The Chief Minister,
Maharashtra
Dear Mr Ashok Chavan,
Every society gives enough warning signals before turning totally anti democratic and fascist in nature. If we go back in history we will find that even in fascist Germany the first attack came on the freedom of expression of artists and intellectuals. It is very natural as the struggle for peace, democracy, secular thought, justice and communal harmony is waged by sensitive and creative people. The dream of an equal and just society has always been projected by either the mass movements of ordinary poor and marginalized people, secular political forces, human rights activists or has been portrayed by artists, poets, film makers, theatre directors etc. So those people whose agenda and preoccupation is to spread hatred and disharmony always attack the artists, activists, intellectuals and thinkers.
Unfortunately in the past we have ignored these danger signals and violent acts thus allowing the perpetrators of hate mongering not only to go scot free but also to further vitiate the atmosphere.
What has been happening in Maharashtra the past few months is absolutely shocking and is an attack on the democratic rights of the citizens of not only Maharashtra but all Indians.
I am writing to you as a member of the National Integration Council, Ministry of Home Affairs and I request you to immediately take steps to ensure that the goondaism unleashed by the Shiv Sena and MNS is stopped immediately.
I request you to ensure that Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan , whose effigies were burnt in Mumbai and especially Shahrukh Khan, who has received threats in the past few days, are given adequate security, that there is no disturbance when their films are released or screened in theaters. I request you to ensure that no taxi driver or auto rickshaw driver is harassed for not knowing or speaking Marathi (its good that you backtracked on January 20 from a similar unconstitutional stand on the question of issuing licenses to the taxi drivers) and that their constitutional and democratic rights of working or living in any part of India are not violated by Shiv Sena hoodlums on the roads.
The kind of filthy language which is being used and threats which are being issued against the senior leaders of your own party are absolutely unacceptable and need to be condemned strongly.
I request you to urgently arrest and prosecute those who are behind the recent incidents.
Sincerely yours
Shabnam Hashmi
Member, National Integration Council, MHA
Copy: Home Minister, Government of India
Showing posts with label Shabnam Hashmi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shabnam Hashmi. Show all posts
28 October, 2008
National Convention on Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India
The following is a report circulated by Shabnam Hashmi on the National Convention on ‘Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the idea of India’ held in New Delhi on October 25 and 26, 2008
The two-day national convention was attended by over 750 activists' and intellectuals from 18 states (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, J & K, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh).
POLITICAL RESOLUTION PASSED AT THE CONVENTION
The urgency to intervene in defence of democracy, secularism and justice has never been more pressing than in the conditions prevailing in the country today.
The rise of communal fascism has emerged as a threat not only to its immediate victims but to the very long-term survival of India as a unified nation of diverse religious, linguistic and ethnic groups. The mysterious and condemnable acts of terrorism that have shaken different parts of the country have engendered a climate of fear, insecurity and fuelled the politics of communal division.
In recent months, vicious attacks have been mounted across India against religious minorities by Hindutva fascist organizations and communalism has even become the dominant tenor of public discourse. In Maharashtra the regional chauvinist forces of Bal and Raj Thackeray, both offsprings of the Hindutva politics of hate, has targeted north Indians in a bid to drive them out of the state.
The BJP, RSS and their allies in the Sangh Parivar have mounted a vicious campaign against the Christian community across India. Orissa and over 10 states have seen violent attacks on the Christian community, their institutions, religious places, property and businesses on the basis of fabricated stories and hate campaigns.
Throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for the various bomb blasts taking place in the country. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, intelligence agencies and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as 'terrorists and extremists' - to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters. Sections of the media instead of investigating the truth are blindly parroting these sensational and unsubstantiated claims.
Even more disturbingly the accused are being systematically denied their basic right to legal defence by some bar associations themselves which have threatened, expelled and even violently attacked lawyers brave enough to take up these cases. The Indian judiciary has failed to take suo moto cognizance of such attacks as being contempt of court.
All this while hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Sangh outfits of their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively pushed under the carpet by the Indian state. The Hindutva terrorist groups like the Bajrang Dal are openly claiming responsibility for this communal violence against Christians and are yet being allowed to go scot-free.
There is a growing feeling among religious minority communities that the Indian state and judiciary is biased against them and unwilling to provide impartial justice even in cases such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid. No action has been taken on the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report following the anti-Muslim pogrom in Mumbai of 1993. On the other hand some members of the judiciary are now willing to be puppets of communal forces, a dangerous trend set by the Nanavati Commission, which has exonerated the Narendra Modi government of responsibility for the Gujarat Genocide of 2002.
Instead of confronting these fascist forces the Indian state is cracking down hard on 'soft targets' like human rights and social activists. The fundamental rights of life, liberty, freedom of speech, religion and dissent guaranteed to all citizens by the Indian Constitution are being shred to pieces right in front of our eyes.
Entire swathes of the Indian North-East and Kashmir are covered by the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that authorises even the lowest soldier to shoot and kill civilians on mere suspicion of their being 'militants'. In Chhattisgarh, large numbers of citizens continue to be detained using the highly restrictive Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). Those defending the rights of the poor, Dalit, Adivasis and other marginalised people are being falsely branded as 'extremists' and 'anti-nationals'. The state sponsored, unconstitutional 'Salwa Judum' campaign, which has unleashed horrific violence on innocent tribal populations over the past four years in the name of countering Maoism, is being justified by none other than the National Human Rights Commission itself.
All this is happening even as the forces of imperialism led by the United States, under the pretext of the so-called Global War on Terror, are busy re-colonising entire nations from Iraq to Afghanistan and are now targeting Pakistan in the immediate neighbourhood of India. The global media is contributing to this politics of hatred by demonizing Muslims worldwide and frightening ordinary citizens into giving up their basic democratic rights everywhere.
Within the country, the pattern of elitist development has turned a vast majority of the population into second-class citizens, reinforcing with misguided policies the apartheid of the ancient and racist caste system. The ghost of the East India Company, buried long ago, is being resurrected in myriad forms and those who run the Indian state are willfully abetting the return of a neo-colonial order.
It is a state of affairs that calls upon all those who value Indian independence, democratic rights and social justice to come forward, take responsibility and resist the onslaught by fascist and imperialist forces on the foundations of our national values and existence. We also urge all anti-communal activists and secular political parties to forge alliance to defeat fascism and communalism. We, the delegates and participants of the National Convention on Countering Fascism: Defending the Idea of India in New Delhi held on 25-26 October 2008 resolve as follows to:
1) Call for the resignation of Shivraj Patil, Home Minister of India for his abject failure to prevent bomb attacks in major Indian cities; take action against Hindutva terrorists despite evidence provided to him by civil society groups; stop the Sangh Parivar's attacks on Christian populations in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of India; and for using fake police encounters and false evidence against Muslim youth to save his political career;
2) Call for the dismissal of M.K.Narayanan, National Security Adviser for incompetence and all the intelligence lapses leading to rise in to both terrorist and communal violence;
3) Demand prosecution of all members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and ABVP who have links with Hindutva terrorist organisations, such as the ones implicated in the Malegaon bomb blasts.
4) Condemn the UPA government for falling prey to the Hindutva agenda while paying lip service to secularism.
5) Demand the setting up of a time-bound judicial inquiry into the Jamia Nagar 'encounter' headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court;
6) Review major cases of 'terrorist' attacks and immediately release those against whom there is no evidence of any kind; implementation of NHRC instruction regarding independent investigation into all deaths in police custody and in police encounters over the last 5 years;
7) Call for a ban on RSS, the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad for terrorist, anti-national activities and seizure of their national and international assets; a White Paper on the terrorist activities of these organizations;
8) Demand the presentation of a White Paper on the scope of India's "war on terrorism" and the level of its cooperation and collaboration with the US-led war on terror;
9) Enact the Communal Violence Bill after thorough revision in consultation with citizen's bodies, human rights groups and anti-communal organisations across India;
10) Provide immediate relief and compensation to the victims of communal terrorism in Orissa and other states including reconstruction of destroyed private property and restoration of livelihood. Set up a permanent statutory body to deal with such issues in future.
