[sacw] SACW Dispatch #3 | 18 July 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #3
18 July 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex
_____________________

#1. Grandson sees an attack on Gandhi legacy
#2. Letter protesting VHP's application to seek recognition by the UN
#3. Another Letter protesting VHP's application to seek recognition by the U=
N
#4. Need for Research Material Pertaining To Psycho-Social Impact of
Communalism On Children
_____________________

#1.

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/07/18/p1s3.htm

The Christian Science Monitor
TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2000

Interview / Rajmohan Gandhi

GRANDSON SEES AN ATTACK ON GANDHI LEGACY:
INDIA'S RIGHT WING HAS CITED MAHATMA IN ATTACKING CHRISTIANS.

Robert Marquand
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEW DELHI

He is a high-caste Hindu, tall for an Indian, wears a starched white kurta,
and speaks with a blend of perfect elucidation and warmth. At age 12 he
literally sat at Mohandas Gandhi's feet for months. That's because Rajmohan
Gandhi is the grandson of Mr. Gandhi, considered the father of this nation
of a billion people, and a 20th-century icon.

Christians still targets in India

Today, in response to a rise of attacks on Christians here, the normally
low-profile junior Gandhi is countering recent efforts to use his famous
grandfather to partly justify a climate of antipathy against Christians,
the 2 percent minority.

In dozens of pamphlets, articles, reprints, and tracts published here by
right-wing groups, Mohandas Gandhi seems to view Christianity as a "largely
negative" influence in India. In "Gandhi's Open Challenge to Christians,"
published by the Vishnu Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Gujurat, for example,
Gandhi characterizes Christians as caring only about "converting"
unsuspecting Hindus to their faith, and "undermining" India.

Such writings and ideas today have wide circulation among both leaders and
the rank- and-file nationalist groups called the Sangh Parivar. The
literature often presents itself as Gandhi's "real feelings," which he was
too polite to say openly.

According to Rajmohan Gandhi, the pamphlets are an "attack on Gandhi's
legacy -they do not reflect at all the spirit that Gandhi brought to his
relations with Christians.

"These writings are often clever. The same groups opposed Gandhi strongly,
persistently, and with great zeal when he was alive. Yet Gandhi carried the
Hindu masses," says the younger Gandhi, a philosopher who published a
biography of his grandfather, "The Good Boatman," in 1995. "Now, aware of
Gandhi's influence, they want to use him to fight their battles by tearing
his remarks out of context."

In an interview, Rajmohan Gandhi clarified his grandfather's position on
Christians and missionaries. He stressed the importance to Gandhi of a
sincere friendship with those trying to find larger truths through their
faith -while at the same time pointing out where he felt Christian fell
short of their own ideals.

Did Gandhi harbor serious anti-Christian attitudes?

This needs to be corrected. It is a gross misrepresentation of Ghandi's
thinking. Only two months before he died, at one of his multireligious
prayer meetings where all faiths were invited, he spoke of a village called
Kanhai near Delhi. Roman Catholics were being attacked -and Gandhi
completely condemned it.

In his own life, Gandhi considered Christianity for himself, but he chose
to stay as a Hindu, and he became one of the most famous Hindus ever. But
he was always clear on the need to make one's own choice. When Ghandi's son
embraced Islam, he didn't say it was a problem. He said I hope he becomes a
good Muslim.

We can't understand Gandhi if we don't recognize that individual conscience
was everything to him. Again and again, he said that the only tyrant he
would bend his knee to was the "still, small voice" within.

How do you feel when Gandhi's writings are used to justify negative views
or even attacks?

Hurt. Disturbed. Was there a Hindu leader of recent decades who quoted from
the Bible more than Gandhi? Was there a Hindu leader of recent decades who
was a better scholar of the Bible? The records we have of numerous
interviews Gandhi had with Christian missionaries both Indian and Western,
Protestant and Catholic -the dialog was of the most sensitive kind,
courteous kind, warm kind.

