[sacw] SACW | 31 Dec. 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

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

#1. Pakistan declassifies report on 1971 war
#2. Pakistan: 'Jihadi' news & resources website
#3. India: The Stamp of Ugliness
#4. India: After Ayodhya, RSS crosshair on Kashi, Mathura
#5. India: Gujarat - Couples banned from dancing in Rajkot

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#1.

The Hindu
31 December 2000

Pak. declassifies report on 1971 war

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 30. The Pakistan military government kept its promise and
declassified today the controversial Hamoodur Rahman Commission report that
inquired into the circumstances leading to the debacle of the Army in the
1971 war, and the consequent creation of Bangladesh.

An official statement said barring the chapter on Pakistan's relations
with other countries in the run-up to the war, the main and supplementary
reports of the Commission were being placed in the National Documentation
Center of the Cabinet Division for ``consultation and reference''.

The report, a damning indictment of the conduct of the Pakistan Army in
the then East Pakistan, was a top secret document only in the records of
the Pakistan Government. Much of the report were known thanks to leaks in
the last 10 years.

The Musharraf Government decided to declassify it after an Indian magazine
published the supplementary report of the Commission in August. Major
Pakistani newspapers published special supplements reproducing the contents
of the report as appearing on the Internet edition of the magazine.

Nevertheless the credit for declassifying the report goes to the Musharraf
government as no government in the past-civil or military-dared to talk
about it even though it was gathering dust since 1974.

It is a bold decision on more than one count. Serving and retired military
officers have serious grouses against the report. According to them, the
report is flawed as its terms of reference were biased and left no scope
for an objective analysis of the role played by politicians of the day in
the creation of Bangladesh. The move is bound to strain further the already
delicate relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The issue of punishment
for military officers accused of excesses in the run-up to the war is a
matter of constant friction between them.

Just two weeks ago, Bangladesh expelled the Pakistan Deputy High
Commissioner after he disputed the claim of three million deaths and
widespread rape and loot in the civil war that preceded the 1971 war. The
expulsion came despite the decision of Pakistan to recall the diplomat.
With the report out in the open, Bangladesh can only be expected to step up
its demand for punishment to those accused of excesses.

The contents of the report have been intensely debated after the Indian
weekly published a substantial portion on August 14, the Independence Day
of Pakistan. The debate was whether the military or the political
leadership of the day was responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan.

Gen. Musharraf was initially reluctant to release the report even as the
media and intelligentsia and the Bangladesh Government made a strong case
for it. During his sojourn in New York after the U.N. millennium session in
September, he rejected the demand and urged people to ``forget about the
past''.

He characterised the 1971 defeat as a ``political-military debacle'' and
endorsed the views of a majority of the retired Generals that the terms of
reference of the Commission were biased. But a sustained campaign in the
press compelled his Government to reconsider its decision.

The publication triggered a war of words between the retired Generals and
leaders of political parties on who was to blame for the events of 1971.
Politicians sought to pin responsibility on the Generals for the
humiliating defeat. But the latter hit back, saying it was the failure of
political parties that led to the dismemberment of the country.

In October, while announcing his readiness to release the report, Gen.
Musharraf said except for the portions relating to foreign relations, his
Government intended to publish all other chapters. He said the portion
published by the Indian weekly was selective and gave a misleading picture.

_____

#2.

JIHAD TIMES
Check out this website in Urdu:

http://www.jihadtimes.com

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#3.

The Telegraph
30 December 2000

THE STAMP OF UGLINESS=20
=20=20=20
BY RAMACHANDRA GUHA=20=20=20=20=20=20=20

Of only two departments of the mighty government of India can it be
reliably said that they serve the people of India. One is the Indian
Railways, that colossal, shambling but still serviceable enterprise that
allows the poor man (and woman) to travel from village to place of work,
and back, at a trifling cost. One of the best things bequeathed us by the
British, the Railways criss-crosses our land connecting places big and
small by trains fast and slow. Were the Railways to be privatized,
hundreds of millions of Indians would be seriously affected. For the first
thing the new owners shall do would be to shut down all lines that do not
make a large profit. The Rajdhani Express would still run between New
Delhi and Calcutta, but Surat-Bhusaval Passenger, and other such trains,
would be immediately consigned to the ash-heap of history.

The other government department that is of truly public service is the
Post and Telegraphs. Family and community remain the building blocks of
our society; and it is the Post, and oftentimes the Post alone, that keeps
in contact the discrete units of our families and communities. It was
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who first saw how a human fraternity could be
sustained by means of the lowly postcard. But it is not merely his memory
that keeps the cost of a PC stationary, at 25 paise per card. Rather, it
is the knowledge that the postcard remains the most reliable and
cost-effective way in which two Indians connected by blood or friendship
can communicate with one another.

