Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

THE death of Jyoti Basu, a towering communist leader and the longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal has saddened the Sikhs residing in Kolkata. The community leaders remember him as saviour for not letting the Congress party led goons murder the Sikhs during the 1984 pogrom. The violence against the Sikhs broke out in provinces ruled by the Congress party following the assassination of the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

While New Delhi, the national capital and other parts of India witnessed large scale mass murders of the Sikhs, Basu had ensured that the minority community was protected in his territory.

``He had not only placed Kolkata under curfew, but his party supporters were seen patrolling the Sikh dominated areas to prevent violence'', remembers Surjit Singh Walia, who lives in Dunlop area.

Walia, a community activist remembers how the mob had tried to attack him. He was able to escape.

The leader of the Sikh coordination committee, Bachan Singh Saral, who spearheaded the campaign for justice for the Sikhs who were murdered during the violence, says that only 10 lives were lost in West Bengal compared to several thousands in New Delhi. ``The Sikhs were grateful to Basu and always stood behind his government like a rock.’’ He remembers that the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamta Banerjee who was in the Congress Party back then had incited the mob. He was however critical of the West Bengal government for not presenting the case of the Sikhs affected by the violence in the province properly because of which they did not get compensation from the central government.

Sohan Singh Aittiana, a staunch communist supporter in Kolkatta says that the Sikhs have supported Basu since 1984. ``It can be described as his legacy. Its a separate matter that many Sikhs of the new generation have also started identifying themselves with other parties''.

Hardev Singh Grewal, the editor of Navin Parbhat, a Punjabi daily of Kolkata says that Basu will always be admired and missed by the Sikh community. ``Due to his strong political will to protect our community, there was no mass exodus of the Sikhs from West Bengal’’.

Sarabjit Singh Sohal, a Singh Sabha leader from Chandigarh feels the same. ``Basu was a true communist, who according to his party’s secular ideology did not allow the Hindu fundamentalists shed the blood of the Sikhs’’.

We felt safe under his rule’

He placed Kolkata under curfew and his party supporters patrolled Sikh-dominated areas to prevent violence, writes Gurpreet Singh from Vancouver

AS the news of Jyoti Basu’s death spread, Comrade Sohan Singh Aittiana received an angry call. The caller was upset that he was not made part of the Sikh delegation that visited the leader a few days before he passed away. Jyoti Basu was undergoing treatment at the city’s AMRI Hospital then, and the delegation had called on him to wish him speedy recovery. Aittiana, who is associated with the CPI(M) and is a well-connected transporter in Kolkata, led the delegation.

The caller’s anger reflected the affection and popularity that Jyoti Basu had among Sikhs living in West Bengal. The community’s leaders remember him as a saviour, who did not let Congress-led goons murder them during the 1984 pogrom.

Violence broke out in States ruled by the Congress following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Indira Gandhi was murdered by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, who were seeking revenge for the controversial Operation Blue Star, which was launched to flush out extremists who had fortified the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhs, under the command of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Jyoti Basu, who was in Delhi then, sensed the danger to the Sikh community and rushed to West Bengal to ensure their safety. While Delhi and other parts of India witnessed large-scale murder of Sikhs, he was determined to protect the community in his State.

“He placed Kolkata under curfew, and his party supporters were seen patrolling Sikh-dominated areas to prevent violence,” said Aittiana, adding that Sikhs have always supported Jyoti Basu and his party since then. “It can be described as his legacy. It is a different matter that many Sikhs of the new generation have started identifying themselves with other parties.”

Another Sikh from Kolkata, Surjit Singh Walia, recalled those days when he narrowly escaped a mob attack. “I temporarily migrated to Punjab out of fear. But Basu’s determination brought me back. We always felt safe during his rule,” he said. The curfew and the patrolling by CPI(M) cadres prevented any major devastation except for a few incidents of stone throwing and vandalism. Ten deaths were reported in the State.

