[sacw] SACW #1 (25 June 01)

[aiindex@mnet.fr]

South Asia Citizens Wire / Dispatch #1
25 June 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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#1. Bridging The Divide: Thoughts on Indo-Pak Relations
#2. Sri Lanka: Domestic violence has become a national social problem
#3. Shrinking Indian secularism

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#1.

Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 06:40:56 -0000

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: THOUGHTS ON INDO-PAK RELATIONS
By Yoginder Sikand

Going by recent reports in the Indian press, the impending visit to India 
of Pakistani President General Pervaz Musharraf seems to have generated a 
euphoria of sorts, with hopes being expressed of his talks with Indian 
leaders leading to a radical breakthrough in Indo-Pak relations. However, 
with neither India nor Pakistan seeming at all willing to seriously 
consider the genuine aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, 
continuing to treat the Kashmir issue as a real estate dispute, it seems 
that the forthcoming talks would achieve little by way of a final solution 
to what is the greatest hurdle in improving relations between the two 
countries. Hard-liners on both sides, represented by the likes of the RSS 
in India and the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba in Pakistan, have refused to consider 
the possibility of a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue which 
satisfies the urges of all Kashmiris, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and others 
alike. Given the enormous clout that such chauvinist bodies exercise today 
within as well as without ruling regimes in both countries there seems 
little hope for any move forward in seriously addressing the Kashmir 
question in the near future. Hence, the forthcoming talks promise to 
deliver little more than what Vajpayee's Lahore visit was able to, being, 
at the risk of sounding cynical, yet another futile exercise in public 
relations. As the Persian saying goes, 'They came, they feasted and then 
they departed'.
Given the fact that no government can afford to take decisions 
that would not go down well with its public, it is clear that a settlement 
of the Kashmir dispute can only come about when civil society in both India 
and Pakistan, as well as in Kashmir, has been convinced of the urgent need 
for a settlement that can satisfy all three parties to the conflict. Talks 
at the official level are important and necessary, but given the fact that 
endless rounds of talks between India and Pakistan in the past have failed 
to move the two countries anywhere closer to a resolution of the problem, 
they seem doomed to failure in the future in the absence of a sustained 
pressure from civil society forcing them to tone down on fiery 
nationalistic rhetoric and seriously consider means to solve the Kashmir 
dispute. Hence the need for mobilising public opinion on a large scale to 
goad governments in both countries to address the aspirations of the 
Kashmiris and be willing to make compromises for the sake of peace and 
progress in the region as a whole.
The virtual absence of any people-to-people contact between 
ordinary Pakistanis and Indians constitutes the single greatest barrier to 
developing better relations between India and Pakistan. Most Indians seem 
to imagine Pakistanis as nothing less than malevolent creatures, sub-humans 
or perhaps aliens from another, menacing planet. I suppose the sentiment 
would be shared by many across the border about Indians. If ordinary 
Indians and Pakistanis were allowed to meet and interact with each other, 
as members of professional bodies, as students, teachers, journalists, or 
simply as friends, it would go a long way in countering the distressing 
stereotypes that we seem to have of each other. If Indians and Pakistanis 
were allowed to explore the many things that we have in common by way of a 
shared culture and history, and, most importantly, a common humanity, 
public opinion in both countries could be mobilised to pressurise both 
governments to tear down the walls of hatred and suspicion that divide 
them, and come to a settlement over Kashmir and other vexed issues that 
today are playing such havoc with our lives.
Some years ago, when I was at the university in Delhi, I arranged 
for a friend of mine from Lahore, a leading Pakistani writer and human 
rights activist, to address a group of students on Indo-Pak relations. 
After the talk, a student got up to say that all along she had imagined 
Pakistanis to be green devils with little horns growing on their heads, 
but, having met a Pakistani for the first time, she was shocked at seeing 
that Pakistanis, too, were human beings, with a lot in common with Indians, 
warts and all, yes, but also with a commitment to peace and harmony and 
good neighbourliness. Imagine what miracles could be wrought if many more 
such interactions between ordinary Indians and Pakistanis could be 
arranged! Governments would then be unable to resist public pressure to 
take serious steps to improve relations, and we could divert all those 
scarce resources that today are being spent on building up stockpiles of 
arms to economic development instead.
One of the few organisations that are seriously working for 
building up people-to-people contact between Pakistanis and Indians is the 
Pakistan-India People's Forum For Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). Founded in 
1994, the PIPFD is an association of Pakistanis and Indians from different 
walks of life, united by a common commitment to improving relations between 
the two countries based on increasing contacts between the citizens of 
India and Pakistan. The group meets annually, alternately in India and in 
Pakistan, and this provides an opportunity for building up public opinion 
on both sides of the need for improving Indo-Pak relations. In its various 
resolutions it has called for a solution to the Kashmir question that takes 
into account the aspirations of all sections of the people of Kashmir, and 
has insisted on demilitarisation and a radical cut on spending on arms, 
promotion of free movement on travel between India and Pakistan as well as 
cultural and media exchanges. Inspired by the PIPFPD, several smaller 
groups have been spawned in recent years trying in their own small way to 
bring ordinary Indians and Pakistanis together. The Internet has proved to 
be a God-sent in this regard, with much interaction taking place in 
cyberspace. A good example of this is peacemonger.com, a website devoted to 
the cause of peace in South Asia, run as a collaborative venture by young 
Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Sri Lankans. A random check 
on the Net would probably unearth several more such groups, as yet 
little-known but articulating the voices of a new generation of South 
Asians tired of nationalistic jingoism and religious obscurantism that 
continue to play such havoc with our lives. And it in these muffled voices 
that lies our only hope for a sane future.

