Mrs Zakia Jafri files her Protest Petition

April 15, 2013

Urgent: Press release

Mrs Zakia Jafri files her Protest Petition

A cold-blooded and clear-cut conspiracy to manipulate the tragic Godhra incident -- from the moment of the terrible news  -- was planned and executed by Chief Minister Mr Narendra Modi (Accused no 1), in close consultation, especially with then Health Minister Mr Ashok Bhatt (accused no. 2) , Urban development minister, IK Jadeja (accused no 3) and other co-accused cabinet colleagues and especially VHP leader Mr Jaydeep Patel (accused no 21), with whom the CM was first in touch with soon after the tragic Godhra incident. This was aimed at ensuring that the tragedy at Godhra becomes ready fuel for the meticulously planned massacre of innocent Muslims all over Gujarat.

Mrs Zakia Ahsan Jafri today filed her Protest Petition praying for the rejection in toto of the SIT final report dated 8.2.2012, making a cogent case for the charge-sheeting of all 59 accused listed in her complaint dated 8.6.2006, beginning with Mr. Modi the chief minister of Gujarat.

The protest petition that runs into 514 pages also has three volumes of annexures and ten CDs. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) with its entire legal team has assisted in this painstaking and voluminous exercise.

The Petitioner strongly argues that the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) had adequate documents and statements to come to a prima facie finding against all the accused. SIT, however decided to cover up the crimes and has gone out of its way to misguide the Court and give a clean chit to the accused.

Phone call records show Mr Modi (accused no 1, A-1) to have been in close touch with Mr Jaideep Patel (A-21) immediately after information of the Godhra tragedy comes in, even before he meets home department officials and ministers. Thereafter, there is a hasty and publicly conducted post-mortem at Godhra, out in the public against all law and procedure while a crowd of VHP workers was present. Mr Modi is present while this happens.

Thereafter, while passions are being cynically stoked, another sinister decision to hand over the dead bodies of Godhra victims to VHP strongman Mr Jaideep Patel (A-21) is taken at a mini-cabinet meeting presided by Mr Modi in Godhra, at which co-accused ministers are physically present. Mr Jaideep Patel too is present at the meeting. Then Godhra district magistrate, Mrs Jayanti Ravi has clearly stated that Mr Jaideep Patel was present at the meeting. 

The Protest Petition goes into great detail, relying on documents from the investigation papers, on how the administration and police were deliberately paralysed and neutralised by the conspiracy hatched by Mr Modi, Co-accused, then Gujarat DGP Mr K Chakravari (A-25), then police commissioner, Ahmedabad, PC Pande (A-29), then additional chief secretary, home, Mr Ashok Narayan (A-28) and other key members of the bureaucracy and police who connived as co conspirators in the conspiracy.

Key field reports from the SIB (state intelligence bureau) from all districts were given to the SIT by January 2010, i.e., full three and a half months before the SIT submitted its first investigation report to the Supreme Court on 12.5.2010. These reports reveal a grim ground level reality: gross provocations and bloodthirsty slogans by VHP workers from 4 p.m. onwards on the afternoon of 27.2.2002 (“Khoon ka badla khoon se lenge”, blood for blood) while Mr Modi had still not left for Godhra.  

Phone records of the chief minister’s office (CMO) reveal that he went to the airport to catch a helicopter for Godhra via Meghaninagar where the massacre at Gulberg society the next day was organized. Phone records of the CMO also show that after landing in Ahmedabad from Vadodara by aircraft (where he had travelled by road from Godhra on his return journey) too, Mr Modi and officials of the CMO who accompanied him are located at Meghaninagar late evening (mobile phone call records).

Just a week before the Godhra incident, on  22.2.2002, Mr Modi had won in the Rajkot bye-election by a slender margin (a few thousand votes). The glory of his victory had been dimmed with minority votes going heavily against him. Former CPI leader and later Parliamentarian from the Congress, Ahsan Jafri had been an active campaigner against Mr Modi in the bye-election lived in Gulberg Society, in Meghaninagar. 

In a sinister furtherance of the conspiracy, the late night meeting at Mr Modi’s residence effectively neutralised the police and administration from doing its constitutional duty. The Protest Petition states that the credibility of the evidence related to the critical 27.2.2002 meeting must be tested during trial and that it was not the job of the investigating agency to pre-judge the issue, acting like a court overstepping its jurisdiction to protect and save powerful accused. 

Evidence from Police Control Room (PCR) records submitted by Mr. PC Pande to the SIT after 15.3.2011 reveal cynical and cold-blooded mobilization of RSS workers and VHP men at the Sola Civil hospital from 4 a.m. onwards on 28.2.2002 in aggressive anticipation for the arrival of the dead bodies. Repeated PCR messages, that the home department under Mr. Modi (A-1, who held the home portfolio) and Mr PC Pande (A-21) were trying to conceal, show that both in Ahmedabad and in several locations all over Gujarat crowds were mobilized to aggressively parade bodies with bloodthirsty sloganeering, inciting mobs to attack innocent Muslims.

The then joint police commissioner, Ahmedabad, Mr Shivanand Jha, also an accused in the complaint (A-38), was jurisdictionally in charge of Sola Civil Hospital in Zone 1. As the messages extracted below show, repeated PCR messages desperately ask for bandobast; they speak of the staff and doctors of the hospital being under threat; of a 5,000-6,000 strong mob accompanying the bodies and finally one message also says that “riots have broken out.”

