Friday, November 7, 2008

Obama's victory - a hope and a lesson for India

5 November 08
Original Track Back URL

Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s victory in the US presidential elections holds hope, and a lesson, for an India still coming to grips with its own mufti cultural, multi ethnic, mufti linguistic and multi religious identity.

The US, like India, is a majority of minorities. The supremacy of an elite upper caste – racial or religious – cannot last forever. As Obama said, it is not America’s wealth, now discredited, or its military night, defeated in Vietnam, for instance, that make it great, but the commitment of it many peoples to commit themselves to the ideals of the founding fathers for a land of hope, equality, liberty, democracy and opportunity.

Mahatma Phule, Jawaharlal Nehru and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi too had dreamt of this for an India where the governments would be of the people, by the people, for the people -- from Dalits including Dalit Christians, Tribals, landless farmers all the way to the megapolises of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

There are lessons both for the BJP and the Congress and for other political parties that they need to build grand coalitions of all people, instead of appeasing majority communities, or upper middle class elite, or religious fundamentalists.

ABVP disrupts University Program spits on Geelani

ABVP activists vandalise Delhi varsity building

Parul Sharma

Protester spits on S.A.R. Geelani; group hurls abuses and disrupts a seminar attended by him

— Photos: Rajeev Bhatt

CHAOS AND CONFRONTATION: S.A.R. Geelani (centre), acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case, trying to defuse tension created when a student (right) spat on him while he was attending a seminar in Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Protesting against the presence of S. A. R. Geelani, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case, activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday vandalised the Arts Faculty building at Delhi University, where a seminar was in progress. A protester even spat on Mr. Geelani.

A lecturer at the Zakir Husain College, Mr. Geelani had been invited by a newly formed group, University Community, to chair a meeting on ‘Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality’ in Room No. 22 of the Arts Faculty building on the North Campus. more

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Bajrang Dal leadedr Mahendra Kumar against Sangliana

MANGALORE: Former state convener of Bajrang Dal Mahendra Kumar was released from the district prison here on Saturday after being granted bail by the Chikmgalur sessions court on Friday in one of the pending criminal cases.

His advocate argued he had already got bail in two cases from the high court and on that basis he should be given bail in this case too. Though Kumar got bail in two cases, he could not be released as there was one more case pending at the Chikmagalur sessions court.

Before leaving for Koppa, after his supporters took out a small procession, Kumar said he will continue to be in the Bajrang Dal and stay committed to the organization . He urged the state to arrest Karnataka Missions Network patron H T Sangliana for encouraging conversions. more

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Tehelka Interview with Bajrang Dal head, Prakash Sharma

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 44, Dated Nov 08, 2008

CULTURE & SOCIETY

provocations

‘Muslims, widen your hearts’

......................

How do you justify your demographic insecurities? We are a billion plus. Minorities barely make up 18 percent. Orissa has 95 percent Hindus –
Don’t look at it at a national level. Go to the particular district and see. There used to be a few thousand Christians there, now there are several lakhs. Why did only particular portions of India become Pakistan and Bangladesh? Because they were Muslim majority areas. Why are there secessionist movements in Christian dominated regions of the north-east? In the future, there might be fresh talk of partitions. They will raise their populations then ask for partitions. You will not understand these things. We do not oppose Muslims per se, we only oppose statements like Abdullah Bukhari who said recently that they will create such a movement, things will be worse than 1947.

These are extreme views. Statements like his are criticised by everybody.
No. Read the history of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Read what Muslim leaders said on the discussion table. They said what proof do you have that this is the birthplace of Ram? What proof do we have that our fathers are who we think they are? For centuries we have believed that Ayodhya is Ram’s birthplace and Muslims can have the courage to ask us for proof of that! One of them said that if tomorrow my wife delivers a baby in a Boeing 737, am I going to take the Boeing? This is the level of conversation there was. Despite the fact that you and I are hostile to each other and think so differently on things, we have been able to talk for a couple of hours. You have been able to question me on everything. I can guarantee you will not be able to have such a conversation with a Muslim leader. If you do manage such a conversation, I will accept I was wrong and start listening to what you say. I do not want to criticize the Koran, but if they say that the Koran teaches that kafirs should be defeated and this will be rewarded with heaven, shouldn’t Muslims themselves debate this? You asked why there can’t be discussion instead of violence -- why don’t people like you debate these things? Today every Muslim looks suspect to me and to others. Why is this the case? Because one does not see openness and a desire for discussion among them. There may be a few who want to debate and discuss, but largely Muslims themselves are not ready to talk about all the secularism you are talking about.