________

#2.

Sunday Observer (Colombo)
24 June 2001

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SOCIAL PROBLEM
HANDS OFF
by Hana Ibrahim

Sometimes there is no blood. In a pithy phrase that's both saturated with
connotations and bereft of anything conspicuously palpable, Ameena Hussein's
trail blazing inventory of domestic violence in Sri Lanka draws one's
attention to an unpalatable fact about life behind closed doors. Saturated
with meaning because, anyone who has experienced the agony of homefront
dissension knows domestic violence isn't always as overt as a bloody nose or
a broken limb. And bereft of anything tangible because, the absence of
visible injury, more often than not and to many, means the issue can be
brushed under the carpet and relegated to the private sphere, ergo back
burner.
Neither interpretation however help to sugarcoat the reality of domestic
violence. It does exist. It is rampant and repulsive. And it is not going to
quietly go away if you ignore it long enough.
According to various official and unofficial statistics, domestic violence
has increased to assume the proportion of an important national social
problem. Assault by husbands has risen from 32 per cent in 1990 to
unspecified ominous levels in the 21st century. Sexual violence against women
has also increased with rape figuring as a daily event in several parts of
the country.
These figures are further augmented by newspaper reports. In 1999, 121
incidents of murder were reported as having been committed within the home,
with husbands allegedly responsible for 65 per cent of the deaths. Within the
same time frame, 291 incidents of crime against women in the private sphere
(homes) also received newspaper coverage.Statistics notwithstanding, domestic
violence is viewed with a degree of ambivalence by the judicial mechanism.
And not unlike the conflicting interpretation of 'Sometimes there's no
blood', the law making body accepts that domestic violence does exist, but
find that the law itself doesn't have any potency to deem it a crime or deal
with it in a manner fitting a crime.
At present there is no specific legislation with regard to domestic violence
against women. Likewise there is no specific provision in the Penal Code that
specifically criminalises domestic violence as a distinct crime. Extreme
cases of domestic violence are normally prosecuted under the general clause
of the penal code relating to murder, assault and grievous hurt classified
under emasculation; permanent damage to the eye, ear, or limb; permanent
disfiguration of the head or face; or any hurt which endangers life.
The ambivalence of the law is exacerbated by familial pressures, societal
prejudices and obstacles in the criminal justice system which not only blunts
the serious magnitude of domestic violence but also hinders women's access to
justice.
Publicising marital problems or seeking redress is a stigma that's often too
heavy a burden to bear. Divorce is deemed a social suicide. The slur on
character is often validated by the justice systems, which more often than
not, has a gender bias that works against women victims of violence. This in
turn lends a degree of legitimacy to the social stereotypes about women and
violence.
In such a setting women's access to justice is hindered by spoken and tacit
social dictates. In many cases women do not view the criminal justice system
as accessible. Even those who do perceive the police and/or courts
accessible, often have no desire to expose themselves and their families to
public ridicule or scrutiny. Hence many women do not report the violence that
is committed against them, leaving themselves open for yet more atrocities.
And when women do seek legal remedies, yet another factor appears as a
stumbling block. The cost associated with litigation, which is prohibitively
high.
The consequence of these legal limitations, social taboos, familial pressures
and the existing system of justice, is that women are denied a whole host of
