Issue 61 Vol III, April 15, 2008

C O M M E N T

Valley is Drinking and Happy
Ajmer Alam Wani

WITH the sharp fall in violence in Jammu and Kashmir, consumption of alcohol has started picking up fast. On orders from separatist militant groups after the outbreak of violence in the late 1980s aimed at driving India out of the region liquor shops and cinemas were the first to close down. But now the liquor traders are back in business.

Kashmir Valley's first liquor shop was opened on the boulevard along Dal Lake in the summer capital, Srinagar two and a half years ago. Last month, Valley got its fifth shop in the southern district of Anantnag. When first outlet opened, activists of a militant women's group, Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) ransacked it and local residents pledged support to their campaign. But a look at the sales suggests that could not deter the public from drinking.

Between April 2007 and February 2008, more than 1.2 Million bottles of IMFL (Indian-Made Foreign Liquor) and Beer were sold in the Valley. Excise Department is now processing many more applications for licenses to open liquor shops. At any liquor shop in Srinagar, several people could be seen lining up to buy their daily tipple. But the shopkeeper and a dozen others, including some customers, would not allow photo journalists to take their pictures.

Traditionally the liquor trade was mostly in the hands of non-Muslims but as most of them were forced to flee the Valley in the wake of the armed conflict, the shops that have now re-opened are being run mostly by Muslims. It takes immense courage to run a liquor shop. Almost all the people who buy liquor from these shops were Kashmiris. But the buyers are discreet and it is obvious they do not want to attract any attention.

Being predominantly Muslim, Kashmiri society, has always frowned upon consumption of alcohol and the easy availability of alcohol has not gone down well with many. According to locals, even schoolchildren have started coming to these shops. It is causing havoc. Psychiatrists say that the easy availability of liquor could create a problem with alcoholism in a society where many people have been traumatised by violence and which is also undergoing the strains of urbanisation and growing materialism.

A survey conducted two years ago revealed that about 17 per cent of people, aged between 18 to 35 years had taken opiates at some point. Such people could easily turn to alcohol. They can straightaway step into a shop and buy a drink without any fear of the police. This will promote alcoholism. Many want restrictions on the availability of liquor.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir State has been keen to re-open the liquor shops for two reasons - one, they are considered a sign that normalcy is returning to the Valley. Second, the authorities say this will boost tourism. But Houseboat Owners' Association says that tourism can do without liquor. Tourists come to see the beauty of Kashmir not to booze. Is that  true.

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Pakistan Sits on a Volcano

INFLATION is the real headache for the new national coalition government in Pakistan. Rising process of food and its shortage stare in the eye of an agriculturally dominated Pakistan this year. Food would be scarce and its prices prohibitive for at least for half of Pakistanis; 80 million people. Slowing economy and flawed deficit budget are the hard task before the new national consensus government. These are as serious as militancy and rabid religious d fundamentalism or corruption.

According to World Food Programme, nearly half of Pakistan’s 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices. The WFP survey covering the year to March showed the number of people deemed “food insecure” had risen 28 per cent to 77 million from 60 million in the previous year.

The WFP estimates that anyone consuming less than 2,350 calories per day is below the food security line. Food prices rose at least 35 per cent in the past year compared with an 18 per cent rise in minimum wages. There is a very big gap between the increase in prices and increase in wages. The purchasing power of the poor has gone down by almost 50 per cent. These latest  findings comes a week after the World Bank urged Pakistan to make rapid adjustments and reforms to avert an economic crisis as it reels from the impact of high global prices for petroleum and food.

The price of wheat flour in January was between 24-25 rupees per kg in three of Pakistan’s four provinces, compared with 15 rupees per kg in January 2007. Prices have since moderated to around 17 rupees but are expected to shoot up 40 per cent or more in the coming months.

Pakistan though grows w quality rice, much of it for export; it is basically a wheat consuming nation. Wheat flour is used to make roti and naan, the flat unleavened breads that are the central component of the Pakistani diet. It consumes about 22 million tonnes of wheat a year.

Prices for rice, vegetables and cooking oil have also risen sharply, and the economic hardships faced by ordinary people played a big part in an election in February that resulted in President Pervez Musharraf’s political allies being thrown out of government.

The new coalition government, which took power last month, raised the support price it pays farmers to buy wheat to ensure adequate supplies, but this would like in neighboring India would result in sharply higher flour prices in months ahead.