Yet Mr Modi, the entire Home department and the accused under him and individuals accused including Mr Chakravarti (A-25) and Mr PC Pande (A-29) in collaboration with the SIT have strived hard to conceal this evidence. While such aggressive funeral processions were allowed in Ahmedabad, an equally explosive situation prevailed simultaneously in Khedbrahma, Vadodara, Modasa, Dahod, Anand etc. A cynical government under Mr Modi and his co-accused conspirators has done their level best to conceal this evidence. 

The PCR records -- that the SIT was trying hard to conceal -- also reveal that while the Ahmedabad police under Mr PC Pande and the home department  under Mr Modi and then MOS, home Mr Gordhan Zadaphiya (A-5 ) had enough forces to escort a VHP leader known for his inciteful slogans, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, from the airport to the Sola Civil hospital to accompany the processionists, shouting filthy hate speeches and murderous slogans. But they did not have enough forces to send to Naroda Patiya where 96 persons were massacred in broad daylight (charge-sheet figures in the Naroda Patiya case, though more deaths have been recorded) and 69 persons at Gulberg society the same day and around the same time aggressive processions were being allowed. Mr Modi allowing and openly supporting the bandh and neutralising his administration, decided to give the RSS, VHP, BD mobs a free run of the Gujarat streets to massacre innocents. 

As bad or worse were the provocations and hate speeches that were cynically allowed and encouraged by Mr. Modi and his administration. PCR messages of Ahmedabad and SIB messages from all over the state are testimony to this incendiary mobilisation.

Warnings Ignored (from SIB and PCR messages)

12:30 pm on the 27th February: An SIB officer through fax no 525 communicated to the headquarters that there were reports that some dead bodies would be brought to Kalupur Hospital station in Ahmedabad city. "So communal violence will occur in the city of Ahmedabad; so take preventive action."

Another SIB message numbered as Out/184/02 again warned about communal incidents if bodies were brought to Ahmedabad. "Communal violence will occur in the city. So take preventive action."  The same message said that karsevaks had given explosive interviews to a TV station at Godhra and had threatened to unleash violence against the Muslims.  

At 1:51 hours and again at 1:59 hours on the 28^th February there were panic messages by wireless police vans positioned at Sola Hospital demanding immediate protection from Special Reserve Police platoons and the presence of DCP Zone 1.

Message at 2:44 hours on 28.2.2002: the motor cavalcade has reached Sola Civil Hospital.

Page No. 5790 of Annexure IV, File XIV reveals that at 04:00 am a mob comprising of 3,000 swayamsevaks, that is the members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had already gathered at the Civil Sola Hospital.

At 7.14 a.m. the PCR van again informs the Police Control Room that a large mob had assembled at the hospital. (Page 5796 of Annexure IV, File XIV of the documents).

Again, another message three minutes later at 7:17 a.m. (Page 5797 of Annexure IV, File XIV of the documents) says that a mob of 500 people was holding up the traffic.

Ten bodies were taken to Ramol, an area near Naroda and a massive funeral rally of over 5,000-6,000 mourners took the bodies to Hatkeshwar crematorium in the afternoon.

At 11:55 am a PCR message is sent out saying that the Hindu mob had become violent and had set a vehicle on fire and was indulging in arson on the highway.

Message at 11.55 a.m. on 28.2.2002 (Page No. 6162 Annexure IV File XV) saying that “Sayyed Saheb, the Protocol Officer had informed Sola-1 that riots have started at Sola civil hospital at the High Court where the dead bodies were brought.”

Again, there is another message with no indication of time (Page No..6172 of 28.2.2002) that states that the officers and employees of the hospital had been surrounded by a 500 strong mob and they could not come out”. The message also made a demand for more security for the civil hospital at Sola.

Annexure IV File XIV- Message No. 5907 and 5925 at 11:58 a.m. on 28.2.2002 shows that when 10 dead bodies were taken from Ramol Jantanagar to the Hatkeshwar cremation ground, a crowd of 5,000-6,000 persons accompanied this procession.

On the morning of 28.2.2002, a SIB message (on page 258 of Annexure III File XIX, message No. Com/538/28/2/02) says that a funeral procession was allowed to take place at Khedbrahma, a town in Sabarkantha district. The message adds that soon after the funeral procession 2 Muslims on their way to Khedbrahma were stabbed and the situation had become very tense.

The subsequent message at page No. 262 of the same file (Annexure III File XIX) mentions that 150 Bajrang Dal workers were on their way from Ayodhya to Khedbrahma.

Another message at page 254 (Annexure III file XIX) – Com/574/2002 sent out at 15.32 p.m. on 28.2.2002 states that one more victim of the tragic train burning at Godhra, Babubhai Harjibhai Patel, resident at Vaghrol, Tal. Vadali in Sabarkantha was brought back and a funeral procession was organised in the town.

