Opinions and Editorials

Pawns In, Patrons Still Out – By Subhash Gatade (Jan 17, 2013, Countercurrents)

… it was sheer coincidence that the latter half of last month when the brutal gangrape of a young girl on the streets of Delhi helped unleash people’s anger over increasing cases of sexual violence and shook the powers that be from their deep slumber, also happened to be the period when one was witness to new exposures in the yet unfolding phenomenon of Hindutva terror. A section of the media carried reports informing the readers about arrests of foot soldiers of these terror modules, it supposedly also brought forth clinching evidence in cases which had remained unresolved till date and also provided few missing links in some other cases. The National Investigating Agency (NIA) which has been specially constituted to probe cases of terrorist attacks felt that with these arrests it would be able to get new important evidences in Samjhauta Express bomb blasts (2007), Mecca Masjid bomb blasts (2007) as well as bomb blasts in Malegaon (2006 and 2008). One also heard that finally the Maharashtra government had asked the central government to ban ‘Sanatan Sanstha’ – a ‘spiritual’ organisation headed by one Athavale whose activists have been found to be involved in many acts of terror and have been convicted as well.

But what was missing in all these news clippings was that there was no word about the real masterminds of this terror turn in Hindutva politics, the patrons who conceived plans, provided funds and managed explosives. Not that the investigating agencies were unaware of their existence, not that their names have not cropped up umpteen times during interrogation of these foot soldiers and not that these patrons of terror are living underground donning new identities but despite all these things there was no word about them. e.g. No word about one Indresh Kumar, one of the top leaders of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) who finds mention in many of the foot soldiers interrogations, one who was present in a hotel in Jaipur when the participants in the terror module were hatching plans to ‘reply ‘ the ‘others’ in kind ; no mention about Ms Himani Savarkar and the likes of Dr R.P. Singh who were present in many of the planning meetings of ‘Abhinav Bharat’ which was behind many of these terror acts; no word about a very senior leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad called Togadia who was in touch with Lt Col Purohit and held meetings with him in a hotel in Mumbai as the transcripts available with Anti-Terrorism Squad Maharashtra in connection with Malegaon 2008 bomb blast make it clear. …

Bomb blast at the house of Laxman Rajkondwar, a longtime RSS activist on April 6, 2006, which killed his son and another activist, definitely brought to the fore this phenomenon, but it cannot be said to be the beginning of Hindutva terror. As far as terror acts such as Mhow (1999), Bhopal (2002, 2003), Nanded I (April 2006) and Nanded II (Feb 2007) to the likes of Malegaon I (Sep 2006) and Malegaon II (Sep 2008), Kanpur (August 2008), Tenkasi (2007) and many of their ilk are concerned, you will find that participation of activists of RSS or its affiliated organisation has been noted and first information reports have also been lodged underlining their involvement, but all such acts can be said to be the continuing legacy of a more hardcore section within the Hindutva fraternity, which had its genesis say in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, at the hands of Nathuram Godse. According to Chunnibhai Vaidya, a renowned Gandhian from Gujarat, there were total six attempts on Gandhi’s life during a span of 14 years which involved Hindutva radicals. One also need to bring forth hitherto less reported incidents involving Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists in terror acts such as the Shikarpur bomb blast (Karachi, 1947, Economic and Political Weekly, July 8, 2006) which saw deaths of two pracharaks or the terror plot discussed by Rajeshwar Dayal, the first home secretary of United Province then in his autobiography (A Life of Our Times, Orient Longman, 1999) which exposed the sinister design of the hindutva workers to organise a pogrom against Muslims in western Uttar Pradesh in the immediate aftermath of partition.

How does the involvement of an organisation in particular heinous acts is deciphered? There could be two ways to understand it. Firstly, one traces the actual perpetrators/executioners of these acts who are part of such an organisation, then declare that the particular group is very much involved in these acts. Secondly, one lays hands on decisions taken by the highest leadership of the organisation which exhorts/appeals its followers to engage in such acts supposedly to further the ’cause’. As far as terror acts such as Mhow (1999), Bhopal (2002, 2003), Nanded I (April 2006) and Nanded II (Feb 2007) to the likes of Malegaon I (Sep 2006) and Malegaon II (Sep 2008), Kanpur (August 2008), Tenkasi (2007) and many of their ilk are concerned, you will find that participation of activists of RSS or its affiliated organisation has been noted and first information reports have also been lodged underlining their involvement. Coming to the second layer, many accused have pointed fingers to few senior leaders of RSS for their tacit support to their work. The likes of Assemanand, Bharatbhai or accused in the first Nanded bomb blast etc, have even shared how they were exhorted by them to engage in such acts. And while the RSS has formally denied that it is involved in such terror acts, it remains to be seen how such a strict hierarchical organisation can explain ‘waywardness’ of so many of its activists.

