[sacw] sacw dispatch (9 Jan 2000)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
9 January 2000
________________________
#1. Pak, India have no option but to make up: Hasan
#2. South Asians should throw their ruling elites out
#3. Dispossessed peasants successful action against GAIL Plant (In UP, India=
)
#4. Life & struggles of Bombay's Slum dwellers
#5. Appeal from 'Communalism Combat' (Bombay)
#6. Minority Communities in South Asia
________________________

#1.
News Network International
=46riday 7th January, 2000

Pak, India have no option but to make up: Hasan

ISLAMABAD (NNI): If Pakistan were to be declared a terrorist state, it
would be "far from good news" for India, said former finance minister Dr
Mubashir Hasan. Quoting the American ambassador in Islamabad as referring
to Pakistan as the "most sanctioned" country, Dr Hasan told Times of India
it was in the interest of the developed countries to keep the conflict
going. "It is not realised that the bonds that bind the third world
countries with the developed international community are merely that of
enslavement," said Dr Hasan. According to him, there is no other option
available to India and Pakistan but to "make up", as confrontation would
us lead nowhere. He said politicians of both countries were resorting to
political rhetoric of hatred to keep internal opposition at bay.
According to him, it was wrong to claim that there is animosity between
the two countries. "Top leadership, in both the countries, and the
proverbial man on the street, want peace. It is only a minority which has
a vested interest in hate-mongering and serving interests foreign to the
sub-continent," he said. Dr Hasan emphasised that leaders of Pakistan and
India would not have met in Lahore in February last year if they were not
sure that an overwhelming majority of the people in the sub-continent
wanted peace. The conflagration at Kargil and the hijack drama, he said,
had made it all the more imperative to resolve the problem between the two
countries. "The Lahore process must continue," stressed Dr Hasan and added
that governments of the both countries, baring few stray comments, were
committed to resuming dialogue. "I am aware that Pakistan was greatly
worried about the incident from zero hour. It is not known in India but
apprehensions in Pakistan were not removed even when the plane left for
Dubai," Dr Hasan said. According to him, the fact that Pakistan had
decided to invite the Indian team to deal directly with the hijackers,
despite opposition from some circles within Pakistan, was enough to show
India and the world that there was no complicity on the part of Pakistan.
"Pakistan was trying to resolve the crisis in full measure, as it was not
just Indians but citizens from other countries as well who were taken
hostage," Dr Hasan said.
_____________

