Violence as a religion

Reporting on the Malegaon blasts investigations, the media is full of reports about “Hindu terror groups”. (NDTV, Oct 26, 2008). Once again we are falling into the trap of linking an entire religion with groups who propagate violence and terror. The perpetrators of the violence claim to be indulging in the violent crimes for the sake of a particular religion or group of people. But that doesn’t mean that we label them as “terror groups” linked to a particular religion. Let us take a hypothetical situation. If a group of people go around bombing places in the name of protecting media rights, will we immediately call them “media terrorists”? Wouldn’t that be painting the entire media with the “terror” brush. And this time I have BJP to back what I am saying. Their spokesperson has asked “Should we condemn an entire religion or way of life for the indiscretions or misguided actions of but a few?” (Times of India, 30 Oct, 2008). It is very sad that it took a Malegaon case for them to realise how it feels to paint an entire community with a terror brush.

As I have said in all my earlier posts on this topic (Stop communalising terror, The faith of a fundamentalist, Who is a terrorist) let us desist from using the names of religions or communities to label an act of violence or terrorism. The perpetrators of the crime are only promoting one religion by their acts – the religion of violence.

Cricket, injustice and POTA look-alikes

Many Indians are aghast! And rightly so, because an Indian cricketer (Harbhajan Singh) who was accused of making a supposedly racial remark against an Australian cricketer (Andrew Symonds), was declared guilty by ICC Match Referee Mike Proctor, without any corroborative evidence. The accusers were the Australian team (captain Ricky Pointing and co.) and the witnesses were also from the Australian team (Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke). The match umpires testified that they had heard nothing. Sachin Tendulkar who was also on the pitch, testified that he had heard nothing. Yet, on the suspicion of having uttered a racial remark, and backed by the witnesses of the accuser’s mates, Harbhajan Singh was banned. [How did the word of some witnesses prevail over the other? Was it the colour of their skin? Well, that's a point for another debate.]

The point I am making is that while newspapers and news channels and Indian citizen groups (in the country as well as outside) are crying themselves hoarse over this alleged unfairness, similar instances are happening in our own backyard. In the guise of fighting terrorism, laws are being promulgated where people can be apprehended and kept in jail on mere suspicion. Even though the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was repealed by the Dr. Manmohan Singh government in 2004, many states still have draconian laws to deal with “terrorism”. I recently attended a court hearing of a person charged under such a law.

If the case was not serious, one could laugh away the charges being levelled against him as a cruel joke. But unfortunately they were for real. I got to witness the power of the state on that day and how anybody who dared to raise a voice against the powerful interests could be put away behind bars, without even as much as a shred of evidence. I saw the State using uniformed guards to make a mockery of public opinion and create an atmosphere of suspicion by projecting its citizens as dreaded terrorists. I saw how cruelly precious human lives were being held hostage to vested interests.

Where is the public outcry and media outrage at these events? Websites are not clogged with bloggers using their free speech to express anguish. In fact, most of us don’t even know that these things are happening. Such harsh incidents hardly make it to the newspapers and other news media. Even if they do, they are tucked away in the deepest, most invisible news spaces. After all, who wants to bust the booming, zooming India story with such unexciting news?

I was wondering about why a State would want to make such draconian laws against its own citizens. The answer is not far to seek. Recent events such as acquisitions of large tracts of fertile land in the country for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) by corporates, in the name of industrial development and economic growth have dispossessed (and will continue to dispossess) thousands and millions of Indians from their only source of livelihood. Unemployment and hunger will cause great unrest among the people, and they will turn against the State and against the powerful interests which exploited them. How can this be contained? How can this be quelled? That is where draconian laws come into the picture. This political economy understanding has been around for long. Yet, we fail to see the impending danger.

So, let me call upon my fellow-Indians who are protesting against the Harbhajan Singh (Bhajji) episode, to take some time after the Bhajji storm is passed, to look into our own backyard. We will see much more injustices and blatant violations of natural justice.

Let us also stand up together and voice our opposition on these fronts. That could make a difference between life and death for people who are being victimised under these laws.

Here’s wishing all of you a more just and equitable 2008!

