Transforming Kashmir from ‘the issue’ to ‘one of the issues’ is a rich reflection of India’s diplomatic craftsmanship, even though Pakistan continued to harp on Kashmir as the core issue.

By Zafar Choudhary, TwoCircles.net,

In 1947-48 Kashmir was the only issue between India and Pakistan. The Shimla Agreement of 1972 neutralised that centrality to a large extent. Half century after making of the conflict the composite dialogue process, first ever structural engagement between two countries, reduced the importance of Kashmir to one of the eight issues India and Pakistan need to resolve. Transforming Kashmir from ‘the issue’ to ‘one of the issues’ is a rich reflection of India’s diplomatic craftsmanship. However, Pakistan continued to harp on Kashmir as the core issue.

On the eve of Agra summit the then External Affairs Minister aptly summed up the national consensus opinion on Kashmir: ‘What Pakistan calls as core issue is actually the core of Indian nationhood’. Really! This ‘core business’ needs investigation, the earlier the better for India’s whole concept of Kashmir being central to Indian nationhood. New Delhi’s diplomatic craftsmanship notwithstanding, it is important to acknowledge Kashmir’s internal drive leading to change in dynamic of the conflict. In 2013 there are not many Kashmiris who think Kashmir is a dispute between India and Pakistan. Syed Ali Shah Geelani is nearly close to one of them since 2010 when he dropped Pakistan out of his five-point framework of engagement with New Delhi. Geelani’s agenda was clearly influenced by the ground realities of an average Kashmiri seeking to renegotiate relations with rest of India on the basis of mutual respect and human dignity. That is the point was once again grossly missed in New Delhi while planning the secretive manner in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was to be hanged.

Afzal Guru’s truth
Afazal Guru’s truth lay buried with him behind high walls of Tihar, South Asia’s largest prison. Condemned to death in 2006 for his alleged role in 2001 Parliament attack case, in his prison cell Guru was a powder keg for competing sets of nationhood and different ideologies. His impending hanging promised a political fortune for different parties to eke out. That is what is simply happening since February 9.

For the rightwing nationalists the hanging has come as message of India’s strength and capacity to fight terrorism and for the centrists it is an answer to the rightwing clamour. The ‘collective conscience’ of the society has been talked about a thousand times in past week. If Kashmir is not part of it then one must admit that the Indian nation’s ‘collective conscience’ has a sense of satisfaction and gratification over the latest hanging at Tihar. The question is not on legality of the execution as in Indian judicial system we repose trust. The question here is of schadenfreude between Kashmir and rest of India.

We must understand that except Guru himself and other than claims of prosecution presented before the courts no one on earth would have known the exact status of his involvement in the Parliament attack case. Therefore, we have not heard anyone in Kashmir saying with absolute confidence that an innocent was hanged for satisfying the ‘collective conscience of the society’. The questions in Kashmir are only about fair trial and the right of family to meet the convict before being send to gallows.

Injuring the core
We have grown up hearing about alienation in Kashmir. In equal measures we have heard of all things possible done for Kashmir’s emotional integration with rest of India. While sifting through the pages of history one comes across two types of questions many times over –Why Kashmiris erred? Why New Delhi erred? Six decades later same questions exist as we see things happening live.

In the latest case there were, at the most, two questions an average Kashmiri could have asked. Instead of upholding the claimed democratic traditions of India by letting them ask two questions their voices have been muzzled and they have been virtually imprisoned. The answers that curbs, or the freedom of expression, fall in the domain of Omar Abdullah’s state government are vague to the core. In Kashmir whose writ actually runs is a widely well known phenomenon. The two questions that Kashmiris could have asked are those for which two important persons have said shouldn’t have happened in the first place. The questions are about fair trial to the satisfaction of any law knowing person and family’s right to know about the execution and opportunity to meet the convict before he is hanged. See, who has asked these questions. Gopal Subramaniam, the lawyer instrumental in securing death sentence for Guru, has described the secret hanging as violation of human rights. He told Times of India on Thursday that convict should have been given the opportunity of exploring the last legal option available to him. The second question comes from none other than the Prime Minister who has asked this in the form of displeasure as why the family was not informed well in time.

Fresh CBMs
With these questions staring at the face of what Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde says ‘following the due process of law’, no one can stop people within and outside India attributing political motives to the execution. As the communication blockade keeps Kashmiris isolated, there job is being done by the rightwing nationalists asking the Congress government of motives behind timing of execution. The Home Minister’s Hindu terror remark will always be connected with Guru’s hanging.

Pending since 2006 the execution was just a matter of the time but the timing has made wide sections of society to feel that Kashmir –the core of Indian nationhood –has been made use of to address some political questions the ruling regime had been facing. Indeed, a new chapter has been added to Kashmir’s alienation. CBM or the Confidence Building Measure is the most abused term in case of Kashmir. A basic right of every Indian national, for example travel document, is denied at the first instance or its issuance is prolonged. Then travel documents become set of the issues to be discussed in a peace process and directions for speedy clearance comes as ‘Kashmir specific political and security CBMs’. When Home Secretary RK Singh indicated that Guru’s family could come to Tihar and pray at his grave, an ace Kashmiri intellectual and former bureaucrat Nayeem Akhter remarked: ‘fresh CBM – you can pray’. The Congress has accused BJP of turning Guru’s hanging into a poll issue while this is being seen the one for Congress itself. The National Conference which runs government in the state in partnership with Congress is battling the crisis in Kashmir lonely. Why is the Congress running away from the core of Indian nationhood? The elections in the State as also the LoK Sabha are not far away. Do we expect a fresh peace process for Kashmir to address the latest round of alienation?

(Writer is a senior journalist based at Jammu and an Asia Society Fellow on India-Pakistan Regional Young Leaders Forum. He can be reached atzafarchoudhary@gmail.com)

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By Azizur Rahman Falahi,

Perhaps, this is an extremely agonizing phenomenon which millions of people across the globe would be concerned about, that with the passage of time, and ever advancing technology particularly the communication technology, we are gradually plunging deep into the loss of values, love, care and affection towards each other.

Bygone is the time, when people used to have frequent interaction and togetherness. They used to spend a considerable time together, sharing their joys, sorrows and concerns. In that era, this practice was not motivated by any self interest; else it was purely because it was needed for all to keep them united, spirited and upbeat about the life to make it joyous and happy. The absence of technology and particularly the communication technology was a great source of uniting people and cultivating values, love, care and affection among them.

With the revolution in communication technology and to some extent the other technologies as well, and with the emergence of the materialistic thought created by the capitalist system, we are rapidly losing the very essence of life which is highly significant for a happy life. The human being is a social creature, and everyone is the need of the other to ensure a happy social life. The more is the socialization among people, the more will be the happiness among them and care for each other.

Nowadays, people are so obsessed and preoccupied with their mobile phone, computer and television, spending most of their time with these devices, that they seldom find time to meet others. Most of the people always seem to be in such a hurry that they do not even shake hand properly. This kind of apathy towards people, relatives and friends has surely been created by materialistic tendency and negative use of the above said technologies. This has been a common observation of the people that one time close friends, who used to spend a lot of time together, have now turned unconcerned and indifferent to each other and have found technical ways for their entertainment and socialization. This is extremely sad, that the means and sources of isolating people are ever increasing and so even a worse time has to come.

In olden times, human values and mutual care were existent to a great extent. Now, the advent of mobile phones, emails, options of written and video chatting, have resulted in distancing people from each other. Beyond any doubt, in the contemporary world, these means of communication play a pivotal role for a quick communication, easing things and facilitating the business of billions of dollars across the world. But at the same time, they have greatly failed in terms of uniting people on the grounds of the above human and social values. Through the modern means of communication, we can become the wealthiest person of the world, but not necessarily the happiest. To create a true quest for love and affection for each other, the physical contact is a must which cannot be substituted and gained merely by a cheap phone call, message and internet chat. This is something that requires a considerable amount of time meeting people in person. The famous mobile phone manufacturer Nokia’s business tagline says “Connecting People” while in the context of the above, it should be “Disconnecting People” as they are actually facilitating us to stay away from our near and dear ones longer than reasonable time and then try to compensate it with trivial and petty calls, messages, emails and chats.

A technical disease and the outcome of the modern communication technology, are the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo etc, which on one hand, have caused the regime change in Egypt and on the other hand, as per a survey, have resulted in making a lot of Diabetes patients as well. The addiction to these sites, is nowhere less than the addiction to tobacco, cigarette, wine or even heroin and opium. Many people stretch up to three hours, four hours or sometimes even for more hours, posting, unposting, sharing, liking, unliking, commenting, and uploading things on Facebook. Here, like that of narcotics, the more the involvement, the more is the addiction. Nowadays, people and particularly youngsters are so crazy for these social networking sites, that if they do not find an opportunity to spend time daily on these sites, it might probably result in indigestion for them.

Currently, youth constitute the majority of India’s population. And on the other side, this is the method of spending their valuable time, while this time can be used more constructively, meeting near and dear ones, reading something informative and useful; or even utilizing this time for any sport, would have resulted in refreshing the mood and burning some calories making them stronger and healthier. So, if this is the state of affairs, how can we expect from this burger and nuclear generation to cultivate love, care, affection and the habit of socialization. It is evident from the above, that these are the key factors which are leading to the loss of precious values.

Out of the above observations that I have made, I do not intend to play down the importance of technology and the modern means of communication; else I want to advocate the significance of the fundamental human values which are essential for a human being to keep him/her happy and that happiness cannot necessarily be guaranteed by something other than these human virtues. We should be prompt to make the most of any facility as long as it does not impinge on the quality of our life and results in separating us from our loved ones.

I would like to conclude with ChetanBhagat’s quote “Work hard, but take time for your loved ones as well, because your power point presentation, will not work on your dying days”.

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Azizur Rahman Falahi is a financial professional works in Chennai.

By Payel Bhattacharya, Citizen News Service,

I have been suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) Syndrome since my early childhood. This disorder results in excess blood flow due to hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) resulting in repeated tumor growths in different organs of my body. VHL is a lifetime disease. Patients need to be constantly checked and treated/operated for the tumors and cysts that develop at various sites in the central nervous system and visceral organs throughout their lifetime. Because of the complexities associated with management of the various types of tumours in this disease, treatment is multidisciplinary.

VHL, LIVER TRANSPLANT AND MDR-TB
Very often timely aggressive surgical intervention is the only cure. As a VHL liver transplant patient, I have undergone and 9 surgeries one brain tumor removal, besides grappling with MDR-TB which was diagnosed in 2010. I developed MDR-TB. Manifestation of my latent TB happened under immune compromised situation, confirmed by a radiological conference facilitated by Dr Randeep Guleria at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). I developed pulmonary, bone and lymph involvement, to such an extent that it gnaws my bones and I walk with help of a four-toed stick.

The latest CT study of my chest reveals multiple nodules, many of them calcified, and also fibroatelectatic lesions in both lung fields. The appearance is consistent with chronic tubercular lesions. Compared with previous CT chest studies of 2010 and 2011, there is relative regression of the lung parenchymal lesions. CT study of head reveals an enhancement in right cavernous sinus as well as right convexity. In view of the size of lesion and my age (33years), radiosurgery-- cyber knife—has been suggested by doctors at Medanta Medicity Hospital.

FATHER'S DEMISE, MOUNTING PROBLEMS, and VHL-RELATED TUMOURS
My father’s sudden demise in 2010 has left me and my mother in a penniless situation, and my younger brother is now the sole earning member of the family. We are left with nothing to carry on my treatment. We are homeless, being evicted by landlords as and when they feel I am contagious because of my TB. At present I am living in a crummy rented place with narrow stairs, without ventilation, which is having adverse effects on my lung lesions, bone TB and hypoxia related VHL tumors which are growing fast. Initial support was provided by my friends and well-wishers but they and my brother can no longer pull the economy of my diseases together.

APPEAL
I hence appeal to you to give me a helping hand. So far, I have gathered plenitude of experience but not lost the verve to live. Cyber knife doesn’t make me faze out with fear, but lack of funds and understanding makes the feelings worse. Please help me live the joyous life with a rare disorder as I am a survivor and not merely a sufferer.

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(Payel wrote her personal testimony for Citizen News Service – CNS, and she is surviving VHL syndrome and complications such as recurrent tumours. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is another health challenge she is currently facing. Her contact details are online at: www.citizen-news.org)

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,

Nowhere is the politician-criminal nexus more apparent at present than in West Bengal. As much was evident yet again from the nonchalant manner in which a hoodlum shot dead a police officer in a crowded place in Kolkata's Garden Reach area in broad daylight during a spell of disturbances over a students union election.

The fact that the goon is known to be associated with the Trinamool Congress will not surprise anyone in the state, which has seen how the police has continued to be reluctant to act against anti-socials with links to the ruling party, as during Leftist rule.

The scene has been made murkier by the removal of Kolkata's police commissioner R.K. Pachnanda, reportedly for arresting some of the culprits who have a Trinamool Congress background.

The latest outbreak has followed almost continuous lawlessness, which made Governor M.K. Narayanan describe the conditions in the state as "depressing and disturbing" because of the widespread "goondaism".

The comment made a minister say that the governor was guilty of a yellow card violation, according to football terminology, and that he might be shown a red card soon.

Although it is doubtful whether such colourful threats to a governor have any validity in real life, Narayanan's latest observation that "something was wrong" in West Bengal will not please the state government.

