[sacw] SACW Dispatch | 26 Aug. 00

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Fri, 25 Aug 2000 20:31:38 +0200


South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
26 August 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

#1. Pakistan: In Defence of Joint Electorates
#2. India: Priest paraded naked by fascists in Gujarat
#3. Canada: Resignation by reputed Pakistani academic in solidarity with
secular Indians
#4. From Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF)
#5. India: Announcement re a documentary film on Capital Punishment

_____________________

#1.

DAWN
25 August 2000
Op-Ed.

IN DEFENCE OF JOINT ELECTORATE

By Nasreen Jalil

THERE is a fear amongst religious minorities that the division of the
nation on religious lines will continue in the form of separate
electorate. Pakistan, as a nation state, should not alienate the
religious minorities. It is already faced with numerous problems of an
economic, political and social nature. Mode of election is a crucial
constitutional issue giving the citizens the right of equality before
law.
The present military-led government has buckled down under pressure from
marginal political parties and organization on various issues and, as in
the past, this one too would submit to their demand for separate
electorate for the religious minorities. The National Reconstruction
Bureau is reportedly adhering to separate electorate.
The plain truth is that separate electorate does not enjoy any Islamic
or ideological sanctions. It is purely a political issue. In support of
this contention, one would like to recall the historical background of
the joint and separate electorate system in the subcontinent.
1) On May I, 1946, a prominent Lahore Urdu daily carried a lengthy
article by the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Maudoodi, on the then
political problems of India. Among other subjects, the Maulana discussed
the issue of mode of elections. In regard to separate electorate he said
that "to make religion or nationality as the criterion for election,
instead of merit, was a degrading and mean tactic."
To impartial observers of today's political scene, it is strange that
the current leadership of Jamaat-i-Islami has turned a volte face on the
issue without any rational reason or explanation and is now vociferously
advocating separate electorate, regrading it as sacrosanct.
2) In 1905, the British government divided the populous province of
Bengal into East Bengal and West Bengal thereby creating a Muslim
majority province in the eastern part. The Hindus did not like this
scheme and started agitating for its annulment. Muslim leaders were
shocked at the intensity of this movement and became convinced that no
fair play or justice could be expected from the majority Hindu
community, especially under reforms pertaining to elective
representation then in the offing.
In a reactive response to this unfortunate development, the Muslims drew
up a plan of separate electorate to safeguard the interests of their
community. This scheme was presented to Viceroy Lord Minto at Simla on
October 1, 1906, and got it enacted into law which came to be known as
the Indian Council Act of 1909. The All-India Muslim League, the party
which launched the Pakistan movement, came into existence in December
1906 and thus neither this party nor Pakistan itself can claim to have
any ideological link with the issue of separate electorate.
3) At the 1910 session of the Indian National Congress held at Allahabad
to consider the Morely-Minto reforms, Mr Jinnah moved the following
resolution: "While recognizing the necessity of providing for a fair and
adequate representation in the Legislative Council for the Mohammedans
and other communities where they are in a minority, this Congress
disapproves of the regulations promulgated last year to carry out this
object by means of separate electorate...." Mr. Jinnah and the Muslim
leaders did not at that time or even long after that consider separate
electorate as an article of faith.
4) Initially the Congress was bitterly opposed to the introduction of
separate electorate, but in the joint Congress-League convention held in
Lucknow in 1916, it agreed for the first time on the provision of
separate electorate in the Indian constitution.
5) In March, 1927, top Muslim leaders of India held a convention in
Delhi which suggested cooperation with the Congress (for pushing forward
the cause of independence) by giving up the principle of separate
electorate if some of their demands were accepted. These included the
establishment of Sindh as a separate province; administrative reforms in
Balochistan and the NWFP; 33 per cent representation for the Muslims in
the central legislature. Here the issue of separate electorate was used
as a bargaining chip to secure benefits for the Muslim community at
large. Had separate electorate enjoyed some kind of Islamic or
ideological sanctity, as claimed by some people, how could it be offered
in exchange for some worldly benefits?
6) The All Parties National Convention held in December 1928, considered
the Nehru Report and the Delhi Proposals. After considerable discussion,
the Muslim proposals were rejected. The most contentious one was the 33
