[sacw] SACW | 2 Dec. 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WIRE
2 December 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex)

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#1. Pakistan: Mullah's throw tantrums re Sindh's Women Bus Condutors
#2. Bangladesh: Of beauty pageantry and religious fundamentalism
#3. India: Islamic jihad madrassas in J[ammu & Kashmir]
#4. India: Militarised daily life in Kashmir: Suicide rate, Viagra sales go
through the roof
#5. India: RSS Fascists to escalate propaganda on the Web

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#1.

Daily Star (Dhaka)
Volume 3 Number 451 
Fri. December 01, 2000
Foreign Relations

Pakistan

WOMEN CONDUCTORS

By Harun ur Rashid

A political storm has developed between the right-wing Islamic parties and
the government in Sindh on the appointment of women conductors in the Bus.

The Sindh Governor inaugurated the Bus service last week. It is reported
that the Bus service (called New Shaandar-majestic- Bus Service) between
Landhi suburb to central district, Saddar in Karachi has put on first-ever
women bus conductors that sparked protest from the fundamentalist forces.
They consider it "immoral".

The service is reported to be a collaboration between the Sindh government
and a private enterprise. Haji Mohammad Iqbal, the Chairman of the bus
service justifies the appointment of women conductors for various reasons.
They are: a) it is a luxury bus service with more than average fare and the
passengers will be less and therefore it is conducive for women to work, b)
women conductors would attract women passengers in the bus, c) it relieves
the women to travel in an uncongested bus without being victims of
eve-teasing and finally d) the employment of women is a step towards
restoring their self-esteem by encouraging them to be economically
independent.

The fundamentalist forces, on the other hand, argue that being used as bus
conductors is degrading women and they should be given jobs as teachers or
other noble professions. They argue further that women bus conductors are a
humiliating profession and not enjoined by Islam. Some threatened to bring
down the women conductors from the bus. It is reported that Massoda Banu,
40, one of the bus-conductors and a widow with four young children said
that while the job was a new experience, she was earning a good salary and
wished that the company would not sack her due to pressure from the
right-wing parties.

Meanwhile the commuters have been enjoying the bus service and it is
reported that men behave in an orderly manner in front of the women
conductors. As a precaution, the Bus company has not taken any chances and
stationed one male guard on the bus to avoid any untoward incidents.

Why is this furore in Pakistan? What do they tell us? Ordinarily, the
attitude and the treatment of their womenfolk know a society. There is a
saying that one way to judge good governance is whether a young lady would
be able to walk alone after dark from one end of the city to other without
being harassed or molested.

One could argue the more inequalities a society heap on their women, the
more discriminatory way they treat their women. All men and women are
endowed with human dignity and have the inherent right to life and to work.
Only denying them the humanity of the other can carry out ill-treatment or
unjust treatment to women.

Napoleon's words are memorable when he said some thing like this: "Give me
good mothers, I shall give you good soldiers". During the recent visit to
India, World Bank's President James Wolfensohn has underscored the
empowerment of women that has multiplying effects on the society.

David Landes in his book "Why Some are rich and Some So poor"(Amazon:
1998:US) argues that Christianity encourages a greater assertion of
political and economic rights for men and women. This in turn helped,
according to Landes, to develop a split between secular and the religious,
unlike Islamic societies where the two remained virtually one in many
countries. He further argues that in the later part of the 20th century
Western culture has encouraged the maximising of wealth through the
empowerment of women. One may disagree with him on his provocative
statements but the truth is that in many Islamic countries the women are
grossly discriminated in the society as to what they can do and cannot do
as against male population.

There is a view that there has been a phenomenal growth of Islamic
fundamentalism in Pakistan. Since 1980s it is contended that fundamentalism
has spread in the military establishments. It is alleged that some of the
top military officers have been bankrolling Islamic fundamentalist groups
to fight a proxy war in the Indian-administered Kashmir. A preview prevails
that in Pakistan these days radical Islamic groups wield power out of all
proportion to their size.

Although Pakistan's Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf (56) is known
to be liberal and secular, he appears to be under pressure from the
fundamentalist forces not to take initiative in matters uncomfortable to
the right-wing forces. Often it has been seen that the military governments
succumb to the blackmail to the right-wing parties for their popularity and
survival.

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#2.

