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Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Posted by: Awaaz / 6/18/2003 05:07:55 PMDate: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 From: Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD
STATE OF GUJARAT
Surveys and interrogations of the Christian community have become a permanent feature in the State of Gujarat.
In 1999 when the State Intelligence Department conduct a census on the Christian and Muslim Communities, a suo moto judgment by Justice M. R. Calla of the Gujarat High Court put the State on the defensive . After some rounds of hearings and after having admitted that this census was being conducted, the Additional Advocate General of Gujarat is on record saying that the census was stopped.
In February / March 2003, these interrogations began once again. The members of the police department have kept knocking on the doors of institutions and families asking all kinds of questions and some very obnoxious ones. The Home Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Amit Shah himself admitted that such a census was being conducted because they had to provide some information to Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan who had tabled a question in Parliament. Mr.Paswan himself denied ever asking such a question through various press releases.
Around midnight of May 24th / 25th 2003, a posse of policemen headed by Sub Inspector A. H. Jardosh of Patan jumped over a locked gate into the premises of Catholic Ashram, Patan, insisted that the two Priests, Fr. A. Moonnu and Fr. G.Prasad be woken up immediately; and interrogated them without any written warrant and without any justifiable reason whatsoever. Moreover, an extremely miniscule minority of Christians who live in villages around Patan are now terrorized day-in and day-out either by the police or by anti-social elements belonging to Hindu fundamentalist groups. To top it all, programmes are being planned over the next few days in some of these villages which will definitely indulge in Christian and other Minority bashing .
Today (12th June 2003), at 12.15 pm. The police from Dakor went to interrogate Fr. Thomas Chalissery of Don Bosco, Dakor. Apparently, they had received orders from their higher-ups. Fr. Thomas said he was unable to give any answers until they furnished their questions in writing. They did so with great reluctance but put down just a few of those that they were actually asking.
The National Minority Commission just decided "that the Gujarat Government was not conducting any surveys/interrogations on the Christians". It is unfortunate, that an institution that is meant to protect and safeguard the interests of the minorities takes such a blatantly biased position.
These interrogations on the Christian community are a clear violation of the fundamental human rights of any citizen. They are neither warranted nor justified. It only heightens the fear and insecurity that has gripped the minority community of this State for a long time now.
ENDS.
Pakistani lawyer challenges religious law in court
Juliette Terzieff, Chronicle Foreign Service
San Francisco Chronicle June 17, 2003, Page A - 6
Islamabad, Pakistan -- Aslam Khaki is the product of a strict religious upbringing, but he has nonetheless built his legal career taking on explosive cases that challenge Pakistan's religious elite and their interpretation of Islam.
While controversy ripples across the nation over passage of legislation in the Northwest Frontier province to implement religious Shariah law and several decrees enforcing sex segregation, Khaki has no doubts over the direction Pakistan should take.
Outraged over moves to Islamize the province, he filed a petition challenging the new act with Pakistan's Supreme Court. The court held a hearing on the issue last week, but has yet to rule.
"Enacting legislation like this is impractical, illegal and inane," the 48- year-old Shariah lawyer said in an interview. "Not only does Islam prohibit the imposition of one's views on others, but it is enshrined in our own constitution that every individual has religious freedom."
Riding high after their unprecedented victory in last October's elections in the fundamentalist region that borders Afghanistan, a six-party alliance -- most of whose leaders subscribe to the same Deoband school of thought as the ousted Taliban leadership -- has been pursuing the goal of creating a society hauntingly reminiscent of the former Afghan regime.
HARSH TREATMENT OF WOMEN
The alliance -- known as the United Action Forum, or UAF -- saw a major victory late last month with the unanimous passage of the Shariah Act 2003, a provincial law that could pave the way for harsh constraints on the public, especially women.
"Our society is being pushed toward orthodoxy, toward intolerance. This so- called Shariah act will enable mullahs to create very suffocating cultural and social atmospheres that are wholly not conducive for either democracy or guarantees of people's basic rights," said Afrasiab Khattak, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Shariah law, based in the moral and religious teachings of the Koran, is already enshrined in Pakistan's constitution but is loosely enforced by the federal government, which favors a mix of Islamic and secular Western-style law.
