SACW | April 5-7, 2007 | Pakistan : Take on the Religio-Fascists / Bangladesh: Choles Ritchil Murdered / India: BJP's Hateful Election Propaganda / Public Hearing on Gujarat riots survivors ; Hindutva Threat / Israel's garrison state

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | April 5-7, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2385 - Year 9

[1] Pakistan: Stand up and Fight the Religio-Fascists
   (i) Stop Taliban in Pakistan: JAC
   (ii) Time for a bitter harvest (I. A. Rehman)
   (iii) Female militants' show of force (Zubeida Mustafa)
   (iv) Who will fight this Talibanisation? (Editorial, The News)
[2] Bangladesh:  Choles Ritchil Murdered - Online Petition to the authorities
+ I'm sorry, Choles Ritchil (Naeem Mohaiemen)
[3]  Israel wants recognition from the very 
people it ethnically cleansed (Achin Vanaik)
[4]  India: Its Election Time - Hindu right's Poisonous Propaganda As Usual
Reports and Editorials / Citizens Demand 
Disqualification of the BJP from UP Elections - 
Online Petition to Election commission + Draft 
Petition to Union Home Minister/UP CM
[5]  India: Press release + report on Public 
Hearing of Internally displaced riots survivors 
from Gujarat
[6]  India:  The threat posed by Hindutva (Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma)
[7]  India: Creating Democracy - Celebrating 
Diversity - Call to experiment, explore, create
[8]  Events:
Conference: Beyond Independence: South Asia, 
1947-1977 (London, 11-12 April 2007)

____


[1]   Stop the Fascists in Pakistan

(i)

Daily Times
April 7, 2007

STOP TALIBAN IN PAKISTAN: JAC

LAHORE: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for 
People's Rights - an alliance of some 30 NGOs and 
civil society groups - has condemned the ongoing 
process of 'Talibanisation' in the country, and 
demanded that the government take immediate 
notice of Jamia Hafsa students' activities aimed 
to enforce Sharia. At a press conference at the 
Lahore Press Club, JAC representatives said the 
government was "proving itself to be supportive 
of Talibanisation by remaining quiet". They also 
announced that JAC would hold a rally on April 19 
against the "promotion of terrorism and 
dictatorial rule". Asma Jahangir condemned 
extremism, while Shahtaj Qizilbash, Fareeda 
Shaheed, IA Rehman and Shabnam Rasheed stressed 
elimination of extremism. staff report


Dawn
April 5, 2007

TIME FOR A BITTER HARVEST
by I. A. Rehman

HAVING sown the wild wind for many a long year, 
Pakistan must now reap the whirlwind.

Within yards of the avenue in the capital where 
the concrete symbols of all the organs of the 
state are guarded by large contingents of 
gendarmerie, some lathi-wielding female students 
take the law into their hands, and announce their 
assumption of authority to detain and punish the 
'sinners', and a pathetic-looking state apparatus 
sues for forgiveness. This is Pakistan after 
seven years of stability, economic progress, 
genuine democracy, suppression of obscurantism 
and enlightened moderation!One looks in vain for 
the establishment's cheer-leaders who never tire 
of fulminating against dissident politicians, 
independent journalists and human rights 
activists and threatening them with lime and 
brimstone. No reference to the writ of the state 
is necessary because such expressions can be used 
only for the misguided serfs inhabiting certain 
parts of Balochistan, Sindh and Frontier. They 
cannot be used in the context of territories the 
state has been ceding to holy warriors in the 
northern part of the country.

This column is neither about the Islamabad 
incident referred to earlier nor about the 
establishment of a new order in Waziristan, 
Bajaur, Dir and even close to Khyber. It is only 
about the evolution of the theory of two 
sovereignties and its latest manifestation. This 
theory, in a sentence, is that every Pakistani 
Muslim has a right and a duty to bring his 
fellow-beings under a regime he thinks his belief 
prescribes even if this involves a defiance of 
the state-made (that is, man-made) laws and rules.

Quite a few scholars maintain, and not without 
some justification, that the seeds of this theory 
lay in the very basis of the demand for Pakistan. 
In support, some slogans raised during the 
1945-46 elections are recalled - slogans that 
explained the idea of Pakistan wholly in 
religious terms. Whether these slogans really 
reflected the mind of the authors of the Pakistan 
idea or whether they were raised only to secure 
votes in pir-fiefs, such as in a large part of 
Punjab, the undeniable fact is that for a fairly 
large section of the population concerned these 
slogans embodied their ideal.

The first prominent politician to realise the 
danger in placing total reliance on the religious 
card was none else than the Quaid-i-Azam himself. 
Three days before the date set for the 
realisation of his dream he decided to make a 
heroic break from the politics of the past 
decades. The task after the establishment of the 
state of Pakistan was to build a new nation on 
the basis of political, economic and legal 
equality of all citizens regardless of their 
belief which in any case was each citizen's 
private matter, he now declared. At the same 
time, the religio-political elements that had 
opposed the Muslim League and had been routed by 
it realised that circumstances, especially the 
partition of provinces, offered them an 
opportunity to hijack the ship of the infant 
state. Thus began a race in which successive 
regimes have sworn fidelity to Jinnah and served 
the mandarins opposed to him. A perfect suicide 
construct, as some analysts say.

Those who bank on the Quaid's speech of August 
11, 1947, ignore the fact that a single address 
could not persuade the people to purge their 
minds of ideas and arguments thrown up not only 
during the communal confrontation in the 
subcontinent but which had been fertilising in 
the Muslim mind across the globe for a much 
longer period. The task of Pakistan-building 
defined by the Quaid on August 11, 1947, involved 
the establishment of a people's democracy, to use 
a phrase first used by Mr. Jinnah. The course 
chosen by the Quaid was abandoned by the state 
soon after his death.

The Objectives Resolution of 1949 marked the 
beginning of the dual sovereignty idea though the 
resolution did not say so explicitly. The field 
was left open for the contenders for power to 
interpret the meaning of the delegation of 
Allah's sovereign rights to the State of Pakistan 
through the people, even after the opening 
paragraph of the resolution had been amended by 
the authors of the 1973 Constitution. The 1956 
constitution made all laws subject to two 
conditions - one, that no law that contravened 
the fundamental rights could be valid and, 
secondly, no law repugnant to the Islamic 
injunctions could be made and all existing laws 
that were repugnant to Islam were to be 
harmonised with its injunctions.

The balance was however in favour of the 
constitutional authority in as much as the courts 
could strike down any law or practice that 
contravened the fundamental rights, the laws 
attracting censure for repugnancy to Islam were 
to be examined by a commission on whose report 
the legislature was to take the corrective 
action. Under subsequent constitutions the task 
of testing the laws on the touchstone of belief 
was assigned to the body now called the Council 
of Islamic Ideology.

It was General Ziaul Haq who not only created a 
hierarchy of religious courts but also gave them 
a constitutional status and placed them at par 
with courts established under the constitution 
earlier. The transition to the theory of two 
sovereignties was complete. The general courts 
(so described for want of a better expression) 
could strike down laws on the ground of 
inconsistency with fundamental rights and the 
shariah courts could do the same if they found 
any law inconsistent with the ruling elite's 
belief, which might or might not be Islamic.

Indeed, the shariah courts were put on a higher 
level than the general courts because they could 
not only strike down a law they could also tell 
the legislature how a law was to be revised, a 
power the older category of courts did not have.

Once the judicature had been reorganised to suit 
the theocratic elements the battle for 
enforcement of a regime based on dogma began. 
Gen. Zia introduced the 9th amendment but failed 
to get it passed before he died. The Nawaz Sharif 
government drafted the 15the amendment but it 
failed to get it adopted by parliament before it 
was overthrown. The task has now been assumed by 
the NWFP government that has been trying through 
its Hasba Bills to control and regiment the lives 
of the people, their culture and their thoughts.

