Asia

Thousands Attend Controversial Nationalist’s Funeral in Mumbai

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India – Today, the body of Bal Thackeray, a controversial Hindu nationalist and politician, was cremated in Mumbai.  Prior to the cremation, hundreds of thousands filled the streets to pay their respects.

Bal Thackeray’s son by his bedside at the funeral in Mumbai. (Photo Courtesy of Hindustantimes)

According to Indian Express, political leaders, celebrities, allies and rivals attended the funeral, which took place at Shivaji Park.  This event marked as Mumbai’s first public funeral since 1920.

“As far as I know, this is the first time since independence that a person has been cremated at a public platform in the city,” shared former Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro.

Suffering from respiratory and pancreatic difficulties, Mr. Thackeray passed away on Saturday.

Mr. Thackeray founded the right-wing Shiv Sena party in 1966 and possessed a hefty following before his death.  He was also influential in the renaming of Bombay to Mumbai in order to separate itself from its colonial past.

According to BBC, Mr. Thackeray is one of the “most divisive figures in Indian politics” and has allegedly used the Shiv Sena party as vehicle to keep South Indian migrants out of Maharashtra and thwart the spread of Islam.

“Only Marathis [residents of Maharashtra] have the first right over Mumbai,” Mr. Thackeray wrote last year in the Shiv Sena newspaper.

In 2002 and 2008, Mr. Thackeray urged Hindus to create suicide squads to combat Muslims.  Furthermore, in 1992 and 1993, the Indian government launched an inquiry into the riots in Mumbai and subsequently attributed Shiv Sena members for administering attacks on Muslims.

Thus, Mr. Thackeray is accused of inciting and exacerbating tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

When accused of harboring anti-Muslim sentiment, Mr. Thackeray denied such allegations.  Moreover, authorities never convicted Mr. Thackeray of any offence.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Bal Thackeray funeral: Thousands mourn right wing leader – 18 November 2012

IBNlive – Bal Thackeray’s funeral the first on public ground since 1947 – 18 November 2012

Indian Express – State funeral for Bal Thackeray, calm city lines – 18 November 2012

Expecting Mothers Wait in Hospital Lines out the Door to Give Birth

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, The Philippines – Pregnant mothers endure poor medical care in crowded hospitals in Manila as the debate over a new reproductive health care bill rages on in the Philippine legislature.

Filipino Mothers and their newborns. (Photo Courtesy of ABC Radio Australia)

At the Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, 171 pregnant mothers share less than 100 beds in the overflowing maternity ward.  Many more expecting mothers wait in lines outside on the street, some sleeping on the sidewalk.

The hospital staff will not grant these expecting mothers admission until the absolute last moment, when they are ready to give birth.  After they give birth, the mothers are allowed to spend a maximum of 48 hours in the maternity ward for recovery; most of them sleep two to a bed due to the overcrowding.

Most of the women who seek the services at Fabella Memorial Hospital are working class or destitute and cannot afford the luxury of giving birth at a private hospital.  Fabella accepts the pregnant women which other hospitals reject and charge 3,000 pesos (roughly $70 USD) for a regular birth.

However, most women who come to Fabella cannot afford to pay the 3,000 pesos, so the hospital renders their services for as little as 100 pesos (roughly $2.40 USD) in some extreme cases.  The hospital averages about 60 deliveries per day, and during peak seasons, will see as many as 80 deliveries in one day.

Due to Catholicism being the predominate religion in the Philippines, many of the women have never had any sex or reproductive health education.  Contraception is also rarely utilized because many of the women cannot afford it or are morally opposed to it because of religious beliefs.

The proposed reproductive health bill is slated to address the lack of sex and reproductive health education and inaccessibility of contraceptives.  The legislation has been backed by President Benigno S. Aquino III, but has been met with serious opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.

The Philippines has one of the fattest growing populations in the entire world with an estimated birth rate of roughly 25 out of 1000 people, compared to roughly 14 out of 1000 people in the U.S.  The new reproductive health care legislation will implement family planning services in hopes of bringing the out of control birth rate down.

Government proponents of the reproductive health care bill hope to distribute reproductive health care services throughout the country and offer better access to contraceptives.  The Bill also hopes to spread, more importantly, knowledge regarding sex and reproductive health, against the wishes of the Roman Catholic Church, in hopes that the education will lead to more informed decisions about family planning.

For further information, please see:

The Philippine Star – Gov’t focused on sin tax, leaves RH, FOI to lawmakers – 12 November 2012

The New York Times – Manila Hospital, No Stranger to Stork, Awaits Reproductive Health Bill’s Fate – 9 November 2012

ABC Radio Australia – Philippine lawmakers confident of health bill approval – 7 November 2012

The Inquirer – Lawmakers, civil society groups urge House to put into vote revised RH bill – 7 November 2012

Reuters – Philippines defies church to push family planning – 2 October 2012

Children’s Health Book Chastises Meat-Eaters in India

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India New Healthway, a book focusing on health and hygiene, is stirring public criticism against the government.  The book, which aims at eleven and twelve year olds, accuses meat-eaters of “easily cheat[ing]” and “commit[ting] sex crimes.”

The cover of New Healthway. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

This has led academics pressing the Indian government to exercise more caution in regulating press and activists protesting in response to such infringement against press.

“The strongest argument that meat is not essential food is the fact that the Creator of this Universe did not include meat in the original diet for Adam and Eve.  He gave them fruits, nuts and vegetables,” reads the chapter entitled “Do We Need Flesh Food?”

The book further examines the alleged benefits of vegetarianism and continues to list characteristics found in non-vegetarians.  “[Non-vegetarians] easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes,” read an except from New Healthway.

