[sacw] [ACT] sacw dispatch (29 March 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
29 March 2000
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#1. Kashmir: Manufacturing Ethnic Conflict
#2. India: The Doctoring of History by the Hindu Right
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#1.

KASHMIR: MANUFACTURING ETHNIC CONFLICT
By Jean Dreze

KASHMIR HAS often been described as a paradise, and the term strikes the
visitor as appropriate in more ways than one. The description usually
refers to the landscape, which is indeed stunning, especially the
panoramic view of the Himalayas in their full glory. On a less
predictable note, Kashmir looks refreshingly prosperous and civilised
compared with other parts of north India.

The Valley, where a majority of the Kashmiri population lives, boasts a
vibrant rural economy that combines wide-ranging farm products (rice,
apples, vegetables, saffron, milk, meat, fish) with a diversity of
manufactures, from carpets to cricket bats. Living conditions are good
by Indian standards, and so is the public infrastructure. What is more,
most families own at least some land, so that extreme poverty is rare.
``Yahaan roti, kapada aur makaan sab ke paas hai,'' I was told in the
villages, and the statement has a ring of truth. It is all the more
tragic that economic development in Kashmir is now stifled by armed
conflict.

On a similar note, Kashmiri society and culture look anything but
``backward'' (as often implied in the Indian media). One gets the
impression of a well-integrated society, with a fine blend of tradition
and modernity. Most villages have a mosque as well as an
``English-medium'' school. Even Kashmiri women seem to enjoy a higher
social status than their north Indian counterparts, in many respects. Of
course, gender relations in Kashmir are quite conservative, with clearly
demarcated gender roles and little tolerance for sexual liberation.
However, the Kashmiri way of life also has much to offer by way of
women's freedoms: purdah is uncommon, female infanticide and
bride-burning are virtually unknown, married women retain a strong bond
with their parents and siblings, widow remarriage is viewed in a
positive light, and sexual harassment is regarded as a serious matter.
There also seems to be a positive attitude towards girls' education.

Such are the initial impressions I formed of Kashmir when I visited it
for the first time earlier this month. Curious to learn more, I hired a
bicycle in Srinagar and spent a few days riding around the Valley and
talking with local residents. My initial purpose was to study the
schooling situation, but it turned out to be difficult not to focus on
people's overwhelming concern: the endless zulm (repression) unleashed
by the security forces.

The security forces were rarely out of sight, even in remote villages.
As far as the local population is concerned, Kashmir is ``occupied'' by
a foreign army. Everywhere I went, there were sobering tales of
harassment at the hand of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces:
curfews, searches, interrogations, killings of suspected militants, and
accidental as well as intentional killings of innocent civilians, to
name a few complaints. In one village, I was told that a father and son
had recently been shot in the knee before being pushed into a house in
flames. In several villages, shops and houses had recently been burnt in
retaliation against recent killings of Army personnel - a prime example
of ``collective punishment'', proscribed by international conventions.
Physical hardships are compounded by constant humiliation. ``Imagine how
we feel when a Bihari or a Madrasi asks us for our identity card in our
own country, when we should be asking them for their papers,'' said one.
In a similar vein, a middle-class woman in Srinagar complained that her
house had recently been searched by a ``Chambal ka daku'' in uniform.

Most people trace the beginning of this nightmare to 1989, when violence
first spread in the Valley. The situation that has prevailed since then
is referred to as ``militancy'' (sic). This does not mean that people
hold militants - local or foreign - responsible for the problem.
``Militancy'' is simply the situation. As for the militants, they seem
to enjoy varying degrees of popular support, partly due to their decent
behaviour towards the people (often contrasted with the brutality of the
security forces), partly because they are seen to be upholding the
common cause - azadi. Azadi has come to be identified with an
independent state, but the main concern of ordinary people is to be able
to lead their life without harassment, and to be free from Delhi's yoke.
Interestingly, one person said that ``before 1989, there was azadi''. He
added, however, that things have come to a point where azadi cannot be
achieved short of an independent state. Of course, it is possible that
most people would in fact be willing to accept a compromise, for the
sake of ending zulm, if it involves the substantive freedoms they aspire
to. Those who are unlikely to compromise are the hard-core
``militants'', whose power and influence has been greatly enhanced by
the Indian Government's iron-fist approach to the situation.

Asked whether the ongoing conflict was in part a Hindu-Muslim conflict,
people emphatically said ``no''. Some respondents even had difficulty
understanding the question: it simply had not occurred to them to think
in those terms. They insisted that it was simply ``azadi ki ladai''.

Considering that this is a situation where, effectively, a predominantly
Muslim population is brutally policed by a predominantly Hindu army
(which takes its orders from a BJP-led Government), it is remarkable
that the conflict has not taken a more communal turn. Asked about the
flight of Kashmiri pandits in 1990, most people said, ``Jagmohan ne unko
bhaga diya'' (Jagmohan sent them away). This is probably a mixture of
truth and propaganda, but the perception is interesting. In one remote
village, I met Hindu and Sikh families; they were quite happy there and
felt secure.

Kashmiris come across as deeply peace-loving people, and they are even
said to take pride in their non-violent nature. ``People here used to
hate guns,'' one teacher told me. Folklore has it that Kashmiri men used
to be capable of little more violence than throwing their kangris at
each other. While these cliches should not be taken literally, there is
at least one tangible indication that they contain a grain of truth:
Kashmir used to have one of the lowest murder rates in India.

