SACW | May 25-26, 2007
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South Asia Citizens Wire | May 25-26, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2411
- Year 9
[1] Pakistan: Cleric Turns Heat on NGOs (Zofeen Ebrahim)
[2] Sri Lanka: Back to Square One (Jayadeva Uyangoda)
[3] India - Freedom of Expression and sexual puritanism: Bold
And Beautiful (Ratna Kapur)
[4] India: Gujarat, Hindu Right and the threat to Freedom of
Expression at MS University in Baroda (Mukesh Semwa)
[6] India: Human rights Defenders at risk
(i) Atrocity in India's tribal heartland (Praful Bidwai)
(ii) Impunity and arrest of Rajendra Sail (Press
statement, Peoples Union For Civil Liberties)
(iii) Condemn the Arrest of PUCL Activists in Chhattisgarh
(Press release, Peoples Union for Democratic Rights)
[7] Rakesh Sharma vs NYPD and New York City: Film-maker wins
lawsuit
[8] Upcoming events:
(i) Public meeting on Repression in Chhattisgarh (New Delhi,
26 May 2007)
(ii) Two Secular Theatre Performances (Ahmedabad, 5-6 June 2007)
______
[1]
Inter Press Service
May 22, 2007
PAKISTAN: CLERIC TURNS HEAT ON NGOs
by Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, May 22 (IPS) - ''These foreign agents are against our
religion. How can we allow them to work here when we know they
come with an American agenda and support Israel?" asked
Maulana Fazalullah, the pro-Taliban cleric, referring to
non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
"All Pakistanis working for them (NGOs) are enemies of the
country,'' he told IPS over telephone from his home in the
North West Frontier Province (NWFP), that borders Afghanistan.
Over the last few months, NGOs and aid agencies have been
finding it increasingly difficult to work in some of the most
underdeveloped parts of Pakistan, such as the district of Swat
in the NWFP.
The venom and sting in the 33-year-old cleric's voice were
diffused in the long distance call and further weakened as his
words are translated into Urdu by his cousin and spokesman
Muslim Abdur Rashid -- but the underlying threat was
chillingly clear.
Badar Zaman, president of the Swat Youth Front, an NGO working
in non-formal education for girls which is funded by the
government, is already feeling the hostility. "Our work can
only be carried out through female employees,'' he explained.
"We have become strangers in our own hometown, now a hotbed
for Islamist militancy. Nobody dares confront Maulana
Fazalullah. He is holding all of us hostage with his own
version of Islam,'' Zaman said.
The 45 non-formal schools established in the community and the
one girls' college, together accounting for an enrolment of
over 3,000 girls, are already in jeopardy.
"We have had to hire an elderly woman to accompany our two
school supervisors. Instead of the office car, they use a
private car and we have had to reduce their working hours.
This has affected our monitoring as, from a target of five
schools, these women can only visit two schools a day."
In the last two months, Zaman has received about 12 death
threats. "The letters say that unless we stop our ‘agency'
with the U.S., keep beards, reconvert to Islam and find other
means of employment we will face dire consequences. These are
the same letters that have been distributed to girls' schools,
CD and DVD shops, barber shops and the NGOs, including those
dealing with family planning."
Saeed Jafar Shah of Caravan, an NGO working in the same
region, agrees with Zaman. His NGO that works on voter
education and registration and also on a project to eliminate
timber poaching in Upper Swat and natural resource management
is under threat.
But Shah, like Zaman, refuses to close down his office even if
it has meant seeking police protection for fear of attacks by
the timber mafia which has resorted to using religion to prop
up its activities. "They have already killed a community guard
at one of our check posts. They are using scare tactics and
the mosques to malign us. The simple village people have begun
looking at us with suspicion as the clerics wield a lot of
influence here,'' Shah said.
Caravan's ‘Feed-the-Poor' project sponsoring 50 widows and 110
orphans was hit after the clerics convinced the beneficiaries
not to cooperate with the ‘agents of Israel'. "They said
whatever good we were doing was not only suspect but also not
permissible in Islam,'' Zaman said.
"Recently, on a field visit, our female workers were not
allowed to enter homes and meet the women and encourage them
to register as voters. The community elders said workers were
not observing purdah (seclusion of women from public by means
of clothing, including the veil, burqa and walled enclosures
as well as screens and curtains within the home) and working
alongside men. Our female workers felt very humiliated when
they were told that the womenfolk of the village do not speak
to such women (our workers)."
Last month, some 70 government-appointed lady health workers
resigned from their jobs in Swat. This was after sermons in
mosque given by clerics said they were ‘sinful' women.
Conditions have now become difficult for the government's Lady
Health Workers' Programme, begun in 1993, to continue
providing door-to-door preventive and curative primary
healthcare in those remote areas.
On May 19, an eight-member (including three women) family
planning team was taken hostage by a horde of 100 militants in
North Waziristan, one of the seven principalities in the
Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).
