AWAAZ — Projects and Campaigns

NARENDRA MODI FORCED TO CANCEL HIS TRIP TO THE UK!
24 March 2005

This is a tremendous victory for the all of us, especially the victims of the Gujarat Genocide. A titanic effort was deployed to organise the anti-genocide protests. We should not allow our collective determination and commitment to melt away. In order to continue to publicise the horror of the Gujarat Genocide and take active and legitimate steps to ensure that those responsible for the carnage are held accountable, Awaaz — South Asia Watch and its affiliate organisations have organised a “victory rally”. We urge everyone to attend this meeting so that we can plan for the future. The event is at the same time, same day and date.

No to Modi! No to Genocide!

PUBLIC RALLY
5PM, SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2005
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square LONDON WC1
Nearest Underground: Holborn

Background Information

Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, and the major architect of the genocide of the Muslims in Gujarat, was proposing to visit the UK this weekend. His supporters falsely claimed that he was the guest of honour at the Gujarat Festival on Saturday 26 March at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Awaaz - South Asia Watch urged all progressive organisations and individuals to protest at the presence of Modi in the UK and mount peaceful demonstrations at places where he is scheduled to speak.

We suggested that concerned citizens should:

• Ring the sponsors of Gujarat celebration to register your dismay should they decide to invite Modi as the guest of honour: Royal Albert Hall 0207 589 8212; Asian Music Circuit 0208 742 9911; Saffron Chase 0207 593 5850; Sony Entertainment 0207 533 1000; Asian Voice / Gujarat Samachar 0207 323 3344; Sony Television 0207 533 1000; The Arts Council 0207 973 6459
• Write to Charles Clark the home secretary asking him to refuse entry visa to Modi (fax: 0207 273 3965)
• Contact your member of Parliament/MEP urgently at the House of Commons (0207 219 3000) asking them to table a motion to exclude Modi from entering the UK

What happened in Gujarat?

Exactly three years ago, in February and March 2002, Gujarat witnessed horrific incidents of unparalleled violence that can only be described as genocide of innocent Muslim people. Over 2000 people, including British Asians, were slaughtered with more than 100,000 people displaced in under-resourced refugee camps. Houses were systematically looted, businesses burnt down, hundreds women gang raped and many children murdered. All the evidence suggests that the Gujarat state government, led by the current Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and the police orchestrated the violence and were responsible for the carnage. Yet, despite domestic and international public pressure, not a single prominent individual has been held to account or brought to justice.

USA Bans Modi

On 18th March 2005 the US government revoked the visa earlier granted to Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, for his role “in severe violation of religious freedom”. Modi was invited by the Asian American Hotel Owner's Association (AAHOA) as chief guest for their annual convention in Florida on March 24-26. This revocation of both diplomatic and business visas has come about as a result of untiring effort of the US-based Coalition against Genocide (CAG) which comprises of 38 organisations and 10 supporting groups alongside individual members from Canada and the US.

For further information, please contact: AWAAZ on 02088432333 or www.awaazsaw.org Indian Muslim Federation on: 020 8588 6399

NARENDRA MODI'S VISIT TO THE UK CANCELLED!
24 March 2005

Three years ago, in March 2002, Gujarat witnessed horrific incidents of unparalleled violence that can only be described as genocide of innocent Muslim people. Over 2000 people, including British Asians, were slaughtered with more than 200,000 people displaced in under-resourced refugee camps. Houses were systematically looted, businesses burnt down, hundreds women gang raped and many children murdered. All the evidence suggests that the Gujarat State Government, led by the current Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and police orchestrated the violence and carnage. Yet still, despite domestic and international public pressure, not a single prominent individual has been held to account or brought to justice.

In March this year the horror of the Gujarat tragedy became internationally recognised. Firstly, on 18th March 2005 the US government revoked the visa earlier granted to Narendra Modi for his role “in severe violation of religious freedom”. Modi was invited by the Asian American Hotel Owner's Association (AAHOA) as chief guest for their annual convention in Florida on March 24-26. This revocation of both diplomatic and business visas had come about as a result of untiring effort of the US-based Coalition against Genocide (CAG) which comprises of 38 organisations and 10 supporting groups alongside individual members from Canada and the USA. The American decision is unprecedented and cannot be undervalued for its international consequences. Modi is the first Indian politician to be treated in such a manner.

