Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: IND17769 Country: India Date: 2 February 2006

Keywords: India – Muslims – Development Foundation Trust – Arivagam – Communal Violence

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions

1. What is Arivagam? 2. What is TNDFT? 3. What are relations like between Arivagam (& TNDFT) and radical Hindu activists? 4. Are there any records of communal clashes in 1995 and 1996? 5. Do the Police torture Muslims active in proselytising? 6. What is the RSS? How do they react to members of Arivagam and TNDFT? 7. Is Singapore a signatory to the Refugees Convention? Does it accept refugees? 8. Where else, besides Tamil Nadu, is Tamil spoken by at least 10-20% of the state's population?

RESPONSE

1. What is Arivagam?

2. What is TNDFT?

Little information was found among the sources consulted on either the “Arivagam” or the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust (TNDFT). Information that was found indicates that both organisations are associated with the Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP) (Human Justice Front), a “fundamentalist” group, which the Tamil Nadu police claimed to have “busted” in October 2004. News reports about the “bust” state that police in the Cuddalore district had “stumbled upon…a unit of the [MNP] group at Nellikuppam while investigating a case of attempted murder…and…religious conversion prior to that”. Claiming that the MNP was converting dalits (low caste Hindus) to Islam, and recruiting them for outlawed “terrorist forces in Jammu and Kashmir”, district police arrested 15 members of the group and seized a small collection of weapons (“long sickles, foreign-made daggers”) along with other items (“celephones…audio and video cassettes, an amplifier, a binocular, a camera, digital diaries, incriminating documents and Rs. 85,000). In one report, “[t]he Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Sanjay Aroro said that the MNP had a militant orientation and there was prima facie evidence of its running a training camp”. (Ragunathan, A. V. 2004, ‘Fundamentalist outfit busted in Nellikuppam’, The Hindu online edition, 29 October http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/29/stories/2004102908420100.htm - Accessed 19 January 2006 – Attachment 1; ‘JKLF recruiting outfit busted in TN’ 2004, The Deccan Herald online edition, 30 October http://67.18.142.206/deccanherald/oct302004/n10.asp - Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 2; ‘Arrests, arms seizure bring group under police scanner’ 2004, The Hindu online edition, 2 November http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/02/stories/2004110209940400.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 3; ‘Police claims busting terrorist hideout’ 2004, The Milli Gazette online edition, 16-23 December http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31Dec04-Print- Edition/163112200424.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006 –Attachment 4; ‘15 persons taken into custody in TN’ 2004, NDTV.Com website, 29 October http://t2ndtv.m7z.net/addons/printpage.asp?id=62737&callid=1&caption=undefined – Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 5).

Regarding MNP’s association with Arivagam and the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust (TNDFT), a news report of the incident in Cuddalore states that the MNP “was part of an institution, ‘Arivagam’ at Muthudevanpatti in Theni district, and had contacts with the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust at Periyapet in ”. Arivagam, which may also be the name of a village or town in the Theni district, appears to have been an “Islamic indoctrination” or learning centre. (Ragunathan, A. V. 2004, ‘Fundamentalist outfit busted in Nellikuppam’, The Hindu online edition, 29 October http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/29/stories/2004102908420100.htm - Accessed 19 January 2006 – Attachment 1; JKLF recruiting outfit busted in TN’ 2004, The Deccan Herald online edition, 30 October http://67.18.142.206/deccanherald/oct302004/n10.asp - Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 2; ‘’15 persons taken into custody in TN’ 2004, NDTV.Com website, 29 October http://t2ndtv.m7z.net/addons/printpage.asp?id=62737&callid=1&caption=undefined – Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 5). According to the Deccan Herald’s report:

Police said the outfit [the MNP] converted Dalits into Islam and sent them to another outfit in Arivagam in southern Theni district where they were indoctrinated with hate literature and shown CDs of [the] Babri Masjid demolition, the and Gujarat riots and so on. (JKLF recruiting outfit busted in TN’ 2004, The Deccan Herald online edition, 30 October http://67.18.142.206/deccanherald/oct302004/n10.asp - Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 2).

