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IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - March 8th, 2010

In this issue

Communal Harmony

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Communal Harmony

Sukhbir vows to maintain communal harmony (Mar 1, 2010, The Hindu)

A day after violence rocked parts of Punjab following filing of a
fresh murder case against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday warned no
one would be allowed to disturb communal harmony.

Addressing a
Holla Mohalla function here, Mr. Badal said anyone found whipping
communal passions or indulging in lawlessness would be dealt with
sternly. "Let there be no confusion in anyone�s mind: no one will be
allowed to get away with lawless acts. Peace and communal harmony will
be maintained at all costs."

He said 90 rioters had been
rounded up and the state DGP himself was supervising the law and order
situation in trouble-torn areas. On Saturday, the Dera supporters went
on a rampage setting ablaze four trains and around 37 vehicles,
including 27 buses, and vandalised property in several places in Punjab
and Haryana. The Deputy Chief Minister slammed the UPA Government at
the Centre for hiking petrol and diesel prices saying his party would
raise the issue in Parliament.

Raising the price of urea by 10
per cent and keeping Punjab out of the second Green Revolution plan
were aimed at "crushing the already indebted farmers in Punjab", he
said. Referring to the upcoming SGPC elections, Mr. Badal asked the
community to foil the "backdoor entry" of the Congress in the top
religious Sikh body.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/01/stories/2010030157020500.htm

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News Headlines

Gulberg Society massacre: Witnesses accuse judge of bias, seek transfer of case (Mar 5, 2010, Indian Express)

Seven eyewitnesses and victims of the 2002 Gulberg Society massacre
have approached the Gujarat High Court with a prayer to transfer the
case from the special trial court of Sessions Judge B U Joshi, calling
him biased. The application is likely to be heard on Friday.

The
petition was filed on Wednesday after Principal Sessions Judge G B Shah
rejected their prayer in January on ground of jurisdiction. He had
stated that the HC set up the special trial court after directions from
the Supreme Court and hence the Sessions Court did not have
jurisdiction over it.

The petitioners allege that the behaviour
of the judge is biased and he seems to have pre-judged the authenticity
of witnesses' statements. In such a situation, they alleged that they
have no hope of getting justice in Joshi's court. The petitioners have
cited various instances to substantiate their claim. Recently, Special
Public Prosecutor R K Shah and his assistant Nayana Bhatt resigned from
the case. Sources said Shah and Bhatt had expressed their
dissatisfaction with the SIT and the trial judge.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/587059/

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Sleazy godman under police net worth Rs 500 cr (Mar 4, 2010, IBN)

The latest godman in the Delhi police net, Swami Bhimanand, is worth
almost Rs 500 crore and used to cater to high end clients. The long,
divine sounding name Ichchadhari Sant Bhimanand Ji Maharaj could not
even save the godman from the long arm of the law. Swami Bhimanand
professed to be a devotee of Satya Sai Baba and among his thousands of
followers boasted prominent politicians and bureaucrats. But on the
side, he was running a sex racket for 10 years which the Delhi police
busted last week. "We will be booking him under MCOCA as his past has
all the necessary ingredients," said Delhi Police Commissioner HGS
Dhaliwal.

The 39-year-old Swamin Bhimanand, whose real name is
Shreemurath Dwivedi, started work in Delhi as a security guard in 1988.
In 1997 he was arrested for managing a prostitution ring. When he got
out of jail, he took up religion simply as a front to his sleazy
dealings. He used to supply women, including air hostesses, to high end
clients all across Delhi and used to earn approximately Rs 2.5 lakh
everyday. When produced in court on Wednestday, the godman of course
denied all these charges. "I have been framed. All allegations against
me are false," the swami said. But police have recovered five diaries
from him which have the names, phone numbers and even rates of certain
prostitutes.

Sources say Swami Bhimanand had a very wide network
of pimps and prostitutes and was worth more than Rs 300 crore. The
police now wants to take him on remand to know more about his dealings
and also about the politicians whose patronage he always enjoyed.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sleazy-godman-under-police-net-worth-rs-500-cr/111042-3.html

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One more godman caught in bed with Tamil actress (Mar 3, 2010, IBN)

A sting operation by a Tamil magazine and a local TV channel
revealed the spiritual leader Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda in an
alleged sex scandal with a Tamil actress. Though both the channel and
the magazine have not revealed the location, the pictures show Swami
Nithyananda in compromising positions with the actress.

Minor
incidents of protests from various parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
have been reported after the channel played the story on Tuesday,
following which the police has beefed up security at all his ashrams in
the state including Tiruvannamalai, which Swami Nithyananda visits
often.

