SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2239ever, no further information was uncovered and no other persons were held accountableby year’s end.On June 26, the National Human Rights Commission ordered states affected byHindu-Christian violence to provide written reports detailing the violence againstChristians and the actions taken by state governments. No reports were made publicby year’s end, and according to human rights activists, states had not submittedthem.On occasion, Hindu-Muslim violence led to killings and a cycle of retaliation. Insome instances, local police and government officials abetted the violence, and attimes security forces were responsible for abuses. Police sometimes assisted theHindu fundamentalists in perpetrating violent acts (see Section 5). Following riotsin Ahmedabad, Gujarat from August 5 to 7, some police officers allegedly forcedsome Muslim residents to sing the Sanskrit anthem to prove that they were not‘‘anti-national’’ (see Section 5). Government officials allegedly also subjected Christian-affiliatedforeign relief organizations to arbitrary roadblocks; many of these organizationsare not engaged in religious activities (see Section 4). In a few instances,state governments investigated and sometimes arrested suspects in cases of anti-Christian violence. For example, after an Australian missionary was murdered inOrissa (see Section 5), several suspects were arrested. In another instance, the governmentsof Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh investigated a series of 6 church bombingsin June and July (see Section 5); the investigations led to the arrest of 45 personsand concluded that members of the Deendar Anjuman, a Muslim group, carriedout the bombings. In general government response has been poor with respect tosuch incidents.On July 14, the Maharashtra government announced its intention to prosecuteBal Thackeray, leader of the rightwing Hindu organization Shiv Sena, for his rolein inciting the Mumbai 1992–1993 riots in which over 700 persons, the vast majorityof whom were Muslim, were killed (see Section 5). On July 25, amid rioting byShiv Sena supporters, Thackeray was arrested; a few hours later a judge ruled thatthe statute of limitations relating to the incitement charges had expired, and Thackeraywas released.d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.—Citizensenjoy freedom of movement within the country except in certainborder areas where, for security reasons, special permits are required. Underthe Passports Act of 1967, the Government may deny a passport to any applicantwho ‘‘may or is likely to engage outside India in activities prejudicial to the sovereigntyand integrity of India.’’ The Government uses this provision to prohibit theforeign travel of some government critics, especially those advocating Sikh independenceand members of the violent separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir.On April 9, the Government prevented four members of a Kashmir human rightsorganization from traveling to the 56th U.N. Commission on Human Rights(UNCHR) meeting in Geneva (see Section 4). Abdul Majid Banday, MohammadTufail, Mohannad Amin Bhat and Abdul Rashid Lone, had valid passports and lettersof accreditation as members of a U.N.-recognized NGO, but authorities preventedthem from boarding their flight.Vehicle checkpoints, at which Border Security Forces routinely search and questionoccupants, are a common feature throughout most of Jammu and Kashmir. Italso is common for police to block entry and exit points in preparation for gatheringyoung males for police lineups. These searches tend to focus on troubled areas, asopposed to the mass searches that were common in the past. According to a crediblesource, such search operations seldom yield any results.In September the PUCL reported that Bangalore police arrested 30 persons peacefullydemanding access to public information on construction of the Bangalore-Mysore information corridor. The Karnataka government has proposed acquiringmore than 20,000 acres of land in 168 villages. Those arrested were concerned aboutthe status of farmland and homes in the village resutling form the continuedplanned government construction of an expressway between the two cities.On October 18, the Supreme Court ruled that construction of the Sardar SarovarDam on the Narmada River in Gujarat could begin immediately, reaching a heightof 90 meters, and could proceed in stages thereafter up to a finished height of 138meters. The ruling stipulated that those displaced by the dam would be compensated.However, many human rights advocates and NGO’s continued to allegethat the construction of the dam would displace 40,000 families without adequatelycompensating those who are resettled (see Section 2.b.). (Opposition to the Narmadaproject was greatest during the early 1990’s, resulting in prolonged financial andlegal delays.)Citizens may emigrate without restriction.VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1