Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Action Alert: On Anti-Terrorism Acts

Action Alert: On Anti-Terrorism Acts
Posted by: "Sukla Sen" sukla.sen@gmail.com msgiri_bebl
Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:54 am (PST)
* PLEASE READ AND CIRCULATE *

POSTED BY: Sukla Sen >

Please go through the following press release where we
experss our views on the
twin bills which have been passed by the both houses of parliament.

We urge that, if you share our views, please sign the online
petition addressed to the
President of India and please also consider circulating this mail to get
more signatures.

To sign the petition visit :
http://www.petition online.com/ UPTA/petition. html


PRESS RELEASE

We, the following organizations had gone through the full texts of the
two 'anti-terror bills" that have recently been passed in both houses of
parliament and the stated objectives and reasons for promulgation of
such acts.

While expressing our deep anguish and condemnation in no uncertain terms
of Mumbai incident of November,2008 and other similar acts of violence
on the citizens of India , we note with concern that taking advantage of
such acts, the Government of India and political society as such have
been increasingly using military language to emphasise the urgency of
the situation and trying to introduce a distinct repressive turn in the
politics of criminal justice of our country , manifested in the security
legislations and law enforcement measures, such as TADA, POTA, and very
recently The Unlawful Activities (prevention) Amendment Bill , and The
national Investigation Agency Bill,2008.

While assuming that we are living in a risk society, we are wondering
why after the Mumbai incident in particular, about which our
neighbouring country , Pakistan has been squarely held responsible by
the Government and the Media , did political society pass such
legislations in a quickest possible manner ,which are exclusively meant
for citizens of India.

We do not agree to the perception that the protection of human rights
stand in opposition to effective action against "terrorism". We hold
that that the challenge of the State is not to promote security at the
expense of human rights , but rather to ensure that all people enjoy
respect for the full range of rights. We do hold that the action against
"terrorism" can be pursued without compromise or without undermining the
human rights and trained

We are constrained to argue that the claim of the Government regarding
the newly introduced bills about safeguards 'against any possible misuse
of such provisions" is a false commitment since there is no such
safeguard incorporated in the bills. Rather Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) has structurally infringed on human rights
in a number of ways--developing exceptions to human rights based on the
seriousness of the offence, expanding the definitions of exceptional
categories and arguing that curtailment of a human right is necessary
for the promotion of human rights of other individuals, and propounding
a " duties and responsibilities based citizenry" thesis.

Our concerns in respect of these bills include –

vague and broad definitions of " terrorism "in these bills would
inevitably lead to infringement of the freedom of expression and the
freedom of association ;

Insertion of new clauses to the section 43 of the principal Act, UAPA,
,which include power of arrest , search at any time of houses of any
person on the basis of any document , any article would only result in
harassment, illegal detention and other violations of human rights ;

Permitting longer detention of "terror suspects" upto 180 days which
would allow the investigating agencies to detain people without charge
and trial and would get ample scope for using false evidence ,and
additional blank check permission of taking a detained person from
judicial custody to police custody at any point of time would further
aggravate /facilitate torture ;

permitting harsh and tough procedures for the detained person to obtain
bail which curtails the rights of the accused ;
permitting absolute denial of bail to foreign nationals , which destroys
the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality and the
principle of fair trial ;

most importantly, permitting reversal of age-old pillar of natural
justice regarding the presumption of innocence would show disrespect to
the most basic principles of fair trial ;

permitting more tough and difficult procedures pertaining to sanction
for prosecution against erring and delinquent investigating officers ,
which would only enhance the culture of impunity .

permitting curtailment of appeal period by the accused , which seriously
jeopardizes the rights of the accused in getting fairness
in the process of the administration of justice ;

permitting anonymous witnesses , which would limit and suspend the
rights of the accused to examine the witnesses on same terms as the
prosecution.

To sum up, these bills under review, indicate a spirit of minimalism,
particularly in the arena of the rights of suspects and defendants in
the criminal process ; the bills seriously limit, suspend , undermine
and even destroy certain non derogable rights , as recognized by
International Laws and Covenants. In the name of security , the entire
population would henceforth be viewed and considered as 'possible
terrorists" / "terror suspects and are bound to live in a atmosphere of
insecurity , fear and of intimidation, which in turn would defeat the
very declared purpose of the bills- to ensure the security of
population.

These bills restrict human rights in such a way that calls into question
the basic principles of rule of law , India's commitment to
international laws and standards relating to promotion and upholding of
human rights . These bills have condensed all the power in the hands of
a single branch of the government, thereby have undermined the
ideologies of importance of individual rights, the separation of powers,
process of judicial review of such security legislations, . Our
experiences have shown that these security measures only help strengthen
tyranny .

With these observations, we are demanding the unconditional repeal of
these 2 draconian bills . We do hold that under the existing laws ,
effective action against 'terrorism could be taken.

