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MAY 2004 |
IN THIS ISSUE
MAIN FEATURE Triumph of Bhopal Survivors: 2004 Goldman Prize By Deepak Goyal SOCIETY McCarthyism, Deshi Style: Gujarat, Two Years Later By Raju Rajagopal COMMENTARY Closed Hospitals and War Crimes: An Eyewitness in Fallujah By Rahul Mahajan Publisher’s Note • Infotech India • TiE Conference 2004 Improving Indo-Pak Ties • India's Credit Card Fever Cricket v Politics • Finance: The 412(i) Benefit Plan Drishtipat Fundraiser • Breathless: Photo Essay Community News in Brief • Auto: 2004 Lexus RX 330 Bollywood • Tamil Cinema • Recipe: Black Forest Cake • Horoscope |
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Publisher's Note
This month we take a brief break from our passion for high tech and science and reflect on the dangerous world we live in. Our cover story celebrates the remarkable triumph of two unassuming homemakers from Bhopal who have made the whole world sit up and notice with their refusal to sit down and accept the massive corporate malfeasance in the wake of the world’s greatest industrial disaster in Bhopal’s Union Carbide plant almost 20 years ago. Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla have won the 2004 Goldman Environmental Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for environmentalists. While their recognition is welcome news, the fact remains that their struggle continues as Dow Chemical, the multinational which acquired Union Carbide, still refuses to accept responsibility for the mess it has left. MAIN FEATURE  Triumph for Bhopal Survivors2004 Goldman Prize By Deepak Goyal It’s been a long trek for Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, two homemakers from On one side were people like these two, helpless, penniless, many thousands of whom died when the deadly poison gas leaked. On the other side, one of the world’s most powerful multinational corporations, Union Carbide (since taken over by Dow Chemical) and a feckless government too pliable to protect their interests. But the two women have stood their ground. They have gone to the chief minister to demand their rights, they have gone to
This year, Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla have won the 200 Goldman Environmental Prize. Deepak Goyal salutes the two women and their worldwide family of supporters who continue to fight for compensation and accountability for the terrible disaster almost 20 years ago.
Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla. Two Bhopal homemakers who decided they wouldn’t take crap anymore. Not from Union Carbide. Not from Dow. Not from their chief minister. Now the world has recognized their indomitable spirit. The duo have won the Goldman Environmental Prize, considered the “Nobel Prize for the Environment,” which is given annually to grassroots environmental heroes from six geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of $125,000, the largest of its kind. The Goldman Environmental Prize is celebrating its 15th anni-versary this year, and the combined work of past recipients has positively affected an estimated 102 million people worldwide. The Goldman Foundation said in a press release: “Despite their poverty and poor health due to toxic gas exposure, Bee and Shukla have emerged as leaders in the international fight to hold Dow Chemical accountable for the infamous 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India that killed 20,000 and left more than 150,000 seriously injured. (Union Carbide became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow in 1999). They organized the first global hunger strike to draw international attention to Dow’s deadly legacy and traveled the world to protest at Dow shareholder meetings. Now on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, Bee and Shukla are plaintiffs in a class action suit demanding a clean up of the noxious factory site and damages to cover medical monitoring and costs incurred from years of soil and water contamination.” These two physically frail and diminutive women have lit a fire under the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal and catapulted the issue onto the global stage with their deeply affective personal story of struggle. In their journey from disaster victims to grassroots acti-vists, Bee and Shukla have had to overcome the enormous stigma of their poverty, their status as women in a male-dominated society, and, in Bee’s case, illiteracy. They have also had to struggle with chronic health problems that can intensify on the campaign trail. During their 2003 hunger strike in the U.S., both women had to be rushed to the emergency room. They’ve drawn strength from each other’s skills and talents. Bee’s vision and oratory passion make her a natural campaigner while Shukla’s quiet diligence and strength make her a formidable organizing powerhouse. The women’s partnership is all the more remarkable because Shukla is Hindu and Bee is Muslim, religious factions with a long history of conflict in India. Together, they have made the struggle for justice for survivors of Bhopal a powerful validation of women’s role on the frontline of India’s civil society. “A woman’s life involves discarding relationships that she has known from infancy and adopting strangers as her own,” says the ever-articulate Bee, referring to the tradition of brides leaving their families to marry into those of their husbands. “If she can face the world outside at such a fundamental level, then why should any other struggle for empowerment scare her?” Today, two generations