In subsequent reports, the MNP’s president denied all charges relating to his group. In a letter to the Milli Gazette, an unidentified spokesperson for the group also accused Tamil Nadu police of being “a watchdog of conversions” and of targeting the group. The author claims that the Cuddalore arrests took place in the context of a “small altercation between Muslims over the marriage of a converted Muslim girl”, which was whipped up by police. Also, that the police were targeting the MNP because it had “filed 21 cases against the Tamil Nadu police”, and had “worked against [the] BJP [] in the last Lok Sabha [federal] elections” (‘Arrests, arms seizure bring group under police scanner’ 2004, The Hindu online edition, 2 November http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/02/stories/2004110209940400.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 3; ‘Rejoinders: Manitha Neethi Pasarai’ 2005, The Milli Gazette online edition, 1-15 January http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/01-15Jan05-Print- Edition/011501200542.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 6).

Other information indicates that the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust (TNDFT) is a Muslim organisation based in Chennai, which has been involved in promoting Islam. Reports on the Islamic Voice website, for instance, indicate that the TNDFT had conducted essay contests in 1998 and 2000 on “Islam: A complete guide for all walks of life” and “The way of life as laid down by the Quran”. In November 2004, a news report also stated that the TNDFT was to “organize a formal conversion ceremony” for six dalits in Tamil Nadu who had converted to Islam in May 2004. (‘Essay Prizes’ 1998, Islamic Voice website, April http://www.islamicvoice.com/april.98/COMM.HTM - Accessed 21 January 2006 – Attachment 7; ‘Essay Contests Awards’ 2000, Islamic Voice website, December http://www.islamicvoice.com/december.2000/community.htm - Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 8; Sharma, A. ‘Controversy over Dalit religious conversions in Ta [sic]’, The South Asia Times online edition, November http://www.southasiatimes.com.au/newsprint64.aspx - Accessed 19 January 2006 – Attachment 9).

3. What are relations like between Arivagam (& TNDFT) and radical Hindu activists?

6. What is the RSS? How do they react to members of Arivagam and TNDFT?

Information was not found among the sources consulted on relations between the Arivagam, or the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust (TNDFT), and radical Hindu activists. The following provides background information only on the two main Hindu nationalist groups operating in Tamil Nadu, the nationally-based Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS) and the locally-based Hindu Munnani, their views on religious conversion, and their relations with non-Hindus accused of converting Hindus (particularly low caste dalits) in the state. That discussion may apply to the Arivagam and the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust.

The Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Association of Volunteers was founded in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. It has been the guiding force of in India since that time and is the core of the Sangh Parviar (the ‘family’ of Hindu nationalist organisations, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad among many other groups). For links to past RRT research responses, which provide background information on the RSS, the , the treatment of Muslims and the occurrence of communal violence in Tamil Nadu, in particular, see: RRT Country Research 2001, Research Response IND22491, 27 April, which provides background information on the RSS and the Sangh Parivar, at Attachment 10; and RRT Country Research 2004, Research Response IND16591, 29 March, and RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response IND16314, 8 December, which provide information on communal violence and the situation of Muslims in Tamil Nadu, at Attachment 11 and Attachment 12.