APDR, TASAM, NAGARIK MANCHA, GANA PRATIRODH MANCHA,USDF, SANHATI, BMC,
SEZ BIRODHI MANCHA, IC,PRESDENCY COLLEGE, CCSM, AKINCHAN PATRIKA, FORUM
FOR INTELLECTUALS, MASUM,FAMA
Date: 23.12.2008
Venue: Press Club of Calcutta


The credibilty of Raees Khan's version cannot be, rather ought not to be, measured in terms of the degree of pleasantness or otherwise of one's encounter with Teesta Setalvad.
We must not allow the burden of our personal baggage to become too heavy.

Sukla



On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 12:49 AM, Farida Majid wrote:

Raees Khan's account sounds entirely plausible. I don't know who he is. But I've had a chance to meet with Teesta at a public gathering in New York City where a bunch of us working as Concerned South Asians congregated. Sati, Biju Matthew, and Nirula, etc were there too. After the public meeting we went to dinner with Teesta. I found her unimpressive, to say the least.

She is a shallow, stuck-up woman, and an opportunist No. 1.

-- Farida



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: raabta_india@ yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:58:08 -0800
Subject: Fw: [india-unity] Teesta Setalvad's former confidant files FIR against her



It is disturbing. There appears to be a pattern to malign people &/or organizations that work for human rights and peace and justice.
Zafar Iqbal

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: sugrutha
To: india-unity@ yahoogroups. com
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 12:42:10 PM
Subject: [india-unity] Teesta Setalvad's former confidant files FIR against her

Teesta Setalvad's former confidant files FIR against her
IANS
Published on Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 07:45 in Nation section

http://ibnlive. in.com/news/ teesta-setalvads -former-confidan t-files-
fir-against- her/80979- 3.html?from= rssfeed

Ahmedabad: Raees Khan, who has been accused of distorting facts in the affidavits of six Naroda Gam witnesses, alleged Friday that activist Teesta Setalvad has been threatening him and said he has filed a police complaint against her.

"I have filed an FIR (First Information Report) against Teesta today at Rakhial police station. She is behind the threatening calls that I am receiving for the past couple of days," said Raees Khan, a former confidant and once the coordinator here for Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP).

Khan said late on Friday evening that he had to take this step as calls were made to him from Ahmedabad railway station warning him and his family of dire consequence if "I turn out to be a nuisance to Teesta".

"Do not say anything about Teesta. Do not address the media. Keep strictly away from media persons. Even if one word is spoken against Teesta, you and your family will have to pay a heavy price," Khan quoted the caller as saying.

"Today my application was accepted by the Rakhial police inspector and also an FIR was filed. I also met the assistant commissioner police and told him the reason behind my seeking police protection," Khan said.

Khan was once a close confidant of Setalvad who heads the Mumbai based Citizens for Justice and Peace, a non-governmental organisation. She is also editor of Communalism Combat, a magazine that aims to fight communalism.

In his complaint, Raees Khan has directly accused Teesta. "If I am attacked or if anything happens to my family, I will hold Teesta personally responsible," Khan said in the FIR, adding that though he had no enmity with Teesta, she was hounding and threatening him.

"'I will send you to a place from where you will not return', Teesta had warned me recently when I asked for my two months' salary dues," Khan said.

Raees Khan is in the eye of the storm after he was accused of distorting facts in affidavits of the six Naroda Gam witnesses viz., Madina Pathan, Maqsoon Pathan, Rafiq Sheikh, Mohammed Malik, Rafiq Malik and Rahim Malik when he filed their affidavits in 2003.

These witnesses have deposed before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) that they did not know about the content of affidavits filed before the Supreme Court.

Raees Khan, however, said that he had nothing to do with the affidavits as it was written in Mumbai and a printout was taken from his computer here. "The six victims had approached me saying that police were not recording their statements soon after the riots. I then contacted Teesta and she sent the drafts. Nanumian Mallik's son. who is an advocate had taken the drafts to the six witnesses and he took their signatures. I had no role to play in it, whatsoever," said Khan.

"I was approached for the first time by Teesta after the demolition of Babri Masjid when she called me to work for her here to handle her local office. I did my duties diligently at the office located at Shahpur and all went well until 2007 when she unceremoniously sacked me. She was at her abusive best when she showed me the door," Khan said.

"I have not been paid my two months' salary. The computer and the fax machine and other stationery items belonged to me as I had purchased with my own money and have receipts to prove it. Yet she has taken all of it, claiming that it belonged to her. When I demanded that my property be returned, she said she would fix me in such a way that I will be rotting behind bars for the rest of the life," Khan told IANS.

He also alleges that yet, when he went ahead undeterred and demanded his dues he was approached by people close to Teesta who advised him not to tangle with Teesta.

"'She is too powerful and she can harm you irreparably. It is better you keep away from her', they had advised me," Khan said.


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