Dear Ms. Bhagwat, Good afternoon. I work with Tehelka as Executive Editor based in New Delhi.
I am in Mumbai for some days. I would be grateful to meet you if possible. Warm regards, Ajit Sahi 9910346464 (Delhi mobile) Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel -----Original Message----- From: Niloufer Bhagwat <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:18:22 To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [humanrights-movement:2307] PROVOCATION TO MANIPULATE VIOLENCE ONWEAKER SECTIONS TO OBFUSCATE ISSUES The new strategy is to give some provocation or another to manipulate violent incidents as recently in the Punjab or in Karnataka and other states . The solution is to inform people not to react to provocation and incitement and to remain focussed on priority and essential issues ,as the objective is to divide misusing religion , though essentially problems of all citizens are the same depending on the productive group to which they belong . For example small farmers were affected as a whole group irrespective of their religious affiliation throughout the country whether in Punjab or Karnataka or elsewhere Almost two years ago we had brutal attacks on Christians who were tribals in Orissa , again for divide and rule even though the issues facing the tribal people are the same irrespective of which religion to which they belong . In fact the tribal people form an entire group by themselves sociologically and culturally , of course practices and customs vary from one geographical region to another . Their Forest lands and produce were colonized under colonial rule by the Forest Acts , an example of confiscation of property of the tribals by the EAST INDIA COMPANY . The report of the Ministry of Rural Development of the Government of India now refers to ongoing seizure of tribal land by companies in what is now being referred to by the Home Ministry as the Maoist/Naxalite belt ,where the Salwa Judum according to this government report was funded by Companies to blunt resistance to their land seizures of hundreds of villages for mineral rich land . ----- Original Message ----- From: Niloufer Bhagwat To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 3:43 PM Subject: Re: [humanrights-movement:2299] FACT FINDING ON INCIDENTS IN PUNJAB Thank you Kamayani for this report . A prima facie conclusion is that to divide people wherever possible , to strengthen the case for violent solutions and fascist methodology and propaganda , attacks are taking place on the poorer classes of Dalit and Minority groups of whom a large section are sociologically originally dalits or other backward class groups . This is to consolidate support for fascist groups or so called secular parties in fact representing Corporate groups national and international who gather support citing these attacks , to present the people with limited electoral choices . This will not suceed as from region to region the feeling is growing that the upper caste/class groups are behind this violence as there is no attempt to prevent or control it . Moreover our country being as diverse as it is , monolithic organizations of any religious or caste group will be repelled and seen for what they are . In this context a retired Police Officer , a former Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr. Y.C.Pawar has clearly stated on Times Now during the course of a panel discussion on 3rd March 2010 on the use of the underworld in Mumbai , that without covert political support and the support of police agencies criminilized groups cannot operate. Even in the context of 9/11 in the USA , strategic experts from Europe opined that it was obvious that such false flage operations could not be staged without the support of Intelligence and security agencies in charge of internal and external security . While engineering and technical experts have questioned the official version of events . We are actually facing a situation when all institutions are under attack . The Constitution , the Legal system , the Judiciary , the Police among several other institutions from fascist organizations operating from within the system and from outside , assissted by corrupt and covert forces to strangle democratic functioning and dissent , including police investigation as was clear from the assassination of Jt. Commissioner of Police Mr. Hemant Karkare and Mr. Kamte along with 12 other policemen to foster terror and to assist in the total financialization of the economic system to the detriment of livelihoods and the survival of citizens . The pattern being adopted is on the lines of the US and UK economies now facing SOVEREIGN DEBT DEFALUT except that in our case it is not even an independent operation but " Recolonization " of course with internal collaboration , hence even for investigation of cases we have the FBI among other agencies called in . For the seizure of resources and its implications for India , we have to recall the East India Company among other companies who held sway over India before we declared ourselves a Republic . The WTO is a world trade order which gives primacy to companies over the well being of societies . A Company as we understand it is an economic