[sacw] SACW Dispatch August 13, 1999

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch
August 13, 1999

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Contents:
[1.] Statement by Pak.-India Peoples Forum for Peace & Democracy on
downing of Pak aircraft
[2.] Press Release from the Narmada Bachao Andolan - India
[3.] Religious Right in Pakistan attacks development project benifiting women
[4.] Report on the Indo Pak writers meet by Mujahid Barelvi
[5.] Action Alert by US based SALGA on India Pak independence Day(s)
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[1.]
PRESS RELEASE - Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy

Lahore dated August 13, 1999. Mr. I. A. Rehman Chairperson and Mr. Safdar
Hasan Siddiqi, Secretary-General of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace
and Democracy (Pakistan Chapter) have issued the following joint-statement
to the press:- 

"The recently achieved de-escalation on the line of Control at Kargil
between the two countries should have been promoted for establishing a
purposeful, and meaningful dialogue for peace in the sub-continent. It is,
however, disappointing that the Indian side has failed to take positive
steps towards that end. And the recent downing of an unarmed Pakistan Navy
aircraft on a routine training flight by the Indian fighter airplanes
resulting in the loss of sixteen innocent human lives, is not only sad but
also provocative. Such belligerent actions tend to escalate military
conflicts rather than contribute to peace in the region.

The Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (both the Indian
and Pakistan Chapters) have been exerting for the last five years to bring
about an atmosphere of peace and friendliness between the two peoples of
India and Pakistan and to do away with animosity and war mongering. The
Forum has also been endeavoring all the while to induce the two
governments to remove all hindrances in the way of good relations between
the two peoples, and will continue to work for better relationship.

The Forum calls upon both governments to desist from any further military
confrontation and instead work for removing all irritants coming in the way
of bettering mutual relations, including that of translating the wishes of
the Kashmiri people into reality. Both the governments should exercise
restraint because militarism provides no solution to the basic problems of
the people.

Let this calamitous incident be the last one. Let the two peoples work
together, hand in hand, for peace, progress and prosperity. Let us end
racial, regional and religious prejudices and work for mutual betterment
on humanitarian and fraternal basis. Let us move forward together on the
path of economic, social and spiritual progress of the two peoples,
focusing on a long history of cultural affinity. Celebration of
independence by the two countries demands concerted efforts towards
establishing real peace."

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[2.] Press Release from the Narmada Bachao Andolan

http://www.narmada.org/nba-press-releases/august-1999/satyagraha.continues.
html

NBA Press Release 12th August, 1999

MEDHA PATKAR AND OTHERS RELEASED : SATYAGRAHA CONTINUES AS PEOPLE REPLACE
THOSE ARRESTED AT DOMKHEDI : ARUNDHATI ROY REACHES THE VALLEY

All the 62 people, who were arrested yesterday at Domkhedi Satyagraha site
while they were in waist deep water, were released today at 3.00pm
unconditionally by the Maharashtra police at Dhadgaon. Soon after the
release, Medha Patkar and all the Satyagahis along with many local
supporters took out a rally in the town condemning the submergence and
subsequent arrest by the Government and reiterated their resolve to fight by
returning back to the Satyagraha site to continue, where Satyagraha was
replaced by another group of satyagrahis. The satyagrahis released along
with Medha Patkar are expected to reach Domkhedi late tonight.

In the meantime noted writer/novelist and booker prize winner Arundhati Roy
has reached Jalsindhi/Domkhedi. Immediately on hearing the rise of water
Ms.Arundhati Roy rushed to the valley to give moral support to all the
Satyagrahis, and villages whose house and field will be/got submerged, while
the water rises, and reached Jalsindhi today morning.

Meanwhile protest programs, against the submergence of large number of farms
and houses, arrest and detention of Medha Patkar and other Satyagrahis are
being carried out at various places in the country, especially at Bombay,
Ernakulam, etc. through rallies and dharnas. Hundreds of supporters from all
over the country are also sending protest letters to Maharashtra Government
and the President of India, appealing to stop this destructive development
and human rights violation in the Narmada valley.

Rasikbhai Gajanand, M.K.Sukumar and Nandini Oza

------------------------------
[3.]
From: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html
The News,
Wednesday, August 11, 1999
Op-Ed.

PEOPLE WILL PREVAIL

By Omar Asghar Khan

"We will not tolerate development that changes the position of our women"
declared Qazi Khalil, the District Khateeb of Balakot. He was speaking at
a gathering, largely consisting of madarassah talibs and some ulema, on
August 6, 1999.

