Terror Hunt in Kafkaland: The premature celebration of justice

B.R.P.Bhaskar
Open

On 29 August, the Supreme Court of India upheld Ajmal Kasab’s death sentence in the Mumbai terror case. The same day, a Gujarat court held former Minister Maya Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and 30 others guilty of murder in the Naroda Patiya case relating to the massacre of 97 persons, including 35 women and 36 children, in the worst attack on Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. All the accused got life terms.

Also on that day, the police swooped on residences in Bangalore and Hubli in Karnataka and nabbed 11 young men, including a journalist, a doctor and a defence researcher, on charges of plotting to kill pro-Hindutva politicians and journalists. More youths were taken into custody in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh later.

Kasab had his day in court as he had landed in front of ordinary cops and not elite commandos. Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad said if he had not been caught alive, he and his Pakistani associates might have passed off as Indian Muslims. They went on to say, “No Indian Muslim would even think of venting his grievance like an animal, killing, maiming and wounding innocent people, his own countrymen.”

The emphasis on the external origin of the 26/11 attacks was welcome, but did the judges not step into uncertain territory when they asserted an Indian Muslim could never be involved in a terror attack? In fact, as they were disposing of Kasab’s appeal, in another courtroom two other judges were hearing appeals filed by Indian Muslims convicted in cases related to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. Some of them had pleaded for leniency, saying they were driven by emotions generated by the 6 December 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Both Hindus and Muslims have been active on the terror track. The Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blast cases, in which the police initially implicated Muslims, turned out to be the work of Hindus. The investigative machinery appears to slow down whenever a Hindu hand is exposed. After Mumbai Police officer Hemant Karkare, who first exposed the activities of Hindu terrorists, died—ironically, at the hands of Kasab—there has been little progress in cases involving them.

In 2008, the Jammu & Kashmir Police claimed four Keralites were killed in an encounter while trying to cross into Pakistan, and identified one of them, on the basis of an ID card, as Shakeel Mohammed of Kovalam. Inquiries at Kovalam, however, showed that Shakeel Mohammed was alive and living peacefully. Two of those killed were later identified as natives of Malappuram. A full account of their terror trip is still awaited.

Information fed to the media by sources in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai about the arrest of Deccan Herald reporter Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, DRDO scientist Ejaz Mohammed Mirza, Dr Jaffar Iqbal Sholapur and others, after being tailed for four months, raises some questions about the coordinated police action in several states. First reports had said the Uttar Pradesh Police made the arrests, but the state police chief ousted them from the picture. Delhi reports said defence and nuclear establishments were on the terror radar and the Karnataka Police had recovered photographs and sketches of defence installations from them. However, the Bangalore Police said investigations so far showed their only targets were some Hindutva personalities.

Official agencies said the youths had Saudi Arabian links. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka’s statement that they had used Skype to cover their tracks suggests the police have no proof to show yet. He said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated the state on busting the terror module. Was it a mere coincidence that the chain of arrests began on the day of the Naroda Patiya judgment?

Here are a couple of gems from the police story. The persons arrested in Maharashtra had maintained contacts with the Bangalore youths through social networking sites. The person arrested in Hyderabad is a nephew of a controversial cleric he used to visit.

The terror hunt and trials in the states are reminiscent of the nightmarish experience of Josef K in Franz Kafka’s novel, The Trial. Abdul Nazzer Maudani, a 47-year-old Kerala politician, who was acquitted in the Coimbatore serial blasts case after spending more than nine years in a Tamil Nadu jail without
bail or parole, is now in a Karnataka jail in connection with blasts in Bangalore. He has already spent two years there without bail or parole. With most of the other accused in jails elsewhere in connection with other terror cases, the trial is sure to drag on for years. The police in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have lined up three more cases against him, which can keep him in prison for the rest of his life even if there is no conviction. From serial blasts to serial trials.

Lahore strike: terrorists' aim destabilisation and media attention

BEENA SARWAR
Inter Press Service

KARACHI, Mar 4 (IPS) - South Asia seems to be caught in a vortex of violence as the countries that form this region - from Sri Lanka at the southern-most tip, Bangladesh to the east, Nepal crowning the north, Pakistan along the west and India in the middle - deal with internal nightmares that their governments routinely blame on neighbours.

Wednesday’s armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the historic city of Lahore in Pakistan has sent shockwaves through a country already racked by regular suicide and other attacks.

Eight Pakistani policemen died and several were injured saving the Sri Lankan cricketers, eight of whom were wounded in the attack.

At the other end of the sub-continent, Bangladesh is still reeling from the shock of a border guards’ mutiny over pay and working conditions, resulting in soldiers massacring over 70 officers, including some of their wives.

Some analysts fear that the horrific incident might elicit copycat responses elsewhere too, where soldiers are unhappy with the tasks they are made to do.

Meanwhile, India has yet to recover from the horror of the attacks in Mumbai that claimed some 180 lives. New Delhi had, as a direct result of the attacks, called off participation of the Indian cricket team in the Pakistan tests.

Sri Lanka, in the last stages of a heavy-handed army operation against the Tamil separatists who have been fighting a guerrilla war against the state for over two decades, could hardly have imagined that its cricket team would come under fire in Pakistan, a friendly country.

Still, as the Sri Lankans told journalists after the Lahore attack, they had come here "well aware of the risks".

Analysts point out that Tamil separatists are unlikely to be responsible for the attack, given the back foot that they are operating from.

The Sri Lankan team, in Lahore for a five-day test match where they already played for the first two days, were en route from their hotel to the stadium early in the morning on Mar. 3 when the gunmen attacked.

The firing reportedly began from three directions as the van slowed down near a roundabout close to the red-brick cricket stadium. Shaky television footage showed men with guns and backpacks taking position and firing. Their first target was the police escort.

According to the van driver, one of them flung a hand grenade which rolled under the van without damaging it. He said that the cricketers flung themselves to the floor of the van as he accelerated to escape the gunfire, managing to get the bullet-riddled van with the cricketers to the stadium.

There is universal condemnation for an act which many believe is an attempt to further discredit and isolate Pakistan. Many are praying for the quick recovery of the injured cricketers who were airlifted to Sri Lanka.

"They were our guests, they came to Pakistan when most people were not willing to come," one man in Peshawar told a television journalist.

"We are a friendly and cricket-loving nation," said another passer-by. "Now no cricket team will want to play here."

The incident has more or less put paid to Pakistan’s aspirations of hosting the next World Cup in 2011, say observers.

The attackers struck at a sport that is hugely popular across South Asia, a quick throwback to a common colonial past (for all the countries except Nepal which was never under British rule), a legacy that includes the English language, administrative systems and railways.

In normal times, India and Pakistan’s cricket teams on the wicket pitch elicit responses akin to surrogate battlefields. A Pakistan-India game is referred to in parts of India as 'Qayamat' (doomsday).

Despite the keen rivalry, love of the sport is a unifier. ‘Cricket diplomacy’ has featured among the permissible people-to-people contacts that have grown immensely over the past decade or so.

"Cricket is not the bone of discord between the two countries," Gul Hameed Bhatti, group editor sports of the country’s largest media group, Jang told IPS. "Basically the problem is the tensions between both countries, and cricket becomes the casualty. This incident has thrown cricket and other sports back into the dark ages. I don’t see anyone agreeing to come and play here now."