In his Supreme Court challenge, Khaki relied heavily on a constitutional provision stating that federal legislation takes precedence over provincial laws, arguing that the Northwest Frontier measure is redundant and any attempt to implement it is illegal. "The mullahs in charge of the provincial government cannot touch the real issues. They stand no chance of eradicating poverty or unemployment, so they have to excel elsewhere," Khaki said in an interview. "Their real achievement is that they have made themselves into dark shadows across the face of Islam."
ANTI-AMERICANISM
The Islamist alliance swept into power on a growing wave of anti-American sentiment, vowing to eradicate poverty, obscenity and vulgarity in favor of the formation of a true Islamic society. It has issued bans on men coaching women's sports and male doctors treating women. Music on public transportation has been banned. Party activists-turned-vigilantes have taken to enforcing their will on the general public.
Nighat Orakzai, one of a dozen female legislators in the Northwest Frontier province assembly, said, "Women's rights are human rights, and with this government there is no room for either."
The arguments on both sides go straight to the heart of how Pakistanis choose to identify themselves, a point not lost on President Pervez Musharraf.
"We don't want the vision of the Taliban. They were narrow-minded people who lacked tolerance. We want a progressive and civilized Islamic society," the president said recently. "The time has come for Pakistan to speak out and decide what kind of system it wants."
While most liberals would like to see Turkey -- a secular democracy in an overwhelmingly Muslim population -- as a model of governance for this struggling nation, clerics and rural tribesmen lean more toward an Iranian style.
"People have little knowledge of religious provisions, fear fatwas (religious decrees) or blasphemy charges, so those of us who do know have to act," he said.
Raised in a conservative but tolerant household in central Punjab, Khaki attended school -- and then taught -- in the madrassas (religious schools) there and in the Northwest Frontier. Many of the men now leading the UAF religious alliance were among his classmates.
"At a certain point I faced a crisis of conscience, because what the mullahs said did not match up with what I knew of Islam -- and if the mullahs were right, then Islam was wrong," he said.
After further study of the Koran and Islamic jurisprudence, Khaki concluded that the mullahs' rigid interpretations were in error. He settled on a career that proved to be extremely unpopular even within his own family, taking on cases that challenged unjust laws and defending those accused of blasphemy and victims of religious discrimination.
Relatives and friends still verbally chastise Khaki's wife and daughter, who is also a qualified lawyer, for his career choices. Khaki and his father, a mullah who runs a 250-student strong madrassa, don't always see eye-to-eye on the issues.
While the family has stuck by Khaki's decision to challenge the mullahs head-on, he has become a target for derision and occasional threats.
Khaki's Supreme Court challenge has captured the attention of Pakistanis eager to stave off Taliban-like extremism in the Northwest Frontier.
"Harassment abounds, there is no protection," Khattak, the human rights activist, warned. "The more laws are passed, the more activists of these parties will take to the streets to impose their will. A line must be drawn."
ENDS.
Statement issued by SAHMAT at a press conference in Delhi addressed by historian Professor Irfan Habib and archaeologist Professor Suraj Bhan. Professor Bhan has been at Ayodhya.
17.6.2003
SAHMAT 8, Vithalbhai Patel House,
Rafi Marg New Delhi-110001
Telephone - 3711276/ 3351424
e-mail: sahmat@vsnl.com
The Archaeological Survey of India's excavations at the site of the Babri Masjid, Ayodhya are now drawing to a close, though the ASI has sought the High Court's permission to continue the work till the end of this month, apparently to enable them to excavate two or three trenches in the so-called " Sanctuary" where the Ram Lalla image is now placed. By this time the ASI has dug up and destroyed what the karsevaks had not demolished, namely the floors and foundation-walls of the Masjid. In any archaeological operation elsewhere such treatment of monumental remains would be deemed totally unprofessional and impermissible.
