INSAAF International A Demand For Justice Memorandum Presented to the President of India on 22.8.2000 through Deputy Commissioner, Bhatinda, Punjab, India Copy to: - Sh. A.B.Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India Sh. L.K.Advani, Home Minister of India Honorable Sh. K. R Narayanan President of India New Delhi Sir, Integrity, secularity and unity of India never faced a greater threat than it does today. It is a very dangerous and critical situation. India is a secular country. For centuries different communities and religions have co existed in harmony. It gave all religions the fundamental right of freedom to profess, practice and propagate their faith without resorting to violence against each other. Today this fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, and protected by the Rule of Law, stands systematically violated. The concept of secularism is one facet of the right to equality woven as the central thread in the fabric depicting the pattern of the scheme in our constitution. Now a serious challenge to the existence of this fabric has been created by a handful of fundamentalists. Fundamentalist violence has acquired sharp and worrying dimensions. It poses a serious threat to harmony, integration and secularity of our country, which have been strong pillars of its strength and unity. Beginning from Babri Masjid demolition to present escalation of violence against Christians, cold-blooded murders and bomb blasts in places of religion, the minorities are facing a serious threat to their peaceful living and freedom to religion from fundamentalist forces On this day, 22.8.00 we condemn all violence on the name of religion. We appeal to your Excellency to take such immediate steps as to curb the sinister activities and plans of fascist elements. Stringent punishment be given to those responsible for murder and terror on the name of religion and holy war, propagating hate among different communities and committing atrocities on minorities. Government must act now. It must check those who seek to divide communities and threaten to wage war on minorities. Long live secular India Dr. Vineeta Gupta General Secretary, Insaaf International Phone 91-164-215400, Fax 91-164-214500 Website: www.geocities.com/insaafin Email < insaaf@glide.net.in > and < vineetag@ch1.dot.net.in > Endorsed by National and International Organizations 1. Asghar Ali Engineer, Center for Study of Society & Secularism (CSSS) 2. Santosh Rana General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist),PCC, Calcutta 3. Dr. Leo Rebello, President, All India Letter-Writers Association India 4. P.C. Varghese, Coastal Educational and Cultural Trust India 5. Teesta Setalvad, Editor Communalism Combat, Mumbai 6. Ved Parkash Gupta, People's union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Punjab 7. People's Union for Human Rights (PUHR), Mumbai 8. Varghese Koshy Ariyannore Peoples Union for Human Rights India 9. Dr. Vikram Vyas, The Ajit Foundation, Jaipur India 10. Dr. Y. P. Chhibbar, General Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties India 11. Darshan Singh Mehraj, Comunist party of India, Bhatinda, Punjab 12. Pastor Faquir Chand, House of Pray, Bhatinda, Punjab 13. Rev. Tanvir-ul-haqq, CNI Bhatinda, Punjab 14. Dr. Maneesha Tikekar SIES College of Arts Science & Commerce ,Mumbai400022 INDIA 15. Mandeep S Bhatti, Advocate, Ex Vice-President Municipal Council, Bhatinda, Punjab 16. J. Sri Raman, Journalists Against Nuclear Weapons, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai India 17. Roshan Alexander, President, Indian Catholic Youth Movement 18. Rev James Mesih, Methodist Church, Bhatinda, Punjab 19. Kartar Singh, Methodist Church, Bhatinda, Punjab 20. Bagga Singh, President, Association for Democratic Rights, Punjab 21. Garib Nawaj Club, Bhatinda 22. Human Muslim Welfare Society, Punjab 23. Young Blood Club 24. Surinder Sharma, Brahmin Samaj Sabha 25. Sham Singh Joura, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bhatinda 26. Pawan Jindal, Secretary, Punjab Bank Employees Federation, Bhatinda 27. Sr. M. Roshan, BS, St. Joseph Convent School, Bhatinda 28. Isthpal Singh, Sarvhind Shiromani Akali Dal ( Tohra) 29. EKTA (Committee for communal Amity) Ram Puniyani Secretary, Mumbai, India 30. Rev Jose Joseph, Assembly of God Church, Bhatinda, Punjab 31. Fr. Joseph D'Costa Holy Rosary Church, Bhatinda, Punjab 32. Sis Innocentia, St. Joseph Convent School, Bhatinda 33. Shishir K. Jha Peoples Democratic Forum, Bangalore, India 34. Aditi Chowdhury, Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA) Hong Kong 35. Beverly Bell, Director Center for Economic Justice, USA 36. Shahbano Aliani, Organisation Workers Awaaz United States 37. Carl A. Patton Organisation Freedom Journal: Psyche Publishing USA 38. Haitian Advocacy Platform for an alternative development (PAPDA), Haiti 39. Camille Chalmers - Executive Director of PAPDA 40. Nasir Chaudhry, president, Progressive Youthg Organisation, Lahore, Pakistan. 