IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 1st, 2010

by iamcadmin on February 27, 2010

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Book Review

News Headlines

Godhra case: Witness alleges torture, moves apex court (Feb 24, 2010, Indian Express)

Godhra carnage eyewitness, Illyas Hussain Mullah, who was supposed
to depose before a designated fast-track court in Sabarmati Jail on
Monday, has now filed an application in the Supreme Court, alleging he
was prevented him from deposing before the designated court.

The
application, filed by Jyoti Mendiratta, a Delhi-based advocate for the
NHRC, says while another witness was "served with a notice to appear
before the Additional Sessions Judge in Sabarmati Jail for witness
examination on February 16, the summons notice was not served upon the
applicant (Illyas)".

The applicant also alleges that when
Illyas went to Sabarmati Jail to appear before the Additional Sessions
Judge on February 16, he was detained by the SIT and taken to a
government guest house in Shehra. There he was beaten up by the
officers allegedly in the presence of Panchmahals SP, says the
application.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/583705/

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Pune blast: Hindu outfit links not ruled out, says official (Feb 22, 2010, Rediff)

The Maharashtra government may also look at the possibility of
involvement of right wing Hindu organisations in the Pune blast, a top
official said on Monday. "We have not ruled out possibility of the
involvement of right wing Hindu organisations in the blast," a senior
Home Department official told media-persons in Mumbai.

The
official was replying to a question by reporters whether they are
ruling out the involvement of any right wing Hindu organisation in the
terror attack on February 13 that left 15 persons dead. Pune, being a
major centre for right wing activists, the probe will also consider
their links, the official said, adding so far there has been no
confirmation of involvement of any group.

Recent media reports
linked Hindu organisation Abhinav Bharat, to the blast. The
organisation is led by Himani Savarkar, daughter of Gopal Godse,
brother of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram. On media reports that
the investigation would be transferred to the National Investigation
Agency (NIA), the official said ATS would continue the probe. "We have
no indications from the Centre that they want the case to be
transferred to NIA," the official said.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/22/german-bakery-not-ruling-out-possibility-of-hindu-link-to-blast.htm

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Explosives, detonators seized in Vapi, Surendranagar (Feb 15, 2010, DNA India)

The special operations group (SOG), Valsad, seized a large quantity
of explosives and several hundred detonators during checking of
vehicles at Vapi GIDC, late on Saturday night. In another operation,
the police seized, on Sunday night, 100 kg of ammonium nitrate and 300
detonators near Limbdi in Surendranagar district. Surendranagar SP
Ashok Kumar said the material was seized during checking of vehicles on
the national highway. "Some people have been arrested and their
interrogation is going on," he added.

In Vapi, officials said the
explosives were being taken illegally for use at a stone quarry but the
SOG was, nevertheless, investigating the matter for a possible link
with the bomb blast in Pune. Around 600 detonators, 200 dynamite sticks
and 200 kilograms of ammonium nitrate had been seized, the Valsad
police officials added. The Valsad SOG has arrested four persons in
this connection and issued a search warrant for Ramesh Konkani, a
constable with the Silvassa police, who allegedly supplies explosives
illegally to quarry owners. Silvassa is the headquarters of Dadra and
Nagar Haveli.

Sources in Valsad police said that after the bomb
blast in Pune on Saturday, an alert had been sounded across the state.
The same evening, the Valsad police received a tip-off from ATS
Gandhinagar after which the SOG began intense checking of vehicles in
and around Vapi.

It was during checking of vehicles that SOG
personnel found a large quantity of explosives and several hundred
detonators in an Aveo car and an auto-rickshaw behind the car, at Vapi
GIDC. The seized detonators, dynamite sticks and ammonium nitrate were
recovered from the two vehicles. The explosives had been purchased from
a shop in the GIDC and were to be used at a stone quarry in Silvassa,
police sources said. Four people were arrested for illegally owning and
moving explosives from one place to another.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_explosives-detonators-seized-in-vapi-surendranagar_1348143

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Communal violence to be made a non-bailable offence: CM (Feb 23, 2010, Indian Express)

Chief Minister Paraksh Singh Badal today announced introduction of a
criminal law with provisions of making communal offence as non-bailable
with five years of rigorous imprisonment. The CM was in Patto Hira
Singh village in Moga district to lay the foundation stone of a
college. "Persons responsible for publishing objectionable pictures
have been arrested and investigations are going on. We respect all
religions and want communal harmony in state," he said.

On
killing of BKU (Ugrahan) leader Sadhu Singh Takhtupura, he said the
culprit will not be spared. He also criticised the Centre for reducing
the subsidy in fertilisers. In Kotkapura, he laid the foundation stone
of Rs 12.5 crore government polytechnic college and said the state
government will focus on employment generation for the unemployed and
lesser-educated youth.

