjara Mohalla and trouble started. Thana experienced communal disturbances on 24th April. It is reported that one Muslim was unloading wood from a truck when two Hindu youth objected. However, matter was apparently settled but at night around 10 p.m. some Hindu youth came with swords and attacked Muslim houses. But Bajrang Dal group leader Prakash Ramkumar Yadav claimed that clashes started when he and his father were attacked and injured. But Mahmood Dalvi said he received a phone call from the area and when he reached there Ramprakash Yadav, along with 150 others were attacking Muslim houses. They were saying that we will make this area Gujarat. It was also alleged that when Muslim houses were being attacked the local MLA Eknath Sinde and policemen were silent spectators. Muslims alleged that police was arresting us instead of mischief mongers and attackers. Muslims felt terrorised by Bajrang Dal activists and lack of police support. On April 25 one person was killed in Bhivandi, a Shiv Sainik, on the question of playing cricket. Four others were injured. It all started with a cricket ball hitting a Hindu woman and Muslim boys refusing to stop playing cricket. They forcibly stopped and slapped the boys. The boys threatened to return and settle score. They, some 30 in all returned with sticks, chains and stumps and attacked Mohan. Mohan later succumbed to his injuries. Police arrested six boys and was looking for 20 others. Baroda, communally highly inflammable place since early eighties, once again was in flames on May 1st when a three hundred year old dargah of Chishti Rashiduddin was demolished by Vadodara Municipal Corporation which sparked riots in which 4 persons were killed and more than 12 were injured in police firing. Two of the dead had bullet injuries while other two were stabbed. It was demolished as an illegal structure. How can a three hundred year old dargah be declared as illegal? Initially there was argument between residents of the locality but matter worsened when police intervened leading to riots which soon spread in different parts of the city. The police failed to disperse the mob by lathicharge and resorted to firing. Later on one Muslim was burnt alive along with his car and when people phoned control room police allegedly said Go to Pakistan. According to one estimate in all 6 persons died. On intervention by Kamaluddin Bawa, it was agreed by Muslims that a portion of Mazar could be sliced of for road widening but when Muslims discovered that VMC plans to demolish entire Mazar they protested. The corporators most of whom were from BJP also maintained that when they could demolish temples why cant VMC demolish dargah. But they forgot that temples were unauthorised and of recent origin whereas dargah was three hundred years old and could not be called illegal. Anyway it resulted in serious communal violence resulting in death of six persons. On 18th May dead bodies of two children were found in decomposed state in the dicky of a car belonging to a VHP leader. How heinous crimes these communal fanatics can commit! Aligarh witnessed another bout of communal violence on 29th May when a BJP leader was murdered and in retaliation two persons were killed. The police further extended the curfew which was already force since last eruption of violence and clamped it in two more areas. Thus curfew was clamped in all five police station areas. Ahmedabad also experienced communal violence after a scooter rider knocked down person of another community near a place of worship. The police resorted to lathi charge and in all 30 persons were injured both in lathicharge and stoning between persons of two communities. Next communal violence erupted in Karoli, Rajastan on 16th June when at a tea stall a mentally unstable person put cow dung on Quran and wrote objectionable things on it and showed it to people. This caused provocation to Muslims who set fire to two Hindu shops besides damaging some stalls. They then marched to collectors office and submitted a memorandum demanding action against the offender. Some Hindus set fire to an autorickshaw. There were some incidents of stabbing also. On 18th June there was incidence of communal violence in Goda village in Pratapgarh district of U.P. Two girls were burnt alive after the murder of a Hindu youth by some unknown persons. As the news of Hindu youths murder spread hundreds of people poured in Gonda village with weapons and attacked establishment of a Muslim community in Gonda, Baldu and Subedar villages. Over 100 houses were set ablaze in which two girls were charred to death. These three villages border on Pratapgarh and Raebareli districts. Immediate police reinforcements were rushed and situation was controlled. Some 100 persons were arrested. On fourth September Raesen town in M.P. saw eruption of communal violence. Some persons allegedly threw pieces of beef at Jain temple. Hearing this news Hindus began to gather in large numbers and began stoning shops belonging to Muslims and damaging them. The police tried to disperse mob by firing teargas shells and when crowd did not disperse it fired three