of victims continue to suffer the consequences, but they’ve found new hope in Rashida Bee, 48, and Champa Devi Shukla, 52. Bee and Shukla’s courage and tenacity have galvanized the grassroots in their own country and abroad. In the process, they’ve drawn low-income, illiterate women like themselves from the margins of society to the center of a closely watched showdown whose endgame is to hold chemical companies accountable for the gas leak and its deadly legacy. The $125,000 Goldman Prize doesn’t mean the two women are ready to sit on their laurels. They have continued to travel in the U.S., meeting activists and lawmakers, trying to raise awareness. “Twenty years after the Bhopal tragedy, the survivors and people of Bhopal are amazed and appalled we are still dealing with the same problem the world over,” they said during a trip to Washington, D.C. in April. “America must recognize that thousands of Bhopals are waiting to happen within its borders, and should take steps to ensure that a similar disaster does not happen here.” Bee and Shukla were joined by elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and Washington, D.C. Councilmember Kathy Patterson, as well as environmental and public interest advocates at the event. “It is unacceptable that Dow Chemical and other companies’ facilities continue to threaten so many lives across the country,” said U.S. Public Interest Research Group legislative director Anna Aurilio. “We should act now by requiring chemical facilities to use safer chemicals and processes wherever possible to prevent a tragedy like Bhopal here in the U.S.” Dow Chemical Company, which acquired Union Carbide’s Bhopal site in 2001 but has taken no responsibility for cleanup of the remaining toxic contaminants. On Dec. 3, 1984, more than 27 tons of poisonous gases leaked from a storage tank at a Union Carbide pesticide factory into the heart of Bhopal city, immediately killing 8,000 people. Since then, more than 20,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster. Survivors and their children continue to suffer long-term health effects ranging from cancer and tuberculosis to birth defects and chronic fevers. Multiple studies have found mercury, nickel and other toxins in the local groundwater and dangerous levels of toxins including lead in the breast milk of women who live near the factory zone. “We are still finding children being born without lips, noses or ears. Sometimes complete hands are missing, and women have severe reproductive problems,” according to Bee, who suffers from respiratory and vision problems from gas exposure. Bee and Shukla first met as employees at a stationery factory in 1986 where they founded an independent union to fight for better labor conditions and wages. In 1989 the labor battle culminated in a 469-mile march to New Delhi. More than 100 women, many of whom had sold their jewelry and other valuables to be part of the march, presented a petition with their demands to the prime minister. The campaign eventually won them a wage raise and other important concessions. Bee and Shukla then went on to press their demand for justice from the chemical giants responsible for the gas leak disaster. Since 1984 Bee lost six family members to cancer. Shukla, who has one grandchild born with congenital deformities, lost her husband and her health. Ten years after the incident, most survivors had received less than $500 of Union Carbide’s $470 million compensation payout, which has been mired in Indian bureaucracy and other delays. In 2002 Bee and Shukla fought back by organizing a 19-day hunger strike in New Delhi to underscore their demands:
The women stepped up their efforts later that year by presenting brooms to Dow officials as part of their Jhadoo Maaro Dow Ko (“Beat Dow With a Broomstick”) campaign. In 2003 Bee and Shukla confronted Dow officials at their offices in Mumbai and the Netherlands with hand-delivered samples of toxic waste. A tour of more than 10 cities across the U.S. led to a passionate protest at Dow’s shareholder meeting in Michigan and a 12-day hunger strike and rally on New York’s Wall Street. Students from 25 colleges and universities organized nationwide rallies and thousands of people joined protests in the United Kingdom, China, Spain, Thailand and Canada. Two years after purchasing Union Carbide, Dow stock prices dropped 13 percent. While the company has faulted the general economic slump, Forbes magazine has credited the “Indian-bred tort litigation” and “ruckus” raised by the series of demonstrations over the past two years as contributing factors in the decline of Dow shares. Bee and Shukla have also taken their battle to court. In 1999 they joined other disaster victims and advocacy organizations in a class action lawsuit against Union Carbide seeking a clean up of the factory site and damages to cover medical monitoring and costs incurred from years of soil and water contamination. (Earlier, an appeals court judge rejected the plaintiffs’ request for damages stemming from the 1984 disaster but ruled that they could pursue damages unrelated to the disaster). In March the plaintiffs won a significant victory when a U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge ruled in their favor and against Union Carbide’s motion to dismiss. Eight U.S. members of Congress, including Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill, and Pete Stark, D-Calif. filed an amicus brief supporting the suit; 18 other members of Congress have publicly called on Dow to provide reparations to Bhopal disaster victims.
