Today, August 30, the anniversary of Kalburgi Killing

via Businesszoom.in
Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

via Businesszoom.in
Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

Image: Keshav Singh/HT Photo
The CPI(M) has taken a serious objection to the decision of the Haryana government to invite Jain muni, Tarun Sagar, to address the state Assembly. Party politburo member Brinda Karat, has also questioned Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal for defending the Haryana government’ action.
Comrade Brinda Karat's retort to Arvind Kejriwal's support and soft Hindutva stance on the issue of a Monk giving religious lectures in the Haryana State Assembly. The Saffronisation Agenda of RSS Must be unambiguously Rejected!
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In a related development, the Delhi police has lodged a complaint against popular singer and composer, Vishal Dadlani for his “offensive” tweet against the Jain muni addressing the Assembly. Dadlani deleted his tweet and apologised, saying he “made a mistake by offending the peaceful Jain community.”

Image: Twitter
Though he still maintains that governance must not be mixed with religion, Dadlani, a staunch supporter of AAP has announced his decision to quit “all active political work”.
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During his ‘kadva vachan’ (bitter truths) address, the Jain muni spoke on issues including female foeticide, corruption, crime and terrorism. Here is some of what he reportedly said:

Between March 11 and March 16, 2011, the Chhattisgarh police, special police officers (SPOs) and CRPF carried out a round of combing operations in the villages of Morpalli, Timapuram and Tadmetla. They burnt some 300 homes, killed three men and raped three women. Three old people died of starvation.
(In July 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the SPOs be disarmed with immediate effect. While the Chhattisgarh police claimed that SPOs form a vital part of their anti-Maoist strategy, an ever-increasing body of complaints, petitions and news reports holds the tribal force responsible for a series of violent crimes). http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/an-uncertain-future-for-spos-in-chhattisgarh/article2208070.ece
When this was reported, the district collector tried to deliver relief but was stopped by SPOs. Swami Agnivesh and Art of Living representatives were also attacked. SRP Kalluri, the inspector general of police, Bastar range, was suspected to be behind that attack.
Once this became public, questions were raised in the assembly (28 March). The Communist Party of India (CPI) held a rally in Jagdalpur at which one of the rape survivors spoke. The villagers have named the SPOs who were involved. The Salwa Judum leaders involved in attacking Swami Agnivesh were also identified. Both the district collector and Kalluri were transferred. Chief minister Raman Singh even visited Tadmetla.
The police were forced to file FIRs in which, however, they made no mention of the rapes and killings and said that the Maoists has burnt the houses.
The Supreme Court ordered a CBI enquiry in July 2011. In the meantime, in order to pre-empt the apex court, the state government ordered an enquiry by Justice TP Sharma (who had tried Binayak Sen). What this meant was that two parallel enquiries were being conducted and the poor villagers were summoned by both.
In February 2012, the SPOs attacked the CBI team members after which they started calling the villagers to Jagdalpur, 187 km away. The villagers had to travel standing on pick-up trucks, women and children, giving up their wages for a week. They have really done their best to give testimony, several times over the last five years.
In July 2015, since the CBI was doing nothing, we again filed an application asking for a speedy enquiry. The bench hearing the case was new. Despite our repeated asking the CBI to file fresh FIRs, they preferred to take over the police FIRs. In one of the status reports they filed, they said: “We investigated on the basis of the FIRs, and also found rapes and murders”. In December 2015, Justice Lokur and Justice Lalit of the apex court asked them to clarify whether the rapes and murders were part of the same incident, or a different incident in which case they could be investigated by the CG police!
The CBI was supposed to file an affidavit last December, but instead they submitted a report in a sealed cover. We asked for it again in August 2016. Now they have given a report which says the barest common thread that links the incidents is that they happened on the same day when the police were in the village, but the villagers are all illiterate.
It appears from the CBI affidavit (attached) that they will say rapes and murders happened, but can’t say by whom. For some time now, with the dropping of charges against Amit Shah and others in Gujarat’s false encounter cases, it is clear that the CBI is fully compromised.
The CBI is now supposed to submit its final report by October (two months from the date of order, 2 August 2016).
It is extremely important that the public is made aware of the composite set of events. The CBI must not get away with this kind of rubbish. The villagers have invested too much in this for us to let them be betrayed like this. Justice cannot depend on the whims of the investigating agency.
What is most important is that there has to be some principle of command responsibility. One cannot expect victims of gang rape by the security forces to say who did it. But there has to be some prosecution.
CBI Affidavit 26.8.2016

