[sacw] SACW #2 | 16 July 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire Dispatch #2 | 16 July 2002

South Asia Citizens Web:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

South Asians Against Nukes:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/NoNukes.html

__________________________

#1. The Next Generation: In the Wake of the Genocide
#2. Deflections To The Right - overseas charity money for RSS=20
propaganda activity (A.K. Sen)
#3. Public Meeting : Women, Violence and Genocide in Gujarat (London, 16 J=
uly)
#4. Undoing India -The RSS Way (Shamsul Islam)
#5. Two Nation Theory-Bane of South Asia (Book Review by Ram Puniyani)
#6. Canada: The Perpetrators of the Crimes against Humanity in=20
Gujarat, India. A Public Forum (20 July 2002)

__________________________

#1.

The Next Generation: In the Wake of the Genocide
A Report on the Impact of the Gujarat Pogrom on Children and the Young
by an independent team of citizens from Calcutta, July 2002,=20
Supported by Citizens'
Initiative, Ahmedabad,
Full Report available at:
<http://www.onlinevolunteers.org/gujarat/reports/children/>http://www.onlin=
evolunteers.org/gujarat/reports/children/

This is a report on the ways in which children and the young have been
affected by the carnage unleashed in Gujarat since February 27th 2002.
It also addresses the systematic build up to the genocide, as well as
the possible long term outcome of the cumulative impact .

____

#2.

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=3D20020722&fname=3DVHP+%28F%29=
&sid=3D1&pn=3D3

Deflections To The Right

A few fund-raising organisations come under the scanner for diverting
overseas charity money into RSS propaganda activity

A.K. Sen

Kanwal Rekhi has been facing the ire of right-wing Hindus across America.
This is because in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Rekhi, glob=
al
chairman of The IndUS Entrepreneurs, an organisation of South Asian
businesspeople, claimed that money collected by Indian Hindus in America an=
d
sent to religious groups in India was being channelled to target minorities=
.
"Many overseas Indian Hindus=F3including some in this country=F3finance rel=
igious
groups in India in the belief that the funds will be used to build temples,
and educate and feed the poor of their faith. Many would be appalled to
know that some recipients of their money are out to destroy minorities
(Christians as well as Muslims) and their places of worship," wrote Rekhi i=
n
the article, co-authored with Henry S. Rowen, a professor emeritus at
Stanford University and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution. They
suggested that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee could deal a severe blow
to such covert causes by simply labelling them terrorists.

Their claims=F3of right-wing Hindu groups diverting funds from the US to
finance divisive activities in India=F3were articulated in respected academ=
ic
Robert M. Hathaway's recent testimony (see interview) before the US
Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Hathaway asked the commission to recommend an inquiry into fund-raising
activities in the US by groups implicated in the recent violence in Gujarat=
.
He told the commission that "some US residents make financial contributions
to overseas religious groups in the belief that these funds are to be used
for religious or humanitarian purposes, when in fact the monies so raised a=
re
used to promote religious bigotry".

The India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) is among the most prominent =
of
charity groups involved in raising funds in the US, much of which ends up
bankrolling outfits in India that are connected to Hindutva through the
umbilical cord of the RSS. A Maryland couple, Vinod and Sarla Prakash,
established the IDRF in 1978, and speak of their role in the upliftment of
adivasis in India. An ex-employee of the World Bank and a former RSS member=
,
Vinod Prakash claims the RSS doesn't accept any foreign contributions. He
declares emphatically, "The IDRF has given absolutely no money to the RSS. =
We
deal only with NGOs involved in relief and rehabilitation."

Outlook investigations, though, show irrefutable RSS links of some
organisations that the IDRF funds. This is what makes a social activist fro=
m
the San Francisco Bay Area, Raju Rajagopal, remark acerbically, "If you cla=
im
to have nothing to do with it when you actually do, it becomes a matter of
transparency. After working hand-in-glove for years, Sangh parivar outfits =
in
the US can't suddenly try to distance themselves from the VHP-Bajrang Dal.
They have left footprints all over the Internet."

