Kandhamal is not a new subject to me. Countercurrents.org had published an article on 2nd November 2003 by Angana Chatterjee “Orissa: A Gujarat In The making”. It was five years before the worst communal violence against Christians in modern India happened in Kandhamal in 2008 in which 93 people were killed, over 350 churches and worship places which belonged to the Adivasi Christians and Dalit Christians were destroyed, around 6,500 houses were burnt or demolished, over 40 women were subjected to rape, molestation and humiliation and several educational, social service and health institutions were destroyed and looted. More than 56,000 people were displaced.
After the dreaded thing happened Countercurrents.org had published dozens of articles including fact finding reports, analyses, opinions and on the ground reports.
I had visited Kandhamal in 2015 and extensively reported about the current situation in Kandhamal. I interviewed a dozen widows of Kandhamal violence. While interviewing them they looked upon me as someone who could bring them some succour to the pathetic situation they are in. Many of them are facing intimidation from Hindutva forces and can’t return to their villages. Most of them were living in different parts of India as house maids, tailors and doing other odd jobs to sustain their ruined families. Little did they know that an insignificant journalist like me could do very little for them. The hope in their eyes really shook me. Still I kept my calm and kept on doing my ‘job’. I visited ruined houses, visited a house where an old woman was burnt alive, visited a church that became a cow shed. I marched with thousands of victims in Raikia, the nerve centre of violence and heartland of RSS/Sangh Parivar in Kandhamal. I saw the collective defiance and courage of the victims who in spite of all the hardships and government apathy, came together and formed a movement for communal harmony. Marching with the masses I was convinced that the RSS/Sangh Parivar elements will never be able to repeat a 2008 again in Kandhamal.
On 19th of this month I was among the audience at K.P. Kesava Menon hall in Calicut, watching K.P Sasi’s documentary “Voices From The Ruins: Kandhamal in Search of Justice”. Sasi being a good friend of mine I had heard stories about Kandhamal from him too. I had seen the rushes of the film, a roughly edited version too. I also knew the pain and hardships that he went through in making this film. While I sat in the dark and went through the visuals that played before me on the screen I was re-living the Kandhamal violence once again. As the tales of the naked horrors of the violence, the helplessness of the victims, the courage of many Hindus who saved many Christian lives risking their own lives, the government and judicial apathy in delivering justice and finally the hope of building a resilient India that will defeat the nefarious designs of the communal forces through religious harmony overwhelmed me with emotions and I cried.
Soon after the screening I was called upon to the stage to give my reactions about the film. I wiped my tears off and went on to the stage. Still I could not stop my tears. I was embarrassed. Through my tears I told the audience it is through emotions that revolutionary actions are born. Sasi’s film was able to evoke emotion about an incident that happened thousands of kilometers away and now it is our duty to make sure that the victims get justice.
Although I was overcome with emotion while watching Sasi’s film, it is not a tear jerker. It is a calm and composed study of the Kandhamal violence. It delves into history to show how the hate campaign by RSS/Sangh Parivar elements slowly seeped through the veins of Kandhamal. How the killing of Swami Lakshmananda by the Maoists was used by the communal forces to unleash a pogrom on Adivasi and Dalit Christians. The film shows that the violence was not a spontaneous reaction to the killing of the Swami, but a well planned orchestrated attack on the minorities. The film then analyses the justice delivery system and how it failed to deliver justice to the victims. The film ends in a note of hope by showing the robust resistance movement the victims themselves built and solidarity and support coming to the victims cutting across political spectrum.
I am not alone to overcome with emotion in Kandhamal. In 2015, I saw Brinda Karat, Polit Bureau member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) wiping her tears off after visiting seven innocent Dalit/Adivasi Christians who are lodged in Phulbani jail allegedly for killing Swami Lakshmananda. Incidentally they are the only people who are convicted and still lodged in jail in any case related to this horrific communal violence. Yes, India failed in delivering justice to these poor Adivasi/Dalits in Kandhamal. Sasi brings out this truth forcefully through his film. That may be the reason I cried after watching this film.
पिछले तेरह जून को जैसे ही ऑरलैंडो नाइट क्लब में हुई गोलीबारी की खबर सामने आई, अमेरिका के सभी मुसलमान भय से कांप उठे। हालांकि मन ही मन वे उम्मीद और दुआ कर रहे थे कि अपराधी कोई मुसलिम पहचान वाला न हो। लगभग इसी किस्म की प्रतिक्रिया मुसलमानों के बीच 2013 के बोस्टन मैराथन बमबारी और सन बर्नार्डीनो गोलीबारी की घटना के बाद हुई थी।
