INSAF Bulletin [15]   July 1, 2003
	Postal Address: Box 272, Westmount Stn., QC, Canada H3Z 2T2 (Tel. 514 346-9477)
	(e-mail: insaf@insaf.net; View the old bulletins)

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                   Editor : Daya Varma (Montreal)
   Editorial Board: Vaqar Ahmed (Montreal), Dominic Vikram Babu (Montreal), Vinod Mubayi (New York)
   Advisory Board: Hari Sharma (Vancouver), Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad), Vithal Rajan (Hyderabad, India)

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Abbreviations and names of selected organizations

No Indian Troops to Serve the US War in Iraq

	South-Asian News
	Left parties oppose sending Indian troops to Iraq
	Gujarat government ignores NHRC recommendations
	Best Bakery accused acquitted
	Patwardhan’s War and Peace reviewed in New York Times
	Appalling sex ratio in Gujarat
	Champion of democratic change murdered in Sri Lanka
	CISCO urged not to fund IDRF
	Indian MPs visit Pakistan
	Survival of Gandhian Institute of Studies in doubt
	Nepal communist leader lays claim for Prime Minister’s post
	Fundamentalists aim to Talibanize Pakistan
	Charges laid against Advani and other leaders
	Advani’s visit to the US and Britain protested
	The poor are the worst victims of the heat wave
	Firaq Gorakhpuri Festival in Karachi

	International News
	Iraq war was about oil
	Bush challenged over Iraq weapons
	US-held prisoners in Guantánamo driven to suicide
	UN finds no link between Al-Qaida and Iraq
	US demands repeal of Belgian War Crimes Law
	Mandela may not meet Bush during his South Africa visit
	Mass protests against Suu Kyi detention
	Iranian woman sets herself ablaze

	Articles
	In search of Gandhi and Godse - Harsh Mander
	Multiculturalism: Indian Style - Vijaya Mulay

	New Book
	Reduced to Ashes: The insurgency and human rights in Punjab

Abbreviations and names of selected organizations

	BJP : Bhartiya Janata Party, the political wing of Sangh Parivar (Hindu fundamentalist groupings).
	Bajrang Dal : A militant lumpen Hindu fundamentalist organization, which specializes in violent attacks.
	Communalism : A term common in India to describe religious sectarianism.
	NDA : National Democratic Alliance, the ruling coalition in India led by BJP.
	RSS : Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (National Volunteer Core: the theoretical and political architect of Hindutva fascism and hence all affiliates are collectively known as Sangh Parivar).
	Sangh Parivar : Family of Hindutva fundamentalist-fascist forces.
	Shiva Sena : A Hindu fundamentalist organization, primarily based in Maharashtra of which Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is the capital. It is led by Bal Thakre.
	VHP : Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), committed to Hindu revivalism.

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	No Indian Troops to Serve the US War in Iraq
	(Taken from ML Update, June 18-24, 2003)

Between September 1915 and April 1916, thousands of Indian soldiers had died in the then Mesopotamia fighting Britain’s war against Turkey. They were among the 90,000 Indian troops killed during the First World War in whose memory stands the colossal and colonial India Gate at the heart of New Delhi. The British cemeteries of the British Indian Army victims of World War I along the banks of the Tigris in Iraq are however seen by the Iraqis as nothing better than unwanted memories of foreign occupation. Last month, American soldiers reportedly restored one such cemetery at Al Kut, a town between Basra and Baghdad in eastern Iraq. It was soon desecrated again by Iraqis angry over the unfurling of the British flag over it.

The US wants the Indian Army to relive the experience of the British Indian Army in Iraq. Yes, if Indian troops are sent to Iraq they will be joining their predecessors who fought Britain’s wars against Germany, Japan and their allies during the two World Wars. Indian troops in occupied Iraq will be a fundamentally different proposition from the 37 UN missions in which Indian forces have participated over the last fifty-odd years of Indian independence since 1947.

The very expression ‘stabilisation force’ is different from the standard terminology of peacekeeping missions or reconstruction efforts. Indian troops are supposed to assist the Anglo-American forces in combating Iraqi instability. Right now American troops in occupied Iraq are engaged in major military assaults, after Operation Peninsula Strike they have now launched a new operation codenamed Desert Scorpion. While hundreds of Iraqis have been killed since Bush declared on May 1 that major combat was over in Iraq, the Americans are also losing at least one soldier every day. Indian troops are being asked to walk straight into this morass. No amount of UN ‘cover’ or autonomy of the Indian forces will alter the fundamental character of the role of the Indian troops in occupied Iraq.