The comment may not be a prelude to the imposition of president's rule, which is nowadays enforced in the rarest of rare cases. But, the almost unending disturbed conditions mean that the state is unlikely to see any improvement in the political, educational and industrial spheres in the foreseeable future.

Few will doubt that the 'pariborton' or change, which Mamata Banerjee promised before the assumption of power 20 months ago, has been for the worse.

To old-timers, the continuing violence is reminiscent of the period in the mid-1960s when the Communists were forcefully establishing their bases in the state. Arguably, the Trinamool at present is passing through a similar phase when it is trying to consolidate its influence in various fields, including colleges, as the latest outbreak shows.

Moreover, since it has become an established feature of political life that the parties routinely use street thugs to demonstrate their hold by terrorizing their opponents and the ordinary people, the ruffians have become increasingly bold, as have been seen from the Garden Reach incident and an earlier one in Haldia from where the officials of a private company had to flee after being threatened by goons with political backing.

As is known, their temerity stems from the knowledge that their bosses in Writers' Building, the government's headquarters in Kolkata, will protect them from the police.

Shortly after Mamata Banerjee assumed office, she had personally gone to a police station to secure the release of several her party's "activists".

The fact that the clashes in Garden Reach were between Trinamool supporters and those of the Congress also recalls the Communist period when there were skirmishes between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cadres and the followers of other Left parties as each one of them tried to strike roots in various areas.

In the present case, the eagerness which the Trinamool ministers are showing in the arrest of a local Congress leader is typical of the ruling party's tactics of sending the police after an opponent rather than on their own goons.

Evidently, the Left is not Mamata Banerjee's only enemy.

Violence is not the only dark spot on the state government's record. It has been rocked by a series of lapses and blunders, starting with a high number of deaths of children in hospitals during winter to the rising cases of rape.

Instead of showing concern, however, the chief minister's response was to describe the reports about these incidents as attempts to malign her name, especially with regard to a rape case in the Park Street area, which she called a concocted story.

Perhaps because of the realization that the ground is slipping from under her feet, Banerjee has become exceedingly short-tempered of late.

She threatened to "whip" her security personnel when her car turned up a few minutes late at the Kolkata Book Fair, and to slap the journalists at one of her public rallies. It doesn't take much perspicacity to see that she has been unable to graduate from being a rabble rouser to be an administrator.

At the same time, her limited economic perspective made her reject all of the prime minister's reforms programmes, which finally led to her party's departure from the government at the centre.

She also made a laughing stock of herself by opposing Pranab Mukherjee's presidential venture with Mulayam Singh Yadav's help without understanding the nuances of politics at the national level.

After her rupture with the centre and her break with the Congress in West Bengal, if she had been able to run the government with a modicum of efficiency, the people of the state might have had some relief from the prevailing "goondaism". But her inability or unwillingness to control the Trinamool cadres is responsible for the near-anarchic state.

(16.02.2013 - Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)

By Shaik Zakeer Hussain,

The mass Media in India and elsewhere is corporate owned, and like any corporate owned entity, its sole purpose is to generate profit and to push forward its interests into the ‘mainstream’. And beyond doubt, it has been successful in both. The media, like any ingenious manipulator crafts its words and designs its programs with sparkle and glitter, to control our understanding, and to evoke emotions.

Many of us, who have access to news and information at our fingertips, might disagree, we might, perhaps argue that, today we have tens of news channels with different news presenters debating on a variety of topics. We have hundreds of newspapers and magazines, from where we take information from, and therefore we are not only well informed, but are also well equipped, from falling into any propaganda trap.

That might be true, but let us see. Take the example of the recent controversy surrounding the film Vishwaroopam, some Muslim groups protested against the stereotyped imagery of Islam and Muslims depicted in the film and wanted it either banned or some of the ‘inappropriate’ scenes deleted. The media erupted in fury, and skillfully crafted the phrase, “cultural emergency” for terming what it called the ‘intolerance against freedom of expression’.

Through its satellite wizardry, it began to inject and successfully create a notion that, protesting against films or any form of art, irrespective of what it conveys, is backwardly and savagery. Without drawing any suspicion, it made an impression in the minds of its viewers that, the so-called freedom of expression is reserved for a certain class, and others have no right to question it. It scorned at the legitimate concerns of the protestors, whose only reason for doing so was, that depicting Muslims or at least some as ‘terrorists’, and suggesting that they inculcate hatred in children, would build a negative concept in people’s minds, and that concept will influence their behavior and thoughts without any valid ground.

Let’s look at Pragaash, an all girl’s rock band from Kashmir. When news started circulating on Twitter and Facebook that the band members had called it quits, following threats and abuses online, and a fatwa from the grand mufti of Kashmir, the media gave it so much hype, that it looked like, all of Kashmir’s problems revolved around the band and its salvage. One might ask, what’s wrong with it. We will see.

MC Kash is one of the most popular rap artists from Kashmir. In 2010 he released the song "I Protest", the song was about the unrest and the killing of innocent youths in Kashmir and human right violations by local security forces. The studio, where the song was recorded was raided by the police, and MC Kash was threatened by the administration, as it deemed the song ‘seditious’. The national media never reported it.

This blatant hypocrisy is what is wrong. The media only reports what it wants to report. The mission of the media is to please, it is to entertain and make itself marketable, and it will do anything to be marketable.

The media often paints false pictures of the world it lives in, pictures hand crafted to serve its corporate pay masters and to make its world (nation) look good. It creates an illusion to satisfy most of the people - its consumers, if you will, most of who do not want to acknowledge reality.

The corporate media needs to be challenged; the people whose voices are sidelined have to create independent spaces for them to be heard, and thanks to the marvel of technology, it is very much possible, than ever before.

(Shaik Zakeer Hussain is an independent writer and blogs at Mashaal.in)

By Larbi Reffou, IANS,

The winds of the "Arab Spring" were channeled by Morocco to expand and consolidate democracy and accelerate the pace of political reforms. His Majesty,The King Mohammed VI, announced in March 2011 a profound constitutional reform, which was largely supported by the Moroccan people through a referendum.

By consolidating the principle of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary, the new constitution gives wider powers to the Head of Government, appointed by the King from the party which wins elections, and to strengthen the provisions relating to the control of the government by the two chambers of Parliament. The new constitution has also paved the way for the organization of new legislative elections in November 2011.

By choosing the way of the evolution of political institutions of the country, Morocco has pursued the reforms undertaken in the 1990s. Needless to say, the Moroccan monarchy has a historical and religious legitimacy and has always been the symbol of the state's continuity and the guarantor of national unity and stability.

In this respect, the democratic process was launched two decades back when the late King, His Majesty Hassan II, had initiated a series of reforms in the political and economic fields, opening the door for a new era of democratic transition. This concerned, among other things, many steps for the promotion of human rights and the protection of freedom of expression and, mostly, the decision to establish a new government of 'alternance', led by parties from the opposition.

Since the enthronement of His Majesty The King Mohammed VI in 1999, Morocco has witnessed a movement of unprecedented reforms in all areas.

In this regard, the reform of the "Family Code", which revolutionized the status and empowerment of women in Morocco, introduced a range of measures that enhance women's equality in terms of marriage, divorce and taking care of children and impose strict legal restrictions on polygamy. Moreover, the launch of the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD), aimed at the development of disadvantaged regions and the fight against social exclusion, marginalization and poverty. Many actions have been taken to support income-generating activities and improve access to services and basic infrastructure (education, health, roads, water and sanitation, environmental protection, etc.).

The dynamics of reforms does not end here. Other key reforms are underway and new ones will certainly be considered in future if need be. For instance, there is the project "advanced regionalization", which will allow Morocco to build a new model of territorial governance and establish a new relationship between the central government and regional entities. Also, the reform of justice aims primarily at consolidating independence of the judiciary, modernizing its regulatory framework, upgrading its structures and improving legal certainty.

Thus, what makes the Moroccan model distinctive is it has always made "evolution within continuity" a guiding principle of its political practice.

Since its independence, the Kingdom of Morocco has made the irreversible choice of political pluralism and economic liberalism. The right to property and freedom of initiative are part of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Moroccan economy is an economy characterized by a large opening towards the outside world. Since the early 1980s, Morocco has adopted a policy of economic and financial openness. The main goal of that policy is to strengthen the liberalization of foreign trade, to help for greater integration into the world economy, and to contribute to the consolidation of the multilateral trading system.

In recent years, the priority has been given to modernize and diversify the economy to be more competitive, to build world-class infrastructure and to improve the business and investment environment. A vast program of industrialization has been conducted to make Morocco one of the leading countries in promising and value-added sectors, like automobile, electronics, and aeronautics. This policy has contributed in attracting important investments by major multinational companies, such as Renault, Bombardier, Tata and Dell.

During the last decade, Morocco has launched large-scale projects aimed at elevating its infrastructure to international standards. Among these projects are the Tanger-Med Port (one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean region and in Africa), a modern highway network connecting all the major cities, 15 international airports (largest airport hub in the region) and the ongoing construction of a high-speed railway project (from Tangiers to Marrakesh).

The major economic reforms undertaken together with the ongoing implementation of several ambitious mega-projects and sector-based strategies have started to give good results, especially with the continuous increase of the GDP.

(17-02-2013-Larbi Reffouh is Morocco's Ambassador to India. The piece is an extract from an address at a conference on Maghreb and India. He can be contacted at larbireffouh@hotmail.com)

By Aziz Mubarki for TwoCircles.net,

THE high-profile case of the Indian Parliament Attack saw its apparent end with the execution of Afzal Guru in Delhi’s high security Tihar jail last fortnight. Hanging of Guru did not matter much to the Muslims who are often branded anti-national and gibbeted everyday despite being staunchly patriotic as others. Muslims in India have faced gross discrimination and have remained neglected for years now. No political party has ever tried to sincerely pay heed to the grievances of this largest minority community. Only during the pre-election period some leaders pretend that they care for the Muslims. Even a section of the media uses hollow rhetoric and jingoism targeting the Muslims on different issues, and they wrongly believe that they are performing a patriotic duty.

It is important to recall and realize that not even once ordinary Muslim citizens of India have supported terrorists or have been found to be involved in such nefarious activities. In the past one or two decades intelligence agencies enthusiastically arrested few thousands of Muslim youths accusing them in scores of terrorist attacks. Some were branded as masterminds of the attacks by the agencies and in several media trials they were routinely found guilty of the attacks. Thousands of Muslims remain confined and detained all over the country on fictitious terrorism charges, concocted by the (communally-biased)prosecution.

But thankfully the judiciary- that has remained unbiased considerably, apart from acquitting nearly all innocent Muslim youths, scolded police and other investigating agencies for framing the innocent Muslims. Legal experts surveying the terrorism cases involving Muslim youths say that the rate of acquittal of the Muslim youths in the past has been as high as 99%- clearly highlighting the bias Muslim youths face in prosecution. For Muslims life has been like that since long, irrespective of which party rules the country.

It is crucial to understand the approach of television news anchors who have effectively managed to drive personal viewpoint into news, and rubbish all rational voices that seek answers to complex cases including terrorist attacks. News channels are supposed to report the news, not give their editorial comments and restrict contrary voices from giving their views. Journalists must understand they are not elected by citizens or shareholders, but are accountable to the people whose trust in the accuracy and integrity that enables their work unfortunately much of this has now been squandered and history shall stand to mock them if they don’t make their style more ethical quickly to put things right.

Prosecution often brand the accused Muslim youths as “dreaded terrorists” and routinely pile cooked-up evidences against them. When these cases are heard in courts of law, the prosecution fails to prove the allegations they leveled against these innocent Muslim youths. However, after suffering confinement and disgrace for as long as 20 years, the best years of the life of the arrested youths get exhausted. Their friends and relatives shun them and their families suffer terrible devastation and trauma. And, the innocent youths, after coming out of jail face a bleak future.

Sadly the penetration of communal elements into police and intelligence agencies is responsible for all the excruciation faced by the innocent Muslim youths in terror-related cases. It indeed brings shame to the law enforcement structure of the country. As falsely the Muslim youths are framed in the cases, the real culprits of most terror activities wander freely. There is also a tendency among the investigative agencies to choose and fix some suitable ‘scapegoats’ and declare a case solved- to cover up someone else’s crime directly or indirectly and to willfully target Muslim youth in the cases. Such wrongful arrests have the potential to alienate Muslim youths in the society.

It is imperative to know Indian Muslims are as patriotic as any other stakeholder to this country and rarely will you find a Muslim being convicted in any terrorist or anti national activity by the court and that’s proof enough for the said disputation. Therefore it is earnestly anticipated from the people sitting at helm in corridors of power, civil society and media barons to take a realistic and positive approach towards this alienation of Muslims in Indian society as weak minority shall make a weaker nation.

A small list of cases in which Muslims had been framed by the prosecution, but judiciary acquitted them:

In Hyderabad the 7th Metropolitan Sessions Judge Radha Krishna threw out the case ( http://twocircles.net/2008dec31/21_hyderabadi_muslim_youths_acquitted_te... ) and acquitted all the accused. He said that the prosecution had failed to bring any evidence to prove the charges against them.