All this has been done in the expectation, enflamed by the earlier Tojo-Vikas International's geo-physical survey report (undated), on the basis of which the Allahabad High Court ( Lucknow Bench) was pleased to order the excavation. This Report spoke of "anomalies" and "pillars" below the Babri masjid, and so suggested that structural remains would be found beneath the mosque. It may be recalled that SAHMAT issued a statement on 8 March doubting the credentials of this Company, questioning its surveying methods and finally its interpretation of its data. SAHMAT pointed out that the Company itself provided for a wide range of possibilities from its data, but selected for specific mention only such of these as might please their employers. It was, on the face of it, a thoroughly unprofessional piece of conduct on their part.
In pursuit of Tojo-International's predicted pre-Masjid structures the ASI dug up 82 trenches by 5 June 2003. Except for a small area around Ram Lalla the entire area of the Masjid Complex including Ram Chabutra has been dug up to depths of several meters. The ASI submitted its first progress report to the High Court on work done till 24 April 2003 when as many as 52 trenches ( 4x4 meters each) had been excavated. SAHMAT in its statement on 6 May, showing that the only structural remains the ASI had actually found were those associated with the construction of the Mosque or of the period of Muslim habitation. The pervasive presence of animal bones with cut marks and Muslim glazed ware, and the entire absence of even a trace of anything that could indicate structural remains of a temple. The ASI report seemed only to clutch at straws, which on close scrutiny could be seen as contrary to the details it had itself provided.
Matters have become definitively clear with the ASI's latest progress report that deals with the latest period, 22 May to 5 June, covering 30 new trenches, so that now the entire Mosque complex and much of the surrounding area has been covered.
In trench after trench, no structural remains below the Mosque's floor level have been found at all. The structural remains found in some trenches are all of construction associated with the Mosque, viz., brick walls, Mosque-floors, lime mortar, etc. The "structural bases", which were mentioned with some enthusiasm in the first Progress Report, but were, alas, found to be uniformly of brick-bats and so neither load-bearing nor in any way associated with any known tradition of Hindu temple architecture, are now termed "pillar bases". Only seven have been claimed to be found in six trenches, only out of the thirty excavated. No alignment or uniformity of level is claimed for them.
The ASI's report also lists finds yielded by the excavation. It needs to be noted that in trench F3, the "1.61 metre high decorated black stone pillar ( broken) with Yaksha figurines on four corners" is one of the black pillars which had belonged to the Babri Masjid and was broken up when the Babri Masjid was destroyed by the karsevaks. It has been retrieved from above the Babri Masjid floor, and is, therefore, no new discovery and has nothing to do with any possible temple remains below the Mosque. On the other hand, all other finds suggest either Muslim habitation ("Arabic inscription of holy verses", glazed tiles) or ordinary medieval occupation.
In view of all this, the VHP and its supporters are now falling back on "faith". But they are unable to produce any scriptural authority or any document to show that Lord Rama was really born exactly at this spot. In other words, the "faith" they are talking about is only faith invented by them.
Others, of the BJP camp faced with the debacle that the excavations have placed them are speaking of a "compromise". The conditions of this "compromise", so far appearing in the press, are that (1) Muslims can build a Mosque 10 k.m. away from the Babri Masjid site, and (2) the Hindu claims on Mosques at Varanasi and Mathura will not be pursued.
One does not understand whom these proposals are expected to fool. The present main mosque at Ayodhya is itself barely 1km from the Babri Masjid site, and there are other mosques in the town. Any one who owns land can build a mosque at any distance from the mosque: so what is the sense of the 10 km restriction?.
Secondly, any change in the religious status of a place of worship from what it was on 15 August 1947 is barred by an Act of Parliament, 1991. What the proposed compromise suggests is that this too is an open issue, which it is not.
Finally, what is forgotten is the heinous crime carried out on 6 December 1992. No talk of compromise has any meaning when the perpetrators of that outrage walk not only free, but are in control of the state itself. They must, above all, be first brought to book.
ENDS.
Excavation shows no evidence of temple: SAHMAT
The Times of India
PTI [TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2003 09:54:44 PM]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com:80/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=27905
NEW DELHI: Disfavouring any move to "broker a compromise" in the Babri Masjid dispute, a socio-cultural organisation on Tuesday claimed that findings of the ASI excavations have showed no evidence of a temple so far.
