Don’t fly war planes

By: Abhijit Majumder

Gods come from the skies in gaudy chariots. Aliens come in cool flying saucers. But when one comes in angry fighter planes, it is, without a doubt, the enemy. Across cultures and countries, aeroplanes and helicopters have a strong association with the unknown, the other. When airplanes unleash bullets and bombs, it certainly is not your people, it is the enemy. Which is why the Indian State should not fly its war planes over Dantewada or any Maoist territory, however big the provocation, even if a savage bunch has just massacred 77 cornered keepers of the law. India must remember that aerial attacks on its own people could be the beginning of the end. The great miracle of diversity that is India is in grave danger of coming apart, and by sending planes to bomb its own people, the State will quickly, irrevocably begin a tragic surgery upon itself. It is easier to reconcile being forced to kneel and shot in the head by your own government than to be bombed from the skies. Israel made that mistake, and has never walked away from the amputation table. Pakistan has been making that mistake too. Just the other day, hundreds of Pakistanis were killed by their own drones in the bloody, dust-blown Northwest. Pakistan will never be a nation again, if it ever was.
Last week’s massacre, for all the outrage it evokes, cannot be fully blamed on Home Minister P Chidambaram, although he should move much faster on our internal defence systems. The growth of red terror is the larger failure of the Indian State. It allows the rich to get richer, while the poor don’t even have social safety against wanton price rise or gruelling medical bills. It allows loan sharks, police teams and upper caste militias to come knocking, rape women in the household for evening recreation, and casually leave protesting men with bullets in their brains.
Imagine yourself in a remote village, with no money to re-pay the man who had given you a loan on absurd interest, waiting for his men to arrive after dark. The nearest police station is 50 km away, and the officials are drinking and raping buddies of the local loan sharks. Farmer suicides don’t happen because of crop failure, they happen because of paralysing fear. The Indian State has sown the seeds of terror across the countryside by allowing goon politicians, bloodsucking loan mafia, and very often, men in khaki to do as they want. Today’s Naxal movement — unlike the one in romantic and rebellious ’70s Kolkata — has nothing to do with ideology. It is far more real, dangerous, determined. It arms an angry, silent, losing mass with guns. Brainwashed terrorists don’t come in a 1,000-plus killer mob. They are our own people angry to perverse lengths, drunk with the newfound power of the gun. Merely killing them will only spread the anger. The Indian government will first have to kill the terror, the inequality that stalked them to this insanity. And bombing them from planes will only confirm to them and millions of others what they always suspected: India had never been on their side…it is an enemy nation.

(http://www.mid-day.com/opinion/2010/apr/120410-fighter-planes-Naxal-Attacks-Opinion.htm 12/04/10, Mid Day)

India approves anti-torture law

Security officers march in a parade on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Tuesday to recognize their completion of basic training. In india, criticism of security forces is sometimes viewed as unpatriotic, muting criticism of the torture of suspects by police. Though criticized for its secretive drafting process, government praised for its political courage amidst Maoist rebel attacks India’s cabinet has quietly approved a bill that would make torture illegal, in a bid for respect on the international stage, even as a new study finds that the country must go further to stop abuses by security forces.

The treatment of detainees might be controversial in Canada, but it’s also difficult for politicians in India. Some members of cabinet reportedly argued against introducing an anti-torture law, fearing a backlash as the public mood favours getting tough with the rising Maoist insurgency.Nor did the government earn much praise for the bill from human-rights groups, which criticized the secretive drafting process and called for deeper reforms to halt what they describe as a growing prevalence of torture in the country. “Torture is quite rampant here,” said Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights. His group released a report Tuesday that shows deaths in police custody climbed 20 per cent from 2000 to 2008. In prisons the increase was 55 per cent during the same period. Still, the human-rights advocate said he appreciated that the government faces hard realities in India, where criticism of security forces is sometimes viewed as unpatriotic and roughing up suspects is part of police culture. Mr. Chakma said it took political courage for the cabinet to announce its decision on the anti-torture law last week just days after Maoist rebels killed 76 troops in an ambush that has captivated Indian news media. “This is a historic decision,” Mr. Chakma said, referring to the bill. “It may not be perfect, but it’s against an atmosphere of prevailing pressure for harsh law-enforcement measures.” Media commentaries suggested this isn’t the right time for India to be cleaning up its security agencies, when the country faces growing internal threats. “The legislation could send wrong signals to security forces who work under extreme hostile conditions and fight a battle where the adversary refuses to adhere to any terms of engagement,” wrote the Economic Times, an Indian business paper.