rounds in the air. Police reinforcements and rapid Action Force was brought to keep situation under control. Ganpati festival is another occasion for eruption of communal violence. This year on 7th September Rabori area of Thane, near Mumbai and Usmanabad in Marathwada saw eruption of communal violence. In Rabori Muslims and those in the Ganpati procession clashed and began stoning but the police was quite alert and immediately brought the situation under control within 15 minutes. However, it was more serious in Usmanabad where those in the Ganpati procession began throwing gulal (red powder) at Muslims in an inebriated state. They threw stones at the mosque and several Muslim shops. They also began to set fire to shops and vehicles and broke open some shops. It went on till late at night. It began from Khwajanagar of Shams chowk and continued right up to Samtanagar, near the place where Ganpati is submerged in water. Police arrested 64 persons from both the communities. Nanded is another communally sensitive town in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. It witnessed communal violence on 29th September when student organisation Chava took out procession against reservation on religious grounds and passed through a Muslim locality and began stoning a mosque and damaged stalls selling iftar (breaking fast) eatables as it was month of Ramadan. These students having support of Shalinitai, a Maratha leader, were carrying lathis and other sharp weapons. They were shouting slogans against Muslims and attacked Abidin mosque near Bank of Hyderabad and damaged stalls selling fruits for Iftar. The vehicle belonging to Chava was full of stones. They were also carrying and waving swords. The police remained silent spectator and did not take any action against students. This procession was taken out when article 144 was in force. But police Dy.S.P. Abdurrazzaq claimed it lathicharged the processionists and arrested 30 of the Chava Organisation. Mangalore in South Karnataka is highly sensitive area and BJP has its stronghold here. Since the BJP became part of ruling coalition in Karnataka, the communal situation has deteriorated there. The police is playing partisan role and Sangh Parivar members have become quite bold. Mangalore area has history of communal violence. In 1998 Surathkal riots 8 persons were killed and Muslim properties were widely damaged. This time around 2 persons were killed in Mangalore area between October 4 and 7 but also in between hundreds of minor skirmishes took place between Hindus and Muslims. The communal polarisation has been created by BJP since 1992 when Babri Masjid was demolished and JP has reaped benefits in elections by winning 11 seats in Assembly elections of 2004 from the region. According to T.A. Jhonson of Indian Express several flashpoints for communal violence have emerged from the issue of transportation of cows in violation of a state law to eve teasing to inter-religious relationships. Also, the minorities complain of administrations bias since the BJP became partner in coalition. Ironically the Mangalore district is under the charge of a BJP minister. The rightwing Hindu youth feel that they can get away with anything. Those in 15-25 year age group are cause of frequent violence against Muslims and over-react on issues like cow transportation as they feel no action will be taken against them. However, Hamid Khan, member of the Muslim Central Committee said that police acted swiftly after outbreak of violence on October 4 and imposed curfew effectively, otherwise situation would have got out of control. The BJP minister Nagaraj Shetty also gave assurance that action will be taken against the guilty without politics. The Janata Dal (Secular) which allied with BJP blamed Bajrang Dal and SIMI for violence. On the occasion of Diwali on 22nd October communal violence erupted in three districts of U.P. Muzaffarnagar, Blandshahar and Ambedkarnagar. In Khalapar region of Muzaffarnagar a firecracker was ignited and dispute started with this between some Hindus and Muslims and violence erupted in which one person was killed and more than three were injured. There was firing from rooftops, which continued for half an hour resulting death of one person. Mulayamsingh declared compensation of Rs.5 lakhs for family of Pankaj killed in the clashes. Another person, a student of 11th class was murdered in Ambedkarnagar and communal disturbances started in which several people were injured including some police officers. Here many shops and houses were also damaged. >From what has been narrated above it can be seen that several small riots take place on small matters like playing cricket or lighting a cracker or someone being knocked down by a scooterist and so on. Why does it assume communal colour? The obvious reason is that communal forces indulge in communal propaganda and poison the minds of people and this continues throughout the year without any respite. This helps create communal mindset and even personal disputes between Hindus and Muslims then acquire communal colour and becomes cause of communal violence. Communal