दरअसल, अमेरिकी मुसलमान किसी आतंकी घटना के बाद इसी तर्ज पर प्रतिक्रिया करने के आदी हो गए हैं। जब कभी इस किस्म का हमला होता है और पकड़े गए हमलावर के बारे में घोषणा होती है कि वह मुसलमान है तो अमेरिका के सभी मुसलमान इसी भाव में चले जाते हैं। मीडिया और दूसरी संस्थाएं घरेलू अतिवादियों के प्रसार के खतरों के प्रति आगाह करते हुए इस बात पर बहस करते हैं कि क्या इस्लाम हिंसा को जायज करार देता है? दूसरी ओर,राजनेता और विशेषज्ञ मुसलमान आप्रवासियों और नागरिकों की स्वतंत्रता को सीमित करने वाली नीतियों का ढोल पीटते हैं।
मीडिया के मनोविज्ञान की अध्येता के तौर मैंने देखा है कि कैसे मीडिया मुसलमान विरोधी नफरत की भावना और नीतियों को अमेरिका में हवा देता है। चूंकि बहुत कम अमेरिकी व्यक्तिगत रूप से मुसलमानों जानते हैं, इसलिए मीडिया द्वारा मुसलमानों को आतंकवादी के तौर पर चिहि्नत करना बेहद खतरनाक है, क्योंकि कई लोग यह मान लेते हैं कि सारे मुसलमान आतंकवादी होते हैं।
मीडिया की ताकत गैर-आतंकी हमलों की कवरेज के दौरान भी मुसलमानों की बहुत खराब तरीके से आलोचना की जाती है। केबल न्यूज, टेलीविजन, सिनेमा और अखबार में आतंकी मुसलमानों से संबंधित सामग्रियों के विश्लेषण से यह पता चलता है कि मुसलमानों को अमेरिकी मीडिया में हिंसक, आतंकवादी, अत्याचारी और असहिष्णु बताया जाता है। उसकी कोई सकारात्मक छवि पेश नहीं की जाती।
सामाजिक मनोवैज्ञानिकों के मुताबिक अपने से भिन्न 'बाहरी' माने जाने वाले सामाजिक समूहों के साथ संपर्क रखने से पूर्वाग्रहों को कम करने में मदद मिलती है। लेकिन अध्ययनों से पता चलता है कि जब सीधा संपर्क सीमित या न के बराबर होता है तो 'बाहरी' समूहों के साथ हमारे रवैये को तय करने में मीडिया द्वारा इन समूहों का चित्रण अपेक्षाकृत बड़ा प्रभाव डालता है।
चूंकि कुल अमेरिकी जनसंख्या में मुसलमानों की संख्या मात्र एक प्रतिशत है, इसलिए अधिकतर अमेरिकी लोगों का उनसे दैनिक आधार पर संपर्क नहीं होता। इसका सीधा मतलब यही हुआ कि मुसलमानों को देखने के उनके तरीके में मीडिया या समाचारों की बड़ी भूमिका होती है।
चंद गलत लोगों की वजह से कौन होता है बदनाम हाल के कुछ अध्ययनों में हमने पाया है कि मुसलमानों का नकारात्मक चित्रण किस कदर प्रभावी होता है। मिसाल के तौर पर, हमने एक प्रायोगिक सर्वेक्षण किया, जिसमें प्रतिभागियों को खबरों में मुसलमानों के बारे में नकारात्मक, तटस्थ और सकारात्मक चित्रण को देखने के लिए कहा गया। उसके बाद उन्हें सभी मुसलमानों के बारे में उनके अपने दृष्टिकोण और मुसलमानों को हानि पहुंचाने वाली नीतियों के प्रति उनके समर्थन से जुड़े सवालों का जवाब देने को कहा गया।
नकारात्मकता देखने वाले प्रतिभागियों के सामने 2007 में फोर्ट डिक्स पर आतंकी हमले की कोशिश से संबंधित बहस चलाने वाली खबर पेश की गई। अन्य प्रतिभागियों के मुकाबले ये प्रतिभागी मुसलमानों को उग्र और हिंसक मानने के लिए कहीं अधिक तत्पर नजर आए। यही नहीं, हम यह देख कर हैरान थे कि वे कितनी आसानी से अमेरिकी मुसलमानों के नागरिक अधिकारों तक पर प्रतिबंध लागने के पक्षधर थे- चाहे हवाई अड्डों पर उन्हें सुरक्षा जांच के लिए एक अलग पंक्ति में खड़ा रखने का मसला हो या उनके मतदान के अधिकार को सीमित करने का या फिर सरकार को उनकी निगरानी की अनुमति का मामला हो। ये प्रतिभागी मुसलिम देशों के खिलाफ सैन्य कार्रवाई के लिए भी अपेक्षाकृत अधिक पक्षधर थे। उन्होंने इस्लाम के प्रभाव को संकुचित करने की इच्छा भी जाहिर की।
यहां ध्यान देने लायक बात यह है कि इन प्रतिभागियों ने जिन नीतियों की वकालत की की, उनमें से अधिकतर 2016 के अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति चुनाव में खड़े उम्मीदवारों द्वारा मुसलमानों के बारे में प्रस्तावित नीतियों से जबर्दस्त ढंग से मेल खाते हैं।
गौरतलब है कि राजनीतिक दलों के कुछ प्रत्याशियों ने अमेरिकी मुसलमानों की निगरानी बढ़ाने, मस्जिदों को जबरन बंद करने, अमेरिकी मुसलमानों का डाटाबेस तैयार करने, धार्मिक मतों को इंगित करने वाले विशेष पहचान चिह्न रखने और मुसलिम देशों से आने वाले आप्रवासियों पर रोक लगाने की जरूरत पर बल दिया है।
यह तथ्य है कि इनमें कई प्रस्ताव असंवैधानिक हैं और अमेरिकी मुसलमानों की बेचैनी और भय कम नहीं करते। कई लोग इस बात से अच्छी तरह वाकिफ हैं कि पर्ल हार्बर पर आक्रमण के बाद जापानी मूल के अमेरिकी लोगों के साथ इसी किस्म का सलूक किया गया था।
हालांकि इस तरह का सर्वेक्षण यह कतई नहीं कहता कि मीडिया को मुसलमान पहचान वाले आतंकियों द्वारा किए गए हमलों की रिपोर्ट नहीं करना चाहिए। इसके उलट, यह अमेरिकी मुसलिम समुदाय का संतुलित चित्रण के महत्त्व को रेखांकित करता है। अमेरिकी मुसलमानों से जुड़ी सकारात्मक खबरों की भरमार है, जिसकी रिपोर्टिंग बड़े आराम से की जा सकती है।
People from the “Dalit” community block traffic in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, after four men belonging to the community were beaten while trying to skin a dead cow at Una village. Over the decade ending 2014, the average conviction rate in cases of crimes against SCs in Gujarat was 5%; in crimes against STs, it was 4.3%. The national average was 29.2% and 25.6% respectively.
As violent protests continue in the Prime Minister’s home state of Gujarat over the flogging of Dalit youth by upper-caste Hindu vigilantes, an IndiaSpend analysis reveals a conviction rate six times lower than the Indian average–over 10 years–for crimes against scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs).
In 2014 (latest available data), 3.4% of crimes against SCs in Gujarat ended in convictions, against a comparable national rate of 28.8%–that is, one conviction for every eight across the country. Against STs, that conviction rate was 1.8%, against the national average of 37.9%–that is, one conviction for every 21 across the country.
