Month: October 2019

No Final Pact on Naga Groups, MHA Says Assam, Manipur, Arunachal to Be Consulted

The MHA also warned against the spread of misinformation.

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday said it is yet to conclude talks with Naga insurgent groups and will consult all stakeholders including the states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh before finalisation of any settlement.

In a statement, the Union home ministry said that it has come to the government’s notice that lot of rumours and misinformation is being spread in the media including social media that the final Naga settlement has been arrived at and will be announced soon.


“This is creating anxiety and concern in some parts of the country. It is clarified that before any settlement is arrived at with Naga groups, all stakeholders including states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh will be duly consulted and their concerns will be taken into consideration. No credence needs to be given to such rumours and incorrect information,” the statement said.

The central government has already rejected the NSCN-IM’s demand for unification of Naga inhabited areas — located in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The three northeastern states have also vehemently opposed it.

Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed in many parts of Manipur on Thursday due to “cease-work” stir called in support of the demand that the state’s territorial integrity and administrative set up should not be affected by the Naga peace talks.

Also read: Thursday Meeting Between Centre, NSCN-IM Could Be Crucial to Naga Peace Talks

The talks to find a lasting solution to the seven-decade-old insurgency problem in Nagaland continued for the forth consecutive day on Thursday, with the Centre’s interlocutor and Nagaland Governor R N Ravi holding discussions with the NSCN-IM for more than three hours, officials said.

While the dialogue with the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) is said to be over, talks with the NSCN-IM, has been centred on its demands for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas.

The outcome of Thursday’s meeting is not known immediately.

The talks were convened in Delhi in a bid to iron out differences, particularly on the NSCN-IM’s demands for a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas, which have already been rejected by the Centre.

Ravi, in a statement last week, had said that a mutually agreed draft comprehensive settlement, including all the substantive issues, was ready for signing the final agreement.

“Unfortunately at this auspicious juncture, the NSCN-IM has adopted a procrastinating attitude to delay the settlement, raising the contentious symbolic issues of separate Naga national flag and Constitution on which they are fully aware of Government of India’s position,” he had said.

Ravi’s statement assumed significance in view of the Centre’s August 5 announcement abrogating the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. With the annulment of the special status, the separate flag and the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir cease to exist.

The framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015 by NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah and Ravi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India’s Independence in 1947.

(PTI)

Output of Eight Core Industries Contracts 5% in September, May Hurt Q2 GDP growth

The data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed production in coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity declined last month.

New Delhi: Output in the core sector fell by a record 5.2% in September with production in seven of the eight industries declining, portending slow growth in the second quarter of this financial year too.

The sector, which has over 40% weight in the index of industrial production (IIP), grew by just 1.3% in the first half of 2019-20 against 5.5% in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Gross domestic product grew by more than a six-year low of 5% in the first quarter. Core sector rose just 0.1% in August.

The data last month had shown that sector output declined by 0.1, but has been revised upwards.

The data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Thursday showed production in coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity declined in September. Only fertiliser held out. The overwhelming contraction in the core sector reflects deep stagnation setting in, economists said.

“Such low growth in core sector industries has not been witnessed so far on either the 2011-12 or 2004-05 base. This indicates the severity of industrial slowdown,” said Sunil Kumar Sinha, principal economist, India Ratings.

This may pull down IIP growth for September as well, he added. The IIP declined by more than a seven-year low of 1.1% in August.

Slow growth in the core sector has been blamed especially on volatile changes in refinery production, which commands almost 30% of the index by weight. Production went down by 6.7% in September. The sector has remained volatile in FY20 but managed to grow by 2.6% in August. Senior officials recently said the sector would soon return to growth as a recovery in production was well underway since June, when key refining units were closed and importers were dealing with sudden changes in the oil import value chain due to the government reducing its exposure to Iranian crude oil.

Also in the energy space, crude oil production continued going down, having completed a continuous chain of contraction for the last 12 months. Production reduced by 5.4%, the same as in the previous month of August.

Natural gas extraction also continued to fall for the sixth straight month, reducing by a higher margin of 4.9% in September.

The crisis deepened in coal, which constitutes 10% of the core sector index. Production fell by 20.5% in September after a contraction of 8.6% and 1.6% in the previous two months respectively.

Contraction in the sector continued to become entrenched since July, when sustained growth for 24 months ended. Apart from falling output at Coal India Ltd, a halt in production due to heavy rain and labour issues in certain mines were seen to be  responsible.

Due to less coal mining, electricity generation also faltered in August, with contraction accelerating to 3.7%, up from 0.9% in August. “Additionally, the YoY decline in thermal electricity generation deepened to 10.0% in September 2019 from 3.1% in the previous month, according to data released by the Central Electricity Authority, which drove the contraction in electricity generation,” said Aditi Nayar, principal economist, ICRA.

