[sacw] [ACT] sacw dispatch (21 March 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
21 March 2000
-------------------------------------------
#1. Pakistan: Women Fight On, Increasingly Aware of Their Right
#2. Pakistan spent $2.7 billion on weapons in past 7 years
#3. Pakistanis, Eager for Change, Are Left Frustrated After Coup
#4. India: Jan Sansad (People's Parliament), 21 March 2000 [New Delhi]
#5. India: Support the Voices Against Hindutva Fascism
-------------------------------------------
#1.
Inter Press Service
8 March 2000

PAKISTAN: Women Fight On, Increasingly Aware of Their RightsBy Beena Sarwar
LAHORE, Mar 8 (IPS) - On the eve of International Women's Day, ayoung
Pakistani woman narrowly escaped an attempt on her life byher father as
she came out of a court after recording herstatement that she wanted to
live with the man of her choice. In February last year, Narjis Sultana
>from Multan, Punjabprovince, had married Muhammad Iqbal. Her father Zafar
Ali Khanfiled a case of illegal confinement against Iqbal,
and''recovered'' Nargis in August with the help of the police. They then
''married'' her off to someone else. Meanwhile,Iqbal, who had escaped
arrest by the police, filed a writ for therecovery of his wife in the High
Court. Nargis was produced before the Court on Jan. 14, and statedthat
she had been forcibly ''re-married'. The Court sent her tothe Darul Aman,
a women's shelter, until the next hearing. OnMar. 7, Nargis told the court
that she wanted to go with herhusband Iqbal, rather than to the Darul Aman
or to her parents'. The court observed that she was an adult and could
thereforedecide her future. The court also asked her to seek police helpif
she feared threats to her life. When Nargis came out of the court, she
was attacked by herfather and other male relatives, who tried to kidnap
her. Onresistance by her police escort, the assailants opened fire,
andbeat up some of the male and female constables. Meanwhile, Nargis was
saved by a court official who locked herinto a lawyer's chamber until the
fracas died down. Most of theassailants fled, but one was arrested, and
the police hasregistered a case against them. The story illustrates not
only how women in Pakistan areincreasingly exercising their rights, in
this case to marry oftheir own choice, but also how society reacts when
they do this. International Women's Day, Mar. 8, may not mean much to
mostPakistani women, but the women's movement, combined with
economicnecessities, has contributed to increasing numbers of
womenasserting their rights to jobs and to education. This phenomenon,
think some activists, may be among the causesfor the increasing violence
against women in this largelyconservative and traditional society. Says
Shahtaj Qizilbash, a para-legal trainer in Lahore, ''Morewomen are in the
work-force now, working in factories, as fieldsurveyors for multinational
companies. They are aware of theirrights, thanks to the work being done by
various organisations.'' At least half a dozen seminars are planned in
Lahore alone forWomen's Day Wednesday -- attended and organised not only
bywomen, but also the many men who have been working for the causeof
women's empowerment, and the struggle for democracy. And while some may
dismiss these events as more preaching tothe converted, Qizilbash thinks
these provide a valuable sourceof support to the women who attend. Many
of her para-legals, from the poorer areas of Lahore, willbe at the seminar
organised by the Joint Action Committee, anumbrella group of 30
organisations working for social change,including the AGHS Legal Aid Cell
that Qizilbash works with. ''Attending such events gives them
confidence. Exposure towomen from another social class who are working for
change, showsthem they have the support of other women,'' she says. 
Another para-legal trainer, Sohail A. Warraich, coordinatorfor the Law
Programme of Shirkat Gah, a women's resource centrehere, says the
increasing violence against women is countered bya corresponding refusal
on their part to accept the status quo. He believes that things are
changing on the ground, withissues that were formerly taboo, like 'honour
killing', being nowopenly discussed and reported on -- and opposed. ''In
1993, when I started doing legal awareness workshops inupper Sindh, I was
warned by the organisers not to even mentiondivorce or domestic violence.
Within a year I observed they werediscussing these issues in internal
meetings,'' he says. ''Nowthey are publicly taking on regressive
customs.'' 'Honour killings' -- in which women are killed by their
family-- are particularly common in upper Sindh and southern Punjab,where
the practice is known as 'karo kari'. But the tradition isnot limited to
just the backward rural areas. Crime reporter Azmat Abbas writes in 'The
News on Sunday' in arecent report for Women's Day, that in Lahore, ''the
most common'excuse' given by the killer is the suspicion that the
victim,whether his wife, mother, daughter, or sister, had 'loosemorals'.
The mere suspicion, which may never be proved, isgenerally considered
sufficient for the ghastly act.'' Abbas reports that since 1996, at
least 1,150 women have beenmurdered or burnt alive, more than 1,300 raped
of which at least50 were gang-raped, and some 1,200 kidnapped in
Punjab,Pakistan's most populous province, according to the
policedepartment. In all the cases, the culprits have gone scot free. He
cites a case in which a man shot dead his estranged wifeand two teenaged
daughters who were on their way to court, wherethey were fighting a case
against him concerning his elderdaughter's marriage. She ''wanted to
marry a man of her own choice and had themother's support, but the father
opposed them'' -- theirinsistence was a slight on his honour. The day
after he killed his family, the man surrendered to thepolice and admitted
to his crime. Within three months he was afree man. ''Now a 'respectable
person' exonerated from allcharges, (he) went to London a few weeks
ago.'' In most cases the perpetrators of violence go free, saysWarraich.
''But such cases are now increasingly being reported tothe police and in
the media, the culprits being at least arrestedand brought to court where
once nothing would happen,'' he says. Warraich feels particularly
pleased with the support from themedia, particularly the Sindhi language
press, which has devotedentire pages on the rights' workshops he has
conducted. Awareness of their legal rights, however poorly these may
beimplemented, has led to an increasing assertion of independenceby women.
But the backlash has been extremely violent. In one recent case, a woman
from Badin, a small town in Sindh,who eloped was lured back by her family,
believing she wasforgiven. But she was locked up, beaten and starved,
although shewas pregnant. Her mother, who runs a local women's group,
wasalso involved. Eventually, the young woman was rescued, and
following ahabeas corpus filed by the Women's Action Forum, allowed by
acourt to go with her husband. In another case, a 23-year old woman was
brought to a Lahorehospital with skull fractures inflicted by her brother.
Hercrime: she had returned home late from office one day, havingstopped to
inquire after the health of a friend's mother. ''I control your mind,
your body, everything related to you,''her brother told her. ''I gave you
permission to go office, notto go inquiring after people's health.'' He
attacked her with a meat chopper, raining blows even whenshe fled outside
the house. A large crowd gathered but no oneintervened. She was taken to
the hospital only the next day, by acolleague from her office. It
became clear later that ''one of her colleagues, a friendof her brother's,
had been harassing her. Because she refused togo out with him, he told her
brother she was seeing a man.'' Warraich believes that the rebellion of
many women has to dowith the support now being offered by the many women's
groups andinstitutions working for social change. ''Even small
grassroots organisations in remote areas now havelinks with bigger
organisations in the cities, and theircollective campaigns often yield
results,'' he maintains. ''Even a few letters to the district
organisation gets animmediate response and the cases are followed up
because there isa wider network involved.''
(END/IPS/bs/an/00)______________

