Mystery surrounds an American agency carrying out a survey in different parts of India to know the Muslim opinion on some sensitive issues like placing Sharia over the Indian laws, Islam’s role in mainstram Indian politics, and whether Islam is under any serious threat.

…Kerala Police chief Jacob Punnose says the survey had communal overtones and hence a case has been filed against TNS India for asking communally sensitive questions.

“We have decided to file a case of 153(a) under Indian Penal Code (IPC) which relates to the charge of promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion and race”

No points for guessing why…You can now add asking “communally sensitive” questions to the list of things in India that can get you into trouble…

As a quick reminder, other similar things that can land you in jail include writing scandalous information about “high-profile” people, attempts to tear the secular fabric of the nation , what you post on “social media“, offensive and objectionable material on your blog etc etc..

Not surprisingly, none of these terms have been defined anywhere - to the best of my knowledge. Not surprisingly because by not defining these things, one can always use one’s own “judgement” in such matters…

The signs are ominous. Slowly but surely, the government seems to be determined to muzzle our freedoms...freedom to criticise, to express, to articulate and to defend…

If all this was not so dangerous (and damaging in the long term), it would be very funny…Be worried, very worried…and please register your protest – wherever and whenever you can.

Related Posts:  On Artistic Freedom, Censorship and Responsibility, Losing sleep over communal violence and hate propaganda,  On scandalous information and “high profile” people etc etc…

Also read: On Blogs, Comments, Liability and Being Sued…

P.S. More than 2 years ago, the Supreme Court made the following observation while dismissing a case against the late MF Husain: ”a painter has..own perspective of looking @ things & diff in perspective can’t be basis of criminal proceedings”. Can any lawyers or those with a background in law please comment whether the same “protection” is available to bloggers? Thanks.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Three days ago, on the post related to “distant” Assam, long-time blog reader Kaffir alerted us to a BBC news-report which had a map of India with the entire state of J&K lopped off (pl see comment #9). Here is a cached screenshot of the article (pl click to enlarge):

Kaffir subsequently wrote to the BBC:

I told them that the map was incorrect, that J&K was very much part of India, gave them a link to GOI website that lists the states and told them that putting an inaccurate map reflects badly on BBC and the writer.

I requested others on the blog to do so too…and decided to write a complaint myself – only to discover that the offending map had been removed (in less than 24 hours!*). Here is the same article the way it looks now (pl click to enlarge)..

Kaffir and others also mentioned that the official website of the Government of India carried no map which could be forwarded as a link to others. I did some digging and came up with the website of the Survey of India. This site has multiple maps of India (including physical, political etc) and these can be freely downloaded. The official map of India is here.

The episode reminded me of this post: The Importance of Small and the Power of Insignificant…So please keen an eye out for such things and do let organisations, editors and publications know when you spot such mistakes. Small steps do make a difference…

* This site mentions that the article was changed twice since it was first posted on 12th Nov.

Related Posts: What do you make of this?,  Has anyone else seen a smilar map? and Google Maps and Disputed Borders

1. “Kashmir is the ‘most heavily militarized zone’ in the world” or its variations: “There is an Indian soldier for every ten civilians in Kashmir”; “The Indian troops-to-Kashmiri people ratio in the occupied Kashmir is the largest ever soldiers-to-civilians ratio in the world”
2. The last two decades of violence in the state have left 10,000 missing and 100,000 dead

Pragmatic_desi has done a fine job of exploding the first one…Excerpts from Mythbusting: Soldiers-to-civilians ratio in Kashmir (emphasis added):

These myths are based on many erroneous premises. Let us start with the police. The total sanctioned strength of Jammu and Kashmir police, including the civil police and the armed police, is 68,125. Based on the actual strength of the police in 2009 and the population of the state as per 2001 census, the police-to-population ratio comes to 683 per 100,000 people. As per 2009 data, the national average for the police-to-population ratio is 133, while the UN mandated figure is 250-300. Considering the violence experienced in the state during the last two decades, the existing police-to-population ratio is not abnormally high.

