When author Gregory David Roberts wrote an open letter to all his readers asking them not to lose faith in India and Mumbai following the 26/11 attacks, he immediately found adherents in people like Anne Fox, a British tourist.
Braving a fear psychosis Fox took a corner table at the famous Leopold Café - the place Roberts had immortalised in his book "Shantaram" - ordered a beer and got up only after she finished reading it.
One of the city's oldest Irani-run cafes owned by Farzad and Farhang Jehani, Leopold was set up way back in 1871. Aptly wearing the tagline 'Getting better with age', it's a huge hit with foreign backpackers.
Situated on the Colaba Causeway in south Mumbai, Leo's (as the cafe is popularly known) offers you more than one reason to hop in. It has 333 items on its food menu ranging from the humble fish and chips to the royal biryani. But loyal Leodians swear by its chicken tikka masala and beef chilly and fried rice.
Serving hefty portions at reasonable price, what also sets the cafe apart is its ambience. Nothing too fancy for your eyes, but a quaint French cafe look with ever amiable waiters ready to serve you make most prefer it to its nearby look alike Cafe Mondegar.
Rudely interrupting its warm ambience, on the night of Nov 26 terrorists targetted Leo's as their first spot to launch their brazen attacks that claimed at least 179 lives. Seven people, including two tourists and two of the café's waiters, were among those killed.
Two weeks later, tourists like Fox have started trickling in again for what seems to be their favourite pass time at Leo's- read Shantaram.
"It's fascinating to read a book based in a particular place and then relate every little detail mentioned in it to the surroundings here," Fox told IANS, as she turned a page of the thick book.
A 2003 novel by Roberts, "Shantaram" is about an Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escapes from jail and flees to Bombay, as Mumbai was formerly called.
Of all the very typical "Bombay" things and places mentioned in the book is the Leopold Café.
Little wonder that one corner of the manager's counter is stacked with the grey and red covered "Shantaram". And it most definitely is the most read book in the café - especially amongst tourists.
Sitting lazily on her chair, Fox said that she was holidaying at the sun-kissed beaches of Goa when terrorists struck Mumbai. In spite of the outrage, Fox said she decided to continue her journey to Mumbai as per her long-drawn travel itinerary in India and despite her family and friends advising her against it.
"I have been in India for a month now and all this while I have been in Goa. When I heard about the attacks here, my parents back home wanted me to cut short the visit, but I just decided to carry on. It would have been such a waste of a trip had I gone back without visiting all these places," Fox maintained.
She, incidentally, was not the only one sitting in the café with a copy of "Shantaram".
Arthur Davis, a Canadian, sat with his girlfriend close by. Among their cloth shoulder bags and other things lying on their table was a copy of the book.
"This is not the first time that I have come to India and to Leo's. Now, the bullet marks on the ceiling of this place is unnerving.
"Yet seeing the crowd and the smiling faces of the waiters here gives you the confidence and hope to return. There is hardly any place today which has not been a victim to terror and, therefore, running away from India after these attacks is never an option," Davis told IANS.
But ask one of the waiters and he admits that after the Nov 26 attack the number of foreigners thronging the place has come down.
"The number of people coming to Leo's after the attack has not been affected; in fact it has increased. But the number of foreigners among them has come down. Otherwise, at any given time, the lower section of the cafe is generally filled with foreigners," said Avik, one of the waiters.
Nevertheless, this pub-restaurant - with its typical 1980s look and now bullet-riddled window panes - continues to serve loyal customers defiant in the face of depredations it had to endure.
(Azera Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)
The Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), which has been branded a terrorist group by the UN, is writing to the global body to clarify that it has no links with terrorism and the Pakistani government began investigations against it only on the basis of "Indian propaganda", its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said.
Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council Wednesday declared JuD, the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group. Four top LeT leaders, including Saeed, have also been branded global terrorists.
However, BBC Urdu website quoted Saeed as saying in an interview that he never headed the LeT. He added that although he was once arrested by the government, he was let off after JuD proved that he had nothing to do with the LeT.
The other LeT leaders whom the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee has branded global terrorists are Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Mahmood Muhammad Ahmed.
While insisting that none of the "LeT office holders are members of JuD", Saeed said: "India has failed to provide any evidence of LeT involvement in the Mumbai attacks."
Asked about LeT offices and camps in Pakistan, Saeed said all LeT offices were closed in 2002 after the ban on the organisation.
"Presently, there are no offices or camps (of LeT) in Pakistan," he said.
He said India was pressurising Pakistan through propaganda, adding: "The Pakistani government should investigate the allegations and clear the situation. LeT has already denied all the allegations."
