[sacw] sacw dispatch #1 (8 June 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch #1
8 June 2000

------------------------------------------

#1. Balraj Puri on the course of Action in Kashmir
#2. The Widening Gap on Kashmir
#3. Pakistan: 'Murderers of history'
#4. India: The Daily Divide: Are history text books influenced by political
ideology?

__________________________

#1.

Himal
June 2000
[Special Issue on Kashmir | Cover story on Article 370]
http://www.himalmag.com/jun2000/content/cover.htm#dominoes

NO DOMINOES WILL FALL

by Balraj Puri

The release of the leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference is welcome.
But why in the first place were they put under detention, just after the
parliamentary election in 1999 were over? And why have they been released
in instalments? Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has said that the release
was not a casual action but was "an initiative towards peace and normalcy
in Kashmir". Citing the example of talks between the Government of India
and the Naga rebels and Bodo militants, he expressed his government's
willingness to talk to the militants in Kashmir "on every demand,
legitimate or perverse".

Asked about the demand for restoration of pre-1953 position in Jammu and
Kashmir, Advani said talks could cover even this aspect, the basic
parameter being the need to remain within the Indian Constitution. This is
certainly a distinct advance over the traditional Bharatiya Janata Party
position, which has held that abrogation of Article 370 is the solution to
the Kashmir problem, and over the recent statements by the leaders of the
Jammu BJP and by other members of the parivar in which they have equated
the demand for autonomy with that of azadi and treason.

But is this advance far enough to the ground where the Hurriyat can reach?
Can it afford to accept the terms of settlement that Farooq Abdullah's
National Conference has been demanding from the Centre? There are obvious
and formidable difficulties on both sides to changing their declared stands
too drastically. Despite much media speculation, not much is known about
the groundwork done by mediators preceding the release of the Hurriyat
leaders. Yet, some tentative suggestions may be made to whosoever may care
to consider them.

The release of the Hurriyat leaders should not necessarily be linked to a
settlement, and even if no basis is found for talks they are entitled to
remain free unless they break a specific law. In fact, the other political
leaders in detention against whom there are no criminal charges should also
similarly be released.

Talks at any level should be held without any pre-condition on either side.
When prime minister Narasimha Rao, in an earlier time made an offer for
unconditional talks, the Hurriyat unfortunately rejected it and demanded
trilateral talks which included Pakistan. The fear then was that the offer
of unconditional talks might never be repeated. Besides, the suggestion of
trilateral talks could be made at the beginning of the bilateral talks with
the Centre, so it should not be put forward as an obstacle. Moreover, the
Hurriyat leaders could continue to have talks with the Pakistani government
through its High Commission in New Delhi, as they had been doing.

This time, the Government of India must be urged not to insist on the
condition of the parameter of the Indian Constitution; just as it has set
no conditions for talks with the Naga rebels. As the talks begin, the
government can try to convince the dissidents why it is not possible or
desirable to trascend that parameter. The first item on the agenda, formal
or informal or at the track-two level, should be de-escalation of violence
on both sides. At the very least, there should be an agreement to end
violence against innocents. Let nobody be threatened or killed for
religious and political belief.

An atmosphere needs to be created for a multi-layered dialogue on a variety
of related problems which were put in a cold storage awaiting final
agreement about the status of the state, but which have complicated a
settlement on the main problem itself. The question of inter-regional
relations within Jammu and Kashmir and return of migrants to the Valley, if
tackled, would actually facilitate a discussion on the status of the state.

Unlike the days of Jawaharal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah,
there is no single leader or party in India or in Jammu and Kashmir to take
up decisions on behalf of the respective people. Therefore, widespread
consultations at the national level (with non-BJP parties) and the state
level (with non-Hurriyat parties in Kashmir Valley and the leadership in
Jammu and in Ladakh) must proceed on all related issues before a
breakthrough is made.

=46inally, India-Pakistan talks need not be postponed indefinitely. The
recent peace initiatives at the non-official level, one may hope, will
recreate the Lahore spirit in which a meaningful dialogue can be resumed
between the two estranged neighbors, inseparably linked with shared history
and future destiny.