remedies and services which special domestic violence legislation has brought
to their counterparts in other countries.
Given this scenario of societal bigotry and legal myopia, coupled with
spiralling incidence of abuse, the Draft Act on Domestic Violence is not only
a welcome endeavour, but also desperately essential.
Conceived by Women and Media Collective and drafted in collaboration with,
lawyers, various concerned bodies and organisations, the Act primarily seeks
to label domestic violence a crime and afford legal protection for women
victims of violence within the home and in the family, through mechanism that
combines both civil and criminal remedies.
Perhaps for the first time in Sri Lanka, it also defines the exact forms of
abuse that can be construed as violence. Along with physical and sexual abuse
and these include emotional, verbal, psychological, economic abuse,
intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to property, committing or
threatening to commit an act or acts of violence against another person, acts
of deprivation and any other controlling or abusive behaviour.
Far reaching and somewhat radical in nature, the Act is formulated to
recognise a woman's right to a life that's free from all forms of violence. c
It seeks to provide criminal, civil and constitutional remedies, initially
through an interim protection order that is seen as a quick remedy given in
an emergency context and would provide short-term protection to a woman from
threatened or further violence.
This is followed by a court hearing and permanent protection order two weeks
later that direct the abuser to stop the violence; a warrant of arrest should
a protection order be breached and finally, a series of relief that range
from compensation payments, punitive damages to emergency monetary relief and
a whole host more.
Still at a developing stage and requiring a significant amount of pruning and
fine tuning, the act seeks to eliminate the yards of unnecessary red-tape
that both delays justice and places it out of reach of the average women
victims. By allowing a victim or a third party (a counsellor, social worker,
medical officer, organisation or group) to directly approach the courts
(Magistrate) by passing the existing lengthy formalities of lodging a
complaint first, it puts a humane face to the mechanism of justice, giving
the women something to believe in when all else falls apart.
But many are of the opinion that the introducing of this Act without a prior
amendment of the existing divorce laws will render any domestic violence
legislation ineffective. For although legal mechanisms for separation and
divorce on grounds of violence exist, they are not widely used by women
because of the high level of stigma attached to divorce. Further, insensitive
courts, insufficient alimony awards and the difficulty in enforcing
maintenance orders compound women's alienation from the law and legal
remedies.
Some are also of the opinion that separate legislation will only lead to a
conflict of interpretation and will lead to domestic violence crimes not
being taken as seriously as crimes covered by the Penal code, which in effect
would eventuate in domestic violence being marginalised.
Also for the Act to be effective, the various auxiliary facilities including
shelters, counselling and rehabilitating facilities should be in place before
the legislature is passed. Societal prejudices which often make women the
automatic villain, making it impossible for her to report a case of sexual
abuse without being labelled a 'tease' 'prostitute' or worse an instigator to
the rape, also need to be changed.
And women should be educated about their rights, so that they can avail
whatever protection that are legally theirs.
Only when all these factors are in place, can women reap the full benefit of
the act that gives them back their sense of self and a right to a violence
free life in their own homes.