Next come the paramilitary forces. As per this statement by the Union minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs, Planning and Science and Technology, Ashwani Kumar, there are 86,260 people from the central forces deployed in the complete state of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1989, before the insurgency started, there were 28,782 central armed forces troopers deployed in the state.

Finally the army. The official figures of the army men deployed in the state is not available but in 2007, the army authorities had reportedly stated that there are 3,37,000 soldiers deployed within the geographical boundaries of the state. Leave alone the fact that at least3o,000 soldiers have since moved out of the state, the deployment of soldiers needs to placed in the right context.

Barring the Rashtriya Rifles, which is a specialist counterinsurgency paramilitary force manned by the army, all the Indian army units are deployed on the Line of Control, Actual Ground Position Line (both with Pakistan) and the Line of Actual Control (with China). Even the Rashtriya Rifles are mainly deployed in the semi-urban and rural areas of Kashmir. There are a total of 65 Rashtriya Rifles battalion in the state, and at an estimated average of 1,000 soldiers per unit, this would lead to 65,000 Rashtriya Rifles troopers in the state.

And so…

…the actual strength of security force personnel dealing with the people in the state is nowhere near the figure of 7,00,000 which is usually floated in the media.

Barring the 2,20,000 policemen, paramilitary troopers and Rashtriya Rifles soldiers deployed among the population, the rest of the army soldiers shall continue to be deployed on the LoC, AGPL and LAC irrespective of the internal security situation in the state. Even among the 2,20,000 troopers, a fair share of the police force would still be required to maintain the law and order in the state which has a population of 1,25,48,926 as per the 2011 census.

Meanwhile, let us get another fact out of the way. These deployments are for the complete state, and not just for the Kashmir Valley. For example, the Rashtriya Rifles units are deployed as Counter Insurgency Force (CIF)- R in Rajouri and Poonch, CIF-D in Doda, CIF-V in Anantnag, Pulwama and Badgam, CIF-K in Kupwara, Baramulla and Srinagar, and CIF-U in Udhampur and Banihal. Kashmir Valley, or the Vale of Kashmir, forms just 7 percent of the area of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (for details of area in J&K, see this post). Because of the high density of population in the Valley, as compared to other mountainous regions of the state, and the increased threat of militancy and civil disturbance (as witnessed in 2010) in urban areas of the Valley, an impression is created in the minds of many visitors to the state capital that the complete state is over-militarised and teeming with gun-toting soldiers at every nook and corner. The facts are actually to the contrary.

A recent report in Times of India by Randeep Singh Nandal demolished the second myth…Excerpts from ”State data refutes claims of 1 Lakh killed in Kashmir“:

..They are figures that have been quoted so often that they are widely believed to be true: almost 100,000 dead Kashmiri civilians and 10,000 people who have disappeared in the last two decades. From public meetings in small villages to TV studios, from online pages to newspaper reports, these figure are cited and printed, used to stir emotions and silence voices in Kashmiri society, even presented to visiting ambassadors and printed in petitions to the UN. Except, nobody bothers to explain just how these figures were arrived at.

TOI accessed Jammu & Kashmir government documents to arrive at the truth behind the urban legend.

Here’s what the data says. In the last 21 years, 43,460 people have been killed in the Kashmir insurgency. Of these, 21,323 are militants, 13,226 civilians killed by militants, 3,642 civilians killed by security forces, and 5,369 policemen killed by militants.

…The records also show another slaughter that has gone on ceaselessly since 1990, a slaughter that nobody comments on, nobody laments: of Kashmiris killed by militants since 1990.

These deaths are the ugly truth that Kashmir has learnt to ignore. The civilians killed fall into a black hole that Kashmiri society never discusses, remembers or protests against. …No local newspaper dares print a story accusing militants of killing a civilian; the operative word is “unidentified gunmen”.