Dalit unrest began on July 11, 2016, when four Dalit youth were tied to a car and gaurakshaks, or cow protectors, took turns to flog them as a crowd watched. The crime: Skinning a dead cow. Later, the upper-caste vigilantes posted a video of the flogging on social media as a warning of sorts to others–Dalits and Muslims. The video of another attack in May has also now emerged.
The Gujarat government has arrested suspects, but the gaurakshaks’ courage appears rooted in the failures of Gujarat’s criminal-justice system in addressing crimes against the lowest of Hindu castes and tribes. A similar failure is evident in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Over a decade, conviction rate of crimes against SCs is 5%; against STs, 4.3%
Over the decade ending 2014, the average conviction rate in cases of crimes against SCs in Gujarat was 5%; in crimes against STs, it was 4.3%. The national average was 29.2% and 25.6% respectively, according to NCRB data.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau Note: Conviction Rate = Cases convicted/Total cases (convicted + acquitted or discharged)*100
This means that suspects in 95 of 100 cases are acquitted. Over 10 years, the lowest conviction rate in crimes against SCs in Gujarat was 2.1% in 2011; against STs, it was 1.1% in 2005.
The conviction rate for all crimes registered under the Indian Penal Code nationwide was 45.1% in 2014.
“If the conviction rate is low, people who can afford a good lawyer know that they can get away with their crime,” Supreme Court lawyer Kamlesh Kumar Mishra said.
The conviction rate represents how often cases filed by the police lead to suspects being declared guilty in court.
Karnataka and Maharashtra are on par with Gujarat, with a similar 5% conviction rate for crimes against SCs/STs. In Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, about half of such cases end in conviction.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau Note: Conviction Rate = Cases convicted/Total cases (convicted + acquitted or discharged)*100
“There is discrimination at each point in the whole chain of access to justice for dalits and adivasis (as STs are called),” said Paul Divakar, Convener of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, an advocacy group, pointing to flawed chargesheets and investigations.
Mishra said it was up to the Gujarat government to implement long-pending reforms recommended by various commissions to improve convictions and try pending cases. Lower courts in Gujarat need 287 years to clear pending cases, IndiaSpendreported in December 2015.
SCs and STs endure widespread discrimination and lag the general population in education, jobs and income, we reported earlier this month. Crime against SCs/STs is also rising,IndiaSpendreported, a reflection of greater reporting of cases, and a consequence of upper-caste resentment against growing assertiveness.
“Society can now accept a Dalit crossing an upper caste area on a bicycle, but it still hasn’t accepted the idea of a Dalit riding a Royal Enfield,” Dalit writer Chandra Bhan Prasad said in this Mintinterview. “Upper castes feel threatened as Dalits now feel equal to them and even confront them.”
(Babu is a Delhi-based independent journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
Many young people are getting caught up in the Islamist scene. Why – and how can they be protected from it? Details from Arnfrid Schenk
It is 26 February 2016 when 15-year-old Safia pulls out a knife at Hanover Central Station and stabs a police officer in the neck. He survives, but is badly injured. Two months previously, the secondary school student had flown to Istanbul to join the "Islamic State". Before she was able to cross the border to Syria, her mother brought her back to Hanover. There are videos online of Safia the primary school child sitting next to the Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel, reciting Koran suras. Wearing a hijab with not a single hair visible – as an eight-year-old. Her mother brought her up that way.
On 16 April, a bomb explodes in front of a Sikh temple in Essen. During a wedding celebration. A priest and two guests are injured. The two perpetrators are 16 years old. One of them is already being watched by the state security agency, he disseminates Islamist propaganda on Facebook, calls himself "Kuffar Killer" – "Murderer of Infidels". He has a police record for bodily harm and burglary. His accomplice had taken part in Koran distribution activities organised by Islamists.
These are just the most recent examples of German youngsters who have gone off the rails and ended up in a violent Islamist milieu. The German intelligence service estimates that more than 8,600 Muslims adhere to theSalafist movement. A tiny minority, in view of the four million Muslims in the nation as a whole. But a figure that's constantly on the rise. Five years ago, there were fewer than 4,000 known members of this grouping. Some 800 of them left Germany and went as jihadists to Syria, 130 were killed, 20 of those in suicide attacks, 260 have returned. Salafists canvass in front of schools, in youth clubs, online. A particularly eager campaigner in this regard is the convert Pierre Vogel, who tours towns and cities as an open-air preacher and explains his brand of Islam in hundreds of YouTube videos.
In the clutches of the Salafists Nevertheless the question remains, why so many young people end up in the clutches of the Salafists. And: how can they be prevented from doing this?
There are many answers to the first question. "Potential answers," says Michael Kiefer. He is a scholar of Islam at the University of Osnabruck and is currently trying to find out, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Youth, why youngsters are being radicalised. Kiefer and a colleague are conducting interviews with Islamists, their acquaintances, friends, siblings, parents.
For Michael Kiefer, Salafist groups are a collection point for the insecure, for those without opportunities, for those who feel marginalised, who don't get along at school or with their families, who are caught up in a crisis of identity. The Salafists not only lure them in with religious material, but also with the sense of being important, or part of something big – and better than the others.
On the other hand, Kiefer says, those who are radicalised despite having a good education are often motivated by a sense of righteousness, convinced that Muslims are the victims of international policy and that one must fight for their interests. It is possible that Safia falls into this category.
Salafists are fundamental Muslims aiming to establish a theocracy. For them, only Sharia law is applicable, not the constitution. All the questions of human coexistence are dealt with by the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. Those who follow this code will be rewarded with paradise, while hell awaits the others.
This is not to say that all Salafists are terrorists carrying out attacks in the name of Islam or joining the Jihad in Syria. There are Salafists who simply want to lead a godly life, there are those who strive for an Islamic state, but who reject violence. But: all those who have drifted into the radical Islamist milieu had previous contact with Salafist groups.
Many of those who join the Salafists lack basic religious awareness. Salafism lures them in with simple rules, dividing up the world into good and evil. There are however still huge gaps in our knowledge of how the milieu is composed, says Kiefer. Germany had for a long time neglected to carry out any relevant research or prevention work, he adds. Most of the funds were channelled into the security agencies. That has now changed. In 2015, the Federal Ministry for Youth spent 5.8 million Euros on preventive measures against violent Islamism. That figure is set to increase to 7.5 million Euros this year.