11) Demand the formation of a strong statutory body like election commission (or extend the scope of the EC) to monitor pre-election conduct of political parties and their leaders which generally leads up to polarization of vote banks. Such a body should have a right to disqualify party and/or its functionaries or elected representatives in the legislature in the wake of a breach of conduct;
12) The immediate release of Human Rights Defenders, such as Dr Binayak Sen, who have been arrested for exposing police atrocities and state violence against innocent citizens.
13) Demand a White Paper on misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Kashmir and the Indian North-East and the immediate withdrawal; search for a political rather than military solution to the Kashmir problem;
14) A national commission of inquiry into the misuse of special security laws by the police to arrest members of the minority community in false cases of terrorism
PROMINENT SPEAKERS AT THE CONVENTION
Abhay Shukla, Achin Vanaik , Amit Sengupta, Anil Choudhary, Apoorvanand, Colin Gonsalves, Digant Oza, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Dr. Sayeda Hamid, Harsh Dobhal, Iftikhar Gilani, Jaya Mehta, John Dayal, Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Kamala Bhasin, Kavita Srivastava, Kshitij Urs, Kuldip Nayar, Manisha Sethi, Neeraj Jain, Poornima Joshi, Prashant Bhushan, Prof KN Panikkar , Prof Mushir ul Hasan, Prof Upendra Buxi, Prof. Rooprekha Verma, Satya Sivaraman, Shabnam Hashmi, Subhash Gatade, Suresh Khairnar, Swami Agnivesh, Tanika Sarkar, Vineet Tiwari, Yusuf Shaikh, Zafar Agha.
Partial List of those who participated
Aanchal Verma,Abdul Salam,Abhay Shukla,Abhimanue Upadhyaya,Achin Vanaik ,Ajay Kumar,Ajay Kumar Soni,AK Malakar,Ambarish Rai,Amit Sengupta,Amitabh Pandey,Amjad Khan,Amrita Nandy-Joshi,Anil Choudhary,Anil Kumar Aind,Anwar Hussain,Apoorvanand,Arindam Jit Singh,Arti,Arun Kumar Maji,Asad Zaidi,Ashim Boral,Asma saleem,Avinash Kumar,Azad Mohd,Azam Khan,Bhawan lal Tutan,Bibhu Prasad Mohanty,Biju Mohan,Brajesh Awasti,Brija Nand,C Sathyamala,Chandra Nigam,Chinnappa,Chitranjan Singh,Colin Gonsalves,D Manjit,Deendayal Vyas,Deepak Bhatt,Dhirendra Panda,Dhruv Narain,Dhruv Sangari,Digant Oza,Dinesh Parmar,DK Roy,Dolly Thakore,DP Singh,DR Alex George,Dr Srivella Prasad,Dr Umakant,Dr. Sandeep Pandey,Dr. Sayeda Hamid,Dushyantbhai Unjhakar,Ein Lall,Elsamma simon,Faisal Khan,Farha Naqvi,Gauhar Raza,Gobind,GS Gahlot,Harsh Dobhal,Harsha Hedge,Hitendra Chauhan,Iftikhar Gilani,Ilmuddin,Ishwar Singh Dost,Jaison Thomas,Javed Anis,Jaya Mehta,Jerome,John Chattanatt,John Dayal,Jugal Kishore Shastri,Jully Hembrom,Justice A.M. Ahmadi,Kalpana Mehta,Kamala Bhasin,Kausar Wizarat,Kaushal Kumar Singh,Kavita Srivastava,Khursheed Anwar,Kshitij Urs,Kuldip Nayar,Lalta Prasad,Leslie Rodericks,Leslie Rodricks,Lysa John,Madhu Chandra,Mahindr Pal Singh,Manisha Sethi,Manisha Trivedi,Mansi Sharma,Mehtab alam,Michelle Chawla,Mohan Kumawat,Mohd Arif,Mohd tasleem Shaikh,Mukesh Kumar,Mukul Manglik,Naim Khan,Nandipati Vinod Kumar,Naval Hans,ND Jayaprakash,Neeraj Jain,Neeraj Jain,Nidhi Makhija,Noor Mohammad,Noorjahan Diwan,Om Mittal,Onngam Haokif,Pankhudi Misra,Parveen Mansuri,Parvinder Singh,Pearl Drego,Piyush Pant,Poornima Joshi,Poorva Bhardwaj,Prasad,Prasant Kumar Bhuyan,Prashant Bhushan,Prof KN Panikkar ,Prof Mushir ul Hasan,Prof Upendra Buxi,Prof. Rooprekha Verma,Qamar Azad hashmi,R Bhaskaran,Raj Kumar Hooda,Rajendra motiyani,Rajesh Jakhar,Rangrez Shahnawaz Sabir Hussain,Rasheeda,Rebecca Kumi,Resham Singh,Rev Dr CK Simon,Rizwan Qaisar,Rumal ,Runu Chakraborty,S Alphonse Selvaraj,Sachin Pandya,Sadre Alam,Safia Akhtar,Sagari Chhabra,Saifuddin Khan,Saiyed Gulzar Fatma,Samiullah,Sandeep Sinha,Sanjay Kumar,Sanjay Sharma,Sarika Srivastava,Satya Sivaraman,Seema Duhan,Shabnam Hashmi,Shah Alam,Shakeel Ahmad Khan,Shiamala Baby,Shri Prakash,Shuchi jBajaj,Siddeq Khan,Sister Gracy D" Souza,SK Pande,Subhash Gatade,Subrata das,Sumshot Kitular,Suresh Khairnar,Suresh Nautiyal,Swami Agnivesh,Syed Shahid Mahdi,Tanika Sarkar,Tanvir Kazi,Tarakeshwari Negi,Than Singh Josh,Udyan Roy,Victor Raj,Vineet Tiwari,Waqar Qazi,Willy,Yogender Yadav,Yoginder Sikand,Yusuf Shaikh,Yusuf Shaikh,Zafar A haq,Zafar Agha,Zahoor Siddiqi,Zayaul Haque,Zoya Hasan, Zulaikha Jabeen and 600 others
Organizers
The Convention was organized by Academy of Public Understanding of Science, All India Christian Council, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, All India Quami Mahaz, All India Secular Forum, Alternatives, Aman Biradari, Aman Samudaya, ANHAD, Antarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti, Anweshi, Arya Samaj, ASHA Pariwar, Ashraya Adhikar Abhiyan, Asmita Collective, Awaz e- Niswana, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bihar Social Institute, BUILD, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, Centre for Youth Development and Activities, Chattisgarh Jan Vigyan Vikas Sangthan, Centre for Information, Training, Research and Action, Commission for Religious Harmony, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights , Countercurrents.org, Centre for Studies in Society and Secularism, Danish Publishers, Darpana Academy, Disha Social Organization , Ekta, Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia, Global Gandhi Forum, GRAVIS, Holy Cross Convent, Human Rights Law Network, Indian Social Institute, Indian Social Action Forum ,INSAF Bulletin, Institute for Minority Women, Institute for Social Democracy, Jadugoda, Janadhikar Samuh, Jananeethi, Janvikas, JUDAV, Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Lokshakti Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, MASUM, Media Action Group, Medico Friend Circle, Minorities Council, Muslim Women's Forum, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, National Economic Forum for Muslims, Nazareth Mahila Samiti, NCHRO, Nishan, North East Support Centre & Helpline, Orissa Development Action Forum, Orissa Seek, Save & Development Society, Oxfam India, Popular Education & Action Centre ,People's Movement against Nuclear Energy, People's Research Society, People's Watch, PRASHANT, Religious Harmony Commission (CBCI), Roshan Vikas, Saheli, Sahrwaru, Sajhi Duniya, Sama, Samarpan, Sanchetana, Sandarbh, Sangat, Sarva Dharam Sansad, Shambhavi, South Asia Citizens Web, South Asians for Human Rights , SUTRA, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Udayan, Urja Ghar, Vikas Adhyan Kendra, Yuv Shakti.