_______

#2.

Christian Science Monitor
Wednesday, June 7, 2000
World

THE WIDENING GAP ON KASHMIR

India's recent release of local political leaders raised hopes for talks,
which have yet to materialize.

Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

SRINAGAR, INDIA

Shouting "We want freedom!" thousands of Kashmiri Muslims took to
Srinagar's streets on May 21.

They danced past bunkers filled with Indian security forces, waved from
windows, and laughed as the object of their attention, a 28-year-old
religious figure, Umer Farooq, rode by on top of a truck.

The event marked the anniversary of the assassination of Mr. Farooq's
much-beloved father, the former mirwaiz, or spiritual leader. It was a
jubilant, defiant, and illegal political act later featuring speeches by a
host of unelected leaders who outlined popular demand: talks on self-rule
or independence of Kashmir.

In India's capital, the rally didn't make much of a splash. But in the
Kashmir valley, a world apart from India proper, it signaled the start of a
summer of rising expectations and enduring frustrations.

READY TO TALK: Spiritual leader Umer Farooq addresses a Srinagar rally
May 21. He's among the young leaders in Kashmir willing to negotiate with
India over self-rule or independence. ROBERT MARQUAND

Expectations - because in the weeks leading up to the procession, Indian
officials had released from jail several of the May 21 speakers - leaders
of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

And frustrations - because Kashmir remains in a tense uprising with 1
Indian soldier here for every 10 people, crammed in a picturesque valley of
lakes and mountains.

Kashmir is the central problem of a region that two years ago revealed its
nuclear capabilities. Most experts feel that any eventual peace between
India and Pakistan must include a new deal for Kashmir.

Yet despite the release of Hurriyat leaders and the dangled promise of
possible talks, New Delhi now seems to be cracking down in the valley,
while letting the idea of diplomacy or negotiations drift.

Hurriyat leaders, a group of 24 disparate and often divided men who
represent popular sentiments in the valley, began to be released from jail
shortly after President Clinton concluded his South Asia visit in March.
Kashmiris took the releases to be a sign that Delhi was ready to talk about
their future.

But with the escalating war just off the coast in Sri Lanka, and much of
Delhi officialdom away during the early summer heat, no such moves have
been evident. All sides seem to be in a waiting game.

Experts say India is waiting to see if Pakistan will escalate its
cross-border militancy in Kashmir - a step that could further isolate that
country in the court of world opinion.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's chief executive, last week offered talks
with India, which has been met so far with silence from New Delhi.

Meanwhile, violence continues. Last weekend witnessed the first attack on
the tiny Shiite minority - when a bomb exploded at a Shiite religious
event, killing 12 and injuring Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, an
influential Shiite leader. Militants and security forces take casualties
daily.

"What is ignored are the ground realities of this place," says Farooq, the
new mirwaiz, who is one of a new generation of Kashmiri leaders willing to
negotiate with India over Kashmir. "The government of India can ignore
Kashmir or say they are managing the problem. But the fact is that the gap
between the people of Kashmir and the government in New Delhi is widening,
day by day."

"If the government of India was sincere, they could reassure the people
here by taking confidence building steps," Farooq continued in an
interview, shortly before he was put under house arrest. "We read about
talks in the newspapers. But there has been no official or unofficial
communications about them to us."

Yet in the view of New Delhi, the popular leaders of Kashmir are not yet
capable of conducting talks. "We will talk, no problem. We are always
ready, and we say that sincerely," says a senior adviser to Home Minister
L.K. Advani. "But it seems to us that the Hurriyat leaders need to sort out
where they stand. They do not have a clear position, past their slogans,
and they want to start with unreasonable demands."

When President Clinton came to South Asia, expectations in the valley were
raised to new - and perhaps unreasonable - heights. Ordinary Kashmiris
thought the US president would focus on "solving Kashmir," to use the local
vernacular.

Instead, Mr. Clinton publicly criticized the Pakistani government for
supporting cross-border violence. Since that initial disappointment,
however, Kashmiris have convinced themselves that the government of India
is being pressured privately by Western powers. Indeed, there is a
consensus among a segment of Indian and Western officials that the crisis
is untenable on a permanent basis, and that this message is being debated
in high circles in Delhi.