Warnings about the deliberate mobilization

At page 365 of Annexure III File XXI( D-166) message No. 73/02 dated 28.2.2002 sent by the ACP(Intelligence) Surat Region to State Intelligence Bureau Headquarters at Gandhinagar, says that between 9-10 a.m. on the morning of 28.2.2002, a meeting was held at Sardar Chowk in Vapi Town where Dinesh Kumar Behri of VHP and Acharya  Brahmbatt of Bajrang Dal , Jawahar Desai of BJP and Vinod Chowdhary of RSS made inflammatory speeches regarding the incident at Godhra and called upon the Hindus to unite.  

Another message at page 188 in Annexure III, File XVIII sent at 20:38 hours on the day of the Godhra train burning tragedy, i.e., 27.2.2002, mentions the following: “Dilip Trivedi, the General Secretary of VHP and Joint Secretary Dr. Jaideep Patel and Kaushik Mehta in a Joint Statement issued by them have declared that innocent Ram Bhatt’s have been attacked and hence Gujarat Bandh has been declared. They have also stated that the attack on the Ramsevaks returning from Ayodhya was pre-planned by the Muslims. Innocent ladies were molested and compartments were set on fire and Ramsevaks were burnt alive.”  

The joint statement issued by the three senior-most office bearers of Gujarat VHP’s unit was clearly designed to stoke communal passion. A reasonable response would have been an immediate government clampdown on such public utterances and if required putting all these trouble makers under preventive detention.  But no such action was taken. The VHP called for a bandh on the 28^th February and the BJP, the ruling party, openly supported the bandh call. The State, instead of clamping down on the bandh call, gave the VHP leaders and its cadres a free reign and a license to kill. 

At page 345, the message titled Vardhi No. 24 contained in Annexure III File XIX dated 27.2.2002 sent from D.O., Ahmedabad to the Intelligence Office at Virangam (Virangam is in Ahmedabad rural district) stated that 50 to 75 members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal had gathered at Virangam town chali and in the Golwada area and the situation was very tense.

Another message in the same file, i.e., Annexure III, File XVIII (D-160) at Page No. 19 Message No. 531 ifrom SIB Police to KR Singh at 1810 hours on 27.2.2002 said that, “on 27.2.2002 at 4.30 p.m. when the train arrived at the Ahmedabad Railway station, the kar sevaks were armed with ‘dandas’ and shouting murderous slogans ‘khoon ka badla khoon’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.”  

Fax Mes. D-1/  HA/ Jaher Sabha/ Junagadh/ 311/02 dated.27.2.02 at10.12 pm sent by PI, CID, Int. Bhavnagar to IG, Guj. State IB, Gandhi Nagar said that Sadhu Samaj president Gopalnandji gave an agitated speech at Junagadh Kadva chowk, on dt.27.2.02 between19.30 to 21.00 hrs. The message then goes on to name specific local VHP leaders and says that they expressed their condolences to Kar Sevaks and then delivered hate speeches and urged all Hindus to unite and told the audience to chop the hands and legs of our enemies. They said in their speech that the incident that occurred at Godhra in the morning at 7.30a.m., yet there was no reaction from the Hindus which was very unfortunate. “Muslims who live in India with sincerity and patriotism, we don’t have any agitation against them. But we have objections against those who lived in India and favour Pakistan and carried out activities against the country. Anti- national activities are being done in Madrasas. We have objection against it. We do not have any kind of objection against spiritual religious education to the children. Pooja prathna at the temple and pray in the Masjid but Pakistan Zindabad is not right. Above mention ideas were expressed by them.” 

Fax Mes. Com/HM/550/ 02 Dt.27.2.02 23:59 Out No.398 from ACP, Int. G’nagar Region to IG, Guj. State IB, Gandhi Nagar says that 50 Karsevaks travelling by a special bus from Ahmedabad reached Modasa centre in village Vadagam at Taluka Dhansura at around 18:30 pm on 27.2.02. “They were received by a mob of 500 people and these kar sevaks addressed the mob and told the people how the compartment of Sabarmati Express was attacked. People present in the mob got excited and at 21:30 p.m. people from around the village gathered and the mob swelled to a huge size. To maintain law and order the force was not sufficient and about 10 paan bidi shops were set on fire. Vehicles like Jeep, Maruti and Ambassador were set on fire. Vehicles and shops seem to belong to Muslims. One Yasinbhai Multani’s shop at Kalol center TaKadi, Bavlu PS village Kalyanpur was burnt down by the mob”. 

Throughout February 28, 2002 while fires were set all over Ahmedabad city, PCR records show that repeated calls from different areas to the Fire Brigade drew went answered.

Table of Phone Records 

Call Type	Cell-No (Name)	Duration Secs	Date-Time	Dialed / Received No – Name
Outgoing	9825037439 A P Patel (Accused No 1, Mr Modi)	77	27.2.2002 09:39:38	9825023887 Mr Jaideep Patel VHP General Secretary (Accused No 21)
Outgoing	9825037439 A P Patel (Accused No 1, Mr Modi)	20	27.2.2002 09:41:39	9825023887 Mr Jaideep Patel VHP General Secretary (Accused No 21)

 The Protest Petition prays for the charge sheeting of all the accused, a transfer of the further investigation to an independent agency and an admitting of the Petition.

