Godhra Verdict.Whose conspiracy?

"It (burning of the Sabarmati Express) was a pre-planned act. The culprits will have to pay for it. It was not communal violence. It was a violent, one-sided, collective act by only one community."

- Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, in a press statement made during his visit to Godhra on February 27, 2002. few hours after the tragedy.

After Narendra Modi pronounced this verdict, the Godhra incident was used to carry out a retaliatory pogrom, in which more than 1,000 people were killed. Modi then manipulated the public sympathy and sense of insecurity generated in the post-Godhra phase and was able to win two State Assembly elections.
 The Police in Gujarat from the day of the incident was trying their best to prove the Chief Minister's verdict was correct.Now the Special Court has accepted the conspiracy theory and convicted 31 people. Has justice been delivered?

At the offset it is clear that it is Narendra Modi and his party BJP which will get maximum advantage if the Godhra killings were proved to be a pre-planned attack.That is why immediately after the incident Modi,in charge of Governing the State clearly pronounced without any evidence it was pre-planned attack.
The first FIR only speaks about a mob fury and not any conspiracy,But after Modi has declared it was a conspiracy Police began to change stance. Several FIRs were made. On 3 March 2002, the stringent anti-terror law POTA was invoked and the Godhra case became an act of terrorism. But since mob fury could not be called  terrorism without introducing the element of conspiracy,on 9 March, the police invoked section 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to criminal conspiracy.


But was there really a conspiracy?
 Read  here how Ashish Khetan picks apart Judge Patel’s verdict of conspiracy in this article in Tehelka.
Here are some excerpts.

What the Police claim?
 On the night of 26 February 2002, two secret meetings were held at Aman Guest House near Godhra railway station. It was decided there that petrol should be bought and used the next morning to set coach S-6 of the passing Sabarmati train on fire.


 Five Muslim vendors were present at the first meeting. At the second meeting, which happened after the buying of the petrol, two vendors and two Muslim corporators — Bilal Haji and Farooq Bhana — were present.
Though Maulvi Umarji himself was not present at any of these meetings, it was he who had chosen coach S-6 as a target and it was at his behest that the meetings were held and 140 litres of petrol were bought from a nearby petrol pump called Kalabhai Petrol Pump. The police claimed that two attendants from Kalabhai Petrol Pump had told them that the accused had indeed bought 140 litres of petrol.
The police also claim that the next morning, taking advantage of an altercation between karsevaks on the train and Muslim vendors on the platform, the conspirators mobilised a violent Muslim mob and used the petrol bought the previous night to set the train on fire. According to the police, though Kalota was not part of the original conspiracy, he incited the rioters to burn the train once the mob had built up.


The police also claim that the Muslim conspirators forced a Hindu tea vendor to help them burn the train.  Ajay Kanu Baria claimed that on the morning of 27 February 2002, just after the arrival of the Sabarmati Express, nine Muslim hawkers whom he knew since they all sold wares at Godhra station, forcibly took him to the house of Razzak Kurkur, the owner of Aman Guest House. Once there, the nine went inside Kurkur’s house and brought out carboys filled with ‘kerosene’ (he doesn’t specify the number of carboys and he specifically uses the word kerosene). One of the hawkers, he said, then forced him to load a carboy onto a rickshaw while the other hawkers loaded the rest.


The prosecution’s conspiracy theory against Godhra Muslims rested primarily on five sets of witnesses


1. Nine BJPmen who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the carnage


These men accused 41 Muslims who spent nine years in jail. A TEHELKA sting caught two of these BJP men admitting on camera they were actually at home that day and the police fabricated their statements. They went along to “serve the cause of Hindutva”. The judge has now discarded all nine testimonies


2. Ajay Baria, a Hindu vendor, forced into the plot; saw it all


Judge Patel has relied hugely on Baria’s account. But why would Muslim conspirators pick a Hindu man at the last minute to help load the petrol and burn the train? TEHELKA tried to track him but failed. His mother said he had been coerced into becoming a police witness and lived under constant police surveillance.


3. Two petrol pump attendants who claim they sold 140 litres of fuel to some Muslims on 26 Feb


Ranjitsinh and Pratapsinh Patel had first told the police that they had not sold any loose petrol that crucial night. In a shocking turnaround, six months later, they changed their version. However, TEHELKA caught Ranjitsinh admitting on camera that he and Pratap had been bribed Rs. 50,000 by police officer Noel Parmar to do that. He also tutored them to identify particular Muslims in court as being the buyers


4. Jabir Bahera, a petty criminal, who first named Maulvi Umarji as a mastermind


Bahera claimed it was UmarjiUmarji was not at any conspiracy meetings. He later retracted everything


5. Sikandar Siddique, another petty criminal, said he had pulled the chain the second time


Siddique is an obvious unreliable witness. Besides Umarji, he had said Maulvi Punjabi had incited the mob. But Punjabi was not even in the country that day


The main questions raised by the defence were:


 There was no reason why the accused would specifically target coach S-6. There was no material to show Maulvi Umarji had any knowledge of who was travelling on this coach, or of having any enmity with them.