The consumer price index, a key indicator of inflation, rose 11.25 per cent in February from a year ago, mainly due to food prices. Due to subsidies for food and fuel, the government is saddled with a widening fiscal deficit. Wanting to alleviate the hardship of the poor, the new government faces some painful.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the government will change its foreign investment policy to discourage temporary investments meant to generate quick profits and take back investments. Dar said the government would have to take some painful measures to avoid any financial disaster in the future, adding that only the rich would feel the brunt of these measures. "The coalition government will change monetary and fiscal policies to eradicate poverty," he added. He said the pro-rich policies implemented by the previous government had marginalised the poor and the food inflation had changed the basic poverty parameters.

One US dollar could buy seven kg of flour in 1999 and one dollar income per day then rightly defined the poverty line. 16 million more people had been pushed below the poverty line after 1999.

The purchasing power of a dollar has declined drastically since then. One dollar is just enough to buy three kg of flour that genuine evaluation revealed that anybody earning less than $3 per day was living below the poverty line. The previous government's claim that poverty has been reduced from 34 to 23.5 percent is misleading because it used the parameter of one dollar per day. The previous government had spent lavishly on non-development projects.

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India’s poor human rights record
Micky Sharma
HUMAN Rights Watch wants India to improve its human right record. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch concedes, “India is a vibrant electoral democracy yet with an abysmal human rights record.” While Human Rights Watch welcomes the government’s efforts to properly train its security forces and other officials, human rights violations remain rampant. Security forces in India continue to be responsible for grave human rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Manipur. Serious abuses are being committed in the many states where there is a violent campaign by Maoist “Naxalite” groups. Further, the government is ignoring the crime of forced disappearances from past conflicts in Punjab and Nagaland.

Extrajudicial executions, often disguised as encounters with armed criminals, have become the norm and are widely reported in Indian media. Torture and arbitrary detentions continue, not just in insurgency-affected areas, but also in most police stations in the country. Yet India continues to provide effective immunity from prosecution to its security forces and other public officials. When investigations are started, they are often blocked. The army and other special forces, in particular, remain almost completely above the law.

Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council  to demand that India remove all immunity clauses in Indian law, such as that in section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code. India should also accept the recommendation of various government-appointed experts and repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which has allowed widespread human rights violations by security forces with impunity.

“India likes to tell the world that it has a world class legal system that allows it to solve its own problems, but the reality on the ground is far different,” said Adams. “Killers and torturers in the army and police do their work with official protection, degrading the law and taking the shine off of India’s claim to be an emerging world leader. Now is the time to repeal antiquated laws that protect abusers.”

In its submission for the UPR, India claimed that it has “embarked on a programme of affirmative action which is, perhaps, without parallel in scale and dimension in human history.” The policies are intended to end discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and provide quotas in jobs, education and political representation. India cited policy initiatives and legislation, including the recent Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, which recognizes customary land rights of these communities.

These efforts are welcome and the necessary foundation for reform. However, India has failed to effectively implement these policies and laws. Dalits, tribals and other so-called backward classes continue to suffer severe discrimination, exploitation and violence. They are routinely denied access to land, water and shelter, forced to work in degrading conditions, and abused at the hands of the police and private actors belonging to so-called higher caste groups. These vulnerable groups also have unequal access to services, employment opportunities, justice mechanisms, and development programs. Protection for Dalits, tribals and other groups is limited because officials and police responsible for abuses or failing to discharge their duties to protect vulnerable persons routinely go unpunished.

India has repeatedly refused to substantively engage with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, disputing its claim that discrimination on the ground of caste is fully covered by the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

“In its report to the Human Rights Council, India has cited numerous laws and policies to protect human rights,” said Adams. “But as victims, lawyers and activists in India tell us every day, human rights abuses are rampant in India because there is little will in the government to properly implement these laws. these are fine words on paper, those facing ‘faked encounter killings’ or ‘dowry deaths’ need effective action.”

