[sacw] SACW #2 | 12 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2 | 12 March 2002

* For daily news updates & citizens initiatives in post riots=20
Gujarat Check: http://www.sabrang.com
** Also see new information & analysis section on the recent Communal=20
Riots in Gujarat on the SACW web site: http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/

__________________________

#1. Save Our Secularism - The alternative for India is bloodshed and=20
chaos. (Tunku Varadarajan)
#2. Understanding Gujarat (Rajmohan Gandhi)
#3. Peace activists in India seek dismissal of Gujarat Govt.
#4. We Want Peace, not Temple, not Mosque - Report on Peace Demo in=20
Nagpur (Arvind Ghosh)
#5. An Anti-communal March 8th in Mumbai ( Ammu Abraham)
#6. Sangh Parivar workers clash with police in Indore
#7. Where are the artistes? Where are they today when Gujarat is=20
burning? (Meeto Malik)
#8. Is it too late to draw a firm line between state and religion? &=20
Reading the Modimeter (Op-Ed's From Indian Express)
#9. The truth about Chittisinghpora...... lies buried beneath the=20
Jammu and Kashmir government's consistent attempts to window-dress=20
the facts, says MUZAMIL JALEEL
#10. The creeping fascism in Gujarat: A Translation of The Circular=20
Letter In Gujarati
Distributed In The Streets of Ahmedabad by the VHP [Vermin and Hate Peddler=
s]
#11. New Delhi - March 6, 2002, Parliament Street - or - Why this=20
country is a basket case. (Paash )

__________________________

# 1.

The Wall Street Journal
March 11, 2002

COMMENTARY
Save Our Secularism
The alternative for India is bloodshed and chaos.

By TUNKU VARADARAJAN

After the recent slaughter of over 500 Muslims by Hindu mobs in western
India, done in revenge for a murderous attack by Muslim vigilantes on a
train carrying Hindu activists, we are obliged to ask whether one of the
great political experiments of the last 100 years -- the establishment in
India of a secular state -- has unraveled beyond repair.

For answers, we might look at the meaning of modern Indian secularism --
which, unlike the American variety, is not largely synonymous with a
"nonreligious state" -- and compare it with some notable examples of
secularism elsewhere.

India was a place of habitual religious fervor when its constitution was
adopted, in 1950, shortly after independence from the British. At that
time, only about 18% of its population was literate. Since many fewer
people than that, surely, were equipped to read and understand the
constitution, India's secularism -- enshrined in that text -- was
principally the conceit of the country's political elite.

In fact, it was close to being the conceit of just one man, Jawaharlal
Nehru, the first prime minister, who was averse to religion in a way that
might have pleased Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Nehru never cited Ataturk as an inspiration, of course; how could he have
done? Although broadly paternalistic by disposition, Nehru was a committed
democrat, not a self-styled "father" of his people in the Ataturkist
manner. But his disdain for India's religious symbols (and his discomfort
with the quasi-religious rhetoric that had been so much a part of Mahatma
Gandhi's politics) was just as unbending as the doughty Turk's aversion to
the culture of the fez. Nehru's figure in Indian politics was so towering,
and so unsinkable in elections was his Congress Party, that the idea of
secularism -- while grafted onto India from above -- was accepted
unquestioningly by government and opposition alike. This was Nehru's
greatest political achievement.

Yet India's secular experiment was quite unlike Turkey's. If anything, it
was, and remains, more complex than any in human history. Ataturk's
landscape was uncluttered: He implemented his blueprint on a Turkey that
was almost monolithically Muslim. Unlike in India, Turkey's secularism was
not conceived as a way to reconcile people of different faiths, and to
help them bury atavistic enmity.

In fact, it was seen as a tool of enforced "modernization," and was a
retreat from religion (in this case, Islam), inspired in large measure by
the Jacobin ideas that flowed from the French Revolution. Revolutionary
France provides the only other example, before Ataturk, in which
secularism formed the bedrock of a national project. (I exclude the
Russian Revolution, for obvious reasons; neither in Jacobin France, nor in
Ataturkist Turkey, was a belief in religion outlawed. It was merely
forbidden to practice religion as politics, and to flaunt publicly the
outward symbols of religiosity.)