The two-day national convention was attended by over 750 activists' and intellectuals from 18 states (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, J & K, Punjab, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh).
POLITICAL RESOLUTION PASSED AT THE CONVENTION
The urgency to intervene in defence of democracy, secularism and justice has never been more pressing than in the conditions prevailing in the country today.
The rise of communal fascism has emerged as a threat not only to its immediate victims but to the very long-term survival of India as a unified nation of diverse religious, linguistic and ethnic groups. The mysterious and condemnable acts of terrorism that have shaken different parts of the country have engendered a climate of fear, insecurity and fuelled the politics of communal division.
In recent months, vicious attacks have been mounted across India against religious minorities by Hindutva fascist organizations and communalism has even become the dominant tenor of public discourse. In Maharashtra the regional chauvinist forces of Bal and Raj Thackeray, both offsprings of the Hindutva politics of hate, has targeted north Indians in a bid to drive them out of the state.
The BJP, RSS and their allies in the Sangh Parivar have mounted a vicious campaign against the Christian community across India. Orissa and over 10 states have seen violent attacks on the Christian community, their institutions, religious places, property and businesses on the basis of fabricated stories and hate campaigns.
Throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for the various bomb blasts taking place in the country. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, intelligence agencies and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as 'terrorists and extremists' - to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters. Sections of the media instead of investigating the truth are blindly parroting these sensational and unsubstantiated claims.
Even more disturbingly the accused are being systematically denied their basic right to legal defence by some bar associations themselves which have threatened, expelled and even violently attacked lawyers brave enough to take up these cases. The Indian judiciary has failed to take suo moto cognizance of such attacks as being contempt of court.
All this while hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Sangh outfits of their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively pushed under the carpet by the Indian state. The Hindutva terrorist groups like the Bajrang Dal are openly claiming responsibility for this communal violence against Christians and are yet being allowed to go scot-free.
There is a growing feeling among religious minority communities that the Indian state and judiciary is biased against them and unwilling to provide impartial justice even in cases such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid. No action has been taken on the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission report following the anti-Muslim pogrom in Mumbai of 1993. On the other hand some members of the judiciary are now willing to be puppets of communal forces, a dangerous trend set by the Nanavati Commission, which has exonerated the Narendra Modi government of responsibility for the Gujarat Genocide of 2002.
Instead of confronting these fascist forces the Indian state is cracking down hard on 'soft targets' like human rights and social activists. The fundamental rights of life, liberty, freedom of speech, religion and dissent guaranteed to all citizens by the Indian Constitution are being shred to pieces right in front of our eyes.
Entire swathes of the Indian North-East and Kashmir are covered by the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that authorises even the lowest soldier to shoot and kill civilians on mere suspicion of their being 'militants'. In Chhattisgarh, large numbers of citizens continue to be detained using the highly restrictive Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). Those defending the rights of the poor, Dalit, Adivasis and other marginalised people are being falsely branded as 'extremists' and 'anti-nationals'. The state sponsored, unconstitutional 'Salwa Judum' campaign, which has unleashed horrific violence on innocent tribal populations over the past four years in the name of countering Maoism, is being justified by none other than the National Human Rights Commission itself.
All this is happening even as the forces of imperialism led by the United States, under the pretext of the so-called Global War on Terror, are busy re-colonising entire nations from Iraq to Afghanistan and are now targeting Pakistan in the immediate neighbourhood of India. The global media is contributing to this politics of hatred by demonizing Muslims worldwide and frightening ordinary citizens into giving up their basic democratic rights everywhere.
Within the country, the pattern of elitist development has turned a vast majority of the population into second-class citizens, reinforcing with misguided policies the apartheid of the ancient and racist caste system. The ghost of the East India Company, buried long ago, is being resurrected in myriad forms and those who run the Indian state are willfully abetting the return of a neo-colonial order.
It is a state of affairs that calls upon all those who value Indian independence, democratic rights and social justice to come forward, take responsibility and resist the onslaught by fascist and imperialist forces on the foundations of our national values and existence. We also urge all anti-communal activists and secular political parties to forge alliance to defeat fascism and communalism. We, the delegates and participants of the National Convention on Countering Fascism: Defending the Idea of India in New Delhi held on 25-26 October 2008 resolve as follows to:
1) Call for the resignation of Shivraj Patil, Home Minister of India for his abject failure to prevent bomb attacks in major Indian cities; take action against Hindutva terrorists despite evidence provided to him by civil society groups; stop the Sangh Parivar's attacks on Christian populations in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of India; and for using fake police encounters and false evidence against Muslim youth to save his political career;
2) Call for the dismissal of M.K.Narayanan, National Security Adviser for incompetence and all the intelligence lapses leading to rise in to both terrorist and communal violence;
3) Demand prosecution of all members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and ABVP who have links with Hindutva terrorist organisations, such as the ones implicated in the Malegaon bomb blasts.
4) Condemn the UPA government for falling prey to the Hindutva agenda while paying lip service to secularism.
5) Demand the setting up of a time-bound judicial inquiry into the Jamia Nagar 'encounter' headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court;
6) Review major cases of 'terrorist' attacks and immediately release those against whom there is no evidence of any kind; implementation of NHRC instruction regarding independent investigation into all deaths in police custody and in police encounters over the last 5 years;
7) Call for a ban on RSS, the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad for terrorist, anti-national activities and seizure of their national and international assets; a White Paper on the terrorist activities of these organizations;
8) Demand the presentation of a White Paper on the scope of India's "war on terrorism" and the level of its cooperation and collaboration with the US-led war on terror;
9) Enact the Communal Violence Bill after thorough revision in consultation with citizen's bodies, human rights groups and anti-communal organisations across India;
10) Provide immediate relief and compensation to the victims of communal terrorism in Orissa and other states including reconstruction of destroyed private property and restoration of livelihood. Set up a permanent statutory body to deal with such issues in future.
11) Demand the formation of a strong statutory body like election commission (or extend the scope of the EC) to monitor pre-election conduct of political parties and their leaders which generally leads up to polarization of vote banks. Such a body should have a right to disqualify party and/or its functionaries or elected representatives in the legislature in the wake of a breach of conduct;
12) The immediate release of Human Rights Defenders, such as Dr Binayak Sen, who have been arrested for exposing police atrocities and state violence against innocent citizens.
13) Demand a White Paper on misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Kashmir and the Indian North-East and the immediate withdrawal; search for a political rather than military solution to the Kashmir problem;
14) A national commission of inquiry into the misuse of special security laws by the police to arrest members of the minority community in false cases of terrorism
PROMINENT SPEAKERS AT THE CONVENTION
Abhay Shukla, Achin Vanaik , Amit Sengupta, Anil Choudhary, Apoorvanand, Colin Gonsalves, Digant Oza, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Dr. Sayeda Hamid, Harsh Dobhal, Iftikhar Gilani, Jaya Mehta, John Dayal, Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Kamala Bhasin, Kavita Srivastava, Kshitij Urs, Kuldip Nayar, Manisha Sethi, Neeraj Jain, Poornima Joshi, Prashant Bhushan, Prof KN Panikkar , Prof Mushir ul Hasan, Prof Upendra Buxi, Prof. Rooprekha Verma, Satya Sivaraman, Shabnam Hashmi, Subhash Gatade, Suresh Khairnar, Swami Agnivesh, Tanika Sarkar, Vineet Tiwari, Yusuf Shaikh, Zafar Agha.