Secondly, in a desperate attempt to reinvent Modi's so called statesmanship his supporters in this country concocted a UK Yatra for him. According to the organisers of the Gujarat Cultural Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, Modi's supporters "put unbearable pressure to invite Modi as a guest speaker" and attempted to hijack the event so that it could be turned into a Sangh Parivar rally. The strategy of the Hindu fundamentalists in the UK is to obtain mainstream recognition by getting a foothold in British Parliament. They are desperate to both invent and front a saffronised Hindu identity that is seen to be different from the rest of the Asian community. The real reasons for the cancellation of the Modi visit include: the reality of Modi confronting popular and large protests against him, including the prospect of facing arrest and the refusal by both the Indian and British Governments to officially recognise his visit. In the end, regardless of the embarrassing consequences, Modi and his supporters opted for a safer option. They blamed the cancellation on a fictitious "security threat" when their real aim was to avoid international spotlight and opposition.

AWAAZ is proud of all the organisations and individuals who campaigned to Stop Modi. We had urged all progressive & human rights organisations to mount peaceful demonstrations at places where Modi was scheduled to speak or visit. We made forceful representations to the British Government not to allow him into the United Kingdom and organised strong phone and email campaigns aimed at those agencies or individuals financing or hosting his alleged meetings.

In reality we have only won a small but important battle. The victims of the Gujarat Genocide are unlikely to ever see justice unless we are able to increase international pressure and momentum on this issue.

A DECEPTION EXPOSED – BUT A CRUCIAL OPPORTUNITY WASTED
3 February 2005

HELP RECONSTRUCT LIVES & COMMUNITIES
BEWARE OF FUNDING HATE
5 January 2005

The death toll from the deadly tsunami which has affected several Asian countries has now crossed 150,000; hundreds of thousands more people and communities have been devastated by the loss of families, friends, homes and property. Numerous dedicated volunteers and organizations have come together to organize relief and rehabilitation. Awaaz – South Asia Watch strongly supports these efforts and urges all generous individuals and organizations in the UK to continue to support these initiatives even after the media coverage inevitably decreases. The greatest need is for immediate relief followed by rehabilitation and the restoration of livelihoods - to provide people with the means to get back on their own feet.

To ensure that their well-intended donations do not fall into the wrong hands, Awaaz urges donors to channel their contributions through organizations with established secular, humanitarian and non-violent credentials. Unfortunately, there are a small handful of self-interested and chauvinist groups associated with religious fundamentalism in these regions that will make use of this disaster to expand their networks and cultivate religious and sectarian hatred. Some of these groups have powerful front organizations in the UK. Even if their appeals today sound well-meaning, the longer term consequences of the activities of religious fundamentalist groups are the same: fundamentalism creates strife between communities, polarizes societies, and foments hatred and large-scale violence.

Beware of Funding Sectarian Hatred

We have been asked by numerous supporters in the UK about which charities they should donate money to. Supporters have expressed concerns that money they donate does not aid the expansion of extremist Hindutva organizations in India or extremist Islamist organizations in Indonesia, Malaysia or elsewhere. The following UK organizations have been investigated by the Charity Commission.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS UK)
Sewa International (SI UK)
Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK (VHP UK)

Sewa International UK / Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK were investigated by the Charity Commission in relation to the funds raised in the UK following the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001. The Charity Commission report can be found here. Sewa International UK and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK are also leading members of the ‘disaster relief task force’ recently launched by the Hindu Forum UK. Sewa International UK, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK are all associated with a violent, fascistic, anti-minority Indian organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS or its affiliates have been repeatedly implicated by numerous independent national and international human rights groups for involvement in violence and the promotion of hatred, including the anti-Muslim Gujarat pogroms in 2002 and the anti-Christian violence in 1998-2000. Following both the Orissa supercyclone in 1999 and the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, RSS front organizations expanded their activities considerably in these two states. Awaaz believes that the tsunami disaster provides an important opportunity for the RSS to expand its activities in southern Indian states, including Tamil Nadu, areas where it has had relatively limited success. For further information, see Awaaz – South Asia Watch and Campaign to Stop Funding Hate.

How to Donate

We urge you to donate to neutral, humanitarian, non-sectarian organizations.

Donating from the UK

International Organizations

Donating Directly to Indian Organizations

There are a very large number of humanitarian, secular and non-sectarian organizations in India currently providing relief and rehabilitation in the affected areas. The appeals Awaaz receives are regularly posted at Latest News. Note that some Indian organizations are registered to receive funds from abroad, others are not – check with individual organizations before sending donations.

Please do not send any money to AWAAZ

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM IN PAKISTAN
GENDER & RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE
THE KASHMIR CONFLICT

Awaaz - South Asia Watch Seminar
31 July 2004

Awaaz - South Asia Watch held a highly successful seminar at SOAS in central London on 31 July 2004 covering information and aspects of its work in relation to religious extremism and fundamentalism in Pakistan, the conflict in Kashmir and gender and religious violence in India. The seminar included three presentations on the above areas, other detailed contributions and workshop discussions of Awaaz's current and planned work in these areas.