#2.
DAWN
08 January 2000 Saturday

THROW THE RASCALS OUT
By Irfan Husain

I AM writing this on the first day of the new millennium overlooking the
Indian Ocean, which stretches out to the horizon A few yards away, it
cascades onto a golden beach in an endless series of rolling breakers. The
last ten days have passed very quickly on a spectacular beach in a village
called Mirisa on the southern-most tip of Sri Lanka. I have done very
little but swim, read, play bridge, eat and drink and talk to close
friends. But in the midst of this idyllic vacation, I have been thinking
about the problems of poverty that face the countries of the subcontinent.
When Bernard Tavernier, the sixteenth century French explorer, travelled
across India, he was struck by the prosperity of the people he saw around
him when compared to Europe. In his account of his voyage, he talks
admiringly of the thriving urban centres and the security provided by the
state. He could not have foreseen that within the space of two centuries,
the situation would be radically reversed and riding on the crest of the
Industrial Revolution, Europeans would master the world. On the first day
of the 21st century, it is pertinent to ask why over a billion South
Asians remain among the most backward in the world. The countries they
inhabit have been richly endowed with resources and a basically talented
population. Why then do we continue to wallow in poverty while the rest of
the world strides further and further ahead? Much of the answer lies in
the conflicts and divisions that afflict the region. A country like Sri
Lanka, blessed with a superb climate, rich soil and plentiful rainfall,
should have been doing far better than it is. With a literate population
and an adequate infrastructure, one would have thought that it would be on
an Asian tiger growth curve. But largely because of its unending civil
war, foreign investment has not flowed in to the extent one would have
expected. India and Pakistan remain locked in a mindless conflict over
Kashmir. This dispute has brutalized the people of Kashmir over whose
wellbeing this quarrel is supposed to be about. It has drained the
exchequers of both countries, warped their political development to
varying degrees and has contributed to Pakistan's isolation. Pakistan,
being the smaller and less stable state, has suffered far more
grievously.Owing to this conflict, regional trade has received a huge
setback as the South Asian grouping, SAARC, has been paralyzed into
irrelevance. Whereas such regional arrangements have brought prosperity to
other parts of the world, we deny ourselves the benefits of cooperation
due to the self-defeating rivalries and disputes that have sharpened over
time instead of dying down as they have in many other regions. In the
=46ifties and Sixties, there was a belief that the problems of poverty coul=
d
be solved with money. Experience has shown that this tenet of faith is
demonstrably false. After 50 years and 40 billion dollars in loans,
Pakistan remains at the bottom of all social indicator tables, and its
economy teeters on the brink of collapse. So clearly, money by itself is
not the answer to our woes. To varying degrees, the people of South Asia
are victims of a rapacious and shortsighted ruling class. In the early
days of Pakistan, politicians in West Pakistan blocked a constitution
based on the universal principle of 'one-man, one-vote' as this would have
transferred power to the eastern wing; this selfish approach led
inexorably to the creation of Bangladesh and the traumatic events of 1971.
In India, the grip the Nehru family had on political power proved to be
ultimately harmful. And partly due to the fact that the Nehrus themselves
were of Kashmiri pandit stock, the resolution of the festering Kashmir
issue has remained elusive. For their part, Pakistani politicians and
generals have raised the stakes over this quarrel to such an extent that
it is difficult to see how we can ever restore peace to the subcontinent.
And we need to be very clear that without peace there can be no
prosperity. Untold billions have been sunk into sterile bickering while
the real problems of the people remain relegated to the back burner.
Despite the many advantages South Asia enjoyed on independence when
compared with other backward regions (a relatively developed
infrastructure; an efficient bureaucracy; and familiarity with the English
language with all this implies in terms of access to the rest of the
world), we have frittered away our heritage. In Pakistan, we have tried to
establish our legitimacy by manipulating religious sentiment and trying to
pretend that we are not of South Asian stock. This has resulted in an
identity crisis that has produced a succession of lost generations. While
sections of Indian society are making rapid progress now that the heavy
hand of the state is gradually being lifted from the private sector, far
too many people are condemned to live below the poverty line. The caste
system remains a blot on Indian democracy. Bangladesh has made significant
progress since its bloody birth in 1971, but it remains a hostage to a
high population and a predatory elite. All these problems are man-made and
we can resolve them all, given common sense and resolve. But we choose
instead to invent useless, time-wasting, energy-sapping issues and conjure
up conspiracies to explain our own failings. Most of our politicians are
too immature and too devoid of vision and ideas to seriously tackle the
vast problems that beset us; instead, they waste their time and our
resources, brandishing weapons at the enemies they have themselves
created. By keeping the region in a constant state of turmoil, they have
diverted attention from the real issues of poverty, and prevented the
people from demanding decent governance and a measure of prosperity. If
there is indeed a conspiracy, it has been hatched jointly by the
politicians and the ruling elites of South Asia in an effort to conceal
their incompetence and venality. For instance, the World Bank or the IMF
has not decreed that the police in the region should be so brutal and yet
ineffective. The Americans do not urge our rulers to be devoid of
integrity and intelligence. The ISI has not produced the rise of Hindu
nationalism in India, just as RAW has not instigated the fundamentalists
in Pakistan to drag the country back to the medieval era. All these
problems have been created and condoned by our rulers. But in the ultimate
analysis, it is the people of South Asia who have given the power to the
ruling elite to misgovern us, and if things are to change, we will have to
reject them once and for all.
_____________

#3.

7 January 2000
Kanpur, India

SUCCESSFUL GHERAO OF GAIL PLANT BY LOCAL DISPOSSESSED
PEASANTS (in UP, India) : A report

by Subhashini Ali

The GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) plant at Dibiyapur, dsst. Aurayya,
was gheraoed by hundreds of men and women in the early hours of 4th
January. Braving the freezing frost and biting winds, in spite of the
fact that most of them did not have warm clothes and many of the women did
were barefoot, they blocked each one of the gates leading into the plant
premises. Their determination was so fierce that not one of the officers
of employees of the plant of the early morning shift could enter. Soon the
police swung into action and used tear-gas and lathis to remove the furious
agitationists but it was only late in the evening that they could actually
open one of the gates. The agitators, however, continued their dharna in
front of the main gate right through the bitterly cold nights upto the
evening of the 6th January when the management and the district
administration were forced to sign a settlement to their satisfaction.