While India cites secularism as the fundamental tenet of its constitution and touts policies and institutions established for the protection of minority rights, including the National Commission for Minorities, religious minorities continue to face discrimination, particularly in access to housing and employment and to suffer violent attacks from Hindu militant groups. For example, in December 2007 hundreds of churches and Christian homes were destroyed in attacks by Hindu militants in Orissa state in eastern India. The Indian government has yet to hold perpetrators accountable for riots in which Muslims came under attack from Hindu mobs. It has failed to implement the Srikrishna Commission recommendations on the 1992-93 communal riots in Mumbai. The commission proposed action against police responsible for instigating or participating in the violence. The government has taken little action to address the 2002 attacks on Muslims in Gujarat. The violence started after 59 People died when a train carriage carrying Hindus caught fire during a Muslim mob attack. In a retaliatory spree led by Hindu militant groups, hundreds of Muslims were slaughtered, tens of thousands were displaced, and their property was destroyed. In March 2008, the Supreme Court directed the Gujarat government to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to further probe 14 cases from the 2002 riots. The court has said: “If in the name of religion, people are liquidated it is essentially a slur and blot on society governed by the Constitution of India which in its Preamble refers to secularism.”

Human Rights Watch also called on the HRC to press India to strengthen its official human rights mechanisms. The Indian government often refers to a number of “Ombudsman type institutions,” particularly the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), that it says ensures the protection of human rights. However, these institutions are weak, under-staffed, and often ignored. The national and state governments often do not act upon the findings and recommendations of these bodies.

The NHRC itself has complained about restrictions that prevent the commission from performing a meaningful role in addressing impunity. Under section 19 of the Human Rights Protection Act, when the NHRC receives a complaint of a human rights violation by the armed forces, it cannot independently investigate the case but can only seek a report from the central government and make recommendations. The state human rights commissions are invariably poorly funded and stacked with political appointees, making them ineffective in addressing ongoing human rights violations.

India also urgently needs to reform its policing systems. Junior police officials operate in abysmal working conditions, which make it more likely that they will succumb to corruption and brutality. Senior officers, on the other hand, complain of improper interference from politicians. There is an urgent need for proper training in criminal investigations and access to forensic tools for evidence gathering, which will decrease the pervasive culture of torture and mistreatment during interrogation to obtain forced confessions.

India is yet to ratify the Convention against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Human Rights Watch welcomed the fact that India has signed the Convention on Enforced Disappearances and looks forward to its prompt ratification, but urged the government to take concrete measure to effectively address allegations of widespread disappearances in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir.

“As the world’s largest democracy, India should set the standard for the Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council,” said Adams. “India must make credible commitments to uphold its constitutional and international obligations and provide justice to those who continue to suffer human rights abuse.”

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Sri Lanka: Unrelenting Violence continues
Micky Sharma
Colombo: Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, 55, chief whip of the ruling United People’s Freedom Party and considered by many as potential Prime Minister-in-waiting, was about to wave a flag to start a marathon when a bomb went off at the western district of Grampaha, about 25 kms from here. Fernandopulle, who held the Highways portfolio and was a vocal critic of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died of injuries sustained in the blast at a hospital, officials said.

Blood and mangled body parts were strewn around as people ran screaming and running through the bloodied path after the powerful explosion went off near the minister. Considered as one of the prime targets of the LTTE, Fernandopulle is the second top minister to be killed by the rebels after D.M. Dassanayake, minister for nation building, who died in a bomb blast in the same district on January 8, within days of the government scrapping a tattered ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers.

The incident blamed by the government on the Tamil Tigers occurred at the Kanthi playground in Weliveriya town of the district during a marathon organised as part of Sri Lanka's traditional New Year celebrations Officials said 13 others, including former Olympic marathoner K.A. Karunaratne and national athletic coach Lakshman de Alwis, were also killed in the suicide blast.

Over 100 people, including Grampaha police senior superintendent Hector Darmasiri, were seriously injured in the blast and rushed to a local hospital, the Defence Ministry said. Condemning the attack as a “cowardly” act of the LTTE, President Mahinda Rajapaksa appealed for calm.

“There was a sound of huge explosion and I saw a fireball,” said Nishan Priyantha, a local journalist who stood few yards from the blast but escaped unhurt. Television footage showed chaotic images of screaming people running through the bloodied streets. “I saw the minister’s body. It had been torn into pieces below the waist and there were other bodies without heads and legs,” Priyantha said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a statement, “This dastardly act will not weaken our resolve to eradicate terrorism from our midst, and bring peace, harmony and democracy to all our people,” he said in a statement. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer calls seeking comment. The Tamil Tigers, listed as a terror group by the United States and European Union, routinely deny responsibility for such attacks.

The military has promised to crush the rebels by the end of the year, but diplomats and other observers say the Army is facing more resistance than it expected. The Tamil Tigers have fought since 1983 for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, marginalised for decades by successive governments run by majority ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

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