[sacw] South Asians Against Nukes Post (23 June 00)

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South Asians Against Nukes Post
23 June 2000
*******************************

1. India: Koodankulam Appeal
2. Pakistan: Anti Nuclear Book In Urdu
-------------------------------

#1.

Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor
June 21, 2000
http://www.saccer.org

STOP KOODANKULAM! STOP KOODANKULAM!!
SAVE THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH TAMIL NADU!!!

Dear Friends:

Greetings! I write to request you to buy a copy of the "Koodankulam Primer"
I have prepared for $20. The purpose is to raise some funds to create an
awareness among the public in the southern tip of the Indian peninsula
about the Koodankulam nuclear power project. The money will be used to
fund a grassroots campaign involving meeting, translating literature on the
impacts of nuclear power plants into Tamil and Malayalam, and to produce
educational audio-visual packages.

Several informed and thoughtful people have expressed concerns about the
Koodankulam project. We have carried out a massive international petition
campaign and sent copies of it to the Indian government. Both the
government the Indian nuclear establishment have turned a deaf ear to all
our concerns and complaints. Neither a systematic site evaluation nor a
careful environmental impact study seem to have been done by the authorities=
.
Or if they have actually done something along these lines, these reports
have NOT been shared with the local people. This strange silence and
secrecy is rather troubling.

In fact, even the existing eyewash safety regulations are being seriously
undermined by the Indian government and the India nuke establishment.
They have decided to take away the authority of the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB) to oversee the safety of a large number of
critical nuclear installations meant for the weapons programme in the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). With another stroke of their pen,
all the nuke installations in the country including Koodankulam can be
stripped of any tranparency and accountability in public safety issues.

Besides all the reservations against nuke power, I am motivated especially
by the fact that the project will be a death knell for the people of
Kanyakumari.
If you take a look at the India map and locate Koodankulam, you will see
how the people of Kanyakumari district will be cornered in the event of an
accident or attack on the plant.

Besides the various industry and plant problems, there are two major sources
of safety threats at Koodankulam: nature-made and human-made. Consider
some of the recent newspaper reports that highlight the environmental and
terroristic susceptibilities of the Koodankulam area:

The Hindu, May 9, 2000:
Some of the islands in the Gulf of Mannar have been migrating due to
industrial pollution and indiscriminate exploitation of stony corals that fo=
rm
the foundation of these islands. The Tuticorin group of islands are also pa=
rt
of this. These islands have been protecting the low lands of Ramanathapuram
and Tuticorin districts from cyclonic effects. [The impact of adding the nuk=
e
plant effluents to this existing mess should be obvious.]

The Hindu, May 9, 2000:
At the wake of the Sri Lankan war, vigil was intensified off Mandapam coast.
The Forest Department intensified patrolling the islands in the Gulf of Mann=
ar.

The Hindu, May 10, 2000:
Special police pickets were posted in all the major drinking water plants in
Ramanathapuram district following a tip-off from intelligence agencies that
certain Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups had planned to sabotage drinking
water projects in the coastal areas in order to create panic among the peopl=
e.
The ideas was to fix the responsibility on the Tigers and turn the public an=
ger
towards them.

The Hindu, May 12, 2000:
Customs officials stepped up vigil to tackle any untoward incident. Sea
patrolling and shore patrolling were intensified. Besides several areas,
Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts were declared vantage points.

In a society that is steeped in illiteracy, ignorance and poverty, we can on=
ly
expect that much of awareness about public issues, especially the highly
technical and secretive nuke industry issues.

There is an enormous need to educate the public opinion about the
Koodankulam nuke power project. The local language press is largely silent
on this issue and the English press has more or less similar indifference.
The local chapters of national political parties thoughtlessly toe their par=
ty
bosses' lines. The NGOs that struggled against the plant in the 1980s have
largely disappeared. There is a dangerous indifference and callous negligenc=
e
of the people's welfare prevailing in the southern tip of the peninsula.
Something needs to be done immediately:

[1] A few local and international friends and I would like to translate some
of the exisiting literature on nuke power from English into the local
languages of Tamil and Malayalam and publish them as small booklets
and pamphlets.

[2] We would like to collect some of the latest audiovisual material on nuke
power and share widely with the local people who cannot read even the local
languages.

[3] We would like to organize debates and discussion forums about nuke power
in all the villages and towns in the southern tip of the peninsula.

Much of the indifference and occasional support for the Koodankulam
project arises from a lack of knowledge about the impacts of nuclear
power plants on people's health and the environment. The purpose of
the campaign would be to give the people of the region an understanding of
what is involved.