The postman is the only government functionary whose arrival at your house
does not necessarily connote bad news. The policeman, the tax man, the
electricity man: if these public servants call on you it is generally for
some private purpose. Sometimes the aim is pecuniary: the transfer of some
of your money into their pockets. The postman stands as a sterling
exception to this rule. His intention might be pecuniary too, except that
he does not ask for your cash but actually passes on cash to you, this
sent by a father or husband or aunt living or working a thousand miles
away.

In some parts of India, such as the Uttarakhand Himalaya, most homes are
kept going by the money-order economy, by money earned by males working in
the plains and carried to their women and children by the hardworking and
(for the most part) honest postman. I cannot claim to be part of this
economy, but I can nonetheless testify to the reliability and efficiency
of the Indian postal system. Over the years, I must have posted myself two
hundred book parcels from various places overseas: only two of these did
not reach my Bangalore home.

The postal strike just over did not much affect the many Indians who have
abandoned the postcard for the courier letter. But it was certainly noticed
by the less wealthy Indians, notably the families in the villages and
small towns whose survival depends on the monthly money-order from the
city. Middle-class families also felt the pinch, especially the elderly
among them, whose respect for tradition, and lack of an expense account,
does not predispose them towards Blue Dart and DHL. Indeed, one
distinguished retired scholar offered the theory that the postal strike
dragged on so long because the representatives of government asked to
negotiate with the union leaders had been carefully bribed by the courier
companies.

This explanation for the postal strike speaks of a widespread scepticism
of, indeed contempt for, our political class. But on a recent visit to
Nagpur I was offered another theory for the strike: a theory that is
equally conspiratorial, if altogether more disturbing. This held that the
strike was orchestrated by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to spite the
Christians, whose cards of greeting for their most important festival
would now not reach the intended recipients.

Events in Gujarat and Orissa, and other places, have justly aroused
suspicion among the Christians as regards the intentions of the VHP.
However, it does seem quite unlikely that this-admittedly
despicable-organization was behind the postal strike itself. All the same,
there is reason to believe that the postal system has not been immune to
the saffronizing of the state. Consider thus a stamp recently issued by
the P and T department to commemorate "Sindhu Darshan". This would be a
festival not easily recognized by most readers of The Telegraph-and
rightly so. For "Sindhu Darshan" is not an occasion recognized by the
ritual calendar of the Hindus, either.

This festival, such as it is, was invented by Tarun Vijay, an ideologue of
the sangh parivar, who runs a journal named Panchajanya. Three or four
years ago, Vijay decided to hold a ceremony affirming the sacredness of
the river Indus, which flows briefly through Ladakh before entering
Pakistani territory. Both "Hindu" and "India", he argued, ultimately
derive from "Sindhu"-the ancient name of the Indus. The worship of the
river would therefore underline our Hindu-ness as well as the Indian-ness
that (in the eyes of Vijay) is coterminous with it. L. K. Advani
air-dashed to Ladakh to participate in the ceremony, in the company of
saffron editors who then wrote about the affair in their newspapers.

The ceremony has, I believe, been held every year since. That is Vijay's
choice, and if Advani wants to patronize him, that is his choice. But how
does this highly personal enterprise qualify for recognition by the postal
department of the government of India? In the past, our stamps have
honoured all our recognized religions and religious leaders, but also
non-religious figures such as military men, scholars, sportsmen and
singers. Indian stamps have also communicated social messages, the
importance of vaccination against smallpox, for example. This is
absolutely the first time that a private politico-religious enterprise has
been given the stamp of postal authority.

One must note, too, the subliminal message of the "Sindhu Darshan". This
is in favour of the idea of "Akhand Bharat". Aside from Tarun Vijay, the
most famous modern worshipper of the river Indus was Nathuram Godse.
Godse's ashes are still in the hands of his family, for Gandhi's murderer
had left instructions that they must be submerged in the Indus, but only
after Pakistan had once more become part of India. The "Sindhu Darshan" is
thus part of an expansionist ideology that, at the very least, mocks the
status of Pakistan as an independent nation.

To these moral and political objections to the new stamp I would add an
aesthetic one. The stamp displays a river with mountains surrounding it,
drawn with crude lines and in loud colours, with an unidentified (and
unidentifiable) animal looking on. The stamp's design confirms what one had
suspected all along: that the Hindutva project ultimately fails on
aesthetic grounds. These chaps design ugly stamps and, judging by the
models on display, ugly temples too.

The great Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, if it is ever built, will be a sore sight
to the eyes: large, ornate marble pillars, plastered over in white lime,
in the hallowed tradition of the artistically undistinguished temples of
northern India. The future pilgrim, visiting Ayodhya, will be well advised
to then seek out the fabulously beautiful temples of Orissa and Karnataka.
Is it only an accident, I wonder, that those two southern states also have
a decent record of communal harmony?

______

#4.

Tehelka.com

After Ayodhya, RSS crosshair on Kashi, Mathura

The latest December 24 issue of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, is
categorical that Kashi and Mathura fall in the same category as Ayodhya,
reports Venkat Parsa

New Delhi, December 29

After the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, it now appears to be the
turn of the Gyanwapi Masjid in Varanasi. And then, the Idgah Masjid in
Mathura. All the three mosques happen to be in located in Uttar Pradesh
(UP).