During the latter half of the eighties a new idea 
for enforcing amr-bil-ma'aroof wa 
nahi-anil-munkir was introduced to Pakistan's 
conservative lobby after the insertion of the 
blasphemy provision into the Penal Code. 
According to the groups dominant in Pakistan, 
apostasy is punishable with death and any Muslim 
is supposed to be free to act as the prosecutor, 
the judge and the executioner although no law 
permits this. This view was confirmed when a 
judge reprimanded a person for only accusing a 
man of blasphemy and not killing him.

The case of a non-Muslim does not fall in the 
category of apostasy and yet it has been assumed 
that a Pakistani Muslim has a right to execute a 
non-Muslim as well as a fellow Muslim by 
declaring him guilty of blasphemy.The state has 
been guilty of criminal inaction and silence over 
the actions taken by individuals under cover of 
belief. Zafar Iqbal died in jail in circumstances 
that suggested murder, the killer of Naimat Ahmar 
was lionised in prison, a blasphemy accused was 
killed in a Lahore prison, another was lynched by 
a mob in Gujranwala, and a third was killed by 
the policeman who was supposed to protect the 
wretch from the mob and take him to a lock-up.

The government's failure to deal with defiance of 
law under the cover of dogma led to the formation 
of private courts in Malakand and FATA. It does 
not take ideas long to travel from Bajaur to 
Islamabad, and matters have reached a point where 
the state's policy of drift was bound to take 
them. A call has gone out that the state has 
become dormant and since dogma is superior to 
law, every Muslim has a right to punish the 
wayward and the unwary.

A sizeable section of the people believes the 
establishment derives political benefit out of 
the extra-legal challenges to its authority 
launched by religious militants. The regime is 
said to be using the existence and apparent 
strength of the militants as an insurance on its 
survival and, what is obviously more important, 
its continued acceptability to the ultimate 
patrons and power brokers. If there is any 
substance in this view it is clear that the 
country's future is being jeopardised for the 
sake of a few.

Be that as it may, the government's resistance to 
the clerics' designs on the state has been 
limited to some appeals to the judiciary to bail 
it out (such as the two references on the Hasba 
Bills and the appeal in the case about 
interest-based laws) or empty rhetoric about 
enlightened moderation. All this is no more than 
an apology for surrender to fanatics whose title 
to speak in the name of the people's belief is 
extremely tenuous.

What the establishment has to realise is that 
religious militancy and all other belief-related 
ills have sprouted in the vacuum caused by the 
suppression of politics. A democratic polity is 
inconceivable without democratic politics whereas 
Pakistan's rulers have been telling the people to 
be content with a quasi-democratic façade without 
any space for democratic politics. This is not to 
say that without authoritarian rulers bigotry 
could not have raised its head.

Democratically constituted regimes also commit 
grave wrongs, especially when they give up 
democratic politics, but the system offers 
possibilities of redress and reversal, whereas 
under authoritarian regimes change comes through 
upheaval and often when it is too late. And if 
the state allows only hate to be cultivated in 
its lands nobody can expect anything other than a 
bitter harvest.


o o o

Dawn
April 4, 2007

FEMALE MILITANTS' SHOW OF FORCE

by Zubeida Mustafa

IN ITS latest issue, the Time magazine titles its 
cover story as "The truth about Talibanistan" 
which it claims is gathering strength in 
Pakistan's "wild borderlands". Last week events 
took a new turn.

The show of force by the Lal Masjid strongmen and 
the Hafsa madressah's female guardians of 
morality in Islamabad was an indication that the 
tentacles of the Taliban are spreading rapidly to 
the heart of the federal capital.

Is this surprising? Not really if one has been 
following the Musharraf government's policy 
vis-à-vis the militants of all shades and hues. 
Not long ago the general was on friendly terms 
with Islamist groups when he astutely used them 
to pursue a policy of destabilising Indian-held 
Kashmir by proxy. The Islamic fundamentalists 
preaching jihad against the 'infidels' were 
provided full protection, and even assistance, by 
the authorities.

The religio-political parties on their part have 
served another purpose for the military regime. 
Musharraf has used them to neutralise the 
mainstream secular parties, notably the Pakistan 
People's Party, PML (Nawaz) and the nationalists 
in Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP. As a result 
of a policy which actually bestowed favours on 
the constituents of the MMA, the Musharraf 
government did not have a level playing ground 
for all parties.

As a result the religious groups which had never 
won more than five per cent of the popular vote 
in a general election received a tremendous boost 
and found themselves in office in two provinces.

To be fair to the army chief, he has not been the 
only one pursuing this strategy of using the 
jihadis as an active tool for conducting the 
country's foreign policy. This strategy was first 
adopted by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Afghanistan 
when Sardar Daud was at the helm in Kabul. 
Surprisingly Bhutto had not learnt from his 
experience of the 1965 war in Kashmir when 
infiltrators dispatched from Azad Kashmir had 
failed to trigger the much awaited uprising in 
the Valley.

When Ziaul Haq used the Islamic militants in 
Afghanistan - with a spiritual zeal that he 
shared with them - he succeeded in driving the 
Russians out of Afghanistan. Needless to say, the 
Americans were also a party to this unholy game.

Subsequent civilian governments in Pakistan with 
the ISI's cooperation - or was it the other way 
around? -- expanded this strategy and employed it 
in Kashmir. This time there was no military 
victory and Kargil was a clear demonstration of 
the danger to peace posed by proxy wars.

Then came 9/11 and President Musharraf's famous 
U-turn which forced the government to modify its 
strategy somewhat. Officially the parties 
resorting to terror were banned and their funds 
were seized. The madressahs which produced the 
foot soldiers for the jihadi were to be 
registered and regulated. But the fact is that 
there was no comprehensive crackdown on the 
jihadis. The assistance they received from the 
government may have been withdrawn. But they no 
longer need that help. Having grown and developed 
over the years they are now quite capable of 
fending for themselves. What is more important, 
many of them continue to be patronised and 
protected - if not by the official structures of 
power, then by rogue elements. The stage has been 
reached that even this protection is not so 
crucial for their existence any more. They are 
satisfied so long as the powers that be turn a 
blind eye to their existence and doings. On rare 
occasions when an attempt is made to curb their 
power, there is invariably a confrontation and 
the state is forced to retreat.

Last week's events came as a watershed of sorts 
because they took place in Islamabad and amounted 
to the militants' testing of the waters there. 
The religious extremist parties have now moved 
from the foreign front to their mission of 
'cleansing' domestic society. Posing as the 
self-appointed custodians of our morals, they are 
willing to break the laws of the land to achieve 
their ends. They are thus asserting themselves to 
set up a parallel system which will ultimately be 
designed to undermine the authority of the state 
by resorting to force.

It is distressing that the madressahs have been 
allowed to get away with their blatant defiance 
of the government which has climbed down when 
matters have reached a head leading to a 
confrontation.

Only recently a madressah that had been built 
illegally on encroached land in the federal 
capital and had been demolished was allowed to be 
rebuilt after the girl students of the Jamia 
Hafsa occupied a children's library throwing down 
the gauntlet before the government. Seventy-six 
mosques in Islamabad have been declared illegal 
but the CDA cannot touch them now because a 
'dialogue' is supposedly in process with the 
militants.

The government's madressah reforms project has 
yet to take off because of the madressahs' 
refusal to register with the authorities. Now 
many are said to have registered but only after 
the registration process was relaxed and the 
madressahs were not required to submit 
information they were reluctant to give such as 
the source of their funding, details of the 
courses taught and so on. The bulk of the funds 
earmarked by the government to bring madressahs 
into the mainstream has lapsed because they were 
rejected by these institutions as they did not 
want any controls.

Many of the madressahs have emerged as a major 
threat to the social and political integrity of 
Pakistan. Previously, they were irritants because 
of the parallel foreign policy they were running. 
Now they have grim social and sectarian 
implications.

A recent report by the International Crisis Group 
points out that most madressahs are linked to 
politico-religious parties whose agendas their 
students are mobilised to promote. Being involved 
in what the ICG report terms the "business of the 
fatwas", the madressahs compete "to win over 
members of rival sects" leading to intense 
inter-madressah competition that "fuels 
socio-political conflicts even within families 
and neighbourhoods".

