PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2004 ID-1936
.
All India Students' Association ~:tSA) 25. 03. 04 public M~eting .
"'WAR ON TERROR"" AND THE TERROR OF POTA : Black Laws. Human Rights and Indian State .
. . Sp~akers .
Nandlta HakSar, Noted Lawyer and Human Rights Activis t .
Kumudini Patl, General Secrecary,AIPWA .
Siddhartha Varadrajan, NotedJournalist, Times Of India .
.
25.03.04(Tonight) 9:30 PM Sutlej Mess .
State Terror: Cracking Down On Movements And Minorities .
In [mplzal, a young woman, Slzarmi/a from, sits on afast unto death agai11st the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act. She is not a ~·ictim ofthis Act; tire killing of 13young Manipur; boys by Armed Forces inspired Iter to begin her fast four years ago. Sirrce then sire lzas been under a"est, undergoingforce-feeding. When asked why she continues to protest against this Act, which is ostensib(p intendedto help our Armyfight (anti-nationals', she replies,((Because I love peace". .
Q,·er !.he years, the Indian state has armed itself with an arsenal of draconian laws, which are designed to crush htunan rights .
and democratic voice~ of dissent ln the wake of the US' so-called War On Terror. the Vajpayee government added a new .
chaptc;r to the history or'blnck IO\\S. Inspired by the us· own 'sccurit)' l:ms like the PaLriot Act, the Vnjpaycc Govt introduced .
POTA. Almost exactly h\O years ngo, on 26 March 2002, the Govt. made usc of the Parliament bombing as un excuse .
to bulldoze POTA through a Joint Session of Parliament. .
.
In lit._; tho .fears vfPOTA. what do we see? Do we find a trail of a 'war on terrorism' as promised by Vajpayee, Advani & Co.? .
Or do we find a brutal trail of terror against movements and minorities? .
Let us t ::~kc a look at whom POTA has turgcttcd. .
.
a For DU lecturer SAR Geclani, a nightmare was bom almost simultaneously with the birth ofPOTA This man has now been proved innocent of any connection with the Parliament bombing. But under POTA, his political views, his identity as a Kashmiri Muslim. the fnct that he was on ocqt1nintance of two other accused, wos enough of a 'crime' to justif)' arrest him as a ·terrorist'. He suiTercd imprisonment, vilificotion, torture, and even death sentence from the special POTA Court. lt was only widespread pressure from civil society which could save him from being hanged as a ' terrorist'. .
.
In Godbra, young men, mostly doing small jobs like electricians, TV repair men etc... have been booked under POTA wholesale -no prizes for guessing that aU are Muslims. These men have been subjected to third degree torrure to force them to confess that they were 'terrorists ' who had set fire to the Sabarmati Express. Their families aJso continue to be threatened with death if they speak out. .
.
.
But the bulk ofPOTA arrests have not been in J&K, although 'terrorism' in Kashmir was one ofthe foremost bases for the Govt.'s introduction of POTA Instead, it is Jharkhand which tops the list, with hundreds of tribals, many of whom are women and children. In Jharkband as well as Eastern UP and other tribal belts, people who make any claim to land, rivers, forests, resources or proper wages, are all branded as 'Naxalites', and POTA is the latest handy weapon against their assertion. At a People's TribWlal held recently in Delhi, several small children and young women testified as to how they have been booked under POTA on charges of 'supporting' Naxalite movements. .
.
.
' .
Meanwhile, the old black laws, now scrapped, still continue to be used. For instance, in Bihar, a TADA case was made oul in 1988 against a popular CPI(ML) leader ofJehannbad, Shnh Chnnd lllld several others, including some young children. Despite TADA having been scrapped, the Bihar Govt. took no steps to free these victims of TADA. Now, Shah Chand and others have been awarded a life sentence under TADA While in the same Jehanabad, the Ranveer Sena goons who kill activists like Manju in cold blood, and who ma.ssacre rural poor and dalits, are never called terrorists! Infaet, Ranveer Sena ChiefBrahmeshwar Singh will be contesting for a seat in the Lok Sabha this time! .