1.Md.Abdul Sattar (In Cherlapally Jail) Arrested on 15/06/2007

2.Md.Abdul Kareem Qadri @ Karem (In Cherlapally Jail) Arrested on 15/06/2007

3.Masood Ahamed (In Cherlapally Jail) Arrested on 4/09/2007

4.Arshad Khan @ Fayaz Khan Arrested on 4/09/2007

5.Md.Naseeruddin @Fayaz Khan Arrested on 4/09/2007

6.Md.Abdul Raheem @ Raheem Arrested on 4/09/2007

7.Syed Abdul Qader @Imran Arrested on 4/09/2007

8.Shaik Mohammed Faredd @ Ali Pasha Arrested on 4/09/2007

9.Gulam Aslam Siddiqui Arrested on 4/09/2007

10.Syed Abdul Sami (Absconding)

11.Md.Abdul Kareem@ Anwar Arested on 8/9/2007

12.Syed Zulfiqar Ahamed@ Ifteqar (Absconding)

13.Md.Abdul Wajeed. Arrested on 8/9/2007

14.Abdul Wase Arrested on 8/9/2007

15.Mohd Abdul Majid B/O SHAHED BILAL Arrested on 27/9/2007

16.Mohd Rayees Uddin Arrested on 6/9/2007

17.Md.Mustafa Ali Arrested on 6/9/2007

18.Ibrahim Ali Junaid Arrested on 8/9/2007

19.Mohtashim Billa S/O MOULANA ABDUL ALEEM ISLAHI Arrested on 6/3/2008

20.Gulam Hasan Siddique (Absconding)

21.Md.Shakeel .Arrested on 27/9/2007

In Ahmadabad On Jun 11, 2009, (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-06 11/ahmedabad/28193522_1_acquits-jihadi-charge-sheet) the Additional Sessions Judge IB Waghela acquitted Kari Mufidul Islam Shaikh along with city-based youths Ilyas Memon and Siraj Ansari some three years after the city crime branch had booked them for “sheltering jehadi terrorists and conspiring to avenge 2002 riots”. The judge held that there was no evidence against them to establish their involvement in terrorist activities.

Finally compensation for 70 Muslims youth ( http://nvonews.com/2011/12/13/muslim-youth-get-acquitted-in-terrorism-ch...) who were arrested in connection with Mecca Masjid Blast and later released by court as there were no evidence against them. Perhaps this will be the first instance in India when a Government will give compensation to falsely arrested people for terrorism.

Police must ensure that no innocent person has the feeling of sufferance only because “my name is Khan, but I am not a terrorist,” a Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and C.K. Prasad said (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dont-give-terror-tag-to-innocent-m...). It ordered the acquittal of 11 persons, arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and other laws, and convicted for allegedly planning to create communal violence during the Jagannath Puri Yatra in Ahmadabad in 1994.

In a separate case a principal district judge GN Patel acquitted Firoz alias Abdullah Ghaswala fromMumbai, Mohammed Ali alias Ubaidullah Chhipa, Vakil Ahmed Saiyed and Umar Farooq Shaikh from Ahmedabad, Anisul alias Mursalim alias Sujoy alias Ashiq Bari and his brother Muhibul alias Mushtaqim Bari from Bangladesh (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-07-29/ahmedabad/2827639...) All the six were booked by ATS, then headed by DG Vanzara (who was suspended and is now in jail), in May 2006 for conspiracy, waging war against nation and possession of explosive substance. They were accused of going to Pakistan to receive training from Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Azam Chima. Upon returning from the neighbouring country, they were planning to blow up Kandla pipeline, Somnath temple and Sabarmati overbridge besides the offices of RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal, the prosecution alleged.

And 14 Muslim youths were arrested following the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur on 13th May2008.(http://twocircles.net/2011dec25/youths_acquitted_jaipur_blast_charge_nar...), All 14 were acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court on 9th December, 2011 .

By Farrukh Hakeem,

Policing in the Indian colony was modeled after the militaristic Royal Irish Constabulary instead of the civilian London Metropolitan Police Force model. The main purpose of this model of policing was to subjugate a large and hostile indigenous population with a relatively small force. The British colonists created a police force that was answerable predominantly to the regime in power and the colonial bureaucracy rather than to the people. The main function and purpose of this force was to control the population, instead of protecting the community. It sought to consolidate and secure the interests of one dominant group and was required to remain outside and distinct from the community.

The police forces were extremely hierarchical in structure, such that loyalty to the leadership and the establishment was more important than the rule of law (Patil 2008) Though India has made tremendous strides in the field of science and technology, all of these efforts may not benefit the citizens of India unless there are changes and improvements made to its administrative apparatus. The administrative bureaucracy reflects the needs of a colonial populace and needs to be upgraded so as to cater to the needs of its citizens and also treat all its citizens in a fair, respectful, non-arbitrary and non-discriminatory manner. The problem is most serious in the criminal justice arena, with policing being the area that requires urgent attention. Focusing on Security related concerns, the Sachar Committee outlined the discriminatory attitudes of the police and the law enforcement officials in India. The Muslim community tends to be over-policed as offenders and under-policed as victims. Police adopt a very highhanded attitude while dealing with Muslims. On the slightest pretext, the police rounds up Muslim boys, and fake encounters are a routine process illegally adopted by police to please their superiors. (Jamia Teachers Solidarity Report, 2012, 2009). Police presence in Muslim areas is more common than the presence of schools, banks or commercial establishments. Security forces enter Muslim homes on the slightest pretext. Muslims living in border areas fare much worse; they are subjected to acute harassment and regarded as foreigners by police and the administrators. During violent communal riots, there is large-scale targeted sexual violence against Muslim women and girls. This has had a chilling effect on Muslims all over India. As opposed to the above scenario, a look at another former British colony could give us some valuable insights to improve and fix the rickety old Indian system. After attaining independence, America, a former British colony went through various phases before it settled on the criminal justice processes and procedures that are now followed. The case of Brown v. Mississippi (297 U.S. 278, 1936) is fairly instructive. In this case three African American males were accused of killing a white man. The police extracted one of the defendants’ involuntary confessions after he was beaten up. The court held that the defendant’s involuntary confession could not be entered as evidence since it violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. During the trial, the prosecution admitted that the defendants confessed only after being subjected to brutal whippings by the police officers. One of these defendants had been strung up by his neck from a tree in addition to being whipped. The defendants had been convicted based upon these confessions. The US Supreme Court reversed these convictions, holding that a confession extracted by police violence cannot be entered in evidence and violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In a later landmark case, Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436, 1966) the Court made the Miranda rights part of the routine police procedure to ensure that suspects were informed of their rights.

While looking at the functioning of the Indian police, Human Rights Watch, (2009)
focused its concerns on two different but linked issues:

• Police abuse of individuals, mostly criminal suspects; and

• The conditions that encouraged and enabled the police to commit these abuses.

Its findings clarified that this misbehavior was systemic and deeply rooted in the institutional practices followed by the Indian police. These practices not only persist, but are flourishing due to government neglect and failure to hold abusers accountable and to overhaul the structure and practices that are conducive to abusive patterns of behavior.

Upon conducting its own research into this issue Human Rights Watch (HRW) delineated four clusters of issues that warrant immediate attention.

• Failure by police to investigate crimes.
• Arrest on false charges and illegal detentions.
• Torture and ill treatment of citizens.
• Extrajudicial killings.

On seeking the causes of these persistent abuses HRW surmised that part of the problem related to the working conditions of individual officers. At the level of the civil police station, the venue where junior and lower level police mainly reside and deal with victims or suspects, it found that civilian police, mainly constables live and work in deplorable and abysmal conditions. During the course of their duties, they are often exhausted and demoralized. They are always on call, serving long hours without shifts and required equipment, only to retire after work to their filthy barracks or government provided tents for a few hours of rest. Junior level officers often come up against the unrealistic demands by their superiors to solve cases expeditiously. Even though officially encouraged, the paucity of time, and the lack of training and equipment does not encourage them to use professional crime investigation techniques. Police officers also face interference and intervention by politicians protecting known criminals.

In order to circumvent these systemic problems many police officers resort to convenient and self-serving short cuts. HRW learned from officers that they usually cut their caseloads by refusing to register crime complaints. In other instances, they resort to the use of illegal detention accompanied by cruel treatment and torture against those they do not have sufficient time or inclination to conduct a proper investigation. Instead of conducting a professional investigation, they resort to extraction of false confessions.

In May 2009 the elected government had promised to actively address these problems by instituting police reforms. The government should fulfill its promise by acknowledging the need to transform this institution from one that enables and encourages officers to commit abuse to one that promotes human rights and the rule of law, without any exceptions.
In the long run a significant drop in police abuse requires a thorough overhaul of the archaic colonial era police laws and structures. Government investment in training, personnel and equipment is critical for building a professional, rights-respecting police force that an emergent and modern India deserves.

Legal Protocols for Arrest of Suspects: There are legal provisions that control police officers on making arrests and the rights of the accused during this process. The police, by law, have the power to arrest. Since the police have much discretion in how this power is exercised it is often liable to misuse and abuse. In its Third Report in 1980, the National Police Commission looked at this power and concluded: Many of the discretionary/unnecessary arrests that are made by the police are on minor grounds; as such, this leads to high-handedness, corruption and a myriad of malpractices that tarnishes the image of the police. Consequently, this results in an overcrowding of prisons and unnecessary expenses in maintaining the arrestees. Since the power of arrest can severely restrict the rights of an individual, various guidelines have been issued. They enable police to act judiciously so as to safeguard human rights, maintain order and curb crime.

An arrest can be affected under section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr. P.C) on the following grounds:

• Commission of a cognizable offense (felony).
• For unlawfully keeping implements for housebreaking, or stolen property.
• For being a proclaimed offender.
• Obstructing the police in the performance of their duties.
• Being a deserter from the Armed Forces.
• For committing an offense outside India, which is punishable in India (extradition).
• Being a released convict, who breaches any condition of parole under section 356 Cr.P.C.
• Upon the request of a police officer from another jurisdiction upon furnishing sufficient cause.
• Belonging to categories of persons specified in sections 109, 110 Cr.P.C.

Further, under section 42 Cr.P.C., a person can be arrested for a non-cognizable offense, if the offense was committed in the presence of a police officer and the accused fails to provide identifying information or submits false information. Police can also arrest a person without a warrant if they have information that the person is likely to commit a cognizable offense (sec. 51, Cr.P.C). Although the above constitute the predicate for a valid arrest, there have been some additional guidelines also.

In Joginder Kumar v. State of UP and others (1994) the court stipulated that an arrest can be made only after a reasonable satisfaction regarding the complaint. This can be accomplished upon conducting a preliminary investigation. Also, the arresting officer must be convinced regarding the role of the offender and the necessity of the arrest. This case also sought to avoid unnecessary arrests by exhorting the suspect to be present at the police station and not leave its precincts without prior permission.

The National Police Commission has also laid down that arrests for cognizable cases should be carried out under the following situations:

• When it involves grave offenses such as murder, dacoity, robbery, robbery, rape, etc., and that it is necessary to curb the movements of the accused so as to instill confidence in the terrorized victims.
• There is a likelihood of evasion or absconding from the legal process.
• The accused needs to be restrained from committing violent offenses.
• The accused is a habitual offender who is likely to commit further offenses.
• In order to prevent wrongful arrests, police should either seek help from someone who can identify the person or take a picture of the person (Bombay Police Manual).
• When the Station House Officer (SHO) deputes a junior officer to arrest a person without a warrant, the SHO is bound to give a written order detailing the arrestee and the grounds for the arrest. The arrestee is entitled to be notified about the substance of the order (sec. 55 Cr.P.C).
• Upon being denied free access the police can break down a door/window to gain access. However, where this involves a pardanashin lady, proper notification of this intention should be conveyed. Unless, the pardanashin lady herself is to be arrested, in that case the police should afford her all reasonable facilities to withdraw (sec. 47 Cr.P.C).

Guidelines During Arrest:

• Without any delay, the arrestee must be informed about the grounds of the arrest and the right to be represented by a lawyer (Art. 22(1) Constitution).
• While making an arrest, the officer should avoid using force. Minimum force should be employed if the arrestee offers resistance. Due care should be taken to avoid any injuries (National Human Rights Commission Guidelines on arrests).
• Police officers conducting the arrest or interrogation, must display accurate, visible, and clear identification and name tags with their designations (DK Basu v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 610).
• The details of the officers handling arrest and interrogation must be recorded in a register.
• While arresting a person, the police must make a memo of arrest, which should be attested by at least one witness, who is either family or a respectable member of the locality. The arrested person should also sign the memo and receive a copy of such memo.