He was really a friend to the missionaries -unlike these people who now
quote him out of context, or misquote him, misuse him, and who are hostile
to the missionaries and to Christianity. He was greatly stirred and moved
by the lives of many missionaries.

At the same time, many Christians were very stirred by Gandhi's life and by
his works. They would come and take counsel with him, and seek his advice
on what they should do. There is no record of Gandhi at any stage,
suggesting to any missionary, that he should wind up his work in India and
go home.

Gandhi was capable of very blunt speech. If he really felt that the
missionaries from other countries were doing a disservice to India, he
would have told them so. He was their friend. But he was willing to help
them purify their life, message, and work, and he would hope they would
help purify his life and message as well.

FAMILY TIES: Rajmohan Gandhi reads from 'The Good Boatman,' the
biography he wrote on his grandfather, the mahatma. The author says the
leader's words are often misconstrued.
ROBERT MARQUAND

There are records of Gandhi's concern about conversions to Christianity.

Yes, but this is something often thrown out of context. One can't be sure
of the accuracy or authenticity of many of the quotes. We can say that
Gandhi cautioned many in the church about a fascination with numbers. He
cautioned them about some Indians who might, by the lure of a better
standard of living, consider Christianity.

School's in for summer
Urban kids dig into science and get friendly with worms
In an era of 'accountability,' parents get report cards, too Urban Cowboys

So the love of numbers on the one side, and the lure of a higher standard
of living on the other, might create some conversions which would not mean
a greater understanding of Christianity or of Jesus Christ. This is what
Gandhi would say. He was never impeding the missionaries; he was trying to
get them to do their work better. His aim was to purify the Christian
missionaries, not to block them.

He would say to them -not only must you not be interested in adding
numbers. But he would say that even the desire that others become Christian
need not be present in your prayers. What he would say to them, and this
was roughly his words: Don't pray that they see the light that you have
seen. Pray that they see the light that they need.

We can't deny that there is an East vs. West that enters into Gandhi's
comments on Christianity. Because historically it is from the West that
Christianity comes to India. And we can't deny that Gandhi was very
unenthusiastic about conversions as such. He felt that (proselytism) held
seeds for competition.

Are there too many conversions today?

As a Hindu who is deeply sympathetic to Christianity, from what I know the
actual instances where enthusiastic or over-enthusiastic ministers or
priests have used material incentives to obtain converts -there are very
few. As far as tricking Indians into converting -there is no foundation in
fact, none in actual fact. The great fact is that despite 150 to 200 years
of British rule, and despite relative freedom to work, despite all this,
the Christian percentage has remained steady at a tiny figure.

What is your greatest concern about the recent attacks on Christians?

I am most concerned with the attitude that the judiciary and the police
take. When minority institutions are attacked, the judiciary and police are
all-important. They can get easily intimidated or influenced by the
anti-minority campaign. The majority of Hindu citizens are not in any great
danger of changing their views away from tolerance.

This is where a clear line condemning attacks from Prime Minister (Atal
Behari) Vajpayee would matter. If a clear condemnation were articulated,
the police would have to take it seriously. Police in every country have
biases. But when the police are told by their bosses what their job is,
they do their job in line with the law, and they put aside their bias.

Now, without a clear line, we see that the police have begun in many cases
to harass and pursue the victims of the crimes, rather than the
perpetrators. They are spending more time harassing victims than
pursuing the aggressors. We see trumped-up charges.

______

#2.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
July 14, 2000
United Nations
Geneva
Re: VHP, India's Hindu Nazi Outfit Liquidating the Minorities
Dear Sir:
We learn that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has applied for consultative
status with the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations. It is a
chilling thought that it dared apply, and that, were it not for Pakistan,
its application would have blithely sailed through.