. The entire train was full of karsevaks drawn from VHP and Bajrang Dal. Why would Umarji and his co-conspirators target coach S-6 alone?


. There was nothing to show that on or before 26 February 2002, there was any friction between karsevaks and Godhra Muslims grave enough to provoke premeditated carnage.


. Nothing to show that any Godhra resident was even aware that karsevaks were travelling back on this train.


. Nothing to show the altercation between tea vendors and karsevaks on February 27 or the alleged molestation of a Muslim girl were ever an element of the conspiracy.




Let me add

The Sabarmati Express was late by about 5 hours. If it came on time it would have reached Godhra around 230AM. At that time every body would have been sleeping in the train and outside. What was the conspirators original plan assuming the train is on right time? How would they be able to mobilise a mob at that time?

Curiously all the attack on train was from one side. Not a single stone was thrown from the other side.If it was a conspiracy one expects attackers to surround the train from both sides.

It seems that Narendra Modi, being an opportunist and a clever/wicked politician as he is,used the horrific burning of 59 people in coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on 27 February 2002  by a Muslim mob to his and his Party's advantage.By reiterating the Godhra incident was a pre-planned attack [before any investigation] by Muslims on Hindus, he set the tone for  the carnage in Gujarat which resulted in deaths of more than 1000 people. By further dividing the Gujarat society on religious grounds he ensured his election victory.


 Using his loyal followers in Gujarat Police he must have tried to and succeeded in manufacturing evidences and even some verdicts so as to further malign the name of Muslims and to ensure that he remain in power.

There is no doubt that the culprits who formed the Muslim mob who attacked and burned the train and killed the Hindu Karsevaks should be given the harshest punishment possible.But that do not mean that there should be a Government led conspiracy to manufacture evidences and witnesses so that whole Muslim community of an area could be painted as enemy of the State.Such an attempt may give you some short term gains as votes but the long term consequences for the Country will be disastrous.

Pro-Democracy protests in USA too?

The fury among thousands of workers, students and union supporters rose to a boil on Thursday. Protesters blocked a door to the Senate chambers. They sat down, body against body, filling a corridor. They chanted “Freedom, democracy .....!"
 Over three days, protesters’ backpacks, sleeping bags, water bottles and homemade signs have come to jam the marble halls of this Capitol, and on Thursday evening the rallies grew. People screamed: “Shut it down! Shut it down!” Drums pounded. Students, some barefoot, danced. Extra law enforcement workers now pepper the building, trying to guide officials through the thick, chanting crowds.

Many among the protesters said that they had no plans to leave, and that they would wait, as long as it took.
From Newyork Times

The above news report is not about events from yet another Arab State ruled by a Dictator. This news item is about the pro-democracy mass protests taking place in Wisconsin,USA,the so called cradle of Democracy.

Mass agitation in Wisconsin

Citing Wisconsin’s gaping budget shortfall for this year and even larger ones expected in the years ahead, Gov. Scott Walker proposed a sweeping plan called the Budget repair Bill, last week to cut benefits for public employees in the state and  strip them of their collective bargaining rights. All public workers will get less pension and Health Insurance and will loose ability to ask for better benefits in the future even if the economy booms.
Mr. Walker made several proposals that will weaken not just unions’ ability to bargain contracts, but also their finances and political clout.

His proposal would make it harder for unions to collect dues because the state would stop collecting the money from employee paychecks.
He would further weaken union treasuries by giving members of public-sector unions the right not to pay dues. In an unusual move, he would require secret-ballot votes each year at every public-sector union to determine whether a majority of workers still want to be unionized.
He would require public-employee unions to negotiate new contracts every year, an often lengthy process.
The Bill invited wide spread protests  and it is growing day by day.

Mike Imbrogno, a cook at the University of Wisconsin in Madison  described the move as an “attack” on working people.

Molly Noble is a graduate student in sociology and project assistant at UW-Madison. The bill, she says, would hurt her tuition remission and health care coverage. “This is political, not economic. It’s an attack on workers and an attack on democracy.
Martha Fischhoff, a graduate student in gender and women’s studies at Madison said,
“I was hoping to stay in Madison and teach—I love Wisconsin.“But this bill would make it untenable for me to stay. I would not stay here to teach if this bill passes.”


President Obama supported the workers saying “Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions,And I think it's very important for us to understand that public employees, they're our neighbors, they're our friends.”

The President said it is important “not to vilify” these employees, “or to suggest somehow all these budget problems are due to public employees.”