Partial List of those who participated
Aanchal Verma,Abdul Salam,Abhay Shukla,Abhimanue Upadhyaya,Achin Vanaik ,Ajay Kumar,Ajay Kumar Soni,AK Malakar,Ambarish Rai,Amit Sengupta,Amitabh Pandey,Amjad Khan,Amrita Nandy-Joshi,Anil Choudhary,Anil Kumar Aind,Anwar Hussain,Apoorvanand,Arindam Jit Singh,Arti,Arun Kumar Maji,Asad Zaidi,Ashim Boral,Asma saleem,Avinash Kumar,Azad Mohd,Azam Khan,Bhawan lal Tutan,Bibhu Prasad Mohanty,Biju Mohan,Brajesh Awasti,Brija Nand,C Sathyamala,Chandra Nigam,Chinnappa,Chitranjan Singh,Colin Gonsalves,D Manjit,Deendayal Vyas,Deepak Bhatt,Dhirendra Panda,Dhruv Narain,Dhruv Sangari,Digant Oza,Dinesh Parmar,DK Roy,Dolly Thakore,DP Singh,DR Alex George,Dr Srivella Prasad,Dr Umakant,Dr. Sandeep Pandey,Dr. Sayeda Hamid,Dushyantbhai Unjhakar,Ein Lall,Elsamma simon,Faisal Khan,Farha Naqvi,Gauhar Raza,Gobind,GS Gahlot,Harsh Dobhal,Harsha Hedge,Hitendra Chauhan,Iftikhar Gilani,Ilmuddin,Ishwar Singh Dost,Jaison Thomas,Javed Anis,Jaya Mehta,Jerome,John Chattanatt,John Dayal,Jugal Kishore Shastri,Jully Hembrom,Justice A.M. Ahmadi,Kalpana Mehta,Kamala Bhasin,Kausar Wizarat,Kaushal Kumar Singh,Kavita Srivastava,Khursheed Anwar,Kshitij Urs,Kuldip Nayar,Lalta Prasad,Leslie Rodericks,Leslie Rodricks,Lysa John,Madhu Chandra,Mahindr Pal Singh,Manisha Sethi,Manisha Trivedi,Mansi Sharma,Mehtab alam,Michelle Chawla,Mohan Kumawat,Mohd Arif,Mohd tasleem Shaikh,Mukesh Kumar,Mukul Manglik,Naim Khan,Nandipati Vinod Kumar,Naval Hans,ND Jayaprakash,Neeraj Jain,Neeraj Jain,Nidhi Makhija,Noor Mohammad,Noorjahan Diwan,Om Mittal,Onngam Haokif,Pankhudi Misra,Parveen Mansuri,Parvinder Singh,Pearl Drego,Piyush Pant,Poornima Joshi,Poorva Bhardwaj,Prasad,Prasant Kumar Bhuyan,Prashant Bhushan,Prof KN Panikkar ,Prof Mushir ul Hasan,Prof Upendra Buxi,Prof. Rooprekha Verma,Qamar Azad hashmi,R Bhaskaran,Raj Kumar Hooda,Rajendra motiyani,Rajesh Jakhar,Rangrez Shahnawaz Sabir Hussain,Rasheeda,Rebecca Kumi,Resham Singh,Rev Dr CK Simon,Rizwan Qaisar,Rumal ,Runu Chakraborty,S Alphonse Selvaraj,Sachin Pandya,Sadre Alam,Safia Akhtar,Sagari Chhabra,Saifuddin Khan,Saiyed Gulzar Fatma,Samiullah,Sandeep Sinha,Sanjay Kumar,Sanjay Sharma,Sarika Srivastava,Satya Sivaraman,Seema Duhan,Shabnam Hashmi,Shah Alam,Shakeel Ahmad Khan,Shiamala Baby,Shri Prakash,Shuchi jBajaj,Siddeq Khan,Sister Gracy D" Souza,SK Pande,Subhash Gatade,Subrata das,Sumshot Kitular,Suresh Khairnar,Suresh Nautiyal,Swami Agnivesh,Syed Shahid Mahdi,Tanika Sarkar,Tanvir Kazi,Tarakeshwari Negi,Than Singh Josh,Udyan Roy,Victor Raj,Vineet Tiwari,Waqar Qazi,Willy,Yogender Yadav,Yoginder Sikand,Yusuf Shaikh,Yusuf Shaikh,Zafar A haq,Zafar Agha,Zahoor Siddiqi,Zayaul Haque,Zoya Hasan, Zulaikha Jabeen and 600 others
Organizers
The Convention was organized by Academy of Public Understanding of Science, All India Christian Council, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, All India Quami Mahaz, All India Secular Forum, Alternatives, Aman Biradari, Aman Samudaya, ANHAD, Antarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti, Anweshi, Arya Samaj, ASHA Pariwar, Ashraya Adhikar Abhiyan, Asmita Collective, Awaz e- Niswana, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bihar Social Institute, BUILD, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, Centre for Youth Development and Activities, Chattisgarh Jan Vigyan Vikas Sangthan, Centre for Information, Training, Research and Action, Commission for Religious Harmony, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights , Countercurrents.org, Centre for Studies in Society and Secularism, Danish Publishers, Darpana Academy, Disha Social Organization , Ekta, Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia, Global Gandhi Forum, GRAVIS, Holy Cross Convent, Human Rights Law Network, Indian Social Institute, Indian Social Action Forum ,INSAF Bulletin, Institute for Minority Women, Institute for Social Democracy, Jadugoda, Janadhikar Samuh, Jananeethi, Janvikas, JUDAV, Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Lokshakti Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, MASUM, Media Action Group, Medico Friend Circle, Minorities Council, Muslim Women's Forum, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, National Economic Forum for Muslims, Nazareth Mahila Samiti, NCHRO, Nishan, North East Support Centre & Helpline, Orissa Development Action Forum, Orissa Seek, Save & Development Society, Oxfam India, Popular Education & Action Centre ,People's Movement against Nuclear Energy, People's Research Society, People's Watch, PRASHANT, Religious Harmony Commission (CBCI), Roshan Vikas, Saheli, Sahrwaru, Sajhi Duniya, Sama, Samarpan, Sanchetana, Sandarbh, Sangat, Sarva Dharam Sansad, Shambhavi, South Asia Citizens Web, South Asians for Human Rights , SUTRA, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Udayan, Urja Ghar, Vikas Adhyan Kendra, Yuv Shakti.
01 October, 2008
Communalism is at centrestage
By Shabnam Hashmi
01 October, 2008
Tehelka
Life and liberty are not the gift of society, state or Constitution but inalienable rights of every individual. The flame of liberty will glow so long as there are persons who have guts, grit, and vision to expose and disprove those nibbling away liberty in the name of expedients.
A journalist of a well-known television channel recently asked me why the community to which I belong (of human rights activists) always takes stands which are opposed to the stand of the whole nation. Can the shrill voices of the electronic media replace our whole being? Can they replace the Indian Constitution and the rule of law? The strong judgements passed by the media after every terror attack, every encounter and every arrest of a ‘mastermind’, can sway the middle classes and the executives working in the multinational companies. But can they stop a nation from questioning? Even at the height of Hitler’s rule in Germany, when benches on the roadside had signs saying, ‘Not for Jews’, someone had the guts to put a black cross on them, establishing that such politics of genocide was not acceptable.
Though India is being transformed at a fast pace where all minorities are being forced to realise that they are second-class citizens, the difference is that there are many more people in India who are challenging the fascist agenda of those who are in power and others, who are desperately trying to capture power in the coming election.