Post Arrest Guidelines:

• The accused must be produced before the court within 24 hours of arrest, excluding time for travel (sec. 56, 57, Cr.P.C). However, the time spent in making inquiries while transporting the arrested person to the court is not excluded from the 24 hour deadline (Bombay Police Manual, 1959, rule 198 (4); ICCPR, 1966, Art. 9); Cr.P.C. sec. 56).
• The case diary should record the reasons for the arrest and a complete description of the arrested person (National Police Commission, 3rd Report, 1980, p.32, Para. 22.28).
• If the person is arrested for a bailable offense, s/he should be informed about the right to get bail (Cr.P.C. sec. 50.2).
• The accused person is entitled to inform a friend or relative about the arrest and place of detention as soon as practicable. The accused must be made aware of this right upon arrest or detention.
• An entry should be made in the diary kept at the place of detention, noting the person to whom the information regarding arrest was given along with the names of the persons in whose custody they are being kept.
• A friend/relative of the arrested person must be notified by the police regarding the time, date, and place of arrest/custody. If the relative/friend resides outside the town/district, such information should be communicated telegraphically within 8-12 hours of the arrest through the District Legal Aid Organization and the concerned police station.
• Handcuffs or fetters should not be employed as a matter of routine or for the convenience of the arresting/escorting officer (Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration, 1978, 4 SCC 494). The police should not handcuff the arrested person merely as a tactic of humiliation/harassment (Prem Shankar Shukla v. Delhi Administration (1980) Cri. LJ 930). The arrested person should only be handcuffed if there is a clear and present danger of escape coupled with the following factors: (a) that the person is involved in a serious, non-bailable offense and is a recidivist.(b) the person is of a desperate character; (c) the person is likely to commit suicide; (d) the person is likely to attempt escape. If for any reason handcuffs have to be used, the reasons, should be recorded in the Daily Diary Report. An accused person cannot be handcuffed to and from custody to the court without the permission of the magistrate (Prem Shankar Shukla). Handcuffing should not be the sole method to restrain the prisoner from escaping. Alternative means should be used to prevent escape from custody such as transporting them in well-protected vans or increasing the strength of the armed escort.
• The officer conducting the search should make an inventory of the articles seized and a copy should be furnished to the arrested person (sec. 51.1, Cr.P.C.)
• Arrested persons should be held and kept only in officially recognized places (UN Humanitarian Affairs Division, UN Blue Book for Law Enforcement Officials: Rule 5.2 UN Blue Book for Law Enforcement Agencies (UNBBLEA).
• Proper care should be taken to ensure the well-being and safety of the detainee. Proper arrangements should be established for the shelter, subsistence and toilet facilities of those in custody. Detainees should be provided with adequate food, clothing and shelter, along with convenient access to physical exercise, medical services, and items of personal hygiene (UNBBLEA, rule 5.10).
• While collecting evidence regarding commission of an offense, the police officer can get the person medically examined by a registered medical practitioner. In the case of examination of girls or women, the officer must ensure that such examination is conducted by a female medical practitioner (sec. 53, Cr.P.C.).
• No person should be subjected to torture, inhumane or degrading treatment (Art. 17, ICCPR, 1966; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).
• The accused cannot be forced to confess, or testify against themselves (Art. 20(3) Constitution of India. Further, an accused/arrested person cannot be compelled to sign any statement given to the police during an investigation (sec. 162, Cr.P.C.).
• Unless it is absolutely necessary, the arrested person should not be photographed. If the arrested person must be photographed, prior sanction must be obtained from these officials – Superintendent of Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police, or the Criminal Intelligence Department (Rule 199, Bombay Police Act, 1959, v.3).
• The area magistrate should receive copies of all documents, including the memo of arrest.
• As soon as an arrest is made, the nearest Legal Aid Committee should be informed so as to obtain legal assistance (Sheela Barse v. State of Maharashtra, 1983 SCC 96).
• The state police headquarters should receive all information about the arrest within 12 hours of arrest and the place where the arrested person is being detained. This information should be prominently displayed in the police control room at both district and state headquarters.

Guidelines for the Arrest of Women:

• Arrest of women should be avoided between sunset and sunrise. To the extent possible, women police officers should be deputed where females are associated.
• Times selected for questioning should not be geared towards embarrassing or harassing them during questioning. Females should not be called to the police station, or any other place, other than their residence for questioning.
• Police making an arrest are duty bound to ensure that arrested females are segregated from men and kept in female lockups in the police station. In the absence of separate lockups, women should be kept in a separate room (Sheela Barse case).
• Female police officers/constables should guard women/girls. Body searches for females should only be conducted by women and with the strictest regard to decency. To the extent possible, one of at least two or more witnesses to the search should be women (sec. 51(2); 100(3); Cr. P.C.).
• Women/girls should only be examined under the supervision of a female medical practitioner (sec. 53(2), Cr.P.C.). All arrested females should be provided with necessary pre/post-natal care. Restraints on pregnant women should only be employed as a last resort. The safety of women and their fetus should never be endangered and women should never be restrained during labor.

Guidelines for the Arrest of Children:

• If it is necessary to arrest children, their detention should be for the shortest possible duration. As a general rule, children should not be arrested, if this is done it should be done as a last resort. According to the relevant law, anyone who has not completed 18 years is considered to be a child [The Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2000. Act# 56 of 2000].
• The National Human Rights Commission Guidelines stipulate that force should not be used when arresting children. Police should obtain assistance from respectable citizens to ensure that children are not terrorized and are not subject to coercive force.
• Upon arrest by police, the child must be placed in the charge of a special juvenile police unit, or a designated officer, who must report the matter immediately to a member of the Juvenile Justice Board (sec. 10, JJA, 2000).
• Upon the arrest of a child, the parents/guardians must be informed immediately (sec. 13, JJA, 2000).
• Arrested children should be kept in facilities that are separate from adults. Due care should be taken to protect them from torture and ill treatment such as rape and sexual abuse from other detainees and officials (Kosaru, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative).
• In cases where children are below the age of 15 years they must not be called to the police station, or any other place besides their place of residence if they need to be questioned by the police (sec. 160(1). Cr.P.C).

Conclusion:

While examining the goals for the criminal justice system, scholars have formulated these goals for a modern democratic society (Levine et al., 1980; Nagel, 1981; Hudzik and Cordner, 1983; Cushman, 1980). These goals may be summarized as:

• To protect the integrity of the law, to improve the quality of justice, and ensure due process of the law.
• To control crime and delinquency and/or to root out the causes of crime.
• To increase the efficiency of the criminal justice system and improve its related programs.
• To improve community protection and support for the criminal justice system.
• To make all personnel of the criminal justice system accountable to the public.

Two recent but troubling cases should wake us up from our slumber. The gruesome gang rape of a young student in Delhi and the Dhule riots (Mander, 2013; Kamdar, 2013). The Dhule police were themselves complicit in these riots. Footage on YouTube video shows the unprofessional, shameful and disgraceful actions of the Indian Police to the global community. Both these cases glaringly display how the weak and marginalized sections are faring in modern India.

The discrimination and prejudice against Indian Muslims has gone on unabated even after numerous investigations and commissions have pointed out the glaring problems facing the nation. Most of these commissions are now merely used by unscrupulous politicians to buy time till things cool down and the public forgets about it. These have now become a farce by the political and administrative apparatus to shirk responsibility. Due to a lack of will to make crucial changes, these problems have now reached a critical level and have now begun to affect the next vulnerable and marginalized group of Indian society - women. If a woman is not safe in modern India and can be brutally gang-raped in a public space there is little hope. This trend towards social cannibalism, where the strong prey upon the weak, calls for a thorough revamp of the public safety and security apparatus of the state. A drastic change is long overdue - to move from a law and order focus to one that calls for an evidence-based, community-oriented police with a focus on efficiency, due process, professional integrity, and accountability. It calls for a service oriented culture that treats all Indians with dignity and seeks to protect the weak and marginalized sections of society. It also calls for meaningful reforms within the Indian police, with a focus on racist and discriminatory practices or individuals who perpetuate these. The colonial masters have long gone from the Indian shores. A modern, independent, and democratic India should not tolerate this colonial policing apparatus. It deserves better.

Bibliography:

Cushman, Robert (1980) Criminal Justice Planning for Local Governments. Washington, DC: LEAA.
Hudzik, John and Gary Cordner (1983) Planning in Criminal Justice Organizations and Systems. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Kamdar, Seema (2013) Economics at Heart of Dhule Riots. Daily News and Analysis. January 22, 2013.
Kosaraju, Aravinda. Guidelines for Police Officers on Making Arrests. New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Accessed on January 3, 2013 at www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/papers/guidelines_on_ma...

Levine, James et al., (1980) Criminal Justice. A Public Policy Approach. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Mander, Harsh (2013) Safety for the Last Woman. The Hindu. January 27, 2013.

Nagel, Stuart (1981) The Means May Be a Goal. Policy Studies Journal, 9, Special Issue # 2 (1981), 567-578.
Patil, Sanjay (2008) Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed. Moving from Force to Service in South Asian Policing. New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Sachar Commission (2006) Socioeconomic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India: A Report. New Delhi. Government of India.

Case Law.

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278 (1936)
Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P. and others 1994 (4) SCC 260
Sheela Barse v. State of Maharashtra, (1983) 2 SCC 96
Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration (1978) 4 SCC 494
Prem Shankar Shukla v. Delhi Administration, (1980) Cri. LJ 930.
D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 610.
Prakash Singh and Others v. Union of India and others (2006) 8 SCC 1.

Acts/Statutes/Reports:

The Hindu (2013) Fact Finding Team Alleges Deliberate Targeting of Muslims in Dhule. Report by Special Correspondent. January 18, 2013.

Human Rights Watch (2009) Broken System Dysfunction, Abuse and Impunity in the Indian Police. New York.
Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (2012) Dossiers of a Very Special Cell.
-- (2012) The Case that Never Was:The SIMI Trial of Jaipur.
-- (2009) 'Encounter' at Batla House: Unanswered Questions.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The Constitution of India, 1950.
The International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, 1966.
UN Blue Book for Law Enforcement Agencies.
Bombay Police Act, 1959.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. University of Minnesota: Human Rights Resource Center.

A study by Media Studies Group on response to Caravan article on Arnab Goswami

By Shaheen Nazar,

CARAVAN news magazine has published a detailed article on Arnab Goswami of the Times Now. The article (issue dated Dec. 1, 2012) has evoked widespread responses. It is unusual for a magazine to feature a news anchor and equally unusual for someone to analyse it. But one feels obliged to do this as a lot is being said about the way our news channels are run today. It’s simply appalling. Increasing number of people are criticizing news channels and those managing them. Editorial judgment in the newsroom is taken on business and political considerations rather than on merit. Therefore, the Caravan article should be read as a sad commentary on our TV journalism than on a single individual, who is known more as a television performer than a journalist.

A total of 135 readers have responded to the online version of the article. Forty-seven percent of them are highly critical of Goswami, whereas 16 percent have made general comments disapproving of the present state of Indian journalism. If we add both the figures, 63 percent are not at all happy with what is going on in our media industry. The rest of the letters are in defense of Goswami. If we take all the letters as an opinion of the informed viewers and readers, we can say that majority of the Indian news reading and viewing public have voted against the kind of journalism being practiced in India.

Arnab Goswami

Arnab Goswami is not just one individual. He is rather a phenomenon. He represents the new bandwagon which is blinded by ambition and guided by self-interest and self-promotion. They are not concerned with news. They are deciding what the ‘nation’ should see. “I will set the news agenda for India today,” Goswami is quoted by one of his former colleagues as saying. He and other self-seekers like him are exercising absolute control over the flow, substance and appearance of news. So, our destiny is in the hands of a few journalists who think that personal integrity and professional ethics are things of the past. They have no sense of responsibility towards the society and consider themselves above bode.

The recent scandal involving Zee News and steel tycoon Navin Jindal is just one example of the mess we are in today. This embarrassing episode for the journalistic fraternity has surfaced while the painful memories of the Radia tape scandal is still fresh in the nation’s memory. Both the scandals involve very senior journalists and editors in either extortion attempt or lobbying for their corporate bosses.

Goswami reminds us of late R.K. Karanjia, a synonym for ‘yellow journalism’ in India of 70s and 80s. But while Karanjia was a one-man brigade, Goswami is not alone. The letter writers have also mentioned the names of some of his contemporaries. “Arnab, Rajdeep, Bharka – all cut from the same bad cloth in my opinion, all they do is give you a headache,” writes one reader while another says: “I stopped watching TV after I watched Rajdeep Sardesai. I do not want Arnab Gowsamis and Samir Jains in my house. I do not want my kids growing up thinking that discussion is yelling. Young people who try to learn public speaking or presentation skills, start talking so arrogantly, imitating Arnab and Rajdeep and Burkha Dutt.”

The letters are reflective of the general disgust that is found in our society today, specially towards the private television companies claiming to run news channels. People are crying foul but the self-seekers in the media are pretending to be ignorant. The call to give some teeth to the Press Council of India and bring the electronic media under its purview is being resisted in the name self-regulation which is nothing but farce.

We are living in an age of corporatized media where ratings of private TV channels are measured by the TRPs they get. The responses to Caravan article belie the general impression that people like Arnab Goswami and the media organisations running under their stewardships are popular with the masses. Let us see some of the attributes that Arnab is attracting from the masses who supposedly decide TRP:

Psycho; megalomaniac; uncouth; uncivil news salesman; absolutely disgusting; comedian; mere laughing stock; very shallow and superficial; ‘just like any producer who adds an item number to boost the ticket sales’; ‘in the process of trying to increase the sales, he makes himself look like a duffer; ‘Hysteria should never be mistaken for reason, It is dangerous and Goswami is its worthy exponent’; ‘if there was a trophy for double standards …Goswami would win hands down’; etc.

Times Now, owned by Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, the publishers of the Times of India and the Economic Times, prides itself as ‘India’s most-watched English news channel’ and ‘playing news fast and hard’. But the Caravan article begins with examples as to how it sensationalises and ‘creates drama’ out of tragedies. It sites the coverage of ravaging fire in Mumbai’s Mantralaya (the headquarters of the Maharashtra state government) in June 2012. First it borrowed footage from a Hindi channel as its crew were late to arrive on the scene and then started telecasting unedited footages and bombarding the viewers with ‘studio-induced flashes’, at times up to 58 in one typical minute. “The coverage that afternoon was a typical Times Now production, designed not just to attract viewers, but to mesmerise them with an array of visual effects and excited voices … No bar stayed still, words evaporated and reappeared, and at the centre of this sea of red and blue were reporters performing the simple task of describing what the viewer could see for himself,” says the article.