India's secularism has, from its inception, offered a contrast to the
Jacobin-Turkish model. Religion is not excluded from the political sphere;
in fact, there are numerous political parties which have patently
religious manifestos. The Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee is often described as a "Hindu nationalist" party, and
counts among its extra-parliamentary allies a few groups that are avowedly
Hindu-chauvinist. (Members of these groups were killed on Feb. 28, when a
train in which they were traveling was torched by Muslim opponents. And
members of these same groups, it is certain, were responsible for the
pogroms that followed.)

Secularism, in its Indian ideal, emulates some of the ways of the liberal
West, which is one reason why Indian democracy -- in spite of its flaws --
has so many admirers in America and Europe. Religious parties are not
proscribed; religiosity is not a bar to political advancement; and
religious discrimination is unlawful. The framers of the Indian
constitution envisaged a multireligious state whose citizens coexist, with
no group enjoying advantage, nor disadvantage, by virtue of religion.

India takes its religion as seriously today as it did in 1950. The
literacy rate now approaches 55%, from which one might conclude -- if
education be the key to a tolerant society -- that a few more people grasp
the import of secularism than in the past (although still hardly enough
for a country so vast). Yet there is evidence, the massacres in western
India being only the most recent example, that secularism is on the
defensive, and that religious hatreds are on the rise. How does one
explain this?

One logical answer might be that religious fervor and intolerance do not
necessarily decline with increased education and prosperity. Whether or
not this is true, it is indisputable that a country that is still as poor
-- and as poorly educated -- as India will always be socially combustible
in the absence of civilized political leadership. This, India has not had
-- from any party -- for a very long time, and this is what India needs so
badly now.

Mr. Vajpayee and leaders of India's opposition parties need urgently to
convene together, to salvage the country's secular design. This involves
not merely taking the firmest measures against those who would shatter
social harmony, but also reigniting, as a political credo, the idea of
Indian secularism.

Nothing short of an unambiguous reaffirmation will suffice, a muscular
restatement by all parties that they are committed -- come what may -- to
guarding the boundaries beyond which religious fervor must not cross.
Secularism, modern India's best idea, should not be allowed to fail
without a resistance that is, at the very least, as audacious as the
original project. Otherwise, there can only be chaos, and bloodshed.

Mr. Varadarajan is the Journal's deputy editorial features editor.

_______

#2.

The Hindu, Mar 12, 2002

Understanding Gujarat
By Rajmohan Gandhi

The truth is that the subcontinent's religious extremists never=20
forgave Gandhi his beliefs and his triumphs.

All THE comment about Gujarat's supposed avenging nature, including=20
the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi's remark about five crore Gujaratis=20
reacting to the Godhra outrage, left me wholly unimpressed. It was a=20
slur. Just before the carnage began, I spent five days in the State,=20
chiefly for events related to the JP centenary, and left Surat for=20
Mumbai an hour before the Godhra killings occurred. In Ahmedabad,=20
Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Surat I encountered several=20
citizens groups committed to Gandhi's philosophy of fairness towards=20
all and protection of the weak. The inferno that started with Godhra=20
and then destroyed lives in different places in Gujarat was a comment=20
not on the character of Gujaratis but on the poison knowingly=20
injected into Gujarat's bloodstream by groups of Hindu and Muslim=20
extremists.

The Gujarat of Gandhi, of the poet Narsi Mehta who spoke of the other=20
persons pain, of the modern Jain saint Rajchandra, of brothers to the=20
poor like Ravishanker Maharaj and Jugatram Dave, of the unknown poet=20
who presented to Gandhi the Ishwar Allah Tere Naam line, of=20
Vallabhbhai Patel, who mobilised his peasants against the Raj in a=20
magnificently-controlled struggle of non-violent defiance and who=20
knew how to enforce the rule of law, of recent incorruptible=20
political leaders such as U.N. Dhebar, Balwantray Mehta and Morarji=20
Desai, of hundreds of currently- active and efficacious NGOs, of=20
ordinary men and women who care for their neighbours, stands deeply=20
shaken.