Qazi Khalil is desperately pursuing support for a campaign against Sungi
Development Foundation. His stated objection to Sungi stems from the
organisation's efforts to create space for rural women to be equal
partners with men in defining and implementing
development plans that affect their lives.

Sungi Development Foundation works with 250 men and women village
organisations in over 100 villages in Hazara since 1989. Its distinctive
rights-based development approach helps local communities to meet
their basic human needs while striving to remove social inequities that
underpin their deprivation.

Sungi's struggle to secure livelihood rights of marginalised communities
that are socially excluded by the dominant elite centres around negotiating
a redistribution of control and access to resources. Not surprisingly it
faces resistance
from a host of vested interests.

A key source of generating resistance to Sungi is its consistent advocacy
of equitable use of forests and forest products. Sungi argues that for
many poor rural people forests are not only a vital source for their
survival but are also the basis of shaping their identity and
therefore they have a right to participate in decisions made about it.
Sungi is striving to ensure that the voices of local people are heard in
the ongoing institutional reform of the forestry sector in the NWFP. It is
also supporting the effort of forest royalty right-holders in Dir to
secure their share of royalty owed to them by influential contractors.

It has also taken a public position favouring the extension of the ban on
forest cutting. Sungi argues that if the ban is to be lifted, appropriate
and transparent procedures and institutional mechanisms be put in place to
ensure the sustainable harvesting of timber. Sungi is under significant
pressure from the Forest Department to change this position and support
the lifting of the ban.

Sungi has managed recurring retaliation from a variety of vested
interests, including some local religious elements, since its
establishment more than a decade ago. Frequently the stated objection of
these vested interests has been that the organisation's work with women is
un-Islamic and against cultural norms. Such allegations are commonly made
against organisations pursuing women's rights and livelihood rights. Thus
attempts to block Sungi's women's programmes are symbolic of barriers
faced by many public interest organisations striving to achieve equitable
and just development.

The local mosque and maulvi hold important positions in the fabric of
rural life. They generally tend to religious occasions like marriage and
burial ceremonies. But certain elements within the ulema have surpassed
the boundaries of this legitimate role. In September 1994, while Sungi
continued its rehabilitation work following the 1992 floods in

Kaghan, local religious elements tried to stir popular sentiment against
it. During a Friday sermon in a village in the Kaghan valley, the local
maulvi advised
villagers, "Shun development if it means women will step out of their
homes. Exercise 'qanaat' in your deprivation. God commands it".

In June 1997, certain religious elements backed a campaign launched
against Sungi by the local elite. Again, women were made the focus of the
campaign. Their stated grievance was that Sungi "tells women to have a say
in household decisions. They explain the concept of Nikah as a social
contract and incite women to gain economic freedom and self confidence.

They tell our women you are human beings. Your have rights as well."
During this campaign, Qazi Khalil claimed that Sungi has "ulterior
motives". "They want to take our people away from Islam. Where they see
poverty to entice people they claim to work against poverty, where people
are uneducated they work for literacy. If development work affects our
religion and tradition, we will have to do without it."

In May 1999, religious elements attempted to prevent Sungi and its
community partners from hosting a national conference on food security in
Battagram alleging that the conference violates local culture since women
farmers were also expected to participate in deliberations about food
security. To incite people against Sungi, some local maulvis distributed
incendiary handbills calling for an armed 'jehad' against Sungi. They also
made baseless allegations that the head of the organisation was a
non-Muslim.

The campaign was unable to stop the conference proceedings. But the
administration's move to impose Section 144 in Battagram on the eve of the
event forced the organisers to
shift its venue to Abbottabad at the eleventh hour. More recently, Qazi
Khalil has renewed his campaign against Sungi. During May-July 1999 he
made repeated calls to mob Sungi's field office at Balakot but was unable
to rally local support for it. However, on August 6, he was able to hold
an ulema conference in Balakot after obtaining permission from the local
administration. A resolution was passed by a group of participating
clergymen demanding that the government force the closure of Sungi's
office, particularly the one is Balakot by August 13, failing which mass
demonstrations will be staged against Sungi and that Sungi staff would not
be spared.

The recurring opposition of religious elements highlights three important
issues. First, these self-proclaimed custodians of public morality have
repeatedly tried to incite popular resistance by using the notion
of women as symbols of honour. They often attempt to project
programmes that strive for women's rights as promotion
of vulgarity. Periodic independent investigation show that these claims
are totally baseless and have no currency in local communities. A survey
conducted by a group of local journalists in July 1999 in Balakot shows that
90 per cent of local people support Sungi indicating that they
are unaffected with the propaganda perpetuated by certain religious
elements.