#2.

Business Recorder, Karachi, 27 Feb. 2000
http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0000/S0000/S0000104.htm

Pakistan spent $2.7 billion on weapons in past 7 years

ISLAMABAD (February 27) : In the seven years between fiscal years 1992-93
and 1996-97, Pakistan spent $2.704 billion on procurement of weapons from
four countries and overhauling of 70 aircraft at home and abroad.

According to the latest official statistics made available to Internews
here Friday, Pakistan procured six frigates, three mine-hunters, three
submarines, 320 tanks and six jet trainers besides overhauling 70 fighter
aircraft during this period.

The statistics revealed that six second-hand frigates were procured from
the UK for the Pakistan Navy at a cost of $150 million in the financial
year 1992-93.

In fiscal 1994-95, Pakistan purchased three new mine-hunters and three new
submarines for its navy from France at a cost $350 million and $1.3 billion
respectively.

For its army, Pakistan purchased 320 new tanks from Ukraine in the
financial year 1996-97 at a cost of $650 million, while it procured six new
jet trainers in the same year from China for its air force at a cost of $20
million.

In the financial year 1996-97, Pakistan spent $116 million on overhauling
of 30 aircraft of the air force at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra,
and $118 million on overhauling of 40 aircraft in France.--Internews
_________

#3.

