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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – April 1st, 2013

by newsdigest on April 2, 2013

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

US lawmakers paid Rs 9 lakh each to praise Modi: report (Mar 30, 2013, Indian Express)

Amid a raging controversy over the funding of the visit of three members of the US Congress, who have spoken for an American visa for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Congressmen rejected allegations questioning the legitimacy of their trip. The visit of a group of Americans including the three Congressmen – Aaron Schock, Cynthia Lummis and Cathy M Rodgers – and some businessmen has now been mired in a controversy following reports that the team members may have been paid between $3,000 (Rs 1,60,000) and $6,000 (Rs 8.68 lakhs) each for the trip. Organised by Chicago-based National Indian American Public Policy Institute (NIAPPI), the trip included visits to Bangalore, Tirupati, Jaipur, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and Golden Temple in Amritsar and a ‘Bollywood Extravaganza’.

The team met Modi on Thursday, praised his work and invited him to visit the US, saying they will work to get him a visa, denied by the country for his alleged role in the post-Godhra riots of 2002. Following reports in an ethnic Indian daily in the US on the trip, the Congress and BJP traded attacks on each other. Congress Spokesperson Rashid Alvi said it was a “shame that the Congressmen were paid for getting a visa and certificate of development for Modi”. Vijay Jolly, convenor of Overseas BJP, rejected the charges, saying the Congressmen have spent their own money and there was no impropriety involved.

When questioned about the charges, Schock first reacted asking what was the issue involved. “All I would say is that our trip here was signed off by the appropriate authorities in our government… and specifically by the House of Representatives. I would simply say that three members of Congress don’t just leave the country. “So I am not going to get into all the nuances. Certainly some people do not like the fact that we are here… perhaps some people do not agree with what we are saying here… but certainly as American members of Congress we have a free right to come over here,” Schock said. “I have checked appropriate boxes necessary to make this trip legitimate and well within all the rules and accordances of US Congress,” he said.

NRI businessman and founder of NIAPPI Shalabh Kumar said, “There is a very strong House Ethics Committee that disapproves or approves visits by Congressmen to other countries”. “So an organisation like NIAPPI, that is a think-tank, sponsors visits, and trade people who want to go and establish business,” Kumar said. Alvi said, “One feels ashamed over this kind of news. It is an insult to a nation. The Congressmen were given Rs 9 lakh each so that America can give him (Modi) visa and a certificate of development. “This is unfortunate. If the money had been spent in Gujarat for the poor and development, then it would have been much better,” he said. Jolly said there was no controversy at all. In America, people even pay for attending a dinner with the President. “The US businessmen wanted to come to India. They spend their own money. They have been attracted by Narendra Modi’s governance,” he said, attacking the Congress for making an issue of the trip.

Gujarat Congress billed the visit as “nothing but a marketing gimmick by some global public relations firm to market Modi’. Congress President Arjun Modhwadia alleged that an impression was created as if it was an official US delegation and the US government itself has extended the invitation to Modi to visit America. Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed said in a tweet: “Modi says give visa I will give you business, Americans say give business we will give you visa. Who is bribing whom is a million dollar question.” Ahmed, who is the AICC in-charge for West Bengal and Jharkhand, said “people say the visit of US lawmakers along with a delegation to Modi means that you give us business we will give you Visa. Isn’t it a bribe?.” AICC Secretary Praveen Davar hit out at the US delegation for inviting the Gujarat Chief Minister describing it as “thoughtless” move. “I strongly condemn the three Republicans for inviting Modi to the US. Have Americans forgotten who masterminded 2002 Gujarat genocide? Repeated victory at the hustings does not absolve Modi of alleged crimes against humanity. Lawmakers must withdraw their thoughtless invite,” Davar said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1095298/

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Did aggressive Hindutva agenda cost BJP dear? (Mar 31, 2013, The Hindu)

The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a serious setback in its bastion – coastal Karnataka – in the urban local body elections, putting it in a spot of bother ahead of the Assembly elections on May 5. Now, the question is whether the defeat can be attributed to the aggressive Hindutva agenda the party and its affiliates pursued here over the last five years and if these activities alienated the youth from the party. Since 2009 and as recently as early March, the region witnessed a series of attacks on churches. There have been vigilante attacks – big and small – including the pub attack and ‘home stay’ attack in Mangalore in which young men and women were thrashed. These attacks caught national attention. The perpetrators were seen as immune to the rule of law and protected by the ruling party.

The BJP saw a 10 per cent decline in the number of seats it won in the recent ULB elections compared to the 2007 polls in coastal Karnataka. The biggest blow was in the Udupi Municipal Council, which went to the Congress after a gap of over four decades. Political observers say that people’s rejection of the militant face of Hindutva may be one explanation for this. However, various other factors related to anti-incumbency and disillusionment of the people who believed BJP to be a “party with a difference” also contributed strongly to the change in the political tide.

Associate professor at Mangalore University Rajaram Tolpady pointed out that the “bodily attack” as in the case of the ‘home stay’ case of July 28, 2012, came to be criticised by “people of all ideologies.” Militant Hindutva poses “a big threat to individual liberty which nobody tolerates,” he said. Retired professor at St. Aloysius College Rolphie Mascarenhas said minorities had been apprehensive since the beginning of the BJP rule and their fears have come true. The ULB poll results could partly be because of the cumulative effect of this.

The incidents were not isolated, but appeared to be the handiwork of an “organ of the government.” But a stronger reason for the vote against the BJP was the utter disappointment of people about the very governance of the BJP. “There was no government from day one,” he said. But political analyst G. Rajashekar suggested that the Hindutva ideology had ramifications beyond the context of elections. He hoped that the party’s poor show would create a self-doubt about Hindutva politics.

Prof. Mascarehnas suggested that it was desertion of the BJP followers that caused the damage. Even K. Ram Bhat Urimajalu, former Puttur MLA, who rebelled against the interference of RSS in BJP matters, said that “breach of trust” by the party that went against its promise of a corruption-free and selfless government was to blame for its debacle in the ULB elections. He does not accept that Hindutva agenda of the party had anything to do with it. Mr. Tolpady said that Hindutva would not work as a long-term strategy and the BJP would realise this sooner than later. He gave the example Narendra Modi in Gujarat who no longer speaks of Hindutva but keeps harping on the more acceptable “development” agenda. Experts point out that people in rural areas are much more disillusioned with the BJP than the urban voters, who expressed their preference in ULB polls.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/did-aggressive-hindutva-agenda-cost-bjp-dear/article4566036.ece

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Police make 5 dead accused in Dhule riots (Mar 28, 2013, Indian Express)

Five of the six people killed in police firing during the Dhule riots of January 6 have been named accused. Four of them, including a minor, were shot in the back, while one received a bullet in his neck. Police have named the five in a remand application filed before judicial magistrate first-class, Dhule, on January 13. Interestingly, the name of the only victim shot from the front, Rizwan Shah (22), has been omitted from the FIR. His injuries below the waist suggest police followed rules.

“We first used teargas and then lathi-charge. As we could not control the riot, we opened fire that killed five rioters,” inspector P D Pawar of Dhule Crime Branch said in the remand application. The dead who have been made accused are Asif Ansari (32), Shaikh Nasir (25), Saud Patel (17), Imran Ali (25) and Yunus Shah (22). As per the post-mortem report, the first four had bullet entry wounds in their backs, while Shah was shot in the neck and died four days later on January 10.

Prima facie, all the said accused seem to have died in police firing which was not in accordance with the police manual. “Firing must aim low and at the most threatening part of the crowd with a view not to cause fatalities but to disperse. As soon as the crowd shows signs of breaking up, firing must stop,” the manual says. The remand application also states the rioters used acid to attack police. This was not mentioned in the two FIRs police filed soon after the riots.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1094133/

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Mumbai police face defamation suit for false terror circular (Apr 1, 2013, Mumbai Mirror)

The Jamat-e-Islami Hind, a wellknown organisation that runs more than 500 educational institutions across the country, has threatened to sue the Mumbai police for defamation if they do not apologise for a Special Branch circular that alleged that members of its women’s wing “were indoctrinating college girls and imparting training in jihad.” The Girls Islamic Organisation is a branch of the hardline Jamat, one of India’s largest Islamic organisation that runs 40 high schools and 3 junior colleges in Maharashtra. On Sunday, Jamat office bearers told Mumbai Mirror that they are preparing legal action against the Mumbai police for defaming their organisation. Additional Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Naval Bajaj, whose signature the memo bears, sought to distance himself from the controversy and said the communication was an internal circular that was never meant to be in the public domain.

“The circular was meant for internal purpose only,” Bajaj told this newspaper. “It was not supposed to be in the public domain but unfortunately it is now in the public domain. And the damage has been done. No officer will write a report on his own without getting the information.” The circular, issued in the third week of March, read: “The group GIO is an offshoot of the 65-year-old Jamat-e-Islami Organisation and is currently active in Kerala. The purported aim of this organisation is to make more and more Muslim women aware of their religion and the holy Quran.

But the real objective of this organisation is to brainwash college and school girls and train them for jihad.” The circular also names two women – Saleha Baji and Sumayya – as heading the organisation. The Jamat dubbed the circular as a conspiracy to malign Islam and Muslims. “We run 40 high schools and three junior colleges just in Maharashtra,” said Mohammad Aslam Ghazi, spokesperson, Jamat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra. “There seems to be no rhyme or reason to relate the Girls’ Islamic Organisation to terrorist activities. We are meeting Bajaj with a delegation on Monday to ask why the circular was issued. If he doesn’t apologise, we will file a case of defamation.” Ghazi said the Jamat-e-Islami Hind was a socio-religious organisation working for peace, justice and to fight against prejudice injected by the state machinery.

“GIO is our daughter organisation, instituted to provide girls with both Islamic and modern education,” said Ghazi. “The defamatory circular is a result of the communal minds deeply ingrained among our administrative, intelligence and security agencies.” Activists slammed the Mumbai police for what they said was a prejudiced and baseless circular. Mumbai-based criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said such circulars only created panic, suspicion and avoidable controversies.

“While it is true that the security of citizens is paramount, it is equally important that policemen do not abuse their powers under the guise of security by harassing a section of the society,” said Memon. “Aren’t policemen expected to keep an eye on everyone; why Muslim women alone?” Rizwan Merchant, another criminal lawyer, said “Every religious group is free to practice and preach their own religion. On the other hand by issuing such circulars it shows that the roving eyes of the police and it also means invasion of privacy of Muslim women.”

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/201304012013040112461739080efdb1c/Mumbai-police-face-defamation-suit-for-false-terror-circular.html

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Eight policemen convicted in Gonda fake encounter case (Mar 30, 2013, Times of India)

Eight policemen have been convicted by a special CBI court here in a 31-year-old fake encounter case in Gonda district in which 13 people, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed. Special CBI judge Rajendra Singh convicted the eight yesterday and fixed April 5 as the next date to fix quantum of sentence. One policemen Prem Singh was acquitted of the charges. In all 19 policemen were made accused in the case of which 10 died during the course of the trial.

Dy SP and circle officer K P Singh and 12 other people were killed in the fake encounter in Madhopur village in March 1982. Police initially claimed that Singh was killed by criminals, but his wife Vibha Singh suspected foul play and moved the Supreme Court, which ordered a CBI inquiry. The CBI filed charge sheet against 19 policemen of which 10 died during the trail.