Still, the government seems intent on bringing legislation that will move India closer to ratifying the United Nations convention against torture, which it signed in 1997. Details of the proposed law have not been released, so it remains unclear whether the legislation would bring India into compliance with UN standards. But the government has been paying greater attention to such international norms in recent years, as it lobbies for a seat on the UN Security Council and a stronger voice at other forums. Human-rights advocates applauded the move, but expressed concern that it could be a hollow gesture. “It’s less about legislation than about attitude,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. Public perceptions of what’s acceptable for police appear to be shifting, she said, and cases of torture by police are getting more scrutiny. But when it comes to the military and paramilitary forces, she added, national security often trumps concerns about human rights. “Torture in police custody is viewed without sympathy by the public, but in national security cases there is more forgiveness,” Ms. Ganguly said.

Perhaps the biggest source of complaints about mistreatment by Indian forces in recent years has been the disputed border region of Jammu and Kashmir. Those areas have also become a source of pride for Indian security agencies, because the number of violent incidents has dropped significantly; some view this as proof that harsh measures are necessary for success against insurgents. “Yes, superficial normalcy has been restored in Kashmir, because they beat those people black and blue, but it will not last,” said Gautam Navlakha of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, a human-rights group. He expressed concern that similar tactics would be used against the Maoists, whose attacks have grown bolder. India would be wise to resist popular pressure to engage in such dirty warfare, Mr. Chakma said, not only for the sake of its international reputation but also for the practical reason that it doesn’t work. “You have to win hearts and minds,” he said, “and you cannot do it by violating human rights.”

(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/india-approves-anti-torture-law/article1533331/ 13/04/10, The Globe and Mail)

India wants ‘zero tolerance’ for nuclear traffickers

With the spectre of A.Q. Khan and his clandestine smuggling ring still haunting India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told world leaders that there should be “zero tolerance for individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking in nuclear items.” He was speaking at the Nuclear Security Summit convened by the United States to address international concerns that lax national attitudes towards the physical protection of nuclear material could allow terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons or ‘dirty bombs.’ But if India could not resist the opportunity of reminding the world of the failings of its neighbour, Pakistan was also true to form, equating the problem of nuclear security to one of “strategic restraint” in the subcontinent. Forty-seven countries attended the two-day meet. The next Nuclear Security Summit will be held in South Korea in 2012, they decided.

In a national statement delivered to the summit on Tuesday, Dr. Singh said India was deeply concerned about the danger of nuclear explosives or fissile material and technical know-how falling in to the hands of non-state actors.The primary responsibility for ensuring nuclear security rested at the national level, he said “but national responsibility must be accompanied by responsible behaviour by States. If not, it remains an empty slogan.” Dr. Singh’s words were so sharply in contrast to what Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the summit working dinner on Monday night that they almost seemed to have been drafted in response. “Nuclear security within a state is a national responsibility,” Mr. Gilani had said. In an implicit dig at Pakistan and those European states whose nationals were involved in the A.Q. Khan network, Prime Minister Singh said all countries should scrupulously abide by their international obligations. “It is a matter of deep regret that the global non-proliferation regime has failed to prevent nuclear proliferation. Clandestine proliferation networks have flourished and led to insecurity for all, including and especially for India. We must learn from past mistakes and institute effective measures to prevent their recurrence.” In his remarks, Mr. Gilani said the “democratic government of Pakistan” was committed to ensuring nuclear security. Pakistan’s objective is to “enhance nuclear security, in its holistic sense, and reduce nuclear risks,” said Mr. Gilani, adding that its proposals on “a strategic restraint regime in South Asia will go a long way in making our region secure and stable.” Pakistan had already worked with India on several nuclear confidence-building measures, he added. “This effort must continue. More than ever before, our two nations need to hold a sustained dialogue to address all issues.” The Pakistani Prime Minister also made a renewed pitch for access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses “in a non-discriminatory manner.”

