IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - August 24th, 2009
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh from the primary membership of the party two days after the release of his book praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters here that the party's parliamentary board decided to expel the former external affairs minister from the primary membership of the party. "Yesterday, I issued a statement about the BJP dissociating itself from Jaswant Singh's views. The party discussed the matter at the chintan baithak (introspection session) and it was decided to expel him," Rajnath Singh said. BJP had on Tuesday dissociated itself from the book written by Jaswant Singh praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, saying the "painful" part of history cannot be wished away for which the Pakistan founder was responsible. "Views expressed by Jaswant Singh in his book 'Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence' does not represent views of the party. In fact, the party completely dissociates itself from the contents of the book," party chief Rajnath Singh told reporters here. In his book, Jaswant Singh has held Jawaharlal Nehru responsible for the partition of India and Jinnah has been "demonised" in India. Rajnath Singh underlined that Jinnah had played an important role in "division of India which led to a lot of dislocation and destabilisation of millions of people". "It is too well known we cannot wish away this painful part of our history," he said. He also took objection to ridiculing of Sardar Vallabhai Patel by Jaswant Singh, saying the first Home Minister played a historic role in unification and consolidation of India amidst serious threats to its unity and integrity. "The entire country remains indebted and proud of all the profound vision, courage and leadership of Patel," he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4910077.cms SEE ALSO: BJP-ruled Gujarat tonight banned Jaswant Singh's book Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence, claiming it defamed the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The move came hours after Singh's expulsion from the party. Confirming that sale and import of the book had been banned with immediate effect across the state, Gujarat government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas said a notification to this effect was being issued. "Sardar Patel's contribution in the creation of modern India is very well known. Any reference to the contrary, showing Sardar in bad light, is not acceptable to Gujarat," Vyas said, justifying the ban on the book. A statement issued by the state government said: "Jaswant Singh's book questions the role of Sardar Patel during the Partition of India as well as his patriotic spirit. This is an attempt to tarnish the image of Patel." http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/504250/ SEE ALSO: Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh today revealed that it was L K Advani who blocked action against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots warning that any such move would create a "bawaal (commotion)" in the party. "We (Advani, Arun Shourie and Jaswant along with Vajpayee) were in the aircraft (on the way to Goa for a BJP meeting) as Vajpayeeji had asked us to discuss few things…He (Vajpayee) asked, Gujarat ka kya karna hai?…There was silence for some time. He then said Gujarat ke bare mein sochna chahiye. Then Advaniji went towards the bathroom…Atalji said poochhiye fir kya karna hai? I went and asked Advaniji. Advaniji just said one phrase — bawaal khada ho jayega party mein," Singh told Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express on NDTV 24X 7's Walk the Talk programme to be broadcast tomorrow. Asked if this meant that Advani came to Modi's rescue while Vajpayee called for action, Singh said: "I think that is correct." Incidentally, it is the Modi government in Gujarat that has banned Singh's book on Jinnah. Singh said that after Advani's remarks, Vajpayee did not push the matter although he remained "disturbed" during those days. Singh recalled how Vajpayee once even decided to resign. "Pramod (Mahajan) was there. In the Prime Minister's Parliament office…I don't remember the exact context. Pramod called me from the House. Jaldi aaiye, Jaswantji. When I went, I was told sambhaaliye, sambhaaliye, istifa de rahe hain. He (Vajpayee) had called his Secretary. I told his Secretary to go away and not come back. He sternly asked me kya kar rahe ho," said Singh. "Then he pulled a piece of paper and started writing the resignation by hand. I held his hand. I said Atalji aap mat kariye. Somehow I persuaded him. Later, I went to his house and we were able to defuse the situation." Singh said that it was "morally diminishing" on the part of Advani to have remained a silent spectator on his expulsion from the party over his book. "Advaniji is an author. In fact, I was present at the launch of his book where Mohan Bhagwat was also there. It was there that I had announced that I was writing a book on Jinnah," he said. Jaswant said that he disagreed with the cash-for-votes 'sting operation' during the UPA government's trust vote last July and had expressed his views to Advani suggesting him to dissociate from it but Advani kept quiet. "It (sting operation) made no difference to electoral results…it was a great error of judgment…I think it was a question of gaining electoral advantage," Singh said. "I told Advaniji that please don't associate yourself with it. I did caution him in his own Parliament office… he