They also disseminate hate material - written as 
well as oral, through the Friday sermons - with a 
no-holds barred approach.

The government must now seriously consider 
getting off the fence and taking on squarely the 
groups spreading sectarianism, violence and 
disaffection. By allowing them to grow because of 
his failure to act, President Musharraf has 
created a problem for himself as well as the 
country. He must be clear about this that 
terrorist groups fostered by those in power 
ultimately devour their patrons. Remember the end 
of the story of the Sikh rebel leader Sant 
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the late Indian 
prime minister Indira Gandhi.


o o o

Editorial, The News, March 30, 2007

WHO WILL FIGHT THIS TALIBANISATION?

The events of recent days in the NWFP town of 
Tank and in Islamabad should shatter the 
assessment of all those policymakers, government 
functionaries and members of civil society who 
thought that Talibanisation was a feature only of 
FATA or some other remote and backward area of 
the country. Tank, which is now under curfew, and 
where several people were killed as extremists 
(thought to be allied with a Waziristan militant 
commander with whom the government brokered a 
'peace deal' last year) launched an all-out 
attack on Tuesday night, is the district 
headquarters of Tank district and not far from 
Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat, all 
reasonably large towns of NWFP. The violence 
there began on Monday after a school principal 
had the courage to call in the police after 
jihadis barged into his institution and tried to 
win new recruits to their cause. The local SHO 
also responded and he sadly paid for it with his 
life, reportedly killed in the most cold-blooded 
manner po
ssible, after he thought he had managed to broker 
a truce with the militants who would leave the 
school peacefully and without any new schoolboys 
in tow. The principal was kidnapped the following 
day from his home and he too paid for his courage 
in standing up to these extremists with his life 
-- on Thursday it was reported that his body was 
found from South Waziristan. The militants who 
attacked Tank on Thursday have been linked to 
pro-Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud since this 
is his area of influence, although he has himself 
denied any such connection. However, it is worth 
reiterating that on many occasions in the past 
militants have carried out attacks against 
government installations and security personnel 
or killed so-called 'informers' in areas under 
their influence but then disassociated themselves 
from these acts. One can only hope that the 
president is absolutely one hundred per cent 
accurate when he says that those elements in the 
intelligence agencies who in th
e past had supported the Taliban, the jihadis and 
their sympathisers are no longer in the service 
of the government and that now any assistance to 
these extremists is coming, if at all, from 
retired intelligence officials.

The other disturbing development is taking place 
right in the heart of the federal capital. In 
this case particularly, the government and the 
Islamabad local administration are to blame for 
not having acted earlier when the female students 
of Jamia Hafsa had forcibly and illegally 
occupied a children's library demanding that this 
occupation would end only after the government 
rebuilt a portion of a mosque complex that had 
been demolished by the Capital Development 
Authority because it was built on encroached 
land. Now since those protesting claim to be 
religious students, one would first like to ask 
them their position on the legality of a house of 
worship - both from the temporal and the 
theological point of view - that is built on 
encroached land. Had the government acted 
promptly and strongly against this illegal 
occupation of the library and told the students 
and their madressah patrons that mosques built on 
illegal land are not legal, and had the students 
been ejected a
nd not allowed to roam around Islamabad and 
launch 'raids' perhaps what happened on Wednesday 
could have been pre-empted. But as usual, the 
government seemed to sleep through this all, with 
the religious affairs minister claiming a 
"breakthrough" some weeks ago in the occupation 
stand-off.

This 'breakthrough' was that the government would 
rebuild the demolished parts of the mosque. The 
minister also managed to pose for the cameras as 
he laid the first 'brick' of this promised 
rebuilding operation. But the naivete of the 
minister and all those in the government who 
agreed to this view of giving concessions to the 
undue and illegal demands of extremists in the 
country was once again proven wrong when after 
being given a foot they proceeded to demand a 
mile. Hopefully, in any future negotiations, the 
services of the good minister will not be used. 
Instead of leaving the library and returning to 
their seminary as any God-fearing law-abiding 
citizens would have done (they in fact would not 
have occupied the library in the first place), 
they placed more demand before the government and 
refused to end their occupation. The initial 
'raid' they conducted on one of the capital's 
busiest bazaars amazingly went unnoticed by the 
police and local administration, again makin
g one wonder whether some elements in either or 
both organisations were perhaps sympathetic to 
the cause of these extremists. An SHO has 
apparently been suspended for failing to act 
against the students when they 'raided' the 
market but one would like to ask the government 
what it plans to do in the case of the minister, 
whose 'breakthrough' emboldened these extremists 
so much that they believed they could go about 
dispensing their own warped interpretation of 
religion and law on everybody else, holding even 
policemen hostage in the process.

What is perhaps equally worrying is the fact that 
there may be many in Pakistani society who may 
think that what these extremists posing as 
students have done is good and necessary. After 
all, with all the intolerance and bigotry that 
one is exposed to as a Pakistani in the course of 
one's daily life (from the mosque imam's often 
virulent sermon, the bias and prejudice manifest 
in the national curriculum, the overdose of 
religious programmes and channels on television, 
to the increasing tide of religiosity in society 
and the tendency among many people to bring in 
religion into just about everything), the 
government and civil society have themselves to 
blame for this increase in Talibanisation. As for 
the government, it fails on several counts. 
Foremost among them is its remarkable -- and 
sadly enduring -- inability to take a stand 
against extremists forces such as in Tank and the 
Jamia Hafsa students, deeming such matters 
'sensitive' and then burying its head in the sand 
lik
e an ostrich, pretending everything is all right, 
and continuing to think (at least some sections 
of the government and security establishment do, 
it would be fair to assume, subscribe to this 
view) that a way of having leverage with our 
regional neighbours means supping with the 
extremists and jihadis. In addition to this, the 
government is guilty of adopting a clear double 
standard. liberal and law-abiding progressive 
elements are tear-gassed and lathi-charged when 
they organise peaceful protests but when the 
extremists and obscurantists indulge in violent 
protests they are given undue concessions and a 
free hand to act with impunity. Tank and the 
Jamia Hafsa episode should serve as a wakeup call 
to the government. It must act decisively now. 
The future is only going to get bleaker unless 
madressah and national curriculum reforms are 
carried out and the overt display of religion in 
national life is curtailed, to levels normally 
found in other Muslim countries such as Malays
ia or the Gulf states. As for civil society, and 
those who think they are non-extremist (i.e., 
progressive, liberal and/or moderate), they 
better stand up and speak against the extremists 
or risk their very existence and way of life 
coming under a permanent threat.

_____


[2]

GARO LEADER CHOLES RITCHIL MURDERED IN BANGLADESH ARMY/POLICE CUSTODY

Pl SIGN THE PROTEST PETITION AT: 
http://petitiononline.com/cholesR/petition.html

See details :
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2007/04/03/choles-ritchil/
Asian Human Rights Centre:
http://www.achrweb.org/urgent_action/UA-BD0207.htm

Summary background of the case:

Choles Ritchil, a leading Garo leader of Bangladesh, was held by the joint
forces of Bangladesh Army and Police and which led to his death on the night
of March 18, only a few hours after his arrest.

Mr. Ritchil was targeted for opposing the construction of an eco-park over
3,000 acres of land at Modhupur forest, the age-long habitat of Garo tribals
who are indigenous to this part of Bangladesh. Nearly 25,000 Garo people
face eviction from their homes besides loss of livelihood.

His body was handed over to his family on March 19 with torture marks.
Reports from eyewitnesses who prepared the body for funeral state the
following signs of torture: "Choles's two eyes plucked, testicles removed,
anus mutilated, two hand palms smashed, nails of 3 fingers of the right hand
removed, left hand thumb nail removed, two palms had holes, upper right hand
had severe wounds,  several blood stains on the back , in both thighs there
were two holes, the back had several black marks, several deep marks of
wounds on both lower legs, there were black marks on feet, no nail on thumb
of right foot, all fingers of two hands were broken."

