[sacw] SACW Dispatch - August 28, 1999

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch
August 28, 1999
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
# 1. BJP: Tried And Tested . . .
# 2. Sabrang Alert No. 2
# 3. Selling BJP corporate style
# 4. Press Note from Women rights activists in Orissa, India
# 5. Bhopal - Action Alert
# 6. Deepa Mehta's Film Earth being released in the US & India
# 7. Valuable new Book on Pakistan / URL of a chapter + URL of Publisher
----------------------------------------------------------------------

# 1.
[August 23 / The Praful Bidwai Column]

BJP: TRIED AND TESTED
BUT TRUSTED? NO THANKS

By Praful Bidwai

Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is the quintessential liberal, the soft,
moderate, face of the BJP, whose natural instincts favour a
gentle, consensual, approach to contentious issues. He is not
prone to war-mongering with neighbours. He is loath to push the
minorities into a corner. His agenda has nothing to do with
promoting Hindutva. He works at a high comfort level with his
coalition partners. He inspires public confidence that the BJP is
indeed a party that is "tried, tested and trusted". Right?

Wrong! Going by his Independence Day address, Mr Vajpayee and his
image could not be further apart. Despite Election Commission
restrictions, he beat the nationalist drum, made tall promises
and laid claim to high "achievements", although these have little
to do with his policies (e.g. the 200 million tonnes grain
output), or are otherwise questionable (e.g. an inflation rate of
1.6 per cent). Kargil, shaurya and parakrama were central to his
address. It was no aberration that he announced that Agni-II
would soon be inducted into India's arsenal. This was more an
image-hardening exercise than something operational. Agni-II is
nowhere near induction. If Agni-I after three test-flights was a
"technology demonstrator", not even a prototype, then Agni-II can
hardly be different after one test. A missile goes through 10 to
20 tests before becoming operational. This, typically, takes five
to 10 years. Agni-II uses a new (solid) fuel in the second stage,
different from Agni-I. This too requires repeated testing.

Even more important for the Vajpayee regime was the August 17
publication of the National Security Advisory Board's draft
nuclear doctrine, which marks a further hardening of India's
nuclear posture, with the introduction of new, menacing, alien
ideas like "punitive retaliation", and abandonment of the goal of
nuclear disarmament. Its release is bound to ignite a nuclear
arms race in South Asia, with terrible consequences. It could not
have been released without Mr Vajpayee's personal clearance.

Mr Vajpayee's post-Kargil attempt to paint himself in the colours
of the Warrior PM sits ill with what the BJP considers--and the
RSS concedes--as the source of his supposed appeal, namely the
"soft" image. This change would well cost the BJP many votes in
the undecided, floating part of the electoral spectrum. The
militant rhetoric will no doubt please Hindutva hardliners; but
the trick lies in attracting the uncommitted "middle ground"
voter. Whatever the recent, highly upbeat, opinion polls might
claim on the basis of small, unstratified samples, which lumped
together "BJP & Allies"--even before the NDA's shape became
clear--we don't really know how the floating voter will behave.
On an intuitive basis, it is hard to think the BJP could greatly
improve on its tally, and see where it could make up the likely
loss of many of the 90 seats it won in the 1998 elections in UP
and MP, where by all accounts it may have peaked.

There are limits to how much the BJP can flog themes like Kargil.
The new nuclear doctrine is unlikely to yield electoral
dividends. The shooting down of Pakistan's Antlantique
surveillance aircraft has not gone down well. It now emerges that
the plane was not even given a warning before being attacked (the
IAF's MiGs had only radio channel working), and there may be some
uncertainty about its location vis-a-vis Sir Creek, the disputed,
still-undemarcated, boundary--especially because the Creek has
itself changed course. (The Telegraph, August 14). The fact that
journalists flown by the IAF to be shown the debris did not get
to see it speaks of bad bungling. The global goodwill New Delhi
garnered through Kargil has probably already been dissipated.

