<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 24 2005, 07:03 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 24 2005, 07:03 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->@Sid<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Trouble erupted after an altercation between <b>a Muslim woman and the owner of a garment shop that resulted in her slapping the shop-owner</b>, sources said and added that soon members of the two communities traded blows and indulged in heavy stone-pelting<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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They gave some more details in last night's Zee news.The alleged altercation started when the shopkeeper accused the woman of shop-lifting which I would guess means slipping a sari or two under her burkha.
Mau riot victims to meet PM, UP Governor
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Alleging that the riots were the result of a "tussle" between independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari and local Samajwadi Party leader Ashraf Jamal, he said public interest litigations would be filed in courts, seeking probe into the role of the state government and why it was "protecting" the two leaders<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->SABHA reminds me of another fraud by Kaleem Kawaja. This is not the first time that Kawaja is at this game. Nearly a year and half after it was proven to be fake, he still had the email about the Godhra conspiracy on his site.
Read about it at: http://www.sabha.info/archives/sabha_13aug2004.html
Organiser-23 October2005
<b>Mau reflects cultural intolerance</b>
Sandhya Jain
The unexpected outbreak of organized communal rioting in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, leaving 12 dead and several dozen injured in over four days of uncontrolled violence, despite the organizers of the Bharat Milap procession cancelling the 13 October show in the interest of social harmony, indicates a cultural intolerance that does not bode well for India. Political parties would do well to consider if this is part of a concerted strategy to enhance the growth of minority conclaves in India by driving out native populations through the systematic use of terror, a weapon used in Assam and other states.
Political parties wooing Muslim votebanks through the promise of 5% reservation benefits may also consider how far they can rise by encouraging the growth of such communal poison in the country. For sooner, rather than later, voters of their own core caste-based constituencies will be victimized and deprived of their lands and livelihoods, and there is no way that minority votebanks can compensate for the loss of Hindu votes, though the presence of minority bloc voting certainly facilitates victory. But as Congress is learning in Assam, Muslims are quick to desert the political ladders they climb once they perceive they have the numbers and power to do without them. Assamâs 2006 elections will expose the direction of religion-driven politics, the outcome of which can only be lethal.
So slow was the UP Government to respond to the riots that dozens of residents fled to adjoining districts of Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Azamgarh in apprehension of fresh violence. Hundreds are seeking security in numbers by clustering together in makeshift shelters in fields and near railway lines, preferring the open spaces to their homes in the old congested bylanes of the town.
It is said that violence began when Muslims observing Roza protested at loudspeakers playing Hindu devotional songs on the occasion of Bharat Milap. This cultural intolerance that is regularly displayed on the occasion of Hindu festivals, even as Muslims spill over on to public roads and footpaths for the Friday namaaz, needs to be confronted. It bears noting that currently in Bangladesh, the rapidly depleting and terrorized Hindu community agreed to make itself publicly invisible on festive occasions, in order to placate the aggressive Muslim majority. Clearly the Muslims of Mau wanted, through a display of extreme bigotry, to force Hindus to not celebrate auspicious dharmic functions and surrender their community identity for the sake of a false communal harmony. This is what Mahatma Gandhi called the peace of the grave.
It is high time we called a spade a spade and examined the link between burgeoning ISI activity in UP and other states and the growth of fundamentalist intolerance. The courts must also consider, when riot related cases come before them, why a local Muslim MLA was allowed to prevent police action against rioters for four whole days, before media coverage compelled action.
Shops and establishments were looted with impunity, and a Dalit colony attacked in the early hours of the morning and jhuggies set on fire, which clearly indicates premeditated action on the part of the assailant group. A temple was set on fire in the Kamaria locality, and we need to have a public debate on whether modern India is willing to countenance once again the medieval-style iconoclasm and vandalism of its holy places.
Local independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who was finally booked for inciting the riots, shamelessly blamed the Hindu Mahasabha for tension in the city, even though police officials told the media that it was he who prevented them from taking firm action to bring the riots under control in a timely manner. Ansari, who has 36 criminal cases and a TADA conviction against him, moved about the city in an open Gypsy van, accompanied by armed henchmen, despite curfew and shoot at sight orders. Naturally, the mobs owing allegiance to him had a field day.