In view of the danger to women, the administration of the
Bajaur principality has barred women vaccinators (who make
house-to-house calls) and replaced them with male workers.
In another border town, Darra Adamkhel, local people have been
asked to dissociate themselves from international NGOs. A
local cleric, Mufti Khalid Shah, issued a decree, last month,
declaring that NGOs were Zionist agents and that every Muslim
was duty-bound to destroy their offices, attack their
vehicles, and kill their members.
Two weeks ago, the United Nations announced that it had
suspended its work in the quake-affected districts of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir after the situation turned "life
threatening" for aid workers. Unidentified people in Bagh
district burnt down homes of some aid workers and issued
warnings against hiring local female staff. Fazalullah is both
revered and feared. Favouring horses over motorised vehicles,
he has no qualms about using technological devices advances
for propaganda work -- anything from cellphones to
sophisticated artillery. But his most lethal weapons are the
12 unlicensed FM radio stations that uses to transmit his
vitriolic messages.
"The channels are used to preach the teachings of Islam," said
Muslim Abdur Rashid, the Maulana's spokesman. "Almost everyone
is now converted. You would be happy to learn that all the
women have, of their own volition, started observing the
purdah, and that dance and music have stopped." A couple of
years ago, at the cleric's behest, many simple villagers
smashed up their TV sets and torched them.
Fazalaullah is especially venerated in the area by women who
regard his words as God's decree. "If there is anyone more
loved, after God, it's him, especially by the women," said
Naheed Shamsur Rehman, a primary school teacher in Swat.
"And why not? For the first time, someone is talking of
women's rights as spelled out in the Holy Koran. He talks of
our right to inheritance, provision of mehr (a sum of money or
other property which the wife is entitled to receive from the
husband at the time of marriage), asking fathers to get the
consent of their daughters before contracting their marriage
etc," says Shamsur Rehman. "He never uses force, and that is
perhaps the reason for his success."
"Yes, women are our most loyal supporters. All we had to do
was to convince the women. It was the latter who made our task
of influencing the men easy," said Rehman.
"Recently many women offered up their jewellery when he asked
for funds for the construction of a mosque, and men came in
droves to help with the construction," said Zaman.
Asked about rumours that the Maulana had ordered parents not
to send their girls to schools, the cleric's spokesman Rashid
said: "There is a lot of propaganda against us. We're not
against acquisition of scientific knowledge or girl's
education, but we are against what is being taught in schools.
That is taking them away from their religion. And that is the
reason we feel that such education is causing more harm than
good."
"There are some 30 adolescent girls who have stopped coming to
school," said Saima Amir Bacha, one of the supervisors for
public schools. "Their parents have suddenly decided that it's
better for them to stay at home and learn the Koran and its
translation. Of course it is the work of Maulana Fazalullah.
But nobody dares utter a word against his preaching."
Asked about the abandoned the polio campaign Rashid said
cautiously: "We don't stop people from getting their children
vaccinated. But yes, we look upon it with much scepticism. We
believe it has ingredients that cause infertility, because the
West does not want the Ummah (collective Islamic nation) to
grow and prosper."
Rashid admitted to IPS that he had no scientific proof to back
the claims. "Only time will prove us right,'' he said adding
that the cleric's two children (aged two and four) have not
been immunised against polio. (END/2007)
______
[2]
Economic and Political Weekly
May 19, 2007
Letter from South Asia
SRI LANKA: BACK TO SQUARE ONE
Sri Lanka's conflict has now reached a stage beyond a
settlement through power-sharing. The little interest that the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has shown in negotiated
regional autonomy a few years ago has now totally disappeared.
The more-than-little interest that the reformist sections of
the Sinhalese political class had earlier developed in a
settlement of negotiated regional autonomy has also diminished.
by Jayadeva Uyangoda
T he escalating war in Sri Lanka has begun to spring
interesting surprises. For example, a day or two after theThe
Hindu ran an editorial under the title 'Tigers on the Run',
there was panic in Colombo that Tigers had come to the Colombo
airport's runway. With the appearanceof Tiger aircraft
carrying and dropping bombs over the skies in Colombo, evading
radar detection and firefrom the ground, the war between
theSri Lankan government and the LiberationTigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) has the potential to reach a new phase where
hi-tech instruments might play a keyrole in the way in which
the war is conducted.
The developments in Sri Lanka's war during the past few months
as well as what is happening at present offer very rich
material for analysis of intra-state civil war. The government
has opted for a full- scale military offensive, while publicly
claiming it was a mere defensive response,knowing very well
that an over- all outcome favourable to the government might
take two to three years. The Rajapakse administration seems to
be takingup the challenge of being locked into another
protracted and intense phase of war with two outcomes in mind.
