[sacw] SACW #1. (21 Oct. 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | Dispatch #1.
21 October 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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#1. War Is Peace (Arundhati Roy)
#2. India: 'Fatwa' against sale of Anglo-American goods
#3. India: Tailoring history (Anjali Modi)
________________________

#1.

http://www.outlookindia.com/
Outlook Magazine | Oct 29, 2001=20=20=20=20
FRONTLINES

WAR IS PEACE
The world doesn't have to choose between the Taliban and the US=20
government. All the beauty of the world-literature, music, art-lies=20
between these two fundamentalist poles.
ARUNDHATI ROY

As darkness deepened over Afghanistan on Sunday, October 7, 2001, the=20
US government, backed by the International Coalition Against Terror=20
(the new, amenable surrogate for the United Nations), launched air=20
strikes against Afghanistan. TV channels lingered on=20
computer-animated images of Cruise missiles, stealth bombers,=20
Tomahawks, 'bunker-busting' missiles and Mark 82 high-drag bombs. All=20
over the world, little boys watched goggle-eyed and stopped=20
clamouring for new video games.
The UN, reduced now to an ineffective abbreviation, wasn't even asked=20
to mandate the air strikes. (As Madeleine Albright once said, "The US=20
acts multilaterally when it can, and unilaterally when it must."

People rarely win wars, governments rarely lose them. People=20
get killed. Governments moult and regroup, hydra-headed. They first=20
use flags to shrink-wrap peoples' minds and suffocate real thought,=20
and then as ceremonial shrouds to cloak the mangled corpses of the=20
willing dead.

) The 'evidence' against the terrorists was shared amongst friends in=20
the 'Coalition'. After conferring, they announced that it didn't=20
matter whether or not the 'evidence' would stand up in a court of=20
law. Thus, in an instant, were centuries of jurisprudence carelessly=20
trashed.
Nothing can excuse or justify an act of terrorism, whether it is=20
committed by religious fundamentalists, private militia, people's=20
resistance movements-or
whether it's dressed up as a war of retribution by a recognised=20
government. The bombing of Afghanistan is not revenge for New York=20
and Washington. It is yet another act of terror against the people of=20
the world. Each innocent person that is killed must be added to, not=20
set off against, the grisly toll of civilians who died in New York=20
and Washington.
People rarely win wars, governments rarely lose them. People get=20
killed. Governments moult and regroup, hydra-headed. They first use=20
flags to shrink-wrap peoples' minds and suffocate real thought, and=20
then as ceremonial shrouds to cloak the mangled corpses of the=20
willing dead. On both sides, in Afghanistan as well as America,=20
civilians are now hostage to the actions of their own governments.=20
Unknowingly, ordinary people in both countries share a common=20
bond-they have to live with the phenomenon of blind, unpredictable=20
terror. Each batch of bombs that is dropped on Afghanistan is matched=20
by a corresponding escalation of mass hysteria in America about=20
anthrax, more hijackings and other terrorist acts.

There is no easy way out of the spiralling morass of terror and=20
brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the=20
human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective=20
wisdom, both ancient and modern. What happened on September 11=20
changed the world forever. Freedom, progress, wealth, technology,=20
war-these words have taken on new meaning. Governments have to=20
acknowledge

President George Bush said, "We're a peaceful nation."=20
America's favourite ambassador, Tony Blair, (who also holds the=20
portfolio of Prime Minister of the UK), echoed him: "We're a peaceful=20
people." So now we know. Pigs are horses. Girls are boys. War is Peace.