(Trustees, Citizens for Justice and Peace)

I.M. Kadri                   Taizoon Khorakiwala               Nandan Maluste     

Cyrus Guzder             Arvind Krishnaswamy             Javed Akhtar

Alyque Padamsee       Anil Dharker                          Ghulam Peshimam

Rahul Bose                 Javed Anand                            Teesta Setalvad

Cedric Prakash

The colour Maps attached are annexed to Protest Petition

HUMAN RIGHTS: THE BASIS FOR PEACE ON EARTH

On April 11th 2013, we observed the GOLDEN JUBILEE of 'PACEM IN TERRIS' the path-breaking and visionary Encyclical written by Pope John XX111. In 2005 ,I was invited by the GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY,USA to deliver its Annual "Pacem in Terris" lecture...here it is

HUMAN RIGHTS: THE BASIS FOR PEACE ON EARTH

- Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*

Dr. John J. DeGioia, The President of Georgetown University,

Fr. Phil Burroughs,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am extremely honoured and privileged to be invited by the Georgetown University to deliver a lecture in the Pacem in Terris series.  This premier institution has produced some of the finest people in the world; besides, those who have been invited to lecture in this series before me, are people of great eminence and standing. It is therefore with a sense of honour and humility, that I share with you this afternoon, my thoughts on "Human Rights : The Basis for Peace on Earth.”

At the outset, I would like to visit the situation and the times of  Pacem in Terris in order to understand its relevance for us today more than forty years later.  

            Pacem in Terris draws attention to three distinctive characteristics of the world of the early sixties.  First, the working classes were slowly emerging in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres as they insisted “that they be regarded as men with a share in every sector of human society" (# 40).   Secondly, women were "becoming ever more conscious of their human dignity" and claimed “both in domestic and in public life the rights and duties that befit the human person" (# 42) and thirdly, men and women all over the world desired “the rank of citizens in independent nations". The modern world, thus took "an entirely new appearance in the field of social and political life" (# 42). 

            It is indeed amazing that the very conditions, to which Pacem in Terris drew attention to forty-two years ago, are the very conditions which are prevalent in our world today which has become so fragmented due to consumerism and the ills of globalization, due to religious and ethnic violence, and due to war and terrorism. The end of the cold war broke down several barriers and this in turn saw the emergence of new nation States. This period has also been pock-marked with civil, religious and ethnic strife in several parts of the world. Like the times of  Blessed Pope John XXIII, which was the beginning of nuclear proliferation, Peace today,  for us remains as distant and elusive.  

Pope John XXIII makes human rights the bulwark of his encyclical saying that peace is possible only if and when the rights of every human being are addressed. Pacem in Terris goes on to list eight broad dimensions of human rights (most of them had earlier found expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) like the rights to proper development of life, to basic security and to religion and conscience. And emphatically stating that these rights are “universal, inviolable and inalienable”.

Pacem in Terris  therefore has its basis in Human Rights.  It observes that peace needs to be based on an order "founded on truth, built according to justice, vivified and integrated by charity, and put into practice in freedom". 

I need to situate and provide a focus for this lecture – and for me personally, there is no other reality that I know better, than my own home state of Gujarat in north-west India. It is not that the rest of the world does not need peace….. or that there are no human rights violations in other parts of the world…..But the fact remains that Gujarat today is a microcosm of what is India. Whatever happens in Gujarat is bound to have an impact on the rest of India. And if this impact happens to be negative then there will definitely be repercussions on the South Asian sub-continent. No, I am not politically naïve… The slogan on the walls of Ahmedabad was written in big and bold letters: “Gujarat today, India tomorrow!”

So I invite you in the course of this lecture to have a glimpse of Gujarat… to see how people yearn for peace and yet how this peace will never be attained until the rights of the poor, the weak, the marginalised, the minorities are addressed and respected in every possible way.

Truth, justice, love and freedom are human rights as we have said earlier. They also happen to be conditions for human rights. Join me then in journeying to see how each one of these dimensions is played out in Gujarat today.

           

 TRUTH

Pacem in Terris is very categorical in stating that peace needs to be based on an order founded on truth.

It was Gujarat that gave to the world, the apostle of truth and non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi. It was in Ahmedabad that he founded his Ashram on the banks of the river Sabarmati and for over a period of 14 years, he launched a movement which gave India her Independence in 1947 after years of colonial rule.  “Gandhiji” as he was fondly called, adopted his twin doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha (force of truth) from the Jain religion (which was founded by Lord Mahavir). The doctrine is simple: that if a human being or a society needs to triumph, it needs to base its efforts on means which are totally non-violent and in which truth will never be sacrificed at any cost. The combination proved lethal. Gandhiji triumphed, India won her freedom. However, the reality of Gujarat today is a far cry from the vision of Gandhi. Truth has been sacrificed at the altar of falsehood, deception and hate.

In 2002, Gujarat went through months of communal violence (In India we prefer to regard religious violence as communal violence because it is in fact a small group of fundamentalists who take law and order into their own hands. So it is not one religion fighting with the other as such but one small group claiming to represent that religion who adopt a very fundamentalist ideology) in what is regarded today as the Gujarat carnage. In the aftermath of the burning of the carriage of a train on Feb 27, 2002, in which about 60 people (mainly Hindus) were burnt to death, more than 2000 Muslims were mercilessly slaughtered in the city of Ahmedabad and in other parts of Gujarat State. Till today, it has not been established as to who was responsible for the burning of the train or if it was a mere accident. The fact that people had to die such a terrible death did receive all round condemnation.