Thirdly, a culture of violence promoted by RSS is a worrisome thing. Take a look at many reports of commissions which looked into riots in different parts of the country after independence, and you will find what has been said about it. In fact, after assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, this is what the government communique issued on February 4, 1948 said which announced the ban on RSS: …the government has, however, noticed with regret that in practice members of RSS have not adhered to their professed ideals.Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried on by the members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country, individual members of the RSS have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found circulating leaflets, exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and military. … The Indian government at the centre and the governments in power in different states seem to follow the American policy of “not saying sorry”. Forget compensation, or forget prosecuting the guilty officers, a cursory glance at many of the terror acts involving Hindutva terrorists – which were initially blamed on Muslims – makes it clear how they have consistently refused to acknowledge their mistakes and offer any apology. The investigations into Mecca Masjid bomb blast at Hyderabad in the year 2007 seemed to be an exception. The youth who were falsely accused of involvement in the blast and badly tortured for days together were given compensation less than Rs one lakh each only when MIM (Majlis Ittehadul Musalmeen) a political party having few MLAs in A.P. assembly forced the Congress government to do it. Here also none of the police officers involved in the illegal detention and torture of scores of Muslim youth was reprimanded.

http://www.countercurrents.org/gatade170113.htm

SEE ALSO:

• We deserve better leaders – Editorial (Jan 22, 2013, DNA India)
  http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/editorial_we-deserve-better-leaders_1791232
• RSS’ Tryst with Terrorism: Past & Present – By Shamsul Islam (Jan 20, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/shamsul200113.pdf

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Rising Shadow of Trident: Modi’s Victory in Gujarat – By Ram Puniyani (Jan 20, 2013, Countercurrents)

The recent electoral victory of Narendra Modi, his third consecutive one (Dec 2012), has drawn lot of applause from a section of society and he is being projected as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate. It’s another matter that BJP, itself is in shambles as far as electoral arena is concerned and its NDA allies are unlikely to endorse Modi, given his aggressive communal politics and the authoritarian style of his functioning. One knows that this victory of Modi was predicted by many exit polls, one also knows his victory was not a smooth sail, as by now the dissatisfaction from his policies, his style of functioning is adversely affecting a large number of Gujarat population. The people of Gujarat turned out in big numbers to cast their vote. Many commentators feel that his win is due to his development policies, that he has won again is an endorsement of his claims of development of Gujarat. The development model undertaken by Modi is a total surrender to the favored industrial houses, which are having a gala time in Gujarat. The shiny malls and roads of Gujarat hide behind them the travails of the deprived and marginalized sections of Gujarat, the villages in particular. Every Nano car rolling out from Tata car is subsidized by the state to the extent of Rs 60000. The hype of development propaganda, managed by the American Company APCO Worldwide, which has already worked for notorious dictators like Sani Abacha (Nigeria) and Nurusultan NAzarbayev (Life President of Kazagistan), has done its job well again. The job by this agency has been done so well that anybody questioning the development of Gujarat is receives various derogatory labels. As a matter of fact what Modi has done is nothing unusual and states like Maharashtra have achieved much better in this direction, without the hype. Here comes one of the roles of Modi, not only to hire an image maker but also to act like Goebbels.

This so called development hides that the social indices of Gujarat which are very much on the lower side when compared to many other Indian states. What matters in popular perception is the image more than reality. So this aspect of Modi’s propaganda did sell well for a section of middle class not only in Gujarat but all over the country. Many a commentators do buy this uncritically and attribute Modi’s victory to this factor. As its not only the mall going middle class but even the suicide committing farmers families, the starving dalits and Adivasis, who also vote, they feel the reality of the ‘development’ of Gujarat in their lives, so a large turn out to vote and in rural areas they did show that the so called development is from the annals of make believe World. The major factor which has worked in Modi’s favor is the polarization which has taken place in Gujarat after the 2002 carnage. This is one episode of violence, which has separated the communities on religious lines. While Hindus, have bought the line that it is only due to Modi that they are safe, at the same time Muslims know that they have not only been the major victim of 2002, but also that post 2002, they have been totally marginalized in physical space, with ghettoization taking place. They know that they are physically not safe and have been pushed back economically and socially. The real fear is stalking the lives of Muslim community as a whole. They have been relegated to second class citizenship. Modi has given a clear message that the nine percent Muslims don’t matter to him as he has made up his vote bank by consolidating the Hindus by instilling the fear amongst them. Still all Muslims do not vote against them. To begin with the Muslim majority areas have been delimited in a way that they can’t influence in the electoral result, or the impact of their voting is minimized. A section of trader-businessmen Muslims did vote for Modi for sure. Another section had to vote for him out of fear.