Shockingly, the killings have continued. Deterring the next arsonist=20
or killer group, or saving the next cluster of threatened lives, did=20
not and does not appear to be the State Government's primary concern.=20
It was hard to derive any assurance from a Chief Minister who liked=20
to underline the number of localities and villages not yet burning,=20
and who did so without conveying any contrition about the thousands=20
ruined or killed on his watch. When September 11 happened, American=20
leaders from George W. Bush down to local officials at once made it=20
plain that hate crimes against Arabs, Afghans or other Muslims living=20
in America would be severely punished. But after Godhra, Gujarat=20
heard no warning against targeting Muslims.

For decades, Gujarat has experienced the injection of hate - from=20
neighbouring Pakistan and also from the so-called Indian heartland.=20
The truth is that the subcontinent's religious extremists never=20
forgave Gandhi his beliefs and his triumphs. They hated him for=20
standing up for minority rights, religious freedom, justice, and=20
forgiveness, for persuading millions on the subcontinent to embrace=20
these values, and for successfully inspiring his followers to=20
enshrine religious equality and freedom in the Indian Constitution.

Muslim and Hindu extremists alike hoped that India would reject the=20
inclusiveness and secularism that Gandhi had insisted upon. Maulana=20
Maudoodi, founder of the Jamaat-I-Islami, expressly desired a Hindu=20
state in India and a Muslim state in Pakistan. So did India's Hindu=20
extremists. When the Hindu extremists who had backed the Mahatma's=20
assassination found that it had consolidated India's pluralism=20
instead of destroying it, they put their heads together and came up=20
with two cunning strategies: inject hate into Gandhi's Gujarat, and=20
turn Gandhi's healing Ram, the Almighty who was also the=20
Compassionate, into an anti-Muslim chariot-riding warrior.

The extremists are chillingly symbolised by the photograph of the=20
Gujarati youth in the maroon T-shirt with a raised crowbar, screaming=20
mouth, clenched fist and blazing eyes, his whole being declaring the=20
intent to destroy. Yet at least to me those unforgettable eyes seemed=20
also to plead to be rescued from the fire of hate that had seized his=20
heart.

The picture suggests the constituency that the extremists have=20
focussed on - youths on the margins of crime and unemployment who=20
feel threatened but also tempted by modernity, a conflict revealed by=20
the word American displayed across the maroon T-shirt. To the (much=20
larger) Hindu segment of this constituency in Gujarat, audio=20
cassettes, videos and pamphlets have for years dinned the following=20
message: Hindus have been made weak, effeminate and second-grade=20
citizens, and Muslims and Christians have fattened, in the India=20
fashioned by Gandhi and Nehru. Gandhi should never have spoken to=20
Hindus about fair means or non-violence. Non-violence is cowardice,=20
forgiveness sinful, and secularism evil. India is being Pakistanised=20
or Christianised. Bharat Mata's honour requires the removal of the=20
Babri Masjid and the erection in its place of a grand Ram mandir. Are=20
you a man and a true son of Bharat Mata? If you are, be ready to=20
destroy and to be destroyed. Be a hero or a martyr.

Tribal, Dalit and OBC youth were specially cultivated, even though it=20
was not hidden that once Muslims had been satisfactorily tackled,=20
dealing with independent-minded Dalits, tribals and OBCs could=20
follow. Years of persistent propaganda, aided by a flow of funds,=20
including from NRIs, and helped also by corruption and division in=20
Gujarat's secular polity, did their work. There were many recruits.=20
In numerous places in Gujarat, terror squads emerged that could also=20
do duty as kar sevaks. And when, preceded by a parallel process aimed=20
at counterparts among Gujarat's Muslims, Godhra happened, Gujarat's=20
kar sevaks were prepared for quick and explosive action.