Arnab Goswami and Times Now are synonymous with each other. Launched in 2005, the channel’s 9 p.m. “Newshour” debate show, hosted daily by Goswami, has created a name for itself – at times for wrong reasons. He conducts the entire show quite aggressively that includes yelling and shouting at his guests, raising controversies, playing on nationalistic sentiments and dramatizing and sensationalizing issues of public concern. The way he behaves in front of the camera is more like a performer than a journalist.

Here is what one reader says: “I am no editor or writer but a viewer. He does come out as a megalomaniac and I see these traits in him coming out in the way he conducts himself. It is indeed sad that he treats his colleagues this way but this is the way present generation is made of. He is self eulogizing and extremely irritating.”

Another comment is equally readable: “Most of the topics that he takes up for 1 hour plus are not worth even 15 minutes. And these debates have no purpose – with both sides sticking to their stupid sides and Arnab interfering every time and never allowing anyone to make a point. Somewhere, it has gone wrong into his head that he is bigger than everyone else. The downfall is going to be hard for him when he comes thudding down.”

And this comment: “People like Bill'O and Arnab are not Journalists, they are Actors with a stage they come with a rehearsed agenda and know exactly how to deliver their lines to grab the audience and keep them glued to their channels! And to be honest I like it.. If Arnab doesn't do it somebody else will so why not Arnab! He is good at it.”

Goswami is generally criticized for his behavior and many of his guests have pledged not to oblige him any more. The activist and academic Madhu Kishwar, a frequent but exasperated guest, penned a widely-circulated open letter to Goswami, complaining that “panelists are expected to simply come and lend further strength to the anchor’s delusion that one hour of Newshour will rid India of all its ills”.

A recent case is that of Shabnam Hashmi, who runs an NGO called Anhad. The well-known social activist has accused Goswami of “uncivilized and aggressive behavior”. On January 4, 2013, she put the status on her Facebook ‘Times Now – my status – not available – goodbye Mr Arnab Goswami – sorry for denying you the pleasure of being the ‘conscience keeper’.

She says through a public statement: “All hell seems to have broken out since then. I have been receiving calls after calls from various Times Now reporters. They have barged into Anhad several times, threatening to do stories against Anhad and me … Anhad has been a space where scores of journalists and media friends have come and visited. We have always respected the media and continue to do so and Anhad has received tremendous support from the media fraternity across India and we greatly value and respect that … This is the first time that we are faced with a situation where I personally in 32 years of my grass root activism and Anhad as an organisation in its 10 yrs of work feel being harassed, stalked, and blackmailed.”

The Newshour programme runs anywhere between 60 and 120 minutes and, according to the Caravan article, attracts more viewers than competing shows with fixed slots at 9 p.m. Its advertising rates are among the highest for prime time news television, at Rs 16,000 for a ten-second spot. And the show is so vital to the relevance and well-being of the network that “60 percent of the editorial resources are used for The Newshour”, the article quotes a senior manager as saying. “It pulls in 40 percent of the channel’s overall viewers, and a fifth of its Rs 1.5 billion annual revenue,” it says.

The show is said to be partly debate, partly journalism, and partly a public confessional. “But it is mostly an open-ended chunk of airtime from whose centre Goswami live-directs an intellectual reality show where dramatic things happen. Participants abuse other guests and the show’s host. People walk away, leaving empty windows behind. As a matter of principle, the Newshour pits people and their extreme views against one another – but its main character is always Goswami. A typical episode finds him demanding answers, making accusations, riling up participants and passing judgment, venting the angst of a man upset by how far his country has fallen. His pronouncements are rooted in everyday frustrations: Why is Pakistan dithering? Why can’t Australians admit that they’re racist? Why is the government indifferent to the middle class? Who is responsible for all this?”

“Here is an intellectually sound journalist who has become very much of a comedian on air. What airs at 9 pm on Times Now is not news. It is a programme that revolves around an anchor who appears to be on instances, a comedian and who makes the business of news into a farce. And for a lot of us, news cannot be a farce. It’s serious business. It’s all very well for an anchor to have his or her ‘informed opinion’, but beyond a point the style is so overbearing and so overwhelming and so comical on occasion that it distracts from the news. We believe that it’s not news at all,” a former colleague of Goswami is quoted as saying.

The problem with people like Goswami is that they think very high of themselves. “Can the history of India be written honestly without the contribution of Times Now to a new form of journalism in the era that we are in?” he said. “Think about it. Think about the bigger picture. I can tell you it can’t be written.” This is from a speech that he made in the newsroom in 2011, which was recorded by a former reporter.

The following excerpts from the Caravan article are self explanatory. The inside stories narrated here give a peep into the workings of our news channels.

“I think journalistic integrity comes very low, in terms of the kind of things that we do … There was a rape victim in Kolkata. Usually you’re supposed to morph the face of a rape victim. But we were told that only the eyes will have a black patch, because the minute you see a morphed face on TV, you lose interest. And for a good two to three days, that story ran with just a black patch on the lady’s face and everybody could make out who the person was.” (Statement of a former output editor)

“Militants had killed a 20-year-old girl in Kashmir … It was in Shopian. Times Now kept asking on air, ‘Why are the separatists not reacting? Why are they silent?’ – even though one of the channel’s Kashmir correspondents had recorded and uploaded the separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s condemnation of the crime hours earlier. Times Now did not carry the condemnation for the longest time … It was not in line with the story they had taken.” (statement of a former reporter)

“I remember Shopian … I don’t recall this, but I would not be surprised. Arnab’s TRPs are dependent on bashing separatists.” (Statement of a desk editor)

Such unethical practices and Goswami’s extreme nationalistic postures have put pressure on other English channels. “There was definitely pressure to be more like him,” a senior editor at CNN-IBN says. “He forced you to adopt a certain aggressiveness and speed,” an NDTV reporter who knew Goswami well said. “Not just to tell a story, but tell it a particular way.”

Before launching Times Now in 2005, Goswami had worked with Rajdeep Sardesai for a decade in NDTV. Sardesai launched CNN-IBN a month before Times Now. Their personal rivalries are well-known. All the three English channels are strong competitors for the urban middle class viewership. The weekly TRPs released every Wednesday are the benchmark for their popularity which determines their advertising rates. Of late this rating business has become controversial. Last year, NDTV, India's first private broadcaster of news and current affairs, alleged manipulation of “television viewership data in favour of channels that were willing to offer bribes to its officials,” and filed a law suit for more than a billion dollars in damages from The Nielsen Co. and its Indian affiliates.

Some of the letter writers to the Caravan article are former employees of Times Now. By reading this letter one realizes the condition under which journalist are working in our media companies. The contractual nature of jobs have made them more vulnerable than ever. Excerpts from just one letter is enough to understand horrible working condition in our newsrooms:

“I had the pleasure of working with Arnab Goswami. So when I read comments from those supporting him I want to laugh. I have no vested interests. I am a full-time mother to two young kids and I couldn't care less if my future as a journalist goes up in smoke. Let me tell you each day, working with this man, was a horror story. He has no moral compass. I personally met and complained to the then CEO Chintamani Rao about the humiliation that we on the news desk were exposed to every single day. The writing was on the wall. Arnab Goswami would stay, the rest of us were expendable.

“I have lived and worked as a journalist in the Middle East, the US and Canada. I have also worked with Arnab Goswami during his NDTV days. But I have to say nothing could ever have prepared me for the man I met and worked with in 2009. Personally, I have never experienced the sort of debasement Times Now expects its employees to undergo on a daily basis. Arnab is a dictator. The language used by him and his cohorts in the Times Now newsroom is more befitting of a brothel in Mumbai's red light district where women are treated as animals. The words ‘cunt’ ‘bitch’ and ‘motherfucker’ are so common place, no one even raises an eyebrow.

“I quit Times Now in 2009 disgusted and disbelieving. The man who pretends to care and shouts into your face about your rights, your chance, your moment is a mirage. He is a hollow, shallow, selfish brute of a human being who while he commiserates with a rape victim on air is more likely to believe and say aloud, "the damn whore deserved it." For those who think the world of him, I would say write in to him and get a job. With the highest attrition rate in the business in all likelihood you perhaps will be hired. If you last beyond 3 months you deserve each other or you have no other options. For those like me who've worked with him, I wish you healing. We all do.... terrorized, emotionally beaten, humiliated, debased, fractured, we've all moved on. But we've never forgotten. The moment I saw this article, the only words that came to my mind are: ‘So there is such as thing as God!’ Peace!”

Meanwhile, Times Now was recently in news for in connection with one more controversy. The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), the regulatory body of the news broadcasters, admonished it for not disclosing the complete credentials of one of its panelists, Maroof Raza, in a discussion on Tatra trucks deals aired by it in April 2012. Raza was introduced in the discussion as a strategic defence analyst and expert, whereas he is actually a consultant for foreign arms manufacturers, suppliers and dealers and runs the business through M/s Maroof Raza & Associates. The Tatra trucks controversy relates to allegations by former Army chief V.K. Singh that he was offered a bribe to clear the all-terrain vehicle and hinting that the trucks were sub-standard.

Note: After finishing my article I revisited the Caravan site only to find that the number of responses to the article has crossed 150. The new letters follow the same pattern. Majority of them are critical of Arnab Goswami. The responses on the article titled “Fast And Furious, The turbulent reign of Arnab Goswami”, published on December 1, 2012, have been taken from Caravan’s website:

http://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/fast-and-furious.

 *The Author is adjunct faculty in the Department of Mass Communication, Sharda University. He has previously worked with The Times of India, Khaleej Times and other dailies.

 (This article was first published in Media Studies Group’s monthly journal Mass Media, issue February 2013, New Delhi)

By Mohammed Arifuddin for TwoCircles.net,

The much-enthralling Valentines’ festivity has finally come to an end. Youth were seen engrossed in the Valentine-mania, much more than love. A whole new range of ecstasies offered by the big-shot cardporations (read as corporations) is truly fascinating. Flowers begin to shower all around; soothing music plays all day and delightful fragrance is felt every moment. Does the world really turn so beautiful every February?

Love is a holistic notion which encompasses all of human feelings like affection, compassion, respect and commitment. It is such a spectacular emotion that you tend to sacrifice everything for someone unconditionally. It is an instinctive behavior in humans without which the mankind would not have flourished. But, confining love to one day in particular makes no sense. As long as we don’t realize the true concept of love, we would end up reading reports about frequent cases of rapes, domestic violence, divorces, conflicts between siblings, rivalries and other inhuman acts.

As a growing teenager, I had always wondered, “Why is love so much in the air?” It is because, “It’s business in the air!” The consumerist nature of the Valentines’ season is quite appalling. About 180 million cards are exchanged on Valentines’ day and the average revenue generated by the industry is a whopping $13.19 Billion. Can you just imagine, $13.19 Billion on a single day in a world where 1.7 billion people live in absolute poverty! Businesses desperately look forward to the Valentines’ season, much more than us. It’s their second biggest day of the year, after the New Year celebrations. As if making business on February 14th alone was not enough, they also added other preceding celebrations such as Rose day, Propose day, Chocolate day, Hug day, Kiss day, and what not.

Does this really teach us Love and Compassion? Or, are we falling prey to the commercial interests of the multi-national corporations? Food for thought!!

---
Mohammed Arifuddin is a Software Engineer based in Hyderabad.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

Washington: As President Barack Obama's leaked plan to put America's 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 250,000 Indians, on a path to citizenship, generated a storm, White House insisted it was just a "backup plan."

"The administration will be ready to move forward in the event the bipartisan process gets bogged down and is not able to produce a bill," a White House official was quoted as saying by NBC News. "But our focus remains on supporting the congressional process."

But some media pundits suggested that it was a "decoy" designed to pressure Republicans to get Obama what he wanted, while others said it would complicate the job of the "Gang of Eight" - four Democrat and four Republican senators - to work out a bipartisan deal.

The Obama plan calls for an eight-year path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants who would face a criminal background check and have to pay back taxes, learn English and get a new "lawful prospective immigrant" visa, according to a draft obtained by USA Today.

In Republicans'"shock and outrage" over Obama's leaked "backup plan", Washington Post's Eugene Robinson saw the prospects of a deal brightening.

"In dysfunctional Washington, this means that prospects for comprehensive reform - including what amounts to an amnesty for the undocumented - are getting brighter," he wrote.

"If the president really wants immigration reform to pass, one of the most helpful things he could do is put out his own plan as a decoy, to draw Republican fire, while the Senate works toward bipartisan consensus," Robinson wrote suggesting it "looks suspiciously like what just happened."

The Boston Herald seemed to agree in saying Obama had "upped the ante on the immigration reform showdown with Republicans".

The Herald called it a "move hailed by political pundits and reform advocates as a savvy manoeuvre to keep the backing of crucial Latino voters."

But the Voice of America was of the view that the leaked White House proposal complicates immigration reform effort.

"Harsh words in Washington are revealing the tough political challenge when it comes to reforming America's immigration system," it said in a commentary suggesting "friction over the White House draft bill shows that change is far from assured."

