dryogeshgpatel

They forget their history

by *Arif M. Khan

The Kashmir Valley people seems to have sacrified their unique culture at
the altar of separatism*

*Kaabe mein budkade mein hai yeksan teri zia*
*Mein imtiaze dero haram mein phansa raha*

(The divine light equally illuminates the Kaaba and the house of idols
(temple), but woe to me that I remained obsessed with the differences and
distinctions between the two)

(Allana Iqbal)

Jonaraja, the 15th century chronicler of Rajatarangini, has recorded an
interesting dialogue between Sultan Shihabuddin (1354-73) of Kashmir and his
Minister, Udaysri. The Minister had suggested to the King to melt a grand
brass image of the Buddha and use the metal for minting coins. The
infuriated Sultan remarked: "The past generations have set up images to
obtain fame and even merit, and you propose to demolish them. Some have
obtained renown by setting up images of Gods, others by worshipping them,
some by duly maintaining them and some by demolishing them. How great is the
enormity of such a deed."

The words were the Sultan's, but it was the soul of Kashmir speaking through
him. It is a soul that is steeped in the ethos and morality of the Rishi
Movement. Kashmiris, regardless of their religious affiliation, revere
Lalleshwari (Lall Ded), the wandering Saivaite mystic woman, and Nund Rishi,
(Sheikh Nuruddin) the Muslim saint. This Guru -- disciple duo of the 14th
century have deeply impressed the collective Kashmiri psyche. Their sayings
in simple Kashmiri language are short, sweet, inspiring and laden with moral
and spiritual insights and are described as the 'pearls of Kashmiri
literature'. Two small couplets could help us appreciate their life-long
mission and the humanism they instilled in Kashmiris.

Lall Ded said:

*Shiva abides in all that is, everywhere*
*Then discriminate not between a Hindu and Muslim.*

Nund Rishi said:

*We belong to the same parents*
*Then why this difference*
*Let Hindus and Muslims worship God alone*
*We came to this world like partners*
*We should share our joys and sorrows together.*

This is the glorious heritage of Kashmir; a heritage rooted in the concept
of fellowship of adherents of various religious traditions. It is true that
the history of Kashmir mentions about the excesses of Suha Bhatt, an
overzealous neo-Muslim minister of Sultan Sikandar, but same accounts show
that Rishi Nuruddin boldly stood against 'forced conversions and orthodoxy'.
Till date, the name of Rishi Nuruddin commands respect and inspires
Kashmiris, whereas Suha Bhatt has been relegated to the dustbin of history.

The recent blooper by the J&K Government in the case of the Amarnath shrine,
when viewed in historic perspective, clearly shows a stark contrast between
the inanities of government and the sanity of public mind. The Muslim family
of Buta Malik has been guarding the Shrine of Amarnath since 1850 and
looking after the devout pilgrims. But the government of the state charged
with the responsibility to look after the welfare of any visitor not just
the pilgrims shamefully abdicated its duty in the face of threat from the
divisive and separatist elements.

On behalf of the outgoing government it has been asserted that the order
diverting land to the SASB was revoked "because of mischievous propaganda."
Further, it has been asserted that "while revoking it, the Cabinet gave an
equally good order which should have been hailed by the Hindu community. As
per the Cabinet decision, the Government made full commitment to discharge
all responsibilities of undertaking the creation of required infrastructure
and facilitating the welfare, safety and security of pilgrims during the
entire period of the Yatra."

The issue at stake is not about some facilities for the pilgrims or lack of
it. In fact the mindset of pilgrims is such that they equate physical
discomfort with religious merit. But the crucial question is whether the
governments will take their decisions on merit or vacillate whenever faced
with communal and separatist threats. To dub these threats as 'mischievous
propaganda' is itself mischief and an attempt at diverting attention from
the real aim and object of forces inimical to the unity and integrity of
India. Secondly if those who were at the helm of affairs knew that the
opposition to the 'land order' was nothing but 'mischievous propaganda',
then they should have exposed the mischief by firmly enforcing their
decision. It defies all logic that the government should revoke its decision
under their pressure and thus vest them with enhanced credibility and
respectability.

George Santayan has said that "progress far from consisting in change,
depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it." If there is one basic lesson that we can learn from our
recent history is that you cannot ensure peace and harmony by accommodating
the demands of communal and separatist forces. All through the first half of
twentieth century we were given a choice between accommodation and
separatism, we kept making accommodation and finally we had accept full
blown separatism in the form of partition of the country.

Similarly, in 1986 when the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Shah Bano
was opposed, the government succumbed to the pressure and decided to bring a
new legislation to render the court judgment ineffective. On that occasion
it was worth noting that every Minister of the Government who stood up to
speak in Parliament defended not the new measure on merit, but talked about
intelligence reports and apprehended threats to the security. The result is
for everyone to see, the threats have increased multifold, the politics has
become totally communalized and Congress that had more than 400 seats in Lok
Sabha has never recovered since then. The present imbroglio created by the
Jammu and Kashmir government is another Shah Bano in the making and can have
very serious and unpredictable consequences for the country if corrective
measures are not taken at the earliest.

Finally it must be said that the common man should not be made to suffer on
account of the follies of politics and politicians. It cannot be accepted
that the good commonsense of Indians has come to an end. India is gifted
with the quality of producing right man at the darkest hour to retrieve the
situation. The situation is grim but there is no reason to give up hope and
confidence that we shall come out of this mess and shall emerge as a nation
more united and integrated.

As far as Kashmir is concerned, the eclectic and syncretic teachings of the
Kashmiri Rishis had produced a tremendous social, moral and spiritual
movement and fashioned a distinct Kashmiri way of life, that was almost
totally free from any communal hatred or violence. It was not just the
physical beauty but the peaceful Kashmiri way of life that Kashmir gained
the reputation of being paradise on earth. The last two decades of violence
and terrorism have caused a temporary setback to centuries old Kashmiri
values of peace, harmony and goodwill, but again there is every reason to
believe that the ever living influence of the Rishis shall reassert itself
to claim the paradise back to its old way of life.

--*The writer is a former Union Minister*

* *

http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=oped&file_name=opd2.txt&counter_img=2

RAMAYNA SITES IN SRILANKA

2008-05-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

The site http://www.tourslanka.com/ramayana-sri-lanka.php has somewonderful information about Ramayana sites in Sri Lanka.

http://www.tourslanka.com/ramayana-sri-lanka.php

New Clock- Amazing

2008-04-06T23:20:00.002-07:00

1st Line is Sec's 2nd Line is min's 3rd line is Hrs. 4th Line is Days 5th Line is months 6th Line is Years This is the COOLEST clock I have seen yet!! A new one!! Look closely at it!! Amazing!!

http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf

India needs to change its Tibet policy

2008-04-06T23:20:00.001-07:00

India needs to change its Tibet policyRajiv Sikri March 27, 2008 15:35 ISTRecent events in Tibet have put an uncomfortable spotlight on China. Although the Tibetan uprising appears to have been put down for the moment, the Tibet story is not over. Troubles could erupt again. The world and the people of China realise that China's Tibet policy has been a failure. A group of eminent Chinese writers and intellectuals have shown the courage to publicly question the Beijing regime's Tibet policy. The psychological impact of developments in Tibet could be debilitating for China in the long term. It could inspire other disaffected ethnic groups in China like the Uighurs to try to coalesce with Tibetan groups, both within China and abroad. The more repression there is within China, the less credible is China's claim of 'peaceful rise'. Tibet may well hold the key both to China's internal stability and Hu Jintao's political longevity. No wonder Beijing is hysterical and considers Tibet a 'life-and-death' question.The settlement of the India-China border and the status of Tibet are interlinked issues. Unless there is all-round agreement that Tibet is a part of China, there is only an India-Tibet boundary, not an India-China boundary. By the crude and aggressive reiteration of its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, China has already ruled out any early settlement of the boundary question with India; recent events in Tibet would only reconfirm Chinese thinking not to settle the border with India unless it has Tibet firmly under its control. Therefore, India should deal with China with this perspective clearly in mind. Although it has already extracted significant concessions from India on Tibet, China remains uncertain and anxious about India's Tibet policy. The Dalai Lama's periodic statements, including recently, that India's policy on Tibet is over-cautious reinforce China's suspicions and fears. The failure of six rounds of talks between the representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government seem to indicate that the Chinese leaders have made up their minds that a satisfactory solution to Tibet, from China's point of view, is unlikely while the present Dalai Lama is still alive. China's mistrust of the Dalai Lama has only intensified after the recent troubles. Yet, contrary to what the Chinese government may be thinking, a post-Dalai Lama situation may become more radicalised, unpredictable and violent.In India's relations with China, Tibet is a key issue that requires skilful handling by India. India has recently taken some welcome tentative steps to review its Tibet policy. The first move was made in January when the statement issued at the end of Indian prime minister's visit to China did not carry any reference to Tibet. It is not clear whether this was a deliberate policy move, or a one-off measure. The widespread disturbances in Tibet in March provide an opportunity for India to continue with its subtle policy shift. India's official statement on March 15, was a step in the right direction. Firstly, clearly refuting official Chinese propaganda, it stated that "innocent people" had died in Lhasa. Secondly, by expressing its "hope that all those involved will work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet� through dialogue and non-violent means," New Delhi has conveyed its message to Beijing that there is merit in the demands of Tibetans, that the onus is on Beijing to find a solution, and that such a solution requires dialogue, not use of force. In describing the Dalai Lama as a man of non-violence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has clearly conveyed that India does not endorse the harsh and vituperative official Chinese denunciations of the Dalai Lama. China's recent offensive and patronising approach and behaviour about India's stand on Tibet, including summoning the Indian Ambassador in the middle of the night, required an appropriate riposte. It is good that India has put off Commerce Minister Kamal Nath's visit to China. At the same time, India has sought to reassure China that India considers Tibet as "an autonomous region of China." One hopes that in the coming months the government gives its Tibet policy a clearer strategic direction.While formulating its policy on Tibet, India has to keep in mind that it is uniquely placed vis-�-vis Tibet, and therefore must have a unique policy that conforms to its national interests, irrespective of what the rest of the world says or does. No other country has as important stakes in peace and stability in Tibet as India does. A Tibet in ferment makes India's Himalayan frontiers unstable and insecure. As a democratic country that is hosting such a large number of Tibetans, India has a legitimate interest in what happens in Tibet. Since developments in Tibet have direct consequences for India, Tibet cannot be, as the Left parties in India make out, just an internal matter of China. If there is a severe crackdown on the Tibetans, it is likely to lead to an increased Chinese military presence in regions close to India's borders, which would have implications for India's own defence planning. It will also inevitably trigger off a fresh influx into India of Tibetan refugees, whom India would find it difficult to turn away on practical and humanitarian grounds.In subsequent official statements and/or through authoritative but deniable unofficial channels, India could emphasise that while it firmly upholds the principles of supporting the territorial integrity of duly constituted states and non-interference in other states' internal affairs, its own experience shows that the peace and stability of multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural societies requires dialogue and accommodation within a democratic framework. Ethnic and separatist problems require political solutions that give every citizen the confidence of being an equal stakeholder in the state. India expects that China would put in place policies that would stabilize Tibet and give the Tibetan Diaspora in India the confidence that they can return to their homeland.India needs to take full advantage of an important nuance, perhaps unintended, in India's acceptance of Tibet as a part of China: India has merely conceded that the "territory of the Tibetan Autonomous Region is a part of the People's Republic of China;" it has not accepted that Tibet (whose borders historically and in the minds of the Tibetans extend beyond the Tibetan Autonomous Region) was always a part of China. As a matter of fact, Tibet was quite independent of Chinese rule and had all the attributes of a sovereign state between 1913 and 1950. Traditionally, thousands of Indian pilgrims have made pilgrimages to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar lakes in Tibet without needing any permission from the Chinese authorities. If China can lay claim to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on the grounds of its cultural, historical and spiritual links with Tibet, the case for India's claim to Kailash-Mansarovar region on similar reasoning is probably more substantive. Secondly, if at any time in the future the People's Republic of China were to give way to another entity India could well argue that it is not obliged to recognize Tibet as a part of any new political entity of China. Of course, this is a hypothetical scenario, but the Chinese would not miss such nuances and subtleties. India needs to take a leaf out of China's book in the matter of observance of solemn bilateral commitments. Just as China, contrary to the agreements with India in 2003 and 2005, has re-opened very aggressively its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, has still not fully accepted Sikkim as a part of India, and does not want an early settlement of the boundary question, India too should subtly reopen the whole question of the legitimacy of China's claim to Tibet, which is the basic foundation for China to make any territorial claim on India. There could be many ways in which India could introduce some nuances in its traditional policy. For example, India could state that it considers Tibet, as an autonomous region, to be a part of the territory of the People's Republic of China -- the implication being that it is only if Tibet is a truly autonomous region that India recognises it as a part of China. Ironically, China, in welcoming the Indian approach during the recent uprising, has given legitimacy to India's unofficial policy shift. The Chinese should be made aware that subtle shifts in India's Tibet policy will continue, and that India will remove the ambiguities in its Tibet policy only under the following conditions: firstly, if the situation on the ground permits it (very unlikely if China persists with its present repressive policies); secondly, if there is a definitive settlement of the boundary issue; and, finally, only as a quid pro quo for China recognising all of Jammu & Kashmir as an integral part of India. It is time for India to get out of its defensive mindset and timid approach in dealing with China. There are vital national security interests at stake. Relations with China must be handled from a strategic, not a legalistic, perspective. The approach India follows should be multi-dimensional. India does want better relations with China, but it must also evolve a calculated and calibrated policy to put China under some pressure to safeguard its interests and concerns.URL for this article:http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/mar/27guest.htm