propaganda going on unceasingly becomes greatest obstacle in smooth relationship between two major communities of India. Unfortunately the governments even in the Congress ruled states does not contemplate any action against such propaganda though there are laws prohibiting such propaganda creating ill will between communities. Not only this there is pronounced bias in text books taught in government as well as private schools from primary to secondary levels. These text-books also help create polarisation in our country. Education has thus become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. One more thing which we observe from description of riots above that these incidents sparking communal violence do not assume major proportions only because political parties do not perceive any political benefit in spreading communal violence and police curbs violence by taking effective action. However, if politicians perceive any direct benefit they immediately exploit the incidents to create major communal flare up. Thus it is mainly politicians who are responsible for major communal flare up. The violence will be contained if politicians do not want and it will assume major proportions, if they desire communal violence for electoral politics like in Mumbai in 1992 and Gujarat in 2002. It is only proper awareness among people and active role of civil society actors which can help contain major mishaps. We need aware and vibrant civil society to contain outbreak of major communal violence. When civil society gets polarised on communal lines as in Gujarat, it becomes very difficult for civil society to intervene. _____ [3] Economic and Political Weekly December 16, 2006 INSIDE GUJARAT'S RELIEF COLONIES SURVIVING STATE HOSTILITY AND DENIAL by Harsh Mander Many of those who survived but were displaced by the widespread communal violence in Gujarat in 2002 have been forced to remake their lives in "relief colonies" that are without most basic public services. Surveys of these colonies and their inhabitants, five years after the violence, reveal not merely the miserable conditions in most of them, but also the denial of all support by the state that thus perpetuates the insidious ghettoisation of a community. FULL TEXT AT: http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=12&filename=10892&filetype=pdf _____ [4] Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha Bhopal Group for Information and Action Bhopal ki Aawaaz January 3, 2007 PRESS STATEMENT Addressing a press conference today leaders of four organizations of survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal strongly condemned Chairman Tata Group Ratan Tata's offer to clear the path for Dow-Union Carbide's investments in India by leading an effort to pay for and clean up Union Carbide's toxic waste in Bhopal. Displaying a poster of Ratan Tata with a garland of shoes around his neck they called the industrialist an anti-national element who was causing damage to the people and environment by facilitating the expansion of American multinational Dow Chemical in this country. The leaders appealed to Bhopal survivors to boycott Tata's salt as a mark of protest, and have launched a national boycott campaign. The leaders emphasized that Dow Chemical took over the environmental liabilities of Bhopal when it became the 100 % owner of Union Carbide in 2001. They said that according to the "polluter pays principle" which is valid both in USA and India Dow/Union Carbide must pay for the clean up in Bhopal. According to the leaders, the Tata family had helped the East India Company in smuggling opium to China, had functioned as the commissariat for the invasion of Ethiopia by the British army and had named its textile factory in Nagpur "Empress Mills" in honour of Queen Victoria. The Bhopal leaders see Ratan Tata following the footsteps of his ancestors in the Tata family and serving imperialist interests in his role as the Co-Chairman of the US India CEO Forum. The survivors' leaders stated that the head of the Tata family, JRD Tata had condemned the arrest of Warren Anderson, Chairman of Union Carbide in 1984 and demanded that Ratan Tata apologize to the people of Bhopal for this treachery by the Tata family. Pointing out the links between Tata and Union Carbide, the leaders stated that Keshub Mahindra who is accused as Chairman of the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide was also the Director of several Tata companies in 1984. David Good, former Director of the South Asian Bureau in the State Department of the US government and the official who denied Anderson's extradition to India is now Head of the Tata Corporate office in USA. The leaders described the environmental destruction wrought by Tatas in different parts of the country. They pointed out that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had singled out Tata's Chromite mines in Sukhinda, Orissa for causing widespread pollution and health damage. Similarly the Supreme Court appointed Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes has passed strong comments against waste disposal by Rallis - a Tata company in Patancheru near Hyderabad. In Mithapur Gujarat, Tata's factories have contaminated ground water and destroyed agriculture in villages such as Arambada, Bheemrana, Lalapur, Surajkaradi and Padli. In Jamshedpur, where Tata's run a steel plant, thousands of tonnes of boiler ash containing lethal heavy metals are dumped in the middle of the city at Jugsalai. Tata's collieries at West Bokaro in Jharkhand are responsible for the irreparable damage caused to the Bokaro river. In the Gulf of Kutch, Tata Chemicals is currently facing two cases in the Supreme Court of India for open drainage and pipe line through a reserve forest and a sanctuary. The leaders asked Ratan Tata to first clean his own backyard before attempting to clean up Bhopal. Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh 93031 32959 Syed M Irfan, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha 93290 26319 Shahid Noor Bhopal ki Aawaaz 98261 82226 Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi, Bhopal Group for Information and Action 98261 67369 Contact : House No. 60, Near Cold Storage, Union Carbide Road, Chhola, Bhopal Please visit <http://www.bhopal.net/>www.bhopal.net for more information on the campaign for justice in Bhopal ______ [5] Please note that the is pasted further below. NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN 62-Gandhi Marg, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh-451551 Phone: 07290-222464, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]/[EMAIL PROTECTED] 3rd January 2007 Jantar Mantar dharna site New Delhi Press Release ï NBA dharna in Delhi continues ï NBA delegation meets Smt. Veena Chhotray, Chairperson, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Sub-group, Narmada Control Authority ï Fraudulent affidavits submitted to Supreme Court by M.P. and Maharashtra stands exposed ï ìVisthapan Parishadî held at the Dharna site today The Narmada Bachao Andolan dharna in New Delhi today entered the 2nd day with hundreds of representatives of the affected adivasis and farmers in the Narmada Valley, who arrived here, resolving that they will not return till their demands, are met. The dharna, which began yesterday at the gate of Shastri Bhavan, continues at Jantar Mantar, after the agitating affected people were forcibly lifted and put into vans and brought to Jantar Mantar late last night. This police action is reprehensible not just because of the use of force on peaceful agitators, but also since it took place while the NBA delegation was in Shastri Bhavan, holding discussions with Smt. Veena Chhoutray, Chairperson R&R Sub-group. NBA has, in its talks yesterday with the Dr. Meira Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and Smt. Veena Chhoutray, expressed deep anguish at the fact that construction up to 122m had been completed even after the Shunglu Committee Report had clearly found that R&R was not yet completed. Also, despite the directions of Prime Minister that R&R work must be accelerated, during the period when there would be stoppage of work at 119m, and completed before work on construction of the dam was resumed. NBA then pressed for the undertaking of R&R work on war footing without any further increase in dam height. Towards realizing R&R of affected people, NBA placed a list of demands that is enclosed with the press release. The sacrificing of the rights of the affected populations at the altar of Sardar Sarovar is the violation of the rehabilitation framework laid down by the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and the several judgments of the Supreme Court. IT MAY BE RECALLED THAT IN THE ONGOING CASE IN THE SUPREME COURT, THE GOVERNMENTS OF MADHYA PRADESH AND MAHARASHTRA HAD FILED AFFIDAVITS STATING THAT THE R&R OF ALL PAFS UP TO 122M HAD BEEN COMPLETED. OWING TO THE NBAíS AGITATION IN MARCH/APRIL 2006 IN NEW DELHI, THE PRIME MINISTER DIRECTED THE FORMATION OF THE SHUNGLU COMMITTEE TO VERIFY THE R&R CLAIMS IN MADHYA PRADESH. THE FINDINGS OF THE SHUNGLU COMMITTEE, NOT ONLY VALIDATE THE CLAIMS MADE BY NBA, BUT EXPOSE THE LIES IN THE AFFIDAVITS OF THE GOVERNMENTS. THE REPORT ALSO BRINGS OUT THAT 25,000 FAMILIES (19000 DECLARED PAFS, OTHERS ëCLAIMANTSí) CONTINUE TO RESIDE IN THE SUBMERGENCE AREA OF M.P ALONE WHO WOULD HAVE TO BE RESETTLED AND REHABILITATED, LISTS OF MAJOR SONS WERE YET TO BE COMPLETED, LAND YET TO BE PURCHASED BY THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED SPECIAL REHABILITATION PACKAGE (SRP), TENS OF R&R SITES WERE YET TO BE EITHER ESTABLISHED OR DEVELOPED WITH AMENITIES AND THE GOVERNMENT OF MADHYA PRADESH DOES NOT HAVE CULTIVABLE LAND FOR REHABILITATION. THE REPORT OF YASHADA, PUNE, THE OFFICIAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION AGENCY APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA, HAS FOUND THAT 874 PROJECT AFFECTED FAMILIES ARE YET TO BE REHABILITATED. WHAT THIS GOES TO PROVE IS THAT THE AFFIDAVITS THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF MAHARASHTRA AND MADHYA PRADESH ARE FRAUDULENT. One of NBAís demands is that there should be an investigation into the massive corruption in the disbursement of