The plant was built only after hundreds of peasants were dispossessed of
their land for which they were paid a miserable compensation. The affected
people agitated against this but to no avail =96 none of the political
parties in the area were ready to support them and their cause. In spite
of this, they remained united in their resolve to gain something from the
development that would come to the area with this large public sector
undertaking. After many battles, they were assured more than a year ago
that one member of each affected family would be given a direct or indirect
job in the project. In spite of this promise that was made in the presence
of the district magistrate, no jobs were forthcoming. In July l999, the
peasants approached local CPI(M) leader who assured them of all help in
their just struggle. After a massive demonstration in the district court
on July 29th in which Comrades Harishankar Gupta, Mukut Singh and
Subhashini Ali participated, the peasants started an indefinite dharna in
front of the main gate. There was no response from the management who
thought they could divide the agitationists by making a few of them
contractors and obliging some of the =91important=92 people in the area. Th=
e
agitationists, however, continued their struggle. An important feature of
this movement was the militant participation of women in large numbers.
Many of them have since become members of the AIDWA while a Kisan Sabha has
also been formed.

On November 6, Com Samar Mitra, MP led a delegation that included the
office-bearers of the dispossessed peasants=92 committee and Mukut Singh and
Subhashini Ali that met with the Gail management inside the project
premises. After several hours of discussion, the management agreed to
issue identity cards to all those persons given work inside the premises
and also to hire 125 (uneducated) persons as indirect employees and 10
(educated) persons as direct employees. The management, however, did not
abide by this agreement and, at the end of December, it called a meeting of
the so-called committee that it recognised and then put up a notice giving
employment to only 60 persons. Some members of the management are supposed
to have said that there was no question of any identity cards being issued.
These actions enraged those who had been sitting on dharna for more than 6
months and they decided to gherao the plant.

The militant action on the 4th January took the plant management and the
district magistrate completely by surprise. On the 5th evening, they were
forced to contact CPI(M) leaders 'whom they had earlier sworn never to
speak to' and invite them for talks the next day. On the 6th, Comrades
Mukut Singh and Subhashini arrived at the plant gate and were greeted by
hundreds of men and women who had suffered the terrible cold and frost for
more than 48 hours but whose spirits were completely undaunted. The
Executive Director himself had to come to the gate and hold talks in full
view of the agitationists. After a couple of hours, he had to put up a
notice which announced that identity cards would be issued by the 1st
=46ebruary; that 74 (uneducated) and 10 (educated) persons would be given
jobs in a phased manner in 2 months and that all the remaining eligible
persons would be absorbed by 31st March, 2001. The management has also
given an assurance who can be training in computers, fire-fighting,
first-aid etc. will be given to all those who can take advantage of this.

The agitationists were elated by this settlement, specially because it was
in writing and because, after 3 years of relentless struggle, they saw some
signs of the victory of which they had been dreaming for so long. In the
meeting that was held to discuss the settlement, it was decided that the
dharna would be withdrawn but, if the management went back on its word, an
even more militant struggle would be launched.
_____________

#4.
=46rontline
January 8- 21, 2000

LIVELIHOOD ISSUES
A city and its hovels

The impoverished residents of Mumbai's slums find several ways to survive,
but there is no escape for them from economic hardships and shrinking
opportunities.

PRAVEEN SWAMI
in Mumbai

http://www.the-hindu.com/fline/fl1701/17010660.htm

_____________
#5.
=46rom 'Communalism Combat' (Mumbai, India)

Jan 7 2000

Dear Friends,

Many of you are aware of our monthly publication Communalism Combat and
have been its keen readers and supporters since we launched the effort over
six years ago, in August 1993.

More than ever before, the raison d=EDetre of Combat's birth stands
vindicated. Following the shockwaves of Dec 1992-January 1993, we have now
for the past six years actually lived through a hardline Hindu rightwing
government in power at the centre and in many Indian states. Any
illusions/arguments about their the stance of the Hindu right in any way
softening once it had tasted power (and responsibility) have vanished.

The functioning of the Central government=EDs Human Resources Development
Ministry (HRD) in the field of education, syllabus and text-books is only
one part of the tale. Serious institutional changes through reactionary and
anti-constitutional laws and government directives are being effected by
BJP dispensations in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. In Gujarat the BJP
government has most recently lifted the ban on government officials being
members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS is the organisation
behind the ideology of Hindutva 'India as a Hindu state'. It's anti-Muslim
and Christian vitriolic has been chastised by several judicial commissions
following rounds of communal violence.

