SACW | Feb 24, 2007
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Feb 23 21:45:38 CST 2007
South Asia Citizens Wire | February 24, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2365 - Year 9
[1] Pakistan: NWFP's Mad Mullahs are public a health hazard:
- Debilitating scaremongering (Edit, Khaleej Times )
- Murdered for fighting polio (Edit, The News)
- Fighting polio on two fronts (Edit, Dawn)
[2] Pakistan: Pakistan elections - Who to vote and why? (M.B. Naqvi)
[3] Sri Lanka: Two Decades of War; Five Years
of Ceasefire Agreement; What Next? (NPC)
[4] Pakistan - India: Crafting an opportunity for peace (Praful Bidwai)
[5] India: Kashmir Solidarity Committee and APDP
Hold Day long protest Rally in Delhi
[6] Publication announcement: booklet (in Hindi)
on the Hindutva leader Yogi Adityanath in Eastern
UP (Subhash Gatade)
[7] Public events: National Culture versus
Cultural Nationalism / Media of the Public
Sphere versus
Media of the Marketplace (New Delhi, 24 Feb 2007)
[8] India: Peace March from Ayodhya to Magahar (7th - 14th March 2007)
[9] Call for entries Voices from the Waters 2007
- 2nd International Film Festival on Water
____
[1]
Khaleej Times Online
16 February 2007
EDITORIAL
DEBILITATING SCAREMONGERING
THE news that parents disallowed approximately
24,000 children in northern Pakistan to be
administered polio vaccines last month on
hard-line religious grounds is disturbing and
needs immediate attention.
The refusal seems to stem from some radical
clerics' propaganda that the vaccine is an
American plot to sterilise Pakistan's coming
generations. In addition to highlighting these
clerics' hold and influence in some of Pakistan's
far-flung areas, this development should also
prompt a serious investigation into other
realities influencing this malaise.
A clear pattern reveals itself upon close
examination. It comes as little surprise that
both the rise in recorded polio cases as well as
the support for the clerics' stance are
concentrated in the frontier province. And there
too, the higher percentage is in the bordering
areas with Afghanistan, the troublesome area
widely blamed for harbouring Taleban remnants and
abetting terrorist activity.
As Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has
repeatedly implied, the only credible cure for
indoctrination instilled hatred and ignorance can
come from targeting the root, basic causes of the
problem. These are the very places where careful
and deliberate indoctrination was carried out,
backed by domestic and international agencies, to
produce warrior-cleric prototypes which proved
successful in generating the storm that flushed
the Soviets out of Afghanistan.
The haste with which the US abandoned the region
once its purpose was served left a discomforting
vacuum inside Afghanistan which automatically
became these experimental jihadists' next target.
And to ensure they survive and thrive, they set
up institutions within themselves that guarantee
self-perpetuation of their extremist dogma.
The West's attention didn't return to this area
till the venom they gave root to eventually came
to haunt them in their own home. And as their
fearsome-to-all military might continues to fail
in delivering the death blow, they are finding
out a complex web of international proportions
that has already been put in place by these
apparently little-knowing self-styled clerics.
Notably, they have evolved into a complex,
uncompromising entity, with little scope or
appreciation for modern enlightenment.
The polio-vaccination-refusal is just one aspect
of their detrimental, regressive philosophy. To
counter it, the authorities need to seriously put
together knowledge-based educational programmes.
They must also realise that their recent approach
of subduing these extremist people has only added
fuel to their debilitating scaremongering fire.
The News
February 17, 2007
Editorial
MURDERED FOR FIGHTING POLIO
It started as another of those "conspiracy
theories" -- in this case the firm belief among
clerics in Bajaur Agency that the drops of polio
vaccine given to infants were actually part of a
western plot to reduce the population of Muslims.
On Friday it ended up with the meticulously
planned murder of a surgeon promoting an
anti-polio campaign. Dr Abdul Ghani Khan was
returning to the agency's headquarter, Khaar,
when his official vehicle in which he and a group
of health workers were travelling was blown up by
an improvised explosive device; ironically, the
same IED used by the Iraqi resistance against US
occupation forces. Three of his colleagues were
wounded in the blast. Dr Abdul Ghani seems to
have been an activist against a disease that
mostly strikes young children (Franklin D
Roosevelt was one of the rare cases of adults
contracting polio). The doctor's only fault seems
to have been to try and convince the agency's
residents to participate in the government's
anti-polio vaccination campaign, for the sake and
future of their children. However, this seemed to
have been too much for the obscurantists and
extremists in the area who obviously saw what the
good doctor was doing as something that
necessitated the taking of his life.
The ludicrousness of this paranoia is borne by
the fact that in the past few years, because of
these drops, the number of polio cases has gone
down dramatically in Pakistan, one of only about
half-a-dozen countries in Asia and Africa where
the disease hasn't been wiped out. Equally
dramatic, of course, has been the rise in the
country's population. At the time of the
secession of East Pakistan, the combined
population of the wings was about 100 million; 35
years later what was then West Pakistan is
bursting at its seams with more than 150 million
people. But that's what the conservative elements
want anyway. "A person is born with one stomach,"
they point out, despite the rampant unemployment
"and two hands to earn with".
Thank goodness, "the west" -- the World Health
Organisation, to be specific -- eradicated
smallpox 30 years ago around the globe. At that
time Pakistan was incomparably open-minded and
tolerant, and far more peaceful, in relation to
what it is these days, because the influence of
the clerics had been minimal. If smallpox were
still a threat now, doctors like Dr Ghani would
have been accused by the fanatics of injecting
"family-planning medicine" into people's arms --
at the behest of the west. As for the west, how
did it eliminate polio in its own countries if
not through the same vaccine that is supposedly
poisoning our infants? Whichever way one looks at
it, the Bajaur clerics' attitude towards polio is
laughable. Incidentally, Khaar, the Agency's
chief town, is the very place where barbers have
been recently banned from shaving men. But it's a
grave matter now, with members of the fanatical
fringe murdering and maiming healers doing their
duty. The government will have to take effective
action to trace the murderers of Dr Abdul Ghani.
But first it should make the safety of those
conducting the new campaign absolutely certain.
Dawn
23 February 2007
Editorial
FIGHTING POLIO ON TWO FRONTS
THE MMA government in the NWFP has to step in and
stop certain clerics' drivel on the polio
vaccination or run the risk of facing a serious
health crisis they may find difficult to deal
with. Already their inaction has cost lives -- 39
polio cases were reported last year in the
province. But the incidence of the disease cannot
be brought down without dealing with the vicious
campaign of falsehood and canard being carried
out by a section of the clerics bent on
frustrating the anti-polio drive. Having access
to illegal radio stations to spew their venom,
such elements are determined to go to any extent
to stop the spread of what they call the "infidel
vaccine". The killing of a doctor earlier this
week in Bajaur is proof of their viciousness. And
now a cleric in a village in Swat is preaching
that Islam prohibits finding a cure for a disease
before its outbreak in the form of an epidemic
and that those who die in an outbreak are
martyrs. Such ludicrous claims have produced
expected results: during an anti-polio campaign
on Wednesday and Thursday in Swat, some refused
to have their children vaccinated. It is
difficult to reason with such illiterate fanatics
but the government will have to find a way to win
over support in favour of an enlightened view of
things. As it is, health officials in certain
areas have postponed the anti-polio campaign for
security reasons after the doctor's death in
Bajaur. If put off indefinitely, this could have
disastrous effects.
The authorities cannot allow clerics to hijack a
public campaign and jeopardise children's health
and well-being in the process. They have a
responsibility to contain the polio virus and
must press ahead with the goal of a polio-free
Pakistan. Each time a polio case is detected, it
is a reminder of the government's failure to
implement a comprehensive strategy to wipe out
the disease. A more effective approach is needed
to achieve the goal.
______
[2]
Deccan Herald
23 February 2007
PAKISTAN ELECTIONS
WHO TO VOTE AND WHY?
by M.B. Naqvi
Election campaigning has begun. Everyone has to
choose which party to vote. This should be
examined carefully in the light of the problems
facing Pakistan.
Army's domination of Pakistan state and politics
is the biggest problem. Criterion for public
policy-making has become Army's corporate
interests. Democracy being advertised by the
military is deceptive. It is a military regime
masquerading as democracy. It is a one man show.
Unless the army is ousted from politics,
democratic governance, vital for tackling the
myriad problems facing Pakistan, will continue
eluding. Who can forget poverty of and squalour
around, a third of Pakistanis? Unemployment -
structural, seasonal and temporary - is
widespread. Democracy and Pakistan economy have
supposedly taken off. But they enrich only 10 to
15 per cent of people. The rest face problems in
making two ends meet.
Apart from masses' poverty and prosperity of just
15 per cent, proper education and healthcare are
not available to most Pakistanis. Haphazardly
throwing some money at these problems does not
expand and improve social infrastructure. What is
needed is well-conceived economic plans to be
executed by professionals for achieving intended
results. The need of the hour is for parties and
candidates to propose concrete ideas on the kind
of development they aim at.
It does not signify whether poverty is 23 per
cent or 33 per cent or 43 per cent. Sure,
determine it. For the whole answer, look at how
do large sections live in inhygienic conditions,
ramshackle houses with uncertain incomes while
prices go on spiralling. First priority has to be
development. But what kind of development is
needed? Benefits of development have to be
distributed more equitably. Indeed those who are
below the povertyline must be brought above it
within a specified time, without forgetting to
reduce the miseries of those who are just above
the povertyline. Poverty has to be eliminated,
not alleviated by, by ensuring jobs or some
social security. This is the touchstone to judge
all parties.
Islamabad's foreign policy also is controversial
while national horizon remains clouded.
Afghanistan's troubles have traveled to
Pakistan's western regions, particularly FATA and
in Balochistan. Also on the horizon is a possible
war against Iran. Should that happen, as Prime
Minister Aziz has said, 'it would be disastrous
for the region'. Pakistanis need to adopt a
position on the geo-strategic aims of the US in
Asia. That will say what do we do about them.
Should Pakistan remain a non-Nato ally of the US
and a participant in Terror War? It is a fateful
question. Can an alternative political leadership
not suggest ways of withdrawing from that high
risk course? Let others have this honour.
Pakistan should be content to focus on look into
its own problems and set its own house in order
so that those people are benefitted who are in
need.
Another problem is headaches. All Muslim League
governments since 1949 have relied on Islamic
rhetoric. They wanted an Islamic state that would
also be modern while contributing toward Ummah's
progress. This prospect excited Islamic scholars:
some came forward with concepts of Islamic State
or Nizam-e-Islam and today there is an alliance
of six religious parties, MMA selling the idea.
It seeks vote in Islam's name. Should Pakistanis
vote for the Islamic State because most
Pakistanis are Muslims? And would not Islamic
State or Nizam-e-Islam be a copy of Mullah
Muhammad Umar's Caliphate in Afghanistan. Will
watering it down suffice? No modern person,
Muslim or not, is likely to opt for that.
Today the most powerful party, the Pakistan
military, is represented by President General
Pervez Musharraf. He has collected a band of
renegades and turncoats from other parties and
calls it Muslim League (Q). What the latter wants
is to re-elect Gen Pervez Musharraf, still on
active service, through the existing Assemblies.
For the rest, its programme is to carry on what
Mr. Shaukat Aziz began as Finance Minister. If
Pakistanis are satisfied with what he has
achieved, PML (Q) candidates in large numbers
will be returned.
What about the two major opposition parties:
Benazir Bhutto's PPP and Mian Nawaz Sharif's PML
(N)? The larger Benazir PPP may get more votes
because it can still cash in on the memory of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the party the PPP was.
This memory has not vanished, though it is faded
for many. It is a different kettle of fish now.
It is more pro-American than General Musharraf,
if possible. Coming to power again, it will
pursue Shaukat Aziz's policies, perhaps a little
less coherently. What its social policies will be
is foreseeable. It is feudal dominated; will
accommodate all the moneybags; and let common
man's exploitation go on as hitherto. Perhaps its
rhetoric of democracy and peoples power would be
a shade more shrill than of PML (Q) or even PML
(N)'s, though it will happily let Army what it
wants.
Nawaz Sharif's PML (N) is intensely
anti-Musharraf and gives an erroneous impression
of being anti-Army. It is not anti-Army. It will
render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, so long as
the Caesar is not Gen Musharraf. In economic
policies it do not differ much from PML (Q)'s.
Its foreign policy would also be more or less the
same as PML (Q)'s or Musharraf's. In short, there
is not much difference between any of the three
major parties over what matters.
The issue of democracy needs special treatment.
The democracies Pakistan has seen were in 1947,
after 1971 and post-1988 era. These were
over-centralised governments that claimed to be
federal. The federation was however defective.
The provincial governments are more or less
powerless, dependent on the Centre for money and
on major policies. All significant decisions were
made by Centre's top man.
Consequently, three separate regional or ethnic
nationalisms have flourished: There is the
Pushtoon nationalism in NWFP in two versions: a
secular Pushtoon nationalism of ANP, PMAP and
others and the Pushtoon nationalism of various
Islamic militants and Taliban themselves. The
latter has mixed Islam with a dash of Pushtoon
nationalism.
Balochistan sports three nationalisms: first is
the secular Baloch nationalism, totally
unalloyed. The murder of Akbar Bugti and the
manner of it have given a boost to its
insurgency. The second is Taliban and is what it
is in NWFP. The third is purely secular Pushtoon
nationalism of Mehmood Achakzai's party. On the
whole, Balochistan is in the grip of two low
level but continuous insurgencies, the potential
of which are generally underrated by Islamabad.
Background comprises widespread poverty. Few see
Pakistan's enumerated problems being solved soon.
Army's control of state structure exacerbates
every alarming problem. Militarised governance is
the worst way of tackling (a) major structural
problems, (b) ideology's ugly progeny of
terrorism, (c) ethnic rebellion-in-the-making in
Sindh steady, if also low-level insurgency in
Balochistan, and (d) increasing lawlessness
almost everywhere. If Pakistanis let Army rule
indefinitely, future of Pakistan will be dark
indeed.
It is remarkable that there is no left-of-centre
or left party. True, a large number of left
groups exist as a statistic. In terms of
influence, there is little to note. Abid Hasan
Manto has been forming a left alliance of all the
small groups and individuals. Will he be able to
muster a force that can be an alternative
leadership? It needs to provide a manifesto of
how it would solve the issues enumerated here.
*(The author is a senior Pakistani journalist based at Karachi).
______
[3]
National Peace Council
of Sri Lanka
12/14 Purana Vihara Road
Colombo 6
Internet:
<http://www.peace-srilanka.org/>www.peace-srilanka.<http://www.peace-srilanka.org/>org
22.02.07
MEDIA RELEASE
TWO DECADES OF WAR; FIVE YEARS OF CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT; WHAT NEXT?
February 22, 2007 marked the fifth anniversary of
the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of
Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The Ceasefire Agreement
helped to bring the two decade long war against
the LTTE to an end. But today it is in shambles.
The death toll over the past year has been in the
region of 4,000 which exceeds the average in the
two decades that preceded the CFA of 2002. There
are large scale internal displacements of people,
political assassinations, disappearances,
abductions, a climate of impunity and forcible
recruitment of children and adults for combat,
air strikes and battlefield deaths. Sri Lanka has
become internationally noted for the human rights
violations taking place at the present time
despite efforts to downplay their seriousness.
In this context the National Peace Council is
encouraged by the response of civil society
networks from all parts of the country,
represented by 350 leaders, who yesterday
attended a peace symposium on the theme of "Two
Decades of War; Five Years of Ceasefire
Agreement; What Next?" Representatives of the
four religions and civil society groups spoke of
the need for a political solution rather than a
military solution. In addition, Ambassadors from
Norway, the United States and Japan, and High
Commissioners of Canada and Australia took part
in the event and demonstrated international
solidarity with the call of civil society for
negotiations, peace and political reform.
The key ideas that were expressed included
expediting the political proposals of the All
Party Representatives Committee, honouring the
mandate of the International Independent Group of
Eminent Persons who are observers to the
Presidential Commission to investigate Serious
Human Rights Violations, and to resume
government-LTTE peace talks. We are pleased that
the government and opposition political parties
sent their political representatives who also
addressed the gathering in accordance with the
spirit of the symposium.
The peace symposium showed that civil society is
ready to take up the challenge of working for
peace, reconciliation and a new political
framework at the local level inspired by the
values of multi-culturalism and with respect for
diversity. We regret that in recent times peace
events have been the target of hostility and
violence by nationalist and pro-war groups with
close links to those in power. The National
Peace Council calls on the government and LTTE to
provide civil society with a conducive
environment and encouragement to take the
messages from the peace symposium to the larger
society and thereby help to extricate the country
from the trap of violence and warfare.
Executive Director
On behalf of the Governing Council
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ceasefire Agreement signed between the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam on 22 February 2002 brought
dividends of peace, some of which the National
Peace Council gives below.
Ceasefire Dividends
* Save Lives
The war stopped, and with it the associated
destruction of life and property. On the basis
that an average of 3,000 to 4,000 persons die in
each year of war, the first four years of the CFA
would have saved between 12,000 to 16,000 lives.
* Free of Fear
Over 2 million people living in the north and
east could once again feel free of the scourge of
war that had been fought in their midst.
Elsewhere in the country also, particularly in
Colombo, people could be free of the tension of
bombs and military action.
* Reduced Suspicion
With the end of fighting, the relations between
the ethnic communities improved, as there was no
need to view each other with suspicion. Tens of
thousands of people engaged in internal tourism
travelling from south to north and east, and vice
versa. People went freely on religious
pilgrimages to places that had been sealed off to
them by years of war.
* Resettlement
Resettlement of over 300,000 internally displaced
persons took place. Some of these people had been
living in welfare centres for over 10 to 15 years.
* Open Roads
Roads connecting the north and south, east and
west, were re-opened. All roads in Colombo that
had been closed to traffic due to security
considerations, and created inconvenience to
travellers, were also re-opened. Economic
productivity losses due to security checks and
road closures were eliminated. There was faster
movement of containers and other traffic on the
road.
* Open Markets
The opening of roads also provided greater
market access to produce from the north and east
and stimulated markets for goods produced in the
south to go north. This meant better business for
the companies selling in the domestic market.The
north and east were integrated with the economy
in the south for the mutual benefit of both
regions and to their people raising their incomes.
* Reviving North East
Large extents of land that were not cultivated in
the North and East due to the dislocation caused
by the war and the insecurity became used for
economically productive purposes once again.
Infrastructure, such as telephones and
electricity supply, were restored to the north
and east.
* Record Tourism
Tourism which had fallen to low levels due to war
doubled to the more than half a million,
stimulating the entire industry and the
livelihoods of those living in the tourist belt.
* Economic Growth
The economy revived from negative growth of minus
0.5 percent in 2001 to an average of 5 to 6
percent. In the north east, the annual growth
figures reached 12 percent. Central Bank figures
also show that by 2005, the gross domestic
product of Sri Lanka rose by 18 percent over
2002. The per capita income went up from US
dollars 870 to 1197 in 2005, making Sri Lanka a
middle income country, rather than a poor country.
* Increased Foreign Aid
USD 4.5 billion was pledged at the Tokyo Donor
conference in 2003, which demonstrated the strong
support of the international community for the
restoration of peace in Sri Lanka. The interest
in greater direct foreign investment that would
stimulate economic growth also increased.
* Peace Work
The Government, LTTE and Muslim Peace
Secretariats were established.
Peaceorganisations and other civicorganisations
were able to work without interruptions and
threats and build bridges between the ethnic
communities.
Media especially the state media played a very
positive role in terms of building peace and
reconciliation between people.
* Government-LTTE Relations
Relations between the government and LTTE
improved and leading members of each side,
including government ministers and LTTE leaders,
met frequently in Colombo and Kilinochchi.
* Human Rights
The Prevention of Terrorism Act which had been
internationally condemned, and which led to many
human rights abuses was suspended. Sri Lanka's
human rights record improved, and the country
came to be seen internationally as a success
story in conflict resolution.
Where Does Sri Lanka Go From Here?
______
[4]
The News
February 24, 2007
CRAFTING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE
by Praful Bidwai
All well-wishers of the India-Pakistan peace
process must breathe a sigh of relief that the
gruesome and condemnable bomb explosions on the
Samjhauta Express near Panipat haven't disrupted
the bilateral dialogue or led to mutual
recrimination and finger-pointing by the leaders
and officials of the two countries. As such, the
attackers' principal objective has been soundly
defeated.
There can be little doubt that the bomb attack
was motivated by a terrorist design to torpedo
the ongoing India-Pakistan dialogue. Nothing else
can better explain its timing, which in all
probability was calculated to coincide with
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood
Kasuri's visit to India.
This fits into a well-established pattern of
terrorists timing their acts to coincide with
foreign dignitaries' visits. For instance, 35
Sikhs were massacred at Chittisinghpura in
Kashmir just before President Clinton's visit to
India in 2000. And in 2002, Kashmiri leader Abdul
Ghani Lone was assassinated a day ahead of Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to
Islamabad.
Three things make the Samjhota Express bombings
special. First, like in Malegaon last year, a
rare instance, a majority of those killed in the
terrorist attack on Indian soil were Muslims.
Second, this is the first time that Indian and
Pakistani citizens have been attacked together.
Third, it's no longer India alone that can raise
questions about terrorism. Pakistan too can
legitimately ask questions about terrorism
against its citizens and about the adequacy of
safety measures on the train.
Unfortunate as it was, the incident compelled the
two governments to respond quickly. And respond
they did--positively and remarkably maturely.
Both condemned the attack sincerely and
spontaneously. India set up a counter at Lahore
to issue special visas to the victims' relatives.
Although the Indian response in furnishing the
victims' names was slow, its pace wasn't
determined by bad faith.
Despite some unfortunate bickering over
airlifting the injured, and disputes about the
Indian authorities' access to the injured
survivors, the two governments' overall conduct
stands in sharp contrast to how they behaved
after last July's bombings in Mumbai.
Kasuri's visit succeeded in kicking off the
fourth round of the "composite dialogue" between
the two foreign secretaries, starting March 13
and 14. Besides the nuclear risk-reduction
agreement, there was also some progress in
resolving the issue of prisoners, and in putting
diverse issues on the agenda, including visa
liberalisation and cooperation in education,
information technology, tourism and
telecommunications.
However, perhaps even more important than such
incremental progress was the confident optimism
exuded by both sides about a possible resolution
of the Kashmir issue. Kasuri emphasised the
importance of building a strong consensus on the
contours of a likely solution. At a reception at
the Pakistan high commissioner's residence, he
appealed to the media to help build such a
consensus.
"There is no way that an issue as important as
Jammu and Kashmir can be resolved by the prime
minister of India and the president of Pakistan
unless we can carry the opposition, the media and
the people with us", he said.
Kasuri also told Hurriyat leaders that India and
Pakistan were on "the same wavelength" on
Kashmir. To a group of journalists, he said, "the
only reason" why the two governments have not
made the outline of a likely solution public is
that "we have to struggle hard to reach some sort
of conclusion before we can sell it to our
respective countriesŠ it will be a very hard
sell."
The two countries' leaders should soon start
consultations with diverse political groups to
generate a working consensus on a Kashmir
solution. This won't be easy. There are groups in
both which oppose the dialogue process and any
resolution of the Kashmir issue that involves
give-and-take. Among them are terrorists driven
by religious fanaticism.
Pakistan's jihadi militants regard both President
Pervez Musharraf and Indian leaders as "enemies".
They have repeatedly targeted Pakistani leaders,
including Musharraf, in as-yet-unsuccessful
assassination attempts.
In India, a fanatical fringe of Hindu
nationalists allied to the Bharatiya Janata Party
also opposes the peace process. Among them is the
notoriously communal Bajrang Dal. The Dal
recently announced the formation of a "suicide
squad", which would target "jihadi terrorists".
In general, the sangh parivar remains lukewarm to
India-Pakistan reconciliation.
Extremist groups external to South Asia may also
play an aggravating role. The subcontinent has
recently become more vulnerable to terrorism
because of growing volatility in Afghanistan and
rising tensions in West Asia, in particular, the
stepping up of the United States' offensive
against Iran and Iraq's insurgents.
However, a major advance could have been made in
promoting a climate conducive to such a
breakthrough had India and Pakistan agreed to a
joint investigation of the Panipat attack. This
was indeed the sense and the mandate of their
Havana declaration of last September: to create
an "institutional mechanism to identify and
implement counter-terrorism initiatives and
investigations."
India for the moment has ruled this out. It will
investigate the crime "as per the law of the
land". However, it will share the information it
unearths through the Joint Mechanism against
Terrorism, for which a meeting has been set for
March 6.
This need not be the end of the story. It is in
India's own interest to investigate the Panipat
episode and other terrorist attacks jointly with
Pakistan. It should pursue this in the coming
weeks and months.
Despite their differences, both India and
Pakistan have a stake in taking on fanatical
groups. If their leaders are wise, they would
stop looking for villains exclusively across the
border and treating each other's agencies as the
prime suspects in any terrorist attack, unless
they have hard evidence.
Instead, they should look for ways of working
together against terrorist groups. Such
cooperation will be far more valuable than
incremental confidence-building measures. There
are two areas where cooperation would be
especially fruitful: beefing up security
arrangements at the air, road and rail
transportation facilities that link the two
countries, and exchanging intelligence on
terrorist groups.
Last Sunday's train attack exposed major flaws in
the security arrangements at the Old Delhi
railway station, from where the Samjhauta Express
runs non-stop to the border. India has done well
to urgently institute 10 different measures to
beef up security at Old Delhi, with thorough
baggage checks, secure gates at the platform, dog
squads, etc.
An impartial and comprehensive probe into the
train bombings will lay the basis for future
cooperation on anti-terrorism operations through
exchange of intelligence on different
organisations active on both sides of the border.
However, this will demand a paradigm shift in the
way India and Pakistan look at security and
conceptualise terrorism. They will have to view
each other in fundamentally different,
non-adversarial, ways. India will have to abandon
the Islamophobic view its core security
establishment takes of terrorism. And Pakistan
must rein in its secret agencies and end covert
support for jihadi militants.
Such a paradigm shift will be stiffly resisted by
the security establishments in both countries.
But their political leaders must seize the
initiative and move from evidence-sharing to
substantive cooperation. One can only hope they
muster the courage to turn the tragic bombing
episode into an opportunity for peace.
______
[5]
Alternative India Index
http://membres.lycos.fr/sacw/spip.php?article65
o o
23 Feb 2007
KASHMIR SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE AGAINST
DISAPPEARANCES AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN
JAMMU AND KASHMIR & IN
SUPPORT OF THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE DISAPPEARED
Programme of Public Hearings, Hunger Strike &
University/College Meetings of Association of the
Parents of the Disappeared: Delhi Feb 20-21,
2007
Family members of the 'Missing' came to the
national capital Delhi, to awaken the Moral
Conscience of the Indian People to the heinous,
widespread and arbitrary practice of
'disappearances' by the security forces in Jammu
and Kashmir where the operation of the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act has produced a culture
of impunity.
There were wives, daughters, fathers and sons of
the 'Missing', 57 members of the Association of
the Parents of the Disappeared (APDP), including
four family members of the five 'missing', whose
bodies exhumed this February, were mute witnesses
to the systemic cold blooded killings of ordinary
civilians, abducted and branded as terrorists to
secure 'kill list' awards.
In Jantar Mantar, the site of democratic protest
in Delhi, on February 22nd, Praveena Ahangar, the
convener of APDP, along with 56 other family
members of the 'disappeared' sat on hunger
strike. It was a day of testimonies full of
anguish, about the 'missing' and the failure of
the democratic institutions of the state to
deliver justice to people who are the state's
citizens. In August 1990, Parveena Ahangar's
eldest son Javed Ahangar was picked up be the
security forces. Over these years of tireless
search for her son in jails across India and in
the Courts, she has identified the army unit, the
three officers who took away her son "but to no
avail. " The army says the officers have retired.
They don't know where to find them". As if they
do not receive a pension." Her appeal was simple
and poingnant- "If they are alive, let us meet
them. if they're dead give us their bodies. " At
her side was the JKLF leader Yasin Malik, who
over the last few years, has embraced Gandhian
style politics of protest. What does he say to
those who ask - did he do the right thing to give
up the gun, when all around him human rights
violations continue? " I think I have defeated
the Indian state morally, spiritually and
ethically. All those people and institutions for
which India is known all over the world, they
support the moral truth of our cause today".
There many voices from the academia, lawyers,
doctors, media, social activists, women's groups
who came in solidarity with the grieving victims
of violence and arbitrary and systematic abuse of
law. There was Prof Uma Chakravarti who asserted
that "these cold-blooded killings are conscious
acts and not accidents or 'collateral damage'
where arms are planted on ordinary civilians to
make the encounters appear genuine. Take the
recent case of the 'Ganderbal killings' have been
given false identities as "Pakistani Militants"
by the RR, J & K police and the CRPF. She called
for the setting up of a Commission on
Disappearances. Others Like Navsharan Kaur,
alluded to the massive disappearances in Punjab
that was exposed in the Cremations case, and
lawyer Vrinda Grover drew attention to the
Hashimpura killings and the fight for justice .
It was an occasion for those who for year have
been working in support of Kashmiris, like Syeda
Hameed, Sheeba Chacchi, Kamla Bhasin, Iffat, to
express solidarity.
There was Sampat Prakash, Vice President NTUI and
former President J&K State Employees Federation,
who lamented the fact that opposite the 'dhrana'
site of the APDP, a Kashmiri Pandit organization
instead of joining in solidarity was raising
slogans. He blamed Kashmir's Governors Jagmohan
and Girish Saxena for poisoning Kashmir's
communal harmony. In particular, he singled out
the Special Task Force in promoting a 'catch and
kill' policy'.
Delhi University's S.A.R.Geelani, who was
wrongfully implicated in the Dec 13 Parliament
'terrorist' attack, came and stayed in support.
Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was
skeptical of the Indian government responding to
their appeal. "This is not the first time women
from Kashmir have come
but those who are blinded
with their power do not see the people at the
margins".
Tapan Bose, filmmaker and human rights activist
denounced the AFSPA which was based on the
doctrine of use of maximum force and in violation
of the fundamental right to life. He lashed out
at the government reverting to the shameful
system of bounty hunting, i.e. kill lists. Film
maker Sonia Jabbar's concern, warmth and
commitment in support of the struggle for truth
and justice was the presiding spirit of the
solidarity campaign.
Member of Rajya Sabha, Ms. Nirmala Deshpande
who had earlier hosted the visiting Kashmiris
enabling them to meet some Parliamentarians, held
out the promise of setting up a Parliamentary
Committee on Disappearances. Eminent journalist
Kuldip Nayar spoke of initiating an Eminent
Persons investigation into human rights
violations in Kashmir.
But above all the family members of the
Disappeared touched the hearts of the students
who came in large numbers. On February 19th and
20th the student associations of JNU, Delhi
College of Social Work and Ramjas College Delhi
University had organised interactions with
students. Fathers, brothers, mothers, wives,
sisters, holding photographs of their loved ones,
had shared their anguish and their fears as they
recounted details of how their family member had
been arrested by security forces, and then been
subjected to "enforced disapperearence'. "Ever
since the dead bodies of 5 innocent persons
killed by the armed forces were exhumed in
Kashmir, we have been living in fear that this is
what may have happened to our children", said
Praveen Ahangar. The emotionalism welled up when
an old woman wept saying that she had 5 sons- "3
were 'martyred' in the movement, 1 had
"disappeared" and one remains at home harassed
everyday by the security forces".
Ashok Aggarwal, Advocate, Supreme Court said that
despite evidence being placed before the high
court about these disappearance, no action had
been taken. A legal aid group had undertaken an
independent field based study of 200 habeas
corpus petitions filed in the Courts in Kashmir
documenting 79 disappearances and the absolute
failure of the system to deliver justice. Prof
Kamal Mitra Chenoy joined student leaders in
condemning the culture of impunity.
The family members of the Disappeared have
returned to Kashmir. There was no memorandum to
the President because it has become an empty
gesture. Instead they came and touched the moral
fibre of so many and especially became a rally
point for Kashmir students who found solidarity
amongst colleagues. There were those who
disagreed, And they took their anger out in a
physical attack on Yasin Mallik. As he was
driving off with Sonia Jabbar to join the group
at India Gate, a red Swift Car obstructed their
path, and seizing the opportunity of their
slowing down, hurled a bag at them. It was blue
dye that spattered Yasin Malik, Sonia Jabbar and
the car. Chanting "jai Shiv Sena", they
assailants drove of.
The struggle against human rights violations and
the culture of impunity that makes possible
enforced disappearances continues. The
government's investigation into the Ganderbal
killings is to be welcome. It should be the
beginning of a full-fledged enquiry into the
systemic practice of disappearances.
For Kashmir Solidarity Committee
Tapan Bose, Bipin, Saurabh Bhattacharya, Ravi Himadri,
Vijayan M.J., Uma Chakravorty, Kamla Bhasin, Shabnam
Hashmi, Rita Manchanda, Richa Singh, Kamal Mitra
Chenoy, Deep Ranjani Rai, Iffat
[Release by]
Tapan Kumar Bose
Email: tbose at safhr.com
South Asia Forum for Human Rights
3/23 Shree Darbar Tole, Patan Dhoka,
(Near Lalitpur Zila Hulak Office)
Lalitpur, NEPAL
Tel: +977-1-5541026, Fax: +977-1-5527852
______
[6]
Publication Announcement:
A 64 page booklet in Hindi on the Hindutva
fundamentalist leader Yogi Adityanath in Eastern
UP
'YOGI PARIGHATNA : POORVI UTTAR PRADESH MEIN HINDU RASHTRA KI DASTAK'
[YOGI PHENOMENON: HINDU RASHTRA IS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF EASTERN UP]
by Subhash Gatade
Booklet Series No 21 | February 2007
Published by Institute for Social Democracy, New Delhi
A limited no of printed copies are available from
Institute for Social Democracy
Flat 110, Namberdar House
62 A Laxmi Market
Munirka, New Delhi - 110 067
notowar at rediffmail.com
THIS PUBLICATION IS AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT VIA SACW AT:
http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/Yogi_Phenomenon.pdf
______
[7]
SAHMAT,Social Scientist Conference INDIA
INDEPENDENT: ECONOMICS, POLITICS, CULTURE Dates:
22-24 February 2007
Venue: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti, New Delhi
Day 3: 24 February
Session 1: 9.30 to 1 pm National Culture versus Cultural Nationalism
Moderator: Sadanand Menon
Panelists:
Geeta Kapur
Prasanna
Kumar Shahni
Ram Rahman
Respondent:
M.K. Raina
Session 2: 2 to 5.30 pm Media of the Public Sphere versus
Media of the Marketplace
Moderator: Sashi Kumar
Panelists:
Siddharth Varadarajan
Rammanohar Reddy
Manini Chattterji
Shohini Ghosh
Respondent:
Sukumar Muralidharan
______
[8]
Peace March from Ayodhya to Magahar
7th - 14th March 2007
---------------
KABIR SADBHAVNA MARCH
7th March to 14th March, 2007
Ayodhya to Magahar
In light of the worsening communal situation in
eastern Uttar Pradesh, a communal harmony peace
march is being planned from Ayodhya to Magahar.
Lately, a number of communal incidents have taken
place and it is quite clear that with the
connivance of the Government in U.P., the
communal forces are able to stoke communal
feelings. With the impending assembly elections
in U.P., the communal forces are once again
adopting their strategy to polarize the Hindu
votes by such incidents.
However, the people of U.P. and India have
realized that these forces use the name of
religion for their political vested interests and
time and again resort to violence. The people
have rejected this politics and will reject it
once again.
The march will begin from Nishad Bhavan, Tedhi
Bazar, Ayodhya on 7th March, 2007 at 10 am and
end in Magahar on 14th March, 2007 at Kabir Math.
Magahar is a place associated with Sant Kabir.
The Kabir Sadbhavna March will be led by Acharya
Jugal Kishore Sharan Shashtri of Ayodhya and is
being orgnanized by Ayodhya ki Awaz, People's
Forum, Gorakhpur and Asha Parivar.
For more information contact:
Jugal Kishore Shashtri (9451730269), Keshav Chand
(9839883518), Manoj Singh (9415282206), Faisal
Khan (9313106745)
______
[9]
VOICES FROM THE WATERS 2007
2ND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ON WATER
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with
Water Journeys and CIEDS collective is organizing
the second edition of the International Film
Festival on Water titled ‘Voices from the Water
2007’. The first edition of the festival was
successfully held in April 2004 in Bangalore,
India. The festival is a series of film
screenings and conferences held over three days
that aim to create general awareness and inspire
dialogues among the general public on water- a
precious, seamless natural resource that is
becoming increasingly scarce and deviously
comodified.
We invite you to be part of this event by
contributing short, documentary and feature films
(DVD/VCD formats) with English subtitles on water
and related issues. Further, we would appreciate
a preview copy of any films you would wish to
send so that we may place them in one of the five
categories of the festival, Water Scarcity, The
Dams and the Displaced, Water Harvest, Water
Struggles and Water and Life. We would duly
acknowledge your participation. While there is no
entry fee, ‘Voices From the Waters’ being a
public awareness program, films for the festival
will be short-listed by a committee composed of
film-makers and social activists.
Should you need more information about us, please
do get in touch with us. Deadline for entries is
15th April, 2007.
Looking forward to your participation.
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
BFS team
Contact:-
Siddharth Pillai,
33/1-9, Thyagaraja Layout,
Jai Bharath Nagar,
M.S. Nagar P.O.,
Bangalore- 560 033,
Karnataka,
India.
Tel: 91- 80- 25493705
Email: bfs at bgl.vsnl.net.in
Bangalore Film Society:-
Bangalore Film Society is a non profit membership
based organization committed to explore the
cultural politics and how it impacts and shapes
the modern cultural practices, politics and
social behaviour. We volunteer to screen feature
and documentary films for the film society
members, in colleges and institutions. Our aim
is to introduce the contemporary
socio-political-cultural concerns through cinema
among the youth and initiate discussions, as also
to inculcate among the youth a deep sense of
humanism, pluralism, and an appreciation of
diversity. We also attempt to open up pluralist
cultural spaces for progressive perspectives on
notions of justice, rights, racial equality and
so on to enable the participants to visualise
images of – a world free from intolerance,
violence and injustice.
Water Journeys:-
Water Journeys is to screen films on water
issues, water struggles, water conservation and
related issues in schools, colleges and
communities to start a dialogue on the issue of
control and use of water. It aims at networking
with agencies involved in the protection and
preservation of lakes, rivers and other water
bodies.
CIEDS collective:-
CIEDS is a thirty-year-old organization that
critiques the contemporary development paradigm
which has created pockets of plenty and abysmal
poverty across the globe. The homocentric
development paradigm treats the earth as a
commodity, which will have catastrophic effects
on nature and the environment. We are already
victims of such an approach. CIEDS in its
involvement with present socio-political issues
concerning women, tribals, Dalits, environment,
culture and so on, attempts a nature-centric
vision and sustainable development.
Campaign for the fundamental right to water,
C/o No.33/1-9, Thyagaraj Layout,
Jai Bharath Nagar,
Maruthisevanagar P.O,
Bangalore-560 033.
"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water" - Loran Eisley
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
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SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/
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