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23 August 2024 at 9:59:04 pm

Civic Lines

The Eiffel Tower is an unlikely place for a quarrel about religion, gender and multiculturalism. Yet, a private visit by a BAPS delegation has managed to turn one of France’s most recognisable symbols into the setting for one. The controversy deserves neither the reflexive defensiveness of some Indian commentators nor the temptation to turn the conduct of one religious organisation into a verdict on India. During the visit this week by around 100 people associated with BAPS, Eiffel Tower...

Civic Lines

The Eiffel Tower is an unlikely place for a quarrel about religion, gender and multiculturalism. Yet, a private visit by a BAPS delegation has managed to turn one of France’s most recognisable symbols into the setting for one. The controversy deserves neither the reflexive defensiveness of some Indian commentators nor the temptation to turn the conduct of one religious organisation into a verdict on India. During the visit this week by around 100 people associated with BAPS, Eiffel Tower employees claimed their female colleagues were asked to leave their posts or limit their presence as the delegation passed. The tower’s operating company, SETE, subsequently acknowledged that the delegation had requested arrangements limiting interactions with women and admitted that such conditions should not have been accepted. Staff protests then forced the landmark to close temporarily. BAPS, while expressing regret for the distress caused, has said nobody was denied access to the tower. If a religious delegation asks a public institution to remove or conceal female employees because they are women, the request is plainly at odds with the egalitarian principles governing public life in France. BAPS, as an organisation operating in France, has a responsibility to understand that its religious practices cannot automatically be transplanted into every public setting. Private religious observance is one thing; asking a public institution to rearrange its workforce along gender lines is quite another. But the Eiffel Tower management deserves at least as much scrutiny. SETE had the authority to say no. Instead, it accommodated a request that it now concedes should never have been accepted. The subsequent strike was therefore not simply a protest against an awkward religious request. It was also a rebuke to an institution that failed to uphold its own rules and values. This is where the larger argument about multiculturalism becomes relevant. A confident pluralist society does not require every cultural or religious preference to be accommodated. It requires minorities to enjoy freedom of belief while accepting the common civic rules that govern everyone else. At the same time, it would be equally foolish to inflate one extraordinary incident into a judgement on BAPS, Hinduism or India. BAPS operates across several continents, and its women participate in the organisation’s activities, including its international women’s conferences. One controversial request during a half-hour visit cannot erase that broader record any more than the misconduct of a Christian organisation abroad would automatically become a failing of Italy or the Vatican. The Ministry of External Affairs is right to treat the matter as one between the organisations concerned rather than as a diplomatic embarrassment requiring governmental intervention. BAPS France should acknowledge more forthrightly why the request was unacceptable and work to repair the trust it has damaged. The Eiffel Tower management, meanwhile, should explain why it agreed to it in the first place. A pluralist society works only when the boundaries of tolerance apply to institutions as much as to visitors.

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

PTI
Feb 14, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

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