As far as dalits and adivasis are concerned the social engineering unleashed by BJP associates VHP and Vanavasi Kalyan ashram has done its job and a section of these deprived sections has been won over to the Hindutva fold and vote for the BJP. The sense of insecurity amongst minorities and minority women is paramount, making them withdraw into their shells. The liberal space in the state of Gujarat has shrunk rapidly, more than in other states. The educational institutions have been thoroughly brought under the management of academics sympathetic to Modi’s ideology. The state now reminds one of a dictatorial state, as pointed out by the ex- BJP chief Minister Keshubhai Patel himself. It can be called as communal-semi fascist state. The major factor in the state is the polarization and abolition of liberal space. This is ‘Hindu Nation’ in one state. One is reminded of the USSR, where ‘Socialism in one state’ was the slogan to begin with. In India while there are many states ruled by BJP, it is Gujarat, which fits into this ‘Hindu Rashtra in one state’. The real danger today, which is reminded by Modi’s victory are manifold. To begin with the communal fascism is creeping in India through deeper pores of the nation. It is said that RSS is not happy with Modi coming to power and becoming larger than the party, the BJP. This is a contradictory situation. RSS on one hand wants to create a Hindu Rashtra. On the other it wants to regulate the whole process. The contradiction is that RSS ideology pushes the nation towards dictatorial thinking, as RSS itself is modeled on Ek Chalak Anuvartita, (controlled by single supreme dictator), the Sar Sanghchalak, whose writ is unquestionable. At the same time one recalls that one of the characteristics of fascisms the single charismatic leader. Modi fits in to that model very well. It is being said that in Gujarat, the RSS and its progeny VHP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been marginalized. One should know that the RSS and its non electoral progeny is there to make the ground for creating a communal space in which BJP can then rough shod and work for Hindu Nation. In Gujarat, these organizations are redundant now as they have already played their role. With Modi’s victory it’s clear that in India the communal fascism is marching state by state, and in the social space, in a gradual manner.

Modi’s blatant proximity to industrial houses is again in tune with the pattern of a fascist state. Hitler was also the darling of big capital. Hitler had mass following amongst the middle classes and could co-opt the poor as its storm troopers, street fighters. Modi is walking the same path, the difference being that of speed and regional variation. India being the vast diverse nation, the Gujarat pattern stands out very clearly as a repeat of German fascist onslaught with many differences. The other BJP ruled states are adopting different paths, some features being common. These common features are cultural infiltration, and relegation of minorities to the margins. It is in this situation that those committed to secular democracy need a rethink. At electoral level, the parties like Congress, Samajvadi, Communist and Socialist parties, do not perceive the threat to democracy and secularism as they should be doing. If they understand the implications of Hindu Rashtra, the impact of Modi in hiking up the communal politics and communal thinking, then they have to close their ranks. They need to rise above their electoral and prime ministerial ambitions and take this threat of communalism head on as a united front.

That seems to be a very tall order to expect from these electoral formations which so far have not demonstrated their willingness to come together for the sake of principles. Is it thinkable at all these parties will contemplate more in terms of saving democracy and secularism rather than protecting their fiefdoms? Its time these parties wake and realize that unless they hang together, the danger of communal fascism taking over the country in the future is not ruled out. Still one knows all this is an optimistic urge. If wishes were horses! What can secular elements do at this point of time? They have engaged in legal activism, advocacy work, done rehabilitation work and conducted awareness programs to the best of their capabilities. It seems their best is not good enough. The need for more innovative thinking to ward off the threat of looming communalism has become more menacing with the victory of Modi. It’s a warning signal of sorts to do our utmost to strengthen the values of freedom movement, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. It’s time to remind ourselves of what the preamble of our Constitution tells us. It’s time to build a real people’s platform for secularism and democracy. It’s time for social movements to take this issue in utmost seriousness before the situation is created that social movements will themselves will not be permitted to march forward for the cause of human rights of the deprived sections of society.