Those convicted include the then PAC commandant Ramakant Dixit, station house officer R B Saroj, sub-inspectors Naseem Ahmad, Mangal Singh, Parvez Hussain, Rajendra Prasad Singh, head constable Prem Narain Pandey and constable Ram Karan. The eight convicts were sent to jail.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-30/india/38144978_1_cbi-inquiry-special-cbi-court-policemen

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Civil group to move court seeking release of Nimesh Commission Report (Mar 29, 2013, Muslim Mirror)

To put pressure on the Samajwadi Party government of Uttar Pradesh to release the RD Nimesh Commission report, a civil group is moving Barabanki district court which is hearing the case of terror accused Hakim Tariq and Khalid Mujahid. The commission inquired into the 2007 arrest of the duo in connection with the serial court blasts of that year and submitted its report in August 2012 but the state government of Akhilesh Yadav has not yet released it. Awami Council for Democracy and Peace is going to file an application under section 311 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking summoning of the RD Nimesh Commission report in the Barabanki court where the trial of the duo is going on in the blasts case.

The duo is being trialed on the basis of the charge-sheet filed by the police while the government-appointed commission has found that the very arrest of the duo was illegal. That’s why in the larger interest of the public we are going to file the petition seeking summoning of the Nimesh Commission report,” Asad Hayat of Awami Council for Democracy and Peace told Muslim Mirror over phone. He informed that he would file the petition on 2nd April.

On 23rd November 2007 several blasts took place at court premises in Varanasi, Faizabad, Lucknow. The state police picked Hakim Tariq on 12th December 2007 in Azamgarh and Khalid Mujahid on 16thDecember in Jaunpur. However, the police presented the duo before the media on 22nd December in Barabanki. The police claimed the duo was arrested with arms and ammunition. As the villagers had seen picking of the duo, there was huge protest and demonstration against the 22nd Dec. claim of the UP police. Succumbing to the public pressure the then chief minister Mayawati announced to set up a commission to look into the arrest of Tariq and Mujahid. About five years after the constitution, the commission submitted its report on 31st August 2012.

However, over six months have passed since, the SP government has not made the report public. The report has been leaked out and is available on internet. As the commission has raised questions about the claim of the police regarding the arrest of the duo, civil rights groups and family members of the duo have been demanding the state government to make the report public. “It is a serious matter of human and civil rights. The state government should not sit on this precious report. As it is sleeping on the report, I am moving the court to put pressure on the government,” Hayat said.

http://muslimmirror.com/eng/civil-group-to-move-court-seeking-release-of-nimesh-commission-report/

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Facebook post sparks protests in Maharashtra (Mar 29, 2013, Indian Express)

A post on Facebook sparked tension in parts of Bhiwandi and Thane on Thursday, with shops remaining shut through the day. The police said the post hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. Angry crowds staged protests, demanding the arrest of the person who posted objectionable photos denigrating the holy mosque at Mecca.

According to local residents and the police, the post was initially seen by a few residents of Rabodi in Thane on Wednesday. More than 100 people from the locality staged a protest at around 8pm on Wednesday, and approached the Rabodi police station seeking action against the person who posted the pictures. By midnight, the news about the post spread to the outskirts of Bhiwandi.

A mob of around 200 people then blocked the Mumbai-Nashik highway, stopping traffic movement for more than an hour. The police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob. Some protesters moved towards Bhiwandi. Protests were also held at Nizampura, Shantinagar, Vanzarpatti and Bhiwandi town. After the protests, the police sought permission from a metropolitan magistrate court to block the Facebook page, and by evening the page was removed.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1094688/

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Karnataka BJP law-maker in sex CD row, to stay away from May 5 assembly polls (Mar 28, 2013, DNA India)

A CD allegedly showing Karnataka BJP law maker Raghupathi Bhat in sexual acts has surfaced, prompting him to announce that he would not contest the May 5 assembly polls in the state. Bhat, a second-time law-maker from Udupi, about 400km west of Bangalore, however, denied he is the man shown in the CD and sought a probe to establish the truth.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Pralhad Joshi told reporters here that the party would take action only after it is proved that the man in the CD is Bhat. Bhat told Kannada TV channels from Udupi that he too had received a copy of the CD only late Wednesday and he suspects a “political conspiracy” against him. The channels did not telecast the CD on the ground that it was too explicit. Bhat said his decision to stay away from the assembly poll was intended to avoid embarrassment for his party.

Joshi also said the development would not affect BJP’s prospects in the polls. Bhat, 45, is not new to controversies. His wife Padmapriya was found dead in an apartment in Dwarka locality in southwest Delhi in July 2008 after remaining missing for five days. Karnataka Police have termed the death of Padmapriya, who was 32 at that time, as suicide and Bhat’s childhood friend Atul Rao has been charged with abetting it. The trial in the case continues.

http://www.dnaindia.com/print710.php?cid=1816613

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Kerala minister KB Ganesh Kumar quits after wife alleges domestic violence (Apr 2, 2013, Deccan Herald)

Kerala’s Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar handed over his resignation to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy late on Monday night after his estranged wife accused him of ill-treatment. Forty-six-year old film star-turned-politician was accompanied by his friend and State Labour Minister Shibu Baby John and other friends from the film industry including ace director Shaji Kailas and producer Suresh Kumar at the chief minister’s official residence. Though earlier in the evening he refused to resign, K.B.Ganesh Kumar was forced to change his mind after his estranged wife Yamini Thankachi, a medical professional, complained about his ill treatment of her in written to Chandy.

Chandy accepted the letter and asked her to approach the nearest police station. The chief minister then called the director general of police, K.S.Balasubramanion, and his senior cabinet colleagues and held closed door discussions. Speaking to reporters Chandy said that Kumar’s wife had come with a written complaint against the minister. “I called the DGP and handed over the complaint. In the morning Kumar had also registered a complaint at the police station. “And now in the light of this he has decided to resign and his resignation will be sent to the governor tomorrow,” he said. Kumar, in the presence of Chandy, said he was stepping down to keep the high moral standards.”For an impartial inquiry into the allegations that have been levelled, it’s improper for me to continue as a minister and hence I have stepped down.”

Earlier in the day, Thankachi accused Chandy of “cheating” her by not accepting her complaint of domestic violence by her husband who was now moving to divorce her. She claimed to have been assured by Chandy for his intervention to solve the matter amicably. But hours later Kumar filed for divorce, alleging harassment including physical torture, by his doctor wife Thankachy. “I had a complaint with me but the CM did not accept it and told me that he will intervene and bring an amicable settlement. Chandy dismissed the charge. “The last date according to the agreement was yesterday (Sunday) and I spoke to the CM yesterday (Sunday) also but today (Monday) I hear that the minister has filed a divorce petition. I was cheated by the CM,” said Thankachi. “I have been facing the brutal physical assault against me by the minister for the past 16 years and everyone in his family (including his father and former minister R.Balakrishna Pillai) is well aware of my sufferings. “I placed a lot of hope on the CM but he too cheated me,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Kumar refused to resign in the wake of the allegations and accused her of demanding Rs.75 lakh to be deposited in her name. Reacting to Thankachi’s allegations, Chandy admitted having assured her of his intervention to solve the dispute. “She had not given me any written complaint.” “I did my best to intervene to solve their issues and in the first round, I succeeded. The agreement was made out but it failed in the implementation part. I feel she is being prompted by some external forces,” he said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) accused Chandy of misleading the assembly and demanded his resignation. “If a minister’s wife is not able to get her issues sorted out in a domestic violence case and Chandy totally hid this from the assembly when he made a statement last month. He has no other go but to quit,” former home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters. Leader of Opposition V.S.Achuthanandan also jumped into the fray and demanded Chandy’s resignation for misleading the house on the issue of domestic violence in the case of the minister and his wife.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/323270/kerala-minister-kb-ganesh-kumar.html

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Marathi writer charged with rape of three Dalit women, absconds (Mar 27, 2013, IBN)

A manhunt has been launched to trace leading Marathi writer Laxman Mane, who has been booked for raping three Dalit women working at a school he runs, police said on Tuesday. Mane’s family meanwhile dismissed the charges. “He is still absconding and police teams are investigating the matter,” an official from Satara police control told IANS.

A former Maharashtra legislative council member, the 63-year old Mane has been charged with raping three women who were working as temporary cooks at a residential tribal school he runs at Jakatwadi in Satara, around 250 kms to the south-east of Mumbai. According to police, the complaints were lodged on Monday night by the trio – married and aged between 30-35 – alleging Mane raped them under the lure of making them permanent employees of the school.

The victims – all aged between 30 and 35 – have claimed that he raped them between 2003 and 2010 in the school premises, at his home in Satara and at a guest house in Pune. After registering offences under Indian Penal Code Sec. 376 (rape), police teams have visited Mane’s home and other known places frequented by him, but so far he remains untraceable, the official said.

Meanwhile, Mane’s family has stoutly denied the allegations against Mane and claimed that he is being framed in the false case to malign his reputation. Mane was conferred the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981 and Padma Shri in 2009, besides several other awards and honours during his writing career.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/marathi-writer-charged-with-rape-of-three-dalit-women-absconds/381414-3-237.html

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Opinions and Editorials

Narendra Modi’s re-induction: How to tackle BJP’s incompatibility with the RSS – By T K Arun (Apr 1, 2013, Economic Times)

Ever since the Mad Hatter admonished Alice for confusing ‘saying what she meant’ with ‘meaning what she said’, we have had clarity on the distinction between the two, one whose significance gets reinforced with every passing day in the wonderland of Indian politics. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Uma Bharti and Varun Gandhi, faces of hardline Hindutva, have been elevated to the BJP’s central leadership, while Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar , who represent reform and commitment to governance, fail to find a place in the constellation of 82 announced Sunday. Does this increase the chances of Narendra Modi being made the party’s prime ministerial candidate before the elections? Absolutely not. Does the exit of Shanta Kumar and Vasundhara Raje mean that former chief ministers have lost favour?

But Sadanand Gowda, former chief minister of Karnataka, has been roped in. Nor does Hema Malini’s exit mean any generalised fall in the stock of actresses: Smriti Irani has been elevated. But one thing is clear. Modi’s stock has risen. His former minister of state for home Amit Shah, accused of masterminding the Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing, is now a general secretary of the party, while Modi himself is the only serving chief minister to find a place in the 12 member central parliamentary board. The truth is, the BJP does not declare who its leaders really are, nor are its declared leaders the real men who matter. The BJP was created by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as its political arm and has remained as such. The RSS decides who the party’s president would be and for how long. The RSS chose Nitin Gadkari as party president and then replaced him with Rajnath Singh.

This is not in the party’s constitution but then, so what? If the BJP ends up in a position to form the government after the 2014 elections, the RSS will decide on the prime minister. An individual leader’s popularity does not really cut much ice with the RSS, who sees the BJP and the governments it forms as means to its ultimate goal: upturning liberal democracy with a political order that puts Muslims in their place as second-class citizens. The RSS’ quarrel with Modi is not ideological. Rather, the problem is that Modi is not amenable to control by the Sangh. He has rendered the Sangh toothless in Gujarat, making himself larger than life in the state. Can the Sangh risk such dentistry at the national level as well? But this real reason for silence on a pre-poll PM candidate does not have to be revealed.

A worrying paucity of allies willing to rally under ‘Modi for prime minister’ is sufficient, for the time being. The immediate challenge before the BJP is to salvage Karnataka, the first southern state to elect a BJP government. With the exit of its former strongman Yeddyurappa, the BJP faces a very tough fight there. Party president Rajnath Singh has invited none other than Narendra Modi to lead this crucial battle. Modi, sensibly, has declined this invitation to play a national role, which, by sheer coincidence, of course, also promises to be a suicidal one. But the BJP suddenly sees a ray of hope in Karnataka – Rahul Gandhi. The Congress vice-president, preaching inner party democracy, has autocratically imposed rank outsiders on the Karnataka party.