These 13,226 Kashmiris just do not exist in the collective psyche. There are no websites to them, no petitions and no organizations to keep alive their memory. Their only contribution has been to cement fear in 70 lakh people, where a clear distinction exists between what is said privately and in company. Where even people who are victims of militant violence are more comfortable talking about security forces and their atrocities.

Next time you hear these words or statements, make sure they are corrected…and while on this, take a moment to remember the innocent victims of terror in the terror in the State..

Related Post: Nail the LIES. Make your voice heard on J&K…

Most, if not all, of you must have read about the recent case against Rahul Gandhi involving a missing girl that was dismissed last week. What struck me was this last sentence from the report in The Hindu (emphasis added):

On the basis of her deposition, the court imposed a cost of Rs. 50 lakh on the petitioner and, taking suo motu cognisance of an effort to defame a high-profile person, ordered a CBI probe.

Suo-moto cognisance? I thought that was *very* interesting. Is there any precedence for such suo-moto actions related to defaming a “high-profile” person? I then also stumbled across this report in The Indian Express which mentioned that:

The court also ordered the CBI to register a case against websites which, Samrite claimed, had reported the incident, and the persons involved in the plot to frame Rahul Gandhi. The court directed that till the investigation was completed, and the websites in question were cleared by the CBI, their display in India shall remain banned.

Further, the court asked the CBI to prepare a list of such other websites which are involved in display of scandalous information about persons holding high public offices and submit a report on the next date of hearing.

That set several alarm bells ringing. To start with, who is a high-profile person? what constitutes defamation or attempt to defame or “display of scandalous information”?

What action will the Court prescribe? Will such websites (if any) be banned? Will their owners, publishers be fined? arrested? something else?

P.S. I also noted from the Indian Express report that:

The court directed that Rs. 25 lakh shall be paid to the girl, Rs. 20 lakh to Rahul Gandhi and Rs. 5 lakh to DGP Karamvir Singh for producing the girl and her parents in the court within the time frame.

Why pay the police for doing their job? Was their some kind of a reward on this? And what should the courts do if the police are unable to produce someone within the time-frame? Does anyone remember Dilip Patidar?   Comments and thoughts welcome, as always.

Somewhat Related Posts:  On Artistic Freedom, Censorship and Responsibility and On Husain, Khajuraho and Moral Policing.  Pl. also read about plans afoot to regulate online content and blogs.

Also Read: On Blogs, Comments, Liability and Being Sued

..Police on Wednesday lobbed teargas shells and used force to disperse scores of people protesting the demolition of an “illegal” religious structure in south-east Delhi.
..
“A number of people gathered at the area police station and marched towards the demolition spot. They were prevented from entering the spot. They broke the barricades and tried to enter the premises. We had to resort to lobbing teargas shells and using some force,” a senior police official said.

Today morning, I woke up to this headline from The Hindu:

Now an innocent mind might wonder what was this “religious structure” and who were the protestors? If you were a certain bent of mind, you may be forgiven in concluding that these are fanatic Hindus at work – again. After all, had not something like this happened recently?? …and then someone might jump in and say:

…this has been happening not just in India, but abroad too…just look at Pakistan – and Malaysia…and some of them even had the cheek to file a petition!

…What is this country coming to? What happened to the secular ideals of the founding fathers of the Constitution?

This must be the handiwork of the evil RSS ..and the Bajrang Dal goons…Trust the BJP to make an issue out of this…

Shameful, disgusting…I hate politics…

But trust the Internet Hindu to be the party pooper…Courtesy, Google News India, this is what actually happened:

Who were the PTI and “The Hindu” fooling? Us or themselves?  By the way, if you think this was just some harmless, non-violent protest, think again:

The Muslim protestors did not take the matter into their stride and what ensued later was mayhem. There was stone-pelting and damage to private vehicles by a huge mob that had gathered near the mosque…The police had to resort to firing tear gas shells and five policemen sustained injuries in the melee. 13 others were injured in the clash.