Though Dr. Singh dwelt at length on India’s approach to nuclear security, the highlight of his remarks was the announcement of the Indian decision to set up a Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, “visualised to be a state-of-the-art facility based on international participation from the IAEA and other interested foreign partners.” President Barack Obama responded to Dr. Singh’s offer, saying “We welcome the announcement of the setting of the centre by India. This will be one more tool to establish best practices.” Providing details of the new initiative, Dr. Singh said the centre would consist of four schools dealing with Advanced Nuclear Energy System Studies, Nuclear Security, Radiation Safety, and the application of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology in the areas of healthcare, agriculture and food. “The centre will conduct research and development of design systems that are intrinsically safe, secure, proliferation resistant and sustainable. We would welcome participation in this venture by your countries, the IAEA and the world to make this centre’s work a success,” Dr. Singh said. A four-page brochure prepared by the Department of Atomic Energy and distributed at the summit contained an outline of the programme modules to be offered at each of the four schools.

(http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article396484.ece 14/04/10, The Hindu)

Orissa violence shocks visiting German team

A visiting parliamentary delegation from Germany has expressed shock at “the level of violence” in riot-hit Orissa in eastern India. The team concluded on April 13 its four-day tour of Orissa to study the situation of victims of anti-Christian violence in 2008, UCA News reports. The delegation came to Orissa after completing April 8 a two-day visit of Gujarat, western India, where Hindu-Muslim violence in 2002 killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Ute Granold of the Christian Democratic Union, a member of the team, told UCA News that their visit was to encourage victims and support human rights activists. “We came here to learn about the situation in Orissa” after the violent event against Christians in 2007 and 2008, Granold said.Pascal Kober from the Free Democratic Party told UCA News their “findings urge us to follow up the developments in Orissa back home in Germany.” “We as politicians will report our findings to our respective parliamentary groups, the German parliament and the German government as well as to the relevant civil and Church bodies,” he added.

The team met victims, Church leaders and civil and human rights activists during its visit. Victims of attacks ‘still displaced’. “We were shocked about the level of violence including rape cases and killings. We found that victims of the attacks are still displaced,” the German delegation said in a press note released in the state capital of Bhubaneswar.They said the delegation visited refugee camps and makeshift dwellings. “We saw the miserable situation of people without proper homes and livelihood opportunities. Most of them are yet to be compensated adequately,” they said.

The press release also noted that “even after two years,” police have not registered several complaints and justice is not done to “the affected community. Only few of the responsible have been convicted for the communal violence.” Missio, a German-based Catholic pastoral body, organized the delegation’s visit to India. Others in the team were Missio director Otmar Oehring and Jan Bitter, chairperson of the Christian Democratic Union parliamentary group.

(http://www.cathnewsasia.com/2010/04/14/orissa-violence-shocks-visiting-german-team/ 14/04/10, CathNews Asia)

India urges Canada to curb Sikh outfits

India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday raised the issue of terrorist outfits with his Canadian counterpart Ste­phen Harper on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. During the meeting, Singh urged Canada to monitor the activities of Sikh separatists, adding that it is the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Air India flight Kanishka. External affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Pr­akash said Singh conveyed India’s concerns and “he hoped that the Canadian government would curb and monitor the activities of these organizations”.
Meanwhile, India and Kazakhstan is expected to wrap up talks on civil nuclear cooperation soon, following a meeting between Singh and Kazakh president Noorsultan Naz­ar­bayev.External affairs minister S M Krishna is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next month to draw a road map to implement the agreements and initiatives agreed between the two countries when Nazarbayev visited New Delhi in January 2009. During a 45-minute meeting with Singh, Naza­rbayev also invited Indian companies to invest heavily in Kazakhstan. Singh and Nazarbayev also discussed situation in the region including Afghanist­an and Kyrgyzstan.