At this juncture I would like to make a small digression. For the last several years, we have the emergence of a small Hindu right wing group in India that follows an ideology that is known as Hindutva; this in a way is not representative of the wider dimensions of the Hindu religion. Yet because of their ideology which is essentially one nation, religion, one culture and their desire to make India a Hindu nation state they have assumed the role of speaking on behalf of all Hindus. From the very fact that the vast majority of the Hindus do not subscribe to their ideology and their way of functioning is a clear indicator that this group is not representative but they have been responsible for a great deal of hate and violence mainly against the Muslims, Christians, Tribals and Dalits over the years. The same group is held responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Their posturing and publications constantly spew venom and they make no bones of the fact that they count Hitler as one of their ideologues.

But what was even more shameful and horrific was the manner in which Muslims were singled out, made responsible for the burning of the train and were brutalised in every possible manner, the details of which are too horrendous to enumerate at this point.  Human rights and other groups from Gujarat and the world over were forthright in their demand for wanting the truth of these massacres to be made public. More than three years down the road, the truth on this violence has not yet emerged. The people responsible, we know still roam the streets and some of them even hold high public office (Many of them motivated by the ideology of Hindutva).

The only consolation that one can have at this moment is that oft-said dictum “truth shall prevail.” This dictum is emblazoned on our national emblem: three standing lions which was a symbol of one of the most loved kings of India – the Emperor Ashoka. Below the symbol, Ashoka had the words Satyameva Jayathe meaning Truth shall triumph. For us Indians this is our most powerful and loved symbol.

Truth is also a culture and an attitude; something which has to be cultivated, a lesson which has to be taught and learnt.  We have classic examples even in this country of how a honest Abe rose to become the President of the United States. Today in Gujarat we educate our children (at a very impressionable age) with half truths, lies and prejudices which is a clear violation of a child’s right to be educated objectively and truthfully. I would like to highlight just a couple of examples from our Std. IX text book in Social Sciences (which was published by the Gujarat Government in June 2005). In the chapter on India’s freedom struggle, the role of Mahatma Gandhi (to whom I have just referred) is minimalised  and inspite of being widely regarded as the “Father of the Nation”, his picture does not figure among those who were supposed to have given freedom to India. Another noteworthy example, which might be of interest to this audience, is the section on Nazism and Hitler. Apart from the fact that both Hitler and his ideology are depicted in a rather positive manner, there is not a word mentioned about the concentration camps or the holocaust.

Truth is the first step in the acknowledgement of a wrong….towards reconciliation, harmony and peace.

Yes, human rights can flourish only in truth. But our reality is definitely a far cry from the beautiful prayer we say from one our sacred texts, the Upanishads:

“ From the untruth lead me to the truth

From darkness lead me to light

From death lead me to immortality”

JUSTICE

Pacem in Terris highlights the imperative for peace built according to justice.

It cannot be otherwise. Justice we are convinced is foundational to Peace. Only when there is justice we are able to ensure the protection of human rights.

A Citizens Tribunal headed by a former Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Krishna Iyer, has brought out a report entitled ‘Crime against Humanity’, in which several people from every strata of society have been indicted for the Gujarat Carnage. The report emphatically states that justice was a major casualty in Gujarat and unless justice was restored there would be no real peace in the state.

Today, the victims of the Gujarat carnage are still denied justice and more than 2000 cases have to come up for hearing in our courts. Everybody knows that the key persons responsible for the violence continue living their lives as though nothing had happened with total immunity and with impunity too.

How does one interpret a reality that if one is a Muslim in Ahmedabad today, one cannot buy a house or have a business establishment in the western upmarket part of the city; one necessarily has to be confined to a ghetto and in some of these ghettos, for example in Juhapura, which borders one part of the city of Ahmedabad, thousands of Muslims live without access to a public transport system, a public banking service or even a public water and drainage system.

The very same group (who obviously follow the Hindutva ideology and have constantly demonised Muslims and Christians) have also systematically marginalised the Dalits (low-caste) and the Adivasis (tribals) of our State. The rights guaranteed to them in our Constitution are constantly denied to them. It’s unbelievable but true that in many of our villages, a low-caste (Dalit) does not have the right to drink water from the well of a higher caste community. There is a concerted move to re-name Adivasis (orginal inhabitants of the land) as Vanvasis (dwellers of the forests). Its common knowledge that they resent the latter nomenclature for the simple reason is that once the forests disappear they will lose their identity. Their identity is with the land and there have been moves by the powers that control their destinies to take away the land in which they have lived for hundreds of years.

One can go on highlighting the injustices that are rampant in our society. Injustices which prevent a person from his or her holistic development; which keep people at the level of subjugation, which are an affront to human dignity.

LOVE

Love is the next dimension highlighted in Pacem in Terris. Pope John XXIII strongly asserts that peace has to vivified and integrated by charity. Love is foundational in Christianity and all the worlds’ religion emphasise this one single aspect of the human spirit. It is love that helps us establish relationships. It is love that breaks down barriers.

The sad part of it is that all this is easier said than done. In Gujarat, concerted efforts are made to instil hate, prejudice, and discrimination; the targets more often than not are those belonging to minority communities. An ideology which flaunts the one nation, one culture, one religion theory has no room for anyone else who thinks differently, worships differently or even dresses differently! The defining statement is that “since they are not ‘like’ us, therefore they are not ‘us’… they do not belong here.”