"It is extremely concerning that many transfers are still continuing, in particular the governments of the United States, the UK, and France have authorised and are continuing to export very large quantities of weapons, including explosive weapons, bombs which are being used daily against civilians in Yemen," said Anna Macdonald, director of Control Arms Coalition.
The statement was made as governments convened in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Trade Organization's second conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which stipulates that signatories block any arms deal if there is evidence that the weapons will be used against civilians.
"At the heart of the ATT is the obligation on countries that have joined it to make an assessment of how the weapons they want to transfer will be used," states the Control Arms website. "They must determine if the arms would commit or facilitate genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and serious human rights violations."
Both France and the UK have ratified the agreement. While the US has signed on, Congress has failed to approve it.
"The ATT has been in force for nearly two years but some states parties are violating it with impunity," Macdonald continued. "Every day, we are seeing the devastating impact of the sale of arms and ammunition for use on civilians in Yemen."
Scores of Yemeni civilians have been killed in the past two weeks alone, as the Saudi-led military coalition bombed a potato chip factory, a school, and a Doctors Without Borders facility — forcing the aid group to withdraw its much-needed medical staff from six hospitals in the region.
Scores of Yemeni civilians have been killed in the past two weeks alone, as the Saudi-led military coalition bombed a potato chip factory, a school, and a Doctors Without Borders facility — forcing the aid group to withdraw its much-needed medical staff from six hospitals in the region.
This ongoing assault is also responsible for the displacement of more than three million Yemeni civilians, according to a new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
And despite growing outcry, the US "remains defiant in its support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen," as Common Dreams reported this weekend.
As journalist Andrew Cockburn explained on Democracy Now!, the United States' "basically unconditional" support — through diplomatic means as well as military aid — has essentially given Saudi Arabia "carte blanche to continue this mindless carpet bombing…effectively destroying Yemen."
"We are part of that," Cockburn said, "this is our war, it is shameful."
What's more, as Cockburn points out, in contrast to the wide media attention given to the crisis in Syria, there is virtually no reporting on the countless deaths and atrocities being committed with US aid in Yemen.
Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet with Saudi leaders. Peace group CodePink is circulating a petition calling on Kerry to "make clear that the US will not continue to support Saudi Arabia’s war against Yemen and demand that the ceasefire is resumed."
This story was first posted on Commondreams.

Targeting places of worship
The Google map route between Bhubaneswar and Kandhamal is deceptive: the 268.2 kilometres route that is supposed to technically be covered in five hours 39 minutes actually is far more arduous. And this inaccessibility has drastically affected the adequate coverage and interest in post-independent India’s worst ever anti-Christian violence that spanned two phases: December 2007 and August-September 2008.
This inaccessibility, as also the fact that those affected were tribal and Dalit Christians (unlike say the caste and class profile of those targeted in Mangaluru and Bengalaru), has also succeeded in dimming and blurring the gaze of concern and consistent spot-lighting on the targeted communal violence and its cruel, debilitating aftermath.
Before the 2008 rounds of brute bloodletting, in December 2007, we at Communalism Combat had fore-grounded the build-up to it in John Dayal’s powerful cover story Christmas Mourning. While the huge loss of life and property necessitated more attention and focus thereafter – the violence post-August 25 had 93 people were killed, over 350 churches and worship places which belonged to the adivasi Christians and Dalit Christians destroyed, around 6,500 houses burnt or demolished, over 40 women subjected to rape, molestation and humiliation and several educational, social service and health institutions were destroyed and looted and more than 56,000 people were, in all, displaced — the signs had been there to see that December. If the warning signs had been heeded, arguably the violence of 2008 could have been avoided.
Eight to nine months before Kandhamal came under more brute attack, during the Christmas week of 2007, forces of Hindutva executed a series of coordinated and well-planned attacks on Christians and Christian institutions across the district while a callous and partisan administration looked the other way. While official figures claim that three people were killed, independent estimates state that the number of those dead is much higher, with several people still missing and many more injured. Over 500 homes, more than 70 church institutions and property worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed. More than 3,000 victims of the violence were housed in refugee camps where they are subjected to further torment and denied access to justice and equitable relief.
Less than a year after the 2008 violence at Kandhamal, the wily Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) de-linked himself from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), broke a long standing, eleven-year-old political alliance, and in that seemingly moral decision, cleverly washed off his and his administration’s responsibility and culpability in the targeted violence of 2008 and 2007. His victory in 2009 on his own strength then ensured his third consecutive term that now runs into his fourth, post 2014 elections in the state.

No Mercy: Age no bar
Kandhamal did not happen in isolation. In sustained and well planned attacks, Christians and Christian institutions and religious places were attacked by members and office bearers of various wings of Hindu supremacist and racist organisations (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-RSS/Vishwa Hindu Parishad-VHP, Bajrang Dal-BD) and BJP on the eve of Christmas 2007, forcing poor Dalit and tribal Christians to flee to forests. In February 2008, extremist left organisations wrote communications – which the state intelligence bureau accessed – declaring their intent vis-a-vis the Hindu rightwing organisations. From August 24, 2008 onwards after Swami Lakshmananda was killed in an attack on his ashram, a bloody and vengeful funeral procession covering 220 kilometres was organised and allowed by the state administration, taking his body in a motor cavalcade, in which Praveen Togadia, international general secretary of the VHP and BJP ministers from the state cabinet participated.
The hate-filled speeches inspired bloody mobs to attack and kill 93 persons and attack dozens of hamlets and villages on the way. Brutal rapes were also part of the sub-text: 50,000 were rendered refugees in their own land. There never was a fair and impartial investigation into those, still in the thousands, who are internally displaced.
Like clockwork around the same time, in Karnataka where BJP had been voted to power for the first time, 57 churches were attacked systematically in Mangalore, Udipi and other parts of the state. The attacks – thoroughly documented by Justice Saldanha in his report, on an inquiry requested by Transparency International and PUCL, Karnataka – tell a dangerous tale of how the highest echelons of those in power, assisted by some communally-minded policemen, not only allowed mobs to attack Christians at prayer and desecrated their places of worship, but worse, also systematically destroy any evidence of the attack as soon as they had taken place.
Independent media were also made targets and other sections of it, wooed through monetary considerations by the state government, were complicit or silent. No action was taken against the perpetrators as the state government, in a malafide action, simply withdrew all criminal cases against the perpetrators from the sangh parivar. The officially appointed Justice BK Somasekhara Commission that released its report in January 2011 was an eye-wash.
In Odisha, the National People’s Tribunal on Kandhamal’s report, 'Crying Justice', can be read here. The physical violence against Christians was accompanied by cultural manipulation in these areas. The silent work to Hinduise adivasis through religio-cultural mechanisms has been stepped up in the last three decades. People like Swami Aseemanand (Dangs, Gujarat), Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati (Kandhamal, Odisha), followers of Asaram Bapu (Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh), began their work in popularising Hindu gods and goddesses in the region. Today Chhattisgarh is another geographical region for sustained anti-Christian assaults.
Odisha, Karnataka and Gujarat have a history of targeted violence against the religious minorities clearly suggesting a deliberate complicity of the State in non-punishment of the perpetrators.

