[sacw] SACW | 13-14 Dec. 00

Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:44:51 +0100

SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WIRE
13-14 December 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex)

____________________________

#1. Citizen's commission for South Asia
#2. Pakistan: Nike & the Jihad Tee Shirt
#3. Pakistan / India / Kashmir: Where will all the jihadis go?
#4. India: The RSS: an evaluation from a minority standpoint
#5. India: Gunshots shatter the peace of Bodhgaya Temple
#6. India: Hindu Right basks in Beauty Bar
#7. Afghanistan/ Pakistan: Message from RAWA

____________________________

#1.

The News International
13 Dec 2000

Citizen's commission for SA

by Niaz A Naik

Fifteen years ago Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)
Charter was adopted on December 8, 1985 at Dhaka to promote peace, progress
and prosperity in South Asia with the primary aim of improving the quality
of life of one-fifth of the humankind who inhibit this poor region.

Seminars are being held throughout the country to mark that hopeful event
despite the harsh reality that the official Saarc process is virtually in a
state of hiatus since the 1998 Colombo Summit. The Saarc Summit, which was
to have been held at Kathmandu in December 1999, was postponed and has not
been rescheduled so far. Recently, a high level group called the Citizen's
Commission for South Asia has stressed the need for reconvening the Saarc
Summit as expeditiously as possible in order to meet the challenges posed
by globalisation in a rapidly evolving global, economic and political
architecture.

The Commission comprised some of the most distinguished personalities of
international repute from the seven Saarc countries. The Commission held
its first meeting from 1-3 December 2000 at Kathmandu. It was chaired by
the former Prime Minister of India Mr IK Gujral. Due to sudden
indisposition, Mr Gujral had to leave Kathmandu and in his place Mr Sartaj
Aziz, member of the Commission from Pakistan, was chosen unanimously by all
members to preside over the concluding session which adopted the
Commission's statement.

Other members of the Commission included Nobel Laureate for Economics,
Professor Amartya Sen and Dr Manmohan Singh from India; Dr Kamal Hussain
and Mohammad Yunus from Bangladesh; former Prime Minister Deuba and former
Finance Minister Dr Panday from Nepal; Dr Lal Jayawardne from Sri Lanka;
former Foreign Minister Dawa Jsering from Bhutan and Planning Minister
Ibrahim Zaki from Maldives besides Asma Jehangir and other experts.

The Commission has been established by the Coalition for Action on South
Asian Cooperation (CASAC) which is an independent non-governmental regional
network for accelerating the process of regional cooperation in South Asia
including implementation of the decisions of the successive Saarc Summits.

The Commission noted with deep regret that while the rest of the world was
moving rapidly in the direction of peace, stability and development, South
Asia remained mired in conflicts and pervasive poverty. It went on to
express great anguish over the continuing political tensions in the region
which have hampered cooperative efforts. The Commission has, therefore,
given high priority in its work programme to have an in-depth study to
remove these impediments through dialogue and peaceful means.

The 1997 Male Summit had initiated a process of informal political
consultations among the leaders for the promotion of mutual trust and
understanding which would accelerate the regional cooperation by fostering
good neighbourly relations. The Saarc Group of Eminent Persons recommended
that the process of informal political consultations be carried forward and
operationalised. Because of the restrictive regime of the Saarc Charter no
bilateral or contentious issue can be discussed in Saarc. It is being
increasingly realised that an institutionalised framework like the OSCE in
Europe or the ARF in South East Asia ought to be established to enable the
Saarc countries to respond collectively to the multidimensional threats to
peace and security in South Asia.

Although Saarc has largely remained an inter-governmental process, it has
received strong support for civil society. The Commission was convinced
that Saarc needs to involve all segments of their societies to broaden its
impact. The impact of Saarc programmes should first and foremost be felt at
the level of common man of South Asia.

The Commission has stressed the involvement of the civil society
segments-parliamentarians, businessmen, scientists, media, NGOs and
representative of the grassroots movement-in the process of regional
cooperation and in identifying the tasks that lie ahead both at the
government level and at the level of the civil society.