Not only do footprints exist, so does incriminating evidence of the IDRF's
duplicity. Precisely what has goaded Rekhi and Hathaway to demand
investigations into the fund-raising activities of Hindutva groups in the U=
S.
The IDRF, for instance, has donated $2,50,000 in the last four years to Sew=
a
Bharati Madhyakshetra, an RSS affiliate, which claims to "protect the triba=
l
people from subversion, and integrate them into the mainstream". Again, the
Keshava Sewa Samithi in Hyderabad, to which the IDRF has sent $40,000 since
1998, has the same address as the RSS headquarters in the city.

When confronted with the Sangh antecedents of Sewa Bharati, Prakash quickly
retracted from his earlier position to say, "I am aware of the RSS-VHP
affiliations of some organisations we fund." He then went on dismiss such
links as a non-issue.

But Sewa Bharati isn't the only RSS-linked recipient of the IDRF's
munificence.For instance, the IDRF lists a sister organisation called the
Ekal Vidyalaya. Incidentally, the Ekal Vidyalaya was started by the VHP und=
er
the aegis of the Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan (BKP), and has now been taken ov=
er
by the Sri Vivekananda Rural Development Society (SVRDS). The IDRF funds bo=
th
the BKP and the SVRDS.

The BKP's history is in itself quite interesting. Since the VHP did not hav=
e
the necessary clearance to accept funds from overseas, it set up the BKP fo=
r
this purpose, receiving $81,750 from the IDRF since 1998. In a message date=
d
February 14, 1999, now posted on the Internet, US-based S.P. Attri says he
had written a letter to VHP leader Ashok Singhal enquiring about the method
of sending donations from the US to the VHP. Attri reveals that in response
he received a letter on March 23, 1998, from Sitaram Agarwal, all-India
secretary, VHP, acknowledging that his organisation "needs money and lots o=
f
it to carry out shuddhi and seva and dharam prasar for the tribals, Harijan=
s
and the Dalits".

Agarwal's problem was that under existing rules, the VHP couldn't accept
foreign donations without the government's permission. The VHP, however, ha=
d
shrewdly found a way out, a fact Agarwal confessed in his March 23 letter. =
As
Attri writes, "To get around the problem of GoI rules hurdle, VHP has float=
ed
a trust under the name of 'Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan' and VHP can now accep=
t
foreign money in the name of this trust, provided the donor accompanies his
donation with a letter stipulating that 'this money is to be used for the
Welfare of the Tribals and the Dalits'."

The address Agarwal recommended for NRI Hindus to send money to is revealin=
g:
Secretary, Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan, Sankat Mochan Ashram, Sector-VI, Rama
Krishna Puram, New Delhi-110 022, India. This is precisely the address from
where the VHP operates in Delhi.

This isn't all. The IDRF lists the Bharat Vikas Parishad and Sanskrit Bhara=
ti
as sister organisations; both are listed on the RSS website that describes
the many outfits it has spawned. In addition, some of IDRF's recipient
organisations are headed by RSS activists. For instance, the Jeevan Dhara
Rakt Foundation, to which the IDRF has sent approximately $45,000 since 199=
8,
is run by Shyam Behari Lal, a businessman and a social worker. The foundati=
on
website lists Lal as a "Sampark Pramukh, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, Meeru=
t
Vibhag." Again, Dr Vishwamitra of the Kalyan Ashram, Shillong, belongs to t=
he
RSS while the Guwahati-based Shishu Shiksha Samiti is situated in Keshav
Dham, which is the local RSS headquarters.

The IDRF also funds Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams (VKAS) and kendras to reconvert
tribals to Hinduism. The IDRF's 'affiliate/sister' organisation in Sidumbar=
,
Gujarat, the Hostel-Dispensary-Cultural Centre for Children and Nurseries, =
in
its own literature, Amrut-Kumbha (Reservoir of Nectar), authored by one Dr
Shantaram Hari Ketkar, says in a section on the Kalyan Ashram in Gujarat:
"The Muslims are also trying to create chaos in these communities, either b=
y
enticing these tribals or by raping the tribal girls by force. The Kalyan
Ashram at Sidumbar is trying to put a stop to these activities of Muslims a=
s
well as Christians.... The workers of Kalyan Ashrams are required to give a
tough fight to the Christian missionaries because they keep on harassing th=
e
local residents." In its October 1999 report, Human Rights Watch linked the
attack on Christians in tribal areas in India to the increased activity of
the Kalyan Ashrams.