Agenda: Hindu Rashtra
The state-sponsored massacre in Gujarat in 2002 was followed by brute anti-Christian violence in Odisha and Karnataka in 2007-08. Did these outbreaks happen overnight or were they the culmination of an insidious build up of incidents of persecution, but worse, impunity by the State because the perpetrators were not punished?
Evidence gathered by this writer at the time showed how from October 1988 (Phulbani Odisha), 1989 (Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Phulbani), 1991 (Ganjam and Cuttack districts), 1983 (Balasore), the Church leadership had been appealing to the state administration and Union government authorities on the issues of mob attacks on Christians and their religious places. Worse, venomous hate speech by the leaders of these mobs though monitored by the state and central authorities were not prosecuted under Indian criminal law. Even closer to the date, from October 2003 onwards we, at Communalism Combat, had been warning about the build up by the sangh parivar in Odisha.
Between the late eighties and 2002, the build-up in Gujarat at the societal and state level violated constitutional provisions and Indian criminal law. Yet we waited until the genocidal carnage that took 2,500 lives spread over 19 districts of the state before we acted/reacted. Selected censuses of Muslims and Christians (1996-1998), driving out Muslims after violent attacks in Randhikpur and Sanjeli (October 1998 — Welcome to Hindu Rashtra, Communalism Combat). Between 1998-1999 Christians and Christian institutions were targeted across the state of Gujarat. Remember the attacks on churches in the Dangs that led to a terror-filled Christmas in the Dangs in December 1998 when 16 churches were attacked and Christians were made to live in terror?
Swami Aseemanand was the leading perpetrator, his ashram a den for hate-spewing cadres. Dangs in south Gujarat is a district where Christians and their institutions have lived in terror since then.
The Shabri Kumbh here is held every year – a pretext for the sangh parivar’s continuing terror tactics through “re-conversion” and the land of tribals is being sold by a visceral state government to corporate media.
The violence against Christian minority communities in Odisha in August-October 2008 was not unexpected. Professor Angana Chatterjee had even told the United States’ Congressional Task Force on Religious Freedom in December 2008 (published in February 2009 issue of Communalism Combat):
“During the 2008 violence in Odisha various militant Hindu nationalist organisations acted with impunity. The violence was led by the following groups – the Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS. Following the riots and extended violence against Christian communities in Kandhamal district of Odisha in August-October 2008, the government of Odisha and police, military and paramilitary forces deployed in the state failed to respond effectively, efficiently or appropriately. This posed a serious threat to democratic governance in the state and the ability of government to ensure the security and sanctity of peoples and groups made vulnerable through majoritarian communalism as perpetrated by Hindu nationalist organisations in the state. The central government in New Delhi as well failed to respond in a timely and effective manner and with due concern.” (Published in February 2009 issue of Communalism Combat).
Case status of fast Track Court (03.03.09—to–01.12.10)
Complaints lodged—————————————————————–3232
Case registered———————————————————————828
Total Number of cases (Vi+No.Vi) committed to the court no-2———————277
Total Number of violence cases committed to the court-2—————————281
Total Number of No-Violence case committed to the court-2————————47
Number of case Acquitted (Violence case) ——————– ——————-128
Number of case Convicted (Violence case) —————————————-59
Number of case on pending trial (Violence case) ———————– —– —–44
ACQUITTAL & CONVICTION RATE.
Total Number of accused faced the trial—————————————–1556
Number of accused convicted —————————————————269
Number of accused acquitted ————————————————–1287
(Source: Father Advocate Dibakar Parichha, Justice Peace Development and Communications)

At a refugee camp four years later
About 15,000 people, eight years down, are still living as refugees outside their villages. Survivors have been under threat not to return to their villages unless they agree to change their religion, withdraw cases against their attackers, and stop eating beef and Dalits stay within limitations imposed by the upper castes.
Out of 3,300 complaints filed by victims in the local police stations only 831 were registered (as First Information Reports – FIRs). Many cases have not been properly investigated and the accused not prosecuted. In other cases, shoddy police investigations have already created a crisis in the dispensation of justice.
There has been no action against the Odisha administration officials who failed to protect the lives of Christians and who allowed Hindu extremist mobs to move around the district with an organised and armed crowd and to engage in arson, burning, killing in the presence of police or those officials who allowed sangh parivar leaders like Pravin Togadia to enter the area and deliver hate speeches.
There have also been major lacunae in the administration of relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the mass violence. Improper identification and assessment of the houses as fully or partially damaged has been done, damaged houses have been left out of the lists, while lost or damaged household articles are not mentioned at all. Even the 837 families, who lost their houses during December 2007 violence, have not all got, any housing. The government had as part of the compensation package, promised only Rs 50,000 as compensation for fully damaged houses; still the actual disbursement till now has only been Rs 10,000. Out of 6,500 families which lost their houses 60 percent are yet to have a roof to shelter under, eight years later. Structural damage to schools, hospitals and offices has not been adequately, if at all, compensated.
The administration has not made any visible effort to support a revival of dignified livelihood of the victims, to prevent large-scale migration and pauperisation of victim families, or to bring children who were forced to drop out back to school.
The long-standing problem of landlessness and land alienation of the Dalits and adivasis has been completely ignored. There have been almost no efforts to provide land rights to landless survivors who are facing difficulties to get a shelter after they lost their houses during violence.