Elsewhere, cement production saw contraction reduce to 2.1%, after a 5.1-%contraction in the previous month. Growth had remained a dampener in the sector after hitting an 11-month high of 15.7% in March. Another major sector indicating the health of construction and infrastructure development — steel — saw output go down for the first in the past 12-months. Steel output fell by 0.3% in September, after a 5.1% growth in August. Heavy rain in major parts of the country has been blamed for a slowdown in construction activities.

However, the engulfing industrial slowdown seems to have bypassed fertiliser production which hit an 8-month high with 5.4% growth, up from 2.9% in the previous month.

In light of the latest industrial performance in the first quarter of FY20, Nayar expects GDP and GVA growth to dip further in the second quarter, despite a favourable base effect and the cushion provided by lower raw material costs.

Republished from Business Standard by special arrangement.

‘Familiarisation Not Internationalisation’: MEA Deflects Criticism on MEPs’ Kashmir Visit

The government has come under attack by the Opposition over the visit of the European lawmakers.

New Delhi: Under attack by the Opposition over the visit of European lawmakers to Kashmir, the government on Thursday said the trip was considered to be in India’s larger national interest as it helped getting international attention on Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism.
In its first comments on the issue, the external affairs ministry also asserted that the appointments and engagements of the group were facilitated when the ministry realised that the lawmakers could serve India’s foreign policy objectives.External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the government may consider requests for similar visits in future depending on three specific factors, “content, intent and ground realities”.

Also read: MEPs’ Press Meet: No Local Media, No Questions on Detentions or Internet Ban

Rejecting criticism that the visit by Members of European Parliament (MEPs) to the Valley amounted to internationalisation of the Kashmir issue, Kumar said it was like a “familiarisation” trip and allowing them to go there was neither internationalising it nor ceding any ground.Replying to a barrage of questions on the visit, which snowballed into a huge political controversy with the Opposition as well as some BJP allies, including the Shiv Sena attacking the government, Kumar said the key consideration before facilitating their engagement was whether it would serve larger national interests.

Asked about the ministry’s role in the delegation’s visit, Kumar said the MEA facilitated appointments and engagements of the group when it realised that the lawmakers could serve India’s foreign policy objectives.

In the first visit by a foreign delegation, a team of 23 MEPs travelled to Kashmir on Tuesday on a two-day trip to have a first-hand assessment of the situation after the state’s special status was revoked in August by abrogating provisions of Article 370. Several of the 23 MPs belong to right and far right parties and are not part of he mainstream in their own countries.

Opposition parties severely criticised the government for the move with the Congress describing it as the “biggest diplomatic blunder” and others asking the Centre how these foreign lawmakers were allowed to visit the Valley while Indian leaders were denied permission.

Emphasising that the visit helped in getting international attention on Pakistan’s support to cross border terrorism, Kumar said, “I think there has been clear distinction between getting an international understanding of the situation and internationalising the issue.”

He said the MEPs had expressed a keen desire to know about India and that it was like a familiarisation visit.

“They belonged to a spectrum of views. They were from different countries of Europe and they belonged to different political parties,” Kumar said.

He said meetings were, therefore, accordingly facilitated.

“Many of them had expressed desire that they would like to know how terrorism is affecting India, how it has been a challenge for India. Their statement after the visit to Kashmir reflected that they got understanding of the situation on the ground and got to know how terrorism possesses threat to India,” he said.

“I think Pakistan’s support to cross border terrorism got the attention. Engaging the diplomatic community is not internationalisation of the issue,” he added.

The MEA Spokesperson said such delegations do not necessarily have to come through official channels. “We feel that such exchanges are part of people-to-people contacts,” he said.

Asked whether MEA will allow other delegations to visit Kashmir, Kumar said it will depend on intent of those sending such requests.

“We would definitely look at such requests. It should, however, be kept in mind that what will be the deciding factors and it will depend on the intent, the content and also the ground situation. All these factors will be weighed in,” he said.

‘In Kashmir, Army Relays Tortures on Loudspeakers, Slaps UAPA on Stone-Pelters’

The visitors found that there was a ‘determined and systematic effort’ on the part of the Centre to ‘portray a sense of normalcy in the Valley.’

Jaipur: An  11-member team comprising advocates, trade unionists, human rights activists and a psychiatrist visited Kashmir between September 28 and October 4 this year. The trip, largely to gauge the situation in the region since the reading down of Article 370 on August 5, gave the visitors the impression of a ‘determined and systematic effort’ on the part of the Centre being in play, to ‘portray a sense of normalcy in the Valley.’