The NDA government says there is no American pressure on India on sending troops to Iraq. Call it American persuasion or Indian passion, the fact is this one single question dominated all of Advani’s recent meetings with US leaders. Advani himself has distinguished his second visit from the first on the basis that the former was seen to be rather Pakistan-centric. Bush has already sent a Pentagon team to India to clarify Indian doubts while Vajpayee has launched a campaign to manufacture a ‘national consensus’ with his meeting with Sonia Gandhi.

Following the Vajpayee-Sonia meeting, Yashwant Sinha has said that the final decision would be taken in the best national interest. Who and what will define this best interest of the nation? The comprador greed for a share in Iraqi spoils or the Indian ruling elite’s delusion of grandeur which believes that the service and sacrifice rendered by the Indian troops in Iraq would cement New Delhi’s strategic ties with Washington and give India an entry into the big league of global players? The democratic and progressive Indian opinion rejects this basis with the contempt it deserves. The principles of democracy and anti-imperialism which can unite the needs and aspirations of the Indian people with those of the Iraqi people as well as the freedom- and justice-loving people of the whole world can be the only acceptable basis for determining India’s best interests.

We have been told that no decision on sending troops would be taken till there is a national consensus. But on the question of Iraq, there already exists a national consensus expressed in the form of the parliamentary resolution of April 8 which categorically condemned the illegal and unjust war imposed by the Anglo-American alliance and called for an early withdrawal of all foreign troops from the soil of Iraq. How can the Government of India now take a step in violation of this resolution, a step that will legitimise American occupation and add more foreign troops?

By entertaining the idea of sending Indian troops to Iraq, the BJP and the Congress have already violated and challenged the existing national consensus. Well, there can always be a US-inspired BJP-Congress deal on the subject, but there can never be a national consensus. Let the real nation stand up and defeat the ruling classes’ attempts to manufacture and market a fraudulent national consensus.

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South Asian News

Left parties oppose sending Indian troops to Iraq

A public meeting at Constitution Club in New Delhi on 16 June presided by CPI(M) Parliamentarian Somnath Chatterjee opposed Vajpayee government’s plant to send Indian troops to Iraq. The meeting was addressed by CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, CPI leader D. Raja, Forward Bloc leader G. Devrajan, JD(S) leader Kunwar Danish Ali and RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and columnists Syed Shahabuddin, Praful Bidwai and Mani Shankar Aiyar. (From ML Update, June 18-24, 2003)

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Gujarat government ignores NHRC recommendations

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman A.S. Anand expressed utter anguish at the Gujarat government’s constant refusal to heed to the NHRC’s recommendations following the Godhra carnage, but, at the same time, said the commission didn’t have the powers to force the state government to implement its recommendations.

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Best Bakery accused acquitted

While the 44-day trial in a fast track court concurred that 14 innocent people were burnt alive at the Best Bakery near Vadodara during laast year’s anti-Muslim carnage in Gujarat, all the accused were acquitted. Under pressure and possible threats, the prime witness turned hostile and disappeared and other hostile witnesses identified the accused as their 'saviours' when they didn't refuse to identify them at all. The court case was the first formal travesty of justice. The Best Bakery was one of the best documented cases of the post-Godhra killings; the acquittal of the accused is a national shame.

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Patwardhan’s War and Peace reviewed in New York Times

"War and Peace," which opens today (June 26) at Anthology Film Archives, is the Indian director Anand Patwardhan's solemn, stirring perspective on the competitive chauvinism between India and Pakistan, which manifests itself in the nuclear arms race between them.”, writes Elvis Mitchell in a review of the film in June 26 issue of the New York Times. Mitchell appropriately titles his article “Weapons of Mass Pride: India's Nuclear Embrace”.

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Appalling sex ratio in Gujarat

Although during the decades of 1981-91 and 1991-2001, urbanization increased to 37 per cent in Gujarat against the national average of 27, while literacy increased to 69.98 per cent, with female literacy reaching 58.60 per cent. Finally the female-male child sex ratio (0-6 years) plunged well below the national average (from 947 in 1981 to 928 in 1991 and 878 in 2001). In Ahmedabad district, with a female literacy rate of 64 per cent, there were only 813 girls for 1,000 boys. In comparison, tribal districts of Dangs, Dahod and Narmada, have low female literacy rates of 49, 32 and 47 per cent respectively but a higher child sex ratios of 973, 964 and 952. The 'urbanised' cities are even bigger culprits. Ahmedabad leads with a child sex ratio of 809, followed by Rajkot (821), Surat (830) and Vadodara (832).