Saeed said that previously India was accusing LeT of the Mumbai attacks but this week its envoy in the UN demanded restrictions on JuD. He demanded that Indian authorities provide evidence of the involvement of either of the two groups in the Mumbai attacks, which left over 170 people dead.
Declaring that the JuD will challenge the sanctions imposed on it in all forums, Saeed said his group will write to the UN explaining that it has no involvement in any terrorist activity.
When asked what he would do if India presented any evidence against JuD, Saeed said in that case his group will abide by the decision of the government of Pakistan.
He said all JuD offices in Pakistani Kashmir and other parts of the country were working as usual and the recent raids in Kashmir were on LeT.
"Pakistan army and security agencies are conducting these raids and they are in a better position to tell you against whom they are taking these actions," he added.
When asked about media reports that one of the Mumbai attackers had visited the JuD office in Muridke, Saeed said he had never met him.
"I have seen a media report that I met him for the first time in Dubai whereas I have never been to Dubai," he added.
Indo-Asian News Service
Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council has branded Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah, the front for banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group and four top LeT leaders as global terrorists.
The LeT leaders who were Wednesday declared terrorists by the Security Council are Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq. Except for the last one, all are Pakistani nationals.
India says Saeed, the LeT head, is the mastermind of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed at least 179 people, including several foreigners. While Lakhvi is the chief of operations of LeT, Ashraf is the chief of finances of the terrorist organisatiation, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN in 2002.
India-born Saudi national Bahaziq raised money for the LeT in Saudi Arabia. Frontal organisations of the banned Al Rashid and Al Akhtar trusts, which raised funds for LeT, have also been included in the Security Council's terror list.
India had requested the UN to ban the Jamat-ud-Dawah and Saeed, while the request for rest of the terrorists and organisations came from the US.
With this, the onus is now on Islamabad to take immediate action against those included in the list by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.
Richard Barrett, coordinator for Al Qaeda Taliban Monitoring Team, told IANS that the sanctions come into effect immediately. With this, Pakistan is expected to take action against them immediately, which include freezing of their assets, a ban on their foreign travel and arms embargo.
Since all the members of the Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee have veto power, the decision was taken by consensus. All the 15 members of the Security Council are the members of this sub-committee.
In the three previous attempts to include the Jamat-ud-Dawah in the list, China had opposed the request. But not this time, given the concrete supportive documents provided by India and the US about the group's role in the Mumbai terror attacks.
At a Security Council meeting convened Tuesday to debate terrorism, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said: "The Jamat-ud-Dawah and other such organisations need to be proscribed internationally and effective sanctions imposed against them."
Soon thereafter, the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the Security Council that his country would take action against the Jamat-ud-Dawah, including freezing its assets if it was designated a terrorist organisation.
"The government of Pakistan has already initiated investigations on its own pertaining to the allegations of involvement of persons and entities in the Mumbai attacks," he said.
"After the designation by the Indian government of the Jamat-ud-Dawah under 1267, the (Pakistani) government upon receiving this instruction shall proscribe the JuD and take under consequential action as required including the freezing of assets," Haroon added.
Indo-Asian News Service
By Kriti Gupta
Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Section 377, Indian Penal Code
The acts “against the order of nature” according to this definition are anal sex and masturbation. While this law applies to everyone; in practice, it generally implies homosexuality. This renders homosexuals vulnerable and is often used as means for blackmail and extortion. Though efforts are underway to change this law, the case is still pending in the Supreme Court.
This poses a problem as India has a thriving underground gay community. Kinsey Study, the most comprehensive research about sexual orientation, states that ten per cent of men and seven per cent of women between the ages of 16-55 are predominantly homosexual. This community has become more and more vocal, in the recent years. A phenomenon clearly exhibited by the recent gay pride parades held all over the country (like Delhi, Mumbai, and so on)
Jonathan Luther, a 20 something active homosexual man living in Delhi believes that India is suffering from a colonial hangover. “The Britishers introduced this law into the Indian Constitution. India itself has a history of accepting homosexuality. We need to get over this colonial hangover. Bharat chhodo 377!”
While discovering his alternate sexuality, Jonathan had a hard time. Continued on Page 4
“Being a Christian, I had major religious guilt. Christianity had been fed to me ever since I was a little boy. I had to go through five years of misery and torture. Then one day I realized – you cannot turn to God for everything. God is a construct that humanity needs to survive. To explain things that cannot be explained. Back then, I used to cry myself to sleep every night. Now, I have come to terms with who I am.” This is evident, as he is the only person who did not request a name change for this article.
Suhail Agarwal* has a different perspective.