Badal said the government would soon
open state-of-the-art skill development centres at block level to train
unemployed youth. "Efforts are also afoot to set up private security
training institutes at all district headquarters to impart hi-tech
training in private security services to youths on the pattern of
security training institute in Jahan Khelan, district Hoshiarpur," the
CM said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/583139/

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Inadequate security to artists is strangulation of free Bharat (Feb 26, 2010, Times of India)

It’s a palette of anger, anguish and cynicism. Senior artists and
other eminent personalities reacted to Qatar’s conferring citizenship
on master painter M F Husain with deep regret at how the government has
failed to provide protection to an artist hounded by fundamentalists.
Ironically, "the only Indian painter in history who has extensively
painted both Ramayana and Mahabharata," adds Lalit Kala Akademi
chairman Ashok Vajpeyi. Padma Vibhushan M F Husain was first vilified
in 1996 in a Hindi journal over his depiction of Indian deities made in
the 1970s. On the charge that they hurt ‘Hindu sentiments’, his
exhibitions were targeted, his work vandalized alongside freely
expressed death threats and threats of "cutting off his arms or
blinding him," says Vajpeyi.

With successive governments quiet
on the issue, Husain has lived in exile in Dubai and London for almost
13 years. Aged 95 now, he reportedly faces almost 900 cases. On
Wednesday, a newspaper reported that Husain "has been conferred Qatar
nationality". The report also pointed out "Mr Husain did not apply" for
the nationality. Fellow artists said that protests are integral to
democracy but when they become violent and ugly, the government must
protect its citizens, which successive Indian governments have either
failed to or chosen not to. "Courts are for justice. Our judicial
system cannot allow itself to be used to victimize," says
artist-activist Ram Rahman, of Sahmat, a civil society group that has
tried "for years" to bring Husain back. "You can’t use violence or
threat of violence and call it protest. It’s travesty of justice,
absolute tragedy for democracy," he says.

Absence of any
political statement that Husain should be provided security
showedgovernment endorsement of the violence. "With their silence,
India’s political wing and executive have endorsed the views of the
fascist Right. Husain openly identified with the Congress, Nehru,
Indira, Rajiv Gandhi," says Vivan Sundaram, but "he’s been completely
abandoned". Deeply saddened by the turn of events, filmmaker Shyam
Benegal adds, "Why are we not capable of giving protection to Husain?
It seems politics of intimidation has won."

Too true, and
that’s the single point emerging time and again. "On the one hand,
government can’t stop Bal Thackeray; on the other, it cannot provide
security to writers and artists. It is a strangulation of free Bharat,"
says writer Rajendra Yadav, adding, "The government seems to be weak
and open to making compromises." Vajpeyi adds that there were "helpful
signs" that home minister Chidambaram had moved to bring Husain back,
but even that seemed to have been jettisoned. "He can’t even come back
to India to die," says friend Rahman. The helplessness of the artist
community is obvious.

"We are nobody. Why ask us? Ask the home
minister, ask the PMO. When they can give security to ministers, why
can’t they give security to one of India’s greatest?" counter questions
artist Jatin Das. "I met him last year. He wants to come back. But
nobody’s willing to give him security," he added. It’s been a
disappointing, at times shocking, struggle for Sahmat. A letter dated
2006 to president Kalam, asking the State to honour him with a Bharat
Ratna was not even acknowledged.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5617699.cms

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Fresh warrant out, court asks CBI: Why cant you arrest Sajjan? (Feb 24, 2010, Indian Express)

A city court on Tuesday slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) for not being "serious enough" in arresting Congress leader
Sajjan Kumar and other accused in two 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. The
court on Tuesday also issued fresh non-bailable warrants and issued
directions to the CBI director to personally supervise the process.
"The CBI does not seem to be serious enough to apprehend the accused,"
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Lokesh Kumar Sharma
said.

When the investigating agency’s counsel contended that
the CBI had conducted four raids but could not nab the Congress leader,
ACMM Sharma noted: "The CBI wants to complete only paperwork. These are
all stereotype reports." "There is a slight suspicion on the
genuineness of effort of the CBI," the court observed. "Is this the
manner the CBI functions? Where have all the accused gone?"

The
CBI claimed that it had conducted raids at the residences of the
accused but failed to apprehend them. At that, the court asked, "Is the
non-bailable warrant to be executed at residences only?" The court also
raised other questions on the investigating agency’s conduct in the
matter. "When warrants were issued on February 17, why did the efforts
begin only on February 19?" the court asked. The CBI has arrested
Girdhari Lal, one of the 12 accused in the anti-Sikh riots that broke
out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in
1984.

