[sacw] SABRANG ALERT 15 Sept.99

[Harsh Kapoor]

15 Sept. 1999
=46YI
(South Asia Citizens Web)
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

SABRANG ALERT - SEPTEMBER 15, 1999

As you may be aware, we have been carrying out a systematic advertisment
campaign exposing the Hindu right wing with its political face, the
Bharatiya Janata Part for what it is. Fascist. We have been able to carry
the campaign at different levels in six-seven Indian languages.

The impact of the first TEN advertisments was tremendous. National
newspapers carried some ads despite the fact that no space had been booked.
Grassroot-level organisations in Lucknow, Pune and Kanpur converted these
ads into attractive leaflets for local mobilisation. Tiny newspaper in
towns of Uttar Pradesh like the Meerut -e-Samachar published the entire
campaign as their contribution towards political mobilisation against the
saffron brigade.

=46or us, the high point of the entire campaign was one particular
advertisement that exposed the BJP along with the whole sangh parivar in
their patriarchial attitude towards women. Over a dozen national women's
groups from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore were co-signatories to
that particular advertsiment, the first ever of its kind.

Predictably, the campaign saw vitreol dribbling from the sympathisers of
the Hindu Right. Threatening noises were mae, an infructuous complaint
before the Election Commission filed and we are in no doubt that if,
despite all our joint efforts, a BJP-dominated NDA makes it to power, the
harrasment against Communalism Combat will intensify and increase.

The strength of the advertisement campaign is that it is based on facts.
=46acts that cannot be disputed. Whether it is Indian union home minister,
Sardar Patel's historic words to the chief of the RSS, Golwalkar on
Gandhiji's assassination that the "RSS spread communal poison and the RSS
man distributed sweets and celebrated after Gandhiji's murder";
Or Prem Nath Dogra's stand against the 'Hindu state of Kashmir joining a
secular India;'
Or Atal Behari's statement to the British Government absolving himself of
being a freedom fighter;
Or facts about the dangerous attempts of the BJP-RSS-VHP to blatantly
communalise the Indian armed forces.

Each of the Communalism Combat ads expose the Hindu Rightwing for what it
is and has been.

More than anything they attempt to remind the Indian people what is at
stake here,
Democratic governance and the rule of law above Authoritarianism and Fascism=
=2E
Hindu Rashtra in India. Islamisation in Pakistan. Talibanisation in
Afghanistan.

The whole of South Asia is in peril.

The entire set of all the ads, in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati,
Marathi, Telugu and Tamil are of course with us. However we are emailing
the text content of the first ten ads for your easy reference. Please feel
free to circulate these along with generating some opinion about the campaig=
n.

The ads are listed in order with the first one being carried the last of all=
=2E

Javed Anand & Teesta Setalvad

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#1.

AUGUST 9, 1942
'Karenge ya marenge!'
('Do or die!')
says the Mahatma
Gandhiji's call that rallied the nation behind
the 'Quit India' movement.

------------------------------
#2.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1942
'Maine koi nuksaan nahin kiya.'
('I did not cause any damage').
says Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In his statement Vajpayee pleaded before the
British government that he was 'not guilty'
of being a freedom fighter.

So much for their PATRIOTISM.

THEY DON'T
RESPECT WOMEN

Immolation of widows (1987): The BJP Vice-President, Rajmata Vijaya Raje
Scindia, justifies widow immolation ('sati'). The BJP keeps quiet.

Dowry and wife-beating (1993): The President of the party's Mahila Morcha,
Mridula Sinha, justifes wife beating and dowry, The BJP says nothing.

Sexual crimes against women (1996-98): "Why this unnecessary hue and cry
over one or two rape cases?" says the BJP Chief Minister, Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat, after incidents of gang rape in Rajasthan. The BJP remains silent=
=2E

Denigrating women (1998-1999): Senior BJP leaders or their allies demand
senior women political leaders, like Mrinal Gore, Ahilya Rangnekar, Mamta
Bannerjee, Sonia Gandhi and others, using the most sexist language. The BJP
lets it pass.

Violence against women (August 1999): An 18-year-old college student is
beaten up by BJP activists during PM's rally in Muzaffarnagar. The PM looks
on.