These findings indicate that certain pro-status quo religious elements
have an unconvincing grievance against Sungi and prompts the query that
are they using the "vulgarity" argument as a front for covert grievances
of other vested interests. There are indications of collusion between
these pro-establishment religious leaders and the timber
mafia. After all it was one of the largest forest owners in the Kaghan
valley that was instrumental in getting Qazi Khalil nominated as district
khateeb.

The second important issue is the collusion of the state with sections of
the ulema. By redefining the role of the Auqaf Department in early 1980s,
General Ziaul Haq had effectively turned local khateebs into government
employees. This would mean that the campaign led by Qazi Khalil, District
Khateeb of Balakot, against Sungi has state sanction.

If the state disowns its involvement in this retrogressive campaign, then
its inability to stop this government paid employee from his hate mongering
indicates that
the state is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. The state's double
standards are also
clearly evident in that it imposed Section 144 in Battagram in May 1999
forcing Sungi and its community partners to relocate a national level
conference that discussed the important issue of food security-an issue on
which the state claims total commitment. Yet, the anti-Sungi Ulema Action
Committee in Balakot was given state permission to hold a conference on
August 6, 1999 despite repeated threats to mob the Balakot office of
Sungi.

Such state actions contradict reassurances recently made by Finance
Minister Ishaq Dar at the Pakistan Development Forum that the government
supports NGOs in their efforts to alleviate poverty and promote
development. Third, the gloom inspired by the conduct and performance of
religious elements and the state is offset by the initiatives taken by
local communities to counter retrogressive forces.

In response to Qazi Khalil's attempts to malign Sungi, a group of local
residents from the Kaghan valley called upon him on August 3, 1999
expressed their total support for Sungi and warned him of community
reaction if he continues his campaign. The group also called upon the
assistant commissioner of Balakot and the commissioner Hazara demanding
government action against the trouble-making religious elements and
expressing their support for Sungi and the development of the area.

These local community representatives addressed a press conference
condemning the vilification campaign of the district khateeb and extended
support to Sungi's development and advocacy programmes in the Kaghan
valley. The significance of these actions is immense. In September 1994
when the sections of the ulema used the Friday sermon to stir resentment
against Sungi, the local population privately expressed their
disappointment at the misuse of the pulpit. There was also support for
Sungi. But the objection and support were both muted. Similar attempts to
discredit a public interest organisation by misusing the pulpit has today
instigated a stronger response from local people.

Growing impatience with retrogressive forces and increasing confidence in
public interest organisations pursuing a rights-based agenda has led to
strengthening the tone and tenor of peoples' voices. In the final analysis
it is the voice of the people that must prevail.
----------------------------

[4.]
INDIAN AND PAKISTANI PROGRESSIVE WRITERS MEET IN CHANDIGARH
By: Mujahid Barelvi

" Communal fascism is a great challenge to today's Indian
sub-continent" said Nomwar Singh, an old and famous writer of
subcontinent at Indo-Pak writers conference in Chandigarh, the capital
of Indian Punjab. Following the tension, as well as the two side hope
at both the borders of Pakistan, this year, all the progressive writers
from whole India and Pakistan gathered at Chandigarh last month to
highlight the social and political elements found in the public of both
the countries.

72 years old Nomwar Singh, further criticized over the post fascist
situation in Indo-Pak after the independence from British Rule.
" We are losing our creme of the society when they are transferring our
creative technicians to Canada and America. Now we have to
preserve, create and fight." He pointed to the globalization today which
he considers the real threat to developing nations.

This was the 12th conference organized by this organization since 1936,
when it was established to challenge the British rule in India. Its
pioneers, Munshi Prem Chand, Sajjad Zaheer and Ajay Ghosh were quoted
at several occasions of the conference.

" We think that the Kashmir issue can be solved through real dialogue
between both the countries. Start of Bus service between New Delhi and
Lahore is a good sign but unless the transport of nuclear arms is not
stopped by both the countries, the tension will remain same at the
borders." Said Hassan Abidi, the leader of Pakistani group at the
conference.

Although the visas for different groups is given now from both the
embassies in India and Pakistan but a common writer or journalist still
can't travel easily in these countries. Hassan Abidi demanded the three
year multiple visa to common poets, writers and journalists in the
Indian subcontinent.

Writers from different regions of India contributed their views by
saying that the whole society can turn towards peace if the writer of
the region plays his correct role.
" If the literature of any nation is rotten, that nation is rotten."