The sacrifice of Tibet: Extraordinary delusions and temporary insanity

2008-04-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

The sacrifice of Tibet: Extraordinary delusions and temporary insanityRajeev Srinivasan March 25, 2008 16:33 ISTOn November 18 every year, I silently salute the brave souls of C Company, 13th Kumaon Regiment, who in 1962 died practically to the last man and the last bullet defending Ladakh against the invading Chinese Army. These brave�114 inflicted heavy casualties and prevented the Chinese from overrunning Leh, much like Spartans at Thermopylae held the line against the invading Persians many moons ago.But have you ever wondered why these brave men had to sacrifice themselves? One answer seems to be that is because of the extraordinary delusions that affected a number of the dramatis personae on the Indian side: notably Jawaharlal Nehru, KM Panikkar and VK Krishna Menon.A deadly combination of blind faith, gross megalomania, and groupthink led to the debacle in the war in1962; but its genesis lay in the unbelievable naivete that led these worthies to simply sacrifice a defenseless sister civilisation to brutal barbarians.Furthermore, they were far more concerned about China's interests than about India's! Generations to come will scarcely believe that such criminal negligence was tolerated in the foreign policy of a major nation.In a well-researched book, timed for the one hundredth anniversary of the opening of Tibet by the British, Claude Arpi, born in France but a long-term resident of India, and one of India's leading Tibet and China experts, argues that India's acquiescence to the enslavement of Tibet has had disastrous consequences. The book is Born in Sin: The Panchsheel Agreement subtitled The Sacrifice of Tibet, published by Mittal Publications, New Delhi, 2004, pp. 241, Rs. 495, ISBN 81-7099-974-X. Unless otherwise noted, all of the quotations here are from this book.Arpi also touches upon the difficulty scholars face with piecing together what actually happened in those momentous years leading to the extinction of Tibet and the India-China war of 1962, because the majority of the source materials are held as classified documents in the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund or the Ministry of External Affairs.The historian is forced to depend on the sanitised Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru and the restricted Official Report of the 1962 War. If the relevant documents were made public at the very least we might learn something from them. Where is Aruna Roy, crusading champion of the people's right to know who has now accepted a sinecure under the UPA? Why are the Nehru Papers controlled by Sonia Gandhi?The story really begins exactly one hundred years ago, in September 1904, when the British Colonel Francis Younghusband entered Tibet and forced the hitherto insular kingdom open at the point of a gun. The Lhasa Convention of 1904, signed by the British and the Tibetans, put the seal of British overlordship over Tibet. The parallels with Commodore Perry of the US and his black ships opening up Japan are obvious. However, unlike Japan, which under the Meiji Restoration took vigorously to westernisation, Tibet continued to distance itself from the outside world, much to its later disadvantage.Perhaps we need to look further in history, as Arpi did in his earlier book, The Fate of Tibet: When Big Insects Eat Small Insects. The Tibetans were a feared, martial and warlike race that had always, in its impregnable mountain fastnesses, held the expansionist Han Chinese at bay. However, in the 7th century CE, Buddhism came to Tibet, and they became a pacifist nation. Says Arpi: 'Tibet's conversion had another consequence on its political history: a nonviolent Tibet could no longer defend itself. It had to look outside for military support to safeguard its frontiers and for the protection of its Dharma. This help came first from the Mongol Khans and later the Manchu Emperors when they became themselves followers of the Buddha's doctrine.'The sum and substance of China's alleged historical claim to Tibet is this: that the Mongol Khans had conquered both China and Tibet at the same time. This is patently absurd, because by the same token India should claim Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong as its own, because India and these territories were under British rule at the same time.In fact, since the Mongol Khans and the Manchu Emperors accepted the Dalai Lama as their spiritual preceptor, it is clear that it was China that was giving tribute to Tibet, not vice versa: so Tibet could claim Han China as its vassal.The Lhasa Convention was followed by the Simla Convention in 1914 that laid out the McMahon Line defining both the Indo-Tibetan border, and the division of Tibet into 'Outer Tibet' (which lies along the border with India) and 'Inner Tibet' which includes Amdo Province and part of Kham Province. It is worthwhile to note that the Chinese were not invited to discuss the McMahon line, nor was their acceptance of this line sought. Tibetans signed this treaty as an independent nation. The British government emphasised this in a note to the Chinese as late as 1943: 'Since the Chinese Revolution of 1911,... Tibet has enjoyed de facto independence.'When India became independent, K M Panikkar wrote: 'A China [organised as a Communist regime annexing Mongol, Muslim and Tibetan areas] will be in an extremely powerful position to claim its historic role of authority over Tibet, Burma, Indo-China and Siam. The historic claims in regard to these are vague and hazy�' Yet soon thereafter Panikkar became the principal spokesperson for China's interests, even though his job was Indian Ambassador to China!As soon as the Communists came to power, in 1950, they started asserting their claims: 'The tasks for the People's Liberation Army for 1950 are to liberate [sic] Taiwan, Hainan and Tibet.' A Scottish missionary in Tibet said the PLA officers told him that once Tibet was in their hands, they would go to India.On October 7, 1950, Mao Tse-Tung's storm troopers invaded Tibet. But under Panikkar's influence, Nehru felt that the loss of Tibet was worth the price of liberating Asia from 'western dominance'. Panikkar said: 'I do not think there is anything wrong in the troops of Red China moving about in their own country.'Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the few in the Indian government who recognised the menace from China. He wrote:'We also have to take note of a thoroughly unscrupulous, unreliable and determined power practically at our doors� [It is clear that] we cannot be friendly with China and must think in terms of defense against a determined, calculating, unscrupulous, ruthless, unprincipled and prejudiced combination of powers, of which the Chinese will be the spearhead� [It is obvious to me that] any friendly or appeasing approaches from us would either be mistaken for weakness or would be exploited in furtherance of their ultimate aim.'How prophetic Patel was! Unfortunately, he died soon after he wrote this. Interestingly, the very same words apply in their entirety to India's dithering over Pakistan today,�54 years later. The Pakistanis are also exploiting India's appeasement and friendliness.But Nehru, it appears, had decided to sacrifice Tibet, partly in order to appease China, partly because of his distaste for what he considered 'imperialist treaties' (in this case the Lhasa Convention that gave enormous rights in Tibet to the British, and, as their successor, to the Indian government) and partly in order to act as mediator between China and the West over the Korean War.Observers could see what was going to happen. The American ambassador Henderson noted: 'The UK High Commission would like to be able to argue with Indian officials that if GoI bows to Communist China's blackmail re Tibet, India will eventually be confronted with similar blackmail not only re Burma but re such areas as Assam, Bhutan, Sikkim, Kashmir, Nepal.' Absolutely correct, for this is exactly what is happening today.Nehru and Panikkar simply did not see the threat from China, so enamoured were they of the great Communist Revolution there. Nehru said: 'The biggest event since the last War is the rise of Communist China'. Part of his admiration arose from his distaste for the Buddhist culture of Tibet: 'We cannot support feudal elements in Tibet, indeed we cannot interfere in Tibet'. Now doesn't that sound exactly like Xinhua propaganda, which Nehru seems to have internalised?A Canadian high commissioner had a different theory: '[Panikkar] had no illusions about the policies of the Chinese government and he had not been misled by it. He considered, however, that the future, at least in his lifetime, lay with the communists, and he therefore did his best to get on well with them by misleading Nehru'. That might be considered treason in certain circles.Whatever the reason, we can see why Zhou-en Lai is rumored to have referred to the Indians in general and Nehru in particular as 'useful idiots'. (There is no reference to this in the Arpi book). In every discussion with Panikkar, the Chinese hosts smilingly avoided the question of settling the border, but they made sure that India acknowledged Chinese hegemony over Tibet. The Indians were thoroughly outsmarted, partly because they were willing victims dazzled by the idea of Communism.When confronted with the question of the undefined border, Nehru said, "All these are high mountains. Nobody lives there. It is not very necessary to define these things." And in the context of whether the Chinese might invade India, here's Nehru again: "What might happen is some petty trouble in the borders and unarmed infiltration. To some extent this can be stopped by checkposts� Ultimately, however, armies do not stop communist infiltration or communist ideas� Any large expenditure on the army will starve the development of the country and social progress."The naivete leaves the neutral observer speechless. What might be even more alarming is that there are supposedly serious Old Left analysts today, in 2004, who mouth these same inanities about not spending money on the Indian Army. Why they do not take their cue from China, with its enormous Army, is mysterious, because in all other respects they expect India to emulate China. Except that is, no nukes, no military might for India.By not asserting India's treaty rights in Tibet, which would have helped Tibet remain as a neutral buffer zone, Nehru has hurt India very badly. For, look at what is happening today. Nepal is under relentless attack by Maoists, almost certainly supported by Chinese money. Large parts of India are infested with violent Maoists. Much of West Bengal is under the iron grip of Marxists, who clearly take orders from Beijing.It is in this context that the so-called Panchsheel Agreement was written. Given that the Indian side had a priori decided to surrender all its rights to the Chinese, in return for vague promises of brotherhood, it is perhaps the most vacuous treaty ever signed. However, Nehru opined: "in my opinion, we have done no better thing than this since we became independent. I have no doubt about this�I think it is right for our country, for Asia and for the world."Famous last words.Nehru believed that the five principles which are referred to as Panchsheel were his personal, and major, contribution to world peace. Based on his impression of his stature in the world, he thought that the Panchsheel model could be used for treaties all over the world, and that it would lead to a tremendous breaking out of peace everywhere.Nehru was sadly mistaken. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the principles themselves: they were not his invention, but were merely common-sense provisions used widely. And he had a megalomaniac idea of his own influence around the world: he did not realise that he cut a slightly comical figure. In his own mind, and in the minds of his toadies, he was the Emperor Ashoka returned, to bring about World Peace.Here are the Five Principles:1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty2. Mutual non-aggression3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs4. Equality and mutual benefit5. Peaceful co-existenceThe Chinese immediately violated every one of these principles, and have continued to do so happily. For instance, even while the treaty was being negotiated, the Chinese were building a road through Aksai Chin in Jammu and Kashmir, and in perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of this whole sorry mess, India was actually supplying rice to the Chinese troops building the road through Indian territory! This is distinctly surreal!The problem was that Nehru had no sense of history. He should have read RC Majumdar: "There is, however, one aspect of Chinese culture that is little known outside the circle of professional historians� It is characteristic of China that if a region once acknowledged her nominal suzerainty even for a short period, she would regard it as a part of her empire for ever and would automatically revive her claim over it even after a thousand years whenever there was a chance of enforcing it."And this was the 'ally' Nehru found against the 'imperialists' of the West! He went so far as to decline a seat at the UN Security Council because the China seat was held by Taiwan. He did not want India to be in the Security Council until China was there too!Since many people are curious about this, here is chapter and verse: it is in the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Series II, Vol. 29, Minutes of meeting with Soviet Leaders, Moscow, 22 June 1955, pp. 231. Here is the conversation between Nehru and Soviet Premier Marshal Bulganin:"Bulganin: While we are discussing the general international situation and reducing tension, we propose suggesting at a later stage India's inclusion as the sixth member of the Security Council.Nehru: Perhaps Bulganin knows that some people in USA have suggested that India should replace China in the Security Council. This is to create trouble between us and China. We are, of course, wholly opposed to it. Further, we are opposed to pushing ourselves forward to occupy certain positions because that may itself create difficulties and India might itself become a subject of controversy. If India is to be admitted to the Security Council it raises the question of the revision of the Charter of the UN. We feel that this should not be done till the question of China's admission and possibly of others is first solved. I feel that we should first concentrate on getting China admitted."The casual observer might wonder whether Nehru was India's prime minister, or China's. Besides, the Chinese have now repaid all this support. India insisted that India should not be in the Security Council until China was in it, too. Now China insists that India should not be in the Security Council until Pakistan is in it, too. Seems fair, doesn't it?What is the net result of all this for India? It is a strategic disaster. Forget the fact that the Tibetan civilisation has been decimated, and it is an Indic civilisation with practically no relationship to Han Chinese civilisation. Strictly from India's security perspective, it is an unmitigated catastrophe.Analyst Ginsburg wrote in the fifties: 'He who holds Tibet dominates the Himalayan piedmont; he who dominates the Himalayan piedmont, threatens the Indian subcontinent; and he who threatens the Indian subcontinent may well have all of Southeast Asia within his reach, and all of Asia.'Look at the situation in Tibet today.• The Chinese are planning the northward diversion of the Brahmaputra, also known as the Tsangpo. This would make North India a desert • The Chinese have on several occasions used 'lake bombs' to flood Indian territory: as the upper riparian state based on their occupation of Tibet, they are able to do this, for example on the Sutlej • Hu Jintao, who was the Butcher of Tibet, is now a top strongman in Beijing. Under his sponsorship, a railway line will be finished in 2007 linking Lhasa to eastern China. This would be an excellent mechanism for bringing in both largenumbers of Han immigrants to swamp the remaining Tibetan people, and also to deploy mobile nuclear missiles • The Chinese are deploying advanced nuclear missiles in Tibet, aimed at India, Russia and the US. With the railway line, they will be able to move these around and even conceal them quickly in tunnels and other locations • The Chinese dump large amounts of nuclear waste in Tibet, which will eventually make its way down to India via the rivers • The India-Tibet border is still not demarcated.It is difficult to imagine a more disastrous foreign policy outcome than what happened between India and China. Claude Arpi is owed a debt of gratitude by all of us in India who care about the nation's progress and even its survival. If the rather well-thought-of founding prime minister of the country was so uncaring about India's interests, one shudders to think what might be going on today with some of the ministers who are accused in criminal cases.But even more than that, Arpi's detailed analysis and painstaking research on the process through which Tibet was enslaved is an instructive case study in how barbarians are always at the gates, and how, as Will Durant said, 'Civilisation is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within'.One of the profound lessons to be taken away is that it is the lack of respect for the spiritual that has led to this cataclysm. As Ministry of External Affairs observer, Apa Pant, pointed out about Tibet and the Han Chinese colonisation: 'With all its shortcomings and discomforts, its inefficiencies and unconquered physical dangers, here was a civilisation with at least the intention of maintaining a pattern of life in which the individual could achieve liberation� The one so apparently inefficient, so human and even timid, yet kind and compassionate and aspiring to something more gloriously satisfying in human life; the other determined and effective, ruthless, power-hungry and finally intolerant... In the corridors of power [in official India], Tibet, Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, were all regarded as ridiculous, too funny for words; useless illusions that would logically cease to exist soon, thanks to the Chinese, and good riddance.'In the final analysis, Tibet was lost because those in power in India were dismissive of matters spiritual. It is the Empire of the Spirit that has made India what she has been all these millennia, and once the rulers start dismissing that, it is clear that we are in the Kali Yuga, the Dark Ages. It is the end of living, and the beginning of survival.URL for this article:http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/mar/25rajeev.htm

PETITION TO BUSH TO BOYCOTT BEIJING OLYMPICS

2008-04-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

KatariaN@aol.com

Dear Colleagues:

PETITION TO GEORGE W. BUSH TO BOYCOTT 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS FOR SIGNATURE PLEASE

Enclosed herewith please find the URL for the Petition to President George W. Bush to Boycott 2008 Beijing Olympics.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Kataria/petition.html

You are requested to please spare a few moments and sign the petition by clicking on the URL.