We know the gruesome deeds and the climate of terror that followed,=20
yet these kar sevaks have neither taken Gujarat over nor altered=20
Gujarat's character. They are a super-imposition on Gujarat's social=20
and political life. Godhra gave the kar sevaks a provocation and also=20
a pretext. The Modi administrations inaction or connivance gave them=20
free passage. Using both emotion and intimidation, kar sevak squads=20
attracted supporting mobs, just as the perpetrators of Godhra had=20
done. But the kar sevaks do not symbolise or represent the Hindus of=20
Gujarat, even as the perpetrators of Godhra did not represent=20
Gujarat's Muslims. The hundreds of thousands of ordinary Hindus and=20
Muslims saddened and shamed by the cruelties of their=20
co-religionists, and the large numbers engaged in bringing succour to=20
the inferno's victims, are better symbols.

Huge tasks beckon: lifting from Gujarat the shroud of terror;=20
restoring to Gujarat's Muslims a sense that their lives count and=20
will be protected; enabling Gujarat's silent and seemingly helpless=20
majority to find its voice and feel its strength; reconstructing,=20
once more and within a year of the earthquake, Gujarat's shattered=20
economy; bringing some compensation and healing to the thousands=20
damaged by the inferno; recalling Gujarat's Hindus to their tradition=20
of a calm and honest Hinduism, a Hinduism that feels another's sorrow=20
and does not need an enemy for its sustenance; and presenting=20
alternatives to Gujarat's enraged youth, Hindu and Muslim.

_______

#3.

The Hindu, Mar 12, 2002

Peace activists seek dismissal of Modi Govt.

By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI MARCH 11. Writers, artistes and intellectuals today marched=20
to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, demanding the dismissal of the Narendra=20
Modi Government in Gujarat, holding it responsible for what they=20
called "induced and selfish genocide'' in the State.

Led by the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University=20
Vice-Chancellor, Ashok Vajpeyi, musician, Ustad Asad Ali Khan, and=20
literary critic, Natwar Singh, the rallyists presented a memorandum=20
signed by over 140 activists to the President.

Calling for a high-level enquiry into the role of the police in=20
Gujarat, they said the Home Minister, L. K. Advani, should be held=20
responsible for failing to curb the communal violence in Gujarat.=20
``We are greatly alarmed at the state of affairs in Gujarat and the=20
Chief Minister is responsible for the unchecked escalating of=20
violence in the State. The Government must realise that it is the=20
common man who, irrespective of his religion or faith, pays for the=20
irresponsible behaviour,'' said Mr. Vajpeyi.

Stating that peace was the basic human right and no one should be=20
deprived of it, the group wanted the State to ensure that the common=20
man did not suffer.

``We condemn the indifference and inaction of the Government. People=20
have been killed on both sides,'' said Urvashi Bhutalia of `Kali for=20
Women'.

Holding people in power responsible for the volatile situation, Ustad=20
Asad Ali Khan said, "India is a land of peace and universal=20
brotherhood and we have a rich heritage that we can refer to for=20
long-lasting peace. Let no one community be made to feel that they=20
don't belong here, because religion does not teach one to divide; it=20
only preaches love and harmony.''

_______

#4.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 17:31:07 +0530
From: Arvind Ghosh
Subject: peace march at nagpur

Nagpur: 9th March,2002

"Colour of blood is neither Green nor Saffron, it is Red"
"We Want Peace, not Temple, not Mosque"
"Say No to incitements of communal riots in the name
of Religion"
"Stop politics of Mandir & Masjid"

These were the bold slogans that reverberated in the
lanes & by lanes of Mahal & Itwari in Nagpur on 9th
March evening between 4:30 & 6:30 pm. Hundreds of
peace-loving secular minded people of Nagpur belonging
to all communities turned up in this Peace March
organized by Secular Citizens Forum, Nagpur to protest
the killings at Godhra & the subsequent massacre &
genocide in Gujrat in the name of Religion.

The peace & friendship March received stupendous
response from the common people many of whom joined
the March spontaneously. The participants were
welcomed at many places of the entire route by traders
& bystanders with flowers, garlands &drinking water.
Enthusiasm & human warmth generated by the Peace March
could be felt the participants as well as the people
who watched the Peace March pass through the narrow,
crowded, busy lanes of Mahal & Itwari.