There is more. From The Indian Express:

At least 15 persons were injured when police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters. Thirty others were said to have sustained minor injuries.

…The demolition was completed in three hours. A crowd gathered there after that and started pelting stones on police personnel. At least 17 private vehicles were damaged. Police fired 11 tear gas shells to scatter the protesters. Five policemen were injured in the melee.

In the spirit of  a picture being worth a thousand words etc, here is a picture of the protest, courtesy AFP via The Hindu:

By way of contrast, here is a picture of another protest by members of a different religion:

I subsequently discovered that the “structure” in Jangpura has a bit of history. There have been seven attempts in the past to have it removed, without much success. From NavBharat Times, this brief extract in Hindi (I’ll try and post a rough translation in a few hours):

जंगपुरा में डीडीए की जमीन पर बने इस अवैध निर्माण की शिकायत चार साल पहले आरडब्ल्यूए ने की थी। जिसके बाद अक्टूबर 2010 में हाई कोर्ट ने इसे गिराने के निर्देश दिए थे। डीडीए ने करीब सात बार कोशिश भी की, लेकिन विरोध के कारण पीछे हट गई। कोर्ट ने 14 जनवरी से पहले अवैध निर्माण ढहाने के ऑर्डर दिए और कहा कि अगर निर्देश नहीं माने गए तो डीडीए के चेयरमैन यानी उपराज्यपाल के खिलाफ अवमानना का मामला बनेगा। अब जब आखिरी तारीख बहुत करीब थी तो डीडीए ने विरोध की परवाह किए बिना इसे गिरा दिया। डीडीए के डिप्टी डायरेक्टर मंगेज सिंह ने कहा कि डीडीए की जमीन पर अवैध रूप से यह धार्मिक स्ट्रक्चर और बस्ती बसी थी। बस्ती को पहले ही हटा दिया गया था मगर धार्मिक निर्माण को कोई नुकसान नहीं पहुंचाया गया। किसी भी रिलीजियस स्ट्रक्चर के मामले में डीडीए की एक समिति मंजूरी देती है। इस समिति की मंजूरी के बाद अब इसे गिराया गया।

डीडीए के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने बताया कि रेवेन्यू डिपार्टमेंट के 1927 के रेकॉर्ड के हिसाब से अलीगंज में एक कब्रिस्तान हुआ करता था। यहीं पर मृतक को दफन करने के बाद नमाज पढ़ी जाती थी। लेकिन यहां पर कोई धार्मिक स्थल नहीं था। बाद में लोगों ने उस जगह को ही धार्मिक स्थल कहना शुरू कर दिया और वहां पर इस नाम से अवैध निर्माण कर दिया। वैसे रेकॉर्ड के मुताबिक यह कथित धार्मिक स्थल भी खसरा नंबर 635 में पड़ता है। बुधवार को जो ढांचा गिराया गया वह खसरा नंबर 633 में बना हुआ है। तो यहां वह कथित धार्मिक स्थल भी नहीं हो सकता जिसका दावा किया जा रहा था।

Wait, that is not  the end of the this. Not finished yet. How many of you read this bit of *news today? From “Temple demolished too, but silently” by Mid-Day reporters Abhishek Anand and Shashank Shekhar, this excerpt:

While the brouhaha continued in Jangpura and Nizamuddin, a temple in south Delhi had also come under the hammer of civic agencies.

The demolition squad started work in Pushp Vihar area near Saket at 11am and the process continued till 4pm.  Some protesters opposed the incident but Delhi police managed to control the situation in a short while. Some of the protestors allegedly suffered minor injuries in the incident.

Now you know, why I don’t read the newspapers…

Also read: Of Haj Pilgrims and Unruly Fliers , The “M” Word… and Please, no “M-word” here…

Additional Reading: Hindu temples – now golden goose now street dog – II by Radha Rajan

P.S.  The issue may not be unique to India or to the English language media

* Title of this post inspired by the Superman series.