Apr
29
Gujarat Case Updates
April 29, 2004 | Comments Off on Gujarat Case Updates
In the Bilkis Rasool case, the sessions court deferred the hearing on the bail application of 14 accused. The investigating officer told the court that some of the accused lodged in jail had threatened him. The 14 arrested persons include three police officers, a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, and a lawyer. Four more […]
Apr
28
ENSAAF: New Organization Enforces Human Rights and Fights Impunity in India
April 28, 2004 | Comments Off on ENSAAF: New Organization Enforces Human Rights and Fights Impunity in India
ENSAAF—a new U.S.-based organization launched to enforce human rights and fight impunity in India— works with survivors to engage in advocacy and outreach, documents violations, and educates the public about human rights abuses in India. ENSAAF has five programs: United Nations, Media and Human Rights, Human Rights Education, Legal Advocacy and Community Advocacy. ENSAAF, which […]
Apr
28
Sikh Artifacts Siezed During Army Attack to be Returned
April 28, 2004 | Comments Off on Sikh Artifacts Siezed During Army Attack to be Returned
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and others have consistently stated that the central government stole Sikh artifacts, documents, and other materials from the Sikh Reference Library and Museum in the Golden Temple complex in June 1984 prior to the Indian Army attack. This attack resulted in the destruction of the Library, the Akal Takht, […]
Apr
26
Chief of Minority Commission Criticizes Muslim Community
April 26, 2004 | 1 Comment
The chief of India’s National Commission for Minorities, Tarlochan Singh, has basically blamed the Muslim community for the attacks perpetrated on them in India: ‘‘For the last 15 days, Muslim clerics have been openly asking their people to vote for a particular party—this kind of politics is precisely responsible for the plight of the Muslim […]
Apr
26
Best Bakery Accused Challenge Warrants
April 26, 2004 | Comments Off on Best Bakery Accused Challenge Warrants
In the Best Bakery case today, 20 accused filed a petition challenging the jurisdiction of the court that issued warrants against them. Judgment will be issued later today: ‘‘We don’t know who is supposed to issue the warrants. As the trial court is to be in Maharashtra, it is outside the jurisdiction of Vadodara courts […]
Apr
23
Developments in Gujarat Cases: Warrants and Arrests
April 23, 2004 | Comments Off on Developments in Gujarat Cases: Warrants and Arrests
A local Ahmedabad court has issued warrants against 2 of the accused in the Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder case, arising from the Gujarat pogroms against Muslims in 2002. The accused, both doctors charged with falsifying the post-mortem reports of the victims, were not present in court, despite the summons issued to them on […]
Apr
22
Geography of Hatred
April 22, 2004 | 1 Comment
In “Geography of Hatred,” Patwant Singh warns India that its existence is in peril, for its failure to engage in introspection after the pogroms against Sikhs in 1984 and the impunity granted to the perpetrators of the carnage. He states that there will be a heavy price to pay for these failures: I wrote of […]
Apr
22
Gujarat Government Files Application in Response to Best Bakery Order
April 22, 2004 | Comments Off on Gujarat Government Files Application in Response to Best Bakery Order
The Gujarat government filed an application on Monday in response to the Supreme Court’s order in the Best Bakery case that ordered the retrial of the case outside of Gujarat. The government claimed that key witness Zahira Sheikh had never asked for the transfer of the trial from Gujarat: Claiming, inaccurately, that ‘‘no material was […]
Apr
21
Election Politics Take Precedence over Human Rights
April 21, 2004 | Comments Off on Election Politics Take Precedence over Human Rights
Unfortunately, members of the Sikh Forum—working on issues relating to the 1984 pogroms against Sikhs—have publicly given support to candidates of the BJP, despite the BJP’s role in the perpetration of pogroms against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002: Members of the Sikh Forum featured prominently alongside Mr Malhotra, indicating how close the 1984 anti-Sikh riots […]
Apr
20
RK Anand asks Sikhs to Bury the Past
April 20, 2004 | 2 Comments
A day after Indian Express published Manoj Mitta’s article on the role of Congress candidate RK Anand in defending the perpetrators of the pogroms against Sikhs in November 1984, RK Anand defended the role of the Delhi Administration and apologized for the carnage. However, despite the impunity granted to perpetrators of the carnage, he asked […]