Clenched fists and selfies for the Ummah: Salafists are fundamental Muslims aiming to establish a theocracy. For them, only Sharia law is applicable, not the constitution. All the questions of human coexistence are dealt with by the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Those who follow this code will be rewarded with paradise, while hell awaits the others
Prevention networks against Islamism Much has been done, but there is still a lack of any nationwide programmes. Several states took too long to start building up preventive networks. Much of it is still uncoordinated; there is no overall strategy or mutual exchange. There are numerous individual projects, most in urban areas, very few in rural areas – although youngsters are being radicalised there too. What is working and what is not? This is still to be clarified. Therefore, the second question – how to protect youngsters from Islamism? – still remains an open one.
Michael Kiefer can at least set the direction. "Prevention," he says, "must begin early and everyone has to work together: teachers, parents, social workers, imams, sports coaches. They all have to talk to each other, as soon as they notice something about a young person. This response must become institutionalised."
One who does start early is Nadim Gleitsmann. He works at Ufuq (Arabic for 'Horizon'), a Berlin association that explains Salafism to teachers and youth workers nationwide and discusses Islam and democracy with young people in workshops. Gleitsmann works in Hamburg, attending both vocational colleges and secondary schools, talking to both eighth-graders and those about to graduate from school. He comes when the teachers no longer know how to help.
When students insult girls who don't wear headscarves, calling them infidels, when they praise Osama bin Laden as a hero, or describe the Charlie Hebdo attackers as "brothers of honour". What is merely provocation and what is conviction? Gleitsmann talks to the students about Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia. He shows short films in which theologians explain how a term like "jihad" should really be understood. The students who spread radical views must be enticed away from their ringleader role, says Gleitsmann, who is himself a Muslim and former student of Islamic studies. The aim is to immunise the youngsters against the Salafist ideology. To do this, it is not imperative to talk about religion, but to focus on the question: how do we want to live?
The Federal Agency for Civic Education is also active in Islamism prevention work. It has for several months focused on YouTube videos. Its information campaign is called "Begriffswelten Islam" (The Terminology of Islam). In it, scholars of Islam explain the meaning of a Caliphate, for example. In this way, youngsters are being provided with something to counter the Salafist interpretation of Islam. To ensure the material finds its way to the young, the videos are presented by YouTube stars like LeFloid. The number of clicks – 130,000 – is promising. The agency also supports the work of Patrick Frankenberger. The political scientist is project leader for Islamism on the Internet at Jugendschutz.net. It is his job to cleanse the Internet of Islamist propaganda, including the horrific videos posted by "Islamic State". He sees videos on an almost daily basis that show people being tortured, beheaded, burned and shot at point blank range. Sometimes, as if the horror were not enough, by 12-year-old boys.
The intention is to foment hatred The IS videos are doing the rounds on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and in WhatsApp groups. And this means they are finding their way into the playgrounds of German schools. Elaborately staged, with a dramatic composition intended to horrify, the edits rhythmically timed with the music. As though made by professionals, says Frankenberger. The "justification" for the executions is supplied along with the videos; these were infidels, Jewish spies or the soldiers of Assad. The videos are horrifying to many of the youngsters, says Frankenberger. "But they can act as a pull to the potentially violent ones."
Islam scholar Michael Kiefer: ""Prevention must begin early and everyone has to work together: teachers, parents, social workers, imams, sports coaches. They all have to talk to each other, as soon as they notice something about a young person. This response must become institutionalised"
The Islamists' propaganda is not limited to gruesome videos. Photos are taken out of context: for example, images showing earthquake victims from Tibet, with the accompanying caption – "Here we see how Muslims in Burma are being slaughtered." The intention is to foment hatred. In many videos, the militant jihad is presented as a great adventure, the fighters from Germany cast as heroes, the "Islamic State" portrayed as nothing less than a paradise nation.
The Islamists' Internet propaganda is primarily aimed at young people. They publish videos of digitally manipulated computer games, for example Call of Duty is Call of Jihad, the player shown fights as a jihadist and carries out attacks. Or SpongeBob calls for the destruction of Israel.
Frankenberger and his colleagues found Islamist propaganda in over a thousand cases. They then approach the platform operators to get the films deleted. Anything that contravenes youth media protection laws must be deleted and this includes incitement, the depiction of violence and the glorification of war.
Thomas Mucke, an educator and political scientist, works with those who have slipped through the still-wide meshing of the prevention net. With Syria returnees. Mucke is one of the directors of the Berlin Violence Prevention Network (VPN). As well as running advice centres in several states, VPN also focuses on "de-radicalisation within the penal system", in prisons in Berlin, Hessen and Lower Saxony among others.
"Those who return are unsure," says Mucke. They asked questions: "In Syria Muslims kill Muslims. Was that Islamic, what I experienced there?" One returnee from Syria uttered the sentence "I'd rather be in prison in Germany than free in Syria."
The doubts of the returnees provide Mucke with starting points for his work. "We help them to reactivate their minds," he says. "In Islamist circles only one thing counts: follow, don't ask. They've surrendered their sense of reason."
De-radicalisation in prison as preventive work He meets up with them once a week, the easier cases in a group, the tougher cases in one-to-one sessions. Muslim colleagues do the preparatory work in advance. They attempt to establish trust. They talk about religion, demonstrate that the Islamists' point of view is not the only one and not the right one. "You have to make it clear to them that Islam has its place in society," says Mucke, "but Islamism does not." Mucke and his colleagues also work with the youngsters after they've been released, helping them to find an apprenticeship. De-radicalisation in prison is also preventive work. The danger of relapse is always there, as prisons have for a long while been the favoured recruiting ground of radical Salafists.
Prevention can give no guarantees. And it requires time. This was most evident recently in North Rhine-Westphalia: one of the two bombers from Essen had been involved in a voluntary opt-out programme for more than a year. A call to the Interior Ministry yields the information that the state government nevertheless plans to continue developing the programme. After all, what's the alternative?