The LTTE would either be militarily defeated, or so deci-
sively weakened as not to be a threat to the Sri Lankan state
in any significant way. Then, as the official visiongoes, a
victor's peace, or "peace with dignity", will dawn in this
little emerald island.
Calculus of Two Sides
The section of the government that has conceptualised,
planned, strategised and begun to execute the present phase of
warappears to believe that in the past the Sri Lankan armed
forces could have won the war against the LTTE, but were
preventedfrom doing so not by military factors, but by
extra-military, or political, factors. Interference in the
strategy and execution of war by politicians, the pressurefrom
the internationals to move away from a military solution and
the concerns for human rights and humani- tarian consequences
are the three main extra-military factors. In this total com-
mitment to a favourable military outcome, the government
seemsto be even willingto endure negative economic
consequences of a protracted war.
The LTTE on the other hand appears to be ready for a
protracted war too. The LTTE's commitment to a protracted
warseems to emanate from a different framework of strategic
calculus. This thinking may be summarised as follows:
A long-drawn war would create grave humanitarianand human
rights problems for the government, isolating the regime from
the international community. An intense war that escalates the
cost of war and spreads violence would seriously damage the
economy, eroding the supportbase of the regime and weakening
the capacity of the economy to fund the war. A war that
damages the economy while producing serious human rights
issues while weakeningthe rule of law andthe democratic
process would also sharpen the contradictionsin the southern
polity. This thinking is also governed byavery interesting
strategic calculation that the LTTE appears to have made.
Unlikethe government, the LTTE does not seem to aim at a
military victory. The LTTE perhaps knows that a military
victoryover the Sri Lankan state is not possible, in view of
both the military strength of the state and the configuration
of regional and international forces in favour of the state.
The LTTE's military- strategic aim seems to focus on preven-
tingthe Sri Lankan state from obtaining a military victory,
leading to a military andeventually political stalematein the
conflict. The LTTE does not seem to mind the immense suffering
of the Tamilcivilians in this war, as long it allowsthem to
score political points internationally.
The war in the eastern province during the past six months or
so to a great extent demonstrated the working of these
competing strategic calculations of both sides. The
government, using the forces ofthe LTTE's breakaway Karuna
faction,soughtto dislodge the LTTE from the province through a
series of con- ventional battles. The LTTE, facing
superiorfire-powerof the state has decidedto withdraw from the
eastern province. This was similarto what the LTTE did in
Jaffna peninsula in De- cember1995. Faced with a massive con-
ventional offensive by the state, the LTTEwithdrew all its
fighters, cadres and military assets to the Vanni jungles
withoutresisting the advancing army.
Theyalso evacuated several hundred thousands of civilians to
the Vanni, south of the Jaffna peninsula. Meanwhile, the
government, true to its new thinking, did not capitulate
before international or civil society concerns about very
serious humanrights violations and humanitarian crises. It
practised, quite effectively, the art of denial, cover up and
intimidation whenever humanitarian and human rightsissues were
raised. The govern- mentalso went in searchof international
support from sources that do not raise these "political"
issues when offering economic and militaryassistance. So far,
both the government and the LTTE havesucceeded in maintaining
their short-term strategic objectives without hugecosts.
At present, the war has shifted from theeastern province to
the northern province. The government strategy seems to be
engaging the LTTE in a long-drawn war while blocking its
military supplies and funding. The Rajapakse admini-
stration's international campaign that it has been fighting
terrorism seems to havestruck amore than sympathetic codein
WashingtonDC. Full backing of the US, with occasional murmurs
about human rights and media freedom, might guarantee some
success in president Rajapakse's own "war against terrorism".
The LTTE's lack of a political programme of compromise and
militaristic intran- sigence might even hasten its belated
downfall.
Meanwhile, the government might notgofor an all out assault on
Vanni because of the fact that the LTTE is con- centrating all
its military might there for counter-attack. In this theatre
of war, the LTTE might spring some more surprises in order to
alter the strategic balance. That is the nature and character
of the LTTE's war machine. It exploits the element of surprise
to reverse previous military losses and to turn the tables on
the other side.
Prospect for Negotiations
In this backdrop, is resumption of negotiationsbetween the Sri
Lankan government and the LTTE possible? Objectivelyspeaking,
there is no reason for either side to return to talks. There
is hardly anything that can be achieved through talks. Both
sides seem to be waiting for the outcome of the present phase
of war. Is a negotiated settlement to the conflict possible?
Not between the Rajapakse administration and the LTTE
atpresent. While the former might wait fora victor's peace
settlement, the latter will also wait patiently for a
settlement fora separate state. This is Sri Lanka's "scissors
crisis".