cash compensation in the name of Special Rehabilitation Package (SRP) in M.P. The figures presented by M.P., of the PAFs rehabilitated in Madhya Pradesh or of those who are shown to have supposedly purchased land, are fabricated. There is massive corruption of crores or rupees by the officials (almost all land acquisition officers and resettlement officers) and the middlemen (especially few local advocates), which has led to false registries and land purchases that have not actually occurred. In the past month or so, several government officials have been found guilty of corruption practices in relation to SRP. An investigation by a Central Agency would reveal the obscene levels of corruption pervading this entire process. Today, ìVisthapan Parishadî (a public meeting of the displaced) was called to discuss the various issues related to displacement. Speakers, relating to experiences across India, strongly stated that displacement, without ërehabilitation with replacement of livelihoodí, just mere uprooting of communities, has become the most serious national issue. On the one hand, the traditional displacement caused by dams, highways, mines, industries, etc. still displace lakhs, on a yearly basis. Now the new ìland reformî movement of the government, namely SEZ, will further displacement like never before. Only humane considerations and a humanist value framework, which is enshrined in our constitution, can enable anyone and the State to take cognizance of the pain and anguish, the intensifying peopleís struggles, the issues of justice raised, rights to life and livelihood, asserted. The speakers included Ravindra Sahu speaking on Orissa, Shantaji (Sanjha Manch), Sandeep speaking on Singur, Rakesh Rafique, Lalbabu, Vimalbhai (Uttarkhand), Bijulal, Denzil, Kamala Yadav and Himanshu Upadhyay. The dharna at Jantar Mantar will continue and that is the resolve of the people from the Narmada Valley. The NWDTA and Supreme Court judgments have to be implemented and the R&R of people must precede any further dam construction. Like Bhaijikaka, an adivasi from Gujarat affected by the dam, always says, ìhamara hak aage hain, Sardar Sarovar peeche hainî (The rights of the affected comes first, projects can wait). Ashish Mandloi,Kamala Yadav,Yogini Khanolkar,Noorji Padvi,Medha Patkar NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN 62-Gandhi Marg, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh-451551 Phone: 07290-222464, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]/[EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Release 2nd January 2007 ï NBA dharna outside Shastri Bhavan (Delhi) ï NBA delegation meets Dr. Meira Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment ï Increasing the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from 119m up to 121.92m is complete ï Directions of the Prime Minister that further construction be undertaken after completion of balance R&R, thrown to the dustbin Today (2/1/07), the NBA began dharna outside the Shastri Bhavan, which houses the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and met with the Dr. Meira Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. The NBA delegation was accompanied by Swamy Agnivesh and Shri Praful Bidwai. In a long meeting with the Minister, the NBA delegation updated the Minister on the developments with regard to the dam and rehabilitation of project affected persons. The Minister promised to look into issues raised by NBA and get in touch later. The Minister, however, stated that since she has visited the Valley as part of the Three Member Ministerial Committee constituted by the Prime Minister last year, she was aware of the problems in the resettlement process. NBA resolved that the dharna would continue until the demands were met. NBA informed the Minister that the Sardar Sarovar dam was raised from 119 mts to 122 mts, the height that was approved in March 2006, but was, after a long struggle, investigations and continuing legal action, stayed. While the submergence caused by the 119 mts dam itself drowned and devastated adivasi families in the mountainous communities of Jhabua and Badwani (Madhya Pradesh), and Nandurbar (Maharashtra), there are altogether about 35,000 families, i.e. 1.5 lakh and more people living, even today, in the affected area of 122 mts. It is the 21 year long struggle and its continuation that has resulted in about 11,000 families getting land based rehabilitation, notwithstanding the numerous problems still being faced by them. Despite this, more than two lakh people continue to reside in the submergence area of full dam height which is 138.68 mts, with the gates planned to be erected above the wall of 122 mts. Rehabilitation of all these as per law and court judgments is not in sight since the state governments have raised a cry of ìNo cultivable land availableî. In lieu of land, Madhya Pradesh government is trying to pay cash through corrupt officials-middlemen-politicians nexus illegally. This nexus has grabbed crores of rupees from the public money in the exchequer, permitted by NO MONITORING by the Centre. Prime Minsterís