CM Ibrahim, whose chief service to the nation has been to abort a new airline mooted by the Tatas as civil aviation minister in the United Front government, is Gandhi’s choice for campaign strategist. Of course, no Congressman is mad enough to play Mad Hatter to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. So Congressmen are likely to assert inner party democracy the most effective way they know: ensure the defeat of externally imposed leaders. It is safer to play contrary on the quiet. So, impetuous Sushma Swaraj – she broke into dance at Raj Ghat once – who has turned responsible, of late – she did not demand that 10 Pakistani prisoners be killed in Indian jails in return for the one Indian prisoner who died in Pakistan – could take up the challenge. But the BJP’s real problem is the fundamental incompatibility of the RSS project with democracy. Contrary, after all, is not the same thing as contradictory. How to tackle this contradiction is the real challenge.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/19316001.cms

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From Hermitude To Holography – By Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay (Apr 8, 2013, Outlook)

…I asked him about the boundaries of existence his political clan has enforced on non-Hindus and the need for them to accept Hindu ideas and ideals as their own. Modi replied: “Yes, that was the basic argument (in the course of the Ayodhya agitation, that Muslims also must accept Lord Ram as the symbol of national identity), the main philosophy – that he also was a mahapurush (great man) of this country. And that everyone in this country should believe in this – those who led this agitation campaigned for this.” At this point of the interview, it becomes evident that Modi strongly believes that if minorities wished to coexist and feel safe in the state governed by him, it was mandatory for them to abide by the beliefs and value systems of the majority community. Meanwhile, I prodded on as Modi was opening up, and this was my best chance to get to the core of Modi’s understanding of Hindutva and I asked him: “India has a composite culture. There is tremendous social diversity. How do you look at inter-community relationships and the relationship of different social and religious groups with the State?” Modi did not answer my question explicitly but said: “People can have different forms of puja and rituals can also be different – but that does not mean that the country, the traditions of the land can become different. …

Modi’s first hurdle after he became chief minister in 2001 was to find a safe seat and become member of the state assembly within the mandatory six-month period. But this was not easy for two reasons: Modi had never contested any election in his political career, and secondly, with the BJP traversing a rough terrain, finding a safe seat was difficult. As we have seen, Modi did not have apolitical home. He had been mostly Ahmedabad-based since joining the RSS in the early 1970s and ideally wanted to contest from a city seat – where he would personally know party workers – vacated by a party colleague. But an easy entry to the state assembly proved difficult for Modi because Haren Pandya, whose seat Modi wanted, did not oblige.

If such provocation was not enough, Pandya courted further trouble in the aftermath of the 2002 riots when he appeared before the Concerned Citizens Tribunal headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Krishna Iyer in May 2002. The deposition was made on an understanding that he would not be named. However, Modi’s intelligence wing, which an unnamed source says was fine-tuned after he became chief minister because Modi had been inspired by “Shivaji’s spy network” and wanted to develop an intelligence web like that, kept track of Pandya’s movements. Even his mobile phone was tapped – media reports claimed – as a result of which Modi got to know about Pandya’s deposition in almost real-time in May 2002.

Modi, however, was not satisfied at easing Pandya out of his government. In assembly elections, held in November-December 2002, the friend-turned-foe was not nominated by the party even after the intervention of stalwarts such as Advani and Vajpayee. The media reported gleefully that in order to avoid being pressurised into nominating Pandya, Modi checked into a hospital and stopped taking phone calls from New Delhi. After this, Pandya receded from the limelight and lived a quiet life till March 26, 2003, when everything was over for him. On that dreadful morning, an unknown assassin’s gun silenced Pandya when he was returning from a morning walk in the sprawling Law Garden, a public park in Ahmedabad.

The Haren Pandya murder case became the first of the several high-profile non-2002-riots court cases in Gujarat that cast a shadow over Modi’s regime. In police parlance, the Pandya murder case was termed a cut-out murder, where the chain from the conspirator or instigator to the eventual victim is impossible to establish. A police contact explained it like this: “A wants to murder Z and instructs B to execute the order. B tells C who does not know that A is the instigator. Instructions are passed in this manner from C to D and then to E and it goes down all the way. The final contract killer does not know where the order originated from. If investigations turns nasty, then all A has to do is to make any of the people in the chain a cut-out – take him out by beginning another chain.”

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?284660

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The Fight For Muslims Is Fundamental For The Survival Of Our Democracy – By Shoma Chaudhury (Mar 28, 2013, Tehelka)

Some years ago, at a TEHELKA press conference, a young Muslim man walked up to TEHELKA Editor Tarun Tejpal and held his hand in deep gratitude. “If it had not been for your journalists, we would long have picked up the gun. Your work gives us hope, Sir,” he said. “You help us believe we belong to this country.” It was one of those rare moments of vindication journalists live for. The young man’s father, a respected maulvi, was falsely incarcerated then. We had just written his story. He would be acquitted a few years later. In a sense, it is immaterial who that young man was. Over the past few years, TEHELKA journalists have documented hundreds of stories of innocent Muslims languishing in jails – often brutally tortured – on flimsy or false charges. It is easy to blank that phrase out, to be inured to it: “Hundreds of Muslims arrested on false charges”. But each case hides hair-raising stories about prejudice, incompetence and deliberate malafide. Each case also holds stories of pain, destroyed lives and hollowed futures.

Innocent Muslims have been jailed with impunity in India over the past decade because it was easy to jail them. Within hours of any terror attack, a bunch of Muslim boys would be arrested and their names aired in the media as “masterminds”. Then they would disappear from mainstream consciousness. Their guilt was assumed: it did not need to be proved. Since 2001, a terrible maxim had seeped into the Indian mainstream: All Muslims may not be terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. It did not matter if you caught the wrong ones. No one needed veracity. Everyone only wanted the illusion of security and “action taken”.

It wasn’t easy to report on these stories and ask the hard questions. The few human rights and media groups who did, were scorned as “anti-national”. Or doctrinaire liberals. The key point was missed. It is no one’s position that those who plant bombs should go unpunished. Those, like us, who were raising flags had only two simple arguments to make. One, take the long route, catch the real culprits, remain constitutional: that is the only way to real security. Two: do not make false arrests and breed fresh despair, triggering new cycles of hate and revenge. In the clever calculations men make about security and State, they underestimate the power of human despair. When you lose faith that a system will play fair by you, it can breed fatal recklessness. It can make you abdicate from the rules that cement human relations. Despair can turn you from citizen to perpetrator. From the hunted to the hunter. Despair can be a deadly weapon.

Fortunately – even if slowly – this dangerous tide has begun to turn. The dogged exposés are paying off. Over the past few months, there have been some very significant developments. First, in November last year, nudged by a committed citizens’ group – People’s Campaign against the Politics of Terror – CPM leader Prakash Karat took a list of 22 Muslims to President Pranab Mukherjee and demanded the Centre take immediate steps to help such victims of “State-led injustice”. The demands included fast-track courts; rehabilitation and compensation for those falsely jailed; and a review of the UAPA Act. Most importantly, Karat’s delegation to the President made the idea of ‘justice for Muslims’ front-page news. The sound-proof towers had been breached.

In March this year, in another unprecedented move, in the Rajasthan High Court Infosys agreed to pay a compensation of 20 lakh to Rashid Husain, a young Muslim engineer who’d been questioned by the police and unfairly sacked from his job soon after. Hopefully, this will set a blueprint for all those whose lives and reputations have been similarly destroyed. Young men who’ve spent decades in jail; who cannot find jobs or houses to rent even when they’re acquitted; whose families find themselves ostracised and sisters find themselves unmarriageable because their brothers have been stigmatised. Finally, in a potentially far-reaching move, this week – perhaps driven by cynical electoral concerns – Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde wrote to parliamentarian Mohammed Adeeb that the government was considering setting up fast-track courts to expedite trials of Muslims in terror cases. It is absolutely crucial that this letter of intent does not go into oblivion. The fight for justice for Muslims is not an act of chivalric charity towards minorities: it is a fundamental act of survival for Indian democracy.

http://tehelka.com/the-fight-for-muslims-is-fundamental-for-the-survival-of-democracy/

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Rethinking National Counter Terrorism Centre – By Bhaskar Menon (Apr 1, 2013, Twocircles.net)

Those opposed to an unconstitutional National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) with a dangerous combination of Intelligence and Police powers should propose an alternative: a National Intelligence Centre (NIC) with statutory powers over all other civilian agencies and a Director reporting directly to the Prime Minister. This will result in the entire Intelligence establishment being brought within a constitutional framework and made accountable to Parliament. It will also ensure that reforms necessary for coherence and efficiency will get continuing attention at the highest level. The legislation on the matter should: Provide for reform: Parliament should mandate the NIC to carry out a thorough review and appraisal of existing Intelligence agencies and arrangements and recommend comprehensive changes to improve their coherence and effectiveness. Changes should aim to create dedicated capacities to monitor the full range of strategic developments in economic, social and political sectors within the country and outside, with the NIC integrating information flows and making overall analyses. That broad approach will throw into high relief the motivations and means driving significant trends and point to countries, groups and individuals that merit special attention. This process should also make clear the requirements in terms of personnel, training, technical development and budgeting for the continuous improvement of Intelligence activities. In sum, the reforms will build capacity for pro-active policy and action.

Require public reporting by the NIC: In an open democracy public understanding is critically important to counter domestic anti-national forces and foreign subversion. Parliament must mandate that relevant portions of the analytical work of the NIC be made public in regular and special reports. These must be subject to debate by central and state legislators and in the media. Require cooperation with civil society: No Intelligence agency can be effective without cooperation from members of the public. At present such cooperation is ad hoc, and can depend on anything from a general fear of officialdom to intimidation and blackmail, Parliament should mandate the NIC to create a regular, structured relationship with civil society, especially in gathering information on communal issues. On other matters affecting national security such as corruption in defence procurement and financing of violent groups within the country the NIC should have a mandate to inform and educate the media so that reporters know basic facts and policy parameters and cannot be manipulated by “leaks” from interested parties. The NIC should also work with other statutory bodies such as the National Press Council to call public attention to issues of systemic anti-national bias.

Create an Appeals Mechanism: If Intelligence operatives infringe on the rights, liberties and lives of Indian citizens there should be a mechanism to address problems without public disclosures harmful to national security. Parliament should create an easily accessed and responsive Grievance Mechanism providing for appeals up to a Parliamentary Standing Committee with confidential procedures that could, when necessary, bring matters to the attention of the Prime Minister and President. Use of this mechanism should not preclude legal options for affected parties. Promote understanding of India’s strategic interests: Intelligence agencies can only be effective within a clear strategic framework. Most developed countries, especially those with global interests, have such frameworks but few spell it out. Britain, for instance, has its famous “permanent interests” that are unspecified but boil down to the benefit it can draw from any situation. The United States is unique in publicly defining its overall national strategy as the promotion of democracy globally. That reflects the country’s anti-colonial foundation and its evolution on the basis of a set of inalienable values.