Swami Nithyananda is a spiritual leader and runs the
Nithyananda Mission which is part of a world-wide movement for
meditation and peace.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/one-more-godman-caught-in-bed-with-tamil-actress/110982-3.html

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Ashram stampede: Pratapgarh SP admits lapse on part of cops at outpost (Mar 6, 2010, Indian Express)

While the district administration had tried to distance itself from
the tragedy in which 63 women and children were killed in a stampede at
the Bhakti Dham Ashram on Thursday, the fact is that there is a police
post near the ashram which did nothing to control the crowds. The
police post, which is actually known as Bhakti Dham outpost and is
under Kunda police station, has four policemen, including a
sub-inspector. They watched the crowds swell, but did not do anything
on their own, nor informed the higher authorities, it is learnt. On
Friday, Pratapgarh SP M P Mishra admitted that there had been
negligence on the part of the policemen at the outpost and that action
would be taken against them. On Thursday, officiating District
Magistrate Ashok Kumar Upadhyaya had said the administration had no
advance information about the event organised by the ashram, otherwise
they would have taken measures to regulate the crowds.

Allahabad
Commissioner A K Upadhaya, who was asked to conduct an inquiry into the
incident, and IG Chandra Prakash questioned Ram Kripal Tripathi alias
Kripalu Maharaj at the ashram. Upadhyaya also recorded the statements
of some victims and eyewitnesses, including men from the ashram.
Although the content of his interim report to the government could not
be known, it is learnt that he has blamed the organisers and also the
local police for the tragedy. Meanwhile, in a statement, Kripalu
Maharaj claimed that neither he nor any of his staff had invited the
people who had gathered at the ashram on the occasion of his wife's
death anniversary. On Thursday evening, ashram's spokesperson Radhika
Saran had told The Indian Express that keeping in mind the large number
of gathering anticipated, the ashram had informed Kunda police and
district administration on February 25.

The crowds from nearby
villages had gathered to collect the 'prasad' of Rs 20, one utensil,
one laddoo and one handkerchief that the ashram was to give to every
visitor. SP leader Ahikesh Yadav, Congress MP from Pratapgarh Ratna
Singh, and Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari visited the
spot where the incident took place and met the injured in the hospital.
Ram Kripal Tripathi (86), also known as Jagatguru Kripaluji Maharaj,
was born into a poor farmer's family in Mangarh. He participated in a
religious competition in Allahabad and earned the title of 'Jagatguru'
in 1957. Tripathi holds a master's degree in Sanskrit and was a purohit
for some time. He has three daughters and two sons.

With help
from his foreign disciples, Tripathi set up the Mangarh ashram 20 years
ago. It is spread over 200 acres. He also has ashrams in Mathura,
Nagpur and Trinidad. He heads the Radha Madhav Society in Trinidad,
which has around 300 centres worldwide. His followers believe him to be
the fifth Jagatguru and the first in the last 700 years. He owns a
fleet of BMW and Mercedes cars. The Mangarh ashram has a helipad.
Tripathi was charged with kidnapping two girls, and in 1991, cases of
kidnapping and rape were registered against him in Nagpur. Another case
of raping a minor was also lodged in Nagpur the same year. He was
acquitted after the witnesses turned hostile. A 22-year-old Guyanese
woman in South Trinidad filed a rape case against him in May 2007,
which led to his arrest. He was in jail for over a month.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/587510/

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CID to probe girls death at BJP chiefs house (Mar 5, 2010, Rediff)

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday ordered an
inquiry by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the death of a
seven-year-old girl, whose body was found in a car that found at the
residence of Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on May 21,
2009. "Prima facie, we are not satisfied by the investigations carried
out by the police. Therefore, we hand over the investigation to the
CID," the court said.

It was initially reported that the car in
which the girl's body was found belonged to Gadkari. However, the
Kotwali police in Nagpur, which investigated the case, said that the
car was not owned by the BJP president, but by his former personal
assistant. The girl's family, meanwhile, has not bought the argument
and has alleged that the girl's murder was being covered due to
political pressure. They also alleged that the cover up could be at the
behest of Gadkari and other politicians.

While the cops claimed
that the girl died due to lack of oxygen in the car, the parents of the
girl demanded a CBI probe claiming that the post mortem report had
shown that the girl had sustained injuries and that someone had
'smothered' her. Gadkari was not present at the time of the incident.
The girl's parents claimed that the official police version has many
holes.

According to the police version, seven-year-old Yogita
Thackeray's body was found in the car when it was opened by policemen
deployed outside Gadkari's residence in Mahal in Nagpur. The girl, who
was the daughter of a maidservant employed in a neighbouring household,
entered the car and then suffocated to death.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/05/cid-to-probe-girls-death-at-bjp-chiefs-house.htm

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Two killed in Karnataka over Taslimas article (Mar 1, 2010, Express Buzz)

Two people were killed, including one in police firing, as protests
in Karnataka over the publication of a translated version of
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's article in a Kannada daily turned
violent Monday, police said. Curfew has been clamped in Shimoga city,
about 280 km from here, and prohibitory orders imposed in Hassan
district, around 200 km from here, police said.

"One person died
in police firing and the other of injuries from assault," M.B. Pravin,
additional superintendent of police at Shimoga, told IANS on phone.
Shimoga is the hometown of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. The Kannada
version of the article was published Sunday. Groups of people went
round Shimoga forcing shops to close, pelted stones, set fire to many
two-wheelers and several four-wheelers, police said.

After a
baton charge failed to check the mobs, an order prohibiting the
assembly of five people or more was announced but that too failed to
end violence, a police spokesperson said. "Curfew was clamped on
Shimoga city after 4 p.m. and the situation was under control," he
said. "The situation will be reviewed in the morning," he said.