An effort was made to bring together several Hindus to help put a stop to the violence that had engulfed Gujarat in 2002; the stock responses of many educated well-to-do friends were often ridiculous and dangerous. “Look what they have done to the WTC in the United States”. “Why do they have to have four wives and so many children?” “They deserve this because they support Pakistan in cricket.” When middle of the road folk have such strong biases one cannot help but wonder whether there can be any concrete expression of love? And where there is no attitudinal change can we dare hope for Peace?

We experience hate and prejudice even among little children as the games they enjoy most are violent ones in which the person belonging to the “other” community becomes the victim, the hunted, the evil one. Similar games are played in Hindu areas and in Muslim areas. In the Hindu side it is the “Muslim” who always has to be killed and in the Muslim side the “Hindu” always has to be killed. Expletives and abuses are always with reference to the other side.

Discrimination and prejudice are manifested in a variety of ways: when children have to be admitted to a school, when the youth apply for a job and if for example, as I mentioned earlier, a Muslim intends to buy an apartment in the upmarket part of the city.

It is obvious then, that unless these barriers are broken, unless we are able to transcend the narrow confines of bigotry and hatred and move towards the expression and action of sincere acceptance and love, we will never have true peace.

FREEDOM

Peace has to be put into practice in Freedom. The words of John XXIII ring loud and clear even today.

On March 26^th, 2003, the Government of Gujarat unanimously passed the Freedom of Religion Act. This act is absolutely draconian in nature and goes against the constitutional freedoms guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and very specifically Article 25 which guarantees to every single citizen the right to preach, practice and/ or propagate his/ her religion. A significant point of this law is that if a person wants to change to another religion, then one necessarily has to take the permission of the civil authority; if this permission is not granted, and if one still changes then one is liable to a period of imprisonment and also to pay a heavy fine. An added clause to this that if the violator happens to be a minor, a woman, a tribal or a Dalit then the imprisonment and fine is just doubled. The irony is that even till today more than two years after the passing of this legislation, the rules necessary for governing the implementation of this law has not been framed, hence petty officials use this as the Damocles’ sword as was done to a groups of Dalits who wanted to convert to Buddhism recently.

Another dreaded law is the Prevention of Terrorism Activity (POTA) Over the past three years, this law in Gujarat has been selectively used only against the Muslims; they have been put in jail without giving them the possibility to apply for bail or to seek legal redress with the possibility of hearing their side of the story. One can go on illustrating example after example of how individual freedoms are trampled upon today. The fact remains that unless we create that environment in which every single citizen feels free and secure we will not be able to establish that freedom which our poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore prayed for in his celebrated epic Gitanjali (the song of God) which I use at the conclusion of this talk.

The challenges before us are many. As I said earlier, Gujarat is a great place and the idea why some of its negatives have been highlighted today is purely with a view that these need to be addressed in order to preserve the rich cultural heritage, the religious plurality and the tremendous diversity that exists in our society.

We need peace. But in order to have that peace, the rights of every single person have to be respected. Those rights which emerge from truth, justice, love and freedom.

In Sabarkantha District in the north of Gujarat, live a group of tribals called the Garasia Adivasis. Some of them still follow a tradition during the festival of Spring. On a certain day at the break of dawn, the whole village comes out to the beating of drums and loud shouts. They are in search of tiny black bird called “Devli”.  It normally nests in little thorny bushes. They easily find one and begin chasing it with their shouts and with the drumming. Since the Devli cannot fly high it ultimately falls panting with exhaustion and it is easily caught by a villager. Very ceremoniously the headman of the village to whom this bird is brought, feeds it with molasses and some butter. The bird is released and allowed to fly. The whole village waits with abated breathe to see where the bird will sit after the flight. If it sits on a dry branch, then that means the rain will not come and it will be a year of drought. If it sits on a green one it means good rains and a year of plenty. The story has a wonderful parallel in the ark of Noah which finds mention in the sacred texts of three of the world religions but of course there the bird is the dove with the olive branch.

In a way we are in a similar position today. We are not sure what the future holds for each one of us. But one thing is certain is that we who have gathered here do not have to rely on a little bird to tell us whether we can have peace on earth or not. We have the answer. It is an answer for which we need to take a stand and which has to be based on truth, justice, love and freedom. We need to create an ownership for them and make sure that these rights belong to all men and women of our times… only then we will have Peace on Earth.

As a conclusion, I invite you to pray with me the words of Rabindranath Tagore:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,

Where knowledge is free,

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls,

Where words come out from the depth of truth,

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection,

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sands of dead habit,

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action,

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!

Thank you very much!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This lecture was delivered as part of the “Pacem in Terris” series at the Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA on Monday, September 19, 2005.

*Fr. Cedric Prakash sj is the Director of PRASHANT, the Jesuit Centre of Human Rights, Justice and Peace based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, North-west India. He is a member of the Citizens for Justice and Peace that set up the Concerned Citizens Tribunal to look into the Gujarat Carnage which took place in 2002; he has also testified before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom on the carnage. He is actively involved in the issues related to communal harmony, justice and peace. Among the various awards he has received are the Kabir Puraskar from the President of India for the promotion of communal peace and harmony in 1995 and the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai award for Humanitarian Service by the Indian Muslim Council, USA in 2003.

