Indian Corner

'Scapegoats and Holy Cows' � The Indian State's 'Response' to Terrorism  

Each  time there is a bomb blast like the recent one in Jaipur,  the Indian State reaches out its 'long arms of injustice' to pick a scapegoat from amidst the Indian population to cover up its own incompetence in providing security to its citizens.

The hapless creature, decorated and demonized by the 'fashion designers' of Indian officialdom, is then paraded before the entire nation to create a public spectacle prior to its ritual sacrifice.

The armchair warriors then call for 'tougher laws' to deal with terrorism while the scapegoat disappears forever into the black hole of the Indian prison system.

That the 'prime suspects' in such cases always happen to be bearded young Muslim men and Islamic theologists to boot is not a surprise at all. In the racist imagination of theadministration, police , intelligence agencies ,  security forces, sections of the media and politicians all the criminals in this country wear their 'criminality' on their faces- the suspects are always MAD- Muslim, Adivasi, Dalit.

The latest example of such scapegoating comes from Jaipur where within hours of the heinous bomb blasts that killed innocent people the state police has started harassing, arresting and deporting Bangladeshi and Bengali speaking Muslims in the city.

What we have witnessed in the last decade is that after each blast or surprise violent act, arrests are made, organisations named but the police and investigative agencies have not been able to prove their claims in any of the cases. But the people arrested continue to languish in jails or suffer other kinds of victimisation. It is very disturbing as it shows that the agencies responsible for the security of the people are incapable and to cover their inefficiency, they keep abducting people from the minority community which are produced at their chosen time. The real culprits remain at bay and the threat remains undiminished.

However, The Indian state's treatment of scapegoats is in stark contrast to the 'holy cows' it protects, irrespective of their trespasses or crimes against the people of the country.

Whether it be the Hashimpura massacre of 1987, the  Babri Masjid demolition and the Mumbai massacre of 1992, the Gujarat genocide of 2002 or the Nanded bomb blasts of 2002, the real culprits are either never apprehended and even if they are - never punished. Despite the open involvement of the leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena ,  RSS, VHP and other Sangh outfits in a systematic  and consistent hate campaign, organised communal massacres and in  stockpiling and  manufacture of arms they are never declared terrorist organisations and banned. Open armed parade by the RSS , Trishul dikshas Dikshas are tolerated and allowed. They are the  holy cows who are never touched.

It is time to end the division of the Indian people into scapegoats or holy cows and ensure equal justice to all irrespective of caste, class, community or religion. And to achieve this we the citizens of India have to pledge to fight atrocities of the Indian State and its holy cows wherever they occur, from the smallest to the highest levels in the country.

This convention on 'Scapegoats and Holy Cows- The State's 'Response to Terrorism' therefore condemns:

- The way innocent people, especially Muslims, across India are being harassed, picked up, arrested and tortured in the name of fighting terrorism;

- The existence of draconian 'anti-terrorist' laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, ASPA,1958 and calls for more new ones that will suspend basic Constitutional rights as this will only worsen the problem of  terrorism and never solve it.

-    The victimization of the entire Muslim community in the country without a proper investigation of the role of specific individuals who may come from any community in the country;

-    The failure of the Indian Home Ministry and national security agencies in providing proper intelligence on terrorist activities and protecting the lives of innocent civilians;

- Attempts to prevent lawyers from providing legal assistance to those arrested on 'suspicion' of being involved in the 'terrorist' act;

We further demand the Indian government:

-    Repeal all repressive laws that have replaced POTA at both the national and state level or are already part of the Indian Penal Code as also the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act;

- Stop promoting civil war through the unconstitutional arming civilians to fight 'terrorists' as in the case of Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh and also in the Indian northeast and Kashmir;

-    Closely investigate the involvement of the RSS, VHP and other Sangh outfits in terrorist bomb blasts and attacks as also their vast  network of individuals and institutions propagating anti-Constitutional values;

-    Present a White Paper to the Indian public on the follow up and results of investigations into various terrorist attacks that have happened in the country over the last twenty years;

- Present a White Paper on the numbers of Muslims, Adivasis and Dalits imprisoned in the country and the status of the cases against them;

-Stop harassing human rights activists and release with due compensation to all innocent people arrested and tortured in the name of countering terrorism;