The most prominent & the brightest feature of the
Peace March was the participation of a huge number of
women carrying colourful banners & placards, giving
lively slogans & singing songs of peace throughout the
March.

Leaflets with the message of peace were distributed to
the bystanders throughout the procession. Huge banners
proclaiming "WE WANT PEACE. STOP POLITICS OF
MANDIR-MASJID" were displayed. Slogans condemning the
tendency of inciting communal frenzy, riots &
massacres by religious fundamentalists were raised by
the participants. They condemned the killings at
Godhra & subsequent organized genocide in Gujrat with
the connivance of a section of the police &
administration. The Peace March commenced from Chitnis
Park at 4:30pm & passed through Gandhi Putla,Shahid
Chowk,Ganjakhet & terminated again at Chitnis Park at
6pm, where silence was observed to pay respect to all
those who fell victims to the Gujrat carnage. The
Rally ended announcing the next programme of Secular
Citizens Forum: daylong dharna at Akashbani Chowk on
15th March commencing from 11am.

Some of the organizers & participants of this Peace
March were Suresh Agrawal ,Shrinivas Khandewale,
Suresh Khairnar,Herne,Namdeo Laghwe,Nirmala Shende ,
Mridula Laghwe, Jammu Anand,Yugal Rayalu, Prakash
Meghe, Bipradas Lahiri,Sangeeta Mahajan,Shashikant
Waikar,Arvind Ghosh, Mohan Kothekar, Ravishankar
Bhure, Wamanrao Dhote, Bhupesh Thulkar, Priyadarshan
Pandit,Vilas Sukhdeve,Gopal naidu
etc. A few prominent public figures like prof Jogendra
Kawade, etc also joined the March.

This Peace March organized by SECULAR CITIZENS FORUM
was the first of its kind in Nagpur after the Gujrat
genocide & has definitely succeeded in making the
presence of the secular forces felt in this city.

_______

#5.

Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 17:59:34 +0530
From: Ammu Abraham

Subject: An Anti-communal March 8th in Mumbai

Friends,
International Women's Day in Mumbai was observed by several women's
organizations in the city as a Peace Dharna at Hutatma Chowk/Flora
Fountain, 4 - 6p.m.

The common banner was:
'Strenghten Women's Unity for Communal Harmony and National Unity, For
Secularism And Protection of
the Rights of All Communities'.
In a statement endorsed by 10 women's organizations,
AIDWA, Women's Centre, YWCA, NFIW, FAOW, Mahila Daxata Samiti,Swadhar,
Samajwadi Mahila Sabha, Akshara and Forum for Women's Health, it was
demanded

(1)that the Central govt should act immediately to restore normalcy in
Gujarat,

(2)that the Karsevaks be cleared out of Ayodhya and

(3)that those who have proclaimed their contempt for the Constitution of
India be taken to task.

Student groups of both boys and girls, from Nirmala Niketan College of
Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Sophiya College added
considerably to the energy of us women's organizations by their
enthusiastic presence and singing of anti-communal songs.

Slogans like "Commywad se, Azaadi" and even "Sangh Parivar se Aazaadi"
reverberated at the Fountain area, where hundreds of working people were
passing by on their way to the Churchgate station, and paused to see the
dharna and take the leaflets being distributed.
Representatives of the groups present gave short talks or led
anticommunal sloganeering. Stree Sangam members sang a song which was
specially written about the riot victims.
The gathering observed 2 minutes' silence in mourning for the thousands
who have been massacred or tortured or rendered destitute in Gujarat's
shameful genocide and resolved to strengthen women's unity for a secular
India.

Resist the communal hatred and never say die! Nothing is impossible for
women!

Ammu Abraham, Women's Centre.

_____

#6.