The RSS has pushed hard at winning over ideological supporters to it. The
ideology it swears by is anti-democratic since it envisages a series of
categories of citizens who do not fit the organisation=EDs narrow definitio=
n
of the =EBHindu=EE as second class citizens. It has given birth to the ideol=
ogy
that killed Mahatma Gandhi. Government censuses targeted at the Muslims and
Christians in Gujarat and a law that =EBforbids=ED conversions to any faith
except Hinduism have been some of the moves made by the state in Gujarat.
In UP, a recent bill to severely limit an individuals freedom to her/his
faith by placing restrictions on the construction of places of worship is
another recent measure. These steps have been laced by increasing attacks
on minorities (Christians and Muslims living in far-flung areas) and
forced ghettosiation of minorities in urban centres.

Communalism Combat, has due to all these reasons seen a growing readership.
What we need however is to reach institutions and human rights advocacy
cells internationally. That is the only way that the serious developments
underway in India can get recorded and reflected in international academic
institutions and prominently figure in international human rights discourse
all over the world.

KHOJ our secular education programme has played a key role in bringing the
whole issue of doctored and biased textbooks to the forefront of the
national agenda. Our documentation centre is on its way to getting entirely
computerised before we can send out regular alerts and information packages.

It is for this reason that we are writing to you to help us in anyway
possible to increase the reach and readership of the magazine. You can do
that in the following ways

Help us enlist 5-1- individual foreign subscriptions through your acquaintan=
ces
Help us ensure that the institution that you are associated with subscribes
to Communalism Combat
Make five or more gift subscriptions of CC to anyone you know in India,
South Asia or internationally.

In our seventh year of publication we have lived up to our philosophy
summed up in our inaugural issue of August 1993, thus
=ECWe have started Sabrang Communications to provide information on, analyse
and expose the machinations of communal politics in India and to publicise
the attempt of secular individuals, groups and organisations engaged in
fighting them.
We stand for the equal respect to all religions but we are opposed to the
cynical manipulation of faith in the pursuit of power. Therefore, we are
opposed to both majority and minority communalism.=EE

You may have been seeing issues of the journal. You join an already
impressive readership profile that includes 6,000 schools and colleges all
over the country, institutions that find CC=EDs contents a necessary resourc=
e
input. Our readers also include individuals like over two thousand
grassroot level organisations and individuals like the former Chief of the
Indian Navy, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, former Indian foreign secretary,
J.N.Dixit, cinema personality, Shabana Azmi, noted playwright, Vijay
Tendulkar and former super cop, Julio Ribiero.

Your support in helping us enroll subscriptions to the journal, individual
and institutional is vital. We look forward to a reply from you.

In anticipation,

Teesta Setalvad
Editor

COMMUNALISM COMBAT
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political parties, both of the majority and the minority
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_____________

#6.
The Daily Star
7 January 2000
Op-Ed.

MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH ASIA - MORE POSITIVE ASSURANCE NEEDED
by ABMS Zahur

With the setting up of government of BJP-led alliance at the centre in
India its minority communities are apprehending their uncertain political
and economic future because of inclusion of certain fundamentalist Hindu
leaders such as L K Advani, M M Joshi and Arun Jaitley. The role of Advani
in the destruction of Babri Mosque has already been revealed. The real
motive behind Joshi's Hindutva cultural project "Bharatya culture" has
been reflected in the district education programme "Sarva Shiksha Abhijan"
that this programme aims at imposing Hindu culture throughout India. Arun
Jaitley's wish has been gradually revealed in various mass media
programmes. Apart from this, BJP extremists are trying to disturb the
communal harmony in West Bengal, Bihar, Gujrat, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
However, we wish that these Hindu fundamentalists cannot be effective in
future because after the demolition of Babri Mosque BJP had to forsake its
agenda to come to power and the present government is a coalition
government which has to accommodate the wishes of the BJP allies.

Though apparently Pakistan was created on a two-nation theory, it may not
be too difficult to prove that Pakistan became a reality mainly because of
(i) failure of Mohammad Ali Jinnah to fulfil his dream as a Congress
leader; (ii) Jawaharlal Nehru's inadequate political foresight; and (iii)
British government's wish to divide and rule to maintain economic control
on the sub-continent (as long as possible). It was mainly exploitation of
religious sentiment of the common people, majority of whom were poor and
illiterate and as such incapable of understanding political strategies and
intricacies.