A crucial difference between the Babri Masjid and the other two mosques
is that the latter two are protected by the Places of Worship (Protection)
Act (PWA), 1993. The Act freezes the status of all places of worship in
the country, apart from the Babri Masjid, as on August 15, 1947.

By taking the issue to the court, the issue has become sub-judice, doubly
protecting the Gyanwapi mosque. It is both covered by the PWA, and, since
the matter has become sub-judice, it cannot be altered, damaged or
demolished.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) appears to be categorical about not
sparing the Kashi and Mathura mosques. A familiar pattern is being
followed-create a dispute first and then whip up frenzy, before mounting a
final assault.

In fact, the litigation was launched when the Ayodhya was front was
frenzied. A civil suit (No 610 of 1991) was filed in the court of Civil
Judge, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), by Pandit Somnath Vyas, on October 15,
1991 (see Plaintiff's Prayer). This litigation was started just a year
ahead of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

A familiar pattern is being followed-create a dispute first and then
whip up frenzy, before mounting a final assault

The latest December 24 issue of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, is
categorical that Kashi and Mathura fall in the same category as Ayodhya.
"Somnath represented a set of national ethos and the efforts to rebuild
the that temple were in tune with the sentiments of the people.

Ayodhya stands in the same category. And so do the temples of Kashi and
Mathura," says the editorial in the Organiser.

The familiar pattern followed is that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
builds up the tempo on the issue. Once it catches the imagination of the
people, the BJP steps in to lift it onto its agenda wagon.

The mobilisation on the Ayodhya issue was done by the VHP. It was only at
the Palampur Session of the BJP National Executive on June 9-11, 1989,
that the Ayodhya issue was officially brought onto the BJP agenda. As of
now, the Kashi and Mathura are not officially on the BJP's political
agenda.

In fact, Union Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani had been making the offer
that if the Muslims give up their claim to the Ayodhya site, he could use
his "good offices" to prevail upon the Sangh Parivar to drop the other
mosques on their agenda. The Sangh Parivar has an elaborate list of
3,000-odd mosques. The three mosques of Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura are the
prominent ones.

The case built up in the plaint filed by Pandit Somnath Vyas has the
familiar ring of the Sangh Parivar philosophy of how the Mughal emperors
used their clout to destroy the Hindu shrines and forcibly build mosques
over the debris of the Hindu temples.

The case made out against Kashi mosque is that on April 18, 1669, Mughal
emperor Aurangazeb learnt that in "Multan and Benares foolish Brahmans
taught wicked sciences which the learners, Muslims as well as Hindus,
learnt". It is the wake of these reports that Aurangazeb ordered the
demolition of "such schools and temples of the infidels". According to the
plantiff, following a firman of Aurangazeb, the officials "partly
destroyed the temple of Lord Vishveshwar, existing in the Gyanwapi
compound".

As an annexure to the plaint, the firman of Aurangazeb has been filed by
Pandit Somnath Vyas. It was only on February 27, 1992, that the UP Sunni
Central Waqf Board claimed to have learnt the news of civil suit filed
published in a Hindi daily newspaper, Gandiv, on February 20, 1992.
Immediately, the UP Sunni Waqf Board impleaded itself in the case.

______

#5.

Rediff.com

Couples banned from dancing in Rajkot

Kinner Acharya in Rajkot

Three Hindu organisations have banned couples from dancing together
during new year parties in Rajkot and even the police seem to have given
in to their demands.

Two hotels in the city, the Garden Water Park and Motel The Village, had
requested the police for permission to organise dance parties. However,
when the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena came to know
about the events, they objected and said they would not allow couples
dancing in public places as it was against Hindu culture.

Raju Dave, local president of the Bajrang Dal, told rediff.com, "We
believe that these types of celebration are an attack on our culture. We
are against of such obscenity in our city."

Asked how would enforce his views, he said, "If our workers find couples
dancing indecently, we will ask the organisers to stop it. And if they do
not agree, they will have to face the Bajrang Dal's wrath."

When asked to elaborate, he said, "What Hanuman did in Lanka, we will do
in Rajkot."

Interestingly, the police also seem to favour the right-wing organisations=
.

Rajkot Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha told rediff.com, "Actually, we
have not banned dance parties. But we have only objected to couples
dancing. Moreover, 400-500 couples dancing in one place is not suitable to
our city's culture. And therefore, we have banned such events on a
commercial level."

"This kind of dancing had never taken place in Rajkot. We have to consider
the culture and tradition of the city before giving permission for such
events. Dinner and music parties will be allowed. But couples dancing
won't," he said.

The Bajrang Dal has also formed a special squad to stop such parties and
keep a vigil throughout the new year night.

______________________________________________
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(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996.
Dispatch archive from 1998 can be accessed
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