Much damage was done by the time Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav finally moved to suspend the Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Inspector General of Police, District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police for failure to quell the rioting within 48 hours. But the fact that Mukhtar Ansari is known to have close links with Mr. Yadav, and that this acted as a dampener on the police officials and district magistrate in the initial days of the violence, has done irrevocable damage to the Chief Ministerâs prestige.
First Mau and then Agra, I think there is systematic preparations in the minority community (or its concentrated pockets) to quickly act upon minor sparks and spread communal riots. The quickness in the spread of communal riots by the minority community is indication that they have been prepared and been waiting for a spark. This does not bode well for security.
<b>City of Taj back to normal </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->All of them had to down their shutters on Sunday after violence broke out. One of the sales managers of Rajkumar and Sons in Subhash Bazar -- the point where it all started -- speaking on condition of anonymity said <b>one of their boys had noticed that a woman had not paid for the clothes she had taken along with her. He spotted her at some distance and asked her to pay up. However, the woman allegedly told the people of her community that the shop staff had molested her while frisking her on the pretext of recovering "stolen" clothes.</b> Following the allegations, some men from the nearby Mantola locality confronted the staff. <b>An argument broke out between them and led to fisticuffs. More and more people joined in from both sides and began hurling stones.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They should book that woman and let her rot in jail.
<b>Senior Congress leader HKL Bhagat is dead</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Despite his acquittal in three cases relating to the 1984 riots, <b>he could never get over the stigma </b>following serious allegations that he had led mobs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.
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DDM at its best.
For Modi they have different language.
Pioneer.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Mosque set ablaze in Mau </b>
Mau (UP)
After a lull for a few days, a mosque on Sunday was set ablaze and one of its doors gutted triggering tension in the sensitive Sabzi Mandi area of riot-torn Mau where night curfew is still in place.
<b>District authorities quickly replaced the doors to ease the situation and security personnel had been deployed in strength in the town to maintain calm, officials said. </b>
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When they will replce Sanskrit school? If I go by Secular record it will never happen.
??
It says a door was burnt which was immediately restored. What is with "mosque set ablaze"?
I thought newspapers use "a place of worship" to report such instances during riots. Why i someone trying to be deliberately inflammatory? Also no reporter name or news agency name given.
Actually above was from Pioneer.com, here is from HT and TOI via PTI(most trusted <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> )
When its Hindu temple media report it as "place of worship" but when its Mosque or Chruch, they report according to "Secular" rules. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Mosque set ablaze in Mau, sparks tension</b>
Content is same. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I heard an account from someone in Mau who heard it from someone else who was present in Mau market during the incident.
Actually a muslim kabaadi was burning some trash which caused the fire. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Now very soon you will see IMC press release bashing VHP. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>BJP MLA and 6 supporters gunned down</b>-Â Â
Preetam Srivastava/ Lucknow
The simmering gang rivalry between two east UP dons-turned-politicians turned bloody when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Mohammadabad segment of Ghazipur, Krishnanand Rai, and eight of his associates were perforated with bullets by rivals in Ghazipur district on Tuesday afternoon.
Even as the assailants, suspected to be hitmen of incarcerated don-turned-Independent MLA from Mau and known Rai baiter,<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> Mokhtar Ansari, fled from the scene on bikes,</span> seven persons including the MLA succumbed to their gunshot wounds while two others were battling for their lives at the District Hospital, Ghazipur.
Krishnanand Rai is the third legislator of this Assembly to fall prey to enemy bullets. In September 2004, don-turned Samajwadi Party MLC Ajit Singh fell to a single shot fired by his assailant who was identified during the CB-CID probe as the leader's own gunner. In January this year, <b>Bahujan Samaj Party legislator from Allahabad, Raju Pal was gunned down by Ashraf </b>- the brother of don -turned SP MP Ateeq Ahmad. Despite a huge public outcry, Ashraf <b>contested the seat vacated by the death of Pal and wrested it.</b>
With the bodies of the MLA and his associates reaching the native village Gudaura, the situation in the districts of Ghazipur and neighbouring Ballia is reported to be tense. Shops and business establishments remained closed fearing a backlash and the police has stepped up vigil to ward off any exigency on communal lines.
According to reports,<b> BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai had been camping at his native Karimuddinpur village of Ghazipur for the last couple of days for the marriage of his kin.</b> On Tuesday, he had gone to attend a ceremony in the neighbouring village and was returning home when his motorcade was intercepted by nearly ten youths riding five mobikes.
Taking them for supporters, as the motorcade slowed down, the bikers opened a barrage of fire with semi-automatic handguns and Ak series assault rifles. The unsuspecting legislator, his gunner and other associates were taken by surprise and suffered serious gunshot wounds.
With their sinister mission accomplished, the bikers sped off from the scene of crime leaving behind a trail of blood and gore.The victims were rushed to the District Hospital, Ghazipur some forty kilometres from the scene where Rai, his gunner and five others were declared dead upon arrival. Two others seriously injured Rai supporters were batling for their lives.
While the police remained non-commital about the identity of the assailants, their possible links and the exact motive behind the gory attack, <b>insiders claimed that the attack was meticulously planned by wily ganglord-turned-MLA from Mau, Mokhtar Ansari, who is presently in jail.</b>
<b>Ansari is in jail on charges of murder and inciting rioteers in Mau which led to the loss of over a dozen lives recently. Rai supporters claimed Ansari's being in jail provides him with a foolproof alibi for washing his hands off the murderous attack.</b>
The running feud between Ansari and Rai was due to the latter's proximity to elusive Varnasi don Brijesh Singh who is a known bete noire of Mokhtar Ansari.
<b>The acrimony betwen the two sworn rivals touched a new trough when Krishnanand Rai defeated Mokhtar's elder brother Afzal Ansari in the latter's pocket burrough of Mohammadbad Assembly segment in Ghazipur during the 2002 Assembly polls</b>. Since then the two have not lost the slightest of chances to plan and execute their designs against each other.
In 2004, Mokhtar Ansari alongwith his gun-totting aides reportedly opened fire at the motorcade of Krishnanand Rai near Dilkusha in Lucknow Cantonment. The same year, Ansari's cohorts allegedly gunned down three die-hard supporters of Rai in Ghazipur.
The police, on its part, lodged FIRs and counter FIRs and put the simmering rivalry on the backburner ostensibly due to maverick <span style='color:red'>MLA Mokhtar Ansari's proximity in the corridors of power</span>.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
20 October,2004
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
The Gujarat carnage had shaken the country very badly and it was felt that there should be a separate law to prevent recurrence of such carnage resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent people and bring shame to our country in the comity of nations. The UPA Government also promised such a law in its Common Minimum Programme but it is hardly its priority. It is no more talking about it nor is it preparing any draft for discussion.
Some NGOs like the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism and Communalism Combat took initiative to prepare such a draft and circulate it for discussion among other NGOs and other concerned people. Surprisingly Mr. Ajit Singh of U.P. also took initiative and drafted a bill to this effect and a discussion was held in Lucknow. We will throw some light on these drafts here. It is felt that such law must come into effect as early as possible so that future recurrence of communal violence may be stopped.
Before we proceed with the draft law it is also important to point out that some police and IAS officers who were invited to participate in the discussion on the draft bill pointed out that there was no need for such special law as present laws are sufficient to take care of any such
situation. Problem is that these laws are not honestly implemented. The need, therefore, is to implement these laws effectively and punish the culprits who create disturbances in the society.
This is also a valid point of view. The laws are not implemented and not only this the guardian of law themselves violate the law i.e. the police. The provisions of IPC section 153 (A), if enforced honestly can prevent the provocateurs from delivering provocative speeches resulting in
outbreak of violence. How far the police is responsible for this state of affairs? It would be of course unfair to blame the police alone though the police should also share part of the blame.
In fact the complicity of the politicians is no less responsible. If the state government is determined to prevent violence no communal riot can occur and if it does, it can be checked within no time. The best examples of this are states of West Bengal and Bihar. In West Bengal no major communal riot has taken place for last 27 years since the Left Government is in power. The West Bengal Government has issued strict instructions to the police not to allow any communal riot to take place and in the event of any riot taking place the police officers of the area will be held responsible and punished. It has worked very well. Similarly since Lalu Yadav took over in Bihar no riots have occurred though Bihar was highly sensitive state. The last major riot in Bihar took place in Sitamarhi in 1993. Mr. Yadav controlled it effectively.
But in most of other states the governments have no will to control communal riot as it is part of their political culture. Some chief ministers have even encouraged communal violence for their own selfish political gains. A chief minister in Maharashtra in early eighties even made a
political deal with the Shiv Sena Supremo to unleash communal violence for his personal political gain and Bhivandi-Bombay witnessed major outbreak of communal violence in 1984. Hundreds were killed and properties worth crores of rupees were completely destroyed.
Thus much depends on political will. In Gujarat carnage it is well known that Mr. Narendra Modi not only looked the other way when communal carnage was taking place but even allowed his cabinet ministers to lead marauding and pillaging mobs. This clearly shows that Narendra Modi was
encouraging the violence. The violence went on unchecked for months. The police openly sided with rioters and marauders.
If the existing law is violated with such impunity what the new law will achieve? This question of course cannot be dismissed lightly. But still there is some point in drafting the new law. This will be a Central enactment. In fact law and order is a state subject. Normally Centre does not interfere with law and order matter in the states. But when state fails to ensure law and order the Indian Constitution makes a provision in the form of articles 355 and 356 to intervene.
The proposed law will be a Central enactment and if a state government totally fails to check widespread communal violence the provisions of this law will apply and the Centre will intervene to check the violence. But if in the state and Centre same party governments are there the Central government may be reluctant to take action. When Gujarat carnage took place BJP was in power both in state as well as in the Centre and when in Mumbai widespread communal violence broke out after demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 the Congress happened to be in power both in
Maharashtra as well as in the Centre and hence no action was taken in both cases by the Centre.
But due to regionalisation of political power and possibility of only alliances of parties ruling at the Centre such probabilities of same party government both at the centre and in the state is becoming less and less. And even if it does happen and such a law against sectarian violence does exist one can file a case under this law in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has much better record for delivering justice to the aggrieved and hence it can be relied on enforcing provisions of such a law if state or Central governments fail in their duty.
Thus seen from whatever angle this law does have its validity. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism took initiative to draft this law and requested Justice Daud to prepare a draft for discussion. A meeting of justices, eminent lawyers, retired and on duty police officers, writers and social activists were invited to discuss the draft. The draft provides both for pre and post violence situations.
The Bill was originally called the "Act to Prevent and Punish Genocide" but after discussion it was agreed to drop the word genocide and replace it with "sectarian violence". The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill says, among other things, "For more than 5 decades after getting independence this country had to contend with several genocides conveniently classified as communal riots, caste conflicts, and group differences. These carnages are a blot on the nation and seriously prevent its emergence as a strong, united and throbbing democracy. The origin of every group riot lies in something insignificant or obscure. It is the spark lit by the evildoers who have driven the targeted group into a corner by painting it as treacherous, lecherous, unreliable and unscrupulous. The yellow press, which unfortunately has a fairly large readership in this country, is not slow to embellish accounts received by it and knowingly publish accounts, which are untrue, orexaggerations of what has really transpired."
The Bill states that "With a view to prevent group-hatred and violence emanating there from and in furtherance of the duty cast upon the Union Government under Article 355 of the Constitution of India, it is hereby enacted as follows" and then various sections of the Bill follows.
The section 5 of the Bill provides for registration, the investigation and the trial of offences falling under this Act shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Under Section 6 of the Bill the Central Government shall have the power to issue directions to all authorities functioning in the land to do or refrain from doing that will trigger, aggravate or give rise to disharmony amongst groups of people in any part of the country. The authority so directed shall be bound
to carry out the directions given.
The Act also provides for compulsory inquiry of all such acts of sectarian violence. Thus it says after every act of genocide irrespective of the number of those killed, wounded or maimed and the value of the property destroyed, the Central Government shall appoint a Commissioner to ascertain the perpetrators of the violence and destruction of the property, whether it be on individual or organisations, if the State Government has not done so. The report will have to be submitted in any case within 12 months of appointment of Commissioner and in section 8 the Central Government on the basis of the Commissioner's report shall compensate the bereaved families, the injured persons and those suffering financial damage as a consequence of the rioting, in full.
Thus this Bill will also take care of proper compensation as today it tends to be arbitrary. It will mot depend on the whims of the chief minister. The section 10 of the Bill also provides for debarring the perpetrators, abettors and initiators of the violence from contesting or canvassing elections to any representative body for a period of 10 years. Today the perpetrators not only contest and win elections but also become ministers or chief ministers as it happened in Gujarat.
Thus enactment of such a bill will greatly help control communal violence and Gujarat like situation will not repeat. If the state government fails to act it will be the duty of the Central Government to intervene and check violence and punish the culprits. It is for the UPA Government to enact such a law before communal violence again breaks out in any other State. The UPA government should fulfil its pledge to people of India on priority basis. Unfortunately so far it has not moved in the matter. It is for NGOs and activists for communal harmony to put pressure on the UPA Government to act as early as possible in this direction. This exercise by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism is part of that campaign.