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Champion of democratic change murdered in Sri Lanka

Thambirajah Subathiran (Robert), the deputy leader of the Varatharajaperumal wing of the EPRLF, who was a member of the Jaffna Municipal Council and an advocate of constructive cooperation with the TULF was murdered on June 14, 2003 by LTTE.

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CISCO urged not to fund IDRF

In a letter dated June 2, INSAF president requested senior officials of the Cisco Foundation not to contribute to the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), which has become a major source of financial support for organizations linked with India’s Hindu supremacist groups like RSS.

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Indian MPs visit Pakistan

The first ever delegation of 10 Indian parliamentarians arrived in Lahore on June 17 via the Wahga Border on a nine-day visit. The visit has been arranged and hosted by the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). The coordinator of the delegation is Kuldip Nayar. It was to be headed by Maulana Asad Madni but his entry was blocked by the Pakistan Foreign Office because of his opposition to the struggle in Kashmir. The Indian delegation would meet Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders and other political personalities. (Waqar Gillani, SACW June 18, 2003)

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Survival of Gandhian Institute of Studies in doubt

The Gandhian Institute of Studies was founded by Jayaprakash Narayan in 1960 and is located within the campus of Sarva Sewa Sangh in Varanasi. According to an article by Sanjeev Pandey, the institute is under intense pressure by Sangh Parivar, which is determined to either take it over or close it.

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Nepal communist leader lays claim for Prime Minister’s post

Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), has demanded that the King make him the Prime Minister since he has the support of all the five agitating parties. Earlier, Nepal met with Girija Prasad Koirala, president of Nepali Congress (NC) and representatives of foreign missions in Kathmandu. Others who have demanded the post of Prime Minister include the former president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Surya Bahadur Thapa, president of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Badri Prasad Mandal and president of RPP (Nationalist) Rajeshwore Devkota. (Daily News Advisory, June 03, 2003)

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Fundamentalists aim to Talibanize Pakistan

Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the six-party Alliance of Islamic parties in power in Pakistan's NWFP, has ordered compulsory prayers for the population and decided to create a Taliban-style Department of Vice and Virtue to enforce their diktat. The government has already passed the Sharia (or Islamic law) bill and the MMA General Secretary, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has demanded that Sharia law be imposed throughout Pakistan. (From an article by Ahmed Rashid, Lahore)

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Charges laid against Advani and other leaders

According to a Times of India report (May 31, 2003) the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a chargesheet against Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Human Resources Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar, BJP leader Uma Bharti and VHP leader Ashok Singhal in connection with the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya. This has led to a demand by the CPI (M) and the Congress Party for resignation of Advani and Joshi from the government.

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Advani’s visit to the US and Britain protested

The ten day tour of India’s Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani starting June 7 to the UK and US faced protests by democratic and secular Diaspora in both countries. During his visit Advani met British Prime Minister Blair, US President Bush, US Vice-President Dick Cheney, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Though the time of the meeting with Bush is still not confirmed, sources say it is expected to be either on June 9 or June 10.

A coalition of Indian-American Christian and Muslim organisations under the banner of 'Coalition to Support Democracy and Pluralism in India' has written to US President George W Bush criticising Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, currently on an official visit to the US, and warning that 'his actions in the past and currently, undermine American interests and values.' A partial list of signatories includes Ambedkar Memorial Trust, Association for India’s Development (AID), Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM), Ahsan Jafri Foundation, Bharatiya Educational Foundation, California Institute of Integral Studies, Educational Subscription Service, Ethics and Public Policy Center, South Asia Studies (EPPC), Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIAOCONA), Federation of Indian Christians (Chicago), India Development Society, India Foundation, India Unity Group, Indian American Catholic Association (IACA), Indian Christian Forum, New York ICF(NY), Indian Muslim Council (IMC), Institute for Religion and Public Policy (IRPP), International Service Society, M.K.Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence, Memphis, TN, SE Ministries International, Inc., Seva International, South Asia Forum (Washington DC), Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, MI.

South Asia Solidarity Group in London (southasia@hotmail.com) organized a picket at Parliament Square on June 15, to protest Advani’s visit.