---------------------

Violence means:

- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, which would include patterns of
degrading or humiliating conduct towards a complainant, such as repeated
insults or threat that cause emotional pain, whether to the complainant or to
some other person and the repeated exhibition of obsessive possessiveness or
jealousy.
- Economic abuse, which includes deprivation of economic, financial or other
resources which a complainant requires and the disposal of household effects
or other property, in which the complainant has an interest.
- Intimidation.
- Harassment, which includes repeatedly watching or loitering outside a
building where the complainant resides, works, studies or carries out a
business; repeatedly making telephone calls, sending faxes, electronic mail
or packages which induce fear in the complainant.
- Stalking
- Damage to property.
- Entering a complainant's residence when the respondent and complainant do
not share a common residence.
- Committing or threatening to commit an act or acts of violence against any
other person, whether it be family member, relative, friend, social worker or
medical officer who may be known to the complainant.
- Act of deprivation including denial of access to communication with family,
relative and friends.
- Any other controlling or abusive behaviour where such conduct harms or may
cause harm to the safety, health or well-being of the complainant.

----------------------------

The Draft Act at a glance

Drafted by the Women and Media Collective, the Domestic Violence Act is
intended to provide protection to victims of domestic violence; to empower
courts to grant protection orders; and to ensure the law complies with Sri
Lanka's international obligations.

How it will help the victims:
Formulated to recognise a woman's right to live a life free from all forms of
violence, the Act will provide criminal, civil and constitutional remedies
through -
*Interim Protection Orders - These would provide short-term protection to a
woman from threatened or further violence. It forbids access of an abuser to
his victim. It is given in an emergency context where there is a possibility
that the woman will be subject to abuse. It should serve as an easily
accessible and immediate remedy against violence.
* Protection Orders -These are permanent orders that direct the abuser to
stop the violence as with Interim Protection Orders.
* Warrant of Arrest - This is a warrant of arrest issued where a Protection
Order is breached.
* Other forms of Relief - These range from compensation payments, access to
the family home and payment for punitive damages. Orders could also be sought
for the police to seize any weapons that the abuser may have in his
possession. Payment of emergency monetary relief would also be important to
sustain a woman who wishes to stay away from her abuser, and to protect her
from her abuser withholding funds to which she is otherwise entitled.

Application for a Protection Order
* Any complainant may apply to the court for a protection order.
* An application may be brought on behalf of the complainant by any other
person including a counsellor, social worker, medical officer, organisation
or group or other person who has an interest in the wellbeing of the
complainant. The application must be brought with the written consent of the
complainant, except in circumstances where the complainant is a minor,
mentally retarded, unconscious or a person whom the court is satisfied is
unable to provide the required consent.

Offences
A person who contravenes any prohibition, condition, obligation or order
imposed by the court under the Act shall be guilty of an offence and on
conviction after a trial before a magistrate, be liable to a fine not
exceeding Rs.100,000, but not less than Rs.5000, or imprisonment not
exceeding five years and not less than six months, or both such fine and
imprisonment.

_______

#3.
The News International
24 June 2001

SHRINKING INDIAN SECULARISM

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema

The author works for Islamabad
Policy Research Institute

picheema@i...

The recent attack on the shrine of Sheikh Nooruddin in the premises of 
famous Chrar-e-Sharif mosque does not augur well for the future of 
secularism in India. More than 15,000 devotees from various parts of the 
Kashmir valley had come to offer prayers. According to a prestigious Indian 
newspaper some unidentified militant threw a grenade in the midst of Friday 
congregation killing over ten and injuring around one hundred devotees.