- Deepak Goyal is a frelance writer. He lives in Kolkata. |TOP| INFOTECH INDIA After running the company for four years, Computer Associates said Kumar had stepped down from his executive positions and the board of directors. He will take a new position of chief software architect. The CEO position is temporarily remaining open. Computer Associates, a $3 billion maker of software for corporate computing systems, is being investigated by federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission for misrepresenting the timing of contracts in order to meet Wall Street’s quarterly expectations. Four former finance executives have pleaded guilty to fraud or obstruction of justice charges, including Ira Zar, the former chief financial officer. Zar implicated two other high-ranking executives; though their names were not disclosed, prosecutors noted that Zar reported to Kumar. And in January, a former senior vice-president who pleaded guilty said Islandia, New York-based Computer Associates, had a “widespread practice” of inflating revenue by closing the books on a quarter a few days late. The solution will power the bank’s e-initiatives in consumer e-banking cash management and alerts, an Infosys release said. Finacle is being delivered by Infosys in partnership with Total Information Management, a leading solution provider in Philippines, and an authorized business partner of Infosys, it said. China Bank, among the top commercial banks in Philippines, would deploy the integrated solution as a way of leveraging new generation cutting edge technology in the e-space. It will enable the bank to create a unified e-banking portal, the release said. ISRO’s director for publications and public relations S. Krishnamurthy told reporters here that another remote sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-I, exclusively for mapping applications, would be launched in November. Both would be launched from Sriharikota, he added. A Nagercoil report said, Vedachalam, director, ISRO Liquid Propulsion Systems, said experiments were being carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri for developing alternative liquid oxygen fuel using purified kerosene. He told reporters that liquid hydrogen was being utilized for rocket launches which was not only hazardous but also expensive and hence the experiment. Under the RoU, the Tata company would use 23,000 km route or one lakh km optical fiber capacity over BTUL’s NLD network and would pay Rs. 500 crore, VSNL said in a statement in Mumbai April 25. VSNL is in the process of starting its STD operations across the country and sharing of infrastructure with Bharti would help VSNL to save huge investments for building infrastructure. The agreement is for a period of 15 years. Briefing reporters in Chennai on its expansion plans for 2004-05, deputy chief operating officer, Tamil Nadu, Madhusudan, said the pre-paid cards would be launched soon across the country. The telecom service provider already has post-paid service. Madhusudan said all over the country, his organization proposed to expand to 11 circles from the present eight and by the end of the current fiscal, it hoped to cover a total of 17 circles. Besides, as part of this expansion, new services like seamless roaming, enhancement of SMS, infotainment and Push-to-Talk services were all on the anvil. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, by the end of the current fiscal, the company had already invested Rs. 820 crore and would be investing Rs. 280 crore more to cover 137 more towns, taking the total number of towns covered to 145. In the first phase, which would be completed within the next three months, 80 towns in the state would be covered. Eonour is a Chennai-based total solutions provider a with focus on enterprise application integration (EAI) arena. With core expertise in Supply Chain Management, Eonour’s suite of products addresses each aspect in the chain: the supplier, logistics, manufacturer, distributor and customer. Eonour, by virtue of its performance and quality deliveries, has garnered prestigious clients including Hyundai Motors, Hero Honda, Kinetic Engineering, L&T (LTM Business Unit), UPS Singapore and JBM Sungwoo. Over the last one-and-a-half years, Eonour has been focusing on consolidating its position in the technology solutions market. This has seen the acquisition of four technology entities, who have now been merged into a single entity called STADS Limited. STADS addresses the networking business sphere including LAN WAN design which is complementary to Eonour’s software application solutions. This acquisition has strengthened Eonour’s position which can address a wider business segment by offering system integration solutions. Further streamlining is in process. STADS World Limited, ETL’s subsidiary, will take over the export and deemed export business of ETL. This will help in a greater focus on the company operations in order to capitalize on the growing business. It will also attract strategic investors. “Outsourcing from India should not be seen as a threat by anybody.....Those who have been preaching the philosophy of free trade cannot possibly object to outsourcing,” he told in an interview to newspersons. Vajpayee said after initial concerns in Western countries, there was now greater