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Best Bakery Massacre: Justice at Last
Jyotika J Thukral

THE Best Bakery Case is one of the gravest instances of violence during the Gujarat carnage in 2002.  It involved the gruesome killing of 14 innocent people from the minority community when the Best Bakery, in the Hanuman Tekri area of Vadodara, was attacked and burnt by a frenzied mob.  While a Gujarat court let off powerful well-connected accused, yet finally justice caught with them when a Special Mumbai Court pronounced life sentence to 21 accused.  It took four long years to bring the accused to task, thanks to the lapses and flaws in the way the case was conducted by the prosecution at the behest of Hindu right wing, Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] government in Gujarat.  It was the intervention of the Supreme Court and the hard perusal by gusty human right activist, Teesta Setalvad.

However, the prime witnesses in the case — Zahira Sheikh and her family — who turned hostile during the trial, are in trouble as Judge Thipsay issued perjury notices against Zahira, her mother Seherunissa, sister Sairabanu and brothers Nafitullah and Nasibullah. The family has been asked to explain why action should not be taken against them for "giving false evidence." If convicted, they face up to seven years in prison. It was Zahira’s family that had been virtually wiped out in the carnage.

The Best Bakery trial, which was moved to Mumbai after a court in Gujarat acquitted all 21 accused, has been viewed as a test case of how the judiciary would respond and the verdict would undoubtedly be seen as a reaffirmation of a robust judiciary in India.

Of the 21 accused initially charged with the murders, only 17-faced trial in the Mumbai court. The court has issued non-bailable warrants against the remaining four. The prosecution case was that the accused were part of the mob of 1,200 that targeted the only Muslim family in the Hanuman Tekri locality during the Gujarat communal carnage — that of the late Habibullah Khan, Zahira’s father, who owned Best Bakery.

Judge Abhay Thipsay who conducted the retrial in the Best Bakery carnage on the Supreme Court orders delivered the verdict. Altogether 17 accused were facing charges of rioting and murder of 14 people who had taken refuge in the Best Bakery on Hanuman Tekdi on March one, 2002.

Zaheera Shaikh, prime witness in the case, had moved the Supreme Court alleging that all the 21 accused in the case had been acquitted by the trial court in Gujarat, as she had turned hostile because of threats issued to her. The apex Court, on April 12, 2004, asked a Mumbai court to conduct the retrial so that the accused were given a fair trial outside Gujarat and the witnesses deposed without any fear.

It is indeed victory for those who oppose communalism and bloodshed. And, Teesta Setalvad is one-woman army against the all-powerful state. She has shown some exemplary courage for the victims of Gujarat carnage.

A few months after Gujarat burned, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with chief minister Narendra Modi in tow, visited the relief camps of Ahmedabad. As Kalam moved around, meeting victims of brutality, a burka-clad woman walked up to him and gently handed him a copy of the March 2002 issue of the Mumbai-based journal, Communalism Combat.

Bird Flue; Panic Slaughters the Poultry Industry

India's first confirmed cases of the 'bird flu' surfaced in western Maharashtra state, catching authorities unprepared and causing immense panic among the people. The outbreak opened a new bird flu front in Asia, exposing a human population of 1.1 billion to possible infection and threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of poultry workers. The Indian poultry industry could suffer badly if the virus spreads as India exports about $84.4-million-worth of poultry and eggs annually, mostly eggs and egg powder to Europe, Japan and the Middle East.

Ever since, some 40,000 chickens have died on poultry farms in Nandurbar district, a tribal area in Maharashtra, 460 km from this city, the provincial capital. There are 60 poultry farms in the region. Poultry farm owners in the region believe they will suffer losses worth at least five million dollars as domestic poultry prices fell up to 40 per cent and were likely to remain depressed for a couple of weeks.

While farmers are to be compensated at between Rs 20 and Rs 40 (seven- 14 US cents) per chicken -- a gross underestimate of the cost which should be around 70 cents if feed, vaccine and other inputs are included, no compensation however was announced for the thousands of workers rendered jobless as farms are shut down.

Further media reports indicate that World Health Organisation (WHO) precautions for slaughter and disposal of poultry are not being followed. Reporters witnessed birds being slaughtered and disposed of without basic protection to workers or the environment.

India's poultry industry has contested the government's announcement that birds died of avian flu and has turned to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar of the National Congress Party (NCP) for support. Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) and Venkateshwara Hatcheries, which supplies 75 percent of chicks sold to farmers in India, argues that the birds died of ‘Ranikhet' (Newcastle) disease because of poor farm practices. Unlike H5N1, Ranikhet disease does not affect humans. India is the second largest egg producer and the fifth largest broiler producer in the world, according to NECC, employing more than three million people, mostly in the rural areas.