This inhuman act of outrageous barbarism has tarnished the reputation of the
Armed Forces and the Government of Bangladesh. Compounding the crime, no
first information report (FIR) was filed in this case due to intimidation by
the joint forces personnel.

Imran, Syeda, Chishti
I K Shukla
South Asia Forum
Los Angeles

o o o

Daily Star
April 06, 2007
  	 
I'M SORRY, CHOLES RITCHIL
by Naeem Mohaiemen

I'm sorry, Choles Ritchil. I didn't believe the 
evidence of your body. I kept thinking the 
torture report was a hysterical invention. So 
much damage to one corpse, it seemed impossible. 
No, it is impossible. Isn't it? It must all be 
lies. Those human rights groups, we know they 
always exaggerate -- just to get foreign funding 
and create a bad image for Bangladesh.

I'm sorry, because I couldn't find the courage. 
We're all so invested in getting out of the 
AL-BNP strangle corridor, we're so euphoric that 
the godfathers are being arrested, we don't want 
to upset the process by drawing attention to your 
case. Must be an aberration, somebody got a 
little too enthusiastic. Anyway, let's move on. 
For heaven's sake, don't make a fuss.

I'm sorry, because I couldn't find tears. How 
easy it was to dismiss your face on that poster. 
You look nothing like me. You have what my 
classmates so crudely called "chinky eyes." No 
one in my family has ever married anyone who 
looks like you, and even if we did we would make 
sure you converted to our religion. You see, you 
don't really exist. This is a country for 
Bengalis, not anyone else. Now you realize that, 
slowly, surely.

I'm sorry, because I read Nirmalendu Goon's poem 
with a stony heart. Then I busied myself with 
translating it. E-mailing friends and asking: 
"What is Chuniya village"? Is Goon being 
sarcastic about March and "freedom?" Is "elegy" a 
better translation than "requiem?" Distracting 
myself with aesthetics, anything to blank out the 
memory of those pictures.

I'm sorry, because when a blogger posted the 
report, somebody else complained about the 
gruesome picture. The picture was quietly removed 
to page 2. A nice disclaimer was added: "Warning: 
Graphic Photo." Anything to protect our delicate 
sensibilities. How inconsiderate of you to die 
with so many wounds.

I'm sorry, because I said to a Pahari friend the 
other day: "Welcome to shadhin Bangla," and she 
replied: "Ami tho Bangali na, how am I shadhin?" 
I laughed and dismissed her. Oh, these people! 
They will never be satisfied. What do you want 
anyway? Land rights? Your language? Parliament 
seats? Ministries? Quotas? Autonomy? Come on, 
that was for us, that was 1969. It's 2007 now. 
Don't you remember what Sheikh Mujib said? "From 
today you are all Bengalis." And some of you are 
now dead Bengalis, that's equality.

I'm sorry, because I know how this will go down. 
There will be outrage. NGOs will issue 
memorandum. Bloggers will buzz. Newspapers will 
write. Thrithio Matra will debate pros and cons. 
Seminars will be cranked out. And always, some 
"hero" filmmaker will make a documentary and win 
awards. Then, just as quickly, we will forget. 
Amnesia is our gross national product.

I'm sorry, Choles Ritchil. You lived and died 
protecting the Adivasi people and Modhupur land 
you believed in. You were gentle and non-violent, 
and we paid you back in a different coin.

I'm sorry, because I'm a citizen of a nation that 
after 36 years fails to see you as anything more 
than a nuisance. My class, ethnicity, and 
religious privilege (and army family) gives me 
insurance to write these words. You don't have 
any such protection -- naked to the world, to Eco 
Park, and to our vengeful fury.

But don't think you're an agacha on our national 
boto brikkho. When there are visiting dignitaries 
or sports events, your people are very useful. 
You sing, you dance, you wear exotic, colourful 
clothes. A readymade National Geographic tableau. 
"Hill people of CHT." "Gentle people of Modhupur 
forest." Ah, the permutations are endless.

We want to keep all of you in a museum vitrine, 
and bring you out on special occasions -- when we 
need a dash of colour. But please don't demand 
your rights. And don't even think of raising your 
voice. Etho boro shahosh! You see what happened 
to Choles. Don't make us be sorry again.

Naeem Mohaiemen wrote the chapter on ethnic 
minorities for ASK's 2003 Human Rights Report.


_____



[3]


The Telegraph
April 05, 2007

A GARRISON STATE
- Israel wants recognition from the very people it ethnically cleansed
Achin Vanaik
The author is professor of international 
relations and global politics, Delhi University

My visit to Israel (Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem 
and the occupied territories) coincided with the 
announcement of the formation of the National 
Unity government of Hamas and Fatah. The 
immediate response of Israel and the United 
States of America is breathtaking in its 
arrogance. They took refuge behind the shameful 
demands - initially drawn up in the US state 
department - of the quartet of the European 
Union, US, United Nations and Russia: the new 
government must renounce violence, abide by 
previous Israel-Palestine agreements, and 
recognize Israel's right to exist.

Israel has been accused of violating the Oslo 
Accords by repeatedly and illegally expanding its 
settlements in the occupied territories, as well 
as violating innumerable UN resolutions. This 
includes Resolution 194 about the return of 
Palestinian refugees, which it had to accept in 
order to become a member of the UN in the first 
place. Yet Israel seeks to shift blame for the 
failure of the Oslo agreements onto the 
Palestinian leadership and portray it as 
"unreasonable". It should now be obvious to 
anyone that those accords were basically Israel's 
way of partially subcontracting the occupation to 
the Fatah-controlled Palestinian National 
Authority, and for giving itself time to carry 
out more land grabs in the OT, that is, create 
new "facts on the ground".

Israel demands recognition from the very people 
whom it ethnically cleansed in 1948 in order to 
come into existence, but will itself never 
apologize for having carried out that ethnic 
cleansing. That apology, in fact, is the crucial 
symbolic-political meaning of the Palestinian 
demand for Israel to recognize the right of 
return of refugees. The demographic issue of 
where Palestinians will actually return is by 
contrast a minor and easily negotiable one. The 
irony is that the PLO in the Oslo Accords did 
recognize Israel's right to exist, but only got 
recognition for itself as the legitimate 
representative authority for Palestinians. It 
never got formal recognition of the Palestinian 
right to a genuinely independent and truly viable 
territorial state on the basis of the 1967 
borders. This is a prospect, which the illegal 
Apartheid Wall is now in the process of 
permanently destroying. Recognition of Israel by 
the PLO gave away its most important diplomatic 
asset in return for what has turned out to be a 
total disaster for Palestinians.

Hamas, very sensibly, is not about to make the 
same mistake, reserving such recognition for 
final-status talks when proper justice is done to 
Palestinians. It has rightly asked - which Israel 
is it being asked to recognize? One that will 
territorially confine itself to the 1967 borders, 
or the one today demanding much more than that, 
but still not specifying the limits of its 
territorial greed? The ugly political-diplomatic 
game today being orchestrated by the Israel-US 
axis, and being implicitly or explicitly endorsed 
by a host of countries from Europe to Russia to 
China to India, is to squeeze ever more 
concessions from a suffering Palestinian people 
whose plight is now of little consequence to most 
of the world. Nevertheless, Israel, the most 
powerful military force in the region, and backed 
by the most militarily powerful country in the 
world, goes on and on about how its existence is 
threatened.

What has always intrigued me was how and why 
Israelis from top to bottom (with the exception 
of a small minority) could be so brutal, uncaring 
and unashamed about what their country was doing? 
My visit gave me the answer. Israel is a garrison 
state with a garrison mentality. Israelis see 
themselves as victims because there are powerful 
forces (mainly internal but also external) that 
help create, sustain and embellish the myth about 
the perpetual victimhood of Israel and of the 
Jews. A state constructed on the principle that 
it alone provides a safe haven for Jews can only 
justify its brutality and oppression of resident 
non-Jews - that is, the Palestinians in the OT 
and those having Israeli citizenship - on the 
grounds that they are actually or potentially the 
dangerous 'enemy' who must be controlled, 
subordinated and monitored.

