mohan@sbcs.UUCP (Chilukuri K. Mohan) (09/22/86)
INDIA NOW
September 1986
Part 4 of 5
News and Views from Indian newspapers and magazines
Contents:
Part 1:
Introduction
Shiv Sena Blamed for Nasik Communal Riots
Parliament Debates Communal Riots
Procession as Incitement
Gastro-Enteritis in Ahmedabad
Book Reviews - Eight Lives: A study of Hindu-Muslim Encounter
by Rajmohan Gandhi
- Indian Muslims: A Study of the Minority Problems in
India
by Asghar Ali Engineer
Part 2:
Behind the Killings: State of Democratic Rights in Patna, Gaya,
Singhbhum
Stop It Now! Attacks on Women
A Pilgrimage to Punjab
Part 3:
One Year Later, Punjab Accord is Faltering
Zail Singh's Problems
Part 4:
Ahmedabad Divided
Ranchi Mental Asylum
Punjab Grain Production Up
Dowry Prohibition Bill
Injectible Contraceptives Opposed
Children in Jails
Sanctions Against South Africa
Nayar on Security Threats
Action Against Union Leader Stayed
Krishna Iyer Calls for Terrorist Act Repeal
Inquiry Commission Bill
Bill of Security Belt
Hutment Demolition in Madras
National Anthem Controversy
Part 5:
Arwal Massacre and Government Coverup
Laldenga to head the coalition govt. in Mizoram
Riots in Ahmedabad: Excerpts from Press
Indian Writers walk out of Commonwealth writers conference
A new watch by Congress High Command
Hindu and Sikh amity quite prevalent in Punjab
Indefinite Detention Without Trial Possible
Floods kill over Hundreds of people
Central policing of Border Areas planned
Bill to withhold inquiry commission reports enacted
Farooq forsees worst J&K Crisis
Assam accord not being implemented
Rajiv's new Kitchen cabinet
Parliament asks for global sanctions
Bombay Our City Chosen Best Non-feature Film
Over 45,000 Arrested in Bihar
Gold Medal for Debshishu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Introduction
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You are reading part 4 of the 5 parts of the issue dated September 1986.
------------------------------
Subject: Ahmedabad Divided
Bulbul Pal
Acid burns have grotesquely marked the skin on Rabia Bibi's arm,
side, back and chest. "Last year," she recalls, "stones raining
down on our house split open my husband's head. We were rushing
for help when a 10,000-strong mob blocked the way, killed my
husband with dharia blows, and cut me up too. Then someone
poured acid on me and they left me for dead as I fainted." This
year, Rabia is again in a refugee camp. "I had started a tiny
retail shop to feed my six children. I pay four rupees a month
on every Rs 100 I borrowed to start it. They say it has been
looted clean." She dissolves into tears and cannot go on.
For a portion of Ahmedabad's citizens, running away from raining
brickbats is a predictable annual feature. This year too, last
year's gory message went unheeded, as frenzied mobs took their
toll in blood, putting the torch to homes and shops on a neatly
selective and systematic basis.
This year, according to four prominent relief workers (all Hindus
and all requesting anonymity), Muslims are once again the main
victims: About 20,000 of them crowd six of the seven relief
camps in the city. That they themselves have maintained a low
profile this year is also obvious from the fact that the Muslim-
dominated areas of Jamalpur and Kalupur - where powerful
antisocials operate - were fairly peaceful, and that the last
tazia (religious) procession was canceled by community leaders
for the very first time, to avoid trouble.
History of Riots
The basic question, however, remains: Why is this particular
city so prone to this annual agony? Whilst Ahmedabad was always a
playground for violent communalism, the motivations and
compulsions for it - both emotional and political - have
undergone major changes over the decades. Long-time residents of
both communities explain that upto about the '60s communal
attacks were sporadic, usually aimed at isolated individuals, and
emotional, thriving on memories of Partition and on Britain's
deliberate policy of separate representation in Parliament, which
meant that no Hindu could vote for a Muslim candidate and vice
versa. "Another reason," says a leading advocate, Hamid Kureshi,
"was the Britishers' deliberate pampering of Muslims with choice
positions in public life, as part of their divisive tactics."
The '60s, however, saw the rise of criminal gangs: gambling dons,
smugglers and illicit-liquor kings. Inevitably, the new criminal
classes, running multicrore rackets in the city, came into
conflict with each other. In the ensuing gangster-warfare, goons
of each community began to take advantage of the collective
protection offered by religion, which started the polarization
process of the law-abiding in both communities.