News from Bangladesh
December 1, 2000
Commentary

OF BEAUTY PAGEANTRY AND RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM: Two faces of Bangladesh

By A.H. Jaffor Ullah

On November 30, one particular news drew my attention. News From Bangladesh
(NFB) reported that a Dhaka model and Miss Bangladesh by the name Sonia
Gazi is participating in this year's Miss World 2000 contest at the
London's Millennium Dome. Only a few years ago I read in the newspaper that
some Mullah organization in Bangladesh had threatened the organizers of
such meretricious beauty contest in Dhaka. If I remember correctly, the
organizers at the time abandoned their plan to host such un-Islamic event
on the face of Mullahs protestation. It was then an anathema to host such
"heathen" pageantry in a country where Mullahs such as Delwar Hossain Saidi
were receiving encomium from everywhere. But this is not 1985 or 1995. At
the dawn of a new millennium, it is a different story altogether.

The NFB news report concerning this upcoming Miss World contest mentioned
that the local event, i.e., Miss Bangladesh contest was sponsored by a
popular Bangla tabloid by the name Manabjamin and an organization, the Link
Promotion. The report also mentions that this worldwide beauty contest
would be live televised through satellite. It was not mentioned though
whether people in Bangladesh would be able to view the competition through
this satellite broadcasting. It is worth noting that an astounding number
of Bangladesh young women, 2, 768 to be exact, had participated in the
local contest to become the beauty queen of Bangladesh this year. In other
words, there is a grass root support for such venue in Bangladesh or else
only a handful of maidens from affluent section of Bangladesh society would
have taken part in the competition.

This news of Miss Sonia Gazi representing a predominantly Muslim country
in the world beauty contest will most certainly draw criticism from other
Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Taliban land, Saudi Arabia, and other
pillars of Islamic countries. If my recollection is correct, Muslim
countries except for Lebanon hardly participate in this sort of
competition. To parade skimpily dressed young gals on a stage under the
floodlight and ever watchful TV camera lenses is an alien concept to Muslim
folks throughout the world. According to Muslim dress code, women should be
veiled appropriately and their beauty sealed under Hijab (a veiled head
dress) so that grown up men cannot view a fully grown Muslim women's
visage.

Is Bangladesh society in a state of flux? Ever since Sheik Mujib was
assassinated in August 1975, the country veered towards Islamic
fundamentalism. The two Lilliputian dictators who ruled Bangladesh from
1975 through 1990 had their blessings for this move. They both supplanted
the transformation of Bangalee society going from secularism to Mullahism.
This rapid conversion had solidified their position. They never had any
political base. Therefore, this move towards fundamentalism worked in their
favor. Consequently, Bangladesh became an instant darling of the
Middle-Eastern and Islamic world. Thanks to easy oil revenues. Funds were
released from Saudi and other oil rich Islamic countries so that Islam can
flourish in this land of Sufis and Aolias. We saw how an organization such
as Tablig Jamaat became a powerful organization overnight in the country
under the aegis of these two military dictators. This organization was
hosting a religious event Bishwa Ejtema (World Congregation) in the winter
month drawing hundreds and thousands of devotees. The society was
transforming very rapidly within two decades of military rule.
Intellectuals were horrified by this development. Parents who were able to
send their children abroad did so to assure that their kids will receive a
secular education in overseas. Amidst this gloomy environment there was
this silver lining in the cloud. Bangladesh embraced democracy in 1991. But
that did not change the dynamics of Islamization of Bangladesh. The country
had to wait five more years. Finally in 1996 a new government took control
of Bangladesh. It almost took four more years before some perceptible
changes could be seen in the horizon. Secularism was finally gaining
grounds in Bangladesh. And this year Bangladesh joined other nations who
sent contestants to Miss World beauty contest. It was a long wait for
Bangladesh. Nevertheless, to the dismay of Islamists, it happened. A
scantily dressed Sonia Gazi of Bangladesh would take the center stage along
with other beauty queens at the Millennium Dome. It certainly is a small
step for Miss Sonia Gazi to be on the stage with other beauty queens. But
it is a giant step for Bangladesh. This nation of 126 million most
certainly joined the comity of nations to celebrate the vibrancy of youth.

A.H. Jaffor Ullah writes from New Orleans. His e-mail address is -
Jaffor@n...

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#3.

Source: Tehelka.com

DIN - E - MOHAMMAD TALIBAN ESTABLISHES ISLAMIC JIHAD MADRASSAS IN J[AMMU &
KASHMIR]

Islamic fundamentalists have carved out a new
strategy to "catch them young", says RAHUL BEDI

New Delhi, November 30

The "Talibanisation" of children in northern India's
Muslim-majority state of Kashmir is underway. An extremist Islamic group
has established over the past year free schools in the rural areas of the
state to indoctrinate schoolchildren into jihad (holy Islamic war).