Many influential maulvis have recently put out a fatwa against militant jihad.
That is just drama! It is too little too late.

What can one do if you denounce even positive things?
That is because one does not see a genuine change of mood and desire for dialogue among ordinary Muslims. We might have different mothers and cultures, but why can’t they accept the three big important cultural references of this land – the cow, the Ganga, and the motherland Bharatmata as motherland as being a part of their lives? These could have a common sanctity between us.

Why must you insist on these things? Every culture has its own beliefs. There are other ways of coexisting. All this divisive talk has no end. Hindus, Muslims, Gujjars, Meenas.
There is a big difference between different Indians fighting domestically over a share of the State’s pie and those who challenge the very sovereignity of India.

With regard to Muslims also, it is a question of equal opportunity. The Sachar Committee report --

No, no, please don’t compare the two. Don’t compare the desire for jihad and Islamic states with fights over domestic government handouts. I come back to the simple point I made earlier: I am ready to invite Muslim maulvis to read the namaaz five times in the most revered temple in Kanpur. Are they ready to let us read the Hanuman chalisa just once in the Jama Masjid or any of their mosques? The uncomfortable truth you don’t want to face is that they are not open. On any issue, let Muslims take the initiative, every road will open up. Go back to the Ramjanmabhoomi movement itself. You will find the only reason the talks broke down so totally is because Shri Shahbuddin made that incendiary statement: “What proof do you have Ram was born here?” If you question our very identity, the basic fount of our culture -- Did Ram exist or not -- what discussion can there be? Let them take the initiative on anything. Let them amicably give us the three birthplaces, and there will be no more fight. Does any Muslim leader have the courage and statesmanship to initiate talk on this?

Read it all

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

TEHELKA exposes Police story of Jamia Nagar encounter

In the police story, Atif was the Indian Mujahideen mastermind who designed and coordinated the five blasts that went off in three crowded New Delhi shopping centres. Sajid was supposedly Atif’s close aide. The police claim the Special Cell team had received information that two of those suspected in the blasts were at Jamia Nagar. At about 10:30am, a subinspector posing as a Vodafone salesman knocked on the door of the fourth-floor flat in L-18 Batla House. The residents of the house said they didn’t want the Vodafone offer. As was arranged, the sub-inspector sent a signal to Sharma by giving him a missed call. Minutes after getting the cue, Sharma was up the stairs with six other officers. As he entered the flat, men rushed out of another room and opened fire at him. Sharma fell to the ground, and the bullet aimed at him hit a constable. The shootout continued. Sharma was pulled out and taken to the Holy Family Hospital, closeby. The police later said Sharma was bleeding heavily. By then, the police had taken over the area and cordoned it. Later, the police claimed that the shootout had accounted for three terrorists: two dead, one arrested. The police said two others escaped. An AK-47 assault rifle along with two .30 pistols and a computer were recovered from the alleged hideout, a seizure the police would have to prove once the trial starts. read it all

Nation

Valson Thampu on Communal terrorism

Kandhamal, terrorism and national integration

Valson Thampu The Hindu Oct 15, 2008

When the state that fights terrorism of one kind remains an onlooker in the face of terrorism of another variety, the faith of citizens in the state is at stake.

“You cannot begin to help the world,” said Confucius, “unless you begin to call things by their right names.”

What has been staged over the last several weeks in Kandhamal and areas adjoining it is, quite simply, terrorism by broad daylight. The fact that a veneer of religious zeal, peppered by calculations of mega electoral profit, is cast over it does not make it any less so. The seed of this national shame lies in the inability or unwillingness of the law-enforcing agencies in Orissa to book the killers of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and his followers. This would have, perhaps, arrested the ongoing carnage. It is regrettable that the swamiji was killed and justice must be done with respect to the killing. But, surely, raping nuns, killing priests, burning down churches and houses and driving thousands of innocent citizens into the forest are no way to bring justice to the late swamiji.