VHP, since its inception, has contravened and trashed every objective of the
United Nations Charter. Along with its ideological kin Shiv Sena (SS),
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal (BD), Bharatiya Janta Party
(BJP), Hindu Jagaran Manch (HJM), Hindu Sanskriti Manch (HSM), and many more
overt and covert formations, VHP has been engaged in anti-national,
anti-social, anti-human crimes in the length and breadth of India. It has
declared its intent to cleanse India of "foreigners", i.e. the minorities,
viz., Christians, Muslims, and the tribal aborigines - the oppressed and
deprived classes seeking to better their lot through education and
enlightenment. It has bloodily quashed all attempts on their part to
emancipate themselves, and continued its unremitting and unrelenting
vendetta against them for having dared to claim a place under the Indian
sun.

It has declared the murderers of Christians, Muslims, and aboriginals,
"nationalists" and "patriots". It has sown terror and violence on an
unprecedented scale throughout India and in the Indian diaspora. It has
encouraged and instigated, arson, rape, trashing and demolition of churches
and mosques, and cold blooded murders of the minorities " to teach them a
lesson". It has sown disaffection among Indian people and spread hatred and
bigotry in the name of Hindu religion, spouted venom against other
religions, and avowedly resorted to low intensity genocide to eliminate the
minorities from the Indian soil. It has defied court orders, and vowed to
defy them in the future too. It was instrumental in having a 15th century
historical mosque in Ayodhya razed in 1992. It has on anvil plans to raze
3500 mosques in the days ahead.

Its heap of crimes by way of aiding, abetting, and absolving mayhem against
the minorities is well and widely known all over India. It has posed a
serious threat to Indian democracy, secularism, and unity, statutorily
guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and sanctioned by the age-old humane
praxis of tolerance of diversity and embrace of plurality throughout Indian
history. It incarnates the fundamentalist terror of Afghanistan's
Talibans, the Hindu variant, and poses a violent threat to the whole
sub-continent.

Its effrontery in approaching the ECOSOC for consultative status, as an NGO,
is breathtaking. But it is understandable in that its partner in crimes
against Indian minorities, the BJP, now heads a coalition of 28 parties
ruling India today. It is to squelch its neo-Hindu tyranny and ethnic
terrorism that Indians are now nationally astir. Let this medieval horror be
not honored by the UN and its organ the Economic and Social Council. Its
application for membership in the E&SC
must be rejected ouright.

I.K.Shukla
Co-Founder: Coalition for an Egalitarian and Plural India, USA

______

#3.

=46rom.

Dr. Ram Puniyani
Secretary

EKTA

(Committee for Communal Amity)
B-64, IIT Quarters, Powai
Mumbai 400076

Ph.-5723522 , 5767763 (O)

Dear Sir

Through Communalism Combat, a journal devoted to spreading communal
harmony particularly in India, a journal which is also committed to
protecting the rights of weaker sections of society, we have come to know
about the application of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP.) for the consultative
status in Economic and Social council of UN. VHP has claimed that it is an
organization devoted to total welfare of humanity. We strongly protest
against this organizations' move and request you to reject the claim of
this organization for this membership on the following grounds.
1. This organization is part of the political family called as Sangh
Parivar, a group of organizations which are working for creation of Hindu
Rashtra (Hindu Nation) in India. Their understanding is that India is a
Hindu Nation and accordingly the protection of minorities rights should be
done away with as that tantamount to appeasement of minorities. In
pursuance of this they don't hold to Indian Constitution, they assert that
Indian Constitution is anti-Hindu and so demand the restoration the
constitution based on Hindu Scriptures. Thus the present protection to
minorities, women and weaker sections of society is not acceptable to
them.
2. In pursuance of this goal of theirs' VHP has been spreading hatred
against minorities in different forms. Their hate ideology is the base on
which many elements intimidate and terrorize the minorities. This has
spread disharmony in the society.
3. VHP in different ways has been involved in the present anti- Christian
violence which we have been suffering from last three -four years.
4. Leave apart the laudable principles ingrained in the UN charter which
want to ensure that all human beings should be able to live with dignity
and decency, VHP does not even recognize the rights of the minorities for
equal citizenship on par with the majority Hindus.
5. The statements of most of the leaders of VHP are very inflammatory and
spread an atmosphere of distrust amongst different communities.
6. The members of VHP and their followers are generally armed with
tridents and lately they have started training their followers in
firearms, which signals a dangerous portent for our society.
7. VHP was in the lead of Demolition of Babri mosque, not only in
mobilizing their followers in large numbers, but one of their leader took
to the dais and kept exhorting them to demolish the mosque. Also she went
on to say that this is just the beginning and that more such demolitions
are in the pipeline. Needless to say this demolition set in to motion one
of the worst ever anti- Muslim pogrom in the country. Also during these
riots many a women from minority community were raped and dishonored.