Soon the riot situations that were deliberately engineered to
settle scores and unleash reprisals began taking place on purely
communal lines, with participants of both communities joining in
but not knowing what they were fighting for. The dons,
meanwhile, acquired Robin Hood images by using their wealth and
power to help members of their own community, thus ensuring their
support whenever required.
The ordinary people, however, do not otherwise benefit from a
communal riot, since curfew keeps customers away. The only
people who benefit from keeping the communal pot boiling, and
exciting chauvinistic religious passions to gather votes, are the
politicians. In the 1985 riots, according to Ahmedabadis of all
religious hues as well as a subsequent CBI report, politicians
used roughnecks to convert what was initially an anti-reservation
agitation getting out of hand into a fullscale religious
holocaust, and even persuaded part of the Bombay mafia to come
and participate in it.
"Communalism in India," as noted researcher Asghar Ali Engineer
asserted in another context, "is all about secular issues,
without involving any religious or sectarian doctrine."
Although most peace workers in Ahmedabad believe that this year, the
political element was far less active in instigating the riots,
some measure of preplanning is evident from the sequence of
events.
On July 9, the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath made its ponderous
journey through the heart of the city. The yatra had sailed
through the normal "trouble" spots, and security men were about
to relax when the procession arrived at Khadia Naka, a
predominantly Hindu area which was consequently thinly policed.
Here, according to eyewitness accounts, some chants of "Makhan
Chor" changed to "Mian Chor." Almost simultaneously, missiles
and burning rags obviously kept ready descended on the yatra and
retaliatory ones - allegedly produced from a procession truck -
were thrown. The annual communal cauldron was aboil once again.
Mass Participation
Although all this suggests preplanning, the savagery of what
followed in the distant suburbs of Meghaninagar and Chamanpura is
disturbingly indicative of spontaneous mass participation. For
instance, when a "sadhu", earlier expelled from the army and said
to belong to a new organization, the Hindu Suraksha Samiti,
collected a menacing, chanting crowd which converged on Block 132
(the only Muslim block in the immediate vicinity) of
Meghaninagar, and a Muslim there fired at the crowd, killing
three people and wounding others, a huge mob rapidly gathered at
another nearby block occupied by other Muslims and pulled out and
stabbed six of them, and burned them dead in front of their
block, along with their possessions.
There is, in fact, every reason to believe that in the year
between the last riot and this one, communal attitudes of
ordinary people have hardened all round. "One major reason,"
says the head of a well-known relief organization, "is that court
cases instituted against last year's offenders still drag on,
keeping memories fresh and increasing mutual rancor: supporters
of both sides turn up in court, shout slogans and threaten
witnesses." Economic jealousy and greed, which were no part of
earlier riots in India, are now major motivating forces.
"Our Hindu neighbors used to eat with us, greet us on Id and come
over to chat all the time," says an inmate of a relief camp, "but
in the thick of the riot they joined the mob to loot our goods."
The story was repeated by many others in different camps. "Land-
grabbers," says a paanwalla of Chamanpura, "have placed a deity
in the courtyard of my home. Now who will dare to remove it, to
help me get my premises back?"
"In one riot," says Hamid Kureshi, "my house was burned when
people said I had a gadget in my watch with which I was
communicating with Pakistan!"
Religious fundamentalists have also been busily at work on their
espective flocks in the past year. "Though the Jammat-Islami and
RSS are supposed to be opposed to each other," says ex-MP Ahsan
Jaffry, "I would see them feasting together at the Jama Masjid
when I was in Delhi, as they have a common cause." Adds a Hindu
relief worker, "The first people at the scene of a riot are
always the RSS and Jamaat ones, as this is when the maximum
transfer of ideology is possible. Last year, I found them both
running the relief camps, instead of the government doing so,
although the government was financing camp requirements. They
were even stamping the inmates' identity cards with their
respective letterheads."
Hardly any relief organization works for both Muslims and Hindus
in times of trouble: each concentrates on helping
only people from its own community. Institutions often refuse to
send ambulances to some areas, claiming that drivers will not
enter areas not dominated by their own communities. "One of our
workers," says a seasoned social worker, "was actually
opstracized by her own community - made to stand at the back of
the milk queue and generally boycotted - just because she helped
organize a meeting in Raikhad, to help bring the two communities
closer together." Even the Self-Employed Women's Association
(SEWA), perhaps the only really secular organization left, has to
at times persuade some of its workers, who are against helping
Muslim refugees, to change their minds.