Protests
in Hassan, about 200 km from here, also turned violent with protestors
pelting stones and attempting to set fire to a few commercial
establishments, police said. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in
Hassan, home town of former prime minister and Janata Dal-Secular
leader H.D. Deve Gowda, banning the assembly of five or more persons,
police said.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=VU5Qe6GNFh8=

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Communal tension in UP village after gangrape of 17-year-old (Mar 1, 2010, Indian Express)

Three days after a 17-year-old Muslim girl was allegedly gangraped
by three boys of the Jat community at Hilwari village in Uttar Pradesh,
tension is running high. Communication has almost snapped between the
two communities, with allegations and counter-allegations flying thick
and fast. While the Jat community claims their boys have been framed
for political reasons, the Muslims maintain the more powerful
land-owning Jats are threatening them not to pursue the case.

Police
have already arrested two of the three boys who had fled the village
after the incident came to light. On February 25, Summi (name changed),
a 17-year-old Class XI student, was gangraped a few lanes away from her
house while she was on her way to the house of her best friend. "I was
about to reach my best friend's house about 12.20 om when someone
gagged me from behind and carried me into an empty room. They were
three boys from my school, and they raped me for a long time and kept
beating me," says Summi.

"Since the incident, things have
changed here and there is a visible tension. We avoid going into their
(Jats) pockets and they also don't come here now," says Sattar Ali, a
neighbour who was the first to find Summi after the rape. One of the
accused is the younger brother, a minor, of Summi's best friend. The
other two accused who have been arrested are Karamvir, 19, and Vineet,
18. Police said the medical report of the girl confirmed rape and soon
after the incident, the three boys and their families fled the village.
The Muslims allege the Jat community, which is in majority, is creating
pressure on them not to pursue the case. "They told us not to defame
their innocent boys. Else, it won't be good for our children. The
police, though, have arrested two of my daughter's rapists, and we are
sure that we will get justice," says Munni, 33, the victim's mother.

The
members of Jat community deny the allegations, saying their children
were brought there at gunpoint by the Muslims who want to exert power
in the village and get a bigger say in local politics. "The village has
3,000 Jats and around 1,000 Muslims, and they are all doing this to get
attention. They will make this an issue for the next panchayat
elections," says Om Sharma, a shopkeeper. Fearing further harm and
�shame', Summi's family has now decided to make her and her younger
cousin quit school. SHO S K Singh said they were hunting for the third
accused.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/585687/

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Rajan aide fake encounter: Another policeman held (Mar 5, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Inspector Pradeep Suryavanshi, one of the key accused in the "fake"
encounter killing of alleged Chhota Rajan gangster Ramnarayan Gupta
alias Lakhan Bhaiya, was arrested by the Special Investigation Team
(SIT) on Thursday night. Sources in the SIT told Hindustan Times on
Thursday that Suryavanshi was nabbed from a hotel at Andheri, which
belongs to one of his friends. Suryavanshi had gone on sick leave
following the arrest of police inspector Pradeep Sharma in January this
year for involvement in the fake encounter.

This was ostensibly
done in order to evade arrest. Suryavanshi got himself admitted to a
private hospital and went underground. The SIT had posted policemen at
his residence to arrest him. SIT chief, Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP) K M M Prasanna, confirmed the arrest but declined to speak
further. Seven more, including senior police inspector Pradeep Sharma,
earlier arrested in the case, are presently lodged in judicial custody.

On November 11, 2006, Suryavanshi, then posted at the D N Nagar
police station, had allegedly led a team of 13 policemen that killed
Gupta near Magnum Opus building, Opposite Nana Nani Park at
Juhu-Versova Link Road in an encounter. One of Gupta's accomplices
managed to escape the scene. An initial report prepared by the Versova
police after the encounter stated that the police team fired five
rounds at an armed Gupta who did not pay heed to the repeated loud
warnings made by PI Suryavanshi and API Sarwankar to surrender.

While
Suryavanshi had fired two rounds, APIs Palande, Sarwankar and Sartape
had fired one round each. Gupta had allegedly fired two rounds from his
.32 caliber "Made In Japan" revolver. A magisterial inquiry - ordered
after Gupta's brother Ramnarayan moved the Bombay High Court alleging
that his brother had been picked up from his residence in Navi Mumbai
and killed in a fake encounter - nailed the lies and concluded that the
encounter had been "faked" and Gupta was killed in cold blood.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/515357.aspx

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Maoists want to overthrow Indian state by 2050: Home Secy (Mar 5, 2010, Indian Express)

Maoists have plans to overthrow the Indian democracy through their
armed struggle and want to control the government by 2050, Home
Secretary Gopal K Pillai on Friday said. Addressing a seminar on "Left
Wing Extremism Situation in India", Pillai said the Maoists might be
getting the help of some former soldiers in carrying out subversive
activities.

"The overthrow of the Indian state is not something
they are willing to do tomorrow or the day after. Their strategy,
according to a booklet they circulated, is that they are looking for at
2050, some documents say in 2060," he said.