The non-communal and peace-loving outlook of the Kashmiri people,
however, is in danger of subsiding as Army repression pushes them into
the hands of foreign-sponsored, fundamentalist groups. Soon after I
returned to Delhi, news came of the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chani
Singhpore. No doubt this incident will be seen by some as confirmation
that the Kashmir conflict is rooted in ethnic hatred. It is possible to
take the opposite view: that ethnic animosity in Kashmir is so weak that
the most gruesome provocations are needed to incite communities against
each other. The incident reminded me of a comment made a few years ago
by a bemused resident of war-torn Bosnia: ``The war had to be so bloody
because the ties between us were so strong''.

On the train back to Delhi, I talked with members of the Border Security
Force who were going home for Holi. In Kashmir, I had often felt a tinge
of pity for the jawans, seeing how they had to stand for hours in the
biting cold, bored to death, looking nervous if not frightened. Asked
about Army brutality, one of them said, ``we don't like to beat them up,
but they don't talk straight, so we have to do it''.

There is no simple solution to the Kashmir impasse. What seems clear is
that the present stand of the Indian Government is a trifle
contradictory. In international fora, mediation is rejected on the
grounds that Pakistan and India have agreed to resolve the Kashmir
dispute bilaterally. When Pakistan approaches India for talks, it is
told that Kashmir is an internal matter (despite India's own claim to
``Pakistan- occupied Kashmir''). Within India, however, Kashmir is
treated like a colony, unworthy of democratic rights. It is no wonder
that the Indian Government's attempt to entice the State into the
national fold has failed to strike a chord with the Kashmiri people.

(The writer is Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics.)

______

#2.
The Hindu
29 March 2000

PANEL ATTACKS ATTEMPTS TO 'SAFFRONISE' EDUCATION

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 28. The standing committee on Human Resource
Development Ministry, currently in session here, has taken serious note
of attempts to ``saffronise'' academic institutions and rewrite
textbooks with members saying that the liberal character of the
education system, guaranteed in the Constitution, is under siege.

Much to the discomfiture of the BJP members in the committee, pointed
references have been made by the Congress(I) and Left members to the
Vajpayee Government's ``saffronisation'' drive which, according to them,
is reflected in the reconstitution of the Indian Council of Historical
Research, the decision to withdraw two volumes of the Towards Freedom
Project and the appointment of a known RSS sympathiser as a Government
nominee on the NCERT's advisory bodies.

The committee was miffed that the annual report of the Ministry, in its
section on the ICHR's Towards Freedom Project, was silent on the
decision to withdraw Prof. K. N. Panikkar and Prof. Sumit Sarkar's
volumes even as it mentioned that three volumes were sent to the press
for publication. Members alleged that this was an attempt to suppress
facts and the Ministry was asked to ``update'' the report as also give
reasons for withholding full information.

Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, a member of the Rajya Sabha and a former Union
Minister, was outspoken during the discussions. He gave details of
``distortions'' and ``anti-minorities' bias'' in textbooks in
circulation in the BJP-ruled States, particularly Gujarat. A social
studies textbook for ninth standard calls Muslims, Christians and
Parsees ``foreigners''.

``The same text also selectively denigrates the Catholic priesthood of
the middle ages which may be legitimate but becomes suspicious when
similar criticism is not accorded to the Brahmin religious hierarchy'',
Mr. Faleiro pointed out in a written submission to the committee.

The committee was also told of instances of ``glorifying'' fascism and
Nazism in certain textbooks. In a class X book on social studies, there
were approving references to the ``achievements'' of Nazism and Hitler's
``efficient'' governance, the committee was informed. Members expressed
concern that such reading material should be freely available, and even
taught in some schools.

There was also criticism of the Discussion Document prepared by the
NCERT as a prelude to revising the school curriculum. It was stated that
there was attempt to give a ``communal'' twist to the curriculum in the
garb of propagating ``national pride'' and ``value-based'' education.
Mr. Faleiro, in a note, criticised ``mindless glorification of the
past'' and attempts to develop a ``communal outlook.''

Several non-BJP members raised the issue of the appointment of Dr. K. G.
Rastogi on certain NCERT panels including a selection committee. They
pointed out that he was a ``well known RSS sympathiser'' and in his
autobiography which has a preface by Mr. K. S. Sudarshan, the new RSS
chief, he had described in graphic details how he organised a raid on a
Muslim locality during the Partition riots and shot dead a Muslim woman
ostensibly to rescue her from an angry mob.

There is a move to follow up on a letter which a large number of Rajya
Sabha members jointly wrote to the Prime Minister last December
protesting Dr. Rastogi's appointment and demanding his removal. ``It is
a serious issue and we are going to press it'', an MP said.

The committee, meanwhile, expressed unhappiness over the reduced
allocation for the social sector in the latest Budget. Significant cuts
have been made in science education, with the allocation for science
laboratories dropping from Rs. 24.85 crores in 1999-2000 to Rs 10 crores
in the current Budget. ``Similar decline has taken place in other areas
of education and the social sector and we are not satisfied with the
explanation'', a member said.

The 42-member committee, chaired by Mr. S.B.Chavan, would have its last
sitting tomorrow and is expected to draft its report before Parliament
resumes on April 17 after a recess

____________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH (SACW) is an informal, independent &
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