The New York Times
March 6, 2000

Pakistanis, Eager for Change, Are Left Frustrated After Coup

By CELIA W. DUGGER

PROSECUTING PAKISTAN'S PRIME MINISTER
Recent Coverage
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/030600pakistan-us.html

Defense in Trial of Ousted Pakistani Leader Quits in Protest (Feb. 29, 2000)
Judge Sees Threat and Quits Ex-Pakistani Leader's Trial (Jan. 13, 2000)
Fall of Pakistan's Chief: A Riveting Tale (Dec. 14, 1999) Ousted Pakistan
Leader Charged With Treason and Other Crimes (Dec. 9, 1999)
Ousted Pakistani Premier Is Taken Before Anti-Terrorist Court (Nov. 20, 1999)
Ousted Leader in Pakistan Is Charged With Treason (Nov. 11, 1999) Amid
Pakistani Poverty, Opulent Palace of Ex-Premier (Oct. 31, 1999) Pakistani
Report Alleges Graft by Ex-Premier (Oct. 26, 1999) Pakistan Army Seizes
Power Hours After Prime Minister Fires Army Chief (Oct. 13, 1999)
The New Government

Pakistan's Boss: Realist, Not Diplomat (Nov. 18, 1999) No Timetable to
Restore Pakistani Democracy (Nov. 2, 1999) Why Democracy Means Little to
Pakistan's Poor (Oct. 30, 1999) Pakistan Ruler Seen as 'Secular-Minded'
Muslim (Oct. 26, 1999) Coup Leader Restructures Pakistan's Government (Oct.
18, 1999) Pakistan Military Completes Seizure of Government (Oct. 15, 1999)
Man in the News: Musharraf Is a Soldier's Soldier, Not a Political General
(Oct. 13, 1999)
Analysis
Democracy in Pakistan: Can a General Be Trusted? (Nov. 21, 1999) Can the
Coup Leader Deliver on His Promises? (Oct. 19, 1999)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 4 -- The euphoria that greeted a military coup
here almost five months ago -- and the hope that a no-nonsense general
could quickly turn this corrupt, virtually bankrupt country around -- have
given way to a weary sense that little has changed, and to fears that
Pakistan could be drifting toward more war with India.

While it is still early to judge the record of the new government, the
White House has little else to go on as it agonizes over whether President
Clinton should use his visit to India this month -- the first to this
region by an American president in 22 years -- to also call on Pakistan's
military rulers and give them the stamp of legitimacy they seek.

So far, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has not done the
things that the American government considers most important. He has not
spelled out a plan for restoring democracy. He has not cracked down on an
Islamic fundamentalist group that the United States has put on its list of
terrorist organizations.

And in a decision that is a telling commentary on the general's cautious
style of governance, he has not signed the nuclear test ban treaty. His
foreign minister, Abdul Sattar, has spoken out in favor it, but the new
government has chosen not to sign for fear that doing so would rile Islamic
political parties.

In an interview, Mr. Sattar asked why the new government should pay the
political price for signing when the United States Senate has voted against
the treaty. "The advantages of signing are unclear, and the disadvantages
of political opposition at home are concrete," he said.

Those rationales for inaction or for delaying action have frustrated people
who thought that the military government would rule with the swift
decisiveness with which it overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"Everybody expected this government to come in, kick butt and take names,"
a Western diplomat said. "Instead, it took them months to get fully
staffed, and since then it hasn't done diddly squat."

While General Musharraf casts himself as the antithesis of a politician,
his government has been careful to look after certain constituencies. While
it has arrested 90 people, including businessmen, on charges of defaulting
on bank loans, it has not gone after sitting military officers or judges on
corruption charges.

Officials note that the military and the judiciary have their own
accountability systems. But it appears that the military has no appetite
for investigations of its own and does not want to alienate judges who are
hearing cases that challenge the
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*********************************who will be taxed come July, when the new
budget year begins.

"You are changing the culture in a society where nobody likes to pay taxes
and where tax avoidance is the name of the game," Mr. Aziz said.

In the political sphere, the government says it will take a first step back
toward democracy with local elections to be held by the end of the year,
but it offers no timetable for national elections.

