goanet-digest Wednesday, May 22 2002 Volume 01 : Number 4005
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In this issue:
[Goanet] NEWS: Kanwal Rekhi hits out at Gujarat intolerance
RE: [Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS!
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20[Goanet]=20GUJARAT=20HAS=20SEALED=20PARRIKA?=
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?R=E2S=20FATE?=
[Goanet] NEWS: Gujarat carnage video screening prompts govt action in Goa
Re: [Goanet] Re: MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS! --STILL TIME TO VOTE B4 MAY 31
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Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 23:55:17 +0530 (IST)
From: Frederick Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] NEWS: Kanwal Rekhi hits out at Gujarat intolerance
Kanwal Rekhi hits out at Gujarat intolerance
By Ela Dutt, Indo-Asian News Service
New York, May 22 (IANS) Kanwal Rekhi, the millionaire Silicon Valley
entrepreneur, has lashed out at sectarian violence in India that has raised
serious questions about the nation's future and its time-honoured secular
philosophy.
Rekhi, in a column in the Wall Street Journal along with Professor Emeritus
of Stanford Henry Rowen, said the severity of the Gujarat communal killings
had not yet been highlighted in the American media, but "the Indian
government's response has begun to raise questions about the character of
the world's largest democracy."
The handling of the Gujarat riots "has shaken the faith of large segments of
the population in India's future as a polity that cares for all its
citizens," the article said.
"India is being provoked by Pakistan-based terrorists, but its failure to
protect innocent Muslims at home weakens the government both domestically
and internationally," Rekhi and Rowen contended.
"America has come to understand the imperatives of even-handed treatment for
its citizens. Until India does so, the people of the world's second-largest
democracy (U.S.) will be unable to accord the world's largest democracy the
respect that many of us would like to see it deserve," they said.
Rekhi and Rowen noted that neither Vajpayee nor Home Minister L.K. Advani
had condemned the violence and only stated platitudes, and that the prime
minister had actually castigated Muslims around the world as being unable to
live in harmony.
"Unlike President George Bush, who after September 11 went to a mosque and
severely condemned any effort to threaten law and order, neither Vajpayee
nor Advani has visited a mosque, and neither visited Gujarat during the
initial phase of the riots," the two emphasised.
Apart from the communal frenzy that took the life of around 950 people,
mainly Muslims, in Gujarat, the mounting refugee problem and filthy camps
are adding to the image of inaction, the two wrote.
"During the weeks after riots began in Ahmedabad, the government has
conspicuously failed to enforce the law," according to Rekhi and Rowen who
echo what the Indian media, human rights groups around the world as well as
the European Union have highlighted.
The state of things is not because of the state's inability to protect its
citizens, but because the Gujarat government's implicit support of rioters
and shrugging off the plight of the refugees, the authors pointed out.
"If anything, the local government's attitude has shifted from lack of
interest in its minority citizens before the riots to active hostility
afterwards. The atmosphere is such that a state minister in Ahmedabad asked
the government to move the victims' camp because it makes his Hindu
constituents feel insecure," the column said.
While Chief Minister Narendra Modi may be saying things are in control, "the
police chief in Ahmedabad said his policemen favour rioters who are Hindus."
The two also named an Indian bureaucrat who described the Gujarat riots as a
"state-sponsored pogrom."
They attributed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's inaction to the fact
that the Gujarat government is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, or
to the fear that a more rightwing government may come in place if Modi is
removed.
The Modi government must be removed, and the state should be brought under
central control, after which the police force must be replaced with a
relatively unbiased army that could enforce the law impartially, the authors
contended.
Many overseas Indian Hindus donate money to causes in India that they think
will help build temples and educate and feed the poor, Rekhi said. "Many
would be appalled to know that some recipients of their money are out to
destroy minorities (Christians as well as Muslims) and their places of
worship. Vajpayee could deal a severe blow to such covert causes by simply
labelling them as terrorists."
- --Indo-Asian News Service
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Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 20:28:13 +0100
From: "C Fernandes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS!
Why we should NOT think as 'Human Beings' rather than GOANS?
Cip Fernandes
UK
- -----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf
Of rene barreto
Sent: 22 May 2002 15:26
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS!
A message from William - I d like to share - as we are on the subject of
RELIGION . and message to all Goans.
We should all think GOAN rather than RELIGION.
Lets not make GOA another Gujarat .........we may if we are not too careful.
rene
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "William Robert Da Silva" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "rene barreto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 6:47 AM
message - WORLD GOADAY 2002
Goa World Day 2002 comes after 9-11 and 10.7 two fundamentalisms
at war with each other. Goa World Day needs to focus on Goa and
what is happening to it--the various political, religious and cultural
forces that enrich it, exploit it and fragment it. This is the right
time to think over what shape is Goa of the future?
Thinking of Goa World Day is "Think about Goa" in 2002.
William
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Sunila Muzawar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2002 3:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS!
> For someone who is totally against organised religion, that is very
tempting
> ! ;-) In any case, if all in India gave up their religion, everyone would
> focus on real issues like the economy, education, infrastructure, health,
> sanitation, and development. Instead, with the current obsession with
> organised religion we dig ourselves into a pit.
>
> Cheers,
> Sunila
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Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 16:27:37 EDT
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20[Goanet]=20GUJARAT=20HAS=20SEALED=20PARRIKA?=
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?R=E2S=20FATE?=
In a message dated 05/22/2002 1:27:12 AM EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< It is sad that such an ugly thing like the Gujarat violence had to occur.
But, it has certainly opened our eyes to see clearly what the BJP party can
provide this country with.