Best regards.

Narain Kataria

__________________________________________

http://www.petitiononline.com/Kataria/petition.html

LIPOSUCTION— POWER ASSISTED LIPOSUCTION - PAL

2008-03-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

SATYA HOSPITAL

DEPARTMENT OF COSMETIC and PLASTIC SURGERY

DR YOGESH PATEL MS., M.Ch. COSMETIC & PLASTIC SURGEON

DR GEETA PATEL MS. SURGEON

LIPOSUCTION— POWER ASSISTED LIPOSUCTION - PAL

This brochure will give you a basic information of the Liposuction procedure.

What is Liposuction

Many persons can accumulate extra fat that is resistant to exercise and diet. If diet & exercise cannot remove this resistant fat on your hips or belly, you may be able to get rid of that localized area of fat through cosmetic surgery – body contouring surgery.

Liposuction is a cosmetic surgical procedure that vaccums out fat from beneath the skin to reduce fullness in specific areas. Although liposuction can produce permanent changes in body contour. It is a sculpting technique that can improve body proportions, and help to make clothing fit better.

Liposuction recontours the body by removing some number of fat cells. The number of fat cells n an adult is said to be constant. When weight is gained, those fat cells simply grow in size. How many and where fat cells are distributed is determined by factors like genes, and some people tend to have more fat cells in some body areas than others. If an area such as the lower abdomen, flanks, hips, buttocks or thighs have excess numbers of fat cells as compared to the rest of the body, these areas will always be out of proportion. Liposuction pemantly removes such cells. While this is not a protection against generalized weight gain, the area that has been suctioned will remain proportionately smaller forever. Liposuction surgery is also effective treatment for enlarged female breasts and male breast ( Gynecomastia ). Removal of fat is considered permanent, however, if you gain weight the fat will go to another location. Fat possibly can return in the same area that was liposuctioned but not to the same extent. It is important to keep in mind that liposuction has limitations. It will only remove fat under the skin. It will not remove fat that is inside the abdomen or under muscle. Liposuction will not change bone structure either. Therefore, your results may be limited to your own body structure.

Megaliposuction is removing large amount of fat for treatment of obesity, to reduce weight.

The Ideal candidates

Liposuction is most effective for removing localized fat deposits that do not respond to diet or exercise. liposuction is a contouring procedure. The best candidates for liposuthon are normal weight people with an elastic skin, reasonable muscle tone who have pockets of fat in certain areas. Person should be physically healthy, psychologically stable and realistic in his or her expectations.

Liposuction will not tighten muscle or skin. In cases where there is a significant loss of tone and elasticity, the desired cosmetic results may require a combination of both liposuction and surgical skin & muscle tightening (like abdominoplasty, tummy tuck, thigh lift, etc.) to remove the excessive loose tissue.

Areas Treated with Liposuction

Lower abdomen, Upper abdomen, Love handles, Hips, Inner knees, Back of the arms (the part that hangs down), Male Breast (Gynecomastia), Back rolls (thoracic rolls), Outer 2/3 of the buttock, Inner thighs, Outer thighs, Saddlebags, Neck (beneath the chin), Jowls, Breast reduction.

Age Limitations

Patients should be fully grown (post-pubescent). There is no upper age limitation, although the younger one is the better. This is particularly important in areas where there may be loose skin--particularly the abdomen. In areas where there will be loose skin, patients over 50 years of age are at increased risk for loose hanging skin and skin irrlegularities (dimpling or rippling of. the skin). Additionally, stretch marts in the treated areas indicate patients who are at increased risk for skin irregularities or loose skin after liposuction.

Person Not suitable for liposuction

Liposuction is a surgical procedure. Therefore, one must be in good overall health. Person who is on an anticoagulants, blood thinner, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories cannot be treated unless these medications can be discontinued both before and after surgery.

Lidocaine is used for tumescent anesthesia. Anyone who is allergic to Lidocaine, cannot be treated using tumescent liposuction.

One should not be pregnant nor lactating (breastfeeding).

Persons with bleeding tendencies should not be treated using liposuction unless normalisation is gained.

Persons who are unable or unwilling to follow pre-operative and post- operative instructions should not be treated.

One should have reasonable expectations and fully understand the risks and the limitations of the liposuction procedure,. Persons with unreasonable expectations should not be treated.

Skin infection, Cold, Viral diseases must be cured before surgery.

Liposuction is generally not used for elimination of Cellulite & Stretch marks. Since cellulite appears to be a skin dimpling and skin contour problem, removal of fat will not improve skin quality.

Permanent. Results

Liposuction selectively removes unwanted fat cells. Once these fat cells are removed, generally they do not grow back. Therefore, the results ate permanent, although take over 6 months to be fully seen.

New weight gained after liposuction Since liposuction permanently removes fat from a specific location, weight gain will shift to another target area. The new target area of weight gain may be desirable or undesirable. Therefore, maintaining or loosing weight after liposuction is essential. It is important to know that weight loss/gain is a factor, but changes in percent body fat are also important. Liposuction should compliment a proper diet and exercise.

Skin changes – other changes

Since liposuction will not tighten skin or develop muscle, the result will depend on the skin elasticity to regain its usual shape. For patients with loss of skin elasticity due to fluctuations in weight, sun damage, and pregnancies, liposuction may not be an option. Other techniques, such as Abdorninopiasty and Lifts may be better options.

Most patients will notice an improved body contour and loss of inches rather than kgs. Patients can expect an improvement in body shape, and will probably fit in their current dress size more comfortably or even drop one size or two.

As would be expected, liposuction does not improve the cardiovascular status of the patient.

Exercise and diet is recommended.

Amount of fat to remove

Fat removal is limited to 3000 to 5,000 cc per operation for safety reasons. If additional fat removal is needed, subsequent surgeries may be necessary.

Complication-

All surgeries carry some unwanted uncertainties and risks.

Liposuction is normally safe. However, it’s important to keep in mind that there are no guarantees having a good result.

Though they are rare, complications can and do occur.

Factors that increase the risk from liposuction include:

-poor patient health, individuals with medical problems such as diabetes, significant heart or lung disease, poor blood circulation

- who have recently had surgery near the area to be contoured.

- excessive fat removal

- performing multiple procedures along with liposuction in a single surgical session, especially under general anesthesia.

Serious but rare complications- Pulmonary embolism, blood clot, Perforation of organs, Anaesthetic complication, Lidocaine toxicity, Fluid imbalance.

Bleeding, Bruises, Seromas, Infection, Pigmentation, Lumps, Scars, Nerve injuries, Seroma, etc. are less common.

More common complications that usually require additional liposuction surgery include irregularities in contour and asymmetry.

Removing more than 5 liters of fat in a single liposudion treatment is considered too risky by most surgeons.

Planning your surgery

In your initial consultation, your surgeon will evaluate your health, determine where your fat deposits lie and assess the condition of your skin. Your surgeon will explain the body-contouring methods that may be most appropriate for you. For example, if you believe you want liposuction in the abdominal area, you may learn that an abdominoplasty or “tummy tuck” may more effectively meet your goals. Be frank in discussing your expectations with your surgeon. He or she should be equally frank with you, describing the procedure in detail and explaining its risks and limitations. -

Anesthesia

Various types of anesthesia can be used for liposuction procedures. Liposuction can be performed under local anesthesia. However, if you prefer, the local is usually used along with intravenous sedation to keep you more relaxed during the procedure.

Regional anesthesia can be a good choice for more extensive procedures. like epidural or spinal. However, some patients require general anesthesia, particularly if a large volume of fat is being removed.

The time required to perform liposuction may vary considerably, depending on the size of the area, the amount of fat being removed, the type of anesthesia and the technique used.

Preparing for your surgery - preop

Your surgeon will give guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain medications. If you develop a cold or an infection of any kind, especially a skin infection, your surgery may have to be postponed.

Liposuction techniques

Liposuction is a procedure in which localised deposits of fat ate removed to recontour one or more areas of the body. Through a tiny incision, a narrow tube or cannula is inserted and used to vacuum the fat layer that lies deep beneath the skin. The cannula is pushed through the fat layer, breaking up the fat cells and suctioning them out. If many sites are being treated,. your surgeon will then move on to the next area, working to keep the incisions as inconspicuous as possible.

Power Assisted Liposuction

At SATYA HOSPITAL we use the MicroAire Power Assisted Lipoplasty (PAL) Device to perform this procedure. It uses powerised cannula at 2 mm reciprocating movement at 4000 cycles per minute to facilitate the procedure. This means that less force is required, especially in areas with more fibrous tissue. That makes the lipoplasty procedure easier on patients. The PAL is not ultrasonic. No heat is generated by the instrument or cannula, so burning isn’t a concern.

Patient Benefits: Less Trauma, Better Results, No Heat means No Risk of Burning.

PAL requires less effort because a powered tube allows the fat to be sucked up easier by pushing through the tissue. PAL reduces force needed, especially in areas with more fibrous tissue such as the chest, back, breast. It facilitates fat removal in the love-handle” area in men and enlatged breasts (gynecomastla) also in men. The electric powered tube is more efficient, so the patient spends less time in the operating room.

The MicroAire Power Assisted Lipoplasty Device makes it easieron everyone.

Power-assisted liposuction allows for the body fat to be removed in a significantly safer, faster and less traumatic way than could ever be achieved manually by pumping a cannula back and forth. Power-assisted liposuction has been shown to successfully remove unwanted fat in all areas of the body more efficiently with a faster healing time than traditional liposuction.

Post-operative

The local anesthesia injected into the tissue remains for about 24 hours following liposuction surgery, greatly minimizing post-operative pain.

After PAL, most patients are generally alert. Patients are encouraged to walk immediately after surgery to enhance the healing process. Patients can usually return to a desk-type job within a few days. Physical exercise may be resumed three to seven days after the procedure.

After surgery, you will likely experience some fluid drainage from the incisions.

To control swelling and to help your skin better fit its new shape pressure elastic garments are needed for 8 weeks. Your doctor may also prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection.

Don’t expect to look or feel great right after surgery. Even though the newer techniques are believed to reduce some post-operative discomforts, you may still experience some pain, burning, swelling, bleeding and temporary numbness. Pain can be controlled with medications prescribed by your surgeon, though you may still feel stiff and sore for a few days.

It is normal to feel a bit anxious or depressed in the days or weeks following surgery. However, this feeling will subside as you begin to look and feel better.

Back to normal

The stitches if any are removed or dissolve on their own within the first week to 10 days.

Activity that is more strenuous should be avoided for about a month as your body continues to heal. Although most of the bruising and swelling usually disappears within three weeks, some swelling may remain for six months or more.

Your surgeon will schedule follow-up visits to monitor your progress and to see if any additional procedures are needed.

If you have any unusual symptoms between visits -- for example, heavy bleeding or a sudden increase in pain -- or any questions about what you can and can’t do, call your doctor.

Your new look

You will see a noticeable difference in the shape of your body quite soon after surgery. However, improvement will become even more apparent after about four to six weeks, when most of the swelling has subsided. After about three months, any persistent mild swelling usually disappears and the final contour will be visible.

If your expectations are realistic, you will probably be very pleased with the results of your surgery. You may find that you are more comfortable in a wide variety of clothes and more at ease with your body. And, by eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise, you can help to maintain your new shape.

As healing progresses, a more proportional look will emerge.

A slimmer body contour can help you feel more confident and comfortable.

LIPOSUCTION

POWER ASSISRED LIPOSUCTION

ABDOMINOPLASTY

TUMMY-TUCK

BREAST REDUCTION

GYNAECOMASTIA

BREAST AUGMENTATION

FACE LIFT

SATYA HOSPITAL- LIPOPLASTY & BREAST SURGERY CENTRE

C-203,204,Sweni Complex,Akhabarnagar Circle, New Vadaj, Ahmedabad-380013, Ph: 079- 27640807

· LIPOSUCTION & LIPOPLASTY- PAL

By - POWER ASSISTED LIPOPLASTY DEVICE from MICRO-AIRE – USA ( First in Guj.)

Adv.- more precise, less discomfort, less tissue trauma, more safe, early recovery,

very good results.

For – Removal of EXTRA / LOCALISED / RESISTANT FAT Deposits over

Abdomen,Flanks(love handles),Hips,Buttocks,Thigh,Leg,Back, Neck &

Chin etc.

Reshaping Aging Body

Breast Reduction- Female & Male - Gynaecomastia

Contact:

DR. YOGESH G. PATEL

M.S.,M.Ch.