The leaked "bill may have disrupted delicate, closed-door negotiations between Democratic and Republican lawmakers attempting to craft comprehensive bipartisan legislation," it said.

CNN called the immigration debate as "high-stakes political poker" with former Florida Republican House member Connie Mack suggesting the leak of Obama's plan "plays into the fears" of Republicans that the president prefers keeping the issue alive for political advantage."

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

By Rajiv Bhatia, IANS,

Cultural and scholarly fascination has ensured that India and France remain deeply engaged as societies. Relations between them as states have proved enduring since Charles de Gaulle's era due to a fundamental affinity born of common values and a shared passion for independence in foreign affairs. This vital relationship, showcased astutely during President Francois Hollande's recent visit to India, is characterized by three Ss - Synergy, Sovereignty and Stability. A concise 21-paragraph joint statement reflects the two governments' faith in independence, strategic autonomy and strengthened multilateralism.

The phrase 'strategic partnership', though devalued considerably due to overuse, applies aptly to Indo-French ties. An approach favouring multi-polarity and anchored in a sophisticated worldview permits them to forge coordination, despite divergences on issues such as Iran, Syria and Afghanistan. Strategic partnership has grown well in the past 15 years. Introduced in 1998, it survived many changes of government in Paris and Delhi. Parleys between Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have led to their decision for its "robust development".

Four key pillars of strategic partnership are: civil nuclear energy, defence, space and counterterrorism.

The first relates to French assistance in setting up six nuclear reactors in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, negotiations for which have been proceeding rather gingerly. Their complexity cannot be denied which stems from growing concerns over nuclear safety after the Fukushima disaster, implications of India's nuclear liability legislation, and rising costs as a consequence. The two leaders have decided to expedite these negotiations. A comforting thought is France's continuing support for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and other export control bodies even though success may still prove elusive.

Defence cooperation is not all about Rafale only, although it forms an important segment today. Association with France is now 60 years old as Dassault's first aircraft - Ouragan - was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1953. The impressive performance of Mirage 2000 during Kargil conflict is well known. The French joyously celebrated their triumph when the Rafale order was bagged - 126 aircraft for $12 billion, beating competition from US and a European consortium. Agreement may be signed later this year. The two leaders have given directions for speedy conclusion of negotiations.

A top diplomatic source indicated that while the first 18 aircraft would be manufactured entirely in France, by the time "the last of the 126 aircraft rolls in, 80 percent of the value addition is supposed to have been done in India". Beyond aircraft acquisition, attention remains focussed on equipment needed by Indian Navy such as Scorpene submarines. Early finalisation of short range surface-to-air missiles project is also envisaged.

Space cooperation is moving apace. A joint satellite, Megha-Tropicques, was launched in October 2011 for studying tropical atmosphere. Another joint satellite, to be launched soon, will study sea surface altitude. These initiatives, according to an official of India's external affairs ministry, are seen as "a significant contribution" to the global community's understanding of weather and climate change.

As regards terrorism, the two leaders were absolutely clear. "No compromise is possible with terrorists," affirms the joint statement. A striking identity of views on the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan, Mali and Pakistan's obligation to punish perpetrators of Mumbai terror attack was especially notable. Relevant agencies of the two governments are known to cooperate closely for quite a long time.

An area of relative weakness in Indo-French relations is trade and investment cooperation. The two sides are lagging behind for meeting targets in trade growth. In 2011-12, trade was valued at $8.89 billion, which falls short of the target set at a previous summit.

French companies have invested $3.5 billion in India, although a recent study by the French embassy in Delhi claims that the actual figure is over five times. Considering that 800 French companies have operations in India and several top Indian corporates are active in French market, governments need to be more assertive.

The two sides reviewed negotiations concerning India-EU free trade agreement, already delayed inordinately. EU ambassador Joabo Cravinho's assertion that "elections in India on the horizon" could delay these negotiations further was disturbing. Recession in Europe is another major constraint. The coming weeks will indicate if Paris and Delhi, working together with Brussels, can break the logjam.

A truly promising facet of the relationship is growing people-to-people linkages concerning education and culture. Presently 3,000 Indian students are in French universities and 1,500 young French are studying in India. These numbers need to go up rapidly. French admiration of India's culture and cinema is much appreciated. France is planning events to mark the first centenary of Indian cinema. India will be 'the special country of honour' at the Cannes film festival this year. The famous Louvre museum in Paris will hold a major exhibition.

As compared to 1970s when I served as a young diplomat in Paris, relations have diversified and deepened hugely. Last week four agreements relating to railways, education, culture and space exploration were signed, besides business agreements. "I do sense a connection between India and France...we do complement each other significantly," said Hollande. His visit is certain to give a fillip to strengthen this "multifaceted" relationship further.

(21-02-2013- Rajiv Bhatia is Director General of Indian Council of World Affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at rajivbhatia@airtelmail.in)

By Mohd. Ismail Khan & M. Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,

Hyderabad: As the twin blasts ripped off Hyderabad by targeting its main commercial center Dilsukhnagar, police was tight lipped not letting their guns lose on particular terror groups, after earlier goof ups in Mecca Masjid blasts.

But as ‘national’ media still tried to maintain some amount of restraint, the job of spreading sensation over terror has now been taken up by regional Telugu media. Just hour after the blasts regional media started quoting “unnamed sources from Intelligence bureau” and started giving irresponsible and insensitive statements.

First Telugu news channels started reporting how adjoining Muslim localities to Dilsuknagar area like Malakpet and Mousarambagh is taken under police siege giving an impression that culprit are from those areas.

Telugu media then started quoting their 'intelligence sources' claiming that blasts has been carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba to avenge the hanging of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru, even as Hyderabad police was yet to conform whether it was a terror strike or a gas explosion in local tiffin center as suggested in earlier reports.

RSS mouth piece, Sri Ram channel in the city taken the lead, by giving wild suggestions about ‘terrorists from old city’ attacking to revenge Afzal Guru’s hanging, which later became the hallmark of all other Telugu media news channels reporting.

Tv9 and Tv5, reputed Telugu news channels in Andhra Pradesh, started quoting ‘unnamed IB sources’ claiming 'Indian Mujahideen with logistic support from 'old Hyderabad terror sleeper cells' orchestrated this bomb blasts.

T News, mouth piece of Telangana separatist political party TRS, eventually fell into the line of its competitors and directly put before its viewers that Indian Mujahideen is behind this blasts without giving any reference or evidence to their claim.

Ntv, another reputed Telugu news channel, in Hyderabad made sure that they are not left behind in wild reporting and creating sensation. Channel stated wildly that Hyderabad blasts were masterminded in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, HuJI, ISI to avenge Afzal Guru's hanging. It also gave reference of some meetings held in Pakistan to condemn Afzal’s hanging, where according to the news channels, terrorists openly threatened to carry out terror strikes in Hyderabad. Again, quoting unnamed IB source, the channel claimed some Abdullah Bhagdadi visited Hyderabad to carry out this terror strike.

National media:

National news channels were not far left behind from local Telugu news channels. National news channels carried into this wave and gave wild suggestions out of blue suggesting terrors strike to be handiwork of Indian Mujahideen to avenge the death of Guru and Kasab.

Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde had told media that intelligence agencies had received an attack alert two days ago, but that was not specific, without naming any group. He said, "Cannot speculate on the perpetrators of the blast as of now." Shockingly, a journalist during Sushil kumar shinde's press brief on blasts asked Union Home minister whether the blasts was to ‘avenge the arrest of Akbaruddin Owaisi’.

However, CNN IBN reported, “Sources said the central security agencies had sent an advisory on Tuesday asking all states to tighten security in sensitive places as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen may launch attacks.”

IBN further added, “A crucial police interrogation report accessed by CNN-IBN (or leaked to them?) has revealed that specific information was provided during the questioning of the Indian Mujahideen operative.”

On its website,IBNLive, it published the ‘prized’ document – full text of the Delhi Police interrogation report that had all the names and sequence of events according to the police.

NDTV, by far, was most restraint that did mention about MHA’s media briefing and that intelligence information, general in nature, was shared. But it did not go to conclude or link the incident to any earlier event.

Interestingly all this news channels were the same who gave teachings to the Home Minister earlier for his ‘saffron terror’ remarks strongly suggesting that ‘pre- submission’ would hamper continuing investigations.

Times of India left no scope of doubt on the perpetrators of this heinous crime when it 'crhonlogically explained how and why Dilsukhnagar has been Indian Mujahideen radar since 1999 : "Dilsukhnagar, a Hindu-dominated locality with a history of communal tension, has been on the terrorists' radar for long; at least since 1999 when a bomb was planted near a Hanuman temple. The device was detected in time by police."

It further added, "The choice of Dilsukhnagar is no accident and fits in the pattern of IM attacks. The terror module has so chosen the day and timing of its attacks as to ensure that the majority community bore the brunt: something which dates to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai and which is meant to exacerbate communal tension."

Ravichandran Chakkiliyan, an activist and research scholar from English and Foreign Language University, said that TV news channels reporting resemble brainwashing of 'people' to prepare them for next discourse. He said that media job will be done in the morning when you find confession of organization, except their address and the real truth.

FirstPost, which does not shy away from making bold statements, ended an article with the stories circulating in rumor mills: “Conspiracy theories are pointing to how the terrorists would have wanted to take advantage of the communal tension created as a result of the hate speeches delivered by MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and VHP leader Pravin Togadia in the last two months and create more fissures.” And added, “The challenge for Hyderabad now is to stand up united to defeat those designs of the terrorists.”

By Manick Sorcar,

I have unforgettable memories of growing up in Calcutta, at our home in Ballygunj named ''Indrajal''. My father, the legendary magician P C Sorcar, was on the road 9 out of 12 months, touring the world with his magic shows. He came back with a treasure trove of stories from around the world! I always looked forward to seeing the world through his eyes.

Even though he led the life of a celebrity, at home, he was the strict father, who helped me with academics and discipline. I remember, when I was in Class VI or VII my parents locked me in a bedroom on the second floor of our house with nothing but books, as punishment. After about an hour, when they opened the door, I was not there! Later, my furious father found me sneaking into the house with a fishing rod. ''Who let you out of the room? Which one of your siblings helped you?'' he asked. ''None,'' I said. "Then how did you get out?", he asked. I confessed, ''I jumped from the balcony to the canopy below and then climbed down the pipe.''

I knew a new punishment was awaiting me. But surprisingly, he just let me off with a warning and left the room suppressing a smile whispering to my mother, ''This kid is a born magician.''

I loved painting since childhood, but I could combine my love for painting with lighting only when I started working backstage at my father's shows. That was my first exposure to the magical world of lighting. At first, I painted the backdrops for different magic items. My father was very impressed and encouraged me to do more. Soon, I started playing with lighting to enhance my artwork, which prompted me to do complex lighting designs for many of his intriguing magic items. I realized I was more interested in the magic of mixing art with science than doing stage magic and I was enamoured with this new finding.

Another event that I vividly remember was in 1964. My dad was about to premiere the "Sputnik Illusion" item in his magic program. The magic was about a Sputnik, which took two astronauts fly through the space and land at Mars only to find the astronauts had vanished in thin air. When the Sputnik returned to the earth, they reappeared instantly. One of the major strength of this great item was the background scene where the Sputnik went through space passing by the stars, planets and the Nebula to reach the Mars. For this spectacular visual effect he had a special circular movable glass dial shipped from the US, which had space scenes with stars, planets etc. painted for projection on screen. But unfortunately, one day prior to the show premier, an assistant accidentally dropped the glass dial shattering it into pieces. No one dared to report the incident to my father, as we were scared, and desperately looking for an alternative solution.

It took me the whole night to collage pieces of mica sheets with scotch tapes to form the shape of the circular damaged dial, and then carefully paint the space scene on it. We mounted it on the spool and let it run, while we held our breath. With God's grace, the show went flawlessly and was highly appreciated by the audience, which pleased my father. Later, when he was told about the incident, he looked at me and said with a smile, "That was magic, son!"

Many years have passed since my father passed away. My interest in blending art with light took me to the USA where I earned an MSEE and continued to create my own magic in myriad ways under my nickname, Manick Sorcar. Even as I made Denver my new home and started a family, I continued to pursue my interest, and with his blessings, managed to carve a niche for myself as an artist, animator and laserist. My animation films, all based on stories from India, have been telecast in the USA for the last 20 years in a row, bringing a host of awards from international film festivals. For my stage shows, I tamed the sharp, fiercely bright ray of laser and used it as a harmless, soft painting brush. I successfully mixed performance of live actors seamlessly with 2-D and 3-D laser images on stage for which I was humbled to be recognized by two Oscar-equivalent awards of the laser industry. The credits for all these go to my father, who kindled in me the interest in mixing art with science.

2013 is the birth centenary of my father. After debating in my mind how to pay my tributes to him in a fitting manner on this great occasion, I felt, the best way was to present some of his magic items with laser. With that in mind, I flew out from the USA to Kolkata last December to perform with my team at Mahajati Sadan, the prestigious theater of the Government of West Bengal. The show ran packed house continuously for 10 days, much to the delight of the audience who enjoyed the items in the light of the 21st century. At the lobby, I also held an exhibition of my artwork about different stages of his life, where I displayed dozens of portraits made with laser and other types of media, which were promptly picked up by his ardent admirers and curators.