While the whole world is progressing in various fields, our country is
sinking deeper into political quicksand and crawls on its fours over
religious issues. >>
Very sound advice to the astute and those with discerning minds :-)
Yet some people with vested interests will blindly keep drumming up their
support in a wild and desperate attempt to hoodwink all Goans :(
It remind us of those three blind persons who felt different parts of the
elephant and came up totally divergent views. The latest truncated view --
just because some good came out lately from the BJP -- that all will be
hunky-dory dory, is fatalistic.
We all know how politicians and sexual perverts entice people with their
little bags of goodies, only to later to reveal the real big cork screw.
Goans should awaken to the clarion call from minarets to pulpits, Balcaos to
Cyberia and be aware of wolves who prey in sheep's clothing. Surely nobody
would like to retrograde to the dark old ages, reminiscent of jungle rule :(
As Rene said in the following post: "Let's not make GOA another Gujarat." The
next message from our enlightened Aires said it all: "Parrikar is desperately
trying all stunts to try and woo voters to salvage the sinking BJP
ship....Parrikar who is fighting a battle for his survival. is offering all
sorts of carrots to buy the minorities."
Joe Vaz's May 7 posting: 'YOUR ACTION CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE,' was most
apropos and an early wake-up or clarion call :-) My response somehow did not
post.
The writing is on the wall, even though one may have to read in between the
lines. Let us not fall for the political shenanigan -- Parrikar's Pranks :(
Vote to represent the plurality of Goa and NOT for Communalism!
Keep Goa and India secular:
Pat de Sousa
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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 02:14:34 +0530 (IST)
From: Frederick Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] NEWS: Gujarat carnage video screening prompts govt action in Goa
GUJARAT CARNAGE VIDEO-CASSETTE SCREENING PROMPTS GOVERNMENT ACTION IN GOA
>From Frederick Noronha
PANAJI, May 22: Gujarat cast its long shadow over the Goa elections, with
the BJP chief minister of the state, Manohar Parrikar, threatening action
against those screening videotapes on the carnage in that city.
Goa goes to the polls on May 30. Anti-communalism campaigners have been
showing the violence wreaked, allegedly with the complicity or involvement
of the Sangh Parivar. Many of the screenshots show victims blaming the BJP
and its allies for the violence.
In recent weeks, anti-communalism campaigners in Goa had taken forward the
drive to highlight the havoc caused by religious bigotry and intolerance in
Gujarat, and Congressmen apparently found this material just grist for their
party campaign mill, particularly in the minority areas of Goa.
Chief minister Parrikar, a self-acknowledged RSS member, came down hard on
those screening the video tapes on Gujarat, which he claimed was being done
with the intention of inciting communal violence in the state.
In another development, the Cuncolim police from South Goa speedily seized
the video cassettes at what they described as an "unauthorised meeting".
Officials charged that the no "prior permissions" has been taken for the
screening, and questioned whether the video "promotes communal tension" or
not.
Strangely, the films being shown in the state were by Delhi-based scientist
Gauhar Raza (45), whose 'Junoon ke Badhte Kadaam' (Evil Stalks The Land) is
his 12th in a series of films, with his earlier themes mainly centering
around science and technology.
Raza was also in town recently, and spoke emotionally about the impact of
the Gujarat violence, and its scale.
Another film that was brought here by anti-communalism campaigners was Gopal
Menon's film "Hey Ram: Genocide in the Land of Gandhi". This too was
speedily put-together due to the carnage in Gujarat, in the fallout of the
Godhra massacre.
"This is the usual case of those speaking the truth being labelled as the
perpetrators of the crime," said Forum for Communal Harmony campaigner
Vidhyadhar Gadgil.
But Parrikar has warned that "such actions" could be viewed as an "attempt
to incite communal passions" and the guilty could be booked under Section
153(A) of the Penal Code.
Replying to a query later this evening, Congress central observer Sahai
said: "The BJP government can seize the cassette, but it can't omit what
they have done in Gujarat."
Former Congress Rajya Sabha MP John Fernandes argued that the focus on the
carnage victims was "nothing different from what was depicted by CNN and
BBC in the international media".
BJP came to power by defections in Goa in October 2000, and Goa is the first
state to go to the polls after the Gujarat violence. This has cast its long
shadow over the state, though it is not clear who would benefit, since
regional factors will play a considerable role here too in the May 30
polls.ENDS
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 17:50:55 EDT
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Re: MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS! --STILL TIME TO VOTE B4 MAY 31
In a message dated 05/22/2002 10:26:23 AM EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
<< Paddy - Great survey. BUT...
How do you define RELIGION for the purposes of this survey? It might help
people to answer if they
knew EXACTLY what you mean.
Viv
(definitely FOR religion) >>
Hi VivIiana:
Thanks for your vote, Viv :-)
It was the first, in hopefully many more to follow, "FOR RELIGION" votes. Of
course, mine is the second FOR!
My American Heritage Dictionary defines 'religion' as: "1. expression of
(wo)man's belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as the
creator and governor of the universe. 2. Any particular integrated system of
this expression: the Hindu religion. 3. The spiritual or emotional attitude
of one who recognizes the existence of a superhuman power or powers........"
As I see it, religion is the ladder, link or stairway to God, deities or
power-source. For anyone believing in God, religion serves as the channel or
medium for devotion and discipline.
In contrast with "no religion," or if all in India gave up their religion, as
was last advocated, there would be total anarchy and chaos.
We'd be like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd -- left to the mercy of
vultures and wolverines.
PLEASE VOTE -- on GOANET by May 31, and at the polls for GOA ELECTIONS!
Long Live Our Secular Goa:
Pat
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End of goanet-digest V1 #4005
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