Although it is quite depressing to share with others, my own
assessment is that Sri Lanka's conflict has now reached a
stage beyond a settlement through power- sharing. The little
interest that the LTTEhas shown in negotiated regional
autonomya few years ago has now totally disappeared. The
more-than-little interest that the re- formist sections of the
Sinhalese political class had earlier developed in a
settlement of negotiated regional autonomy has also
diminished. Its latest manifestation is the proposals prepared
by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main con- stituent
party of the present United People'sFreedom Alliance coalition
re- gime. President Rajapakse is the leader of the SLFP and
obviously the new proposals reflect his thinking and the
think- ing of the powerful military-civilian bloc that
constitutes the core of the power structure at present.
The SLFP proposals envisage district- based decentralisation
of power under a strong, centralised and unitary central
government headed by the president. Theseproposals have
totally ignored the Tamil and Muslim demands for regional
autonomy and province-based devolution of power. They take Sri
Lanka's policy debate on ethnic conflict resolution back to
the early 1980s when the J R Jayewardene regime, much before
the secessionist insurgency by the Tamils developed, attempted
district development councils. These minimalist proposals of
the Sinhalese political class appear to be preparedby the
Sinhalese political class for the Sinhalese political class.
Looking at them from the perspective of the ethnic conflict,
they are empty, regressive and hugely majoritarian. So, Sri
Lanka, as they say, is back to square one.
What can one do in these circumstances to prevent Sri Lanka
getting further embed- ded in a destructive war? Very little,
if one wants to be honest. The only option that is worth
trying, as far as I can see, is to bring immense international
pressure on both the government and the LTTE in order to
de-escalate the war, tominimise the grave human rights and
humanitarian consequences, and ensure that the war does not
become dirtier.
_____
[3] FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND SEXUAL PURITANISM:
The Times of India
25 May, 2007
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL
by Ratna Kapur
In staying the obscenity litigation pending against Shilpa
Shetty and Richard Gere, the Supreme Court has halted, for the
moment, efforts to draw the line of free speech and expression
in the direction of increased orthodoxy and sexual puritanism.
Controversies around free speech and expression, especially
sexual speech, have always evoked outrage, anxiety and debate.
What is at issue is not whether the 'kiss' deserved such
attention, but the extent to which India's obscenity laws are
increasingly being used for moral policing and encroaching on
the rights to free speech and expression.
While there has been no opposition expressed by feminist
groups or civil society members to 'the kiss' there has also
not been any enthusiastic endorsement of the 'performance.
The resounding silence speaks to a deeper discomfort around
issues of sex and sexuality that continue to haunt the borders
of free speech and expression.
The Hindu right has been persistent in challenging
representations of Indian women that have not been consistent
with their vision of women's gender and sex roles in Indian
culture.
It frames the issue of obscenity as a violation of women's
traditional identity as matri shakti — that is, as wives and
mothers, and of the respect for women in these roles.
They are concerned with restoring women to their position of
respect and honour they ostensibly enjoyed in some long lost
ancient 'Hindu' past.
The threat of obscenity is also seen as a threat to the purity
of women's sexuality — if women's sexuality is not contained
within the confines of the family, then men cannot be held
responsible for their actions of violating this sexuality.
The argument deflects responsibility for sexual violence away
from men, placing the blame on the obscene representation,
those who produce these representations, including the women
who appear in them.
The charge against Shetty was that she 'did not resist' the
kiss by Gere, a foreign white man, and hence transgressed
dominant social and cultural norms for a good Hindu woman.
Unfortunately, the call to censor sexual representations has
also come from progressive groups. Some feminists have voiced
concerns over the 'negative impact' of obscene images.
What is lost sight of is how such representations simply
reinforce the dominant, sexist values that characterise
women's roles and conduct.
Censorship does not challenge this sexism. While there is no
question that a good deal of sexual imagery is often very
sexist or misogynist, sexual performance and sexual images
have an important role to play in challenging conventional
sexual norms, and producing more affirming space for
consensual and healthy sexual relationships and for the
expression of women's sexual agency and presence.
The Shetty-Gere kiss in the context of a public awareness
campaign on AIDS and the controversy it generated provided a
perfect moment for feminists and others to generate a healthy
debate on the line between safe, consensual sex and risky
behaviour.
Unfortunately, the moment was ceded to the censorship lobby.
Despite recent decisions to the contrary, the courts have not
always been the guardians of free speech rights when it comes
to sexual expression and representations.
The Supreme Court upheld the obscenity provisions in the 1965
case involving a challenge to D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's
Lover, permitted cuts to the rape as well as consensual sex
sequences in Shekhar Kapur's film, The Bandit Queen, a story
about violence against women, and struck down the ban on the
bar dancers in Maharashtra, but primarily on the grounds that
the ban only covered some women (the bar dancers) and some
establishments (the beer halls), not all women (the
waitresses) and all establishments (cinemas, theatres and
sports clubs).
Through these decisions, the courts have indicated how nearly
any representation or expression of sex and sexuality can be
constructed as bad.