(http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/india-urges-canada-curb-sikh-outfits-831 13/04/10, Financial Chronicle)

One dead, 24 hurt in Kashmir protests: police

One person was killed and 24 hurt during a strike Tuesday in Indian Kashmir to protest the conviction of six Muslims, including a Kashmiri separatist, for a 1996 bombing in New Delhi. Police fired teargas and used batons to break up the anti-India demonstrations in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar and the northern town of Sopore, police and witnesses said. Protesters retaliated by hurling rocks and bricks and in the ensuing clashes 18 protesters and six policemen were injured, police said.” A 20-year old protester died when he slipped into a river as police were chasing him during a protest in Sopore,” a police officer said, demanding not to be named. The death brought more people onto the streets chanting, “We want freedom” and “Allah is great,” said residents, who blamed police for the death.

Shops, banks and schools were shut in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley after separatists called a strike to protest the convictions of six Kashmiris in an Indian court for their role in the 1996 market bombing. Leading female separatist politician Farida Dar was among those convicted for the explosion at New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market on May 21, 1996, which left 13 people dead and over three dozen injured. “The strike is to protest the conviction of six Kashmiris,” said leading Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Geelani, who heads the hardline wing of the region’s main separatist alliance, in a statement. He described the Indian judiciary as “partisan and biased”.

Anti-India insurgents have waged a two-decade fight against rule by New Delhi in the Himalayan region that has left more than 47,000 people dead, according to the official count. Those accused of bombing the market, all from Indian-administered Kashmir, were arrested soon after the incident when police traced the phone calls they made to various news organisations claiming responsibility for the attack. Despite tight security, dozens of women activists from Dar’s separatist Mass Movement party held a noisy demonstration in Srinagar, shouting “We want freedom!” and “Release innocent Farida!” Police detained nearly a dozen activists, all wearing veils, after blocking the march in Lal Chowk, Srinagar’s main commercial street.

(http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1g5tr_np4yEka9nACP_YOW2e9vg 14/04/10,  AFP)

Indian Maoists worst rights offenders

India’s Maoist rebels top the list of the worst human rights offenders among the myriad of insurgent groups in the country, a study on torture in the world’s largest democracy said Tuesday. Rights group the Asian Centre for Human Rights, which brought out the report “Torture in India, 2010”, also noted the total number of reported torture cases had risen between the years 2000 and 2008 in the country.

“The Maoists are the worst violators of human rights among all the armed groups in India. All their actions of killing and extortion have the sanction of their top leaders,” Suhas Chakma, director of the New Delhi-based group, told reporters.

The report came exactly a week after 76 Indian paramilitary personnel were slaughtered by Maoists in central Chhattisgarh state. According to the report, Maoists targeted ordinary people “in blatant disregard for the international humanitarian law” on suspicion of them being police informers, members of anti-Maoist civilian militia or not obeying their diktats. India’s Maoist insurgency began in the state of West Bengal in 1967 and has since spread to 20 of the country’s 28 states. The federal home ministry says 908 people were killed last year in Maoist-linked violence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has labelled the Maoists India’s biggest internal security threat, but little is known about the movement’s shadowy leadership or cadre strength, variously estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000.

There are at least 30 militant groups operating in India’s northeast bordering Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.

The Indian government also came in for criticism in the report, which said New Delhi was “failing in its efforts to hold perpetrators of abuses accountable for their actions, whether committed by the state, the Maoists or other armed opposition groups.” But on the whole, “India’s track record is better than many Asian countries as it is one of the few to collect data, to have documentation of such crimes,” he said.