Bhatti added that he had long "feared that this was a disaster waiting to happen because the situation in the rest of the country is so volatile. It was unrealistic to think that sportsmen could remain isolated from it’’.

Nor, say analysts, can other areas of society, like culture. In early November, explosions on the penultimate night of a major international performing arts festival in Lahore caused panic. There were no casualties although some people sustained minor injuries. Artists, foreign and local, defiantly rallied around to make the festival’s last day a resounding success.

Ironically, the festival was held in the cultural complex next to the Gaddafi cricket stadium where the Sri Lankans were headed when they were attacked.

Most people, said Bhatti, "had become complacent, thinking they would never target sportsmen."

They included Pakistani cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan who shortly after the Mumbai attacks categorically told an Indian newspaper, "There is no problem about the security of cricketers in Pakistan. The terrorists will never target cricketers knowing that they will then lose the battle of hearts and minds of the people. Cricketers are safe in Pakistan."

The audacious attack in an upmarket Lahore locality is now being compared to the Mumbai attacks, where ten gunmen targeted symbols of national strength. Police are saying that about a dozen gunmen were involved in the Lahore attacks.

Cricket is an area where Pakistan has traditionally shone as a global power with a huge fan following around the world.

Security fears have, however, massively dented enjoyment of the sport as many foreign teams have over the past years cancelled tours, including India after the Mumbai attacks that similarly cast a shadow over ‘India shining’, raising doubts about internal security.

Pakistan, already beset by multiple political problems, has for some time been facing a deadly threat from the ‘jehadi’ forces - regional players like the Taliban (from Afghanistan and Pakistan), the international al-Qaeda, and local militant outfits like the banned Laskhar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, many of whom with roots in the southern Punjab and links to Pakistan’s intelligence agencies that nurtured them during the Afghan war of the 1980s.

Following the events of 9/11, these forces have converged, to emerge as a greater threat than ever before, not just for Pakistan, but for world peace, say analysts.

Their agenda is not just to enforce what they consider to be an Islamic system, but to overrun and destabilise the state itself. Pakistanis have suffered heavily under this agenda, paying a heavy price for the policies of military rulers - who have run the country for more than half its 60 years of existence - that civilian governments have been unable to change.

These policies include cultivating ‘Islamic warriors’ to fight against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan during the 1980s, supporting the Taliban in order to create ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan (citing the threat of a hostile India on the eastern border), and using some of these elements to bleed India in the disputed region of Kashmir.

No elected government in Pakistan has ever completed its tenure. They are routinely overthrown either by the army or dismissed by various Presidents using the powers invested in that office by the military dictator Gen. Ziaul Haq who also got himself appointed as President.

The current elected government, say analysts, is the first that is actually serious about fighting the jehadi threat which it recognises as endangering the country’s very existence. "But it appears that various elements within the establishment are still bogged down in the old policies and are unwilling to give democracy a chance," said an observer.

Just as enraged Indians had "jumped on the blame Pakistan bandwagon" immediately following the Mumbai attacks of November, "some here are now blaming the Indian hand," says Bhatti.

Many see the attack on the Sri Lankan team as an attempt to take ‘revenge’ for Mumbai and an attempt to isolate Pakistan internationally.

Lt. Gen. (retd.) Hameed Gul, former head of Pakistan’s shadowy Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and a known hawk, was on television saying that "India wants to declare Pakistan a terrorist state". The attack on the Sri Lankan team, he declared, "is related to that conspiracy."

The Pakistan government itself has been more circumspect as have other analysts, including retired army officers like Maj. Gen. (retd) Jamshed Ayaz Khan who cautioned against such accusations "without a full investigation".

The Sri Lankan government’s response has been conciliatory. "Pakistan's cricket team was willing to visit our country when others weren't because of security worries," said Palitha T.B. Kohona, Sri Lanka's foreign secretary, "and his government was pleased to reciprocate. The game must not be affected by a lunatic fringe".

Ironically, media proliferation, particularly the 24/7 television news channels, has increased the intensity and probability of such dramatic high-profile attacks, say analysts. Terrorism thrives in the media spotlight which terrorists successfully attracted in Mumbai last November and now with the Lahore attack.

Ultimately, those who suffer the most after such incidents are ordinary people in India and Pakistan, say observers. The Lahore attack is bound to generate further tension between the two countries which have still not resumed the composite dialogue process stalled after the Mumbai attacks in November.

Rather than cooperating to solve a common problem, India and Pakistan remain prisoners of their hostile pasts. The ultimate winners in this game, note analysts, will only be the terrorists whose aim is destablisation and creation of tension around the world.

Copyright © 2009 IPS-Inter Press Service. Courtesy: Countercurrents.org

Eradicating terrorism: groping in the dark

RAM PUNIYANI
Countercurrents.org

The November 26 terror attack on Mumbai shook the whole nation like never before. The society and state have been putting in their best to see that measures are taken where by the terror acts don’t repeat. So traumatized has been the nation that every conceivable measure is being given a serious thought for the safety and security of society.

To begin with the condolence for the dead was expressed through number of events, candle light march, human chains, all religion prayer meetings and area networking has come up in a very visible fashion. In many of these protests the anger against politicians had a free for all expression, at places sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly the fear of Pakistan and ‘Jehadi’ terrorists has been the running thread of the protests. The misplaced call for war against Pakistan is the part of this phenomenon only. The state, the central Government in order to show that something is being done, passed a law, empowering the state as if that will deter the terrorists, who generally come with the full readiness to die. The state is blowing hot and cold, sometimes threatening war and at others talking tough and less often also saying that war is no option.

State is also reviewing the quality of bullet proof jackets, increasing airport security and the security of coast line. Civic society groups have been undertaking workshops for disaster management, a university went on to declare a two year course against terrorism. The best amongst these have been the mohalla committee initiative to cement peace between different communities.

One recalls that after most of the severe phenomenon of violence the civic society has responded with great concern earlier also. Be it the post Babri demolition Mumbai riots or the Gujarat carnage 2003, for a good bit of time socially oriented and concerned individuals and groups sprang into the relief, rehabilitation and intercommunity amity work. This time there is a lot of ferment and a part of it does hold Pakistan as the culprit of the attacks of terror. The measures taken by state though some of them welcome, the measures of civic society groups, related to intercommunity amity are very valuable. But how far will they go?

It seems that the knee jerk reaction after the phenomenon is more focused on the symptoms of the phenomenon. Tighten security, have better bullet jackets and have stringent laws. There is not much attempt to go beyond the obvious to unravel the truth of sectarian and terrorist violence. Surely sectarian violence is due to some political groups baking their bread in the divisive politics, the ground for which is prepared by the hate ideology, spread of misconceptions and distorted view of the minorities, their history, their present. So, as lot of groups and individuals correctly talk about peace, about need for amity, their attempts do not reach to the core issue of fighting against divisive politics, the attempt to unravel the truth about minorities, their present, their’ past.

The communal violence and emotive issues give more strength to the communal parties, who in turn give bigger space to their affiliates who work at cultural and religious level to increase the communal divides and weaken national integration, further paving way to still worse violence in times to come. Not only that, their intensity has been worsening every next time they are staged. Gujarat was worse than Mumbai and Orissa has been more horrific than Dangs. The trajectory of communal violence has clearly shown that all the efforts by state to curb it have been misdirected; the social initiatives have been serious but probably not hitting the target in the effective way. One means the communal congruence of right wing ideology during last three decades.