appreciation of the inevitability as well as the benefits of outsourcing. He said outsourcing was beneficial to both the country that receives these services and the country that provides them. The new service, launched by Escotel in association with the Election Commission, marks a major step in improving the efficiency of the public information system. Launching the new service, Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon said contributions from the private sector in terms of electoral information updates through SMS would help build an efficient public information system and make it convenient for the public to access the information they require and exercise their right to vote. Chief operating officer, Escotel, Kerala, B. Ramakrishnan, said SMS was proving to be a very powerful tool, facilitating a whole array of value-added services and is useful in providing a wide variety of information to customers. Escotel Mobile Communications Ltd is a fully-owned subsidiary of IDEA Cellular, a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group, the TATA group and AT&T Wireless, and provides cellular services in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, besides Kerala. Hutch in Chennai and AirTel in Delhi got 91 percent rating in terms of subscriber satisfaction followed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) in Chennai with 90 percent rating. BSNL’s services in Kolkata were rated the least satisfactory with 61 percent rating, as per TRAI’s quality of services assessment for cellular operators. In the basic telecom services, Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Group topped the list for its services in Delhi under the brand name TouchTel attracting 90 percent rating followed by BSNL in Chennai at 89 percent and MTNL in Mumbai at 84 percent. In ‘A’ category circle comprising Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu among others, Tata Teleservices in Maharashtra bagged 92 percent rating for its basic services followed by Bharti in Andhra Pradesh. In case of cellular operations in ‘A’ category circles, 93 percent of Hutch subscribers in Gujarat expressed satisfaction over the quality of services while 91 percent subscribers voted for AirTel’s services in Gujarat. This was 11 percent more than the fourth quarter revenue of $ 108.2 million in 2003. The net income for the first quarter increased to $ 19.8 million, compared to $ 17.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2003, the release said. Quoting the president and CEO, Lakshmi Narayanan, the release said the company continued to deliver strong operating and financial performance as demand for high value offshore services continued to grow, with particularly strong interest in core application development and management services. “We have maintained our position as the fastest growing company among the major offshore IT services firms through our strong focus and commitment to the superior execution of our onsite/offshore business strategy,” he said.
SOCIETY
 A mob of Hindu militants armed with swords in the streets of Ahmed-abad during the riots in Gujarat in February 2002. Although peace has return-ed, all is not well, according to activist Raju Rajagopal.McCarthyism, Deshi Style Gujarat: Two Years Later - By Raju Rajagopal Peace does prevail in Those who rule Gujarat would very much like the world to believe that everything is normal here. As they try to shore up investor confidence in the state, anyone who dares to challenge their rosy rendition — by exposing their sectarian agenda — is quickly accused of defaming the state. True, Gujarat has been relatively peaceful in recent months, and the tragic events of 2002 has been fading from our memories, but does the mere absence of everyday violence mean that normalcy has returned to its citizens? If Gujarat’s image has been tarnished internationally, who is actually responsible for it? I am seeking my own answers to these questions as I travel here nearly two years after the state-condoned pogroms against its Muslim citizens, which followed the Godhra train carnage. I plan to visit with people directly affected by the violence and others who have been giving them succor despite numerous obstacles strewn in their path by a vindictive system. As long as I am here, I also hope to meet some of the brave individuals who have taken a public stand against the demonization and dehumanization of their fellow citizens, at great risk to themselves and to the institutions they represent. May We Go Home…Please? My first stop is Kalol, about 50 km from Vadodara, where I get a chance to speak to some of the Muslim villagers whose lives were devastated by the 2002 violence. The second anniversary of their nightmare has come and gone, but these families still can’t return to their own homes. Instead, they live in this recently completed housing project funded by several local organizations and NRI groups (The KEDS housing project is partially funded by EKTA and Coalition Against Communalism from the United States, with matching funds from American India Foundation. Janvikas, SAATH, and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind are the local partners in this project). Why can’t they go home? The answer, unfortunately, is the same as it was last year…and the year before: their erstwhile Hindu neighbors continue to threaten them with dire consequences should they dare. “Any time outsiders accost them, they say that we’re welcome to go back,” explains Yasminben (name changed), “but when we ask, the answer is always no.” Two women have just returned from a day trip to the village of Dailol, trailed by a TV crew filming their plight. “Did your neighbors invite you back?” I ask curiously. “No, they only offered us water,” they respond, as they nervously relate how they were shaking with fear whilst in the village. (Our NRI Sadbhavna Mission had to beat a hasty retreat from Dailol in September 2002 after being physically threatened and chased out by an angry mob — the sarpanch, who has been accused of participating in the violence, hadn’t taken kindly to our intervention on behalf of his neighbors who were then languishing in a relief camp.) Mohammedbhai (name changed) and his family used to live in their own three-bedroom home in Dailol, where they also own a piece of land. He lost a close relative among the 38 people burnt alive by their own neighbors and “people from the outside” on March 1, 2002. Now they live in a one-room house in this new colony, in 300 square feet of living space. They aren’t complaining, though. “This is the best housing project around,” remarks his wife, Yasminben. KEDS, the community-based organization in charge here, seems to have paid extra attention to the needs of the residents, as evidenced by a computer training center, a dispensary, and several stores being built along the highway, soon to be let out to the residents. The credit goes in large measure to Muktharsaab, a community leader from Kalol, who was operating the relief camps here, months after the state had “shut them down,” and who seems to have since invested considerable personal resources to care for this beleaguered community. What about Mohammedbhai’s land? Their newly acquired Hindu “partner” is supposed to be tending to it on their behalf. But they haven’t seen any produce or income from it yet...and I suspect they don’t really expect to see any. What about their burnt-out home? “It’s being used as a latrine,” laments Yasminben. ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ at a World Heritage Site. A man from Pavagadh, who now lives in another newly-built housing project in Halol, managed by Jagruti Trust, used to drive a jeep up and down this popular hill station, one of the top 100 endangered heritage sites in the world. He explains how the tourist business, which used to be shared by Hindus and Muslims alike, is now entirely in Hindu hands. “Why would they want us back,” he rationalizes. “It’s true that the poojari at the Kalika Mata temple saved the mazar (memorial for a Sufi peer, located atop the temple) from destruction,” he continues, “but today I can only go there during the day as just another tourist.” Rakesh Sharma’s documentary, Final Solution, reportedly features a VHP man from Pavagadh boasting that the town had been made completely free of Muslims. Even the Archeological Survey of India, I was told last year, had suddenly “discovered” that many poor Muslim families had been encroaching on its properties here, and it had decided to dust off its rules book to fence them out — even as other communities continue to encroach. This experiment in “ethnic cleansing” was apparently of no concern to the organizers of last September’s “Vibrant Gujarat-Global Investment Summit,” designed to woo NRI investments to the state. They had showcased the development of Champaner-Pavagadh area as one of their ambitious tourism projects, soliciting NRI funds to the tune of $24 million to create an upscale vacation destination and to preserve the many Indo-Islamic monuments here. The U.S. State Department seems to have obliged with a visit to the area as well as a $20,619 grant (see http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/wwwhindpr56.html). It is ironic that the state of Gujarat, which would like us to believe that it cares for its Islamic heritage, should condone the continuing exclusion of its Muslim citizens from their own hometown. It’s even more ironic that the US Ambassador’s Fund, designed to “demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures,” should have unwittingly become complicit in Gujarat’s sectarian experiment. Similar stories, albeit with some variations, are playing out in many parts of Gujarat. Many villagers have indeed welcomed their Muslim neighbors back, while in other places they are “welcome” to come during the day to tend to their businesses or land, but they may not stay overnight—reminiscent of the Bantustans of South Africa. I was told during my last visit that many Hindus and Muslims living in mixed neighborhoods in the larger cities were moving out of their long-time homes to the “safety” of their own communities. Such ghettoization, I am told, is now near total (like Beirut of the ‘80s?). “No one will sell or rent me a home in a Hindu neighborhood anymore,” bemoans a Muslim professional from Vadodara. McCarthyism, Deshi Style? Some of the professors at a local university are distraught over the state of affairs here. Targeting members of the faculty who have had the courage to speak out against the Gujarat pogroms seems to be fair game on this campus. I am