kept quiet," Singh said. "Perhaps he (Advani) aspired too much." http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/505510/ SEE ALSO: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday admitted that hate speeches by Varun Gandhi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's sarcastic remarks on the Congress Party during the campaign were among the reasons for its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. A senior party leader, who is in Shimla for a three-day party meeting to introspect on what ails it, told IANS, "The speeches of Modi and Varun Gandhi during the elections were among the reasons for the defeat in the elections." He was referring to the discussions in the closed door meeting. Modi had made fun of the Congress calling it a 'budhiya (aging woman),' while Varun Gandhi's incendiary speeches against the Muslim community sent shock waves across the country. The three-day chintan baithak (introspection meeting) of the party that began on Wednesday also discussed threadbare a report of a committee headed by party vice-president Bal Apte, the BJP leader said, wishing anonymity. "Various reasons for the defeat like personalised attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, lopsided campaigning, projection of weak and shady candidates, and in-fighting among top leaders were discussed in detail," the leader said. "Failure of the party to motivate the youth, debacle in the Delhi assembly elections and Varun's hate speech were also the reasons for the party's defeat," the leader added. He said the party's humiliating defeat in Delhi before the parliamentary elections gave wrong signals to the masses. However, senior party leader Arun Jaitley denied that such a report (by the Apte Committee) existed or was discussed at the session. "I am categorically stating that I have not seen such a report. Even my friend Ananth Kumar (who was sitting next to him during the press conference) has not seen (the report)," he told reporters in Shimla. He refused to reply to the media's queries on the chintan baithak. "I am not here to clarify on party's stand against expelled leader Jaswant Singh. The session is to review the general election results and to draw the roadmap for the party," he said. However, Jaitley said party president Rajnath Singh would brief the media on the concluding day on Friday about the discussions in the introspection meeting. The three-day session began with summary expulsion of Jaswant Singh, just two days after the release of his controversial book "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence". http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/445284.aspx SEE ALSO: Nagesh, a BJP worker attached to Narasimharaja assembly segment, was arrested on criminal charges on Sunday. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Udayagiri police said Nagesh has been accused of cheating Janakamma, wife of Thirupathi, who died in a communal violence in July. He has been booked under section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery) and 506 (criminal intimidation), police added. According to police, Janakamma was given Rs 1 lakh cheque as compensation for the death of her husband. However, Nagesh obtained the cheque from her assuring to get the money quickly. But, he got her a house on lease for Rs 40,000 and paid her only Rs 7,000. Though Janakamma was pleading him to pay the remaining amount, he was not obliging her, police added. However, it came to notice of Mysore assistant commissioner Gurneet Tej, who later filed a complaint against him. Police said Nagesh, who is also an accused in the recent communal clash, was produced before II JMFC judge on Sunday evening. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4899621.cms SEE ALSO: In its reply in a Sessions Court on an anticipatory bail application by suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze, an accused in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case, the State CID told the court on Monday that "the accused is not anticipating but hallucinating about his arrest". Vaze, who has been granted a conditional bail in 2004 in the custodial death case, had moved the sessions court after a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued by the Vikhroli Magistrate Court for non-appearance in court for eight months. Rather than getting the NBW routinely quashed in the Magistrate Court, Vaze chose to move the Sessions Court, which is unwarranted, CID Special Public Prosecutor R B Mokashi told the Sessions Court in his oral reply. By such tactics, Vaze was trying to derail the case, Mokashi said. "Vaze who is in Mumbai decided to not appear before the Magistrate Court. When the warrant was issued, he decided to move the Sessions Court and not go with the routine quashing of warrant. Because of his behaviour, the trial has not begun. He is just trying various tactics to derail the case," said Mokashi. The Sessions court is likely to decide on Vaze's anticipatory bail application on Tuesday. In the Khwaja Yunus case, a 100- page chargesheet has been filed against Vaze and the other accused. Vaze had been granted bail in 2004 on the condition that he will not leave the state without permission, tamper with evidence or contact any witnesses. Yunus, a 2002 Ghatkopar blast accused had gone missing while being escorted by Vaze and a group of policemen to Aurangabad for investigations into the blast case. Yunus was allegedly killed in custody. Seven sub-inspectors, assistant inspectors and inspectors were among the accused. While Vaze was suspended, the rest