promise to the apex court never kept intact, instead, the process of promises and violation, fraudulent and false affidavits has been on. The weak report by the Shunglu Committee (Oversight Group) brought out the fact that thousands of families are far from rehabilitated. The Committee, however, expects all this to change by the end of this financial year i.e. March 2007! The Prime Minister had assured the Court in July that the dam construction would not be taken beyond 119m without a review in October, and importantly, until R&R was completed. The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) and its R&R Sub-group, both held meetings and directed the State government to complete works at R&R sites to ensure that the affected get land as per eligibility, that all grievances are redressed and thousands of families shifted to the R&R sites, upgradation of the 49 average/poor R&R sites, etc. These are yet to be done. Yet again, even the Shunglu Committee has failed to ensure that R&R sites are established for the adivasi villages in Jhabua, where as of today, there are no R&R sites. Thousands of families thus do not have any place to shift. In Maharashtra, the situation remains unchanged for those hundreds of affected families facing submergence year after year but awaiting to be ìdeclaredî as affected persons and those who are declared but not yet rehabilitated. The problems of those affected families who still remain in their original villages in Gujarat, falls on deaf ears. The thousands of complaints received by the Grievances Redressal Authorities of these two states, points to the problems faced by even those who have shifted to the R&R sites. Despite all this, the dam was taken up to 122m! This is murderous. This is an utter violation of legal and human rights guaranteed by the law of the land and against the ethos of our constitution. Are the Courts watching? And on the top of it all, these sacrifices of huge displacement and burial of thousands of years old culture and cultural habitation went in vain. The speculated benefits from the very dam in terms of generating electricity, distribution of drinking water and irrigating of drought prone area still remain a distinct utopian dream. ï Drinking water could have been supplied to all the 8200+ villages even at dam height 110m itself, but has not materialised. Only about 1/4th of these received some water and of these, 10% have received water with some regularity. ï Irrigation potential at 110m was claimed to be an area of 5.5 lakh hectares but only 58,000 hectares was covered. Instead of taking action to cover up the rest of the target area first, what is happening right now is raising of the height of the dam from 110m to 122m by putting up the same target potential. Needless to add that the work on the canal network is lagging behind. ï Power to be generated at 122m is only about 50% of what the official statements claim. The main power-house will stop producing power once irrigation potential in Gujarat and from Indira Sagar in Madhya Pradesh are realized within few years. The people will have to challenge this state of affairs and this State! The dharna at Delhi will continue till all demands are met. Ashish Mandloi Kamala Yadav Noorji Padvi Medha Patkar ______ [6] The Telegraph January 04, 2007 A NECESSARY ALIENATION - How the Congress fudged the language question by Mukul Kesavan One way of understanding the enduring importance of English in India is by viewing it in the wider context of post-colonial nations. The world is full of relatively new countries (like ours) governed by English- and French- and Spanish-speaking elites. In these countries, as in India, the colonial state's language became the language of law, power, science, modernity and aspiration. The native inheritors of colonial states who possessed these languages enjoyed being a powerful elect and feeling cosmopolitan. That their cosmopolitanism was derivative, not home-grown, bothered a few amongst them but, as a ruling class, being anglophone or francophone was a matter of self-congratulation not concern. But to explain the role of English in independent India solely in these terms is to misunderstand the republic and underestimate the significance of English. The history of English in republican India has to be read alongside the history of Indian nationalism. Unlike every other post-colonial nation, Indian nationalists spent a lot of time side-stepping the temptations of a single identity. Religion and language and a homeland defined by one or the other or both were the precedents available from Europe's nationalist histories and non-European nationalisms derived from these, like Ataturk's Turkey. India's diversity led the Congress to invent a pluralist patriotism that was made up, in equal parts, of anti-colonialism and sleight of hand. The sleight of hand consisted of finding ways to continuously defer the question of national identity because in a country as various as India any definition of India's nature was likely to cause trouble. Anti-colonialism, deeply felt and wholly justifiable though it was, was itself a way of deferring the conflicts internal to Indian society (based on caste, class, faith and language) because it asked the Raj's subjects to sink their differences to present a united front against colonial rule. But the history of nationalism was so bound up with the idea of self-determination that the pressure to define the Indian self in question was constant, and the Congress wasn't immune to it. The novelty and originality of the Congress's pluralist take on Indian nationalism are more apparent now than they were then, because like most political movements, the Congress didn't take time off to theorize the content of its nationalism: it improvised it on the run, in response to its enemy, its constituencies, its strengths and vulnerabilities. And like the Bolsheviks who constantly invoked Marx, that prophet of the industrial proletariat, even as they brewed revolution in a peasant economy, the Congress invented a pluralist practice even as it struggled with the rhetoric and vocabulary of Europe's hegemonic nationalisms. You can see this in the iconic status that patriots like Garibaldi and Mazzini had for Indian nationalists, the influence of Young Italy, the way in which enthusiastic nationalists were described as Young Turks. But most strikingly, you can see the influence of this homogenizing nationalism in the insistent idea that respectable nations came wrapped in a single 'national' language. The idea that a nation not disciplined by one language was a disordered Babel was so powerful that even the Congress, normally so keen to duck questions of culture, was forced to confront it. This was partly because the question of language had become confounded in India with the idea of religious community. Till the summer of 1947, the Congress's official position was that the national language of independent India would be Hindustani written in two scripts, Farsi and Devanagari. Gandhi, along with many other Congressmen, would have preferred Hindi written in Devanagari, but the potential of the Hindi-Urdu controversy to create communal trouble led them to accept this compromise position. The odd thing about the Congress sponsorship of Hindustani as India's national language was that this pluralist compromise was squarely aimed at a republic dominated by north Indian quarrels. Because Hindi and Urdu together formed the largest language group in the country, the Congress, otherwise so scrupulous about cultural majoritarianism, had decided that Hindustani would be India's national language. The closest the Indian republic came to Hindu chauvinism in the matter of culture was when, in response to Partition, the Congress did an about-face on the language question and decided, as early as late 1947, that the national language would be Hindi written in the Nagari script. The implication was that now that the majority of India's Muslims had constituted themselves in a separate Muslim state, Hindustani was an unnecessary form of political correctness. The Indian state, while recognizing all India's major languages as national languages, made Hindi pre-eminent as the pan-Indian language of the nation. But this lurch towards the idea that nations were ordered by a unifying national language was reined in by the creation of linguistic provinces, the de facto acquiescence in the rejection of Hindi as an official language by non-Hindi states and, most crucially, in the indefinite retention of English as India's official link language alongside Hindi. Just as the national movement was willing to use the menace of the colonial state to postpone the settling of scores within Indian society by holding out independence as a panacea to everything, the moment it won that independence, the young republic began using aspects of that state's foreignness to umpire the quarrels produced by India's diversity. The Congress, as was its habit, fudged the language question. It succumbed to the Hindi lobby by nominating Hindi as the national language, and then defanged the resentment that the hegemony of Hindi might have caused by refusing to follow through on the logic of a pan-Indian 'national' language. Paradoxically, English, the language of colonial exploitation, became the republic's guarantee against linguistic strife. As happened so often with the pluralist nationalism improvised by the Congress, this stratagem didn't 'solve' the question of language - it postponed it. The retention of English as the language of pan-Indian government bought the republic time. It blunted the sharp edge of linguistic assertion and it allowed this pluralist state in its infancy to shirk the responsibility of forcing some definitively Indian language down unwilling Indian throats. By helping the young republic duck the dangers of defining an authentically national self, English enabled the development of a benign pluralism. ______ [7] Deccan Herald January 3, 2007 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS RELIGION, QUOTA AND LAW by Pran Chopra Encouraging Muslims to get education and apply for jobs in large numbers can increase their presence. An interesting change has been taking place lately in the views of Muslims regarding the question whether a quota in government jobs should be "reserved" for those Muslims, who face the same traditional deprivations as are faced by Scheduled Castes or Backward Classes, for whom there have been reservations for decades. The changes represent a departure by many Muslims from the position taken by them earlier, that there are no discriminations among Muslims on the basis of class or caste and therefore they do not want such reservations, or want them only as Muslims, not as persons belonging to a particular caste or class. The changes became more noticeable after some loosely worded comments were made in public by a few Union ministers, who were perhaps misled by some words in the Constitution which had been clarified in a 1966 judgment by the Supreme Court, in Venkatraman v/s the State of Madras. The Muslim public mind might have misread the position when a Cabinet minister said that the Constitution, as it stood, allowed job reservations for Muslims, or misread more when the Sachar Committee report added that the condition of many Muslims was no better than that of the Scheduled Castes, or still more when the Prime Minister spelt out his priorities for improving the lot of the Muslims. Of course the Constitution was there for all to see. But it is doubtful whether it was seen by everyone in the context of the Supreme Court judgment in the Venkatraman case. Clause 16(1) of the Fundamental Rights says: "There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State". But clause 16(4) adds "Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State". Since the Sachar report has said that the condition of Muslim employment is worse than that of Scheduled Castes who, as can be argued, have been given reservations to improve their "representation" in "the services of the State", a hurried reading of clause 16(4) can lead the unwary to conclude that the Constitution, as it is, can provide for "reservations" for Muslims too. But such a reading would miss the difference between the Muslims as a "community" on the one hand and on the other hand the Scheduled Castes as a "backward class", which is the crux of the judgment in the Venkatraman case. As explained by Seervai, widely recognised as the most authoritative commentator on court decisions, "clause 16(4) only permits reservation for Backward Classes and not for any person, who does not belong to it". As though to underline the difference between "reservation of posts on communal lines" and reservation for Backward Classes, Seervai says "distribution of offices among communities according to fixed quotas or ratios infringes clause 16(1)". Such wording in the Constitution might suggest that the difference between clauses 16(1) and 16(4) is only in sociological terms and not in legal or judicial terms. But that is not so. The difference sums up the difference between the basic logic, which underlies the decision by the Constituent Assembly to provide reservations for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, and none for religious communities. These facts lent force on two counts to the demand for reservations. It supported the backward classes' argument that having been suppressed for centuries they had lost their capacity to compete with others on an equal footing, and to recover it they needed a position of advantage for some time. Second, the force of this argument (plus the force of their votes) inclined the higher caste Hindus to agree. There is no such history of suppression of Muslims by Hindus (rather the reverse), which would justify job reservation. On the other hand current history shows that Muslim presence on the campus and in the job market was depressed by nothing so much as by the departure of the better educated and more resourceful Muslim elite for Pakistan in and after 1947. That also explains the low ratio of those who fully qualify for the job among those who apply. Present times have also added a note of warning in the form of what has been happening to inter-caste relations within the Hindu society as a result of the clash between the demand for reservations by the lower castes and resentment against it by the higher. Echoes of this warning are to be heard in the advice of one of the most thoughtful Muslims in this debate over the advantages and dangers of reservations. Writing in the latest issue of Muslim India, a leading Muslim academic, Prof Imtiaz Ahmad, says "Given its highly contentious nature, en bloc reservation for Muslims as a community, on which the elite Muslims have been insisting for so long, is likely to generate conflict not only between Muslims and others but also within the Muslim community". What needs to be ensured is that Muslims figure much more on the campus and in the job market than they do. Unfortunately even the Minorities Commission has ignored the means of doing it. Distribution among communities as per fixed quota infringes the Constitution. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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: 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