Tomorrow's Citizens
In both 2007 and 2008, the state in Odisha was responsible for the violation of Article 14 and 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and the situation in Odisha is reflective of an absolute breakdown of the rule of law and constitutional governance.
Prayer houses of the minority community had been burnt, a 'nun' was molested and raped while police personnel watched and the entire law and order situation had completely collapsed.
The story of young Rajani Majhi of Padampur, Kanya Ashram, Bargarh, was particularly gory. She was thrown in fire and was burnt to death. The nun was raped in public on August 25, 2008 at 'K. Nuagaon' village under Baliguda police station.
It was not possible for these crimes to have been committed without the open and tacit support of the district administration and the state government. The criminals are reported to be activists of the Bajrang Dal which is a youth wing of sangh parivar which enjoys the patronage and a symbiotic relationship with the political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which was, until 2009, a coalition partner in the present government. The entire exercise of burning churches and savage killing of innocent people from the minority community has been masterminded by rightwing Hindu organisations. However, the state government as a whole supported these acts.
After the first bout of violence in December 2007, the Naxalites had reportedly written a letter threatening Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati with his life. This is in the possession and knowledge of the state administration. Yet, the state of Odisha, its chief minister, home minister, collector and SP of Kandhamal did nothing to control the anticipated fallout of the violence following the killing of the Swami. Officers of the state intelligence bureau, Odisha shared the letter with this author in May 2008. Excerpt:
When this threat was in their knowledge and the Maoist/Naxalite outfits claimed open and public credit for the massacre of the Swami, the state of Odisha by remaining silent and allowing its coalition partner the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and ministers, their sister organisations like the Bajrang Dal (BD) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to spin their own tale on who was responsible for the violence, amounted to nothing short of barefaced and open collusion in the violence against tribal Christians and Dalit Christians in the Kandhamals. The culpability of the entire administration is shameful and there for any reasonable person to see.
Since December 2007, despite pressure from the BJP, Bajrang Dal and the VHP six platoons of the CRPF had been stationed at Kandhamal. These paramilitary central forces could have been immediately used for the protection of life and property. But their failure to act was because in law the collector (district magistrate) is empowered to issue the command to enlist their support. The command was not issued by the collector as a deliberate act of collusion in the violence and atrocities.
The state government failed in its role to observe its constitutional duties as laid down under Article 163-165 of the Indian Constitution where it is responsible to the governor for the protection of the fundamental rights of all citizen regardless of caste community, tribe of gender. Specifically, its failure, to provide firm and non-partisan leadership to the state and to give unequivocal instructions to prevent inflammatory processions carrying of Swami Laxmanananda body more than 222 kilometers to inflame passions, allow a ‘bandh’ called by an organisation was key in allowing the violence to spread.
A procession was allowed on August 24, 2008 that accompanied the dead body of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati to every nook and corner of Kandhamal, stopping outside churches, shouting incendiary slogans, sowing the seeds of communal tension against the minority Christians. The rioters went on rampage by destroying the homes of the minority community. Similarly the corpses of the unfortunate victims of the Godhra mass arson that took place in S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express were paraded in different parts of Ahmedabad to inflame cadres of the VHP and BD to commit brute violence thereafter.
On August 25, 2008 a call was given by the sangh parivar for an Odisha bandh. The state government, again, did not take any effective steps to protect the life and property of the people by deploying military force in sensitive places. As a result, a well thought out plan was executed for ethnic cleansing. In the process, innocent lives were savagely smothered like moth without any respect for human values. An innocent girl, Rajani was thrown inside the burning Sevashram.
The medical report submitted by Dr Sangita Mishra and Smita Marandi in the nun rape case was suppressed for 39 days from the public. The police chief of Kandhamal was forced to admit before the public in a press conference that the medical report revealed that she was raped. Till then, neither the accused persons had been nabbed nor any enquiry conducted by the investigating agencies. The administration remained mute witness to the bestiality shown by activists of the Bajrang Dal, killing people and hiding the dead bodies in the dense forest. At the same time it successfully manipulated the media to project before the public that everything is under control and no barbarity was being committed by the rioters.
Togadia inflamed violence through the calculated use of provocative statements inciting violence against Christians in blatant violation of law. This led to the widespread massacre of Christians and burning of prayer halls of the community. Hence he is liable to be prosecuted for giving provocation to the riot under section 153a, 153b and 595 of the Indian Penal Code and section 295 IPC. The state government ought to have directed the police to file an FIR and initiated criminal proceedings against him. Perpetrators such as Togadia are in the business of hate incitement (Gujarat, Mumbai, Assam, and Rajasthan) and if not prosecuted will spread their venom ad infinitum.
The BJP was a coalition partner of the BJD led government in 2008. Several of its leaders, including ministers in the state cabinet had participated in the procession (as the video shows) and the funeral ceremony of the late Lakshmananda Saraswati was used to give a green signal to the communal criminals to set fires to homes, entire villages, attack churches and unleash a reign of terror against the Christian minority. The presence of ministers along with the inciters openly encouraged VHP and Bajrang Dal activists to go ahead with the violence without any fear.
Though official reports of the Odisha government claimed at the time that 10,000 people had already returned back to their homes from the relief camps to settle in their villages, many have since been rendered permanently homeless. For months thereafter, they were either living in inhuman camps which the state does not admit to or are in other states, having migrated in fear. Furthermore the threat of forceful conversion by shaving their head and drinking cow dung water remained a threat that still looms large.
About 62 FIRs had been filed between 2006 and 2008 relating to forceful conversion from Christianity to Hinduism in Kandhamal in gross violation to the Odisha Freedom of Religion Act, 1967 and Rules.
Should not those in responsible positions in the administration and police and inciters of hatred and violence like Togadia been effectively prosecuted?
The district administration Baliguda who was responsible for suppressing the rape of the nun for 33 days also remained a mute spectator to the massacre and burning the villages and churches. This is empirical proof of the ideological designs and pressures on the district police and administration by the sangh parivar and moreover threatens the basic tenets of transparency and the rule of law that decree that when a crime is committed, the guilty must be punished.
Thus along with the district administration, G Udaygiri, Tikabali, Raikia and Pasara, the superintendent police (SP) of Kandhamal and the director general (DG) of Police are also responsible for these calculated lapses that violate a citizens fundamental rights to equal protection before the law under the Indian Constitution; that violate their statutory duties under the CrPC and the administrative service rules governing IPS and IAS officers.
Hence, they should have been suspended and criminal prosecutions for criminal negligence for the loss of lives of members of the minority community been launched against them. If normal departmental proceedings were initiated against them, the same should not be a camouflage for a full-fledged criminal prosecution in full public view that is required to restore the confidence of the people in the state.
The compensation for the families of those killed which was announced has not been given in several cases because of the non-availability of the post-mortem report to the legal heir of the deceased. Since they have lost their earning member of the family, they should have been paid compensation immediately without waiting for a post-mortem report with the condition that the relative of the victim submit an indemnity bond and the eyewitnesses testified to the deaths.
That apart, the compensation declared by the government was a paltry sum. Commensurate packages should be paid to what has been paid elsewhere. In the case of the Gujarat genocide of 2002, also, the Gujarat government's pathetic package was buffeted by a central government package that gave Rs 5 lakh for every life lost and Rs 1.25 lakh to every injured person. Hence the state government should have been compelled to review its package of compensation and re-assess it in view of the severe psychological and socio-economic jolt to the family members of the deceased. This again points to the lacunae due to the absence of institutional, statutory measures for reparation to survivors of mass comes.

