Saturday, September 8, 2012

The XI that won the Gujarat Test - By SA Aiyar - THE SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA

Much that most readers will appreciate Swaminathan Aiyar's recount of Gujarat's sordid drama of 'crime and punishment' as blood sport, comparing it with the win and lose score board of India's favourite sport -Cricket; he has in fact trivialized the entire gamut of inhuman brutality and human sufferings in Gujarat. That unfortunately exposes the insensitivity of some elite section of the society, that treat all such tragic events as as par for the course. In a way, that eases the pain of the sufferers and keeps them from going overboard in a temporary burst of triumphalism; while assuring the criminals that this is only how law sometimes takes it course and therefore they should be prepared to play the next game of India's favorite blood sport: genocidal attacks on Muslims and be prepared for the change in the role of the referees.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

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http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/the-xi-that-won-the-gujarat-test


The Times of India




The XI that won the Gujarat Test

SA Aiyar
09 September 2012, 04:57 AM IST
There was much cheering last week when our cricket Test team demolished New Zealand . Yet the truly great Test and victory was in the Gujarat High Court, which imposed stiff sentences on perpetrators of the Naroda Patiya massacre of 2002.

India’s institutions and civil society defeated a state bent on protecting the guilty. This required the combined efforts of thousands of people. From these thousands, i would pick the following first eleven.

Captain of the team was Justice JS Verma. After the post-Godhra massacre of Muslims, the Gujarat government tried to let the killers off the hook. Justice Verma as head of the National Human Rights Commission raised serious doubts about the impartiality of the state government and asked the Supreme Court to intervene. He persuaded the Supreme Court to stay proceedings in the lower courts based on flimsy investigations.

He was followed in the batting line up by Justice Arijit Pasayat of the Supreme Court, who decreed in 2008 that the Gujarat cases could not be left to the state government to investigate and prosecute. Instead he appointed a Special Investigative Team (SIT) with sweeping powers to find the truth and nail the guilty.

B K Raghavan headed the Special Investigative Team and collected evidence that led to convictions in Naroda Patiya and other cases. Activists criticized Raghavan for exonerating Modi: he concluded there was no evidence against the chief minister. Still, Raghavan was a star player of the team.

Within Gujarat, the charge was led by lawyer Mukul Sinha . His Jan Sangharsh Manch was determined to collect evidence and establish the truth. It got Ahmedabad’s mobile phone call data from an upright police officer, analysed the call logs, and proved that top BJP ideologues such as Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi were at Naroda Patiya on the fateful day. This enabled the SIT to home in on Kodnani and others who had not even been named in earlier investigations .

The lead lawyer for Naroda Patiya’s victims, Govind Parmar , saw the massacre as state-abetted genocide. As a dalit himself, he knew full well the enormities of injustice arising from communal hate. He defended and ensured acquittal of Muslims falsely accused of murder, protected threatened witnesses, and finally won the Naroda Patiya case.

Lawyer Yusuf Muchhala spearheaded the movement to restore 512 shrines destroyed in the riots, mostly mosques and dargahs. The state government claimed that India’s secular principles prohibited it from aiding any community to rebuild shrines. However, Muchhala persuaded the courts to order the state government to restore the destroyed shrines.
The traditional Gujarat elite feared taking on Narendra Modi after his sweeping electoral victory in 2002. The great exception was Mallika Sarabhai, the famous dancer. Even the Congress Party opted for a soft Hindutva line rather than take on Modi. But, despite huge peer pressure, Mallika never minced words in condemning what she saw as Modi’s politics of hate and death.

Teesta Setalvad, a Mumbai-based activist and TV analyst, became one of the best known civil society faces in Gujarat. In the Best Bakery case, in which 14 Muslims were killed, the state government originally contrived a weak prosecution that led to the acquittal of all the accused. But Teesta persuaded higher courts to order a retrial, which resulted in life sentences for four killers. Teesta emerged a heroine, but her image was somewhat tarnished when the SIT as well a former aide accused her of concocting false stories and coaching witnesses to make false statements.

Harsh Mander, an officer of the Indian Administrative service, relocated to Gujarat to secure justice and relief for those hit by the 2002 riots. He set up Nyayagrah, meaning campaign for justice. With the help of lawyers like Indira Jaisingh, he helped re-open hundreds of cases that the police had conveniently closed down.