This, said the team while releasing their findings in a report titled Imprisoned Resistance at New Delhi, was largely due to justify the Centre’s unilateral action of snatching the autonomy of the Kashmiri people.

“The Indian government and the mainstream media have consistently propagated normalcy by showing images of traffic flow in Srinagar that were created artificially to be later recorded by drone cameras,” reads the resultant report.

Communication blockade and restricted mobility  

The report made several notes on how movement and communication had been severely clamped down upon in the valley.

“Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation has suspended operations since August 5. Only those with private vehicles are able to travel, that too with much difficulty given the barbed wires at multiple locations. Though landline services were eventually restored, we learnt that very few houses actually have functioning landlines.”

 

A collage from the report showing clippings of local news.

Health facilities only for a few 

Besides this, the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in Kashmir were found barely working because of which people had to make the arduous journey to reach Srinagar for treatment. Even after the schools were opened, parents were not willing to send their kids to schools, both in a gesture of protest as well as in fear for the safety of their children. 

Curbing freedom of expression 

Highlighting the troubled situation of the press in Kashmir, the report put forth that many reporters have been laid off as the news organisations have been unable to pay them salaries.

“There is constant surveillance and policing at the media centre in Srinagar and at the Srinagar Press Club, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in which journalists could not possibly function with any semblance of independence,” a journalist told the team. 

“People unanimously communicated their anger and the sense of betrayal felt by them, to a major part, towards the bias and false reporting by the Indian mainstream media, and also towards the silence of the local media over the hardships, human rights violations and tragedies faced by the people, which were not making it to the newspapers,” the report states.

Overpowered by armed forces 

The government of Jammu and Kashmir’s ad on page one of ‘Greater Kashmir’.

The degree of surveillance and control by the Army has unprecedentedly been on the rise since August 5. Armed forces now barge into houses at any time.

“Since August 5, 2019, armed forces have been conducting raids on villages and localities in the city almost every night, and most definitely if there is any protest or incident of dissent on the part of the people. Villagers are sleepless because of the night raids, harassment, humiliation and torture. People said that the forces barge into the village while screaming abuses and throwing stones at the houses,” reads the report. 

Illegal detentions under PSA and slapping of UAPA in stone pelting cases

Numerous cases of illegal detentions of minors and adults alike were encountered by the fact finding team.

“There are numerous cases of torture by the armed forces. In some instances, the tortures are made audible through loudspeakers so that other people can hear the victim’s screams. There have also been deaths due to tear gas shelling at protesters. What remains a big question in this situation is, when the armed forces and other bodies of the state are indulging in such violations, where is the innocent victim supposed to go for redressal?” states the report.

Also read: Media Reports Allege ‘Brutal Torture’ by Security Forces in Kashmir

Advocates in Kashmir have boycotted regular court proceedings since most of their elected representatives in the Bar Associations of the High Court and the districts have been arrested and detained under PSA, while others have been threatened with the same fate if they spoke against the Modi government’s unilateral decision on Article 370. 

Between August 5 and September 30, more than 330 habeas corpus petitions had been filed.

In many instances, the draconian Public Safety Act is being slapped arbitrarily on people. Local reports suggest that more than 13,000 people have been unlawfully detained and most of them are being transferred outside Jammu and Kashmir, in order to prevent family members and advocates from appearing for them. 

An advocate from the TADA court told the team the police is invoking UAPA even in stone pelting cases. He also informed that in many cases, even after the accused secures bail, the Station House Officers don’t execute bail orders and the trials get adjourned since witnesses in most of the cases are unable to reach courts. 

Clampdown causing trauma 

The team also observed that the blatant abuse of power, violent aggression and extreme forms of abuse (physical, sexual and emotional) unleashed on the Kashmiri people has caused deep and destructive trauma that may take generations to heal.

Also read: Ground Report: Kashmir’s Blackout Is Triggering a New Wave of Mental Health Issues

Not only has it caused extreme suffering and a plethora of mental health disorders of unprecedented proportions, it has also manifested in the seething anger, acute polarisation and paranoia, a complete lack of trust and hardening of attitude towards India. 

The way forward 

The report also suggested that the Modi government, in order to find a lasting and peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue, “Must recognise that a dispute exists between people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian government; repeal the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990; withdraw all army and para-military forces from civilian areas of Jammu and Kashmir; and open a transparent unconditional dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their representatives so as to address their aspirations to determine and define their own destinies through democratic means and to find a political solution that respects the democratic will of the people in accordance with human rights and international law.”

“Between August 5 and 6, 2019, the Modi government issued two presidential orders that…effectively dismantled the limited protection afforded to Jammu and Kashmir in self-governance, territorial integrity and the collective rights to land and livelihood,” it said.

