goanet-digest Monday, April 29 2002 Volume 01 : Number 3904
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this issue:
[Goanet] More on women in Gujarat
Re: [Goanet] FW: Untold story of Godra, India
[Goanet] Seby Da Cunha - Month's Mind
[Goanet] May Day Message
Re: Fwd: Re: [Goanet] Re: Mangoes
See end of digest for information on subscribing/unsusbcribing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 29 Apr 2002 14:22:39 +0530 (IST)
From: "Pamela D'Mello" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] More on women in Gujarat
Reuters report...
BC-INDIA-WOMEN
Muslim women brutalized in India's Gujarat - report
By Sugita Katyal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The day after 59 people were burnt alive in a train
in India's western state of Gujarat last month, a screaming mob chased
Sultani Sheikh and her family with sticks, swords and cans of
kerosene in their hands.
"My clothes were stripped and I was left stark naked. One by one the
men raped me," Sultani, a Muslim woman from Delol village told a panel
examining the impact on Muslim women of the country's worst religious
bloodshed in a decade.
"I lost count after three," a report by the panel quotes her as
saying. "All the while I could hear my son crying."
According to the report by a coalition of women's groups, many
Muslim females suffered the most "bestial forms of sexual violence"
including rape, insertion of objects into their bodies and burning in
the violence.
More than 750 people, most of them belonging to India's minority
Muslim population, have died in a wave of reprisal killings and
communal clashes in Gujarat since a Muslim mob torched the train carrying
Hindu activists in Godhra.
The six-member team of women's activists spoke to hundreds of
witnesses and survivors of the religious mayhem to prepare the report,
entitled "How has the Gujarat Massacre Affected Minority Women: The
Survivors Speak."
"Many of the women who were raped were then burnt to death," Malini
Ghose, a member of the team, told Reuters on Thursday.
But survivors and witnesses had horrific tales to tell the panel.
FETUS THROWN ONTO BONFIRE
Saira Banu, living in a refugee camp in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main
city which bore the brunt of the violence, says a group of men cut open
her nine-month pregnant relative's stomach, took out her fetus with a
sword and threw it into a blazing fire.
Medina Mustafa Sheikh, another refugee in an Ahmedabad camp, says
she heard her young daughter screaming for help as a group of men raped
her in a maize field where her family had hidden to escape a
bloodthirsty mob of 500 people.
"My daughter was screaming in pain asking the men to leave her
alone. My mind was seething with fear and fury. I could do nothing to
help my daughter from being assaulted sexually and tortured to death,"
Medina told the women's panel.
"My daughter was like a flower, still to see life...the monsters
tore my beloved daughter to pieces," she said.
Activists working at a relief camp in Ahmedabad said many women
arrived naked at the camp.
One woman was brought to the camp unconscious, bleeding profusely,
her body covered with bites and marks and relief workers dressing her
wounds said they had to removed pieces of wood that had been pushed up
her vagina.
Police say survivors of the religious violence have been filing more
than 100 complaints a day, but activists say the issue of sexual
violence has been "grossly under-reported."
"This time round in Gujarat, far more than in previous episodes of
communal violence, women have been fair game," the report said.
"Forced out of burning homes, running for their lives on violent
streets, they have been targeted not only by rampaging mobs hellbent on
hurting every Muslim woman, man and child in sight but far worse, by
police whose job it was to protect them."
Many Muslims, opposition parties and civil rights groups have
accused the Hindu nationalist state government of failing to help
Muslim survivors of the riots.
They even allege the Bharatiya Janata Party state government turned
a blind eye to the violence, allowing Hindu mobs free rein to kill,
burn and loot -- accusations it has denied.
Ashok Narayan, a senior official with the government, said the
state had asked police to investigate the complaints made in the report.
"We have taken note of the report and have instructed the police to
investigate all the complaints about sexual abuse," he said.
"If anything that has been mentioned in the report has taken place,
we will take strict action. Nobody will be allowed to go scot free,"
Narayan said.
REUTERS
Reut09:29 04-18-02
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 09:30:53 +0400
From: "Sunila Muzawar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Goanet] FW: Untold story of Godra, India
I have received this message several times now and if I recall right, it has
already made it to goanet before. This message has obviously been circulated
by the political parties who pretend to support Muslims e.g. Samajwadi
Party, Congress Party, NCP, etc.
I have also received another message a couple of times which tells the story
from the other side. It focusses on the innocence of the Godhra victims and
the harshness of the persons who set the train on fire. This message has
obviously been circulated by the Sangh Parivar, BJP, etc. who pretend to
support Hindus.
Who should we believe? I guess it is upto you. Just remember some facts like
the train stopped at Godhra for all of five minutes; fifty nine people were
burnt alive, the majority of whom were women and childres (17 women and 25
children if I recall right); the fire stations were forcibly prevented from
putting out the fire; Godhra is notorious in the past also for communal
violence; the incident resulted in mass killings in the revenge vendetta
that followed; hundreds of Muslims have had their homes burnt down, their
relatives killed, raped, assaulted; etc.
I would rather not take sides. After all whether a person is Hindu or Muslim
he is first human. And a child is a child no matter who his/her parents are.
And nothing and nobody can justify violence leading to deaths of men, women
and children.....at Godhra or the rest of Gujarat. Do you agree ?