As a Hindu, he did not face the religious guilt that Jonathan had to go through. In fact, he has not been subject to negative reactions from his friends and family. Despite that, he still prefers to stay in the closet. He believes that homosexuality is not a badge to be worn on your shoulder. “If straight guys don’t go around proclaiming that they are heterosexual, why should I have to do it?”
His take on Section 377 is that people need to be sensitized about the issue. Gay bashing still carries on in various parts of the country and vigilantes need to be suppressed. The police needs to be made aware of the problem. While attempting to explain 377, he said, “It kept going back and forth between the High court and Supreme Court. But I’m guessing as everything with the Indian law, the case is still pending.” He further added that if it were to become legal, at least it would no longer be a crime thereby reducing the stigma attached to it.
While on the one hand, Facebook type networking sites like www.guys4men.com ,a rage in India. On the other, there is still an alarmingly large number of cases reported where people kill themselves because they are forced to marry people of the opposite sex. In a study conducted recently, it was found that 45 gay couples committed suicide between 2001-2006. NAZ Foundation Co-ordinator Anuradha Mukherjee says that the figures are higher in reality, “It is hard to estimate the actual figure as families prefer saying that the girl committed suicide due to harassment rather than homosexuality.”
“Repealing 377 would make it easier for homosexuals in the lower classes to assert themselves. People in higher classes are insulated to a large degree. Parents bashing and friends ostracizing is a more prominent phenomenon with the lower classes,” remarks Jonathan. Suhail agrees, “There aren’t enough resources available with the poor to find out or even understand what they are going through.”
Rohit Kakkar*, a typical straight guy, comments on the community and his views on the same – “The class differences causes disparity in every field. So, to single out homosexuality is not justified. While I do not understand it, I know it happens. The best thing to do is to accept it and try and integrate it with society. There should be no judgement on you based on who you like.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge the Indian community faces today is to integrate homosexuality into the Indian society and culture. Hetero-normativity as a social construct is a farce that needs to be shattered. When asked about why he hasn’t come out to his parents, Suhail narrates the time his mother (who has a vague idea about his sexual orientation) said to him warningly, “Different people are not accepted in society. So you should think before you go down an unlikely path.”
Revoking Section 377 would be a step towards that.
* Names have been changed on request.
Every momentous event nowadays is tracked by live blogs, posts and messages.
There are minute-to-minute updates as events unfold, from the earthquake in China, to the cyclone in Burma. The terror attack in Mumbai was no different, as eyewitnesses and citizen journalists communicated with millions around the world.
But is all of that good, does it help? Is it reliable or can it also be abused?
For media commentators, two events have really led to the coming of age of live blogs. Firstly, the recent election in the US, which saw a massive number of news websites and individual bloggers cover the events minute by minute all over the globe. They were not only from the US, but also from the UK and around the Arab world.
The terror attacks in Mumbai has cemented the position of micro-blogging and live blogging as an invaluable medium to share information.
The first tweets about the attacks appeared early, and subsequently gave a tremendous amount of information, about a highly complex and rapidly changing series of events. But there are questions about verification and clarity.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation's tech blogger Rory Cellan Jones, a story that kept popping up was of the Indian government trying to ban twitter, because it was aiding the attackers.
However, there was no confirmation of the ban from any government source.
Jones also says that the story appeared on the BBC's own Mumbai live event page. The event page had pulled together all kinds of sources, official and unofficial, to give readers a picture of the developing story. The pages are designed to allow readers to keep up with all the latest information circulating about the story in real time. So, to some extent it's up to the reader to decide how much credence to give them.
Thus, it may be prudent to treat everything one hears on a social network with a degree of skepticism. It throws open the discussion on the relevance of the mainstream media. There, some say that, because of the volume of information on those networks and the number of users, the mainstream media is increasingly irrelevant.
Sites claim to have full stories out before the television networks got out of bed. But the fact is that, while thousands post on twitter, and it may have alerted many people to the attacks, as time went on, the posts made the story more confusing.
Finally during the Mumbai attacks, many people had to switch back to the TV and newspapers to get a full sense of the story.
So, what twitter has done is to provide instant information to millions. No one doubts the fact that it's one of the best things to have happened to the internet. But as Cellan Jones says, that what it doesn't do is, tell us what is true, and what isn't. That makes the work of mainstream media outlets and professional reporters all the more relevant.
India Tuesday indicated it was keeping all options open, including a military strike against terrorist camps in Pakistan and suspension of bilateral dialogue, and underlined that it will take "appropriate action" to protect its territory from terror attacks emanating from the neighbouring country.