The Commission considered a wide range of issues confronting the region.
While it felt that all round efforts were needed to make a dent on poverty,
envision mental degradation, social and other pressing problems through
value added regional programmes, the Commission recommended some areas of
activities for immediate action by governments and civil society.

Sharing the vision that South Asia in the near future would become an
integrated community, the Commission stressed the need to finalise and
operationalise SAFTA Treaty by the agreed deadline of December 2001.

One of the most significant challenges, particularly for the developing
countries arises out of the multi-dimensional process of globalisation and
its many complexities. The Commission recognised that while globalisation
offered unprecedented opportunities; the countries of South Asia will have
to be watchful of the many imbalances and inequities. But governments and
civil society have a responsibility in working together to enhance
efficiency and competitiveness in our economies to cope with the challenges
posed by globalisation and to obtain maximum advantages from this process.

The Commission felt that the Information Technology revolution offered an
excellent opportunity to South Asia to leap-frog into the world of
knowledge. The Commission recognised that human resource and skills was
South Asia's greatest asset which should be purposefully utilised to create
capacity in this area with a view to solving the problems affecting the
common man. Pakistan has been asked to prepare an in-depth study for the
future work programme of the Commission.

The Commission felt that many of the region's problems could best be
addressed through a responsive and democratic policy and by pursuing the
best practices of governance in all areas, including accountable
administration, inclusive development, human rights, empowerment and
meeting the minimum basic needs of the people of South Asia. The Commission
believed that the people themselves must shape and mould their destinies
largely through their own initiatives and it should be encouraged and
supported by the state.

The Commission regarded corruption prevailing in our societies to be a
scourge and an impediment to good governance.

The Commission expressed its deep disappointment that progress in
eradicating mass poverty, illiteracy and deprivation has fallen far short
to meet the aspirations, resource endowment and the objectives of Saarc.
It, therefore, urged both governments and civil society to greatly
intensify efforts at improving the condition of the poor people,
particularly in the rural areas. In this context, the Commission called
upon the governments that the solemn commitments made by successive Saarc
Summits need to be implemented fully and expeditiously.

The statement issued by the Commission at the conclusion of its first
meeting marks the beginning of a process in which various segments of the
civil society will be mobilised to work together to reinforce and
strengthen the official and non-official framework for regional
cooperation. Furthermore, the Commission sees itself as an objective
evaluator of the progress towards regional cooperation and its role as a
continuing one in the foreseeable future. The Commission is, therefore,
expected to hold its second meeting towards the end of next year.

_____

#2.

South China Morning Post
December 13, 2000
PAKISTAN

'Holy warrior' T-shirts rile US sportswear giant

Offensive design: the Osama bin Laden T-shirt with the AK-47 rifle that
upset Nike. Associated Press photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS in Islamabad
Not content with stealing Nike's name, trademark pirates are using it to
glorify America's prime terrorist suspect.

T-shirts have shown up in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan featuring
the US sportswear firm's logo alongside a drawing of an AK-47 rifle and
praise for Osama bin Laden: "The great mujahid [holy warrior] of Islam."

"Jihad is our mission," the T-shirts proclaim, using the Islamic term for
holy war.

"We find it highly offensive," said Kirk Stewart, vice-president for
corporate communications at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, after
seeing a photo of one of the shirts.

Washington has accused bin Laden of masterminding the 1998 bombing of two
US embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 American
diplomats. He is also a suspect in the October suicide attack on a navy
ship in Yemen that killed 17 US sailors.

But in Pakistan's deeply conservative and tribal northwest, as well as in
Afghanistan where bin Laden is holed up, many admirers name their sons
after him.

The T-shirts sell in Pakistan for 100 rupees (HK$13). Also on sale for a
few cents apiece are posters featuring a calendar and a picture of a
helicopter with the slogan: "Look out United States, Osama is coming."