PLASTIC & COSMETIC

RECONSTUCTIVE SURGEON

+91 94276 14382

+91 98240 19403

DR.GEETA Y. PATEL

M.S. – SURGEON

BREAST,ANORECTAL & FEMALE

SURGERY SPECIALIST

Mobile:

+91 94276 14383

+91 93761 75150

Nandigram “Recapture”: Amnesty International Press release

2008-03-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

Nandigram “Recapture”: Amnesty International Press release

From: "Joe Athialy" < joe@amnesty.org.in>

Urgent Inquiry Needed Into Nandigram Violence:

(New Delhi, January 15 2008): The West Bengal state
government should immediately create an independent
and impartial inquiry into serious acts of violence in
Nandigram since early 2007, Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch said today.

The state government should prosecute those
responsible for human rights abuses and examine both
the social-political origins of the violence and the
failure of state authorities to provide effective
protection to the community.

A fact-finding team—comprised of Justice (Retd) S.N.
Bhargava, former Chief Justice, High Court of Sikkim;
Vrinda Grover, advocate; Meenakshi Ganguly, senior
South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch; and Mukul
Sharma, director of Amnesty International India
—visited Nandigram and Kolkata from 28 to 30 November.
The team travelled to affected villages, relief
camps, and met with the victims of the violence in
Nandigram, as well as government officials and rights
activists.

"It was obvious during our visit to Nandigram that
state authorities had not acted in an impartial
manner," said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia
researcher with Human Rights Watch. "The political
nature of this violence, involving the ruling party of
West Bengal , means there must be an independent
inquiry to prevent impunity for the perpetrators."

Throughout 2007, tensions over control of land in
Nandigram led to a series of violent incidents between
supporters of the ruling Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M) and farmers belonging to the
Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC). Protesting
villagers blockaded the Nandigram area to oppose a
government plan to acquire land for industry. Instead
of responding appropriately to violations of the law
by protesters, the authorities appeared to treat the
protest as a challenge to the CPI-M and used excessive
force against the protestors. BUPC members were also
responsible for acts of violence. At least 25 people
were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced
from their homes.

In November, CPI-M supporters and armed thugs forcibly
ended the blockade. In retribution for the protest,
they attacked villagers supporting the BUPC, burned
down their homes, threatened further violence if
villagers went to the authorities, and humiliated them
by compelling them to join CPI-M rallies. The state
administration removed police posts before CPI-M
supporters advanced into the area, strongly suggesting
governmental complicity in the abuses.

Villagers in affected areas reported to the
fact-finding team that CPI-M supporters frequently
subjected women to violent attacks, including rape and
beatings, as well as to threats and harassment. There
is no evidence that the police have sought to arrest
those named in police complaints. Victims,
particularly women who risk social censure by
reporting rape, remained vulnerable to threats and
further attacks from perpetrators who roam free.

"The tragedy of the reported rapes at Nandigram has
been compounded by the failure of the police to
seriously investigate these cases, keeping the victims
at grave risk," said Ganguly.

Based on the team's findings, Amnesty International
has produced a report titled, " Urgent need to address
large scale human rights abuses during Nandigram
"recapture.'" The report concludes that the inaction
of the West Bengal state government, including tacit
acceptance of the violent operations of the armed
supporters of the CPI-M, resulted in serious human
rights abuses, including unlawful killings,
abductions, sexual assault of women and forced
eviction and displacement of thousands of people in
2007.

It is disturbing that the West Bengal authorities
failed to prevent the violence at Nandigram and failed
to arrest the perpetrators," said Mukul Sharma,
director of Amnesty International, India, "Weeks after
peace had supposedly been restored, we learned that
the perpetrators were still roaming free, celebrating
their victory by threatening and beating up local
residents."

The impunity enjoyed by those perpetrating abuses in
Nandigram since the violence began in early 2007
fuelled the widespread abuses committed later in the
year. The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, contributed to the violence in November
by saying that the protesters had been "paid back in
the same coin," a comment which he retracted three
weeks later, admitting the events were a "political
and administrative failure."

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said that
access to justice for the victims of the violence went
beyond the successful prosecution of those
responsible. The West Bengal government has an
obligation to protect the rights of all those
displaced by ensuring they can safely return to their
homes and places of habitual residence and providing
restitution for all damage suffered. Women who
suffered abuse must receive proper protection and an
effective remedy.

"The authorities must show clear political will to end
the climate of violence in Nandigram," Sharma said.
"For lasting peace, all those responsible for the
violence must be prosecuted and the victims must
receive redress."

For quotes / interviews:

Justice S N Bhargava: 94-140-44461

Vrinda Grover: 98-108-06181

Meenakshi Ganguly: 98-200-36032

Mukul Sharma: 98-108-01919

Urgent Need to Address Large Scale Human Rights Abuse
During Nandigram "Recapture"
Report

Amnesty International India

AI Index: ASA 20/001/2008

January 15 2008

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AI Index: ASA 20/001/2008

15 January 2008

Urgent need to address large scale human rights abuses
during Nandigram "recapture"

Amnesty International is concerned at reports that a
range of serious human rights abuses, including
unlawful killings, abductions, sexual assault of women
and forced eviction and displacement of thousands of
persons, have been carried out at Nandigram in East
Medinipore District in the eastern Indian state of
West Bengal. This report focuses on recent abuses, in
the context of violence in late October and November
2007, which were reportedly carried out by armed
supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M), which leads the ruling Left Front coalition
in the state.

The organisation is also concerned that these abuses
took place in the face of inaction by or acquiescence
of the Government of West Bengal which to date has
also failed to order an independent inquiry into the
November 2007 violence.

1. Background

Throughout 2007, Nandigram has experienced violence as
CPI-M supporters and farmers belonging to the Bhumi
Uchched Pratirodh Committee (Anti-displacement front,
BUPC) clashed with each other in attempting to gain
control over parts of the area.

On 28 December 2006 , authorities at the neighbouring
port town of Haldia circulated a notice announcing
plans to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at
Nandigram under the Government of India's
Petro-Chemical Petroleum Investment Region (PCPIR)
scheme. [1] The project, envisaged as a chemical hub,
reportedly required at least 4,000 hectares of land
for the proposed SEZ, which was to be jointly
developed by the state-owned Industrial Development
Corporation and the Indonesia-based Salim group of
companies. The land is owned by local farmers.

The BUPC had been formed to protest against forced
eviction and displacement of local inhabitants, mostly
farmers, as a result of this project. It consisted of
activists owing allegiance to several political
parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC),
Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), Congress(I) and former supporters
of the CPI-M.

A range of abuses including unlawful killings, forced
evictions, excessive use of force by police,
widespread violence against women, as well as failure
of the authorities to provide protection to the
victims, denial of access and information to the media
and human rights organisations, harassment of human
rights defenders and the continuing denial of justice
to the victims have been reported from Nandigram
during the year. The scale of such abuses recently
intensified when violence broke out towards the end of
October between supporters of the ruling CPI-M, and
supporters of the BUPC.

In January and March 2007, at least 25 people, mostly
local residents, were killed and more than 100 injured
and at least 20 women sexually assaulted by armed
supporters of the ruling CPI-M, after 1,500 people,
mostly CPI-M supporters, were forcibly displaced from
their homes as the BUPC set up barricades to prevent
access to some of the disputed land. On 14 March, 14
people were reportedly shot dead by police and over
150 injured in violent confrontations between police,
supporters of the CPI-M and BUPC supporters protesting
against their displacement due to the proposed
industrial project. After this, the Government of West
Bengal announced that the industrial project would be
relocated. However the BUPC continued its blockade as
it doubted that the Government of West Bengal would in
fact relocate the project.

Protests continued in Nandigram with the demands for
justice and compensation to the victims of the 14
March firing being added to the existing demands.

Various Indian activists and human rights
organisations have reported that a wide range of human
rights abuses occurred during this period. [2] Amnesty
International has repeatedly expressed its concerns
about the excessive use of force by the police, called
for full consultation with those living in the area
about the proposed development and called for
investigations into the abuses. [3]

During the latest outbreak of violence in Nandigram
beginning on 6 November 2007, at least 15 people were
reportedly killed, 100 injured and hundreds of people
were displaced as groups of armed supporters of the
CPI-M commenced an operation to "recapture" the area.
Media and human rights organisations reported large
scale violence initiated by armed CPI-M supporters,
and alleged inaction by the state's law enforcement
agencies who, according to the reports, failed to take
steps to protect local inhabitants.

Reports stated that armed CPI-M supporters rode their
motorcycles into the area on 6 November, attacking
local residents with guns and home-made bombs and
fighting with BUPC supporters. On 12 November, two
units of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) were deployed in some of the areas in which
violence had occurred, reportedly only after CPI-M
supporters had stopped blocking their route.
Subsequently five more units of the CRPF were
deployed. In the meantime, for over five days CPI-M
supporters had reportedly established control of the
area, forcibly evicting and displacing scores of
people and attacking BUPC supporters and other local
residents while looting and burning down houses and
destroying property. During this period, the media and
human rights organisations were excluded from the
majority of these areas as CPI-M supporters blocked
the main highways.

On 9 November, the Governor of the State,
Gopalakrishna Gandhi, described the situation in
Nandigram as a "civil war" and stated that the "armed
recapture is unlawful and unacceptable." [4] India's
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sought a
report from the Government of West Bengal on the
violence and a six-member NHRC investigative team,
which visited the area on 15-19 November, is expected
to submit a report in the next few weeks. Meanwhile,
the NHRC chairperson Justice Rajendra Babu has stated,
in a reply to CPI-M members of the Indian parliament
that it was incontrovertible that human rights abuses
on a mass scale took place at Nandigram. [5]

Reports from survivors, eyewitnesses, and relief
workers alleged that months of discussions had taken
place in the town of Khejuri between CPI-M supporters
on their plans to "recapture" Nandigram. CPI-M
supporters, armed with weapons, had reportedly been
mobilized from other parts of West Bengal and
neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Bihar. [6] Both
the state administration and the police reportedly
took little action to protect the local communities
during the violence, and in some cases were alleged to
have participated in attacks. The reports also stated
that CPI-M supporters were involved in searching
villages, detaining and interrogating persons
suspected to be close to the BUPC and seizing weapons.

Amnesty International also learnt that hundreds of
residents including women and children who managed to
flee the violence were housed in two camps at
Nandigram. A week after the violence, media and human
rights organisations, which had limited access to
these camps, reported that the camps were largely
self-managed with very limited official assistance,
and those in the camps did not have secure access to
even minimum essential levels of food, water, shelter,
sanitation, and health services. Relief materials had
been provided mainly by human rights and humanitarian
organisations. Medical teams from non-governmental
organisations were able to reach the camps only after
four attempts were blocked by CPI-M supporters.

Following this, during 28-30 November 2007, Amnesty
International India took part in a research visit to
Nandigram and Kolkata, the delegation comprising also
a former high court chief justice, a senior lawyer and
a researcher from Human Rights Watch. The delegation
travelled to interior villages and relief camps, and
met with the victims of the violence, relevant
officials and others. This report sets out Amnesty
International's concerns arising out of the findings
of the visit

2. Preliminary Findings

a. Failure to protect local communities:

At Bhoota Mar in Gorchakraberia in Nandigram, the
delegation members were informed by relatives of CPI-M
supporters that, on 28 October 2007, BUPC supporters
had vandalized their residences. The police said they
had little access to interior villages as blockades
had been erected by the BUPC. However, the delegation
was informed by officials that there were sufficiently
early reports from intelligence officials and local
police that armed supporters of the CPI-M were
gathering around Nandigram. [7] This was also admitted
by the District Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash
Panda who informed the delegation that the police had
information that "arms and people were being mobilized
in the region." [8] The risk of confrontation between
BUPC and CPI-M supporters intensified towards 30
October, but the only remaining police posted at
Nandigram were withdrawn without any reasons being
given. District Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash
Panda told the delegation members that orders to
withdraw the remaining police came from his superiors
in Kolkata. [9] However, it was not until 12 November
2007 that CRPF personnel were deployed to Nandigram.

The withdrawal of the state police and the delay
before CPRF personnel were deployed left a period of
two weeks in which the CPI-M and the BUPC engaged in
armed confrontations attempting to assert control over
the area. There appears to have been a controversy as
to the reasons for the delay in deploying the CRPF. On
13 November, the state Chief Minister, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, alleged that it was the Union
Government which had caused the delay. [10] He said he
had requested their deployment on 27 October but that
several days later the Union Government informed him
that the CRPF personnel could not be sent to Nandigram
at that time as it was necessary to send them to other
states where state assembly polls were to be held in
December (Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh). On 5
November, the day before the armed CPI-M supporters
arrived in Nandigram, the state Home Secretary P R Roy
said he was not aware when the CRPF forces would be
despatched there. [11] However, the Union Minister of
State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said on 16
November that there was no delay in the deployment of
CRPF in Nandigram. [12]

The Government of West Bengal had already been
excluded from several areas in Nandigram by BUPC
barricades and armed CPI-M supporters, and the
withdrawal of the state police meant that between the
end of October and 11 November there was no
significant official security presence in the area.
Displaced persons in relief camps and eyewitnesses
informed the delegation that during this period CPI-M
supporters had closed in on several villages including
Sonachura, Adhikaripara, Satengbari and Gokulnagar
which had been barricaded by the BUPC. In these
villages, residences of BUPC leaders were looted and
burnt down by CPI-M supporters. By 11 November, the
entire area had been "recaptured" by the CPI-M
supporters, resulting in the forced eviction and
displacement of hundreds of persons including women
and children. During this period, the media (apart
from one reporter from the daily Dainik Statesman who
chose to stay with the local population) was prevented
from entering the villages by CPI-M supporters. On 12
November, a team of social activists from Kolkata was
able to start visiting some of the areas in Nandigram.
Its report gives a graphic account of the difficulties
encountered by that team and the media during the
visits. [13]

From the above accounts, it is clear that the recent
violence in Nandigram took place against a backdrop of
inaction by the Government of West Bengal, including
tacit acceptance of the violent operations of the
armed supporters of the CPI-M. The state has a
responsibility to protect the human rights of everyone
within its jurisdiction, and accordingly to uphold law
and order. This would include, where necessary,
measures by law enforcement agencies such as taking
appropriate action to end the blockade by the BUPC.
But the manner in which the state authorities have
acted, and in particular their failure to take action
to prevent abuses by armed supporters of the CPI-M,
suggests that they were not acting in an impartial
manner. No arrests were carried out prior to the
violence despite the flow of intelligence information
that arms were being mobilised in the region; no
search operations were carried out. No arrests were
carried out during the period of the violence, and
West Bengal Director-General of Police, Anup Bhushan
Vohra has stated that since the police only had access
the nearby town of Khejuri, where it was likely that
only CPI-M supporters would have been arrested, no
arrests had been ordered as "it would have been seen
as partisan." [14]

Many local residents were caught up in the violence
and, in the absence of sufficient protection from
state law enforcement agencies, had to flee their
homes and take refuge with relatives or in relief
camps. The delegation found evidence to demonstrate
that both the state administration and the police
appeared to have taken little action or responsibility
to exercise due diligence in preventing, stopping and
punishing human rights abuses and to protect the local
communities during the violence.

b. Victims of violence:

The numbers as well as the identities of persons
killed and missing from Nandigram during this period
remain unknown. Officials gave the delegation a list
of five persons who died during the violence, but
local authorities stated to the delegation that at
least 42 people were reported missing from the days of
the November 2007 violence, many of whom were presumed
to have been killed. BUPC activists informed the
delegation that an unknown number of persons,
including BUPC supporters, had gone missing; some of
whom might have gone into hiding fearing attack by
CPI-M supporters. The BUPC stated in addition that
complaints made to the police about missing persons
had not been properly registered.