"The realisation that their claims of a temple below the mosque was being negated by the excavation results so far, organisations like the VHP have started talking of faith...In other words the 'faith' they are talking about is the one invented by them and hence it should be disapproved," SAHMAT Member Irfan Habib told reporters here.
The government has also started talking about a "compromise", he said, adding any such formula would be "an insult to the secular nature of the Indian Constitution."
"The structural bases, which were mentioned with some enthusiasm in the first Progress Report (by ASI), were found to be uniformly of brick-bats and so neither load-bearing nor in any way associated with any known tradition of Hindu temple architecture," he claimed.
Reacting to reports in a section of the media claiming that "some evidence showing the presence of a temple" were found, Archaeologist Suraj Bhan said "these reports were fabricated." Claiming that the ASI team has "completed the work of kar sevaks," Habib alleged that "by this time the ASI has dug up and destroyed what kar sevaks had not demolished, namely the floors and foundation walls of the Masjid.
In any archaeological operation elsewhere such a treatment of monumental remains would be deemed totally unprofessional and impermissible."
"When the initial reports of the excavation proved that the findings of the Tojo-Vikas International's survey, which spoke of 'anomalies' and 'pillars' below the Babri Masjid, were wrong the ASI could have stopped at that. But instead it went on and 'demolished' the entire structure," he charged.
ENDS.
A Satyagraha in form of an indefinite Dharna has started at the Gandhi Vidya Sansthan, Varanasi from 16th June, 2003 in protest of illegitimate appropriation of the institute. About 150 persons participated in a peaceful Satyagrah that aims at saving the Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi from the jaws of ideological terrorism of the Sangh Parivaar. The first day saw a substantial police force on the grounds of the campus but they appeared tentative regarding the matter and their role in it. The Satyagrahis gave full co-operation to the administration in maintaining peace and order and pursued their agitation in truest spirit of the Gandhism in defence of which they were fighting.
The agitationists view this battle not as just another one but part of a larger struggle of increasing ideological terrorism of the Sangh Parivaar, and a systematic and systemic uprooting of Gandhian thought and practice.
Backdrop of the Matter
Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, located in the precincts of Sarva Sewa Sangh, was founded by Jaya Prakash Narayan in 1960 to promote research in Gandhian thought and its practice. In a travesty of laws of land, the institute has been appropriated by handful of people, some of whom are in no way related to the Institute.
Some facts about the institute that are pertinent to the matter are as follows:
1. The institute is located on the land of Sarva Sewa Sangh and not on that of government.
2. The buildings and other assets of the institute were developed by U.P. Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and funds solicited by JP for the purpose.
3. The institute is an autonomous body of which the registration has been renewed (Renewal no. 803,2003; File no. 2.11137; Dated 31/01/2003)
4. Due to political pressure and manoeuvring a letter had been issued from Registrar Office Lucknow for rescinding its registration renewal.
5. The institute incumbents had lodged a petition against the above at Allahabad High Court.
6. A stay order was issued by the court on the issue of rescinding the registration renewal of the institute. (Order no 23650, 2003; Dated 23/05/2003)
7. Even before this, some people had advanced a petition for dissolving the Society of the Institute at the Fourth Additional District Court. The High Court issued a Stay Order against this of which the details are: Order No. 13628, 2003 Date 22/4/2003
8. Prof. Kusumlata Kedia, who declares herself to be the Executive Director of the Institute was suspended and later dismissed from the Institute on grounds of lack of discipline, breach of duty and activities detrimental to the Institute’s spirit, mission and existence.
9. ICSSR (Indian Council for Social Sciences Research) had been that giving grants to the institute since 1977 has been stopped doing so since 1999.
But funds have been arranged from some alternative sources and thus the demand of the Satyagrahis is that the all hindrances towards the smooth functioning of the institute (like lock-out etc) be removed and people indulging in such illegal and unrighteous activities be directed out of the Institute campus.
ENDS.
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