The two most striking features of the Wisconsin protests are their massive size and their palpable energy and anger. There were around 30,000 people present on Thursday—the largest demonstration in the city since the Vietnam War-era. . Gov. Walker’s bill has struck nerves in diverse groups of citizens.

 Read  what Mitchell Bard wrote in Huffington Post::
What I didn't realize on my way to the rally was the national implications of the Wisconsin protests. I admit that in my head, as I walked toward the Capitol, I expected to see a lot of students, teaching assistants, teachers and soccer moms.
Upon reaching the Capitol, I was shocked to see that the crowd was nothing like I had imagined. For starters, the Square was packed like I've never seen it before (even on the most beautiful summer day for the weekly Saturday farmers' market). The idea that I would be able to find my colleagues became instantly laughable (and, in fact, I never ran into a single person I knew). There were clearly students sprinkled throughout the crowd, but the vast majority seemed to be working-class and middle-class people: taxi drivers, construction workers, maintenance workers, prison guards etc


Then I saw members of the police union marching around the Square, and, later, a seemingly endless parade of firefighters went by, all expressing solidarity with the workers at the Capitol even though their collective bargaining rights were not at risk. When the crowd applauded, I got chills.

It was the appearance of the firefighters, in their matching shirts, that really triggered something in my head. This protest was way bigger than I had imagined.

Walker's "budget repair bill" isn't about deficits in Wisconsin. In fact, a nonpartisan commission found that the deficits are not severe and do not require any kind of austerity action. And what is the main cause of the current budget shortfall? Walker's own tax cuts. In other words, the new governor created this "problem," and now, conveniently, he is offering a solution.

Only, his solution has nothing to do with the alleged problem. Instead, it's an attack on state employee unions. Walker is using the concocted budget issue as a smokescreen to eliminate the collective bargaining rights of unions, a long-time item on the right-wing wish list. He is trying to eliminate five decades of collective bargaining rights in one week.

Noam Chomsky says in an interview to Demecracy Now
 there’s been a wave of propaganda over the last couple of months, which is pretty impressive to watch, trying to deflect attention away from those who actually created the economic crisis, like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, their associates in the government who—Federal Reserve and others—let all this go on and helped it.

The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, got a $12.5 million bonus, and his base pay was more than tripled. Well, that means he—the rules of corporate governments have been modified in the last 30 years by the U.S. government to allow the chief executive officer to pretty much set their own salaries. There’s various ways in which this has been done, but it’s government policy. And one of the effects of it is—people talk about inequality, but what’s a little less recognized is that although there is extreme inequality, it’s mostly because of the top tiny fraction of the population, so like a fraction of one percent of the population, their wealth has just shot through the stratosphere.



A proposal to end collective bargaining rights for public sector workers is not a serious policy recommendation to pull a state out of a fiscal crisis. Rather, it is an attempt to shift the debate on where blame for massive budget deficits and fiscal crises should lie. Instead of blaming massive Tax cuts for the rich and lax Federal Laws which allowed un restricted profit making in Wall Street, Public Workers like Teachers,Nurses,Fire fighters and Police are being blamed for the crisis..
 It will take a massive people's movement that includes all unions, private and public, as well as other sectors of the progressive movement to succesfully fight against the scapegoating of working people as the culprits of a crisis they had nothing to do with.

Links
Noam Chomsky interview
Huffington Post
Obama on Wisconsin protests

Victory for the People in Egypt

30 years of Dictatorship of  Mubarak has ended after a historic exhibition of People's power in Egypt.We have just witnessed a people's REVOLUTION in Tahrir square. I am sure that the momentum of this revolution will soon result in a democratic liberal Egypt. I am also sure that the momentum will go beyond the borders of Egypt and will shake the autocrats and monarchs of Arab countries.
It is too early to analyse the dramatic developments but let me try to look at the background of the revolutionaries who stunned the World in a  non-violent mass non co-operation movement reminiscent of Gandhiji and our own country's freedom struggle.

These are some of the movements that is behind the Egyptian revolution.

April 6 Youth Movement
An Egyptian Facebook group started by Ahmed Maher and Ahmed Salah in 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on April 6.

 It has more than 70,000 predominantly young and educated members, most of whom had not been politically active before; their core concerns include free speech, nepotism in government and the country's stagnant economy.Their discussion forum on Facebook features intense and heated discussions, and is constantly updated with new postings.


We are all Khaled Said
On June 6th 2010,Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian from the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, was dragged out of an Internet cafe and  tortured to death at the hands of two police officers in broad day light in front of many witnesses.Said was about to upload a video on the Internet of officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves.

Within five days of his death, an anonymous person [many believe Wael Ghonim, Google's head of Marketing for the Middle East and North Africa] created a Facebook page — We Are All Khaled Said — that posted cell phone photos from the morgue of his battered and bloodied face. This movement with more than 50000 fans is believed to have sparked the protest by joining youth together who say they will not stand for the corruption or police brutality in their country.