On 5 December, a grave with the remains of five
half-burnt bodies was discovered at Bamanchok village
near Khejuri. [15]. Investigating agencies were trying
to establish whether, as claimed by the CPI-M, the
five persons were CPI-M supporters, including four
from Gokulnagar near Nandigram and one from Belda, 50
km from Nandigram, who were killed in a bomb blast on
28 October. [16] Conflicting information received from
local residents by the Association for the Protection
of Democratic Rights (APDR), however, alleged that
they had been killed while making bombs at Sherkhan
Chak [17].

On 8 December, human remains were recovered from the
Talpati canal in Bhangabera near Nandigram. [18] On 12
December, another body with two bullet holes was found
in a field at Maheshpur. Shyamali Pramanick, a woman
from the area, was reported to have claimed that the
deceased was her husband, Harun Pramanik, a BUPC
supporter who had been missing since 7 November. [19]
On 14 December, two more local women, Sumitra Mirda
and Annapurna Mondol, arrived at the Tamluk hospital
to lay claim to the body. They said their husbands had
been missing since 7 November. [20]

c. Violence against women

The delegation interviewed several women who had been
subjected to violence including rape, beating, threats
and harassment. In addition, testimony concerning
numerous incidents of violence against women has been
gathered by several fact-finding teams investigating
events that occurred in March as well as November.
Anuradha Talwar, an activist who was part of the first
fact-finding team which reached Nandigram on 16
November, in a deposition submitted to the delegation,
said in Satangabari village alone, local residents
informed them that at least seven women had been
raped. [21] In one case, a woman said that she was
beaten and her four-month-old son was snatched and
flung on the floor. Another woman said that though she
was pregnant, she was beaten until she bled. [22]

The delegation questioned officials of the Government
of West Bengal and the state police about their
efforts to investigate and prosecute violence against
women. They found that very few incidents had been
reported to the police and there were contradictory
accounts from the different police forces as to
exactly how many complaints of rape had been filed.

CRPF Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Alok Raj stated
that five cases of rape were registered at Nandigram
including three after the November violence. [23] As
against this, the Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram police
station said only two complaints of rape had been
filed in the area. [24]

The Chief Secretary of West Bengal told the delegation
that the authorities were taking the allegations of
rape very seriously: " The accused generally belong to
either political party. We have taken the cases of the
women away from the local police. These cases are now
being enquired by the Criminal Investigation
Department of the State Police (CID)." [25]

However, the delegation is concerned that these words
have not so far been translated into action. In each
of the cases given by the CRPF, some of the
perpetrators were named. [26] Yet, none of these names
figured among the list of persons arrested so far. A
number of local residents informed the delegation that
the offenders were operating with impunity, taunting
the people, forcing them to shout slogans in support
of CPI-M, or attend CPI-M party meetings

Accounts of both officials and villagers relating to
violence against women agreed that the victims were
either relatives or sympathisers of BUPC, and named
the perpetrators as groups of armed supporters of the
CPI-M.

The delegation was told that at least seven women from
Nandigram have been admitted to the Government
Hospital at Tamluk.. Two of them had been shot at,
four were beaten and one was raped. Several others
were admitted to hospitals closer to Nandigram.

The delegation met two women [27] who both said they
had been raped by several persons during the violence
in November. Among the rapists were men whom they knew
and could recognize. Although they had named these men
when they made their complaints, three weeks later,
the police had not made any arrests. The women said
they were too frightened to return home.

One of them, Akhreja Bibi, was still at the Tamluk
hospital. She said that several men burst into her
home in the middle of the night on 8 November. "I
tried to run away but they caught me and beat me up.
They raped my daughters in front of me and then they
raped me." Akhreja Bibi's daughters, Ansura, 16, and
Mansura, 14, are still among those missing from
Nandigram. When the delegation asked about them at the
Nandigram police station, the Officer-in-Charge said
there was news that the girls had joined a circus at
Howrah, Kolkata. [28]

The delegation also met Niyoti Patra, a BUPC
supporter, who said she was also raped by several
persons; she said she could not return home. "I know
those men. They came to my house and asked me to join
a meeting," she said. "When I refused they came inside
and abused me. Then they raped me. There were three
men. They were my neighbours. I am frightened. I have
named them in my police report. Now they will punish
me again." She has since been staying at the Nandigram
school relief camp.

Roshomoi Das Adhikari, a woman in her 80s and mother
of a prominent BUPC leader, Swadesh Das Adhikari, was
beaten with rifle butts by three persons she could
recognise as "CPI-M people". She said she was alone at
home on 7 November. Her son and most of the villagers
had already fled from the area. Three men burst into
her house and started throwing things around. "I ran
out into the courtyard shouting for help. Two men with
big guns were standing there. They started beating and
kicking me. They tore at my sari, slapped me, pulled
my hair and cursed me. Meanwhile, the others had set
fire to my house. As they left they threatened me and
told me that they would kill my son. I just lay there
bleeding." [29] She also was able to name the CPI-M
supporters.

Another woman, wife of a prominent BUPC member, said
her home had been looted and burnt. Living in a relief
camp, she said that when she returned to harvest the
paddy, CPI-M supporters shouted abuses and threatened
sexual violence. She was still in Nandigram school
relief camp when the delegation met her, terrified
because the district administration wanted to shut the
camp and send her home. "I cannot describe the
language they used. They told me, 'The CRPF will
leave. Then we will come find you. We will chop off
your head and kill your husband'." [30]

Several women who returned to their homes after the
end of this period of violence, said that threats of
sexual violence were made against them if they did not
support the CPI-M. One woman said that she was forced
to attend a party rally on 28 November because she was
warned that she would otherwise be stripped in public
and then raped along with her daughters. [31] Mahamaya
Das Adhikari said that she went back to her village on
26 November but had to return to the camp a day later
because her parents were threatened by CPI-M
supporters. They were told that either their daughter
had to publicly pledge her support to the CPI-M or not
bother to return. [32]

Threats of violence have continued even after those
who were displaced returned to their villages. CPI-M
supporters are in "effective control" of most of the
villages in Nandigram, and in some areas, particularly
former BUPC strongholds like Satengbari, they have
reportedly threatened women saying "We'll come back at
night – light your lamps and wait for us with open
doors. Send your men away, we'll come back to you at
night." [33]

From the above accounts, it appears that there has
been a deliberate pattern of gender based violence
directed against women residents of Nandigram who were
left behind as local male residents fled the advancing
CPI-M supporters. The violence was directed against
those women who were at the forefront of the protest
against forced eviction and were unwilling to give up
their homes and lands. Also, the delegation was
informed by local residents that many women had
refused to file police reports as they were still
afraid of the consequences if they filed complaints
with the police and were also unwilling to risk social
censure associated with rape.

3. Key areas of concern

a. Due diligence:

Immediately after the violence, the Government of West
Bengal defended the violence by the armed supporters
of the CPI-M, and blamed the BUPC for the blockade and
the subsequent violence. In media briefings Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claimed that the
protesters had been "paid back in the same coin" and
that his party was both "legally and morally correct"
to "recapture" Nandigram, [34] a comment which he
apparently retracted three weeks later while admitting
that the Nandigram events amounted to a "political and
administrative failure." [35] Later, on 26 December
2007, he visited Nandigram to express regret for the
violence, according to reports. [36]

East Medinipore District Magistrate Anoop Kumar
Agrawal informed the delegation members that, after
the written notification for withdrawal of the SEZ
notice was issued to him on 19 March 2007, he had held
meetings with the BUPC and the other parties to
resolve the issue; however, by this time, the BUPC
appeared to have lost confidence in the
administration. [37] As a BUPC activist, Sudhin
Bijoli, put it "The Chief Minister may have said that
he would not force us to leave, but he was saying so
many things and there was nothing in writing. How
could we trust him?" [38]

West Bengal Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb told the
delegation that "we could not create an atmosphere of
confidence … We failed to persuade the people to allow
the police to enter. They saw the police as partisan
and against them." [39]

Amnesty International is concerned by officials'
apparent readiness to accept this lack of confidence
in the police and by the failure of the state
authorities to take proactive steps to rectify it. The
manner in which the Government of West Bengal failed
to take positive action to address the issue suggests
that the government was acquiescent in the human
rights abuses by the armed supporters of the CPI-M
during the November violence.

Amnesty International opposes human rights abuses
whoever commits them and regardless of the cause
espoused by the perpetrators. States have a
responsibility to respect the human rights of all
individuals within their jurisdiction – that is, not
to commit human rights violations or to permit their
officials to do so. They also have a responsibility to
exercise due diligence to protect all individuals
within their jurisdiction against human rights abuses
by non-state actors by ensuring the maintenance of
public order and security by state law enforcement
agents authorised to do so and acting in compliance
with international human rights standards on law
enforcement, and by preventing, stopping and punishing
human rights abuses by non-state actors.

Amnesty International is concerned that in this
instance the state authorities have not fulfilled
their responsibility to exercise due diligence to
protect human rights. The recent failure to ensure an
effective police presence to maintain law and order
permitted, or even encouraged organized groups of
armed supporters of the ruling party to step in to
quell the protests by the BUPC, instead of the state
exercising its responsibility to deal with them
lawfully by effective, impartial and proportionate law
enforcement measures. Amnesty International is also
concerned that that state has not taken adequate
measures to ensure that the population whose
livelihood will be affected by the development of the
SEZ is protected against forced eviction, by being
ensured their rights to information, adequate
consultation, and just and adequate reparation
including resettlement in adequate alternative
accommodation.

b. Justice for the victims:

In Nandigram, there has been a general failure on the
part of the authorities to ensure progress in
investigations into earlier violence in January and
March 2007. It is to be noted that no departmental or
disciplinary action has been initiated against any
administrative or police official for despite loss of
life and property in the area. The Kolkata High Court,
on response appeal filed by the APDR, the Paschimbanga
Khet Mazdoor Samity (PBKMS) and other organisations,
ordered an investigation by the CBI into the violent
confrontations of 14 March when police used excessive
force and fired on demonstrators. The CBI's
preliminary report named at least ten CPI-M supporters
– who were later released by the state police – as
accused persons. The Government of West Bengal
obtained a stay on this investigation. However
investigations were finally re-instated on 16 November
and the CBI commenced its investigations into the 14
March violence on the basis of its preliminary report
of 24 March. The CBI, which submitted an interim
report to the Kolkata High Court on 17 December, has
been directed by the High Court to file its final
report by 15 February 2008. [40] As per interim
report, the CBI is reported to have filed four new
cases against several CPI-M supporters, including a
case of sexual assault, bringing the total number of
cases against the CPI-M supporters to seven. [41] Even
as the CBI was also inquiring into the allegation
whether the state police was aware that the CPI-M
supporters fired, along with them, on the protestors,
the Government of West Bengal has successfully
obtained a stay, from the Supreme Court of India, on
the filing of charges against state police officials
found responsible for the 14 March police firing.
[42].

Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb informed the delegation
that the Government of West Bengal had allocated funds
for compensation of the victims of the 14 March
violence as per the Kolkata high court order and that
this was being distributed. However, the District
Magistrate informed the delegation that he had
received no formal notification nor had funds been
released for disbursement. [43] On 31 December 2007,
the compensation amounts were finally paid to 13 of
the 14 victims of the 14 March police firing,
according to reports. [44]

The Kolkata High Court, in a judgment delivered on 16
November described the police firing on demonstrators
on 14 March as unconstitutional and illegal.

Amnesty International believes that the general
impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of human rights
abuses in Nandigram since January 2007 was a key
contributing factor to the widespread abuses committed
there since 6 November.

The CRPF was finally deployed on 12 November, and
although this brought an end to overt violence,
threats and intimidation continued, putting at risk
the lives and safety of the local inhabitants. There
has been very little sign of effort to arrest
perpetrators, who have allegedly been threatening BUPC
supporters against filing complaints, demanding their
attendance at CPI-M party meetings and suggesting that
they admit to looting and burning their own homes.
[45]

CRPF DIG Alok Raj expressed to the delegation his view
that the state police force personnel did not appear
to be interested in arresting the perpetrators and
were interfering in the CRPF's operations. The CRPF
was given a list of 180 people against whom there are
registered cases of murder. But those arrested by the
CRPF have all been released by the state police. Alok
Raj said, on 21 November, he had sent an official
notice to the Government of West Bengal, stating that
a complete list of persons wanted in connection with
offences in Nandigram was yet to be submitted by the
state police and that if those arrested by the CRPF
were subsequently released by the state police, it
"will not allow normalcy to return in the area." [46]

Amnesty International, while noting that the
Government of West Bengal has ordered inquiries as a
result of the unearthing of bodies at Nandigram this
month, points out that the Government has not so far
taken any steps to establish the whereabouts of all
those who have been missing from Nandigram since 6
November.