It is hard to imagine, says one diplomat, that India could secure a much
desired seat on the United Nations Security Council without some resolution
of Kashmir. "Kashmir is still something like the stain on the dinner jacket
of India," says a senior Washington offical.

Opposition leaders in Delhi over the weekend used the recent bombing of
Shiites in Kashmir to make the point that Delhi's policy is "vitiating the
hopes and aspirations of the [Kashmiri] people," as Congress Party
spokesman Rajesh Pilot stated.

Even the hardline Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), one of the most
influential organizations in India, has suggested that the region of Jammu
and Kashmir be "trifurcated." The RSS, the parent Hindu organization of the
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has suggested separating Buddhist
Ladakh and Hindu Jammu, to the east and south, from the Muslim Kashmir
valley.

However, it is highly unpopular in some liberal Delhi circles, partly
because it abandons the multi-ethic ideals of Kashmir, which embrace Hindu,
Buddhist, Sufi, Sikh, and Muslim traditions.
Events surrounding Kashmir have been at the heart of the most prominent
recent events in South Asia. One year ago this month, India and Pakistan
were in an escalating and bitter series of battles in the northern
mountains of Kashmir, known as the Kargil war.
Partly on the strength of emotions unleashed by the fight, the Hindu
nationalist BJP government was reelected in September. Then in October,
Pakistan underwent a popular military coup that ousted Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, and installed General Musharraf - who promptly made the dispute
over Kashmir the chief plank of his foreign and domestic policy. On the
day Clinton arrived in India in March, 35 Sikhs were butchered in a Kashmir
village.
Whether Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will take a step toward
talks this summer is unclear. Mr. Vajpayee, along with many members of his
party, still feel betrayed by Pakistan, after initiating a historic round
of rapprochement with Islamabad in February of 1998 - the so called "bus
diplomacy" in Lahore, which was dashed by the Pakistan-sponsored Kargil war
last spring.
The URL for this page is:
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/06/07/fp6s1-csm.shtml

_______

#3.

DAWN
7 June 2000
Opinion

'Murderers of history'

By Hafizur Rahman

I HAVE borrowed the title for this piece from the caption of an article on
deliberate distortion of history written by Surosh Irfani some time ago.
Before I come to Mr Irfani let me tell you something. I once wrote in
these columns how, for a national philatelic exhibition in Quetta,
intending participants were directed not to send any postage stamps that
bore the effigy of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This was during the
time of General Zia-ul-Haq. Apparently not content with murdering the man,
the general also wanted to murder history by implying that there had been
no such phenomenon as ZAB.

This was not all. Very few people besides educationists know that all books
of Pakistan Studies were revised with ZAB in mind. The general would have
liked that his predecessor should not be mentioned in history books at all,
but since that was not possible, the next best thing was to paint the man
as a deep-dyed villain, something akin to Iblees or Dracula. So the period
when the man ruled the country came to be described in school and college
books as "a dark and evil period in Pakistan's otherwise glorious history."
In these books the emergence of Bangladesh too was laid at Mr Bhutto's
door, while poor General Yahya Khan got nothing for his effort. This was
for the man who, for the first time in the history of the subcontinent made
the common Muslim stand up with pride in himself and contempt for the
feudal - the millstone round the community's neck; the man who laid the
foundations of Pakistan's nuclear programme for which he had to pay with
his life as a result of collusion between the United States and General
Zia-ul-Haq; for the man who was threatening to lead the Third World against
the hegemony of the superpower.

When Ms Benazir Bhutto became prime minister in 1988, a committee was
appointed to revise school and college history books and purge them of
offensive material about her father. Maybe the committee erred on the side
of the other extreme - this I have not been able to find out. As a
dedicated scholar Mr Surosh Irfani can conduct research into this. But it
is certain that the good work, for whatever it was worth, could only have
been done in BB's first tenure when some germs of idealism still infected
her mind. In the second coming she was completely overtaken by money
considerations infused in her by an enterprising husband. Is it impossible
to be dispassionate in writing history? So it seems.