National Association for Change
It is a loose grouping of the various Egyptian of all political affiliations and religion, men and women, including representatives of civil society and young people who aims to change Egypt.The goal of the group is to bring about political reform based on democracy and social justice. Mohamed ElBaradei is in-charge of the National Association for Change. Muslim Brotherhood has also joined this grouping.

Kefaya (“enough”)
 The Egyptian Movement for Change a grassroots coalition which draws its support from across Egypt’s political spectrum to oppose Hosni Mubarak’s presidency. Formed in 2004 it drew its members from Palestine Solidarity movements and anti-war movements. It draws its support from a cosmopolitan range of sources including Nasserists, Islamists, Liberals, Marxists, Secularists etc., some of which have deep-rooted ideological differences, and have even clashed in the past. Activists frequently stress that it is not a political party aiming to achieve power, but a “national coalition movement” united by the common goal of seeking an end to President Mubarak’s rule.
Kefaya’s first rally, held on 12 December 2004, was an historic event, being the first occasion a protest had been organised solely to demand that the President step down. Surrounded by riot police, between 500 and 1000 activists gathered on the steps of the High Court in Cairo. They remained mostly silent and taped over their mouths a large yellow sticker emblazoned with “Kefaya.


Here are some excerpts from an interview with the acclaimed Egyptian writer and political commentator Ahdaf Soueif taken from Democracy Now website which show the spirit of Tahrir Square movement.


I’m Ahdaf Soueif, and I’m a writer. And I’m in Tahrir Square in the middle of the Egyptian revolution. And you can see how amazing it is and what a wonderful atmosphere we have here. We have hundreds of thousands of people. This has now been going on for more than 10 days. The government wagers that it will lose momentum. It is very clearly not losing momentum.



I think what has happened here is that people have—they’ve found their voice, and they’ve found their personality. In other words, there is a definite sense that this regime had been not only robbing people of their country, but had been alienating people from their own personalities. And now they have found it. And you see people saying, "They told us we were divided. They told us we’re extreme. They told us we’re ignorant. But here we are, and we’re great." And this is why this is just not going to go away.


This is a civil space which has become a completely—I don’t know—a completely open, democratic forum. Every idea, every shade of political opinion, everybody’s here. And the very important thing, particularly for Democracy Now! to know, is that this is not just about the people in Tahrir, this is about the people of Egypt, because in Alexandria, Alexandria has had proportionally more people out on the streets than Cairo. In Alexandria, the chant two days ago was [in Arabic]. It means "Legitimacy will come from Tahrir." They’ve sent delegations. Suez is here. Aswan is here. Many, many cities and towns of Egypt are here saying, "Decisions will be made in Tahrir." In other words, this is true representation on the ground.


And I think that here in Egypt today, we are engaged in an experiment, which is benign, which is civil, which is modern, which is young, which is optimistic, which is inclusive, and which will—which will be a wonderful model for the world. And I think we are doing something that is good for the entire world, not just for us Egyptians.

You know, this is intense, but this is how Egypt used to be before the 30 or even 40 years of this kind of divisive regime. Egypt has always been inclusive. And I won’t even say tolerant, because tolerance assumes there’s something to be tolerated. No, Egypt is naturally diverse and celebrates its diversity. And this is what we have here today. This morning, a Christian mass was said, Muslim prayers were prayed. Prayers for the dead for both Christians and Muslims were said, and the whole square was here. We are here—women, men, young people, old people, kids, every shade of political opinion, every age, and people from every location and professions. There are people here who would personally not gain, you know, by having a revolution, but they’re here because it’s good for the country. And we want to live in an Egypt which is inclusive and which is democratic and which is real and which is creative and which is run for the benefit of its citizens and where everybody has a chance and everybody can be as good as they want to be.



This movement does not see gender as an issue. Women are citizens, just like men are. And a lot of girls, a lot of young women will tell you that, for the first time in years, they feel that they are not objectified as sexual objects in this space. This is the first time in a very long time that young women have been in the streets without any danger of harassment.



And what is happening is that our young men, who have a certain amount of machismo—and of course young men have to have machismo—their machismo is now channeled in the right direction: they are here to regain their country, and they’re here to protect anybody who is weaker. And you see them. You see them sweeping the streets. You see them handing out food and water. You see them forming human chains to block the militias of thugs that our government is turning loose on us. And so, the young men have found a way to express their manhood, which is benign, and we are safe here.

Here is some excerpts from an interview with Nawal El Saadawi. She is an Egyptian psychiatrist, scholar, novelist, feminist and activist --and  has been agitating for change in her home country for more than 50 years. An outspoken opponent of female genital mutilation, she was fired from her position as Egypt's director of health education in 1972. When President Anwar Sadat threw her in prison for her activism in 1981, she penned her memoirs on a roll of toilet paper. A committed secularist, her name appears on fundamentalist death lists.This interview given few hours before Mubarak stepped down is taken from The Root website.