According to
Pillai, Naxals were not looking at to overthrow the Indian state in
2012 or 2013, it was a long steady plan and in the past 10 years they
slowly build up the movement. "Now they can bring many sectors of
Indian economy into their knees."

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/587304/

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PIL says cant have mosque in Hindu area, HC says intolerance has to go (Mar 4, 2010, Indian Express)

A resident of a Hindu-dominated locality in Navi Mumbai has
challenged the construction of a mosque; the Bombay High Court has told
her such intolerance has to go. The petition, filed by Sumitra Kadu of
Sector 50E, Nerul, alleges that CIDCO given a Muslim trust a
1042.27-sq-metre, reserved plot. Her advocate, G N Salunke, told the
court Wednesday that not one Muslim family lives in a radius of 1 km
from the site and only 331 Muslim families live beyond that radius.

"If
the mosque is allowed there is every possibility of encroachment on the
public open premises in the locality by Muslim encroachers which may
badly affect the development of the city," says the petition, heard by
a division bench of Justice F I Rebello and Justice J H Bhatia. "So
minorities cannot have their own place of worship? This intolerance has
to go. Either we should live together or pack our bags and go," the
bench said.

Kadu contends she is a project-affected person and
12.5 per cent of the area was reserved for their rehabilitation which
has not been completed yet. Her lawyer said the police commissioner has
repeatedly stated there is likely to be a law-and-order problem if
construction of the mosque is allowed, yet CIDCO has handed over the
plot to the trustees of the mosque. "Public in the locality is very
much annoyed and aggressive and there is every possibility to riot and
in law-and-order point of view the allotment is required to be
cancelled," the PIL states.

It says the trustees are neither
project-affected persons nor residents of Sector 50E. The construction
of the mosque, it says, will affect the construction of a college the
land was reserved for. The plot is also a mangroves bed but permission
has not been sought to hack it, the PIL adds. The court directed CIDCO
to file an affidavit and submit a map of the area in two weeks. The
court also told Salunke and the CIDCO counsel to come up with a
workable solution.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/586417/

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Opinions and Editorials

Targeting Husain - Editorial (Mar 2, 2010, Deccan Herald)

It is a matter of national shame for India that Maqbool Fida Husain,
the country's most celebrated artist, has accepted the offer of
Quatar's citizenship because he is unable to live and work in India.
Husain's decision shows that the constitutional guarantees of freedom
of expression and even of life and liberty are dead letters when it
comes to the crunch. Husain has been at the receiving end of a virulent
campaign by Hindutva forces since 1996 for his unconventional portrayal
of Hindu deities in his paintings, notwithstanding the fact that such
creative freedom has been the hallmark of Indian art for ages. The
targeting of Husain had much to do with his own name, the rising tide
of intolerance in the country and the inability to judge art on its own
terms.

The 95-year-old artist has been in self-imposed exile in
Dubai since 2006, unable to face legal harassment and unsure of his
safety and security in the country. He has faced hundreds of cases,
launched in a concerted fashion to harass him. Some of the cases have
been rejected by courts but there are still others caught in judicial
delays awaiting a decision. But a judicial clearance is the least of
the problems. Governments have been unable to guarantee him adequate
security, though Husain has many times expressed his keenness to come
back to the country.

His works have been vandalised, his home
was once broken into and he has suffered threats and indignities. The
government's pussyfooting even created the ridiculous situation of the
country's best artist going unrepresented in the India Art Summit of
2008. The government's proneness to pander to the narrow sensitivities
of a bigoted class rather than respect artistic sensibility and enforce
its mandate to implement the rule of law was at the root of this. …

The
increasing communalisation of art, politics and society is a dangerous
trend. The inability of Husain to live in India and his likely
forfeiting of Indian nationality is a blot on India's reputation as a
free and secular country. The government's responsibility should go
beyond stating that Husain is welcome in India to ensuring that he and
his art will be safe in the country. That responsibility extends to the
entire society too.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/55697/targeting-husain.html

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The end of impunity - By Teesta Setalvad (Mar 2, 2010, Indian Express)

It was not simply the number of lives lost, though the number -
perhaps 2,500 - is not insignificant. It was the cold-blooded manner in
which they were taken. It was not simply that 19 of Gujarat's 25
districts burned while Neros watched, fiddled and smirked but the
sinister similarity in the way they were set alight. Militias were
armed with deadly training, weapons, technology and equipment; with a
lethal brew of deadly intent, inspired by constructed tales of hate,
using the February 28, 2002 edition of a leading Gujarati daily that
urged revenge; all combined with a deadly white chemical powder that
seared to burn and destroy already killed bodies. And, of course,
truckloads of gas cylinders, in short supply for cooking, were used
instead to blast mosques and homes. Mobile phones and motorcycles made
communications easy and movement swift. Part of the plan was to
humiliate, destroy and then kill. Another was to economically cripple.
But at heart the desire was to construct a reality whereby a whole ten
per cent of the population lives (and a few even prosper) as carefully
whipped into shape, second-class citizens.