J S Bandukwala, a Muslim professor at Baroda University , was a major force for moderation and peace. He was almost killed by Hindu rioters. Yet he pleaded for harmony, not vengeance . Eight years after the riots, he suggested it might be wise for Muslims to put the terrible past behind and focus on a better future. Some praised his moderation, but others castigated him as too soft on Modi.

Last but not least in the batting order came Justice Jyotsna Yagnik. She presided over the Naroda Patiya trial, and convicted and sentenced Maya Kodnani and others. In the process, she exposed the way the police favoured Kodnani until the SIT took over.

This was a great first eleven. But it succeeded only because of support from thousands of others. Let us raise a glass to all who made the victory possible
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Dilip Rathod (Houston) says:
September 09,2012 at 09:58 AM IST 19 Followers
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The perfect eleven has done justice. The guilty have met and will meet their end, after all as you sow so you reap. Prof. Bandukwala is a progressive minded intellectual who advises the Muslims to erode the past and write afresh. Consequently the Muslims in Gujarat have prospered and helped in establishing peace. In spite of such social amity efforts some pseudo secular prop up their heads for political gains and dig godhra and Post Godhra ghosts. Let justice take its course and let's drive the nation ahead.


Brown American (USA) says:
September 09,2012 at 09:56 AM IST 52 Followers
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I disagree with the article. Sentences are not strong enough. It is not enough deterrent for future perpetrators of such crimes. Look how much politically did Modi gain from the state orchestrated genocide of Muslims. He won Elections twice. Not all actors, perpetrators, instigators have been brought to Justice. Unless Modi stands trial, this issue will not come a closure.;


Sunil Kokrady (India) says:
September 09,2012 at 09:01 AM IST 17 Followers
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Where was this Victorious Team when Congress were systematically massacring almost three times Gujarat 2002? What about justice for Sikhs? Are they not human? The king pin of 1984 riots was give "Clean Chit" by same members of victorious team. No wonder he is now found doing same antics in Oddisha. The verdict may be victory for Testa Setalavad and few but justice is still far off the mark.


Subhash (Delhi.) says:
September 09,2012 at 08:49 AM IST
Why Mr. Swaminathan not writing anything about the other side of the XI that started the Gujarat Test? It has become the practice of the journalists like Mr. Swaminathan SA Aiyar to highlight what has been done to provide justice to riot victims of post Godhra riots. But is there any Justice JS Verma, Mr. Justice Arijit Pasayat, Mukul Sinha, Govind Parmar, Yusuf Muchhala, Mallika Sarabhai, Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander, JS Bandukwala etc. who tried to tell the stories to the masses how the a few misguided persons from a particular community at Godhra put the train on fire at Godhra Station. Everyone knows there is no one to tell their stories how they burnt the 58 passengers alive? Because those who hatched the conspiracy to roast the 58 passengers were not Muslims. Had the burnt passengers been Muslims the nation would have been told about how these were burnt alive? The question is why our journalists like Mr. Aiyar or social activists silent over the misdeeds of the persons who put the train on fire? Do they know anything about their stories? Why are their stories not being told? Those who put the train on fire are perhaps the true culprits of Muslims who suffered after the unfortunate post Godhra riots? Had there been no burning of trains perhaps gujarat would have been the most peaceful and prosperous State in India

Walmart is unwelcome in the US China Town

Walmart is unwelcome in the US China Town

While under pressure from Jewish investors, US President Obama publically remonstrated Manmohan Singh and his government for failing to 'reform' --- meaning give entry to American's biggest Jewish retail chain, the Walmart, in Indian market, --- even though its entry will result in throwing out of business for millions of corner shopowners and the existing supply chains --- the following news story by New York Times shows how Walmart is not welcome in areas where mom and pop shopkeepers of China Town in Los Angeles, California. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take a leaf from the protests in America and reconsider its US FIRST policy, instead of INDIA FIRST. The danger of another public agitation against Walmart and Congress, is not to be underestimated and if Congress wants to remain the running, it should think of the common people of India, rather than the moneybag Jewish investors of the world, who are descending on India in droves, to take over India, in the name of USA.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/us/a-walmart-for-chinatown-stirs-a-fight-in-los-angeles.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120908

New York Times


A Walmart for Chinatown Stirs a Fight in Los Angeles


Patrick T. Fallon for The New York Times

For more than 70 years, small businesses have thrived in Chinatown. Now Walmart’s plans for a store — in an area that hasn’t had a mainstream grocery in decades — have spurred a furious battle, with community activists and labor unions determined to block the giant retailer.
By IAN LOVETT
Published: September 7, 2012
LOS ANGELES — Along Broadway here, in the heart of Chinatown, immigrants crowd around fruit and vegetable shops, asking prices in Mandarin and Cantonese. Men hawk huge red grapes from a pile in the back of a pickup truck. And poultry shops sell not only chicken, but roosters, guinea hens and pheasants — live poultry is available on request.