this transformation, and approach their new tasks with a modicum of=20
honesty and humility. Unfortunately, up to now, there has been no=20
sign of any introspection from the leaders of the International=20
Coalition. Or the Taliban.
When he announced the air strikes, President George Bush said, "We're=20
a peaceful nation." America's favourite ambassador, Tony Blair, (who=20
also holds the portfolio of Prime Minister of the UK), echoed him:=20
"We're a peaceful people."
So now we know. Pigs are horses. Girls are boys. War is Peace.
Speaking at the FBI headquarters a few days later, President Bush=20
said: "This is our calling. This is the calling of the United States=20
of America. The most free nation in the world. A nation built on=20
fundamental values that reject hate, reject violence, rejects=20
murderers and rejects evil. We will not tire."
Here is a list of the countries that America has been at war with-and=20
bombed-since World War II: China (1945-46, 1950-53); Korea (1950-53);=20
Guatemala (1954, 1967-69); Indonesia (1958); Cuba (1959-60); the=20
Belgian Congo (1964); Peru (1965); Laos (1964-73); Vietnam (1961-73);=20
Cambodia (1969-70); Grenada (1983); Libya (1986); El Salvador=20
(1980s); Nicaragua (1980s); Panama (1989), Iraq (1991-99), Bosnia=20
(1995), Sudan (1998); Yugoslavia (1999).And now Afghanistan.
Certainly it does not tire-this, the Most Free nation in the world.=20
What freedoms does it uphold? Within its borders, the freedoms of=20
speech, religion, thought; of artistic expression, food habits,=20
sexual preferences (well, to some extent) and many other exemplary,=20
wonderful things. Outside its borders, the freedom to dominate,=20
humiliate and subjugate-usually in the service of America's real=20
religion, the 'free market'. So when the US government christens a=20
war 'Operation Infinite Justice', or 'Operation Enduring Freedom', we=20
in the Third World feel more than a tremor of fear.

Young boys-many of them orphans-who grew up in those times,=20
had guns for toys, never knew the security and comfort of family=20
life, never experienced the company of women. Now, as adults and=20
rulers, the Taliban beat, stone, rape and brutalise women; they don't=20
seem to know what else to do with them.

Because we know that Infinite Justice for some means Infinite=20
Injustice for others. And Enduring Freedom for some means Enduring=20
Subjugation for others.
The International Coalition Against Terror is largely a cabal of the=20
richest countries in the world. Between them, they manufacture and=20
sell almost all of the world's weapons, they possess the largest=20
stockpile of weapons of mass destruction-chemical, biological and=20
nuclear. They have fought
the most wars, account for most of the genocide, subjection, ethnic=20
cleansing and human rights violations in modern history, and have=20
sponsored, armed and financed untold numbers of dictators and=20
despots. Between them, they have worshipped, almost deified, the cult=20
of violence and war. For all its appalling sins, the Taliban just=20
isn't in the same league.
The Taliban was compounded in the crumbling crucible of rubble,=20
heroin and landmines in the backwash of the Cold War. Its oldest=20
leaders are in their early 40s. Many of them are disfigured and=20
handicapped, missing an eye, an arm or a leg. They grew up in a=20
society scarred and devastated by war. Between the Soviet Union and=20
America, over 20 years, about $45 billion worth of arms and=20
ammunition was poured into Afghanistan. The latest weaponry was the=20
only shard of modernity to intrude upon a thoroughly medieval=20
society. Young boys-many of them orphans-who grew up in those times,=20
had guns for toys, never knew the security and comfort of family=20
life, never experienced the company of women.
Now, as adults and rulers, the Taliban beat, stone, rape and=20
brutalise women; they don't seem to know what else to do with them.=20
Years of war have stripped them of gentleness, inured them to=20
kindness and human compassion. They dance to the percussive rhythms=20
of bombs raining down around them. Now they've turned their=20
monstrosity on their own people.
With all due respect to President

The issue is not about Good vs Evil or Islam vs Christianity=20
as much as it is about space. About how to accommodate diversity, how=20
to contain the impulse towards hegemony-every kind of hegemony,=20
economic, military, linguistic, religious and cultural.