The RSS has been involved in instituting ethno-religious mobilisations in Tamil Nadu since the early 1980s (beginning in the little known village of Meenakshipuram where the modern Hindu nationalist movement exploded onto the national scene under it’s guidance in an organised response to the mass conversion of dalits to Islam). It has done so alongside its affiliates in the state, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bharatiya Janata Party; and, most importantly, the Hindu Munnani, which was founded in 1980 by Rama Gopalan, a local RSS activist. All have rallied against religious conversions out of in the state. The Hindu Munnani in particular, which has been described as “the striking arm” of Hindu politics in Tamil Nadu, was itself founded in the wake of the conversions in Meenakshipuram to combat the practice. The Hindu Munnani has been responsible for perpetrating acts of violence against persons accused of converting Hindus out of Hinduism; six of its members, for instance, were responsible for murdering a suspected Christian evangelist in 2003. Such violence has been a facet of growing communalism in Tamil Nadu state generally; and perhaps, more particularly, the normalisation of communal politics by the state’s ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which was responsible for passing (and later repealing) The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Ordinance, in 2002. (For more information on the Meenakshipuram conversions, the events in the early 1980s, and the growth of communalism and Hindu nationalists groups in Tamil Nadu, see: Karat, P. ‘A grim warning’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050210.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004 – Attachment 13; Fuller, C. J. 2001, ‘The Vinayaka Chaturthi festival and Hindutav in Tamil Nadu’, Economic and Political Weekly online edition, 12 May http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2001&leaf=05&filename=2989&filetype=ht ml – Accessed 14 August 200 – Attachment 14; van der Veer, P. 1994, Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India, University of California Press, Berkley, p. 28 – Attachment 15.) (For information on relations between Hindu nationalists and non-Hindu groups accused of converting Hindus, including reported instances of violence, see: Karat, P. ‘A grim warning’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050210.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004 – Attachment 13; Moorthy, N. S. 2001, ‘Christians, Hindu Munnani in conversions row’, Rediff.Com website, 3 November http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/nov/03tn.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006 – Attachment 16; ‘6 Munnani activists get life term for murder’, The Hindu online edition, 27 November http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/27/stories/2004112706490300.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006 – Attachment 17; Subramanian, T. S. 1998, ‘A time of troubles’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050170.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004 – Attachment 18.) (For background information on other issues, including information on the normalisation of communal politics by the state’s ruling party, see: Viswanathan, S. 2004, ‘Conversion as protest’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 21, No. 13, 19 June – 2 July http://www.flonnet.com/fl2113/stories/20040702002204500.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006 – Attachment 19; ‘DJ. S India leader repeals law against religious conversion’ 2004, Oster Dow Jones Commodity Wire, 18 May – Attachment 20; Krishnakumar, A. 2002, ‘Behind Jayalalithaa’s Ordinance’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 199, No. 22 http://www.flonnet.com/fl1922/stories/20021108002903300.htm - Accessed 24 January 2006 – Attachment 21.)

The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2002, was repealed by Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK state government “in the wake of the… [party’s] rout in the [2004] Lok Sabha [federal] polls”. News of the conversion of six dalits to Islam shortly after was reported to have evoked “strong protests from the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindu Munnani”. Hindu Munnani founder, Rama Gopalan, was stated to have said that his organisation was “in the process of forming resistance groups [against religious conversion]” in villages across Tamil Nadu. Relations between the Hindu Munnani, or other radical Hindu groups, and the Tamil Nadu Development Foundation Trust (TNDFT) may be drawn from reports that the TNDFT was scheduled to “organize a formal conversion ceremony [for the six converts]” and that many “many more dalits” were “expected to convert [to Islam]” on that occasion (‘Jaya volte-face after defeat’ 2004, The Statesman, 19 May – Attachment; Sharma, A. 2004, ‘Controversy over Dalit religious conversions in Ta [sic]’, The South Asia Times online edition, November http://www.southasiatimes.com.au/newsprint64.aspx - Accessed 19 January 2006 – Attachment 9).

4. Are there any records of communal clashes in 1995 and 1996?

Tamil Nadu had been comparatively free of communal violence before November 1997 when an intense cycle of communal violence, and retaliation attacks, commenced in the state with the killing of a Hindu policeman by Muslims youths. Before then instances of communal violence appear largely to have been eclipsed in the media by other forms of violence in the state (including inter-caste and anti-dalit related violence). (For further details, see: RRT Country Research 2004, Research Response IND16591, 29 March – Attachment 11; DIMIA Country Information Service 2003, Country Issues Brief: The Political Situation and Hindu - Muslim Relations in the State of Tamil Nadu, July – Attachment 22.)

In Tamil Nadu, communal incidents in 1995 and 1996 included: “a [bomb] blast in the Hindu Munnani office in Madras” and “a powerful blast in Rameshwaram where a BJP activist was also stabbed” in March 1995; communal clashes during the Vinayaka Chaturthi (or Ganapati) festival, a religio-political Hindu festival, in September 1995; and electoral violence in Kottaimedu, which was sparked by Muslim youths in April 1996 (Fuller, C. J. 2001, ‘The Vinayaka Chaturthi festival and Hindutav in Tamil Nadu’, Economic and Political Weekly online edition, 12 May http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2001&leaf=05&filename=2989&filetype=ht ml – Accessed 14 August 200 – Attachment 14; ‘A time of troubles’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050170.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004 – Attachment 23; Rajeshwari, B. 2004, Communal Riots in India: A Chronology (1947-2003), Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, March http://www.ipcs.org/IRP03.pdf - Accessed 25 January 2006 – Attachment 24).