"They're talking about devolution of power to the local bodies when we
don't have a Parliament," said Asma Jehangir, a lawyer and human rights
leader whose father was a member of Parliament who spent four years in
prison under two previous military governments. "It's a joke. How can you
have freedom at the lower level when there's not freedom anywhere?"

The impatience with the slow pace of change is tangible not only among the
intelligentsia, but among the poor. People who cheered the general's
promise that he would do what Mr. Sharif never managed -- to tax the rich,
punish the corrupt, revive the economy and build "real" democracy -- now
say there is little difference.

"The price of wheat flour has gone up, not down," said Lal Muhammad, who
ekes out a living selling wrinkled second-hand sweaters on the streets of
Peshawar. "The lives of poor people remain the same. I don't see any
difference between Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif."

Abdul Halim, a tailor in Peshawar who had skipped breakfast and lunch so
his wife and six children could eat, was just as hard boiled. "This is the
fourth general who has come, and we haven't seen a better life yet," he
said. Still, despite his disillusionment, he hopes that President Clinton
comes. "Maybe he can stop war between India and Pakistan," he said.

Mr. Halim's sense of foreboding is shared by some academics and diplomats.
General Musharraf has once again made Kashmir the dominant matter in
Pakistan's relations with India. It appears that rather than turning down
the heat there, Pakistan has backed more frequent and deadly attacks by
militants on Indian forces in Kashmir, the majority Muslim territory that
both countries claim in a half-century-old dispute.

"They know they don't have a hope in hell of liberating Kashmir," said
Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist at Quaid-I-Azam University in
Islamabad. "They live in a fantasy world. They think they're inflicting
such grievous damage on the Indians when the truth is the opposite. It's
Pakistan that is bleeding."

Last week, the Indian government -- citing as justification its 10-week war
with Pakistan last summer in Kashmir -- proposed a 28 percent rise in
military spending, a $3 billion increase that is itself more than
Pakistan's entire military budget.

Pakistan, which already spends more than a quarter of its budget on the
military and almost half on debt service, can ill afford to go deeper in
hock to try to match India's military and economic might.

In retrospect, it should have seemed inevitable that General Musharraf -- a
soldier, not a schooled statesman -- would disappoint. Pakistan's
entrenched problems are not amenable to quick fixes. So his men are
pleading for time.

"People had completely unrealistic expectations," said Javed Jabbar, who
advises the general on national affairs. "They thought there was a magic
wand."
____________

#4.

[ 12 March 2000]

Dear friend,

Azadi Bachao Andolan had initiated a meeting where various movement
groups and political party representatives had come and discussed the
various possible programmes to 'welcome' the US President in India. This
letter is one of the outcomes of that meeting. Kindly respond as urgently
as possible.

With warm regards,

Vijay Pratap

Vijay Pratap
G.W.4,
Ganga Hostel
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi-110067

Phone NO: 6102752, 6102638

JAN SANSAD (PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT), 21 MARCH 2000

A people's parliament (jan sansad) will be held in New Delhi on 21 March
2000, to coincide with US President Bill Clinton's address to the Indian
Parliament.

The purpose of this gathering is to voice public concern about US
imperialism. Issues to be discussed at the jan sansad include the
destructive effects of corporate-sponsored globalisation, looting of
people's resources, military interventionism, the destruction of Iraq, the
social pathologies of US society, etc. Sponsoring organisations so far
include the National Alliance of People's Movements, Azadi Bachao Andolan,
Lokayan, Lok Tantrik Samajwadi Party, among others. We are approaching
other people's organsations (including all the left parties and both
Marxist and Non-Marxist left oriented citizen groups) opposed to
corporate-sponsored globalisation and communalism.

We have also requested Prof.Rajni Kothari to chair another discussion on
22nd March 2000 on Understanding the Issues of Democracy in a Unipolar
World. In this meeting we propose that representatives of movement groups
and political parties should present their view-point followed by a
discussion.

Please circulate this invitation widely among the interested groups in your
peer, and let us know whether you or any other organisation associated with
you would like to be added to the list of sponsoring organisations. Any
suggestions you may have would also be appreciated. You are welcome to join
our first planning meeting on 1st March at 5.00 p.m. at Gandhi Peace
Foundation (venue: please enquire from Mr.Ramesh Sharma's house on the GPF
campus).