The ascent of these forces has been systematic and well planned. Twenty years ago, most of the secular forces believed that the communal fascist forces were on the fringe of society and laughed at the possibility of their ever moving centerstage. Today the situation has reversed — the communal forces are so centrestage, it is difficult to differentiate between what is right and what is centre. They have invaded all spaces and areas including the minds of our secular politicians.
Among the plenty of weapons that they have used in this journey — from the peripheral to the Centre — fake encounters occupy a fairly important position. They have cleverly used different weapons at different stages. Beginning from ordinary bhajan mandalis, they moved to more organised kathas, to new age gurus. Working at different levels over 15 years — shishu mandirs, shakhas, ekal vidyalayas, sant samagams, television serials, the rath yatras, leaflets, videos, CDs — they have slowly entered the consciousness of an entire society with targeted messages against minorities. Only those sections of society who strongly and consciously contested this ideology could retain their sanity. After the seeds of hatred were sowed successfully and the harvest was being reaped, started the more decisive phase — the physical attacks and largescale genocide. Most of the experiments were done in Gujarat and the remote areas of other states. For example, the experiment within the tribal belts started in the late 1960s and early 1970s.Almost simultaneously, the VHP swamis then moved into these areas.
Today, we have reached a stage when an innocent person can be killed in a fake encounter, and declared a terrorist. A large number of innocent young Muslim boys are being victimised by the police on charges of terrorism. In most cases, they are not shown to be arrested by the police until many days after their arrest in gross violation of the law. Their families are also not informed about their arrest and while in police custody, they are made to ‘confess’ and sign blank papers. The courts routinely deny them bail. When the police chargesheet them, the trials go on almost endlessly during which the poor victims are virtually defenceless. GUJCOC, MCOCA, POTA and many other such draconian laws are required only so that the statements which the police force out of the victims can be considered as evidence.
After years of torture and confinement, when the case against the victims is found to be baseless, no action is taken to hold police officials accountable. The young patriotic journalists, of course, are then not around to report the horrors of all those years lost in the dark cells of a jail. Stopping the victimisation of the innocents will be the first step towards finding a solution against terrorism.
Shabnam Hashmi is a social activist with Anhad. This article, which appears in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 39, dated Oct 04, 2008, has been distributed by Countercurrents.org
01 October, 2008
Tehelka
Life and liberty are not the gift of society, state or Constitution but inalienable rights of every individual. The flame of liberty will glow so long as there are persons who have guts, grit, and vision to expose and disprove those nibbling away liberty in the name of expedients.
A journalist of a well-known television channel recently asked me why the community to which I belong (of human rights activists) always takes stands which are opposed to the stand of the whole nation. Can the shrill voices of the electronic media replace our whole being? Can they replace the Indian Constitution and the rule of law? The strong judgements passed by the media after every terror attack, every encounter and every arrest of a ‘mastermind’, can sway the middle classes and the executives working in the multinational companies. But can they stop a nation from questioning? Even at the height of Hitler’s rule in Germany, when benches on the roadside had signs saying, ‘Not for Jews’, someone had the guts to put a black cross on them, establishing that such politics of genocide was not acceptable.
Though India is being transformed at a fast pace where all minorities are being forced to realise that they are second-class citizens, the difference is that there are many more people in India who are challenging the fascist agenda of those who are in power and others, who are desperately trying to capture power in the coming election.
The ascent of these forces has been systematic and well planned. Twenty years ago, most of the secular forces believed that the communal fascist forces were on the fringe of society and laughed at the possibility of their ever moving centerstage. Today the situation has reversed — the communal forces are so centrestage, it is difficult to differentiate between what is right and what is centre. They have invaded all spaces and areas including the minds of our secular politicians.
Among the plenty of weapons that they have used in this journey — from the peripheral to the Centre — fake encounters occupy a fairly important position. They have cleverly used different weapons at different stages. Beginning from ordinary bhajan mandalis, they moved to more organised kathas, to new age gurus. Working at different levels over 15 years — shishu mandirs, shakhas, ekal vidyalayas, sant samagams, television serials, the rath yatras, leaflets, videos, CDs — they have slowly entered the consciousness of an entire society with targeted messages against minorities. Only those sections of society who strongly and consciously contested this ideology could retain their sanity. After the seeds of hatred were sowed successfully and the harvest was being reaped, started the more decisive phase — the physical attacks and largescale genocide. Most of the experiments were done in Gujarat and the remote areas of other states. For example, the experiment within the tribal belts started in the late 1960s and early 1970s.Almost simultaneously, the VHP swamis then moved into these areas.
Today, we have reached a stage when an innocent person can be killed in a fake encounter, and declared a terrorist. A large number of innocent young Muslim boys are being victimised by the police on charges of terrorism. In most cases, they are not shown to be arrested by the police until many days after their arrest in gross violation of the law. Their families are also not informed about their arrest and while in police custody, they are made to ‘confess’ and sign blank papers. The courts routinely deny them bail. When the police chargesheet them, the trials go on almost endlessly during which the poor victims are virtually defenceless. GUJCOC, MCOCA, POTA and many other such draconian laws are required only so that the statements which the police force out of the victims can be considered as evidence.
After years of torture and confinement, when the case against the victims is found to be baseless, no action is taken to hold police officials accountable. The young patriotic journalists, of course, are then not around to report the horrors of all those years lost in the dark cells of a jail. Stopping the victimisation of the innocents will be the first step towards finding a solution against terrorism.
Shabnam Hashmi is a social activist with Anhad. This article, which appears in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 39, dated Oct 04, 2008, has been distributed by Countercurrents.org
17 September, 2008
Government said to be harassing Muslims in Dangs at VHP's instance
The following is the text of a communication which Shabnam Hashmi has sent to the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Minorities, the leaders of various political parties and national media institutions:
Today (September 17) morning a battery of Forest officers and police descended on the village of Nandapeda near Ahwa in the Dangs, Gujarat. They pulled out the doors and the windows, pulled out the wooden ballis which support the roof; they pulled out wood from the roof of the huts of the villagers. The forest department decided late at night that it was illegal wood and they must recover it.
The ATS meanwhile rounded up a few people.
Nandapeda is the only village with majority Muslim population in the Dangs district, considered the poorest district in the whole of India.
The government has been pressuring the Muslims to convert to the Hindu religion or face eviction from their land.
Some of the residents of this village moved the Gujarat High Court against the government's pressure of converting and changing their religion.
The families have been living in the village for over 100 years.
On June 13th 2008 a senior officer had called a meeting in Ahwa and asked them to change their religion or vacate the land.
After this meeting police and forest officers had been harassing them. Police have been searching old cases registered against any person of the community and asking them to furnish bail papers. The police targeted 33 people against whom some petty crime or a scuffle with the neighbors was registered.
Claiming that repeated representation before authorities for regularization of their land has been in vain, petitioners requested the court to restrain the government from pressurizing them to convert from their religion. Justice Jayant Panchal had in July sought explanation in this regard from the secretary in-charge, district collector and the village sarpanch.
After hearing all parties, Justice Anant Dave admitted the case on September 11, 2008 and ordered to maintain status quo on the disputed land.
On the next day the police captured approximately 80 villagers for transporting cattle into Maharashtra and also apprehended some villagers who were going on motorcycles using the reason of cow slaughter, though there were no cattle in the tempo.
The villagers gathered. There was a clash between the villagers and the police. People were beaten on both the sides. One policeman was also beaten up. Police then opened fire and a number of villagers got bullet injuries. They were taken to Ahwa civil hospitals. The relatives were not allowed to meet them. Police apprehended eight villagers for beating a policeman and though a local lawyer went for their bail, it was not given.