"The Osama shirts were ordered by someone from Afghanistan, whom we don't
know," said Zarshad Khan, co-owner of Sirtaj Hosiery in Peshawar. "We are
not political people."

Mr Khan said the shirts were manufactured in Faisalabad, in Pakistan's
Punjab province, and two dozen of them arrived at his factory carrying the
Nike logo. Others, in various colours, have been spotted in Afghan markets.

Copyright =A92000. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.

_____

#3.

Tehelka.com

Where will all the jihadis go?

Pakistan's fear should be that they will, most likely, turn like dying
sharks on their own host body politic - Pakistan itself

December 12

In early 1999, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi-a Sunni fundamentalist militant
organisation nurtured in one of Pakistan's two most obstreperous regions,
Jhang (the other being Multan)-tried to assassinate Nawaz Sharif, the
(ex) prime minister who was pushing the envelope of self-aggrandisement
to the detriment of both extremes of Pakistan's political spectrum,
democracy (such as it is) and recidivist mullahism. Sharif retaliated by
proposing to expand the powers of the special military courts set up to
try "terrorism"-as the word and the act was defined by Sharif's government
(and not necessarily by anyone else).

Pakistan's most progressive cabal, the Supreme Court shot down the
proposal as "unconstitutional", but not because it was wrong in itself;
they rejected it because Sharif wanted to not only extend the footprint of
the military courts from Karachi to the rest of the country but also their
juridical ambit to cover even the most innocuous crimes "against the state"
(as defined by Sharif's increasingly unpopular government, and undoubtedly
meaning every sort and magnitude of opposition to the government). The
jihadi doesn't pay obeisance to the national flag, his life is tied to his
sect's pennant. It's a system of fundamentalist indoctrination that began
with Zia-ul-Haq a decade ago Sharif clearly got what most Pakistanis
believe he deserved-incarceration (even though many are certain that his
exile to Saudi Arabia two days ago was an uncalled-for softening of the
punitive lash). But what he leaves behind is an (ironically) common agenda
between him and the man who ousted him, Chief Executive General Pervez
Musharraf, the realisation that radical steps had better be taken to
contain the growing influence of fundamentalists-both foreign and
indigenous-within the country before they start gnawing on their host
body politic. That agenda, fledgling and in need of urgent nurture, is
"deweaponisation", a plan to cut armaments to and with the sectarian
outfits that increasingly have the nation's polity in their stranglehold.
Deweaponisation is a plan straightforward of intent, progressive of
purpose, but, given the subsurface political anarchy in Pakistan, hideously
complex to execute. It is a plan that gets more problematical to
implement by the month, if not by the day. And if the plan does become as
rigorous as it should be to be of any use at all, it could boomerang on the
Chief Executive. Mullahism, as Pakistan's history amply shows, doesn't
take kindly to moderation or arbitration. The problem facing Musharraf
is that each fundamentalist and mujahideen to be deweaponised is a jihadi
with two agendas-the first, and primary at the moment, to hit at India; the
second, to make its mark against sectarian "others" within Pakistan.
Deweaponisation presumes- and rightly-that the Pakistani jihadi is most
likely to implode into internecine aggression as the Kashmir issue
gears down in the process of being sorted out.

Musharraf's dilemma-and it is a major one-is that of running a jihad
against India without simultaneously feeding sectarian frenzy in
Pakistan. Jihadis-operating outside the borders and inside-overlap in terms
of logistics and training territory, sharing madarsas, government
departments and even activists. This is Pakistan's self-created (with
plenty of help from the United States) tragedy: to play host to jihadis
whose loyalties lie not so much with the nation as with their particular
sects. The jihadi doesn't pay obeisance to the national flag, his life is
tied to his sect's pennant. It's a system of fundamentalist indoctrination
that began with Zia-ul-Haq a decade ago-when the enemy was Soviet-ruled
Afghanistan-and has by now settled into conformity with Pakistan's
administration, budgeting and future planning. Deweaponising would mean
tearing up the deus ex machina from its roots within the administration
and political philosophy. There are, by Pakistani government enumeration,
40,000-50,000 madarsas (religious schools) in the country. Pakistani
government sources say that 10-15 per cent of them exclusively train
jihadis and future jihadis (Indian government sources place them closer to
50 per cent). The biggest among them, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), make no bones about the fact that their
long-term agenda is an Islamic Pakistan, the immediate being a Pakistani
Kashmir. When Zia-ul-Haq had begun promoting madarsas, it is doubtful
he-and the Americans with the Soviets in their crosshair-imagined that they
would churn out students who learnt little but the language of the gun.
The madarsas then were paid for by the zakat (the tithe, 10 per cent of an
individual's earnings, collected by the state), which allowed the state a
modicum of control over their curricula.