Repeated riots have also forced hundreds of Hindus living in
Muslim-majority areas to shift to Hindu-dominated ones, and
Muslims are likewise shifting to their "own" areas. "My shop,
along with other Hindu ones, was burnt down last year," says
Jamnadas Maganlal of Dabgarwad, "so 20 of us Hindu families have
settled down in Amraiwadi. But the new one-room premises are too
small for us." Says Aziza Banu, who recently shifted from
Gomtipur to Juni Chali in Bapunagar, "Since the last riot, our
Hindu clientele stopped patronizing our bakery; business went
flat and so we came here." Even ex-MP Ahsan Jaffri, who lives in
a small minority colony amidst Hindu ones, says he will shift
sooner or later. "How long can we depend on police protection
anyway? If all of us are going to be pushed into wadas, Muslim
wadas, Hindu wadas and Harijan wadas, what will happen to this
country?" he laments.
Cancel Processions?
Another issue currently being hotly debated in Ahmedabad is whether or
not the annual Rath Yatra procession should change its route, or
be dropped altogether. The latter suggestion is considered
blasphemous by many. "If Hindus in a Hindu country can no longer
worship their deities, they may as well be dead," says one
resident hotly, forgetting that the Preamble to the Constitution
does not consider India a "Hindu" country.
There is a section which believes however that the passage of 85
trucks, four akhadas and 250,000 people through the most
congested and sensitive parts of the city is a needless and
irresponsible demonstration of collective communal and political
muscle. "Processions," says a Hindu social worker, "are now
marked by rowdyism, hypocrisy and an ugly display of wealth in
some cases. At times, pictures of filmstars vie with those of
gods; rank commercialization mars Navratri when 'season' tickets
are sold for 'disco puja' performances. Even in Bombay, some of the
largest Ganesh idols, paid for by the underworld, now symbolize
gang warfare rather than religious devotion. Lord Jagannath,
too, is being degraded by being turned into a prestige issue. He
should be worshipped only in the temple."
------------------------------
Subject: Ranchi Mental Asylum
According to official statistics, the Ranchi Mansik Arogyashala
(Ranchi mental asylum) is not good for the health of its inmates.
More than 300 patients died in the last two years, a high
percentage of the 1,200 to 1,500 patients at the Arogyashala.
The proportion of patients dying in the first two months of
admission increased from one in five in 1984 to two in five this
year. In almost all cases deaths were attributed to
malnutrition, anemia, debility, weakness or refusal of food.
The dietary allocation per patient is three rupees a day; a large
part of it is believed to be siphoned off by corrupt employees.
Out of the Arogyashala's annual budget of Rs 10 million, 70% is
spent on establishment.
There are 42 mental hospitals in the country.
------------------------------
Subject: Punjab Grain Production Up
Despite the crisis in Punjab, the state's agricultural output
continues to increase every year. However, this has created its
own problems since the central government has very poor
facilities to move the surplus foodgrains from Punjab to other
states where they are needed. Much of Punjab's surplus wheat
lies stored in warehouses or in the open.
Recently, many farmers in Punjab have switched from corn to rice
as the second crop, with remarkable success. The state
contributed 5.4 million tons of rice to the Central pool last
year. As with wheat, the government is faced with the problem of
"plenty" with rice as well. Adding to the problem, rice
deteriorates much faster than wheat and cannot be stored in the
open.
------------------------------
Subject: Dowry Prohibition Bill
The Rajya Sabha on August 22 passed the Dowry Prohibition
(Amendment) Bill to make the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition
Act more stringent.
The Bill, which was supported by all parties, seeks to enhance
the maximum punishment for taking or abetting the taking of dowry
to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,000.
According to the bill, the burden of proving that there was no
demand for dowry will now be on the person who takes or abets the
taking of dowry.
Offenses under the Act are to be made nonbailable and a new
offense, "dowry death," is to be included in the Indian Penal
Code.
The amendment also provides for appointment of dowry prohibition
officers by the state governments for the effective
implementation of the Act. The dowry prohibition officers will
be assisted by an advisory board consisting of not more than five
members out of whom at least two will be women.