(Source: AFA)

(http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/indian-maoists-worst-rights-offenders 14/04/10, Radio Netherlands World wide)

‘Naxal Violence, Jihadi Terror Two Sides of Same Coin’

Describing Maoist violence and Jihadi terrorism as two sides of the same coin, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani today asked the government not to have any dialogue with the Naxals unless they renounce the path of violence and pledged their faith in the Constitution. Calling for steps to crush Maoist violence, he said “the government cannot have any dialogue with them unless they renounce the path of violence and pledge their faith in the Indian Constitution”.

The former Deputy Prime Minister said the menace of “irreligious and anti-national” Maoist ideology must be met unitedly. “Maoist violence and jihadi terrorism are two sides of the same coin,” Advani said, adding, “the purpose of both is to overthrow the Indian State, bring Indian democracy to an end and dismember India as a Nation”. He said “the right response of all patriotic citizens, organisations and including political parties is to unite in the pledge to root out this threat”.

Participating in the centenary celebrations of Veerashaiva Mahasabha and Shivayoga Mandira here, Advani said the Naxals “concern for the poor” was only a “fig-leaf to cover the anti-national nature of their ideology and strategy.” Advani said Maoists were trying to expand their activities in other states including Karnataka. “Both the government and the society should be extremely vigilant against this danger,” he warned. “BJP fully supports the Central Government in its strategy to root out the Maoist menace,” he said.

(http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?679344 13/04/10, Outlook India)

Maoists roping in locals, shop keepers for information

The massacre of 76 CRPF jawans in Dantewada and the three ambush in Gadchiroli district in past one year killing 52 policemen, have one thing in common.In all four incidents, it is now clear that the Naxal informers played an important role to sniff out information about the police movement in the jungles, helping naxalites to mow them down.

Senior police officials say the field formations in naxal-affected areas many a times do not heed to the instructions to maintain utmost secrecy in field operations and innocuously share details about their plans to Naxal informers, who could be a tea vendor, a paan shop-owner, a grocery shop-owner or a villager.The information about the field plans of police then gets passed on to naxalites, who spare no opportunity to pin down cops. Sources said policemen still do not fully realise that sharing information innocently even in bits and pieces to strangers could cost them life.

Reports about the Dantewada massacre, received by the anti-naxal operations in the state, suggest that the naxalites were keeping watch on the CRPF for a long time and were even aware of the road route the men were likely to take since the naxals were getting feedback from informers as the police entourage travelled from village to village.“Interrogation of surrendered naxalites in the past has revealed how the groups have a strong network of informers. Naxalites are known for deploying its cadre to set up tea stalls or paan shops close to police stations, or coerce grocery shop workers or owners to turn informers. “Police parties who set on jungle patrolling visit these shops and at times the police plans get leaked,” said a a senior IPS official.The men on the field are specifically instructed not to be too friendly with such small entrepreneurs and share details.“But many a times, the men in khaki do not observe adequate caution to stop information getting leaked,” sources said.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20100414201004140316549923b38a08b/Maoists-roping-in-locals-shop-keepers-for-information.html 14/04/10, Mumbai Mirror Bureau

Dantewada fallout: CRPF to be split

Following the massacre of 75 CRPF men in the Maoist attack in Dantewada last week, the Centre has decided to speed up restructuring of the paramilitary force by bifurcating it into two parts with one earmarked for ‘soft duties’ like general law and order and the other being kept for ‘tough’ assignments like counter-insurgency and anti-Naxal operations.
Although the exercise had begun two months ago with 10 battalions of CRPF being separated for general law and order duties, it has now been decided to speed up the process keeping in view increasing deployment of the force in Naxal-affected states. A senior home ministry official said, “Once the bifurcation is complete, the CRPF’s character will change from a ‘force for all seasons’ to ‘specialised’ one. Almost half the battalions will be kept exclusively for hard duties.”

Currently, CRPF — the largest paramilitary force in the country — has 206 battalions. Though it has a small specialised unit in the form of Rapid Action Force (RAF) for riot control duties, the personnel from the main unit also have to take part in such duties on demand.

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dantewada-fallout-CRPF-to-be-split/articleshow/5799132.cms

14/04/10, Times of India)