were transferred out of Mumbai so that they do not influence the investigations. After initial investigations, the CID had claimed that Yunus had escaped from police custody after the police vehicle in which he was being taken to Aurangabad turned turtle in Ahmednagar. A Bombay High Court had ordered the CID to file a fresh FIR and the CID had appealed in the Supreme Court against the order. It was only after the apex court quashed the appeal that the CID filed a fresh chargesheet based on the statement of Abdul Mateen, a co-accused in the Ghatkopar blast case, who had told the court that Yunus was tortured in police custody. http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/503248/ SEE ALSO: For the second day on Sunday, the sensitive Nagoriwad locality in Ahmedabad's walled city area of Shahpur witnessed communal clashes, leaving several houses damaged and over a dozen persons injured. Local residents said the trouble began about a week ago when some people tried to build a temple near the Ahmedi Masjid opposite the Nagoriwad police chowky, and were stopped from doing so following objections. On Saturday, tension resurfaced when a Janmashtami procession was taken out from near the mosque, though this was apparently not the regular route. Another version is that the mosque authorities objected to the noisy procession, as evening namaaz was being offered at the time. Clashes soon erupted, with both sides pelting stones at each other. While police managed to restore calm by night, trouble began again on Sunday afternoon allegedly at the provocation of local political workers. Nearly half a dozen houses were torched and property damaged on both sides in the clashes, with many injured. Among the injured were Inspector K S Sawani of Karanj Police Station and some constables and a sub-inspector of Shahpur Police Station. The police have registered complaints against members of both the communities for rioting and booked Dimple Dataniya of Chamundanagar and Allahrakah Nagori of Nagoriwad. http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/502900/ SEE ALSO: A 19-year-old Muslim girl from a Mangalore college lodged a complaint with the vice chancellor of Mangalore University on Tuesday, alleging that her college authorities had banned her from wearing a headscarf to college. Ayesha Ashmin a first-year student in the Sri Venkatraman Swamy College in Bantwal has in her petition said that newly elected college union members and the college principal have told her she must not attend classes with the headscarf. The student has complained that the college authorities did not raise the issue at the time of admissions in July when she attended the interview in a burqa. The ban has resulted in his daughter missing the last 12 days of classes, Ayesha's father B Mohammed said. The college principal Dr Seetharama Mayya summoned him on August 6 and told him that he had to choose between religion and his daughter's education, added Mohammed. The ban in the college run by the SVS Vidhyavardhaka Sangha came about after the right wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyayarthi Parishad won the union elections held on July 25. Soon after, a student leader approached her and told her that all Hindu boys in the college would have to start coming wearing saffron shawls if Ayesha was to wear the headscarf. The office of the Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor K M Kariappa has stated that it has not issued any dress code circular banning the headscarf and the burqa and that a notice will be issued to the college. Secretary of the governing council of the college Ganesh Prabhu said the college management is under tremendous pressure from right wing groups, including officials in the BJP government, to implement the ban and pressure from Muslim groups and other politicians to remove it. http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/503757/ SEE ALSO: The Vidhan Sabha today passed the Himachal Pradesh Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Ragging) Bill after much debate and rejected the amendment moved by the Congress along with the demand to refer the Bill to a select committee of the House. However, Congress members expressed apprehensions that certain provisions of the Bill could be misused to pin down rivals by student unions of different hues in the highly politicised environment. Party legislator Sukhwinder Singh moved an amendment to reduce the period of expulsion from three to two years on the plea that such harsh punishment could spoil academic careers of the students. Senior leader Kaul Singh said the Bill was silent on reformative action which was most essential in dealing with students. He said he had no objection if the quantum of sentence was increased from three to seven years but the provision to debar a student from taking admission anywhere in the state for a period of three years was unduly harsh and uncalled for. Sukhwinder Singh said many times incidents occurred unintentionally in which very bright students were dragged and such harsh provisions could mar their academic career. At a time when the government was encouraging criminals serving sentences in jails to pursue education, debarring students for such long period would be wrong, he added. Rajesh Dharmani said provisions would drive a wedge between seniors and juniors and there would be little interaction between them. It was not desirable as seniors also served as mentors in professional colleges. Chief Minister PKDhumal asserted that the objective was not to punish the students but deter them from indulging in obnoxious practice of ragging. The severity of problem could be judged from the fact that there had been 12 ragging deaths in a year, he added. Education Minister ID Dhiman said apprehensions of the Congress were misplaced as a stringent law was the need of the hour. The Bill will replace the ordinance issued in March to curb the inhuman practice in education institutions in the wake of Aman Kachroo murder case. The legislation provides for checking of ragging in educational institutions, suspension and expulsion of students found guilty and registration of an FIR by the institutional authorities and by parents. It also has provision of deterrent punishment which may extend up to three years of imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 50,000 or both. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090818/main2.htm SEE ALSO: A police sub-inspector, who allegedly sexually exploited a college girl for months, promising to marry her, was arrested by police in Guntur district and subsequently remanded to 14 days judicial custody. His colleagues arrested Ranganath Goud, sub-inspector at Ponnur in the district, after the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday threw out his petition seeking quashing of proceedings against him( by police). He has been absconding for the past two weeks after Razia Sultana (17), a B Pharma student lodged a complaint with police accusing the policeman of sexually exploiting her and then dumping her. She alleged that Goud was trying to marry another girl. The police registered a case of sexual assault, cheating and criminal intimidation against Goud and placed him under suspension. Razia Sultan began a fast unto death on Sunday in front of the office of District Police Superintendent demanding that senior officials intervene to make Goud marry her as no one else would marry her after the episode. A number of women groups and NGOs have come out in support of Razia and are demanding stringent action against the culprit. Meanwhile, another woman named Sujata, who is a resident of Tenali accused Ranganath Goud of harassing her by SMS to her cell phone. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=11fb7f24-90c0-43d7-b1af-7051c4ce120e SEE ALSO: Jaswant Singh's expulsion from the BJP has foregrounded not only the state of disarray within the party and its intolerance of dissent but also the question of its apparent ideological confusion. The humiliating way it chose to expel a senior leader seems to have been dictated by a desire to send out a stern message to various dissenters and also affirm the party's ideological core. Yet, the party has only managed to invite widespread condemnation as well as charges of double standards - since L K Advani, who expressed pretty much similar views on Jinnah continues to be a patriarch. The ideological confusion stems from the perceived need for the party to occupy a centre-right space while yet be dependent on its basic, and divisive, Hindutva agenda. The latter, of course, is determined by the BJP's parent body, the RSS. Stung by electoral reverses, some within the BJP may have called for an 'inclusive' Hindutva, in an attempt to regain the Vajpayee aura, but given the vital dependence on the RSS, such talk is likely to remain just that. That dependence, indeed, has been reaffirmed and reinforced by Jaswant Singh's expulsion. And the conundrum facing the BJP is likely to sharpen - that of needing the RSS and other organisations at even the purely electoral level while perhaps being aware that polarising politics can't yield a sustainable majority space in Indian democracy. The other aspect of the fracas over the book on Jinnah and the Partition of India is the question of whether a cadre-based party can tolerate any internal dissent. Here it is not so much a question of the kind of critique delivered by the likes of Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh after the Lok Sabha election debacle. Nor the virtual revolt by a major state unit like in Rajasthan. Those are the manifestation of the other problem facing the BJP - lack of accountability and factionalism. Rather, the question is whether a member of such a party (or even the Left parties) can be allowed to hold some personal views that are at variance with the ideologically driven party's stand. The inability to allow such a personal, democratic right, it can be argued, in turn only posits the problem in a party's envisioning of democratic politics. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4916809.cms SEE ALSO: Finally, the Bharatiya Janata Party stands without clothes to hide its own intolerance and its own Hindu identity. It needed no external enemies to strip it bare. The BJP did it all on its own when it decided to expel Jaswant Singh from the party. Mr Singh earned this from the party that he has served for three decades because he wrote a book with whose findings and conclusions the party is in complete disagreement. The subject of the book was none other than Mohammad Ali Jinnah whom Mr Singh refused to see as a cardboard demon-like figure. This raised the hackles of the wise men in the BJP; so Mr Singh has been forced to exit for the sin of writing a book. This shows that the BJP is incapable of coping with any opinion that does not fit with its own ideological position. The party was thus not satisfied with officially dissociating itself from the book and the views expressed in it. It had to expel the author for articulating what are his considered views on a historical subject. The BJP assumes that it has a monopoly over historical