In the light of all the above a big chunk of Indian population is
terror-stricken due to the activities of this organization. Most of the
people believing in secular -democratic values, most of the members of
majority and minority community oppose the activities of this
organization.

We urge you to take a note of all these factors and reject the membership
claim of this organization.

Thankfully Yours

Ram Puniyani

To
The High Commissioner for Human Rights
U.N.
______

#4.

NEED FOR RESEARCH MATERIAL PERTAINING TO PSYCHO-SOCIAL IMPACT OF
COMMUNALISM ON CHILDREN =20

SAMVAD is a social action NGO working with the urban poor for their human
rights (housing, gender, communalism) in Ahmedabad, and networking with
like-minded groups in other places.
As Ahmedabad is prone to communal conflict, and we were interested to
develop a children intervention programme to evolve coping mechanisms and
build secular communities, we have started looking out for references.
We tried to get in touch with several academic/practising psychologists,
and surprisingly could not come across any reference in this area. All we
have is American violence impact studies.
If anyone has any idea or references, please get in touch with us at:
samvad@w...
Below is a brief sketch of the issues involved.
Thanks
In Solidarity
Wilfred D'Costa
Director, SAMVAD
P.B. 4188 Navrangpura
Ahmedabad 380009. INDIA. =20

BACKGROUND =20

Communal conflict and communalisation of society along religious lines has
been increasingly threatening the social fabric in Ahmedabad over the
years. The violent communal situation has become endemic in the city. The
past three decades have been marked by almost continuous general or
localised communal violence. Even when no active violence occurs the
spectre of carnage looms large over the city. =20
Communalism has, in fact, set the agenda for the politics of the city,
electoral and non-electoral. It seems to have become almost a permanent
feature of life in the city. It is ironic that a city associated with the
name of Mahatma Gandhi should now enjoy a dubious reputation for
intolerance and violence. =20
Specific riots have been investigated and their immediate causes and
effects described by many researchers. Some questions of a general nature
have, however, remained largely unanswered. The impacts of the communal
politics and riots need to be investigated in depth. Some of the features
of the effects are, however, quite clear. It is obvious that the extremely
poor toilers are the special victims of the communal situation. The effect
upon them is direct as well as indirect. The poor are the cannon fodder of
the communal forces and the direct immediate victims of communal violence.
They thus also face the brunt of the police action, specifically the
punitive and coercive action. They are, hence, the prime victims of loss
of limb and life. It is also women from these sections who face direct
sexual humiliation, abuse, atrocities and violence. The children in these
situations also face trauma and psychological stress. It is known that the
houses that get burnt or totally destroyed are mainly in the slums or other
similar poor localities of the toilers. It is the poor who suffer the loss
of property. These are the people who also enjoy no security nets or
insurance and other covers. Except in rare instances they are the ones who
face displacement and ghettoisation. =20
The long-term effects are equally ominous. A severe riot often makes
continuation of employment impossible for the toilers. Their access to
opportunities of livelihood is further restricted. Their access to public
amenities, including roads, transportation and public spaces, precarious
in the first instant, is eroded even more. This, in its turn, constricts
livelihood activity. A loss in real incomes and intensification of poverty
is the obvious result. =20