The Root: Where are you now?

NS: I am home in my apartment in Cairo, and we are preparing to go out into streets.


TR: Are you going to [Tahrir] Square?
NS: The square is full. There is no more room in the square, and so we have decided that we will be everywhere. Egyptians will be in every square, on every street, at the Presidential Palace and at the national television station. We will be in every place. This revolution has unified us. We are not men and women, Christian and Muslim, professional and nonprofessional; we are all Egyptians, and we will not let Egypt burn.

TR: How are you organizing this revolution? Is there leadership among the people?
NS: We are doing it all with Facebook and mobile phone and e-mail.

TR: Are you concerned about who will take Mubarak's place? What about the Muslim Brotherhood, or other extremist groups?


NS: I am not at all worried about the Brotherhood. There is a lot of exaggeration about this organization, and it is used to frighten women here and Western women, too. The Muslim Brotherhood is a minority. They do not lead the revolution, and many of the men involved in the organization want a secular constitution. Men and women protested in the square and died in the square together.
There was not one single harassment of a woman in the square. And these are covered women, secular women, all women from every background. No, it was not the Muslim Brotherhood who hurt women, it was Mubarak's people who entered the square and killed. All of this talk about the Brotherhood is an attempt to use religion to divide the people. Do not worry; the Muslim Brotherhood will never rule Egypt.


TR: What role would you like the U.S. to play?

NS: I don't expect the power or support or interference of anyone, of any government. We here in Egypt are fed up with U.S. colonialism. Obama is a pragmatic person and thinking of the interests of his country; I understand this. But now he is confused: One minute he supports Mubarak, one minute he doesn't; one moment he is afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood, the next he is not. Now I believe in the people of Egypt only, I depend on the people of Egypt only.



TR: Your work has mainly revolved around women's rights and equality. How are these issues playing out in the revolution? What is the role of women on the ground?


NS: Women and men are in the streets as equals now. We are in the revolution completely. Of course if you know the history of revolutions, you find that after the revolution, often men take over and women's rights are ignored. In order to keep our rights after the revolution, women must be unified. We must have our women's union again. We cannot fight individually.


TR: How do you know that the people who will follow Mubarak will honor your hopes for change?


NS: This revolution changed everything. In history, the millions win, that is democracy. Now the people in the street say no to Mubarak and then will form a temporary government, protected by the army. Then we have to protect the revolution from being aborted; that is the most important fight.
I must go now. There are many people waiting here for me. It is time to go on and do the next things that must be done.

Egyptians are showing the way for all the oppressed people in the World how to over turn a dictator in a non violent, inclusive and democratic way.Let us salute the brave revolutionaries who proved that the lives of hundreds of martyrs did not go in vain.

Links
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38588398289
http://www.facebook.com/elshaheeed.co.uk
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/11/we_are_not_going_home_until
http://www.theroot.com/views/egypt-catching-history-nawal-el-saadawi?page=0,1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_protests

Pictures of hope from Egypt

Egypt is at cross roads of its history. May be not only Egypt,but the whole of Arab world.
30 year old dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak is being questioned by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Egyptians in the streets of Cairo,Alexandria,Suez and other cities. The ruling Party headquarters is in flames. while the protesters form a human shield to protect the National Museum. Mubarak's allies in the West and the Arab world were speechless and stunned.

The protesters were from all class,creed and religion.They included the rich ,the poor,men and women,jeans clad and burqa clad,blue collar workers and manual labourers.There were no anti-US or anti- Israel slogans.There were no ritual burning of US flags.It was mainly secular and peaceful protests aimed at just one thing- regime change and ouster of Mubarak.

Things are still fluid. Nobody is sure what will happen the next hour. But my hunch is regime change in Egypt will take place and Egypt will become a more democratic and liberal State.

The rot inside Pakistan

With the cold blooded killing of Salmaan Taseer by his Islamist body guard  few days ago, the rot inside the Pakistani society is ever too evident to be hidden.

In June 2009 Asia Bibi, a 45-year old Christian woman with five children,a farm hand from a village near Lahore was asked to fetch water; she complied, but some of her fellow Muslim workers refused to drink the water as they considered Christians to be "unclean".Apparently some arguments ensued. There had already been a running feud between Bibi and a neighbour about some property damage. Later some coworkers complained to a cleric that Bibi made derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad. A mob came to her house, beating her and members of her family before she was rescued by the police. However, the police initiated an investigation about her remarks resulting in her arrest and prosecution under Pakistan's infamous Blasphemy Law. In November 2010  court of Sheikhupura, sentenced her to death by hanging.