per cent representation for Muslims in the central legislature, although
no clear assurance was available in regard to other demands either. The
Muslims were already entitled to 30 per cent seats and only wanted 3 per
cent more. The failed Nehru Report was thus dubbed a "coffin marked
three seats." The joint electorate issue was considered as a settled
item by both the parties without any fuss.
7) Disappointed by the proceedings of the All Parties Convention, Muslim
League held a special session in March 1929 and approved Mr. Jinnah's
famous Fourteen Point resolution outlining the basic provisions for the
future constitution of India providing safeguards for the rights and
interests of the Muslim community. The provision for separate electorate
was as follows:
"Representation of communal groups shall continue to be by means of
separate electorate as at present, provided it shall be open to any
community, at any time to abandon its separate electorate in favour of
joint electorate."
8) Experimentation with the electorate systems continued after
independence. Under the 1956 constitution, joint electorate was allowed
in East Pakistan while West Pakistan opted to stick to the
pre-independence practice. Later, joint electorate was also introduced
in West Pakistan. Finally, however, the separate electorate system was
re-introduced in 1985 under constitutional amendments initiated by Gen
Zia.
>From the above narration two points come out very clearly: that separate
electorate is neither a religious issue nor it has anything to do with
the ideology of Pakistan; and that as per the last resolution passed by
the All India Muslim League, any community (specifically the minority
community) has a right to opt for the joint electorate system if it so
wishes.
Now let us examine the comparative merits and demerits of the separate
and joint electorate system without any religious or ideological
encumbrance. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.
Separate electorate is generally demanded by smaller communities as they
fear that under the joint electorate system they would not get their due
share of representation in the assemblies. The joint electorate system
without reservation of seats can virtually disenfranchise small
minorities as the experience in India shows. On the strength of their
numbers Indian Muslims are entitled to have about 70 seats in the
central legislature but they normally do not win more than 35. At
present they have only about 17.
Under certain circumstances, the majority communities too develop
misgivings about joint electorate, especially if they have only a
marginal numerical edge over the minorities or if the minority
communities are concentrated in certain important areas and are
economically better placed. It was on these considerations that Punjab
opposed the joint electorate system when it was approved by the Delhi
convention and later on ratified by the All-India Muslim League.
However, in the present-day Pakistan, the joint electorate system is
highly desirable and should be adopted in the longer-term interest of
the country. It will provide the much needed inter-community harmony and
help in building and consolidating a true national state. Some of the
other considerations that favour joint electorate are stated below.
The minority communities want joint electorate and they are entitled to
do so under the principle laid down in the Quaid-i-Azam's Fourteen Point
programme. Their preference for it also shows that the minorities in
Pakistan are confident that the majority community would not use this
system to their disadvantage and that they will continue to have their
due share in political and legislative representation. This healthy and
positive attitude of the minority communities should be appreciated and
reciprocated by conceding their demand without demur or dithering.
Secondly, the minority communities in Pakistan are neither very numerous
nor very advanced and economically powerful compared to the majority
community. Hence there should be no apprehension that they would, under
the joint electorate system, manage to get disproportionate
representation by influencing and manipulating Muslim voters.
Thirdly, the present difficulties faced by minority community candidates
for election to the federal and provincial assemblies in conducting
electioneering in vastly spread constituencies will also be resolved.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that the founding fathers of
Pakistan wanted the country to be a non-theocratic, liberal, modern
state based on Islamic values and traditions, which, among other things,
enjoin the protection of the rights and interests of the minorities
without any prejudice or discrimination. The MQM is on record upholding
these noble ideals. We have repeatedly expressed our support for the
minorities whenever we felt that they were not getting a fair deal. The
withdrawal of a desirable amendment to the blasphemy law therefore came
as a shock to us. We hope the government will ultimately find its way to
reintroduce it after removing the misconceptions and false apprehensions
of the religious lobby.
The writer is a member of the suspended senate.

______

#2.