interpretation. This has been evident to many of its critics. The cause celebre concerning Mr Singh only confirms the intolerance embedded within the BJP and its ideology. The exaggerated response of the BJP is directly related to its Hindu identity. It is this identity that makes it impossible for the BJP to accept Jinnah as anything other than evil personified. Many apologists for the BJP have been known to argue that the party has begun to move away from its Hindu orientation. In these columns yesterday, The Telegraph commented that the BJP is genetically connected to the Hindu Mahasabha. It is impossible for it to break this link. The BJP is descended from the Hindu Mahasabha and is thus run, even today, by the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh. The BJP is only the parliamentary wing of the RSS and therefore it is chained to Hindutva, to ideological intolerance and to bigotry. The consequence is the inability to engage in any kind of intellectual discussion. The sangh parivar is confined by a saffron curtain to a world within itself. This condition of the BJP has an analogy with what prevails, and has prevailed, within Stalinist communist parties. These parties put forward a line on all matters - from ideology to history to politics to culture and even to science - and any deviation from this line is seen as anti-party and leads to expulsion. The history of the 20th century has many examples of figures who held independent views and were then thrown out by communist parties. The BJP has behaved exactly as a communist party would. The irony that it is behaving like one of its principal adversaries escapes the BJP leadership. For Mr Singh, the BJP is the god that failed. He cannot expect any sympathy from either loyal comrades or besotted sanghis. Intolerance breeds strange bedfellows. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090820/jsp/opinion/story_11382842.jsp SEE ALSO: IF only what Jaswant Singh has said about the sorry state of Muslims in India - "We treat them like aliens" - had constituted an authentic U-turn in the official policy of the party to which he belongs, it would have been heartening news. But since it only comes out as his personal view, it is a case of the kettle calling the pot black and may just cause additional turbulence in the BJP. Some may see in it a prelude to parting company with the BJP. Others may interpret it as the fulminations of a gentleman who is in wrong company. Either way, it is unlikely to appease either the Hindutva zealots or the Muslims. The former Foreign and Finance Minister has not confined himself to expressing his new-found love for Muslims alone. He has also discovered many merits in Mohammad Ali Jinnah who, he would have us believe, was "demonised by India". He has thus emulated Mr L K Advani. The only difference is that while Mr Advani had showered praises on Jinnah while on a visit to Pakistan, Mr Jaswant Singh has done so in India. Not only that, he has also hidden behind Gandhi to praise the founder of Pakistan, saying that Gandhi had himself called Jinnah a great Indian. Now that there are two of them, Mr Advani and Mr Jaswant Singh should strive to guide the BJP into shedding its aggressive Hindutva plank and follow a more inclusive policy under which neither Muslims nor Christians are demonised. As a first step, they should tender an unqualified apology for what happened in Gujarat and Orissa - as also in Ayodhya. That will not only increase their own stature, but also revive the party which has seen its size and influence shrink. It may just be a coincidence that its "chintan baithak" is only a day away. If some genuine introspection is done, they can avoid a "chinta baithak" in the future. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090818/edit.htm#2 SEE ALSO: Whatever the BJP leadership's internal compulsions behind Mr Jaswant Singh's expulsion from the party, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi choosing to ban his book Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence in the state has disturbing implications for the right to freedom of expression. This not only typifies the Modi government's intolerance to a writer's right to interpret a slice of history from his own perspective but also amounts to showing disrespect to the people's right to know. The government did not spare a thought for what the action portends for the freedom of expression in a liberal society which should respect a dissenting opinion, even if it turns out to be disagreeable. In a democracy, it is for the people to decide which is good and bad and the government's police cannot - and should not - sit in judgement. Despotic regimes have always been harsh to independent thinking writers. But banning books is an offence against democracy. Apparently, the Modi government has taken exception to the writer's portrayal of the late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in poor light in the book. But Gujarat is an enlightened society and the government cannot presume that Mr Jaswant Singh's view of Sardar Patel's role in Partition will persuade it to accept his contention. The release of Taslima Nasreen's Dwinkhandita and James W. Laine's Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India had triggered protests in West Bengal and Maharashtra respectively not long ago and not letting M.F. Husain live in the country are disgraceful. If Mr Jaswant Singh had distorted history in his book, the Modi government should have left it to the readers to decide rather than peremptorily banning it. Mr Jaswant Singh may be wrong on who was responsible for Partition, but he has the right to live with his errors. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090821/edit.htm#2 SEE ALSO: "This week, I was told to do an encounter," a police officer told Human Rights Watch (HRW). He was referring to the practice of taking into custody and extra judicially executing an individual, then claiming that the victim died after initiating a shoot- out with police. "I am looking for my target," he said. "I will eliminate him … I fear being put in jail, but if I don't do it, I'll lose my position." This is the confession of an Officer from Uttar Pradesh but it is applicable to any officer in any state of India . This is how Human Rights Watch report titled "Broken System: Dysfunctional, Abuse and Impunity in the Indian Police" starts its narrative. This report was released by HRW in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) on 7 th August, 2009 . The Repot was earlier released at Banglore on 4 th August, 2009 . (Full report available at www. hrw.com) This 118-page report documents a range of human rights violations committed by police, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extrajudicial killings. The report is based on interviews with more than 80 police officers of varying ranks, 60 victims of police abuses, and numerous discussions with experts and civil society activists. It documents the failings of state police forces that operate outside the law, lack sufficient ethical and professional standards, are overstretched and outmatched by criminal elements, and unable to cope with increasing demands and public expectations. Field research was conducted in 19 police stations in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and the capital, Delhi . "India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats," said Naureen Shah of Asia Division of HRW. "It's time for the government to stop talking about reform and fix the system." The repot describes the story of a fruit vendor in Varanasi who narrates how police tortured him to extract confessions to multiple, unrelated false charges: "[M]y hands and legs were tied; a wooden stick was passed through my legs. They started beating me badly on the legs with lathis (batons) and kicking me. They were saying, 'you must name all the members of the 13-person gang.' They beat me until I was crying and shouting for help. When I was almost fainting, they stopped the beating. A constable said, 'With this kind of a beating, a ghost would run away. Why don't you tell me what I want to know?' Then they turned me upside down… They poured water from a plastic jug into my mouth and nose, and I fainted." Almost every police officer interviewed by HRW was aware of the boundaries of the law, but many believed that unlawful methods, including illegal detention and torture, were necessary tactics of crime investigation and law enforcement. Human Rights Watch also said that while not excusing abuses, abysmal conditions for police officers contribute to violations. Low-ranking officers often work in difficult conditions. They are required to be on-call 24 hours a day, every day. Instead of shifts, many work long hours, sometimes living in tents or filthy barracks at the police station. Many are separated from their families for long stretches of time. They often lack necessary equipment, including vehicles, mobile phones, investigative tools and even paper on which to record complaints and make notes. Police officers told HRW that they used "short-cuts" to cope with overwhelming workloads and insufficient resources. For instance, they described how they or others cut caseloads by refusing to register crime complaints. Many officers described facing unrealistic pressure from their superiors to solve cases quickly. Receiving little or no encouragement to collect forensic evidence and witness statements, tactics considered time-consuming, they instead held suspects illegally and coerced them to confess, frequently using torture and ill-treatment. "Conditions and incentives for police officers need to change," said Meenakshi Ganguly, Senior Researcher,HRW. "Officers should not be put into a position where they think they have to turn to abuse to meet superiors' demands, or obey orders to abuse. Instead they should be given the resources, training, equipment, and encouragement to act professionally and ethically." "Broken System" also documents the particular vulnerability to police abuse of traditionally marginalized groups in India . They include the poor, women, Dalits (so-called "untouchables"), and religious and sexual minorities. Police often fail to investigate crimes against them because of discrimination, the victims' inability to pay bribes, or their lack of social status or political connections. Members of these groups are also more vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and torture, especially meted out by police as punishment for alleged crimes. Colonial-era police laws enable state and local politicians to interfere routinely in police operations, sometimes directing police officers to drop investigations against people with political connections, including known criminals, and to harass or file false charges against political opponents. These practices corrode public confidence. In 2006, a landmark Supreme Court judgment mandated reform of police laws. But the central government and most state governments have either significantly or completely failed to implement the court's order, suggesting that officials have yet to accept the urgency of comprehensive police reform, including