Next day the police came and in the name of combing operation attacked and ransacked the village. Villagers were beaten up brutally including women and children. All men fled to the jungles. The police not only took away all the goods but before going they poured kerosene into the eatable good so that they could not eat anything too.
VHP proposed a rally on 15th. After a lot of pressure the VHP rally was stopped but they declared a Bandh on 16th.
The VHP, it is said, gave the Collector a deadline to get the village vacated.
Today morning, as already mentioned, the forest department and the forest department swooped in.
The villagers need urgent help and intervention. I have been personally informing various state politicians and centre about the developments.
Shabnam Hashmi
September 17, 2008
Today (September 17) morning a battery of Forest officers and police descended on the village of Nandapeda near Ahwa in the Dangs, Gujarat. They pulled out the doors and the windows, pulled out the wooden ballis which support the roof; they pulled out wood from the roof of the huts of the villagers. The forest department decided late at night that it was illegal wood and they must recover it.
The ATS meanwhile rounded up a few people.
Nandapeda is the only village with majority Muslim population in the Dangs district, considered the poorest district in the whole of India.
The government has been pressuring the Muslims to convert to the Hindu religion or face eviction from their land.
Some of the residents of this village moved the Gujarat High Court against the government's pressure of converting and changing their religion.
The families have been living in the village for over 100 years.
On June 13th 2008 a senior officer had called a meeting in Ahwa and asked them to change their religion or vacate the land.
After this meeting police and forest officers had been harassing them. Police have been searching old cases registered against any person of the community and asking them to furnish bail papers. The police targeted 33 people against whom some petty crime or a scuffle with the neighbors was registered.
Claiming that repeated representation before authorities for regularization of their land has been in vain, petitioners requested the court to restrain the government from pressurizing them to convert from their religion. Justice Jayant Panchal had in July sought explanation in this regard from the secretary in-charge, district collector and the village sarpanch.
After hearing all parties, Justice Anant Dave admitted the case on September 11, 2008 and ordered to maintain status quo on the disputed land.
On the next day the police captured approximately 80 villagers for transporting cattle into Maharashtra and also apprehended some villagers who were going on motorcycles using the reason of cow slaughter, though there were no cattle in the tempo.
The villagers gathered. There was a clash between the villagers and the police. People were beaten on both the sides. One policeman was also beaten up. Police then opened fire and a number of villagers got bullet injuries. They were taken to Ahwa civil hospitals. The relatives were not allowed to meet them. Police apprehended eight villagers for beating a policeman and though a local lawyer went for their bail, it was not given.
Next day the police came and in the name of combing operation attacked and ransacked the village. Villagers were beaten up brutally including women and children. All men fled to the jungles. The police not only took away all the goods but before going they poured kerosene into the eatable good so that they could not eat anything too.
VHP proposed a rally on 15th. After a lot of pressure the VHP rally was stopped but they declared a Bandh on 16th.
The VHP, it is said, gave the Collector a deadline to get the village vacated.
Today morning, as already mentioned, the forest department and the forest department swooped in.
The villagers need urgent help and intervention. I have been personally informing various state politicians and centre about the developments.
Shabnam Hashmi
September 17, 2008
06 September, 2008
Visit to riot-torn Orissa: a report from Shabnam Hashmi
The following report from Shabnam Hashmi on her visit to Orissa has been circulated by Stop Hate Campaign (anhadideas@gmail.com)
I went to Orissa for two days as part of a delegation. We were not allowed to enter Kandhamal. We met a large number of victims in Bhubaneshwar, met the governor and the local civil society members as well as priests of various churches.
Visit to Kandhamal next week depends on the fact whether the Govt will permit us to go there or not. VHP's Togadia has been allowed to go and add more fuel to the fire.
This account is based on the testimonies of:
8 priests and over 300 families who hid in thick forests without water and food, with small hungry children, with thousands of mosquitoes and other insects and who walked over 280 kilometers to reach Bhubaneshwar with just the set of clothes that they were wearing. It took them 5 days to reach the city.
It is not safe to give the names or addresses of those who testified before us as even now VHP and the other Sangh organisations are still attacking the villages , burning houses, shops and churches, catching people, tonsuring them, forcing them to sign that they have become Hindus.
-------------------------------------------
It is an Indian tradition to talk with respect about those who have departed from this world. Pray that their soul may rest in peace.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was killed on August 23rd, 2008 at the VHP ashram in Jalespata, Kandhamal, Orissa. A large number of organisations across India condemned the attack and his killing.
While condemning every violent act and his killing there is a need to look at his work and message before making him a martyr.
The swami came to Kandhamal in 1969. He travelled from village to village initially contacting the business community, organising poojas and bhajans, which very soon turned into inflammatory messages against the local Christian community. Initially in 1970es the attacks came on smaller villages. The first organised attack came in 1987. People from 6-7 villages were collected together to attack a village which had a large Christian population. Under his leadership 16 churches were burnt down in 1986-87. There were 56 cases registered for this but Swami was not arrested. Not even under the 'secular' governments. The sheer fact that none of the political parties touched him, due to their deep concern for the 'Hindu' vote, he got emboldened and his campaigns became more aggressive and vicious.
While Christians were attacked using the bogey of conversion, the VHP and the swami spearheaded the campaign to forcibly convert local animistic Tribals and Christian Tribals into Hindus, calling it ghar wapsi or reconversion as if the tribals were ever in the Hindu fold.
On January 22, 1999 Graham Stains and his two young sons were burnt to death by a Sangh sponsored mob in Keonjhar district of Orissa. Same year in September another Christian priest was killed in the village Jamudhi , also in Keonjhar district.
After Graham Stains was murdered by the Sangh goons instead of condemning the murder the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked for a national debate on conversion and within a week of that VHP printed and distributed over 5 million pamphlets full of vicious propaganda against the Christian minority. Similarly when the whole drama of the Shabri Kumbh was going on in the dang district of Gujarat where also Christians have been under attack since 1998, the VHP distributed vicious Cds against Christians. The distribution of the CDs was challenged by us in the Supreme Court through a PIL. Under the garb of doing educational and development work the sangh has opened Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and Ekal Vidyalaya throughout the tribal belts in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa. The VHP alone has over one lakh workers in Orissa. There are approximately 6000 RSS shakhas.
On December 24, 2007 violence broke out over Christmas celebrations in Kandhamal district. Attackers from VHP/ RSS came with axes, rods etc. hundreds of houses, Christian institutions, businesses, and properties were attacked and raised to the ground in the violence that continued for over a month. For years the administration has ignored the hate campaigns and the violence against the Christians. The VHP has not only been in the fore front of these violent attacks but has sowed the seeds of hatred by distributing highly provocative material against the Christian community.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was killed on August 23rd, 2008 allegedly by Maoists. VHP declared a bandh on August 25, 2008. His body was taken in a procession travelling close to 150 kilometers accompanied by a VHP mob and the police and administration. It stopped in front of many churches, raising highly abusive and provocative slogans, attacking the churches, Christian institutions breaking glasses, furniture, attacking people, while the police looked on including the highest officers of the state and the district.
After the December 2007 violence many organisations had come together and worked for relief and fought legal battles for the victims. Such organisations and individuals were especially targeted. Janvikas office was attacked thrice. All five organisations fighting for Dalit human rights were attacked: Janvikas, Gramiya Progoti, Pobara, Pollishree, Ajka. Tribal leaders heading the Dalit Adivasi Vikas Initiative, Phulbani Action Group and Forum for Peace and Justice were attacked. All shops were attacked. The initial number of attackers was 200-300 which swelled to 500-600. The mob comprised of mainly he business community led by hard core VHP leaders. AS the mob moved from one village to the second the number increased as local Sangh members kept adding to the mob. Some tribals also joined the attackers. Dasrath Pradhan died on the spot and Trinath Digal, who had taken out his goats for grazing was chased and his head was smashed with a stone. He died. Vikram Naik was attacked. He died after 3 days. Parikrit Naik was attacked on 25th. He managed to run and hide in the forest. After two days in the forest he decided to escape to safety. He was caught again and attacked, hacked into two and burnt.