While a record of group clashes was not found for district Nagapattinam, for either 1995 or 1996, Hindu Munnani and Tamil Nadu police sources indicated in 1998 that a banned Muslim group, Al Umma, was present in the district. Indeed, according to the Hindu Munnani, “a new extremist force in the name of ‘national democratic force’ was [also at that time] active in some villages in Nagapattinam…” (‘Ban on conversions sought’ 1998, The Hindu, 3 October – Attachment 25; Jayanth, V. 1998, ‘No Vinayaka Chathurthi rallies in Coimbatore’, The Hindu, 24 August – Attachment 26).

5. Do the Police torture Muslims active in proselytising?

Information was not found in the sources consulted on whether the police torture Muslims active in proselytising. The following provides information on the situation of Muslim prisoners who were arrested in connection with the Coimbatore blasts in 1998 and other reports concerning custodial torture in Tamil Nadu.

Country information discloses that Muslims have frequently been targeted by the police in Tamil Nadu. While most obvious within the specific context of communal violence, as in 1997/98 when the Tamil Nadu police were said to have openly sided with Hindu mobs, in unconfirmed reports Muslim sources allege that members of their community have also been ill-treated and tortured by the police whilst in custody. Reported allegations of torture usually, if not always, refer to Muslim prisoners who were arrested, and continue to be held without charge, in connection with the Coimbatore bomb blasts in 1998. In January 2006, for instance, an unidentified source threatened to bomb rail installations in Tamil Nadu if these prisoners were not released and if the authorities did not “stop” torturing Muslim prisoners or “take action against jail officials who torture Muslim prisoners”. In earlier reports, the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) also alleged that the prisoners were being ill-treated and harassed by the police while in custody. (For information on the recent threats, see: ‘Threat to blow up 10 trains’ 2006, Newinpress.com, 30 January http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20060129103145&Title=Southern+Ne ws+-Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0& - Accessed 30 January 2006 – Attachment 27; ‘Security beefed up at Rly stations in TN’ 2006, Web India website, 29 January http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=233523&cat=India – Accessed 30 January 2006 – Attachment 28.) (For statements made by the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and the Indian Union Muslim League, see: ‘Release “innocent Muslims”, TMMK urges Government’ 2005, The Hindu, 25 July – Attachment 29; ‘Muslim prisoners being harassed’ 2005, Sify News website, 15 July http://sify.com/cities/fullstory.php?id=13896496 - Accessed 1 February 2006 – Attachment 30.)

In other news, reports from 2001 indicated that an investigation was being held into the alleged torture of Muslim prisoners following the Coimbatore bomb blasts in 1998. The findings of the investigation, which commenced in July 2001, were not found among the sources consulted. However, other reports concerning the investigation were found; they indicate that it began after police received a complaint alleging that the former chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the previous DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam) government, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and five senior government officials, were involved in a “conspircacy…to torture Muslim prisoners in custody”. Reports suggest that the complaint may have been politically motivated as that the complainant, Preethi Basker (Bhaskaran), was identified as member of the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), the DMK’s political rival in the state. (For further details, see: ‘FIR on complaint of Muslim prisoners harassment’ 2001, The Hindu online edition, 15 June http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/06/15/stories/0415401t.htm - Accessed 1 February 2006– Attachment 31; ‘A mini-emergency – Jayalalitha’s terrible thirty days’ 2001, The Statesman, 25 June – Attachment 32; ‘Karunanidhi faces another case’ 2001, The Statesman, 13 July – Attachment 33;‘Muslim prisoners “harassment” case begins’ 2001, The Hindu online edition, 24 July http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/24/stories/0424223e.htm – Accessed 1 February 2006 – Attachment 34.)