25 June 2000
dear friends, please see the letter below written by well known human
rights activist, Mr. Samson Christian, describing the shameful and most
uncivilized act of the fascists. please send letters to the President of
India, the National Human Rights Commission etc. so the culprits are
arrested and punished. J. Mangalam, S.J=20=20

ALL INDIA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL
To Protect and Serve=20

The Hon. President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi
India

Sub: Request to take stern action regarding the incident in Surendranagar
Town, in Gujarat State in which a Christian priest was brutally beaten up
and was paraded naked by the fascist groups.

Honourable Sir,

Warm greetings from Gujarat State.=20

With deep regret we wish to draw your kind attention to the
horrible incident which has taken place in Surendranagar Town of
Surendranagar District where one priest belonging to the Church of North
India was brutally assaulted and paraded naked in full view of thousands
of people.=20=20

In Surendranagar District, there are Churches belonging to the
C.N.I., Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Brethren Mission. In the whole
district there are around three hundred Christians belonging to all these
denominations. Till today no incident of communal disharmony has ever
taken place and the people of all religions are living in peace and
harmony with each other. But last month, an incident took place in Nani
Katechi village in this district where the members of the fundamentalist
groups were involved in snatching food grains and oil meant for
distribution among the drought affected people, from the hands of the
Christian missionaries who have been serving the people irrespective of
caste and creed. One more serious incident took place on 22-8-2000 in the
same district.
The festival of Janmasthami was being celebrated fom 22nd
to 24th of this month, in this district of Surendranagar. A big mela
(gathering of people) takes place on this occasion in the town. On the
22nd the C.N.I. priest, named Arthurbhai Chimanbhai Rajwadi, Assembly of
God Church priest, J. Solomon and Grace Ministrry priest Saji Mathews went
to the mela and began distributing religious pamphlets at 6.45 p.m. After
a few minutes, the C.N.I. priest Arthurbhai went home and after his meals
came back to the venue at 8.30 p.m. Till 9 p.m. all these three priests
distributed religious literature. After finishing this work, J. Solomon
and Saji Mathew went back to their homes. But the C.N.I. priest,
Arthurbhai Rajwadi was waiting for his wife who had gone for the mela. =
=20
He went to the Lucky Corner restaurant and had snacks and waited till 9.45
for his wife to arrive. But since the wife did not return, he started
going towards his house alone. His house is situated in the IP Mission
Compound which is close to the place of the mela. In the IP Mission
Compound, the offices of LIC and Income Tax also also situated. The
priest was getting in to the Compound through the door next to the LIC
building. In the meantime, some three unidentified goondas called him out
and so he came out to meet them. As soon as he came out, these three
ruffians began to rough him up brutally and he was dragged by them to the
place of the mela. In the meantime, some fifteen to twenty more goondas
joined the group and they also began to beat up the priest. During this
time, they kicked him, tore his clothes and made him completely naked.=20
They pulled out his belt from his pants and beat him up with the belt
also. They snatched his gold chain from his neck and took away his
identity card and his purse and looted his money. Among these
fundamentalists who beat him up, there were between 40-45 years of age.=20
The rest were aged between 15-25 years. During this attack, they told
the priest that other members of their group were waiting ahead and they
would take him there in order to abduct him. During this time, a maruti
van also had arrived.there. These people had abused the priest with very
abusive language, had made him naked and had threatened to kill him. But
in the meantime, since lot of people had gathered there, these goodas ran
away from the scene.

The priest who was beaten up and paraded naked was then
brought to the Lucky Corner Restaurant. There he was given a piece of
cloth to cover himself and then was taken to his house. Thereafter, the
priest-victim complained to the Surendranagar City Police Station on
24-8-2000 and police lodged a cognizable offence register no. II 121/2000
IPC under section 323, 504, 506(2), 114. in this complaint, the priest
had indicated that the attackers belong to communal organizations.