The Constitution of India clearly provides, in Article
32, for constitutional remedies when fundamental
rights appear to have been violated, as in the case of
the abuses committed during the violence in Nandigram.

Under international human rights standards states have
a responsibility to take apporopriate legislative,
administrative and other measures to prevent
violations and, where they occur, to investigate them
effectively, promptly, thoroughly and impartially and
where appropriate to take action against those alleged
to be responsible. They should also ensure that
victims have equal and effective access to justice,
and provide them with effective remedies, including
full and effective reparation. Reparation should
include restitution, compensation for economically
assessable damage, rehabilitation, satisfaction –
including public acknowledgement of the facts and
sanctions against those responsible – and guarantees
of non-repetition. [47]

In particular, the obligation of states to conduct
prompt, thorough, effective and impartial
investigations into killings and other human rights
abuses is also provided in international human rights
law, including Article 2(3) of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by
India in 1979. In its General Comment on Article 2 the
Human Rights Committee, the expert body charged with
overseeing the implementation of this Covenant, has
stated, among other things:

"There may be circumstances in which a failure to
ensure Covenant rights as required by article 2 would
give rise to violations by States Parties of those
rights, as a result of States Parties' permitting or
failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise
due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or
redress the harm caused by such acts by private
persons or entities. States are reminded of the
interrelationship between the positive obligations
imposed under article 2 and the need to provide
effective remedies in the event of breach under
article 2, paragraph 3 ." [48]

Amnesty International urges the West Bengal
authorities to ensure that the CBI investigations into
the 14 March demonstration are not obstructed any
further, and that all incidents of human rights abuses
in the context of the violence since early 2007 are
thoroughly investigated and the suspected perpetrators
brought to justice.

In addition, Amnesty International urges the
Government of West Bengal to urgently set up an
independent and impartial inquiry into the violence at
Nandigram since early 2007 including the violence
since 6 November. Such an inquiry should examine
broader issues than criminal responsibility, such as
systemic factors, procedural deficiences, contextual
factors leading to the violence, and accountability of
the state authorities for failures to provide
effective protection.

Such an inquiry should in particular include an
investigation into disappearances of persons, illegal
possession of weapons by all non-state actors at
Nandigram and an assessment of the impact and extent
of violence against women at Nandigram. [49] In view
of the fact that the Government of West Bengal and
different state agencies have been implicated in
responsibility for the abuses due to the manner in
which they dealt or failed to deal with the violence
at Nandigram, there is a need for the inquiry to be
carried out by an independent and impartial body . The
activities of law enforcement agencies during the
violence should also be one of the objects of the
inquiry. If the inquiry obtains information indicating
that identified individuals or officials may have been
responsible for committing, ordering, encouraging or
permitting human rights abuses, that information
should be passed to the relevant criminal
investigation or prosecution bodies. Provisions of
immunity should not be allowed to shield those named
as responsible for such acts of omission and
commission.

The findings of the inquiry should be promptly made
public.

c. Reparation and protection of the rights of all
internally displaced people (IDPs):

West Bengal Chief Secretary, Amit Kiran Deb, informed
the delegation that humanitarian assistance, including
the provision of rice, cash payments and medical care
was being provided by the authorities. In addition,
Rs. 7 million, as compensation to the victims of the 6
November violence, has been released from the Chief
Minister's Relief Fund [50] in order to compensate for
the loss of homes and other property in the violence.

At least two relief camps were functioning at
Nandigram for those displaced since violence began in
January 2007. However, neither of these camps were run
by the state nor has the state carried out a survey to
establish the extent of damage to property.

One relief camp (shivir) is located at the Brij Mohan
Tiwari Siksha Niketan in Nandigram Block-I town, and
at its height housed around 3,000 to 4,000 persons.
Following the violence since 6 November, a fresh
influx of local residents had arrived in the camp.
However, by 29 November the number of persons housed
in the camp had dwindled to around 250, the reason
being that a large number of displaced persons had
left the camp to stay with relatives and friends. [51]

The delegation found that the camp was being run on
limited resources by the Nandigram Bazaar Committee,
Bharat Sevashram, a non-governmental organisation
(NGO), and a few other NGOs which had supplied rice,
other essential food items and blankets. TMC leaders
also contributed relief materials to the camp. Medical
services are confined to the voluntary services of
local doctors.

The second camp was located at a high school at
Khejuri and was run by CPI-M party workers who provide
some essential services. Most of the villagers,
reportedly numbering 1,500, who supported CPI-M had
taken refuge in this camp in the wake of the BUPC
blockade in January 2007. Towards the end of December,
the camp was reported to be hosting around 750 people.
The delegation was able to interview several local
residents who returned home from this camp after the
November 2007 violence. [52]

Amnesty International is concerned that the Government
of West Bengal has not taken the necessary concrete
steps to ensure that all persons under its
jurisdiction are protected from forced eviction and
displacement, and that all those forcibly displaced
during the violence are ensured at the very least
minimum essential levels of food, shelter, water and
sanitation, health care and education, as well as
their right to voluntary return or resettlement, and
reintegration.

Amnesty International is concerned that not all those
displaced have access to essential services such as
adequate food, water, shelter, and medical services.

There is a similar need to ensure access to justice
and adequate reparations without discrimination for
all of those who were forcibly displaced as well as
those who suffered other human rights abuses.

The Government of West Bengal is responsible to ensure
the protection of all internally displaced persons
within its jurisdiction. This duty arises inter alia
from India's Constitution, which guarantees to
everyone in India the right to the protection of life
and personal liberty (Article 21) (which Indian courts
have consistently interpreted to include the right to
access the minimum essential levels of food, shelter,
and other requirements to live with dignity) and the
equality of all persons before the law (Article 14).

The duty of the state to protect the rights of all
IDPs is reflected in the UN Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement (the Guiding Principles) [53]
which clearly affirm, in Principle 3(1), that
"national authorities have the primary duty and
responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian
assistance to internally displaced persons within
their jurisdiction." The state also has a duty under
its international human rights obligations, including
under the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, to provide essential services to
all IDPs without discrimination. This is reflected in
article 18(2) of the Guiding Principles, which state
that:

"At the minimum, regardless of the circumstances, and
without discrimination, competent authorities shall
provide internally displaced persons with and ensure
safe access to:

(a) Essential food and potable water;

(b) Basic shelter and housing;

(c) Appropriate clothing; and

(d) Essential medical services and sanitation."

Amnesty International emphasises the right of all IDPs
to voluntary return to their homes or places of
habitual residence or resettlement, and reintegration
and restitution of their homes and other property, and
calls upon the Government of West Bengal to ensure a
safe and dignified environment for their return. The
organization believes that this will not be achieved
unless there is a clear political will on the part of
the authorities to put an end to the atmosphere of
violence in Nandigram. Amnesty International is
concerned that displaced persons who wish to return to
their homes will be unable or unwilling to return if
those responsible for human rights abuses against them
during the violence remain at large, sometimes in
positions of authority.

Amnesty International urges the Government of West
Bengal that all those responsible for human rights
abuses are brought promptly to justice, and to ensure
full reparations for victims including adequate
compensation delivered promptly and on a
non-discriminatory basis.

Amnesty International also urges the Government of
West Bengal and the Government of India to ensure that
those returning home at Nandigram, irrespective of
their political affiliation, are able to return to
their homes or places of habitual residence or
resettlement, voluntarily and in safety and dignity.
They should also be guaranteed their right to
reintegration and restitution of their homes and other
property, and where this is not possible to adequate
compensation, In order for this to happen, there
should be the continued and effective deployment of
adequate CRPF personnel. [54]

4. Recommendations:

Amnesty International urges the Government of West
Bengal to:

Ensure that all incidents of human rights abuses in
the context of the violence since early 2007 are
thoroughly investigated and that the suspected
perpetrators, whether or not they are officials and
regardless of their political affiliation, are brought
promptly to justice:
Establish an independent and impartial inquiry into
all the violent incidents at Nandigram this year
including the violence since 6 November. Such an
inquiry should include an investigation into
disappearances of persons, illegal possession of
weapons by all non-state actors at Nandigram and an
assessment of the impact and extent of violence
against women at Nandigram. The findings of the
inquiry should be made public.:
Ensure that all those displaced have access, without
discrimination, to essential services such as adequate
food, water, shelter, and medical assistance:
Put in place a policy of adequate reparation,
including restitution, compensation and guarantees of
non-repetition.

Amnesty International urges the Government of West
Bengal and the Government of India to:

Ensure that those returning to their homes or places
of habitual residence in Nandigram, irrespective of
their political affiliation, are able to return to
their homes or places of habitual residence,
voluntarily and in safety and dignity. They should
also be guaranteed their right to reintegration and
restitution of their homes and other property, and
where this is not possible to adequate compensation
and resettlement. In order for this to happen, there
should be a continued and effective deployment of
adequate CRPF personnel:
Ensure that unlawful methods are not used, or allowed
to be used, to quell protests against forced eviction
or displacement and ensure that the human rights of
all those protesting against forced eviction or
displacement are fully protected;
Protect the rights of the affected communities to
information, consultation, participation, and freedom
from forced eviction (which requires ensuring their
rights to information, adequate consultation, and just
and adequate reparation, including resettlement in
adequate alternative accommodation.

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

[1] Since 2005, India has been promoting SEZs across
the country. The policy of acquiring land for such
industrial projects in several states has sparked
protests from local communities fearing forced
displacement and threats to their sustainable
livelihood.

[2] Paschimbanga Khet Majoor Samity Report (PBKMS),
People's Uprising against Forced Land Acquisition: All
disquiet on the Nandigram front , 22-24 January 2007;
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights
(APDR), PBKMS and Manabidhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM), Report of Investigation Into Nandigram Mass
Killings, 23 March 2007; Sramajibi Swastha Udyog,
People's Health and Janaswastha Swadikar Mancha,
Report of the Medical Team from Nandigram, 5 April
2007; Report of All India Independent Fact-finding
Team on Nandigram Massacre, 10 April 2007; All India
Citizens' Initiative, Report of the People's Tribunal
on Nandigram, 26-28 May 2007.

[3] Amnesty International public statements: India:
Deaths in West Bengal during protest against new
industrial project , AI Index: ASA 20/004/2007, 11
January 2007; India: Deaths in West Bengal due to
police firing during protests against new industrial
project, AI Index: ASA 20/008/2007, 15 March 2007;
Amnesty International public statement: India: Need
for effective investigations and prosecutions as
political violence continues in West Bengal, AI Index:
ASA 20/020/2007, 9 November 2007. .

[4] Press release of West Bengal Governor, Kolkata, 9
November 2007, cited in Time of India, 10 November
2007.

[5] NHRC Chairperson's reply to Members of the
Parliament on Nandigram, 21 November 2007.

[6] Profile of a hooded hunter, The Telegraph, 18
November 2007.

[7] Interview with East Medinipore District Magistrate
Anoop Kumar Agrawal, Tamluk, 29 November 2007;
Interview with Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram police
station, Sub-Inspector Champak Chowdhary, 29 November
2007.

[8] Interview with East Medinipore District
Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash Panda,
Nandigram, 29 November 2007.

[9] Interview with East Medinipore District
Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash Panda,
Nandigram, 29 November 2007.

[10] Buddhadeb accuses Centre of delaying CRPF
deployment, Times of India, 13 November 2007.

[11] Prime Minister concerned over violence in
Nandigram, Daily News and Analysis, 5 November 2007.

[12] Centre did not delay deployment of CRPF in
Nandigram, Dailyindia.com, 16 November, 2007.

[13] Report on Nandigram Events, Based on visit by
social activists and intellectuals, 8-15 November
2007, p. 2-4.

[14] Interview with West Bengal Director-General of
Police Anup Bhushan Vohra, Kolkata, 30 November 2007.

[15] Five half-burnt bodies found near Nandigram,
Times of India, 5 December 2007.

[16] CID to probe Nandigram graves, Times of India, 7
December 2007.

[17] Communication received from APDR, Kolkata, 8
November 2007.

[18] More bones found in Nandigram, Daily News and
Analysis, 8 December 2007.

[19] Body with bullet holes dug out: Wife of BUPC
supporter says shirt belonged to her husband, The
Telegraph , 13 December 2007.

[20] More claimants to the body from grave, The
Telegraph, 14 December 2007.

[21] Report on Nandigram events based on visit by
social activists and intellectuals, 8-15 November
2007, p. 12.

[22] Report on Nandigram Events, Based on visit by
social activists and intellectuals, 8-15 November
2007, p. 12.

[23] Interview with CRPF DIG Alok Raj, 29 November
2007.

[24] Interview with Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram
police station, Sub-Inspector Champak Chowdhary, 29
November 2007. Of the two victims, one is at the
Government Hospital at the District headquarters,
Tamluk, while the other is at a relief camp.

[25] Interview with West Bengal Chief Secretary Amit
Kiran Deb, 30 November 2007.