As Ladakh Separates from J&K, Protests Break Out in Kargil 

October 31 was the third day of strikes in the region located close to the Line of Control.

New Delhi: Several hundred people took to the streets of Kargil in the newly formed Union Territory of Ladakh to protest against the August 5 decision of the government of India to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir and read down Article 370. 

October 31 was the third day of strikes in the region located close to the Line of Control. All the markets in the towns of Kargil and Drass remained shut. Protesters marched onto the streets with black flags in hand, marking October 31 – the day the bifurcation takes effect– as a ‘black day’. 

As The Wire has reported in the past, the decision to bifurcate J&K received mixed reactions in the new union territory of Ladakh, which comprises two districts – Kargil and Leh. 

The demands put forth by the Kargil joint action committee have been ignored. Photo: Special arrangement

In Leh, the decision has been welcomed – with caveats – as the Buddhist majority district had been demanding that Ladakh be administered by the Centre since 1949. On the other hand, Muslim majority Kargil had never wished to be separated from J&K. 

Both districts, however, are united in their demand for protection when it comes to jobs and land, something they have been stripped off with the reading down of Article 370.

They have demanded that the new Union Territory be brought under Schedule 6 of the constitution which currently grants a degree of autonomy to certain states in the northeastern region of India. 

Also read: On Day One of Two New Union Territories, India, China Exchange Verbal Volleys

The Joint Action Committee of Kargil which comprises several social, religious and political organisations has met with representatives of the state of J&K and the Centre and expressed their reservation. 

Now, they have begun protesting the government’s and the administration’s inaction on those demands.

Those demands include safeguarding locals’ jobs and land, renaming of the Union Territory to ‘Leh and Kargil’ and the granting of legislative authority to the Autonomous Hill Council. 

“We were told that all the issues would be resolved by October 31. But nothing has happened. Now, they are saying that it could take two years or even more,” said Asgar Ali Karabalai, a former Congress MLA from Kargil and one of the key members of the Joint Action Committee of Kargil. 

“This is a betrayal of the people of Ladakh. Even Leh has started to realise that they have been fooled with the Union Territory status. We wont tolerate these empty promises anymore. We will fight till each and every one of our demands are met,” he said. 

No New SC Bench Since Judge’s Retirement, Manipur Fake Encounters Case Unheard for a Year

The case deals with the alleged fake encounter killings of as many as 1,526 civilians by security forces.

New Delhi: For over a year, the Supreme Court hasn’t had a hearing in the case involving the alleged fake encounter killings of as many as 1,526 civilians in trouble-torn Manipur.

This is because a new bench has not yet been constituted after the retirement of Justice Madan B. Lokur in December 2018.

According to the petitioners, the Extra-Judicial Execution Victim Families Association Manipur (EEVFAM) and Human Rights Alert (HRA), the apex court last heard the case based on its plea, in September 2018. 

The writ petition was filed in 2012, seeking justice under Article 32 of the Constitution. The petitioners listed 1,526 cases of alleged staged encounters since 1979 in the northeastern state under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

In November 2018, the two-judge bench comprising Justice Lokur and Justice U.U. Lalit dismissed a petition jointly filed by at least 750 Army personnel seeking recusal of the two judges because they had remarked that the “murderers” were “roaming” free in Manipur while the survivors were living in fear.

Also read: AFSPA: Army Men Cannot Get Away with Anything

They felt that the allegations against the security personnel might be looked at with prejudice.

In July 2017, the bench, in a landmark order, had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations. So far, FIRs have been filed in 39 cases and chargesheets in 11 incidents of fake encounters.  

“The observations are not intended to compromise the independence of the SIT probing the fake encounters in Manipur,” the bench had stated while setting aside the Army personnel’s’ petition. 

On December 30, Justice Lokur retired from service and since then the case has awaited the creation of a new bench.

On July 18, the petitioners formally mentioned the need for the constitution of the bench before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

“He assured in the open court that a bench will be constituted and the matter will be heard soon. But even after the lapse of more than three months, there is no progress in the matter. We simply can’t understand why it is taking so long,” said Babloo Loitongbam, well-known Imphal-based activist and director of HRA.

Also read: Shielding the Armed Forces for Actions Under AFSPA, But at What Cost?

He said, “The glimmer of hope that the families had seems to be slowly dying as the initial push for justice by the Supreme Court has been waning away.” 

On being asked about the delay, Colin Gonsalves, senior Supreme Court advocate and founder of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) which is representing the petitioners at the court, told The Wire, “Some three weeks ago, we enquired about the matter at the Supreme Court Registry. We were told that it couldn’t be done because of the presence of two constitutional benches. One is to look into the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter and the other is the Justice Arun Misra-led bench to interpret certain clauses in the land acquisition law.” 