Currently, most madarsas are financed by rich expatriates and businessmen,
and by non-governmental organisations in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia.
Divided broadly between Shia and Sunni tenets-and particularly against
scores of other Islamic conjugations and declensions-these madarsas churn
out students trained to act reflexively and viscerally against not only
other faiths but against other sects as well. Musharraf has gone on
record saying that jihad and terrorism have nothing to do with each
other-and at a very basic level he is right. But the concept of jihad as it
is taught in most Pakistani madarsas is a limited-purpose one-it is
guerrilla warfare so non-conscientious in its targeting that it would be
unrecognisable to the Geneva Convention or to most definitions of
humanistic militancy. Unadulterated by contemporary exigencies, jihad
originally meant an often intensely private striving for justice, with its
accompanying personal distress of self-examination and self-diagnosis.
Jihad, as it is today, has little concept of a personal search for
enlightenment or moral sublimation.

These are the children of the gun who will be orphaned once the Kashmir
issue is resolved. The question of where they will go is neither rhetorical
nor Pakistan's problem alone And jihad is-and this is beyond rhetoric-a
Third World problem. Pakistan, like any other developing country, is caught
in a cleft between the calls of modernisation and those of tradition.
Modernisation demands that education be given primacy, but with almost
five per cent of Pakistan's $60 billion GDP (or a third of its national
budget) spent on defence, there is little enough left for matters like
education and other welfare. It has become tempting to take the easy way
out and depend on privately-funded madarsas to handle the education bit
of development. As the Pakistan establishment no doubt realises, it is a
disastrous path, leading only to funnelled theological knowledge (at the
cost of secular, modern education) and a youth with no working skills.
As real as the jihad against India and the west is the more than
10-year-old sectarian carnage between Pakistan's Shia and Sunni. Both
sects have had to come up with their own defence mechanisms against each
other: the Tehrik-e-Jafariya-e-Pakistan (TJP) was set up (funded by Iran)
to guard the battlements of Pakistan's Shia Muslims, who felt that Zia's
Sunni laws about zakat were needlessly discriminatory. Five years ago, the
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was formed by the Sunnis as a reaction: it
was financed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The complexity increases as the years go by. The Darul Uloom Haqqania is
the philosophical founder of the Taliban, once so important to American
interests and now the region's biggest problematique for both the US,
Pakistan and, increasingly, India. Today, more than half its students are
Afghani but not many of them return to Afghanistan, they stay behind to
teach more Pakistani boys about the misogynistic, almost anthropophobic,
version of Islam that the Taliban preaches and practices. Furthermore,
anti-Shia edicts and fatwas, operational within Pakistan as abroad, are
often released by madarsas owing allegiance to Deoband. These are the
children of the gun who will be orphaned once the Kashmir issue is
resolved. The question of where they will go is neither rhetorical nor
Pakistan's problem alone. Concern is being shown in quarters where jihad
has trained its artillery-Washington, Tel Aviv, New Delhi. The problem is
one that goes beyond specialisation (of training and intent) into the realm
of intoxication, one that the US and Pakistan-the nations with the world's
highest and second highest percentage of substance abusers-are only too
familiar with. When jihad turns from being a calling into an addiction,
where do the jihadis, aliens to contemporaneity, secularism and unipolar
capitalism, aim their malignancy? Pakistan's fear should be that they
will turn to themselves, like sharks, attacking their own entrails on the
way down to the ocean floor.

copyright =A9 2000 tehelka.com

_____

#4.