Prakash preens about his support to the VKAS in Ranchi and Bangalore. But t=
he
link between VKAS and reconversion raises serious questions here about why =
a
"development" NGO should indulge in reconversion. Says Rajagopal, "It's one
thing to feed tribals, but another to teach children that all Muslims are
their enemies."

Adds Najid Hussain, a professor at the University of Delaware, whose
father-in-law Ehsan Jaffri, a former Congress MP, was brutally murdered in
the Gujarat violence, "Much of the money raised in the US is poured into
so-called adivasi education programmes. Given that adivasis committed most =
of
the post-Godhra violence in Gujarat, it's quite possible they are being
brainwashed like the Al Qaeda members were at the madrassas." Hussain
even told the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that nine =
out
of every 10 dollars spent on fanning the communal frenzy in Gujarat came fr=
om
the US and Europe.

Opposition to organisations like the IDRF stems from the fact that they
operate under the garb of secular and non-political organisations when they
are fronts for radical Hindu organisations in India. Says San Jose-based
Shalini Gera, author of an online petition to the National Human Rights
Commission condemning the Gujarat riots, "In such a scenario, several peopl=
e
who would otherwise not wish to fund RSS organisations unwittingly send mon=
ey
to the IDRF." Adds Rajagopal, "It is one thing if an NRI donor were to
knowingly fund the RSS or the VHP. It would be his right. It is quite anoth=
er
if a donor is funding a 'front' organisation, without being aware that he m=
ay
be bankrolling the RSS or VHP agenda."

Prakash, however, insists that every single person donating money to the ID=
RF
knows where his/her contribution is going. "I am not a mediaperson, nor do =
we
have a PR department. People should look at our published reports to know
where their money is going." While many donors may be ignorant about the
misuse of their donations, there are indeed a large number of people who
consciously contribute to hardline Hindutva groups.

Rekhi says he was shocked to see many prominent Indian-American entrepreneu=
rs
on the list of donors to Hindu front organisations. As an affluent investor=
,
Rekhi says he has always turned down repeated requests to contribute to suc=
h
groups. Some Indians do, however, fall into the trap set by what Rekhi
describes as slick talk and good packaging.

Admitting it is widely alleged that money collected by some Hindu
organisations in the US go to extremist elements in India, Sumit Ganguly, a
professor of Asian studies and government at the University of Texas, Austi=
n,
however, told the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that it
would be unfair to tar and feather the entire community with the same brush=
.
"Rumours are rife that money changes hands, but most people innocently send
money to India. If indeed the money is going towards extremist propaganda,
there is enough legal basis to put an end to the source," he says.

Connecticut-based lawyer Sunil Deshmukh attests that extreme right-wing
Indian Hindus in America tend to be more staunch than those in India. "Thei=
r
silence on the violence in Gujarat was deafening. What is more alarming is
the feeling among them that with their money power, they can do anything."

For the moment, though, it seems their dollars could have fanned the commun=
al
conflagration in Gujarat. Considering the horrific nature of the violence
there, and the role the Sangh outfits played in the carnage, the deposition=
s
before the US Commission isn't the last we have heard about the routing of
greenbacks to India for extreme right-wing groups.

_____

#3.
Women, Violence and Genocide in Gujarat

PUBLIC MEETING

ALL WELCOME

Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, London WC1,

(nearest tube Kings Cross)

Tuesday 16th July 2002

7.00-10.00pm

Asiya Sareshwala, Indian Council of Muslims

Bina Fernandez, Forum Against Oppression of Women, India

Zubaida Motala, South Asia Solidarity Group

Gita Sahgal, Women Against Fundamentalism

=91Evil Stalks the Land=92 a new documentary film about events in Gujarat=20
directed by Gauhar Raza (subtitled in English)

Why are women singled out for such horrific violence during communal attack=
s?

What does the 'Hindutva' ideology of India's ruling BJP and the=20
internationally active VHP mean for women?

What are the implications of what is happening in Gujarat for South=20
Asian women in Britain?

How can we support the demands of women's organisations working with=20
those affected in Gujarat?

Gujarat has moved out of media focus. But the toll of death and=20
destruction there is still mounting. Violence has not yet ceased .=20
The attacks on the Muslim community in March have left more than=20
2,000 dead, more than 100,000 homeless and property worth millions of=20
rupees destroyed. Now. relief camps are being closed down and Muslim=20
survivors are being forcibly and systematically prevented from=20
returning to their homes and resuming their occupations .

It is now clear that what happened in Gujarat was planned,=20
premeditated and cold blooded . As in the case of the killings of=20
Jews in Nazi Germany, in Gujarat, for months before these attacks,=20
lists of intended victims identified on the basis of religion were=20
being collected. In other words this was genocide. And it happened=20
with the complicity of the state government. The fact that the Chief=20
Minister Narendra Modi and others like him who implicitly or openly=20
supported these attacks and police officers who participated in=20
killings have not been dismissed underlines the role of the central=20
government.

In these genocidal attacks women and children were the main targets.=20
As the Citizen's Initiative report, The Survivors Speak, put it=20
"Among the women surviving in relief camps are many who have suffered=20
the most bestial forms of sexual violence - including rape, gang=20
rape, mass rape, stripping, insertion of objects into their body, and=20
molestations. A majority of rape victims have been burnt alive". The=20
extent of sexual violence and brutality witnessed during the carnage=20
in Gujarat since the 28th of February is likened by many to the=20
horrors of the post-Partition riots in 1947. We must speak out=20
against this violence.

Further details from South Asia Solidarity Group 0207 267 0923,=20
email: southasia@h... c/o 293-299 Kentish Town Road London NW5=20
2TJ. (Venue booked with assistance from Unison)

_____

#4.

UNDOING INDIA -THE RSS WAY

By Shamsul Islam.

Pages 92.

Price Rs. 30+Postage.

Publisher: Media House, 375-A, Pocket2, Mayur Vihar Phase I,=20
Delhi-110091. India.

Phone: 91-11-2750667 & 91-11-2751317.

E-mail: mediabooks@h...

Website: www.mediahousedelhi.com

This book will prove quite useful in the present times when the RSS=20
is showing up its colours, more and more starkly, in a number of=20
areas. The communal carnage in Gujarat has exposed the diabolic plans=20
of RSS. The Babri Masjid demolition and riots across the country; the=20
attempts at the Brahmanisation of education and communalisation of=20
the civil services were some other instances which unmasked RSS and=20
other agencies of the Sangh Gang. The author traces the plans,=20
policies and propositions of the RSS to their origins, in the=20
words/publications of the RSS itself, so that there is no room for=20
alleging misrepresentation.

The shameful role of the RSS in the struggle for the independence of=20
India, its close affinity with the fascist concepts of Hitler and=20
Mussolini, its resulting priorities of anti-Minoritism and redressal=20
of historic wrongs, its seeking to adopt any means to achieve=20
political power =96 all these are described in detail in the book.

The author has taken pains to conclusively prove that the RSS=20
policies will inevitably lead to the denigration of the Dalits and=20
the marginalisation of women with excerpts from the 'Manusmriti'=20
which is dear to RSS establishment. The book concludes that the RSS=20
is out to subvert the basic characteristics of our Constitution.

The author is known for his frank writings about the subversive games=20
which communal forces play in the Indian sub-continent. This book=20
will prove to be a handbook for knowing the RSS.

_____

#5.

Two Nation Theory-Bane of South Asia

Book Review

By Ram Puniyani

(Book Reviewed: Competing Nationalisms in South Asia, Essays For Asghar
Ali Engineer, Editors-Paul Brass and Achin Vanaik, Orient Longman,
Hydrabad, Pages- 298, Price Rs. 525)

It is over five decades that most of the countries of South Asia got
Independence from the clutches of colonial powers. During the struggle for
Independence two contrasting notions of nationalism emerged mainly due to
lack of land reforms and incomplete secularization process. As the period
of freedom in most of these has not brought in social transformation
towards Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in a substantial way, the ghost
of the rabid phase of the conflict ridden period of two nation theory has
resurfaced in a stronger way again. It is in this backdrop that the book
under review takes up the theme of the struggle between these two contrary
concepts of nationalism.

This is probably the most apt theme for the festschrift for Asghar Ali
Engineer. Dr. Engineer, pioneer in Communal Riot investigation, struggle
for Human rights and secular values is also a major contributor to Bohra
reforms. The last aspect though very important component of the corpus of
Engineer's work has not been touched upon, leaving a feeling of void in
the volume dedicated to this outstanding activist scholar, who is probably
the best known scholar at popular level.

The editors of the volume in way approve the spectrum of Engineers work
when they write, " The struggle against communalism then, operates on a
broad front and is inseparable from the struggle for greater democracy,
social justice and better and more humane forms of material existence." (p
4) The editors see the fascist nature of Sangh Parivar, the core of Hindu
communal organizations modeled on European Fascist movements. Their
observation is more than vindicated when one goes through the pain and
agony of current Gujarat (March-June 2002) as reflected in most of the
reports of Human rights activists. Editors correctly point out the
ideological predilection of RSS towards the Brahminical values of caste
and gender hierarchy. Of course this notion of birth-based stratification
is couched in most polished tone, the tone that sidetracks the values of
Liberty Equality and Fraternity with the clear agenda, the agenda of
upholding the pre-modern feudal hierarchies, in the modern language. Since
the lip service has to be paid to democracy and secularism so new meanings
and content is given to both the terms which cannot be formally rejected
so the notions of cultural nationalism etc. in place of civic and
democratic nationalism.

Though most of the essays of the volume are illuminating, the ones by
Sikata Bannerjee, Anwar Alam, Ghnashyam Shah and Mubarak Ali do take the
cake for raising many issues for introspection and serious thought.
Bannerjees article in a way is the theme of the volume as such. The
contrasting notions of Nationalism are civic and cultural. By civic
nationalism one means the nationalism, which stands for secularism and
democracy, the one, which takes citizenship as the primary focus of ones
identity. In contrast cultural nationalism draws from the elites culture,
regards the country as a cultural monolith, and is imposing in its
approach towards minorities. Cultural Nationalism is the elegant name for
Hindu Nationalism, Hindutva, the content of which is filled by its
proponents.

Anwar Alam takes the theme further (Secularism in India-A Critique of
Current Discourse). Alam is trying to answer the question as to why the
fifty years of practice of secularism paved the way for communal fascism?
He points out that Indian state has relied on religion for its legitimacy
and posits that we cannot thwart the march of Hindu right just by defense
of Nehuruvian secularism. One will like to state that Nehru cannot be
blamed for all the ills of Secular Practice. The structure he inherited
had a lot to do with this. To begin with the Congress party itself was
saddled with many a Hindutva elements. The soft Hidnutva individuals and
opportunists were and are aplenty in Congress. It was more a reflection of
the incomplete secularization process than any lack of understanding about
Secularism by Nehru, the individual. He himself was non-compromising but
the whole machinery, which he headed, was infected by the communal virus,
and could not overcome the structural obstacles for a correct practice of
secular politics.

Alam does go into the details of secularization process and role of state
in the same. One point, which is not generally given greater attention, is
the place of religion after the secularization. Here mostly religion word
is used as such, while what should be used is the role of clergy. In
secular state while the power of clergy takes a back seat the other
aspects of religion are not dictated by the state. It becomes a personal
matter, i.e. clergy ceases to be the Guide of the state policies. The
distinction is important as many a times there is a temptation to restrict
the religious practices (e.g. in Post Revolutionary Soviet Russia). The
personal practice of ones faith is perfectly valid in a secular state,
while the borderline dividing the personal social and political may be bit
blurred at times. These are the fuzzy zones where social debate, and not a
divine ordinance, can come to resolve the tangle. Alam correctly laments
the absence of serious attention to the deeper link between Democracy and
secularism and approvingly quotes Partha Chatterjee, ... or should the
response (to the attacks on secularism, added) be a defense of the duty of
democratic state to ensure policies of religious tolerance? (p. 112)

The attacks on the Missionaries, Nuns, and priests scattered and working
in far-flung areas, has been the major response of Sangh Parivar to the
assertion of Adivasis. Knowing well that educational activities of
Missionaries empower the Adivasi who in turn become more assertive in
demanding their rights, and in threaten the status quo, disturbing the
social support base of Sangh Parivar. That is the reason as to why Parivar
has unleashed a process of attacks on alleged forcible conversions.
Ghanshyam Shah a keen observer of social processes of Gujarat has
contributed a longish essay on this theme. This essay does full justice to
the problem under consideration and demonstrates the social dynamics of
Gujarat to make his point.

Religious Mobilization and Sadhus in Politics: The idealized versus
realpolitic by Virginia Van Dyke breaks new grounds in analyzing a very
peculiar phenomenon of Indian society, the Sadhu, the wandering people in
holy garb with no particular aim and goal in life. Their identification
with religion has been well exploited by VHP for the project of Hindu
Rashtra. VHP uses the term Saints for these sadhus, which is a misnomer
according to reviewer. The word saints should be reserved for the
religious people from subaltern traditions like Bhakti and Sufi, for
people who build the bridges between communities and not sow the poison of
hatred against other communities.

The two Nation theory has been a bane of subcontinent. And we are
suffering the pangs of its political fallouts. On both sides of the divide
it affects the society and polity. The dilemma of the state of Pakistan
and its intellectuals is brought out well by Mubarak Ali (Pakistans Search
for identity). As Pakistan was formed on the very basis of Islam, its
identity is deeply entrenched in the same. Any attempt to overcome this
narrow identity creates a backlash, every time such a talk is in the air.
The result is the tragic fate of minorities. Many a scholars are
suggesting rebuilding the identity of Pakistan on territorial grounds to
overcome the past acts of omission, and vicious sectarian conflicts, which
are plaguing that nation.

On a whole this festschrift to Asghar Ali Engineer is a valuable addition
to the currently available resources on the topic of Communal politics in
South Asia. No time in the past the country was so ravaged by the ill
effects of communalism as during last two decades. Any compilation on the
theme cannot do justice to the topic unless Sangh Parivars threat to
Indian Democracy is elaborated. Also an article on Bohra reform would have
made it more apt as a volume of essays for Dr. Engineer.

(The writer works for EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)

_____

#6.

Bring to Justice!

The Perpetrators of the Crimes against Humanity in Gujarat, India.

A Public Forum

Organized by
SANSAD
(South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy)

Lecture Theatre, The Justice Institute of BC
715 McBride Blvd, New Westminster (corner of 8th Avenue)
Saturday 20th July 2002 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

During late February and early March a genocidal attack on the=20
minority Muslim community took
place in Gujarat. This has already faded from the media and the=20
attention of the international
community. Although the pace of World events tends to make us forget=20
all but the most immediate
horror we should not forget that nearly two thousand people were=20
killed, many women were raped and
then torched to ashes, and more than a hundred thousand made homeless=20
by organized violence in
Gujarat. Those who committed these crimes against humanity must be=20
brought to justice. This forum
is organized as a part of an international movement to plan action=20
toward justice for the
atrocities in Gujarat and for the prevention of similar occurrences elsewhe=
re.

Moderator: Harinder Mahil, former Chairman of the Human Rights Commission o=
f BC

Invited Speakers and Panelists:
Nishrin and Najid Hussain (daughter and son-in-law of ex-MP Mr. Ehsan=20
Jaffri, who was one of the
many people brutally lynched in the Gujarat violence)
Dr. Radhika Desai, University of Victoria, Victoria (A Political=20
Scientist who has done extensive
research on the growth of Hindutava in Gujarat and in India)
Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed, University of Stockhom, Sweden (A Political=20
Scientist, and a committed activist
for peace in South Asia, and Human Rights)
Mr. Mordecai Briemberg , Canada Palestine Network.
Dr. Lauri King-Irani, University of Victoria, Victoria (An=20
Anthropologist, and an expert on
International Humanitarian Law, on Crimes Against Humanity)
Mr. Abu Ansari, an Entrepreneur, and a Concerned Muslim from India.
Dr. Nandita Sharma, University of British Columbia
Dr. Satyen Banerjee, A practicing Hindu priest, and president,=20
Bengali Cult. Soc. of BC.

Two short films recently made on the Gujarat massacres will be shown.

For more information contact: Chin Banerjee (421-6742), Rex=20
Casinader (222-1781), Farouk Jamal
(218-9345), Abid Pittawala (325-5092) or Hari Sharma (420-2972)

Genocide in Gujarat
Beginning on February 28 for seventy-two hours organized armed gangs=20
attacked Muslim neighborhoods
in the cities and villages of Gujarat. Estimated 2000 Muslims were=20
killed, many being burnt to
death. Women were raped and killed. Muslim owned properties; trading=20
and industrial establishments
were looted and destroyed. Almost two hundred religious shrines were=20
razed or vastly damaged. Over
a hundred thousand persons were displaced and turned into refugees.=20
The organized character and
the state support for these atrocities against a minority community=20
clearly identifies them as
genocide.

The spark for these events was the burning of a train carriage=20
carrying Hindutava brigades
returning from a temple-building ceremony in Ayodhya, resulting in 58=20
persons being burnt to
death. Though there are accounts of various provocations to Muslims,=20
all the way on the journey
and upto Godhra Railway Station, this is a shocking crime whose=20
perpetrators must be brought to
justice. But the events that followed were not spontaneous=20
"reprisals" or religious riots as they
have been falsely characterized. These attacks against the Muslims=20
were an organized, preplanned
pogrom waiting for a spark to be unleashed. The Gujarat State=20
Government approved and enabled this
pogrom. The agencies of the Gujarat State made the electoral lists=20
available to the attackers to
identify Muslim homes and neighborhoods; the State Police watched=20
unconcerned, and sometimes even
aided and abetted, the attacks taking place. The subsequent transfers=20
out of the few police
officers who acted to prevent the attacks are further evidence of the=20
State's collusion in the
events.

Indian civil society has been under great stress in the last few=20
years with the growth of the
Hindutva (Hinduness, the essence of being Hindu) movement or Hindu=20
nationalism. This movement sees
no place for Muslims and Christians in India, identifying the nation=20
with Hinduism. This
ideological attitude in Hindutva raises the danger of ethno-religious=20
cleansing. The events of
Gujarat could be occurring elsewhere in India. Gujarat could be the=20
beginning of a greater horror.

Against this dark background we have to find hope in the role played=20
by Indian media, which, with
the exception of the vernacular Gujarati media, has published=20
investigative reports on the
carnage. The support provided to refugees by many Indian NGOs and=20
activists concerned with human
rights, secularism and democracy is equally heartening. The National=20
Human Rights Commission and
the People's Union for Civil Liberties, among others, have led such=20
activism. Concerned sections
of the international community have condemned the atrocities. The=20
report of the British High
Commission in New Delhi triggered by some visiting British Muslims=20
being victims of the massacre
have alerted the international community to the collusion of the=20
Gujarat Government in the events.

SANSAD together with many sections of the South Asian diasporic=20
community in British Columbia are
grieved and alarmed by the happenings in Gujarat. In order to resist=20
the trend of these events we
must engage the attention of the international community. As a first=20
step in this resistance we
must bring to justice the perpetrators of the genocide in Gujarat. We=20
call upon all South Asians,
in fact, all Canadians concerned with human rights and civil=20
liberties to rally with us in this
call for justice. We demand that the culprits be swiftly brought to=20
judicial trials within the
legal framework of India. We will constantly monitor the process and=20
if it is found wanting, we
will call for an international tribunal, as in Rwanda and the former=20
Yugoslavia, to try those
responsible for this genocide.

SANSAD
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy

Suite 435, 205 - 329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC, Canada. V3K 6Z8
phone : (604) 420-2972; FAX: (604) 420-2970
Electronic mail : sansad@s...
[Incorporated in British Columbia under the Society Act as a=20
Non-Profit Society, # S-31797]
(SANSAD is an affiliate of INSAF (International South Asia Forum)

--=20
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