Reports that Muslims have been ill-treated and tortured by the police whilst in custody accord with other reports from Tamil Nadu. These include credible reports of custodial torture and police brutality, and the state’s failure to implement the Supreme Court’s directives concerning the rights of the arrests outlined in D. K. Basu v State of West Bengal (1997). (For further details, see: ‘Report details police atrocities’, BBC News, 3 November – Attachment 35; ‘Install closed circuit TV at police stations’ 2004, The Hindu online edition, 21 March http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004032106240600.htm&date=20 04/03/21/&prd=th& - Accessed 30 January 2006 – Attachment 36; Viswanathan, S. 2003, ‘A tale of torture’, Frontline online edition, Volume 20, Issue 16, 2-15 August http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2016/stories/20030815002504800.htm - Accessed 2 February 2006 – Attachment 37; ‘Pointers for reform 1999, The Hindu, 5December – Attachment 38.)

7. Is Singapore a signatory to the Refugees Convention? Does it accept refugees?

Singapore is not a state party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and appears to offers only a limited degree of protection. As indicated by the US Department of State:

The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or asylum to persons in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government provides protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution, but does not grant refugee or asylum status. A small number of ethnic Chinese from Indonesia have entered the country as visitors for temporary stays during episodes of racial or religious strife (US Department of State 2005, Singapore: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004, 28 February – Attachment 39).

8. Where else, besides Tamil Nadu, is Tamil spoken by at least 10-20% of the state's population?

The results of the 1991 Indian Census on the “Three Main Languages in every state” is provided at Attachment 40. Please be aware that the information provided in this attachment appears only to refer to the distribution of first-, and not second- or third-, language Tamil speakers in India. The Library is attempting to obtain a copy of table C-8 of the 1991 Indian census, which provides detailed information on “Bilingualism and Trilingualism” for the states and union territories (‘India Census – Religion & Language’ 1991, Census India online http://www.censusindia.net – Accessed 15 March 2004 – Attachment 40; ‘Language and Mother Tongue’ Undated, Census of India website http://www.censusindia.net/cendat/language/intro_language.html - Accessed 20 January 2006 – Attachment 41).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports United Nations (UN) Non-Government Organisations International News & Politics Region Specific Links Topic Specific Links Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Online Subscription Services Library Networks University Sites

Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO IRBDC Research Responses (Canada) RRT ISYS RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. RRT Library FIRST RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. Ragunathan, A. V. 2004, ‘Fundamentalist outfit busted in Nellikuppam’, The Hindu online edition, 29 October. (http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/29/stories/2004102908420100.htm - Accessed 19 January 2006)

2. ‘JKLF recruiting outfit busted in TN’ 2004, The Deccan Herald online edition, 30 October. (http://67.18.142.206/deccanherald/oct302004/n10.asp - Accessed 20 January 2006)

3. ‘Arrests, arms seizure bring group under police scanner’ 2004, The Hindu online edition, 2 November. (http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/02/stories/2004110209940400.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006)

4. ‘Police claims busting terrorist hideout’ 2004, The Milli Gazette online edition, 16-23 December. (http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31Dec04-Print- Edition/163112200424.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006)

5. ‘15 persons taken into custody in TN’ 2004, NDTV.Com website, 29 October. (http://t2ndtv.m7z.net/addons/printpage.asp?id=62737&callid=1&caption=undefined – Accessed 21 January 2006)

6. ‘Rejoinders: Manitha Neethi Pasarai’ 2005, The Milli Gazette online edition, 1-15 January. (http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/01-15Jan05-Print- Edition/011501200542.htm - Accessed 21 January 2006)

7. ‘Essay Prizes’ 1998, Islamic Voice website, April. (http://www.islamicvoice.com/april.98/COMM.HTM - Accessed 21 January 2006) 8. ‘Essay Contests Awards’ 2000, Islamic Voice website, December. (http://www.islamicvoice.com/december.2000/community.htm - Accessed 20 January 2006)

9. Sharma, A. ‘Controversy over Dalit religious conversions in Ta [sic]’, The South Asia Times online edition, November. (http://www.southasiatimes.com.au/newsprint64.aspx - Accessed 19 January 2006)

10. RRT Country Research 2001, Research Response IND22491, 27 April.

11. RRT Country Research 2004, Research Response IND16591, 29 March.

12. RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response IND16314, 8 December.

13. Karat, P. ‘A grim warning’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March. (http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050210.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004)

14. Fuller, C. J. 2001, ‘The Vinayaka Chaturthi festival and Hindutav in Tamil Nadu’, Economic and Political Weekly online edition, 12 May. (http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2001&leaf=05&filename=2989&filet ype=html – Accessed 14 August 2003)