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The poor are the worst victims of the heat wave

Over 1000 people have died due to a heat wave in much of North and South India as temperatures hit 48-50 Celsius. The worst victims are the poor who have no shelter and means to deal with this unbearable temperature. In the winter of this year, almost the same number died due to cold. (For a thoughtful analysis of the subject, see the article “The heat of poverty” by V. Krishna Ananth, Frontline July 4, 2003, Pg. 31.)

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Firaq Gorakhpuri Festival in Karachi

The noted Pakistani poet Fahmida Riaz (fahmidariaz@hotmail.com) is organizing a festival on Firaq Gorakhpuri (Raghupat Sahai), one of greatest Urdu poets of the 20th Century India. The festival will be held on July 11, 12 and 13 of July 2003, in Karachi. She has extended open invitation to all interested in Urdu literature and Indo-Pak friendship.

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International News

Iraq war was about oil

The US Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, claimed that oil was the main reason for military action against Iraq. He has already undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war. These remarks were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore. Unlike North Korea, “Iraq swims on a sea of oil" he said. (From an article by George Wright in June 4, 2003 issue of Guardian)

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Bush challenged over Iraq weapons

In a strong attack on Bush's administration, Democratic Senator John Kerry accused the president of misleading everyone. Kerry is a leading contender to contest the 2004 presidential election for the Democrats; he promised that the Congress would get to the bottom of the matter. Meanwhile, Bush defended Tony Blair, who is facing his biggest challenge over accusations that he embellished intelligence reports to support his case for war.

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US-held prisoners in Guantánamo driven to suicide

Afghans and Pakistanis who were detained for many months by the American military at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba before being released without charges are describing the conditions as so desperate that some captives tried to kill themselves. One Pakistani said he tried to kill himself four times in 18 months.

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UN finds no link between Al-Qaida and Iraq

The UN antiterrorism committee found no evidence of a link between Al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq, as was claimed by the US administration prior to the Iraq war. “Nothing has come to our notice that would indicate links between Iraq and Al-Qaida”, said Michael Chandler, the Chief investigator.

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US demands repeal of Belgian War Crimes Law

The US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld threatened to move NATO headquarters from Belgium if it failed to repeal War Crimes Law, which provides no immunity to US personnel. So far, however, the government of Belgium has resisted the undue US pressure.

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Mandela may not meet Bush during his South Africa visit

Former South African President Nelson Mandela repeated his criticism of the US war against Iraq prior to Bush’s planned visit to Africa. It is speculated that Mandela may refuse to meet Bush during the latter’s stay in South Africa.

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Mass protests against Suu Kyi detention

The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the foremost fighter for democratic reform in Myanmar by the ruling Janata on May 30 has met widespread protest within and outside the country. The detention was triggered under the belief that Ms Kyi is no more able to galvanize mass support.

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Iranian woman sets herself ablaze

Neda Hassani, a computer science student at Carlton University, Ottawa, set herself ablaze in front of the French embassy in London. She was protesting the detention of Maryam Rajavi, a leader of the Mujahedeen Khalq (fighters for the people) by the French government. Mujahedeen Khalq is one of the several organizations opposing the rule of clerics in Iran. The recent mass protests in Tehran and other parts of Iran against theocratic rule by the clerics is reminiscent of similar movement which led to the ouster of Shah and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

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Articles

	In search of Gandhi and Godse
	Harsh Mander

The communalisation process under way in India clearly has an impact on people of Indian origin around the world.

During a hectic schedule of speaking engagements that recently buffeted me across the length and breadth of the United States, I witnessed a diaspora in tumult, even more polarised, divided and wounded, than the middle classes in India today. With battle lines drawn everywhere, courageous, secular and progressive elements sometimes seemed under siege. Muslims of Indian origin were in the throes of anguish, often internalising their anger as an intensely personal sense of hurt and loss. I saw recurring signs, during my travels, of the heart-breaking near death of faith and hope.

The Gujarat carnage - the stunning brutality of the mass violence, the impunity of the state authorities, the depths of the social divide, the success of the economic boycott and above all the electoral endorsement of the massacre - has convinced many living in the prosperity of their adopted country, of the threat of the imminent death of Gandhi's India; and of the fact that minorities in the India of the future will have to come to terms with second-class citizenship. Their dark sense of despair and alienation is clouded further by the post-9/11 scenario in the U.S., with the swirling winds of public prejudice, militarisation, brutal and unethical wars and racial profiling of all Asian Muslims by the government.

Zahir Janmohammed, a 25-year-old graduate and third-generation expatriate from India, poignantly evoked this sense of bewildered loss: "I have been searching for Gandhi for several years. But after spending months in Gandhi's homeland, Gujarat, I fear he may be dead".