Producing Lal in court, the investigating agency asked
the court to declare Sajjan Kumar and the other accused as absconders.
Lal has been remanded in judicial custody till March 9. Opposing the
fresh warrant, Kumar’s counsel I U Khan said, "My client is not running
away and is exploring all statutory remedies available to him by
approaching a higher court." Stressing that Kumar was "trying his
luck", the counsel sought exemption from appearance as the former MP’s
anticipatory bail plea has been heard by the Delhi High Court, which
has reserved its order. In reply, ACMM Sharma said, "Let him try his
luck."

ACMM Sharma then asked for Kumar’s whereabouts: "Where
is your client? The court is left at the mercy of the accused to appear
in court." Khan refuted the CBI’s charge that Kumar is absconding. He
said, "In case Kumar appears before the court and gets arrested, the
purpose of filing anticipatory bail becomes redundant." Khan also said
the accused has the right to explore all remedial measures. But
declining the plea by Khan and the other accused, the court issued
fresh non-bailable warrants for March 10.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/583655/

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Ruchikas father for awarding death penalty to Rathore (Feb 22, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Claiming that justice has still not been done in Ruchika’s case, her
father Subhash Chander Girhotra on Saturday sought the death sentence
for former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore for molesting his daughter. "He
(Rathore) should be hanged. He can be charged under Section 305 IPC
(abetment of suicide by a child). When he molested my daughter she was
a minor, although when Ruchika committed suicide she was a major.
Section 305 IPC provides for death sentence. Now, it is up to the
judiciary to decide," Girhotra told reporters in Hyderabad.

Girhotra
was in the city as part of a programme organised by a local NGO towards
forming a network for such (molestation) victims, who are in need of
help. Girhotra, who almost broke out during the press meet said, "my
daughter was tortured and forced to die. She is yet to receive justice.
This is sorry state of affairs of our system. The way the case has been
handled for the past 19 years is very distressing. So, we have to
change the system to ensure that there are no future Ruchikas."

Girhotra
sought fast track courts to handle such cases and day-to-day hearings
for prompt punishment to the guilty. Seeking enhancement of punishment
of Rathore, who was recently awarded six months imprisonment by a CBI
court in Chandigarh, Ruchika’s father said he was hoping that the
former top policeman would be finally given maximum punishment this
time around. "But I will not reach the conclusion that justice will be
done immediately," he said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/511087.aspx

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Police lathicharge on Osmania students rocks AP Assembly (Feb 23, 2010, Hindustan Times)

The police lathicharge on pro-Telangana students in Osmania
University campus rocked the Andhra Pradesh Assembly today forcing its
adjournment thrice. TDP members also raised the issue of alleged
lathicharge of Telangana lawyers by police in the national capital and
pressed for a discussion on the issue through an adjournment motion as
soon as the day’s proceedings began.

However, Speaker Kiran Kumar
Reddy disallowed the motion, saying that raising an issue that happened
outside the state was against the House rules. But the TDP MLAs from
Telangana persisted with their demand forcing adjournment of the
proceedings for 15 minutes.

The TDP members were on their feet
even after the House re-assembled and tried to storm the well forcing
the second adjournment for 30 minutes. When the House met again,
similar scenes were witnessed leading to its adjournment for a third
time.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/511956.aspx

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Social exclusion of Muslims alleged (Feb 23, 2010, The Hindu)

The government had not done enough to bring about social inclusion
of Muslims and other marginalised sections of society. Social exclusion
on the basis of caste, religion and gender had led to denial of equal
opportunities and access to resources resulting in deprivation of
certain sections of society. This was the view of large number of
participants at the national conference on "Exclusionary perspectives
for Muslims and marginalised groups", which commenced here on Monday.

The
three-day conference organised by the Centre for the Study of Social
Exclusion and Inclusion Policy at the Maulana Azad National Urdu
University saw sociologists, political scientists, economists and
historians expressing concern at the pathetic socio-economic conditions
of Muslims and the marginalised groups as a result of discrimination.
T.K. Oommen, eminent sociologist, said social exclusion had become a
universal phenomenon. Stratification, hierarchy and caste system had
produced cumulative deprivation of the minorities. Muslims and
Christians were perceived as cultural outsiders, which was not correct,
Prof. Oommen said.

Denying that there was any minority
appeasement in the country, he felt religious minorities deserved
reservations, but such a move would raise the hackles of the communal
forces. The Constitution had been amended several times and it could be
amended yet again for this purpose. "It is not religion but social
status we should look at", Prof. Oommen remarked. Referring to the
inadequate representation to Muslims in the elected bodies, he said
constituencies, which had high minority population, should not be
reserved for SCs.

He wanted Muslims themselves to take the lead
to accelerate the pace of their inclusion. Imparting of secular
education was an important factor and on the contrary ‘Madrasa

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  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – March 9th, 2009

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