-    Make the Indian intelligence service accountable for its grand failures in either warning the public or catching the real masterminds behind terrorist attacks despite all the huge sums of taxpayer money spent on them;

- End the culture of fake encounters that has taken hold within the Indian security forces seeking material rewards for their anti-terrorism operations;

- Evolve a humane national policy towards foreign migrant labour coming into India from neighbouring countries particularly migrant Muslims, if necessary by promoting a visa-free regime for South Asia;

- End the rampant corruption of border security forces that has criminalised the entire migration process and aggravated the problems of both migrants and host populations;

We on our part as citizens of India pledge to;

-     Fight the demonisation of Muslims and other communities in the country by the Indian state as also sectarian, communal political forces in the country;

-     Set up an independent Commission comprising retired judges, eminent intellectuals, retired police officials, and journalists to probe into atrocities and discrimination against Muslim as part of anti-terrorism operations;

ARE ALL THE POOR TARGETED IN INDIA?  I THINK IT MAY BE SO...

Some 27,000 landless people gathered in New Delhi, hoping to march to Parliament with a single demand � give us land. But police locked them up Monday, chaining the gates to the vast Ramlila fairgrounds and barricading the demonstrators inside.

Monday had been planned as the culmination of a monthlong, 185-mile march north from the city of Gwalior to the national capital with this message: The masses have been largely untouched by India's economic boom.

"Day-by-day the Sensex goes up but the common people get nothing from this," said Anil Gupta, a march organizer, referring to the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index, which closed at a record high Monday.

"People here are asking only for the basics. There is no greed. They don't want clothes or electricity, just land so they can feed themselves," he said.

After police barricaded the protesters inside the dusty fairgrounds Monday, they settled in, saying they would stay as long as it takes � at least they were getting one meal a day from the organizers. At home, they have nothing.

The call for land resonates in a country where some 70 percent of India's 1.1 billion people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, many eking out an existence as subsistence farmers or itinerant laborers.

Poverty is rife. About 450 million Indians live on less than $1 a day, according to the World Bank.

The march brought together India's traditionally landless people � the "untouchables" and tribals at the bottom of the country's complex social ladder � and the newly landless, forced from their fields by new economic projects.

Dherum joined the march in the jungles of India's Madhya Pradesh state, the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book." He feeds his five children on about 50 cents a day, made by selling firewood foraged from the jungles.

"I just want a small piece of land so I can grow some vegetables," said the 35-year-old, who like many from India's indigenous tribes goes by one name.

"My father died doing this work, I'll die doing this," he said. "Give us some land to farm, nothing else."

India is trying to attract foreign investment to spur its economy and help develop its largely backward infrastructure. In part, it has chosen to do this by setting up Special Economic Zones, where companies get tax breaks to open businesses and factories.

But critics say farmers are often forced from their land or cheated of its value when it is acquired for these projects.

Priya Bishnu's family has fished eastern India's massive Chilika Lake for prawns for centuries. But they left the area recently after large companies were granted the right to set up huge prawn farms in the lake.

"When the government gives the multinational companies land, where does it come from? That's our land," the 33-year-old said.

"It should be our right to fish the lake and sell the prawns," she said, sitting with other marchers under a sign of independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Their protest has been peaceful, in keeping with the passive resistance set out by Gandhi, but the fears and frustrations of others have overflowed into violence.

The government canceled a plan to acquire 22,000 acres of land in eastern India for a petrochemical plant and shipyard after the deaths of 14 farmers in clashes with police. Another 15 people have died in sporadic violence.

March organizers demand a national body be created to look into the land issue and amend India's vague property laws and endemic corruption that allow farmers to be strong-armed off their land by powerful landowners.

In an apparent answer to the protests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office announced late Monday that a National Land Reforms Council � with Singh as chairman � would be established. Officials in his office were not available to discuss details.

But activists were skeptical.

"They talk about helping the average man, but the policies are anti-poor," said Gupta, noting that legislation already enacted to provide land rights to the tribes has not been enforced.

"But when a multinational needs land, the government organizes everything for them," he said.

Hi Candid,

Am sorry for not replying u soon. As sometime either time doesn't permit or any. Khair, frankly speaking i had forgotten of this thread and did not even check this section since many days. Coming to your question , the above post is an example of how we defend. Now we don't trust the govt as we are always being used during elections. Though we are in minority, but our votes do matter. We are used only then.Anyways i shall write up again.