told that any classroom discussion by some of the faculty, even if within the prescribed syllabus, requires prior permission—presumably, a way to censor and control discussion about human rights, communal harmony, or even gender issues. One faculty member tells me that he/she had recently received a note from the dean seeking an explanation on why a certain topic had been discussed in the class “without permission.” Classes are apparently regularly monitored and reported on by ABVP students who hold sway here. (ABVP, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, is an RSS-inspired national student organization.) Legitimate seminars on contemporary issues, organized with grants from reputable institutions, are being turned out of the campus, forcing the organizers to rent venues elsewhere. Even so, they say that disruptions by ABVP and other Sangh Parivar outfits are to be expected, if either the topic or the speakers aren’t to their liking. To me, this smacks of an Indian reincarnation of McCarthyism, but a majority of the faculty here apparently doesn’t care or is too intimidated to protest. (This reminds me of my own encounter with the Sangh Parivar in Vadodara last year, during an Asghar Ali Engineer talk titled, “History of Communalism.” RSS, VHP and ABVP folks had gate-crashed the seminar in full force, determined to stop it even though it was being held under private auspices, after being forced out of a campus locale by ABVP. Among this rowdy gang was a senior RSS pracharak who was on the university syndicate, as well as the campus leader of ABVP. I saw them ordering the organizers around on what they may or may not distribute at the seminar, constantly interrupting the speaker and filibustering the proceedings with long speeches, and frequently hinting that violence could ensue if they didn’t get their way. They had also confronted me in a threatening manner, questioning my presence there and wanting to know why I was taking pictures. Subsequent to this unpleasant encounter, I happened to come across detailed instructions provided by the fledgling Nazi party’s propaganda machinery in 1927 on how to disrupt an opponent’s meeting: “discussion period is used unfruitfully if it focuses on what the opponent’s speaker said. The best use…is usually to make strong attacks against the speaker’s party….it is best to ask…very precise and painful questions…and demand that the speaker answer them. If the speaker does not…he must be forced to by heckling. This should be done even at the risk of ‘serious differences of opinion’ [i.e., physical violence].” The behavior of RSS/VHP/ABVP gate-crashers at the Vadodara seminar that I had personally witnessed left little doubt in my mind that this is the exact methodology that they must have been schooled in.) Targeting Faces of Moderation. As she joins me after her dance classes, Mallika Sarabhai’s face betrays none of the recent turmoil in her life, and the months of harassment and humiliation that this prominent citizen of Gujarat has had to endure at the hands of a spiteful state, which has instigated lawsuits against her accusing her of defrauding her students and of illegally trafficking in human beings. (The state makes no secret of the fact that it resents her public interest litigation in the Supreme Court challenging its handling of the post-Godhra violence.) In spite of all of this, Mallika not only goes on with her passion (dance) with equanimity, but finds time to produce several television shows on the theme of social harmony. She has recently gotten her passport back, thanks to the intervention of the Supreme Court, but a slew of frivolous cases are still arrayed against her, and open threats from the corridors of power apparently continue. As I read about her ex-cook suing her for a few missing pots and pans, and about a three-year old girl listed in a complaint against her, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Where is the outcry from Gujarat’s civil society? At a very personal level, it’s hard for me to accept that this is the same society that I had come to admire so much and wrote so much about during my travels here following the 2001 earthquake. I’m speaking to Dr. Bandukwala, professor of physics at M.S. University and an intellectual, who had barely escaped being burnt alive in the 2002 pogroms. Personal safety is no more on his mind, as he continues to write and speak out strongly against the communalization of his state. He says that he is flooded with hate mail these days and there is a systematic attack on him by the Gujarati press. “They’re trying to shut me up,” he says, “but my miraculous escape from the throes of death has given me a second lease on life, and I intend to use it to the fullest to promote peace and harmony.” He relates how he is being bombarded by letters from a certain Sangh Parivar “historian” who claims that the Taj Mahal, the Humayun’s Tomb, and even the Kaaba in Mecca, are of Hindu origin. (In one book, this aging author claims that all the West Asian monuments were designed and built by Indian — read Hindu — architects “driven across Indian borders at sword-point!” Hindutva organizations in the U.S. eagerly publicize his works, and have even published one of his more virulent anti-Muslim “history” books out of Texas.) What exactly