15. van der Veer, P. 1994, Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India, University of California Press, Berkley, p. 28. (RRT Library)

16. Moorthy, N. S. 2001, ‘Christians, Hindu Munnani in conversions row’, Rediff.Com website, 3 November. (http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/nov/03tn.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006)

17. ‘6 Munnani activists get life term for murder’, The Hindu online edition, 27 November. (http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/27/stories/2004112706490300.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006)

18. Subramanian, T. S. 1998, ‘A time of troubles’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March. (http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050170.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004)

19. Viswanathan, S. 2004, ‘Conversion as protest’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 21, No. 13, 19 June—2 July. (http://www.flonnet.com/fl2113/stories/20040702002204500.htm - Accessed 23 January 2006)

20. ‘DJ. S India leader repeals law against religious conversion’ 2004, Oster Dow Jones Commodity Wire, 18 May. (FACTIVA)

21. Krishnakumar, A. 2002, ‘Behind Jayalalithaa’s Ordinance’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 199, No. 22. (http://www.flonnet.com/fl1922/stories/20021108002903300.htm - Accessed 24 January 2006)

22. DIMIA Country Information Service 2003, Country Issues Brief: The Political Situation and Hindu -Muslim Relations in the State of Tamil Nadu, July. (CISNET India CX83699) 23. ‘A time of troubles’, Frontline online edition, Vol. 15, No. 5, 7-20 March. (http://www.flonnet.com/fl1505/15050170.htm - Accessed 23 March 2004)

24. Rajeshwari, B. 2004, Communal Riots in India: A Chronology (1947-2003), Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, March. (http://www.ipcs.org/IRP03.pdf - Accessed 25 January 2006)

25. ‘Ban on conversions sought’ 1998, The Hindu, 3 October. (FACTIVA)

26. Jayanth, V. 1998, ‘No Vinayaka Chathurthi rallies in Coimbatore’, The Hindu, 24 August. (FACTIVA)

27. ‘Threat to blow up 10 trains’ 2006, Newinpress.com, 30 January. (http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20060129103145&Title=South ern+News+-Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0& - Accessed 30 January 2006)

28. ‘Security beefed up at Rly stations in TN’ 2006, Web India website, 29 January. (http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=233523&cat=India – Accessed 30 January 2006)

29. ‘Release “innocent Muslims”, TMMK urges Government’ 2005, The Hindu, 25 July. (FACTIVA)

30. ‘Muslim prisoners being harassed’ 2005, Sify News website, 15 July. (http://sify.com/cities/fullstory.php?id=13896496 - Accessed 1 February 2006)

31. ‘FIR on complaint of Muslim prisoners harassment’ 2001, The Hindu online edition, 15 June. (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/06/15/stories/0415401t.htm - Accessed 1 February 2006)

32. ‘A mini-emergency – Jayalalitha’s terrible thirty days’ 2001, The Statesman, 25 June. (FACTIVA)

33. ‘Karunanidhi faces another case’ 2001, The Statesman, 13 July. (FACTIVA)

34. ‘Muslim prisoners “harassment” case begins’ 2001, The Hindu online edition, 24 July. (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/24/stories/0424223e.htm – Accessed 1 February 2006)

35. For further details, see: ‘Report details police atrocities’, BBC News, 3 November. (FACTIVA)

36. ‘Install closed circuit TV at police stations’ 2004, The Hindu online edition, 21 March. (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004032106240600.htm& date=2004/03/21/&prd=th& - Accessed 30 January 2006)

37. Viswanathan, S. 2003, ‘A tale of torture’, Frontline online edition, Volume 20, Issue 16, 2-15 August. (http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2016/stories/20030815002504800.htm - Accessed 2 February 2006) 38. ‘Pointers for reform 1999, The Hindu, 5December. (FACTIVA)

39. US Department of State 2005, Singapore: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004, 28 February.

40. ‘India Census – Religion & Language’ 1991, Census India online. (http://www.censusindia.net – Accessed 15 March 2004)

41. ‘Language and Mother Tongue’ Undated, Census of India website. (http://www.censusindia.net/cendat/language/intro_language.html - Accessed 20 January 2006)