This psychological inversion of the positions of 
victimizers and victims is founded on various 
structures. Compulsory military conscription of 
Israeli youth (so evident on weekend trains) and 
the presence of armed guards at malls and railway 
stations in Tel Aviv and other cities is not a 
vital security necessity. But it is absolutely 
vital for sustaining the belief that Israel is 
constantly under siege. Nearly every Israeli Jew 
will have or will know some family whose 
relatives, distant or near, have been injured or 
killed in wars and military action.

Any possibility that the co-existence of Jews and 
Palestinians in the same small territory might 
lead to the kind of human interaction that could 
counter this myth is eliminated by the 
establishment of structures that essentially 
segregate ordinary life between Jews and 
Palestinians. Jimmy Carter has belatedly 
recognized that Israel is an apartheid state and 
has drawn huge flak for this accurate 
characterization. But he is referring to what 
Israel is doing in the OT. Less known is how it 
makes "Israeli Arabs" second-class citizens.

Israel, unlike South Africa, does not practise 
petty apartheid - that is, segregation in public 
places such as restaurants, toilets, buses, 
benches, and so on. It does so in the areas of 
life that really count. Over 90 per cent of the 
land is state-owned and although historically 
stolen from the Palestinians, cannot even be 
leased to them. There are all kinds of statutes 
giving preferential treatment to Jews in health, 
education, public housing and employment. There 
can be no political participation by any party 
that rejects the Zionist character (its Jewish 
identity) and wishes to change Israel into a 
secular state. No party, if it wants to exist, 
can dare accuse such a religiously exclusivist 
state of being anti-democratic.

In the government education system, Palestinians 
and Jews go to separate primary and secondary 
schools with separate curricula and separate 
languages of instruction (Arabic and Hebrew), but 
with overall government control over what is 
taught. Palestinian teachers teach Hebrew, but 
few Jews learn or teach Arabic. Indeed, although 
over 40 per cent of Jews may be Arabs, most of 
them seek to 'de-Arabize' themselves (deny, 
demean, decry their cultural heritage) in order 
to fit 'properly' into Israeli society. But the 
history course in schools is the same and 
reflects the desperate need to deny or greatly 
dilute its pre-Zionist past, just as Pakistani 
education must dilute or deny its pre-Islamic 
past. And like Pakistan and its negligent 
treatment of historical heritage sites like 
Mohenjodaro and Harappa, Israeli authorities at 
the municipal (e.g. in Haifa) and central levels 
have neglected, even decimated, beautiful and 
historic Ottoman and Arab buildings and sites in 
order to 'judaize' the country. It is only the 
enormously strong oral tradition that still 
enables Palestinian families to hand down their 
history of the ethnic cleansing of 1948 and of 
the pre-1948 reality to succeeding generations.



______


[4]  Its Election Time - BJP's Poisonous Propaganda As Usual

[ Video reports on BJP's communal CD - titiled UP Victimised]
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/video-report-on-bjps-communal-cd.html

Hindutva overdrive gone wrong?
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/hindutva-overdrive-gone-wrong-bjp-pulls.html

http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/citizens-demand-disqualification-of-bjp.html


o o o

The Hindu, April 7, 2007
Editorial

PLAYING FOUL

That a mainstream party, the Bharatiya Janata 
Party, revels in Muslim-bashing is not the 
best-kept of India's political secrets. The 
campaign of vitriol gets particularly nasty at 
election time - for obvious reasons. Since the 
party's raison d'etre as well as life force is 
communalism as a political mobilisation plank, 
its electoral strategy can only be pitting 
India's overwhelming Hindu majority against its 
150 million Muslim minority. A case in point is 
the inflammatory anti-Muslim compact disc 
released in Lucknow on April 3 and `withdrawn' 
following protests. A party less blasé about its 
communal ideology and politics might have quietly 
released the CD on the election circuit. The BJP 
made a production of it. The CD was unveiled by 
party veteran Lalji Tandon at a press conference 
where the invitees got free copies for their 
edification. A comparable CD made it to the press 
kit of journalists during the BJP's December 2006 
national executive meeting held in Lucknow where, 
in fact, the party inaugurated its U.P. campaign; 
in an incendiary speech made on that occasion, 
Kalyan Singh called all Muslims terrorists. Both 
CDs contain inflammatory anti-Muslim footage, 
including explicit shots of cow and buffalo 
slaughter. Finding itself badly wrong-footed, the 
BJP's leadership at both the State and national 
levels has attempted to distance the party from 
the second CD's contents. It was a test case for 
the Election Commission of India and for the 
whole process of democratic elections in the 
country.

After all, the BJP has got away, time and again, 
with inciting communal passions. A dispassionate 
analysis reveals that the major milestones on its 
post-1984 road to power have been communal 
campaigns revolving round the project of 
demolishing the Babri Masjid and building a Ram 
temple on its grave, and exploiting anti-Muslim 
pogroms, most notoriously in Gujarat. As in the 
case of Muslim fundamentalism and communalism, 
whatever be the moderate pretensions of top 
political leaders, the life force that moves the 
cadre on the ground is hate ideology and 
politics. This time with evidence in hand, the 
Election Commission has shown commendable 
seriousness in moving against the offenders. It 
has ordered the registration of FIRs against Mr. 
Tandon, BJP national president Rajnath Singh, and 
others responsible for the CD's production, 
release, distribution, and exhibition on the 
ground that it contains "inflammatory material 
capable of creating enmity/hatred among different 
communities" and punishable under provisions of 
the Indian Penal Code and also the electoral law. 
Further, the ECI has served notice on the BJP 
asking it to show cause why it should not be 
de-recognised under the electoral law for 
violating the Model Code of Conduct. A lot rides 
on how the ECI handles this case and how the BJP 
responds to the challenge. The statute book - the 
Indian Penal Code, the Representation of the 
People Act, 1951 and the Election Commission's 
Model Code of Conduct, the binding character of 
which has been upheld by the Supreme Court - 
provides enough and more backing for action 
against parties intentionally causing enmity and 
hatred among communities. This legal empowerment 
of secularism and national unity is very much in 
line with a resolution adopted by the Constituent 
Assembly on April 3, 1948, following the 
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, to the effect 
that "communalism should be eliminated from 
Indian life" and that it was impermissible to mix 
religion and politics. In its 1994 judgment in 
the Bommai case, a nine-judge Constitution bench 
of the Supreme Court full-throatedly upheld 
secularism as a part of the `basic structure' of 
the Constitution, with Justices B.P. Jeevan Reddy 
and S.C. Agrawal observing that if the 
Constitution required the state to be secular in 
"thought and action" the same requirement 
"attaches to political parties as well." The time 
has come to close the gap between precept and 
practice by enforcing the electoral and criminal 
law against the nth time offenders in U.P.

o o o

Please Sign on online Petition
CITIZENS DEMAND DISQUALIFICATION OF THE BJP FROM UP ELECTIONS
http://www.petitiononline.com/bjpcd123/petition.html


To: Chief Election Commission

April 5, 2007

Appeal to the Chief Election Commission

Sir,

Citizens Demand Disqualification of the BJP from UP Elections

The Central Election Commission should disqualify 
the BJP from the UP elections for committing a 
Constitutional, Criminal and Electoral Offence.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has revealed its 
mindset by circulating an official CD, released 
by the national and state leadership, that 
contains nothing short of filthy hate driven 
propaganda against the minorities. The BJP should 
be disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh elections 
as this sort of hate driven propaganda is not 
simply a Constitutional and Criminal offence but 
an electoral offence.

A supposedly national party owes the electorate 
some responsibility. Simply 'withdrawing it' 
because it happened to be exposed by a television 
channel is not enough as with modern technology 
it can be reproduced and used anyway. In fact the 
underground fascist network of the RSS is 
probably using it still since it is the RSS that 
is guiding the BJP openly today.