“Compared with several thousands in New Delhi, only a few lives were lost in West Bengal,” said Bachan Singh Saral, the leader of the Sikh coordination committee who spearheaded the campaign for justice for the Sikhs murdered during the violence. “The Sikhs were indebted to Basu and they always stood behind his government.”

Akhtiar Singh, former president of the Komagata Marup Shaheed Ganj Gurdwara at Bajbaj near Kolkata, recalled that some Congress workers had tried to engineer violence but Jyoti Basu’s government controlled the situation swiftly. “The new generation Sikhs have not seen what we were through.”

Hardev Singh Grewal, the editor of Navin Parbhat, a Punjabi daily published from Kolkata, said that Jyoti Basu would always be admired and missed by the Sikh community. “Owing to his strong will to protect our community, there was no mass exodus of Sikhs from West Bengal.”

Significantly, the Punjab government declared a holiday to mourn the death of the veteran Communist leader. The Sikhs in Kolkata, who are mainly in the transport business, have roots in the Malwa region of Punjab. A senior Akali leader from Punjab, Kuldeep Singh Wadala, remembers Jyoti Basu as a trusted ally in the Akali agitations, including the one for a Punjabi-speaking State and the protest against the Emergency. Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal travelled to Kolkata to pay his last respects to Jyoti Basu and wrote for The Tribune a piece praising the deceased leader.

Ironically, about 300 communists were murdered in Punjab by the pro-Khalistan separatists in terror incidents. Lakhvir Singh, who drove this writer to different parts of Kolkata, had a big sticker of Bhindranwale pasted on the rear window of his car. Despite this glaring contradiction, he acknowledged the position of Jyoti Basu during 1984. “The Sikhs will always remember him as a saviour,” he said.

Gurpreet Singh is with Radio India Vancouver. He worked with Indian Express and The Tribune before emigrating to Canada in 2001. He was travelling in West Bengal when Jyoti Basu was under treatment.

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Jyoti Basu remembered in Surrey

Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

THE late Marxist leader and the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Comrade Jyoti Basu was remembered at a function organized by the Indo Canadian Workers’ Association (ICWA) in partnership with Radio India at the Surrey’s Strawberry Hill Public Library. Although the event was originally scheduled to release a calendar dedicated to the centenary of the Swadesh Sewak, the first Punjabi newspaper to be launched in Canada in 1910, but it was turned into a condolence meeting in the memory of Basu, who passed away on January 17.

A moment of silence was observed for the deceased leader, while speakers paid tributes to Basu. Cutting across ideological differences, the supporters of the warring factions of Basu’s party, the CPI(M) showed up at the event. Whereas, the ICWA is an offshoot of the CPI(M), the local leader of the rebel faction, Harkewal Dhaliwal joined the mourners.

The ICWA President, Surinder Sangha threw light on the contributions of Basu to the land reforms and the progressive politics of India, while Kulwant Dhesi, another ICWA leader described Basu as a soldier of secularism, who stood like a rock against communalism. The Consulate General of India in Vancouver, Ashok Das also paid tributes to Basu and highlighted the contribution of the left movement in shaping the secularism and democracy in India.

The Communist Party of Canada leader, Harjit Daudhria also addressed the gathering, whereas, the Liberal Party candidate from Surrey North, Shinder Purewal also spoke on the occasion. The leader of the group of the descendants of the Komagata Maru passengers, Jaswinder Toor described Basu as a saviour of the Sikhs for protecting the community during the 1984 anti Sikh violence. Three moderate Sikh leaders, Giani Harkirat Singh, Preet Sandhu and Sadhu Singh Samra also acknowledged this. Among the intellectuals, who spoke on the occasion were Dr. Darshan Gill, Sadhu Binning and Sohan Pooni. Besides, only female speaker, Harjit Dhillon also addressed the gathering.