Most incidents that
racked the state, except the famed Best Bakery incident, took place in
the glare of the day, not the stealth of the night. Critical to the
plan to mutilate and humiliate was to subject women and girls to the
worst kind of sexual violence. Tehelka's "Operation Kalank" records
victorious testimonies of rapists and murderers who claim to have
received personal approbations from the man at the helm. Over 1,200
highway hotels were destroyed, more than 23,000 homes gutted, 350 large
businesses seriously damaged (and are still unable to recover) and
12,000 street businesses demolished. Genocide is about economic
crippling as much as death and humiliation. The Concerned Citizens
Tribunal - Crimes Against Humanity 2002 called the happenings in
Gujarat a genocide, because of the systematic singling out of a group
through widely distributed hate writing and demonisation, the economic
destruction, the sexual violence and also because over 270 masjids and
dargahs were razed to the ground. The bandh calls on February 28 and
March 1 by rabid outfits and supported by the party in power enabled
mobs free access to the streets while successfully warding off the
ordinary citizen.

Eight years on, it is this level and extent
of complicity that is under high-level scrutiny. The involvement of
high functionaries of the state in Gujarat did not begin, and has not
stopped, with the violence. It has extended to destruction of evidence
that continues until today, the faulty registration of criminal
complaints, the deliberate exclusion of powerful accused and, worst of
all, the utter and complete subversion of the criminal justice system
by appointment of public prosecutors who were not wedded to fair play,
justice and the Constitution - but were and are lapdogs of the ruling
party and its raid affiliates. The proceedings in the Best Bakery case
in the Supreme Court and the judgment of April 12, 2004 strips our
legal system, especially lawyers, of the dignity of their office.

The
hasty granting of bail to those involved in the post-Godhra carnage
remains a scandal. While over seven dozen of those accused of the
Godhra train arson have been in jail, without bail for eight years -
and today face trial within the precincts of the Sabarmati jail -
powerful men, patronised by the state's political hierarchy who are
accused of multiple rapes and murders roam free in "vibrant Gujarat"
even as the trials have resumed. The few that are in jail - ten of the
64 accused in the Gulberg society carnage, eight of the 64 accused in
Naroda Patia massacre, two of the 89 in the Naroda Gaam killing, eight
of the 73 in the Sardroura massacres (all the 84 accused of the
massacre at Deepda Darwaza roam free on bail) are those with no
political godfathers.

A vast majority have lived in freedom
even after committing unspeakable crimes. All this and more is being
investigated under the orders of our apex court on a petition filed by
Zakia Ahsan Jafri and the Citizens for Justice and Peace. For the first
time in our history criminal conspiracy and mass murder are the
charges, the chief minister and 61 others the accused. Will the wealth
of evidence be matched by the rigour of investigation? Will the will to
prosecute surmount political considerations? Will the Indian system
throw a spotlight on what surely must be its darkest hour? As we stood,
remembered and prayed in painful memorial, with lit candles at the
Gulbarg Society this Sunday we did so in both faith and hope.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/585869/

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Bridge the chasm - Editorial (Mar 3, 2010, Deccan Herald)

The flare-up of violence in Shimoga and Hassan towns on Monday is
yet another warning that communal amity in Karnataka is growing fragile
by the day. That an article in a newspaper could inflame sentiments to
the extent that lives were lost indicates the State is sitting on a
powder keg of subterranean primeval passions that can be easily stoked
by forces bent upon breaching the harmony between the majority and
minority communities. It could be argued that a mere article need not
inflame passions and that hypersensitivity to the media is uncalled
for. But caution is needed to be exercised by all quarters that no
opportunity is afforded to hotheads waiting to grab any opportunity to
widen the gulf between communities with motives that are most unholy.
In this regard, the media bears an onerous responsibility.

Over
the last few years, the dark forces that seek to benefit by driving a
wedge between communities have been industrious in the State. The
repeated attacks on people and places of worship belonging to
minorities have been provocations designed to disturb the peace and
generate hatred and mistrust between the communities. The Government's
initial lethargy in dealing with such elements with an iron hand
appears to have emboldened the merchants of hatred who have been
continuing such abominable acts.

In Dakshina Kannada, one of
the most cosmopolitan regions in the State, a particular community has
been made to feel it is being targeted and profiled. Such perceptions
need to be dispelled with credible action, lest the victimhood syndrome
affect the youth and lead to consequences that will gladden the hearts
of elements who yearn for nothing less than this nation's sundering.

The
State Government deserves to be commended for the speed with which it
reacted to Monday's incidents. The Chief Minister's warning of strong
action seems to have been instrumental in bringing back calm to the
affected areas. But words need to be followed by proactive steps
designed to bridge the trust deficit among sections of the people. No
quarter should be given to anyone attempting to breach the peace, if
only to ensure that a serious communal crisis is not added to the long
list of problems the Government faces. On its part, the Opposition must
abjure any temptation to take political advantage of the situation.
Communal peace is an issue on which the State's political establishment
cannot afford a divide.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/55837/bridge-chasm.html

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Divisive and Hate Politics must Stop - By Kuldip Nayar (Mar 2, 2010, Nav Hind Times)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has triumphed in its tactics. It
has emerged as the real Opposition. After losing in the last
parliamentary election it was keen to win over the Left which could
give the BJP, rightist in outlook, an image of being a liberal in
economic matters. It has finally duped the communists to believe that
its agenda on India's development was more or less what the Left is
following. In fact, efforts to woo the communists began in the last
session, but bore fruit only during the budget. Both found an
understanding in their hurt. This was visible in Parliament when the
BJP and the Left together rose against the government on price rise,
shouted in the same vein and walked out hand-in-hand on the first day
of the budget session. It was more or less the same story on the
subsequent days. Apparently, the two had met beforehand and consulted
each other to finalise their strategy. Both the parties were seen
having floor coordination; suggesting who would speak when from amongst
them.