THE RSS: AN EVALUATION FROM THE MINORITY PERSPECTIVE

by Asghar Ali Engineer

The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh was set up on the Vijay Dashmi day
in 1925 by Dr.Hedgewar with a negative sentiment. The Sangh was floated to
train the Hindu youth to face the =EBMuslim goondaism=ED and to defend the
Hindus from =EBMuslim bullies=ED. It was believed in those days, even by so=
me
educated people that Muslims are bullies and Hindus cowards. The Sangh was
meant to make Hindus feel brave. The Sangh has grown for last seventy five
years with this negative feeling towards the minorities, especially the
Muslims. An organisation which is bred on such negative feelings can hardly
be expected to have healthy and balanced view towards minorities.

Neither Muslims nor Hindus nor any other religious community can be
treated as homogenous or monolithic unit. All religious communities speak
different languages, have different cultural traditions and are divided
along sectarian lines interpreting their scriptures differently. The RSS
treats religious communities as monolithic. It thinks all Hindus and all
Muslims think the same way and have their interests in common. It sticks to
this point of view contrary to all empirical evidence. However, the RSS is
not alone in thinking so. All fundamentalists, be they Hindus, Muslims or
Sikhs, think the same way.

Guru Golwalkar who succeeded Dr. Hedgewar, treated Muslims and Christians
as =EBforeigners=ED and =EBaliens=ED. He wrote that they (i.e. Muslims and
Christians) came to this country as =EBguests=ED and that guests should not
overstay and go back to their own countries. The assumption here is that
all Muslims and Christians came from outside as invaders and rulers. The
fact is that most of the Muslims and Christians are converts from dalits
and backward Hindu castes. They inherit their poverty, illiteracy,
backwardness and even skin of their colour from their Hindu ancestors. It
should also be borne in mind that they converted to Islam or Christianity
not by =EBforce=ED or =EBfraud=ED but were attracted to these religions asp=
iring
for better treatment and for human dignity. They were not thrown out of
mosques and churches. They could, theoretically at least, achieve equal
status in these communities.

The RSS ideologues continue to think that Hindus were converted to Islam
with the help of sword. They pick up some stray incidents and generalise
them in a sweeping way, which is unacedamic and unhistorical approach. The
fact is that most of the dalits and untouchables were converted to Islam
attracted by sufis, their simplicity, austerity, devotion and respect for
local language and culture. Many sufis like Hamiduddin Nagori from Nagore,
Rajasthan even became strict vegetarian and always kept cow with him and
lived as a farmer. In Ajmer they never cook non-vegetarian food for langar
(i.e. free food served to all visitors) respecting sentiments of those
Hindus who visit the dargah (Mausoleum) of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
Most of the sufi saints wrote in regional languages like Punjabi, bhojpuri,
Marathi, Kannada, Sindhi, Tamil etc.

Not only that, these Sufi saints adopted local Hindu rituals and practices
without any hesitation. The Sandal taken out in a procession on the death
anniversary of the sufi saint and wash his grave is a Hindu ritual adopted
by sufis. Similarly many Christian churches adopted local Hindu rituals as
part of their liturgy. Despite all this the RSS ideologues have treated
both Islam and Christianity as =EBalien=ED religions. Recently on the occas=
ion
of 75th year of formation of the RSS, its chief Shri K.S. Sudershan gave a
call for Indianising the Christian Church on one hand, and Islam, on the
other.

Are Islam and Christianity not already Indianised? All the examples given
above should suffice to show that Indian Islam and Indian Christianity are
distinct from Islam in Arabia and Christianity from Europe. Both religions
are strongly rooted in Indian soil. The RSS ideologues often give example
of Indonesia to prove their point. That in Indonesia there is great
reverence for the Hindu religion and Hindu culture; that they name
themselves like Hindus and Ramayana is part of their folklore. Quite true.
But it is again a selective example. I have been to Indonesia several
times. It is not so all over Indonesia. It is in those parts, which came
under Hindu rule at one time, particularly in Java and Sumatra. In other
parts of Indonesian archipelago no such thing exists.