These decisions send the message that sexual explicitness is
immoral and sex and sexuality are not a normal part of our
humanity, but a corrupting and unhealthy influence from which
'decent people' must be protected.
The focus on censorship of sexually explicit acts and images
will do little to improve women's material condition.
Not only will it serve to increase women's vulnera-bility,
history has also demonstrated that such laws are used
invariably against artists, writers and sexual minorities.
Describing sexually explicit images as vulgar, obscene and
lascivious, reinforces the sexualisation of women's bodies and
the idea that sex is dirty, which in turn encourages the idea
that women's bodies are somehow dirty.
The 'kiss' controversy indicates the extent to which sex
phobia underlies the reactions to sexual speech and expression.
It unmasks the need to challenge the idea that sex is
inherently negative and dangerous, and promotes healthier
attitudes towards human sexuality.
Censorship and bans cannot do this work, but will instead
reinforce this perception of sex as bad, of women who display
it as whores and of good women as wives and mothers.
The obscenity laws are a product of our Victorian past. It is
time to move beyond that past, and to produce a space for the
discussion of sex and sexuality in ways that are affirming and
positive.
While we are able to represent brutal rape sequences, and
extreme violence on screen, any playful expressions of healthy
human sexual interactions continue to be stigmatised and
elicit responses that are more indicative of our fear of sex
rather than of the dangers it poses to what is after all a
resilient culture.
The writer is director, Centre for Feminist Legal Research.
_____
[4]
SAVE THE AUTONOMY OF M.S.UNIVERSITY,BARODA AND RESIST ALL OUT
SAFFRONISATION
Mukesh Semwal, Research scholar in Political Science Dept. MSU
President- All India D.S.O. MSU Date-21-5-07
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/05/resist-saffronisation-of-ms-university.html
______
[5] INDIA: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK
(i)
The News
May 26, 2007
ATROCITY IN INDIA'S TRIBAL HEARTLAND
by Praful Bidwai
The detention of noted human rights activist Binayak Sen under
the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 (PSA) and
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has attracted
nationwide condemnation. Sen, general secretary of the
Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and
the union's national vice-president, was arrested for his
alleged links with banned Maoist groups.
The critical allegation is that Sen met senior Maoist leader
Narayan Sanyal more than 30 times in recent months in the
Raipur central jail. On the very face of it, the charge is
preposterous. Sen met Sanyal with the authorities' knowledge
and consent and always in the presence of a jailer. As a civil
liberties activist, it is his legitimate function to meet
detainees and ensure that their fundamental rights are
respected. Whether he met Sanyal 35 times or 100 times is
totally irrelevant.
It speaks poorly of the Chhattisgarh government that it
cavalierly levelled defamatory and scandalous charges against
an activist-intellectual of Sen's standing, who has an
illustrious record as a public-spirited paediatrician
connected with the people's health movement. Sen was involved
with the setting up of the Shaheed Hospital, an initiative of
the great trade unionist Shankar Guha Niyogi who was murdered
at the behest of rapacious industrialists.
The hospital, owned and operated by a workers' organisation,
remains unmatched anywhere in India for helping the population
of a backward tribal area callously neglected by the state.
Sen was on the official advisory committee that drew up one of
India's most successful community-based primary healthcare
programmes.
It's nobody's case that Sen is a Naxalite, or a Maoist
sympathiser. Everyone who knows him, as this writer has done
for many years, will testify to his commitment to a peaceful
struggle for a compassionate, humane society. Yet, the
Chhattisgarh government arrested him under the draconian PSA.
This extraordinarily repressive law allows for detention of a
person on the vaguest of charges. The charges include
committing acts with a "tendency to pose an obstacle to the
administration of law� and actions which "encourage(s) the
disobedience of the established law". This law criminalises
even non-violent protests, including Gandhian civil
disobedience. It's a disgrace that the PSA remains on India's
statute books.
Sen was detained even before the police had obtained a shred
of evidence against him. Since then, they have searched his
house and claim to have collected "hundreds of incriminating
documents", which include compact disks, pamphlets and other
papers. Now, most of the documents are in the public domain.
The list includes newspaper clippings, CDs on "fake
encounters", and letters from victims of state repression,
since published in newspapers. Much of the impounded material
pertains to Sen's work as a health and civil liberties activist.
Clearly, these malicious police allegations are of the same
variety as the charges filed in 2002 against The Kashmir Times
Delhi bureau chief, Syed Iftikhar Geelani. He too was accused
of possessing "classified" documents, suggesting links with
terrorists. The police were forced to retract all such charges
when it was established that Geelani's "secret" documents were
obtained from public-domain sources, none of them remotely
connected with terrorism.