is this man’s purpose in targeting a moderate Muslim leader of Gujarat with his inane theories is hard for me to fathom. I can only surmise that fanatics often feel more secure in attacking voices of moderation than in directly confronting their comrades-in-arms from the “other” side. The brutal killing of former Congress MP, Ehsan Jafri, during the 2002 pogroms — a crime for which no one has yet been punished — is a poignant reminder of such cowardice. Ramdas Pillai of Kisanwadi, Vadodara, a construction contractor, has just returned from a court hearing for his brother, Krishnamurthy Swaminathan, who has been charged with murder. Swaminathan’s fault: responding to a desperate call from a Muslim family who were under attack by Bajrang Dal goons during the 2002 violence. The local police had booked him for murder even though the complainant (the slain man’s relative) had identified the real killers, and had told them that Swaminathan was a friend who had actually come to their aid, and he may have saved lives. Pillai had told me last year that the entire episode was in apparent retaliation for his well publicized effort to prevent the massacre of his Muslim neighbors in this slum area. Pillai and his wife, Lakshmiben, had always looked out for the underprivileged, whatever their faith or caste. Knowing their reputation for opening up their doors and hearts, over 500 Muslim neighbors had knocked at their gates on the night of February 28, 2002, as rioters marauded through their neighborhood. The Pillais had protected them throughout the night as angry mobs lay siege to their home — and the police refused to help — and had whisked them all to the safety of relief camps in the wee hours of the following morning, at great risk to themselves. As Pillai’s notoriety as the “Man who had helped those Muslims” spread, his Hindu friends and business colleagues gradually started to abandon him, pushing his family to the edge of financial ruin. Had anything changed since last year? Pillai smiles wryly as he admits that his first effort to get back on his feet — a housing project — had to be shelved, ironically, as his Muslim contractor had fled upon hearing about what had occurred in this neighborhood. As a huge portrait of Shirdi Sai Baba stares down the Pillai family, their daughter Kinnary, a 10th grader, is very clear about her goal in life: she wants to enter the Indian Police Service. Gujarat’s Gaurav and its ‘Busload of Secularists.’ I leave Gujarat with a heavy heart, but I am encouraged by the selfless work by a small number of determined individuals and organizations here, supported by others from outside Gujarat, who have put their lives and livelihood at risk to stand up for justice — recent assaults by VHP and Bajrang Dal upon activists like Teesta Setalvad and Shabnam Hashmi underscore the continuing danger faced by those who refuse to be silenced. It seems puerile to hold this “busload of secularists” responsible for sullying Gujarat’s gaurav. As far as I can see, they are far too busy doing what the state and the broader civil society ought to be doing: rehabilitating the victims, providing legal assistance, and doing grass roots work to promote inter-communal harmony — e.g. a recent cricket tournament among mixed Hindu-Muslim youth teams, organized by Jagruti Trust and other NGOs, had brought Kapil Dev and 30,000 spectators to Halol, demonstrating the power of sports as a healer even at the grassroots level. Many of the so-called secular NGOs have also been looking at themselves in the mirror to see how they could bring more diversity among their own rank and file, and how they could build bridges with faith-based organizations — e.g. some of the secular groups are exploring the possibility of sponsoring science and math teachers to help improve teaching quality at maktabs; and Muslim groups are looking for ways to engage the adivasis, who had been used against them during the 2002 violence, in the field of education. If Gujarat’s gaurav has been tarnished, it seems to me that the rulers of Gujarat and their supporters overseas know exactly what it takes to restore the sheen: Instead of issuing vague expressions of contrition from U.K. and elsewhere, national leaders could appear at Naroda Patia, or Gulbarg Society, or any other site of the 2002 violence, and apologize to the victims for the unpardonable excesses committed by their supporters; or the state could ensure, with police protection if necessary, that every citizen of Gujarat, including the people of Dailol and Pavagadh, are able to return safely to their own homes; or the state’s judiciary could stop its cruel charade by bringing to book all the perpetrators of the violence, without any further delay or prodding by the Supreme Court; or the powerful NRI Gujarati community could stop acquiescing in the state’s unconscionable behavior by sending a powerful signal to its leaders that they have had enough of their sectarian agenda; to end it before their bigotry and hate infects the rest of our great nation. Hurling more invectives at the secularists, I am afraid, will simply not do at this late hour. Yes, peace does prevail here in Gujarat. But the question is, at whose expense and at what cost to our future generations? Interested readers can find out more about the Coalition against Coalition at their Web site at www.cac.ektaonline.org. Raju Rajagopal may be reached at communal_harmony@yahoo.com