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani200113.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Blow to secularism – By Kuldip Nayar (Jan 10, 2013, Deccan Herald)
  http://www.deccanherald.com/content/304395/blow-secularism.html
• The Cold Glint Of Saffron Madness Is Upon Us – By Dr. Sylvia Karpagam (Jan 21, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/karpagam210113.htm

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Dhule Riots: A petty squabble to ‘Kargilli firing’ – By Feroze Mithiborwala (Jan 17, 2013, Twocircles.net)

This was the first time that we would have come across this term – ‘Kargilli firing.’ It was in a meeting in Dhule where activists from both the communities were present that a young Muslim mentioned this term and most of us were shocked beyond words. What he was basically stating was that the police opened fire with an agenda to kill as if they were at war with Pakistani troops over the Line of Control. Thus the deep seated anti-Muslim bias amongst vast sections of the police is indeed evidently true, frightening as it sadly is. There was also another first. We have come across many reasons for riots that break out spontaneously & they range from arguments over a scooter accident, to kite flying, to a love affair, to a little incident outside a Temple or a Masjid being the norm. But the recent one riot in Dhule on the 6th of January certainly tops the bill, as it was precisely a petty frivolous squabble over a food bill at a food-stall that set this riot off that finally led to the deaths of 6 youngsters, namely Imran Ali Qamar Ali (25), Aasim Shaikh Naseer (21), Saud Ahmed Raees Patel (18), Hafiz Mohd Aasif Abdul Haleem (22), Rizwan Hasan Shah (24) and Yunus Abbas Shah (20), with 3 others who had their legs amputated.

Needless to say that the police firing was only directed towards the Muslim rioters, whilst the Hindu rioters were provided cover to loot, pillage & burn properties in Macchi Bazar. The evidence has all been captured on mobile-video recordings & the police are clearly seen to be participating in the general looting & mayhem. This was a riot that should never have been & once it started, it could & rather should, have been easily contained by the police within a matter of two hours or less. Macchi Bazar is a Muslim populated mohalla (locality) which serves the best non-vegetarian food in all of Dhule & thus in the evenings there are droves of Hindus who come there to eat. Then right across the local chowk is Madhavpura a Hindu majority locality. The incident sparked off from a heated argument between a Muslim youth & the food-stall owner (a Hindu), over a bill. It took a violent turn, with an exchange of blows & then the Muslim youth went over to the Police Chowki, right opposite the stall barely 20 feet across the street. The policemen advised the boy to go file the complaint at Azad Nagar Police station, as it could not be registered at the chowki. The point to be noted here is that, this is the most communally sensitive spot in all of Dhule & the policemen stationed there should have known better. Here itself the feud could have been nipped in the bud, if the constable would have just walked 20 feet across & sternly warned the two erring parties to settle the petty matter. The Muslim boy on seeing the inaction went & called for his friends to support him & so did the hotel owner & then the situation just deteriorated into a stone & bottle throwing melee from both quarters.

Here too there was a failure of the youth from both communities who live just right across, but do not have friends that they can reach out to & appeal for an end to the mindless stone throwing. Even the social leadership on either side was absent & so were their elected representatives. All it would have taken were for a few community leaders to have stepped in the midst of the violence & controlled the mobs, with a certain degree of physical threat to their own lives. Or maybe that is why they were all away, hiding in the safety of their own homes. It’s a shame, truly a matter if utmost shame. The police later intervened, but sided entirely with the Hindu community, as has been the case with many riots across the country. Prior to the firing, water-cannons were not resorted to, nor was there a lathi-charge to disperse the crowds, or tear-gas shells fired. The police firing could have also been in the air & that would have been sufficient to disperse the rioting mobs. But the police chose to open fire right into the Muslim locality & they fired above the waist, with an agenda to kill. As of yet, it is still not clear as to which police official gave the powers to shoot & they are still passing the buck. We were also informed that in the recent violence at the Bhim Nagar locality of Dhule (2011), where many policemen were injured grievously during a riot in which also two police vans were burnt, the police dealt with the situation without firing a shot & brought it under control within a matter of hours without any loss of life. Also recently in the Azad Maidan riots (Mumbai, 11/8/2012), the police performed their task admirably & did not fire on the Muslim lumpens who had gone on the rampage. Thus successful precedents of the police having controlled riots, without resorting to bullets, within the matter of a few hours are there for all to see & learn from.