As far as terrorist attacks are concerned, the formulation that All Terrorists are Muslims has been the understanding on which policies are made and implemented. With the result that the real causes of terror are not taken up for treatment of the disease of terrorism. From 1993 onwards terror attacks have been occurring, stringent laws or other wise. The deeper injustice has been giving raison de tre' to the repetition of these attacks. Here also the attacks have been worsening, the Mumbai one being worst so far.

If we see a bit more seriously, the real causes of terrorism have not taken up for fighting against. The popular perceptions stops at Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba being the real cause obviates the need to see beyond Al Qaeda etc. It prevents us from seeing the role of US imperialism in bring them up and using these groups for US’ political-economic gains. So all anger, protest against Pakistan and accompanying factors gets major importance. One misses the point that terrorism of AL Qaeda variety has roots in US policies of control over oil resources. It is due to those policies that these groups were propped up to fight Russian armies occupying Afghanistan. One has to see beyond the obvious to realize that this type terrorism has its genesis from the deeper political designs. The indoctrination of the radical groups which began due to this policy of US can not be fought against merely by strengthening some more laws and by new set of weapons.

Pakistani society is as much a victim of this dastardly phenomenon as India is. Terrorists always are looking for the holes in security through which they operate and their biggest advantage is that they are indoctrinated to the extent that they are willing to stake their all, including their lives to do what they have been doing. On similar wave length operates the terror attacks by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and other of her group. These Hindutva warriors have also been indoctrinated into hating others for the sake of their avowed goal of Hindu Rashtra. So where do we go, what direction we give to our concerns to ensure that terror attacks do not occur.

First and foremost, all places where injustice prevails, where democracy is stifled in a shortsighted way, those places become a rich fertile ground for breeding of terrorism. The one planted by US, Al Qaeda type, needs to be fought at global level. US is to be made accountable for much of this cancer which has spread in the area. While firmly dealing with the present terror set ups, democracy also needs to be made strong in Pakistan itself. One sees the subtle difference in the utterances of democratic elements in Pakistan and the Army-ISI-Mullah combine. The global peace movement has to ensure that the United Nations comes to the fore and stops the hegemony, the imperial behavior of US in particular. No measure short of restoring UN, making US follow the wishes of global community, a more democratized United Nations will suffice. This rejuvenated UN has to take up the global issue of terrorism, and put a brake on one sided, arbitrary US policies. US war on terror, and those who go by that, need to be put on the margins and entire charge of global interventions taken up by UN.

While draconian laws are no solution to the problem, it is likely they create and intensify the problem. The mantra of ‘tighten the security’ has not yielded any success in preventing it. The core point is to see that the concerned civic society makes its stand clear, that terrorism’s roots lie in injustice on one hand and US policies on the other. We need to raise our voices against injustice and US hegemony both to see that over a period of time the terror menace is eliminated by and by.

E-Digest of Mumbai terror articles

Ram Puniyani and Shabnam Hashmi have informed that ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democvracy) has created an e-book with digest of articles on the Mumbai terror attack.

Here is a link to the E-BOOK

An Open Letter to NDTV's Barkha Dutt

By Saeed Haider

Dear Ms. Barkha Dutt:

I have always been an admirer of your objective, fearless and purposeful reporting. You are among a very few Indian journalists who rekindled my hope and trust in the Indian Fourth Estate which otherwise has lost the direction and is rather motivated by vested interest and TRPs. The 24-hour news channels have not only ignored but bypassed all journalistic norms and ethics in all kind of reporting. As a fellow journalist, in you I saw hope for India and Indian journalism.

However, you not only betrayed all my hopes but also generated a kind of nervousness and fear with your reckless comments and opinions. Yes, terrorists scared me like hell, but your reporting scared me even more because you were doing exactly what these terror outfits wanted you to do.

Being a journalist who had covered two Gulf wars (1990-91 and 2003), I am fully aware of the sensitivities and limitations of covering such events and hence I don't have any problem as far as your factual reporting is concerned. What pained and disturbed me the most was your attempt to hit the very political structure of the country. The way you tried to shape the public opinion was extremely dangerous. It was you who initiated politician-bashing. I don't think you need any kind of experience to have a clear perception of the situation. It is a basic common sense that in an event like 26/11 a reporter's prime job is to report; report sensibly and accurately and not to indulge in rhetoric and jingoism and to ignite people's sentiment. What you were doing was exactly the opposite.

You were too melodramatic, igniting people's sentiment against politicians, challenging democracy and unintentionally, or may be intentionally, preaching anarchy. Your "Enough Is Enough" catchphrase was extremely sick. It was like a clarion call for anarchism. While reporting from Nariman House you very blatantly tried to create Politicians versus Armed Forces battle. What you failed to perceive was the fact that by drawing such parallel you were forcing public opinion to opt for military dictatorship instead of democracy. It may sound a bit ludicrous but if you will see your own footage with a cool and open mind you too will reach the same conclusion.

I fully agree that India's political structure needs a drastic revamping and the country is largely a victim of corrupt, inept, insensitive and illiterate politicians. But then we all have known this for ages. We do realize that drastic changes and reforms are required. But that was not the time to initiate such hate campaign against politicians.

You quoted Narayan Murthy and Salman Rushdie congratulating you for the NDTV coverage, I am sure you don't take such comments seriously nor will they ever shape the quality of your channel's coverage. These people have limited vision and narrow approach and could not see things in totality, as you can see.

On five different occasions you compared 26/11 with Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York. You went on to say that "despite some minor wrong decisions" US succeeded in preventing terror attack. I am sure, Barkha, an astute and seasoned journalist like you know that America achieved this at the cost of hundreds and thousands of lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and the regions bordering Pakistan. It put thousands of innocent people in Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Are you professing us to become a rogue fascist state like the United States? You literally pushed India on the brink of war. Do you realize that?

Do you realize that you essentially set the tone of other media coverage of 26/11. After your style and rhetoric, overnight all major news channels like Times Now, IBN-CNN, Headlines Today, Aaj Tak and Star News, changed their tone and began bashing politicians.

Your "We the People" in the backdrop of a burning Taj was another disaster when film actress Simi Garewal made an irresponsible and pathetic remark on Pakistani flags being hoisted at every dwelling in Mumbai slums. Instead of clarifying it then and there you allowed it to pass away and only on second or third day your channel gave a one-line clarification. Don't you agree that it was an extremely irresponsible omission on your part in such a volatile situation?

Despite all these, the fact remains that you are a fine journalist and I do respect your past work but certainly your work during 26/11 did not make me proud. I am sure you will look within, do serious introspection by watching your own footage and will bounce back once again as a fearless, objective and purposeful journalist. Just be a journalist. Please don't don the mantle of a savior or a messiah.

Saeed Haider is an Indian journalist based in Saudi Arabia. He can be reached at haider.saeed@gmail.com.

Poor policing is an obstacle to human rights in India

The following is a statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission:

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on India. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-011-2008-India_AHRR2008.pdf.

Yesterday, the government of India released the pictures of eight suspects who were killed in the Mumbai terrorist attack. Today, India along with the rest of the world celebrates the International Human Rights Day. The Mumbai terrorist attack that killed 171 persons is a reminder of the condition of India's security apparatus, which includes the country's policing system. In a country where a child can be abducted for a ransom as small as Rupees 100 [2 USD], the inability to prevent a well planned and executed terrorist strike is no surprise.