Sir as the IBN 7 channel programme at 9 p.m. 
showed yesterday the producer and director 
clearly said that the CD had the sanction of the 
top party leadership. The party's National 
President, Rajnath Singh and state chief Lalji 
Tandon had clearly sanctioned this filth. Simply 
withdrawing it by calling the CD communal is not 
enough.
The CD contains credits to former prime minister 
Atal Behari Vajpayee and former Home Minister LK 
Advani. In fact Advani's

Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
P.O.Box 28253, Juhu Post Office, Juhu, Mumbai 400 
049. Tel.: 26602288 / 26603927, Fax: 26602288
Email: sabrang at bom2.vsnl.net.in. Web: www.sabrang.com

statements are revealing---claiming that he had 
not seen it he asked what was wrong about talking 
about Godhra and Ayodhya???

A full fledged judicial inquiry needs to be 
ordered into the blatant attempts by the BJP to 
subvert the Constitution. What the BJP party did 
through anonymous pamphlets, or those authored by 
the VHP for two years before the Gujarat genocide 
in 2002, is today official party propaganda 
sanctioned by its top leadership. The BJP needs 
to be held accountable to the Constitution and be 
disqualified from the elections. Each time in the 
past despite committing blatantly anti 
Constitutional criminal acts, it has escaped any 
censure by Constitutional authorities.

Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand, Kamal Faruqui, Ram 
Rehman, MK Raina, Madhu Prasad, Rajendra Prasad, 
Indira Chandrashekhar, Jawed Naqvi, Javed Akhtar, 
Alyque Padamsee, Vijay Tendulkar and 500 others

CD Reveals Hate Driven Mindset of the BJP

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

o o o

   SUGGESTED DRAFT FOR PETITION TO Union Home Minister/UP CM

TO: The Union Home Minister  - (Fax)  23794833 /
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh - (Email) 
cm at up.nic.in  (Fax) 0522-2239234; 0522-2235733

Dear Sir,

SUBJECT: CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF BJP LEADERS FOR 
ITS 'HATE MUSLIMS' CAMPAIGN IN UP.

We are absolutely horrified by the shocking 
attempt of the BJP to launch a hate campaign 
against Muslims with the intent of gathering 
Hindu vote in the coming Assembly polls in UP. 
I/We have gone through the contents of the 
complaint lodged by Ms. Teesta Setalvad and 
others with the CEC's head office in New Delhi 
this morning on behalf of all peace-loving 
citizens and are in total agreement with its 
contents and specific demands.

We have already petitioned the Chief Election 
Commissioner, urging stringent action on his part 
as per the provisions of the Representation of 
People's Act. But the sinister design of the BJP 
leadership is also a serious criminal offence 
(inciting hatred against a particular community).

We therefore urge you to take immediate steps for 
a criminal prosecution of the BJP for its 
nefarious bid to divide India on religious lines.

Yours truly,

Please add your and your organisations's name


______


[5] 

http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/delegation-of-internally-displaced.html

PRESS RELEASE
ARPIL 5, 2007

Delegation of Internally Displaced meets NHRC. 
Election Commission and National Minority 
Commission


A delegation of Internally Displaced persons from 
Gujarat met The Election Commission, NHRC and the 
National Minority Commission. 

1. The delegation met the election commissioners 
Mr. SY Quraishi and Mr Naveen Chawla and the 
Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat Shri Vinod 
Babbar. The delegation explained in detail the 
problems faced by the internally displaced in 
exercising their franchise since they were 
ordinarily residence of the displaced colonies 
and their original documents had been all 
destroyed during the Gujarat carnage 2002, hence 
they were unable to vote in the last state 
election and subsequent local body elections.

The commission was extremely forthcoming and 
promised to insure that each of the eligible 
voters would be registered and issued photo 
identity cards in their present residence after a 
special team does a door to door survey and 
requested the Antarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak 
Samiti (AVHRS) to provide a comprehensive list of 
the eligible voters. Mr Q and C instructed Mr 
Vinod Babbar to coordinate and insure 
implementation at the earliest.

2. The delegation met the newly appointed 
Chairperson of the NHRC Shri Ram Babu and 
apprised him of the present situation of the 
internally displaced as well as the ongoing human 
rights violations in Gujarat against the 
minorities. The AVHRS gave a charter of demands 
and requested the intervention of NHRC in 
ensuring the security of the minorities and 
appropriate rehabilitation as per earlier 
directives of NHRC. The chairperson assured the 
delegation that he would take it up on a top 
priority. Some members of the delegation gave 
their personal testimonies of the continued 
violence and discrimination by the state 
administration.

3. The delegation then met the chairperson of the 
National Commission for Minorities Shri Hamid 
Ansari and urged him to take forward the 
unfinished task of ensuring a special package for 
the internally displaced which the NCM has 
recommended in its report to the Prime Minister, 
which was demanded by the Antarik Visthapit Hak 
Rakshak Samiti and endorsed by an eminent jury 
including an NCM member on first February 1, 2007 
at the Convention of internally displaced at 
Ahmedabad attended by 3500 internally displaced. 
Shri Ansari expressed concern at the ongoing 
discrimination against the minorities in Gujarat 
and assured the delegation that NCM will take up 
with appropriate authorities the demand of a 
special package for the internally displaced.


RELEASED BY:
Yusuf Shaikh, (Convenor, Antarik Visthapit Hak 
Rakshak Samiti, Gujarat) 09898990823. Gagan Sethi 
(Janvikas, Ahmedabad) 09824023209. Shabnam Hashmi 
(Anhad, Delhi) 9811807558. Farah Naqvi (Writer & 
Activist, Delhi) 9811105521

  PUBLIC HEARING ON APRIL 4TH APRIL 2007 -  A REPORT

INTERNALLY DISPLACED SURVIVORS OF GUJARAT SPEAK 
ABOUT THEIR STRUGGLES, HOPES AND IMPLICATIONS OF 
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COMPENSATION PACKAGE AT A 
PUBLIC HEARING IN DELHI

Against the backdrop of the announcement of the 
compensation package for the victims of the 
Gujarat Carnage 2002 by the Cabinet on March 22nd 
2007, over 250 survivors of the carnage from 8 
districts across Gujarat gathered to testify 
about the plight of internally displaced 
survivors before an eminent panel in Delhi. The 
panel comprised: Justice Ahmadi (former Chief 
Justice of India), Prof Zoya Hassan (Member 
National Commission for Minorities), Siddharth 
Varadarajan (Deputy Editor, The Hindu), Sagarika 
Ghose, (CNN-IBN), B.N. Yugandhar (Member, 
Planning Commission). The event was organized by 
the Antrik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti.

The testimonies were organized around four key 
issues that internally displaced riot victims are 
currently struggling against, namely: Denial of 
justice by the State and the Police; Absence and 
exclusion of livelihoods opportunities; Problems 
of women and children; lack of basic facilities 
and infrastructure in the relief colonies.

Speakers on the first theme highlighted the 
complete denial of justice and the continuing 
insecurity under which they continue to live. 
Several speakers spoke about how officials do not 
respond to their requests, application and 
personal representations.

In the second session on livelihoods, speakers 
highlighted the dire situation under which they 
were living - without basic amenities, no 
livelihoods and often barely eating one square 
meal a day. Yusuf Bhai Vohra who had a 
flourishing business before the riots spoke 
powerfully about his present situation, "I had a 
lot of dreams for my sons who were also involved 
in the business. Now, I am working as a driver 
and my sons are cleaners. We barely earn Rs. 2000 
a month. When I go to the Government asking for 
work they ask me to dig trenches. Don't I have 
the right to be restored my earlier livelihood 
options." Speaker after speaker throughout the 
day testified to the fact that their assets and 
businesses had not been restored, if at all they 
had received compensation it was far less than 
what they had claimed and they continue to face 
economic and social boycott.

