World Sikh News, in its efforts to apprise its readers of the situation in the Punjab and the world view of the area has obtained the 1992 U.S. Department of State report on Human Rights practices in India. We will be publishing the excerpts from the report in serialized form for our readers. This is the Fi fifth installment.

In Assam, two journalists from local weeklies and one high court lawyer were arrested in March under the National Security Act. The Assam Chief Minister stated the two were arrested for seditious activities. Most independent observers claimed, however, that the journalists were jailed because they belonged to an organization that collected evidence of excesses by security forces and released a report on alleged deaths and rapes in custody.

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Jayalalitha proposed a legal ban on “scurrilous writing” by the press in apparent retaliation against what she called a press campaign against her. In April an arrest warrant was issued for one journalist, and two others were summoned to receive a reprimand from the speaker of the state assembly for “breach of assembly members’ privileges.” The journalists challenged these actions in the Supreme Court, and the court granted a stay of the arrest warrant. One reprimand order was upheld on grounds that the editor in question should have apologized to the assembly speaker. (See Section La. concerning the encounter killing of Ghulam Rasool, a journalist in Andhra Pradesh.)

Films are reviewed by the Censorship Board before being licensed for distribution. The Board deletes material deemed offensive to either public morals or religious or communal sentiment. Producers of video news magazines in the private sector also are required to clear their products with government censors. This has resulted in numerous delays in the release and editing of a number of stories on controversial issues.

Indians enjoy complete academic freedom, and students and faculty espouse a wide range of views. In addition to 10 national universities funded by the central Government and about 160 state universities, states are empowered to accredit locally run private institutions. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association the Constitution protects the right of peaceful assembly and the right to form associations, and these rights are generally respected in practice. Government authorities sometimes require permits and notification prior to holding parades and demonstrations, At times of civil tension, local governments may ban public assemblies and impose a curfew. Ordinarily, local governments respect the right to protest peacefully, including such traditional Indian forms of protest as “gherao,” in which an official or his office is surrounded by protesters who allow no access, and sit-downs blocking public thoroughfares.

Srinagar, in Kashmir, continued under a night curfew throughout the year, in the northeast state of Meghalaya, an indefinite curfew was imposed in the capital on August 13, following the outbreak of violence involving tribal groups and local merchants. Three weeks later, the state governor promulgated an ordinance empowering the police to detain any person for the maintenance of internal security and public order. Despite these measures, at least 20 people were killed and over 50 were injured in ethnic violence during October. Government authorities routinely imposed day curfews on other cities experiencing violent disturbances, as during the aftermath of the December 6 destruction of a mosque in Ayodhya. In Punjab and Assam, also, night and day curfews were imposed sporadically in response to militant activities. c. Freedom of Religion India is a secular state in which all faiths enjoy freedom of worship. Government policy does not favor any religious group. Nevertheless, tensions over religious differences continue to be a serious problem and pose challenges to the secular foundation of the Indian State.

Indian religious organizations may maintain communications with coreligionists abroad. Financial contributions from abroad are subject to scrutiny and licensing by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Ordinance makes it an offense to use any religious site for political purposes or to use temples for harboring persons accused or convicted of any crime. Although designed to deal with Sikh places of worship in the Punjab, the ordinance technically applies to all religious sites, In general, the Government exercises care to avoid placing restrictions on Sikh religious practices or on the management of Sikh places of worship.

Hindu Muslim tensions flared in December following the destruction of a mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu activists. Subsequent rioting throughout India left over 1,200 dead and some 4,000 seriously injured, In an effort to stem this violence, the Government invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to ban five communal groups (3 Hindu, 2 Muslim), The Government arrested over 5,000 people in a crackdown on the banned organization, but all but a few hundred were quickly released, On August 6, unknown assailants attacked the chief of a hardline Muslim group, the islamic Sevak Sangh, outside a mosque in Kerala, Hindu Muslim noting afterwards left 1 dead and over 100 injured.

There is no national law to bar proselytizing by Indian Christians. But the Governments limits the number of foreign missionaries and laws in some states discourage them from openly proselytizing. The rise in conversions among tribals of the northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh continued to create tensions; as in the past, state officials refused to issue permits for foreign Christian missionaries to enter the state.

Section 3: Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government India has a democratic, parliamentary system of government with representatives elected under full adult suffrage; the voting age is 18. Multiparty elections are held regularly at local, state, and national levels. A Parliament sits for 5 years unless dissolved earlier for new elections, except under constitutionally defined emergency situations. State governments are also elected at regular intervals except in states under President’s Rule.

On the advice of the Prime Minister, the President may proclaim a state of emergency in any state in the event of war external aggression, or armed aggression. Similarly, President’s Rule may be declared in the event of a collapse of a state’s constitutional machinery. The central Government has indicated its desi President’s Rule with an elected state government in Jammu and Kashmir, but it states that law and order problems remain obstacles to the holding of state assembly elections. Kashmin political leaders have also stated that they do not wish to have elections outside a negotiated settlement; President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir remained in place throughout the year.

President’s Rule in Punjab was lifted on February 25 following the installation of an elected state government; it was imposed in Manipur on January 7 and lifted on April 8; and it was imposed in Nagaland on April 2andremained in force through the rest of the year. Both north eastern states have suffered from problems of weak state administration, corruption, and political infighting. President’s Rule was imposed in the opposition ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachel Pradesh, and Rajasthan following the destruction of a mosque in Ayodhyaon December 6.

Polling in Punjab for the state assembly and the lower house of the National Parliament took place on February 19. All but one of the Sikh Akali parties boycotted the elections. Overall voter timeout was around 20 percent, with participation negligible in many rural areas. The low turnout was a response to the Akalis’ boycott of the elections and militant threats to punish voters who participated ‘The result was a virtual sweep by Congress (1) candidates, who won 87 of 117 state assembly seats and 12 of 13 national parliamentary seats. Municipal elections in Punjab’s heavily Hindu urban areas were held in September amid a significantly improved security climate, with voter timeout over 70 percent. The majority of votes went to independent candidates.

Indigenous peoples participate

actively in national and local politics, Numerous political parties and tribal groups work to advance the interests of indigenous peoples, and on several occasions have extracted specific concessions from the central Government Under Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution, seals are reserved for ‘scheduled tribes” (historically disadvantaged indigenous peoples) in the Parliament and state legislatures in proportion to their population.

Continued in the next issue

Article extracted from this publication >>    March 26, 1993