The blasphemy laws in Pakistan acquired teeth during the reign of General Zia ul-Haq when the crime was made punishable by death. The international community and human rights groups argue that since then it has become a tool, used to settle personal disputes and to discriminate against minority groups. The abuse of the law is widely regarded as effortless because no proof is required – an alleged blasphemer can be imprisoned and even executed on the assertion of witnesses.


Although the death sentence for blasphemy has never been carried out in Pakistan, angry mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy. In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, Punjab. At least seven Christians were burned to death in the horrific incident.  In July 2010 two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy were gunned down outside a court in the city of Faisalabad, while in custody.

Salmaan Taseer, a leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and the Governor of Punjab province was a vocal opponent of infamous blasphemy law of Pakistan.

                                         Taseer's daughters with Asia Bibi

 He had recently announced that he will recommend Presidential pardon to Asia Bibi. The Islamic fundamentalists could not tolerate that and he was killed by his own bodyguard on the streets of Nation's capital Islamabad.

More shocking news were yet to come.

Within hours Taseer's killer became a hero to be worshipped for many in Facebook.
 Read what Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif wrote about 'How Pakistan responded to Salmaan Taseer's assassination".
 By the evening, Qadri's picture had replaced a thousand profile pictures on Facebook. He was a mujahid, a lion, a true hero of Islam.
So who are these people who lionise the cold-blooded murderer? Your regular kids, really. Those who have trawled the profiles of these supporters have said that they have MBA degrees, they follow Premier League football, they love the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Miley Cyrus figures on lots of these pages. And as the Pakistani blogger who blogs under the name Kala Kawa pointed out: "If you go through the profiles of Qadri supporters on Facebook, you'd think Justin Bieber was the cause of extremism in Pakistan."

See this Dawn report.

As PPP leaders and workers and admirers of the slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer mourned his death and converged on the Governor`s House in Lahore for funeral prayers, his self-confessed assassin was warmly welcomed by a group of lawyers at the district and sessions court here on Wednesday.The lawyers chanted slogans in his favour, patted him on the back and showered flower petals on him.A power of attorney signed by dozens of lawyers was submitted as the killer`s counsel.

However, more astonishing than the lawyer`s welcome for a man who confessed to have killed the constitutional head of the country`s largest province was a chorus of support from major religious groups and parties and prominent clerics.About 500 religious scholars of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat said no one should pray or express regret for the killing of Salman Taseer.



Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri, a leader of the Jamaat paid “glorious tribute to the murderer… for his courage, bravery and religious honour and integrity”.


The clerics noted the “courage” and religious zeal of the killer, saying his action had made Muslims around the world proud.
Analysts say the assassination underscores how deeply religious extremism has penetrated Pakistan’s conservative society, with even the Internet-literate elite resorting to Facebook to rally support for the killer.



Nearly 2,000 Facebook users joined one group on the social networking site praising Qadri, and dozens of “fans” joined other pages set up in Qadri’s honour in the hours after the shooting.

In a sign of mainstream media opposition, Pakistan’s leading Urdu-language newspaper, Jang, ran a front-page story declaring: “There should be no funeral for Salman Taseer and no condemnation for his death.”



“A supporter of a blasphemer is also a blasphemer,” said a sub-heading, reporting that 500 religious scholars and clerics had paid tribute to Qadri


 Lahore's clerics were reluctant to lead funeral prayers for Salman Taseer.Even the chief cleric of the historical Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, who initially agreed to offer prayers, backed off at the last moment, saying he was going out of town. Finally, the services were led by a cleric of the Ulema wing of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).




Declan Walsh wrote in Guardian

Yesterday on Twitter, the medium beloved of Taseer, liberal Pakistanis bemoaned the disappearance of "Jinnah's Pakistan" – the tolerant, pluralistic country envisioned by its founder, the lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in 1947. Still others struggled to remember when it truly existed.



And on the streets outside the celebrated silent majority – moderate Pakistanis who shun extremism and violence, and only want their society to thrive – were saying nothing. But in Pakistan, that is no longer good enough. Silence kills.

My Take

Did the problem in Pakistan started only with Zia ul Haq and the military regime as many liberal Pakistanis want to believe? Or did it begin with the origin of the Nation based on religion? I believe that Jinnah is equally responsible. When you set loose a demon of religion in politics you cannot remain liberal and democratic.

Edited to add

Let me quote from what Aatish Taseer [son of Salmaan and Indian journalist Tavleen Singh] wrote about his father's death and its aftermath.

And so, though I believe, as deeply as I have ever believed anything, that my father joins that sad procession of martyrs – every day a thinner line – standing between him and his country's descent into fear and nihilism, I also know that unless Pakistan finds a way to turn its back on Islam in the public sphere, the memory of the late governor of Punjab will fade.



And where one day there might have been a street named after him, there will be one named after Malik Mumtaz Qadir, my father's boy-assassin.