In the third session women victims spoke 
passionately about the specific difficulties that 
they are facing. Sultana from Kasimabad colony in 
Kalol spoke about being sexually assaulted and 
though she has been filed a case there has been 
no judgment. Yasmin from Ahmedabad raised the 
question, "What will happen to women who were 
sexually assaulted and molested and who have had 
the courage to speak out. There is no 
compensation for this. And the present package 
does not acknowledge sexual assault as a crime 
that requires compensation." Hazra Husain Bhai 
Sheikh from Vadodara now living in Godhra 
responded to the package saying -  "While there 
is compensation for the dead, what about all of 
us the living dead?"

In the fourth session on basic amenities the 
speakers provided detailed examples of the 
complete absence any civic amenities - 
electricity, no roads, no access to schooling. 
Shabnam, who was in the 11th standard at time of 
the riots, gave up her education. She has 
recently rejoined school. She said, "I now walk 
5-6 kms to go to school. When it rains the entire 
colony gets flooded. I am sometime unable to go 
school for 15 days at a time."

Gagan Sethi from Jan Vikas one of the organizers 
highlighted the need for including internal 
displacement within the development agenda and 
the need for a policy. He said, "  We welcome 
this package and are happy. But this package is 
about the past. We are talking about the future. 
The package should be reorganized to address the 
current needs of the survivors which should 
include food security, housing, basic amenities 
and livelihoods." He also stressed the point that 
violence against women needs to be recognized as 
a crime and an injury.

RESPONSES OF THE JURY:

The jury responded and made some suggestions:

Justice Ahmadi said that he had been moved by all 
the testimonies he had heard and was upset that 
no remorse or regret had been expressed. He said, 
"Women require special treatment. Every woman 
should be given a BPL card." He highlighted the 
need for a liberal rehabilitation package which 
should set standards. He said that the Gujarat 
government should be reminded that they had set 
up a special rehabilitation colony for Gujarati's 
displaced by the Idi Amin regime in Uganda. 

Zoya Hasan said that things had moved even this 
far because of the survivors struggles, 
persistence and resilience. She welcomed the 
package but suggested that the package be 
reorganized so that is rehabilitation package and 
not just a compensation package. She mentioned 
that because of the insecurity survivors have not 
been able to return to your residences and 
businesses which is unique. She offered that the 
Minorities Commission could assist in this 
process. She also stressed the need for a further 
package for those who would not benefit from the 
present package.

Mr Yugandhar said given the increase in civil 
strife in the country, a policy for internal 
displacement was essential and that he would 
recommend this to the Home Ministry. He also said 
that the planning commission would try and ensure 
that the basic minimum needs, amenities and 
infrastructure in the colonies and resources for 
livelihood opportunities are provided.

Mr Siddharth Vardarajan said that this struggle 
was important not only for the victims of the 
Gujarat Carnage but was relevant for Kashmiri 
Pandits and other displaced people across the 
country.  A regime that is not capable to protect 
its citizens does not have the moral authority to 
remain in power. The compensation package should 
be liberal and should set standards."

  Charter of Demands

We the internally displaced people (in our own 
country), who have congregated here in Ahmedabad 
today, on 1 st February 2007, representing 
approximately 5000 families, 69 colonies and 
23,000 people, demand recognition first as 
Citizens of the Republic Of India with a basic 
Right to life with Dignity. Our own State Govt 
has failed to protect our lives and property and 
guarantee a safe return to our original place of 
residence.
While we acknowledge the role of the various 
Commissions and some Civil Society organisations, 
we realize that till today our lives have only 
worsened and insecurity only deepened. We have 
organized ourselves to seek redresal, reparation 
and take charge of our own struggle.
[. . . ]
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/04/public-hearing-on-gujarats-internally.html

______


[6]

INSAF Bulletin 60
April 2007

THE THREAT POSED BY HINDUTVA

by Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma

[In the December 2006 issue of INSAF Bulletin, we 
argued that Maoists were not a major threat to 
India. In the March issue we wrote that 
globalization is also not the most important 
threat to India. In this final article of the 
series, we express our position that Hindutva 
poses the greatest threat to India. Editors]

Hindutva is a political ideology that has become 
entrenched in the consciousness of a very 
significant segment of the politically active 
Indian population over the last two decades. Due 
to specific historical reasons, Hindutva is 
concentrated, politically, in the western states 
of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and the northern and 
central states of Delhi, U.P., Uttaranchal, 
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand, and, to 
a lesser extent, in Bihar and Orissa. As a 
political force, Hindutva has made less headway 
in the south, although it is attempting to become 
a force in Karnataka, where its political wing, 
the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, is part of the 
coalition that rules the state.  In the east, 
Hindutva has long been stymied in West Bengal by 
the political dominance of the Left Front. 
However, it has pockets of influence in Assam 
although local and regional factors play a larger 
role in the politics of India's north-east region.

Hindutva can be considered to be an extremist 
form of nationalism, which uses religious, 
racial, and cultural slogans for strictly 
political ends.  Historically, Hindutva took its 
early inspiration from European fascism in the 
early decades of the 20th century.  B.S. Moonje, 
one of the progenitors of Hindutva visited 
Mussolini's Italy and was greatly impressed by 
what he observed there.  Guru Golwalkar, the 
Supreme Leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 
or RSS, was full of praise for Hitler and the 
exaltation of racial purity in fascist Germany.

The RSS is the ideological nerve center of 
Hindutva which coordinates the work of the 
parliamentary political arm, the BJP, the 
cultural and social mobilization wing, the Vishwa 
Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council, the 
paramilitary storm-troopers, such as the Bajrang 
Dal, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha (the largest and the 
fastest growing trade Union overtaking the 
combined strength of the trade unions of 
Communist Party of India [CPI] and CPI[Marxist]), 
Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (student wing), 
and a vast array of propaganda and outreach 
groups and organizations along with groups 
devoted to fundraising. The thousands of 
elementary schools run by the RSS, the Ekal 
Vidyalayas, carry out ideological indoctrination 
of village children in many areas where the state 
governments have failed to fulfill their mandate 
to provide primary education.  This apparatus has 
been erected over several decades but it received 
a huge boost in the 1970s and later in the 1990s.

The Hindutva organizations, the RSS and the Hindu 
Mahasabha, played no role in the freedom struggle 
against the British Raj, in fact their only role 
was as minor collaborators of British rule. 
Shortly after independence their deep involvement 
in the planning and execution of the 
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, led to their 
marginalization in Indian politics in the early 
post-independence decades. However, Hindutva was 
brought into the mainstream by the veteran 
socialist leader Jaya Prakash Narayan 
particularly in the campaign against the 
dictatorial Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 
1975, which repressed all political groups in 
India ranging from the far left to the far right. 
It gained further respectability when leaders of 
the erstwhile Jan Sangh, the predecessor of the 
BJP, were inducted in the Central Government 
after the defeat of Mrs. Gandhi's Congress (I) 
party in the 1977 elections.  Although the 
political fortunes of the BJP in terms of 
parliamentary seats fluctuated in the 1980s, the 
growth of Hindutva as an ideology acquired 
dominance amongst sections of the urban Hindu 
middle classes as a result of the Mandal 
agitation, which brought into question the entire 
RSS strategy of uniting the "Hindu nation" under 
a core, upper-caste ideology, the Ramjanamabhoomi 
agitation leading to the destruction of the Babri 
mosque and the numerous Hindu-Muslim riots which 
witnessed violence being wreaked mainly on 
minorities by goons from the Bajrang Dal or the 
Shiv Sena as well as their sympathizers in the 
police forces. 

Violence in fact is central to the Hindutva 
project of achieving a Hindu rashtra (nation). 
'Hinduism' is viewed as constantly under threat 
from "outside" forces that, depending on context, 
can range from other religions like Islam and 
Christianity, other countries, such as Pakistan, 
other cultures, such as the "West" in general, or 
from people within the larger Hindu community who 
believe in pluralism or secularism and are dubbed 
as "Hindu-haters." Violence against all of these 
is justified in the mind of Hindutva's followers 
as a form of "self-defense".  Documentary films 
like Anand Patwardhan's "Ram ke Naam" shows one 
of these violent young followers saying "hum 
kuchh bhi kar sakte hain" (we can do anything) 
when asked what tactics are permissible against 
those who oppose them.  This is indeed a classic 
Nazi, fascistic type of thinking.