Anyone who know India will agree that the state of policing in the country is in an appalling condition. The police is one of the essential state agency that is required for a justice system to function properly. Poor policing results in the lack of security, defective crime investigation and finally in the denial of justice. Protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights is impossible without an adequately functioning justice mechanism.

Serious human rights issues like the denial of the right to food, caste based discrimination, custodial torture, religious intolerance, child trafficking and extra-judicial executions continue unabated in the country due to poor policing. Each of these human rights concerns to be brought under control require proper crime investigation and an effective prosecution. Defects in investigation cannot be cured at the stage of prosecution.

The general public in India conceive the police force as one of the most corrupt government agencies. The public perception of police is that of fear. The impunity enjoyed by the police officers and the wide-spread use of custodial torture has created a huge gap of mutual mistrust between the police and the ordinary public. Bridging this divide require an enormous and conscious effort, from the police, administration and the people.

Often Indians are expected to believe that the relatively better functioning components of the justice delivery mechanism like the judiciary will step in to fill the gap generated by poor policing. Unfortunately, neither in practice nor in theory such a substitution will render any conceivable result. The ineffectiveness of the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court of India at the grass-root level is a good example to substantiate this.

Violation of fundamental human rights creates demoralisation, which affects the victim as well the person who violates the right. In India, it is the police force that is often exploited by the politicians and the rich for violating the fundamental rights of the ordinary people. The police reciprocate this exploitative regime by allowing them to be misused, so that the police officers remain unaccountable for their acts and can continue with their corrupt means.

The incapacity of the administration to guarantee the right to food, a non-derogable and fundamental human right that has placed India even below the standards achieved by some sub-Saharan countries is one example that demonstrates how the failure in policing results is serious human rights violation. In rural India, where the food subsides mean the difference between life and death from starvation, rationed food articles never reach those who are in need. The Public Food Distribution System (PDS) in India is plagued with corruption. Corruption in the PDS is a crime according to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Yet, hardly anyone is convicted under this law. The police officers who are deputed to investigate this crime are bribed by corrupt PDS shop licences not only to cover-up corruption with shoddy investigation, but also to threaten the complainants so that no further complaints are made.

Caste based discrimination is a crime in India. It was expected that caste based discrimination will be considerably reduced after the enactment of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. 20 years since the enactment, there has been no notable decrease in the caste based atrocities committed against the Dalit communities in the country. Caste based discrimination, one of the worst forms of human rights violation, continue unabated in India due to the failure in investigating and prosecuting those who violate this law.

The paucity of the police, wide-spread use of custodial torture and its unwillingness and inability to investigate crimes is not merely the fault of the police force alone. No government in India in the past 62 years have given priority for improving the condition of policing in the country. Politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats have in fact avoided to address this issue thus far. The reasons are obvious from the fact that an alarming proportion of Indian legislators are individuals facing criminal charges like murder, rape, arson and drug-trafficking.

62 years after independence India still is the breading ground for human rights violations. The government of India by this time has shifted from a defensive and denial mode to an offensive and oppressor mode against those who speak for the voiceless – the human rights activists. Once again, police is used to fabricate charges, threaten and also murder human rights activists and journalists who report cases of human rights violations in the country. The murder of human rights activists and an almost total prohibition of free media in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states like Manipur and Assam are examples of this phenomena. In this aspect, India is also a bad model in the region, particularly for encouraging its immediate neighbors like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, where similar intolerance against human rights defenders and the free media is the norm.

December 10, will be like any other day for the average Indian. No improvement in the living conditions will be expected by anyone in India since experience tells them that the government was not concerned about it so far and today cannot be different. As for the Mumbai terrorist attack, the politicians of the country are spending their time to device novel ways to make use of the incident for political gain aiming at the forthcoming national election. Indian administration on the other hand is doing its best in what it is good at - to continue the rhetoric that India is a democracy.

The AHRC is publishing its 2008 annual human rights report on India. A pre-publication version of the report can be downloaded at http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2008/AHRC-SPR-011-2008-India_AHRR2008.pdf.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Hotel Taj: icon of whose India?

By GNANI SANKARAN
Openspace.org.in

Watching at least four English news channels, surfing from one to another, during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India. Whose India, Whose Icon ?

It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with the Marathis and Kolis

But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise the thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No Barkha Dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show us the damaged furniture and reception lobby, braving the guards. And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital to find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they were again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of the dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.

In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at CST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60 hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail what transpired there.

The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis of India surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Trident closing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to them was the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack. Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Nariman House.
The so-called justification for the hype the channels built around heritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site) is that Hotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded power over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold Café and Taj were the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles over sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists), political brokers and industrialists.It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people, that the terrorists chose to strike.

The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam Aadmi will never break down even if you bomb the markets and trains. He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can even survive.

Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channels and their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, said Pranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same sentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right-wing of the broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of oneupmanship over TRPs? They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the government in tackling terror.

The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trains and markets, killing and maiming Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the ordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or manufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now to protect their private spas and swimming pools and bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by their own ideologies.

The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as the middle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights only during emergency, a cool 28 years after independence. And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whip at times of terrorism. Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those champions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terrorism. Well, the counter-question would be: where were you when such officers were violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24-hour non-stop coverage of violence against Dalits and Adivasis of this country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extra legal and third-degree methods of interrogation of police and army but Arnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire uniformed services.

The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down dying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its nationals here.
Khakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the mistake of traveling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in management that the top brass should never travel together in crisis. The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-through cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.

Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at his and government's disposal? Are satelite pictures only available for terrorists and not the government agencies ? In an operation known to consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved the efficiency of execution.

Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But the Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not raise any question about any of these issues. They after all have their favourite whipping boy - the politician the eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.

Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Manmohan Singh and Advani visiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channels pool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity and share the sound and visual bytes which could mean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge human resource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keep harping every five minutes that this piece of information was exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politician promoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And the duty of the politican is to do politics, his politics. It is for the people to evaluate that politics. And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means.

To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice of politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and improvement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. And the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to do business with.

Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths are not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at CST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill for their masters.

Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all the channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been constantly asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours, must apologize for not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Your obsession with five-star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print media please. No channel bothered. Only Srinivasan Jain replied: you are right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.

Gnani Sankaran is a Tamil writer based in Chennai

Media falls in the old trap

By BEENA SARWAR
The Dawn

The Mumbai nightmare has plunged the media in India and Pakistan into the dangerous, old trap in which nationalism trumps responsible reporting. This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it restricted to India and Pakistan.

American journalists fell into this trap after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on Sept 11, 2001. They were vigorously criticised for their unquestioning over-reliance on the security establishment for information. The security establishment, with its blinkered security paradigm, fed them false information that prepared the ground for the Iraq invasion and the Afghanistan bombing.

As part of society, journalists may find it difficult to step back and see the larger picture, especially when their countries are under attack. Responsible reporting and commentary require recognising this fallibility. There is no such thing as objective journalism. All journalists have their own world views and political baggage but at least we can aspire to be fair — to our subjects, to our audiences, and perhaps to our common humanity rather than national identities."Media manipulation is less an issue of overt censorship than an internalisation of myths and mindsets," commented Rita Manchanda, summing up a radical critique of the mass media by Indian and Pakistani journalists (`Reporting conflict', South Asia Forum for Human Rights, May 2001).