The argument that unidentified militant threw grenade does not make sense 
if by militant is meant what the Kashmiris refer as the freedom fighters. 
Why would the freedom fighters kill the very people who support and protect 
them? However it is possible that the Indian security authorities are 
either unable to apprehend the culprits so far or are deliberately 
protecting them. If the Indian security forces are not involved then the 
whole tragedy reflects the incompetence of those responsible to protect the 
innocent citizens. Protesting against the grenade attack the citizens 
seemed to have accused the local police and some blamed Special Operation 
Group of the State Police.

A more important question that needs to be examined is how the attacks on 
minorities and their places of worships are damaging the secularism of 
India. The last decade has witnessed increasing attacks on the minorities 
in India. Since the willful demolition of the Babri Masjid not only the 
Muslims have been subjected to systematic and deliberately contrived 
attacks but even the Christians and the Sikhs have been regularly tasting 
inhuman injections of Hindu militancy. Almost all Indian analysts never 
cease to glorify the Indian version of secularism but rarely refer to its 
gradual but regular shrinking. The secularism that flourished under the 
earlier rulers of India does not seem to be practiced in India today so 
widely as was witnessed in the immediate post-partition period. The 
enthusiastic accommodation of the creeping militant version of Hinduism has 
already transformed its visible manifestations. To acknowledge the 
undesirable transformation rather gracefully is not an easy pursuit 
especially if one has been excessively drumming the initially practiced 
secularism. The ascendancy of the BJP and its inextricable links with Hindu 
militant organizations like the RSS, VHP, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal along with 
the treatment extended to the minorities do not auger well for the existing 
skeleton of secularism.

Cognizant of the rapid rise of militant Hinduism it is not too far fetched 
to assume that many in India may be lamenting the slow death of secularism 
and offering warnings regarding anticipated likely adverse developments. 
Alternatively it could also mean that a comprehensively thought out plan is 
well underway with a view to support the incumbent rise of Hinduism in all 
of its manifestations. Deliberately contrived interpretations like the one 
given by Vajpayee in the recent past that the charge sheeted cabinet 
ministers Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati were in Ayodhya on 
6th Dec.1992 (the day of Babri Mosque was demolished) only to protect the 
mosque merely lends more credence to such a process. A more plausible and 
convincing explanation seems to revolve around the gradual realisation of 
most of the BJP leaders that an open espousal of Hindutva politics would no 
longer pay expected dividends and could also be harmful to their long term 
political ambitions. It would only be appropriate to mention here that 
Indian CBI's investigations stated in the charge sheet (which was filed in 
Oct.1993) that they were very much party to the 'criminal conspiracy' to 
demolish the mosque. A special court judge who charged 49 accused in 
September 1997 including the above-mentioned ministers upheld this charge 
sheet. Currently Liberhan Commission of Inquiry is probing the demolition 
of Babri Masjid.

Secularism in classical western sense merely implies a division of 
jurisdiction between the church and the state. A secular state not only 
guarantees the freedom of religion but also deals with individuals as its 
citizens irrespective of religious beliefs. A secular state neither 
provides direct or indirect patronage to any particular religion nor 
attempts to interfere respective religious practices. Conscious of 
incumbent diversity of religions, ethnic groups, deeply imbedded caste 
system along with varied creeds, the earlier rulers of India opted for a 
secular state. Indeed it was hailed as the most pragmatic approach 
especially if viewed within the context of India's pluralistic society. 
Although Nehru had once said that the ideal form of secularism was not 
possible to practice in a caste-ridden society, he thought that secularism, 
even less than ideal form, would be more suitable for India's pluralistic 
society. To Nehru secularism meant equal protection of all faiths and equal 
opportunities for the followers of all religions. According to Nehru, a 
secular India would not establish any religion as an official creed and 
would also protect all religions without favouring one at the cost of the 
other.