The advent of the NDA regime in the late 1990s, 
headed by the BJP, gave a big fillip to Hindutva 
as now they had become the ruling force at the 
Centre and they utilized it to the full at all 
cultural, educational, social, and political 
levels. This rule witnessed the horrifying 
"pogrom" in Gujarat in 2002 when the whole 
machinery of the state was harnessed to the 
destruction of the Gujarati Muslim community, 
including mass murder in particularly brutal 
ways, wanton destruction and looting of minority 
property, violent ethnic cleansing by the 
wholesale removal of minorities from 
neighborhoods where they had lived for centuries, 
and the refusal to hold anyone responsible for 
these violent acts.

Fortunately, the people of India, reflecting the 
heterogeneous and diverse nature of Indian 
society, rejected the one nation, one culture, 
one religion approach of RSS and defeated the 
BJP-led coalition in the 2004 national election. 
But this defeat may be undone at any later 
election as the factors underlying Hindutva 
ideology are all very much there. The 
parliamentary Left in India, including CPI and 
CPM, is the only consistent political opposition 
to Hindutva.  All other parties, including 
Congress, compromise to varying degrees with 
Hindutva ideology or politics depending on 
context.  The Left gained in the 2004 elections 
and made further gains in 2006 in its strongholds 
of West Bengal and Kerala.  Recently, however, a 
curious coalition ranging from far left to right 
and somewhat reminiscent of the JP-coalition in 
1974-75 has formed in West Bengal against the CPM 
on the issue of economic policy, in particular, 
of industrialization and the use of agricultural 
land to set up industry.  CPM's response to the 
agitation launched by this coalition has 
generated intense opposition among a variety of 
groups, including some left intellectuals, to the 
point where comparison is being made between 
Gujarat and the recent events in Nandigram.  From 
a political standpoint, what weakens the 
organized Left automatically benefits the 
organized Right. Furthermore, the utter cynicism 
of recent politics in India, like Mayawati's 
Brahmin-Dalit alliance in U.P., and in-fighting 
within Congress leading to its defeat by BJP in 
Uttaranchal (earlier in municipal elections in 
Mumbai), are pointers to a possible revival of 
the political fortunes of BJP.

To understand what the future of India may look 
like if the BJP comes back to power, one has only 
to look at the "laboratory of Hindutva", i.e. 
Gujarat.  Gujarat is being repeated on a smaller 
scale in some other states where BJP is in power; 
this includes M.P. and Rajasthan. To erect one 
culture, one religion, one nation in a 
quintessentially diverse country like India would 
necessitate violence and repression on a much 
greater scale with the active connivance of the 
repressive organs of the state.  This is why it 
is the INSAF Bulletin's position that Hindutva 
represents the greatest threat to the survival of 
India as a democratic and secular country.

The RSS has been condemned by all secular, 
democratic and left formations. However, the 
secret behind its dominance has not been fully 
assessed. One can hope some serious political 
analysts will deal with the issue so as to be 
able to defeat and hopefully bury this menace. 
Two issues are raised here as a modest venture in 
that direction. 

The first is the link between patriotism and the 
religious right. While patriotism and nationalism 
played a positive role during the era of 
colonialism, it has turned into its opposite in 
the post-colonial phase. RSS has been successful 
to some extent in equating patriotism with the 
Hindu heritage of India; rather Hinduism was made 
the leading feature of patriotism invoking Moghul 
rule as a colonial past. The rise of Christian 
fundamentalism in the US coincides with its 
invoking patriotism and nationalism particularly 
since 9/11. In India, Pakistan continues to 
provide that alibi.  Somehow, the approach of 
India of one culture, one nation and one religion 
as started by the RSS has been more successful 
especially among the influential Hindu middle 
class than any other form of patriotism or 
nationalism. Paradoxically, there is nothing 
which prevents RSS from capitalizing on 1857 and 
even the revolutionary, socialist Bhagat Singh. 

The second point, perhaps more important than the 
first, is the RSS's participatory method and 
action-oriented form of organizing.  Daily 
attendance at a Shakha in the early morning is 
one such participatory method. Workers belonging 
to the RSS trade Unions meet every week at some 
one's house for katha (religious gathering). This 
approach develops more organic link with the 
organization than simple affiliation through 
membership. Within the social and cultural milieu 
of India these approaches, even if they look 
trivial, seem to be very effective. This 
participatory method was most successfully 
developed by Gandhi. Whenever Gandhi started a 
movement, he devised effective means of 
participation whether as a march or as 
satyagraha. Although it is doubtful whether RSS 
copied its approach from Gandhi, the similarity 
is obvious.  In recent years, the Rath Yatra 
(long-distance marches) of Advani leading up to 
the demolition of the Babri mosque generated a 
large following for the Hindutva brigade. 
Obviously there are other reasons for the success 
of the RSS. But simply criticizing RSS policies 
does not seem to work, instead an effective means 
of countering them must be found.


______

[7]

Creating Democracy - Celebrating Diversity

60 Years of India's Independence

Anhad invites young Creative Minds to experiment, explore and create

Create any product (e.g.- short films/ 
documentaries, posters, t-shirt designs, mugs, 
wrist bands, toys or anything else that comes to 
your mind)  that promotes the values of :

Communal Harmony, 
Democracy,Peace,Justice,Liberty,Equality,Fraternity,Diversity,Secularism

Age Limit: Any Indian citizen between the Age 17-25.

Last Date for submission: April 15, 2007, 2007

50 best entries will be displayed in an 
exhibition, selected films will be screened 
during a day long festival: Creating Democracy: 
Celebrating Diversity .

One person can send upto 5 entries only.

No Entry Fee

ANHAD
Act Now for Harmony and Democracy
23, Canning Lane, New Delhi-110001
Tel- 011 23070740/ 011 23070722
e-mail: anhadideas at gmail.com
www.anhadin.org


______

[8]    EVENTS:

     CONFERENCE: BEYOND INDEPENDENCE: SOUTH ASIA, 1947-1977

     Royal Holloway, University of London
     Wednesday 11th - Thursday 12th April, 2007

     The sixtieth anniversary of independence 
presents an opportune moment to assess the three 
decades which followed Independence and 
Partition. From 1947 to 1977 the first generation 
of citizens were fashioned in the newly created 
states of South Asia. These crucial years of 
nation-building, and transition from empire to 
independence, have sometimes been overlooked by 
historians of the subcontinent in favour of 
earlier or later events. The social dimensions of 
South Asian life in the 1950s, 60s and 70s have 
been particularly neglected, yet these formative 
decades deserve historical attention and may pay 
dividends for researchers as they offer up a time 
of rapid change and a rich visual culture. This 
conference to be held at Royal Holloway, 
University of London, invites historians, 
political scientists, historical geographers and 
anthropologists concerned with the social and 
cultural life of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan 
from 1947-1977. Some suggested themes for papers 
include:

         * Gender history and the lives of women from 1947-1977
         * Popular culture after 1947: film, popular literature and the press
         * Consumption and the body: fashion, diet and domesticity, medicine
         * Post-partition legacies: refugee rehabilitation and integration
         * The changing role of the state: 
development, secularism and nationalism
         * The evolution of community identities: caste, language and region
         * The fostering of nationalism and new 
national identities, including the role of 
education
         * Transition within the former princely states

     It is hoped that the conference will attract 
complementary papers which will result in an 
edited volume and that the discussions will 
initiate further research on these subjects.

     The conference will be held for two days on 
the Royal Holloway campus, located in Egham, 
Surrey and easily reached from central London by 
car or public transport (www.rhul.ac.uk). 
Accommodation will be available onsite and 
financial support may be offered to invited 
speakers coming from overseas.

     Potential participants are asked to send a 
proposed title and a short abstract of up to 500 
words, outlining the subject of their paper and 
its probable hypothesis, to:

     Dr Sarah Ansari at Royal Holloway
     Department of History,
     University of London
     Egham
     Surrey, UK. TW20 OEX


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Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.