Links
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/06/pakistan-salman-taseer-assassination
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/05/pakistan-salman-taseer-liberal
http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/06/taseers-assassin-idolised-by-lawyers-clerics.htm
lhttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/After-a-murder/734984
Aatish Taseer's article

Hazards of helping the poor

Meet Dr Binayak Sen. He is a medical doctor,a Paediatrician.He passed out from the prestigious Christian Medical College,Vellore.

He first worked in a rural health programme in Madhya Pradesh.
He moved to Chhattisgarh in 1981, and began working with the leading mine workers' trade union leader, Shankar Guha Niyogi. The two set up a hospital for mine workers after raising money from the community - the Shaheed Hospital in Dallirajhara is still cited as an example of a pioneering health initiative in India for the poor.
The doctor received a paltry salary of 600 rupees ($15) a month, and helped the facility grow from a small clinic to a 60-bed hospital in four years.
In the early 1990s, Dr Sen and his wife, Ilina, set up Rupantar, a non-governmental organisation training rural health workers, running mobile clinics and campaigns against alcohol abuse and violence against women. Dr Sen's efforts in public health programmes, say local doctors, helped bringing down the infant mortality rate in the state and deaths caused by diarrhoea and dehydration.


He was the recipient in 2004 of the Paul Harrison award for a lifetime of service to the rural poor. This award is given annually by the Christian Medical College, Vellore to its alumni.

He was awarded the R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by The Indian Academy of Social Sciences (ISSA) on 31 December 2007. The citation describes him as "one of the most eminent scientists" of India

He was selected for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008. The Global Health Council issued a public statement, "This 58-year-old pediatrician was selected by an international jury of public health professionals for this prestigious award because of his years of service to poor and tribal communities in India, his effective leadership in establishing self-sustaining health care services where none existed, and his unwavering commitment to civil liberties and human rights.

He is an advisor to Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a health care organization committed to developing a low-cost, effective, community health programme in the tribal and rural areas of Chhattisgarh.

He was also a member of the state Government's advisory committee set up to pilot the community based health worker programme across Chhattisgarh, later known as the Mitanin programme.
 
Finally he was awarded LIFE IMPRISONMENT by the Raipur Sessions Court on December 24,2010 and branded as Enemy of the State.
 
 
Here is an excerpt from the article in The Lancet,the prestigious medical journal  about Dr Sen  last year.
 
Indian doctors typically dodge rural postings. But Sen, a graduate from Vellore's prestigious Christian Medical College, opted to work in the neglected hinterland, where most Indians still live. Rupantar, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded by Sen and his wife, set up a weekly clinic in 1997 in a village in central India (now part of Chattisgarh state) plagued by malaria and malnutrition. Local tribal youths were trained to become community health workers. Ever since, the clinic has been providing low-cost medical care to those living within a 50 km radius and who cannot access health services easily. Today, however, the health clinic is denied the services of its creator—the doctor, who once advised the state government on health sector reforms, is now branded an enemy of the state.
 
 

Sen's troubles can be traced to his criticism of the Salwa Judum, an anti-Naxalite movement, allegedly initiated by the people of Chattisgarh in 2005, to oppose Maoist violence in the state. “He had highlighted unlawful killings of adivasis (indigenous people) by the police, and by Salwa Judum, a private militia widely held to be sponsored by the state authorities to fight the guerrillas of the CPI (Maoist)”, says Amnesty International. “Dr Binayak Sen questioned those policies of the Chattisgarh State, which has led to large scale displacements of tribal people, their growing impoverishment and starvation deaths”, notes Indian Doctor in Jail, The Story of Binayak Sen—a booklet brought out by Doctors in Defense of Dr Binayak Sen—a group of men and women who personally know Sen and his work. Sen was troubled by the effect of these displacements on the health of tribal people, the report notes.



My Take
When you are doctor you deal with diseases and premature deaths. You realise that diseases and premature deaths are caused by poverty, under nutrition and lack of health care facilities. You realise that you cannot cure diseases and prevent premature deaths by medicines alone.You realise that physical illness is part of  malady of the society. Injustice and exploitation of the marginalised communities have to be stopped if their health has to be improved.

At this stage most doctors will shrug their shoulders and will say 'we cannot help it' and turn away from the issue.They will escape to the cities and treat rich patients.

But Binayak Sen did not do that. He was brave enough to continue his struggle for betterment of health of the poor in Chathisgarh.

It was his attempt to highlight the injustice faced by the  tribals  that made him enemy of the State.

Dr. Sen being the Secretary of the People's Union for Civil Liberties,Chhattisgarh Unit had helped draw attention to the unlawful killing - on 31 March 2007 - of several tribals in Santoshpur, Chhattisgarh. Upon orders from the State Human Rights Commission, bodies of the victims were exhumed from a mass grave in the week immediately preceding Dr. Sen's arrest. The post-mortem examination proved that the killings were brutal murder of innocent villagers by the police in fake encounters. This was severe loss of face for the State Government. Dr Sen was arrested because he had helped focus attention on these and other unlawful killings by Police and Salwa Judum.