[26] The names of perpetrators in the five rape cases
given by CRPF DIG Alok Raj:

A. Case No 316/07 dated 22 November 2007 under
sections 448/363/361/380/325/354/506

Mir Aahsaan s/o Mir Masi Mir
Mir Barik s/o Abu Bakar
Mir Ilyass s/o Mir Kadir
Mir Kalu s/o Mir Akram
Mir Bachhu s/o Mir Akram
Maha Aditya Das s/o Sadanand Jha
Babun Dass s/o Nishikanta
Arubindo Mandal s/o Rishiesh
B. Case No 192/07/dated 11 November 2007 under IPC 376

Kallu s/o Ahsaan
Barrick s/o Abdul Rafe
Bachhu
C. Case No. 30/07 dated 4 March 2007 under sections
448/376 (2)

Sri Hari Samantra s/o Vijay Kalicharan
D. Case No 260/07 dated 17 November 2007 under
sections 376 (2)/506

Kalipara Ganadass s/o Sudarshan
Sagar Das s/o Lal Mohan
E. Case No 47/07/19 March 2007 under sections 147,
148, 149, 448, 323, 326, 376, 511 IPC

Badal Gara Das s/o Netri
Sunil Das s/o Kalachand
Sudarshan Gora Das s/o Netai
Gopal Garu Das s/o Sudarshan
Khorna Rai Das wife of Badal
Chargan Shil s/o of Srini Dash
[27] Except in two cases which were registered by the
police and whose names have been widely reported in
the Indian media, this report is withholding the
identity of rape victims.

[28] Interview with Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram
police station, Sub-Inspector Champak Chowdhary, 29
November 2007.

[29] Interview with Roshomoi Das Adhikary of
Adhikaripara, Gokulnagar, 29 November 2007.

[30] Interview with a victim in Nandigram, name
withheld, 28 November 2007.

[31] Interview with a victim in Nandigram relief camp,
name withheld, 28 November 2007.

[32] Interview with Mahamaya Das Adhikary of
Adhikaripara, Gokulnagar, at Nandigram relief camp, 28
November 2007.

[33] Interview with a victim at the Government
Hospital, Tamluk, 28 November 2007.

[34] Buddhadeb accuses Centre of delaying CRPF
deployment, Times of India, 13 November 2007.

[35] "I regret saying rivals paid back on the same
coin": Buddhadeb, Hindustan Times, 4 December 2007.

[36] This time Buddha goes to Nandigram to say sorry,
Indian Express, 27 December 2007. Later, according to
reports, the Chief Minister announced that the
Government of West Bengal has sent a fresh proposal to
relocate the project at Nayachar island, also near
Haldia and the BUPC has once again opposed it. See:
Bengal government sends proposal on PCPIR to Centre,
The Hindu, 4 January 2008 & BUPC to oppose chemical
hub at Nayachar, Economic Times, 7 January 2008.

[37] Interview with East Medinipore District
Magistrate Anoop Kumar Agrawal, Tamluk, 29 November
2007.

[38] Interview with Sudhin Bijoli, Nandigram, 28
November 2007.

[39] Interview with West Bengal Chief Secretary Amit
Kiran Deb, Kolkata, 30 November 2007.

[40] Nandigram: court directs CBI to file report by 15
February, The Hindu, 17 December 2007.

[41] Nandigram: CBI files four new cases, Times of
India, 19 December 2007.

[42] Nandigram: CBI restrained from filing cases
against police, The Hindu, 14 December 2007.

[43] Interview with West Bengal Chief Secretary Amit
Kiran Deb, Kolkata, 30 November 2007; Interview with
East Medinipore District Magistrate, Anoop Kumar
Agrawal, Tamluk, 29 November 2007.

[44] Compensation paid to Nandigram victims, Hindustan
Times, 31 December 2007.

[45] Interview with villagers, Adhikari pada, 29
November 2007.

[46] Interview with CRPF DIG Alok Raj, Khejuri, 29
November 2007.

[47] These principles are set out in numerous human
rights instruments as well as the Basic Principles and
Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for
Victims of Gross Violations of International Human
Rights Law and Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law , adopted by UN General Assembly
Resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005.

[48] Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 31 on
Article 2 of the Covenant: The Nature of the General
Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the
Covenant, UN Doc. CCPR/C/74/CRP.4/Rev.6, 21 April
2004, para. 8.

[49] Amnesty International is aware that a
consultation paper regarding the protection of the
rights of witnesses was drafted in 2004 by India's Law
Commission and subsequently submitted to the
Government of India. Despite this initiative, the
Government of India is yet to introduce a witness
protection scheme. Amnesty International fears that in
absence of a witness protection scheme and against a
context in which police are feared to have colluded
with CPI -M supporters in attacks against women in
Nandigram and where a fear of security and safety
remain, that victims and witnesses may refrain from
registering First Information Reports or from pursuing
cases through the criminal justice system.

[50] This contradicts what the East Medinipore
District Magistrate informed the delegation when it
met him on 28 November. He had said that no money has
been released; only an announcement for it has been
made to the media by the Chief Secretary.

[51] Delegation's visit to Brij Mohan Tiwari Siksha
Niketan relief camp in Nandigram, 28 November 2007.

[52] According to reports, West Bengal Home Secretary
P. R. Roy has stated that the camps at Nandigram were
empty and all the inmates had left them while
admitting that some of the inmates might have gone to
stay with their relatives. See All Inmates in
Nandigram relief camps have left: WB government, Times
of India, 3 January 2008.

[53] UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,
UN Document E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 11 February 1998.

[54] After the delegation's visit, Chief Minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was reported to have informed
the state assembly that the Government of West Bengal
was looking into complaints received from some CPI-M
supporters in Nandigram that they were harassed by the
CRPF. See: WB Government looking into CRPF excesses:
Buddhadeb, Times of India, 13 December 2007. Earlier,
state Home Secretary P. R. Roy stated that the CRPF
would remain in Nandigram till 12 February 2008. See:
CRPF to stay in Nandigram till February 12: Buddhadeb
government, Times of India, 12 December 2007.

Complete Sachar Commitee Report - Links

2008-03-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

Complete Sachar Report

http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/newsite/reports/sachar/sachar_comm.pdf

http://www.mfsd.org/sachar/leafletEnglish.pdf

http://godgraces.org/files/Muslim%20Report.pdf

Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama, please sign and forward the petition.

2008-03-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Subject: Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama, please sign and forward the petition.

Thanks.

Click to sign petition to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama

http://tinyurl.com/2kall5

The inspiration of Bankimchandra's Anand Math

2008-03-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

The inspiration of
Bankimchandra's Anand Math

Historians like Jadunath Sarkar, R.C. Majumdar and literary critics have generally held that Ananda Math was a product of Bankimchandra�s imagination. The painstaking research of Kishanchand Bhakat, assistant teacher of mathematics in the M.N. Academy High School, Lalgola, in the district of Murshidabad, spanning over two decades seems to have proved otherwise. Having been District Magistrate of Murshidabad at one time and later the Divisional Commissioner, I was impelled to verify the claims. To do so I visited the ruins of the Lalgola Raj Palace, now West Bengal�s sole open-air jail, and this is what I found �

The seeds of Bankimchandra�s anti-British sentiments were sown in Berhampore, the district headquarters of Murshidabad district where he was posted as a Deputy Magistrate [he was the first Bengali to be offered a job in the civil service after he graduated with grace marks in Bengali, his examiner having been none other than Iswarchandra Vidyasagar who did not give him pass marks!]. It was the 15th of December 1873 when Bankimchandra was, as usual, crossing the Barrack Square field opposite the Collectorate in his palanquin while some Englishmen were playing cricket. Suddenly one Lt. Colonel Duffin stopped the palanquin with some abusive remarks and insisted that it should be taken out of the field. When Bankim refused to abandon his customary route, Duffin apparently forced him to alight from the palanquin and pushed him violently (as reported in the Amrita Bazar Patrika of 8.1.1974). Witnesses to the incident included the Raja of Lalgola Jogindranarain Roy, Durgashankar Bhattacharji of Berhampur, Judge Bacebridge, Reverend Barlow, Principal Robert Hand and some others. Furious at the insult, Bankimchandra filed a criminal case against the Colonel, with the Lalgola Raja, Durgashankar Bhattacharji and Hand cited as witnesses. Duffin had to get a lawyer from Krishnagar in Nadia district, as no one in Berhampore was willing to appear for him, while all the local lawyers had signed vakalatnamas for Bankimchandra.

On 12th January 1874 the Magistrate, Mr. Winter, summoned Duffin and had just begun to question him when Judge Bacebridge entered and requested a few words in his chamber. After a little while they called in Bankimchandra and Duffin. Apparently they told Bankimchandra that Duffin had not recognized that Bankim was a Deputy Magistrate and regretted the incident. They requested Bankimchandra to withdraw the case. This he was not prepared to do and after much persuasion agreed, provided Duffin offered a formal apology in open court. Reluctantly, Duffin agreed. Winter took his chair in the court thereafter and in his presence, before a packed court, Lt. Col. Duffin offered an unconditional apology to Bankimchandra. The Amrita Bazar Patrika of 15.1.1874 reports: �It appears that the colonel and the Babu were perfect strangers to each other and he did not know who he was when he affronted him. On being informed afterwards of the position of the Babu, Col. Duffin expressed deep contrition and a desire to apologise. The apology was made in due form in open court where about a thousand spectators, native and Europeans, were assembled.�

Almost immediately thereafter we find Bankimchandra taking three months leave. After this incident there must have been considerable resentment in the Berhampore Cantonment among the British militia and, apprehending bodily harm, Rao Jogindranarain Roy took Bankimchandra away to stay with him in Lalgola.

In Lalgola the Guru of the raja�s family was Pandit Kali Brahma Bhattacharya who practised tantrik sadhana. Kishanchand Bhakat has obtained an excerpt of seven slokas from a book in the family of Kali Brahma Bhattacharya whose rhythm, sense and even some words bear an uncanny resemblance to Bankim�s song. It is most probable that Bankimchandra took the first few lines of his immortal �Bande Mataram� (up to ripudalabarining) from here because in the first edition of the novel in Banga Darshan (Chaitra 1287, pp. 555-556), these lines are given within quotation marks and the spelling is most ungrammatically retained as �matarang�. Bankim faced considerable criticism on this account from Haraprasad Shastri, Rajkrishna Muhopadhyay, and others. In the later editions he removed the quotation marks and changed the spelling to the proper Sanskrit �mataram�, wiping out all trace of the borrowing.

There is an image of Kali in the Lalgola palace temple that is unique. Its four hands are bereft of any weapon. The two lower hands are folded in front (karabadhha), the palm of one covered by that of the other, just as a prisoner�s hands are shackled. From behind, the image is shackled to the wall with numerous iron chains. Kali is black, of terrifying mien, naked, a serpent between her feet, and Shiva a supine corpse before her. This represented to Bankim what Bhaarat, the Mother, had become:

�The Brahmacharin said,
�Look on the Mother as she now is.�
Mohendra said in fear, �It is Kali.�

�Yes, Kali enveloped in darkness, full of blackness and gloom. She is stripped of all, therefore naked. Today the whole country is a burial ground, therefore is the Mother garlanded with skulls. Her own God she tramples under her feet. Alas my Mother!�� (Sri Aurobindo�s translation, 1909).

It is extremely significant that on either side of this unusual Kali we find Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kartik and Ganesh, who are never represented with this goddess. It is in this Kali that Bankim envisioned Mother as she will be and that is why he wrote, �tvam hi durga dashapraharana dharini, Thou, indeed, art Durga, ten-armed, weapon-wielding�. It is this temple that is the source of Bankimchandra�s �Monastery of Bliss�.

To reach this temple a tunnel existed, whose vestiges are still visible, from another temple that is now in ruins and covered up with jungle. This ruined edifice was the Jagaddhatri temple that Bankim would have seen and described in his novel thus:

�Jagaddhatri, Protrectress of the world, wonderful, perfect, rich with every ornament�the Mother as she was�She trampled under foot the elephant of the forest and all wild beasts, and in the haunt of the wild beasts she erected her lotus throne. She was covered with every ornament, full of laughter and beauty. She was in hue like the young sun, splendid with all opulence and empire�The Brahmacharin then showed him a dark underground passage�In a dark room in the bowels of the earth an insufficient light entered from some unperceived outlet. By that faint light he saw an image of Kali.� (ibid.)

A little to the east is another temple in which the image of goddess Durga was worshipped by Kali Brahma Bhattacharya��Mother as she will be�:

�The ascetic�began to ascend another underground passage�In a wide temple built in stone of marble they saw a beautifully fashioned image of the ten-armed Goddess made in gold, laughing and radiant in the light of the early sun�Her ten arms are extended towards the ten regions and they bear many a force imaged in her manifold weapons; her enemies are trampled under her feet and the lion on which her foot rests is busy destroying the foe�on her right Lakshmi as Prosperity, on her left Speech, giver of learning and science, Kartikeya with her as Strength, Ganesh as Success.�

In the tenth chapter of Ananda Math there is an elaborate description of an extremely opulent building housing a dazzling image of four-armed Vishnu with two huge demons, beheaded, lying in front, Lakshmi garlanded with lotuses on the left with flowing hair, as though terrified, and on the right Sarasvati with book and musical instrument, surrounded with incarnate raga-raginis and on his lap one lovelier than either goddess, more opulent and more majestic: the Mother. The dynastic deity of the Lalgola Raja family was Vishnu and the image was worshipped inside the huge palace. Underground chambers can still be seen here and it is possible that the Kali icon was originally housed in one of these, reached through the tunnels.

A little further on is the ruin of an ancient Buddhist Vihara where the Buddhist goddess Kalkali was worshipped. The stream that flows by is named after her, and is mentioned in the novel. In chapter 5 of the novel he describes this �great monastery engirt with ruined masses of stones. Archaeologists would tell us that this was formerly a monastic retreat of the Buddhists and afterwards became a Hindu monastery.� This is where Kalyani first sees the noble, white-bodied, white-haired, white-bearded, white-robed ascetic. Is Kali Brahma Bhattacharya the inspiration for this figure?

To the north of the palace, through what was then a dense forest, one reaches the confluence of Kalkali, Padma and Bhairav rivers known as �Sati-maar thaan (sthaan, place)�. Here, under a massive banyan tree, groups of Bir and Shri sects of violent Tantriks used to meet. Kali Brahma used to tutor them in opposing British rule to free the shackled Mother. One tunnel from the Kali temple goes straight to the Kalkali river, whose banks were dotted with a number of small temples in which these tantriks used to take shelter. It is said that in this Kali temple Bankim witnessed a very old tantrik offering a red hibiscus to the goddess, shouting �Jaya ma danujdalani, bande bandini matarang�. Is it mere coincidence that if �bandini� is dropped from this tantrik�s exclamation we get exactly Bankim�s �bande matarang�?