While Manjit Dhillon recited a poem, a video of a song written by Javed Akhtar and sung by Jagjit Singh as a tribute to Basu was also played. The portrait of Basu which was prepared by Sheetal Anmol was also displayed at the venue of the event. Anmol has also prepared the portrait of Babu Harnam Singh on the calendar that was later released by Bakshish Singh, the son of Dhanna Singh, a martyr of the Babbar Akali movement.

This is the third year in a row that both the ICWA and Radio India have together released a calendar dedicated to the freedom struggle of India and the history of resistance against racism and discrimination by the Indian pioneers in Canada. This year's calendar is dedicated to the centenary of Swadesh Sewak, a revolutionary newspaper that was launched by Babu Harnam Singh and Guran Ditta Kumar on January 10, 1910. Since Kumar’s picture is not available only the portrait of Harnam Singh was prepared for the calendar.

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The State of Ambedkar's Republic of India @ 60

Bal Anand

IT happened a decade after Independence. I was a student of 7th grade in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial National School-the name had been changed to mark Independence, from much simpler, Public High School, by the Congress Party activists of the small market town of Ahmedgarh, 20 Km from Ludhiana. One pleasant February evening, I was both intrigued and delighted when my father introduced me to the the new decimal coins- Naye (i.e. new) Paise, in denominations of one, two, five, ten, twenty-five and fifty, which he had received with a small sum of Muaffi (i.e. revenue) reimbursement from the Government treasury of Tehsil town of Sunam. While the virtues of the concept of the decimal system took much more time to sink in, the brand new shining coins, with the Sarnath Lions as emblem, surely reinforced in my consciousness that the freedom of the country has been further consolidated. The republic of India had truly arrived! Bollywood songs proclaimed, as they do today, the march of the nation - Badla Zamana, Bhai, badla zamana; Chhe Naye Paison ka, purana ek Aanna! It was after more than seven years that coins with with image of the British monarch were officially withdrawn from circulation.

School Books of Mathematics took their own sweeter time to introduce decimal measurements, replacing calculations using 1 Rupee =16 Aannas and 1 Aana = 4 Paise = 12 Payees! The old 1 Rupee coin, with silver content, given to me by relations as 'shagun' on my birth 13 years ago; preserved in the family, I was then told, had come to fetch 14 new Rupees!

Time, conveniently or intuitively reckoned in decades; in personal lives or historic context, has indeed been witnessing a constant revaluation and devaluation of not only of all money, metals, materials but prominent people and other livings species too. It took more than four decades for the ruling elite in India to put Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar on a pedestal where he truly belongs, i.e. as the Architect-in-Chief of of the Constitution of the Republic of India and the foremost original thinker on the totality of the complex heritage and challenging future of India as a modern democratic state. He is now not only the 'reincarnation' of Lord Buddha for the mythologists of 'Dalitology'. The vote bank ideologues of all hues of India's political spectrum, from Saffronite Hinduttava, the Grand Old Party with the patent of Tricolor, various fringes of Red - all would seem to have discovered their comfort level in hailing the 'Untouchable' Doctor as a great modern day law giver ('Manu'); a visionary social reformer; a revolutionary thinker etc. Hounded during his life, denying him any political space, all parties would now seem to be competing to exploit the legacy of 'Bharat Ratna, 1991' in their own terms. The social and economic emancipation of his people, alas, still awaits! Betrayals, by manipulators from the ranks of even Dalits, continues.