and profit oriented artificial legal entity with limited liability without HEAD OR HEART . WHEREAS A POLITICAL SOCIETY NEEDS NURTURING , PRIVATE COMPANIES IF IN CONTROL OF THE POLICIES OF GOVERNMENT EVEN RESORT TO WAR AND DESTRUCTION IF THE BALANCE SHEET REQUIRES IT AND POLICIES DO NOT IMPOSE ANY AUTO LIMITATIONS ON PROFITS . A Company under constitutional and legal regulation of its financial and economic structure with limitations on overall accumulation can be an instrument of production .In political control it devastates whole countries , regions and in two World Wars millions were killed . In the Second World War over 75 million . Therefore the Constitution of India in the Directive Principles of State Policy required restrictions on access to financial resources as those who framed the Constitution were aware that Corporate rule led to fascism in Europe with world wide destruction of several regions . We face the same situation to-day all over the world and even worse as weapons have been advanced and perfected to kill humanity . Unregulated control over the financial and productive resources of society with Companies and Financiers as the arbiters destroys societies which economic history teaches us . It is necessary for us to make a study of the US and UK economies among others with special reference to financialization and unemployment . Even Azim Premji highlighted on BBC ,in a panel that major private companies it was well known could not cater to employment as that was not feasible given the economies of scale and not their priority . If this is so then what is the alternative before Companies and Financiers other than unregulated sway of the Indian economy and for that purpose DIVIDE AND RULE . Niloufer Bhagwat ----- Original Message ----- From: Kamayani Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 10:49 PM Subject: [humanrights-movement:2299] FACT FINDING ON INCIDENTS IN PUNJAB REPORT OF THE ALL INDIA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL FACT FINDING TEAM ON INCIDENTS IN BATALA AND OTHER AREAS OF PUNJAB 18-21 FEBRUARY 2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ISSUED ON MARCH 2, 2010 NOTE: The full fact finding report is available from aicc Delhi office: [email protected] Attempted Murders The Punjab police are hiding the fact that Sangh Parivar-led hoodlums in Batala, Punjab tried to burn five Christians alive. The Christians were from two families who live in the Church of North India’s historic Church of the Epiphany compound built in 1865. Batala is a small business town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. On February 20th, the CNI church was set on fire and all its furniture burnt. Attempts were made to destroy a nearby Salvation Army church, raised in 1958, where the pastor was seriously injured. “We pleaded with the police to help, but they did not,” said the Pastor, Maj. Gurnam Singh. Even as the larger group of attackers focused on burning the CNI church, a group of men armed with sticks and rods, and came to the CNI Deacon’s house. The deacon, Victor Gill, and his wife Parveen, hid themselves under the bed. The assailants damaged the doors, tried to enter the room forcibly, and told the couple they would be burnt alive if they did not come out. Meanwhile, at a second CNI house, the group overturned a scooter, took out the petrol, and doused teacher Christopher Morris and his daughter Daisy with the fuel while the mother, Usha, cringed in their home. They tried to set the two on fire, but the matchbox had also been soaked in the petrol and despite three attempts to strike a match, the matchsticks would not ignite saving the family from being burnt alive. The police were watching. The fire brigade came later but was blocked by a mob for quite some time. Police Bias No police report has been filed on the attempted murders even as the top police and administrative officers enforced a one sided “peace accord” on the local Christian leadership. Christians were instructed not to press for charges immediately so that a number of Christian youth who were arrested – together with a few Hindu men – could be released. The strategy of the assailants was eerily reminiscent of what was practiced and perfected against churches in Orissa in 2008. Police forcibly cleaned up the Church of the Epiphany. They removed burnt furniture and made the presbyter whitewash the walls to remove traces of fuel oil used in the blaze. This was done before a formal enquiry could be conducted by the government. Background on Violence The Christians, all of them of Dalit origin, were trying to enforce a closure or "bandh" in Batala markets to protest a blasphemous picture of Jesus Christ holding a can of beer in one hand a lit cigarette in another which appeared on roadside banners to celebrate the Hindu "Ram Nauvmi" festival. The banners were sponsored by a coalition of local political, media and business leaders, together with the trading community which is almost entirely Hindu. The Sangh Parivar reacted to the Christian protest by mobilising shopkeepers and youth in attacks that left many injured, two churches damaged, and clergy traumatised. We noted that local shopkeepers routinely enforce