Now Dr Binayak Sen is sentenced to Life imprisonment for helping the poor. In this 'democratic' India it is really hazardous to help the poor.



Links
My old post on Binayak Sen
The Hindu
The Lancet

Karnataka Police's attempt to intimidate media

Shahina K.K, journalist, Tehelka  has been facing harassment and intimidation from the Karnataka Police for last few weeks. A case has been registered against her at the Somawarpet Police Station (No. 199/10) and Siddhapura Police Station (No. 241/10) under Section 506 for allegedly intimidating witnesses
.
Tehelka had carried in a recent issue Shahina’s report based on interviews with two witnesses in the 2008 Bengaluru blast case. The report titled 'Why is this man still in prison? 'has raised questions over the police investigation and the arrest of People’s Democratic Party chairman Abdul Nasar Mahdani in the blast case.

Intimidation of Shahina started as soon as she reached Igoor in Karnataka's Hassan District.Here is an excerpt from her report.

ON THE morning of 16 November, I reached Igoor in Karnataka’s Hassan district, along with two translators and met KK Yoganand, one of the witnesses in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts case and a few BJP workers, including the vice-president of the panchayat. They all disclosed that, contrary to the police chargesheet, they had not seen Abdul Nasar Madani in the area.

While on our way from Hosathotta to a secret location where we had planned to meet Rafeeq, another witness, we were stopped by the police. The Circle Inspector of Hosathotta police station, despite being told that we were from the media, warned us that we are not allowed “to do such things here”.

A police vehicle tailed us for a while en route to Madikeri to ensure that we had left. After an hour, we changed vehicles and kept our appointment with Rafeeq.

On our way back, at 9.30 pm, I received a call from the Circle Inspector. The question was simple: “Are you a terrorist?” I did not know whether to laugh or cry. He then explained that the villagers were scared and suspected that we were terrorists. He wanted to confirm my identity by talking to my editor.

The next day, three Kannada newspapers — Sakthi, Prajavani and Kannada Prabha— carried a story about a “suspicious” visit by a “group of Muslims” to the place. The newspapers said that police are not sure about the identity of the woman, though she had showed a TEHELKA identity card!

Soon 2 cases were registered against the journalist.

There has been wide spread condemnation from Journalists Associations and Civil Rights activists against this move of Karnataka Police to harass journalists.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has strongly condemned the criminal proceedings launched against Tehelka reporter K.K. Shahina by the Karnataka police
“The IFJ is shocked that this fine example of investigative journalism has become the grounds for criminal prosecution of a reporter, on charges of pressuring and intimidating witnesses”, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

As working journalists, we are gravely concerned about what appears to be a clamp down on journalists doing their duty to investigate events and issues in their attempt to uncover the truth and keep the public informed. We believe the false charges framed against Shahina KK is an attempt to silence the press and to dissuade the media from delving into such matters. The trumped up charges against Shahina KK appear to be yet another instance of social profiling based on religious identity that has become all too common in recent years. We think it is imperative to uphold the right and duty of journalists to probe issues relating to human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minority communities who are accused of criminal acts, in the public interest.

By slapping charges of criminal intimidation (which carries a seven-year jail term as punishment) against a journalist the Karnataka Police has attacked the very basis of the freedom of expression, which is vital for the functioning of democracy. .

The Network of Women in Media, India,

This, we feel, is a clear case of infringement of journalistic freedom by the Karnataka police. Howsoever serious a case might be, the media has always had the freedom in this country to meet witnesses and even the prime accused to hear their versions and place them before society. It is this freedom, among many others, that has given our democracy the vibrancy that it has today. By registering a case for criminal intimidation against a journalist, the Karnataka police has cut at the very root of democratic and media freedoms in our country
Senior Journalists from Kerala

The case is not against her as an individual but it is a warning to the entire press community, women and minorities. We strongly condemn the attitude of the police to frame false charges on a reputed journalist in a nationally reputed magazine. We are aware that if the police can go to that extent, what the status of ordinary members of the minority community could be. We also condemn the tradition of some of the members of the press to repeat the false information of the police, which has very deep communal implications. We are shocked at the growing human rights violations in the name of tackling terrorism. Above all, the problems faced by Shahina is also a grave threat to freedom of expression and the incidents also warn us about the fascistic designs of the Sangh Parivar controlled Karnataka Government
Civil Rights Groups


It seems the case against Madani is flimsy and Police is aware of that. That may be the reason for  the need for intimidating the journalist who is fearlessly exposing the flimsiness of the case.

Let us hope that all this adverse publicity generated by this incident will prevent further Police intimidation of the media.

 Links
Why is this man still in prison? Shahina's article
Women in media Statement
Civil Rights Group statement