Under the new law, any advertisement offering any property or money
in considertation of a marriage will be banned. Margaret Alva,
Union Minister of State for Women, who introduced the Bill, said
the government also proposed to stop advertisements where women
are treated as liabilities. Citing the example of a bank, she
said, it had brought out an ad saying, "Save for your son's
education and daughter's marriage."
Jayanthi Natarajan of Cong(I) was of the view that the root cause of the
problem is the denial of an equal share in property to women.
She regretted that even the law relating to rape looked on the
offense as an invasion on the property of another man and not as
a violation of a woman's chastity.
Kanak Mukherjee of CPM, while welcoming the Bill, regretted that
it was being rushed through instead of allowing members time to
study it in detail before debating it.
------------------------------
Subject: Injectible Contraceptives Opposed
Feminist organizations are protesting the proposed instroduction
of injectible hormonal contraceptives, conceived as a long-acting
and failsafe method of contraception, into India's family-
planning program. In a recent seminar in Bombay, organized by
the Campaign Against Long-Acting Contraceptives, speakers lashed
out against this method as being "anti-women" and hazardous.
Two injectibles have been produced so far. The first, Depo-
Provera, made by Upjohn of the US, did not get far following a
controversy over its effectiveness and side-effects.
The second is Net-En. Only four developed nations have licenses
to use Net-En and that too only for very limited groups. In the
US, Net-En is neither registered nor permitted to enter the
market.
Net-En entered India with the Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) becoming a main organizing center for WHO research and
testing of the contraceptive. Trials have gone into the fourth
phase with ICMR conducting trials in 45 primary health centers
attached to 15 medical colleges. Now private doctors have also
been permitted to import Net-En.
Feminist organizations contend that Net-En has not been proven safe.
There are no data available on the long-term safety and neither
ICMR studies nor other studies by WHO are designed to yield
information on this crucial aspect.
There is evidence in medical literature to show a definite link
between progesterones, especially those derived from
testosterone, like Net-En, and birth defects such as masculinization
of external genitalia in female children. An earlier WHO
technical report (1981) has pointed out the danger of exposure of
children to even small quantities of Net-En.
The feminists say that if Net-En fails and pregnancy occurs, the
steroid will be passed through breast milk and inefficient liver
functioning could affect the child later in life.
------------------------------
Subject: Children in Jails
The Supreme Court on August 13 directed completion of
investigation within a period of three months from the date of
filing of a complaint against a child under 16 for an offense
punishable with imprisonment of not more than seven years.
"If the investigation is not completed within this time, the case
against the child must be treated as closed," the court added.
The court directed that the trial in such a case should be
completed within a further period of six months.
The decision was issued by Chief Justice P.N.Bhagwati and Justice
Ranganath Misra. The court said the state governments must set
up necessary remand homes and observation homes where children
accused of an offense could be lodged pending investigation and
trial.
"On no account should the children be kept in jail and if a state
government has not got sufficient accommodation in its remand
homes or observation homes, the children should be released on
bail instead of being subjected to incarceration in jails," the
court asserted.
About 3,000 children were arrested in Bombay during 1983-85. In
Orissa, of the 193 in six jails in November 1985, 33 had not even
been charge-sheeted; in 17 cases, there was no sign of a trial.
The children had in most cases been arrested for petty offenses
and were mostly no more than ten years old.
------------------------------
Subject: Sanctions Against South Africa
While the government of India has a policy of not allowing
exports to South Africa, it has been reported that several Indian
companies mark their exports of brassware, spices, guar gum,
etc., to Malawi, which has a common border with South Africa.
These consignments are actually
destined for Durban or some other South African port of entry.
The government is also aware that some friendly countries have a
thriving entrepot trade with South Africa. Middlemen in London are said
to guarantee exports from India to small African states with full
knowledge that the goods are actually meant for South Africa.
On the imports side, it is a little more difficult for India to
claim innocence. The public-sector Hindustan Diamond Trading
Company Limited is closely linked with the Bank of Bermuda (which
has a 20% share in HDTC). The bank in turn is owned by the
Diamond Trading Corporation, which is itself a subsidiary of De
Beers, the giant South African company with a virtual monopoly on
the diamond trade. India imports around Rs 9.5 billion of rough
diamonds, which are cut, polished and exported for about Rs 11.5
billion. Close to 500,000 people are employed in the industry.