The example of the most prominent German Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel shows just how complex it is to gauge the dynamic within the milieu. Even though Vogel routinely distances himself from terrorism in his public appearances – for many young people he is a route into Islamism. In view of this, it seems bizarre that he is himself now considered a target by Islamists: in the latest edition of the English-language IS propaganda magazine he described as an apostate. The title of the article: ″Kill the imam of the infidels of the West″. Vogel had described the attacks in Paris and Brussels as a sin. As he routinely does.
Protesters from the northeast stage demonstrations in Delhi against human rights violations under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The year 2015-16 saw least number of cases resolved in the last four years.
No more than five human-rights complaints—four in Jammu and Kashmir, one in Tripura—under a controversial law that provides immunity to armed forces from prosecution were judged in 2015-16, a 93% fall over the average of three preceding years, according to new government data submitted to parliament on July 21, 2016.
An average of 69 cases registered under the 58-year-old Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) were heard–“disposed” to use government parlance—over the three preceding years, the Lok Sabha, parliament’s lower house, was told. Up to 82 complaints were heard in 2012-13, which dropped to 75 in 2013-14 and 49 in 2014-15.
Note: Includes cases disposed under the ‘Defence Force Category’ as well as the “Para Military Force Category’ as specified in the answer in Lok Sabha
Four of the five cases adjudged this year were from Jammu and Kashmir, following the pattern of the preceding three years, when 105 of 186—or 57% of the total—cases disposed were from the state.
The government did not provide details of cases, victims and AFSPA violations and said it did not intend to withdraw the Act from the northeast or J&K.
Recent discussions in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of parliament) revolved around the abolition of AFSPA, promulgated in 1958 and extended to J&K in 1990. The law is now in force across some regions of J&K, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, and all of Assam—where it was first imposed—and Nagaland.
The July 21, 2016, debate urged the government to send an all-party delegation to Kashmir to address mass unrest that has claimed 45 lives.
The Delhi and Gauhati High Courts have previously held that was not violative of fundamental rights. But the Supreme Court said in July 2016 that the armed forces cannot escape accountability, ruling that “over 1,500 cases of alleged fake encounters in Manipur, over the last 20 years, must be investigated”.
Amnesty International, a human-rights advocacy, has said the law contravenes international laws and United Nations humanitarian laws. Amnesty also said the AFSPA violates Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, which gives right to effective remedy to citizens.
In J&K, about 43,000 people—including suspected militants, civilians and security forces—have been killed between 1990 and 2011, according to another Amnesty report quoted inDNA, a newspaper.
Tripura has withdrawn the Act from a limited region of the state.
Note: All figures in this story have been rounded off.
चेन्नई की तकनीकी विशेषज्ञ की हत्या के मामले में जिस तरह धर्म और जाति संबंधी अतिवादी कयास लगाए गए, वह एक खतरनाक नतीजे की ओर ले जाने वाला अभियान था।
चेन्नई में इन्फोसिस की एक कर्मचारी स्वाति की जघन्य हत्या के मामले में जो संदिग्ध गिरफ्तार हुआ, उसका नाम राम कुमार है। यह शुरू में साफ कर देना इसलिए जरूरी है कि इस मसले पर जिस तरह की प्रतिक्रिया सामने आई, वह एक खास राजनीतिक माहौल से पैदा हुई एक ऐसी जटिलता है, जिसका खमियाजा समाज को लंबे समय तक भुगतना पड़ सकता है।
कुछ समय पहले स्वाति की हत्या के दो दिन बाद एक अनजान हिंदू दक्षिणपंथी वेबसाइट ने 'चेन्नई लव-जिहाद के अन्य पीड़ितों को आतंकित करने के लिए इन्फोसिस की लड़की की आइएसआइएस की तर्ज पर क्रूर हत्या' शीर्षक से एक लेख छापा। कोई सबूत पेश किए बगैर इस रिपोर्ट में यह दावा किया गया कि यह हत्या 'लव-जिहाद' का मामला है।
आमतौर पर सांप्रदायिकता और कोरी अफवाह से लैस इस किस्म की रिपोर्टों की जगह कूड़ेदान में होनी चाहिए। लेकिन इस बार ऐसा नहीं हुआ। इस लेख के छपने के कुछ ही घंटों के के भीतर दक्षिणपंथी हिंदू समर्थक इंटरनेट पर ऑनलाइन सक्रिय हो गए और साजिश संबंधी अपने-अपने कयासों के साथ इसे व्यापक रूप से साझा किया। इस रिपोर्ट में कथित 'लव जिहाद' का संदर्भ देते हुए हिंदुओं की दयनीय दशा का जिक्र किया गया और उन्हें पीड़ित की शक्ल में चित्रित किया गया। इससे प्रेरित होकर कई अन्य हिंदू दक्षिणपंथी वेबसाइटों ने मामले को अपने हिसाब से रंग देना शुरू किया और बिना किसी मजबूत आधार के उत्तेजक शीर्षकों के साथ लेख छापे। मसलन- 'क्या इन्फोसिस की कर्मचारी स्वाति की हत्या एक लव जिहादी ने की'? हिंदू कट्टरपंथियों की जमात में यह मान लिया गया कि स्वाति की हत्या एक मुसलमान ने की और स्वाति चूंकि ब्राह्मण थी, इसलिए द्रविड़-बहुल तमिलनाडु ने किसी ने भी उसकी खोज-खबर लेना जरूरी नहीं समझा।
इस किस्म की आधारहीन धारणा का आलम यह था कि ब्राह्मण जाति के उच्च वर्ग से ताल्लुक रखने वाले लोकप्रिय हास्य अभिनेता वाई जी महेंद्रा ने भी इस घटना से संबंधित वाट्स-ऐप के एक मैसेज को फेसबुक पर एक पोस्ट के रूप में डाल दिया।