The Indian constitution draws heavily on the American and so the global expansion of democracy is also its fundamental strategic interest; but it is not the only one. Equally important is increased social equity as the country’s diverse communities move ponderously from many different stages of development into a shared economic and political system. So is the maintenance of India’s traditional values at a time when the verities of Western “progress” must be overwritten in the interests of a liveable planet. The strategic picture is further complicated by the existence of many foreign proxies within India, an unavoidable legacy of colonial rule. Under these conditions a primary national imperative is broad public awareness of what is necessary for the country’s continued evolution according to its own best lights. Parliament must make provision for these issues to be debated nationally in a continuing and constructive process that draws in educational and training institutions, including those that shape government officials and Intelligence operatives. With these parameters the NIC can be more than an effective guard against foreign and domestic enemies; it can be a powerful support for India’s vast transition to a new age.

http://twocircles.net/2013apr01/rethinking_national_counter_terrorism_centre.html

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Criminalising People’s Protests – By Anand Teltumbde (Apr 6, 2013, Economic & Political Weekly)

Public protests signify that democracy is alive and well. Whatever its form, the essence of democracy is the space it provides for people to voice their protest against the government. However, while India has managed to flaunt for decades that it is the world’s largest functional democracy, it has systematically decimated such space for the masses. Today, this space has been symbolically reduced to small designated pockets in every state capital where aggrieved people can gather and shout to their hearts’ content only so that they can hear themselves. Not much unlike jails, with their barbed wire fences and narrow openings guarded by a thick posse of armed policemen, the authorities do not let public protest infect the people at large. The maximum the people protesting at these places can reach is the police sub-inspector seated there to receive their memorandums. Indian democracy has not, however, been content with this general strangulation of democratic space; it often takes offensive against the protesters by slapping criminal charges on them. Examples are legion but the recent proceedings against Irom Sharmila, the iron lady of Manipur, who was brought to Delhi to face trial for her “crime of attempting suicide” at the Jantar Mantar best highlights this trend.

Sharmila’s protest began with her indefinite fast on 3 November 2000, a day after 10 persons were shot down by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian paramilitary forces operating in Manipur, while waiting at a bus stop just outside Imphal. The incident later came to be known as the “Malom Massacre”. Within days, Sharmila was taken by the police, and since then, she is being force-fed a liquid concoction of nutrients in a hospital, which serves as her prison. After every year in detention, she is released for a day and rearrested for attempting to commit suicide, because she refuses to call off her fast until the government repeals the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), which is in force in Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and parts of Arunachal Pradesh besides, Jammu and Kashmir. Now in its 13th year, her protest is the longest hunger strike in recorded history, which has shaken the entire world but failed to sensitise the Indian rulers. On the contrary, they chose to actuate their penal machine and charged her with an “attempt to commit suicide”, which is unlawful under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.

The AFSPA against which Sharmila reiterated her protest to the metropolitan magistrate, Delhi however continues on the statute. This draconian Act that giving the army the unquestionable powers to shoot to kill, arrest and search or even destroy property on mere suspicion and enacted as a short-term measure to allow the deployment of the army in India’s north-eastern Naga Hills, has been in existence for over five decades. According to a report entitled “Manipur: Memorandum on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions” by the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the United Nations, altogether 1,528 people, including 31 women and 98 children were killed in fake encounters by the security forces in Manipur alone between 1979 and May 2012. Of these, 419 were killed by the Assam Rifles, while 481 were killed by combined teams of Manipur Police and the central security forces. These are gory statistics but they do not tell the human tragedy that befell entire generations that grew up under the shadow of the gun. It is a usual sight in Manipur to find even school kids sitting in protest against the atrocities by the armed forces.

The government cites the ongoing insurgency in the hilly state to explain its stand against the repeal of AFSPA. According to its argument, nearly 15 militant outfits are active in the state and in the period between 2007 and 2011, over 1,500 people were killed in militancy-related violence, among them were 1,011 militants and 406 civilians. This argument itself should prompt a simple question, if the army, with a free hand, has not been able to control the so-called insurgency over five decades, what is the justification for the Act? It may even be argued that the insurgency, given the government’s own statistics, has increased during the currency of the Act. This is because the excesses committed by the armed forces with impunity alienate people and impel them to take up the gun. If one dispassionately looks at the north-eastern states, comprising about 7% of India’s total area and 3.7% of its population, bigger than many countries but devoid of any notable development, one cannot but get a feel that they are like a colony governed by the armed might of India. The Constitution does provide for emergency clauses but they are meant to be short-lived. The arguments the government and its army establishment proffer for continuing with AFSPA are, interestingly, the same as the arguments advanced when the 1942 ordinance was enacted in order to keep the British Empire intact.

The same logic extends to the protesting people in mainland India. There are scores of draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, the National Security Act, and various provisions in the penal code, like “sedition”, which continue to mock at our claim of being a democracy. Given the increasing divide between the majority of people mired in abominable poverty and powerlessness and a miniscule minority with all the pelf and power, people’s protests are a natural outcome. During the initial decades of post-Independence India, when the ruling classes had not yet consolidated themselves, these protests were responded to by the state with colonial decency. But by the mid-1970s, an oppressive Emergency was declared, and after a spell of political turmoil, the country entered the neo-liberal era that ideologically trashed social protests and legitimated the oppressive social Darwinist ethos of the rulers. The enforcement of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in 1985 succeeded by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2002 and thereafter UAPA in 2004 during this era, duly aided by global “security syndrome” unleashed by 9/11, should be seen in that light. …

http://www.epw.in/margin-speak/criminalising-peoples-protests.html

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Katju’s Cure – Editorial (Apr 6, 2013, Economic & Political Weekly)

Ever since he took over the chairmanship of the Press Council of India in October 2011, justice Markandey Katju has been in the news – not so much for reviving the virtually defunct Press Council but for airing his views on a range of subjects from politics to foreign policy to the media. He was applauded for his intervention on the paid news phenomenon leading to an investigation that exposed the extent to which major media houses willingly sold editorial space to politicians. Yet he was criticised for his off-the-cuff and generalised remarks on the state of the media. The latest in his diatribe against the media is his suggestion that minimum qualifications be made mandatory for journalists just as they are for doctors and lawyers.

In principle, there is nothing wrong in this suggestion. In fact, the majority of mainstream media houses do insist on minimum qualifications, usually a university degree, and in some cases also a diploma in journalism. While some smaller newspapers might not insist on degrees and do recruit people without them, this is not the norm. Also, many Indian language papers with district editions have enlisted stringers who are not trained journalists. But their inputs are processed by professionals. The advantage of having such stringers has become evident in the expansion of news coverage to areas that remained outside the purview of most media.

And then there are several small community newspapers and radio stations that have come up in the last decade serving the needs of their immediate community or region. These rural journalists, many of them women with only basic literacy skills, have learned how to report, interview and edit. If justice Katju’s recommendation of minimum qualifications were to be applied, none of this vibrant community media would exist.

There are several aspects of justice Katju’s recommendation that are problematic. For one, he is conflating the problem of a drop in standards in the media with the absence of educational qualifications in journalists. A major reason for fall in standards is the state of our institutes of higher education. Where once a basic university degree was considered an achievement, today it is barely enough for entry-level jobs. Every profession is faced with the poor quality of learning in those who are products of the majority of our educational institutions. Merely raising the bar on minimum qualifications for any profession is no guarantee that the people recruited will be better equipped for the job.

What is also forgotten is the absence today of mentoring or on-the-job training within media houses to the extent it prevailed in the past. This is important because apart from some basic book knowledge, journalism is a skill that can best be learned on the job. Today, in the highly competitive environment that prevails, this kind of training is largely absent in most media houses. As a result, journalists with paper degrees but without the necessary skill sets are expected to jump into the deep without knowing how to swim. …

http://www.epw.in/editorials/katjus-cure.html

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – February 18th, 2013

by newsdigest on February 19, 2013

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup

Communal Harmony

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Communal Harmony

‘Inter-faith dialogue only way out for communal harmony and social stability’ (Feb 11, 2013, Twocircles.net)

The felicitation ceremony of a programme organized by the Students Islamic Organization (SIO) today ended at Vidyarthi Bhavan Churchgate with high fervor to promote inter-faith dialogue among the multi religious people of India. Speaking at this occasion SIO State Secretary Anwar Shaikh said, “All religions must come forward to promote inter-faith understanding”. He added, “Unfortunately today Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the world, as well as in India. The stereotyping of Islam as violent and intolerant has created many tensions globally. The Muslims and non-Muslims who co-existed as peaceful neighbors throughout centuries are today skeptical about each other.

The recent criminalization and communalization of politics, the rampant stereotyping and propaganda has created huge gaps in the hearts of Muslims and Non-Muslims. Islam which literally means peace has been equated with terrorism. The end result is that today majority of naive common citizens of India have developed the wrong image of Islam.” SIO Mumbai launched a month long campaign “Connecting hearts Upholding Humanity” wherein series of Islamic knowledge tests were conducted across different locations in Mumbai on January 6 in order to give a very basic understanding Islamic faith and remove misconceptions.

Rohit S. Yadav, a student from a Rajiv Gandhi College has topped this examination and Yadav Pooja Inder of RJ College and Vidya Khapre of Yashwant Rao University secured second and third position respectively. Expressing his views Rohit said, “This was a great opportunity for me to learn about the great religion of Islam and also clear my misconceptions.” He stressed that those who got this opportunity should also educate others regarding this.

Vidya Khapre said, “It’s the need of the hour for us to live together and understand each other.”

Prizes were also given to the 100 top students out of more than 600 students who registered for the test. It was a great spectacle to see how the students belonging to multiple faiths came forward and took part in this inter-faith collusion. Renowned social activist from Ahmednagar Dr Rafiq Parnerkar was the chief guest for this occasion. In his presidential speech he stressed the urgent need to stabilize communal harmony and appreciated SIO’s initiative for promoting interfaith dialogue.

http://twocircles.net/2013feb11/interfaith_dialogue_only_way_out_communal_harmony_and_social_stability.html

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Wrote on Modi as a citizen of India, Jaitley twists facts: Katju (Feb 18, 2013, IBN)

Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Monday defended his recent attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying he wrote the article on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader as a citizen of India. Speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Katju said, “I am not only the chairman of press council, but also a citizen of India… My article on Narendra Modi was on the basis of being a citizen of India, not as a chairman of Press Council of India.”

The former Supreme Court judge further said he found it to be his duty to tell people about the reality of Modi’s leadership in Gujarat, terming his development plank as “false propaganda”. “I wrote an article on Narendra Modi as there is a campaign in favour of him…it is my duty to tell people of India that real test of development is whether standard of living is going up or not,” said the PCI chief.

When asked if he, being a retired Supreme Court judge, should speak on issues that are political in nature, Katju said, “There is a great deal of difference between a Supreme Court judge and press council chief…I have the right to speak on something of extreme importance.”

Katju further dismissed that he just attacked the BJP, saying he had often criticised the Congress governments as well. Accusing senior BJP leader Arun Jailey on twisting facts, Katju said “Arun Jaitley has the habit of twisting facts, he should leave politics, he is not cut out for politics, has failed every test of a responsible politician.”

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/wrote-on-modi-as-a-citizen-of-india-jaitley-twists-facts-katju/373660-37-64.html

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Zakia Jafri told to challenge SIT report by April 15 (Feb 18, 2013, Hindustan Times)

A Gujarat court on Monday ordered Zakia Jafri, wife of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 post-Godhra riots, to challenge the SIT closure report giving clean chit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and others by April 15. Metropolitan magistrate BJ Ganatra directed Zakia to file her protest petition in eight weeks, against the closure report filed by Special Investigation Team (SIT) on February 8, 2012, which probed her complaint against Modi and others for their alleged role in the riots.

Zakia, through her advocate SM Vora, verified before the court that she has been supplied with all the relevant material in connection with the SIT probe in her complaint against Modi and others. On February 13, a week after the Supreme Court order, SIT had given the copies of three reports, including the preliminary report prepared by AK Malhotra, member SIT and two reports of Himanshu Shukla who was the investigating officer.

Meanwhile, Zakia, in a written reply, through her lawyer, to the application of SIT, has taken strong exception to the ‘hostile’ and ‘adversarial’ attitude of the SIT in the case before the court and blamed the agency for the ‘delay’. “We would like to state categorically that the delay of one whole year (since the filing of closure report) was entirely on account of SIT’s adversarial and hostile attitude towards my client, the complainant and their refusal to give the complete documents,” states her reply.