The Times of India
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2002

Sangh Parivar workers clash with police in Indore
PTI [ MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2002 10:41:19 PM ]
INDORE: Activists of BJP, RSS and Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) trying to=20
attack a place of worship and shouting slogans against minority=20
community, clashed with police here on Monday leaving at least 15=20
cops injured, an official said.
http://203.199.93.7/articleshow.asp?art_id=3D3494580

_____

#7.

Letter to the Editor
Hindustan Times (New Delhi)

Where are the artistes?

During the Kargil war, artistes, dancers, singers and sportsmen=20
painted, sang and played patriotism. They spoke of the plight of=20
soldiers and their families and pulled on people's nationalistic=20
heartstrings.

Where are they today when Gujarat is burning? Is it that the lives of=20
those in uniform are somehow more precious than those of innocent=20
civilians? Or is nationalism more sacrosanct than compassion and=20
humanity?

Meeto Malik, Delhi

______

#8.

Indian Express
EDITORIALS & ANALYSIS
Monday, March 11, 2002

State under siege

Is it too late to draw a firm line between state and religion?
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020311/ed4.html

o o o

Indian Express
EDITORIALS & ANALYSIS
Monday, March 11, 2002

Reading the Modimeter

If Gujarat has to revert to normalcy, its CM should go
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020311/ed1.html

_____

#9.

Indian Express, Monday, March 11, 2002

The truth about Chittisinghpora...

... lies buried beneath the Jammu and Kashmir government's consistent=20
attempts to window-dress the facts, says MUZAMIL JALEEL. The=20
controversy revisited
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020311/op2.html

_____

#10.

The creeping fascism in Gujarat:

A TRANSLATION OF THE CIRCULAR LETTER IN GUJARATI

DISTRIBUTED IN THE STREETS OF AHMEDABAD by the VHP

*****************

VISHWA HINDU PARISHAD (Raanip)
SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM
JAI SHRIRAM

WAKE UP! ARISE! THINK! ENFORCE! SAVE THE COUNTRY! SAVE THE RELGIION!

Economic boycott is the only solution! The anti-national elements use=20
the money earned from the Hindus to destroy us! They buy arms! They=20
molest our sisters and daughters! The way to break the back-bone of=20
these elements is: An economic non-cooperation movement.

Let us resolve -

>From now on I will not buy anything from a Muslim shopkeeper!

I will not sell anything from my shop to such elements!
3. Neither shall I use the hotels of these anti-nationals, nor their garage=
s!
4. I shall give my vehicles only to Hindu garages! From a needle to=20
gold, I shall not buy anything made by Muslims, neither shall we sell=20
them things made by us!
5. Boycott whole-heartedly films in which Muslim hero-heroines act!=20
Throw out films produced by these anti-nationals!
6. Never work in offices of Muslims! Do not hire them!
7. Do not let them buy offices in our business premises, nor sell or=20
hire out houses to them in our housing societies, colonies or=20
communities.
8. I shall certainly vote, but only for him who will protect the Hindu nati=
on.
9. I shall be alert to ensure that our sisters-daughters do not fall=20
into the =91love-trap=92 of Muslim boys at school-college-workplace.
10. I shall not receive any education or training from a Muslim teacher.

Such a strict economic boycott will throttle these elements! It will=20
break their back-bone! Then it will be difficult for them to live in=20
any corner of this country. Friends, begin this economic boycott from=20
today! Then no Muslim will raise his head before us! Did you read=20
this leaflet? Then make ten photocopies of it, and distribute it to=20
our brothers. The curse of Hanumanji be on him who does not implement=20
this, and distribute it to others! The curse of Ramchandraji also be=20
on him! Jai Shriram!

A true Hindu patriot.

N.B. The kites we use at Uttrayan (Kite flying day) are also made by=20
them. The fire-works are also made by them. We should boycott those=20
too. Jai Shri Ram (Ranip)

_______

#11.