"We will await the response from Pakistan to the demarche (formal protest note)," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate the India-Arab Forum Tuesday morning.
"We have in our demarche asked for the arrests and handing over of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and who are fugitives under the Indian law," he added.
"There are lists (containing the names) of about 20 persons. (These) lists are sometimes altered and this exercise is going on and we have reviewed it in our demarche," Mukherjee said.
"What I am saying is every sovereign country has its right to protect its territorial integrity and take appropriate action as and when it feels it is necessary to take that appropriate action," Mukherjee later told the NDTV news channel in an interview.
"As and when it takes place you will get to know. Nobody publicises or advertises it. I am not making any comment on military option," he replied when asked whether he would rule out military option against terrorist groups like the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) which are suspected to have engineered the Mumbai terror strikes.
"What will be done, time will show and you will come to know," Mukherjee said.
India's "most wanted 20" list includes known terror masterminds like mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) which was suspected behind the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, and LeT chief Hafez Mohammed Sayeed.
New Delhi has suspected these fugitives to be behind major terror strikes in India over the years.
India has, however, not set a time-frame for Pakistan to the demarche it issued Monday that included the return of India's 20 most wanted men, the dismantling of terrorist camps and the proscription of anti-India militant outfits.
"We have not set a time-frame for Pakistan's response to our demarche. We will give them a reasonable amount of time," a senior official said on condition of anonymity.
"All options are open. Nothing has been decided as yet," he replied when asked what steps India will take in case Pakistan refuses to concede to its demands.
Pakistan has responded by offering India a joint team to probe the Mumbai attacks and underlined it will "frame a response" to New Delhi's demand for handing over 20 of India's most wanted men.
But India has cold-shouldered what it sees a diversionary ploy by Pakistan to impress the international community about its sincerity. "We want action on the ground," the official said.
The bilateral composite dialogue process has not been stalled yet, but if Pakistan fails to address India's concerns, New Delhi may decide to suspend the talks on the remaining items in the ongoing fifth round, said reliable sources, privy to the government's thinking on the subject.
"There is a stress on the dialogue process. The atmosphere has been vitiated by the Mumbai attacks," the official admitted.
The menu of likely actions by India in case of Pakistan's refusal to act on the ground could include military action. But this last resort action is not being considered yet. "You can't rule out anything. We will cross the bridge when it comes to it," the official said.
Investigations have disclosed that the Nov 26 Mumbai terror strikes bore the imprint of LeT, a banned militant outfit.
The probe has produced enough damning evidence that led New Delhi to officially tell Islamabad Tuesday that it holds elements in Pakistan responsible for the Mumbai terror strikes.
Pakistan has denied any link with the Mumbai blasts.
"The government of Pakistan has offered a joint investigating mechanism and a joint commission to India," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a nationwide telecast in Islamabad.
At the same time, India and Pakistan should not allow their composite dialogue to get derailed in the wake of the Mumbai killings, he said.
"We want better relations... and it is in the larger interest of the two countries to continue the composite dialogue process.
With Pakistan in the denial mode, India Tuesday briefed envoys of those countries whose nationals were killed in the NOv 26 terror carnage about the investigation and underlined that New Delhi expected Islamabad to act against militants based in its territory who engineered it.
Vivek Katju, special secretary (Political and International Organisations), held a meeting with the envoys and expressed India's deepest condolences to them.
The heads of missions from Germany, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Thailand, Israel and Mauritius were present at the meeting, official sources told IANS.
India's diplomatic offensive comes in response to repeated denials by Pakistan and Islamabad's frenzied calls to world capitals to convince the international community of its claimed innocence.
US Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate who lost the presidential race to Barack Obama, Tuesday said he was hopeful of Pakistan's cooperation with India in the Mumbai terrorist attack probe and opposed a military strike against Islamabad.
Underlining solidarity with India in the wake of the Nov 26 terror attacks, he said the US would not allow terrorists to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan.
"I assume the government of Pakistan will cooperate. They realise that this act of terror is not something that affects India but all the civilised nations," McCain said.
"No," he replied when asked whether the Mumbai attacks were a "fit case" for India to launch military action against Pakistan.
"We do not have hard evidence yet. Obviously, there are allegations that this organisation, this individual or this group were trained or operated or had some training in Pakistan," said McCain.
"This government is committed to better relations between India and Pakistan. They (those behind the Mumbai carnage) tried to provoke a confrontation between India and Pakistan," McCain told reporters here.
"This government will not allow it to happen," he said, indicating a pro-active US role in thwarting any breakdown of dialogue between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Nov 26 terror strikes.