Following the Metropolitan court’s refusal to direct SIT to give her material, including Malhotra’s report, Zakia challenged it before the Supreme Court which on February 7, 2012, which granted her prayer and ordered SIT to furnish her all relevant materials. “We clarify that the petitioner (Jafri) is entitled to entire inquiry report placed in sealed envelope before this court on May 12, 2010,” a Supreme Court bench comprising justices P Sathasivam, Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai had said. Zakia, whose husband along with 68 others were killed by a mob on February 28, 2002, had filed complaint against Modi and 58 others in 2006.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1013513.aspx

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Saffron terror exposed? Sunil Joshi was mastermind behind all blasts between 2006 and 2008 (Feb 13, 2013, Daily Bhaskar)

The Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the new hub of terror. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that eight bomb blasts, between 2006 and 2008, are connected with the death of Sunil Joshi, ABP News claims. NIA said that Rajendra Chaudhary, the killer of Sunil Joshi who hatched the conspiracy, has confessed to his crime of terror activities between 2006 and 2008. It is pertinent to note here that over 200 people had lost their lives in eight bomb blast between 2006 and 2008 that were targeted at a particular community.

According to NIA, Sunil Joshi was murdered due to internal differences. The NIA further maintains that Sunil Joshi had hatched the entire plot along with Ramji Kalsanshagra and Sandeep Dange. The NIA said the conspiracy was hatched from 2001 and a meeting was called in Ajmer on 26 October 2005 to discuss terror plots. After this meeting, a training camp was set up on Bagli Hills near Devas on January 4, 2006 where training was given on how to make and detonate the bombs.

The NIA claims that Rajendra Chaudhry has confessed that he killed Sunil Joshi who was the mastermind of eight explosions in the Malwa region. According to NIA lawyer Subhash Bhattacharya, “The video recording of the statement of the accused has been completed and the entire conspiracy behind the plot will be revealed soon.”

According to the agency, Sunil Joshi is connected with nearly all the blasts in the past, from Malegaon blast to Samjhauta Express blast, to Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad and Ajmer Sharif blasts. The NIA is making arrests of accused from villages in Malwa villages. However, the RSS and BJP ministers are opposed to NIA’s action.

The NIA has intensified its operation in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa region. The NIA is probing the bomb blasts cases that happened in the last six years. The BJP has alleged that the arrests are part of a conspiracy to malign the RSS and Sangh Parivar given that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had targeted BJP and RSS for terror camps in their training centres. Over half a dozen officials of the NIA are conducting raids and arresting people in Malwa region.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MP-IND-saffron-terror-exposed-sunil-joshi-was-mastermind-behind-all-blasts-between-2006-4178476-NOR.html

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MNS chief Raj Thackeray in trouble over Muslim remarks (Feb 11, 2013, Daily Bhaskar)

A court here on Monday directed Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly branding Muslims from north India as insurgents and threatening them to throw out of the state. The court said it was “primary and bounden duty of the police to register FIR and proceed with investigation” but the authorities have “failed to discharge” their primary duty. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sameer Bajpai’s order came on a complaint by advocate Mithilesh Kumar Pandey who referred to a rally in Mumbai addressed by Thackeray, in which he allegedly blamed Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand for the August 11, 2012 violence during protests against the Assam riots.

“Considering the entire facts and circumstances, SHO, police station Dwarka is directed to immediately register and FIR upon the present complaint under relevant provisions,” the court said, while asking the compliance report by April 4. The lawyer in his complaint has said that the accused in his political rally had repeatedly targeted these immigrants and even declared them as “insurgents” and also threatened them to be thrown out of Maharashtra. He further told the court that by the hate speech, the accused has prompted, disharmony and feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will between different communities particularly belonging to northern India on grounds of place of birth, residence, language, caste and community etc and has also insulted the particular community.

He said that Thackeray in his speech had told that assaulters had come from UP, Bihar and Jharkhand and due to them violence was likely to further take place in Mumbai. Pandey also said that due to repeated such kind of speeches of accused, sentiments of the people have been hurt. The complainant informed the court that he has even requested the police to lodge a case against the accused, but it was declined on the ground that since all the incidents had taken place in Mumbai and there in also no connecting evidence so it cannot take action.

Allowing the plea, the court said that “the grounds taken by the police for non registration of the FIR are not tenable. “Registration of an FIR involves only the process of entering the substances of the information relating to the commission of the cognisable offence in a book kept by the officer in charge of the police station… “It is the duty of the officer in charge of the police station to register the FIR regarding the cognizable offence disclosed by the complainant because that police officer could take further steps contemplated…,” ACMM Bajpai said.

The judge in his five-page-order further said that lack of supporting material with regard to the allegations made in the complaint is no ground for non registration of the FIR. “The collecting of evidence is the part and parcel of investigation which can be done only after the registration of FIR. The complainant cannot be expected to collect the evidence and incriminating material in support of his allegation and hand over the same to the police,” the court said.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-MUM-mns-chief-raj-thackeray-in-trouble-over-muslim-remarks-4177116-NOR.html

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Cops opened fire in excess at Dhule: Report (Feb 13, 2013, Asian Age)

The police operating during the Dhule riot, which broke out on January 6, had opened fire at the rioting mob in excess, key notes in an inquiry report submitted by the Maharashtra police to the state government has revealed. The report also revealed that the firing was primarily done to protect a few top local police officials. The police prepared the report after visiting the riot-affected areas in Dhule.

According to highly-placed sources in the Maharashtra police, the “excess firing” was done to save lives of top Dhule police officials – additional superintendent of police Akhilesh Kumar Singh and deputy superintendent of police Monica Raut – who had entered deep inside the zone of the ongoing riots, without adequate cover.

According to the report, the superintendent of police Pradeep Deshpande, sustained injuries and therefore, it became necessary for the police to take evasive action against the rioters. Earlier, the police had rejected the allegations that the police had opened fire without warning. However, it has admitted that there was a delay in conducting the panchnama. Top police officials had also said that the sequence of police action – usage of water cannons, rubber bullet and lathicharge – could only be ascertained in the judicial inquiry.

However, activists, who visited Dhule, slammed the police report and questioned the observations made by the Maharashtra police. “Even after 15 days of riots, FIRs weren’t registered. The focus now would be on the judicial inquiry to establish a clear picture of what transpired on January 6. The police report has just attempted to record the preliminary details,” said Madhumita Ray from ActionAid. When contacted, inspector general of police (law and order), Deven Bharti said, “I am not aware of the details of the report as it was submitted by a higher official and it is confidential.”

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/cops-opened-fire-excess-dhule-report-773

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6 cops suspended for custodial death (Feb 15, 2013, Indian Express)

Six police personnel, including two inspectors were suspended on Thursday, in connection with the alleged custodial death of a 24-year-old youth two years ago. Dinesh (24) was arrested along with three others for kidnapping, raping and murdering 37-year-old software engineer Soundari, a resident of Arcot in Vellore, on January 28 in 2011.Inspectors Narasimhan of Arni taluk station and Balasubramanian of Arni Town station, special sub-inspector Sayeed Muneer of Arni Taluk station, head constable Sundaramurthy of Thellar police station, grade-I constables Velmuguran of Tiruvannamalai taluk station and Desinghu of Thellar police station were suspended on Thursday, in connection with the death of Dinesh during the investigation.

Speaking to Express, Superintendent of Police of Tiruvannamalai, J Mutharasi, said, “I have received an official communication from my immediate superior officer (DIG of Vellore Range M T Ganeshmoorthy) regarding the suspension of the six police personnel. As per the direction, I have issued the suspension orders that comes into effect from today (Thursday). The reason for their suspension was not mentioned in the official communication.”

The six police personnel were part of the special investigation team, constituted by the police department, to track down the murderers of the software engineer, sources in the department said. The six member special team had nabbed Dinesh, his friends Mohideen Khan (27) of Tambaram, Vadivel (28) of Aliyur in Vandavasi and Samath Basha (24) of S Kolathur on February 6 last year. Within few hours of the arrest, Dinesh died, allegedly due to cardiac arrest. “The outcome of the CB-CID investigation into the death had resulted in the suspension of the six police personnel,” a police officer said.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1464433.ece

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It’s unfortunate Muslims have to prove their patriotism: Kunhi (Feb 16, 2013, The Hindu)

Well-known writer and Central Sahitya Akademi award winner Bolwar Mahamad Kunhi on Friday highlighted the harsh realities of why Indian Muslims were drifting away from the mainstream because of persecution and suspicion. He was speaking at the Education Festival organised by the Bharat Gnan Vignan Samiti as part of the 11th anniversary celebrations of its publication Teacher here.

“Indian Muslims, besides praying five times a day, would have to prove their patriotism five times every day… It is unfortunate that just because a person is born Muslim he is expected to prove his love towards the country to others”, Mr. Kunhi said. The writer said all those who were born on this soil were patriots and nobody should have any doubts about the patriotism of others. Mr. Kunhi, who is known for his secular credentials, was shunned and boycotted earlier by Muslim clerics when he slammed certain practices followed by them.

He said that the situation in his home district Dakshina Kannada was extremely bad. “A man and a woman or a boy and girl cannot speak to each other in a public place… .those who defy this dictum are thrashed in public …. whether you are a brother and sister or a mother or a son or even a husband and wife, you should not exchange words in public…” Mr. Kunhi said one good development in the recent times was the educational empowerment of women in the community.

“…an educated Muslim woman will ensure educational empowerment of her children and also fight against superstitious beliefs”, he said. Resident Editor of the The Hindu Parvathi Menon said that the failure of the political class of the region and successive governments in the State after reorganisation of the State in 1956 was the reason for the continued backwardness of the Hyderabad Karnataka region.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/its-unfortunate-muslims-have-to-prove-their-patriotism-kunhi/article4420954.ece

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Need for total political change: Ex-solicitor general (Feb 17, 2013, Yahoo)

There can be no peaceful transition in the Indian society without total political change, says former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam. “If it (political change) does not happen, we will not have a peaceful transition of society. Young people are restless,” he said at a seminar on ‘Society in Transition and Police Reforms’ here Saturday. “We are living in a society where criminality is a trade of police, government and political class,” he said.

Thirty-one percent of legislators had criminal background, with 20 percent charged with murder, rape, extortion, and cheating, he said. What is the assurance that people with such credentials do not defeat the administration of criminal justice system, Subramaniam asked. Advocating empowerment of the Comptroller and Auditor General to verify financial details furnished by politicians in election affidavits, Subramaniam said the Election Commission was not looking into this aspect.

He said the commission officials admitted not doing so when they appeared before the Justice J.S. Verma panel set up after the Delhi gang-rape case. Subramaniam was a member of the panel. He said the focus should be on women’s empowerment and tracing missing children. “Political equality of women entails political empowerment and requires amendments to the Representation of the People Act,” he said.

Referring to exploitation of women in shelter homes, Subramaniam referred to Apna Ghar in Rohtak district of Haryana from where women were being supplied for sexual exploitation. He said till date, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not filed a charge sheet in the case. The blame also lay with the civil society, he said. “If there was a strong and vibrant society, it could have prevented the exploitation of women and missing children going untraced years after years.”

He said no party said yes to recommendations of the Verma committee to bring a bill for rights of women. He exhorted the civil society, saying: “We have a role to ensure in preventing any attempt to frustrate the recommendation of the committee on the women rights”. Human rights activist Maja Daruwala said reforms were not just for the sake of reforms but for the safety of women. Right from 1903, there is talk for reforming the police, but nothing has happened, she said. “If you don’t change the political system, you will never be able to change the police; and if you don’t change police, you can’t address the problem of safety of women, missing children and vulnerable sections.”