If the Indian media tends to be nationalistic and trusting in its government (which Pakistan government representatives often ask the more cynical Pakistanis to emulate), the Pakistani media has clearly demarcated no-go areas. As the veteran Peshawar-based journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai said at the consultation, "Pakistani journalists never had the opportunity to professionally cover the 1965 or 1971 wars or the Rann of Kutch or Kargil conflicts." Add the conflicts in Balochistan and the northern areas to that list since then.

The Babri Masjid demolition, the nuclear tests and the Kargil conflict all fed jingoism and jingoistic reporting on both sides. Sometimes journalists are culpable more by omission than commission, ignoring or playing down certain aspects or not asking crucial questions.

Take the festering issue of prisoners. The young Indian fisherman Lakshman who died in a Karachi jail on March 10, 2008 received scant mention in the Pakistani media. The body of a Pakistani prisoner Khalid Mehmood who died in an Indian prison, sent home around the same time, made front-page news, with many journalists accusing the Indians of torture.

Prison conditions and how the police treat prisoners in both countries are no secret. It is not that we treat Indian prisoners well, while they viciously torture Pakistanis. Sometimes a prisoner's death results not from outright torture but illness arising from neglect — poor living conditions in a hostile environment, extreme temperatures, lack of medical attention, all compounded by lack of contact with loved ones back home.

When the Maharashtra government stopped two Pakistani artists from continuing their work in Mumbai, TV reporters here got sound bites from passers-by who condemned the action. The reporter did not ask, and nor did the respondents bring up, the question of what would have happened had the situation been reversed — would Indians have been allowed to continue working here in the aftermath of such an attack, in which the attackers were widely believed to have links with India?

Similarly, talk show hosts let hawkish talk go unchallenged. In one recent instance, a retired army general referred to India as Pakistan's dushman mulk (enemy country). They invite more balanced commentators also but give them get far less time and space. Channels play up Mahesh Butt's criticism of the Indian media but, as the analyst Foqia Sadiq Khan asks, would they quote someone from Pakistan criticising the Pakistani media? "They quote Shabana Azmi ad nauseum that she couldn't find a flat in Bombay being a Muslim, but not on her opinion of fundamentalism."

Media might have brought the people closer but when nationalism rears its head, the beast of 24-hour television news also fuels conflict. This is where the commercial aspect comes in. When something big happens, the public seeks answers. The channels which cater to this need improve their ratings. Sensation sells. With viewers glued to the screens, channels keep them there with a continuous virtual reality show. They fill the time with speculative commentary, `expert' guests and whatever footage is available. Sometimes such footage is repeated ad nauseum — like when the Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11, when the Marriott hotel was attacked, when the FIA building in Lahore was struck.

Even when nothing big is happening, information is packaged in an exciting way in order to attract attention. This often means playing up bad news and downplaying good news. TV channels continuously showed the scene of the blasts that rocked the World Performing Arts Festival in Lahore on its second-last day, injuring two people. They did not give the artists who defied fear and went ahead on the last day the same kind of attention.

When Zardari was sworn in as president, a breaking news ticker reported: "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulates Zardari". Breaking news? At least it was true. In the rush to be the first, channels often misreport.

The Mumbai nightmare provided several examples, as Kalpana Sharma documents in her critique of the Indian media's coverage of the first 60 hours, `Unpacking the pixel' in Tehelka. She concludes, "it is essential that reporters be trained to handle such extraordinary situations, that they learn the importance of restraint and cross- checking…. Professionalism and accuracy will ensure that we don't contribute to prejudice and panic."

Some Indian channels are running the Pakistan factor like a movie trailer, complete with sound effects and watch-for-the-next-episode commentary. This obviously fuels Pakistani indignation. However, this indignation could be tempered by being less reactive and empathising with the Indians' pain and grief that many Pakistanis share. Zealous commentators could also recall the times that their own media houses sensationalised an issue.

Journalists may argue that they are just the messenger, reflecting official or public opinion. But the media must also question, and get people to think. The stakes are high in our nuclear-armed countries, in a post-9/11 world where the major players include armed and trained men around the world who subscribe to the ideology of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

As President Asif Ali Zardari said, even if elements within Pakistan were involved it is these same elements that the Pakistan government is fighting. So how much sense does it make to push the Pakistan government in a corner and divert its attention from fighting these elements?

Ms. Beena Sarwar is a well-known Pakistani journalist.

TV blabbering is not journalism: Lessons from the live coverage

By B.R.P.BHASKAR -
Comment
Indo-Asian News Service

News channel bosses must be patting themselves on the back on their marathon terror coverage. For three days they had treated the viewers to live coverage of the multiple terror strikes in Mumbai. In doing so, they probably set a record in television history.

As the terrorists delivered the heaviest blow yet on the country, the 24×7 news channels rose to the occasion. They took the nation’s attention off everything else so that it could concentrate fully on the mayhem in Mumbai. What more could the
terrorists have asked for?

With the terrorists operating simultaneously on several fronts, there was plenty to do and the channels rushed their best talents and possibly additional equipment to Mumbai to augment the resources available locally. Cameras were deployed on all war fronts and they instantly brought into drawing rooms (or wherever else the TV sets were) the sights and sounds that they picked up. The reporters kept up an incessant flow of words, either on their own or in response to questions posed by anchors sitting in the studios. Their labour earned handsome rewards in terms of TRP ratings, and that certainly is reason enough to celebrate.

TRP is not a measure of professional performance. It is, therefore, to be hoped that when the euphoric mood wears out, the media bosses will make an effort to objectively assess their performance in strictly professional terms.

At an early stage in the live coverage, the cameras picked up the image of a gun-wielding young man, warily watching the surroundings. The reporter and the anchor helpfully informed the viewers that they did not know whether he was a terrorist or a commando!

On the second day, while all eyes were on the Taj, the Oberoi and Nariman House, the channels ‘broke’ news of fresh gunfire at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, where terrorists had mowed down scores of passengers the previous day. One anchor, with his superior knowledge of the topography of Bori Bunder, explained to viewers that it was an area with many buildings and that he was not able to state whether the shooting took place in the rail terminus or some other building near by.
Actually, at that point, his channel was scrolling a headline which said the shooting was on Platform No.8 of CST.

At that very point, on another channel, a reporter was informing viewers that the shooting was on Platforms No. 14 and No. 15, from where long distance trains leave.
Later in the day the Indian Railways denied there had been any firing at the station on that day.

In the coverage of a running story, unfolding itself simultaneously at different locations, inaccurate information creeping in is not entirely unusual. However, in this instance, there is reason to suspect that reporters, eager to break news, had gone on air without waiting for confirmation from either the police or the railways, the two sources that could be relied upon for information about a shooting incident in a railway station.

On the third day, as the Taj nightmare was drawing to a close, the anchor and reporter of a channel were engaged in a heroic effort to make sense out of sounds emerging from the hotel. According to the National Security Guard, a lone terrorist was still holding out inside the hotel at the time. The reporter, crouching on the ground, drew the viewers’ attention to gunfire. The anchor asked from which floor it was coming. “First floor,” said the reporter. More explosions followed. When the seventh explosion was reported, the anchor asked where it was coming from, the same floor or somewhere else. The reporter said this one appeared to be from the ground floor. The two then speculated on the possibility of the lone terrorist moving from one floor to another as though his precise location was a crucial matter.