People were taken out from their homes and huddled together and forced to sign the papers that they are becoming Hindus or face the consequences.
In Mondosore village around 10am on August 24th people from nearby villages gathered with knives, swords, weapons and collected near a temple about 1km away from the village. They were shouting provocative and abusive slogans against the Christians and inciting people to attack them. The mob blocked all the routes for going out from the village by felling huge logs and tree trunks on the roads. A huge mob gathered by now near the Shiv temple. The priest and nuns from the church ran to the jungle but they came back at 7pm once it was dark. Some people advised them to leave so they went to padri village. But the mobs came to know about their hiding places and they had to leave again, this time splitting in two groups and changing their hiding places but with no luck. No place was safe. The people who gave them shelter, including local tribals, their lives were threatened. The priest was escorted by a local man with a knife to the forest after crossing a stream. During the night about 60 women and children came to the same forest to hide and the nuns from the church also found their way to the forest hiding place. There was a hut nearby where everyone crowded in but there was no place even to sit. Around midnight the church bell started ringing. This was a signal that things were not right. The whole group moved to another area near the village but still under cover. They could see the village shops on fire, they could hear small bombs, shouting & screaming. More people came towards the forest to escape the attack. Through them came the news of shops belonging to Christians being burnt and one person was killed by the attackers.
Around 6am the priest, 4 nuns and two orphan children decided to move to another place. They started walking, climbing mountains. Till 3 pm they walked for10kilometers and not reaching anywhere. Then they decided to rather die than get lost in the forest. When they came out they were near village Koroda. The people stared at them and they thought the end was near when a person on a motorcycle came and stopped near them. He was well built and there was a thin person at the back. The motorcyclist was a Hindu while the pillion rider a Christian. He took turns to transport them to a safer place in turns from where they managed to reach Bhubaneshwar.
Another priest from the Phulbani headquarters expecting trouble after the swami's killing transferred all the records to his Hindu friends' houses. When the procession with the dead body arrived he hid in a nearby house while the others were asked to leave and hide behind the church. Sunday morning mob of 4000 people accompanied the procession. It was 7.30am. DIG, Collector, Police accompanied the procession. The mob broke the wall, smashed everything in the church and the residence. They started throwing stones. It was after some stones hit the police that they started a mild lathi charge. Local youth searched for the priest, nuns and other workers. Around 9am another lot came and started banging he door. Some of the boys who wee hiding came out and they were immediately beaten. The priest hid in a broken toilet. The mob came to the house where they were told he was hiding but never checked the toilet so he was saved. After one hour he came out on the road and asked for shelter in a house. Three houses refused, forth gave him shelter. The mob almost immediately reached there. The owners hid him in the kitchen but their house was attacked and broken down. Mob left only after 9pm. After they left the priest rushed to his house. His land phone was ringing and his assistant was on the line. He was hiding in the forest. Using a ladder the priest jumped behind the church and with the help of the light from the mobile phone found his was into the forest. Tuesday morning they started moving to another place in the forest when they by chance came across a hut belonging to a Hindu woman whom the priest had helped earlier. She and her daughter took them in, prepared food for them and fed them.
27th morning at 4 am they again went back to the church and contacted every taxi service but no one agreed to take them. Then the news came that another father is severely beaten and is being rushed to Bhubaneshwar in an ambulance. The same ambulance brought them to the city along with the patient.
We were able to talk to a few of the hundreds of women, children and men who ran from various villages and hid in the forests for days without food. They were from 15 different villages but the stories were the same. Their houses were attacks by mobs ranging from 300-500 people-all from the surrounding gram panchayats and villages. They came with axes and knives, with diesel, blocked all exit roots so that no one could escape in any vehicle. Burnt down houses, attacked churches, burnt tyres on the roads, beat up people. A young woman said that they have been told very clearly that they will be allowed into the village if and only if they become Hindus. She reached Bhubaneshwar on 31st along with others from the village, walking over 200 kilometres. Many of the victims narrated that the violence broke out with the arrival of the swami's body in each village. In all instances police was present with the procession.
This account is based only on the testimonies for those who managed to escape and reach Bhubaneshwar. The situation is very serious in Orissa and only a full fact finding team can come out with full details after it is allowed to enter those areas.
A Brief Profile of Violence Unleashed s far (Prepared by Prakash Louis AS ON 31ST AUGUST 2008)
(NAME OF BLOCKS, NO. OF VILLAGES and NO. OF HOUSEHOLDS AFFECTED in that order)
UDYAGIRI 36 640
RAIKIA 55 1391
TIKABALI 25 558
DARINGBADI 3 39
PHIRINGIA 25 428
CHOKAPADA 10 90
PHOLBANI 4 129
BALLIGUDA 18 555
TUMUDIBANDH NOT AVAIILABLE
KOTHAGARH NOT AVAILABLE
K NUAGAM 18 274
TOTAL 194 4104
NO OF PLACES OF WORRSHIP DAMAGED 50
NO OF SHOPS DESTROYED IN RAIKIA 10
CONVENTS DESTROYED 4
NO OF BOYS/ GIRLS HOSTEL DESTROYED 5
OTHER INSTITUTIONS DAMAGED 6
NO OF PRIESTS ATTACKED 6
NO OF DECEASED PEOPLE IN UDYAGIRI 26
I went to Orissa for two days as part of a delegation. We were not allowed to enter Kandhamal. We met a large number of victims in Bhubaneshwar, met the governor and the local civil society members as well as priests of various churches.
Visit to Kandhamal next week depends on the fact whether the Govt will permit us to go there or not. VHP's Togadia has been allowed to go and add more fuel to the fire.
This account is based on the testimonies of:
8 priests and over 300 families who hid in thick forests without water and food, with small hungry children, with thousands of mosquitoes and other insects and who walked over 280 kilometers to reach Bhubaneshwar with just the set of clothes that they were wearing. It took them 5 days to reach the city.
It is not safe to give the names or addresses of those who testified before us as even now VHP and the other Sangh organisations are still attacking the villages , burning houses, shops and churches, catching people, tonsuring them, forcing them to sign that they have become Hindus.
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It is an Indian tradition to talk with respect about those who have departed from this world. Pray that their soul may rest in peace.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was killed on August 23rd, 2008 at the VHP ashram in Jalespata, Kandhamal, Orissa. A large number of organisations across India condemned the attack and his killing.
While condemning every violent act and his killing there is a need to look at his work and message before making him a martyr.
The swami came to Kandhamal in 1969. He travelled from village to village initially contacting the business community, organising poojas and bhajans, which very soon turned into inflammatory messages against the local Christian community. Initially in 1970es the attacks came on smaller villages. The first organised attack came in 1987. People from 6-7 villages were collected together to attack a village which had a large Christian population. Under his leadership 16 churches were burnt down in 1986-87. There were 56 cases registered for this but Swami was not arrested. Not even under the 'secular' governments. The sheer fact that none of the political parties touched him, due to their deep concern for the 'Hindu' vote, he got emboldened and his campaigns became more aggressive and vicious.
While Christians were attacked using the bogey of conversion, the VHP and the swami spearheaded the campaign to forcibly convert local animistic Tribals and Christian Tribals into Hindus, calling it ghar wapsi or reconversion as if the tribals were ever in the Hindu fold.
On January 22, 1999 Graham Stains and his two young sons were burnt to death by a Sangh sponsored mob in Keonjhar district of Orissa. Same year in September another Christian priest was killed in the village Jamudhi , also in Keonjhar district.
After Graham Stains was murdered by the Sangh goons instead of condemning the murder the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked for a national debate on conversion and within a week of that VHP printed and distributed over 5 million pamphlets full of vicious propaganda against the Christian minority. Similarly when the whole drama of the Shabri Kumbh was going on in the dang district of Gujarat where also Christians have been under attack since 1998, the VHP distributed vicious Cds against Christians. The distribution of the CDs was challenged by us in the Supreme Court through a PIL. Under the garb of doing educational and development work the sangh has opened Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and Ekal Vidyalaya throughout the tribal belts in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa. The VHP alone has over one lakh workers in Orissa. There are approximately 6000 RSS shakhas.
On December 24, 2007 violence broke out over Christmas celebrations in Kandhamal district. Attackers from VHP/ RSS came with axes, rods etc. hundreds of houses, Christian institutions, businesses, and properties were attacked and raised to the ground in the violence that continued for over a month. For years the administration has ignored the hate campaigns and the violence against the Christians. The VHP has not only been in the fore front of these violent attacks but has sowed the seeds of hatred by distributing highly provocative material against the Christian community.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was killed on August 23rd, 2008 allegedly by Maoists. VHP declared a bandh on August 25, 2008. His body was taken in a procession travelling close to 150 kilometers accompanied by a VHP mob and the police and administration. It stopped in front of many churches, raising highly abusive and provocative slogans, attacking the churches, Christian institutions breaking glasses, furniture, attacking people, while the police looked on including the highest officers of the state and the district.
After the December 2007 violence many organisations had come together and worked for relief and fought legal battles for the victims. Such organisations and individuals were especially targeted. Janvikas office was attacked thrice. All five organisations fighting for Dalit human rights were attacked: Janvikas, Gramiya Progoti, Pobara, Pollishree, Ajka. Tribal leaders heading the Dalit Adivasi Vikas Initiative, Phulbani Action Group and Forum for Peace and Justice were attacked. All shops were attacked. The initial number of attackers was 200-300 which swelled to 500-600. The mob comprised of mainly he business community led by hard core VHP leaders. AS the mob moved from one village to the second the number increased as local Sangh members kept adding to the mob. Some tribals also joined the attackers. Dasrath Pradhan died on the spot and Trinath Digal, who had taken out his goats for grazing was chased and his head was smashed with a stone. He died. Vikram Naik was attacked. He died after 3 days. Parikrit Naik was attacked on 25th. He managed to run and hide in the forest. After two days in the forest he decided to escape to safety. He was caught again and attacked, hacked into two and burnt.
People were taken out from their homes and huddled together and forced to sign the papers that they are becoming Hindus or face the consequences.
In Mondosore village around 10am on August 24th people from nearby villages gathered with knives, swords, weapons and collected near a temple about 1km away from the village. They were shouting provocative and abusive slogans against the Christians and inciting people to attack them. The mob blocked all the routes for going out from the village by felling huge logs and tree trunks on the roads. A huge mob gathered by now near the Shiv temple. The priest and nuns from the church ran to the jungle but they came back at 7pm once it was dark. Some people advised them to leave so they went to padri village. But the mobs came to know about their hiding places and they had to leave again, this time splitting in two groups and changing their hiding places but with no luck. No place was safe. The people who gave them shelter, including local tribals, their lives were threatened. The priest was escorted by a local man with a knife to the forest after crossing a stream. During the night about 60 women and children came to the same forest to hide and the nuns from the church also found their way to the forest hiding place. There was a hut nearby where everyone crowded in but there was no place even to sit. Around midnight the church bell started ringing. This was a signal that things were not right. The whole group moved to another area near the village but still under cover. They could see the village shops on fire, they could hear small bombs, shouting & screaming. More people came towards the forest to escape the attack. Through them came the news of shops belonging to Christians being burnt and one person was killed by the attackers.
Around 6am the priest, 4 nuns and two orphan children decided to move to another place. They started walking, climbing mountains. Till 3 pm they walked for10kilometers and not reaching anywhere. Then they decided to rather die than get lost in the forest. When they came out they were near village Koroda. The people stared at them and they thought the end was near when a person on a motorcycle came and stopped near them. He was well built and there was a thin person at the back. The motorcyclist was a Hindu while the pillion rider a Christian. He took turns to transport them to a safer place in turns from where they managed to reach Bhubaneshwar.
Another priest from the Phulbani headquarters expecting trouble after the swami's killing transferred all the records to his Hindu friends' houses. When the procession with the dead body arrived he hid in a nearby house while the others were asked to leave and hide behind the church. Sunday morning mob of 4000 people accompanied the procession. It was 7.30am. DIG, Collector, Police accompanied the procession. The mob broke the wall, smashed everything in the church and the residence. They started throwing stones. It was after some stones hit the police that they started a mild lathi charge. Local youth searched for the priest, nuns and other workers. Around 9am another lot came and started banging he door. Some of the boys who wee hiding came out and they were immediately beaten. The priest hid in a broken toilet. The mob came to the house where they were told he was hiding but never checked the toilet so he was saved. After one hour he came out on the road and asked for shelter in a house. Three houses refused, forth gave him shelter. The mob almost immediately reached there. The owners hid him in the kitchen but their house was attacked and broken down. Mob left only after 9pm. After they left the priest rushed to his house. His land phone was ringing and his assistant was on the line. He was hiding in the forest. Using a ladder the priest jumped behind the church and with the help of the light from the mobile phone found his was into the forest. Tuesday morning they started moving to another place in the forest when they by chance came across a hut belonging to a Hindu woman whom the priest had helped earlier. She and her daughter took them in, prepared food for them and fed them.
27th morning at 4 am they again went back to the church and contacted every taxi service but no one agreed to take them. Then the news came that another father is severely beaten and is being rushed to Bhubaneshwar in an ambulance. The same ambulance brought them to the city along with the patient.
We were able to talk to a few of the hundreds of women, children and men who ran from various villages and hid in the forests for days without food. They were from 15 different villages but the stories were the same. Their houses were attacks by mobs ranging from 300-500 people-all from the surrounding gram panchayats and villages. They came with axes and knives, with diesel, blocked all exit roots so that no one could escape in any vehicle. Burnt down houses, attacked churches, burnt tyres on the roads, beat up people. A young woman said that they have been told very clearly that they will be allowed into the village if and only if they become Hindus. She reached Bhubaneshwar on 31st along with others from the village, walking over 200 kilometres. Many of the victims narrated that the violence broke out with the arrival of the swami's body in each village. In all instances police was present with the procession.
This account is based only on the testimonies for those who managed to escape and reach Bhubaneshwar. The situation is very serious in Orissa and only a full fact finding team can come out with full details after it is allowed to enter those areas.
A Brief Profile of Violence Unleashed s far (Prepared by Prakash Louis AS ON 31ST AUGUST 2008)
(NAME OF BLOCKS, NO. OF VILLAGES and NO. OF HOUSEHOLDS AFFECTED in that order)
UDYAGIRI 36 640
RAIKIA 55 1391
TIKABALI 25 558
DARINGBADI 3 39
PHIRINGIA 25 428
CHOKAPADA 10 90
PHOLBANI 4 129
BALLIGUDA 18 555
TUMUDIBANDH NOT AVAIILABLE
KOTHAGARH NOT AVAILABLE
K NUAGAM 18 274
TOTAL 194 4104
NO OF PLACES OF WORRSHIP DAMAGED 50
NO OF SHOPS DESTROYED IN RAIKIA 10
CONVENTS DESTROYED 4
NO OF BOYS/ GIRLS HOSTEL DESTROYED 5
OTHER INSTITUTIONS DAMAGED 6
NO OF PRIESTS ATTACKED 6
NO OF DECEASED PEOPLE IN UDYAGIRI 26
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