Another passage reads, “The Arabs who helped in constructing the Suez Canal lived on wheat and dates and were superior to the beef-fed Englishmen engaged in the same work.”

According to a 2001 consensus, approximately 80 percent of India’s population is Hindu and 13 percent are Muslim, and due to religious purposes, Hindus do not consume beef and Islam forbids pork consumption.

It is unknown the extent to which New Healthway has been purchased and circulated amongst schools in India.  Nonetheless, faculty are more worried that such a book is available to their students.

“This is poisonous for children,” shared Janaki Rajan, a faculty member at Jamia Millia University, to BBC News.  “The government has the power to take action, but they are washing their hands of it,” continued Ms. Rajan.

However, others have stated that schools have the utmost responsibility to monitor and regulate textbooks in the classroom.

According to the Huffington Post, a representative for India’s Central Board for Secondary Education relayed to NDTV that schoolbooks are not monitored for content.

Moreover, Principle Annie Koshy of St Mary’s school in New Delhi, where New Healthway is not used, further relayed to NDTV that although the CBSE recommends some publishers, such do not produce particularly good books.  “It’s a great way for us to actually see whether teachers are reading the books and teaching what the books say,” said Mr. Koshy.

Although BBC News has requested to speak to the publishers, S. Chand, no response was given.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – India textbook says meat-eaters lie and commit sex crimes – 16 November 2012

CBS News – India text teaches meat-eaters “commit sex crimes” – 16 November 2012

Huffington Post – ‘Meat-Eaters Lie, Cheat And Commit Sex Crimes,’ Claims Indian School textbook – 16 November 2012

 

China will not allow independent investigations into alleged human rights abuses in Tibet

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The Chinese central government will continue to disallow foreign, independent investigations of possible human rights abuses in Chinese-ruled Tibet.

Qiangba Puncog holds a press conference regarding the status of foreign reporters. (Photo courtesy of South China Morning Post)

International pressure to allow these probes into Tibet have intensified in the wake of eight individuals setting themselves on fire in protest of China’s rule in Tibet.  At least 68 Tibetans have committed self-immolation since March of 2011, and roughly 56 of these individuals have died.

Thousands of protestors, including many students, have also taken to the streets to protest the Chinese government and called for the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.  The Tibetan demonstrators marched on the government offices of Rebkong in eastern Tibet after the recent incidents of Tibetans lighting themselves on fire.

The demonstrators not only called for the return of his Holiness, the Dalai Lama, but also greater freedom of speech.  This may be a continuation of demonstrations held in 2010 when China planned to replace the Tibetan language with Chinese to instruct children in local schools.

Executive director of the rights group “Free Tibet” asserted that language is a huge issue among native Tibetans.  If Tibetans choose to study their own language and ignore Chinese, they will be marginalized because they must study Chinese for higher education opportunities and future employment opportunities.

Navi Pillay, the most senior human rights official at the United Nations, pleaded with China last week to allow for independent investigations into these alleged human rights abuses that may be plaguing the Tibetan people.

China’s Communist Party, however, continues to assert that foreign journalists will not be welcomed into Tibet.  Qiangba Puncog, chairman of Tibet’s regional assembly, relayed that people are welcome to come and see Tibet for travel and study purposes, but those attempting to enter the region to highlight human rights abuses are not welcome.

Qiangba Puncog also told reporters that they were welcome to see the true situation of Tibet with their own eyes, but gave no specific timeline as to when foreign reporters would be allowed back into the region.  China has barred foreign journalists from entering Tibet which makes independent verification of the specific events alleged, including the human rights abuses and nature of the self-immolations, difficult.

The individuals who have set themselves on fire have been labeled as terrorists by the Chinese government.  The Chinese government further accuses the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, as the instigator for all of these acts of self-mutilation.  The Dalia Lama denies all charges.

For further information, please see:

ZeeNews –Protests in Tibet amid key Cong: Rights groups – 10 November 2012

South China Morning Post – China says no to foreign rights monitors for Tibet – 9 November 2012

Reuters – China says no to foreign rights monitors for Tibet – 9 November 2012

Voice of America – Tibetan Protests Erupt in Western China – 9 November 2012

Sri Lankan Prison Explodes in Violence

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – On Friday, a standoff between inmates and prison authorities in the Welikada prison left at least 27 prisoners dead and 42 people wounded.

Army soldiers in front of the prison. (Photo Courtesy of Hindu News)

Violence erupted when hundreds of Sri Lankan policemen arrived to provide additional security to prison authorities searching for illegal items, drugs and mobiles among the prisoners.  Inmates subsequently broke into the armory and momentarily took control of at least a portion of the prison.

Media reports showed inmates on the rooftop shooting at both policemen and prison authorities below.  According to Mahinda Perera, a nearby resident, the standoff sounded like “a mini-war at the prison.”

Nonetheless, the situation has stabilized as of today.  “The prison is now totally under our control,” reassured Sri Lanka’s Commissioner General of Prisons P.W. Kodippili.  Furthermore, Mr. Kodippili believes that authorities discovered the bodies of 11 other inmates inside the prison ground.

Witnesses to the standoff attested that prison guards immediately fired at fleeing inmates.

Moreover, according to BBC, the Sri Lankan police acted without a court order, which initially aggravated the inmates.

The Prison Minister, Chandrasiri Gajadeera, stated that a three-member probe committee will examine the event.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – 27 Inmates Killed in Sri Lanka Prison Shootout – 10 November 2012

BBC – Sri Lanka’s Welikada prison clash leaves 27 dead – 10 November 2012

The Hindu – Sri Lanka prison riot death toll rises to 27 – 10 November 2012