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/total-political-change-ex-solicitor-general-145001847.html

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Police officer beats girl with belt in Maharashtra (Feb 15, 2013, The Hindu)

In a most inhuman incident, a senior police officer in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district beat up an 18-year-old girl with a belt in a police station when she and her fiancé visited him to lodge an FIR about her abduction and dumping at a brothel from where she was rescued on January 5 this year.

The police alleged that the girl was beaten up because they suspected that the couple were trying to register a fake complaint. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which took suo-motu cognisance of the incident based on a media report, has sent notices to the Maharashtra DGP and the Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police, calling for reports on the incident within four weeks.

The girl was allegedly kidnapped by four unidentified persons, including a woman, from Ahmednagar on January 3, dumped at a prostitution den in Dhule and beaten by brothel keepers till her rescue. The press report has also mentioned that the Ahmednagar police finally registered a case at the Tofkhana Police Station on January 10.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/police-officer-beats-girl-with-belt-in-maharashtra/article4419612.ece

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‘One million post cards campaign’ launched to press for inclusion of Dalit Christians & Muslims in SC (Feb 18, 2013, Twocircles.net)

A national one million post card campaign for the inclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the Schedule Caste was launched on today afternoon at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in the national capital. A civil petition is pending for eight years in the Supreme Court from 2004 challenging the validity of a 1950 order, which in third paragraph says, “No person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste.”

The government has sought, at least on eight occasions, time from the Apex Court for replying, but has not submitted any response to the matter, delaying the issue. To press their demand Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), along with National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and National Council for Dalit Christians (NCDC) today formally launched a nationwide post-card campaign, which has already begun since February 13 at Kanyakumari.

The campaigners plan to post ‘at least 100 post-cards each everyday’ to the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Advocate Franklin C. Thomas, National Coordinator of the NCDC said, “Since the issue is politicized, besides legal procedures, we will also have to politically move.” Organizers urged the UPA Government to at least file a reply, whether in positive or in negative, and not allow the matter to perpetually delay.

Campaigners accused the government of “selective discrimination” against Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims by seeking caste census as it was not sought during inclusion of Dalit Sikhs and new-Buddhists in the SC. Rev. Neethinathan, Chairperson of CBCI, added that the postcards campaign is to show the government that it’s a mass movement, and not confined to few individuals and that if the government does not wake up to their demands, 2014 general elections will be the test ground for them.

The post-card was jointly launched by Rev. Neethinathan of CBCI, Rev. PP Marandih and Alwan Masih of Church of North India, Rt. Rev. Probal Kanto Dutta, Chairperson of Commission on Policy, Governance and Public, NCCI and Dr Mary John, President of NCDC. First post card was signed by Ms Lourdu Mary. Advocate Franklin told TCN that they are in touch with several Muslim groups and individuals, championing the causes of the Pasmanda Muslims, and they hope to extend the campaign to include them as well.

http://twocircles.net/2013feb18/%E2%80%98one_million_post_cards_campaign%E2%80%99_launched_press_inclusion_dalit_christians_muslims_sc.htm

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Opinions and Editorials

All the perfumes of Arabia – By Markandey Katju (Feb 15, 2013, The Hindu)

Narendra Modi is being projected by a large section of Indians as the modern Moses, the one who will lead the beleaguered and despondent Indian people into a land of milk and honey, the man who is best suited to be the next Indian Prime Minister. And it is not just the Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS who are saying this at the Kumbh Mela. A large section of the Indian so-called ‘educated’ class, including many of our ‘educated’ youth, who have been carried away by Mr. Modi’s propaganda is saying this. I was flying from Delhi to Bhopal recently. Sitting beside me was a Gujarati businessman. I asked him his opinion of Mr. Modi. He was all praise for him. I interjected and asked him about the killing of nearly 2,000 Muslims in 2002 in Gujarat. He replied that Muslims were always creating problems in Gujarat, but after 2002 they have been put in their place and there is peace since then in the State. I told him this is the peace of the graveyard, and peace can never last long unless it is coupled with justice. At this remark he took offence and changed his seat on the plane.

The truth today is that Muslims in Gujarat are terrorised and afraid that if they speak out against the horrors of 2002 they may be attacked and victimised. In the whole of India, Muslims (who number over 200 million) are solidly against Mr. Modi (though there are a handful of Muslims who for some reason disagree). It is claimed by Modi supporters that what happened in Gujarat was only a ‘spontaneous’ reaction (pratikriya) of Hindus to the killing of 59 Hindus on a train in Godhra. I do not buy this story. First, there is still mystery as to what exactly happened in Godhra. Secondly, the particular persons who were responsible for the Godhra killings should certainly be identified and given harsh punishment, but how does this justify the attack on the entire Muslim community in Gujarat? Muslims are only 9 per cent of the total population of Gujarat, the rest being mostly Hindus. In 2002 Muslims were massacred, their homes burnt, and other horrible crimes committed on them.

To call the killings of Muslims in 2002 a spontaneous reaction reminds one of Kristallnacht in Germany in November 1938, when the entire Jewish community in Germany was attacked, many killed, their synagogues burnt, shops vandalised after a German diplomat in Paris was shot dead by a Jewish youth whose family had been persecuted by the Nazis. It was claimed by the Nazi government that this was only a ‘spontaneous’ reaction, but in fact it was planned and executed by the Nazi authorities using fanatic mobs. In terms of historical evolution, India is broadly a country of immigrants and consequently, it is a land of tremendous diversity. Hence, the only policy which can hold it together and put it on the path of progress is secularism — equal respect and treatment to all communities and sects. This was the policy of the great Emperor Akbar, which was followed by our founding fathers (Pandit Nehru and his colleagues) who gave us a secular Constitution. Unless we follow this policy, our country cannot survive for one day, because it has so much diversity, so many religions, castes, languages, ethnic groups.

India, therefore, does not belong to Hindus alone; it belongs equally to Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsees, Jains etc. Also, it is not only Hindus who can live in India as first-rate citizens while others have to live as second or third rate citizens. All are first-rate citizens here. The killing of thousands of Muslims and other atrocities on them in Gujarat in 2002 can never be forgotten or forgiven. All the perfumes in Arabia cannot wash away the stain on Mr. Modi in this connection. It is said by his supporters that Mr. Modi had no hand in the killings, and it is also said that he had not been found guilty by any court of law. I do not want to comment on our judiciary, but I certainly do not buy the story that Mr. Modi had no hand in the events of 2002. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time when horrible events happened on such a large scale. Can it be believed that he had no hand in them? At least I find this impossible to believe.

Let me give just one example. Ehsan Jafri was a respected, elderly former Member of Parliament living in the Chamanpura locality of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. His house was in the Gulbarga Housing Society, where mostly Muslims lived. According to the recorded version of his elderly wife Zakia, on February 28, 2002 a mob of fanatics blew up the security wall of the housing society using gas cylinders. They dragged Ehsan Jafri out of his house, stripped him, chopped off his limbs with swords and burnt him alive. Many other Muslims were also killed and their houses burnt. Chamanpura is barely a kilometre from a police station, and less than two kilometres from the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner’s office. Is it conceivable that the Chief Minister did not know what was going on? Zakia Jafri has since then been running from pillar to post to get justice for her husband who was so brutally murdered. Her criminal case against Mr. Modi was thrown out by the district court (since the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court found no evidence against him and filed a final report), and it is only now (after a gap of over 10 years) that the Supreme Court has set aside the order of the trial court and directed that her protest petition be considered. I am not going into this matter any further since it is still sub judice. …

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/all-the-perfumes-of-arabia/article4415539.ece

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Talk Hindutva, Sell Narcotics? Curbing Freedom of Press: The Karnataka Way – By Subhash Gatade (Feb 17, 2013, Countercurrents)

A 10-member group allegedly assaulted a staff member of Kannada daily Karavali Ale at Kulai here on Wednesday night. According to B.V. Seetaram, director and chairman of Chitra Publications, which publishes the paper, Harish Putran (36), office assistant, was attacked when he was waiting near Vishnumurthy temple to catch a bus back home. He was hit with iron rods and wickets and chased by the attackers, Mr. Seetaram said. Mr. Putran managed to save himself by hiding behind a shop. Mr. Seetaram suspected the involvement of a rightwing group in the attack. He said Karavali Ale published a report on Wednesday alleging the rightwing group’s involvement in the sale of narcotics in the city. Copies of the newspaper were burnt and some vendors were threatened against selling the Wednesday’s edition, he said. Mr. Putran has been admitted to a private hospital. A complaint has been filed with the Surathkal police. (Karavali Ale employee attacked : Staff Correspondent, The Hindu – MANGALORE, February 7, 2013) It has been a ‘happening’ week. Celebrations around one billion rising held in different parts of the world.Soni Sori acquitted in four cases. Dr Sunilam and two of his associates getting bail from Jabalpur highcourt after spending three months in Bhopal jail. More than two hundred intellectuals, activists writing to President of India about the manner in which Afzal Guru was hanged. Interestingly in the melee of news certain troubling developments in south of Vindhyas have not got enough attention they deserve. And they concern the curbing of media by majoritarian elements with due connivance of the people in power.

A letter from B. V. Seetaram, editor of ‘Karavali Ale’ to the Press Council of India (PCI) explains the state of affairs. It talks about how ‘…[t]here is no let up in the attack on the circulation network of Karavali Ale and its staff. For the fifth day in succession, the newspaper bundles carried by vehicles were forcibly taken away today by the same gang of thugs and for the third time in a row our colleagues had to suffer physical attack at the hands of the parivar hoodlums.’ (11 Feb 2013) It is a second letter to PCI after a gap of mere four days as ‘there is no relief provided to us by the law and order agencies’. It requests the PCI to ask the police to take remedial steps to enable its normal working. It ends with a line that if such steps were not taken “. [w]e are afraid we will be forced to stop the publication of the 22 year old newspaper.”

The first letter had explained in detail why Karavali Ale, coastal Karnataka’s popular Kannada daily, well known for its secular and progressive outlook, has been “…[t]arget of attack several times by the communal outfits like the Hindu Jagaran Vedike, …and the like, faces now another threat to its two-decade existence as goondas belonging to these outfits, during the past couple of days, have let lose a reign of terror by way of obstructing the circulation of the newspaper in the city of Mangalore and physically attacking the newspaper staff. A senior staffer of the newspaper is lying in the hospital bed, fighting for life following a physical attack on him by men of Hindu Jagaran Vedike, deadly weapons like clubs and iron rods.” One does not know whether Press Council of India (PCI), which is especially pro-active as far as communal elements is concerned has taken cognisance of this SOS of a different kind and asked the Karnataka government to take necessary action or not? The urgency of the unfolding situation can be gauged from the fact that the staff of the publication is receiving threat calls and its attendance has dwindled and it is a real possibility that these extremist elements would ultimately force a twenty two year old paper to shut down.