And we need your support and input in this task. One of the things you can
do is buying the "Koodankulam Primer" I have put together for $20. The
contents of this 65-page-long primer is given below.

The SINGH Foundation in New York has kindly agreed to collect the money
on my behalf. Please send your checks to the following address and drop
me a line. And I will mail the primer to you in about ten days.

SINGH Foundation
c/o Ramakrishnan
50 West 97th St. 15-T
New York NY 10025
http://www.singhfoundation.org

Tax ID (Employer Identification No.) 13-3719319

You can get more info about the Foundation from their website address but
they have no way now to take money online.

Thank you so much for your interest in this crucial issue and for your
kind support.

Sincerely,

S. P. Udayakumar, Ph. D.
2238 Doswell Avenue, Apt. 2
St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Phone: 651-641-0614
Email: spkumar@t...
Web: http://www.saccer.org
*****************************************************
Contents of "Koodankulam Primer"

[1] Nuclear Reactor Maps: India
[2] Units of the Department of Atomic Energy
[3] Koodankulam Area Map
[4] Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project: A Chronology
[5] Foreign Reactors: Dangerous Liaisons
[6] VVER 1000: Untested and Unsafe
[7] Koodankulam Can Be a Nuclear Trap for Kanyakumarians
[8] Sign On Letter
[9] Koodankulam Village: Disjointed Protests
[10] The Myths of Nuclear Power
[11] Some Relevant Articles and Websites
[12] The Atomic Energy Act, 1962
[13] Gandhian Model of Development
[14] Six Principles of Nonviolence
[15] Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change

Special Thanks to
The Hindu Survey of the Environment =9299
=46acts Against Myths of Vikas Adhyayan Kendra
Ministry of Law, Government of India
International Nuclear Safety Center (Map 1)
Department of Atomic Energy (Map 2)
Yaazh Publishers (Map 3)
The Hindu

____________

#2.

A plea for peace

New book

Zameen Ka Nauha
(Urdu - Elegy for the Earth)
Edited and compiled by Zamir Niazi
Scheherzade Publications, Karachi, May 2000
Price: PKR 200 (hardcover); Pp:340

'Zameen Ka Nauha' (Elegy for the Earth) is a book about man=92s actions
that are destroying all hope --for the earth=92s future and thus man=92s
own. This recently launched collection of around sixty articles, essays
and poems, edited and compiled by veteran journalist Zamir Niazi,
contains reflections, thoughts and views of prominent literary
personalities. The theme that runs throughout is the destructive power
of nuclear arsenal.

The destruction began in 1945 with the USA dropping atomic bombs on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, reducing them to a heap of
rubble within seconds. The destruction was so deep rooted that these
areas were denied any form of growth, natural or otherwise. The effects
of atomic radiation spread to nearby towns and even today=92s newborns
show signs of radiation linked deformity.

In May 1998, India, followed by Pakistan, conducted nuclear tests, thus
declaring to the world that their possession of the most destructive
weapons the world has ever known, thus joining the nuclear club that
till then had five members. In the horrifying scenario that built up to
Pakistan=92s detonation and after, dissenting voices were drowned in the
much louder war cries on both sides of the border. The only thing that a
person like Zamir Niazi could do was to somehow try and awaken the
conscience of the people of the two countries -- wars and killings are
wrong but to use the word =91nuclear=92 even as a threat is madness.

Zamir Niazi, despite his considerable ill health, still has enough
energy to make things happen on the literary front. He is a centrifugal
force around whom much revolves, and also a catalyst, effecting change.
He is capable of bringing out the best in people. Here too, after he had
conceived the book, help from all round became available, especially
from literary critic Asif Farrukhi, for the task of finding and
collecting material.

The first poem =91Munajaat=92 (Lament) by Assad Mohammad Khan says it all --
Al aman, al aman, al aman (God, take me in your protection). We move on
to =91Agar Zarray ka Jigar Cheerain=92 (to Tear the Bosom of a Particle) an
essay by Zamir Niazi. He has his own style, simple narrative, filled in
with light humour and studded with satirical pieces. But when he is
serious and wants to convey how he is feeling on something like the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, he comes up with: =91The lucky ones died.=92
and =91The ones who survived had to die many times over.=92 And again =91How
they wished to be among the dead,=92 in one essay. These powerful
expressions arise from the pain obviously felt by his highly sensitive
nature.