March 6, 2002,

Parliament Street - or - Why this country is a basket case. Parliament Don'=
t
raise/point/wag your finger at the poisonous honey bees
What you think is a hive Is where the Representatives of the People dwell

- Paash

Parliament Street is the established venue in Delhi for large numbers=20
of people to express their protest in rallies, marches and slogan=20
shouting. The norm is for groups to walk down from the Connaught=20
Place/Jantar Mantar end of Parliament Street till the barricades put=20
up by the police midway between CP and Parliament House. The crowds=20
come, roar at the barricades, and disperse, half a kilometre short of=20
their own elected representatives. Like tired waves breaking on an=20
impregnable cliff =96 of bright yellow barricades, dull green helmets=20
and khaki riot gear. These protests, symbolically in the heart of the=20
nation=92s capital =96 are in actuality marginalized, largely unheard,=20
and very, very ineffectual. For it is very difficult to actually lead=20
a protest down Parliament Street without formally informing the=20
police, or facing their baton-wielding wrath.

So the police organize the protests to the convenience of, well,=20
judge for yourself=85Office hours with people largely inside offices,=20
Parliament Street and other routes of march cordoned off to traffic,=20
the press generally having more 'glamorous' and 'sensationa' stories=20
to cover =96 a protest march down Parliament Street becomes an=20
indulgently personal venting of simmering frustrations =96 Jesus=20
Lives=92 scrawled on the walls of the Vatican. Unless, of course,=20
someone like Arundhati Roy joins the march. But Arundhati Roy went to=20
jail today. For Contempt of the Supreme Court of India. For believing=20
in Constitutionally given Freedom of Speech and expression enough to=20
have criticised the court=92s judgements in three paragraphs of an=20
affidavit she filed. If she doesn=92t pay the fine set by the court,=20
she could be in jail for three months.

A lot of people consider this to be unjust. Some of them gathered=20
outside the Supreme Court this morning, while the hearing was going=20
on. People from the Narmada Valley, from Kerala, from Andhra Pradesh,=20
from Assam, from Delhi. Narmada Bachao Andolan activists, farmers,=20
home-makers, students, journalists, teachers, lawyers. A lot of them=20
got there with extremely obtrusive policemen (plain-clothes or=20
otherwise) tailing them.

The protest still managed to materialise in an extremely spontaneous=20
manner and was lively, spirited, and despite being surrounded by much=20
armed riot-police (or because of it) extremely cheerful. When news=20
came that Arundhati would soon be taken to Tihar =96 over two hundred=20
people courted arrest by the mere act of crossing the road, and filed=20
into the waiting police trucks and buses in a remarkably orderly=20
fashion. These packed with humanity vehicles went to Parliament=20
Street Police Station, where all the fun starts. If kites of the=20
feathered variety were students of semiotics, they would have had an=20
interesting whirling aerial view of Parliament Street this afternoon.

Coming from the CP end, wave after wave of angry red flags broke=20
against the barriers just to the north of the Police Station. It was=20
as if the events in Gujarat had suddenly awakened a whole range of=20
movements and organisations to the enormity of misgovernment. Flags=20
and people changed with rapid succession, marching behind each other=20
with near military precision, but all baffled by the barricades,=20
where all their slogans sounded remarkably similar. The khakhi beach=20
was a beleaguered one by lunchtime, Normandy on D-Day. Then the=20
Arundhati Roy supporters, who had been held in the roomy courtyard of=20
the Police Station, singing protest songs and slogans with remarkable=20
chutzpah, decided that they would rather be imprisoned in Tihar along=20
with her, broke out of the Police Station. Broke out is not an=20
accurate term, for that has hints of violence. This break out was=20
accomplished by a firm, non-violent, and extremely hilarious walk-out=20
that left the police bewildered =96 the sort of thing that the Narmada=20
Bachao Andolan has become adept at after more than fifteen years of=20
non-violent protest. So two hundred people walked out of arrest/=20
preventive detention in the presence of heavily armed and riot-gear=20
clad police and out onto Parliament Street.