• Networks of religious fundamentalism in Pakistan and the UK
• Gender, religion and religious violence
• Kashmir: politics, violence and religion

BUILDING STRONG AND UNITED COMMUNITIES
ESTABLISHING A UK SOUTH ASIAN SECULAR NETWORK

Religious hatred and intolerance in various parts of the world continues to feed sectarian, national and communal conflicts and violence. The resurgence of Hindutva and Islamic fundamentalism in South Asia, illustrated by the Gujarat carnage in 2002 and the alliance of Islamist parties in Pakistan’s north-west frontier province, poses a serious danger to the stability of the region. Religious conflict abroad has led to serious religious polarisation with UK South Asian communities. Awaaz - South Asia Watch, a secular network of organisations and individuals in the UK organised this event to:

• Build a secular south Asian network in the UK
• Develop a plan of action and a programme of activities across the UK among anti-racist, civil rights and human rights activists, academics and students, women’s organisations, policy makers and community groups
• Develop human rights solidarity work with groups in South Asia and internationally
• Renew and reinvigorate the tradition of secular democratic organisation in UK South Asian communities

Presentations included

• The Gujarat Genocide 2002 & the current situation (Dr Gautam Appa)
• International Hindutva networks & Hindutva in the UK (Dr Chetan Bhatt)
• The Politics of Religious Fundamentalism in Pakistan (Dr Athar Hussain)
• Religious Minorities in Pakistan/South Asia (Dr Iftikhar Malik)
• Religious hatred and the British Experience (Arun Kundnani)
• Family Justice Campaigns against religious hatred (Dawood Family Justice Campaign)

Workshops were held on

• Secular education and curriculum development
• Youth and student outreach
• Monitoring, research and policy around religious fundamentalism
• Linking anti-racism and anti-communalism

A programme of future activities was developed. Full report available soon. If you want to be involved, contact us.

LEGAL ACTION TO ARREST NARENDRA MODI, CHIEF MINISTER OF GUJARAT, FOR TORTURE

21 August 2003

Lawyers pursing a warrant for the arrest of Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narenda Modi under Article 1 of the International Convention Against Torture and Section 134 of the UK Criminal Justice Act of 1988 have been allowed a period of two weeks to collect relevant information and evidence that relates to direct complicity between Modi and the killings of Muslim citizens of India which took place after February 27 2002.

Yesterday, the complainant in the case was informed that Narendra Modi would be represented by lawyers appointed by the Government of India, though the latter is not party to the action. Representatives of the Indian High Commission in the UK also attended the hearings yesterday.

Awaaz is supporting an action in which the complainant is Suresh Grover, represented by civil rights lawyer Imran Khan.

The process of laying down criminal charges against Narendra Modi has begun. It is intended to show that the Chief Minister, members of his cabinet, and those under his authority by act or omission were instrumental in the pogroms that engulfed the state of Gujarat and in which 2,000 Muslims were killed and 200,000 displaced.

This is the start of an important attempt outside India to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Gujarat pogroms in 2002. Similar opportunities will arise if Narendra Modi is travelling in other European cities, the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. The action started by supporters of Awaaz will not prevent others to take, nor will it affect, similar or related actions in other parts of the world. Awaaz strongly encourages others to begin to collect information and evidence in preparation for the possibility that Modi comes to their part of the world.

Awaaz will continue supporting this legal action and strongly encourages other organisations to take action regarding the complicity of the State of Gujarat in the 2002 pogroms. If you have any directly relevant information or evidence, please send, in strictest confidence, to:

contact@awaazsaw.org

or

imrank@imrankhanandpartners.co.uk
tel: +44 (0)207 636 6314
fax: +44 (0)207 636 6315

Updates will be posted regularly at Latest News

Dawood Family Justice Campaign

See also: dawoodcampaign.org

Miraculously a family member survived the incident to tell a horrific tale of a premeditated and organised attack. Imran Dawood, Sakil and Saeed’s nephew was himself assaulted and stabbed but left for dead.

The Dawood family and their friend Mohammed Aswat were on holiday in India. On February 28 the group were returning to Gujarat from an excursion trip to Rajastan and Agra. Although tired from an arduous journey they had felt uplifted and inspired after witnessing the majestic beauty of the Taj Mahal.

Within hours of crossing the Gujarat border their joyful adventure turned into a nightmare. In that short space of time, the group were confronted by a number of different mobs that had erected roadblocks to stop and randomly attack non-Hindu persons. The group were asked whether they were Muslims and before they could answer, their jeep was rammed and overturned. The driver was immediately stabbed and set on fire, Aswat was chased, killed and half burnt, Saeed and Sakil were last seen pleading for their lives, and Imran was attacked, stabbed and left for dead.