It may be added here that Karavali Ale, which was founded by Seetaram and his wife Rohini, way back in 1991, is published as a six page Kannada broadsheet from Mangalore and Karwar. They also run three other publications in the region – an English weekly called Canara Times and two Kannada dailies Sanje Ale and Kannada Janantaranga. Karavali Ale happened to be a leading midday newspaper in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada – with an estimated sales of more than 50,000 copies – before December 2008 when a series of attacks on its distribution network dented its circulation. One may agree to differ with the style of journalism of the paper which is ‘no-holds-barred kind’ but is a fairly respected newspaper for the bold stands it takes. Apart from its consistent struggle against majoritarian communal elements who have been trying to transform this region into Hindutva lab of a different kind, it has not shied away from writing about fundamentalist elements in Islamic and Christian faiths in the region as well. Commenting on his arrest by the Karnataka police three years back in a case of defamation filed some time ago ‘Frontline’ (Silencing act, January 17-30, 2009, VIKHAR AHMED SAYEED) said : The real estate mafia in the region also came under Karavali Ale’s scanner. It criticised atrocities of large builders while questioning the indiscriminate development being encouraged by the Urban Development Authority in Mangalore. Another powerful group that the newspaper has taken on was the private transport lobby. According to Seetaram, a third group that the paper has offended is the “religious mafia”, many of whom he described as “fake priests”. In the original story that the newspaper carried on a Swami in February 2008, it accused him of being involved in child trafficking. …

The attack on Karavali Ale this time can be said to be a continuation of efforts of the vested interests in the region to silence this voice which has refused to ‘mend its ways’ as per their diktats. Perhaps it would be opportune here to browse through the said report on drug mafia in Mangalore which appeared in the paper (Hindu Jagarana Vedike leader is a drugs dealer in Suratkal , Feb 6, 2013) which has sort of unleashed their fury this time : … First Naveen Soorinje, now ‘Karavali Ale’. It appears that the people in power in the state who have lost all legitimacy to rule with a number of corruption charges against them and ongoing infighting for power have decided to stick to power by shooting the messengers themselves. They rather want to declare from rooftops that under their jurisdiction Press freedom has to R.I.P.

http://www.countercurrents.org/gatade170213.htm

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Ayodhya: In Electoral Battle Again – By Ram Puniyani (Feb 14, 2013, Countercurrents)

Rajnath Singh, the new BJP President (Feb 2013) has brought forward the issue of Ram Temple once again. The Sadhus associated with VHP have also proclaimed that it is on their agenda. All the top leaders of RSS Combine are visiting the Mahakumbh, taking a dip in the Holy Ganges and affirming the Ram Temple as the fulcrum of their all round campaign in the wake of the forthcoming 2014 Parliamentary elections. What is disturbing is that after the Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya, which had asked to divide the land into three parts one each being given to the three litigants, Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhada and Ram lalla Virajman, the matter is pending in Supreme Court. In the wake of the judgment the RSS had asserted that Muslims should give up their claims for the sake of the sentiments of majority. Despite the cases pertaining to ownership of the land where the mosque is located, VHP etc. were already asserting that no mosque will be permitted in Ayodhya. As per VHP, mosque has to be outside the ‘Shastriya Seema’ (boundary) as given in the Ramcharita manas (The Ram Legend, by Tulsidas) of Ayodhaya. Meaning there by that Ayodhya is a holy place of Hindus only.

It must be made clear that Ayodhya means (A+Yudhya: A no war zone). It is not only holy for Hindus. Ayodhya has been a focal point of many religions, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. From about fifth century BC fairly large Buddhist community was living in Ayodhya. Though this religion suffered a setback during first millennium AD, several remnants of its existence did survive. According to Jain tradition Ayodhya was the birthplace of the first and fourth Tirthankara. The early places of Hindu worship of Ayodhya were of Shaiva or Vishnu provenance. The specific worship of Rama even as an avatar of Vishnu is a much later development. References to the image of Rama appear only in sixth Century. Nawab of Awadh region, where Ayodhya is located had given land for the biggest temple in the area, Hanuman gadhi. Another argument doing rounds is that state should take up the building of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya the way Somnath temple was built by the state. Advani and many others have been claiming that the Somnath reconstruction was done as per the decision of the Nehru cabinet. This is a total lie. Since the public memory is too short anything propagated repeatedly starts sounding like being true, the way Hitler’s propaganda minister Goebbels used to do. Contrary to this; a little peep into the recent history will show us that Indian Government had nothing to do with the reconstruction of Somnath temple. The lie that Nehru Government had reconstructed or supported Somnath reconstruction is a distortion of the fact that two ministers of Nehru cabinet were involved in the reconstruction in their personal capacity. As such when the idea of reconstructing temple at Somnath was mooted by Sardar Patel, Gandhi who was alive at that time opined that Hindus are themselves capable to build the temple and they don’t need Government money or assistance for reconstruction neither should Government give money for such a construction.

With the death of Sardar Patel, K.M.Munshi and N.V. Gadgil, who were ministers in Nehru’s Cabinet, took up reconstruction work at personal level. There was no question of reconstruction proposal being passed by the Cabinet as falsely being claimed by communal forces. After the completion of the temple for its inauguration, the then President of India Dr. Rajedra Prasad was invited. He accepted the invitation against the wishes of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru opined that public officials should never publicly associate with faiths and shrines. Today nearly two decades after the demolition of the Babri Mosque, we have seen as to how much damage this Ram temple campaign has done to the political scene in the country. Unfortunately the Ayodhya Judgment has accepted faith as the basis of the verdict. It has been challenged in the Supreme Court though. At this moment why can’t RSS and company wait for the court verdict before declaring it on their agenda? The real reason for this is a political one. Temple construction has nothing to do with Hindu religion. RSS combine could demolish the mosque and built their political strength. Starting from two MPs in Lok Sabha in 1984 elections, as they gradually took up this issue, BJP by and by went up to 183 MPs in Parliament in 1999 elections. The mass hysteria created by this movement built up the BJP from a marginal outfit to the major opposition party. After 1999, BJP gradually went declining in its electoral strength. The present effort to revive Ram Temple issue has a calculated strategy. The calculation may be that reviving this campaign may increase its power and bring it to the forefront again.

But it is doubtful if this strategy may succeed again. Two decades ago, it worked. So many years down the line, the voter profile has changed and the newer set of youth may not be too enamoured by the call for temple building, as the more crucial issues are baying at them. Still there is a big appeal of emotive issues amongst a large section of society. And RSS combine has been whipping up the emotive messages through different programs. As outfit like RSS thrive on identity issues, Ram Temple is their major trump card. The arguments that Ram Temple is a symbol of our nationalism also seem to have smudged the issue in the minds of many. We know that Indian Nationalism does not veer around the mosques and temples. It is not a religious nationalism. In a democracy Nationalism cannot be identified with the religions’ of the kings of the past. Even the Kings of both religions had mixed administration anyway. One needs to come to terms with the values of freedom struggle, which made India into a nation, based on democracy and secularism, dump the issues of temple-mosque and grapple with the issues of livelihood and human rights of the citizens.

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani140213.htm

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My Name Is Khan And, Pain of A celebrity Being An Indian Muslim – By Ram Puniyani (Feb 8, 2013, Countercurrents)

Shah Rukh Khan is no ordinary celebrity. Being the lead actor with a very vibrant presence on big and small screen makes him to be very much on the top. Recently the communal elements asked him to produce his patriotism certificate. Khan in one of his articles in The New York Times-Outlook Turning Points ((January 2013) suggested that India has a bias against Muslims and goes on to say that “Political leaders have made me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.” He also writes “There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighboring country-this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return (to Pakistan) when they refer to my original home land.”

In response to this the Pakistan foreign minister Rahman Malik was quick to ask the Indian Government to provide security to Khan. Hafiz Sayeed went to the extent of inviting Khan to Pakistan with a promise to provide him with security. Both these are sort of pinpricks which are usually dished out by the neighbors to each other. When Hindu minorities suffer in Pakistan the immediate chorus comes up here in India is to ask to take steps for security of Hindus in Pakistan. Malik and Sayeed were just trying to put some salt in to the wounds of Indian psyche, not that they are concerned about Indian Muslims as such. They belong to a country where large section of Muslims themselves is struggling to live the life of dignity. A section of Muslims is being called Mohajirs and is denied most of the privileges of citizens. In Pakistan currently the Shia Muslims and Ahmadiyas are an object of wrath. So lesser said about Rahman Malik and Hafiz Sayeed Company the better.

The criticism directed against Khan was that he is giving ammunition to the elements across the border to criticize India. But can we keep the wounds of Indian Muslims under wraps, with no smell polluting the air? As far as Khan’s statement that there are biases against Indian Muslims is concerned, it is a painful reality. Muslims have been demonized; the strong streak of Islamophobia persists all over. The myths, stereotypes and biases against Indian Muslims were heightened with the partition tragedy, when the communal forces propagated that it is due to Muslims that India had to be partitioned. This is a total misreading of recent history as majority of Indian Muslims neither supported the idea of Partition nor were behind the Muslims League. Muslim League cut a sorry figure in 1937 assembly elections as majority of Indian Muslims did not vote for Jinnah party. And after the Jinnah’s resolution demanding Paksitan in 1940, majority of Indian Muslims took out processions opposing the demand of Pakistan. The other biases against Muslim community started intensifying through the propaganda by the communal forces, the biases about the Muslims related to the atrocities committed by Muslim kings, the biases related to polygamy, number of children, beef eating and their loyalty to Pakistan. The parallel process of communal violence started marginalizing them from social scene, the violence against them (Muslims are 13.4% as per 2001 census; Muslims are close to 90% amongst the riot victims). These stereotypes against Muslims are currently at peak and hatred resulting from these biases is leading to repeated communal violence and polarization.

While the average Muslim has been living with these biases pasted on his/her forehead, after 9/11, ‘All terrorists are Muslims’ has also been popularized through various mechanisms, section of media, words of mouth, SMS chains through mobile phones and the social media. While in the regular channels Muslims are too few, in the offbeat channels of social life, they do excel as in sports, music and films. At the same time the Muslims, who by mistake reach the top slots in position of authority have to be more careful for obvious reasons. Here the communal parties and outfits pick up some pro-Pakistan label against Muslim celebrities. Dilip Kumar, Yusuf Khan, was initially given the same abuse of being for Pakistan and he had to face lot of music when he was awarded the highest civilian honor by the government of Pakistan, Nishan-e-Pakistan. Lot of demonstrations was held in front of his house by these outfits to humiliate him. That may be one of the reasons for him not being awarded the highest civilian honor, which he deserves many times over. Mohammad Azaruddin, the outstanding cricketing talent and ex-Indian cricket Captain was mocked that he plays poorly when playing against Pakistan, to enable Pakistan to win! Shah Rukh Khan is another such celebrity. He had to face the double flak. Being a Khan, twice he was detained and stripped at the US entry points. Interestingly when he was detained many of his fans were approaching him for his autographs right there. In India the Shiv Sena, claiming to be a patriotic organization, holding on to Hindu Nationalism not Indian nationalism, has meted similar treatment to Shah Rukh Khan. Khan is from Peshawar and it is an enlightening point to know that his father was the follower of Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan, Frontier Gandhi, and participated in freedom struggle.

Shah Rukh Khan knows he is too secure; he is not talking as a victim, it is not from the angle of victimhood. He is expressing the anguish of being a Muslim at a time when in India the anti Muslim sentiments are at a peak and these get a boost from global Islamophobia created by American propaganda. Imagine the pain of an Indian when he is looked down to be owing allegiance to the neighboring country? Only those seeped in the values of Indian freedom struggle and those respecting the values of Indian Constitution can feel the anguish of Shah Rukh Khan and many more Muslims, celebrity or not, who have to keep producing loyalty and patriotism certicates time and over again, and that too to those belonging to the politics based on the ideology, which was not a part of freedom movement and has little respect for values of Indian Constitution. In popular psyche the identification of Indian Muslims with Pakistan has been cultivated with vehemence by communal forces. Muslims are more loyal to Pakistan is a standard propaganda. How can we judge patriotism of an individual? By cheering for the cricket teams or by allegiance to Indian Constitution? The matter of fact is that some disgruntled Muslims may be showing their anguish by cheering for Pakistan, in cricket matches, but that’s where the matters rest. A lot has been made of this deliberately and this falsehood has become part of social common sense. Shah Rukh Khan has been made a deliberate target by the communal forces and it is a part of their game of manufacturing biases against Muslim community as a whole. His expression in the said article is expression of what many Muslims suffer in India, celebrities included.