The Indians are far ahead of us in histriography, but even they succumb to
emotionalism when they write about Muslim rulers in the context of their
Hindu population. Where there is no tradition of scholarly truthfulness, as
in Pakistan, and writers pander to successive governments to gain favours,
the results can be horrendous, as described by Mr Surosh Irfani in his
article which is actually a review of the book "The Murder of History"
(Vanguard: 1993) by Professor K.K. Aziz, the distinguished historian.

According to Mr Irfani, the Professor's book is a ground-breaking analysis
of "the falsehoods and plain lies" that have a share in shaping a youthful
Pakistani subjectivity in the name of ideological education. It is, in
fact, a white paper cataloguing the untruths, bigotry and bias that
successive governments have systematically passed on through tailored
courses and textbooks on history and Pakistan Studies. The professor cites
hundreds of examples and extracts from some 65 textbooks that are a
disturbing testament of the ignorance, hatred and prejudice that have gone
into shaping our cultural psyche.

=46or example, a book for Intermediate students gives the following account
of the creation of Bangladesh: "In the 1971 war, the Pakistan armed forces
created new records of bravery, and the Indian forces were defeated
everywhere.... The Hindus of East Pakistan engineered anti-Urdu
demonstrations during Jinnah's time and at last the federal politicians
accepted the humiliating situation and declared Bengali a second national
language. The movement sowed the seeds of hatred." As Prof Aziz rightly
comments, if in 1971 the Indians were beaten everywhere why did the
victorious Pakistan army surrender to India in Dhaka? Moreover why was it
humiliating for the government of Pakistan to accept Bengali as a second
language when demography, democracy and morality dictated that Bengali
should have been the national language of the country.

Prof Aziz quotes extensively from a book on Pakistan Studies designed in
General Zia-ul-Haq's time by a special committee of "distinguished
professors and research directors headed by a vice chancellor." These
passages, says Mr Irfani, make tragic reading of the intellectual and moral
bankruptcy of an intelligentsia whose personal bias, ignorance and
opportunism have been allowed to pass on as history. One of them counts
Maulana Mahmoodul Hassan and Maulana Maudoodi among "the founders of the
ideology of Pakistan," without mentioning that one was opposed to the
Muslim League and the other was against the creation of Pakistan and had
publicly stated that the war in Kashmir (1947-48) could not be described as
jihad by any count.There is no mention in the book of the role of Bengali
ulema in the revival and rejuvenation of Muslim nationalism in the
subcontinent whereas they spearheaded the movement, while the Khudai
Khidmatgars of the Frontier Province might as well not have existed. Both
did not suit the politico-sectarian concepts of rulers and their hack
writers.

About the 1977 movement, instead of informing students that it was sparked
off by the opposition protesting rigged elections, the following account is
given without mentioning ZAB's name: "The PPP government failed to
establish an Islamic system in the country and did not treat the provinces
equally. For this a movement was started which resulted in change of
government. The change that came on July 5, 1977 in the shape of imposition
of martial law might have been on the surface a political incident but in
reality it was the starting point of an Islamic revolution." After history
has been hacked to pieces in this manner the coup de grace is delivered by
the following words: "General Zia-ul-Haq was chosen by destiny to be the
person who achieved the distinction of implementing Islamic law... The real
objective of the creation of Pakistan and demand of the masses was
achieved." The murderers of history have done a thorough job. It is
doubtful if any life has been left in the victim.

______

#4.

India Abroad
7 June 2000

THE DAILY DIVIDE: ARE HISTORY TEXT BOOKS INFLUENCED BY POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?

There is a growing concern that schools and colleges associated with the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) -- the ideological parent of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- are trying to indoctrinate the country's
youth with their fundamentalist ideology. Apparently, history text books,
used in these schools present re-written and distorted facts.

Does this reported distortion of fact stem from the need to re-interpret
history from a cultural perspective? Meenakshi Jain, a professor of
history at Gargi College in Delhi University feels that a re-interpretation
of history is long overdue. She also believes that the present government
led by the Bharatiya Janata Party is not changing facts. Kamal Mitra
Chenoy, a professor of political science at the Jawaharlal Nehru University
refutes this and says that history is being distorted to suit vested
political interests. indiaabroad.com's Ritu Mathur and Anisha Sodhi spoke
with the two.