Terrorism must be identified not by who resorts to it, but by the nature and purpose of what is done. Our repugnance to atrocities should not depend on the religious identity of the perpetrators or their victims. It cannot be that avenging individuals or groups of a certain religious identity who resort to burning, killing, rape, destruction and spreading panic are not terrorists; whereas their counterparts in some other faith resorting to blasts and assaults are. All those who mock the rule of law belong together and have to be treated alike. To countenance terrorism of one kind is to lend legitimacy to terrorism of every other kind. more

Sunday, October 12, 2008

NHRC: “Partial reports” not appropriate

The Hindu October 13, 2008

Godhra commission’s findings are partial: NHRC

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission on Sunday termed the diametrically opposite findings of two inquiry commissions on Godhra train carnage “partial reports” and said such government-constituted probe panels had no “independence”.

Referring to the reports of the Nanavati and Banerjee Commissions, NHRC chairperson Justice S. Rajendra Babu said it was not appropriatee for any inquiry commission to submit a partial report considering its wide ramifications.

“One thing that is normally not done is partial report. Both Nanavati and Banerjee gave partial reports,” Mr. Babu told PTI here. more

Rajnath Singh, BJP President opens his heart and mind - read the blog comments

'Anti-Christian violence a result of Hindu anger'

IANS

First Published : 11 Oct 2008 12:16:00 PM IST

Last Updated : 11 Oct 2008 04:34:39 PM IST

NEW DELHI: While distancing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Bajrang Dal, party president Rajnath Singh has stopped short of blaming the rightwing outfit for continuing anti-Christian violence and attributed it to "Hindu anger" against forcible conversions instead.

"The Bajrang Dal is not part of the BJP," Singh told IANS in an interview here at a time when there is speculation that the government may ban the outfit which is said to be behind the attacks on Christians.

Singh said he had directed the BJP-ruled states, namely, Orissa and Karnataka, to investigate these incidents and take "appropriate action".

Incidents of Christians being killed, priests being attacked, a nun being raped, and churches and homes being burnt down have been reported almost every day after the Aug 23 murder of a religious Hindu leader. At least 35 people have died in the violence in Orissa since then.

Even the BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani has condemned the attacks - mostly attributed to the Bajrang Dal that is an offshoot of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad - but Singh chose to lay the blame on "forcible conversions" by Christian missionaries.

"Hindu anger and resentment against large-scale forcible conversions is the root cause of anti-Christian riots in both the states," he said. He was convinced it could end only if strong measures were put in place to "stop forcible, or by allurement, conversions of Hindus by Christian missionaries".

He said every conversion should be verified to ensure that missionaries have not forced a person or offered any sort of allurement to convert a Hindu to Christianity.

"The government should look into finding a way to verify this. Whenever a Hindu converts to Christianity, there should be verification by district authorities to the state that the conversion is not by force or after extension of any allurement such as promise of money or food.

"There should be a verification document with the person who has been converted. If such a system is put in place, there will be no opportunity for this sort of violence."

"There is a need to go into the root cause. We very strongly feel that Christian missionaries should not be allowed to give allurement to Hindus or for that matter anyone to convert them," Singh said.

"Missionaries have been allowed into the country to serve the people and not convert them." He alleged that "the poor are allured by the missionaries to convert. Why is it that we never hear of the rich and well-to-do Hindus converting to Christianity?"

Singh denied that his party was playing the communal card with an eye on the coming assembly polls in some states and the general elections.

"Someone should answer why communal riots take place only when there is Congress rule? This is because the Congress has adopted the policy of appeasement since partition," Singh said even though it was the BJP that was in power at the centre and the state when the worst communal clashes in India's recent history took place in Gujarat in 2002.

Insisted Singh: "The minorities under the Congress rule feel they can get away with anything and so they try to take advantage. The Congress has since the beginning thought on Hindu-Muslim lines or on religious lines. They have granted reservation on religious lines too. It is all about vote bank politics".