No doubt, the topic was the inept handling by the inept
government of price rise and abnormal inflation. The BJP also brought
in the India-Pakistan secretary-level talks in the discussion. Yet the
Left did not realise that making a common cause with the party which
has communal credentials may rub off on the secular ideology of the
communists. Why couldn't they retain their entity in Parliament and
still criticise the government? They would have found support in Mr
Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party and, possibly, Mr Lalu Yadav's
Rashtriya Janata Dal. It is not known what advantage the communists saw
in diluting their identity with the known rightists. But the BJP
leaders have already gone to town to propagate that the Left has come
to their side. People are confused because they cannot reconcile to
what they have seen on television: the BJP and the communists thumping
the table to congratulate each other's speeches, attacking in tandem
the treasury benches and raising together anti-government slogans.

When
the vision gets blurred and when political parties think of their
immediate gain, a pluralist Indian nation has every right to be
worried. It has seen the communists hugging the BJP members who swore
at their Indore sitting a few days ago to build the Ram temple where
the Babri Masjid stood once, to have a common law in place of personal
laws and to abolish the Constitution's Article 370 which gives Jammu
and Kashmir a special status. The communists forgot to underscore any
of these points during the debate and did not realise that their
bonhomie cannot disguise the BJP's parochialism. There is no change in
the party's core agenda. The BJP's appeal to the Muslims to allow the
building of the temple at the site of the Babri Masjid may have been
worded differently but the content remains the same. The party should
recall that it came to power only when it put aside its three-point
agenda. In doing so, the BJP got the much-needed credibility to attract
secular parties, except the Congress and the Communist, to support the
government led by a relatively moderate Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. True,
the BJP honoured its promise of not touching the issues of mandir, the
common law and Article 370. Yet the party saffronised all other fields,
particularly education and the Information and Broadcasting ministry.

It
looks as if the communists have let the BJP off the hook on
communalism. Battering the government for its non-performance is
justified but not sharing the platform with the party which has been
taken over by the RSS openly. Surely, the communists, after the rout in
the Lok Sabha election, have not strayed from their ideological
moorings so much that they want support even from known communalists.
How does the Left square with the party which hates communism and all
that it preaches? Word has also gone around that the entire opposition
was against the India-Pakistan talks. Even if the communists have a
different viewpoint, they have not made it clear. They looked going
along with the BJP's haranguing. The talks between the two countries
are yet to get into stride. The communists should have stood at a
distance when the BJP poured venom. The intemperate Pakistan foreign
minister, Mr Shah Mehmood Qureshi has unnecessarily introduced China in
the bilateral talks. He has given a "blank cheque" to China to play a
role in improving the Indo-Pak ties, knowing well New Delhi's stand
against mediation. Unfortunately, a Muslim gathering, the National meet
of Reservation Activists at Delhi, has given a handle to the BJP and
the Shiv Sena by passing a resolution for reserving 10 per cent seats
to Muslims. Even the banner put up at the back wall of the meet said:
National Movement for Muslim Reservation. Understandably, the
backwardness can be the criterion, not religion. Some High Courts have
already rejected religion to be the basis for reservation.

The
Constitution makes it obligatory for the government to address the
problem of poverty and educational backwardness. The Reservation
Activists should have concentrated on getting reservations without
translating the demand in terms of Muslims. The RSS, the BJP's mentor,
has begun propagating that reservation will lead to another partition
and induce Hindus into embracing Islam and Christianity. The Sachar
Commission on the plight of Muslims was correct in diagnosing the
malady. It pointed out how the community had been denied its share in
education, economic benefits and services on the basis of its
population. However, the subsequent Ranganathan Commission has
recommended reservations for all minorities on the basis of religion.
India is a pluralistic society and it cherishes diversities in the name
of religion, language and customs. The community consciousness which
the Reservation Activists are trying to arouse may deliver a serious
blow to pluralism. The same old question of separate identity will come
to the fore when there should be only one identity�Indian. The
reservation for Muslims may open the Pandora's Box of communal and
divisive politics. Yet the 12 to 13 per cent of Muslims in the country
should reflect their number in employment in government and private
sectors. The community's share should also be tangible in the economic
fields. There is no alternative to the affirmative action. The
government has done little since the submission of the Sachar
Commission report two years ago. However, mixing genuine aspirations of
the Muslims with religion will be misdirecting the effort to find a
remedy to the long-time neglect. The louder the Reservation Activists
raise their voice, the more favourable will be the fallout for the BJP
to exploit. A pluralistic India cannot afford it. Nor can the Muslims.

http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinions/9297-divisive-and-hate-politics-must-stop