The displaced: Inside a refugee camp
Since the violence, several steps were suggested to restore faith among the victim community. The following specific suggestions were made to create an independent body in the district level and also in each block to facilitate the peace process. These were however never acted upon.
· Immediate creation of 'Help Line' and also 'Citizen's Committees' headed by a local community leader, essentially a human rights activist from among ST/SC/religious minority groups, in each block and at district level to collect first hand information
· Proper documentation of victim and deprived families
· Appointment of sensitive officers from the SC/ST/minority communities in all affected areas
· Review and appointment of officers from the SC/ST communities who are sensitive to the issues and make changes as per the advice of the said committees as per ST/SC Atrocity Act 1989 and Rule 1995.
· The political leadership in Odisha represented by the politicians at the top even in the state cabinet, especially cabinet ministers from the BJP at the time, who endorsed or participated in the violent procession following Swami Lakshmanananda’s murder. They were under a constitutional obligation and had taken an oath to protect the lives and properties of all, irrespective of caste creed or community (Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, Article 163-165 of the Indian Constitution).
· The state of Odisha under its constitutional obligation to protect lives of all irrespective of caste, gender, community and class (Article 21 of the Indian Constitution)
· The Union of India, represented through its secretary of home, New Delhi under its constitutional obligation specifically under Article 355 of the Indian Constitution (Duty of the Union to Protect States Against External Aggression and Internal Disturbance: It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution).
· Individuals in the state government/administration who are culpable: secretary of home department, Odisha, Secretariat, Bhubaneswar; especially officers in charge in Cuttack, Behrampur-Ganjam, Phulbani; officials of the Tikabali police station, Udaygiri police station, Raikia police station, Daringbadi and K Nuagaon, Baligududa police station. This is quite apart from the criminal culpability of the perpetrators whose roles were investigated and who were found to be responsible for fomenting the violence be it Ashok Sahoo, convener Hindu Jagaran Samukhy Biswa Sambad Kendra or Pravin Togadia, international secretary general of VHP.
After each and every bout of targeted anti-minority violence, the absence of institutional memory surfaces and remains a major handicap in ensuring complete or at least fair reparation. It was this absence of sustained and coherent institutional memory that was at the root of the massive countrywide movement to table and enact the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011. Unfortunately this became a victim of narrow, sectarian worldviews and a weak political leadership under the United Progressive Alliance II. Until India finds a way to renew and regenerate its will to recognise institutionalised bias and correct it trough the threat of penal punitive action, there is literally nothing to fear for either the perpetrators or a complicit state. Extraordinary energy, commitment and resources are needed to sustain a citizens’ battle for justice, as we have done for the perpetrators in 2002 and ensured 137 convictions to life imprisonment. That’s a price only few are willing to pay.