Geelani was detained for eight months -- and released without
apology or explanation -- because he is a Kashmiri and related
to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Sen is being
harassed because he's a civil liberties activist who has
courageously exposed a number of police atrocities. These,
remarkably, include 155 "fake encounters" in Chhattisgarh in
two years. The latest was the cold-blooded murder of 12
Adivasis on March 31 -- which made the headlines even as the
public was absorbing the shock from revelations about the
"encounter" killing of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Kausar-Bi by DIG
Vanzara in Gujarat.
It would be an even greater injustice if Sen has to languish
for months in jail before the charges against him are
disproved. Surely, Indian courts have a duty to prevent such
miscarriage of justice. Surely, top politicians and
bureaucrats have learned some lessons from the sordid stories
of abduction and outright killings committed by trigger-happy
policemen. Surely, it has not escaped the attention even of
India's creaking justice delivery system that draconian laws,
which allow preventive detention and forced confessions, are
liable to be -- and usually are -- misused. They create a
climate of impunity, in which no official is held accountable
for his/her gross misconduct.
It bears recalling that the rate of conviction under the
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act was less
than two per cent. This speaks of gross abuse of the law. The
police didn't bother to collect evidence, which would help
their case stand up. They used TADA (and later POTA) to bung
people into jail and extract confessions from them under
duress, including threats of "encounters". Such laws became
excuses not to conduct diligent investigation, while raising
alarmist fears about extremism, terrorism and threats to
"national security".
The PSA was used in Chhattisgarh four times earlier -- for
instance, to arrest a petty shopkeeper for selling groceries
to Maoist sympathisers (of whose identity he probably wasn't
aware), and to harass a Class XII student who was in love with
a suspected Naxalite.
The Chhattisgarh police are now planting stories about a
"close relative" of Dr Sen's, who is subversive by virtue of
having studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University! Only a warped
khaki brain can think in such philistine, irrational ways.
Yet, it's precisely this way of thinking that led the
Chhattisgarh government to set up Salwa Judum, a viciously
right-wing band of thugs who target and kill Maoists. They
have razed villages, raped women and looted what little the
poor possess -- with police collusion. Salwa Judum has ignited
a civil war and done incalculable harm to ordinary Advasis. No
fewer than 47,000 people have become homeless owing to its
depredations.
However, the Chhattisgarh government's anti-Naxalite
juggernaut continues to roll on, setting Advasi against
Adivasi, village against village, and bankrupting the state of
all its legitimacy. The government now plans to use helicopter
gunships to intimidate villagers, cut down prime forests, and
repeat the "Strategic Hamlets" strategy of the United States
during the Vietnam War by creating "Naxalite-free" villages.
And yes, they plan to use grenades, not just bullets, in
skirmishes with Maoists.
There's a larger purpose behind the anti-Naxal operations
apart from trying to liquidate Maoists. It is to make
Chhattisgarh safe for huge mining and industrial projects,
which dispossess people. Chhattisgarh is selling its precious
mineral wealth cheap to promote neoliberal capitalism. It has
signed more than 30 memoranda of understanding with business
houses, including multinationals with a terrible human rights
record. The human consequences of such a strategy have become
obvious -- especially in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Orissa.
In Orissa, there's growing popular resistance to the South
Korean company POSCO's steel plant and the Tatas' steel mill.
2006 began with the gunning down of 13 Adivasis at
Kalinganagar. And last fortnight saw attacks upon peaceful
protestors by goons hired by POSCO.
This insanity must stop. The monstrous mining and steel
projects, in which the people have no stake, must not be
granted clearance by bypassing environmental and
rehabilitation scrutiny. Or else, the state will lose all its
popular legitimacy. Then, the Maoists will have achieved their
purpose.
o o o
(ii)
Peoples Union For Civil Liberties
IMPUNITY AND ARREST OF RAJENDRA SAIL
Press statement by KG Kannabiran, President and Y P Chhibbar,
General Secretary, 24 May 2007
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Human-rights/2007/sail-pucl.html
o o o
(iii)
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
PRESS RELEASE: 25.05.2007
CONDEMN THE ARREST OF PUCL ACTIVISTS IN CHHATTISGARH
Jan Hastakshep condemns the arrest of Rajinder Sail
the President of the Chattisgarh PUCL. This arrest is
allegedly made in connection with Shankar Guha
Niyogi's murder case, on grounds of contempt of court
proceedings at Madhya Pradesh. Even though the case
pertains to April 2005, the M.P. and Chhattisgarh
governments have kept the warrant pending for years
and suddenly pulled it out of their pockets to execute
it. The fact is that the state was becoming
increasingly uncomfortable with Rajender Sail's
activity in the matter of the arrest of Chhattisgarh
PUCL General Secretary, Dr Binayak Sen. While it is
true he will have to serve the sentence lawfully
imposed, yet the abuse of powers is writ large. It is
a clear case abuse of law when the police keep final
orders pending without executing them and using them
only at their convenience.