As for the noble document of the Constitution of the Republic, the wise Doctor was at great pains to emphasise over and over again that ultimately even the best of system would depend on the quality, character and commitment of those entrusted to run the levers of power of governance. The Parts 3 and 4 pertaining to Fundamental Rights & Directive Principles have been characterised as the 'conscience' of the Constitution and it has been here that the leadership of the country has miserably failed to deliver. The high ideals of equality before law, freedom to profess any religion, access to education and social welfare, improving public health and raising level of nutrition and standard of living have been grossly neglected. India ranks lowly 134 in the Human Development Index of nations, with a staggering 46% of children in the under 5 age group malnourished! Meanwhile ,the number of MP's with declared assets in Crores has increased from 156 in 2004 to 315 in 2009; further, the number of MPs with criminal cases against them rose fom 128 to 150, and 73 (i.e. 15 %) with serious crimes, during the same period. The mystery of sacks full of currency notes emptied on the floor of the Parliament during the No-Confidence Debate on July 22nd, 2008, proven cases of MP's in scandals of 'Cash for Questions'; direct involvement in immigration rackets and crimes all kinds would make the Father of the Nation and the founding fathers turn in their graves! The Rajya Sabha, Upper House of Elders, has its own horror tales with 'cash & carry' ticket of membership to the rich, and resourceful looters. The live telecast of the sessions - when Parliament is allowed to function for brief intervals by the rowdies - present a pathetic spectacle! Most of members regularly play truant like spoiled school children and most significant bills are passed without a word of debate. What a privilege and soulful opportunity it was for me to gain entry into the sacred precincts of the Parliament House on 22 March, 1971 - and listen to Comrade AK Gopalan belabouring Finance Minister YB Chavan with the refrain in speech - 'treat thy self, Dr Chavan!'

The Indian Constitution, the lengthiest in the in the world, has been amended 94 times up-til now. To quote Ronojoy Sen, "India's astonishing religious and ethnic diversity, caste inequalities and widespread illiteracy and poverty demanded unique provisions...a remarkably forward looking document that enshrined individual liberty, equality of opportunity, social justice and secularism." The 86th amendment in 2002 making free and compulsory education for children from age six to 14 a fundamental right, followed by Right to Free and Compulsory Act 2009; Right to Information Act 2005; National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 have been cited as examples of peoples movements on constitutional rights. The renowned constitutional expert Fali S Nariman underlines, "... we cannot work any system unless we re-inject some degree of idealism and morality into politics." Azim Premji of Wipro says, "All the wealth we generate is meaningless unless we have corruption free good governance...Inclusive growth and social justice is outcome of good governance." The eminent author on the Indian constitution, Granville Austin, points out that successive governments, nationally and in states have fallen short of living up to the values of the Preamble, and the fundamental rights and Directive Principles. This has allowed lower castes to remain in poverty and under oppression by upper caste politicians. The crusader for rights of the marginalised people, Medha Patkar, says that, "state has progressively sabotaged the basic values of our constitution." The 11 member National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution with former Chief Justice MN Venkatachaliah appointed by the NDA Government in February 2000 submitted its report in March 2002, "taking care to steer clear of the controversial issues." The 249 recommendations of the commission failed to generate much debate and was confined to oblivion by the successor UPA Government.

The period of the last two decades of the liberalisation of the economy with impressive GDP growth has also witnessed the shrinking of the role of state in the crucial sectors of social development. The gross commercialisation, particularly of education and health, is indeed unwise and worrisome. The slogan of 'public -private partnership ' is viewed by many as, 'a partnership for private profit.' A sound and inexpensive system of education within the easy reach of the vast number of the deprived sections of society would be the key to the realisation of high aspirations of the nation, instead of cutting into more and more pieces of quotas and reservations. Ambedkar's people continue to face discrimination and oppression, taking new forms and atrocities against them, have seen a steep rise across the country. The birth centenary of Ambedkar in 1991 indeed inspired many to be determined to resist any manifestations of prejudice and discrimination against them by the upper caste in the rural interior. The triumph of Dalit leader Mayavati in the largest state of the country, inspite the negative media reports, has instilled new confidence and pride among Dalits in not taking things lying down. A radical and thoughtful agenda to transform their their social and economic conditions, however, still awaits.

So much is being said and written about the most pervasive emergence of 'Parivaarvaad' , 'Paisavaad' and 'Pehalvaanvaad' i.e. family and dynasty, money and muscle power in politics, sapping the vitaliy of democratic values. The extremist elements with domestic roots and the cross border terrorism pose serious and complex threats to the security of the nation - they have to be met resolutely. The centre-State relations would require to be managed in a more even handed manner, above the narrow party lines.