Meenakshi Jain
"There is an imbalance in history"
Q:People say that the RSS and the BJP are trying to influence children
by changing historical facts in text books. Comment A: They say that the
BJP is changing facts. As an academician, I have observed no changes in the
government syllabi of history in recognized schools and colleges. The BJP
might be merely trying to draw attention to the gross irregularities in
history writing in India. No one can refute that there is an imbalance in
history. Q: What are these imbalances? A: I am referring to the
non-economic aspects of history like art and culture, religion and
philosophy that have not been adequately studied yet. Now, as this study is
being approached, the BJP is seen as encouraging the rightist school of
historiography. The issue to "re-write history," as you call it, reflects
the tensions emerging from issues which have been dormant for some time. It
is just part of the civilizational debate. One cannot overlook that eminent
people like Subhash Kak, David Frawley and Colin Rensrew have made an
attempt to highlight the non-economic aspects of Indian history and assess
the role of rulers with different religions in a new light. Q: Are you
trying to lend acceptability to what they are doing? A: History has always
been written and re-written. We always try to analyze the past to come to
terms with the present. This is just the beginning of a new debate, which
seeks to encourage a balanced reading of history in the present times. Q:
But there are reports that indicate that text books like the Sanskriti Jana
Pareksha published by Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan
(VBABSS) propagates a saffronized view of history. A: But these are not
the prescribed texts. They are probably just being taught in unrecognized
schools. No national examination board is prescribing such books to
students. Q: But do you admit that what they are doing is wrong and that,
perhaps, they should be stopped? A: No of course not. We are a democratic
society and should not allow suppression of any view. The methods employed
by such organizations might lack sophistication, but have a right to be
voiced nonetheless.

If we start reading history by simply focusing on religious denominations
and acts of destruction with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth we
tend to distort historical facts. I do not think the BJP is interested in
promoting such acts. India Abroad

Kamal Mitra Chenoy
"The RSS is out to try and indoctrinate the youth"

Q:The Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan, a RSS organization
is apparently changing facts of history in school text books. Is this true?
A: There is no question about it. Of course it is happening. The whole of
the RSS and even the director of the National Council of Education,
Research and Training (NCERT) are all for what is being called the
"indigenizing" of the syllabus. What this means is an exercise like what
was seen in Maharashtra, where books with changed historical facts were
used in schools. These books, called Muslims, Christians and Parsis
"foreigners." It is just a part of a larger plan. The RSS is out to try and
indoctrinate the country's youth with its fundamentalist views. Q: As an
academician, how do you view this RSS move? A: I am strongly opposed to
it, and deeply disturbed. Now that the BJP is in power, organizations like
the RSS have greater access to implement their ideas. It is quite a
tragedy. It will disunite the nation and weaken India in the end. Education
must be above this. Q: Do you think such text books, which have a very
small readership, can influence public opinion in the long run? A: It is
a little difficult to predict things in the long run but fiddling with text
books cannot be right however small the readership. It is very dangerous.
If such ideas are inculcated in even a few individuals, you cannot
underestimate the long-term implications. Q: But do you not think every
one is entitled to voice their opinion in a democratic society? A: No one
voted for re-writing historical facts. This was not part of the national
agenda that was presented to the people. In the name of removing colonial
hangovers, people are playing on words, saying that it is an issue of
democracy. It is not. It is a question of historical fact. Q: Do you think
the government should curb such practices? A: The government should
realize that you cannot talk about globalization and then propagate this
sort of thing. It is like taking one step forward and two steps back. But
the people who can do something is the media. The press has the means to
reach out and mobilize public opinion. Despite whatever pressures they have
related to revenue, they should not waver from focusing on such issues.
They should come out more strongly against such practices.
______________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH (SACW) is an
informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service
run by South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex)
since 1996. Dispatch archive from 1998 can be accessed
by joining the ACT list run by SACW. To subscribe send
a message to <act-subscribe@egroups.com>
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL