South Asia Citizens Wire | May 2-4, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2399 - Year 9
[1] Sri Lanka: Warning Signs that Democratic
Space is Threatened (National Peace Council)
[2] Bangladesh: Freedom from fear (Zafar Sobhan)
[3] Pakistan: Keep religion at bay - letters
- Conversion of [Karachi's] Nisar Shaheed
Park into Lal Masjid (Naeem Sadiq)
- No to Ninja Nuisance - A Letter to the Editor (Isa Daudpota)
[4] Indian Army and the Peace Process in Kashmir (Ram Puniyani)
[5] India: Learning To Speak Caste (Satish Deshpande)
[6] India: Predator State (Editorial, Hindustan Times)
[7] India: We need to talk about narcoanalysis (Sriram Lakshman)
[8] India: In the wake of Nandigram A call by
concerned citizens for A People's Convention
____
[1]
National Peace Council
of Sri Lanka
12/14 Purana Vihara Road
Colombo 6
Tel: 2818344, 2854127, 2819064
Tel/Fax:2819064
E Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet: www.peace-srilanka.org
04.05.07
Media Release
WARNING SIGNS THAT DEMOCRATIC SPACE IS THREATENED
The deterioration in the security situation has
had a catastrophic impact on substantial sections
of the civilian population, especially those
living in the north and east. In this context the
government has recently decided to vest powers of
the police with the military.President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has issued a gazette notification that
the armed forces are expected to perform the
functions of the police. The National Peace
Council is extremely concerned with this latest
development. We are apprehensive that this
government decision will send wrong signals and
lead to an aggravation of the hardships faced by
the civilian population.
The new regulations come at a time when there are
reports of violations of human rights by both
police and military personnel. According to
preliminary findings announced by a civic group,
PAFFREL, which is working together with the Human
Rights Commission and the Police, about 30 police
and military personnel are among 452 persons
arrested in connection with human rights abuses,
including abduction, disappearances and murders.
The National Peace Council believes that these
findings reiterate the importance of restoring
the integrity of law and order processes in the
country.
One positive initiative by the government that we
welcome has been the order of the Defence
Secretary to the security forces that they should
strictly follow guidelines that respect human
rights in making arrests and detentions.
However, the vesting of police functions in the
armed forces can negate this positive order. The
police function is a civilian one, and the
military is not trained in police methods of
dealing with disturbances to law and order. This
decision can also send wrong signals to the
security forces, and to local and international
society regarding the direction of the government.
There is an urgent need for the government to
demonstrate clear political will in regard to law
and order processes if it is to retain the
confidence of the civilian population that it is
not taking the country on a journey to anarchy
and to the breakdown of democratic governance.
This past week has seen the assassination of yet
another journalist in Jaffna, belonging to the
Uthayan newspaper and threats to stop work that
are being levelled against NGOs in the name of
the TMVP (Karuna group), which TMVP spokespersons
deny making. It is incumbent on the government to
take these complaints seriously and to take
measures to apprehend the culprits so that faith
in the democratic institutions of the country may
be on the path to restoration.
Executive Director
On behalf of the Governing Council
_____
[2]
The Daily Star
May 04, 2007
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
by Zafar Sobhan
What was the worst thing about pre-January 11
Bangla-desh? Different people will have different
answers to this question: some would point to the
unbridled corruption that reached its tentacles
into every corner of the country's affairs, some
would say that it was the culture of complete
lack of transparency and accountability.
Some others might suggest the absence of any kind
of rule of law which meant that the powerful
could do whatever they wanted with virtual
impunity. Then again, some might point to the
lack of opportunities or the government's
inability to (or unwillingness) to focus on the
concerns of the poor.
I would suggest that the worst aspect of
pre-January 11 Bangladesh -- and a failing that
encompasses many of the above complaints (many of
which are inter-connected) -- can be classified
under the rubric of lack of human security.
Human security, which can also be understood as
freedom from fear, has two components. The first
is a simple law and order equation: Can the
government of the day ensure my safety and
security from non-state actors?
However, far more salient is the second component
of human security: Can the government of the day
ensure my safety and security from the state (or
its representatives) itself? In the context of
Bangladesh, this is an especially relevant
question, as the bulk of the insecurity that
everyday men and women have had to suffer through
the years has come at the hands of
representatives of the state.
In other words, it is not so much non-state
actors but state actors that we need protection
from -- i.e. from the police, from Rab, and even
when it is non-state actors (e.g. common
criminals or mastans) the bulk of the threat
comes from those who are politically connected,
which again implicates state actors. Similarly,
the nexus between criminals and the police and
the courts is again a function of the individual
being persecuted by the state's actions and
inactions.
To me, human security is the bare minimum. The
absolute minimum I expect from any government is
that it keeps me safe and protects my security.
Specifically, I would expect that it keep me safe
from its own clutches. This, to me, is the
over-riding responsibility of a government. If it
cannot keep me safe from non-state actors, then,
at the very least, I should not have to worry
about my safety at the hands of state actors.
Nor do I think that this is an elite/urban
concern. Indeed, I would argue that this concern
is heightened the further down the social and
economic ladder you go. The less money and status
you have, the more vulnerable you are, both to
common or garden crooks and also to persecution
at the hands of the authorities. You are more
likely to have to pay tolls and extortions, to
have to worry about physical and sexual assault,
and will have even less ability to access the
courts and police stations to seek redress for
your grievances.
Human security is the corner-stone of existence.
If we can be secure in our person and effects,
then the rest will follow. If we are not secure
in our person and properties, then everything
else is evanescent and ephemeral, everything we
have can be taken away from us at a moment's
notice.
So, when I look at the current government, this
is the question I ask: Are we now more secure
then we were before January 11? And in judging
what comes after the current dispensation, the
question that I would ask is the same: Will we be
more secure than we were before January 11?
What kind of security should we expect and demand
from our government? The security that we will
not be killed in cross-fire. The security that we
will not be subjected to any extra-judicial
punishment. The security that we will not be
subject to arbitrary arrest. The security that we
will not have to worry about being disappeared.
These kinds of abuses were routine prior to
January 11, and to the extent that they are still
happening and that they may still continue in the
future, are serious cause for concern.
Freedom from fear is the most important of
freedoms.If you don't have that, you don't have
anything. No freedom of the press -- who would
dare criticize the government in such a climate?
No accountability -- how can one begin to
petition for redress if such petitioning earns
one a one-way ticket to the slammer? No peace of
mind -- how can we enjoy anything if we are
constantly looking over our shoulders or weighing
every word, wondering whether this will lead to a
phone call or a late night visit from the
authorities?.
So, whatever we do and whatever else is going on,
I would suggest that the most important task
before the interim government is to remove this
uncertainty and fear from the air. If that were
done, then the benefits -- to the country, to the
individual, and to the government -- would be
incalculable.
At a very basic level, creating a climate of
security, free from fear, is simply the right
thing to do, and the benefits are self-evident.
Life without security is no life. But, beyond
that, the pragmatic benefits for the country
would be immense.
Think of the creative energy that would be
unleashed if the people of Bangladesh were able
to feel fully secure in their persons and
properties. Think of the knock-on effect to the
economy if people didn't have to fear
repercussions for whistle-blowing or uncovering
corruption.
So let's judge this current interim government by
how successfully it is able to create this
atmosphere -- and let us look at any future
government according to the same lights. If they
succeed in ensuring our security and freeing us
from fear, then I will think that maybe, at long
last, we are getting somewhere as a nation. But
if they do not, and all we can look forward to
are more years of looking over our shoulders,
then it isn't entirely apparent to me how this
would be different from where we were on January
10.
Zafar Sobhan is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.
_____
[3] [TWO LETTERS FROM PAKISTAN]
From: Beena Issues [ groups.yahoo.com/group/beena-issues/ ]
2 May 2007
[i] From Naeem Sadiq in Karachi: "You may send this letter directly to
DHA, at the given address, obtaining signatures from those who agree."
To Administrator,
Defence Hofficers Housing Authority
2-B, East Street, Phase 1, DHA, Karachi.
CONVERSION OF NISAR SHAHEED PARK INTO LAL MASJID.
True to the Mulla-military cooperative tradition,
the DHA has gone out of its way to squeeze
mosques at places where they have no business to
be. Nisar Shaheed was one very good park, till
the DHA management installed a mosque within its
four walls. It was originally a small prayer
area, which gradually (just like the Islamabad
Lal Masjid), expanded into a larger place , got
cemented, and provided with 'wuzu' areas and loud
speakers. The mosque was not a part of the
original design of the park and was made
illegally to appease one section of people.
Those who go the Park to spend some relaxed and
quiet time find it increasingly difficult to do
so any more. Specially between 7pm and 9pm which
is the peak time for walkers and joggers, the
areas and tracks around the mosque are taken over
by dozens of 'Nimazis', obstructing those who are
engaged in their regular exercise. Would the DHA
allow similar loud speaker operated separate
religious congregations for those who belong to
other sects or other religions. Does the DHA not
know that there are four other mosques located
all around the park, and therefore there is no
need of allowing loud speakers and religious
congregations inside this park. The DHA, unless
it intentionally wishes to create a Jamia Hafsa
like situation, would be well advised to take
some immediate actions. It could stop all
religious congregations in the park premises,
prohibit the use of loud speakers, and ensure
that park is used only for the purpose it was
built for.
[ii] Letter to the Editor by Isa Daudpota (would love to know which
paper prints this and with what changes - bs)
NO TO NINJA NUISANCE
My eighty year old Lahori aunt and the country's
police force have one thing in common. My
gynecologist aunt refuses to employ any staff in
her clinic who wears a hijab, let alone the
face-hiding Ninja headgear, which is becoming
increasingly common in our cities. Patients need
to communicate unambiguously with their
care-givers -would you like a Ninja peering down
your mouth or another orifice, or asking you
questions muffled by a face-clinging fabric?
Lone Ranger had his day. Today the police refuse
talking to masked men. They sometimes even haul
up those who drive in cars with privacy
preserving dark glasses. In our fear-laced
times you need to know exactly whom you are
talking to.
The same concern applies to educational
institutions where it becomes impossible to
communicate with Ninja female students with
blinking eyes. This is made worse when the
lecturer too adopts this garb. While a hijab
maybe recommended according to some religious
interpretations as a means of maintaining
personal modesty, the Ninja version of it isn't!
Thus the paragons of modernism in the Ministry of
Education and the Higher Education Commission
should issue orders banning the masked headgear
in all education institutions.
As for the militant women in places such as Jamia
Hafsa the solution is clear. If they stopped
being supported by government agencies, they
could be flushed out by means commonly known. A
more humane way is to show them a better
alternative: have the Aabpara Community Center
located near their madrassa offer good discounted
food, show interesting enlightening films, free
internet access and classes in modern thought.
Also teach skills, which get them employed in a
worldly job.
Pakistan's dilemma is clear-cut though: it
cannot rest in peace until religion remains mixed
up with the workings of the state. It is time
that those who gain international publicity using
the slogans of modernism show their concern by
stamping out the menace of the Ninjas. Such
hypocrites refuse to even voice their concern in
unambiguous terms.
Q. Isa Daudpota
Islamabad
______
[4]
Issues in Secular Politics
May 2007 I
ARMY AND THE PEACE PROCESS IN KASHMIR
by Ram Puniyani
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of People's Democratic
Party, the party ruling in alliance with Congress
in Kashmir, recently called for demilitarization
of the state and withdrawal of the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act (April 2007). This demand
was looked at with great amount of skepticism on
the ground that how can we control the armed
militancy in the state without the army presence
and the special act to back that up. It is
noteworthy that since the last elections when the
electoral process was more democratic than the
earlier one's, there is reduction in the overall
militant actions in the state. It is also worth
noticing that the atmosphere for dialogue and the
amity within communities is better than before.
Surely it is comparatively more representative
character of this government, which has improved
the situation. The question is, is it army, which
can end the militancy, or is it the democratic
character of the government and the keenness for
dialogue with the disgruntled elements, which can
further improve the situation. To begin with
let's realize that army is trained to deal with
'enemy armies', enemies only , its functioning is
totally authoritarian and it has its own methods
very different from the civic norms of a
democratic society. It is all right that an army
is deployed in some area for a short while, but a
prolonged deployment of the army creates further
problems and civilian life suffers a set back
which tantamount to loss of trust in the ruling
government, alienation of people and further
boost to the phenomenon which bring in militancy
in the first place.
As such Kashmir has been in the news most of the
times for last few decades but unfortunately for
the wrong reasons. On one hand we have the
militancy, military's heavy handed actions, fake
encounters, missing young men, half widows and
streaks of blood on the greens of the valley, on
the other there are efforts to bring in peace
through dialogues and still on the other we have
the gross misrepresentation of the events of
Kashmir to communalize the mass consciousness'.
Communal elements have presented it as a
Hindu-Muslim problem and have propagated that
events in Kashmir are one more example of 'Muslim
separatism', while the real issue relates to the
historical roots, the regional power equations
and the ethnic identity of Kashmir. The debate on
the efforts to bring in amity in the valley needs
to be seen in the historical genesis of the issue
and complexities of the present, the changing
tilt of US with the aim to bring peace in the
bullet torn edifice of the society. Also mistakes
of the past need to be shunned if we aspire for
the harmony and justice.
With India's independence the Princely states
were given three options, one to merge with
India, two to merge with Pakistan and three to
remain independent. While most of the princely
states merged with India or Pakistan, the king of
Kashmir, Hari Singh decided to remain independent
on the ground that his 'Hindu' Kingdom cannot
merge with secular India. While the king was
Hindu, majority of populating of Kashmir was
Muslim. Pundit Perm Nath Dogra, of Praja
Parishad, the precursor of BJP, Bharatiya
Jansangh, endorsed his stand. Later Hari Singh
offered standstill agreement to both India and
Pakistan. As per this some state functions were
to be shared with Pakistan and India. India
rejected the offer; Pakistan accepted it and its
postal department started serving Jammu and
Kashmir.
When Pakistan army, dressed as tribal attacked
Kashmir, the people of Kashmir did not want to
merge with Pakistan and accordingly the President
of National Conference, Sheikh Abdullah and
representative of Maharaja Harisingh went to
Delhi to urge upon the Indian Government to send
the army to Kashmir to quell the Pakistani
aggression. As at that time, Kashmir was not part
of India, Indian Government did not accept this
request. The negotiations to help Kashmir
resulted in the treaty of accession according to
which Kashmir was to have total autonomy barring
in the matters of defense, external affairs,
communication and currency. Kashmir was to have
its own Constitution, with Sadr-e-Riyasat and
Prime Minster. It is on these terms that Indian
army went to Kashmir to quell the Pakistani
aggression. Indian army stalled the Pakistani
army, but by that time Pakistani army had
occupied nearly one third of Kashmir. The matter
was taken to United Nations, where it was
resolved that plebiscite will be held, to
ascertain the wishes of Kashmiri people, after
Pakistani and Indian armies withdraw from
Kashmir. Neither of the armies withdrew and no
plebiscite took place.
The elections held in Kashmir led to the victory
of National Conference and Sheikh Abdullah was
chosen the Prime Minister of Kashmir. The major
achievement of Sheikh Abdullah was land reforms
without any compensation to the landlords. As
such Kashmir was a society, which stood on the
foundation of Sufi Islam, values of Vedant and
Buddhism. These are the ingredients of
Kashmiriyat. After the Kashmiri assembly came to
take charge of things, the ultra nationalists and
Hindu communalists in India started the campaign
for abolition of the clauses of autonomy of
Kashmir, demanding its total merger with India.
The pressure of this 'forcible integration of
Kashmir' led to a discomfort amongst the people
of Kashmir, and Sheikh Abdullah voiced his
concern that Indian Government is going back from
its earlier promise. With his statement calling
for respect of treaty of accession, he was dubbed
as anti Nationalist and was put behind the bars.
His imprisonment may be amongst one of the few
cases of imprisonment of an elected chief of the
state.
His imprisonment was the first act due to which
the process of alienation began in Kashmir. This
alienation was aggravated further by the
political parties in power in Center trying to
impose their agenda of power sharing with the
National Conference. The rigging of elections was
a regular phenomenon in Kashmir. With this the
alienation of Kashmiri youth turned in to
militancy, duly supported by Pakistan, which in
turn was backed by the US. The local militants
were joined in by the one's trained in Pakistan
and later joined by the Al Qaeda elements.
The militancy in Kashmir initially was not based
on communal ground and Kashmiriyat remained the
overarching goal. In the decades of 80s the
militancy did assume communal color, targeting
the Kashmiri Pundits. Jag Mohan intensified the
problem by encouraging the Pundits to leave the
valley on the plea that every Kashmiri Muslim is
a terrorist and Pundits face the physical threat.
Hanging of Maqbool Butt and rigging of elections
worsened the problem giving a further boost to
separatist tendencies in the valley. The issue
was communalized in the country by presenting it
as a Hindu India versus Muslims of Kashmir. The
communal elements in the country made a heavy use
of this issue to polarize the society. The
response of Indian government was to go on
increasing the presence of army in the valley.
Today the number of military personnel is so
heavy that the air is thick with intimidation of
the army guns. The local Kashmiris are the
victims of the acts of the militants and that of
Indian army. Army treats most of the civilians as
suspects.
This alienation of local people and gross
violation of human rights needs to be redressed.
The restoration of part of democratic process
during last elections has been a welcome sign.
Any area under military presence cannot breath
freely. Too many disappearances, senseless
killings and the orphaned children tell the story
of state of affairs in Kashmir. The confidence of
local people has been shattered by this approach,
which looks at Kashmir as the real estate to be
acquired at any cost. Kashmir as the inseparable
part of India on one hand and Kashmir a Muslim
majority state cannot be part of India, these
contrasting positions need to be countered to
respect the autonomy and aspirations of Kashmiri
people. That is the only way to restore the human
rights and amity in the valley, which is being
wounded by the guns of dissatisfaction and
weapons trying to control the aspirations of
people.
Today the thinking on the Kashmir issue has to
begin with the idea of respecting the wishes and
well being of Kashmiri people, and to apply the
soothing balm to the wounded psyche of average
person in Kashmir. While dialogue with the
dissident factions goes on we need to reduce the
heavy-handed presence of army in the area. We
also should register the fact that a long stay of
army will affect the way of thinking of army
itself. We have heard about the incidents like
Chittsinghpura massacre of innocents at the hands
of our own army, many an army personnel have
tried to bake their own bread under the guise of
their uniform. By winning over the trust of the
people we can definitely reduce the intensity of
militants' actions, and in due course bring in a
more hospitable atmosphere. A long-term view of
the matter is equally important. To begin with we
need a social audit of the actions of army and to
devise a mechanism where by armies actions are
not arbitrary but are subject to civic scrutiny,
and involvement of civilians and political
representatives in the process of planning the
actions of army.
The over all improvement in the situation needs
to be welcomed and path for further improvement
sought in a proactive way.
______
[5]
The Times of India
3 May, 2007
LEARNING TO SPEAK CASTE
by Satish Deshpande
That fount of all contemporary wisdom - the
Internet - offers an involuntary but acute
diagnosis of the predicament of caste via this
feeble joke: India decides to send a 20-member
space exploration team to the moon, and the caste
quotas are decided immediately - six SCs, four
STs, eight OBCs, and, if possible, two
astronauts. While the intent of the joke is all
too obvious, the unintended insight is in the
fact that the 'astronauts' have no caste, but the
'reserved categories' have only their caste.
The joke rightly assumes that although we tacitly
know the caste of the astronauts, we agree that
it is not relevant, only their qualifications
('astronaut') are. It also assumes, rightly
again, that although we tacitly know that the
'reserved categories' would also have
qualifications, we agree that they are not worth
mentioning, only their caste is. In short, the
joke knows exactly who 'we' are and who 'they'
are and why the two can never mix.
This, then, is the predicament of caste today:
its invisibility - or persistent denial - in one
context versus its hypervisibility - or constant
invocation - in another. India is split into two
irreconcilable parts. One part appears to be
divesting itself of caste, having climbed on to a
plateau of economic and educational security
where the normal rules of the game are now in its
favour.
But the larger part of society is still heavily
invested in caste, because it is trying to climb
the steep slope of inherited disadvantage, and
caste is the only lever it has to reduce the tilt
of the playing field. These unequal and opposed
parts are also mutually reinforcing in a strange
way. It is as if each must weave what the other
must unravel. How and why did we get here? Is
there a way out?
The first clue to how we got here is in the
peculiarity of caste as an institution marked for
abolition. Unlike religion or other aspects of
traditional culture, there was nothing in caste
that was thought to be worth preserving. Modern,
progressive Indians could (at least in public)
only desire 'the annihilation of caste', to use
Babasaheb Ambedkar's passionate term. In the
Nehru era this desire took the form of a public
silence on caste.
A caste-blind state refused to track the
differential flow of the benefits of development.
Under cover of this high-minded refusal, the
upper castes proceeded to encash their inherited
advantages and monopolise the spheres of urban
privilege, particularly higher education. At the
same time, attempts to mobilise lower caste
identities were discredited as 'casteist'.
A second clue is in the fact that 1947 was not a
revolution but a transfer of power from the
British to an Indian elite. What should have been
a sharing of power among different social groups
turned into a project of 'nation-building'
controlled by the upper castes.
The Dalit challenge was neutralised by the Poona
Pact of 1932, an abject surrender - masterminded
by a ruthless Mahatma - of Dalit claims to
power-sharing in return for reservations as a
sort of welfare programme. If the Dalits were
'constitutionalised', the Other Backward Classes
were 'regionalised' in the Nehru era. After an
abortive attempt with the First Backward Classes
Commission, the OBC issue was banished from the
Centre to the provinces.
Here, the upper segments often became quite
powerful as rural 'dominant castes' and were
given subordinate roles in the 'Congress system'.
But large lower segments comprising the artisanal
castes stayed poor and powerless. Most
importantly, urban OBCs remained economically and
educationally much closer to the Dalits than to
the upper castes.
It is only after Mandal that both Dalits and
backward castes have begun to speak the language
of national power-sharing.
Thus it is that six decades after the abolition
of caste we have produced a national elite that
is overwhelmingly upper caste. We know this but
can't prove it because we have refused to collect
data on caste. Despite having one of the world's
most sophisticated statistical systems, we have
been strangely reluctant to include social
indicators.
Barring exceptions, those who insist on keeping
things this way are invariably from the creamy
layer of the upper castes.
Lately, they have begun to receive partial
support from unexpected quarters - the creamy
layers of the backwards and Dalits - who insist
that caste is all important, but all other
attributes (like income, wealth or education) are
irrelevant. So we have a vocal group of urban
upper castes, long accustomed to power in the
public sphere, who wish caste to remain
unspeakable. We also have an emergent lower caste
mobilisation beginning to address the
incompleteness of independence, who insist that
caste alone - and nothing else - must be spoken.
To find a way out, we have to resist the
temptation of equating both groups and seeking
the pleasures of even-handed liberal
exasperation. The upper castes today are
infinitely more powerful in the urban public
sphere than the lower castes, and it is they who
must first acknowledge caste. Once we sincerely
recognise caste and begin to track it in the
Census, in admission lists, national surveys and
every relevant place, we will earn the moral and
political right to begin contextualising caste in
terms of its internal differentiations and
specificities.
Only then can we truly hope to abolish it. To
annihilate caste we must first gather the courage
to speak it.
The writer teaches sociology in Delhi University
______
[6]
Hindustan Times
May 02, 2007
Editorial
PREDATOR STATE
Not too many patriotic tears are being shed after
the 'encounter' killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and
the brutal murder of his wife Kausar Bi in
November 2005 have become public knowledge.
Sheikh had a criminal record, while Kausar is
being perceived as simply the wife of a man with
a criminal record. And yet, the latest admission
made by the Gujarat government that the two were
indeed slain by the police is deeply worrying for
a nation that prides itself on not being a banana
republic. Matters relating to law and order
cannot be left to extra-judicial methods not
because of 'jholawalla' concerns but because such
a Manichean approach can open up a Pandora's box
where the guilty and the innocent are decided by
parameters outside the law. It seems that this
Dirty Harry-style vigilantism has already become
a default position with DIG D.G. Vanzara telling
his subordinates in the Gujarat Police that
bumping off Sheikh was part of "patriotic work".
What guarantee is there that innocents with no
criminal links - like Kausar Bi - are not turned
into statistics of success in the job of
"fighting the enemies of the State"?
Jurisprudence is made to follow certain norms for
one overwhelming reason: so that there is a trail
of accountability ensuring that the law is not
made to serve personal whims and biases. Take the
case of the trial of the five Britons accused of
having links with the suicide bombers who bombed
trains in London on July 7, 2005, and had plotted
other attacks. They were sentenced to life after
a three-year-long trial that involved 33,800
hours of painstakingly collected evidence. The
crime for which the London jehadis were sentenced
was serious enough for a lynch mob to be let
loose without the State worrying too much about a
public outcry. But that would mean unleashing
violence on anyone even suspected of harbouring
terrorist intentions.
In India, the Gujarat case is just one of the
many extra-judicial killings that we have come to
know about. Sheikh and Kausar Bi were killed for
being from a certain community. Whether in
Kashmir or in Ansal Plaza in Delhi, the bodies of
alleged 'militants' become trophies of success in
a war against terrorism. The result of taking
such an easy way out is that one does not need to
be proved guilty any more to face the
consequences of allegedly breaking the law. And
this warped reasoning can apply to both a
criminal like Sohrabuddin Sheikh as well as a
law-abiding citizen like you. It won't make a
difference.
_____
[7]
THE HINDU
MAY 02, 2007
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT NARCOANALYSIS
BY SRIRAM LAKSHMAN
Narcoanalysis is steadily being mainstreamed into
investigations, court hearings, and laboratories
in India. However, it raises serious scientific,
legal, and ethical questions. These need to be
addressed urgently before the practice spreads
further.
- PHOTO: By Special Arrangement
A suspect is being ` narcoanalysed' in Bangalore
in a 2004 double murder case. In the drug-induced
state, she spoke about a knife and purse
allegedly involved in the crime but neither was
recovered by the police. The outcome: acquittal
owing to a lack of evidence. The judge also ruled
that the narcoanalysis report and videograph
could be used only for investigative purposes and
not to convict suspects.
NARCOANALYSIS HAS become an increasingly, perhaps
alarmingly, common term in India. It refers to
the process of psychotherapy conducted on a
subject by inducing a sleep-like state with the
aid of barbiturates or other drugs. In a spate of
high profile cases, such as those of the Nithari
killers and the Mumbai train blasts, suspects
have been whisked away to undergo an interview
drugged with the barbiturate sodium pentothal.
This practice has also garnered support from
certain State governments as well as the
judiciary. Politicians have fallen into the habit
of hurling the term `narcoanalysis' at opponents.
In 2006, Karnataka Congress leader H. Vishwanath
suggested that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy
should undergo narcoanalysis in the Chenamma
Trust bribery case. The Home Ministry's
Directorate of Forensic Sciences plans to expand
narcoanalysis facilities nationwide. It is not
surprising then that there are about 300 people
in the narcoanalysis queue at the Forensic
Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bangalore alone.
It would appear that the narcoanalysis beast has
acquired a life of its own. It is increasingly
knocking at the doors of courts and finding ready
acceptance as a device to get at the truth during
police investigations, though its scientific
basis and value are under strong challenge. It is
for this reason that the scientific, legal, and
evidentiary issues relevant to the narcoanalysis
debate need to be critically discussed.
Narcoanalysis is rarely used for therapeutic
purposes today. The reliability of the practice
has been questioned by leading psychiatric and
forensic experts. Dr. P. Chandra Sekharan, the
highly regarded former Director of the Forensic
Sciences Department of Tamil Nadu, has
characterised the practice as an unscientific,
third-degree method of investigation.
It is surely significant that while `truth
serums' have been in use since the early part of
the 20th century, they are not used in most
developed countries today. During and after the
War years, United States armed forces and
intelligence agencies continued to experiment
with truth drugs. The CIA has admitted to using
these as part of its interrogation tactics. But a
declassified CIA interrogation manual says that
while truth drugs can be useful in overcoming
resistance not dissolved by other methods, the
actual content of what comes out during the
interrogation can be "psychotic manifestations
... hallucinations, illusions, delusions or
disorientation." At the 1977 U.S Senate hearings
on its secret mind-control project, the CIA
acknowledged that "no such magic brew as the
popular notion of truth serum exists."
Studies have shown that persons who make truthful
confessions are those who were likely to confess
had interrogators persisted with regular methods;
and that persons who lie can continue to manifest
a lie even under the influence of a so-called
truth serum. Moreover, the investigator can
induce and communicate his own thoughts and
feelings to the suspect. The scientific
literature indicates that if narcoanalysis has
any extra-therapeutic uses, it may be in making a
suspect feel that he has revealed more than he
actually did. With repeated questioning, it may
be possible to reduce ambiguities although these
cannot be eliminated.
Two objections
Scientific scepticism and the absence of
controlled studies have not deterred Indian
investigating agencies from running to the FSL in
Gandhinagar or, more likely, Bangalore - the
narcoanalysis hub for various police departments
across the country. FSL, Bangalore, conducts
sodium pentothal narcoanalysis in conjunction
with three other tests - psychological profiling,
polygraph (`lie-detector') tests, and brain
mapping. Polygraph tests, which one can learn to
`pass' or `fail,' are used for screening and
confirmation purposes only. Brain mapping, a
premature if promising technique not entirely
free from controversy itself, indicates whether a
subject's brain stores experiential knowledge
about a certain object. Narcoanalysis is used
when investigators need oral elicitations from a
suspect. For instance, if brain mapping indicates
that the suspect stores information about a blue
getaway car allegedly used in the crime, the
narcoanalysis, according to the FSL, Bangalore,
is used to provide information such as the number
of the car, where it is parked, and so on.
Dr. B.M. Mohan, Director of FSL, Bangalore,
claims that he has data to prove his contention
that narcoanalysis has a 96 to 97 per cent total
success rate. Included in the definition of
`total success rate' is the discovery of
information that either triggers a relevant
section of the law or may be cross verified with
other tests (such as brain mapping). According to
Dr. Mohan, findings that discredit narcoanalysis
are usually based on studies of scopolamine and
sodium amytal and are not applicable to sodium
pentothal, which is used by the Indian
laboratories. He adds that during narcoanalysis
the tendency is to sleep if not questioned,
rather than hallucinating or fantasising.
There are two problems with this argument. Using
sodium pentothal is not a new advance in
narcoanalysis. Two experts at the National
Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences
(NIMHANS), Bangalore interviewed by The Hindu
pointed out that internationally the
psychological fraternity has used sodium
pentothal for decades; and discontinued its use
in all but the rarest cases, partly because there
is no guarantee that the drug will elicit
factually accurate information. Secondly, Dr.
Mohan's contention that it is difficult to
manifest fantasies in narcoanalysis is
questionable. False memory is an extremely
well-researched area according to Dr.
Chittaranjan Andrade, a professor of
psychopharmacology at NIMHANS. While patients
under narcoanalysis may find it difficult to lie
consciously depending on the depth of the
narcoanalysis, they can say things that are not
true and on the surface of their minds. Dr.
Andrade explains the case of a suspect who is
repeatedly accused of a crime during regular
interrogation: "The same thing goes on during the
narcoanalysis. He remembers `you've done this,
you've done this.' He says, `I have done that.'"
When science has outpaced the development of law
or at` least the layperson's understanding of it,
there are unavoidable complexities regarding what
can be admitted as evidence in court. In the
United States, where science often interfaces
uncomfortably with the law, the Supreme Court
offered four criteria, part of the Daubert
Standard (1993), by which to judge the
credibility of a scientific principle held by a
minority of practitioners: hypothesis testing;
peer review and publication; knowledge of error
rates; and acceptability in the general
scientific community.
Pseudo-science
We must give narcoanalysis its due and grant that
it has provided valuable leads to the police in
some instances. However, one swallow, or even
many swallows in this case, do not a summer make.
It is logically consistent for even a
pseudo-science to produce reliable outcomes in
particular cases. The overall reliability and
science behind the practice can only be
determined after statistical analysis of a
sufficiently large sample.
The irony of the situation we face in India is
that the science behind narcoanalysis, as we know
it, has not leapfrogged the courts by any stretch
of imagination. The Bangalore research results
and methods have been neither peer-reviewed nor
published. Regarding publication of the data, Dr.
Mohan says he will go public with the FSL data in
three to four months (from March 2007) and is
willing to debate its implications at
international forums. But it is unlikely that
studies based on some 300 criminal investigations
will yield controlled experimental data. The
feedback that goes into defining the success of
the analysis is provided in part by police
questionnaires. Here lurks a conflict of interest.
Legal aspects
There are other significant legal aspects to the
narcoanalysis debate. In a 2006 judgment (Dinesh
Dalmia v State), the Madras High Court held that
subjecting an accused to narcoanalysis is not
tantamount to testimony by compulsion. The court
said about the accused: "he may be taken to the
laboratory for such tests against his will, but
the revelation during such tests is quite
voluntary." There are two fallacies in this
reasoning. First, if narcoanalysis is all that it
is made out to be by the Bangalore FSL, the
accused will involuntarily answer questions posed
to him during the interview. The second fallacy
is that it is incorrect to say that the accused
is merely taken to the lab against his will. He
is then injected with substances. The breaking of
one's silence, at the time it is broken, is
always technically `voluntary.' Similarly, it can
be argued that after being subject to electric
shocks, a subject `quite voluntarily' divulges
information. But the act or threat of violence is
where the element of coercion is housed. In
narcoanalysis, the drug contained in the syringe
is the element of compulsion. The rest is
technically voluntary.
In 2004, the Bombay High Court ruled in the
multi-crore-rupee fake stamp paper case that
subjecting an accused to certain tests like
narcoanalysis does not violate the fundamental
right against self-incrimination. Article 20(3)
of the Constitution guarantees this: "No person
accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a
witness against himself." Statements made under
narcoanalysis are not admissible in evidence.
However, recoveries resulting from such drugged
interviews are admissible as corroborative
evidence. This is, arguably, a roundabout way to
subverting the right to silence - acquiring the
information on where to find the weapon from the
subject when, in his right senses, he would not
turn witness against himself.
Arguments have been made that narcoanalysis
constitutes mental torture. It works by
inhibiting the nervous system and thus lowering
the subject's inhibitions. It is not difficult to
interpret this as a physical violation of an
individual's mind-space.
The State police departments are responsible for
generating demand for the process. The decision
to conduct narcoanalysis is usually made by the
Superintendent of Police or the Deputy Inspector
General handling a case. A high-ranking official
in the Karnataka Police told The Hindu that
police departments in India have poor skills when
it comes to collection, collation, and
presentation of evidence before the courts.
Consequently, when there is enormous pressure on
a police department to solve a case, sending
suspects to narcoanalysis not only buys time but
also gives the impression that something concrete
has been done about the case.
Some officials connected to law enforcement argue
that narcoanalysis can be of great use in
instances where witnesses turned hostile; rape
cases where issues of consent are being debated;
and cases where the investigating officer is hard
pressed for time or working to disrupt offences
planned for the near future, including terrorist
acts.
Scope for abuse
This ticking-bomb terrorist case argument has
also cropped up frequently in the media after the
9/11 attacks. It has been championed by Harvard
Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, who argues
for legitimising torture in select scenarios, for
example when a hypothetical bomb is waiting to
explode. There are many arguments against the
selective use of normally banned cruel practices.
Authorities are likely to abuse the power to
decide which situations will warrant such
exceptions, even when such extraordinary
situations are explicitly laid out by law. It
will be difficult to find a fool-proof way to
determine which suspect is concealing information
about a hypothetical bomb. It will often be
impossible to know if there is a bomb ticking in
the first place. These questions of discretion
aside, when a country claims to be committed to
human rights and against torture, one may ask if
there can ever be a situation that warrants a
deviation from its commitment to such principles.
While the expert studies and court opinions
available internationally have granted that there
may be some use in narcoanalysis, the
overwhelming evidence is that narcoanalysis is by
no means a reliable science. In the face of a
near-consensus internationally, one or two Indian
forensic labs claim to have new evidence and
studies claiming remarkable success rates for the
process. They must now prove their claim that
narcoanalysis is backed by sound science. In the
absence of proof, narcoanalysis must necessarily
be suspended, especially given its ethical and
human rights implications.
State governments need to work with the central
authorities to enhance the investigative
capabilities of their police departments. The
police now hand over one of the most crucial
parts of the investigation to a clinical
psychologist conducting narcoanalysis.
Interrogation is an art as well as a science. It
takes enormous amounts of training and patience -
skills evidently lacking in much of the police
force and increasingly outsourced to Bangalore.
The central government must make a clear policy
stand on narcoanalysis - because what is at stake
is India's commitment to individual freedoms and
a clean criminal justice system.
_____
[8]
IN THE WAKE OF NANDIGRAM
A call by concerned citizens
A People's Convention in Kolkata, June 2-3, 2007
The valiant struggle of the peasantry in
Nandigram against the acquisition of their land
and homesteads for the proposed chemical hub SEZ
has drawn nationwide attention. Despite the
massacre of March 14 and the continuing reign of
terror unleashed by the police and hired killers
of the ruling party in the state, Nandigram has
refused to surrender. On the contrary, it has
sparked unprecedented mass protests across West
Bengal and elsewhere. People's movements in
various parts of the country against the forcible
acquisition of farmlands, forests and other
natural resource base of the poor in the name of
SEZ and for the so-called industrial projects
have also drawn inspiration and sustenance from
Nandigram. No wonder, Nandigram has become a
major focus of peoples resistance against the
neo-liberal agenda that seeks to establish the
hegemony of global corporate capitalism.
Time is now ripe to bring all the people's
resistance movements across the country together
under one coordinating network. Towards this end,
we are proposing a People's Convention, followed
by a huge rally, in Kolkata on 2-3 June 2007
(before the onset of monsoon). We call upon all
our friends in the people's movements and
people's organisations, irrespective of political
or ideological moorings, to come forward and
actively participate in this programme. May the
convention/rally become the launching pad for a
united nationwide struggle against the
government's land acquisition policy for SEZ and
industrial projects.
The convention/rally, and the countrywide
movement to be launched from there, will be
raising the following demands:
1. Scrap the SEZ policy that aims to set up
extra-territorial authorities within the country
and acquire huge tracts of farm and forest lands
for the corporate capitalists while endangering
the lives and livelihoods of millions.
2. Abolish or reformulate the colonial and
draconian Land Acquisition Act of 1894 that
served as the chief instrument of land
acquisition.
3. The Chief Minister of West Bengal, who
has owned up to the responsibility for the mass
murders in Nandigram, must resign. Everyone who
has had a hand in the Nandigram massacre,
directly or indirectly, must be suitably punished.
4. Peoples institutions at the grassroots
must be allowed the autonomy to act so that
Nandigram can return to a life of peace and human
dignity.
In solidarity
1 A Sohaib Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
2 Aditi Chowdhury Media Consultant, Kolkata
3 Aditya Nigam CSDS, Delhi
4 Ajaya Sahaya Sarvodaya Mandal, Delhi
5 AK Thakur Physician, Kolkata
6 Amar Kanwar Filmmaker, Delhi
7 Amarnath Freelance Journalist, Patna
8 Ambuj Sharma Punjab University, Chandigarh
9 Amit Bhaduri Economist, Delhi
10 Amit Sengupta Journalist, Delhi
11 Arun Kumar JNU, Delhi
12 Anand Kumar JNU, Delhi
13 Anil Chaudhary INSAF
14 Anjan Ghosh Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata
15 Apoorvanand Delhi University
16 Arshad Ajmal Lok Parishad, Patna
17 Arun Kanndal Lawyer, Chandigarh
18 Arundhati Roy Writer, Delhi
19 Aseem Shrivastava Delhi
20 Ashima Sahajpal Journalist, Chandigarh
21 Ashok Gurgaon
22 Ashok Choudhury NFFPFW, Saharanpur
23 Atmaram Chandigarh
24 Atul Kumar Singh JNU, Delhi
25 Azizur Rahman Azami JNU, Delhi
26 Basant K Chowdhary Advocate, Patna
27 Bhaskar Gupta Jadavpur University, Kolkata
28 Bhupinder Brar Teacher, Chandigarh
29 Bilash Sarkar Chatra-Chatri Sanhati, Kolkata
30 Chetan Premani Scientist, Chandigarh
31 Chitleen K Sethi Journalist, Chandigarh
32 Chitra Joshi Delhi University
33 Corinne Kumar El Taller International, Tunisia
34 Daljit Ami Filmmaker, Chandigarh
35 Debabrata Bandopadhyay Administrator, Operation Barga, Kolkata
36 Debal Deb Kolkata
37 Debarshi Das Punjab University, Chandigarh
38 Deepak Singh Punjab University, Chandigarh
39 Dhruva Narayan Daanish Books, Delhi
40 Dilip Bose
41 Dinesh Prasain JNU, Delhi
42 Dipanjan Roy Choudhury Retired Professor, Kolkata
43 Dipankar Chakraborty Editor, Aneek, Kolkata
44 Dithi Bhattacharya NTUI, Delhi
45 Divya Godara Lawyer, Haryana
46 Gadadhora Mahapatra JNU, Delhi
47 Gautam Bandopadhyay Nadi Ghati Bachao Manch, Raipur
48 Gautam Navlakha Delhi
49 Gautam Roy Journalist, Kolkata
50 Gopal Rai Teesra Swadhinata Sangharsh, Delhi
51 Hari P Sharma SANSAD
52 Harsh Dobhal Human Rights Law Network, Delhi
53 Harsh Sethi Seminar, Delhi
54 Hemaa Sharma Journalist, Chandigarh
55 IK Shukla Los Angeles, US
56 Inder Singh Scientist, Chandigarh
57 Iswar Chandra Naik JNU, Delhi
58 Jagdish Theatre, Chandigarh
59 Jai Sen CACIM, Delhi
60 Janaki Srinivasan Punjab University, Chandigarh
61 Jishnu Dasgupta Chatra-Chatri Sanhati, Kolkata
62 JN Bhartiya All-India Small &
Medium Newspapers' Federation, Kanpur
63 Joginder Singh Toor Advocate, Chandigarh
64 Kabir Suman Journalist, Kolkata
65 Kanchi Kohli Kalpavriksh, Delhi
66 Kanihar Kant JNU, Delhi
67 Karan Bhardwaj Lawyer, Chandigarh
68 Kavita Srivastava PUCL, Rajasthan
69 KC Nahata Forum of Voters, Delhi
70 Krishna Ballabh Yadav Nawada, Bihar
71 Krishna Bandyopadhyay Khoj Akhon, Kolkata
72 Kuldeep Saxena Kanpur
73 Ladly Mukherjee Filmmaker, Kolkata
74 Lallan Baghel Punjab University, Chandigarh
75 Madhu Bhaduri Parivartan, Delhi
76 Madhuresh CACIM, Delhi
77 Mahasweta Devi Writer, Kolkata
78 Mamata Dash Delhi
79 Manisha Sethi Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
80 Manju Menon Kalpavriksh, Delhi
81 Manoj Joseph ISI, Delhi
82 Medha Patkar NBA/NAPM
83 Meher Engineer Scientist, Kolkata
84 MK Vijayan Delhi Forum
85 MN Karna Ex-Vice-Chancellor, NEHU
86 Monohar Mouli Biswas Kolkata
87 Mukesh Sharma Bharati Vidya Sadan School, Gaziabad
88 Mukul Mangalik Delhi University
89 Mukul Sinha Advocate, Ahmedabad
90 Nabarun Bhattacharya Writer, Kolkata
91 Nabarun Roy Kolkata
92 Nabinananda Sen Calcutta University
93 Nadim Nikhat Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad
94 Nasiruddin Haider Khan Lucknow
95 Neetu Yuva Bharat, Delhi
96 Nirmalanshu Mukherjee Delhi University
97 Nisha Singh Delhi
98 Nivedita Menon Delhi University
99 Pampa Mukherjee Punjab University, Chandigarh
100 Parmod Kumari Journalist, Chandigarh
101 Parveen Lawyer, Punjab
102 Pavan Srivastava Ara, Bihar
103 PK Yadav JNU, Delhi
104 Praful Bidwai. Columnist, Delhi
105 Prafulla K Mishra Orissa Jan Sangharsha Morcha, Orissa
106 Prafulla Samantara Lokshakti Abhiyan, Orissa
107 Prakash Bikhoi Teesra Swadhinata Sangharsh, Delhi
108 Pramod Gupta Filmmaker, Kolkata
109 Pranab Kanti Basu Viswa Bharati University
110 Pranati Bhattacharya Calcutta University
111 Prashant Bhusan Advocate, Delhi
112 Premangshu Dasgupta Little Magazine Forum, Kolkata
113 Probal Dasgupta ISI, Kolkata
114 Rabi Shankar Prakrukrit Sampada Surakshya Parshad, Kashipur
115 Raimondo Bultrini La Republica, Italy
116 Rajeev Dhanda Punjab University, Chandigarh
117 Rajeev Godara Sampuran Kranti Manch, Haryana
118 Rajeev Mohan Saxena JNU, Delhi
119 Rakesh Rafiq Yuva Bharat, Delhi
120 Rakesh Raman Journalist, Delhi
121 Ramashray Prasad Singh PUCL
President & Editor Manavadhikar Patrika, Begusarai
122 Ramesh K Pani Delhi
123 Ranjana Padhi Kashipur Solidarity, Delhi
124 Rohan D'Souza JNU, Delhi
125 RP Rai Delhi
126 Rukmini Sen NUJS, Kolkata
127 Rupesh Lok Parishad, Patna
128 Sachin Gautam Shakarpur, Delhi
129 Sahana Basavapatna The Other Media, Delhi
130 Sahayaraj ISI, Delhi
131 Sailen Bhattacharya PCC, CPI-ML, Kolkata
132 Salman Dube Noida
133 Samar Bagchi NAPM, Kolkata
134 Samir Amin Third World Forum, Dakar, Senegal
135 Samuel John People's Theatre, Sanrur
136 Sandeep Pandey ASHA, Lucknow
137 Sanjay Kak Filmmaker, Delhi
138 Santanu Basu Punjab University, Chandigarh
139 Santosh Kumar Singh Punjab University, Chandigarh
140 Santosh Rana PCC, CPI-ML
141 Satabdi Das AID-Awareness, Delhi
142 Satya Sivaraman Delhi
143 Shalina Mehta University Teacher, Chandigarh
144 Shalini Bhutani GRAIN, Delhi
145 Shukla Sen EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity), Mumbai
146 Simon Uchai Tripura Tribal
Land Rights Restoration Campaign Committee,
Agartala
147 SK Khosla Retd from Govt Service, Chandigarh
148 Sourabh Gupta Journalist, Chandigarh
149 SS Cheema Engineer, Chandigarh
150 Subhasis Mukherjee Calcutta University
151 Subrat Kumar Sahu TERI, Delhi
152 Suddhabrata Sengupta Sarai, Delhi
153 Sudeshna Bannerji Jadavpur University, Kolkata
154 Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalam BKU, Punjab
155 Sumanta Banerjee Journalist, Dehradun
156 Sumit Chakravartty Editor, Mainstream, Delhi
157 Sumit Chowdhury Filmmaker, Kolkata
158 Sumit Sarkar Historian, Delhi
159 Sumit Sinha Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee, Nandigram
160 Sunil K Singh Lawyer, Chandigarh
161 Sunil Sorabh Delhi
162 Sunita Das Aneek, Kolkata
163 Sunita Narayan Daanish Books, Delhi
164 Surendra Babu CACIM, Delhi
165 Surendra Mohan Socialist Front
166 Swami Prakash Pandey JNU, Delhi
167 Tanika Sarkar JNU, Delhi
168 Tanweer Fazal Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
169 Tanya Chakravartty NFIW, Delhi
170 Tila Kumar Sociologist, Delhi School of Economics
171 Tripta Wahi Delhi University
172 Uma Chakravarty Historian, Delhi
173 Urmila Bahai Delhi
174 Utkarsh Kumar Sinha INSAF
175 Vaskar Nandy PCC, CPI-ML
176 Vijay Singh Editor, Revolutionary Democracy, Delhi
177 Vinay K Singh Rashtriya
Swabhiman Andolan (Alakh Yatra), Patna
178 Vrajaindra Upadhyay IIT, Delhi
179 Vrinda Grover Advocate, Delhi
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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
SACW@insaf.net
http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/sacw_insaf.net