“Now that the hearing in the Ayodhya matter is over, we are hoping that a new bench will be constituted soon to hear this important case.”  

CJI Gogoi retires this November 17 and he will be succeeded by Justice S.A. Bobde.  

Photo Essay: Thirty-Three Years on, Wounds of the Anti-Sikh Massacre Are Still Fresh

“Almost my entire family was wiped out in front of my eyes and even after so many years, we haven’t been delivered any justice.”

Note: This photo essay, originally published on November 1, 2017, is being republished on October 31, 2019, on the anniversary of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, which set off the anti-Sikh riots.

“Almost my entire family was wiped out in front of my eyes and even after so many years, we haven’t been delivered any justice.”

The wall at Darshan Kaur’s home in Tilak Vihar in Delhi on which images of all the events after the riots has been framed in the form of an album.

The year 1984 saw the worst pogroms against Sikhs after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on the morning of October 31. Estimated 8,000 Sikhs were killed pan India – more than 2,000 in Delhi alone. Rajiv Gandhi justified the massacre by saying, “When a big tree falls, earth shakes.”

Thirty-three years have passed, judgement(s) have been delayed, and the perpetrators are still roaming freely. Accused politicians like Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and many unnamed people are leading a free life. Many children who lost their fathers are now in their thirties and forties. Their children still hear stories of the violent massacre.

My images are a slice of the lives of the people who witnessed the arson. The agony and pain of the massacre still looks fresh in their eyes.

A girl and her father pray at the martyrs' museum in Tilak Vihar, New Delhi.

A girl and her father pray at the martyrs museum in Tilak Vihar, New Delhi.

Bhagi Kaur migrated from to Tilak Vihar from Trilokpuri. Her husband and seven relatives, including her brothers-in-law and their sons, were killed on the evening of November 1, 1984. She lives on a pension of around Rs 10,000 which is not enough to run her household and look after five people. “To everyone else, the riots took place 33 years ago, but for me, it feels like it all happened yesterday. Almost my entire family was wiped out in front of my eyes and even after so many years, we haven’t been delivered any justice. The culprits are still roaming free. We are still fighting the consequences of what had happened. My life is almost over, but my kids are facing hardships they don’t deserve. The only hope I have is maybe my grandchildren will one day see happiness,” she says.

Bhagi Kaur with her family in Tilak Vihar.

Shanti Devi too migrated from Trilokpuri. “They killed my husband and brother-in-law with a sword. There was blood all around. Then a mob led by Congress goons struck our mohallah in Trilokpuri. God is witness to my pain. The images of the atrocities committed during 1984 haunt me even today,” she says.

Shanti Devi.

Lakshmi Kaur’s husband and five brothers among other relatives were killed. “They put a tyre filled with kerosene on my husband’s neck and lit it on fire. A middle-aged man from the mob came back at night and tried to touch me inappropriately. When I resisted, he went out and called his entire group. They searched my house and killed all the eight men hiding inside”, she recalls. Her infant son was thrown in the fire. The mob thought her son was dead but he somehow survived. He has been paraplegic since then.

Lakshmi Kaur with her disabled son.

Lakshmi has been struggling to survive since the incident. She says, “I was threatened and harassed so frequently that I decided to withdraw my case. The government should come and see how we are living.” But her fight against the men who killed her people is still on.

Hukumi Kaur lost her husband, brother-in-law, father-in-law and 11 others of her family on November 1, 1984. “Men were burnt at the main door of our house. My husband was killed three days later, his eyes were gouged out and burnt alive,” she says.

Hukumi Kaur with her mother-in-law.

Sundari Kaur too lost her husband and other family members. “My husband was an auto driver; he was killed outside somewhere. We only found his burned auto at the police station. I am still suffering from the pain of 1984, yet justice doesn’t seem close”.

Sundari Kaur.

Darshan Kaur was 21 years old when her husband Ram Singh, a daily wage labourer, was killed. “My husband tried to hide in the kitchen of our house in Trilokpuri. But the mob dragged him out by his hair and placed a quilt and a tyre on him. They poured oil and set him on fire.”

Darshan Kaur.

“The mob mercilessly stripped all the women. We were raped by men multiple times”, she recalls. The memory of those days still haunts Darshan. With little investigation, she says, the perpetrators roam scot free.

Gurmail Singh was driving a truck on the Nepal-Bihar border in the November of 1984. “I was held responsible for something I didn’t do just because of my religious identity. I was targeted by marauders several times, but managed to escape every time. For almost 14 days, I was away and unaware of my family’s condition”. Gurmail speaks fluent Bengali and says that the Bengalis gave shelter to the Sikhs. “That saved a lot of Sikhs who were living in West Bengal,” he says.