So much for their
RESPECT FOR WOMEN

Ankur, New Delhi; Women's Centre, Mumbai; NAWO (National
Alliance of Women's Organisation), New Delhi; CORD, Karnataka,
Awaaz-e-Niswan, Hyderabad; FORWARD (Forum for Women's Rights and
Development), Asmita, Hyderabad; Kali for Women, New Delhi; Manushi, New
Delhi; Nirantar, New Delhi; Shakti Shalini, New Delhi; Akshara, Mumbai;
=46AOW, (Forum Against the Oppression of Women), Mumbai
AND

Communalism Combat

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#4.

Who do we believe - the RSS or Sardar Patel?

"All their speeches were full of
communal poison. As a final result of
their poison, the country had to suffer
the sacrifice of the invaluable life of
Gandhiji.
RSS men expressed joy
and distributed sweets after
Gandhiji's death."
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Union Home Minister, to
Guru Golwalkar, RSS chief, in a letter on September 11, 1948.

But Mr. Vajpayee says
'The Sangh is my SOUL'.

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#5.

Be It
The massacre of innocents or insults to women
Desecration of religious symbols or the torching of Staines.

Be it
Dug up cricket pitches or
the Prudential cup smashed.
Assaults on the media
or cinema houses on fire

You are quick to
mourn the misdeed.
But you continue to lead
this 'parivar' of miscreants.

Yes Govindacharya is right.
'Vajpayeeji is only a MASK'

Communalism Combat logo

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#6.

"Leave us Alone"
("Hame apne haal pe rahne de")
-Chief of the Army Staff, General Ved Prakash Malik.

=B7 May 31, 1999 : Senior army officers were asked to brief the BJP National
Executive. This has never happened before.

=B7 August 1999: Army officers, to their discomfort, were persuaded to atten=
d
a RSS -sponsored function, Sindhu Darshan in Leh. They were given citations
signed by the RSS chief, Rajinder Singh. It his address Mr.L K Advani tried
to establish similarities between the RSS and the Indian Army.

=B7 August 19, 1999: A VHP delegation, led by Vishnu Hari Dalmia, Ashok
Singhal, Giriraj Kishore distributed books printed by them to our injured
soldiers.

=B7 August 23, 1999: Vishwa Hindu Parishad representatives gate-crashed into
the office of the Ministry of Defence, armed with photographers and 20,000
rakhees for the jawans in Kargil.

The army refused the rakhees

MR. Vajpayee, MR Advani

Please don't politicise the The secular Indian army

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#7.

Vajpayee says:

"The Sangh is my soul."

His SOUL speaks:
"Godse was motivated by the idea of
Akhand Bharat. His intention was good".
-Rajendra Singh, RSS Sarsanghchalak
(On the assassination of MAHATMA GANDHI by Godse)

Communalism Combat logo

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#8.

"A HINDU STATE SHOULD NOT JOIN SECULAR INDIA".
-The Sangh Parivar

Kashmir -May 1947: The Akhil Rajya Hindu Sabha, under the leadership
of the state RSS chief, Prem Nath Dogra, called Kashmir a Hindu state,
ruled by a Hindu Maharaj. It passed a resolution "a Hindu state should not
join secular India". They did not mind a theocratic Pakistan

Accordingly Pakistani flags flew over the offices of the post and telegraph
department in the state on August 15 1947.

Prem Nath Dogra later became the All-India president of the Bharitya Jan
Sangh (Now BJP)

SO much for their PATRIOTISM

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#9.

VAJPAYEE SPEAKS ON KARGIL

ASK FOR VOTES

DID our martyrs sacrifice their lives for the B J P ?

Communalism Combat logo

He Knew of the Intrusions in Kargil on May 6th.
Yet he ordered action only on May 16th.
A good 10 days later

Can you really trust him? In war

He shunted out his own
Minister of telecommunications.
To benefit some multinationals.

Can you really trust him?
In peace.

CAN YOU TRUST HIM AT ALL?

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# 10.

Will you join their PRAYERS?

'The BJP suits us. We pray to god that they
come to power again'.

--Abdullah Muntazer, Information Secretary, Lashkar-e Tayyeba, Pakistan in
an interview with The Hindustan Times

August 5 1998: George Fernandes in the Lok Sabha: "Pakistan has started
targeting not only our Army posts but also civilians inhabited areas, with
Batalik, Kargil, Kanazalwan, Tangdhar Karen, and Uri becoming the main
targets."

What were Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Fernandes doing between
August 5, 1998 and May 16, 1999?

No wonder they want the BJP back

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