As for convincing the domestic public that the Kargil crisis had
nothing to do with intelligence and operational failures and
misjudgment at the top (why was Gen V.P. Malik on a "courtesy"
visit to Poland as our patrols were being killed?), the K.
Subrahmanyam committee cannot possibly do the job. Three of its
four members are part of the National Security Council, itself
implicated in Kargil. This involves a clear conflict of interest.
Its chairman is a known hawk, who has pleaded for nuclear weapons
against "inimical" Pakistan and China since 1962--regardless of
our security environment. He recently wrote three articles
praising the government's handling of Kargil, and signed a
statement calling for censorship of critical views. He cannot be
considered dispassionate. The committee cannot summon witnesses
or documents. Its terms of reference are vague, and apparently
cover the role of past governments too!

Such cover-up jobs seem to be part of a pattern. The most glaring
of these is the Wadhwa commission report which all but gave the
sangh parivar, especially its lumpen Bajrang Dal, a clean chit as
regards the burning to death of Graham Staines. The report failed
to link Dara Singh with any sangh organisation. This, despite
letters from the Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar police that Singh was an
"active member of the Bajrang Dal", participated in RSS-run
camps, and campaigned for the BJP in 1998. The Commission ignored
the statement of additional DGP (intelligence) D.P. Mohapatra
that "Dara Singh appears to be a supporter or fellow-travellor of
the Bajrang Dal or even of the BJP..." Remarkably, the
Commission's own counsel, the highly regarded Gopal Subramaniam,
noted: "There is sufficient evidence to suggest that Dara Singh's
association with the RSS and the Bajrang Dal renders the matter
open to further inquiry and investigation by the CBI..."

The Commission launched into its inquiry by looking at the event
in a complete vacuum. It did not even bother to ask the obvious:
What created the social and political environment in which
communal passions could be so aroused? Why did anti-Christian
prejudice in Orissa become so actively vitriolic as to lead to
the ghastly murder? What ideological-political influences
impelled Dara Singh? The Commission brazenly ignored the
testimony of Keonjhar SP Lalit Das who had deposed: "Dara Singh's
association with the BJP was so well-known that it was not
necessary to inquire into his antecedents". Amazingly, the report
says that it could not find documentary proof of Singh's Bajrang
Dal membership. And yet, the same report also notes that anyone
between 15 and 45 "can become a member of the Bajrang Dal with an
annual fee of Rs 5 but no membership card is issued..."

It is all very well for the BJP to shed tears for Staines, but it
was Mr Vajpayee himself who called for a "national debate" on
religious conversions in the middle of an anti-Christian pogrom
raging in the Dangs in Gujarat. This sent out the signal that the
government has little respect for the Constitutional right to the
freedom to practise and propagate a faith of one's choice. It is
this kind of duplicity and deception that marked the sangh
parivar's Babri mosque campaign, where it lied and told half-
truths--to the people of Ayodhya, to officials, to PM Narasimha
Rao (who was only too willing to believe them), and to the
highest court of the land.

The BJP-led government is again resorting to deception--not just
through whitewash jobs--but through inducement and bribery,
especially of the media. If you are one of 218 chosen journalists
in U.P., you will be given posh bungalow lands at throwaway
rates--at a subsidy costing the near-bankrupt state Rs. 1.09
crores! This violates all ethical codes and Election Commission
directives! Mr Pramod Mahajan has just set up a 24-hour DD news
channel without Prasar Bharati (PB) authorisation, and plans to
offer favoured journalists a tidy Rs. 1 lakh to do short DD
interviews--a modest sum indeed! The BJP's media cell, run by Mr
Ajay Singh and Mr Sudhanshu Mittal (otherwise known as a renter
of tents) so openly interferes with DD that the PB Board passed a
special resolution demanding there be no direct "interface"
between politicians and DD staff. It is hard to see why the BJP
would go to such lengths in media-rigging if it were confident of
winning the elections and had nothing to hide.

The BJP clearly does have a lot to hide: incompetence, crony
capitalism-style favouritism, communalism in education and
culture, and stoking authoritarianism and Hindutva. All this
violates the liberal-democratic, secular and federalist spirit of
the Constitution. The BJP, it bears recalling, is not an
ordinary, "normal", party. It is both a party and part of a
social movement that challenges and seeks to redefine the very
nature of Indian nationhood by giving primacy to just one of
India's many, many communities. The BJP resides in that twilight
zone lying between open, pluralist parliamentary democracy, and
dark, paranoid exclusivism. It has shown no signs of changing its
character. This is unsurprising. Parties of that nature are not
free to change, being controlled from the outside.