Mind you, it was just a matter of containing the violence between four lanes at a chowk, which is a meeting point for Machhi Bazaar, Pala Bazaar, Tasha Galli, Maulvi Ganj and Madhavpura. The riots which continued to rage for over three hours did not spread to any other localities in Dhule & this is a positive point. Even as the rumours of a riot swirled across the town, people in other localities gathered at their chowks to guard their areas & were clearly not going to either participate or start attacking the minorities in their areas. Also, another important point is that, neither did this riot spread to the rural outskirts of Dhule or North Maharashtra, as has been the case in the recent past, were the embers could have fanned the flames in Malegaon, Nasik, Raver, Chopda & Nandurbar. But this time, it just did not happen. The other positive element has been the role of the doctors & the nurses, due to whom many innocent lives were saved. Here it must be stated that the doctors were all Hindus from the Lokmanya, Astha & Suhas Hospitals. If it were not for doctors like Dr. Sanjay Khopde, the death toll would have been far higher. The negative element has been the statement from 41 lawyers who have stated that they will oppose any prosecution of the police & defending any of the Muslim rioters. The lawyers have turned judges. This has also been the case after terror attacks in Varanasi & Pune, where a section of the lawyers had deemed the suspected Muslim youth to be terrorists & guilty, prior to a trial. The Indian Bar Council needs to take action against these lawyers, who are undermining the judiciary & the Indian Constitution itself. The media has played a mixed role & in the first phase lacked in portraying the prejudiced role of the police. The local channels were taken off the air & this too contained the fear & rumour mongering. Also a lot of misinformation was planted into the media by the police themselves, so as to build a case for the indefensible police action. But this story is certainly collapsing like a wall of cards.

Even on our visit to Dhule, we found that the secular activists from across communities were discussing the matter without any tension amongst them. Normally after a riot, there is an uneasiness that creeps into the atmosphere, but here in Dhule this was not the case. It was Rahul Wagh (BAMCEF-Borkar) & his friends Narendra Khairnar, Ravi More, Jay Wagh amongst others who invited us to Dhule. They mobilized their Muslim activist friends like Abdul Sattar, Adv. Salahuddin, Ashfaque, Habib, Babu Sheikh, Farouque Sheikh, Liaqat Pathan, Majid Khan, Muhammad Zaid, Zainulabedin, Munir, Nafees & many more, who were all active in the post-riot situation. Be it at the hospitals where they carried the dead & the injured, or in terms of organizing food & relief for those who had lost their properties & businesses, to working to maintain calm in the town, all of them played a key role in ensuring peace. Whilst hearing the Muslim activists, it was clear that they felt entirely orphaned. None of them denied or defended the fact that the Muslim youth were involved in the rioting & stone throwing. All they said was so were youth from the Hindu community. But the entire police action & arbitrary & lethal firing was directed solely at the Muslim community & that is where the term ‘Kargilli Firing’ was mentioned. Abdul Sattar, both a businessmen & a political leader, (from the Shah-Fakir, Muslim OBC community) broke down whilst speaking & stated that the entire Muslim community found itself very “helpless & orphaned”. All they said was that they wanted justice from the government. …

http://twocircles.net/2013jan17/dhule_riots_petty_squabble_%E2%80%98kargilli_firing%E2%80%99.html

SEE ALSO:

• Police Complicit In Dhule Riot: Fact Finding Report – By Concerned Citizens (Jan 19, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/cc190113B.htm

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A Woman And A Minor Girl Kidnapped By Police In Andhra Pradesh – Fact Finding Report (Jan 19, 2013, Countercurrents)

A four-member fact-finding team of the Human Rights Forum (HRF) to Nimmalagudem village on January 16, 2013 was told by tribal residents that two women of the village — Madvi Parvathi, (aged 21, wife of Madvi Bhaskar) and a minor Kovasi Somidi, (aged 15, daughter of Kovasi Idma and Kovasi Aite) were forcibly taken away by policemen from Andhra Pradesh at about 7 am on January 12, 2013 from the village itself. Their whereabouts are not known till date. According to Parvathi’s mother Punam Jogamma and her husband Bhaskar, Parvathi is also pregnant.

Nimmalagudem, with about 30 tribal households, is in Konta block of Sukma district, Chattisgarh. It is located only about 3 km from the Andhra Pradesh border. Residents, who are all farmers, said a huge police party from AP consisting of over 100 personnel, including the Greyhounds, came to the village at daybreak on January 12. On seeing the police from a distance, most men fled into the forest in the opposite direction. The policemen began abusing and beating up residents including several women and children. Among those beaten up were Sodi Devi, a 10 year-old girl and a 12-year old boy Madvi Venkatesh . The boy lost three teeth as a result.

The policemen then picked up a farmer Podium Chukkaiah and his minor son (aged about 11) P Bhimaiah as well as Parvathi, Somidi and another woman Madkam Saramma. Their hands were tied and they were taken to a spot about half a kilometre away from the village below a hillock where there were remnants of a camp set up earlier by the Maoists. Accusing the four as well as the entire village of providing food and help to the Maoists, they beat them with their hands and sticks. Bhimaiah was slapped repeatedly.