In support of the Communal Violence Suppression bill
Do it, but do it without the army
The Indian Express raises a storm over a new bill in the Indian parliament aimed at suppressing communal violence. Its objections to the bill centre around two points: that it gives the central government unprecedented powers over states and that it has the draconian characteristics of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency laws.
Communal violence cannot strictly be bracketed as a âlocal issueâ restricted to the confines of a single state. It never was. While it is for the state governments to ensure the maintenance of law and order and tackle communal violence at its grassroots, India needs a strong national law to ensure that isolated incidents do not get out of hand. It also needs a sufficiently strong constitutional mechanism for a central intervention in case state governments fail in their duties. Indeed, in an age where there is talk of forced international intervention for humantarian purposes it is not at all out of place for the national government to do so. Time and again, Indiaâs existing constitutional mechanisms have failed to curb communal violence. They have not even prevented its politicisation.
As for the draconian bit: if it is necessary in the fight against terrorism (as even the Congress-led government discovered), it is equally necessary in the fight againt communal violence.
But getting the Indian army involved in the control of communal violence is a very bad idea. The primary objective of the armed forces is defence against external aggression. In recent years, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism have become equally important, with some justification. These are all cases where the antagonist directly and violently threatens the Indian state. Communal violence does not fit this brief. Indeed, the army will require a different training, organisation and force composition if it is tasked with this role. It is unlikely that this can be achieved without compromising on its primary role.
The armed forces cannot be used to cover-up the failings of politicians, civil administrators and the police forces. If the central government intends to shoulder the responsibility of suppressing communal violence, it must do so without calling in the army.
This Bill is sinister on several counts. If it gets through, it will mean a return to the golden era of concentration of power at the Centre. And thereâs no mention of the conditions under which an area can be branded as âcommunally sensitive.â Even assuming that these conditions are well-thought out, given its record, the Congress can declare any area as âcommunally sensitiveâ at its whim. For a party that shamelessly sought to overturn the Constitution on occasions too numerous to count (latest, Goa, and Jharkhand), imposing this law should be a cakewalk. Worse still, is a clause that states,
â¦the ââspecial court shall presume, unless the contrary is proved, that such person has abetted the offence.'â
In other words, guilty unless proved innocent.
It is worthwhile to ponder over the timing of this bill. Why now? Also, the brains that have worked overtime to formulate this bill merit special mention.
The draft Bill, finalised by the Home Ministry is being studied by the Prime Ministerâs Office and the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi.
A lady whose educational qualification is suspect, heads a council formed to formulate a law as sensitive as this. A lady, who is merely a party functionaryâshe might be designated President, but she still is a functionaryâwith no active role in running the government has agreed to supervise this. And she definitely gives her assent to these words of the bill,
According to the preamble to the Communal Violence (Suppression) Bill 2005-a promise made by the UPA in its Common Minimum Programme-the Bill is in exercise of the constitutional ââduty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance.'â
Soniaâs name as the top lady is too conspicuous to be ignored because on the other burning issue of the Naxal menace, her silence is conspicuously thunderous. More so when the officials of the Home Ministry are worried and angry about the Naxal threat.
âEither the naxalites helped out with funding or in influencing the electorates, and some CMs are in power on account of them,â said an enraged home official, âand, therefore, they want no part in a joint strategy which will ultimately combat the naxalite menace.â
<b>In a multi racial society like ours, it is nothing unusual to face riots once in a while. However, with the advent of education and with the broadening of knowledge and thinking such events are becoming fewer over the years. Now a large scale riot in India can happen only with the instigation and help of politicians, as had happened in Gujarat.
We in India are far better off than many other countries like Kosovo, Bosnia and Rwanda. Therefore, we should not be ashamed of some small riot in some corner of the world's second most populous nation. We should feel proud of the achievements of our nation so far, despite its ethnic, religious and language diversity. No nation perhaps can claim of this distinction.
Having taken pride on the prevailing situation, with all humility I do admit that our social system still needs fine tuning and so is the case with our political system. The few cases of communal disharmony should not be there than only we can have perfect society. This is not possible but we should continue to make efforts to see that the system operates as effectively as possible. </b>
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