The judiciary in secular India is restoring to Muslim women the rights which Islam gave them over 1,400 years ago, but which its male custodians have denied to them through the centuries.
A delicious irony underlies yesterday’s verdict of the Bombay High Court upholding women’s right to enter the sanctum sanctorum (mazaar) at the iconic Haji Ali dargah in Worli, Mumbai. What’s more, the court has ruled that both the trustees of the dargah and the state administration were duty bound to ensure women’s exercise of their constitutional right without any hurdles, or fear of sexual harassment.
The irony, not for the first time, lies in this: the judiciary in secular India is restoring to Muslim women the rights which Islam gave them over 1,400 hundred years ago, but which its male custodians have denied to women through the centuries.
The judgement is to stay suspended for six weeks to enable the trustees to appeal in the Supreme Court. Given the solid grounds on which the verdict rests, it is doubtful if they have much of a chance and it’s safe to predict that today’s verdict will have a cascading effect. What holds true for the Haji Ali dargah must also be so for other dargahs which similarly restrict women’s access to the sanctum sanctorum.
Sooner than later, Muslim women are going to assert their right to pray inside mosques. Women did so during the lifetime of Prophet Mohammed. If to this day millions of women do pray inside the grand mosques at Mecca and Medina, which Shariah law will the ulema rely on to keep women out of mosques in India?
More significantly, sooner than later, Muslim women are going to assert their right to pray inside mosques. Women did so during the lifetime of Prophet Mohammed. If to this day millions of women do pray inside the grand mosques at Mecca and Medina, which Shariah law will the ulema rely on to keep women out of mosques in India?
Sometime during 2011-12 the trustees of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust unilaterally decided to restrict women’s entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sufi saint. (There is no such restriction on women of any religion at the dargah of the most revered saint in the Indian sub-continent: ‘Gharib Nawaz’ Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer and numerous other shrines). The co-convenors of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) – Noorjehan Safia Niaz and Zakia Soman — filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court in 2015 after the trustees refused to see reason.
In court, the trustees cited four main reasons in defense of their decision to restrict women’s entry. One, they had recently learnt that women’s proximity to the sanctum sanctorum was a “grave sin” according to the Shariah. Two, Article 26 of the Indian Constitution confers on the Trust a fundamental right to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. Three, the restrictions were in the interest of safety and security of women. Four, at no point of time in the past were women permitted “to enter the close proximity of the tomb”.
The fourth argument ended in a self-goal. An affidavit filed by the trustees had admitted that restrictions were imposed after they were “made to realize through various Muslim clergy’s (sic) and teachers that the act of allowing the women inside the sanctum of the dargah is a sin”. As to the third plea, the court observed that ban is no way of ensuring the safety and security of women. Instead, the trust and the state are obliged to take effective measures and ensure the same.
The court noted that none of the Quranic verses and Ahadith (sayings of the Prophet) relied upon by the trustees supported the trustees’ “grave sin” thesis. If anything, some of them actually endorsed the petitioners’ contentions and the court therefore saw no need to refer to the many Quranic verses which the petitioners had cited in support of their plea.
Effectively then, petitioners’ invocation of their fundamental rights under Article 14 (Equality before law, equal protection of law), Article 15 (Prohibition of discrimination between citizens) and Article 25 (Right to freedom of religion) was pitted against the trustees’ claim of their fundamental right under Article 26 (Freedom to manage religious affairs).
Citing a series of Supreme Court judgments, the Bombay High Court pointed out that only “essential and integral parts of a religion” enjoy the protection of Article 26. Noting that the Haji Ali Dargah Trust was a public charitable trust, the court concluded: “Once a public character is attached to a place of worship, all the rigours of Articles 14, 15 and 25 would come into play and the Trust cannot justify its decision solely based on a misreading of Article 26. The Trust has no right to discriminate entry of women into a public place of worship under the guise of `managing the affairs of religion' under Article 26… In fact, the right to manage the Trust cannot override the right to practice religion itself, as Article 26 cannot be seen to abridge or abrogate the right guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution”.
It’s a great day for all Indians who subscribe to the view that women of all religions have the right to equal access to sacred space, and that culture and tradition cannot be invoked to override the constitutional principle of non-discrimination and gender parity.
This article was first published on The Quint.