His grandparents migrated from Gujarat to East Africa in the 1920s. His father, expelled by Idi Amin's regime in Uganda in 1971, made a fresh start in California, where Zahir was born. He was a vegetarian and revered Gandhi. It was natural that he encouraged Zahir to return for a year to Gujarat to reclaim his legacy. Zahir volunteered to work with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in a slum in Ahmedabad. Weeks after his arrival, the city and much of Gujarat was convulsed by the most brutal sectarian blood-letting after Partition, following the torching of a railway compartment in Godhra.

Zahir volunteered to work in the relief camps for the battered survivors of the pogrom, where he tried to share with them a little of their agony. But he encountered bigotry everywhere, even among friends. No one restrained the members of the NGO with which he worked, when they openly taunted minorities. The mother of his host family, a hospitable and affectionate Hindu, said to him: "Well you know beta, those Muslims go to the relief camps because they get free food there". His stomach heaved at the memories of the relief camps, with their pervading stench of human excreta, urine and crowded tents.

Returning months later to his home in California, a shaken Zahir found himself frozen when a shop-keeper asked him his name. A year afterwards, he joked bitterly when he saw me off at the airport, "Be careful, your air ticket has been booked on the Internet by a Muslim."

Zahir, a sensitive, reflective young man still struggling with the unhealed wounds of his trauma in Gujarat told me: "The Gujarat carnage has changed my life" - a refrain I heard echoed over and over again in many parts of the U.S. Among those whose lives were altered irrevocably were a large number of deeply idealistic young American Indian Muslim men and women, trying to come to terms with the situation in which their community finds itself. Many were trying to contribute by raising money for relief and rehabilitation, or lobbying with both the U.S. and Indian governments, or building networks with secular, progressive groups. I was touched by the way they dealt with their intense internalised sense of personal tribulation and privation, by constructively working with resolutely preserved resources of faith and hope, for reclaiming and defending pluralism and democracy both in India and the U.S.

In New York, Ubaid Shaik, a neurophysician with gentle manners and a passion for justice, was engaged for many years after he migrated to the U.S. in the African American civil rights movement. He was so wrenched by the Gujarat massacre that he launched the Indian Muslim Council to promote values of pluralism and tolerance with particular focus on the Indian diaspora in the U.S. He barely sleeps a few hours each night, so that he can find time for this work even after a punishing schedule in the hospital besides commuting for four hours daily, and taking care of a large and loved family. He has been joined in this enterprise by young professionals from cities across the U.S.

In Seattle, I was drawn to Javed, a software engineer who, after Gujarat, tirelessly collects money for relief as a volunteer for the Indian Muslim Relief Committee, which was formed in 1983 following the Nellie massacre by a compassioned and energetic biochemist Manzoor Ghauri. After Gujarat, an energetic elderly nuclear engineer in Chicago, Imtiaz Uddin, pulled himself out of retirement to establish a forum for the defence of secularism.

A number of committed secular academics in universities across North America, including Biju Mathew, Shalini Gera, Vinay Lal, Angana Chatterjee, Abha Singhal and many others came together in the wake of the Gujarat massacre, to put together the Stop Funding Hate Campaign, which painstakingly collected extremely damaging evidence on the funding of organisations belonging to the Sangh Parivar by Indian Americans.

In many universities I also met young members of secular development organisations such as Asha (founded by Sandeep Pandey) and the Association for India's Development. Many of them shared the grave disquiet about the assaults on pluralism in India, and wanted to contribute to efforts to defend secularism. But among some members, I also did find ideological confusion, reflected in their sympathy to parts of the Hindutva ideology or claims that many NGOs in India were `neutral' to the turbulent communal divide.

For Jayashree and Ashok, a young couple in Seattle, a major segment of their daily life is devoted to volunteer work for Asha. Ashok spends many evenings and week-ends away from his work in a computer company, singing old Kishore Kumar songs in a band cobbled together to raise funds for development work in India. Stirred by accounts of the continuing distress of families in rural Gujarat, the couple has resolved to raise funds for them. Both dream of abandoning their well-paid positions and returning soon to India, to work for advancing the cause of education. In most cities, mainly first-generation young Indian Americans, many of them engineers, attempt to engage constructively with development organisations and social movements in India.