Gurmail Singh.

Joginder Kaur migrated from Sagarpur to Raja Garden. Her husband was killed and her mother-in-law went missing in 1984.

Joginder Kaur.

‘’My husband was attacked with swords and sticks. He was lying on a charpoy like a vegetable for three days. A mob again entered our home the third day and killed him”.

‘’We lost everything in 1984 – our future, our right to progress, everything. My younger son was depressed and has been missing from the past five years.”

Amarjit Kaur migrated from Tri Nagar to Raja Garden. She lost her husband and brother-in-law in 1984.

Amarjit Kaur lost her husband and brother in law

“My husband and his brother were killed in Badli. They were burnt alive by a mob.”

“We have been forgotten by our own government,” she says. Since then, Amarjit has been taking hypertension drugs which have made her immobile.

Santok Singh was only three years old when he lost his father and grandfather. “My mother dressed me in my sister’s clothes to save me. They were shouting slogans against Sikhs; they called us snakes. They burned my father”, he recalls.

Santok Sigh was an infant when the riots broke out. His father and grandfather was killed.

Harbans Singh says the mob burned all the trucks which had Sikh religious symbols. “The police was not doing anything. They were mere watchers,” he says.

Harbans Singh, a tailor from Bhigal in Delhi, saw arson on the properties owned by Sikhs in that area but he escaped the carnage.

Shamni Kaur migrated from Trilokpuri to Tilak Vihar. Her husband and all the men from her family were killed. “Nobody consoled us then and no one cares for us now. Does anyone understand how long those three days were? The mobs were raising slogans: don’t trust Sikhs they are traitors,” she recalls.

A panoramic view of the martyrs museum.

Amarjeet Singh at the martyrs museum in Tilak Vihar. He lost his brother and brother in law.

In February 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs, acting on the recommendations of the G.P. Mathur committee, constituted a three-member special investigation team, comprising of two senior police officers and a retired judge. The SIT’s terms of reference included reinvestigating criminal cases filed in Delhi in relation to the 1984 Sikh massacre, and filing charges against accused persons where there was sufficient available evidence.

The SIT was given six months to complete this exercise. For over two years, the SIT has been seeking extensions. The SIT closed more than 190 cases out of the 293 cases referred to it.

All photos by Shome Basu. 

Citizen Lab Lists Measures You Can Take to Protect Your Accounts From Spyware

Citizen Lab has put together a list of ‘to-do’s to ensure Android users are able to save their electronic gadgets.

Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy of the University of Toronto, has been in the thick of the WhatsApp controversy and has been enabling the application to reach out to all those profiles in India and across the globe which have come under “digital attack”.

Several rights activists, lawyers, journalists, professors and even university students have had their WhatsApp profiles compromised by the Israeli malware Pegasus.

This Israeli NSO Group’s spyware has already been dragged to San Francisco’s federal court by WhatsApp. While the organisation has claimed it had only sold the spyware to governments and has no direct role to play in this, the extent of damage and compromise of data is huge.

Also read: Meet the Indian Lawyers and Activists ‘Targeted’ Using Israeli Spyware Pegasus

Citizen Lab, as a part of their research, and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security have put together a list of “to-dos” to ensure Android users are able to save their electronic gadgets.

In a four-step process, Citizen Lab has explained security measures that need to be taken to protect Android-based devices. It is being produced below.

“Our suggestions are based on Citizen Lab’s current knowledge of mobile spyware (including Pegasus). However, we cannot guarantee that the following steps will ensure your digital safety. They should be understood as mere guidance and not a replacement for tailored, one-on-one support from a digital security expert,” the Lab states. 

Step 1: De-link cloud accounts 

According to reports, Pegasus spyware can steal credentials (‘tokens’) from your device, letting an attacker continue to access your online accounts even after your device is no longer infected.

Also read: Israeli Spyware: India Asks WhatsApp For Answers, But What Should We Really Be Asking?

For example, the Google account attached to your device could be accessed by an attacker on a continuing basis, letting an attacker read your Gmail messages, or view your photographs.

Citizen Lab believes that one can block some potential unauthorised access to their accounts by logging out of these accounts using the Android phone that one is currently using.

Resources to De-Link Cloud Accounts

Step 2: Replace your device 

Citizen Lab currently believes that an infection with Pegasus spyware can survive a factory reset on some Android phones.

However, based on their experience, Citizen Lab has admitted that they do not know the full range of devices for which this applies. Therefore, they recommend replacing your phone if you have been a target of Pegasus spyware.

Step 3: Change your passwords

Once you have obtained a new phone, you should change the passwords for the cloud accounts that were attached to your original phone, as well as any other accounts that you use regularly.

Change Your Passwords

Changing passwords can be frustrating and time consuming, but it is essential to ensure that an attacker cannot continue to access your accounts using a stolen password.

One can also use a Password Manager to help in quickly creating a strong new passwords for one’s accounts.  Make sure to use a different password for each account or service.

Step 4: Enhance your online safety

One may be at risk from other forms of digital targeting or from spyware like Pegasus in the future. Being targeted means that someone invested time and resources in an effort to access your personal device.

Citizen Lab says Security Planner is a good basic place to start improving one’s digital safety.

This online tool asks you a few questions about the devices and services that you use and provides basic digital security recommendations.

Israeli Spyware: India Turns to WhatsApp For Answers, But What Should We Really Be Asking?

While the home ministry says reports have attempted to malign the Centre, we need to know who wanted to snoop on Indian targets and how successful they were.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Thursday sought a detailed response from WhatsApp over the issue of an Israeli spyware allegedly being used to target Indian journalists and human rights activists through its platform.

WhatsApp has been asked to submit a reply by November 4.

The IT ministry has written to WhatsApp seeking its response on the matter, a senior government official told news agency PTI.

A separate statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs said that media reports that have attempted to malign the government as being responsible for the breach are “completely misleading”. It also added that the Centre would take action against any intermediary for breach of privacy, in an indirect jab at WhatsApp.

On Thursday, Facebook-owned WhatsApp said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using spyware made by an Israel surveillance firm called the NSO Group. 

The Wire’s own reportage indicates that at least 10 lawyers and activists have been potentially affected.

Also read: Meet the Indian Lawyers and Activists ‘Targeted’ Using Israeli Spyware Pegasus

Earlier this week, WhatsApp said it was suing NSO Group over helping unnamed entities hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users. These users span across four continents and included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and senior government officials.

Is the Narendra Modi government’s response correct? What other aspects of this controversy should we consider? The Wire breaks it down.

Who used it to spy on Indian activists, lawyers and journalists?

This is a tricky question. WhatsApp’s lawsuit lashes out at both the NSO Group and its clients, which allegedly include government agencies around the world as well as private customers.

“Defendants’ clients include, but are not limited to, government agencies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Mexico as well as private entities,” the company’s lawsuit notes.

On its part, the NSO Group’s defence has consistently revolved around two claims. First, that the company doesn’t use its own snooping technology to target any subject. And two, that it sells its software to only government agencies; i.e, it does not have any private customers.

Who, then, would be using Israeli spyware to spy on Indian targets? Bear in mind that a significant chunk of the potential victims appear to be activists or lawyers associated with the Bhima Koregaon controversy.

The Narendra Modi government has tip-toed around this issue quite carefully: both the MHA and IT minister’s statements merely say that the Centre operates strictly as per the provisions of the law and follows established protocols of interception.

“Govt agencies have a well established protocol for interception, which includes sanction and supervision from highly ranked officials in central & state governments, for clear stated reasons in national interest,” IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.

The price of the NSO Group’s software isn’t cheap: Fast Company reported last year that the company charges its customers $650,000 (Rs 4.61 crore at current exchange rate) to hack 10 devices, in addition to an installation fee of $500,000 (Rs 3.55 crore).

Therefore, the first big question is who used the spyware to target Indian activists, journalists and lawyers? Merely asking for WhatsApp for information it has already disclosed publicly will not get the Indian government anywhere.

The government’s first course of action should be to declare that it is not a client of the NSO Group, which shouldn’t be a problem considering it says follows the law, and then order a probe into the matter. Any such inquiry would start with the Israeli company and determine which of their customers may have had interest in targeting a group of relatively low-profile Indian citizens.

Was the Pegasus spyware successful in its mission?

The NSO Group’s flagship product is called ‘Pegasus’ and is a form of spyware. The second most important question here is what kind of data was taken or snooped upon from the roughly two-dozen Indians who were targeted. We are in the dark here, primarily because WhatsApp hasn’t disclosed a whole lot of information.

In its message to the potentially affected, WhatsApp has been vague. It merely says that there is a possibility that “this phone number was impacted” and advises users to update the WhatsApp application.

If the affected updated their app quickly, it’s possible that only a  limited amount of data was impacted. Conversely, if this wasn’t done, then it’s likely that the spyware could have had a severely harmful effect.

The most curious actor in this entire sequence of events is a research organisation called ‘The Citizen Lab’, which works out of the University of Toronto. This lab has worked with WhatsApp to not only examine the effects of Pegasus, but also appears to have gone one step further and reached out to help potential victims across the world.

According to The Wire’s reportage, Citizen Lab has reportedly made a series of allegations in its conversations with those affected in India. These include claims that a massive amount of data could have been impacted by the attack and that it may have been carried out by the Indian government or by a powerful non-state actor.