closures e.g. a bandh during the last week of February to protest the execution of two Sikhs by the Taliban in Pakistan. Timeline 16-17 February -- people noticed Jesus Christ image on banners, newspapers, posters 18 February -- Jalandhar protests; two people arrested for printing posters 19 February -- road protests in various villages, violence in Majitha 20 February -- Batala churches burnt; widespread violence 21 February -- police firing on Christian protesters in Tibbar village and others places; many arrested, injured; peace accord reached in Batala 22 February -- curfew partially lifted 23 February -- curfew completely lifted Police Reaction The police force was outnumbered and looked on during the violence. Despite intelligence reports of the Christian anger and the Hindutva plans to counterattack, the sub-divisional magistrate of Batala, Mr. Rahul Chaba, PCS, said he could not enforce a quick curfew until late on 20 February 2010 because most of the police force were sent to the Pakistani border nearby where Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated a defence outpost. By the time the police returned and a curfew was imposed, violence had already occurred. The curfew was relaxed on 22 February 2010. Results of Violence and Political Reaction On February 21st, protest rallies were held across the western districts of Punjab and in Chandigarh against the desecration of the churches. There were reports of police who broke up protest meetings in villages with lathi charges and indiscriminate arrests. At present, there are no Christians or Hindus in police custody barring the printer and publisher of the banners. On February 23rd, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Prakash Singh Badal assured the aicc delegation’s head, Dr. John Dayal, aicc Secretary General and member, National Integration Council, that he viewed the matter seriously and has ordered officials to unravel the “entire conspiracy”. Dr. Dayal demanded a judicial enquiry into the incidents during the meeting. Part of Larger Religious Discrimination in Punjab At the last meeting of the National Integration Council in New Delhi on 13 October 2008 chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Dr. Dayal had personally briefed Mr. Badal on the tension brewing in the rural districts of western Punjab where tens of thousands of Christians, most of them of Dalit origin, live and are suffering from caste oppression and attacks on their freedom of religion. Church meetings are routinely denied permission, for example, and caste epithets are used against the Christians. The chief minister had promised to have the situation investigated and remedial action taken. The recent incidents also exposed the utter lack of Christian representation among the Punjab government. Less than half a dozen Christian leaders, many of them related to each other, hold positions in the Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Indian National Congress. They have little connection with the masses living in villages, slums and poorly constructed ghettos outside some villages. Most live in shadow of mansions owned by local Jat Sikhs with relatives living abroad or the trading classes. Class and caste barriers are clearly evident. In some villages, we were shocked to find Dalit Christian working under bonded labour conditions with family in brick kilns, and many employed in the fields during the sowing or harvesting season where they compete with cheaper labour from Bihar. The exception is Christians who have risen to high positions in academics, the military, and the Church, with one becoming a CNI bishop some years ago. Punjab’s Christian population is around 300,000, about 1.2% of the state population, mostly concentrated in Amritsar and villages in west Punjab. The government is Akali-BJP coalition elected in February 2007. Fact Finding Team Composition The fact finding team included: Dr. John Dayal; Rev. Madhu Chandra, aicc Regional Secretary, Delhi; M. Adeeb, Human Rights Law Network lawyer; and Mr. Marang Hansda, aicc assistant. They visited Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur districts, including villages deep in the rural hinterland from 22 to 25 February 2010, and Chandigarh. ----------------- Kamayani Bali Mahabal The world does not need a war against ‘terrorism’, it needs a culture of peace based on human rights for all. -- Irene Khan www.otherindia.org www.binayaksen.net www.phm-india.org I carry a torch in one hand And a bucket of water in the other: With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven And put out the flames of Hell So that voyagers to God can rip the veils And see the real goal....... Rabia (Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyya) -- "After a war, the silencing of arms is not enough. Peace means respecting all rights. You can’t respect one of them and violate the others. When a society doesn’t respect the rights of its citizens, it undermines peace and leads it back to war.” -- Maria Julia Hernandez www.otherindia.org www.binayaksen.net www.phm-india.org www.phmovement.org www.ifhhro.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. 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