------------------------------
Subject: Nayar on Security Threats
Kuldip Nayar, the journalist, expressed the opinion in a talk in
Coimbatore that despite the recent ethnic conflict, India faced
no security threat from Sri Lanka. He stated that
J.R.Jayewardene, whom he met recently, seemed to believe in a
military solution but India would be ill-advised to intervene
militarily.
Nayar also said that the threat from China was exaggerated.
China had already stated that it would be satisfied with the
maintenance of the status quo in Aksai Chin and other areas.
Unless India wanted to regain its lost territories by armed
action, there was no threat from China. However, Pakistan was
waiting to settle a score as they had been humiliated in
the Bangladesh war. They had acquired sophisticated weapons from the
US, ostensibly to meet the challenge from Afghanistan, but in
reality they were directed against India. However, India need
not be worked up against Pakistan. He felt that if Benazir
Bhutto came to power, she might not like to go to war with India
and she was on record criticizing Zia for helping Sikh militants.
He also felt that Pakistan already had the nuclear bomb. He
wished that India reached an agreement with Pakistan at least on
the nuclear issue.
------------------------------
Subject: Action Against Union Leader Stayed
The Madras High Court has granted a permanent stay order
restraining the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development
Corporation from further proceeding in an inquiry against the
general secretary of the SIDCO Engineers Associaton,
Muthumanickam, who was served with a charge memo on May 8,
following his letter to the Chief Secretary making
allegations against the corporation that public money was being
wasted with justification and without consulting the state law
department or the advocate-general.
Justice Mohan said that grievance letters were common these days
and workers had every right to agitate against injustice.
Further, if Muthumanickam was called on to face the charge memo,
it would violate Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution granting
freedom of expression.
------------------------------
Subject: Krishna Iyer Calls for Terrorist Act Repeal
Former Supreme Court Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer demanded in a
meeting in Bangalore that the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
Prevention Act be repealed as it was "an outrage on Indian
jurisprudence, a shame to our culture and violative of the major
provisions of the Constitution."
He said the Act was the biggest assault on Indian justice and
every provision in it was violative of human rights. "The
enactment is nothing but parliamentary approval for state
terrorism," he alleged.
He said the definition of terrorism under the law was so vague
that anybody and any activity could be brought under its purview.
The Act was the quintessence of cruelty and anti-culture, he
said. He said the Act had probably been thought of in the heat
of panic when members of a community were killed in large numbers
in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination. But it is
unfortunate that it had become a part of the statute book to be
used in times of both war and peace.
He called on the Janata government in Karnataka to refuse to
enforce the Act.
------------------------------
Subject: Inquiry Commission Bill
The bill empowering the government to withhold reports of
commissions of inquiry was passed by Parliament after the entire
opposition, except AIADMK, staged a protest walk-out.
By way of two new subections - 3(5) and 3(6) - added to the
Commission of Inquiry Act, the amendment says that the reports of
a commission of inquiry may not be made public on the grounds of
integrity and sovereignty of India, friendly relations with
foreign states, security of the state, and public interest.
P.Chidambaram, Minister of State for Home, said that the ruling
party was equally concerned about the concept of open government
but a responsible government could not sacrifice its obligations
at the altar of openness. "Knowledge is power, but in secrecy
sometimes lies the security of the country."
The Lok Sabha adopted a statutory resolution approving the
notification of the government dated May 15 that "it is not in
the interest of the state and in the public interest to lay
before the House of the People the reports of the Thakkar
Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Mrs Indira
Gandhi."
Chidambaram contended that the government had carefully studied
the commission report and come to the conclusion that there "was
a compelling public interest" in not making its contents public.
It had taken the decision "not on frivolous grounds but strong
grounds." According to him, the task of a commission of inquiry
was to "inform and instruct" the government and that remained the
object of the bill "even today."
Unnikrishnan of Cong(S) called the bill "a brazen attack" on the
basic features of the Indian Constitution and said it was a
"crude attempt to introduce a new government in purdah." A
commission of inquiry could not be a private inquiry for either
the Prime Minister or his government, he argued, and added that
it was in the government's own interest to lay the report on the
table of the House. Otherwise, the "skeletons will continue to
rattle in your cupboard," he said.
Madhu Dandavate described the plea of public interest as a
"dangerous proposition." At one stage, the Deputy Speaker
interrupted Dandavate and quoted a rule which said that the
President's name could not be used to influence a debate.
Dandavate then modified his statement to assert that the
government was not only keeping the report away from the members
of Parliament but also from "high dignitaries" of the country.
