6 Gulf Daily News Friday, 4th March 2011
COMMENT
A mockery of
democracy!
By JENNIFER GNANA
regory David Roberts writes in his book
G
Shantaram that men wage war for profit
or principle but they fight them for land and
women.
There couldn’t be a fairer assessment than
that to describe the inflammatory situation in
the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, which
witnesses sporadic violence between Maoist
rebels and the paramilitary and government
organised anti-Naxalite groups.
A few days ago, human rights activist from
the state Dr Ilina Sen visited my college and
addressed the department of mass media
about the history of the conflict and, most
importantly, why her husband Dr Binayak has
been imprisoned on charges of sedition.
She said some years ago when she had gone
to France for her post-doctoral studies, she
found it difficult to describe where she was
from as nobody had heard of Chhattisgarh.
She would say it was “près de Bhopal”, a city in
another state, but made famous as the site of
the world’s worst chemical disaster.
Now, she feels she doesn’t require to go
into many details about her home as the state
has been hogging national and international
headlines as the hotbed of Naxalites, a militant
group at war with the government.
A state many Indians and foreign tourists
comfortably forget to explore, Ms Sen said
times had changed – flights to Chhattisgarh
are full of foreign and Indian investors. The
state has lucrative business and investment
opportunities due to its rich mineral resources.
The trouble is, they’re in heavily forested tribal
areas.
For a community of indigenous people who
consider their land hallowed by the spirits
of their ancestors, it is suicidal to give up
their homes. However, that is what they were
asked to with promises of compensation they
weren’t interested in.
Taking the side of the multinational
companies, the government imposed
emergency law and forced the tribals to give
up their lands under police supervision.
The displacement of the people and hunger
deaths in the region, one of the poorest,
fuelled increased Naxalite activity.
Using violent means to achieve their goals,
the Naxalites whose name comes from the
village of Naxalbari in the state of West
Bengal, cause terror along the ‘red corridor’
that runs through the eastern states where
they operate from.
Career options for the displaced tribals were
limited – they could become special police
officers to hunt down Naxalites for a starting
salary of Rs1,500 (BD12.5) a month or women
could sell themselves to the paramilitary.
The state forces executed people and raped
women they considered Maoist sympathisers.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL),
whose vice-president is Dr Sen, published
reports which found the state to be waging a
war against its own people. It was banned and
termed “anti-national” under a law, which also
places restrictions on reporting from the area.
Dr Sen was jailed in May 2007 based
on fabricated evidence that he couriered
information during his professional jail visits
that helped blow up bridges. He was given bail
in May 2009 following an international outcry
over his detention. Last December, a sessions
court in state capital Raipur sentenced him to
life imprisonment.
Thirty-eight Nobel laureates have signed
petitions for the release of Dr Sen, considered
by Amnesty International a prisoner of
conscience.
Ms Sen said she planned to appeal in the
Supreme Court of India but had no idea what
will happen to him, her and her daughter, who
studies in my college, but hoped the truth will
be out soon.
She said Gandhi, when charged with
sedition, was jailed for three years by the
colonial British government, while the
democratic government that followed feels it
is fitting to jail someone for life for exercising
his right to dissent.
l Ms Gnana is a former Bahrain resident now
studying in Mumbai.
Your Views ...
Let’s be more realistic
Sir,
s much as I respect
A
Bahrainis for standing
up for their rights and show-
ing determination with their
continued protests to achieve
a democratic government,
I was surprised when reading the report ‘Residents of
Isa Town draw up list of demands’ (GDN, February 28).
How can they demand having their unpaid utility bills
and loans written off? Surely,
this is not what these protests
are for? If
Published letters are they have
not necessarily the not paid bills
views of the Editor. or loans, then
Readers wishing to they should
make a complaint be made to
through the GDN repay like
in any other
should provide
full details of the country.
What
complaint together
with their contact about the
telephone numbers. citizens who
have repaid
loans, or are
up to date with their bills?
Should they seek reimbursement?
If Bahrainis are looking for
support with their demonstrations, demands like these
will only generate a negative viewpoint for
outsiders taking interest in the developments
at the Pearl Roundabout.
Ade P
A sad symbol
n the last two weeks as I drove along the
Ialways
bridge from Manama to Seef and vice versa I
looked at the giant Bahraini flag raised
there since the start of the demonstrations.
I felt deep sorrow when I saw the dirty and
damaged condition of the flag. It has been a
symbol of peace and unity for years and it is
sad to think that Bahrain’s status is now fast
deteriorating in the eyes of the world.
I have been here for 18 years and have
known the majority of citizens to be peaceful,
respectful and caring.