We strongly condemn this incident which is a very uncivilized
act and which brings shame to our great nation in the eyes of the world.
We request your honour that you personally intervene and take interest in
this incident and give instruction to the concerned authorities of Gujarat
State to arrest the culprits and punish them and give full protection to
the minority community in Surendranagar District and instruct the
authorities concerned to prevent such incidents from being repeated again
in the State of Gujarat and any where in India.=20

Thanking you,=20

Yours Sincerely,

Sd/-
Samson C. Christian,

National Executive Member,
All India Christian Council
3, Kachiya Panch Mansion,
Nr. Behrampura chowki,
Ahmedabad-380022
India

Dated, 25-8-2000

[South Asia Citizens Web advises all who feel concerned re the above matter
to write letters to the President of India and also to the Chief minister
Gujarat. They should use the following fax & e-mail addresses:

Mr.K.R. Narayanan
The President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110004
Fax: 91-011-3017290
Fax: +91 (011) 3014570, +91 (011) 3017290 ]

Mr. Keshubhai Patel,
Chief Minister, Gujarat
Email: mail@g...
email form at: http://www.cm.gujaratindia.com/cmform.html ]

______

#3.

Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:56:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Hassan Gardezi <gardezi@a...>
To: sici@u...
Subject: Resignation

To
Lavine Mohr
Director
Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4

Dear Director Mohr
I regretfully request you to please remove my name from the list

of the Institute's referees called upon to assess research grant
applications by Canadian scholors. In the past I have performed this
service to promote the stated objective of the Shastri Indo-Canadian
Institute "to enhance understanding between the two countries."
To my extreme disappointment this laudible mendate of the
Institute
has been seriously compromised by its President Prof. Hugh Jonston's
letter to the University of Western Ontario withdrawing support for a
highly educational exhibition, DUST ON THE ROAD, currently on display at

the York Quey Gallery, Toronto, featuring the works of renouned Canadian
and Indian artists.
This action of the institute is doubly abhorrent in view of the
statement by Prof. Johnston that his decision is the result of direct
political interference by the High Commissioner of India, Mr.
Rajanikanta Verma, a blatant violation of artistic and academic freedom we
take for
granted in this country.

Yours Sincerely,
Hassan N. Gardezi, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Algoma University College
Sault Ste Marie
Ont. P6A 2G4

cc
University Affairs
CAUT BUlletin

______

#4.

Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF)
2/11, Block-F, Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, BANGLADESH
Mailing Address: G.P.O. Box - 935, Dhaka-1000, BANGLADESH
Fax- 880-2-8119112, Phone-880-2-8119112,
E-mail- baflf@b...

Date: 24-08-2000

Dear friends,
We have the honour to let you inform movement's report of BAFLF for your
kind cooperation and solidarity.
The Agricultural farm workers BAFLF are Struggling for last four(4) years
on their 11 points demands. On 19 July, 1995 an Inter Ministry
sub-committee is formed by nominating the joint secretary of the Ministry
of labour and manpower as conveyner to settled the wages and related
privileges along with amendment of existing "Farm labour employment and
control policy" considering the farms and institutions as formal sector.
This sub-committee after two years submitted their first recommendation on
24-10-98 and lastly on 14-12-99 to the Interministry Standing Committee.
This Standing Committee Presided over and headed by Secretary of Ministry
of Agriculture in the last meeting on 18 January, 2000 approved the
recommendation of Inter-ministry Sub Committee regarding wage increase,
amendment of "Farm labour employment and control policy-90" including other
relevant privileges and resolved to send the recommendations to the Cabinet
for final approval.But it is matter of great regret that, neither the
recommendations submitted to the cabinet nor the demands of the Farm
workers are fulfilled within this long seven months period. It may not be
out of mentioned here that, salaries including other allowances of officers
and employees of the same Farms and Institutions are increased before 3
years ago. Even the wages of regular and irregular labours of various
Government Institutions viz. P.W.D ,Roads and Highways, Parliament
Secretariat, Water Development Board, Forest and Environment's Directorates
are increased by this times 3 times. They are paid TK.106/- and TK. 118/-
as daily wage respectively. But the wages and other facilities of the
Government's farm labours are not increased and they are paid TK.50/-(less
than 1 us Dollar) only as daily wage. Even the recommendations of
Government's nominated committee is not yet executed. We do not expected
such injustices from the peoples representative's Government. At this very
woeful situation BAFLF is compelled to throw the following programmee of
movement for rapid execution of wage increase, amendment of Farm labour
policy and other relevant facilities as per recommendation of Interministry
Standing Committee.