The Indian Express commented in an editorial: "The provocation
for the legislation, let it be said right away, is perfectly
understandable. The Thakkar Commission in its report, which lies
buried in the vault of the Home Ministry, had specifically asked
that the report be suppressed. That a legal mind should make
this request indicates that the commission came up with
explosive stuff, in which case what was needed was not
suppression but follow-up action in the national interest. There
are two issues here. Does a commission or a government have the
right not to disclose the findings of an inquiry into so grave an
event as the assassination of a Prime Minister? And assuming
that in its wisdom the government decided to answer that in the
affirmative, can any government assume the moral right, even if
it has the legislative means, to acquire the wide-ranging powers
the new legislation gives it? What has actually transpired does
not sit well on a leadership which talks of open government. The
right to know is an unwritten corollary to the fundamental rights
in a genuine democracy. In almost four decades of independence,
there has been no cause to question this the way the new bill
implicitly does."
------------------------------
Subject: Bill of Security Belt
The proposal of the central government to take over border areas
is to be implemented on a year-to-year basis by invoking the
provisions of Article 249 of the Constitution after the recently
passed resolution of the Rajya Sabha empowering Parliament to
make laws for the purpose. The government had originally wanted
to pass a constitutional amendment but was persuaded by the
Opposition that Article 249 was adequate.
The Rajya Sabha resolution authorizes Parliament to legislate on
specified State subjects pertaining to border areas. The
proposed legislation covers six major subjects under the State
List for one year. It will allow the Center to intervene in the
maintenance of public order in the border areas. Under present
law, the Center can do this but only in aid of the state
government.
The legislation will also provide for Central
control of the police including railway and village police in the
border areas. The legislation will also cover the prisons,
reformatories and institutions for delinquent children; the
Center will have jurisdiction over all those detained in these
institutions in the border areas.
Through another sweeping enabling provision, the legislation will
provide for the Center to deal with offenders against laws with
respect to all the matters in the State List so far as it
pertained to the border areas.
Similarly the jurisdiction and powers of all courts in the
border areas will vest with the Center. It can also have power
to collect any fees other than court fees in respect of any
matter in the State List.
The Rajya Sabha resolution was opposed by all opposition parties
except AIADMK and BJP. Atal Behari Vajpayee advocated the
creation of a security belt all along the country's international
borders permamently to check infiltration of terrorists, smuggling
of arms and drug trafficking. He said the 5-km belt should be
handed over to the army; in addition, all people in the border
districts should be given identity cards. He felt there was no
alternative to the security belt and added that such belts exist
in eastern Europe.
Extended to Jammu and Kashmir
The government has extended the operation of Article 249 of the
Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir through an amendment to the
Presidential Order of 1954 (!). The amendment was effected at
the beginning of August but kept secret from the public and
Parliament until Narendra Reddy reported it in the Indian Express
on August 17. The National Conference Party, which had learned
of it earlier, was reportedly organizing meetings in the state to
oppose the amendment.
Legally, the central government was required to get the consent
of the government of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the collapse of
the Cong(I)-led minority government, the legislature has been
held in abeyance; so, the government in New Delhi received
consent from the governor, Jagmohan, its own appointee.
National Conference MP Abdul Rashid Kabuli was told by Speaker
Balram Jakhar to withdraw from Parliament two days in a row for
persisting in demanding explanations from the government.
Finally, Home Minister Buta Singh declared that there was nothing
unconstitutional in what the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir had
done. The grant of consent by the governor for extension of the
law to that state was within the constitution, he asserted.
Ordinance, Not A Bill?
Despite the passage of the Rajya Sabha resolution, the government
did not introduce any legislation on the subject, causing
opposition members to fear that the government was planning to
issue an ordinance when Parliament was not in session.
Rajiv Gandhi told the concluding meeting of the Congress(I) party
in Parliament that his government had no intention to promulgate
an ordinance for creating a security belt along the borders
unless the situation warranted otherwise. Home Minister
Buta Singh told the Lok Sabha on the same day that the government
could not bring the bill during the current session because the
process of consultation with the chief ministers and leaders of
political parties had remained incomplete; he added that if the
situation warranted the government would have to exercise the
option of promulgating an ordinance. He wanted the "blessings"
of the House to exercise this option if it had to be done in the
national interest.