Suddenly the beleaugered beach was an even more beleaguered thin spit=20
of khakhi amidst the turbulent seas of people=92s protest. The police=20
tried to bully, drag, threaten and when all failed, oilily cajole the=20
supporters to get back into the Police Station. When even that didn=92t=20
work, they brought in a Fire Truck with sirens wailing to hose down=20
the crowd. After the Gujarat carnage, it couldn=92t be more ridiculous.=20
Police stood aside there as violent mobs went on a rampage, killing,=20
looting and indulging in systematic arson till a lot of Gujarat was=20
literally burning and crores of property and invaluable lives were=20
going up in smoke. And here, after a writer is arrested for believing=20
in Freedom of Speech and Expression, when people gather to express=20
their solidarity in non-violent ways, they bring in the water=20
cannons. What conclusions can one draw from this? Only the slogans of=20
the supporters/protestors make sense =96 - sarkaar hamse darti hai,=20
police ko aage karti hai. - (the government is afraid of us, it sends=20
the police forward) - Arrest rioters, not writers. But it wasn=92t the=20
police who prevailed at Parliament Street today. Medha Patkar, the=20
NBA and other supporters of truth, justice and fair-play managed to=20
fan out into Patel Chowk and wake the sarkari babus out of their=20
card-game playing apathy in the grassy lawn of the traffic circle.=20
They managed to march down Ashoka Road, till Windsor Place, amidst=20
fairly heavily traffic. They were at least seen, if not heard. Then=20
they boarded police buses which took them till outside Tihar, where=20
to my knowledge, the protest still continues=85So far, apart from=20
Arundhati Roy, no one is in jail, but not for want of trying on the=20
part of the police. Rings of power. The circular parliament building=20
is the symbol for a state which is building concentric rings of=20
defense around itself, the police being the outermost.

The state, with all its gross insensitivity, corruption and=20
injustice, needs to be protected from the people it is supposed to=20
represent. And it constantly abstracts these people into the Other,=20
the Enemy, the ISI, Pakistan. And to remove all legitimacy from=20
people=92s protest, all democratic means they have are subverted; and=20
non-violent mass protest is completely removed from the public=20
imagination. The signs, the symbols, the spaces of the city are=20
controlled by the police with an iron lathi you won=92t see till you=20
wish to protest. Which is why all that happened at Parliament Street=20
becomes so important today. Especially since it was not the first=20
time that the NBA and its supporters have in ways courageous and=20
imaginative reclaimed the city=92s spaces, even if temporarily. Small=20
groups of students and activists have joined hands with people from=20
the Valley and used the spaces of the city, the railway stations, the=20
public toilets, Lodi Gardens, Delhi University, Blue Line buses, to=20
stay ahead of the police long enough to organise mass sit- ins at=20
such heavily guarded government areas as the Supreme Court, the CGO=20
Complex, Shastri Bhavan, etc.

To mingle with the people hurrying in rush-hour traffic and to make=20
them stop and think. The NBA, and the strange and beautiful alliances=20
it forges, have allowed the public into spaces usually denied to it,=20
including the Rashtrapati Bhavan. And that is perhaps what the NBA is=20
all about. Not about one writer going to jail =96 but the alliance=20
between writers and dispossesed tribals. Between Assamese students=20
and Nimadi peasants. Between Malayali theologians and Rajasthani=20
labourers. Alliances which in their small ways, fight for the big=20
things. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The things that=20
don=92t, somehow, become election issues. But Arundhati=92s imprisonment=20
has also seen an attack on these alliances.

Students who have actively supported the NBA on a regular basis have=20
been singled out, shadowed and harassed by police intelligence, their=20
movement severely restricted. This hasn=92t, of course, stopped them.=20
Let me take the names of these brave individuals now they are already=20
known to the Police. Banajit Hussain, Karuna Dietrich, Alberuni,=20
Priyani Roy Chowdhary, among others. All of them are staking their=20
future here, by most usual ways of looking at things. None of them=20
has done anything for the NBA which is not in agreement with the=20
Constitution of this country. I=92d challenge the police to come up=20
with one instance. None of them has burned a shop, killed a human=20
being, or discriminated against anyone on the basis of religion. They=20
work for the causes of the underdog. =85And which is why, on Parliament=20
Street this afternoon, it was increasingly clear that this country=20
has become a basket case.
--=20

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