The lighting design books written by me have become texts at the universities in India as well as the USA. The "Laser Lighting for Art, Animation and Entertainment" course that I introduced as a part of illumination engineering degree at Jadavpur University has taken off to a good start and the university has built the "Manick Sorcar Laser Animation Laboratory" where I contributed all the laser equipment. It fills my heart with joy to think my love for art and lighting have come to fruition. It has opened up a new exciting career opportunity for students in India, and I thank my father for being the inspiration behind it.

You can find magic in anything if you set your heart on it.

(23-02-2013- Manick Sorcar is a lighting engineer based in Denver, Colorado, US. He can be reached at info@manicksorcar.com)

From Pakistan to India to Sri Lanka, religious and ethnic minorities are being increasingly victimized across South Asia

By Aijaz Zaka Syed

These aren’t the best of times for minorities in South Asia. From the Islamic republic of Pakistan to the Buddhist paradise of Sri Lanka to the secular democratic republic of India, minorities are increasingly being shown their place. Another Shia massacre in Pakistan this week is followed by more pointless political platitudes. It makes little difference to the young, terrified children though who are too young to know the gravity of their loss.

Across the Line of Control, images of Afzal Guru’s forlorn son with his grieving mother and grandmother remain seared into public consciousness. Named Ghalib after the great poet, he was 2 when his father was taken away 11 years ago on the charges of aiding and abetting the attack on Indian parliament.

Guru had spent 11 years, one month and 17 days on death row, as activist Harsh Mander points out, less than three years short of a life term. Which means he served the life sentence before being offered as a sacrificial lamb--ahead of others on death row--to assuage what Supreme Court calls the ‘collective conscience of the society.’ Mander and numerous commentators see Guru’s killing as a ‘scar on Indian democracy.’

Outside a mosque in Gosaigaon subdivision of kokrajhar in BTAD area of Assam. BTAD saw attacks on minority Muslims last year (TCN Photo)

A friend of mine says the last time he felt so angry and betrayed was when Babri Masjid was razed in 1992. One can only imagine the trauma of Guru’s family and scars with which his young son, denied a farewell meeting with his father, will grow up.

This may be why Sri Lanka ensured Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son followed him soon on the eternal journey. This photograph of the 12-year old son of the Tamil Tigers’ leader, released by the Channel 4, is eerily familiar. When images of the slain boy had first surfaced a couple of years ago, they had generated worldwide protests.

Besides the pain of a young, innocent boy being done to death in such bestial fashion, what had moved me was his baby face and limpid eyes that reminded me of my own son. The latest images of the boy are even more appalling. He looks terribly lonely and frightened as he sits there, nibbling on a cookie. In the second photograph, he’s anxiously looking up clearly worried about his fate. The third image is that of the boy’s bullet-riddled body on the ground.

As Callum Macrae, who made the documentary, No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, says, “The new photographs tell a chilling story. In less than two hours he will be taken, executed in cold blood and photographed again.” The documentary, to be shown at the UN Human Rights Council meet in Geneva next month, has turned the spotlight back on the Tamil genocide.

Back then when I did a rather strong piece on the 2009 Lankan offensive that not just wiped out hundreds of Tamil fighters, including Prabhakaran, but thousands of innocent civilians, some of my Lankan friends had protested. They insisted the Army action was justified considering the long reign of terror that the island, including Muslims, had suffered at the hands of the LTTE.

But whatever Prabhakaran's crimes, the Tamils had nothing to do with them and deserved better. Besides, a ruthless regime that gets away with murder once can be encouraged to think it could get away with it again--and again. “Watch it. It will be only a matter of time before they come for Muslims, just as the Nazis did one vulnerable group after another," I told them.

Events of the past few years have unfortunately proven me right. Terrorized by a vengeful regime, the Tamils still live in despicable conditions. And now that the Tiger is off Lanka’s back, attention has shifted to Muslims. With the blessings of the state, militant Sinhalese-Buddhist groups have been increasingly targeting the community. Unlike the Tamils, Muslims have lived in the island for centuries and have done well economically.

Understandably, the rise in the Sinhala extremism has been a source of grave concern and not just to Muslims. Many blame it on the current leadership and its encouragement of the militant Sinhala nationalism. Lawmakers like Mangala Samaraweera and many Muslim groups hold President Mahinda Rajapaksa responsible for the rise in attacks on minority targets.

Tisaranee Gunasekara writes in Colombo Telegraph that as the economic and political mess at home deepens, the regime is looking for a new, suitable enemy—a new bogey to rally the Sinhala majority. “And who better to do the job than a demonised racial/religious Other?” After the decimation of the Tamils, Muslims rather nicely fit the bill.

But what kind of bogey are Pakistan’s poor Shias and who are the forces using them as pawns on the chessboard of opportunistic politics? The community has been under relentless fire, literally, over the past few years and months. Thousands have died in calculated attacks across Pakistan targeting their mosques and gatherings. Things have been so bad that recently in Quetta the mourners refused to bury their dead for days on end demanding action by the authorities. They relented only after the federal government intervened sacking the Balochistan government and imposing federal rule.

The carnage this week killing 90 people suggests little has changed in Balochistan or elsewhere in Pakistan. It’s a shame really considering the eminent role the Shia have always played in the subcontinent’s and Pakistan’s history, politics, culture, literature and media. Indeed, the community had been in the forefront of the Pakistan movement.

Today, the community feels so alienated and insecure that some are even calling for a mass exodus, as Dawn columnist Murtaza Haider did this week. Unfortunately, when a multicultural society begins to unravel it’s its most vulnerable sections that are affected the most.

It’s no comfort that it’s not just the Shia or other minorities who’re in the line of fire, no one including those from the majority is safe from the assorted militant groups and fanatics. That doesn’t however absolve Pakistan’s politicians, administrators and security forces of their responsibility.

If the Pakistani society and elites do not come together and act now to save Jinnah’s baby, soon it may be too late to do so. Religious parties in particular have a crucial role to play in reining in these lunatics. They cannot stand and stare while the fanatics kill at will in the name of the faith that they champion.

Let’s face it. Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are all guilty of letting down their minorities. Winning back the confidence of their minorities and ensuring their security is not just in their national interest but critical to their survival and future. The health of a democracy and society is determined by the well being of its minorities.

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Aijaz Zaka Syed is a Gulf based writer. Email: aijaz.syed@hotmail.com

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,

With 10 state assembly elections this year and the general election in the next, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) faces possibly its sternest challenge since it returned to power in 2009.

It goes without saying that the forthcoming electoral tests have been compounded by the perceptibly declining political standing of the ruling alliance caused by multiple scams and economic stagnation. In addition, defeats in a series of elections ranging from municipal contests to state assemblies have underlined its predicament.

Aware of its falling status, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did talk of reviving the animal spirits in the economy while the Congress formally elevated heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi to the No. 2 position to be the vice president in order to enthuse the party workers. But, their effects have been minimal.

Much depends, therefore, on the budget if only because it will show the direction in which the country is moving. Such an indication is all the more necessary because a major reason for the economic slowdown has been the policy paralysis caused by confusion about the model of development - whether to be populist or reformist. In this respect, the budget will be a make-or-break affair if it succeeds in dispelling the miasma of indecision, which has been the bane of this government.

But, will it do so? If the government fails yet again to make up its mind about the economic agenda or opts for an unviable mixture of the two conflicting models to neutralise the doubting Thomases within the Congress, it may well return to square one. The fallout will be that the uncertainty of purpose which prevented the party from making a favourable impression on the electorates in regions as diverse as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa will continue to hobble along.

The chances of such an eventuality cannot be dismissed. The reason is that one of the legislation expected to come up before parliament is the extravagant welfare measure favoured by Congress president Sonia Gandhi - the food security bill. It aims at providing subsidised food to 75 percent of the rural population and 50 percent of urban dwellers at the gargantuan annual cost of Rs.1.2 lakh crore.

Since few countries have tried feeding about 67 percent of the total population at virtually throwaway prices, its effect cannot be anticipated. In electoral terms, the Congress obviously expects to reap a huge benefit if the scheme can at all be implemented given its enormous logistical problems of procuring, storing, transporting and distributing such massive amounts of foodgrains.

It is anybody's guess whether the creaky bureaucracy will be up to the task. Apart from that, what is even more worrisome is the disastrous impact of the populist measure on fiscal discipline. Considering that the government has been referring to the need for cutting subsidies and taking small steps like increasing fuel prices and reducing the supply of cooking gas at subsidised rates, the economists in its ranks cannot be too pleased with the food bill. But they have had to hold their tongues in order to accommodate Sonia Gandhi's views.

She wants the bill to play the role which the rural employment scheme supposedly did in boosting the Congress' prospects in 2009 although the programme did not seem to have helped the party in subsequent elections. Arguably, therefore, the masses are probably less impressed by generous handouts from a paternalistic, mai-baap sarkar than by an atmosphere of economic buoyancy promising increasing employment opportunities.

To achieve the latter, the budget will have to turn away from populism to focus on reforms, which have been virtually stalled even after the departure of the Left. If the government is courageous enough to do so, the economy can still break out of its present standstill mode and generate the promised animal spirits. It may take time for the visible effects of such a turnaround to become noticeable, but what does happen when the economy is perceived to be recovering is to create a feeling of hope.

It isn't only the middle class, already far more consumerist than it ever was, which experiences this heady optimism; the feeling percolates down to the lower strata since the job prospects are higher in a thriving economy.

In a way, therefore, the budget presents the last chance to the government to persist with what it started in 1991 but could not pursue as vigorously as it should have. The constraints included the Left in the 2004-08 period, resistance from within the Congress by votaries of what Manmohan Singh called an "outdated ideology" and the cussedness of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which opposes when out of power what it advocates while holding office. But any further hesitation on the government's part may prove to be politically fatal.

(23.02.2013 - Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)

Zafar Choudhary

In his theory of workplace motivation, American Psychologist Frederick Hertzberg said ‘if you want someone to do a good job, give them a good job to do’. Put this in context of top level HR management in Jammu and Kashmir and it turns out that good job is neither required of nor given to most of the senior officers in the so called prestigious cadres of Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

The Chief Secretary

When Mohammad Iqbal Khandey took over as new Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week he was welcomed by different people in their own different contextual ways –first native of J&K after BR Kundal, first Kashmiri after Vijay Bakaya and first Kashmiri Muslim after Sheikh Ghulam Rasool. None of these contexts offer any big deal. What really makes difference is Khandey’s reputation of a thoroughly upright, scrupulously honest and time-honoured competent officer.

In a traditionally politicised bureaucracy Khandey was tagged as PDP man when Mufti Mohammad Sayed as Chief Minister picked him up as his Principal Secretary. Mufti’s two successors –Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah –briefly sidelined Khandey on the basis of their first impressions but it was his competence that brought him back to key positions in Secretariat on both occasions. His ability to bounce back to best of performance in office after two personal setbacks in five years is yet another attribute for an officer for the top job. This list of acclamations, of course with no exaggeration, is good only for anyone’s personal glorification. What matters for the system he has been chosen to head is the difference he makes there – by way of leadership, innovation and standing firm in way political expediencies without taking offences with the political executive, the final authority in this case. The gentleman with these tall attributes to his credit has taken over as head of the bureaucracy when this non-elective part of the government is in unprecedented disarray seriously affecting the governance in delivery and also in terms of perceptions. The problem is hereditary and symptomatic of flawed political infections which will have to be corrected some or the other day. At the heart of this problem distressing the bureaucracy is ‘who mans which post, for how long and on whose behest’.

Merit versus sentiment

Of all states in India, Jammu and Kashmir enjoys special dispensation in proportion of directly recruited IAS officers to the locally promoted. This is 50:50 here against 67:33 in other states. Despite this privilege there has always been a debate on invoking the special status and greater autonomy to make a case for packing off the IAS officers or until then having KAS officers at key positions of influence. This case of merit versus sentiments has been a cause for not only promoting culture of lobbying but also blurring the lines between impartial bureaucracy and party politics. In the earlier years the NC workers and bureaucrats used to be interchangeable positions, then Congress came in and of late PDP also emerged as stakeholder. In the bureaucracy debate the self rule document of PDP has proposed to the extent of wrapping up IAS, IPS and other central services from J&K for once and all.

This is a political debate beyond the scope of this column but until final decision on who rules the roost there is imminent need of withdrawing the political motives from bureaucratic machinery. Take the example of how heads of district administration are appointed and it will give you reflections of political reasons district after district. As of today only four of the 22 districts in the state –Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri and Poonch –have direct recruit young IAS officers, with less than ten years of service, as District Development Commissioners or the Deputy Commissioners. In four other districts –Srinagar, Pulwama, Budgam and Reasi –they are IAS but from the promotion quota and all above the age of 52.

In remaining 14 districts –Kathua, Samba, Ramban, Kishtwar, Bandipore, Anantnag, Baramulla, Shopian, Kulgam, Doda, Kupwara, Ganderal, Leh and Kargil –the Deputy Commissioners are from Kashmir Administrative Services and almost all of them at the verge of their retirements. Questions will always strike about young versus experienced but the precedent has it that the officers close to their retirement tend to be more like workers of the ruling parties. With three DCs having investigations running against them, four others overrunning the terms by 12 to 18 months the institution of Collector has become purely political office to the pleasure of local Minister. The former DC of Ganderbal who gets ‘apolitical’ state award five days before his superannuation and joins the ruling party 17 hours after demitting office is just tip of political iceberg shrouding the bureaucracy.
Dilemma of IAS officers

The middle rung officers having whole spectrum of politics rallying behind them, those at the top crack big deals. At the topmost position, one of Khandey’s predecessors –BR Kundal –was so deep in politics that he hurried up stepping down as Chief Secretary to take oath of Minister. Except C Phunsog and the short term IS Malhi every CS in last two decades has been able to lay hands at a direct political position or an important office with political backing. Vijay Bakaya and Sheikh Ghulam Rasool have made way to Upper House of legislature, SS Bloeria is Vice Chancellor and SS Kapur is Chairperson of State Water Resources Regulatory Authority.