Bush, the people of the world do not have to choose between the=20
Taliban and the US government. All the beauty of human=20
civilisation-our art, our music, our literature-lies beyond these two=20
fundamentalist, ideological poles. There is as little chance that the=20
people of the world can all become middle-class consumers as there is=20
that they'll all embrace any one particular religion. The issue is=20
not about Good vs Evil or Islam vs Christianity as much as it is=20
about space. About how to accommodate diversity, how to contain the=20
impulse towards hegemony-every kind of hegemony, economic, military,=20
linguistic, religious and cultural. Any ecologist will tell you how=20
dangerous and fragile a monoculture is. A hegemonic world is like=20
having a government without a healthy opposition. It becomes a kind=20
of dictatorship. It's like putting a plastic bag over the world, and=20
preventing it from breathing. Eventually, it will be torn open.
One and a half million Afghan people lost their lives in the 20 years=20
of conflict that preceded this new war. Afghanistan was reduced to=20
rubble, and now, the rubble is being pounded into finer dust. By the=20
second day of the air strikes, US pilots were returning to their=20
bases without dropping their assigned payload of bombs. As one pilot=20
put it, Afghanistan is "not a target-rich environment". At a press=20
briefing at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, was=20
asked if America had run out of targets.

"First we're going to re-hit targets," he said, "and second, we're=20
not running out of targets, Afghanistan is..." This was greeted with=20
gales of laughter in the Briefing Room.
By the third day of the strikes, the US defence department boasted=20
that it had "achieved air supremacy over Afghanistan". (Did they mean=20
that they had destroyed both, or maybe all 16, of Afghanistan's=20
planes?)
On the ground in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance-the Taliban's old=20
enemy, and therefore the International Coalition's newest friend-is=20
making headway in its push to capture Kabul. (For the archives, let=20
it be said that the Northern Alliance's track record is not very=20
different from the Taliban's.

The fighting forces are busy switching sides and changing=20
uniforms. But in an enterprise as cynical as this one, it seems to=20
matter hardly at all. Love is hate, north is south, peace is war.

But for now, because it's inconvenient, that little detail is being=20
glossed over.) The visible, moderate, "acceptable" leader of the=20
Alliance, Ahmed Shah Masood, was killed in a suicide-bomb attack=20
early in September. The rest of the Northern Alliance is a brittle=20
confederation of brutal warlords, ex-communists and unbending=20
clerics. It is a disparate group divided
along ethnic lines, some of whom have tasted power in Afghanistan in the pa=
st.
Until the US air strikes, the Northern Alliance controlled about 5=20
per cent of the geographical area of Afghanistan. Now, with the=20
Coalition's help and 'air cover', it is poised to topple the Taliban.=20
Meanwhile, Taliban soldiers, sensing imminent defeat, have begun to=20
defect to the Alliance. So the fighting forces are busy switching=20
sides and changing uniforms. But in an enterprise as cynical as this=20
one, it seems to matter hardly at all. Love is hate, north is south,=20
peace is war.
Among the global powers, there is talk of 'putting in a=20
representative government'. Or, on the other hand, of 'restoring' the=20
Kingdom to Afghanistan's 89-year-old former king, Zahir Shah, who has=20
lived in exile in Rome since 1973. That's the way the game=20
goes-support Saddam Hussein, then 'take him out'; finance the=20
mujahideen, then bomb them to smithereens; put in Zahir Shah and see=20
if he's going to be a good boy. (Is it possible to 'put in' a=20
representative government? Can you place an order for Democracy-with=20
extra cheese and jalapeno peppers?)
Reports have begun to trickle in about civilian casualties, about=20
cities emptying out as Afghan civilians flock to the borders which=20
have been closed.
Main arterial roads have been blown up or sealed off. Those who have=20
experience of working in Afghanistan say that by early November, food=20
convoys will not be able to reach the millions of Afghans (7.5=20
million according to the UN) who run the very real risk of starving=20
to death during the course of this winter. They say that in the days=20
that are left before winter sets in, there can either be a war, or an=20
attempt to reach food

They say that air-dropping food packets is worse than futile.=20
First, because the food will never get to those who really need it.=20
More dangerously, those who run out to retrieve the packets risk=20
being blown up by landmines. A tragic alms race.