POTA and other black laws are never used against terrorists of the sa.firon hue. not even when they publicly knock down .
mosques, bum thousands alive or spew s~hes to spread terror and hatred. Clearly. according to the Indian State: in order to .
be a 'terrorist' one must either be a Muslim, or ~poortribal or landless labourer, or a Communist Bhagat Singh threw his bomb .
in the Assembly, to 'make the deaf hear' the protests against draconian colonial laws meant to crush workers' right to protest .
Bhagat Singh was branded as a terrorist by the British. Today, Bhagat Singh's successors, the activists ofpeople's movements, .
are branded u terrorists and jailed and killed, white the saffron descendants of tbe s..itish ~ogt:. a.,t/ Hll'ldi..t.tva.. .
\"C\ed~e)4Drkar roam free. . .
Revolutionary poet from Andhra Pradesh, Sri Sri, expresses it best -'qlf<'f ~rn am: -=i &.IT Cfilql iiJ<(1Cll«l ~ .
.
Yesterday, the white man calledyou rBhagat Singh' ~'4fcR1 ~ fc?Q: 3ll\1f 'It ~lllc~1ft lhi:Hl ~ Todaythe black man calls yo~ (Naxali.te', . , tfO ~~~Cf<il~ ~~ 5~4"1 ~ .
1.
Tomorrow, the whole world will callyou Mornurg ~tar I rl-,..A. ~ ~ qft · -==IT t · ~ .
4 1 ~<1 .
1.
Resist State Terror! Scrap POTA Totally! ~l.!.."t1l '0 ~ ~ct" 31m" w~.
Long Live People's Movements And Revolutionary Struggles! -Wh\ -m!il'li:t"~=~ .
Sd/-Mona Das, President, AlSA, JNU Sdl-lnteshar Ahmad, GertSecy., AISA,"JNU .
.. .
-.
.
.
.
..\._......,... .
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2004 ID-1936
.
All India Students' Association ~:tSA) 25. 03. 04 public M~eting .
"'WAR ON TERROR"" AND THE TERROR OF POTA : Black Laws. Human Rights and Indian State .
. . Sp~akers .
Nandlta HakSar, Noted Lawyer and Human Rights Activis t .
Kumudini Patl, General Secrecary,AIPWA .
Siddhartha Varadrajan, NotedJournalist, Times Of India .
.
25.03.04(Tonight) 9:30 PM Sutlej Mess .
State Terror: Cracking Down On Movements And Minorities .
In [mplzal, a young woman, Slzarmi/a from, sits on afast unto death agai11st the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act. She is not a ~·ictim ofthis Act; tire killing of 13young Manipur; boys by Armed Forces inspired Iter to begin her fast four years ago. Sirrce then sire lzas been under a"est, undergoingforce-feeding. When asked why she continues to protest against this Act, which is ostensib(p intendedto help our Armyfight (anti-nationals', she replies,((Because I love peace". .
Q,·er !.he years, the Indian state has armed itself with an arsenal of draconian laws, which are designed to crush htunan rights .
and democratic voice~ of dissent ln the wake of the US' so-called War On Terror. the Vajpayee government added a new .
chaptc;r to the history or'blnck IO\\S. Inspired by the us· own 'sccurit)' l:ms like the PaLriot Act, the Vnjpaycc Govt introduced .
POTA. Almost exactly h\O years ngo, on 26 March 2002, the Govt. made usc of the Parliament bombing as un excuse .
to bulldoze POTA through a Joint Session of Parliament. .
.
In lit._; tho .fears vfPOTA. what do we see? Do we find a trail of a 'war on terrorism' as promised by Vajpayee, Advani & Co.? .
Or do we find a brutal trail of terror against movements and minorities? .
Let us t ::~kc a look at whom POTA has turgcttcd. .