Said Mr. BKN Chibber, the governor of Indian Punjab quoting the words
of Lenin. He further appreciated the role of writers in social and
making value concerns.
" Writers of subcontinent, from the very beginning have rebelled
against the antidemocratic governments. They have created a literature
which makes this society, dynamic. Liberty of expression is the value
of society and terrorism has no place in the new millennium." He
further expressed.

Very well organized three day conference warmly welcomed the Pakistani
delegation and mixed cultural programs were celebrated by both the
Indians and Pakistanis. Although it was the first time that Progressive
writers conference was held in Punjab, last month but no gap of
communication was found among the writers from all over India.
" We should fill the gap between English writing people and local
language writers in all over the subcontinent and we should not
increase complexes among them. Lets not divide them but lets fill the
gaps." Said Hari Jai Singh, the chief editor of Tribune group of
newspapers in Chandigarh, as the result of a discussion upon the
communication for local language writers. Since there are more than 150
languages in India, from which at least 89 languages have their own
literature. The prominent of them are Hindi, Gurmuchi, Punjabi, Urdu,
Gujrati and Sindhi. He emphasized that the complex of language should
not resist people's participation in creative role.

Pointing to the differences in Urdu and Hindi in India, he said, " Urdu
should not be taken as the language of Muslims and neither Hindi as the
language of Hindus in Indo-Pak."

Writers from Kashmir also staged their participation in different
sessions of the conference.
" The leaders of separation movement in India are produced by the
Indian agents and are failed by themselves." Said Mohan Singh, who have
been an award winning playwright in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. " We
are the most sufferers of this movement as our sympathies belong to no
body. This whole game has been developed to increase the defense
budgets in both the countries. Insecurity in Indian Kashmir seems to
never end."

Following the Pakistan peace conference held in Karachi in late
February this year, it has been observed that the intellectuals from
both India and Pakistan are firmed to develop peace in this region.
Such conferences are the education of real public as media play vital
role to communicate the feelings of middle class.

" I, on behalf of Indian public assure you that Indians have love for
Pakistanis." Says Nirmala Desphande, a popular social activist and the
member of broken India parliament in a separate interview . " Anti-
Indian literature in Pakistani text books and anti-Pakistani literature
in Indian text books should be condemned all the way."

She forced Indian and Pakistani intellectuals to unite the newly formed
"Indo-Pak forum for peace" which is going to meet in December this year
at Banglore, an Indian town.

(Mujahid Barelvi is the editor of an Urdu magazine "Sunahra Daur" which
is published from Karachi.)
------------------------------
[5.]
Aug 12, 1999

ACTION ALERT - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY

Dear SALGA friends and supporters,

Despite our ongoing activist work within the South Asian community here in
New York, organizers of the India and Pakistan Day Parades have a history
of excluding SALGA, the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association, from
these community celebrations by not allowing us to march under our own
banner. We are writing this letter to rally your support in encountering
the homophobic exclusion of SALGA from the India Parade by the Federation
of Indian Associations (FIA) and from the Pakistan Day Parade.

The India Day Parade will be happening on Aug 15th - Sunday. After
exploring many different strategies to respond to the FIA's policy, we
have decided to hold a protest / alternative celebration. WE ARE COUNTING
ON THE SUPPORT OF YOUR ORGANIZATION'S MEMBERS TO MAKE THIS ACTION A
SUCCESS. We are meeting at the northeast corner of 32nd St. and Madison
at 11:30am on Sunday, August 15 to hold our protest/alternative
celebration. We have been afforded police protection and barricades during
the march, and time to gather and disperse before and after.

We are in the process of strategizing a response to the organizers of the
Pakistan Day Parade as well.
The Pakistan Day Parade is scheduled for August 22. We will have more
information available on potential actions by August 17.

The goal of this year's India Day Parade protest/alternative celebration
is threefold: 1) to demonstrate against the homophobia of the FIA to show
that the FIA's position does NOT represent the position of all South Asian
people, 2) to show that there is a coalition of people and organizations
in New York willing to join together in visible protest to the FIA's
policies, and 3) to demonstrate and celebrate the diverse range of
sexualities that has been a part of our tradition in South Asia. From the
Babar Naama (Book of Moghul King Babar) to the Temples of Khajuraho, there
have been numerous depictions of men loving men and women loving women, as
well as gods and humans that have aspects of both the genders - hijras
and ardhnarishwara (transgendered people).

As people linked to this long line of tradition, SALGA is proud to take
its rightful place in the South Asian community and celebrate together the
Independence of our countries from rulers that have taught us how to hate
our own.

Thanking you for your consistent support.
Sincerely,

The South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association