In India too reality is much more complex than the ideologues understand it
to be. There are varying degrees of =EBIslamisation=ED in India from near
Hinduness to =EBpure Islamic=ED. In urban areas there are greater signs of
=EBIslamic purity=ED compared to semi-rural or rural areas. In most of the
rural areas Muslims are highly assimilated with local culture: they dress
like Hindus, speak local dialect =F1 speak no other language =F1 and follow=
all
local customs and traditions. Many of them even worship local deities and
take part in all local festivals. And let us remember more Indians,
including Muslims live in rural areas than in urban areas. To say that
Islam or Muslims should be Indianised is to ignore all these facts. Same
thing applies to Christianity and Christians. Most of the Muslim and
Christian surnames, sometimes even first given names are also like the
local Hindus.

The Indian Muslims have contributed very richly to music, painting and
Indian architecture too. Some Muslim poets like Rahim and Raskhan have
written poetry full of Krishna bhakti (devotion). The Padmavat was also
written by a Muslim poet. Khusro, the noted disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin
Awliya, composed dohas in Hindi, which became part of North Indian
folklore. Tansen was one of the greatest musicians of medieval India and he
was a Muslim. On his urs (death anniversary) all great musicians gather
together every year in Gwalior. I know of a Muslim teacher from Madhya
Pradesh who taught me for few days in Dewas wrote shlokas of Geeta on a
grain of rice and used to display it very proudly. I also know of a Muslim
from a town near Dewas who knew entire Ramayana by heart and I learnt
something about Ramayana in my childhood from him. And these are not
isolated examples in any case.

The noted Urdu poet Maulana Hasrat Mohani who was also a great freedom
fighter used to visit Brindavan on Jashmashtami to pay his respects to Lord
Krishna. He and his wife both had great respect for him. Some `ulama of
Firangi Mahl in Lucknow permitted this. Some sufi saints held the view that
since Allah had sent His prophets (li kulli qaumin had) to all the nations
and tribes how could he not have sent His prophets to India, a great
nation. Thus some sufi saints like Mazhar Jan-i-Janan held that Ram and
Krishna must have been prophets of Allah. Khwaja Hasan Nizami, Sajjada
Nashin (successor) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya also wrote a book describing
Ram and Krishna as prophets of Allah.

Dara Shikoh who was appointed successor to Emperor Shah Jahan was great
scholar of Hinduism. He learnt Sanskrit and translated few Upanishads into
Persian and named the book as Sirr-i-Akbar (i.e. the Great Mystery). He
also wrote a book Majma`ul Bahrayn (i.e. Meeting of Two Oceans) and
compared Hinduism and Islam and came to the conclusion that their teachings
are quite similar.

Many Muslim scholars translated Ramayana and Mahabharata into Arabic and
Persian. It is said that there are more than 70 such translations. They
were calligraphed and bound as beautifully as the Holy Qur=EDan. Unless one
reads the contents one cannot distinguish between the two. What more is
required for Indianness of Indian Muslims? Or the RSS wants them to
Hinduise instead of Indianise? For RSS there is no difference between
Indianness and Hinduness. In its view only a true religious Hindu can be a
true Indian. It obviously amounts to what can be called =EBchange ones
religion out of existence=ED and beyond recognition. This naturally would b=
e
quite unacceptable for anyone.

Also, the RSS rejects the concept of composite and secular nationalism. It
is an irony that the RSS, based on Hinduism, claims to be more tolerant
than Islam, rejects the concept of secular and composite nationalism
whereas Islamic theologians supposedly more intolerant reject Jinnah=EDs
theory of two nations and accept the concept of composite and secular
nationalism. In fact the theory that Hinduism is more tolerant and that
Islam is fanatical is itself flawed. Some Hindus are quite intolerant than
Muslims and some Muslims are quite intolerant than Hindus. As we have shown
sufi Muslims have been very tolerant and liberal and RSS brand of Hindus
are quite intolerant of other faiths or they tolerate other faiths on their
own terms.