Patrick T. Fallon for The New York Times
A sign protesting Wal-Mart hangs on the door of a small pet store in Chinatown.
Patrick T. Fallon for The New York Times
Fish is sold by a street vendor.
Patrick T. Fallon for The New York Times
Customers shop at Yue Wa Market and Nam Hoa Fish Market.

For more than 70 years, these small businesses have thrived here, lining both sides of the street.

But some local residents and business owners fear this historic immigrant community is now threatened by the newest addition to the neighborhood: Walmart, which plans to open a scaled-down version of its superstore just a few blocks from the heart of Chinatown.

“They’re going to hurt the small businesses,” said Grace Yen, a Taiwanese immigrant who came here in 1986, as she sat in a Chinatown bakery. “They have a bigger market. They’re going to take over everything.”

The Walmart Neighborhood Market would offer Chinatown its first mainstream grocery store in decades. But since the company’s plan was announced in February, a furious battle has broken out over the project, with community activists and labor unions determined to block the world’s largest retailer from the neighborhood.

In March, the City Council banned large chain stores from opening in Chinatown. But Walmart received its building permit a day before that vote, exempting the store from the ban.

Then in June, thousands of protesters marched through Chinatown in a show of opposition to the new Walmart. Several labor unions have also sued to stop the project.

But on Friday a judge declined to halt construction on the store, which began in July, until that case is heard. As a result, the Chinatown Walmart now looks more likely than ever to open as scheduled early next year.

Christilily Chiv, 24, said she worries that Walmart’s arrival in the neighborhood where she was born and raised could mark the start of a major transition in Chinatown, which remains a first stop for many Asian immigrants, into a historic district where immigrants no longer live and work.

“Chinatown is a cultural community,” Ms. Chiv said. “I want to preserve what is there. And I fear what’s going to happen is that by having commercial corporations come in, they are going to erase the cultural community and what it stood for in the first place.”

Still, the storefront where the Walmart Neighborhood Market plans to open has sat vacant for two decades, and many residents are eager to see it filled.

“This community has not had a mainstream grocery store in 74 years,” said George Yu, executive director of the Chinatown Business Improvement District, noting that all grocery stores in the area close by 7 p.m. “What if you want yogurt or cheese? What if you want dog food? Those are pretty basic needs that every community has.”

“Ninety-nine percent of the community supports this market,” Mr. Yu added. “The opposition is coming from outside Chinatown.”
Labor unions have for years criticized Walmart for hiring nonunion workers and paying low wages. And some of the unions and workers’ rights advocates that have helped lead the charge to keep Walmart out of Chinatown also fought to limit Walmart’s influence in other parts of the region.

This year, three of the top candidates in the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral race all vowed not to accept any campaign donations from Walmart, after unions sent a letter urging them to return contributions from the retail giant.

In addition, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which helped organize the protest in Chinatown, also helped push through an ordinance that makes it more difficult to open large superstores here.

“We’ve been organizing to try to make sure that neighborhood small businesses are protected,” said Allison Mannos, a spokeswoman for the alliance. “And also to make sure that there are not poverty-level jobs coming in.”

The Walmart Neighborhood Market planned for Chinatown would offer mainly grocery items and a pharmacy. Steven V. Restivo, a spokesman for Walmart, said the company had received largely positive feedback from the community.

“The day our store opens, thousands and thousands of local residents are going to shop at that Walmart Neighborhood Market,” Mr. Restivo said. “Those are people who probably never attended a council meeting or wrote a letter to the editor. They just want to have more options close to where they live and work.”

He added, “In terms of the cultural impact, there is literally a Burger King across the street from our location, and a Subway next door.”

Local residents remained evenly divided, according to a spokeswoman for City Councilman Ed P. Reyes, who represents the area. And even some of the local business owners are not yet sure how Walmart might affect them.

Richard Lam owns an import business, selling clothes and other accessories. He showed off a Walmart app on his smartphone. But he was nervous about the arrival of the store.

“I shop online with Walmart all the time,” he said. “I buy phone. I buy camera. It’s cheap.”

But he added, “If they don’t open, I’m happier.”