Several women including Parvathi’s mother Jogamma, her aunt Punam Somamma, Somidi’s mother Aite followed the policemen pleading with them to not harm their daughters. The policemen instead abused and also beat up the three women and even kicked them. Aite and Jogamma tried to give some water to Parvathi and Somidi but the policemen did not allow it. Soon after, the police partially disrobed Parvathi and Somidi and forcibly took the two away with them. They let go of Saramma, Chukkaiah and Bhimaiah. Chukkaiah was bedridden for two days from the beatings and is now better. Over a week after they were abducted by the AP police, there is still no trace of Parvathi and Somidi. The incident was reported in the Telugu media after the tribals went to Cherla, a mandal headquarters in Khammam district of AP, and narrated the events to local reporters. When contacted by reporters, police officials have kept denying knowledge of the whole thing.

On January 16, Nimmalagudem villagers again walked to Cherla and met the Bhadrachaslam sub-collector Narayana Bharat Gupta. They told him what had happened on January 12 and pleaded with to help them locate their daughters. They told him that every-time there was movement of Maoists in the area or any incident involving the Maoists, the Andhra police were targeting Nimmalagudem and harassing them. Gupta promised to take up the matter with higher officials. Two days have gone by and there is no word about the women. Fax messages have been sent to the Chief Justice of the AP High Court as well as the Chattisgarh CJ seeking their intervention. An appeal was made by HRF through the media to immediately set the two women free and handed over to their families.

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc190113C.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Can this Collector change Dantewada? – By Prakhar Jain (Jan 17, 2013, Tehelka)
  http://tehelka.com/can-this-collector-change-dantewada/

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The Killing Fields of Assam: Myth and Reality of Its Muslim Immigration – By Vani Kant Borooah (Jan 26, 2013, Economic& Political Weekly)

It is commonplace that in the wake of large-scale migration into a region conflict between the native population and immigrants often follows. Whether in Britain, Germany, France, the United States (US), Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia or South Africa, large-scale migration, by disturbing the equilibrium of the native population, has resulted in conflict. Immigrants make claims on scarce economic resources. They acquire political influence, and their alien culture threatens the existing “way of life” (Dancygier 2010). All these tendencies are aggravated when, as sometimes happens, immigrants do better than the native population in exploiting available opportunities and consequently enjoy greater economic success compared to their hosts. The Indian state of Assam encapsulates all these features, particularly the fact that migrants into Assam over the past 100 years and more have carved for themselves a better life than enjoyed by the native Assamese (Weiner 1978). Moreover, they have acquired political infl uence and, through language and religion, disturbed the cultural equilibrium of the Assamese-speaking Hindu natives. This paper addresses the issue of migration, particularly Muslim migration into Assam.

Connected to the parent country by a narrow land corridor, and largely separated from it by Bangladesh India’s eastern state of Assam – covering an area of 78,500 sq km with a population of just over 31 million is dominated by the mighty Brahmaputra River. The Brahmaputra Valley has two main geographical features: the floodplain that is home to the vast majority of Assamese and the Karbi hills populated by the Karbi people (Shrivastava and Heinen 2005). The state is the home to myriad ethnic groups represented by a plethora of armed groups who offer to “liberate” them from the hegemony of their “oppressors” – sometimes perceived as the Indian government, sometimes the state government, and sometimes just other ethnic groups. In consequence of the undercurrent of hostility between the various subgroups in Assam – engendered by a zero-sum competition for land and resources – life in the state is regularly punctuated by ethnic violence: Karbi clash with Kuki, Dimasa with Zeme, Rabha with Garo, and Bodo with Santhal (Kashyap 2012). Overshadowing these ethnic clashes, however, is the fact that in the past 25 years or so Assam has spawned some of the most egregious incidents of anti-immigrant violence in south Asia directed mainly, though not exclusively, against Bengali Muslims.

Most recently, at the end of July 2012, Bodo tribesmen began a wave of killing of Bengali Muslims and arson attacks on their homes in which, by August 2012, over 80 people had been killed (mostly Muslims, but also some Bodos) with almost half a million persons from nearly 400 villages sheltering in refugee camps. In earlier incidents, clashes between the Bodo and Bengali Muslims in August-October 2008 resulted in 70 deaths with over one lakh people rendered homeless. In July 1994, assaults on Bengali Muslims in Barpeta district resulted in 100 deaths (most of them Muslims); and in October 1993, 50 people were killed in Bongaigaon district in clashes between the Bodo and Bengali Muslims.The most egregious act of violence occurred on 14 February 1983 when a large group of armed men from the Lalung tribe in Assam raided 14 villages, in close proximity to each other, in Nagaon district and killed over 4,000 persons – men, women and children – most of whom were Bengali Muslims. This was the infamous Nellie massacre, so named after one of the affected villages, in the aftermath of which nearly a quarter of a million people were rendered homeless and thousands fled the state (Weiner 1983).