Bhakat hazards a guess that this may have occurred on the full moon night of Maagh, 1280 B.S. (Jan-Feb 1874) when the death anniversary of Rao Ramshankar Roy used to be observed in the Lalgola family. This occasion occurred very soon after the court case in Berhampur and Bankimchandra�s taking leave. On this anniversary, sadhus from Benares used to arrive at this Kali temple. Repeatedly Bankim refers to �Maghi purnima� in the novel.

The inspiration Bankim received from all this is reflected first in his essay �Aamaar Durgotsab� (1874).

In the same area we find the Raghunath temple with icons of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, Radha and Krishna, with 51 Shiva lingas and 34 Saalgraams. It is said that these were kept here from the time of the Sanyasi Revolt of 1772-73. Bhakat points out that near the Lalgola zamindari was the estate of Rani Bhawani of Natore who used to distribute food freely to the ascetics and was therefore renowned as goddess Annapurna herself. Her patronage extended right up to Benares. In 1772-3 Warren Hastings, the Governor General, forfeited a large portion of the Rani�s estate. This lead to stoppage of the supplies to the Sanyasis. The famine that followed in Bengal fanned the flames and the Sanyasis attacked the British. Led by the tantrik Mahant Ramdas of Dinajpur�s Kanchan Mashida monastery, they deposited the icons of their deities with Rao Atmaram Roy, the Lalgola zamindar, and left on their mission.

Bhakat has identified Bankimchandra�s �Padachinnha� village with Dewan Sarai village which tallies with all the data in the novel: north to south beside Padachinnha the earthern embankment built by the Nawab runs through �to Murshidabad, Cossimbazar or Calcutta� where Kalyani urges Mohendra to go and also mentions �town� which could be a reference to �nagar/Rajnagar� in Birbhum which can also be reached by this embankment. (chapter 1 of Ananda Math). On either side of the embankment there used to be dense forest, and at the confluence, at Basumati (located in Nashipur, now washed into the river was a burning ghat frequented by Bhojpuri Tantriks. All the temples mentioned in the novel are also here, as also the tunnels, the Vishnu temple, Kalkali river. Bhojpuri speaking looters and sepoys feature in the novel who tally with the fact of such people having been brought into Lalgola by the zamindar to act as sepoys and servants. Bhakat himself is a scion of such a family of staff-wielding guards and servants. They used to live in the �Deshwali� area in the jungle adjacent the palace on the banks of the Kalkali and Padma with surnames like Mishra, Pande, Rai and used to receive initiation in tantric worship from Kali Brahma. The guru was addressed as �maharaj�.

Bhakat proposes that Satyananda of the novel is none other than Kali Brahma Bhattacharya; that Dhirananda is based on the court-poet and priest of Lalgola, Trailokyanath Smritibhushan; that Bhabananda is based on the character of Raja Jogindranarain Roy (himself a tantric sadhak), who stood by Bankim and helped him get away from the wrath of the British militia; that Jibananda reflects much of Bankim himself. Bankim would have lived in the first floor room that still exists in the Kali temple courtyard. In the ground floor room lived Dr. Parry who had spent nearly Rs.10,000 in 1873 to make a medical library for the Lalgola palace. He is said to have worshipped Kali and could be the original for the physician in the novel who is loyal to the British.

On the basis of these findings, it can now be asserted that Ananda Math was not just a figment of the novelist�s imagination, but was rooted in a personal insult suffered by Bankimchandra and in the experiences he had in Lalgola as a guest of Rao Jogindranarain Roy.

But a fascinating puzzle remains. Before the images of the Mother are shown, there is reference to worshipping the country itself as Mother, quoting the Sanskrit half-sloka, janani janmabhumisca svargadapi gariyasi. Where did Bankim get this from? Considerable research by me has failed to pinpoint where it occurs. Several Tamil and Malayali Sanskritists recite it with aplomb and attribute it to Rama who is supposed to have responded in these words to Lakshmana when requested to stay on in Lanka, the city-of-gold, instead of returning to Ayodhya. Robert Goldman, the translator of the critical text of the epic, informs that it occurs in some version in the Yuddhakanda as follows:

api svarnamayi lanka na me laksmana rocate /
janani janmabhumis casvargadapi gariyasi //

Unfortunately, neither the Valmiki Ramayana, nor the Adhyatma and Ananda Ramayanas, nor the version in the Mahabharata feature the sloka. So it remains a puzzle like the panchakanya sloka.

� Pradip Bhattacharya, IAS
August 3, 2002

Taslima-- hits out at 'state terrorism', seeks escape from death chamber

2008-03-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Taslima-- hits out at 'state terrorism', seeks escape from death chamber

Taslima hits out at 'state terrorism'

Arindam Sarkar, Hindustan Times
Kolkata, March 19, 2008
First Published: 00:41 IST(19/3/2008)
Last Updated: 03:59 IST(19/3/2008)

Before leaving India on Tuesday, exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin said the treatment meted out to her by the Government of India was nothing less than "cold-blooded state terrorism to drive her out of the country.

Taslima said she is planning a lecture tour where she would speak about her days inside a room with no view and also how she was "treated like an animal". In a no-holds barred interview, Taslima said that the rulers were as crude as those who are despised because of their religious fundamentalism. She said she was deprived of human rights and tortured by the Centre.

"And to expose the mask of this government, which was out to kill me, I will paste all that I experienced on my website," said Taslima.

Relieved that her "house arrest in a free country" was ending, Taslima said that she would write and tell the world about her harrowing experience in the State of the World Forum, where she has been invited to speak by the former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Amnesty International and International Human Rights Organisation have also approached her to narrate her nightmarish experience in India, she said. Taslima said she is planning a lecture tour where she would speak about her days inside a room with no view and also how she was "treated like an animal".

"Fundamentalists do not torture you to death. They just finish you off. But the Indian Government slowly pushed me towards death. My terrible experience has shattered all notions about a secular and democratic India," Taslima Nasrin told the Hindustan Times.

"For 20 years, I have been hitting out against fundamentalism. There has been no physical attack on me. But India, when it failed to break me psychologically, destroyed me physically by denying treatment to an ill person," added Taslima.

She pointed out that her own country Bangladesh had driven her out in 1994 but did not inflict psychological or physical trauma that could lead to the heart and eye diseases. For that matter, Taslima said in Kolkata too, the state government did not impose a ban on her movement.

Talking about her dilemma and frustrations, she said she would very soon write in international dailies on how a handful of hooligans made the Centre to toe its line and punish an author. The political parties of India are so secular that they were scared to defend a person who is anti-Islam, she said.

Taslima's six-month residential permit in India is expiring in August.

She said that before its expiry she plans to return here. "Just to check whether I can stay in Kolkata. If denied I will pack up and leave India for good."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=811e3d9c-e1b6-42b7-a54e-64472eaa5826&&Headline=Taslima+hits+out+at+%e2%80%98state+terrorism%e2%80%99

2008-03-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

auction by christie of vulgar work of pervert mind of m f husain aimed at deliberately distorting and denigrating Hindu culture must be prohibited in broader human & moral interest.

christie must prove its dissociation from such inhumane act.

social & intellectual boycott & criticism of m f husain must be carried out intensively & extensively as well as consistently.

President Narain Kataria needs to be congratulated for taking up focused issue.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Groups_threaten_demonstration_if_Husains_paintings_auctioned_/articleshow/2870997.cms

NEW YORK: A group working to advance the cultural heritage of Indians in the US along with a Hindu organisation has threatened to hold a demonstration unless the Christie's Art Gallery here stops the scheduled auction of several paintings of noted artiste M F Husain on March 20.

In a letter to Christie's, the Indian American Intellectual Forum which has joined hands with Hindu Janjagruti Samiti against Husain said the painter has gained "ignominy and notoriety" in India by painting several Hindu gods and goddesses in "derogatory" forms.

Therefore, it is a matter of "great regret and shame" that auction by Christie's Art Gallery, as part of the Indian and South Asian sale on March 20, is featuring several of his paintings. The letter by Forum President Narain Kataria was released by the organisation yesterday.

Christie's expects some of Hussian's paintings to fetch between $ 120,000 and $ 180,000 and several between $ 20,000 and $40,000

Kataria also sent a power point presentation to Christie's which, he says, "lists Husain's deliberate distortion and degradation of Hindu culture."

"Seven cases have been registered against him. 6 courts have issued arrest warrants against him. More than 28,000 people have signed a petition condemning Mr Husain for his malicious attempts to vilify Hindu people. 1250 police complaints have been filed against him," Kataria claimed.

In this background, he said it is "unbecoming on the part of Christie's, a reputable Art Gallery, "to associate with a person of criminal background and promote his paintings."

Asserting that Christie's association with Husain would "jeopardise" its business in the long run, he urged it to "refrain" from auctioning Husain's paintings.

________________________________

HINDU RIGHTS GROUP TO PROTEST AGAINST M.F. HUSAIN IN NEW YORK

The Indian Star News Service

Posted: Sunday, March 16, 2008

New York: Two Hindu rights groups have announced to protest against the auctioning of paintings of M F Husain by the Christie's Art Gallery in New York on March 20.

A number of paintings of Husain, the celebrated Indian painter, would be put to hammer along with those of other India painters by Christie's that day.

Hindu rights groups allege that Husain paintings have hurt the feeling of the Hindu community world over, the US in particular, and so the Christie's should not auction or display his paintings.

"We would hold a peaceful protest outside the Christie's building," said Narain Kataria, president of Indian American Intellectual Forum, which is jointly organizing the protest along with Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.

Kataria said agitated members of the Hindu community in the US have also written a number of letters to the Christie's urging them not to auction or exhibit Husain's paintings.

"Husain has been condemned by the Indian Parliament for painting Mother India in nude," Kataria wrote in his letter to the Christie's.

There was no immediate comment from the Christie's. However, it is understood that Christie's would go ahead with its scheduled auction of paintings including that of Husain.

"Six courts have issued arrest warrants against him. More than 28,000 people have signed a petition condemning Husain for his malicious attempts to vilify Hindu people. 1,250 police complaints have been filed against him," Kataria said.

Arish Sahani alleged that Husain has been drawing such paintings to deliberately distort and denigrate Hindu culture. "He has severely hurt the sentiments of more than one billion Hindus all over the globe," he said.

Another Hindu rights activists, Ajay Mittal in a letter urged Christie's to issue a memo to Husain asking him to explain why he made nude figures of a majority religion.

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Chaos in Tibet capital

2008-03-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

Chaos in Tibet capital as protests spread

Enlarge Photo Tibetan monks attend a class at the school inside the Kumbum Monastery in Huangzhong County,...

Fri, Mar 14 06:32 PM

By Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - Protesters in Tibet's capital Lhasa burnt shops and vehicles and yelled for independence on Friday as the region was hit by its biggest protests for nearly two decades, testing China's grip months before the Olympics.

Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over previous days gave way to bigger scenes of violence and resentment in the remote, mountainous region.

The U.S. Embassy said it had received reports of gunfire in Lhasa and advised its citizens to stay indoors.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone.

"People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."

Another ethnic Tibetan resident said there were "protests everywhere".

"It's no longer just the monks. Now they have been joined by lots of residents," the man said.

The eruption of anger comes despite China's repeated claims the Tibetan people are grateful for improved lives, and it threatens to stain preparations for the Beijing Olympics.

"We feel that this very heavy-handed response is not commensurate with the very moderate approach of the demonstrators peacefully expressing their aspirations," said Thupten Samphel, a spokesman in Dharamsala in India for the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile.

"We appeal to the international community to persuade the Chinese authorities to deal with these demonstrations moderately. We believe to address their grievances is much more important than to physically suppress them."

Chinese rule in remote, Buddhist Tibet has become a focus for critics in the run-up to the August Games, with global marches this week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Communist rule spilling into Tibet itself.

Those marches apparently emboldened Buddhist monks to take to Lhasa's streets, defying a heavy police presence and reports of lockdowns on several monasteries, sources with knowledge of the region said.

On Friday, 300 to 400 residents and monks demonstrated in Lhasa, a source cited a witness as saying, capping the protests that echoed the anti-government demonstrations that rocked neighbour Myanmar last year.

"Some are angry and some are scared. The security forces are checking houses to see if any monks are hiding," said the source, who is in touch with Tibetan residents.

More than 10 monks had been arrested and tanks were patrolling the square near the Potala Palace, the source said, referring to one of the architectural wonders of the world once the winter residence of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Witnesses said a number of shops were set on fire, and a report from China's Xinhua news agency said the Tromsikhang Market in central Lhasa was also in flames.

CHAOS

Residents spoke of general chaos around the city, and one Tibetan man said Tibetans and minority Hui Muslim traders from other parts were fighting each other with rocks and knives.

A Han Chinese resident said the protests were being directed at the city's Chinese population.

"The Han Chinese are really scared," the resident said. "We have been told not to go outside."

"It is very chaotic ... There is lots of smoke and police around," said another Han Chinese man. An editor at the Lhasa Evening News said staff were staying inside.

Two residents reached by telephone referred to martial law.

But that could not be confirmed and China's State Council Information Office declined to comment, referring only to remarks made on Thursday by a Foreign Ministry spokesman who said the protesters were "seeking to spark social turmoil".

The demonstrations in Lhasa earlier also spilled into at least one other ethnic Tibetan area of China.

Hundreds of monks from the Labrang monastery in the northwestern province of Gansu led a march through the town of Xiahe, the Free Tibet Campaign said, citing sources in Dharamsala, home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.

China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square protests were crushed in Beijing, to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations, when President Hu Jintao was the Communist Party boss in the region.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing and Jonathan Allen in New Delhi)