41. Dr. Pritam K Rohila, Ph.D. Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA), USA 42. CECIL CHAUDHRY Organisation National Christian Action Forum, Pakistan 43. INDO-AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL, Los Angeles, California, USA 44. Maqbool Kadri, Chairman Zenuddin S. Bhatia, V.P. Community Affairs, USA 45. George. V.J Organisation VOD International , England 46. FOIL, USA 47. Eugene Culas, VOD International , England 48. Irene Beckett, Chairman, VOD International , England 49. Geoffrey Cook, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant United Sates of America 50. The Coalition For An egalitarian and Pluralistic India, USA, 51. Ikram R. Rana SAFE ( South Asians For Enlightenment ) PAKISTAN 52. Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed ( Coordinator, PPAD ) Pakistanis for peace and Altnernative Development (PPAD) Stockholm University, Country International Network, Stockholm 53. Ismail K. Poonawala, Professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies University of California, Los Angeles USA 54. K Shankar Narayan, Ph.D. Huntington Medical Research Institutes Pasadena, CA 55. Lucy Mair , Center for Economic and Social Rights, Country United States 56. Badal Malick The SAMAR Collective; Forum of Indian Leftists; South Asians Against Police Brutality and Racism. USA 57. Dr. Maqsood Choudary Department of Political Science Mount Mercy College, Cedar U.S.A. 58. Mohammad Zaigham Khan Secretary Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys' Association Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 59. Patrick Bond University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Public and Development Management South Africa 60. Pritam Singh Oxford Brookes University Business School Oxford UK 61. Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhry , General Secretary 62. Rubina Jamil , Chairperson APTUF 63. Nasir Chaudhry, President All Pakistan Trade Union Federation Lahore Pakistan. 64. Mohammad Siddiq Progressive Youth Organisation, Pakistan 65. Saghir A. Shaikh, Ph.D. World Sindhi Congress, California USA 66. Sarah Zaidi, Research Director, Center for Economic and Social Rights, NY, USA 67. Shahbano Aliani Organisation Center for Economic and Social Rights United States of America 68. S. Conroy, Editor of International Small Press Network 69. Soren Ambrose , 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice Washington, DC USA 70. Sputnik Kilambi, journalist, France 71. Syed Riyaz Mahdi Member, Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic India, USA 72. Sumit Basu, Delft University of Technology, Country Netherlands 73. T.N.Gopalan, Convener, Citizens for Freedom of Expression CHENNAI TAMIL NADU 74. Zubair Faisal Abbasi Sustainable Development Networking Program. Islamabad, Pakistan 75. Muhammad Harris Putra, North Sumatra Peasant Union - Indonesia Prominent Individuals 76. Christina Delius, Hamburg Germany 77. Indra Munshi,university of Mumbai, India 78. Dominique Mitchell, Somerset BA11 1EQ Britain 79. M. Christina Enciso, USA 80. M. Pereira, India Thane (West) 81. Manisha Mehta, United States 82. A.H. Nayyar Pakistan Address. Physics Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 83. Ahmad Raza Country: USA 84. Indra Munshi, University of Mumbai, India 85. Ashfaq Khan, Calgary, Canada 86. Ajantha Subramanian: USA 87. Dr. Amar Jesani, Mumbai, India 88. Arup Barat USA 89. Ayan Banerjee Indian Institute of Science, Dept of Physics, IISc, Bangalore 90. Ayyub Malik , Architect and urban planner , London 91. Balram Sampla UK Gordon Road, Rochester, Kent 92. Fr Bonnie Mendes 93. Kamal Mitra Chenoy JNU, India 94. C. Srinivas, Malden, USA. 95. Dr Ajaz Anwar, Art historian and painter of cityscapes 96. Bilal Hashmi, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Eastern Washington Univ. Country Cheney, WA. 99004 97. Safia Shafiq Organisation Green Circle Organization Pakistan 98. Ipe van der Deen The Netherlands 99. Riem El-Zogbhi, USA 100. Hari meka, India 101. Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed (Associate Professor of Political Science) Country SWEDEN 102. Ijaz Syed USA 103. Hassan N. Gardezi Professor Emeritus Sault Ate Marie Ontario. Canada 104. Jitendra Shah, Bombay 400076 105. Jawaid Quddus, M.D., Ph.D.Ann Arbor, MI 106. Michal Duricek Country The Czech Republic 107. Michael Briguglio, Malta 108. Nadeem Hameed Pakistan 109. Rustam Vania, India 110. Satish Kolluri, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A 111. Sangeeta Rao, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A 112. Shobha Sharma, Libertyville, U.S.A. 113. Rashmi Varma, Asst. Professor of English ,Univ. of North Carolina, USA 114. Revathy Gopal. Mumbai--400025 6 3