The ostensible reason for attacks against Bengali Muslims is invariant – they are accused of being illegal immigrants who, taking advantage of the porous 267-km long border between Assam and Bangladesh entered the state and occupied land belonging to the native population. Moreover, through a rapid increase in their numbers, they are seen as diluting and debasing traditional Assamese Hindu culture through the instrument of a foreign language (Bengali) and an alien religion (Islam). The political counterpart to these acts of violence is demands by political parties for the detection and expulsion of foreigners. The social unrest and political events in Assam that culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord of 1985 are comprehensively described in Weiner (1983), Baruah (1994) and Gosselink (1994). However, the accord, which signalled an official recognition of the fact that Assam had an “immigration problem”, raised more questions than it answered. First, what was the scale of the problem? How many immigrants – perhaps from other parts of India (Bengali speakers from West Bengal, Hindi speakers from Bihar), perhaps from other countries (Nepal, Bangladesh) – were there in Assam? Second, what was the division of immigrants between Hindu and Muslim? Third, of the total number of immigrants, how many were illegal immigrants as defined in the accord?

In order to address the question of scale, the usual method is to subtract from the population of Assam at any given census date (say, 1961), an estimate of what the population of Assam would have been, if its population (from the previous Census 1951) had grown at the all-India rate. The difference then represents the number of migrants into Assam between the two census dates – in this case 1951 and 1961. Using this method, Weiner (1983) calculated that over the period 1901-81, Assam received 10.4 million immigrants; its population increased from 3.3 million in 1901 to 19.9 million in 1981 against a 1981 predicted level of 9.5 million if its population had grown at all-India rates between 1901 and 1981. Using this method, Nath and Nath (2009) estimated that 4.6 million persons migrated into Assam in the 100 years between 1901 and 2001. Two features characterise these separate estimates. First, Weiner’s (1983) figure of 10.4 million immigrants between 1901 and 1981 differs wildly from Nath and Nath’s (2009) estimate of 4.6 million immigrants between 1901 and 2001. This suggests that at least one (or, perhaps, both) of these sets of authors is mistaken in their calculations. Second, and more importantly, both sets of authors are mistaken in their methodology since neither takes account of the fact that the religious composition of the populations of Assam and of India differs greatly. …

http://www.epw.in/system/files/The%20Killing%20Fields%20of%20Assam.pdf

SEE ALSO:

• The Dark Side of the Iron Hill – By Anil Mishra (Dec 22, 2012, Tehelka)
  http://tehelka.com/the-dark-side-of-the-iron-hill/

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India’s Rape Culture: Urban versus Rural – By Ram Puniyani (Jan 17, 2013, Countercurrents)

While the horrific rape of Damini, Nirbhaya (December 16, 2012) has shaken the whole nation, and the country is gripped with the fear of this phenomenon, many an ideologue and political leader are not only making their ideologies clear, some of them are regularly putting their foots in mouths also. Surely they do retract their statements soon enough. Kailash Vijayvargiya, a senior BJP minister in MP’s statement that women must not cross Laxman Rekha to prevent crimes against them, was disowned by the BJP Central leadership and he was thereby quick enough to apologize to the activists for his statement. But does it change his ideology or the ideologies of his fellow travellers? There are many more in the list from Abhijit Mukherjee, to Mamata Bannerji, Asaram Bapu and many more. The statement of RSS supremo, Mohan Bhagwat, was on a different tract as he said that rape is a phenomenon which takes place in India not in Bharat. For India the substitute for him is urban areas and Bharat is rural India for him. As per him it is the “Western” lifestyle adopted by people in urban areas due to which there is an increase in the crime against women. “You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang rape or sex crimes”, he said on 4th January. Further he implied that while urban areas are influenced by Western culture, the rural areas are nurturing Indian ethos, glorious Indian traditions. As per him ancient Indian traditions gave great respect to women, and it is due to these values of Indian tradition, that villages are free from crimes against women.

The statistics from India fly in the face of Bhagawat. In a significant statistical observation and study of rape cases Mrinal Satish, faculty member of National Law University, Delhi, tells us another tale. He has used the court data and observes that 75% of rape cases take place in rural India. His observations are based on the cases reported in Criminal Law Journal from 1983 to 2009. The cases of rape in villages, like that of Khairlanji and rape against Adivasi women may not be on the radar of the Hindutva boss, Bhagwat, but those engaged with the issues of dalits, Adivasis and gender issues cannot buy the simplified rural versus urban divide. One knows that patriarchy which looks at women as secondary beings, primarily as sister, mother or daughter, rather than a person in her own right. She is not a being with swayam (selfhood) of her own. As for as RSS ideology is concerned only men have swayam (selfhood). The full form of RSS, the male organization is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh while its women’s organization is Rashtrasevika Samiti, do note that the word swayam is missing here, in the name of women’s organization.