the need to hold police accountable for human rights violations. "India 's status as the world's largest democracy is undermined by a police force that thinks it is above the law," Naureen said. "It's a vicious cycle. Indians avoid contact with the police out of fear. So crimes go unreported and unpunished, and the police can't get the cooperation they need from the public to prevent and solve crimes." "Broken System" sets out detailed recommendations for police reform drawn from studies by government commissions, former Indian police, and Indian groups. Among the major recommendations are: Require the police to read suspects their rights upon arrest or any detention, which will increase institutional acceptance of these safeguards; Exclude from court any evidence police obtain by using torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in suspect interrogations; Bolster independent investigations into complaints of police abuse and misconduct through national and state human rights commissions and police complaints authorities; and Improve training and equipment, including strengthening the crime-investigation curriculum at police academies, training low-ranking officers to assist in crime investigations, and providing basic forensic equipment to every police office The report also gives selected accounts of persons who wee tortured and kept in police custody.… On the above occasion giving the details of fake encounter cases, SR Darapuri, a retired IPS Officer and Vice President Of U.P. PUCL who contested the general election-2009 from Lucknow said, "Only countable genuine encounters like that of Ghanshyam Kewat which took place on June 17, 2009 made U.P. Police cops to taste a real encounter, rest 99 percent are fake." Darapuri said, "I had been a police officer for 32 years and I know how encounters are planned." "A common man does not feel safe in the state," said Darapuri. Lenin Raghuvanshi, Director People's Vigilance Committee for Human Rights, while presenting the report said, "We studied 125 cases. In majority of cases justice was either delayed or denied to poor people for they had no approach to get the FIR lodged or to pursue the case fro proper investigation. There have been instances when cops violated even the basic policing norms. They a voided post mortem and even effused to hand over the body of victims of fake encounter to their families." It is the high time that the Indian government should take major steps to overhaul a policing system that facilitates and even encourages human rights violations, said the report. For decades, successive governments have failed to deliver on promises to hold the police accountable for abuses and to build professional, rights-respecting police forces. If the states refuse to undertake the police reforms, the civil society, human rights organizations and all right thinking persons should bring pressure on the states and political parties to force them to do it. We should not forget that democratic nations need democratic police. http://www.countercurrents.org/darapuri180809.htm SEE ALSO: Educational institutions should focus on what they are supposed to focus: improving the quality of education imparted to the lakhs of students. Two news items that have appeared earlier this week suggest a new development in the making that is disconcerting. In Bantwal and Uppinangady, both in Dakshina Kannada, there is evidence of increasing intolerance that needs to be nipped in the bud. Take the case of Aysha Asmin, a first-year student of Sri Venkataramana Swamy College, Bantwal. She was given two options by her principal Seetharamayya - 'abide' by the college rules or quit. This move was provoked by the fact that she wore a burqa to college. The fact is such a rule was not mentioned at the time of Aysha's admission nor apparently in the college prospectus. Similar objections had been initially raised by the college management at the Government First Grade College, Uppinangady as well but for the time being Muslim girls have been permitted to wear a headscarf. How long this temporary state of affairs will last and whether this ad hoc step effectively addresses the situation are two aspects that bear watching. Happily however, the district deputy commissioner has issued a show cause notice and we hope the Department of College Education would take necessary action to prevent repeats of Aysha's situation. It is surprising, however, that the state home minister, V Acharya, has backed the college decision citing 'discipline'. At the cost of an individual freedom as enshrined in our Constitution? The college principal's statement ridiculing religious freedom has not helped matters, and neither has the fact that he was under pressure from certain organisations. Coupled with the Mangalore University vice-chancellor K M Kaveriappa's assurance to Aysha that he would secure an admission in any college of her choice, all add up to indicate that the system is being subjected to some sort of cultural Talibanism which is not welcome at all. Authorities should examine whether institutions aided by the government have the right to impose arbitrary rules that serve to disrupt the fabric of society. Let us not forget that Dakshina Kannada has been at the centre of disturbing developments for a while now. Whether it is the banning of burqas or the shameful sight of hooligans, backed by Pramod Muthalik's Sri Ram Sene, beating up boys and girls in Mangalore in January this year, it all boils down to a disturbing malice that should not be allowed to gain currency. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=8PA3IZ3a8eQ= SEE ALSO:
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS HEADLINES
OPINIONS & EDITORIALS
NEWS HEADLINES
BJP EXPELS JASWANT SINGH OVER JINNAH REMARKS (AUG 19, 2009, TIMES OF INDIA)
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/exclusive-how-jaswant-singh-was-sacked-by-the-bjp/99563-37.html
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20464/hanuman-ravana-jaswant-regrets-his.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/power-tarnished-bjp-jaswant-singh/99539-37.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4911874.cmsMODI GOVT BANS BOOK, SAYS ITS A BID TO TARNISH SARDAR IMAGE (AUG 20, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20647/jaswant-flays-ban-book-gujarat.html
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=12779
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/504901/
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=12957JASWANT UNPLUGGED: ADVANI STOPPED VAJPAYEE FROM ACTING AGAINST MODI (AFTER THE RIOTS) (AUG 22, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4903582.cms
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/503838/
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090822/jsp/frontpage/story_11394867.jsp
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=12872MODIS BUDHIYA REMARKS, VARUN SPEECHES CAUSED DEFEAT: BJP (AUG 20, 2009, HINDUSTAN TIMES)
http://www.asianage.com/
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=12865
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/20/stories/2009082054070300.htm
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/analysis-jaswant-episode-first-among-many-to-come/99553-37.htmlBJP WORKER HELD ON CRIMINAL CHARGES (AUG 16, 2009, TIMES OF INDIA)
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/503042/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4903473.cms
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/504764/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4916386.cmsYUNUS CUSTODIAL DEATH: VAZE TRYING TO DERAIL CASE, SAYS CID (AUG 18, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4904312,prtpage-1.cms
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/505391/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=e0acb2cd-10d7-4652-9f4e-8cf2ba3b50ef
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090818/punjab.htm#16CLASHES IN AHMEDABAD, SEVERAL HURT (AUG 17, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/17/stories/2009081756791000.htm
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/503236/
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20231/singh-ticks-off-state-communal.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4912386.cmsABVP IN UNION, COLLEGE SAYS NO TO MUSLIM GIRLS HEADSCARF (AUG 19, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20361/student-writes-vc-scarf-ban.html
http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/aug/20/inter-wearing-a-headscarf-is-not-a-crime.htm
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20577/ban-scarf-principal-get-notice.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4908117.cmsHIMACHAL PASSES ANTI-RAGGING BILL (AUG 18, 2009, THE TRIBUNE)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4907902.cms
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090810/punjab.htm#2
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=37562597-2a61-4c84-9b34-f637a8937453
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/06/stories/2009080658880100.htmCOP HELD FOR SEXUALLY EXPLOITING TEEN (AUG 19, 2009, HINDUSTAN TIMES)
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/501916/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=b422ff06-cf3e-4b8e-92ba-a484f4e20e65
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090810/haryana.htm#10
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/500174/
OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS
BJP IN DISARRAY - EDITORIAL (AUG 21, 2009, ECONOMIC TIMES)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090821/edit.htm#1
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/505141/
http://www.asianage.com/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/445046.aspxNAME IS SAFFRON - EDITORIAL (AUG 21, 2009, THE TELEGRAPH)
http://www.asianage.com/
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090819/jsp/opinion/story_11375977.jsp
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/504194/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4907509.cmsNEW-FOUND LOVE - EDITORIAL (AUG 18, 2009, THE TRIBUNE)
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne290809coverstory.asp
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=2fdfb76d-7258-42c4-9bf1-7371312234ae
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4915915.cms
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/445369.aspxMODIS INTOLERANCE - EDITORIAL (AUG 21, 2009, THE TRIBUNE)
http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinions/2176-price-of-re-search
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090820/edit.htm#1
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4911977.cms
http://www.thestatesman.net/INDIAN POLICE: BROKEN SYSTEM - BY S.R DARAPURI (AUG 18, 2009, COUNTERCURRENTS)
http://www.thestatesman.net/
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261350
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20742/wanton-violence.htmlINTOLERANCE IN ACADEMIA - EDITORIAL (AUG 21, 2009, EXPRESS BUZZ)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4912579.cms
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/18/stories/2009081854910800.htm