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani080213.htm

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The Blade Runners – By Toral Varia Deshpande (Feb 25, 2013, Outlook)

Whispers of an impending scam in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal have been doing the rounds for over a year now. It finally took the arrest of Giuseppe Orsi, chairman and CEO of the Italian defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica, and three others earlier this month to bring the kickbacks buzz right to the doorstep of former chief of the Indian air force, S.P. Tyagi. With yet another scam threatening to blow up in the face of the UPA government, the MoD has ordered a CBI probe into the deal, which included purchase of 12 swanky helicopters to ferry around top Indian dignitaries. The Enforcement Directorate is looking into the money trail—kickbacks allegedly being paid to the ex-air chief through his cousins.

The BJP, elated at another opportunity to embarrass the government, is already calling it the “Bofors sequel”. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, one of the first to raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha in December, says ironically, “The country which would have benefited from the deal has taken action while the country which lost money has not done anything.” Interestingly, his query then was answered by assurances from defence minister A.K. Antony that a probe by the MoD acquisitions wing was under way. But it seems the Italians were a few chopper sorties ahead. Interestingly, this will be the first defence scam where the alleged money trail, the middlemen have all been identified. In fact, they have even confessed their part in offering kickbacks. The Italian connection hasn’t been missed here by the Opposition, “St Antony” and “Madam Sonia” are sure to have a tough time of it when Parliament reconvenes on February 21.

For now, the delivery of nine helicopters has been put on hold (three of them have already been delivered). And while 30 per cent of the payment has been made, the next instalment stays cancelled till the outcome of the CBI probe. Antony has gone on to say that “India can get its money back at this stage” suggesting a very real possibility of the deal being scrapped altogether. The MoD, in damage control mode, has come out with a factsheet detailing how they had written to the company M/s AgustaWestland, the Indian embassy in Rome and various other authorities in Italy as soon as media reports of an alleged deal started appearing in February ’12. It still doesn’t explain, though, why a formal CBI inquiry was not ordered back then. The revelations about possible kickbacks came as far back as a year ago from Lorenzo Borgogni, former head of Finmeccanica’s external relations department. It was his disclosures that led to a full-fledged Italian investigation into alleged unethical dealings by the company, bringing within its ambit the Rs 3,546-crore contract with India.

The Italian investigators’ focus in the Borgogni testimony was his allegation that one of the middlemen, Guido Haschke, was hired as an “intermediary” for a sum of 41 million euros. This “compensation” was alleged to have been hiked at the last minute by 10 million euros. The Italian investigators zeroed in on this ‘escalation’, which was allegedly used by company officials to bribe political parties there for plum postings. The investigators from Italy’s attorney general’s office, in a preliminary report filed on February 12, called for the arrest of Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi. It was here that they alleged that Finmeccanica had bribed S.P. Tyagi when he was iaf chief to swing the chopper deal in favour of the company. (The kickbacks were allegedly paid through his cousins Julie, Sandeep and Dosca. Julie has business associations with Carlo Gerosa, another of the middlemen.) Some Rs 217 crore was apparently kept aside for “corrupt activity” out of which disclosures so far have suggested that the Tyagi cousins were paid Rs 72 lakh. The payment of bribes to the middlemen through contracts between firms registered in Tunisia and India was “still under way” when the scam was discovered.

The report further alleges that technical requirements for the contract were tweaked by India only so as to allow the AgustaWestland chopper to enter the bidding process and that kickbacks of millions of euros were paid in Italy and India. The investigation report also says that Orsi and middlemen Has-chke, Gerosa and Christian Michel facilitated the payments to India. “Haschke and Gerosa, through the Tyagi brothers, in turn through their cousin Shashi Tyagi, managed first to change the tender det-ails in a way that would only favour AgustaWestland, modifying the ‘operational ceiling’ from 18,000 ft to 15,000 ft of altitude, thus allowing AgustaWestland (which otherwise could not have even submitted an offer) to take part in the tender,” the report says. It also alleges that the flight trials were tweaked. The trials were conducted after Tyagi retired in 2007. “Then they managed to introduce a comparative flight trial with a non-functional engine, thus facilitating AgustaWestland helicopters, the only ones which had three engines. In this way, they managed to get the contract…,” the report says. Interestingly, it was Brajesh Mishra, national security advisor in the BJP-led NDA government, who ordered the specification changes after consultations with the spg in ’03. The late George Fernandes was defence minister then. (Jaswant Singh, NDA defence minister for a while, has come out publicly in support of S.P. Tyagi and the chopper deal saying it’s normal procedure for specs to be changed. Then he goes on to ask, “If my cousin is a robber, does that make me one too? You must be careful of guilt by association”, apparently a considered defence of the ex-air chief.) While investigations take their course, the taint of kickbacks has spread through the defence establishment. For a start, there is a clear danger of future acquisitions being delayed by an overcautious government. Which brings in its wake an alarming question: will this take a toll on the modernisation of our already dated armed forces? Only time will tell.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283932

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Kalahandi bauxite: Tale of two hills and tribal identity – By By Aroonim Bhuyan (Feb 18, 2013, New Indian Express)

Misconception of sorts over a sacred hill and threats perceived to the identities of the tribespeople around this village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district seem to have stalled a major bauxite mining project here. Visit this area and you see hundreds of hills – and the tribespeople in them are known to worship the tallest among them as the protector of their forests and livelihood. Where the misconception comes in is over whether the same sacred hill was once allotted to Vedanta to mine bauxite for a 1 million tonne per annum aluminium plant that was set up in 2007, and soon became a lifeline for people around this area. Out of 150 million tonnes of bauxite allotted to Vedanta by the state-run Odisha Mining Corp, 78 million tonnes is on one of the hills of the Niyamgiri hill range – which was why the company had set up the plant at the foothills of this hill range.

The confusion is over the identity and sanctity of the hill. “The Niyamgiri range has hundreds of hills. The highest is 1,500 metres above mean sea level. It is called Nimagiri. Being the highest, the people see it as the seat of their king. That’s their belief,” says Vedanta-Lanjigarh chief operating officer Mukesh Kumar. “But the bauxite we are talking about is deposited in another hill at a height of 1,300 metres – 15 km away. It is called Niyamdangar. That is what was given to us. Nimagiri does not have any bauxite to mine,” Kumar told IANS, adding Geological Survey of India maps clearly show this. Why the confusion? This is due to contrary reports of some NGOs which are doing the rounds here and being quoted extensively by environment activists. “They (Niyamgiri hills) are home to more than 8,000 Dongria Kondh people, whose lifestyle and religion have helped nurture the area’s dense forest and unusually rich wildlife,” says the London-based Survival International.

“At the centre of the struggle was the Dongria’s sacred mountain, the ‘mountain of law’. The Dongrias worship the top of the mountain as the seat of their god and protect the forests there,” the group says. “Vedanta Resources wants to mine the bauxite from the top of the same mountain.” The word is that the Dongria Kondh people believe that the top of the hill that the London-based NGO refers to as the ‘mountain of law’ is the seat of Niyam Raja and the tribespeople worship him. However, people like Ajay Mishra, a retired professor of geography and a leading civil society member of Bhawanipatna, the headquarter-town of Kalahandi district, are sceptical. “For me, this issue is concocted. I have never heard anything about worshipping Niyam Raja by the people here in all my life. All these came up after the Lanjigarh plant was set up,” said Mishra, who was born in Bhawanipatana and spent his entire life here.

“Come to look at it. What don’t we worship? We worship the trees. We worship water. We worship the earth. But does it mean that we have do it at the cost of development work,” he added. “The Dongria Kondh people don’t have good houses. They don’t get clean drinking water. They don’t have electricity. They don’t have access to good education. We should help them improve their living standards,” Mishra told IANS. “Do we really have to keep them as a museum piece always?” he wonders. “Global non-government organisations have their own interests. They are not concerned with the welfare of the local people. They are only concerned with some war between company X and company Y – about grabbing the market,” Mishra adds. There are others, like social activist Prafulla Samantara, who feel an industry around Lanjigarh will threaten the identity of the Dongria Kondh people. “They are nature-loving people. They worship the hills. This (Lanjigarh) project is against their interests.”

But countering such opinion is Gopinath Behara, a retired professor of chemistry from Sambalpur University and a noted opinion-maker of Bhawanipatna. “We aren’t asking the Dongria Kondh people to come down from the hills and join the so-called mainstream in the plains.” he says. “They can live in the hills. But at the same time, they have a right to improve their living standards. Their children must have access to good education. They should improve their economic condition,” Behera adds. “When they can do all this and more while maintaining their own culture and identity, why not?” he argues, alluding as to why the Dongria Kondh people should continue to be called one of the most primitive tribal peoples of India. In removing such confusion and answering the debate lies the fate of the 1 million tonne per annum aluminium refinery, which employed some 7,500 people in and around Lanjigarh, and has now been forced to shut shop since December for want of bauxite.

http://newindianexpress.com/business/news/article1468995.ece

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Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary is a time to renew the struggle against hate and sectarianism say Indian Americans

January 31, 2013

January 30, 2013 Indian American Muslim Council (http://www.iamc.com) an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos has paid respects to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his death anniversary today. IAMC has called on secular forces to join hands in the struggle against the same hateful and divisive forces [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – August 27th, 2012

August 27, 2012

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup Communal Harmony In bad weather, Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus make good friends News Headlines Cops turned a blind eye to tell-tale signs of tension Ruling BPF legislator arrested for Assam violence 20% of banned hate sites put up by Hindu groups Raj Thackeray shows his Hindutva colours as [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – June 25th, 2012

June 26, 2012

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup News Headlines Communal violence erupts in Pratapgarh of UP Gulberg: Court raps SIT, asks for probe report NDA’s disarray has to do with the BJP’s Hindutva parochialism ‘Tulsiram saw policemen picking Sohrabuddin, wife’ (Jun 23, 2012, Indian Express Fake Encounter by ATS, Claims Mumbai Blast Accused Police, administration [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – January 2nd, 2012

January 2, 2012

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup News Headlines Summons to Modi: Hearing adjourned in riots case Sreekumar contradicting his own statements: Sanjiv Bhatt Jan 28 deadline: CBI yet to question AP cops, Shah Hindutva activists attack police commissioner office in Hyderabad Central security team tells state to focus on communal violence RSS leader late [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – December 26th, 2011

December 27, 2011

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup News Headlines Modi is ‘dramatis personae’ of Gujarat ‘carnage’ 2002: Sanjiv Bhatt CBI questions Chudasama, Patel in Prajapati encounter case Father of alleged IM operative sues N Ram, Praveen Swami Sangh Parivar playing pressure tactics to freeze terror cases: PFI Pass anti-communal violence Bill: minorities Slice of OBC [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – September 26th, 2011

September 26, 2011

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup News Headlines ‘Saffron terror’ role being probed CBI grills four BJP leaders Gujarat gripped by fear: Mallika Sarabhai Muslims unimpressed by Modi’s fast Activists claim police and Hindutva hand in Bharatpur riot killings Azamgarh resident missing; detained by ATS, claims Media Seven ABVP volunteers detained in Pune Bombay [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – September 5th, 2011

September 5, 2011

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup Communal Harmony School students take out national integration rally NIC meet to discuss communal harmony, terrorism News Headlines Modi involved in my brother’s killing, claims Haren’s sister Tulsiram killed Haren, not Asgar Ali: Sanjiv Bhatt CBI questions Chudasama in Tulsiram encounter case Why Narendra Modi is on the [...]

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IAMC Weekly News Roundup – August 8th, 2011

August 8, 2011

In this issue of IAMC News Roundup News Headlines Godhra riots: Call for CBI probe gets louder Ishrat encounter: New SIT chief grills constable on retraction UP tops fake encounters list, Manipur follows: NHRC Mumbai Urdu dailies scream at bail to saffron terror accused Court seeks police report on Swamy’s article Bhuria slams order allowing [...]

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