Wednesday, August 10, 2005

sikh genocide, nanavati commission, crimes against humanity

aug 9th

i am reminded of the great, classic film 'z' by costa-gavras, which is based on real-life events. a fascist right-wing conspiracy murders a leftist candidate for president, and a judge of great integrity and courage unravels the mystery and sentences a large number of the perpetrators to jail sentences. however, the witnesses mysteriously begin to die. the photographer who unearthed crucial evidence 'leaps to his death' from a 10-storey building while in police custody. in the end, there is a coup d'etat and the judge himself, although he escapes being killed, loses his job.

i am sure this salutary experience was in justice nanavati's mind as he wrote the report of the commission. the indian state acts as a fascist leftist state (i once wrote about the predatory indian state, which is a direct descendant of the predatory muslim state and the predatory christian state which we have endured: for instance, ask yourself why the local administrator is called a 'collector'. his job is to collect taxes, not to serve the public), and there is no telling what the consequences could be to the judge and others. therefore, nanavati treads lightly.

nevertheless, a case for crimes against humanity should be filed in the international criminal court against the perpetrators and their friends in high places. according to official numbers, 3,000 sikhs were massacred. going by the way the press has multiplied official estimates in other cases, this may mean 5x, ie 15,000 sikhs were actually killed. this is not an insignificant number in absolute terms for a small community such as the sikhs.

if there could be an international enquiry into rwanda and into bosnia-serbia, there is no reason why there shouldn't be one into this.

i have always been highly respectful of the sikh contribution to india, see an old column of mine 'remember jallianwallah bagh'. they were the great patriots, the 'first-born innocents' who were always there to defend mother india. for the ruling party of the state to have turned against them in this genocidal manner is historically unforgiveable. it is true that there was sikh terrorism incited by, as usual, the pakistanis, but that is no reason for this deliberate and pre-meditated pogrom against a defenseless, easily identified minority group. unlike muslims and christians, who are majority groups worldwide and have powerful godfathers abroad, the sikhs are a classic minority group. the fact that genocide against them went unpunished ipso facto supports that claim--powerless minority.

in ethics, there is the concept of deontological analysis: that is, how a certain act affects the most deprived and powerless constituency. in this case, the sikhs, a small and numerically powerless group whose vote-bank value is minimal, were severely affected. from a deontological perspective, this implies a major ethical failing. heads should roll for this. if the government had any sense of ethics, they would resign; certainly they would not attempt to protect the specifically accused ministers. otherwise they are no better than the british eulogizing general dyer after jallianwallah bagh: colonial masters intent on theft, with no sense of responsibility for the colonized.

if so, then india is clearly a pseudo-democracy. in fact it is a kakistocracy, rule by the very worst.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dont agree that there should be an international enquiry. But this nanavati commission report is a big blow to the Sikh community. We have the framework to handle things properly. This report along with several other recent events is an indication that the system is being misused.
The concept of democracy in India is loosing its meaning. The corrupt media and legal system is accelerating the decline of our society.

Anonymous said...

A land mark judgement:
SC asking to do away with minority lists
http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/10minority.htm

How are the states going to respond? Especially in Kerala, where the minorities have already 'gang-raped' and looted the land and economy?

Anonymous said...

3300 Muslims (mostly women and kids) were massacared in a single day at Nellie, Assam in 1983 (Indira was PM then).
Tewari commission report on this is yet to be made public - it's been what only 22 years since.

Last Nov, a seminar on the same was squashed by this very same Govt of India led by Dr. Manmohan Singh who happens to be Rajya Sabha MP from that very same Assam.
Link

Go figure.

Anonymous said...

Totaly agree with Mr Srinivasan's premise.
There should be a thorough re examination of this massacre,and Manmohan Singh should follow through on this resolutely, or just resign if not allowed to. Mr Singh, please act as a true Sardar.
At,the same time, the Gujarat massacre of muslims should be investigated thoroughly, and those responsible, be punished.
Both these massacres are virtually identical in pattern and state complicity.

Anonymous said...

Abraham's absolutely right. Godhara riots crooks should be bought to justice. Also, when Madhav Singh Solanki chief minister (Cong) of Gujarat on three occasions, 276 people died in 117 incidents of mob violence. When Amar Singh Chaudhuri (Cong) CM of Gujarat, 582 persons died in 413 incidents of violence. When Chimanbhai Patel (Cong) CM of Gujarat (twice), 563 persons died in 370 incidents of violence.
In around 1990 Somnath 220 people died. When Hitendra Desai was (Cong) CM of Gujarat in '69 around 1000+ died in communal riots.

Let the heads roll...all of them.

Anonymous said...

San has a valid point. while international diplomacy is meant to be indiscreet and nuanced, it baffles me why we do not make any serious attempts at building a more substantial relationship with Taiwan.
I feel we should explore the possibilty of establishing a military alliance of sorts to that nation, in much the same way China has with Pakistan. Of course, one could say that India has a robust military relationship with Russia, but so does China (to a certain extent).

Anonymous said...