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Pune Blast: The Real Story - By Sadia Khanam (Feb 26, 2010, Countercurrents)

Minutes after the Blast at German Bakery in Pune on 13th February,
2009, all leading News Channels were displaying Breaking News- Indian
Mujahedeen attack Germen Bakery in Pune! Obviously the credentials of
such media channels should be applauded for their "sources" present
everywhere who are much more efficient in finding culprits than the
whole state and national forces! But it is an appreciative and welcome
move by the Maharashtra government, which said that it may check the
possibility of right-wing Hindu organizations' involvement in the Pune
blast and not carry on biased investigations against Muslims only.
However, the Centre is awaiting for the ATS' probe report on the Pune
blast. The report is expected to come in a week's time. But one cannot
help doubting ATS's intention and attitude in this case. As Shabnam
Hashmi, Member, National Integration Council, MHA, said in her
statement: "The Pune blast has all the hallmarks of a Hindutva attack,
down to the ammonium nitrate used as the explosive. This is all the
more likely since it comes in the wake of the Shahid Azmi murder and
Shiv Sena's defeat on the SRK film episode. Yet this will never be
revealed so long as the investigation is being handled by the
Maharashtra ATS headed by Raghuvanshi. (1) Abhinav Bharat (which is,
after all, headquartered in Pune) should be considered a suspect; and
(2) that pressure should be put on the government of Maharashtra to
remove Raghuvanshi from the post of ATS chief on the grounds that (a)
he mishandled the Nanded and 2006 Malgaon blasts (which is why he was
replaced by Karkare in the first place, and (b) he is a close associate
of Lt.Col.Purohit, a suspect not only in the Malegaon 2008 blasts but
also in the Samjhauta Express and various other terrorist attacks." …

The
alleged Abhinav Bharat's (AB) face has once again come up after it went
into obscurity following Cl. Purohit's trial while the police has
detained more than two dozen young Muslim men for questioning. Part of
the reason for the controversy is that key suspects involved in Abhinav
Bharat's terror campaign have never been held. Jatin Chatterjee- better
known by his alias Swami Asimanand- is thought to be hiding out in
Gujarat's Adivasi tracts, where he runs a Hindu proselytisation
organisation. Ramnarayan Kalsangra, Abhinav Bharat's key bomb-maker, is
also a fugitive. They could never be detained but detaining young
Muslims men is much easier in today's scenario where islamophobic ideas
have blinded all rationalities. Press statements issued by Awami Bharat
after a Press Conference says: "It has been reported that a bag with
deadly bombs was found in an auto-rickshaw that was to have targeted
the Chabad Lubavitch House nearby. Cycles, Scooters or Auto-Rickshaws;
they are all part of the pattern that matches an Abhinav Bharat
operation. The fact that Ammonium Nitrate mixed with RDX & nails is
a Abhinav Bharat finger print. But no discussion on this fact. This was
not a Sanatan Sanstha operation, simply due to the level of deadly
sophistication. The bombs were placed below the tables & blown off
by remote control or a timer. This was the handiwork of highly trained
professionals that the Abhinav Bharat does have."

The statement
also says that "apparently the American & Europeans & other
foreigners were the main target & the media is discussing the
Israeli factor as usual. The blast occurred at 7.00pm or thereabouts
& that is when the Westerners are actually within the Osho Ashram,
as it is the time of meditation. Thus the ones in the restaurant were
mainly our very own Indians from all religions & languages.
Interestingly not a single Israeli was injured or killed, as none were
present." Mustafa Khan from Malegaon, in his article "Need to Throw the
Net Wider" notes, "Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit (the main accused in
2008 Malegaon blast) may be behind the bars but some 500 activists
trained at Goa hideout and at Bhonsla Military Schols of Nasik and Pune
are still inopen. He had stolen 60 kg of RDX from the army stock.
Traces of it were found in the house of Sudhakar Chaturvedi in Matunga.
Some of it Purohit had kept at his house in Pune. A part of it he had
given to one Bhagwan for Samjhauta express incident. Then there is
narco test record of the accused in Nanded blast which shows that
explosives were given by Mithun Chakravarth (Purohit?) to the Hindutva
activists. Another source of explosives could be from the scrap
collection of Shankar Shelke of Ahmednager from whom police had seized
195 kg of RDX and some bomb shells on September 16, 2006- he
disappeared and committed suicide the following day. Aurangabad is
often mentioned for the haul of arms and explosives. But little do you
know that from the Sarpanch of a village near Aurangabad the police had
recovered 300 kg of ammonium nitrate, timers and fusers."