He said the BJP is profiled as communal because "we are not afraid to take tough action (against Muslim extremists) unlike the Congress which has played a cruel joke on the country by ending Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). It is on this plank that we will return to power as we did in Gujarat. We will recapture Delhi." source

Some comments on this article are available at the source

Here are more comments from some blogs

1. http://sauvik-antidote.blogspot.com/

2.http://aristotlethegeek.wordpress.com/

Friday, October 3, 2008

NHRC issues notice to K'taka govt on attack on Christians

Nation:

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Loopholes in Nanavati report

Nanavati report loophole, blaze theory under cloud

V K Shashikumar and Toral Varia / CNN-IBN

Published on Thu, Oct 02, 2008 at 10:27, Updated on Thu, Oct 02, 2008 at 12:44 in Nation section

Tags: Godhra, Nanavati Commission , New Delhi

E-mail this report | Print this report

GLARING LOOPHOLES: Report says floor of the coach was on fire but all injuries reported were above the waist.

Featured Blog

Sagarika Ghose

Those blasted theories

"It is not just the DSP giving his deposition but also corroborated by medical evidence. Every single injury report says the same thing that there is a deep inhalation of smoke and the affect is on the upper part of the lungs and the burn injuries are head, shoulder or hand. Not a single injury below the waist," lawyer Mukul Sinha pointed out.

A petty criminal Jabir Binyamin Behera allegedly confessed to the police that Maulana Umarji along with others had conspired to burn coach S6. But Jabir's mother says he was tortured by the police.

"He was tortured by the police and forced to admit about the conspiracy. The police also threatened to kill him. He still has injury marks on his face," Jabir's mother Haneefa Benjamin Behera said.

While Umarji's family are hoping that they will get justice from the Supreme Court.

"He has retracted his statements before POTA court and also filed an affidavit about the police torture. We have also produced the same in the Supreme Court," Umarji's family said.

The police have claimed that Jabir named a petrol pump owned as the source from where 140 litres of petrol was bought by two men - Ranjit Singh Patel and Prabhat Singh Patel.

But in an investigation by newsmagazine Tehelka, alleged witness Ranjit Singh Patel told a different story.

"The police paid me Rs 50,000," Ranjeet Singh Patel said.

On enquiring further CNN-IBN got information on the location of Gujarat police's most guarded secret Prabhat Singh Patel.

But even before CNN-IBN could reach his remotely located house in Dhokra the policemen who guard him whisked him away.

There seem to be many loopholes in the Nanavati Commission Report and now it is for the Supreme Court to pass the final verdict. Read

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Has Nanavati done justice to India? Asian Age Editorial

Has Nanavati done justice to India?

Not surprisingly, the first part of the report of the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry on the gory events of Gujarat in 2002 has run into a wall of criticism. The commission had been set up by the Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi. It was asked to go into the circumstances that caused the fire at Godhra station in compartment S-6 of the Sabarmati Express which was packed with karsevaks returning to Gujarat from Ayodhya, and the frenzy of communal violence subsequently unleashed against the Muslim community in the state. Media and other observers, including the NHRC, had trenchantly criticised the Modi government for being actively associated with the pogrom launched by Hindutva outfits. The Nanavati report, however, has taken a view that is completely at odds with the general impression created at the time. Read more

Catholic Schools Safe fro French Muslims

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French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools

Franco Zecchin for the International Herald Tribune

Nadia Oualane, right, and Amina Zaidi may wear head scarves at St. Mauront, a Roman Catholic school in Marseille. The scarves are forbidden in state schools.

By KATRIN BENNHOLD

Published: September 29, 2008

MARSEILLE, France — The bright cafeteria of St. Mauront Catholic School is conspicuously quiet: It is Ramadan, and 80 percent of the students are Muslim. When the lunch bell rings, girls and boys stream out past the crucifixes and the large wooden cross in the corridor, heading for Muslim midday prayer.

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Franco Zecchin for The International Herald Tribune

Amina at the blackboard. In a French magazine’s recent ranking of high schools, 15 of the top 20 were Catholic schools.

“There is respect for our religion here,” said Nadia Oualane, 14, a student of Algerian descent who wears her hair hidden under a black head scarf. “In the public school,” she added, gesturing at nearby buildings, “I would not be allowed to wear a veil.”
In France, which has only four Muslim schools, some of the country’s 8,847 Roman Catholic schools have become refuges for Muslims seeking what an overburdened, secularist public sector often lacks: spirituality, an environment in which good manners count alongside mathematics, and higher academic standards. more

Politics and Minority