Very interesting article by G. Parthasarathy on Saudi-Pak axis

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=EDITS&file_name=edit3%2Etxt&counter_img=3

Anonymous said...

A couple of hours ago, while driving back home, I was listening to Michael Savage on radio. Michael Savage is a right-wing talk show host on American radio. He too referred to this movie Z when talking about the role democrats and republicans in not arresting the 9/11 suspects. To read about the same movie here on the same day, though in a different context intrigued me. I must watch this movie.

Anonymous said...

san, it has been my opinion all along that the minority status must be reduced to the point of ridiculousness. make everyone a minority.

Anonymous said...

Hi all,

The honeymoon of Congi is over.Now they are playing politics of shame!!There is little we can expect from politicians of left,centre and right.All end up dividing the soceity in different ways.Unless,we the educated "elite"
sacrifice part of our personal ambitions and work towards the betterment of India,it will remain as we see it today.

Toney said...

Mr Srinivasan, I read your Jalianwala Bagh article and my eyes welled up towards the end. In fact, I even had half the mind to go to Manhatan (I live in NY suburbs) and greet a few Punjabis :-), not that I ever had any problems with them but then, I never spent time thinking abt their contributions to the country.

Toney said...

Two questions:
I use this medium to know your thoughts on a few questions. I have seen traces of fundamentalism in your articles but have dismissed my doubts on getting a feel for the kind of knowledge you possess. I know that you have the best interests of the country in mind and so, hope that the means you choose are acceptable to others who wish for the same end as you.
Would you mind sharing your thoughts on these questions, if they interest you?

1) There was a rumour that Bhutan was planning to allow Chinese pressure get to them and were ready to exchange sectors, which meant that China would be breathing down India's neck (as if they were not, already) and the CHinese would be in a position to cut off the North East from the rest of India in very little time. I tried finding more on this but all I could get was some material on that trash called TOI.

2) Your views on conversion that is not co-erced. To begin with, I am not a big fan of conversion. When missionaries (of the Protestant kind) try converting people by luring them with food and money, it is disgusting. For eg, immediately after the Tsunami, I heard that Christian priests tried to take advantage of the situation and start converting the people during their time of crisis. This may or may not be true.
But if a person truly believes that a change in religion (any way, Hidnu->Muslim, Muslim->Xian, Xian->Hindu and all other possibilities) is need, shouldn't that be allowed? Isnt it the right of every citizen to practise, preach and propagate his beliefs?

Anonymous said...

Toney,

You ought to read Mahatma Gandhi's Selected works for his views on Missionary Activities in India. You'll see exactly similar streaks of fundamentalism.

Anonymous said...

Somehow, abraham seems to be very interested in getting the gujarat accused punished while conveniently forgetting godhra that caused it.
Tell me, if you lose belief in the indian court's functioning and sense of justice, how will you react to an act of religious violence against members of your community? - Just for your memory, 57 innocents were killed, many women and children among them, in Godhra, when their coach, surrounded by 155 muslim mne, women and CHILDREN, with swords in hand, was burnt into ashes.

Anonymous said...

Sorry this is off-track. Petition to rectify Indian history texts in California clases
http://www.thevedicfoundation.org/Textbook_Reform_Initiative/petition.html

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajeev,

Please check out the following USA Today article:

Europeans abandoning christianity in droves
http://www.sulekha.com/news/nhc.aspx?cid=431922

Anonymous said...

>>Europeans abandoning christianity in droves

Good news? I guess you are rejoicing because somehow it gives you the feeling that Christianity is inferior to your religion.

Well, that is not what it means. It only means that people are becoming non-religious, primary reason
being the affluence. People don't need God and religion anymore, at least thats what they think.

And decline of Christianity only means gains for Islam, which should be bad news for you. (I know your religion, no marks for guessing)

Anonymous said...

a classical missionary abused apologist..the poster never mentioned it was "good news" but the "religion guesser" assumed that was the case and continued his diatribe...just wish these missionary mullah, low-life religion-guessing products fight on a different planet and not produce pain on this earth as they are doing in africa, asia and other places today.

Anonymous said...

After reading all views here in rediff i came to a conclusion and nebosy and everybody writing here is a staunch anti Indian supporting those stupid kacchadhaaris jan sanghis. Who in his sane mind would ally himself with the likes of Modi Advani ever flipping flopping Vajpayee prosty Uma bitchy Sushma etc etc....

PPl go take a break India is free from the clutches of these power mongers and will remain forever for the times 2 come......

Anonymous said...

I don't think I have focussed on the Gujarat massacre excessively.
It appears to some that this is an issue to be swept under the carpet, and worse, try to justify as a response to the murder of innocents at Godhara.
I am concerned because the State completely failed in its duty of protecting its citizens.
This is exactly what happened in Delhi in 1984.
Will the anonymous chicken heart (a few posts prior)rationalize that this massacre of Sikhs was due to the the murder of a poor defenceless hindu woman (Indira Gandhi?)somehow justifying it?
A crime is a crime, and the guilty should be held accountable for both the Gujarat and Delhi pogroms, and every other riot in India.
Lets be truly honest.