The RSS wants to Hinduise politics and that too Brahminical brand of
Hinduism. For it everything starts with Vedic religion and ends with Vedic
religion. Such a stand today would not be acceptable even to many Hindus,
especially from lower castes. Non-Brahminical stream of Hinduism is also a
reality, which must be accepted. One should not take monolithic view of
religion. Also, religion is a matter of belief, not matter of imposition.
Anything imposed from above cannot become sacred and would not be believed
from core of one=EDs heart.

The modern democratic secular society requires complete freedom of religion
for all citizens. No religion can be politically privileged. The RSS
totally rejects the concept of freedom of conscience, as it requires every
Indian citizen to adopt Hindu religion and Hindu culture or Hinduised form
of Islam or Christianity. One cannot make artificial distinction between
what the RSS calls religions of Indian origin and religions of foreign
origin. All Indian citizens are free to adopt whichever religion appeals to
their conscience. It is their fundamental right. Also, patriotism cannot be
monopolised by any religious community, whether in majority or in minority.
Nor should any religious group monopolise criterion for patriotism. It
would lead to fascism. All citizens should be treated as true patriot
unless proved in court of law that one has betrayed ones country.

In a democratic secular country like India every one has the constitutional
right to preach ones religion. No one can be deprived of this right. One
can convert to any religion of ones choice, to Hinduism, Islam or
Christianity. The RSS accepts right to convert only to one of what it calls
=EBIndic religions=ED like Buddhism, Jainism or Sikkhism. Such attitudes wi=
ll
create conflict in the society. The campaign against conversion to
Christianity has led to serious communal conflict in India. Such a campaign
is, to say the least, unconstitutional and totally against fundamental
rights of Indian citizens.

The RSS takes great pride in its discipline. Discipline is desirable but it
is only a means to an objective. More fundamental question is discipline
for what and for whom? Nazis had also imposed strict discipline but it was
not in the interests of German society. It led to destruction and
humiliation of Germany in 2nd world war. Discipline, which deprives one of
freedom of conscience and is imposed from above ultimately, serves the
interests of only a few people. Discipline should be democratic in nature
and should be fully respectful of freedom of conscience. Democracy and
democratic values are more important than discipline per se.

For the RSS to become acceptable to minorities it will have to change
drastically. It will have to give up its doctrine of Hinduising religious
minorities. It is quite undemocratic. It should show equal respect to Islam
and Christianity. It should give up its theory that these are foreign
religions and hence un-Indian and inferior compared to Indic religions.
Both Islam and Christianity have existed in India for centuries and have
richly contributed to Indian culture and Indian religious thought. In fact
Sikhism and Arya Samaj movement are product of impact of Islam on Indian
religious thought.

The RSS with its vast resources and human power can serve India best only
if it brings about change in its basic outlook. Then it can richly
contribute to the process of nation building and can make India truly great
country which it has every right to be.

_____

#5.

The Telegraph
13 December 2000

SHOE SHOWDOWN IN BODHGAYA=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
FROM TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
=
=20
Patna, Dec. 12: Gunshots have shattered the peace of Bodhgaya Temple,
where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.

Trouble broke out around 5 pm yesterday when four Tibetan lamas wanted to
enter the premises with their shoes on. The lamas said that as part of a
special ritual, they would have to go round the temple a thousand times.

"This would be impossible to perform without having shoes on a winter
evening like this. Besides, some of our team members were too old," said
Lama Phudgan, one of the Tibetans.

But the temple management would not listen. When some of the lamas tried
to force their way through, the temple guards called the police and handed
them over.

This snowballed into a pitched battle-between some management committee
monks said to be backed by an RJD Rajya Sabha member and a rival faction
led by "rebel" leader Bhante Anand.