On July 11, 2016, four young Dalits were publicly flogged and paraded around in Una in broad daylight, for skinning a dead cow. The most inhuman kind of torture has been meted out to people on the pretext of cow protection, and the perpetrators in their bravado have uploaded the brutal acts on social media with impunity. Vigilante Hindutva groups acting in the name of cow protection clearly had no idea what they were getting into. Their actions sparked widespread protests in the state which transformed into a movement for Dalit rights. A movement that aspires to liberate Dalits from jobs like disposing of the carcasses of dead cattle and manual scavenging; and ensure land rights, alternative jobs and basic dignity of life. On July 31, at a Dalit Maha Sammelan in Ahmedabad, thousands of Dalits pledged to stop picking up carcasses and give up occupations like manual scavenging. It also led to the formation of the Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti to seek justice for the victims of the brutal attack in Una.
Shortly after, on August 5, the Dalit Asmita Yatra was flagged off from Ahmedabad and travelled over 400 kilometres through different villages of Gujarat. Pledges were taken in village after village to shun the traditional caste-based occupations of manual scavenging, cleaning sewer lines and skinning or disposing of dead cattle. The ten-day yatra culminated in the Azadi Kooch at Una on Independence Day. The Una protest and Dalit Asmita Rally are a historic response to attacks on Dalit lives, dignity and livelihood. They have seen an unprecedented unity of purpose with different individuals and progressive groups coming out in solidarity with this unique protest.
The Modani Model and Reality
Narendra Modi and his team have worked overtime to build the myth of a “Gujarat model” as one of inclusiveness, virtually an El Dorado – a place of fabulous wealth and opportunity. In reality what operates is what the people of Gujarat describe as the “Modani model”, with an abundance of opportunities for corporate loot at the expense of the masses. It also gives a free hand to communal and casteist forces for the unbridled implementation of their divisive Hindutva agenda. The Scheduled Castes or the Dalits make up 7.1% of the total population of Gujarat; among them, landlessness, unemployment and poverty are rampant. Lakhs of acres of land have been given to corporate houses like Adani, Ambani, Tata and the like, while the people continue to remain landless. There are more than 55,000 manual scavengers in Gujarat according to a study by the Navsarjan Trust.
What we saw on our trip to Una from Ahmedabad were signs of extreme poverty. A few of the Dalit children we spoke to mentioned that they faced extreme discrimination even at school, and were even forced to clean toilets. Very few Dalits had managed to find alternative employment and give up what they called traditionally imposed “dirty jobs”. Some of them reported that they were going to Mumbai, Kerala and even Lakshwadeep in search of menial jobs in painting, carpentry and in the construction sector, as life was much better there. There has been much hype about the “world class” roads of Gujarat. We found far too many potholes in the Modani model of development. It took us ten hours to cover the 350-kilometre distance from Ahmedabad to Una. Attacks on Muslims and Dalits by vigilante groups in the name of “gau raksha” (cow protection) have increased since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government assumed power at the centre. Incidents of public flogging, force-feeding cow-dung, stripping and parading Dalit victims have come to light. BJP governments, at the centre and in various states, have implicitly endorsed the violence by either refusing to take action against the culprits, or even explicitly glorifying them. Different Hindutva groups and vigilante “gau rakshaks” (cow protectors) are perpetrating such acts which dehumanise certain communities and are an assault on their basic dignity. "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas" is a hollow slogan for the Dalits, who have not seen any improvement in their economic condition, only an increase in brutality and violence. It was the pent-up anger against growing oppression that we saw emerging in this Dalit movement.
The Dalit Asmita Rally
When we set out to Una as part of the Dalit Asmita Rally and the Azadi Kooch under the banner of the Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti, we were clear that it was an act of solidarity with a struggle led by the most oppressed sections of society. Solidarity actions to coincide with the Una programme were held in different states. On August 13 we heard reports that a bike rally seeking to mobilise for the Azadi Kooch was attacked by "upper-caste" Darbars at a village called Samter in Gir Somnath District. On August 14 the Dalit Asmita Rally had begun marching towards Una. We left from Una to join the rally but were stopped some way from Samter by a violent mob armed with weapons and stones which had blocked the road using vehicles and boulders. They also assaulted journalists from Dalit Camera and Two Circles.
It was a well-planned mobilisation seeking to disrupt the march. The police were mute spectators. Armed men in motorbikes and motorbike-drawn carts tried to create an atmosphere of fear. That evening, more reports reached us of attacks on people coming to the Azadi Kooch, some of whom had to be hospitalised. The threats and attacks by "gau rakshaks" only helped steel our resolve and bring more people into the streets in open defiance. The march reached Una by evening, taking an alternative route. We met the members at their camp and marched shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them throughout Una. Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch activists from Gujarat and Maharashtra were present in good numbers. We found that a few comrades from the Tamilnadu Untouchability Eradication Front and the Progressive Writers’ Association had come of their own initiative. The Students’ Federation of India was represented by a few activists from Gujarat and the Hyderabad Central University. Kisan Sabha, Trade Union and AIDWA representatives were also part of the march.
The march through Una raised spirits. Slogans of "Jai Bhim" and calls to fulfil the dreams of Babasaheb Ambedkar, and against Narendra Modi and the BJP government were raised. The most popular slogan, however, was “Keep the Cow’s Tail; Give Us Our Land”. The August 15 Azadi Kooch had an electrifying atmosphere. Thousands gathered in open defiance of all threats and attacks. Young Dalits and women formed the bulk of the mobilisation. The young leader of the movement, Jignesh Mevani, read out a pledge to give up occupations like disposing of cattle carcasses and manual scavenging, and demanded alternative employment as well as five acres of land to all Dalit families. He also called for a Rail Roko if the government failed to accede to the demand for land. Radhika Vemula, Rohith Vemula's mother, hoisted the tricolour and called for a struggle for Azadi from all kinds of oppression. JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar also addressed the meeting.
The villagers of Mota Samdhiyala, including the victims of the attack by "gau rakshaks", were forced to sit on a dharna at the Una Police Station, demanding action be taken against armed gangs threatening and attacking people. On Independence Day they sought protection to live in their villages and homes in peace. We interacted with the victims of the flogging and their families and could sense the pervasive feeling of fear. The culprits move around scot-free even as poor Dalit families are forced to live like refugees amidst intimidation and an atmosphere of fear. A Dalit leader alleged that his vehicle was fired at. Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, a few journalists and I along with Vikram, General Secretary, SFI, and social activist Mujahid Nafees were present with them till they were escorted away under police protection. Later the "gau rakshaks" and Darbars attacked the Dalit protesters and destroyed some vehicles. As we crossed Samter, where opponents of the Una rally were concentrated, we could smell what seemed like teargas. Ambulances and police vehicles crisscrossed us with their sirens blaring. Numerous police personnel were reported injured in their attack and hospitalised. The armed goons stopped our bus looking for rally participants, but eventually let us pass. A little later the driver assured us we were in the "Safe Zone". All this on Independence Day!
What does Una hold for the future?
Is Una the Rosa Parks moment in the history of Dalit struggle against caste oppression? The answer is an emphatic “No”. The movement could well be much more if taken to its logical conclusion, as the issues involved are far-reaching. Rosa Parks transformed a single act of defiance into a defining moment for the modern American civil rights movement. Her act of defiance was against an unfair segregation law which forced black passengers to give up their seat to any white passenger who needed one. She was not the first to refuse: two other black women had previously been arrested on similar charges. Likewise in India, there have been protests against caste oppression and manual scavenging even before Una. However, by the sheer nature of what it seeks to overturn this movement could well inspire and spark off a nation-wide movement which could have an impact even more far-reaching than Rosa Parks's act of defiance. To realise its potential, it must seize the opportunity, and organise and rally around all progressive sections in solidarity with the struggle. Una could have a cascading impact and come to be counted among the historic struggles against caste oppression that have become part of folklore. History beckons us to build the broadest possible unity and take the message of Una to all parts of India, so as to organise and build a movement that will forever put an end to caste oppression.
First published in Bodhi Commons ; republished here in Newsclick.in with minor changes.
(Vijoo Krishnan is an academic and political activist. He has been President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union; at present he is Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist))