Dr. Binayak Sen was fighting against violations of
human rights and he was very critical of the numerous
"encounters" being done in Chhattisgarh, while
demanding a proper enquiry into these so called
encounters. At the time of issue of this statement to
the press, Binayak Sen stands charged for Sedition,
conspiracy to wage war and conspiracy to commit other
offences. Such post arrest and post FIR confabulations
are part of the impunity, governments have granted to
the law-enforcing establishment..
It is indeed a lesson for civil liberty and democratic
groups to watch the increasing depravity of state
institutions and the manner of their functioning which
holds all issues of democracy and accountability in
utter contempt. This unrelenting attack on civil
liberty groups and activists is unprecedented; except
during the Emergency, it was never common place to
arrest senior and well known civil rights activists.
Jan Hastakshep appeals to all concerned citizens and
civil right groups to come out and protest these
increasing attacks on Indian democracy and insist for
a more accountable administrative functioning. These
increasing attacks by the right wing BJP led
governments and the creation of state sponsored
vigilante groups such as the Salwa Judum are clear
indicators of the growing dangerous fascist trends in
India . What needs to be kept in mind is that these
trends are not any different in Congress or other
party ruled states.
Jan Hastakshep strongly condemns the arrest of both
PUCL activists and demands:
1. Immediate release of Mr. Rajender Sail and Mr.
Binayak Sen and dropping of all criminal charges
against them
2. Strict and swift action be taken against the
armed forces and police personnel involved in the
brutal murders of innocent citizens in these so called
encounters.
Nagraj Adve <nagraj.adve at gmail.com> wrote:
Friends,
Serious and additional charges such as sedition and
conspiracy to wage war have been filed against Dr
Binayak Sen. And against Rajinder Sail, who was to be
one of the speakers at the meeting mentioned below, an
absurd and years' old sentence has now been carried
out. The persistent abuse of law and attack on those
who raise their voice against it persists in
Chattisgarh, and other states.
Details about meeting below.
Nagraj Adve, PUDR
Condemn arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen
Demand unconditional release &
Repeal of Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act
Join us for public meeting on
Repression in Chhattisgarh
Speakers: Rajendra Sail (PUCL, Chhattisgarh)
Justice R. Sachhar (PUCL,National)
Rakesh Shukla (PUDR, Delhi)
Ilina Sen (PUCL, Chhattisgarh)
Kavita Srivastava (PUCL, Rajasthan)
Dr. Sathyamala (MFC)
On 26th May 2007 (Saturday)
At Gandhi Peace Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhaya Marg
near ITO [New Delhi]
At 3.30 pm
PUCL, PUDR, Saheli, Medico Friends Circle,
Delhi Solidarity Group, NAPM, Socialist Front
Jan Hastakshep
Campaign Against Fascist Designs
______
[7]
RAKESH SHARMA VS NYPD AND NEW YORK CITY: FILM-MAKER WINS LAWSUIT
Hopes harassment of film-makers will cease in India too
May 25, 2007, Mumbai.
New York City to promulgate film-permit scheme to settle suit
by film-maker
In a settlement released yesterday, New York City has agreed
to create, for the first time, written rules governing the
issuance of permits for film makers and photographers. Under
the rules, which are expected to be published in the next
week, documentary film-makers shooting cinema verite style
will no longer need any film permit to shoot in New York.
The settlement comes in response to a federal lawsuit
(http://www.nyclu.org/pdfs/sharma_suit_011006.pdf ) brought by
the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Rakesh Sharma,
an Indian documentary film maker who was detained for several
hours by police officers in May 2005 for filming on a city
sidewalk in midtown Manhattan with a handheld video camera.
During his detention Mr. Sharma was told he had to have a film
permit, but when he subsequently applied for a permit from the
Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcast (MOFTB), his
application was denied.
The NYCLU sued on his behalf in January 2006, challenging the
City's unwritten film-permit practices and Mr. Sharma's
detention (http://www.nyclu.org/sharma_pr_011006.html ). The
lawsuit against The Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and
Broadcast (MOFTB) had contended that the prohibitive $1 milion
insurance package required to obtain a permit was an
impediment to free speech and violated the first amendment. By
agreeing to adopt the new rules and by paying Mr. Sharma
damages for his permit denial, the MOFTB has now settled the
lawsuit. As per the new policy, film makers and photographers
using hand-held equipment will neither need to obtain city
permits nor to have $1 million of insurance.
Rakesh Sharma said, "I'm happy that documentary film-makers
will now be able to film freely in New York without being
harassed. I specially welcome the new film permit policy that
specifically exempts documentary film-makers and photographers
from unnecessary and unwarranted state control."
Mr. Sharma had sued the NYPD (New York Police Department) for
wrongful detention and illegal search of his footage while he
was filming in downtown Manhattan in May 2005. He was visiting
New York to make a film about the lives of ordinary people,
including taxi drivers, in the post-9/11 world. The NYCLU had
later expanded the lawsuit to challenge the New York City
Police Department's treatment of photographers and filmmakers.