While Khaleeq Ibrahim Khaleeq=92s essay =91Aae nau-e bashar jaag!=92 (O
Mankind, awake!) looks at the overall responses to the nuclear tests in
India and Pakistan, Asif Farrukhi=92s maqala =91Zameen Izhaar chaheti hai=92
(The Earth wants to speak) goes into the literary perceptions of
=91destruction=92 -- nuclear or otherwise, but especially atomic destruction
as perceived and expressed by the literary community. Asif Farrukhi
explains: =93If this book triggers a discussion among the masses of rights
and wrongs then the path of survival may become illuminated.=94

Part two opens with acclaimed writer Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi=92s short story
=91Hiroshima say pahlay, Hiroshima kay baad=92 (Before Hiroshima, after
Hiroshima). Here Shadaan=92s life is linked with her husband at the war
front. A story that reflects many stories, a war that could be any war.
=91Chacha Sam kay naam panchwan khut=92 (Fifth letter to Uncle Sam), a
letter by the late Saadat Hasan Manto, is a masterpiece of subtle
humour, and yet powerfully sarcastic in approach. Hasan Manzar=92s =91Zameen
ka nauha=92 is a dialogue
between the present and the future and the factors responsible for
moulding our =91today.=92

=91Raakh=92 (Ashes), a short story by Mohammad Saleemur Rehman deals with
the human angle, life and its many involvements. Newspaper columnist and
writer Zahida Hina=92s =91Tanhaee kay Makaan mein=92 (In the house of
loneliness) is a powerful short story where Masumi creates a world of
her own liking =D1 practising what has been preached to her; it=92s a slow
poisoning, a story of self destruction.

In the translation section, Rehmat-ullah Manjhouty=92s =91Jhoula=92 (the
Swing), translated from Sindhi by Masood Ahmed is a subtle reflection on
human concerns, while Sozuki Takeshi=92s =91Hiroshima=92, translated from
Japanese, takes a factual look on atomic destruction.

In the poetry section the powerful expressions of well known poets like
=46ahmeeda Riaz, Habib Jalib, Ahmed Faraz and Saher Ansari emerge as
strongly, as do several other well known writers. In this section
Shan-ul-Haq Haqqi, Zia Jalundhari, Mohsin Bhopali, Anwar Ahsan Siddiqui,
Kishwar Naheed, Hasan Abdi, Muslim Shamim, Shahid Naqvi, Saeeda Gazdar,
Dr. Hilal Naqvi, Saba Akram, Azra Abbas, N. M. Danish, Zeshan Sahil,
Tauqeer Chughtai, Ali Mohammad Farshi, Mustafa Arbab, Sheraz Raj, Usman
Qazi, Atya Dawood, Shah Mohammad Pirzada, Raheem Buksh Azad, Zahis Hasan
and Haris Khaleeq are also well represented.

Acclaimed novelist Intezar Hussain=92s story =91Meray aur Kahani kay Beech=
=92
(Between me and my story) and the well acclaimed =91Mour nama=92 (Peacock=92=
s
Story) add to the quality of selection. =91Khali Huwa ye Dil=92 (This heart
is empty) by Firdous Haider and Dr. Shershah Sayed=92s =91Na-Soor=92
(Festering sore) project the =91story side=92 of human sufferings.

Asif Farrukhi begins his =91Khawab mein safar=92 (Dream journey), a section
of his novel =91Bagh wala Ghar=92 (House with a garden) going into the maze
of life, through twists and turns and yet seeing the light at the end of
the tunnel. Mubin Mirza=92s =91Khwab Mein Hara Huwa Admi=92 (Man defeated in
dream) deals with human frailties.

In the translation section, various entries contribute immensely to the
subject and add to the stature of contents, like Tahir Afridi=92s =91Gyarah,
Atthaees=92 (Eleven, twenty-eight), Gauhar Malik=92s =91Aur Balouch nay Mujh=
ay
Dhakka Diya=92 (and the Balouch pushed me), Mohsin Hamid=92s =91Parwanay ka
Dhuwan=92 (moths=92 smoke), Intezar Husain's =91Ye Khaki Apni Fitrat Mein=92
(the essence of man is matter) and =91Kiss Aan Mein Dekha=92 (What glory I
saw), Amar Jaleel=92s =91Ajeeb-o-Ghareeb Maut=92 (strange death) and =91Ain =
Qaf
Khan Mushkil Mein=92 (A.Q. Khan in difficulty).

Let me end this review with Dr. Aslam Farrukhi's =91Harf-e-Dua=92 (word of
prayer)
Huzoor, maut kay narghay mein aadmiyat hai
Huzoor, harf-e-dua ki bari zaroorat hai
=91Sir, humanity is beseiged by death
Sir, a prayer of salvation is much needed=92.

Zameen Ka Nauha is a cry from the heart, indeed, a cry from the hearts
of many poets and writers, pleading for sanity and peace.

-- Mohsin S. Jaffri

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