05-12-2005, 03:21 AM
Presentation (Testimony) <b>before the US Government Commission on Religious Freedom, Washington DC</b>, June 10, 2002, by Teesta Setalvad, Co-editor, Communalism Combat
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What happened after the ghastly Godhra carnage on February 27, between February 28 until March 15, 02 in the first round; then continued through April and May until the 16th of that month and thereafter and has again resumed this week is nothing short of genocide as defined by the United Nations Convention on Genocide, Article 2 (to destroy in whole or in part..any ethical, racial or religious group); 2© adds ì deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in partî.
Brutal destruction of life, through rape, quartering of bodies, urinating on them and incarcerating them so that there is no trace or evidence of their remains; attempting and partially succeeding in economically annihilating the community (the primary loss through systematic targeting of businesses and properties that the community estimates is at Rs 4,500 crores) and desecrating over 270 religious and cultural shrines belonging to the community---all this took place through systematic planning and targeted action by armed militias ideologically driven by the vision of a supreme and exclusive Hindu rashtra (state). <b>Over 2,000 lost their lives,</b> 500 are missing and 250-300 girls and women were gang-raped before being quartered, burned and killed.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You think anyone would have paid for Teesta's trip if the figures weren't exaggerated? Or maybe they did as other member Bin Mao put it <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What happened after the ghastly Godhra carnage on February 27, between February 28 until March 15, 02 in the first round; then continued through April and May until the 16th of that month and thereafter and has again resumed this week is nothing short of genocide as defined by the United Nations Convention on Genocide, Article 2 (to destroy in whole or in part..any ethical, racial or religious group); 2© adds ì deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in partî.
Brutal destruction of life, through rape, quartering of bodies, urinating on them and incarcerating them so that there is no trace or evidence of their remains; attempting and partially succeeding in economically annihilating the community (the primary loss through systematic targeting of businesses and properties that the community estimates is at Rs 4,500 crores) and desecrating over 270 religious and cultural shrines belonging to the community---all this took place through systematic planning and targeted action by armed militias ideologically driven by the vision of a supreme and exclusive Hindu rashtra (state). <b>Over 2,000 lost their lives,</b> 500 are missing and 250-300 girls and women were gang-raped before being quartered, burned and killed.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You think anyone would have paid for Teesta's trip if the figures weren't exaggerated? Or maybe they did as other member Bin Mao put it <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->