PRASHANT – A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace

www.humanrightsindia.in, Email: sjprashant@gmail.com

Street Address: Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in-Road, Ahmedabad-380 052, Gujarat, India

Postal Address: P. Bo. 4050, Navrangpura PO, Ahmedabad – 380 009, Gujarat, India

Phone: 91 79 27455913, 55522333

Fax: 91 79 27489018

Pacem in Terris makes an exhaustive list of human rights which include the following:

1. rights to life and worthy standard of living, including rights to proper development of life and to basic security (#11).
2. rights of cultural and moral values, including freedom to search for and express opinions, freedom of information, and right to education (#'s 12-13).
3. rights to religion and conscience (# 14).
4. rights to choose one's state in life, including rights to establish a family and pursue a religious vocation (#'s 15 – 16).
5. economic rights, including right to work, to a just and sufficient wage, and to hold private property (@'s 18 – 22).
6. rights of meeting and association (# 23).
7. right to emigrate and immigrate (# 25).
8. political rights, including right to participate in public affairs and juridical protection of rights (#'s 26 – 27)

.  

In reality, what Modi does is not what Modi boasts by Neena Vyas

In reality, what Modi does is not what Modi boasts

April 11, 2013

Neena Vyas | Deccan Herald

It is elementary Dr Watson. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not in a loud declaration of being baked by a master chef, nor in detailing an elaborate recipe for its preparation.

Sherlock Holmes may well have made this comment to Dr Watson after hearing Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi speak at two different venues on April 8 in Delhi.

At a FICCI ‘ladies’ meet, Modi, naturally, chose to speak on women empowerment. And in the process was careful to hide the fact that his governance record in Gujarat since 2001 had little to show by way of gender development. And at the second event he focussed on a new mantra – minimum government, maximum governance – forgetting that Gujarat is a case of maximum government with minimum results in key sectors.

To the ‘ladies’ Modi mentioned that in the 18th century new-born girl babies were ‘drowned in milk,’ but in the 21st century would-be parents in India preferred to kill their unborn female children in the womb.

While he posed as the champion of the girl-child, what he did not say was that under his watch proud Gujaratis were killing more unborn female babies than before: the sex ratio in Gujarat worsened from 921 (per 1000 male births) in 2001 to just 918 in 2011. A marginal decline one could say, but significant since in that decade, the overall all India sex ratio improved from 933 to 940.

Several states, some less developed than Gujarat, put up a better performance to help move the all India figure in a positive direction: Assam improved sex ratio by 22 points from 932 to 954; Andhra Pradesh by 14 points from 978 to 992; Madhya Pradesh by 10 points from 920 to 930 thanks perhaps to the state government’s ladli laxmi yojana; and several other states like Karnataka, Himachal, Maharashtra bettered their 2001 sex ratio statistics by 3 to 4 points.

Modi spoke about matri shakti the power of the mother. But clearly, on the ground Modi’s government has not paid enough attention to reduction of maternal mortality rates. National Sample Surveys establish that in Gujarat MMR fell by 12 points between 2004-06 and 2007-09 from 160 to 148. But in the same period both Kerala and Tamil Nadureduced maternal mortality rates by 14 points each and Maharashtra brought it down by a good 26 points from 130 to 104. For every 100 maternal deaths in Maharashtra there are 145 in Gujarat!

Increase in suicides

Not only are more female babies killed and more mothers die in Gujarat relative to comparable states, the state’s record in female suicides is also not anything that Modi would like to shout about. The National Crimes Record Bureau statistics showed a 10.5 per cent increase in suicides in Gujarat in 2007 (with 28 per cent of these suicides by housewives) as compared to the All India increase of 2.2 per cent that year.

To understand Modi-style women empowerment, try to digest the hard fact he gave Mayaben Kodnani a ministerial berth as the women and child development minister when she was already facing charges of presiding over the gruesome massacres of women and children and large-scale rape in her constituency Naroda Patiya during the 2002 carnage. Additional principal judge Jyotsna Yagnik effectively gave her a 28-year sentence and pronounced her as the ‘kingpin’ of the carnage. Modi’s Mayaben must be the only minister for women in the world to have earned this distinction.

If Rahul Gandhi, the possible prime ministerial candidate of the ruling party in the 2014 election battle, has shown a penchant for being able to put his finger on the problem without offering any solutions, Modi seems to boast about the Gujarat development model he has perfected while ignoring the poor social indicators it has produced.

At the second event in Delhi – Think India Dialogue of Network 18 – Modi dwelt at length on his appealing formula of  ‘minimum government’ and ‘maximum governance.’ But has his government in Gujarat for the last 13 years achieved ‘minimum’ but effective governance in critical areas of education, health and wages? And anyone in his party in Gujarat will tell you that Modi’s is a ‘maximum government’ with all powers centralised in his hands.

Over the decade 2001 to 2011 Census figures show Gujarat has dropped to 17th from 18th state rank in literacy. In Per Capita Net State Domestic Product (PCNSDP) Gujarat held the 4th rank among states in 1996-97 and since then it has hovered between 6th and 7th rank whereas Maharashtra has climbed from the 3rd to 2nd rank and Haryana to the number one position as Punjab declined from the 1st position in 2001-02 to 4th in 2007-08.