Although the spirit of secularism was embodied in the constitutional 
articles 15, 17, and 25 but the word 'secularism' did not appear in the 
Indian constitution until 1976 when the 42nd amendment was adopted. The 
article 15 states that state shall not discriminate against any citizen on 
the grounds of religion, caste, sex and place of birth. The article 17 of 
the Indian constitution abolished untouchibility and granted rights to the 
Harijans to enter a place of worship that is partially or totally funded by 
the state. The article 25 provided religious freedom granting rights to 
citizens to freely profess, practice, and propagate their religions subject 
only to public order, morality, health and few other stipulated provisions. 
Taken together these constitutional provisions meant that the state shall 
not discourage or be hostile towards any religion and shall not 
discriminate any person because of his religion and shall refrain from 
assigning any special position to any particular religion.

While it is true that the constitution of India, in many ways, separated 
politics from religion, the constitutional clauses alone could not attain 
the desired level of secularism in Indian society. As long as the leaders 
who control politics and are responsible for the ultimate political 
decisions are either not very clear about the significance and implications 
of the secular ideals or deliberately undermine the importance of 
secularism in a pluralistic society, the constitutionally enshrined 
secularism will continue to confront the society with one challenge after 
another. It is ultimately the quality of human mind which matters and not 
merely the legislative enactments or even the constitutional articles. One 
significant challenge was born the day the Hindu militant forces, with the 
tacit connivance of even those who claimed to be liberal and secular, 
demolished the Babri mosque.

In many ways the destruction of Babri mosque was the product of slow 
communalisation of Indian politics. This trend managed to make a non-issue 
into one that menacingly threatened and continues to threaten the existing 
fragile fabric of Indian secularism. Even today the controversy unleashed 
by the demolition of the mosque haunts many in India. The inability of 
Indian Lok Sabha to carry on with its normal business in the recent past 
because of opposition's insistence for resignation of the charge-sheeted 
ministers merely reflects one aspect of the ongoing damage-process.

The advent of BJP's government has further facilitated the communalisation 
process. Wearing a thin secular mask the BJP government appears to have 
accelerated the process of promoting the RSS ideology which in turn is 
eroding the secular ideals as were enunciated by the earlier rulers of 
India. It is often reported that around 70 percent BJP assembly members are 
RSS nominees. In fact most members of the BJP are products of RSS with 
strong belief in Hindu supremacist doctrine. Both the BJP and the RSS 
support the Hindu Rashtriya.

Apart from rapidly increasing attacks on the Muslims, the Christians and 
the Sikhs in various parts of India and at different times coupled with the 
destruction of many of their places of worship, replacing or rewriting the 
age old accepted standard history books with a view to saffronize or 
Hinduize the Indian history amounts to disowning the rich cultural heritage 
and depriving the younger generations of the true facts of history. History 
teaches values as practiced in the past but a distorted history is likely 
to distort the values as well. Perhaps that's why an eminent Indian 
historian felt compelled to stress that such policies are making sure that 
the next generation of the Indians turn out to be 'morons'.

While many in India may claim that BJP is not India and repeatedly point 
out that it has only 180 seats in 543 member Lok Sabha, there is no doubt 
that the BJP has been successful in retaining the support of many secular 
parties in the ruling alliance (NDA) despite its periodic but consistent 
spurts for non secular pursuits. Vajpayee's assertion that construction of 
Ram temple at the demolished Babri mosque's site in Ayodhya is 'an 
expression of national sentiments which is yet to be realised' was unable 
to invoke any strong reactions among the NDA partners of the BJP. At best 
one partner merely stated that temple construction may be an agenda of one 
alliance member but it is not included in the NDA collective agenda. One 
has to admire some of BJP's tactics. While it never loses sight of major 
RSS objectives, its makes carefully contrived moves towards the erosion of 
secularism in a gradual and systematic manner.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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