Unfortunately the savagery experienced by these innocent tourists was not unique. Over that month, state sponsored anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat, apparently triggered by the killing of 59 Hindu people in the ‘Godhra’ incident, has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 innocent Indian Muslims. Over 100,000 Muslims, including hundreds of raped women and injured or orphaned children, are living in relief camps.

The Dawood family has not only endured this terrible tragedy. The grief was compounded by the lack of any serious or thorough Indian police investigation. The family have had to visit the crime scene themselves, find vital clues and collate forensic evidence including charred remains of bodies – teeth and bones – and send the samples to a scientific laboratory. Finally, due to pressure, six local people suspected for the murder were arrested in April 2002, only to be released a few months later. As a result of family concerns regarding the police investigation and allegations of state sponsored communal carnage in Gujarat, the family have demanded the involvement of an independent police force to oversee the investigation. In this regard both the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw have offered to their Indian counterparts the assistance of the British specialist police services. The Indian government has so far remained unmoved.

The Dawood family now believe that only an international campaign, involving legal strategy and public pressure, can bring them justice. Will you help them realise their only remaining dream? For further information, contact the campaign on (+44) 0208 843 2333 and ask for Suresh Grover.

Don’t remain silent – justice depends on your actions

The Dawood Family Campaign is family led and has been set up to:

• Force the Indian Government to investigate the crime properly and thoroughly and charge all those responsible for the crime
• Force the British Government to make the strongest possible representations, including taking any diplomatic actions, so that justice is done for those who have been killed in such tragic circumstances
• Explore and take any legal actions, in India, Britain or abroad, against those responsible
• Raise funds for any legal, dissemination of information or campaign costs

Can you please help us?

If you can help us by volunteering your services or by sponsoring us, please contact:

Dawood Family Justice Campaign
c/o NCRM
14 Featherstone Road
Southall
Middlesex UB2 5AA
(+44) 0208 843 2333
info@ncrm.org.uk

What can you do to help the campaign?

• Write to your local MPs and councillors
• Organise a campaign meeting in your area and invite a speaker from the family campaign
• Raise awareness – put a resolution to your union branch or at your workplace
• Distribute leaflets
• Organise a fundraising event
• Send money to the campaign
• Sign and distribute our petition

Gujarat Genocide - We need your help

• DO YOU KNOW OF ANY FAMILY OR INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED, HURT, RAPED OR ARE STILL MISSING DUE TO THE VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT SINCE 27TH FEB 2002?
• DO YOU KNOW OF ANY PERSONS WHO WITNESSED ANY INCIDENT THAT LED TO HARMING ANOTHER OR TO THE DESTRUCTION OF ANOTHER'S PROPERTY?
• DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON ANY UK BASED INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS WHO TOOK PART IN ANY ATROCITY?

L K Advani not welcome here - mass picket against Advani

• Wednesday 21 August 2002, 5pm-7pm
• India High Commission, Aldwych, London

India's Home Minister Lal Kishan Advani is on a three-day official visit to the UK. We stand here to declare that he is not welcome here - ever. HERE is why.

As Home Minister he has allowed the Gujarat Government to engage in a systematic, state-sponsored massacre of Muslims. Since 28 February 2002, more than 2000 Muslims have been killed - most burnt alive. Over 250 Muslim women have been gang raped and then torched or butchered. Looting and burning of Muslim homes and businesses worth billions of pounds has left 100000 Muslims in relief camps. Hundreds of Muslim places of worship have been destroyed. All this was done with the state government ministers' direct involvement and the Home Minister's patronage.

From the testimony of his secular, estranged daughter-in-law, it is now known that LK Advani was directly responsible for the decision to demolish the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992, an act that led to communal violence in every district of India. In 1990 he carried out a Ram Rath Yatra (a Hindu chariot procession) with the specific goal of exploiting the Hindu religious sentiment to grab power at the centre. Wherever it went, a blood bath followed the Rath Yatra.

Advani joined the RSS, an extremist Hindu organisation implicated in the assassination of Gandhi, as a teenager. In 1947 he ran to Gujarat from his native Pakistan to avoid arrest on a charge of conspiracy to assassinate Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. The collection of Hindu chauvinist organisations spawned by the RSS includes the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, which, under the protective umbrella provided by Advani as Home Minister, have carried out violent crimes against Christians and Muslims throughout India including the torching in 1999 of an Australian missionary and his two sons.

This ruthless exploiter of religious minorities is one of the accused in the Jain Hawala case because his name was found in the personal diary of Jain, a multi-millionaire businessman, along with others who were paid a large sum of cash.

The picket is jointly organised by AWAAZ and South Asia Solidarity Group.