The RSS-BJP link is neither peripheral, nor a historic hangover.
It is an organic, living connection. It is so intimate that the
RSS could demand last year that all BJP state units be led by
pracharaks. This was considered so "natural" that there was no
fuss about it: everyone fell in line. It just won't do to pretend
that the BJP under Mr Vajpayee has evolved into a different
party. Mr Vajpayee does not control the party organisation; he
ceded that function 15 years ago to others. And he is not very
different from sangh hardliners on core issues. He is just a more
shrewd, devious, manipulative--and not a "liberal" or pluralist--
face of the same Hindutva phenomenon, one that is more acceptable
to our communalised upper class elite.--end--

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

# 2.
[Sabrang Alert from Action No.2 / 27 Aug 1999]

BJP'S ATTITUDE TO WOMEN

The union information and broadcasting minister, Pramod Mahajan's remarks
reported in The Hindustan Times comparing Sonia Gandhi to Monica Lewinsky
reveal the moral bankruptcy of the BJP's campaign. A party that purports to
represent a philosophy of dharma versus adharma has a unique way of showing
it especially vis a vis its attitude to women !

More than anything else this attitude of the BJP reveals the party and this
ideology's stance on women. What Pramod Mahajan, one of the top ten leaders
of the BJP said in Amravati
is reflected at the micro level of the BJP's campaign all over the country.

In Gujarat, as this accompanying report from The Indian Express shows, the
imagery evoked tries to ridicule Mrs. Gandhi as a "matric pass", "a girl
who used to sing at Italian clubs" and even a "kaalmukhi " (a woman who
brought ill-luck to her family. The extremely interesting thing is that as
The Indian Express reports today, women, Dalits and other lesser privileged
sections are getting repulsed by this level of the campaign?

The BJP's attitude really reveals the sangh parivar's attitude to women. It
also reveals the TALIBANISATION OF INDIAN CULTURE.

TALIBANISATION OF INDIAN CULTURE

THE SANGH PARIVAR AND WOMEN

BACKGROUNDER

Saffron brigade charged with the euphoria of the demolition of Babri masjid
last December and giddy with the prospects of coming to power in the next
General Elections has truly come into it's own. Among the public outpourings
>from it's various echelons have been - wide ranging opinions on the role and
place of Indian women.

Men should be allowed to marry any number of times
EARLY IN JANUARY 1993, Swami Muktanand in his draft proposal for a revised
Indian constitution gave a clean chit to "traditional hindu" practices of
sati and dowry. On the specific issue of polygamy, he opined that all
restrictions on the number of times a man could marry should be removed
completely.

Wife beating and dowry is justified
IN APRIL 1993, Mridula Sinha, President of the BJP's Mahila Aghadi truly put
her foot in her mouth. She said in separate interviews to the Telegraph and
Savvy magazine: " Yes, often it is the woman's fault (replying to a question
on whether a woman can be blamed if her husband beats her). She can provoke
a man to such an extent that he beats her. And sometimes, a woman can be so
'ziddi'. We tell the woman to try and adjust. After all, it is her family."
"My father bought me a husband for just Rs.5000 and my husband ahs been
earning for me ever since. A thousand fold return on investment. In fact 90%
of the marriages in India take place without dowry demands."

CALCUTTA JANUARY 1994
When Arundhati Raichoudhury walked off the stage at a function of the
Calcutta University last month, Gargi and Jayabala must have turned in their
graves or hiccuped in heaven. Because after contributing to the stimulating
discourses between top intellectuals of the day before the vedas and the
Upanishads were penned, their own descendants 2000 years later and six years
before the close of the 20th century had been barred from nearly reciting
them.