Also you guys must have heard that tale about the conspiracy behind the Sep
11 bombings wherein 4000-5000 Jews are supposed to have not reported to work
at the WTC on that day. Well, 90% of one billion Muslims in the world
believed this story the first time they heard it. 99% of the rest of the
world did not believe it when they heard it. Some Muslims got convinced
otherwise when it was pointed out that there was no way that the alleged
Jewish absenteism could have been proven. What did you think ? I suppose
many of us like to believe things according to our own fixed perceptions of
people and events.
Cheers,
Sunila
>From: Francisco Alves <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: [Goanet] FW: Untold story of Godra, India
>Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 18:52:37 -0700 (PDT)
>
>I received this from a friend. If it is true, it is very shocking
>indeed.
>
> > > > Forwarded:
> > > >
> > > > From: Hari Sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > Subject: The Godhra train incident
> > > > Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 12:18:36 -0800
> > > >
> > > > Dear friends:
> > > >
> > > > Conflicting news have been coming from various sources as to
> > >what
> > > > actually
> > > > happened at the Godhra station on Feb. 27, where a couple of
> > >train
> > > > coaches
> > > > were burnt, killing many Hindu Ram Sewaks and others,
> > >including
> > > > women and
> > > > children.
> > > >
> > > > Knowing India as I think I do, I found it extremely unlikely
> > >that
> > > > an
> > > > "organized" crowd of Muslims would undertake such a ghastly
> > >act in
> > > > a
> > > > pre-planned way, as has been widely asserted in the media.
> > > >
> > > > I wrote to some journalist friends of mine in India. And
> > >here is
> > > > a version
> > > > I have received from a highly reputed journalist and Human
> > >Rights
> > > > activist,
> > > > Mukundan Menon, based in Kerala. And I am pleased to share it
> > >with
> > > > you. This
> > > > story has already been published in some Kerala papers.
> > > >
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 22:48:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ulysses Menezes - GOA-WORLD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] Seby Da Cunha - Month's Mind
Seby Da Cunha - Month's Mind - 1st May 2002 - Holy
Family Cathedral, Kuwait City
The emptiness inside our soul
when we lose someone we love....
is our greatest source of sorrow,
yet there is comfort from above.
The grief is overwhelming,
but God can make us strong....
He'll provide us with His power
when the nights are cold and long.
As we meet on the 1st of May 2002
at the Holy Family Cathedral at 5:15 p.m.
let us pray for the soul of Seby,
a life full of promise that was suddenly no more.
Ulysses Menezes
Goa-World
=====
http://www.goa-world.net/
http://www.live365.com/stations/61664 Live Konkani Music
Goa Related Mailing Lists In Your Area - Gulf Goans etc :
http://www.goa-world.net/community/mailing_lists/
Other Websites From Goa-World :
http://www.mahableshwar.com/
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
http://health.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 00:03:43 +0530
From: gLoBaL~E~LINKED <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] May Day Message
Dear Cybergaonkars,
The CBCI May Day message from the Commission For Labour, is
out. Progressively titled "A Mission For The Millennium: Promote Human
Rights, Care Of The Earth", it can be read at:
http://www.goacom.com/cbci-labour/dox/cbcimay02.html
Is it relevant to Goa or what?
Later...
M&M.
================================
Information Is Power. Share It e-quitably.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Muriel & Mario. Saligao. Goa. 403511. India.
Tel:0832-278276. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Think gLoBaLLY - Link Locally.
Think Locally - elink gLoBaLLY
================================
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 09:53:02 +0400
From: "Sunila Muzawar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: [Goanet] Re: Mangoes
Don't apologise Gilbert. You should be proud of yourself for giving us
something worth talking about. It's been a long time since a discussion has
roused so many voices. It just shows how passionate Goans are about
Mankurad.
I hereby crown the Mankurad as the King of Mangoes!!! And if anybody thinks
otherwise let them challenge it ! ;-)
Cheers,
Sunila
P.S. Your 3 at 1 sitting story literally hurled me back into my childhood
when mangoes were all we would eat most of the day during the summer
holidays. Wish my son gets a chance at it sometime.
>From: "gilmen30" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Fwd: Re: [Goanet] Re: Mangoes
>Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 15:54:24 -0000
>
>Dear cybergoans,
>I apologise(profusely) for starting this long, argumentative,
>endless, and ridiculous discussion about mangoes, a week ago, with a
>seemingly innocent post about malcurada mangoes, which are going at
>Rs. 200 a doz. in the margao market today, a price which I can ill
>afford, because I like to go through 3 at 1 sitting. Hope the season
>is better next year. regards--Gilbert.
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
------------------------------
End of goanet-digest V1 #3904
*****************************
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--W-E-B--S-I-T-E--=-=-=
To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet Digest | http://goacom.com/goanet
======================================================================
* Send e=mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (NOT [EMAIL PROTECTED])
* Leave SUBJECT blank <--- Commom Mistake !!
* On first line of the BODY of your message, type:
subscribe goanet-digest YOUR.EMAIL
OR unsubscribe goanet-digest YOUR.EMAIL
DO NOT include the entire digest when replying to goanet !!!!!!
Questions/Problems? Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