=46ailure by the secular machinery and organisation to provide effective
protection leads to a greater isolation of the poor of the minority
communities and oppressed castes from the mainstream. They have no option
but to resort to a defensive aggressive politics of identity. They also
become victims of retrograde elements from their communities who lay
pretensions to the sole leadership of the communities and in the process
thwart democratisation, secularisation and reform. Needless to say that
the class interests of these elements are essentially anti-poor. The
dominance of such politics also leads to a fragmentation of the actual or
potential progressive, secular, democratic movement. The toilers are now
left without any avenues for the defence of their economic and material
interests. In certain situations, like all marginalised and discriminated
minorities the world over, this may push them into ranks of the foot
soldiers of organised crime. The organised criminal also pretends to be
the sole protector of the community in a situation of conflict and thus
attempts to win social legitimacy. =20
This environment breeds fundamentalism or, at least, fundamentalist
politics and culture. The reality of siege leads to a ghetto mentality and
strengthens patriarchy along with various currents of non-egalitarian,
non-rational and non-progressive practices. The politics that ensues from
this situation is one of vote banks and concession (in reality minimal
protection) mongering. Genuine political articulation of the interests of
the toilers and the women is throttled. Reform is stifled. The
democratic space for expression, organisation and struggle is completely
eroded. The shrinkage of democratic space, of course, leads to a further
defencelessness. The vulnerable sections not only become victims of
communal conflicts and carnage but also become more vulnerable as a result
of these occurrences. =20

NEED FOR A PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACT STUDY There are several studies analysing
the political dynamics of communalism and riots. But it is difficult to
come across any study on the psychosocial impact, especially on children
whose tender minds face the brunt of all the hatred propaganda, violence
and feeling of insecurity/helplessness. Due the specificity of
Ahmedabad in this regard (most communalised city in the country), it is
surprising that no researcher has found it worth investigation. Hence
there is a need to explore this area, particularly the impact on children
who might have been affected (directly/indirectly), and which might be
affecting their psyche and the process of development. =20

Children in the age-group 7-11 years need special focus as they are in the
developmental (concrete) state (see Table 1). This stage is crucial for
intellectual and mental development, including activities of logical
operations. The thought processes neither remain unidirectional nor tied
up to the perceptual considerations of the physical situation. Thus it is
likely that we can study the whole process of psychosocial influence on the
children, who would be logically able to relate their feelings or fear or
insecurity during riots or communal mobilisation. =20

Areas of Research Some of the areas requiring substantiation and
investigation are: * Children experience multiple and accumulative
assaults due to continuous or periodic rioting and hate propaganda. Primary
relationships and social networks supporting their physical, emotional,
moral, cognitive and social development are disrupted. This could have
profound physical and psychological implications
(see Annexure 1 for some US references)