Swami Nischalanand, the Shankaracharya of Puri who is the living custodian
of the thoughts and works of Jayabal, Gargi and their male compatriots
passed the edict against their descendants. The convoluted explanation for
his stand was his deep respect for the dignity of women: He respected women
too much to allow them to go and beg for alms dressed in one garment, which
is a pre-requisite for the donning of the sacred thread which in turn is a
pre-requisite foe chanting the holy vedas.

The strong protest and outrage from the descendants of Jayabal and Garagi
would have done these doyens proud. Scathingly dismissive of the Swami's
stand- even Raichoudhury had muttered that it was "an insult to women."-
not got taken in for his avowed respect for their dignity. Their freedom
hard won, they had not forgotten how for centuries, vast sections of
society- stree and sudras (women and untouchables) were told that it was a
sin to hear the vedas being chanted, let alone chant them.

P .S. To the Shankarachrya : For the past 17 years women priests in Pune
have been performing important pujas which means reciting the scriptures
after the reformed women-priest
movement begun by Shankarao ("Mama") Thatte in the city.
Any comments?
(from Communalism Combat, Feb. 1994)

BAL THACKERAY'S ATTITUDE TO WOMEN
Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray has in massive election rallies made salacious
references to women in public life from veteran Gandhian, Ushabehn Mehta to
much-loved Mrinaltai Gore and respected and fiery Ahilyatai Rangnekar of
the CPM.

TALIBANISATION OF INDIAN CULTURE
In Delhi, sangh parivar demanded that girls should not be allowed to wear
skirts as mosquitos bite their legs !
In Calcutta a similar fatwa was passed by them "banning" women from wearing
salwar-khameez's as it "violated" Indian culture.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987

Former BJP Vice President, Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scinde, leading a pro-sati
march after the incident at Deorala (Burning alive of Roop Kanwar in Deorala
village of Rajasthan) said that "sati was very much part of our tradition."

1956

During the intense debates on the passage of the Hindu Code Bill in
Parliament, members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had strongly opposed any
changes that granted rights women the right to agricultural property.

[For further information write to: ccombat@h...]
-----------------------------------------------------------

# 3.
[ From: India Network News Digest - August 27, 1999 / Volume 11 Issue 164]

SELLING BJP CORPORATE STYLE

NEW DELHI: As political parties gear up for the last Lok Sabha elections
of the millennium, a tiny technological wonder of this century the laptop
computer is helping the BJPs plan to sell the brand equity in corporate
style.

In a move, which may turn out to be a trend-setter in future elections in
India, the party has developed a huge computerised database following
three months of research on every little detail on all Lok Sabha
constituencies in the country to help it plan its campaign strategy.

The laptop contains all data pertaining to the last six Lok Sabha
elections in the country results, margin of victory/loss, percentage of
votes each candidate polled, demographic break-down of each constituency,
brief backgrounder on all candidates (past and present), issues and
developing trends, Sanjay Kaul, in the partys media cell here, told PTI.

Besides the existing data, we receive feedback from the constituencies
almost on a daily basis which is entered into the computer. We use the
information for analysis based on which the campaign strategy which is
specific to a region, state, and sometimes even constituency is planned
and implemented, says Kaul, a communication specialist. We are following
the usual corporate-style marketing strategy. We know that the stocks of
the BJP as a brand equity are high and hence the confidence to carve out a
distinct image in the field, says Kaul.

Three months of huge research has gone into developing the database. Four
highly professional research agencies were hired for the purpose.

The objective is to consolidate the seats we already possess and then work
on those we lost with a slim margin in the last elections. Thus the
database has helped identify the critical constituencies, according to
which we have planned our strategy in those, he says. PTI
---------------------------------------------------

# 4.
[ In the aftermath of the recent order of the High Court of Orissa in which
seven social activists have been convicted for contempt of court the
following statement has been released to the press]

PRESS NOTE - FROM A WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVISTs IN BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA
27 AUG 1999

