(Hong Kong, 19 May 2004) -- The Asian Human Rights Commission has today released a remarkable new book, Memories of a father, by Professor T V Eachara Varier. The story recounts Professor Varier's desperate and endless attempts to get to the bottom of his son's arrest, torture, murder and disappearance at the hands of the police force in Kerala, India, during a period of emergency rule. "It was on February 26, 1976 that I last met my son Rajan,"Professor Varier recalls. "On March 1, 1976, when I reached my college as usual, I came to know that the police had taken him into custody."

So begins his terrible and ultimately unsuccessful ordeal to save the life of his child, and then obtain justice. However, the story is much more than a story of what happened at an historical period in India, or to one man's son.

"This is not a story of some event from history; it is a story of today's India, today's Asia,"writes Basil Fernando, Executive Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, in the foreword. "Across the region, huge numbers of innocent people suffer the cruelest forms of torture and death in custody, and thousands are forcibly disappeared. Most victims do not have a father as educated and vocal as the boy remembered in this book. His story is also the story of the thousands of others whose pain and suffering have never been made public."

Throughout the book, Professor Varier vividly portrays the social and legal breakdown that led to the mass arrests and extrajudicial killings of the time as a backdrop against which his own personal tragedy is intimately and thoroughly explored.

"Memories of a father brings back many poignant memories to me of the traumas that I suffered as a member of one of Sri Lanka's Disappearances Commissions in the nineties, when fathers and mothers came before us, asking us for justice on behalf of their disappeared sons and daughters,"Dr Jayantha de Almeida Guneratne, a senior Sri Lankan lawyer comments. "I hear their cries still echoing in my ears."

Memories of a father is an eloquent, remarkable and moving statement on cruelty, courage and enduring hope, which should be read by anyone concerned with the real meaning of human rights.

The book is published jointly with Jananeethi, based in Kerala, India. A full review is attached.

To order

In Hong Kong: Send a cheque or demand draft for HK$80 payable to "Asian Human Rights Commission Ltd" to AHRC, Floor 19, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Mongkok, Kowloon.

In India: The book may be obtained by contacting Jananeethi, TB Road, Thrissur, 680 001, Kerala, Tel.: +91-487 242 7338/ 244 4473, Fax: +91-487 244 4474, E-mail: gpneethi@sancharnet.in.

In other countries: Send a cheque or demand draft for US$15 (includes postage) payable to "Asian Human Rights Commission Ltd" to AHRC, Floor 19, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.

Book Price:
Hong Kong : HK$ 80.00
Outside Hong Kong : US$ 15.00

For further enquiries: Email books@ahrchk.net, or call Louise Sun, +852-2698-6339.

Asian Human Rights Commission -- AHRC, Hong Kong

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Torture and disappearances have occurred in many places and at many times. They have happened before, are happening now, and will happen in the future. What makes Memories of a Father by Professor T V Eachara Varier such a valuable book is that in narrating the struggle and agony of his family after the arrest and disappearance of his son, it captures the universality of these events with uncommon beauty and openness. This book explores the tragedy of every disappearance through the deeply personal loss of one family, giving it a purpose and relevance that goes far beyond the specific events it describes some 28 years ago, in Kerala, southern India.

Professor Varier's son was arrested on 29 February 1976, and was later tortured to death in police custody, although his body was never recovered. He was just one of many young men who disappeared during a period of dark repression in India, a time when emergency regulations permitted state security agents a free hand to kidnap, torture and kill. Professor Varier paints a dreadful picture of this time, revealing the total failure of the rule of law, and how the 'elected' representatives of the largest democracy in the world used their authority to commit gross atrocities. He describes the brutal torture practiced by the police, and tells the stories of some survivors of the camp from which his son did not emerge. He relates his own visit to the camp, and offers a bleak insight into how the police conducted their dark operations outside the law. He relates the torturous and ultimately futile route he follows through India's government offices and courts in his attempts to obtain the truth. The Kerala High Court ruling on the case is contained as an appendix.

Feelings of agony, sorrow, confusion and helplessness permeate the pages. Reading the book, one senses the emotional roller-coaster ride still being experienced by this father, questioning what was done to his son and justifying his surges of anger towards certain persons, particularly in the police, and the system as a whole. This emotional experience, as a father, husband, teacher, and ultimately destitute victim of torture, is the backbone of the book. The lingering expectations of the family and uncertainty associated with the never-ending search for the disappeared is also successfully communicated. At some points, Professor Varier expresses appreciation for the political opposition in Kerala during the emergency period. It is only natural for someone to be thankful to those who offer some small support or word of concern during a time of loneliness and desperation. History proved, however, that those persons with whom the author sympathises were capable of the same kind of atrocities when they gained power later.

The importance of this book lies not in its description of a single disappearance and murder in a small state of India almost three decades ago; it is rather in its capturing of an unending social crisis that others fail to voice. Public language today denies the emotions and thoughts of victims and their families. As a result, most persons suffering serious human rights violations fail to speak out. Instead, they carry their pain to the grave. With this book, Professor Varier is breaking the silence. No matter how many years have passed, his wounds are as deep and as fresh as on that terrible day in 1976. Memories of a Father challenges the deliberate silence and ignorance that cloak mass disappearances, torture and murder. By publishing the English translation, the Asian Human Rights Commission (Hong Kong) and Jananeethi (Kerala) have done a great service. The work of the translator, Neelan, is truly remarkable in communicating the meaning of phrases and idioms from the original Malayalam without awkwardness or loss of clarity. All in all, Memories of a Father is a rich and deeply meaningful book that should be read by anyone trying to grasp the experience torture and disappearance, whether as a direct victim, a relative or friend, or simply a fellow human being.

--Bijo Francis