Also read: Citizen Lab Lists Measures You Can Take to Protect Your Accounts From Spyware

Are Citizen Lab’s claims endorsed by WhatsApp? This could take us down an interesting rabbit-hole, because it’s possible that both WhatsApp and Citizen Lab have more information on who exactly was using the NSO Group’s spyware in India. Or at least enough information to help an investigation come to a conclusion. 

Is it in WhatsApp’s best interest to disclose this information though, considering it has business interests in India?

What should concerned Indian citizens be doing?

As the Internet Freedom Foundation has noted, there is no existing Indian law that allow the installation of spyware or hacking mobile devices.

Hacking of computer resources, including mobile phones and apps, as noted, is a criminal offence under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

This controversy therefore shows there is an urgent need for surveillance reform that protects Indians against the use of malware, spyware and the creation of vulnerabilities in technologies which offer privacy protection by design. 

“We call on the Government to stand by democratic commitments and reject the use of spyware in their pursuit of social objectives of policing and security. Legislative measures must be introduced in Parliament to uphold the 9 judge bench decision of the Supreme Court of India recognising privacy as a fundamental right. The use of legal or technical means to access data and intercept communications in India must be authorised only in emergency situations, under judicial control and oversight, and with other protections to safeguard our citizens,” the IFF has noted.

India’s political parties across the spectrum should push for these legal safeguards, a process that can be kick-started if enough people ask for them.

On Day One of Two New Union Territories, India, China Exchange Verbal Volleys

With China protesting the creation of Ladakh as a separate union territory again, India has elevated its response by referring to Beijing’s possession of Aksai Chin.

New Delhi: On the first day of the existence of the two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, China described the action as “unlawful and void”, prompting India to remind Beijing that it had “illegally acquired Indian territories” from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

China had previously ticked off India when the Indian government began the process of removing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August, which led India to describe it as an internal matter.

With China again protesting the creation of Ladakh as a separate union territory, India has also elevated its response by referring to Beijing’s possession of Aksai Chin.

Also read: Xi to Pakistan: Support Your Legitimate Rights; India to China: Don’t Comment on Kashmir

During the weekly briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that Indian government had “officially announced the establishment of so-called Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh union territories that included some of China’s administrative jurisdiction”.

He added, “China deplores and firmly opposes that India unilaterally changed its domestic laws and administrative division challenging China’s sovereignty”.

Geng stated that India’s action “is unlawful and void and this is not effective in any way and will not change the fact that the area is under Chinese actual control”.

Also read: Kashmir: China Asks for UNSC Meeting After Pakistan Letter on the Issue

China, he stated, has urged India to “earnestly respect Chinese territorial sovereignty, abide by our treaties and uphold peace and tranquillity in the border areas and create favourable conditions for proper settlement of boundary question”.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson reiterated Beijing’s position that Kashmir dispute is left over from history and should be resolved as per UNSC resolutions, UN charger and other bilateral treaties.

China had supported Pakistan’s bid for United Nations Security Council to take up Kashmir after Indian parliament nullified Article 370 and bifurcated the state. UNSC had discussed the matter for the first time in over 20 years, but it was at an unrecorded, closed door meeting.

Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India for the second informal summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Indian officials “categorically” stated that there was no discussion on the Kashmir developments.

Also read: Modi and Shah Forget that Kashmir is No Tibet, India is No China

Just ahead of the India visit, Xi Jinping had hosted the Pakistan Prime minister Imran Khan on October 9. The joint statement had reiterated the Chinese position backing Pakistan’s insistence that Kashmir had to be resolved as per UNSC resolutions.

A few hours after the Chinese briefing, India’s ministry of external affairs responded in New Delhi that the “matter of the reorganisation of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is entirely an internal affair of India”.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India does not expect China to comment on internal matters, “just as India refrains from commenting on internal issues of other countries”. So far, India has never commented on the recent Hong Kong protests or the state of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Kumar said that the two union territories are an integral part of India and that it expects other countries to “respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

He then pointed a finger at China for illegally occupying Indian territory. “China continues to be in occupation of a large tract of area in the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. It has also illegally acquired Indian territories from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) under the so-called China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963,” said Kumar.

Also read: Stalled China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Projects will be Revived

The Indian spokesperson reminded that New Delhi had also protested on the projects in the “so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor” (CPEC) as those were on “territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947”.

On the boundary dispute, Kumar said that India and China had agreed to seek a “fair, reasonable and mutually accepted solution to the issue through peaceful consultations on the basis of the political parameters and guiding principles that were agreed in 2005”.

This was also reiterated during the second informal summit on October 12. “In the interim, the two sides have also agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area,” he added.