In July 1995, the people of Orissa were shocked at the Dowry torture case
of Lusna Senapati, then daughter-in-law of ex-DG. Orissa Police, Mr. Govind
Chandra Senapati. The shock was not only due to the cruel atrocities meted
out to Lusna by her in-laws but also the way the accused were treated by
the Judiciary. Lusna's father-in-law, Mr. Senapati was issued an
anticipatory bail to avoid arrest by the Police. Lusna's husband and
mother-in-law were granted bail by the Orissa High Court at midnight hour
and on a holiday, when the Court was not in session. These accused went
straight to the High Court to get bail instead of going through the lower
courts. It needs to be noted that all these happened at a time when
atrocities on women, particularly, dowry related atrocities, are increasing
in the State at a phenomenal rate. Under these circumstances, it was but
natural that women activists of the state strongly protested against the
actions of the Judiciary. They had held demonstrations, issued press
statements and given a memorandum to the then Chief Justice of the Orissa
High Court to review the bail granted to the accused and restore the image
of the Judiciary as the upholders of justice, in the larger interest of the
society.

Four years after the incident, the people of Orissa are shocked again at
the order of the High Court (pronounced on Aug. 9, 99) in which seven women
activists and editors and publishers of two leading newspapers have been
convicted on grounds of 'contempt of Court'. They have been sentenced for
one month imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5000/- OR, they ask unconditional
apology to the Court and be relieved of the punishment. The crime of the
activists is that they dared to raise doubts on the honesty, integrity and
impartiality of the Judiciary in the Lusna Senapati Dowry torture case.
The newspapers have committed the crime of reporting public sentiments
expressed in different forums.

Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Manch feels that the contemnors including the
newspapers were within their rights to question the manner in which the
whole case was being handled by the upper echelon of the Judiciary of the
State. We feel that in a democracy like ours people must be accorded a
right to question the judiciary if need be. We feel this only gives a fair
chance to the judiciary to review its decisions and rectify them, if
necessary, which can only add to its credibility and thereby strengthen the
democratic process. However, it is most unfortunate that instead of going
into the merits of the original case and pronouncing justice in such a
sensitive matter, after four years the Honourable Court has chosen to
punish the same people who were demanding justice, including Lusna and her
mother, the victims of dowry torture.

Where does the question of apology arise when one is acting conscientiously
to help get justice to a victim of dowry torture? Therefore, we are
constrained to interpret this judgement as one which is intended to
throttle the genuine voice of protest and conscience of the ordinary
citizens.

We consider the option of tendering unconditional apology contemptible.
When the whole state becomes a big prison the prison sentence makes hardly
any difference. August 9, celebrated as 'Kranti Divas' was the day Mahatma
Gandhi braved prison to free India. August 9, the day of this judgement
has started another Kranti, when our compatriots brave prison sentence to
start fresh thinking about the judicial machination which punishes the
conscientious objectors and allows the accused to roam free.

We appeal through this press conference to all the conscientious citizens
to stand by the social activists.
----------------------------------------------
# 5.
BHOPAL ACTION ALERT- 26 Aug 1999

Official Report Leaked in Bhopal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Friends,

As you may know, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the worst
industrial disaster in history: the Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal,
India. The gas has killed 16,000 victims so far, and the toll continues to
rise. Unfortunately, the Indian government has long ignored its
responsibilities to the victims. Now evidence has emerged that government
officials have been covering up the true scope of the problem.

The people around the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal have been long
complaining about the toxic wastes dumped by the company management in and
around the factory premises. It was evident as early as in 1982 (two years
before the disaster) that toxic wastes from Carbide were contaminating the
ground water in the vicinity of the factory. In April 1990, the presence of
at least seven toxic chemicals (two of them carcinogens) in the soil and
ground water were established through sample analysis at the Citizens
Environmental Laboratory, Boston. However, government research and
monitoring agencies as well as Ministers repeatedly asserted that there was
nothing wrong with the ground water around Carbide's factory.

Recently, one of the official reports (translated from Hindi below) was
accidentally leaked to the public. The report of the Public Health
Engineering Department of the State Government clearly shows that the
officials had full knowledge that the ground water was contaminated at
least eight years back. So the bureaucrats and ministers have been lying
all along, in an effort to evade their responsibilities.

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

Report on Presence of Chemicals in Groundwater sources near the Union
Carbide factory :

On 26 . 11 . '96 , ten samples were collected from J P Nagar, Atal Ayub
Nagar, Arif Nagar, Chhola and Kainchi Chhola all situated close to the
Union Carbide factory and were tested at the State Research Laboratory,
Public Health Engineering Department (reports attached) .