इस मामले में विडंबना यह है कि पूरी तरह से अपुष्ट होने के बावजूद हत्यारे को मुसलमान बताया जाता रहा और मृतक की जाति का उल्लेख करते हुए जाति के आधार पर पहचान की संस्कृति पर लानत भेजी गई। इस बात को लेकर भी हल्ला मचाया गया कि मीडिया ने इस घटना की अनदेखी की। जबकि यह बात पूरी तरह से झूठ है। अखबारों के मुख्य पृष्ठ और राष्ट्रीय समाचार चैनलों पर इस घटना का पर्याप्त जिक्र हुआ।
और जब इस किस्म के दावों की झूठ सामने आने लगी तो यह कहा जाने लगा कि आप हत्यारे के बारे में क्यों नहीं बात कर रहे। क्या इसलिए कि वह एक मुसलमान है? यह सब उस समय हो रहा था, जब चेन्नई पुलिस तक हत्यारे को लेकर मुतमइन नहीं थी, जैसा कि बाद में सामने आया भी।
जब हत्या के संदिग्ध को गिरफ्तार किया गया तो उसका नाम रामकुमार निकला। अब जाति और धर्म के नाम पर चलाए गए अभियान के बारे में क्या कहा जाएगा और इस अभियान से नुकसान हुआ, उसकी भरपाई कैसे की जाएगी। लेकिन इस बीच इन्हीं अफवाहों से उत्तेजित होकर ब्राह्मण संगठन भी इस विवाद में कूदे और अंधानार मुनेत्र कड़गम के सदस्यों ने मृतक के माता-पिता से मुलाकात की और मीडिया को बाकायदा इसके लिए आमंत्रित भी किया गया। उन्होंने एक प्रेस-विज्ञप्ति भी जारी की, जिसमें कहा गया कि कैसे एक निर्दोष ब्राह्मण लड़की की अनुचित तरीके से अज्ञात व्यक्ति द्वारा हत्या कर दी गई। उन्होंने सरकार से ब्राह्मण महिलाओं की सुरक्षा का व्यापक प्रबंध करने की मांग की। मजेदार यह है कि इसमें लोगों को हत्या के मामले में जाति-धर्म के बारे में बात करने से बचने की सलाह दी गई। डीएमके नेता एमके स्टालिन ने भी मृतक के परिवार से मुलाकात की।
यह सच है कि देश के दूसरे हिस्सों की तरह संख्या के आधार पर तमिलनाडु में भी ब्राह्मण अल्पसंख्यक हैं और उनकी राजनीतिक शक्ति सीमित है। इसके बावजूद एक समुदाय के रूप में मध्यम वर्ग अपने असुरक्षाबोध को जाहिर करता रहता है। लेकिन सवाल है कि वे अपनी पीड़ा और कम प्रतिनिधित्व के लिए दूसरे समुदायों पर आरोप क्यों लगाते हैं?
हत्यारे की पहचान को लेकर हम सब अंधेरे में थे। वह कोई भी हो सकता था। लेकिन गिरफ्तारी के बाद सबकी आंखें खुल जानी चाहिए। जो हो, लेकिन देश की वर्तमान राजनीतिक परिदृश्य और तमिलनाडु की राजनीति के इतिहास के मद्देनजर हिंदू ब्राह्मणों के लिए मुसलमानों पर उंगली उठाना अनुचित है।
इसमें कोई दो राय नहीं है कि मध्यवर्ग में इस घटना को लेकर आए उबाल की वजह से इस तरफ लोगों का ध्यान गया। मद्रास उच्च न्यायालय ने सावधानी बरतते हुए पुलिस को कार्रवाई करने को कहा था। लेकिन सच यह है कि इस मामले में तथ्यों के साथ छेड़छाड़ और सांप्रदायिक अफवाह फैला कर एक खतरनाक कदम बढ़ा दिया गया है।
‘Have you tried to create an icon in Kashmir?’ asked the Chief Whip of Biju Janata Dal in Lok Sabha.
Excerpts from the speech of the Chief Whip of Biju Janata Dal in Lok Sabha on July 20.
Most humbly I would like to start by saying, when I went out to the Central Hall somebody smiled and said, “Have you been listening to the wail of the willows?” I was stuck for a second. I said, “Sorry, I could not understand what you are saying”.
He said there were two people and both involved in the business of cricket – please underline the word “business” – and both gave long speeches in this House, completely hollow and giving no message to the country or to the youth.
So, I said, ‘What are willows?” Willows, it seems, are the huge trees, which grow exclusively in Kashmir, from which you make cricket bats. It then slowly, as I am from a backward district and an uneducated person, dawned on me that it was a pun on two of our shining bright stars on both sides of the spectrum.
The international terror scene is getting more and more grim. We cannot talk about India, Kashmir or Bangladesh border with Bengal or any such fragmented area of the globe any more. At a certain time we thought Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran who brought about a revolution. Then it spread. Then the Americans created as much confusion as they could in the world because of their greed for oil or whatever. Then, international politics got murkier and murkier. Then nations like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc. got pulled in.
Today, every country across the globe has become a victim of terror. The politics of terror is a very rich politics. It involves millions and billions of dollars. It is all a business and it is nothing but that.
Just like Maoists poach animals, cut trees and sell timber, this is on a larger scale.
What India do the Kashmiri youth see? Let me remember my humble base and remember that we are here to talk about Kashmir and about India. When I read the newspapers I wonder that when a young Kashmiri girl or boy wakes up in the morning, opens the door or window and looks out, what does she or he see? What is the permanent fixture? One ex-Chief Minister said that there are no slums, there is no poverty, etc. There is no poverty. This is like Gujarat model or something like that. Giving a kind of false image is very easy but everybody knows – whether it is Tamil Nadu or Odisha or West Bengal or Gujarat or Kashmir or anywhere – poverty is intense in this country. Let us not close our eyes to that.
So, what does this young Kashmiri see when he opens the door? He sees damaged roads that have not been repaired for years – there are not even motorcycle-friendly roads because I know people. In Jagannathpuri, there are a few Kashmiri young boys who have shops there.
I talk to them. They tell me about Kashmir. There is a boy called Farhan who says that there are no roads, I say to them that you do not have a major problem – you have drinking water. They said, "That is completely wrong information. We do not have clean drinking water in our villages. We do not have roads – our kids have not seen electricity for decades."