The 61st Anniversary of the Republic of India deserves to be re-dedicated to the serious revaluation of the works of Dr. BR Ambedkar, the most scholarly and most bruised titan of the freedom struggle of the country who always thought ahead of time. A firm believer in democracy as a real way of life and citizens rights, he could very well visualise all the evils the democratic practice in India could be heir to. He sounded stern warnings, "To have popular government run by a single party is to let the democracy become a mere form for despotism...Despotism does not cease to be despotism because it is elective. The real guarantee against despotism is to confront it with the possibilty of its dethronement." Let the many splendored life of Ambedkar inpire us all - the Indians for whose brighter future he gave his all.

It would be a sheer pity for India if a giant of the universal ideas of Ambedkar were dwarfed to belong only to his caste!

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Sri Lanka: Media face uncertainties in the run-up to elections

Adithya Alles

THE string of events involving the Sri Lankan press over the past week has once again brought the embattled Fourth Estate into the limelight. This comes into sharp focus as the country eagerly awaits the upcoming presidential elections. On Jan. 8, the media community held vigils to commemorate the first death anniversary of pioneering editor Lasantha Wickremathunge, killed by still unidentified assassins in 2009.

Four days later, on Tuesday, Dayaselle Liynagee, a senior reporter at the Lankadeepa, one of the country’s widely circulated, privately owned vernacular newspapers, resigned, reportedly under pressure from some political forces over a controversial report she wrote.

Then on Jan. 13, two journalists at ‘The Sunday Leader’ reported getting mailed death threats, after which the weekly newspaper’s premises were searched by police. On this day, too, albeit on a positive note, Jayaprakash Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist, incarcerated since March 2008, was released on bail. He had been found guilty of endangering national security and sentenced to 20 years in jail in August 2009.

If the Tissainayagam bailout was cause to celebrate, the other incidents were not.

"Justice has been served, after so long," Sunil Jayasekera of the Free Media Movement, a national media rights body, told IPS. The Tissainayagam case had gained international attention, as he was the first journalist to be tried under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The PTA provides wide powers to law enforcements officers to detain and question suspects without charges. It was enacted to curb activities by Tamil separatists, but rights groups have continuously charged that its draconian provisions are prone to abuse.

"It was the first time that the PTA had been used to try someone on what he had expressed," Jayasekera said. "It was a really dangerous precedent." Amnesty International (AI), which has been agitating against the conviction, also welcomed the release.

"We are thrilled that Tissa is finally free to rejoin his family, but he should have never been jailed in the first place," Yolanda Foster, the human rights lobby group’s Sri Lanka researcher, said in a statement. "His sentence was a gross miscarriage of justice and a violation of his human rights."

AI has urged the Sri Lankan government to squash the conviction all together.

Tissainayagam’s lawyer expressed confidence that a pending appeal against his conviction would be decided in his client’s favour. "He left prison with his moral strengthened. And as we have good grounds for the appeal, I am fairly optimistic," counsel Mathiyabaranam Sumanthiran told the media rights group ‘Reporters Without Borders’ soon after Tissainayagam’s release.

Investigation into the murder of Wickremathunge, the editor of The ‘Sunday Leader’ who was shot while on his way to work, has not progressed beyond the recovery of his mobile phone and the arrest of the man who had it. It had gone missing after the editor was brought to a hospital with fatal head injuries.

"After a 10-month investigation, the case was transferred to the criminal investigation department, but since then they have not taken any serious statements," Lal Wickremathunge, the brother of the slain editor who assumed the leadership of the newspaper, said on the murder anniversary.

"They called me once, but not again. The examination of the case before the courts has been postponed 24 times. Each time, the police said they did not have enough evidence. And the only eye witness has been missing for months," he recounted.