.
a For DU lecturer SAR Geclani, a nightmare was bom almost simultaneously with the birth ofPOTA This man has now been proved innocent of any connection with the Parliament bombing. But under POTA, his political views, his identity as a Kashmiri Muslim. the fnct that he was on ocqt1nintance of two other accused, wos enough of a 'crime' to justif)' arrest him as a ·terrorist'. He suiTercd imprisonment, vilificotion, torture, and even death sentence from the special POTA Court. lt was only widespread pressure from civil society which could save him from being hanged as a ' terrorist'. .
.
In Godbra, young men, mostly doing small jobs like electricians, TV repair men etc... have been booked under POTA wholesale -no prizes for guessing that aU are Muslims. These men have been subjected to third degree torrure to force them to confess that they were 'terrorists ' who had set fire to the Sabarmati Express. Their families aJso continue to be threatened with death if they speak out. .
.
.
But the bulk ofPOTA arrests have not been in J&K, although 'terrorism' in Kashmir was one ofthe foremost bases for the Govt.'s introduction of POTA Instead, it is Jharkhand which tops the list, with hundreds of tribals, many of whom are women and children. In Jharkband as well as Eastern UP and other tribal belts, people who make any claim to land, rivers, forests, resources or proper wages, are all branded as 'Naxalites', and POTA is the latest handy weapon against their assertion. At a People's TribWlal held recently in Delhi, several small children and young women testified as to how they have been booked under POTA on charges of 'supporting' Naxalite movements. .
.
.
' .
Meanwhile, the old black laws, now scrapped, still continue to be used. For instance, in Bihar, a TADA case was made oul in 1988 against a popular CPI(ML) leader ofJehannbad, Shnh Chnnd lllld several others, including some young children. Despite TADA having been scrapped, the Bihar Govt. took no steps to free these victims of TADA. Now, Shah Chand and others have been awarded a life sentence under TADA While in the same Jehanabad, the Ranveer Sena goons who kill activists like Manju in cold blood, and who ma.ssacre rural poor and dalits, are never called terrorists! Infaet, Ranveer Sena ChiefBrahmeshwar Singh will be contesting for a seat in the Lok Sabha this time! .
POTA and other black laws are never used against terrorists of the sa.firon hue. not even when they publicly knock down .
mosques, bum thousands alive or spew s~hes to spread terror and hatred. Clearly. according to the Indian State: in order to .
be a 'terrorist' one must either be a Muslim, or ~poortribal or landless labourer, or a Communist Bhagat Singh threw his bomb .
in the Assembly, to 'make the deaf hear' the protests against draconian colonial laws meant to crush workers' right to protest .
Bhagat Singh was branded as a terrorist by the British. Today, Bhagat Singh's successors, the activists ofpeople's movements, .
are branded u terrorists and jailed and killed, white the saffron descendants of tbe s..itish ~ogt:. a.,t/ Hll'ldi..t.tva.. .
\"C\ed~e)4Drkar roam free. . .
Revolutionary poet from Andhra Pradesh, Sri Sri, expresses it best -'qlf<'f ~rn am: -=i &.IT Cfilql iiJ<(1Cll«l ~ .
.
Yesterday, the white man calledyou rBhagat Singh' ~'4fcR1 ~ fc?Q: 3ll\1f 'It ~lllc~1ft lhi:Hl ~ Todaythe black man calls yo~ (Naxali.te', . , tfO ~~~Cf<il~ ~~ 5~4"1 ~ .
1.
Tomorrow, the whole world will callyou Mornurg ~tar I rl-,..A. ~ ~ qft · -==IT t · ~ .
4 1 ~<1 .
1.
Resist State Terror! Scrap POTA Totally! ~l.!.."t1l '0 ~ ~ct" 31m" w~.
Long Live People's Movements And Revolutionary Struggles! -Wh\ -m!il'li:t"~=~ .
Sd/-Mona Das, President, AlSA, JNU Sdl-lnteshar Ahmad, GertSecy., AISA,"JNU .
.. .
-.
.
.
.
..\._......,... .
.
.