Official sources in Srinagar say that the Din-e- Mohammad Taliban, which is
sponsored by the Pakistan-based Taliban militia group that rules
Afghanistan, has opened a series of schools in the north Kashmir
districts of Pulwama, Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramulla. They are staffed by
Islamic scholars with good oratory skills that are utilised to "educate"
Kashmiri children "free of cost".

In reality, however, the sources say, the schools have a mandate to
prepare their wards to become warriors of Islam. The districts where
these schools have sprung up are amongst the worst-troubled by Kashmir's
11-year long insurgency for an Islamic homeland, a secessionist quarrel
that has claimed over 35,000 lives. These are villages where formal
education is virtually nonexistent.

Reports from Pak say that in the absence of state-run schools, some 1.75
million youngsters are undergoing religious and basic military training in
about 7,000 madrassas. They will ultimately be sent to Kashmir and other
parts of the world to wage jihad District officials say that students
are flocking to the Din-e-Mohammad Taliban-run schools propelled by their
parents, who are delighted at the thought of their children being educated
gratis. Being illiterate, many parents are unconcerned about the hardline
sectarian content of the schools' curriculum.

"This (setting up of schools) is Pakistan's long-term design to create
future recruits who will not falter in their commitment to fightfor an
independent Islamic homeland," a security official says. It is a repetition
of what Pakistan did in the mid-1990s, when it sculpted the Taliban in
thousands of madrassas (Islamic seminaries) across the country.

Recent media reports from Pakistan reveal that in the absence of state-run
schools, some 1.75 million Pakistani youngsters are undergoing religious
and basic military training in approximately 7,000 madrassas. They will
ultimately be despatched to Kashmir and other parts of the world to wage
jihad against the "infidels".

Mohammad Ajmal Qadri, leader of the fundamentalist Jamait Ulema Islam
party, told The Washington Times that 2,000 of about 13,000 seminary
graduates have already been sent to Kashmir. Qardi said that the focus of
the training in the madrassas was the deployment of its students in
Kashmir and Chechnya, but that it is the US that is the ultimate target.

India accuses Pakistan, which occupies a third of Kashmir and lays claim to
the rest, of "sponsoring" the insurgency in Kashmir, which erupted in 1989.
Pakistan denies the allegation, saying that Kashmiri militancy is an
indigenous movement to which it provides only diplomatic and political
support.

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#4.

Source: Tehelka.com

SUICIDE RATE, VIAGRA SALES GO THROUGH THE ROOF IN J[AMMU AND KASHMIR]

Militancy and counter-insurgency related stress has led
to a massive escalation in mental disorders amongst both civilians and
soldiers, says RAHUL BEDI

New Delhi, November 30

The rate of suicides across the state of Jammu and Kashmir is escalating
alarmingly. There have been 107 suicides reported over the past three
months, and psychologists blame the rash of self-destruction on incessant
and increasing stress and violence.

Doctors say that some of their young patients are survivors of torture by
the security forces; they were interrogated brutally, with electricity
current passed through their genitals. "Often the victim is rendered
impotent, not by the electric shock but by the psychological fallout of the
torture," a doctor says.

"Depression and anxiety are so common in Kashmir today that already
overburdened doctors are unable to cope with the rising number of
patients with psychological disorders," says Dr Nazir Mushtaq of
Srinagar's SMHS hospital. With mental and emotional help severely limited,
the number of patients self-destructing is increasing at an unprecedented
rate, he says.

Specialists say that the daily-and seemingly inevitable-death toll across
the state, the sudden crackdowns by security forces, seemingly arbitrary
militant encounters and arrests, compounded by an absence of normal social
activity and recreation, have had a "devastating" effect on locals.

The stress has taken other forms, too. It has rendered many young
Kashmiri men sexually dysfunctional, forcing them to turn to Viagra, the
male potency wonder drug, which today has a thriving underground market
in the state.

"Depressive disorders are common here," said Dr Mushtaq Margroob, a
leading Srinagar psychiatrist, who estimated that more than 75 per cent of
men seeking medical help in the city suffer from some form of depression.
"It affects their sleep, appetite, sexual activity and desire," he added.

Scores of Srinagar chemists admit to selling Viagra clandestinely for
more than Rs 500 a blue pill. A chemist at Dal Gate, in the heart of
Srinagar, claims to have charged Rs 10,000 for one Viagra tablet from a
desperate youngster last year, when the drug was relatively new in the
market.
"Many youngsters feel humiliated asking for Viagra in public and come when
we are about to close for the day, or wait till there is no other customer
in the shop," says a chemist. He said the number of Viagra customers from
rural areas is also growing steadily as militancy has spread to virtually
every village in the Kashmir Valley.