Now, what happens to the bureaucrats who have not been able to learn the art of politics or have refused to do so? Seventeen senior officers are on central deputation. Some of them like Parvez Dewan, Rakesh Gupta, PK Tripathi and Dheeraj Gupta have not returned in many years, others like Lokesh Jha and PG Dhar Ckakrabarty have come back only occasionally to spend the compulsory years in cadre state to be able to qualify for another yet deputation. From the fresh lot, except one no IAS officer from 2005 batch onwards is on any significant post in the administration. This number totals to 17. To summarise the scenario, of 97 IAS officers, there are 59 directly recruited and out of them nearly 40 are either on central deputation or without any significant posting. The Chief Secretary can make a big difference in striking balance between merit and political sentiment only if he doesn’t have a post-retirement political priority already cut off.

Columnist is senior journalist and Asia Society Fellow. He can be reached at zafarchoudhary@gmail.com

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed,

Lack of political will, weak intelligence, inadequate laws, poor enforcements and political mud slinging, result again and again in tragedies of the kind at now Hyderabad and at umpteen places elsewhere.

A blast is there. Umpteen lives lost, the home minister visits the area to make some stereotypes statements, some amount for compensation is declared, the police claims to have caught the mastermind and everything peacefully settles down - till the next bombing and loss of human lives, yet again and again..

When a terrorist is to be hanged, umpteen human amnesty appeals and our own tedious judicious system comes into the way of doing away with the murderers of humanity. At the same time, as Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi grandson, says that it's no use hanging terrorists: when we hang one, hundred will be born.

Today, Islam is under the scanner owing to so many voices saying that the religion advocates violence. Not all of them can be wrong as people judge by what they see and today these terrorists speak and act violently in the name of Islam. At the same time, the government mustn't jump to the conclusion that it must be a "group of Muslims", only like Indian Mujahideen, that must have blasted that bomb. That hurts law-abiding Muslims, and they comprise the majority in a population of 165 million in India.

The community remains under the clouds of suspicion, for no fault of a great majority of its members. As a human being and an Indian Muslim, I literally wept over the needless deaths of those who died or were maimed while shopping or eating.

Muslims must come out openly against terrorist outfits like Hu-JI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam), Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Indian Mujahideen and others, all committed to desecrate peaceful coexistence and harmony. The jehadis have been slaughtering innocent lives at railway stations, bus stops, trains, airplanes, temples and markets.

For a Muslim, actions are measured against the Quran and the Sunnah (practical examples) of the Prophet Muhammad's life. The Quran states that every human life is a sanctified life; to save a life of a person is equivalent to saving the life of mankind.

Even in a state of war, there are fundamental principles laid down by the Prophet, e.g. innocent lives (men, women and children) even in the enemy camp must be protected; the right to freedom of religion of people of other faiths must be ensured; plants must not be destroyed; no acts of aggression are allowed, and, most important of all, every attempt must be made to enter into a truce.

We are off course living in a situation where an act of aggression by a few misguided Muslims is labelled as an act sanctioned by Islam. This is a hostile portrayal of Islam.

Similarly, Muslims condemning all Americans or Europeans are equally guilty of stirring up hostility. There is no doubt there are agendas to smear the image of Islam, as is gains support in the world as an alternative to all other systems of government. A few misguided Muslims, indulging in extremism and acts of terror, are only helping the smear campaigns.

The ideologically networked jehadis kill without mercy, specialize in suicide attacks and when cornered fight to the finish. They derive their strength from Al- Qaeda. These radical jehadis are part of an intricate web of nationalist insurgent groups that act autonomously and are difficult to track down.

Many of the terrorists acting in the name of Islam cite Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan to justify the killing of innocent lives. They have lost their moral compass. For them, anyone who does not agree with their point of view is an infidel and should be eliminated.

They are able to misinterpret verses from the Quran to justify their heinous designs. Muslims must separate themselves from 'Muslim terrorism'.

The word jehad comes from its Arabic root jahada meaning 'to struggle'. The word jehad has been so badly misused both by some wayward Muslim terrorists and Islam-baiters that it has completely lost its meaning. Jehad is essentially a struggle against evil, both within and beyond us. Jehad-e-Akbar (The Greater Jehad) is a complete surrender to the will of Allah. It calls for a total subjugation of ego and anger.

The SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), Shahi Imam Bukhari, fanatics in Coimbatore and Maharashtra, the calls for jehad and the distribution of inflammatory posters have enraged middle class Hindus. Minor issues like a few Muslim leaders opposing the singing of the Vande Mataram, the national song, add fuel to the fire, increasing animosity between the two communities over the years.

Those who kill innocents have nothing to do with Islam. Sura Al-Baqr (Verse: 114) in the Quran states that Allah dislikes those who indulge in arson, loot and killings. Sura Al-Kafirun (Chapter: 30) mentions: Lakum dinokum waley yadeen (You follow your religion; let them follow theirs).

Islam rejects violence in all its forms, but the jehadis take the terror path without bothering about the impact it can have on a common Muslim by making him the usual suspect. They don't read those verses that declare that taking the life of even one innocent individual means killing the whole humanity. They twist and bend them to act self-deceivingly as human bombs. Islam has no room for suicide.
There are many verses in the Quran that are contextual, in the sense that they are the verses used during a war and are not of a general nature. Take for example the verse, 'Slay the pagans wherever you find them, seize them, beleaguer them, lie in wait for them with every stratagem' (Chapter: 9, Verse: 5).

No doubt these verses call upon the believers to fight with determination against perpetrators and all odds, and these are not necessarily against non-Muslims. If taken out of context, they might appear to advocate violence; misguided Muslims are doing exactly that.

According to the Khwaja Iftekhar Ahmed, an Islamic scholar and president Inter Faith harmony Foundation of India, what is so abominable is that the extremists select these (some 20) verses only to express "righteousness" to act "righteously".

To a common Muslim, it is abhorrent to attach such acts to the teachings of Prophet Mohammed, who is known to be merciful not only to Muslims but the whole humanity. The so-called jehadis have no right to misinterpret the verses to suit their dastardly machinations.

At the same time I also appeal to all my Vedic brethren that they too should not suspect any and every Muslim as the terrorist might be bearing any religion's name; in fact, he has no religion. Today, the entire Muslim community is bearing the brunt of a fringed few.

I am also warning my co-religionists that it is time they take to streets to ondemn those who, in Islam's name, are making life a hell for them. Otherwise this calm and cool Hindu community can take to that unfortunate backlash that happened in Delhi in 1984 and Gujarat in 2002.

Muslims are at a crucial point. The need of the hour in cities like Jaipur, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai is that the moment the community observes any suspicious people living in their neighbourhood, they must, without delay, inform the police.

These jehadis prefer the Muslim ghettos as nobody is bothered as to what activities are going on. Besides, in Muslim mohallas, these jehadis offer a handsome rent and the landlord falls for the bate realizing the truth only when anti-terrorist squads surround his house.

A liberal Muslim must check a communalist Muslim and a communal Hindu be checked by a liberal Hindu. Muslim voices of sanity aren't loudly heard. We have to agree in principle that killing of innocents cannot be justified, irrespective of race, religion, place or ethnicity. There is no room for 'ifs' and 'buts' for terror acts.

(24.02.2013 - Firoz Bakht Ahmed is a teacher and commentator on social, educational and religious issues and a grandnephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at firozbakhtahmed08@gmail.com)

By Shaik Zakeer Hussain,

Every time a bomb explodes in any part of this country, another one explodes in the hearts of Muslims. Not because all of us are involved in some sinister plot to blow up every trace of human race, who do not share our belief system and we fear being exposed with every exploding bomb. Far from it we know deep under that within a few minutes, the 'expert' analysts and media mavericks of this country, would have 'figured out' the reason and people behind it, which unfailingly would have to do with Muslims and Islam.

This time again, immediately following the aftermath of Thursday's bomb blast in Hyderabad, all fingers were pointed at the Indian Mujahideen. The Security agencies said that there was prior intelligence that the group had done a 'recce' of the city to this effect, leaving very little to think, as to who was responsible for the twin blasts. The only remaining work it seems, is to 'nab' the individuals behind it, which wouldn't be that difficult, given that Hyderabad according to Deccan Herald is "a terrorist hub since 1990".

How smoothly and effectively has the whole 'investigation' lead into a skewed direction is something that needs a serious thought. This despite, many cases of these so-called Indian Mujahideen 'masterminds' being acquitted of all charges; charges concocted against them by the police in alliance with the media.

Muslims in India are scared, for they don't know who the next victim of this continuing witch-hunt would be. This massive stereotyping and media savagery is something that they are not able to defend themselves from. What else can explain the concerns of the various civil rights and social advocacy groups, who are calling for a fair and unbiased investigation?

The night the blast went off, my cousin's eyes fell on a magazine, which had Afzal Guru's picture on its cover. His eight year old daughter had outlined the map of India in some corner of the weekly, in her never ending effort to perfect the art. He scratched it off right away, lest someone sees it, and thinks something more than what is to it.

(Shaik Zakeer Hussain is an independent writer and blogger)

When sufi music and melody come together in a Mughal monument, the fragrance that emanates is sheer magic.

By Bushra Alvi

The newly constructed garden amphitheatre at the Government Sunder Nursery, adjacent to Humayun’s Tomb, was the venue for some of the concerts and recitals that took place in New Delhi last week. The amphitheatre which was inaugurated by Mr Ashok Khurana, Director General (CPWD), was the setting for a rock concert and ghazal recital on Wednesday and Thursday. It was the perfect evening - balmy weather, candlelights, and a rapt audience in the environs of a freshly restored monument of the Mughal era, the Sunderwala Burj, which lit up, perfectly complemented the ambiance.

Tahira Syed

Dilliwalas are enjoying a season of concerts and recitals as part of Jashn- e- Khusrau, a festival celebrating the life and works of renowned 13th century Sufi-poet Hazrat Amir Khusrau Dehlvi, the favorite disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. Amir Khusrau was not only a notable poet but also a prolific and influential musician. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, and also in Hindavi.

The ongoing festival is an attempt to bring forth the contribution of Amir Khusrau in the pluralistic milieu of India’s diverse histories, cultures and arts. As part of a major Urban Renewal project in the Humayun’s Tomb-Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti area of Delhi, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is hosting this initiative with the support of Ford Foundation.

Pakistan’s Meekal Hasan Band staged the inaugural concert of the amphitheatre according a fresh flavor to their rendition of Amir Khusrau’s kalams. Their music, which is sufi, rock and jazz fusion, had the audience spellbound. The popular numbers ChaapTilak Sab Cheeni and Damadam mast qalandar had the audience clapping and swaying along making it an electrifying musical sufiana extravaganza!

The band consists of vocalist Javed Bashir, flutist Mohammed Ahsan Papu, guitarist-bandleader Meekal Hasan, bassist Amir Azhar and drummer Fahad Khan. Bashir expressed his joy at performing in front of a lively, interactive audience and said he was touched by the love he received in India. He, however, felt that the wall between the two nations should be broken down completely to foster a spirit of cross cultural growth and complete brotherhood. Meanwhile, it is indeed heartening to note that several artistes from across the border are participating in this festival.

Meekal Hasan Band

On Thursday, Pakistani ghazal singer Tahira Syed, daughter of legendary ghazal singer Begum Malika Pukhraj, enthralled the audience with her rendition of select classical Persian ghazals of Amir Khusrau. Zehaal-e-miskeen makun taghaful, Duraye naina banaye batiyan… sounded even more wonderful with Tahira Syed singing it. Pahari Dogri song, Lo phir basant aayi, and Rakho meri laaj were some of the other kalams of Khusrau she regaled the audience with.

The recital being a celebration of the great sufi poet, Tahira pointed out that the organizers might not take it too kindly if she sung anything else, but promised to do so after completing her repertoire of Khusrau! Finally at the end, she obliged the eager gathering with Pukhraj’s famous song, Abhi toh main jawaan hoon (a non-Khusrau composition!).

Another Mughal monument, the 16th century Chaunsath Khamba in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, came alive on Friday evening with an absorbing performance by Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan, of the famous Etawah Gharana . Ustad Shahid Khan, one of the leading sitar players of the world, mesmerized the audience with his rendition of Raag Zillaf and Raag Sampoorn Bhairavi. He also played a variety of bahaars in a tribute to Amir Khusrau. He was accompanied on the tabla by Akram Khan.

Other features of Jashn-e-Khusrau include soirees, seminars, film screenings, heritage walks and exhibitions from the collections of the National Museum, National Archives, Khuda Baksh Library, Rampur Raza Library and Aligarh Muslim University.

The festival which started on February 15 will continue till March 27.

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Bushra Alvi is a writing and editing professional based in New Delhi. All photos by Ms. Alvi.