Meeting these two groups of young people of Indian origin, those belonging to the Muslim organisations and those with organisations like AID and Asha, I was struck by how similar many of them were - idealistic, impassioned and sincere. They were also of the same professional profile - software professionals, university students, social science researchers, and so on. Yet, they rarely met and worked together. The claims by AID and Asha that they never consciously kept youth from the minority communities out and that it just happened, mirrored arguments a few years ago about why most development groups `just happened' to have mainly men.

Also, with both sets of groups of socially committed young Indians of American origin, I observed their remarkable insularity from social justice movements in the U.S. Except for Ubaid, the remarkable doctor who founded the Indian Muslim Council and a young physics teacher in Detroit, I rarely encountered any young people of Indian origin – first or second generation - who were involved in civil rights causes of African Americans, or those who volunteered to work for causes of deprivation and injustice in the U.S. like homelessness. For Ubaid, it was only the state complicity in the Gujarat bloodbath that persuaded him to pull back from his work in the cause of human rights in the U.S., and, instead involve himself in efforts to safeguard these rights in the deeply loved country of his birth.

Many Indian Americans involve themselves in political events in India with an immediacy and passion, to an extent that it is sometimes difficult to remember that one is not in India, but on the other side of the planet. During my visit, for instance, people followed and analysed every reported word of hate speeches by Praveen Togadia and the confused, unsteady responses to these by state authorities in India, with greater concern than in many bylanes of India itself. A multiplicity of deep emotional chords continue to bind millions of people of Indian origin who choose to live and work in the most powerful nation in the world, to the ancient land in which they and their parents were born.

Many Indian Americans spoke about how precious the pluralism of the Indian tradition and their identity as Indian Muslims were to them. Quaid Saifee, a young computer executive in Detroit, spoke of his days in an engineering college in Indore. "I was the only Muslim in my entire class. My friends always used to adjust their plans, when we went out to see films, or for dinner, so that I could offer namaz at the prescribed hours. When any vegetarian friends came home for food, my mother would wash out the entire kitchen in advance, so that their food could not be touched by meat. There was so much love between us. Where has all of this gone?"

The visit confirmed to me how closely the turbulent recent history of the dramatic rise of right-wing religious fundamentalism and the politics of hatred in India, is related to and nourished by the Indian diaspora in the U.S. An influential segment of this diaspora is ideologically committed to the politics of Hindutva, and shares its irrational malevolent hostility towards minorities, and uncompromising opposition to the vision of a pluralistic, democratic India with genuinely equal citizenship for people of all faiths, caste and gender.

Going beyond its enormous financial support, exposed by the Stop Funding Hate Campaign, is its ideological nourishment from the U.S., in the form of minority bashing literature, web sites and propaganda. The temples are one of the only spaces where the majority of Hindu Indian Americans meet on a regular basis, and these are reportedly increasingly controlled by Hindutva elements that actively promote their divisive ideology. Youth summer camps to assist second generation Indians to learn about their `culture' are also used as powerful vehicles to propagate their intensely partisan vision of Indian culture, history, society and politics. There were many Indian Americans who believe that the U.S. is growing into the most influential fortress for the rallying of the forces of Hindutva after the Indian state of Gujarat.

There is also evidence of influential political alliances with powerful sections of the U.S. ruling political establishment. Especially in the aftermath of 9/11, and the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. government and major segments of the media and public opinion are actively engaged in the demonisation of the Islamic world. This has led to a growing opportunistic alliance between the domestic and global policies of the U.S. government and the domestic politics of the Indian government. Hardline Israeli elements and the government of Israel are also joining this axis.

The impact of all of this on the Indian diaspora is to create an uncompromising, unprecedented divide between people of Indian origin who are born into the Hindu and Muslim faiths. This spills into even second and third generation Indian Americans, and increasingly characterises social relations even in universities, with increasingly strident organisations of students owing open allegiance to Hindutva playing an active role in most U.S. universities.

People I met in many cities recognised, especially, the need to work with young people of Indian origin in the U.S., including those of second and third generation, in order to strengthen their commitment to pluralism, peace and justice. Spaces like places of worship need to be reclaimed from fundamentalist elements; young people need authentic humanistic teachings of their respective faiths. Secular avenues also need to be built to enable them to acquire an undistorted picture of what constitutes Indian culture, its syncretic, pluralist, tolerant character, but also its traditional injustices of caste and gender. They also need to be brought in touch with the social justice issues of the adopted country, which is now home for them and their children.