Human rights violations by the Indian corporate sector – Case of ICICI bank

ICICI bank is becoming a sort of menace in recent times. They seem to be violating all codes of conduct and established business practices in their pursuit of growth and profit. What is worse is that they have begun to violate basic human rights of many of those who avail of its services. Today’s newspaper (Times of India, Mumbai, Nov 21, 2007, p.13) reports that ICICI bank was fined Rs.1,00,000 by the district consumer disputes redressal forum for sending loan recovery agents to the house of a lady in Pune at night, to seize her car, and for not following legal procedures. In another case, media reported about the bank’s agents in Goa accosting and beating up a man in broad daylight before snatching his car keys. CNN IBN also showed an entire episode of the ICICI bank’s misconduct in loan recovery and the involvement of its officials in a huge car loan recovery racket run in Goa. Earlier the Delhi state consumer disputes redressal commission had levied a whooping Rs.50,00,000 fine on ICICI bank for sending goons to take away a loaned car from a person who had defaulted on paying his loan instalments. The goons sent by the bank had taken the car after beating up the customer’s friend (who happened to be in the car) with iron rods, leading to serious injuries on his skull and other parts of the body. They also asked the bank to pay Rs.5,00,000 to the customer. Newspapers have reported widely about the violation of human rights by the bank, but the officials of the bank remain scot-free and continue to indulge in more violations. The Pune case is only an indictor of that. The Delhi Consumer Commission held the ICICI Bank guilty of “unfair trade practice,” and termed the miscreants as a boorish and a brutal lout, who care a fig for legal and judicial authorities, including the Supreme Court. Its President Justice J D Kapoor said “No civilised society governed by rule of law can brook such kind of conduct,” and added that the violent methods adopted by the recovery agents were serious violation of “human rights”.

Today, privatisation and public-private partnerships are touted as the big mantras of achieving basic human rights and services such as health and education for its citizens. ICICI bank’s practices are only indicative of the practices that an unregulated private sector can indulge in, to maximise their profits, even at the cost of safety of human lives. Relying on the unregulated private sector to achieve human rights will be like entrusting the wolves to take care of the lambs. Let the ICICI bank’s practices be a reminder of this!!!

Truth about the Gujarat genocide unravelled

Tehelka has called it the truth about Gujarat 2002 in the words of the men who did it. And what is ‘it’? It refers to how:
- a pregnant woman’s womb was indeed pierced with a sword and the foetus wrenched out.
- Muslims hiding in a gutter in the hope that they would survive were killed.
- the former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was hacked limb by limb and burned, in the Gulbarg Society massacre – a first-hand account
- dozens of Muslims hiding in a pit and clinging together in fear in Naroda Patiya were doused with kerosene and burnt alive.
and much, much more….

The press release of the investigation by Tehelka (which has all been recorded on camera) has claimed that “the investigation brings confirmation that the Gujarat murder of Muslims was not a spontaneous swell of anger, but a planned genocide strategised and executed by top functionaries of the RSS, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the state authorities, with the knowledge and sanction of Chief Minister Narendra Modi”. To read the whole press release, click here

Well, if Tehelka has unearthed this clinching evidence, they need to be congratulated. They have trodden where nobody in this large ‘democratic’ country has dared to tread. Governments have changed… people threw out the then incumbent government at the centre, hoping that the new one would look into the matter. But all we got was stoic silence from the new rulers. No action, no reaction and the perpetrators of the mass murders continued to rule. Tehelka has bucked the trend and followed up on an old and forgotten ’story’.

Well, what does it say about Indian democracy? It says that there are still a few (handful) of people who are willing to stake their lives in pursuit of the truth, while the rest of us get on with our lives, forgetting all about the terrible genocide which happened in front of our eyes.

It is amazing to see the discussions in leading newspapers about the revelations. It is more about ‘who will gain in the elections by these revelations’, rather than how can the perpetrators of the mass murders and their cheer-leaders contest in the election and continue to ‘rule’. This is a total dumbing down of our democracy…

The funny(?) parallels

Recently, I saw two similar news events on TV. In both the cases, the reporters, TV crews and a lot of people (admirers?) were waiting outside the residences of these people, in eager anticipation. The news channels kept focusing on the gate and door and the news anchor repeatedly kept saying “we expect them to come out any moment now”, and finally they came out and left for their respective destinations. In the first case, the destination was Rashtrapati Bhavan, and in the second instance, the destination was a jail in Jodhpur.

Smt.Pratibha Patil, was escorted to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to be elected the first woman president of India. This was well covered on TV. But what got even greater coverage was a film actor being escorted by family and friends (and the media) to the Jodhpur jail for hunting a protected wild-life species.

Today’s newspaper tells us that one cop was suspended for hugging Sanjay Dutt when he came out of jail. While the action has been justified saying that a cop hugging a “convict” does not present a good image for the police, it seems very un-proportionate when many people in power including sitting MPs and senior politicians have all shown their allegiance (or support) to the same celebrity (and many other “convicts”), and have openly cast aspersions on people who have filed cases against them, the judiciary, etc. And to my knowledge, none of them have been arrested or suspended. [The suspension was later revoked by the Chief Minister after protests from various quarters]. And similarly, the media is let scot-free after distorting the perspective on these issues and after creating a sensation (and sympathy wave) out of events such as people going to jail after blatantly violating existing laws.