Opposing the "harsh measure" meted out to the Tibetans, Anand's men
gathered in huge numbers.

As soon as they began shouting their protest, the supporters of Bhadant
Pragyasheel, president of the management committee and sympathetic towards
the RJD MP, tried to stop them.

The rival factions fell on each other as hundreds of foreign tourists ran
for cover. The temple committee was raided by miscreants who ransacked it.

Police first used lathicharge, but when it failed, fired three rounds.

Police superintendent R. Shankaran said the detained lamas were released
with a warning.

The incident, which turned one of the most sacred places for Buddhists
into a battle turf of Lalooland, has left visitors appalled.

"We are ashamed. I could never imagine that peace-loving monks could
ransack a house," said a visitor from Korea, Kim Ling.

But the fighter monks are unabashed. With an eye on the committee polls
next month, both groups are trying to cash in on the situation.

Temple insiders and police sources said the shoe fracas was only the
flashpoint of an ongoing battle between the supporters of Anand and the
followers of the RJD leader who wants to increase his hold over the temple
committee.

The battle is intensifying with the polls in the offing. While the MP
wants to rope in as many RJD supporters as possible into the committee,
Anand wants only Buddhists to be on the panel.

For this purpose, Anand wants the Temple Management Act to be repealed.
The Act lays down that the district magistrate-usually a Hindu-should be
president of the committee.

If the magistrate is not a Hindu, another Hindu member should be coopted
into the panel, which Anand calls "discriminatory".

The rebel leader had threatened to immolate himself in the temple, but
desisted after intervention from the Governor.

_____

#6.

The Telegraph
13 December 2000

SANGH BASKS IN BEAUTY BAR=20

FROM ANAND SOONDAS
Lucknow, Dec. 12: Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Rajnath Singh's announcement-that beauty contests, which
are by nature "against Bharatiya sanskriti and unethical", would be banned
in the state with immediate effect-has pleased the Sangh parivar.

Singh, who was the first to congratulate home-bred beauty queen Priyanka
Chopra who bagged the Miss World title recently, has suddenly decided that
he hates beauty contests.

"It's an obscene exhibition of the female body and a degradation of the
female form," the chief minister said. He added that no permission would
henceforth be granted for such shows in the state. Addressing a public
meeting in Mathura, Singh said the ban would come into effect immediately.

Echoing the Sangh's old distaste for fashion shows and beauty contests, he
added: "Earlier, the world used to look up to India as a guide and guru,
but our culture is under such an attack that we have to organise beauty
contests to get noticed.''

Calling the contests unnecessary and irrational the chief minister said it
was high time the government dealt with such wanton exhibitionism
seriously.

The strong presence of the Sangh parivar had ensured that Uttar Pradesh
was the first state to ban the controversial Fashion TV.

Rajnath's statement has, however, been welcomed by women's groups who
feel that the trend of holding "so called" beauty contests in every nook
and corner of the country is very disturbing.

Nishi Pandey, a professor of English at Lucknow University said beauty
contests with such fancy names as Miss Bareilly and Miss North India-there
is Miss Awadh in Lucknow also-was nothing but a crass way of exploiting
women who get nowhere after such shows are over.

"Of course there is the question of infringing on women's rights, their
freedom to do what they want but I think it is overweighed by the need to
retain our culture and not to pander to western ethos so blatantly.''
Pandey said.

Meanwhile, worried organisers of such shows are already trying to find a
way out of the ban.

Aruna Saksena, the chief organiser of the Miss Lucknow contest coming up
on December 16, which is being sponsored by a major English daily, says
the contest is not about beauty but brains and women's confidence. She
added that the contest that is being held for the last seven years will
"emphasise not on beauty but on intelligence".

Aspiring models are worried that the ban will also include fashion shows.
Diya Tiwari, a local ramp model, said: "It's a very scary thought. Where
will we go?"

______

#7.

From: rawa@r...
Subject: LATEST NEWS and many thanks
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 18:04:04-0600