Ever since the creation of Pakistan its senior politicians and bureaucrats
were apprehensive of pressure from the people of its eastern part for a
fair share in employment and economic activities with the rise of
literacy. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who used to consider the eastern wing as an
'outpost' of Pakistan, advised them to make the western wing
self-sufficient as quickly as possible so that west Pakistanis needed not
to depend for anything on the eastern wing. As such all policies (at least
the major ones) were formulated mainly for the benefit of west Pakistanis
only. Subsequent developments, particularly during the so-called 'golden
era' of Ayub Khan prove the point.

The foundation of Pakistan was based more on sentiment and less on cool
logic. A modern state can never flourish on the basis of religion alone.
Other than religion east Pakistanis had nothing common with the west
Pakistanis. Some twenty-five years back Clarence Maloney in his book
Peoples of South Asia (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc New York, 1974)
rightly observed:' the disunity within Pakistan was apparent from the
start. Religion proved inadequate to hold different peoples together in
amity. The west Pakistani tended to look down on Bengali Muslims as second
class Muslims, descendants of converts and do not in the same direct line
of religious family as those who brought Islam to the country. The Punjabi
Muslims see themselves as direct heirs to the rulin g tradition of the
Mughal territory. Thus there was deep seated cultural prejudice current at
the birth of Pakistan."

Bangladesh achieved its independence through a nine-month long liberation
war in which more or less all the religious minorities contributed because
they hoped that independent Bangladesh would be a secular democratic state
where all its people would be free to lead a peaceful life with complete
religious freedom and where all will be equal before law. After
independence, however, things did not proceed as anticipated. Though the
then AL government could adopt secularism as one of the state principles
it did not get enough time to nullify the anti-Hindu Acts (such as Enemy
Property Act) imposed by the then Pakistan. Far from redressing the
problems of the Hindus Zia knocked out the principle of secularism. Both
Zia and Ershad were interested in the Islamisation of the constitution and
ignored the problems of the minorities. In fact Zia's ill-advised policy
in regard to CHT increased the suffering of the tribals there. As CHT was
a political problem it was beyond the capability of a military ruler like
Ershad to solve it.

Geographically Bangladesh is surrounded on three sides by India and
Myanmar. India is a Hindu-majority country and Myanmar is Buddhist
dominated. It may further be added that eastern part of India (bordering
Bangladesh) is dominated by Buddhist Christians and tribals. It would,
therefore, be most pragmatic for Bangladesh not only to tolerate these
cultures but also to encourage development of their cultures so that
political relations of Bangladesh with its neighbours are developed on a
warmer and firmer footing. This will help her much to quicken the pace of
development of trade and economic relations. It is indeed surprising that
despite long experience of ruling the country for twenty years (11yrs by
BNP and 9 yrs by JP) both BNP and JP are trying to raise the issue of
religion in the name of so called "nationalist parties". For them it may
be useful to raise the religious sentiment of the illiterate and simple
voters through publicising that Awami League is a pro-Indian and secular
party and as such not enough committed to protect Islam, the religion of
the majority people of Bangladesh, but it would certainly be harmful for
the country in the long run.

Some may argue that while communal riots frequently occur in India (which
is a secular state) why Bangladesh should try to be secular in letter and
spirit. There may be good reasons as to why Bangladesh should not follow
India in her policy toward the minorities. The following reasons may be
identified: i) the constitution of Bangladesh is not based on two-nation
theory; ii) the exodus of Hindus from Pakistan was because of anti-Hindu
polices adopted by the then Pakistan governments; iii) it would be
improper for Bangladesh to ignore the moral and material support she
received from Hindu dominated India, Buddhist dominated Myanmar and Japan
and Christian democracies of UK, France and Australia and communist
countries like Russia and the then East Germany; iv) it would be in the
interest of Bangladesh to develop better relations with the peoples of the
neighbouring states; and v) it cannot be denied that except from the
Mughal ruler Akbar Hindus did not receive proper treatment from the Muslim
rulers.

It may not be easy to establish absolutely amicable relationship among all
the communities in South Asia because of the following constraints: (a)
Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan; (b) Tamil uprising in Sri
Lanka; (c) BJP-led DNA rule in India; and (d) Islamic fundamentalist
dominated military rule in Pakistan.

As Bangladesh appears to be free from any such constraints as quoted above
it may be appropriate for her to initiate a proposal before coming SAARC
summit for adopting resolutions aiming at eliminating any existing
discriminatory policy (if there be any) and not to adopt any policy
discriminating the minorities in future to improve communal relationship
in the region. Though we may not get immediate result from such
resolutions adoption of such resolutions would increase the confidence of
the minorities and will make the SAARC more meaningful and powerful.

__________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.