It is also reported that the government is planning to modify the
security belt plan following stiff resistance from Punjab. The
Home Ministry is said to be considering restricting the belt to
selected areas. The Punjab government is, however, continuing to
oppose the measure.
------------------------------
Subject: Hutment Demolition in Madras
The Supreme Court on July 3 stayed further demolition of hutments
near the Apollo Hospital complex in
Madras. The court was acting on a petition by Pennurimai
Iyakkam, a women's rights organization, acting on behalf of the
slum-dwellers of Dr. Ambedkar Nagar near the private hospital.
The petition contended that some hutments were demolished on June
23 in the presence of the Executive Engineer of the Tamil Nadu
Slum Clearance Board.
The petition alleged that the demolition was a violation of the
Supreme Court judgement of December 12, 1984, according to which
no one could be evicted without being provided with alternative
accommodation. The petition pointed out that the state
government had given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that it
would not evict any slum-dweller who was in occupation of
government land before June 30, 1977, without providing
alternative accommodation.
------------------------------
Subject: National Anthem Controversy
The Supreme Court on August 11 directed the Kerala government to
readmit three school children expelled for not singing the
National Anthem during the daily morning assembly of their
school.
The court also directed that the children, who are Jehovah's
Witnesses, be permitted to pursue their studies without any
hindrance by providing them with necessary facilities.
The direction was issued by Justices Chinnappa Reddy and
M.M.Dutt. "We are sastified, in the present case, that the
expulsion of the three children from the school for the reason that
because of their conscientiously held religious faith, they did
not join the singing of the National Anthem in the morning
assembly though they do stand up respectfully when the anthem is
sung, is a violation of their fundamental right to freedom of
conscience to freely profess, practice and propagate religion,
guaranteed under Articles 19(1)(A) and 25(1) of the
Constitution," the judges ruled.
They added: "Our tradition teaches tolerance - our philosophy
teaches tolerance - our constitution practices tolerance. Let us
not dilute it."
The case of the appellant children - Hijoe, Binumol and Bindu
Emmanuel - was that daily during the morning assembly, when the
National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was sung, they stood respectfully,
but did not sing it.
The Supreme Court noted that the Kerala High Court, which had
upheld the expulsions, had gone off on a tangent examining each
and every word and thought of the National Anthem and arriving at
the conclusion that there was nothing which could offend anyone's
religious susceptibilities. "The objection of the petitioners is
not to the language or the sentiments of the National Anthem -
they do not sing the National Anthem wherever, Jana Gana Mana in
India, God Save the Queen in Britain, the Star-Spangled Banner in
the US, and so on."
"According to the petitioner, the students who are Witnesses do
not sing the anthem though they stand up on such occasions to
show their respect to the National Anthem. They desist from
actual singing only because of their honest belief and conviction
that their religion does not permit them to join any rituals
except it be in their prayers to Jehovah, their God," the court
noted.
The court said the petitioners had not asserted these beliefs for
the first time or out of any unpatriotic sentiments. "Jehovah's
Witnesses, as they call themselves, appear to have always
expressed and stood up for such beliefs all the world over.
Their religious stands have brought clashes with various
governments resulting in law-suits, mob violence, imprisonment,
torture and death. In the US, they have taken 45 cases to the
Supreme Court and won significant victories."
"It is true that Article 51-A(A) of the Constitution enjoins a
duty on every citizen of India 'to abide by the Constitution and
respect its ideas and institutions - the National Flag and the
National Anthem.' Proper respect is shown to the National Anthem
by standing up when it is sung. It will not be right to say that
disrespect is shown by not joining in the singing," the court
observed.
The court said that standing up respectfully when the National
Anthem was sung but not singing it clearly did not either prevent
the singing of the National Anthem or cause disturbance to an
assembly engaged in such singing so as to constitute an offense
mentioned in Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National
Honour Act, 1971.
Editorial
The Indian Express commented in an editorial: "Symbols of the
State and respect for them have come to be regarded as
necessities in the contemporary era. They serve a function by
standing far above the tensions and conflicts that divide and
stir up society. In that, they can be a unifying force. But any
society which allows them to become an end in themselves and
compels its citizens to conform mindlessly is headed towards an
Orwellian nightmare. That will create a nation of automatons who
fall in line because they are required to, in order to
demonstrate that they are patriotic. Other countries have gone
that way - Germany under Hitler, for instance, and Japan under
Tojo - and they have come to grief. It is only a short journey
from jingoism to fascism, and there is enough evidence that left
to themselves, there are plenty of forces at work which will
hasten this country in the direction. Fortunately, as long as
there are Supreme Court verdicts like this one, and people who
are willing to speak out their minds, there is hope that these
forces will be thwarted."