At least 11 countries have reported bird flu outbreaks over the past three weeks, an indication the deadly virus is spreading faster. So far, these outbreaks have resulted in the deaths of more than 1.5 million farm birds, through disease or through culling for outbreak control. Despite these measures, bird flu is now considered endemic (not eradicated, and occurring routinely) in some parts of South-east Asia. It has also been found among migratory birds.

As of Feb. 13, 2006, the WHO recorded 170 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection, and 92 deaths. The most recent death was in Iraq on Feb. 17, 2006. At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, according to the Geneva-based WHO.

Pakistan Signs SAFTA, but no Schedule to Implement it

IN early February Pakistani government at long last has approved a regional pact to promote free trade and economic ties in South Asia, home to nearly one-fifth of the world's population. Free trade is expected to boost economic activity and growth in a region that is home to about 1.5 billion people, of whom 400 million live on less than a dollar a day. The ratification of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement is a "very important decision". It is, however, not clear when Pakistan would begin implementing it. Under the pact, SAARC's developing states - Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka - will cut tariffs to between zero and five percent within seven years. Agreed in 2004, it is due to come into force by July 2006.

Its least developed countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives - have 10 years to complete the process, though all members can maintain a list of sensitive products on which tariffs will not be reduced. The trade pact was first mooted in 1995 by the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an economic grouping formed to reduce poverty, promote trade and fight terrorism.

Although a preferential trade treaty has been in place for a decade, trading within SAARC accounts for less than five percent of the members' total global trade mainly due to differences between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir. Ties between India and Pakistan have improved since they launched peace talks two years ago. Pakistan would grant ‘most favoured nation’ trading status to India only after progress is made on the Kashmir dispute.   The government has ratified the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement to avoid double taxation and mutual administrative assistance in tax matters.

Agents of Peace

FOR three days, [February 11- 13] senior journalists that gathered at Hyderabad, India deliberated the role of media as peacemaker. They finally   urged their colleagues to promote harmony and peace in South Asia.  There has been too much of violence in the last five decades or so in which thousands of lives have been lost. South Asian media can effectively contribute towards promoting peace in the region by minimising negative trends for larger benefits of the one fifth of mankind living in the area. The very language has to change if we want to promote peace and accord.

This high-profile media conference under the aegis of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) stressed that media -- both print and electronic -- can play a catalytic role in this direction and the task of local language media in particular is enormous with large number of subscribers in all the countries of the region.

The South Asian Media Conference, the fifth in sequence since the inception of the SAFMA dwelt on various issues at stake and agreed to take forward the caravan of peace despite limitations to the avowed objective of a harmonious South Asian environment. The was attended by more than 150 editors and senior journalists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Afghanistan.

Indian Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rajsekhar Reddy were on the inaugural day.

Dr. Bhaskara Rao of India, Md Ziauddin of Pakistan, Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury of Bangladesh, Narayan Wagle of Nepal and Sunanda Deshpriy of Sri Lanka presented keynote papers. The theme of all the papers presented was broadly the role of media and especially the language ones in shaping the society and affairs on both national and regional scale. The proceedings were interesting as public men of different hues like Indian Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, who earlier held the information portfolio, former information minister RM Prasad of the previous BJP-led NDA government, Andhra Pradesh Public Information Minister Md Ali Shabber and former state chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed similar views with different approach.

Senior journalists like former editor of several leading dailies George Verghese, Chief Editor of the Hindu N Ram, and Ramji Rao of the Ennadu Group of Publications spoke about media responsibility in building up a peace movement. They dwelt at the need for a better South Asian political climate and the media's role in creating a happy and healthy region.

India, France Sign Civilian N-energy Deal

Energy-hungry India and France took their friendship a step closer last week signing a host of agreements including civilian nuclear co-operation for peaceful purposes and defence cooperation during French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to the New Delhi.

The nuclear agreement means that France will support India's attempts to gain access to nuclear fuel and civilian technology for its growing energy needs.

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and French Foreign Minister Pilippe Douste Blazy in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Chirac signed an important deal on nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

France hopes to strike key defence deals with India, which is in the market for 126 new warplanes, a purchase worth billions of dollars. A deal for the supply of 43 Airbus commercial aircraft to state-run Indian airlines was also signed during the visit in a deal estimated at $2.5 billon. Trade between the two countries is limited to $2.99 billion according to the Confederation of Indian Industry and both sides are hoping to expand it.

The visit comes at a particularly delicate time as France recalled a decommissioned warship heading for a ship-breaking yard in India, following environmental concerns.