Who is blaming whom? What were they doing? What are you doing? Blame game is easy. But reality is completely different from your politics.
What does the youth see outside? They see armed to the teeth Indian CRPF or BSF or Army jawans. That is all. That is India – and that is the beginning of the day for that youth.
So, imagine like we normally get text messages – good morning, good afternoon, good evening – they get text messages saying, I have five soldiers in front of my house today; I have this man with different weapons that I cannot recognise. The other guy says, take a picture immediately. This is the situation in Kashmir.
There is an old English adage – everyone loves trouble. Have we been – barring none – relishing the trouble in Kashmir? Is not war a great fun thing for all those who are involved in a war to make money out of it by selling arms? Arms dealers in Delhi; all the arms dealers across the country and the world; they love such situations. Unfortunately in India, everyone who is a tax payer is the one who suffers. I suffer daily because the money I pay as tax to the Government, and I am not saying it is the Government of the ADMK, or BJD or Congress or BJP; I am talking about the Government of India – GOI.
No matter which political party is there; we are aware of that. They are temporary. These people are temporary. They have gone. How long will we continue this? When can we cut the umbilical cord and say that listen, we have done enough? Now, let us mend the country.
Azadi from what? They talk of azadi. Azadi from what? Have we ever tried to find out? It is not azadi from the Union of India, maybe – “maybe” I am adding. Maybe it is azadi from poverty; maybe it is azadi from the threat to the very existence of my mother, of my sister, of my child; maybe it is azadi from this horrible police State that all of us, whether it is Congress or whether it is BJP, all of us have been subjecting them to.
They know very well. Let us not underestimate the Kashmiri youth. They are not idiots; they are smart young boys and girls. They know very well, Sir, that if India withdraws, and they have to join perforce with Pakistan, they will have a miserable existence. They do not wish to leave India. They all want to be with India. It is only these misguided few youngsters whom you have been incapable of over decades to handle, to educate; they are making the trouble because they don’t see any future.
This crisis in Kashmir is not a 10-day, 12-day problem. It did not happen with the death of one individual who was popular on the social media. It has been brewing there for a very long time. In the last two-three days, I was reading The Indian Express. It says in bold letters, “Government says, ‘We will talk to the Kashmiris’”.
Whom will you talk to in Kashmir? Who are those Kashmiris? Can you draw the 18-20-year-old stone-pelter to a table? Can you make him sit and discuss with you? Are you even capable of it? Do you have the means to approach him? You do not. What do you do instead? You create a leader, like some leader of the past created a leader amongst the Sikhs who holed up in the Golden Temple and then we had to fight a war in Punjab.
Similarly, all the successive governments have been creating leaders in Kashmir. Today you become the leader, I want to talk to you; tomorrow you become the leader, I want to talk to you. So, they are not leaders and they have no people behind them. It is because you are helpless, you do not find anybody to discuss with, you are creating leaders. They are not leaders of the people. The leader of the people is that 18-20 year old youth on the street with a stone in his hand. Have you ever tried like these North Indian people talk? The Hindi speaking people say ‘Beta, idhar aao’. Have you tried to give him solace, take the stone out of his hand, give him a screw driver, give him a wrench, give him a stethoscope?
We are talking about a 16-year-old boy who died who had dreams of becoming doctor? Where would he go to get educated? How many education loans have you given in Kashmir in these two years? Can you give us figures of that? Forget the evil past, forget the dark past, the people of India have forgotten them and are still trying to forget them.
You do not have to make this country mukt of anybody. In democracy, a country cannot be mukt of anybody. Look after your own interest, look after the interest of the country. In these two years, how many education loans have you given in Kashmir? How many micro, small and medium industries have you funded in Kashmir? How many have you set up there?
How many youths have you approached by saying that we will not fire at you? What do you deal with them with? You deal with them with the power of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which is draconian and one sided. I am an Indian. I love my country. I am not speaking against my Armed Forces. But I also wish to state that just like in the Northeast, similarly in Kashmir, the outrage that has been created by the Indian Armed Forces cannot be ignored.
Burhan Wani: an icon? Sir, Burhan Wani is a terrorist in our eyes. I agree. He was somebody who was against the State of India, the very existence of India. But did he know what India was? He became an icon of the youth. Why? It is because he did not know this country.
You have been in the government for the past two years. Could you not get 5,000 youth trained in ITIs across the country and employed across the country? As Central government, with the help of their own party in power in the State government, you could not give employment to mere 5,000 youth?
I have a newspaper in Odisha. I will be taking five youths from Kashmir. This is a commitment I am making at a personal level. Can we not do that much? Instead what do we do? We stop their newspapers, we stop their media and we ban everything. There are Ministers who call the media bad names like “presstitutes”. I am ashamed to be in a democracy, in a country like India where Ministers of dignity call the media such words.
So, when Burhan Wani was buried, I was not surprised to hear that he had more than two lakh people. Nobody had organised it. It was not a political rally. At some 30 to 40 other places simultaneously, there were prayers being held for him. So, we have to understand the depth he could go to because he had become an icon.
Have you tried to create an icon in Kashmir? Have you or have these people the courage to put your hand on your shoulders and say: “In the last 10 years, we have given so many people from Kashmir, the Padma Awards?” Is not there a single man in Kashmir, not a single artist, not a single singer, not a single dancer in Kashmir, who can get the Padma Award? Have you tried to bring them into the mainstream of this country?
You have kept them away. You have shown hatred. Only speaking here: “Mere Kashmiri bhaiyos and behnos” is not enough. I have to put it into action. Have we done it in action? Prove it. They have no other icon but a person like Wani. You cannot blame the youth for that, Sir. If you do not give them an alternative, a positive view to life.
I am not supporting it. I am saying, as a government when we fail to create an icon, which will be positive in their mindset; when their mind sees a positive icon, they will follow that icon. If that icon can be an Indian, can be a Kashmiri, they will follow that.