As for health indicators, life expectancy in Gujarat is 10 years lower than in Kerala and about the same as the national average despite its claims about being a developed state. Several National Sample Surveys have indicated that malnutrition affects about 44.6 per cent of the people and 66 per cent children in the 0 to 5 years age group suffer from anaemia.

Planning Commission figures indicate poverty in Gujarat reduced from an incidence of 31.6 per cent to 23 per cent between 2004-05 and 2009-10, a drop of 8.6 percentage points (using the Tendulkar methodology at constant prices). In the period by the same methodology in Maharashtra poverty came down by 14 percentage points to 24.5 per cent. Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu both reduced poverty by 12 percentage points during this period.

The harsh fact is that under Modi – he has ruled Gujarat for 13 years while Manmohan Singh has been prime minister for nine – his state has not been able to bag the number one state ranking in any socio-economic indicator.

Sherlock Holmes may well have asked Modi: In which area Mr Modi, has your minimum government produced maximum result?

"I have a dream"-Martin Luther King jr

I HAVE A DREAM!

By The Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.Aug. 28, 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

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Bishop Thomas Macwan: A person for others!

Yesterday(April 1st 2013) the priests, religious and laity  felicitated Bishop Thomas Macwan on the completion of TEN years as Bishop of the AHMEDABAD Diocese, TWENTY-FIVE years as Priest and SIXTY years of age...Here is my TRIBUTE to him!-CP

Bishop Thomas Macwan: A Person for Others!

-Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*

There are several enduring and endearing qualities which characterise Bishop Thomas Macwan! As someone who has known him very closely for several years now, I would like to highlight three of these qualities which, in a way, are his forte:

• Bishop Thomas is a compassionate Pastor.

Bishop Thomas is truly a Pastor with a compassionate heart. In the most insignificant places in the rural parts of his diocese, among the poor and neglected or among the dying destitute of the Mother Teresa home, ‘Shanti Nilaya’, Bishop Thomas is completely at ease reaching out in a manner which few can do.  In this great gift of witnessing, he clearly shows that his compassion is for all, irrespective of the background of the person.

On February 28, 2012, when several groups and individuals came together to observe the tenth anniversary of the Gujarat Carnage, he made it a point to visit Gulberg Society to console the victim-survivors and to assure them that he stood by them in their quest for justice and for truth.

• Bishop Thomas consults.

Fifty years ago, Vatican II, gave the Church a new way of proceeding, as it tried to create a more participatory approach at every level of its functioning. Unfortunately, as we look back, the sad truth is that the Church today is hardly a participatory one. But taking a cue from the directives of Vatican II, Bishop Thomas has ensured that the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Priests Council and several of the Parish Councils in the Ahmedabad diocese are in place and even operational!

The high point, I guess in his consultative approach is to put together a ‘Think-Tank’ in the diocese which meets regularly to deliberate on matters concerning Church and Society and to see how best the Bishop and the diocese could respond to various situations.  This ‘Think-Tank’ is a fairly broad umbrella consisting of Priests and religious with no juridical standing; but in bringing together diverse minds, Bishop Thomas proves that the best way to run a diocese is through a consultative process.

• Bishop Thomas is a person of commitment. 

Commitment is another key quality of Bishop Thomas.  He is able to radiate this - both in small and big things.  If he knows that there is someone who is sick, old and lonely, he makes it a commitment to go and meet and spend some value time with that person.

`          

In one of the first CBCI General Body meetings in which he participated (in Trichur in 2004), all the Bishops of India had pledged to put together a Commission for Social Communications in their respective dioceses.  Today, thanks to Bishop Thomas, the diocese of Ahmedabad is one of the few dioceses, to have such a Commission (and which works)!

Much more can be said about Bishop Thomas but his three outstanding qualities are that he is a Bishop who with a compassionate heart, who has the humility to consult with others and above all with a high degree of commitment.

Bishop Thomas is truly a person for others!

(* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)

PRASHANT  
-  A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace
 Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat, India

Phone : +91  79   27455913,  66522333
Fax : +91  79  27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com
www.humanrightsindia.in

Reviewing RTE progress after THREE YEARS!!!

Cedric Prakash shared UNICEF India's album: Taking stock: Reviewing RTE progress after 3 years.

We continue to fail our children!

Primary education for the poor and vulnerable sections of society in Gujarat is in the doldrums!

Taking stock: Reviewing RTE progress after 3 years

Three years ago today, India, for the first time in history, made a promise to its children. With the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education coming into effect on April 1, 2010, every child was guaranteed the fundamental right to eight years of quality education — one that helps them to acquire basic literacy and numeracy, enjoy learning without fear, and feel valued and included irrespective of where they came from. March 31, 2013 represents an important milestone in implementation as it is the agreed deadline for meeting most of the targets set by the Act. Three years later, we have seen significant resource allocations to the education sector, substantive structural reform as well as countless stories of hope from the field. There remains, nonetheless, much to be done in order to achieve quality education with equity for every girl and boy across India. Text : Louis Georges Arsenault, Representative, UNICEF India

by: UNICEF India

Photos: 8