* Children who have lost a family member may experience humiliation,
rejection and discrimination. They may suffer quietly for years as their
self-esteem crumbles away. The amount of insecurity and fear they face may
be severe.
* Apart from direct violence, children may be deeply affected by other
distressing experiences and communal mobilisation.
* Communalism not only destroys life and homes, it also splinters
communities and breaks down the trust among people, undermining the very
foundations of children's lives. The impact of being let down and betrayed
by adults may be severe in that it shatters the child's worldview.
* Children may exhibit a wide range of symptoms -- including increased
separation anxiety and developmental delays, sleep disturbances &
nightmares, loss of appetite, withdrawn behaviour, lack of interest in
sports, anxious or aggressive behaviour and depression. Children exposed
to direct violence may experience significant change in their beliefs and
attitudes, esp. fundamental loss of trust in others or "the other
community". Brief Objectives of the study: 1 To study the impact of
communalism on children (on development, psyche, psycho-disorders)
2 To understand the defense mechanisms adapted by children during the
stressed and tensed situations.
3 To outline the psychosocial defense mechanisms available to thwart the
negative psycho influences. Some similar reference stuff from: American
Academy of Paediatrics
Some Things You Should Know About the Effects of Violence on Children
=B7 Each year in the United States there are approximately 50,000 homicides
and suicides; 20,000 are homicides. A substantial number of these
homicides occur when children are present, because these homicides often
involve family or friends.(1)
=B7 Of special concern are recent indications that children are being
exposed to severe and chronic violence at younger ages. First and second
graders have reported witnessing high levels of violence by the time they
enter elementary school.(2)
=B7 According to one study, child victims of violence who report multiple
forms of abuse fared worse than child victims of a single type of
abuse.(4)
=B7 The impact of violence on children depends on: the level of exposure;
the child's age and developmental phase; the family and community context
in which the violence occurred; and the availability of family and
community supports.(3)
=B7 Children who are victims or witnesses of violence are likely to exhibit
one or more of the following behaviours:
=B7 fear;(1) worried about being safe(3)
=B7 aggression toward others(4) , depression(1, 4), sleeplessness(1)
=B7 reluctance to explore their physical environment(3)
=B7 psychosomatic symptoms (headaches, stomach-aches) (1)
=B7 mental disorders (neuroses, anxiety)(1, 4)
=B7 eating disorders(4)
=B7 lowered self-esteem(4), withdrawal(3)
=B7 poor school performance;6 difficulty paying attention (3)
=B7 suicidal tendencies (4)
=B7 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)(1) - a life stressor that leads t=
o
re-experiencing the trauma, avoidant behaviour, numbing of responsiveness,
increased or decreased arousal, and a variety of other symptoms.(3)
=B7 Infants show increased irritability and fears of being alone. Young
children may regress developmentally, such as in toileting and
language;(3) they may revert to crying, clinging, wetting the bed or
getting very frightened.(1)
=B7 Children must learn at a very early age how to deal with loss and to
grieve for family members or friends who have been killed.(3)
=B7 Exposure to violence and being a victim of violence are associated with
self-reported use of violence and carrying a weapon.(5) Many children use
violence to protect themselves against the belief that "if you are not a
predator, you are prey, and it is a whole lot better being a predator."
(1)
=B7 Because early relationships form the basis for all later relationship
experiences, stress associated with violence at an early age may be
problematic for a child's later development.(3) Evidence suggests that for
many children, involvement in aggression and violence as early as age 3 or
4, sets a life course for later violence and criminal activity.(6)
=B7 Parents living with violence often communicate helplessness and
hopelessness and are, therefore, unable to help their children feel
safe.(3) References:
(1) Bell, Carl C., M.D., remarks in proceedings of the "Child Health in
the Inner-City IV: Issues and Answers for the '90s" conference, pp. 74-86,
( 1994, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Howard University
College of Medicine, Washington, DC.
(2) Cooley-Quille, M.R., Ph.D., Turner, S.M., Ph.D., and Beidel, D.C.,
Ph.D., "Emotional Impact of Children's Exposure to Community Violence: A
Preliminary Study," pp. 1362-68, Journal of the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, October 1995.
(3) Osofsky, J.D., "The Effects of Exposure to Violence on Young
Children," American Psychologist, Vol. 50, No. 9, pp. 782-788, ( American
Psychological Association, Inc., September 1995.
(4) Mullen, P.E., et. al., "The Long-term Impact of the Physical,
Emotional, and Sexual Abuse of Children: A Community Study," Child Abuse &
Neglect, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 7-21, 1996 (Pergamon)
(5) DuRant, R.H., Ph.D., Getts, A., M.D., Cadenhead, C., B.A., Emans,
S.J., M.D., Woods, E.R., M.D., M.P.H, "Exposure to Violence and
Victimisation and Depression, Hopelessness, and Purpose in Life Among
Adolescents Living in and Around Public Housing," Developmental and
Behavioural Paediatrics, Vol. 16, No. 4, August 1995, (Williams & Wilkins.)
(6) Friday, J.C., Ph.D., "The Psychological Impact of Violence in
Underserved Communities," Journal of Health Care for the Poor and
Underserved, Vol. 6, No. 4, 1995, pp. 403-409.

______________________________________________
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Harsh Kapoor
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB
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