All samples were subjected to both bacteriological and chemical analysis.
The results show that the ground water is contaminated with bacteria and
there is a heavy presence of chemicals. Normally the C O D (Chemical
Oxygen Demand) value in ground water is zero but the samples tested here
had C O D values between 45 mg/l and 98 mg/l whereas, the WHO has fixed
the standard value of C O D for natural water at 6 mg/l. The high values
of C O D found in the ground water establishes that large amounts of
chemicals are dissolved in it.

Usually C O D can not be brought down by commonly used techniques. When
river water is contaminated with chemicals one has to wait for it to come
down and this problem is controlled in a few days by dilution. With ground
water such a solution is not possible hence, it will be proper to stop
these sources.

Water from tubewells in other parts of Bhopal were examined at this
laboratory. However, chemical contamination was found only in these areas.
The tubewells in these areas were tested five years back and at that time
too the results showed chemical contamination. Hence, it is established
that this pollution is due to chemicals used in the Union Carbide factory
that have proven to be extremely harmful for health. Therefore the use of
this water for drinking must be stopped immediately.

Sd. Chief Chemist
State Research Laboratory
Shyamla Hills
Bhopal
28 . 11 . '96

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

Analyses of individual groundwater samples are attached to the report. Each
report includes a description of the sampling location and results for:
turbidity, pH, Conductivity, Phenophthaline alkalinity, Total alkalinity,
Chlorides, Nitrates, Total hardness, Calcium hardness, Magnesium hardness,
Total solids, Managnese, Sulphates, COD and concentration of coliform
organisms.

Each report also bears this warning from the chemist: "Water is chemically
as well as bacteriologically polluted. Not fit for drinking purpose."

***TAKE ACTION!!***

There are well over 10,000 people in the communities next to the Union
Carbide factory who are forced to drink water laced with toxic chemicals
routinely. A majority of these people are still suffering from diseases
caused by the December '84 disaster.

Please send an email to the government of Madhya Pradesh asking for :
1. Provision of safe drinking water to the communities affected by ground
water contamination.
2. Scientific assessment of the environmental damage caused by Union
Carbide's reckless dumping of toxic wastes.
3. Rehabilitation of environmentally degraded soil and ground water.

Address your emails to:
Chief Minister <cm@m...> and the Principal Secretary, Bhopal
Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation <dsmathur@v...>. Please
include <mrc@e...> on the cc: line so we know how many responses
there have been!

For more information on the Bhopal disaster, visit the website: www.bhopal.org
For information on the 15th anniversary campaign, visit
www.EssentialAction.org
--------------------------------------------------------

# 6.

Director of FIRE, Deepa Mehta's new film EARTH will be open in the USA
and in India on September 10,1999. Based on Parsee novelist from Pakistan
Bapsi Sidhwa1s novel CRACKING INDIA, EARTH explores ways in which the
political dynamics of the India/Pakistan partition permeated human
relationships. Through the eyes of Lenny, an eight year old Parsee girl,the
film focuses not only on the tragic breakup of a country, but also her Hindu
maid's closest group of Hindu,Muslim and Sikh friends.
On September 10, EARTH will be released by Zeitgeist Films in the USA
at the New York City Quad, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and at Laemmle's Music Hall
in Los Angeles. It will subsequently be released all over the USA. For a
comprehensive list of USA play dates, please refer to the Zeitgeistfilms
play date page at:
http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/current/playdates/earthplaydates.html

For more information about the film, you may refer to the EARTH website at:
http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/current/earth/earth.html

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

# 7.
[Valuable Book on Pakistan]

Making Enemies, Creating Conflict:
Pakistan's Crises of State and Society
Edited by Zia Mian and Iftikhar Ahmad
(Lahore: Mashal Books [http://www.mashalbooks.com], 1998)

Among the may valuable contibutions in the above volume is a paper by
Mubashir Hasan, ' 'Working Towards Pakistan-India Peace' The full text is
available at: http://members.tripod.com/~no_nukes_sa/chapter_6.html