Programmee:-
1)20 August,2000 from 10am to 2pm Farm and institutions blocked.
2)29 August, 2000 on Tuesday token hunger strike of BAFLF leaders from 9am
to 5pm at Muktangon,Dhaka city, Bangladesh.
If the demands are not fulfilled within this period, will go on continuous
strike from Octaber,2000 till achievement.
Now expectation of BAFLF from the peoples representative's Government to
increase wages and other relevant facilities including amendment of farm
labour policy and thus provide privileges to the farm workers as per
declaration of the hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1st July, 1997
before follow-up the programmee.
In this connection we would request you to kindly send fax to the following
authority for execution of Interministry Standing Committee's
recommendation so that Farm labours can get their increased wage and other
relevant facilities at an earliest date.
Thanking you.
In solidarity

Nurul Anowar
General Secretary

Honorable Prime Minister
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Tejgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ph: 880-2-8122001, 8122185 Fax: 880-2-9121417

Honorable Agriculture Minister
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Ph: 880-2-8619277, Fax: 880-2-8613080, 8613799

______

#5.

[24 August 2000]

AN APPEAL

Dear friends,

The film "HANG THE NOOSE" is the culmination of a struggle of over 3 years,
under most trying circumstances. A group of some committed activists took
up the project of producing a film to create awareness against the inhuman
punishment of death sentence. The sensitive nature of the subject was
enough to create controversies which deterred possibilities of collecting
enough finances required to complete the project. Added to that was the
expected negative behaviour of beaurocracy to grant permission for
interviewing convicts in the death cells of Rajahmundry Central jail. This
involved entanglement into legal procedures and filing petitions in
A.P.High Court. Though we emerged victorious ultimately but only at the
cost of considerable expenditure of our limited finances. The production
process had to be interrupted several times for long periods, due to lack
of funds and hesitations to contribute on the part of contributors. Thanks
to the sustained and determined efforts of the producers and well wishers,
the film is now complete and awaits final editing, dubbing and titling.

We request you to place a pre-release order for the film. Your order will
facilitate the financial mobilisation required to finish the film and bring
this important issue into the public domain.

Your cooperation will go a long way not only to support the cause of
abolishing the death penalty, but also for us to take up more projects of
social significance in future.

Thanking you for the cooperation.

K. SAJAYA & M. HASAN
For VEDIKA - Collective of Activists for alternative media

HANG THE NOOSE
A documentary on Capital Punishment

2000, COLOUR, 45 mts

Production & Marketing : VEDIKA - Collective of Activists for alternative
media

PRICE : Rs. 500/- for individual
: Rs. 1000/-for institutions

Language Versions : English, Telugu
Direction & Camera : M. Hasan
Concept, Research &
Executive Direction : K. Sajaya
Script : K. Sajaya & M. Hasan
Editing : Ramsingh
Production Coordination : Ambika, Shailaja, Ramesh
Equipment, Studio & Editing : Tarangini Video studio, Hyderabad.

For Copies contact:

K. SAJAYA
Barkathpura, Hyderabad - 500 027.
Andhra Pradesh, India.
Ph: 040-7563299
M. HASAN
H.No:5, Avenue 7, Banjara Hills Hyderabad - 500 034. India
Ph: 040-3355664
ORDER FORM

Please specify the language version of your choice with a tick mark:
1. English---------- 2. Telugu---------

number of cassettes ordered:

I enclose a demand draft no:------------------------------drawn on
---------------------------------(bank
name) payable at Hyderabad in favour of 'VEDIKA - Collective of Activists
for alternative media' for Rs.--------------------------
please send the copy/ies by VPP.

Signature:--------------------------------------------.
Date:----------------------------------

Name:--------------------------------------------------
Designation:------------------------------------------
Institution Stamp:------------------------------------
Address:-----------------------------------------------
Phone:---------------------. Fax:------------------. E-mail:-----
______________________________
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