Like the national channels, CNN and BBC also provided extended live coverage of the terror strike. Since they did not have their own cameras at the scenes of action, they turned to the Indian channels for visuals. While the CNN drew visuals from its local partner CNN-IBN, BBC picked feeds from the Hindi channels. However, the words the viewers heard were their own. There was no meaningless chatter by the anchors and correspondents. There was no speculation either. Instead, there were reports which bore the imprint of professional journalists.

Live television has opened up new possibilities. The marathon Mumbai terror coverage has shown that Indian news channels have yet to learn how to make effective use of the facility that technology has put at their disposal. They must realize that the media’s job is to gather and disseminate information. Seeing is not knowing, much less understanding. The sights and sounds the switched-on camera picks up have to be made intelligible to the viewers. Blabbering by anchors and reporters, howsoever entertaining, is not an adequate substitute for professional reporting.

Terrorism and the 'War On Terrorism'

By Dr Shabir Choudhry
Countercurrents.org

Terrorist action in Mumbai has once again shaken the world. World public opinion is united in the demand that menace of terrorism must be defeated; and those behind terrorist organisations must be punished. However opinion is divided as to what is the best method to eliminate or at least contain terrorism.

No matter how absurd they are, conspiracy theorists are busy churning out many possible culprits. Pakistani groups and officials are busy trying to find contradictions in the Indian news stories about the whole tragedy and trying to prove that it was done by the Hindu extremists. Some of these theorists even claim that the government of India could have hand in it as they wanted an excuse to 'attack Pakistan' and also 'influence forthcoming elections in India'

Other Pakistani conspiracy theorists say that CIA or Mossad could be behind this, as they want to twist hands of Pakistan to get more concessions on the war on terrorism. Although there is no conclusive evidence as yet to prove who was behind this heinous crime, but on the bases of available indications the international public opinion believes it was Lashkar E Tayba; and noose is getting tighter; but it remains to be seen around whose neck it would be tightened – LeT or government of Pakistan by creating a link between LeT and the ISI - Pakistan's elite secret agency.
Like Taliban, Lashkar E Tayba (army of the pure) was also set up by the Pakistani secret agency, ISI. Whereas the Taliban were assigned the task of toppling the Afghan government and create a friendly government in Kabul that Pakistan could have 'strategic depth' in case of a war with its arch rival India; the LeT was assigned tasks in Jammu and Kashmir and India to fight as a 'proxy war' 'in the contested territory of Kashmir, part of a decades-old strategy by the militarily weaker Pakistan to 'bleed' its bigger rival'.

Apart from LeT another militant group - Jaish-e-Mohammed was also set up to carry out militant actions in Jammu and Kashmir; and both are very oganised and well financed. The JeM is accused of being responsible for many brutal attacks, including the murder of Jewish American journalist Daniel Pearl. It is believed that both of these groups have close working relationship with Taliban and Alaqaaeda. Both groups believe that it is their religious duty to fight in Afghanistan and in Jammu and Kashmir; and to continue their struggle against enemies of Islam whereever they might be.

This terrorist action has not only caused death and destruction but has also provided an opportunity to extremists on both sides of the border to fan coomunalism and hatred which could throw spanner in the peace process and confidence building measures. This strategy of extremists must be checked as it could result in more violence in both countries; and could possibly drive the both countries to a war. A war which none of them want and in which tens of thousands of innocent lives could perish; and moreover which could possibly change politics and geography of the region.

The relationship between the ISI and these terrorist groups came under tremendous strain becaue of the tragic events of 9/11, and Pakistan's involvement in the war on terrorism. These groups were also accused of carrying out high target attacks in India and pressure was that they should be disbanded. Pakistani government for obvious reasons was reluctant to rein in on these groups but when there were attacks on General Musharaf, the government had no choice but to take some action against them.

These groups were seen as great strategic and military asset, as they helped to advance the cause of Pakistani secret agencies, which was not necessarily in the national interest of Pakistan and stability of Pakistan. True these groups were set up, trained and financed by Pakistani agencies; but with time they developed their own ideology, separate agenda, separate recruiting and training starategies with their own command and control system.

When Paksitan joined war on terrorism they developed closer ties with Taliban and Alqaeeda; and when they came under pressure from the Pakistani authorities their relationship with them strengthened. It is also believed that some disgruntled operatives of ISI, who disagreed with policies of Musharaf government collaborated with these groups.

Nicholas D. Kristof, columnist of The Times is of the view that ISI had longstanding links with JeM and LeT, but these links were cut back after pressure from Washington. However 'Pakistan never really cracked down and put either group out of business as it could have… 'The Pakistani security forces have always tended to see militants as tools to be used in India or Afghanistan, rather than as threats to stability'.

As a result of some pressure from Pakistani government these groups lowered their profile, but they were not out of 'business' and it is possible that they could have been activated to carry out this task. However it is unimaginable that the government of Pakistan which is facing very serious challenges, including acute economic and security challenges could even think of doing anything like that, especially when they have declared to establish more friendly relations with India.
Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, a leader of Pakistani Peoples Party in current affairs TV programme 'Aaj Kal' openly said, 'those forces are behind this act who were responsible for sabotaging the peace process by doing Kargil in 1999, and who wanted to undermine Nawaz Sharif government'. He said now that the 'Zardari government wanted to strengthen the peace process by forging closer ties and signing deals with India those forces have done it again'.

Whether guilty or innocent the government of Pakistan has to face the consequences of this attack. War mongers and hate preachers have their own agenda which is not in the interest of ordinary people, and which is also not in interest of both countries. It is therefore imperative that common sense prevails and power and influence of those who say India is 'under attack'; and that nation is 'at war' is contained.

American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan; and Pakistani experience in FATA and in parts of North West Frontier shows that terrorism could not be eliminated by use of force alone, because violence breeds more violence and this cycle of violence has snow ball affect. India and Pakistan cannot change their geography – they both have to live in the same region and it is in the interest of both that they live as good neighbours. They should avoid falling in to trap of these terrorists and continue with their peace process and confidence building measures.

Among much hype and rhetoric one sane voice emerged in Times of India. Gautam Adhikari in his article 'Save Pakistan To Save Us All' argues that people of Pakistan are not problem, the problem is economic instability and Islamic extremism, which ISI and the army use to advance their plans. He says Pakistan needs to be helped and supported that there could be economically stable and viable Pakistan.
He further says: 'Stabilising Pakistan which means genuinely democratising its polity and helping its economy grow back to a sustainable level of prosperity in the medium term will help ensure a viable future for the nation and its people, thereby beating the menace of Islamist extremism that provides ideological energy for jihadi terror'.

In his opinion weak and unstable Pakistan is dangerous to every one; after all it is a nuclear country with a large army and weak political institutions. Economic and political instability will empower forces of extremism and hatred, giving further rise to terrorism, hence destabilising the whole region.

It is in the interest of Pakistan's neighbours and the world at large that there is democratic, stable and friendly Pakistan; rather than unstable, extremist and unfriendly Pakistan. Use of force against Pakistan or leaving it alone to put up with challenges of terrorism, extremism and economy will not help the matters, if anything it will help the extremists to takeover the politcial and national agenda.
True both countries have many unresolved issues, which could only be resolved by a process of dialogue. Both countries were in competition in Jammu and Kashmir and in many other fields; and now new dimension has been added and a new frontier has been included – and that is to increase their influence in a war torn Afghanistan, which further complicates the matters.