I hope and pray the misunderstanding between parties will be resolved as soon as pos-
n FLASHBACK ... protesters gather outside the ministry
sible and peace and order will prevail in this
country which has given us so much.
Ohrosany
Travel worries
espite the upheaval and violence some
D
Britons are not allowed to leave Bahrain.
They are also banned from working.
British expatriates with unpaid debts face
being left stranded here as political turmoil
escalates in the Middle East.
Scores fear they will not be evacuated
should the security situation in Gulf states
deteriorate because they are subject to travel
bans due to their debts.
The political situation in Bahrain is tense.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has
no plans to evacuate British people as it has
done in Libya, but is advising against all but
essential travel and monitoring the situation.
Britons here say their situation is made
worse because authorities will not issue residence permits to people with travel bans, so
they are unable to work to pay off their debts.
They are also angry with international banks
for effectively trapping them in the country
indefinitely.
Nigel Beattie
A caring hospital
ear Ms Trueman, Ibn Al Nafees Hospital
D
strives to become your preferred healthcare provider in the kingdom and is moving to-
wards that objective. We assure the best service
and care for all our patients.
On behalf of the doctors, nurses and staff,
I thank you for your compliments (GDN,
February 7). We assure you that all staff work as
a team to achieve best quality and affordable
healthcare in a caring environment.
For Ibn Al Nafees Hospital
Dr Ali J Al Aradi
TODAY in history
TODAY is Friday, March 4, the 63rd
day of 2011. There are 302 days
left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1606 – France’s King Henry IV occupies Sedan to end rebellion of
Duke of Bouillon.
1632 – Sweden’s King Gustavus II
resumes his Palatinate campaign
in Germany.
1797 – British troops under Lord
Lake quell rebellion in Ulster, Ireland.
1848 – The Constitution of Piedmont and Sardinia is proclaimed
by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia.
1857 – Peace of Paris ends the
Anglo-Persian War, and Shah recognises independence of Afghanistan.
1917 – The German army begins
major withdrawal on Western
Front in the First World War.
1945 – Soviet troops reach the
Baltic Sea in drive across German
province of Pomerania.
1965 – Syria orders nationalisation of nine oil companies, including affiliates of two US concerns.
1970 – A French submarine with
57 aboard is lost in the Mediterra-
nean Sea off the Riviera.
1972 – The Soviet Union signs
agreement with Libya to jointly
develop and refine Libyan oil,
a pact seen as a pressure tactic
against Western oil companies.
1973 – Eight Black September terrorists end their occupation of the
Saudi Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, after slaying three diplomats.
1977 – An earthquake devastates
Bucharest and other towns in Romania, where death toll eventually
reaches more than 1,000.
1988 – Sikh separatists slaughter
dozens of Hindus at a religious festival in Kari Sari, India.
1989 – Convoys of emergency
food and fuel supplies from the
Soviet Union reach Afghan capital
of Kabul.
1990 – ANC loyalists overthrow
the government of South African
homeland of Ciskei.
1991 – Fierce fighting is reported
in Basra, Iraq, between the Republican Guard and opponents of
Saddam Hussein.
1992 – Algeria bans the Islamic
Salvation Front. The Islamists take
to arms and more than 75,000
people, mostly civilians, are killed
in the years to come.
1993 – After routing thousands of
civilians from their homes in the
Konjevic area, Bosnian Serbs offer
to escort them from the region,
saying they can never return. They
never make good on the promise,
and the refugees flee into the Srebrenica enclave.
1994 – Four Muslim extremists are
convicted in the World Trade Centre bombing in New York.
1995 – Raul Salinas, former president of Mexico, interrupts a hunger strike he started the night
before to protest charges that he
covered up the murder of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo
Colosio.
1996 – A suicide bomber strikes
outside Tel Aviv’s biggest shopping centre, killing 14 people. It
is the fourth bombing in Israel in
nine days.
1997 – Convoys of policemen
and soldiers move into chaotic
southern Albania, where the government has lost control after protests that began with the failure of
pyramid investment schemes.
1998 – Flash floods in Pakistan kill
300 people, including dozens of
schoolchildren trapped by raging
waters. Another 1,500 people are
missing and feared dead.
1999 - The US Marine pilot whose
plane clipped off a gondola cable
in the Italian Alps, killing 20 people in 1998, is acquitted by a US
military court, causing dismay in
Italy.
2000 - Slim saplings are nestled
into the dirt in memory of 12
students crushed to death in the
bonfire collapse of a 50-foot tower
of logs at Texas A&M last November.
2001 – Bosnian Croat nationalists pledge to create their state in
Bosnia, threatening efforts to establish lasting peace in the Balkan
country struggling for stability in
the aftermath of war.
WHAT THEY SAID
Don’t forget to love yourself –
Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813–1855).