Arun Tripathy 2141858
Atal Bihari Sharma 2443943
Dr.A.K.Arun 5672799
Jean Dreze 7256533 (only office hours)
Raghu Thakur 3239393
Ramesh Sharma 3237491 (only office hours)
Vimal Bhai 2256394
V.P.Srivastava 3935690, 3932272
Vijay Pratap 6102638, 6102752

Contact Address:

27-A DDA Flats
Mata Sundri Road
New Delhi-110002.
_________________

#5.
[10 March 2000]

SUPPORT THE VOICES AGAINST HINDUTVA FASCISM

by Daya Varma

The recent episode in which irate hoodlums attacked Deepa Mehta's crew
shooting her film "Water" (portraying the life of Hindu widows at her
chosen site in Kashi) is one of the many similar things that have
happened with the rise of Hindutva fascism. A year ago the screening of
her film "Fire" in Indian cinema was prevented on the grounds that
lesbian relationship shows disrespect for India and Hinduism.

The importance of Deepa Mehta episode is not so much in that an
internationally renowned Indo-Canadian film director with high profile
cast of Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das was stoned away but rather the
emergence of this fascist culture which can belligerantly silence voices
of sanity. The answer to these developments is not providing alternate
space to make the film, as had been offered by some provinces, but
rather a mass mobilization against the emergence of this culture as the
political life of India. Indian people can easily live without Deepa
Mehta's film "Water" but they certainly cannot remain in peace if
fascism is allowed to strengthen itself. The protest by Tasleema Nasreen
is commendable. She attacked the BJP government and in return earned the
wrath of the BJP whose West Bengal leader demanded her expulsion from
India.

Unfortunately, there is a poor assessment of the dark days looming over
India resulting in equally poor organized opposition to fascism. An
illusion has been constructed that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
government is after all not too bad especially since Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee is moderate and does not represent the ideological and
political thrust of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Even critics of
BJP argue that it is too early to pass harsh judgement against the BJP.

On the other hand, planned premeditated fascism does not start as a
coup. It is not like a military take over of a civilian government. It
begins by constructing myths, dismantling institutions which it
perceives will hinder its control, disarming progressive elements or
engaging them into side issues, and creating episodes to fan vicious
patriotism. BJP is doing just that. Hindutva fascism even has the
advantage over all previous fascist regimes including of Hitler. It has
reasonably well succeeded in mobilizing a good section of the civil
society to do what other fascist regimes had to accomplish by state
organs, police and military. Although Hindutva fascism will continue to
arouse suspicion and hatred against minorities, especially the Muslims,
its main propaganda plank is reviving the glory of a religion and hence
appeals to vast masses.

Several episodes in this current short period of BJP rule, should serve
as an eye-opener. The Constitution is being reviewed in favor of a
Presidential form of government, closest to a monarchy which RSS would
prefer. Laws are being changed to allow public servants to legally join
RSS. President Narayanan is maligned because he spoke about the
deprivation of large masses of Indian people. The non-existing
conversion issue has been brought to prominence. Historians like Romila
Thapar, K.N. Panikkar and Sumiti Sarkar are being victimized. Textbooks
are being changed to substitute facts with myths. Progressive NGO's are
being singled out for stating the obvious that is lack of respect for
women in Hindutva ethos. Deepa Mehta is just one of these many victims.

Given the recruitment of the civil society by organized forces of
Hindutva, what is needed is a mass movement while it is still not too
late. Organized regional political parties are content with their own
secular program. Indian National Congress of Sonia Gandhi cannot divorce
from its own past and is more concerned with how its own agenda on
liberalization is being hijacked by the BJP than with dismantling of
secular culture and tradition. Left parties have a position against
fundamentalism but there is no evidence that they are conscious of the
change that is taking place in Indian polity and thinking. They seem to
feel that Hindutva fascism can be defeated by defeating BJP in
elections and hence their tactics revolves around meaningful alliances
than on mass mobilization. All these are illusions and while this
illusion is being catered by the left, organized Sangh Parivar (family
of RSS-controlled organizations) is consolidating what it already has
and is making inroads into new territories.

Fight for a secular democratic India should become the number one
concern at this juncture of history. Small community-based
organizations, a handful of academics and intellectuals are doing what
they can do. But they can be silenced unless there develops an all-India
movement against fascism while there is still time.

______________
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