If common sense prevails and both countries are not influenced by domestic pressures and immediate political gains, then they can avoid further escalation; and work out a mechanism to jointly fight forces of extremism and terrorism. If on the other hand they give in to pressures then some kind of show down could take place early next year – probably February and March of next year with devastating consequences.

The writer is a Spokesman of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs. Email: drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com

Playing 'Super cop' is no solution to terrorist threat, says AHRC

The following is a statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong:

The Mumbai terrorist attack was one more occasion for the Indian politicians to call for calm, peace and national unity. Political parties like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) convened a special Politburo session and repeated the rhetoric, in addition to demanding that the Government of India approach the UN Security Council. The Hindu fundamentalists like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made use of the incident to stir up further anti-Pakistan, essentially anti-Muslim, sentiments.
The Union Home Minister Mr. Shivraj V Patil resigned. The Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh convened urgent meetings with high-ranking officers, ministers and defence chiefs. The meeting decided to speed-up the formation of a Federal Investigation Agency and to set up four new centres of the National Security Guards (NSG) in the country.

The final word was that of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress. Mrs. Gandhi gave the ultimatum that her party will tolerate no more terrorism and called upon the Indians to eradicate it from the country. The question is whether the Government of India has any responsibility to prevent such incidents, or whether the people has to embark upon justice delivery themselves?

Among many other things, the Mumbai terrorist attack serves as the latest reminder of the condition of the law and order apparatus in the country, and of the police in particular. As stated after many other former incidents of similar nature, India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), claimed that it had passed over information to the Maharashtra State Police well in advance that a terrorist attack on the city was very likely. The RAW further put the blame upon the local police for its lack of preparedness.

The fact remains that the Maharashtra State Police, like any other state police force in the country, can hardly do anything to avert these incidents. The state of policing in the country is in such demise that it has completely severed its contact with the people. Most police officers contact the members of the public only to demand bribes. Corruption in the police service is at such levels that even in order to lodge a complaint the complainant has to pay a bribe.

Police brutality is so rampant in the country that the sight of a police uniform is enough to scare an ordinary person, particularly among the poor population. Information, independent of its nature, has to be forced out of the ordinary people. Information obtained under the threat of violence is tainted and cannot be acted upon. Terrorists are different from the ordinary people in the sense that they have money, better training and equipment at their disposal to achieve their goals. They can bribe the police and are in fact doing so.

A month ago, some suspects taken into custody from the state of Kerala on the accusation that they were recruiting youngsters from the northern districts of the state for terrorist activities in north India and abroad, claimed that so far their operation went without any hindrance because they were able to bribe some police officers in the state. In fact many officers in the Kerala state police had no clue that terrorist recruitment cells were in full swing in the state until the identity cards of some terrorists who were recently killed in the state of Kashmir were recovered from their personal belongings. The identity documents were issued in Kerala pinpointing their residential address in the state.

To expect an ordinary Indian to approach the local police with information is an impossibility in the country. An example is the statements made by the parents who lost their children in the infamous 2006 December Noida serial murder case. The case began after the recovery of the skeletal remains of missing children in Nithari village in the outskirts of Noida city close to New Delhi.

The investigation of the case relieved that when the parents approached the Noida police to lodge complaints about their missing children, the police refused to register their complaints. When the parents persisted, they were chased away by the police with the threat that if they returned false cases would be registered against them accusing them of selling their children. The parents went away from the police station, since they were poor and could not afford to pay bribes to the police to get their complaints registered. An administration that expects the ordinary public to freely approach the local police with information is consciously ignoring the reality.

The public mistrust in the local police is not the result of an overnight incident. It is the crystallization of years of experience. Without drastic changes in policing, this mistrust will not only continue, but will increase. Every incident of police failure brought to the people's attention will further isolate the police from the people. A law enforcement agency which lacks the trust of the people cannot maintain law and order. An officer who serves in such a police force essentially suffers from demoralisation.

No government, state or central, that has governed the country has ever tried to address the deep-rooted problems of policing, and thereby the law and order in India. Politicians across the board use the police for their short-term political interests. The police reciprocate their affinity to the people in power by letting them to be exploited.

Today in India, the police serve the rich and the powerful. The police is a demoralised state agency that lacks the hope of improving their own condition. A police force that cannot investigate a petty crime efficiently cannot prevent terrorism, it can only promote it.

The Mumbai incident like many other former incidents will soon be forgotten. Those who will remember it are those who lost their loved ones. But unfortunately they do not have the political or financial clout to influence the policy makers in India.
The windfall of the Mumbai incident for the Government of India is evident. The Federal Investigation Agency will soon be formed. They will also assume the role of a 'super cop'. The super cop and the Agency he represent will be an additional reason for the ordinary policeman for further demoralisation. India does not need a super cop. It rather requires a normal and people-friendly police force.

Otherwise people will increasingly start taking things in their own hands. One need not look very far to see examples of this. The day before yesterday, in Khatoli town of Muzzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh state, a person was lynched by the public for suspected theft. In 2008 there were more than a dozen cases of public lynchings reported in India. Hence, people have started taking things in their own hands long before Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's request. There is no doubt that the Indians are united – in their distrust of the police and the politicians.

The national media and the civil society groups in the country have a greater responsibility in this juncture. If the media and the civil society groups in the country try to reflect more of the people's voice than vested interests, there is an increased possibility for these institutions to in fact persuade policy makers and politicians to meet the people's demand. The relatively lesser degree of impartiality and openness of the media and the civil society in India are the two serious impediments that prevent these institutions from reaching out to the people.
On this front they somewhat equate themselves with the Indian police.

The Government of India is likely to initiate farcical policies on the pretext of countering terrorism in the country without addressing the deep-rooted problems in policing. The continuation of these policies also means the failure of the media and the civil society organisations in the country. It will be a n unfortunate reflection of their lack of understanding of the realities at the grass roots.

# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Live Blogging of Mumbai terror attack

By Neelanjana Banerjee
News Roundup
New America Media

Editor's Note: South Asian bloggers covered the Mumbai attacks in real time and continue to analyze them now. Neelanjana Banerjee is an editor for New America Media.


SAN FRANCISCO -- While reporters covered Mumbai’s terrorist attacks from outside the smoking Taj Hotel last week, South Asian bloggers the world over logged on to voice their fears, post their near brushes with death and offer their own analysis of the story.

On Nov. 27th, Rahul of Green Channel wrote a post simply titled “Nightmares” where he detailed his own close brush with survivors of the attack.

“I was there with my pregnant wife and friends, stepping out of Gordon House after considering a meal, when a wave of people, crying, running, looking disoriented, swept onto our lane from Colaba Causeway and the Taj. One boy draped a coat around his inconsolable partner. She hunched, her face planted firmly in her palms. The boy looked behind nervously, and quickened his pace. I ran to them to ask what happened. ‘There’s been a shootout,’ he said, walking on. Behind them, the crowd that began streaming into this lane grew seriously thick. I turned tail and ran indoors. All night long we stayed awake, hearing the muffled rumble of exploding grenades from two streets away. Sometimes we would hush each other and look around, our eyes asking, ‘Was that another…?’ ”

Pickled Politics, a British group blog focused on South Asian issues, gave updates debunking media hunches, like the idea that some of the attackers might be British Pakistanis.