Young Kashmiri men are not the only ones suffering mental stress in this
violence-riven state. Security officials say that the mental condition of
soldiers deployed on counter-insurgency operations (COIN) in Kashmir is a
standing "concern". " They are tired of living under constant tension in
hostile territory, not knowing who is a friend or foe," an officer says.
This is taking a severe toll on their mental health, he says.

Union Defence Minister George Fernandes told Parliament recently that
combat stress in Kashmir has led to more than 20 incidents since 1997 of
army personnel killing their own colleagues. Deployed on a constant state
of alertness, an increasing number of army and paramilitary personnel are
cracking up under pressure, and instances of "fragging", where soldiers
shoot their colleagues dead before suiciding, are steadily multiplying.

Senior army officers in Kashmir privately admit to many more cases of
"fragging" than are made public out of respect for the dead soldiers'
families and for reasons of insurance payments.

"Our troops are working under tremendous stress and strain," says K
Vijay Kumar, former chief of the 40,000-strong Border Security Force (BSF)
in Kashmir. BSF doctors say that hypertension and depression are common
amongst enlisted men, and that officers are also beginning to show the
strain, with complaints of acute headaches, palpitation and excessive
sweating.

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#5.

Source: Tehelka.com

RSS TO ESCALE KHAKHI PROPAGANDA ON THE WEB

www.rss.org will be reworked in a big way and chats
with RSS functionaries and ideologues are in the
offing, says NILANJAN MUKHOPADHYAY

New Delhi, November 30

In an attempt to further publicise its agenda and reach out to a global
audience, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to strengthen
its presenceon the Internet. It has decided that its Website www.rss.org,
which it believes has been managed lackadaisically since its launch in
1996, will now be managed professionally and uploaded on a regular basis.

RSS sources said that the 75-year-old organisation has realised the power
of the Internet and views it as an important form of communication. "We
realise that the technology is there and if we do not make use of it, our
adversaries will stand to benefit," said a senior RSS functionary.

Shyam Parande, an RSS functionary stationed at Keshav Kunj, the
organisation's headquarters in New Delhi, said that the improved site will
be accessible by the end of December. Besides adding substantially to the
archival and contemporary material currently available, audio will be added
to the site. Besides the RSS prayer, several other hymns that are part of
the RSS lexicon will also be featured.

The RSS' decision to improve its presence on the Internet has significant
political implications. The organisation has generally been perceived as a
backward-looking entity that shuts its doors to modernity

RSS functionaries seem to have-rather belatedly-realised the proselytising
power of chatrooms. www.rss.org will henceforth host chat sessions with
senior RSS leaders. The chat component of the Website will be introduced in
January 2001 and will most likely be kicked off with a session with Sah
Sarkaryavah Madan Das, the linkman between the RSS and the government, or
with Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS sarkaryavah (general secretary). This will be
The RSS' decision to improve its presence on the Internet has significant
political implications. The organisation has generally been perceived as a
backward-looking entity that has shut its doors to modernity of any kind or
substance.

The Website has been operational since 1996, when some non-resident Indians
(NRIs) owing allegiance to the RSS launched it in the US. It was formally
brought under the RSS umbrella at the end of 1998 but has since been
managed in an ad hoc manner.

Initially, there was great scepticism within the RSS about the efficacy of
its presence on the Internet. However, the organisation has been emboldened
by the large number of hits on the site.

An RSS source said that the utility of chatrooms was realised a few weeks
ago when a senior leader was invited by one of the Indian portals to
participate in an online chat. "We saw that people from all over the world
were interested in knowing more about the RSS, and this led us to decide to
introduce a chatroom on our site," he said.

The RSS' decision to improve its presence on the Internet has significant
political implications. The organisation has generally been perceived as a
backward-looking entity that has shut its doors to modernity of any kind
or substance.

The Website enhancement decision is, in fact, a continuation of efforts
within the Sangh Parivar to use technology to advantage. The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) was, in the early 1990s, the first political party to
use computers in a big way. In the run up to the general election in 1991,
the BJP had computerised its assessment of each of the 543 Lok Sabha
constituencies and these had been utilised for selecting candidates.

Before the 1998 general election, the BJP was among the first political
parties to launch its own website. At present, some other affiliates of the
RSS such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have their own Websites. RSS
sources said that after streamlining the functioning of www.rss.org,
efforts would be made to improve the quality of other Sangh Parivar sites.

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