(http://www.nyclu.org/sharma_pr_080706.html ). In the amended
complaint filed in United States District Court in Manhattan,
the NYCLU alleged that NYPD officers are unlawfully detaining
photographers and threatening them with arrest if they will
not destroy their images or show them to police officers.
Police officials had informed the NYCLU that reports about
photographers are the most common type of complaint called
into the Department's terrorism hotline. As per the filing,
notwithstanding the frequency of NYPD photography
investigations, the Department has no policies, procedures, or
training for investigating such reports.
As per the settlement announced yesterday, NYPD has agreed to
pay the film-maker an unspecified sum in damages to settle the
lawsuit.
http://www.nyclu.org/sharma_pr_052307.html, NYCLU Associate
Legal Director Christopher Dunn, who represented Mr. Sharma,
said, "Over the last several years, we have received numerous
complaints about the mistreatment of film makers and
photographers. The adoption of these new rules is an
important reform, but we will continue our efforts to protect
the rights of photographers."
NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said, "Photography
and film making are protected by the First Amendment and are
central to a healthy democracy. Protecting photography and
film making will continue to be a priority for us."
NYU Civil Rights Clinic students Scott Michels, Mark Landsman,
and David Rosen also served as co-counsel on the case.
Rakesh Sharma said, "It has taken two full years to pursue the
case and take it to its logical conclusion. I'm happy that
NYPD has finally settled the lawsuit, thereby enabling me to
continue with the filming process in New York, which I had to
suspend in May 2005. I also hope NYPD will now treat
film-makers and photographers with courtesy, professionalism
and respect while they shoot in New York".
He further added, "It is great to be able to film freely in
New York, but I'd really love to be to be able to do so in my
own home country – India, where film-makers and artists face
the ire of legal agencies as well as extralegal censors. It is
abysmal that the accreditation accorded to journalists by the
Press Information Bureau in India is not available to
film-makers! Policemen and party workers routinely harass
film-makers, arrest and interrogate them, in some cases,
damage their equipment or the footage. As the world's largest
democracy, we must demonstrate tangibly our commitment to
freedom of speech and not merely pay lip service to it. I do
hope the Government of India responds by extending the same
accreditation to documentary film-makers as it does to
television journalists"
Information about Rakesh Sharma can be accessed on
www.rakeshfilm.com and about the New York Civil Liberties
Union on www.nyclu.org
Rakesh Sharma - +91 98203 43103 or 98208 96425.
Email: rakeshfilm at gmail.com , blog: rakeshindia.blogspot.com
Christopher Dunn, Associate Legal Director, New York Civil
Liberties Union, 125 Broad Street, 19th Floor, New York, N.Y.
10004, 212.607.3300, ext. 326, 212.607.3318 (fax),
917.673.8804 (cell)
_____
[8] UPCOMING EVENTS
(i)
[Please note that a speaker listed to speak at the below event
in Delhi has now been arrested by the police in Chattisgarh]
--
PUBLIC MEETING ON REPRESSION IN CHHATTISGARH
Speakers: Rajendra Sail (PUCL, Chhattisgarh)
Justice R. Sachhar (PUCL,National)
Rakesh Shukla (PUDR, Delhi)
Ilina Sen (PUCL, Chhattisgarh)
Kavita Srivastava (PUCL, Rajasthan)
Dr. Sathyamala (MFC)
On 26th May 2007 (Saturday)
At Gandhi Peace Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhaya Marg
near ITO [New Delhi]
At 3.30 pm
PUCL, PUDR, Saheli, Medico Friends Circle,
Delhi Solidarity Group, NAPM, Socialist Front
o o o
(ii)
SAMVEDAN CULTURAL PROGRAMME
PRESENTS
TWO PLAYS
1) AISA KYON? (Duration: 60 Minutes.)
(A Play exploring relationship between Patriarchy and Violence.)
Written by : Saroop Dhruv.
Music by : Jayesh Solanki.
Directed by : Hiren Gandhi.
2) GUJARAT – 2007 (A FORUM THEATRE)
(Duration: 35+Minutes.)
(A Play depicting three real life experiences of the victims
of Gujarat Genocide-2002)
(A Group Production prepared in the ‘THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED’
Workshop conducted by SANJOY GANGULY (JAN SANSKRITI – KOLKATTA)
VENUE: OPEN AIR THEATRE
Behavioural Science Centre (B.S.C.)
St.Xavier’s college campus.
Navrangpura. [Ahmedabad, India]
DATE: 5th & 6th June, 2007.
TIME: 6.30 evening.
ARTISTS: Jayesh, Mahendra, Rehana, Shirin, Laxmi, Piyush,
Mahesh, Bhupat
And Bipin.
Shows are open for all.
Contact: 079-2681 5484; 079- 65413032. (M) 94261 81334.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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