“The front page of today’s Evening Standard loudly asserts that some of the terrorists were from Leeds and surrounding areas. At this point nothing is certain because there is a constant stream of conflicting reports from India. Media orgs there are jumping on anything anyone says, so take it with a bucket of salt. The Indian government pretty much makes it near impossible for British Pakistanis to get a visa there, whether on business or for pleasure. If Pakistanis want to travel, they not only have to register where they’re going to be staying but also have visas only for specific cities rather than the country. And even then, they’re watched by the police. I’m not even exaggerating. The only way a British Pakistani terrorist would have gotten to India is by smuggling on to a boat going from Karachi to Mumbai,” blogger Sunny wrote on Nov. 28th.

On India Uncut, Mumbai-based blogger Amit Varma lauded the bravery of the local law enforcement, even though he acknowledges they were ill-equipped.

“For decades now, we’ve taken it for granted that our army is better equipped and trained than our police. Our army defends our country from outside attack; our police looks after local law and order, which demands less of them. But it’s become clear now that that old paradigm has changed. As long as we are threatened by terrorists, we will remain in a state of suspended war, and we need to invest in bringing our cops up to date with urban warfare, in terms of both training and equipment. The heroism they have displayed in the last two days makes it clear that our police can match the best forces in the world in terms of valor and spirit. But it’s time now to back them up so that if terrorists attack Mumbai again, we won’t need to call in the army.”

Meanwhile, South Asian American superblog Sepia Mutiny pointed their readers away from television news coverage of the attacks, with their “endlessly repeating video loops and paid talking heads,” and suggested logging on to Twitter or the Mumbai attacks wiki page for up-to-date information. But “ugly” comments lead to admonishing and the closing of discussion by moderators.

“Use the comments to post informational facts or words of sympathy only. Right now is not the time for recriminations,” blogger Abhi wrote on the 27th.

Still, high emotions were unavoidable for many, like in this UberDesi post by blogger Runa, titled “In the Aftermath”:

“I have spent an entire Thanksgiving weekend glued to the television and to Indian TV channels online watching the coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It was difficult for anyone to watch the senseless carnage and the massacre of innocents. For those of us who had a relationship with Mumbai, it was even more so. The Taj, the Oberoi and Cafe Leopold were well-loved landmarks. When I was growing up, the Taj and the Oberoi represented aspirational objectives – someday I wanted to earn enough to afford to have a complete meal at the restaurants in those hotels. We satisfied ourselves by having an occasional cup of coffee at the coffee shops for the outrageous sum of Rs.35 and felt the impacts on our student budgets for days after; yet we felt it was worth it to be able to say that we went to the Taj or the Oberoi. NDTV showed the remanants of the Taj today – the reporters voice cracking with emotion as the camera panned shards of broken glass, shattered windows and soot-stained walls.

"Like the common man being interviewed on numerous channels, the overwhelming emotion I feel is raw anger. Anger at a world in which religion and dogma cause humans to plot, plan and execute murderous rampages. Anger at the Indian government which has allowed this to happen to Mumbai again and again. Anger that the Indian police and military forces have to put their lives at line with one hand tied behind their backs due to the political interference that dogs every institution in India. Anger that the attacks at the Taj and the Oberoi received all the International media attention while the attacks at the CST (Chahatrapati Shivai Terminus formerly VT) which killed so many poor and indigent people were barely mentioned in passing. Anger, impotent rage, that all we can do is hold candlelight vigils and pray for the dead while the dance of destruction continues unchecked because there is no political will to end the cancer of terrorism through action not talk. Anger at myself because I find myself thinking hateful thoughts and wanting blood for blood though my rational mind knows better. Because when someone is standing outside your home and yelling at you, it’s easy to turn the other cheek. But when someone enters your home and slaps you right across the face – you want to scream and yell and beat them senseless. I am not proud of the way I feel right now and I need to take a breath and go away a little while and think about all this. One thing is clear – this cannot go on. Something has to change. We have to do something – but what?”

After the dust settled and the bodies were counted, Indian bloggers were able to weigh in on the bigger picture. Bengali blogger GreatBong – winner of the Indiblog of the Year award in 2006 – analyzed India’s terror policies after the attacks, which he dubbed "26/11" in comparison to 9/11.

“If any good has come out of 26/11 it has been the government’s announcement in principle to have a federal agency on terror (though I believe that similar ideas have been floated before and then consigned to the dustheap of public memory). Now, the only thing that remains to be seen is how this federal agency is staffed, what kind of counter-terrorism equipment provided, how much political interference the agency has to put with and the extent to which the powers provided to this agency will be misused to settle personal scores and spy on political opponents. The most important thing in the way forward is how India handles the issue of Pakistan and its role in 26/11. The wrong way to go about things is to get into a press battle with Pakistan by making public statements hinting at having conclusive proof of “foreign involvement” and leaving it at that. Unfortunately, this is exactly what India has done. To be honest, India will always find it tough to win the international media war despite being the victim because 1) the Indian government does not invest in lobbying as much as Pakistan does. Which is why you will see Pakistani diplomats on CNN and not their Indian counterparts and 2) Indian expatriates, despite being a wealthy constituent of US society and a significant source of campaign cash for both parties, lack the patriotic enthusiasm of the Cuban or the Chinese diaspora when it comes to using their financial might for the homeland.”

While the IndiaTime blog writes about “What India Can Learn from Israel,” connecting the Mumbai terror attacks to similar attacks that were carried out by militants who sailed a small boat to the shores of a coastal city in Israel in 1979.

“Last week, more than a dozen muslim militants sailed in their motorized rubber boats reaching the Sassoon dock in Mumbai, India’s biggest coastal city. Like the PLF militants, they too, followed a handbook written by their mentors from the port of origin. They too, killed police officers, and killed indiscriminately at innocent civilians. And what did the home minister of the state had to say about that? “…in big cities like, such small incidents do happen..”, said RR Patil alias Aba, as he is affectionately called by his stupid followers. Here in India, we do not give a hoot about an individual life, alive or dead. Indian prisoners have been rotting in Pakistani jails for decades, but India does not have give a hoot. India’s most wanted have been celebrating a luxurious life in Karachi’s poshest suburbs, but India does not have the guts to influence an exchange. Forty years ago, an Indian prime minister went to Russia to meet with his Pakistani counterpart and came back home in a coffin. We did not bother to raise a stink. Every day, thousands die in India. Some with dignity. Some without dignity. Some mysteriously. Some openly. Some at the hands of gangsters and some at the hands of the police. Some at the hands of their husbands or in-laws. Some at the hands of their doctors. Some at their own hands, full of despair. Death tolls in dozens and hundreds means nothing for us. If it is in thousands, maybe the news is worth a glance. Tens of thousands and you have a fair shot at our attention. I don’t know if there is a health study out there that has measured the thickness of skins in people from different countries. I am willing to bet that India’s residents will probably have the thickest skins, with our politicians topping the study with several feet of skin thickness catalyzed by wads of cash in their pockets. So why even bother about those Israeli fools? Emptying their banks for dead bodies of their soldiers and citizens! Ha! We Indians are way too smarter than that."