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, chastised even by Republican supporters for his extreme, some even call them racist views, has agreed to deliver remarks at a charity event next month hosted by the Republican Hindu Coalition, sending a clear message he’s looking to expand outreach to ‘minority’ voting blocs.
“It’s Trump being Trump,” said Indian-American business person and co-founder of the RHC, Shalli Kumar. “He’s just misunderstood. He is just as color, religion, race-blind as anyone could be. He’s a business person.”
Shalli Kumar Indian born Indian American industrialist Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar donated a whopping $898,800 for the campaign of the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Shalli Kumar has also been an unashamed supporter of Narendra Modi, dubbed one of Modi’s most influential supporters there. He was the one organised the high-profile March visit to Gujarat by three US lawmakers, and the videoconference between Modi and former speaker and one-time presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich,
Kumar made his more than significant contribution at the Republican National Convention held in Cleveland, where Donald Trump was announced the presidential candidate of the Republican Party through his wife’s account, as he reached the ceiling of the maximum amount transferable by a person – $449,400, reported The Hill.
Taking into account Trump’s association with Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), a not-for-profit organization founded by Kumar, he thinks that the common perception about Trump as a racist is wrong. Kumar is the head of RHC, which also supports Donald Trump.
Here are some of Trump’s most controversial statements that have earned him criticism across the board; he has not spared Indians from his peculiarly virulent brand of hate speech:
Donald Trump: I hate Indians, Muslims, will throw H-1B visa workers into detention camps
Donald Trump: ban all Muslims entering US
Donald Trump's tirade on Mexico's 'drugs and rapists' outrages US Latinos
Trump campaign: 'Nothing wrong' with banning Muslims from entering US
Donald Trump says 'I. Don't. Care' about hate speech: tell the world #WeDoCare
However, for Shalli Kumar, Trump remains a misunderstood politician. “The goal is to unite Hindu-American community with conservative values together and expand the RHC and at the time same time help the victims of terror throughout the world.”
The event, hosted by Hindtuvawaadi organisations this weekend, that will take place , titled “Humanity United Against Terror,” will take place in Holmdel, N.J. and was personally chosen by Trump, Kumar said. It will take place just two days before the GOP presidential hopeful will meet Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on the debate stage in nearby Hempstead, N.Y. Kumar says the funds raised through ticket sales will go to victims of terror around the globe, like the Kashmiri Pundits, and not the Trump campaign.
Trump will meet with members of his campaign’s Indian American Advisory Board at the event. Bollywood stars and major ‘Hindu spiritual leaders’ –also businessmen like Ramdev– are also scheduled to attend. Kumar believes the four hour spectacle will attract 25,000 to 30,000 people, featuring surprises he does not want to disclose yet. The event is just one part of the effort the GOP is making to appeal to America’s most affluent and educated ethnic minority.
“When the Republican party leaders launched the Republican Hindu Coalition, they had a purpose to expand Republican outreach to India, Indian-Americans in particular along the lines of Jewish Americans,” said Kumar.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich serves as the group’s honorary chair and continues to be Trump’s top ally and adviser. Gingrich has been on record for a number of years encouraging his fellow members of the GOP to reach out to Indian-American voters through matters such as national security.
When asked if this event and the ‘Hindu Republican’ Coalition’s effort overall would be considered divisive or anti-Muslim, Kumar reflected that “some of [his] best friends are not only Muslim, Indian Muslims, but Pakistani Muslims. There is nothing against Muslims. This is not anti-Muslim. Just proud to be Hindu. That’s all.”
For Shalli Kumar, clearly Trump is the United State of America’s Modi Moment!

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