Everywhere, there was great enthusiasm for building an Aman Parivar, or family of peace, as an alternative to the Sangh Parivar. This is envisaged as a very loose and broad platform of people and organisations that are committed to join hands to fight the mounting poison of communal hatred and divide, and to defend to reclaim and to strengthen pluralism, secularism, justice, humanism and democracy. It would bring together anti-communal religious, cultural and professional organisations with a range of liberal, left, democratic and development organisations.

On May 19, 2003, the day I returned to India, a call was given by Hindu Unity, the U.S.-based wing of the Bajrang Dal, which is the youth front of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and by the Hindu Mahasabha to celebrate Nathuram Godse's birth on May 19 "to send a message to the enemies of humanity that we will fight and even die to protect the basic principle of Hinduism". It further denigrated Gandhi by saying: "Gandhi was a downright pacifist, without guts and scruples. His constant preaching to his fellow Hindus, to be non-violent at all times, even in the face of aggression, paralysed the manhood of India, mentally and physically.."

The undisguised poison of this appeal, and the outrage of many groups of Indian Americans that followed, symbolises the struggle that convulses the Indian diaspora in the U.S. The struggle is to find its soul, whether in the message of love and tolerance of Mahatma Gandhi, or in the twisted legacy of his assassin Nathuram Godse. In the dark storms of bigotry, of wars of collective vengeance that sweep our world today, does anyone in the U.S. or India have an answer to the question that young Zahir Janmohammed asks each of us, both as a challenge and a plea:

"Could Gandhi still be alive? Somewhere, in someone?"

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	Multiculturalism: Indian Style
	Vijaya Mulay (Montreal)

When immigrants, in large numbers started coming to North America to seek refuge or work, two concepts of multiculturalism- one of a melting pot and the other of a salad bowl were coined to describe their integration into the American and Canadian societies respectively. From biblical times, India too has given refuge to persecuted communities, such as the Jews from Galilee, Christians from Syria, and lately Tibetans. While preserving their individualities, they have enriched India’s culture and status in many ways. India’s many conquers, especially those who stayed, also wove their motifs in the Indian tapestry of many hues and designs.

A sampler of this awesome tapestry was presented by Rashtravani of Toronto on 3rd May 2003 at Les Salles Gesu, organised by Kabir Cultural Centre of Montreal. Rashtra means nation and vani means speech. The emcee explained that the audience should not interpret the term Rashtra in the narrow sense of a nation state but in terms of art and culture. Nation states appear and disappear from time to time but art and culture have remained common to the whole of South Asia. It is said that the classical music of nation states of South Asia from Afghanistan to Bangladesh originated from Saama Veda in ancient times. It has developed and flourished by give and take but is common throughout the region. Folk music on the other hand, reflects the life styles of people in regions in which it is sung and has in turn influenced classical music. Tappa, a particular style of singing in classical music is the music style of camel drivers of the deserts of Sindh and Rajasthan. The very name tappa means a stage of a journey. The style consists of throwing one’s voice in a rumble of tones – ascending or descending that could travel long distances. When Satyajit Ray was shooting his film Sonar Kellah (Golden Castle) in Rajasthan, he recorded the music of the desert. On his way back to Calcutta, when he stopped over in Delhi, he played some of it for me. Even a lay person like me could recognize its closeness to Tappa. Ragas like Pahadi or Bhatiyali are based on the folk music of different regions. The raga, which is based on the folk music of mountainous region or Pahad, is called Pahadi and the one based on the bhatiyali songs of the boatmen of Bengal (both in India and Bangladesh) is called Bhatiyali. Santoor, a string instrument that came to Afghanistan and Kashmir from the Middle East now has an honoured place among the instruments of classical music. The drum known as pakhavaj, originally a folk instrument got split up to become the tabla, now an essential part of classical music. The Rashtravani has carried assimilation tradition even further to bring in other elements that are typical of the West.

Indian choral music as it is practiced in South Asia is singing of melodies by a group of people. Rashtravani choir was orchestrated. The singers read music from notation sheets placed on stands in front of them; they needed cues when to begin and end because sometimes the whole group sang certain musical phrases and sometimes only a few did; pieces of instrumental music came on, not merely as accompaniment to voices but as separate entities; the articulated sound was sometimes matched with pre-recorded visuals of fractals and other images that moved in consonance with music; the lighting too varied both in colors and brightness to suit the mood. Thus the conductor had a real task to perform. This borrowing from the West made the three-hour programme of classical and folk music very much more interesting. It was a full house with a mixed audience of South Asians and others. India’s High Commissioner Shashi U. Tripathi, who is a musician in her own right, attended the programme. In a speech that was pertinent and short, she encouraged the choir, its leader, and the organizers of the Kabir Centre for undertaking something which was not only entertaining but also a worthy reminder of the region’s fantastic diversity and its unique way to accommodate it and forge healthy alliances.