Kashmir is such a rich State with culture, music, everything. Can we not make small industries there? Can these youths not be employed? Sir, you would have seen as a politician, who comes through. What happens with employment? In one village, if one boy is given employment, there is social pressure. Even those who oppose us politically, they tell their children: “Aray go, talk to the MP, be friendly, you may get an employment.” So, you have to create social pressure in Kashmir that one youth getting a job, will create a social pressure amongst other youths. Sir, everybody has been talking negative. I demand time. The Government has come up with a plethora of schemes. Your Jan Dhan Yojana, your Sit India, Crawl India, Walk India, Standup India, so many Indias… How many schemes have you implemented in Kashmir?
Sir, from the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to Skill India, to all these schemes, can we make a concerted effort to ensure that these schemes are properly, duly implemented in Kashmir? If yes, tell us the outcome because you are in power there. The Manmohan Singh government, for 10 years, was a weak-kneed, powerless government. But they had thought of a plan, of a policy. He had four schemes, e.g., how to demilitarise the populated areas, how to allow people to cross over the LoC without hindrance. He had come up with a policy. Good or bad, is for history to decide. I am not praising Manmohan Singh. But their Government had come up with a policy. Today that policy is not there. What is your policy?
Sir, I will wind up with only one last paragraph. Let us not treat every Kashmiri as a separatist or terrorist. The mindset that creates a feeling of separatism, which in turn, creates militancy, stems from deep-rooted frustration with a non-responsive system. The Central Government’s agenda should be to create jobs, to create industries, to create more opportunities and to find a way to bring true democracy and long lasting peace to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. I would urge the Government to give priority to economic empowerment and not military entrenchment.
1 uncaged this long ailing night left to die like an aging raven unused to flying failing its wings mortified this cagelessness humiliating
2 smothered flame of candle crushed between thumb and forefinger charred night
3 burst into flame solitary flower immolate your petals detonating like suicide vests making pale the glitter of the stars the sky shredded raining fire scorching an earth already weary of its own blood take it back the night
4 shatter stillness the night on crutches the sun shrouded in a cloak of night refusing point blank to rise
6 bird stripped of sight seeking refuge in a sky full of bullet wounds
7 burnt stumps gather the ashes scatter the ashes into the wind
8 breaking the silence death’s soft whisper
9 ash coloured the cobblestones
10 above my head smoke from a distant dream a sky in flames
11 voiceless scream as leaves drop from trees one by one
12 stitched from clouds soaked in red the sky reluctant shroud
13 smeared grey across the sky its ash visage darkened by the death of the sun
14 is this or is this the dream I came home to?
dogs sniffing blood on chinar leaves
15 watermelon heads explode every single day
16 elsewhere in tiny heaps discarded ash shrouds in mourning
17 crumpled sheet of light in a room made vacant made lonely made fiction by what else death dappled shadow white black white white blurry motion windswept ricochet across room slamming headfirst into the wall also white crumpling into a shivering daze on spinning floor with a bang and a crash breath panting for breath breathlessly swallowing gasping air gasping for breath out of breath eyes wide rolling over and over before closing shutting down clanging like shutters ungreased metal rusted with years the light no longer white yellow age yellow with age hinges squeaking for oil remembering gaze fixed on unseen further point in the fog dense remember leaves losing sheen at the moment of their passing falling falling sheet floating down light as light weightless almost crumpled shadow of light in room emptied of thought all of it
18 in a fragile landscape ash coloured leaves seeking refuge from the fire
19 shiver death in the cold cold light of the sun
20 streets full of rage stones grappling with fists willing to bleed
21 their eyes shut tight dead men learning to dream
22 the children cycle madly homewards under a sky hurling hailstones
23 charred flame of the candle a dream in ashes
24 mirror vast and silent the oars precise slice its stillness a different rhythm that of gunfire intermittent echoes ringing ringing in ears made deaf by a silence intimate with roadside graves
25 burnt blackened forever the night
26 all night long the smell of tyres burning
27 forest full of tree trunks gutted
28 at sunrise the women hurrying to bury the night
29 stab each hand one by one
smash the clocks underfoot one by one
30 across a landscape of green the fresh fresh smell of blood spilling
31 crushed underfoot leaves daring to breathe
32 from the corner of my eye a blur of grey
leaking fugitive
33 stripped made naked the bitterness of shadows
34 scattered beneath the stones reams and reams of poetry
35 they bury shadows here every night under a moon known for its brazenness
36 widowed sky lamenting its own drowning
37 giant sieve soaked in its own blood the sky riddled
38 the keening of widows muffled by the shadows
39 on some days on most days all that remains is for the night to end
40 yesterday’s words like stale bread posing as poetry
41 the blood-coloured flowers continue to bloom
42 the women silent stones watching refusing to shroud their heads shroud their heads
43 a sky unable to shrug off its greyness
44 there where the shadows huddle in quiet whispers the restlessness of trees
45 elsewhere the sound of bare feet running
46 anointed in their own blood the shadows refusing to weep
47 slice the vein and let the poem bleed all over the white all over
48 bloodied fists smash the night
49 cold wet street stones strewn under a flickering lamplight like freshly plucked flowers
50 low rumble deep tumbril from well of throat the cry rising thick like smoke choking on its own fire burn burn the devastated land strewn with stumps charred as mighty trees one by one by one fall prey to what? what? was it that caused this blindness blind blind rage blinded thought suspended impossible then to extinguish flames sparked by shadows full of faces trapped in rooms full of shadows staring staring blankly at reflections of flames ricocheting off the walls before collapsing into a heap of ash rotten rotting from within their hearts so full so full of anger white drained of blood the landscape waiting for winter and snow
51 rage into the night solitary shadow hide hide your shame
52 strangling silence the night sandpapers its leaves singing hoarse its songs out of tune broken voiced wrangling like bent reeds underwater snarled in discord the distant sighing of the flute wind whispering rustling in harmony faint soft shrill piercing the sound of a car horn persistent loud lament strangling silence
53 Assisted by hands gripped firmly around its neck. Pushing down. Splashing wildly. The darkness drowned once and for all into the pool of light.
Poems by Naveen Kishore, photographs by Amit Mehra.