|TOP| CONFERENCE  Hi-Tech Brainstorming TiE Conference 2004 – A Siliconeer Report Top The Indus Entrepreneurs, the top organization of Silicon Valley South Asian high tech entrepreneurs, said in an announcement that TiEcon 2004, the organization’s annual conference, will include a series of panel discussions on globalization issues and anticipating new business opportunities in the improving economy, led by top technology and business gurus including television tycoon Ted Turner. Speakers include a “who’s who” of Silicon Valley and high technology executives from Hewlett Packard, Juniper Networks, McKinsey and Co., Siebel Systems, Sun, and Yahoo. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend TiEcon 2004 May 14 and 15 at the Westin Hotel and Convention Center in Santa Clara. Since 1992, people associated with TiE have founded businesses with a combined market value of more than $200 billion, creating thousands of new jobs. This year’s conference will focus on issues surrounding macro-level trends in job diversification. Breakout sessions will feature a multi-faceted examination of global sourcing — more commonly referred to as outsourcing — with an emphasis on job creation, and advice on how to manage global operations. “Our organization embraces the American dream of generating new opportunities, encouraging innovation, and adapting to changing paradigms,” said Vish Mishra, TiE director and senior venture partner at Clearstone Venture Partners. “TiE is dedicated to promoting entrepreneurism that results in wealth creation for both the local and global economies.” TiEcon will also present previews of the latest high tech products and introductions to the newest Silicon Valley companies. The conference provides networking opportunities for attendees to meet with venture capitalists, professional service providers and other entrepreneurs to discuss topics including ways in which they can give back to their communities. “Social entrepreneurship is the key to creating welfare in local and global economies,” said Vinod Khosla, TiE charter member and general partner at venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. “TiE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem equips current and future business leaders with the managerial foresight to foster a successful and ethical global business strategy.” Themed “One Step Ahead, Harnessing the Optimism,” TiEcon 2004 provides an ideal forum for industry professionals and business visionaries to discuss emerging trends, explore best practices, and learn how to profit in a surging world economy. A few of the featured TiEcon 2004 panels on global sourcing include: Partnering, Positioning and Playing Your Cards with Global Companies. This panel will look at linking business strategy and needs to have effective CXO level selling in the global enterprise marketplace. There is pressure for CXO level executives to understand the precarious link between a successful business and the IT strategies. This session features Peter Blackmore, EVP, Enterprise Systems Group, Hewlett Packard. Global Conversation: The Global Mindset: Succeeding In today’s World. How does a company develop, grow and sustain a vision globally and at the same time cater to the needs of the local markets? In today’s world, companies have to think globally and act locally whilst leveraging global resources. This panel features a group of international thought leaders and discusses how they have taken their global vision and company to address market demands and customers around the world. Panelists include Alistair Cox, CEO, Xansa and Robert Young, EVP, Sun Microsystems. Global Talent - The new reality - The Big Picture of Offshore Services: Real Worry or Misplaced Fear? Offshoring has generated significant media controversy. This panel will review media coverage, legal developments, political discussion, and macro trends of offshore services. Moderated by Quentin Hardy, Silicon Valley bureau chief of Forbes, with panelists Diane Farrell from McKinsey and Mark Riedy, managing partner at Pillsbury Winthrop. Going Global Leveraging Global Talent - Why, When and How of Going Offshore Time. Going offshore is not only about cost advantage, but also about competitive factors such as accessing worldwide talent, time-to-market, flexibility, and sometimes survival. Many notable large companies are outsourcing non-core services, generating record profits and beating the competition. This panel is about how to best leverage global talent for maximum benefit to your business. Moderated by Atul Vashistha, CEO, NeoIT with panelists Sharat Israni, SVP, Yahoo; Fabio Rosati, CEO, Elance; and Manoj Srivastava, VP, Verisign. Updated information about TiEcon 2004 is available at its Web site at www.tiecon.org. COMMENTARY  Closed Hospitals & War Crimes:An Eyewitness in Fallujah By Rahul Mahajan The Why do you keep asking about the closing of the Fallujah hospital?” my Iraqi translator asks in exasperation. I explain that this is big news, and it hasn’t really been reported in English. He looks at me, incredulous; all Iraqis know about it. When the United States began the siege of Fallujah, it targeted civilians in seve |