The myth that women had a place of honour in ancient Indian period is a well constructed one. During the long span of ancient Indian period the status of women kept changing, but women being subordinate beings was the running theme. During the Aryan period of pastoral life the women were supposed to commit symbolic self immolation after the death of husband, later this got converted to actual burning of the widows. It is probably around this period that two great epics were written, Ramayan and Mahabharat. In Ramayan Lord Ram banishes his pregnant wife Sita, because of the rumours about her character amongst the subjects of Ayodhya. In Mahabharat, the Panadavas use their common wife Draupadi as a ‘thing’ and use her as a bet in gamble. Not to be left behind their cousins try to disrobe her in the court in front of the King Dhritrashtra! So much for the glorious place of women in ancient India! Later period’s values are well reflected in Manusmiriti, where the women were explicitly denied education and serving the husband and household chores were regarded as equivalent of education for the women. Manusmriti gives the detailed code for women and it leaves no doubt about women being subordinate or the property of men. The Gupta period (3rd to 7thCentury), which is regarded as the Golden Period of Ancient India, the women were having limited access to education and barring few names which are dished out to prove the glorious condition of Hindu women, mostly the women were having limited access to education. Their participation in Yagnas was secondary to husband, the Yajman, who was the primary being who had solicited the priest for the Yagnas. Yajnman word interestingly has no female equivalent.

The ideologues of the Mohan Bhagwat parivar attribute all the prevalent ills to the coming in of Muslims. This is a very clever ploy to externalize the internal suppression of women, and also of dalits. It’s not too long ago in history that during British rule, the continuation of this religiously sanctioned Hindu norm, Sati, had to be fought against by social reformers. The ghastly sati system, occasionally surfacing even now, and supported subtly by conservatives has not been easy to eradicate as religion was cited as the argument for preserving it. In the wake of sati of Roopkanwar in 1986, BJP’s Vice President Vijaya Raje Scindia, not only defended the sati system but also took out a morcha to oppose passing of the bill against sati. BJP of is the political child of RSS. The travails of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in struggling against Sati system are a legend. The child marriage was/ is another such evil. While British wanted to bring in the law in early twentieth century to abolish child marriage, the argument to oppose it came from the sources of Hindu religion. It was asserted that as per Hindu norms the girl must be married before her first menses, Garbhadhan. It was argued that our religion’s norm about early marriage cannot be violated. The introduction of widow remarriage, the struggle to abolish Devadasi system, each of these has a long and painful story to tell about the status of women in India, in Ancient India, not influenced by modernization.

The education is the key to the empowerment of women and an integral part of democratization process. It was a painful journey and the efforts of Savitri bai Phule in this direction are revolutionary in the true sense of the word. These efforts were downright opposed on various grounds, the main obstacle being the Hindu traditions. As such what is being criticized by Bhagwat as modernization is basically the process of democratization of society. This gentleman is stuck in the feudal mode thinking and is upholding feudal of social relationships in the garb of Hindu glorious traditions. As per these traditions; caste and gender hierarchy rules the roost. The atrocities against women are not due to democratization, which this worthy is calling modernization or westernization. The core of modernization is caste and gender equality. The essence of modernization is abolition of hierarchy, based on birth-the hierarchy of caste and gender. The process of democratization is the march of society from formal values of equality to substantive equality, and this the march has to be the agenda of social movements. The roots of oppression of women lie in the patriarchal values, which is the carry forward of ancient and medieval values, related to feudal society, society with the rule of kings, where woman was regarded as the one whose arena is the domestic work. The condition of widows and the women who were burnt alive as sati reflects the glorious ancient tradition to which Mr. Bhagwat wants to push back the Indian society, undoing all what Indian society has been able to achieve through the struggle for Independence, which was not merely a struggle to throw away the British rule but also a struggle to do away with caste and gender hierarchy. …

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani170113.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Shedding Darkness – By Anuradha Raman (Jan 28, 2013, Outlook)
  http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283586
• Women’s Work, Stigma, Shelter Homes and the State – By Sujata Gothoskar (Jan 26, 2013, Economic & Political Weekly)
  http://www.epw.in/commentary/womens-work-stigma-shelter-homes-and-state.html
• Engendering A Work Shift – By Pragya Singh (Jan 28, 2013, Outlook)
  http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283587

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