‘The Sunday Leader’, on the other hand, generated controversy following publication last Dec. 13 of an interview with the opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, alleging that he heard reports of top government officials giving orders to shoot senior members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam trying to surrender during the last phase of the war.

The Tigers were defeated in May last year. Fonseka, as commander of the Army, was credited with leading it to victory along with the President in his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces.

The opposition presidential candidate, who had since fallen out with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, denied the newspaper report, which created a political furore in the run-up to what is dubbed the closest presidential contest in Sri Lanka’s history.

Following police search of ‘The Sunday Leader’ premises on Wednesday, police officials said that they had received information that political posters were being printed at the press. None were found during the search. Liyangee’s resignation was widely believed to have been triggered by a story she wrote on the rumoured agreement between Fonseka and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest Tamil party in parliament.

The article, which sparked a political fireball, claimed that Fonseka had agreed to several controversial and politically sensitive demands by the TNA. The Fonseka camp promptly denied the story.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, a key backer of the Fonseka campaign, complained to the Lankadeepa management over the article. After the conduct of an internal inquiry, the reporter tendered her resignation. Now the government is accusing the opposition of high-handed intimidation tactics against the media. The reporter said she also received threats over the phone.

Amid heightened political tensions, on the same day, a local reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Sinhala service, Sandeshaya, Thakshila Dilrukshi Jayasena suffered head injuries when she was attacked by a mob in the north central town of Polonaruwa, about 215 kilometres from the capital, Colombo, as opposition and government supporters clashed. The incident left five others injured and four vehicles damaged.

As the country gears up for the crucial election on Jan. 26, the media landscape appears to be lurching toward uncertainties.

Media activists and observers had initially felt that the reporting climate in Sri Lanka had improved. Reporters, after all, had begun travelling to some areas that used to be restricted during the war, and filing stories. But recent events have cast a pall of gloom over the fate of the media.

"The reporting climate has improved in the past few months, but there is still a lot of tension," Lakshman Gunesekera, the president of the Sri Lanka chapter of the South Asia Free Media Association, told IPS.

Tissainayagam, free after almost two years behind bars, declined to comment on anything else but his relief. "I want to thank the media colleagues and others who helped me," he said as he left the court.

Only time will tell whether the sense of calm that appeared to have descended on the media was a mere façade or the tide has turned for the newshounds after a temporary relief. [Courtesy IPS]

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GM crops

WHAT safeguards to protect traditional crops from GM crops? Indian Supreme Court asks the government. At a time when the proposed open field trials of Bt brinjal are drawing loud protests, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to detail the steps it has put in place to protect India's traditional crops from possible contamination by field trials of genetically modified seeds.

When additional solicitor general Vivek Tankha tried to assure the court that there were adequate rules and regulations in place and that the Centre would take two weeks to file its response, a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices J M Panchal and B S Chauhan said in India the rules mostly get confined to the books.

"In other parts of the world, when they frame a rule or regulation, it is strictly adhered to. They are very, very strict against those who breach it. But, here we are generally slack. The rules are only in the book. Hence, you detail as to how these safeguards and the protection mechanism are being implemented," the Bench said.

Appearing for petitioner Aruna Rodrigues, counsel Prashant Bhushan suggested that instead of open field trials, which pose grave danger to traditional crops of pollen-inflicted contamination despite employing the isolation mechanism, they should conduct the GM seed field trials in greenhouses.

An NGO `Gene Campaign' through counsel Sanjay Parikh questioned the existing guidelines for approval of trials relating to GM crops and said the experts were unanimous that they need to be strengthened immediately. Bhushan supported him and said because of the slack rules the multinationals have made India the destination for field trials of GM vegetables like Bt brinjal, ladyfinger and peas, which no country has allowed till date.

The court asked Tankha to report back in four weeks about the adequacy of the guidelines and rules for clearance of field trials given by the Genetic Engineering Advisory Committee (GEAC).

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