Cong(I) and BJP Upset
The Supreme Court decision was immediately criticized in
Parliament by BJP and Congress(I) members. Promod Mahajan of BJP
wanted immediate government action. He said no patriotic person
could accept the ruling. L.K.Advani said the ruling had serious
implications and the government could not remain indifferent. It
should make a simple amendment to the Constitution if necessary.
P.N.Sukul of Cong(I) said it was a question of national dignity.
The question of religion versus National Anthem should not be
allowed to crop up, he said. Darbara Singh, also of Cong(I),
said it was a matter of great importance relating to the question
of national integration and unity of the country.
Subsequently, the Attorney-General of India has petitioned the
Supreme Court to reconsider and overrule the decision by the two-
judge panel. The petition asks the Supreme Court to declare that
it is the fundamental duty of every citizen to respect the
National Anthem "not only by standing up respectfully when it is
sung, but also to sing it."
The petition says India is a socialist, secular, democratic
republic and the National Anthem and flag have nothing to do with
religious beliefs. Though Article 25 provides for freedom of
conscience, it can never be related to the anthem or the flag as
this is a secular state. The freedom of speech and expression
also has nothing to do with the singing of the anthem, according
to the petition.
Looking for Embarrassment
S. Mulgaokar
Atal Behari Vajpayee was on display recently in his familiar role
of the man specifically charged with the guardianship of national
honor and dignity. And soon L.K.Advani was to add his pennyworth
in the good cause.
The cause for Vajpayee's virtuous indignation was the recent
Supreme Court judgement overruling the Kerala High Court which
had nodded its consent to the expulsion of three school students
belonging to an arcane faith called Jehovah's Witnesses, which
does not approve of its followers joining in the singing of the
National Anthem. It has been suggested to me that the reason is
that the high priest of the order does not approve of the tune.
I do not really see why Jehovah's Witnesses or anybody else must
be made to produce any reason for not joining the sing-song. I
can't do it either for the very simple reason that I cannot
master the libretto.
Now nobody has yet told me that this constitutes disrespect of
the National Anthem. On occasions where the National Anthem has
a proper place, I consider my duty done by standing up with the
rest of the company. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing against
this practice and the three expelloed students were quite
meticulous in showing every respect to the National Anthem by
duly standing up when their fellow students were giving a full-
throated rendition of Jana Gana Mana.
Vajpayee has a serious quarrel with the view that the Supreme
Court, Jehovah's Witnesses and I also happen to take, though I
realize my view is of very little consequence because it is not
backed by either a knowledge of the law or a religious faith.
Still, I do want to be counted among those who admire Vajpayee
for his higher standards in these matters. I am sure in the
privacy of his home he stands to attention and raises his hand in
salute every time he sees the National Flag on television and he
cannot complain that Gadgil does not give him plenty of
opportunities to do so.
Yes, I admire Vajpayee for his great devotion to the
accoutrements of patriotism. The point is, are his standards
attainable by the lesser breeds to which I and millions of others
belong. I remember the time when the National Integration
Council recommended that every film
show end with a display of the National Flag to the accompaniment of
the National Anthem. The result was what may have been foreseen
by the Supreme Court, the Jehovah's Witnesses and me. There was
never such mass disrespect shown to the symbols of national honor
as when men and women and children scurried for the exits as soon
as the end of the film was signalled. There is such a thing as a
superfluous immunity syndrome which you help build up by turning
too many occasions into a test of patriotism.
I do not know whether this business of beginning the school day
with what, I suspect, becomes in many cases a discordant
imitation of the National Anthem, is a compulsory requirement
throughout the country. If that is so, we are making sure that
millions of school children treat the whole thing as an empty
ritual. I would be surprised if this worries Vajpayee but it
must worry a lot of lesser patriots. This is what I call a case
of looking for embarrassment.
------------------------------
End of INDIA NOW news digest
****************************
--
Chilukuri K. Mohan
SUNY at Stony Brook
uucp: {allegra, hocsd, philabs, ogcvax} !sbcs!mohan
arpa: mohan@suny-sb.csnet
CSNet: mohan@sbcs