IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – June 14th, 2010

by Publisher on June 14, 2010

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

News Headlines

All 8 accused convicted in Bhopal gas tragedy (Jun

7, 2010, IBN)

Over 25 years after a deadly methyl isocyanate gas leak from the

Union Carbide plant on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, killed thousands of

people, all eight accused in the case were Monday held guilty by a local

court. Amongst the eight is Warren Anderson, former chairman of the

Union Carbide Corporation, US, who is still absconding. The list of

accused includes former Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) chairman Keshub

Mahendra, ex-MD Vijay Gokhle, ex-V-P Kishore Kamdar, ex-Works Manager J

Mukund, ex-Production Manager S P Choudhary, ex-Plant Superintendent K V

Shetty, ex-Production Assistant S I Quershi. R. B Roychoudhary,

assistant works manager UCIL died in the process of trial.

Chief

Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari pronounced the verdict in a packed

court room convicting 85-year-old Mahindra, and seven others in the

case. They were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by

negligence), 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336,

337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. However, there

was no word on Warren Anderson, the then Chairman of Union Carbide

Corporation of the US, who was declared an absconder after he did not

subject himself to trial in the case that began 23 years ago. The

sentencing in the case is expected later. Arguments on the quantum of

sentence were put forward by the defence and prosecution counsel.

Over

the years, 178 prosecution witnesses have deposed before the court and

the defence team has presented five former employees of the company as

witnesses. In 2009, even a non-bailable warrant was issued against

former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson. However, the CBI could not

process it. So far, no one from Union Carbide America and Union Carbide

Eastern Hong Kong has appeared in an Indian Court.

CBI had

chargesheeted Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), Union Carbide (India)

Limited, Union Carbide (Eastern) Hong Kong, UCC chairman Warren Anderson

and eight Indian officials for the tragedy on December 1, 1987. But, in

1989, the government decided to drop criminal charges without taking

the victims into confidence. Also, in 1996, the Supreme Court reduced

the charges against eight Indian officials to 304 (A) which is death by

negligence from 304 (II). It carries a maximum punishment of up to two

years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/all-8-accused-convicted-in-bhopal-gas-tragedy/123141-3.html

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Outrage! Bhopal gas leak culprits bailed out (Jun

7, 2010, IBN)

Almost 26 years after the world’s worst industrial disaster killed

over 15,000 people in Bhopal, a local court on Monday convicted eight

former Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) officials in the Bhopal Gas

tragedy case and awarded them a maximum of two years imprisonment. They

were also fined Rs 1 lakh each by Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P

Tiwari, who pronounced the verdict in a packed court room convicting

Keshub Mahindra, the non-executive former Chairman of UCIL, and seven

others in the case relating to leakage of deadly methyl isocyanate gas

in the night intervening December 2 and 3, 1984.

But soon after

the sentence was awarded all the convicts applied for and got bail for a

surety of Rs 25000 each. The then CEO of the Union Carbide Warren

Anderson has not been not convicted as he is still absconding. The

89-year-old Anderson, who lives in the United States, appeared to have

gone scot free for the present as he is still an absconder and did not

subject himself to trial. While announcing the quantum of punishment

Tiwari did not mention Anderson. UCIL was found guilty and fined a

paltry sum of Rs 5 lakh for what has been till date world’s worst

industrial disaster immediately killing an estimated 15,000 people and

left over 50,000 others injured. Lakhs of others are still suffering

from the after effects of inhaling the deadly gas,

Others found

guilty were Vijay Gokhle, the then Managing Director of UCIL, Kishore

Kamdar, the then Vice President, JN Mukund, the then Works Manager, SP

Choudhary, the then Production Manager, KV Shetty, the then Plant

Superintendent and SI Qureshi, the then Production Assistant. Another

accused, RB Chaudhary, died during the trial. Mahindra and six others

were present to hear the judgement while Qureshi was represented by his

counsel. The sentencing for Qureshi is yet to be announced. Mahindra is

the current chairman of top utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra

& Mahindra and is the highest ranking person convicted. He had

declined a Padma Bhushan in 2002 on the grounds that he was facing trial

in the case.

All of them were held guilty under Sections 304-A

(causing death by negligence), 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting

to murder), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code

and faces a sentence of up to two years in jail or a fine. Those

convicted can appeal to a higher court. Civil rights activists fighting

for the families of victims of the disaster called the judgement “too

little, too late” and accused the prosecution and CBI of failing the

victims by diluting the charges.

“It’s actually going to be

nothing. What is it? We’re looking at maximum punishment of two years or

a fine. If that’s not the biggest joke, then I don’t know what is,”

Rachna Dhingra, a Bhopal rights activist, said. “There’s nothing to be

happy about. The verdict in Bhopal applied only to Indian officials of

the former Union Carbide’s Indian arm while separate cases have been

filed against the company and its overseas officials. Union Carbide had

settled its liabilities to the government in 1989 before being bought

over by Dow Chemical.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bhopal-gas-tragedy-2yr-in-jail-for-all-convicts/123219-3.html

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In Modi government ad, Azamgarh girls become

Gujarats new Muslim face (Jun 12, 2010, Indian Express)

A day after it published full page advertisements in Patna newspapers

hailing Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the emancipator of Gujarat’s

Muslims before he arrives there for the national BJP meet, the Gujarat

government could be heading for some serious embarrassment. The

advertisements showcased a photograph of Muslim girls in burqas working

on computers, to buttress the point that Gujarat Muslims are faring much

better than those elsewhere. But in reality, the girls belonged to a

college in Azamgarh in UP; they had nothing to do with Gujarat.

The

photograph was apparently taken from a US-based news portal run by

Indian Muslims. The portal, www.twocircles.com [www.twocircles.net],

informed The Indian Express on Friday that it is now considering

pressing charges of copyright violation against the Gujarat government.

In addition, the Shibli College in Azamgarh, has also lambasted the

Gujarat government for misusing a photograph of its students. US-based

Kashif ul Huda, Executive Editor of the portal said, “There are two

issues here, one of fooling the people by using a picture taken outside

Gujarat, and secondly, of copyright violation. It is ironical that they

could not get even the required photo from Gujarat for the

advertisement.”

He added that the photograph was used earlier by

the University of Cambridge for its course material with due permission.

Kashif affirmed that the photograph was originally shot by the portal’s

staffer in the Computer Department of Shibli National College, Azamgarh

on November 13, 2008. It was originally published on an online portal

as part of a series on Azamgarh November 24 , 2009. Salman Sultan, Head

of the college’s Computer Department confirmed to The Indian Express

that girls in the photograph were all working in his department.

“This

is a heinous act. They are rubbing salt on the humiliated and

psychologically wounded Muslim community,” he said. While Gujarat

government officials declined to be quoted on the issue, a senior

official said, “The ad may be to highlight the progress of Gujarat

Muslims, but it did not say the photograph in it was of Gujarat muslim

girls. The government had not asked its advertising agency to put that

photograph, the agency did that on its own.”

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/632927/

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Nitish threatens legal action over photo with

Modi, cancels dinner (Jun 12, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday cancelled a dinner he

was to host for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, apparently miffed

over a series of full page advertisments that appeared in vernacular

dailies showing him with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He also

threatened legal action against the agency that had released the

advertisements

Though no official reason was given for the

cancellation of the dinner, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) sources hinted that

the move was a fallout of the advertisements. The BJP leaders are here

to attend the party’s two-day national executive that began Saturday

morning. The advertisement, published in the name of dozens of people of

Bihar who are now settled in Gujarat, projected Modi as a close friend

of the Nitish Kumar and highlighted his state’s generous help after the

2008 Kosi floods in Bihar.

Nitish Kumar said that he was stunned

on seeing the advertisement, hours before Modi arrived here to attend

the BJP meet. “Enough is enough. I will not tolerate such a blunder. I

will take possible legal action against the advertising agency for using

my photograph along with Narendra Modi without my permission and

knowledge,” Nitish Kumar told reporters.

Noting it was illegal to

publish anyone’s picture without permission, Nitish Kumar also

criticised the reference to Modi’s help for Kosi relief efforts, and

asked his officials to return the money given by the Gujarat government.

“It is against our culture and age-old tradition that a helping hand

extended to people in crisis or in pain is not reminded of and

propagated. It is uncivilised,” he said. Responding to questions about

the dinner’s cancellation, BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said that for

the party, dinners or lunches hardly matter. “For us, dinner or lunch

comes last,” he said.

The BJP sought to downplay the

cancellation, saying it had been decided to have dinner at the venue of

the meeting itself instead of going to the chief minister’s official

residence. He clarified that Gujarat government has not issued the

advertisement. “The advertisement issued in local dailies has nothing to

with the Gujarat government,” Hussain said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/556719.aspx

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Sohrab case: Notice to jail officials over

providing escort to Chudasama (Jun 11, 2010, Times of India)

A special CBI court on Thursday issued notice to the Sabarmati

central jail authorities in connection with the provisions of providing

escort to suspended IPS officer Abhay Chudasama in case he has to be

taken to private hospital for surgery. Chudasama, an accused in

Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, had sought interim bail for one

month for the purpose of hip replacement under supervision of a private

doctor. However, the investigating agency opposed the plea. Ultimately,

Chudasama’s counsel told the court that he would not insist on bail, if

the court allowed him to be operated under the supervision of the doctor

of his choice.

However, CBI insisted that Chudasama should not

be allowed to meet anybody during his possible stay at a private

hospital. The accused’s counsel requested the court that Chudasama’s

father, wife and daughter should be allowed to meet him. The insistence

from the investigating agency that the suspended cop must not be allowed

to see anybody so that probe cannot be hampered raised a debate on

police escort to be provided with Chudasama, for during operation he

would be under judicial custody only.

The CBI also urged the

court to permit them to verify the documents submitted by Chudasama

regarding medical opinion for the requirement of operation. Designated

CBI judge, GK Upadhyay issued notice to the jail authorities asking on

what is the provision of providing escort to Chudasama. Further hearing

is kept on Monday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6035365.cms

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Mecca masjid case reopened, Hindu outfit role

suspected (Jun 11, 2010, Hindustan Times)

After three years of a wild goose chase, the CBI has decided to

reopen its investigation into the Mecca Masjid blast following a

suspicion that militant Hindu outfit Abhinav Bharat could have been

behind the attack. Fourteen people lost their lives in the blast and its

aftermath. Five people were killed in the explosion and nine in police

firing at protesters who pelted stones at police personnel after coming

out of the mosque in May 2007.

The probe had ‘turned cold’ after

the Central Bureau of Investigation got no leads in the case. The CBI

has now drawn links between the blast in Hyderabad and the bomb attack

in Ajmer in October 2007. “The two blasts have a similar pattern and we

suspect it is the handiwork of the same group,” said a CBI official, who

did not want to be named. The investigating agency has secured

permission from a local court here to bring the two accused in the Ajmer

blast case, Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, to Hyderabad to

interrogate them in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast.

The

CBI has sent a team to Ajmer to bring the duo, currently lodged in the

Ajmer jail. A team of CBI officials met Hyderabad Police Commissioner

A.K. Khan on Friday to seek his help in unearthing the local elements

who could have been part of the conspiracy. The two accused, Devender

Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, CBI sources said, had stayed in Hyderabad for

almost two months before the blast. “They could not have planned the

thing alone,” said an official.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/556412.aspx

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Kanpur blast case: Asimanand under scanner again

(Jun 9, 2010, Indian Express)

Swami Asimanand, who is wanted in the Malegaon and Ajmer Dargah

blasts, has come under the scanner of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror

Squad in a Kanpur blast case in which two Bajrang Dal activists were

killed on August 25, 2008. For almost two years now, the police had been

groping in the dark to solve the case in which Rajiv Mishra and

Bhupinder Singh were killed when an explosion happened in a room of the

house owned by Mishra’s father. While the family lived in Lucknow,

Mishra used that room on his weekend visits to Kanpur.

After the

blast, the police found timers, remains of explosives, grenade shells

and other stuff used for making bombs but no clues to the source of that

material. However, new details shared by the ATSes of Maharashtra and

Rajasthan have indicated that Swami Asimanand, who first hit the

headlines during the anti-Christian violence in the Dangs district of

Gujarat in 1998, could be the man who had supplied the explosives and

the other material to the youths.

Sources said the call details

retrieved from the cellphone of one of the Swami’s associates contained a

phone number of Kanpur city from which calls were made and received

frequently in the months of May, July and September in 2008. On

checking, the Maharashtra ATS found that the Kanpur number was no longer

active and its SIM had been bought against a fake identity and address.

The Uttar Pradesh ATS is now looking into the role of a

Kanpur-based leader of a Hindu outfit who was close to the Bajrang Dal

activists and was also in touch with Swami Asimanand. Incidentally,

Mahant Amritanand alias Dayanand Pandey, one of the accused in Malegaon

blast, was arrested from Kanpur.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/631282/

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Muslim board assails CBI on Babri masjid issue

(Jun 6, 2010, Hindustan Times)

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday assailed

the CBI for adopting dilly-dallying tactics in Babri Masjid demolition

case. The board has also expressed its displeasure over controversial

Central Waqf Bill 2010. The executive committee of the board at its

meeting in Aurangabad on Sunday criticized the CBI for not properly

tackling the Babri Masjid case. Taking cognizance of High Court decision

on May 21 letting off senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, in the

case the board has asked the Congress-led UPA government to direct the

CBI to move Supreme Court in the matter. The High Court upheld the

Lucknow CBI court order dropping criminal proceedings against these

leaders.

“The Board is quite unhappy with the CBI”, senior

advocate and executive committee member Zafaryab Jilani told Hindustan

Times over phone from Aurangabad. Jilani said the board was of the view

that CBI was not taking proper interest in the case and the probe agency

had thus failed to expedite the issue in the court. He said the central

government had been asked to properly look into the issue. Jilani also

asked the state government to issue fresh notification clubbing two

demolition cases pending in Rai Bareli and Lucknow. While conspiracy

case involving BJP leaders is pending in special court Rai Bareli,

demolition case against Karsevaks is held up in Lucknow court.

The

board has also flayed the centre for rushing through Waqf Bill 2010 in

the Lok Sabha without taking the objections raised by Muslim MPs. The

Bill is now pending in Upper House. Jilani said even the AIMPLB had also

sent a memorandum suggesting some amendments but there was no response

from the UPA government. Jilani said the Bill was against the interest

of the community in which the powers Mutawalli (care-taker) of Waqf

properties would be eroded and properties given by Hindus to Wafq boards

would not be considered as Muslim Auqaf.

In this connection the

AIMPLB legal committee will be meeting in later this month in Delhi to

chalk out an action plan. Jilani further said that a committee under the

chairmanship of Maulana Wali Rahmani had also been constituted to

prepare case against compulsory education Bill. Jilani said minority

educational institutions and Madarsas should be excluded from the bill.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadvi presided over one-day meeting.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/554025.aspx

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Nadias family allege police harassment, seeks CBI

inquiry (Jun 9, 2010, Rediff)

Family members of Nadia Torrado alleged on Wednesday that the Goa

Police have been pressurising them to make “untrue statements” against

former tourism minister Fransisco Mickey Pacheco and sought a Central

Bureau of Investigation inquiry into her death. “The police under the

pretext of carrying out investigations have been harassing the

petitioners and putting them under great mental trauma by directly and

indirectly threatening them and pressuring them to make untrue

statements,” a petition filed by the family before Goa bench of Bombay

High Court said. Nadia’s mother Sonia claimed SP Mangaldas Naik

threatened to implicate her over the phone, if she did not make

statements against Pacheco.

“This shows that there is not even a

slightest possibility of any fair investigations in the matter by the

Goa Police and therefore to protect the interest of the petitioners and

in the interest of the justice as also to guarantee and protect the

fundamental and statutory rights of the petitioners, it is necessary

that the investigation be handed over to some free and impartial agency

like CBI,” the petition said. Nadia’s family claimed that they have been

willing to cooperate in the investigations and have till date lent all

possible support to the police. “However, the harassment and

ill-treatment tactics adopted by the police are totally inhumane and

illegal rude and violate the fundamental rights of the petitioners,” it

said.

Sonia alleged that on the day Nadia died, a team of armed

policemen led by inspector Raju Raut and Santosh Desai came to her

residence and started ransacking the house. “Police gave us constant

threat of dire consequences while they ransacked the house,” the family

alleged. 28-year-old Nadia died on May 30 in a Chennai hospital after

allegedly consuming poison. Pacheco, who was interrogated by Crime

Branch in connection with the case, was named the prime suspect by the

investigating agency.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/09/nadia-family-seeks-cbi-probe.htm

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After Rathore, another top cop faces abuse charge

(Jun 10, 2010, Hindustan Times)

After S.P.S. Rathore, the former Haryana director general of police

who was recently convicted for molesting a teenager, another such

scandal involving a top Haryana cop has come to light. The state police

have registered a case against former inspector general of police M.S.

Ahlawat for allegedly molesting and intimidating a woman lawyer eight

years ago. They also constituted a special committee to probe the case.

The

victim, Arvinder Kaur, had made her first complaint against Ahlawat,

who was a superintendent of police in 2002. But the police refused to

register the case. Incidentally, Rathore was the state’s director

general of police at that time. Tired of several visits to the police

station, the victim staged a dharna in front of the office of the

Haryana Director General of Police at Panchkula, near Chandigarh.

The

police finally bowed to her demands and registered a case on Tuesday.

“We have registered a case against Ahlawat, former inspector general of

police, on the directions of the state headquarters. A special

investigation team (SIT) has been formed to conduct the probe,”

Yamunanagar Superintendent of Police Sibash Kabiraj said.

The SIT

includes Yamunanagar Women’s Cell in-charge Amarjeet Kaur and Deputy

Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar. In her complaint, Kaur said she

first met Ahlawat when she had gone to the Yamunanagar police station in

May 2002 to lodge a case of dowry harassment against her husband. She

alleged that Ahlawat insisted on meeting her at his camp office and

sought sexual favours. She immediately complained to several senior

police officers, demanding strict action against the official. But no

case was registered.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/555512.aspx

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Opinions and Editorials

Pitiful justice – Editorial (Jun 9, 2010, The

Hindu)

When eight out of 12 original accused in the world’s worst industrial

disaster, the Bhopal gas leak of December 3-4, 1984, are brought to

justice nearly 26 years later, it is difficult to respond to the verdict

with anything other than dismay. Key protagonists Warren Anderson and

Union Carbide Corporation (UCC, USA) have literally got away with mass

murder. The eight Indians held guilty, among them Keshub Mahindra,

chairman of UCC’s Indian subsidiary, have been sentenced to two years’

imprisonment by the trial court. Mr. Anderson was Accused No. 1 in the

1987 charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation; as Chief

Executive Officer of the parent UCC, he was directly responsible for

the deaths and devastation that came in the wake of the leak of toxic

methyl isocyanate gas from Carbide’s Bhopal plant.

Mr. Anderson,

who had approved and ratified the standards in design, safety, and

operations of the plant, was placed under house arrest immediately after

the calamity but he won his release on a promise to return to India and

stand trial. Of course, he never intended to return, and successive

Indian governments merely went through the motions of trying to secure

his extradition. In 1992, the district court in Bhopal declared Mr.

Anderson a fugitive from the law. In 1993, the case was bifurcated and

the eight Indian accused were tried separately.

The families of

the gas victims are bound to see the Bhopal verdict as a cruel joke on

their patience and suffering. The minimal punishment handed down to the

eight Indians is less a reflection on the Bhopal judge than a

consequence of a 1996 Supreme Court order diluting the charges – from

culpable homicide to causing death by negligence, which carries a

maximum imprisonment of two years. The unconscionably delayed verdict

also raises larger liability questions for industrial disasters,

especially in the context of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damages Bill.

The

Bhopal toll and consequences, short- and long-term, were horrific

beyond precedent. The 4,000 immediate deaths and the tens of thousands

disabled were the First Act of a heart-rending saga that continues to

take its toll to this day. Thousands more have died from long-term

exposure, not to mention children born with congenital defects and those

falling sick from drinking water contaminated by the uncleared waste

lying around the Carbide factory grounds.

What the government has

done for the generations of poor victims will go down in the annals of

infamy. It sued Carbide for $3 billion but settled for 15 per cent of

the amount, as a consequence of which survivors received an average

compensation of less than Rs.15,000. Those born with disabilities and

others suffering the long-term consequences have been left to fend for

themselves. It is truly a case of too little, too late.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/09/stories/2010060953331000.htm

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Deterring Bhopal-like disasters – Editorial (Jun 9,

2010, The Tribune)

The fact that Warren Anderson, the Union Carbide Corporation chairman

at the time its Indian subsidiary’s plant in Bhopal was the scene of a

gas leakage which was the world’s worst industrial disaster to date, is a

free man today is a sad commentary on the double standards that

characterise the world today. Had such a disaster happened in his parent

country the US, Anderson would predictably have had to face long

incarceration.

Arguably, had the estimated 15,000 people who died

as a result of the poisonous gas leak not been predominantly

slum-dwellers, the Indian government would perhaps have shown greater

interest and alacrity in his extradition to answer charges in India. As

it happened, Anderson was arrested in Bhopal on December 7, 1984,

released on bail six hours later and flown to Delhi the same day by a

Madhya Pradesh government plane. He then took a flight out of the

country never to return. Today, reports indicate that he is living in

great luxury in the US, unaffected by an Interpol alert for him which is

long forgotten.

In Bhopal, Anderson was charged with manslaughter

and was declared a fugitive from justice in 1992 by the Chief Judicial

Magistrate for failing to appear in court. Orders were passed by the

court to the Government of India to secure his extradition from the US

with which India has an extradition treaty in place. That there has been

no action on that front is for all to see. In July 2009 a fresh warrant

was issued against him and the Indian government indicated that it was

pursuing the extradition matter with the US government.

When the

lower court in Bhopal passed a verdict in the Bhopal gas leak case on

Monday, over 25 years after the incident, Anderson was not even

mentioned in the order passed by the court. While there is general

dissatisfaction over the weak punishment ordered for eight officials of

Union Carbide India, the rule of law dictates that the fountainhead of

the parent organization must be brought before the court and meted out

exemplary punishment. The extradition proceedings must be stepped up in

the interest of justice and fair play.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100609/edit.htm#1

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Dip Your Nib In Scepticism – By Neelabh Mishra

(Jun 21, 2010, Outlook)

They say no one goes to the famous dargah sharif in Ajmer without an

inner call from Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, the 12-13th century Sufi saint

whose grave and shrine it is. His devotees, therefore, may not be able

to come to terms with the death of Mohammed Salim, who died in the

explosion that took place in the dargah on October 11, 2007. Ignominy,

worse than death, was also his portion. A piece of wire allegedly found

in Salim’s pocket was used by the police as a pretext to declare him a

Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HUJI) terrorist who died in his own attempt to

spread mayhem. Needless to say, Salim’s family was denied the Rs 5 lakh

compensation announced for those who died in the blast. When his father

took the body home to Hyderabad for the last rites, he was bowed under

the shame of being called a terrorist’s father.

Three years on,

the arrest of Devendra Gupta and his accomplices – all either Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members or sympathizers – has cleared Mohammed

Salim’s name. The compensation money, though, is still tied up in red

tape. If this is the fate of a Muslim who died in a blast with which he

had nothing to do, what to expect for those Muslims who were rounded up

as suspects, detained illegally, and tortured for days for what the

police now says was a Hindutva terror plot? Maulana Shameem of Khandela

and Maulana Khushibur Rahman of Sardarshahar – both towns in north

Rajasthan – were illegally detained and tortured for days. A dozen other

maulvis and madrassa tutors were subjected to intense interrogation,

again in illegal detention. Hundreds of Bengali Muslims in Ajmer were

declared Bangladeshis with HUJI links and the slums they lived in were

cleared for land sharks to move in.

Sadly, the media – through not

being sceptical and asking the right questions – was complicit in these

atrocities. Those arrested were immediately painted as fearsome

terrorists. Fantastic stories were written and broadcast on the strength

of quotes from anonymous police and intelligence sources. These stories

gathered weight from the endorsement of the HUJI-LeT theory by no less a

person than Shivraj Patil, the then Union home minister. Those who

raised questions then about the human rights of the suspects who no

longer are suspects were branded supporters of terrorists both by the

police and the media – just the way they are now being called Maoist

sympathisers when they question indiscriminate sweeps on tribals by

security forces pursuing Maoist rebels. Another loaded question is:

would Islamist jehadis target mosques? They could – inter-sectarian

attacks are fairly common outside India and a classical Islamist will

conceivably not be especially comfortable with dargahs. Still, the

question does offer a natural source of doubt. But any expression of it,

or suggestion of a Hindutva angle – despite the fact that the

Nanded/Kanpur bomb incidents had already come to light – was mocked at

as a conspiracy theory.

Yesterday’s conspiracy theory is today the

establishment’s truth about the Ajmer blast, as with Malegaon. Devendra

and Sanjay Gupta, Vishnu and Chandrashekhar Patidar and Lokesh Sharma,

now named in the Ajmer case, have been found to have links with the RSS

and some extremist Hindutva groups. As an organisation, the RSS has

denied involvement with any terrorist act. But it has also admitted that

some of these suspects had been its members. Now, police are

investigating the link between those arrested for the Ajmer blast and

Malegaon suspects Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Srikant Purohit, Maj

(retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Swami Dayanand and Swami Aseemanand. The

Rajasthan police is also investigating possible links between the Ajmer,

Goa and Mecca Masjid blasts: for instance, the likelihood of a SIM card

being used to trigger them.

But there’s a crucial difference in

the coverage of these cases. The Muslims who were illegally detained

and tortured were immediately profiled as terrorists; fantastic profiles

of The Jehadi Terrorist, his background, upbringing, indoctrination and

training were on the front pages and on hour after hour of airtime. The

Hindutva extremists held in the same cases, however, are being referred

to just as suspects. Nowhere to be seen is the thriller vocabulary of

‘modules’, ‘sleeper cells’ and ‘concentric circles’. No wonder the

common Muslim feels discriminated against. Therefore, a cautionary note

for the media is quite in order: Do not unthinkingly accept axiomatic

government handouts and join it in hounding those who speak up for human

rights. Instead of beating down the doubting Thomases, ask the right

questions yourself. You may well end up saving the irreparable human

cost innocents – like those held and tortured for the Ajmer blasts – are

forced to pay.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?265788

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Manipur needs Peace not Politics – By Dawa

Tshering (Jun 9, 2010, Nav Hind Times)

Life in Manipur, wracked by insurgency and under a draconian act

giving special powers to the armed forces, is never easy. The blockade

had made it even more perilous. It was started on April 11 by Naga

people, in protest at Manipur’s announcement of local elections in

Naga-inhabited areas of the state. Nagas live in several states besides

Nagaland. They have fought a six-decade insurgency for an autonomous

“Greater Nagaland” including chunks of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal

Pradesh. A ceasefire with the government has largely held since 1997.

But successive rounds of peace talks have yielded little. Non-Naga

Manipuris, however, who have their own violent secessionist movement,

are alarmed by Naga ambitions. The blockade was given new impetus

earlier when Manipur government stopped Thuingaleng Muivah, the leader

of the separatist group with which the government signed the ceasefire,

from visiting the Manipuri village where he was born. This sparked

violent protests in Mao, a town near the Nagaland-Manipur border.

The

NSCN (IM) leader is seen as a breaker of peaceful co-existence of

communities, threat to unity and entity of Manipur, responsible for

criminal acts and human rights violations by the people and government

in Manipur. People are angry because of his and NSCN (IM)’s political

agenda and their past crimes especially “uncivilised communal actions”.

Muivah should not be shocked if he recalls what NSCN (IM) under his

leadership has done to Manipur and its people. First some knowledge of

Manipur is necessary which he and NSCN (IM) may not like to hear or

falsely propagate to the world for their own purposes. Unlike Nagaland

or any other region of the world, Manipur is like mini-India with

various communities living together with no restriction people coming to

or going out of Manipur. Besides historically evolved political entity

for centuries, Manipur is the traditional home of Meiteis, Manipuri

Muslims, Nagas and Kuki-Chin people with close socio-cultural, economic,

political and emotional ties. Historical, cultural and linguistic ties

between two communities, Meitei and Tangkhul are well known. Muivah may

not understand all the languages/dialects of Naga people but he can

speak Manipuri language (the mother tongue of Meities and Manipuri

Muslims). Such is the hard truth and irony of modern life.

There

is the story of Meitei and Tangkhul being brothers and the role of Naga

in Lai Haraouba of Meitei continues from ancient times. Former chief

ministers, late Yangmaso Shaiza and Rishang Keishing, the present Rajya

Sabha MP and other political leaders, administrators and personalities

are from Tangkhul community. History, culture, memories and people stand

against the goal of NSCN (IM) led by Muivah who continuously attempt to

destroy Manipur especially close relations between Meiteis and

Tangkhuls only for political reasons. Gandhi was thrown out of the first

class train cabin in South Africa and Ambedkar was not allowed to

attend school yet they worked hard to change the mindset of opponents.

Living and accepting a socially diverse environment is a product of

modern life. How long Muivah and NSCN (IM) will continue to pursue only

for Nagas agenda? The second major reason has been the past crimes like

heavy extortion on vehicles on National Highway No 39 and communal and

uncivilised acts by NSCN (IM) under his guidance in Manipur. Kuki people

can not forget “ethnic cleansing” and their sufferings deliberately

committed by NSCN (IM) in the 1990s. The NSCN (IM) failed to drive out

all the Kukis but succeeded in creating division as well sufferings to

both Kukis and Naga people in Manipur. The sufferings of the people of

Manipur was due to shortage of essential items artificially created by

NSCN (IM) “instigated” economic blockade for more than one month. The

beneficiaries were the black marketers, shopkeepers and big businessmen.

Why Muivah turned back only after killing of two youths and many

injuries at Mao? Damage to government offices and growing communal

passions, resignation drama of NSCN (IM) “controlled” seven independent

MLAs are consequences of politics over his visit. Does not Muivah feel

disturb and sad that even his own Naga people are also suffering and

frustrated by his politics? For only political reasons, Muivah and NSCN

(IM) can ignore or delete the above facts and their inhuman crimes from

their brains. People of Manipur especially the Nagas have suffered

silently, directly or indirectly at the hands of NSCN (IM) for decades.

What socialism, sovereignty and Greater Nagaland, Muivah and NSCN (IM)

have been talking about when they have done nothing to improve

conditions of their own people? Perhaps he only knows of Jinnah becoming

a ruler but was he aware of the consequences of partition of India on

people and second class status of those Muslims who went and live in

Pakistan? Muivah and his friends spent most of their time in foreign

cities yet continue to play havoc with the lives of people in Manipur

specially Nagas. What is the constructive or progressive thing Muivah

and NSCN (IM) have done for the people of Manipur? What they do with the

hundreds of crores collected as “Nagaland Tax” from public, governments

and businessmen?

The question arises, do Muivah and NSCN (IM)

believe in democracy and democratic methods of resolving conflicts? Of

course he and NSCN (IM) must have been offended by Manipur Cabinet’s ban

and opposition by political parties, protests by civil organizations in

Manipur. What about some introspection and see his and NSCN (IM)’s role

and contribution in the present stand off? The present conflict and

politics cannot become fight between all Nagas and other communities in

Manipur specially Meiteis despite propaganda and provocation by NSCN

(IM). Because people are no more fools and do not like them to be used

as political weapons. NSCN (IM) talks about the violation of Naga

rights, peace and respect but do they care the same for others including

Naga common people? The Union Home Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, must

realise his mistake first and then must learn how to talk politely to an

elected head of government in a democratic and federal system. He can

be polite to a rebel leader as he and centre have been doing. Time has

come for Muivah and NSCN (IM) leaders to change their stubborn ways for

their own sake in the old age. If Muivah and his friends can reduce the

present agony of the people of Manipur and assure peaceful co-existence,

their own frustration present and future will be automatically reduced.

They must ask as to what they have done for Nagas who have been used

and misused for decades. It is high time that Muivah and NSCN (IM)

realise that the major sources of their frustration are their own

unrealistic goals. Let people, peace and progress be the focus not

politics.

http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinion/manipur-needs-peace-not-politics

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Good Governance as Antidote to Maoism – By Inder

Malhotra (Jun 11, 2010, Nav Hind Times)

Two former Army Chiefs, Generals Shankar Roy Chowdhury and V P Malik,

and a former Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant-General S K

Sinha, who has had the added advantage of serving as governor of two

insurgency-ravaged states, Assam and Kashmir, have in recent days

written thoughtful articles on combating the Maoist challenge. The

country in general and the Cabinet Committee on Security, now in the

throes of finalising a comprehensive policy on this burning problem, in

particular, would do well to heed their counsel. Since the CCS is

grappling with the issue of using the Army and the Air Force to widen

Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram’s “limited mandate” to fight what

Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh accurately calls the “biggest internal

security threat”, it should give the most serious thought to their

sound advice to desist. Their arguments – that the army is already

“overstretched”, that if deployed against the Maoists it would need

legal protection under the Armed Forces Act which is under vigorous

attack in states where it is already in force, and that the presence of

men in olive green in the deep interior of the country could enhance

existing “alienation” there – must not be brushed aside.

The

three generals do not say that the armed forces have no role at all in

defeating the Maoists’ war on the Indian State. What they are opposing

is the direct embroilment of the army and the air force in

counter-insurgency operations in the Maoist-infested areas. For

instance, a vital role the army can and must play is to train the

personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force in jungle warfare. As

became evident after the April 6 slaughter of 76 policemen at Dantewada

in Chattisgarh, of the company of the 62nd CRPF battalion that went on a

botched up anti-insurgent mission, the bulk had had no jungle warfare

training. Also, serving or retired army officers can be posted to

unified commands, headed by chief ministers, in Maoist-affected states.

Similarly, the air force can be of great help in logistical support to

paramilitary and police forces and in surveillance that can be done by

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). But any offensive role by the IAF is

almost certain to be counter-productive, if only because of widespread

collateral civilian damage.

It is India’s proud record that

during half a century of insurgencies in different parts of the country

it has used air power only once – in Mizoram in the sixties when the

treasury and the police armoury were being looted and the Assam Rifles

were on the verge of being overwhelmed. A civilian assessment of the

situation, by eminent Security Analyst, Mr K Subrahmanyam, is that the

use of armed forces in counter-insurgency is like “chemotherapy for

cancer”. It should be done “sparingly” and with great care. According

to General Sinha, the 200,000-strong CRPF is the largest paramilitary

force in the world, but though equipped with modern weapons lacks

training in jungle warfare. It is also the most overstretched force with

poor logistics, and besides being ill-trained, it is also poorly led.

These shocking shortcomings have to be rectified rapidly. What goes for

the CRPF is even more relevant to the police in the states concerned.

The training, discipline, morale and leadership of state police forces

are even worse than those of Central paramilitary organisations. At the

same time, without adequate rural policing and rural intelligence

collection all the tall talk about rooting out Maoism would remain empty

rhetoric. There are several other stumbling blocks to the effective

action against Maoists that also have to be overcome. First, the

controversy over whether combating Maoism is the responsibility of the

states or of the Centre is nonsensical. Law and order is the states’

responsibility under the constitution. But the Maoists are not creating

just a law-and-order problem. They are waging an all-out war with the

avowed objective of overthrowing the duly elected Indian government

through armed force. All constituents of the Union of India have

therefore to respond with complete unity and coherence. Unfortunately,

the problem is political, not constitutional.

The time has come

to cry halt to the absurdity of different state governments owning

allegiance to different political parties going their own conflicting

ways and the Centre arguing that its responsibility ends with providing

the states with paramilitary forces. To put in place institutional

arrangements to first develop a political consensus and then take

coordinated action is not beyond human ingenuity. Secondly, the country

and the government must realise that the first task that brooks of no

delay is to inflict on the Maoists greater attrition than is the case

today. Indeed, during the first 5 months of this year the Maoists have

killed 170 personnel of the security forces as against 108 Maoists that

fell to the security forces’ action. The pattern was the same throughout

2009, and the statistics since 2005 are most depressing. Over this

period the Maoists killed 1,189 security forces personnel and 1,647

civilians, while fatal casualties among the Maoists were 1,441. Is it

any surprise that they are getting more and more emboldened? Of all the

targets Dantewada in Chattisgarh is the worst hit. According to Mr B

Raman, former deputy chief of the external intelligence agency, RAW, and

now a respected analyst, Maoists think that Dantewada would be for them

what Yenan was to the Chinese Communists, led by General Mao. They have

got to be disabused of this notion.

Thirdly, and most

importantly, the PM is quite right when he announces that in the fight

against the Maoists, his government would seriously address the

development problems at the grassroot and at the same time enforce the

writ of the state. Surely, he knows what the ground reality is. In most

Naxalite-haunted areas, there is no scope for development because the

administration just cannot reach there. But even this is relatively

unimportant. What is of paramount importance is that we have reached

this appalling state of affairs because of woeful lack of good

governance in the country over decades. Corruption is rampant and

apparently irremediable. All political parties happily play politics

with every issue, including seeking Maoists’ support in elections. The

police forces in the states where the Maoists have a sway are unable to

meet the challenge because they have been politicised relentlessly.

Shamefully, every recruit to the police has to bribe his way in. The

police in this country are not servants of the law, as they should be,

but servitors of the party in power. Dr Singh has got to do something

effective about this. Finally, one short point: After the attempted

terrorist bombing at Times Square in New York, Mr Obama summoned the US

Director of National Intelligence, Mr David Blair, and sacked him on the

spot. Can there be such accountability in the great Republic of India?

http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinion/good-governance-antidote-maoism

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Questionable link – By Praful Bidwai (Jun 5, 2010,

Frontline)

When the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was

launched last year, there was no debate on its purpose or clarity about

what methods it would use to give each one of 1.2 billion Indians a

16-digit unique identity (UID) number. Although its Chairman,

Information Technology (IT) star Nandan Nilekani, was given Cabinet

rank, the UIDAI was not placed under a Ministry but within the Planning

Commission, a non-statutory body, which has increasingly appropriated

power without public accountability. There was no discussion on the

merits of the project vis-a-vis other means of identification for

purposes such as employment guarantee schemes, below-poverty-line (BPL)

cards, or education entitlements. The project has since ballooned into a

gargantuan scheme. The latest Budget raised its annual allocation

16-fold. It has a new name (Aadhaar) and a logo. Meanwhile, Nilekani has

decided that biometric data, including scans of both irises and all 10

fingerprints, will be used for each individual’s UID. Even children

between five and 15 years will be included “in view of the Right to

Education”. The project is now riding piggyback on the Census-2011

enumeration, which has begun. The Census data will be used to prepare a

National Population Register, which will compile detailed information on

each individual under 15 heads, including name, sex, date of birth,

parents’ details, present and permanent address, marital status and “if

ever married, name of spouse”. It will include biometric data. According

to Nilekani, the UIDAI will act as “the back-office of the NPR” by

“de-duplicating” the collected data to generate the UID. As we see

below, the UID-NPR-Census link is illegitimate.

There is no

clarity about the project’s purpose and the legitimacy of one of its

principal functions: profiling citizens from whom the state is

potentially at risk, to fight terrorism. All manner of claims are made

about its virtues and its potential to contribute to governance: it will

create a reliable register of citizens; demarcate genuine nationals

from illegal migrants; help the state keep an eye on terrorists, tax

dodgers and money-launderers; bring 60 per cent of the poor who do not

have bank accounts into the banking system; and promote microcredit

delivery through fingerprint-compatible mobile phones. Above all, the

project is supposed to enable accurate targeting of health care, food,

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act benefits to the poor, while

eliminating leaks and reducing corruption. Confusion reigns on whether

the UID will be mandatory or voluntary. Nilekani insists it will be

optional and concedes that legitimate claimants will be excluded from

benefits if it is made mandatory. Yet, logically, its coverage must be

comprehensive in order to be efficacious. Many government functionaries

see the UID as a technological fix to social and administrative

problems, including leaks in service delivery. Nilekani is more

ambivalent. He recently said: “It’s early days to say how leakages can

be plugged. We are working on it.” The first set of UIDs will be issued

between August 2010 and February 2011. By 2014, they will cover half the

population, with 95 per cent accuracy.

The UID project looks like

a solution in search of problems. It is sought to be justified through

social and pro-poor functions that are well beyond its core-purpose and

can perhaps be achieved by equally efficient means. Its core rationale

and primary purpose is much less lofty than its extravagantly claimed

social benefits. It lies in security, surveillance and control -

traceable to the idea of a mandatory Multipurpose National Identity Card

for all Indians recommended by the Kargil Review Committee chaired by

security hawk K. Subrahmanyam. This committee greatly exceeded its brief

and strayed into areas such as security and nuclear weapons doctrines.

It seized the Kargil issue to drive a much larger “National Security

State” agenda. Home Minister P. Chidambaram himself underscored the

UID’s security rationale by announcing the UIDAI’s establishment in

January 2009 as a timely response to the November 2008 Mumbai terror

attacks. This rationale further unfolded with the government announcing a

plan to set up a DNA databank and a NATGRID (National Intelligence

Grid) connecting 11 agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, the

Research and Analysis Wing, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central Board of Excise and

Customs and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The information

generated by the NPR will be shared with the UIDAI and NATGRID. The DNA

bank and NATGRID are meant to combat terrorism and other challenges to

internal security. The UIDAI will be a pivotal intermediary between

numerous agencies: the Registrar General (which conducts the Census),

the Reserve Bank of India (which regulates commercial banks), and

telephone and Internet providers, besides intelligence agencies. This is

essential if the UID number is to be accepted as a proof of identity.

But how reliable is the UID as the prime, if not sole, information base

for security agencies, indeed even the civilian administration? The

answer is, not very. Its data would not be subject to verification.

Since nationality is to be recorded “as declared” and so transmitted in

downstream documentation, any number of non-citizens could instantly

register themselves as Indian nationals. They could as easily open bank

accounts, obtain Indian travel documents, and get jobs as genuine

Indians. This obviously has negative security consequences. These should

not be exaggerated. But the fact is that the UID is full of

verification and authentification voids. Even worse, the technology

involved in it is highly problematic. A London School of Economics (LSE)

team analysed a similar project considered by the British government.

It concluded: “The technology envisioned… is to a large extent untested

and unreliable. No scheme on this scale has been undertaken anywhere in

the world. Smaller and less ambitious systems have encountered

substantial technological and operational problems that are likely to be

amplified in a large-scale national system.” The problems will get

immensely magnified in India, which is almost 20 times more populous

than Britain and has a rickety administrative system.

The issue of

the reliability of IT-based methods is ignored in India, thanks to

blind faith in IT. This society is bewitched by technology but has a

poor appreciation of science or the scepticism it counsels. Thus, we

refuse even to countenance problems of data security and vulnerability

to manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVMs), although these are

widely recognised in technologically more literate societies – and

although IT professionals based at the University of Michigan have

successfully hacked into Indian EVMs (The Times of India, May 21). The

UIDAI’s database will be preyed upon by numerous agencies, Indian and

foreign, commercial and governmental, security-related or involved in

industrial espionage. Recently, researchers from the University of

Toronto exposed a China-based computer espionage network that pilfered

classified documents from India’s Defence Ministry. The “compromised”

installations included the Directorate-General of Military Intelligence;

three Air Force bases; Indian Military Engineer Services in four

places; a Mountain Artillery Brigade in Assam; two Indian military

colleges; and Indian Embassy computers in Kabul, Moscow, Dubai, and

Nigeria (see http://nytimes.com/2010/04/06/science/06cyber.html).

Similarly, DNA databases can be corrupted, potentially victimising

innocent citizens.…

http://www.flonnet.com/fl2712/stories/20100618271209400.htm

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Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – June 7th, 2010
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – June 28th, 2010
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – June 21st, 2010
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – September 14th, 2009
  5. IAMC Weekly News Digest – February 14th, 2011

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