He
further analyzes that "there are some reasons why this aspect should be
thoroughly explored. The IM did not claim responsibility either before
or after the blast. If IM is located in Pune in sizable number the
least they would want is to arouse the suspicion of investigation
authorities. On the other hand Abhinav Bharat is in a different class
of its own. Like Sanatan Sansthan its denial is surely going to be
accepted by the media without a hubbub created over it. Who now bothers
much about Sanatan Sansthan's involvement in Margao, Vashi, Thane and
other blasts? The remote control blast in Pune reminds the commissioner
of Pune Satyapal Singh of Malegaon 2006 blast as well as Mumbai local
trains bombing of July 2006." It should also be noted that Purohit's
plans to bring about a Hindutva state were often fantastical. He
claimed, the prosecutors say, to have secured an appointment with
Nepal's King Gyanendra in 2006 and 2007 to press for his support for
the planned Hindutva revolution. Nepal, he went on, was willing to
train Abhinav Bharat's cadre, and supply it with assault rifles.
Israel's government, he said, had agreed to grant members of the group
military support and, if needed, political asylum. Thus, the failed
detonations of bombs placed in an auto-rickshaw close to the Chabad
House makes some sense. Another basic fact is that Israel is the
biggest obstacle to Indo-Pak peace & is once again trying to
solicit sympathy as it did in the aftermath of the 26/11 false flag
terror attack of which Israel was the biggest strategic gainer.

Many
believe that Abhinav Bharat carried out many attacks earlier attributed
to jihadist groups - notable among them, the bombing of the Mecca
Masjid in Hyderabad in May 2007, and a subsequent attack on the famous
shrine at Ajmer. Despite persistent questioning of Abhinav Bharat
cadre, though, the investigators have not been able to link the group
to the attacks. And the one who established any link� Hemant Karkare-
was murdered. Similarly Shahid Azmi who was defending the primes
accused in the various cases of terror that included the Ghatkopar
blast, Aurangabad arms haul, the Mumbai train terror of 2006, the
Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, amongst myriad others, was also murdered in
cold blood as his investigations were a serious threat to the entire
IB-Police version. But Pune Blast acted as a nice shadow over his
murder case! … In India, the government should now acknowledge the fact
that terrorism is not limited to Muslims outfits only. Obviously those
Muslims who are perpetrating terror and taking innocent lives should be
brought to book as soon as possible. But we can no more turn a blind
eye toward the right wing fascist outfits formed by those who call
themselves Hindus, but act in every manner against the Vedic doctrines
just like their Muslim counterparts who disrespect the quranic
principles by their terrorist activities. The government should now
develop an unbiased attitude towards terrorism and punish all those who
are guilty. At the same time, it also needs to understand where to draw
lines in its relationships with foreign countries and how to maintain
its sovereignty and not be directed towards hate policy against its
nieghbours by conspirators.

http://www.countercurrents.org/khanam260210.htm

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Dont Shoot The Messenger - By Ajit Bhattacharjea (Mar 13, 2010, Tehelka)

On February 27, a protest meeting was held in New Delhi by leading
civil rights organisations condemning the State for targeting them for
criticising actions taken by the government under its anti-Maoist
strategy, Operation Green Hunt. Delhi Police had last week, in a
700-page chargesheet filed against top Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy,
incriminated a number of individuals and legitimate democratic
organisations that have been working in the public domain on issues
ranging from displacement, rural destitution, caste discrimination,
ethnic conflict and custodial deaths. Though the meeting attracted a
battery of news cameramen and reporters, there was a virtual blackout
by the visual media and most newspapers on the protest. The question
here is not whether the government or the Maoists are right or wrong,
but whether the media should silence, embargo or divert attention from
the main issue � which in this case was the State's attempt to smear
civil rights organisations.

Mainstream media has always been
careful about treading on the toes of authority. As a journalist, I am
aware of the reasons. The government has various ways of making its
displeasure known and felt. And it's not comfortable for journalists to
find themselves on the wrong side of the government. Directly telling a
journalist not to publish a piece of news may not be sophisticated, but
the State influences them to go along through other blandishments. We
are in a very difficult point of time in our history with the
government cashing in on the fear of terrorism. The State amplifies the
siege mentality in the middle class so that it can pass off its
draconian measures as necessary tools to deal with this threat. When
people are faced with a situation like that, it becomes very difficult
to speak out against the government. But we must remember that it is
more important to speak out and question the government. Therefore,
there must be space for voices of dissent.

Unless one indulges in
an illegal or violent act, merely holding extreme political views is
not a culpable act in any mature democracy. It's a tightrope many
intellectuals walk today. But what do you do in situations of rampant
injustice which cannot be remedied in any other way? Indian nationalist
and social reform leader Jayaprakash Narayan, who is also my mentor,
once said after visiting Naxalite areas that if all the social ills and
governmental malpractices were not ended, he, too, would take to
violence. It is that kind of a contradiction that people are faced
with. Furthermore, the media projects issues of Naxalism as one of
violence versus democracy. Now, even Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
routinely states that civil rights organisations and intellectuals are
helping the Maoists. Middle-class audiences are lulled into holding
this view without questioning it.

The idea of violence is itself
tricky and difficult to understand because it's not the middle classes
that are affected directly, but the tribals who have been oppressed for
centuries. If you look back through history, the tribals had armed
themselves even during the British rule because their land and water
was being taken. The tragedy is that some Maoist leaders are abusing
this disaffection in people caused by years of exploitation to impose
their own ideology. The role of the journalist in such a delicate
situation is to engender complex and nuanced thought. But with the
media failing to give attention to attempts by the police, at the
behest of the government, to muzzle voices of dissent, we are in for
disturbing implications for our democratic society.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main44.asp?filename=Ne130310proscons.asp

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