"Relations between India and Pakistan were on an improving path. That was one of the objectives of terrorists (to strain ties between the two countries)," McCain said.
He, however, hoped that Pakistan will cooperate in addressing India's concerns over the terror strikes and show "transparency" in this connection.
"It is in the national interests of Pakistan to weaken these elements," he replied when asked whether the US will put pressure on Islamabad to act against those elements in Pakistan whom India suspect to be behind the Mumbai attacks.
McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, was on his way to Bangladesh and Bhutan but decided to make a brief stopover here in the wake of the Mumbai strikes that has killed 183 people, including six Americans, and left 239 people injured.
McCain was echoing anxieties in Washington about the repercussions of potential India-Pakistan confrontation on the US war against fundamentalists in Afghanistan.
If such a situation arises, Pakistan is likely to move its troops from the Afghan border to its border with India - a move which could damage the US hopes of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.
McCain's trip to India comes a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives here in a bid to arrest the drift in fraying India-Pakistan ties in the wake of the terror attacks.
McCain, along with two other senators, Democrat Jospeh Lieberman and Lindsey O. Graham, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and underlined the US' solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism.
In their conversation with the prime minister, they offered to share the US' experiences in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Lieberman said.
They also told the prime minister about the counter-terror steps he US has taken, including the creation of the department of homeland security and a national counter-terrorism centre, said Lieberman.
President George W. Bush and president-elect Obama are acting in close coordination over the Mumbai terror strikes, the Republican senator said while underlining bipartisan support in the US to India in the aftermath of the terror strikes.
"We would be meeting Pakistan General (Ashfaq) Kiyani over the weekend and raise some questions with him," Liebermann told reporters here.
Indo-Asian News Service
Twenty-four years have passed since the world's worst man-made disaster - Bhopal gas tragedy - occurred. But despite the passage of time the trauma continues for the survivors of that fateful night of Dec 2-3, 1984, when over 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) spewed out of the now defunct Union Carbide's pesticide plant here.
Having borne the brunt of neurological, hormonal and mental health problems - besides the economic hardships - the survivors are now faced with the problem of deformed children being born.
Children of affected parents conceived and born after the disaster were significantly different from children of the same age born to unexposed parents, says a study carried out by Sambhavna Trust that runs a clinic to treat the gas-affected people.
"Such children were shorter, thinner, lighter and had smaller heads. Also, children of exposed parents showed abnormal growth of upper part of their bodies - disproportionately smaller than their lower bodies," says the study.
Medical research is desperately needed specially into the possible genetic and reproductive after-effects of the lethal gas leak that killed over 3,000 people instantly and thousands more over years later.
But the genetic damage to the children - born to survivors - has been severely under-studied, allege rights activists. This has led to "unsystematic treatment of gas victims already faced with neurological, hormonal and mental health problems", they say.
Lack of research - into the possible genetic and reproductive ramifications of exposure to lethal gasses and now to contaminated water - has seriously marred efforts to check the effects of poisonous gases on the next generation of the affected.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) initiated 18 studies in the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster. However, despite findings of long-term damage, these studies were all prematurely ended within 10 years, that too at a time when the evidence of damage on the offspring of survivors was beginning to show.
ICMR studies, though terminated prematurely, did show that children of exposed mothers had delayed physical and mental development.
"Most studies done by the ICMR were terminated as early as 1989 and the rest by 1994 without reviewing the collected data, and pleas for continuing the studies were ignored. The ICMR's full report on Bhopal too has not been released till date," said Satinath Sarangi, who runs Sambhavna Trust.
There have been no large-scale official studies on the effects of this chemical exposure on children born to exposed parents despite the children facing very high rates of serious congenital health problems.
The Fact Finding Mission on Bhopal found high levels of chemicals in the breast milk of the affected women. Studies conducted by the Sambhavna Trust Clinic indicated that about half of the people living in the contaminated area were suffering from multiple symptoms.
"Children suffering congenital deformities continue to be denied medical attention. Only 14 children received official assistance for heart surgery and 13 assistance in diagnosis for congenital brain anomalies between 1992 and 1997, under the programme SPARC (Special Assistance to At-Risk Children). But it was suddenly withdrawn in 1997 citing financial constraints," said Rashida Bi of the Chingari Trust that is working for gas survivors.
"There are an unusually large numbers of children with cerebral palsy too in the communities affected by gas or contaminated groundwater," she claimed, lamenting that between 1984 and 2000, the government spent just Rs.3,761 per year per child orphaned by the disaster.
And this despite the fact that an amount of Rs.497 million was allocated for social rehabilitation of victims of the disaster in 1986, she said.