The guiding light of Rashtravani is Dr. Ramier Siva-Nandan or Dr.Shiva for short. He is a man of many parts and excels in each of them. His early training has been in Carnatic style of classical music but he learnt the Northern style and light music from Satish Bhatia and Anil Biswas who have composed music for many films. His gurus used music to enhance the power of images; Dr. Shiva uses images to enhance the sound. He learnt about harmony and orchestration features of Western music at the Royal Academy of Music. He plays on various instruments and is adept at using digital technology. He prepared both the videotapes and audiotapes that accompanied the presentation. In a country so far away from South Asia, it is impossible to have a live orchestra. After composing music, he played it on different instruments, mixed the tracks and recorded the final sound digitally in his Art studio at Toronto. The training of the choir group of about 20 persons –very few of whom had previous music training was the most challenging task. Only two or three persons were properly trained in music in India; that too had become rusty when cut from the source. Most were newcomers, albeit enthusiastic about music and willing to take the trouble to learn. Dr. Shiva’s genius lies in the fact that he gave to each of them what they were best able to do and get an excellent group performance that boosted their morale and determination to do better. Incidentally, one of the singers told me that for most of the people here popular South Asian music means just Indy Pop or Bhangra Rap. What she found very exhilarating was to realise the different music styles and forms, be able to learn a few of them along with their rhythms from different regions of South Asia and sing in many of its tongues As the Indian High commissioner said, India alone has about 18 officially recognized major languages, (let alone other minor languages that run in hundreds).

Dr. Shiva graduated as a doctor from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Delhi. He worked at his profession both in India and the Middle East. But the music urge drove him to start a choir in Kuwait. After he came to Toronto he started Rashtravani as a labour of love. At the moment the repertoire of his students except for a few numbers, reflects India the nation state. This is perhaps inevitable because in a region of 1400 million people, India alone has more than 1000 million and therefore that much more variety. But widening of this scope is very much on cards. There are examples of such efforts in the art scene of Montreal. The Theatre Group Teesri Duniya began with Indian immigrants but expanded to accommodate other South Asians and then all other communities, because even in the first world there is very little space for voices of the deprived silent majority.

The forces of globalization do not remain limited to political and economic matters but aggressively invade cultural domains as well. The world-view that these forces present is the imperial one of control and of making everything look the same. It is the salad bowl or the tapestry concepts of Canada and India that promote preservation of diversity. By anchoring itself to the multi-racial and multi-cultural heritage of South Asia, Rashtravani attempts to make the mainstream Canadians aware that there is a land of great cultural diversity elsewhere in the world; an even more important mission it performs is to remind Canadians of South Asian origin that their heritage is plural and diverse and to remain true to it would amount to being in consonance with the values of their adopted land. The Kabir Cultural Centre started by the South Asian Community of Montreal made a good beginning with its first programme of music concert by two maestros: Pandit Jasraj and Shahid Parvez. The desecration of the grave of a great Indian maestro Faiyaz Khan of Agra School by vandals during the Gujarat riots deeply hurt every decent person and especially musicians and music lovers. The money collected from the concert was sent to the riot victims. Its second programme of Rashtravani is timely, because taking a leaf from tactics of globalization, some elements in South Asia are out to destroy the variegated tapestry and dye it in one color: red- red as the blood. Organisations that promote plurality and diversity therefore, need support of both the state and the civil society. A Canadian media guru, McLuhan once described the world as a global village. It has now shrunk further and looks more like a space ship. In this small space, there is no room for selfishness and if the ship is to survive, the welfare of one must become the concern of everybody in it.

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New Book

Reduced to Ashes: The insurgency and human rights in Punjab By Ram Narayan Kumar with Amrik Singh, Ashok Agrwaal and Jaskaran Kaur

This 634 page Volume one of the final reports on human rights violations in Punjab released on May 30, 2003 is a heart-rending documentation of human rights abuses in Punjab. The perpetrators have been unpunished or promoted to higher ranks as is likely to happen in the case of Gujarat. The report is prefaced by Peter Rosenblum, Clinical Director of Human Rights program at Harvard Law school with an introduction by Tapan Bose. Produced by South Asia Forum for Human Rights, the book is a must for those interested in knowing the truth about state terrorism in the world’s largest democracy, that is India.

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