to the hungry. Not both.
As a gesture of humanitarian support, the US government air-dropped=20
37,000 packets of emergency rations into Afghanistan. It says it=20
plans to drop a total of 5,00,000 packets. That will still only add=20
up to a single meal for half-a-million people out of the several=20
million in dire need of food. Aid workers have condemned it as a=20
cynical, dangerous, public-relations exercise. They say that=20
air-dropping food packets is worse than futile. First, because the=20
food will never get to those who really need it. More dangerously,=20
those who run out to retrieve the packets risk being blown up by=20
landmines. A tragic alms race.
Nevertheless, the food packets had a photo-op all to themselves.=20
Their contents were listed in major newspapers. They were vegetarian,=20
we're told, as per Muslim Dietary Law(!) Each yellow packet,=20
decorated with the American flag, contained: rice, peanut butter,=20
bean salad, strawberry jam, crackers, raisins, flat bread, an apple=20
fruit bar, seasoning, matches, a set of plastic cutlery, a serviette=20
and illustrated user instructions.

After three years of unremitting drought, an air-dropped airline meal=20
in Jalalabad! The level of cultural ineptitude, the failure to=20
understand what months of relentless hunger and grinding poverty=20
really mean, the US government's attempt to use even this abject=20
misery to boost its self-image, beggars description.
Reverse the scenario for a moment. Imagine if the Taliban government=20
was to bomb New York City, saying all the while that its real target=20
was the US government and its policies. And suppose, during breaks=20
between the bombing, the Taliban dropped a few thousand packets=20
containing nan and kababs impaled on an Afghan flag.

What if the Taliban was to bomb NYC and also drop packets of=20
nan and kababs impaled on Afghan flags? Would the good people of New=20
York be able to forgive the Afghan government?

Would the good people of New York ever find it in themselves to=20
forgive the Afghan government? Even if they were hungry, even if they=20
needed the food, even if they ate it, how would they ever forget the=20
insult, the condescension? Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City,=20
returned a gift of $10 million from a Saudi prince because it came=20
with a few
words of friendly advice about American policy in the Middle East. Is=20
pride a luxury only the rich are entitled to?
Far from stamping it out, igniting this kind of rage is what creates=20
terrorism. Hate and retribution don't go back into the box once=20
you've let them out. For every 'terrorist' or his 'supporter' that is=20
killed, hundreds of innocent people are being killed too. And for=20
every hundred innocent people killed, there is a good chance that=20
several future terrorists will be created.
Where will it all lead?
Setting aside the rhetoric for a moment, consider the fact that the=20
world has not yet found an acceptable definition of what 'terrorism'=20
is. One country's terrorist is too often another's freedom fighter.=20
At the heart of the matter lies the world's deep-seated ambivalence=20
towards violence. Once violence is accepted as a legitimate political=20
instrument, then the morality and political acceptability of=20
terrorists (insurgents or freedom fighters) becomes contentious,=20
bumpy terrain.
The US government itself has funded, armed and sheltered plenty of=20
rebels and insurgents around the world. The CIA and Pakistan's ISI=20
trained and armed the mujahideen who, in the '80s, were seen as=20
terrorists by the government in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. While=20
President Reagan posed with them for a group portrait and called them=20
the moral equivalents of America's founding fathers. Today,=20
Pakistan-America's ally in this new

People who live in societies ravaged by religious or communal=20
bigotry know that every religious text-from the Bible to the Bhagwad=20
Gita-can be mined and misinterpreted to justify anything, from=20
nuclear war to genocide to corporate globalisation.

war-sponsors insurgents who cross the border into Kashmir in India.=20
Pakistan lauds them as 'freedom fighters', India calls them=20
'terrorists'. India, for its part, denounces countries who sponsor=20
and abet terrorism, but the Indian army has, in the past, trained=20
separatist Tamil rebels asking for a homeland in Sri Lanka-the LTTE,=20
responsible for countless acts of bloody terrorism. (Just as the CIA=20
abandoned the mujahideen after they had served its purpose, India=20
abruptly turned its back on the LTTE for a host of political reasons.=20
It was an enraged LTTE suicide-bomber who assassinated former Indian=20
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.)
It is important for governments and politicians to understand that=20
manipulating these huge, raging human feelings for their own narrow=20
purposes may yield instant results, but eventually and inexorably,=20
they have disastrous consequences. Igniting and exploiting religious=20
sentiments for reasons of political expediency is the most dangerous=20
legacy that governments or politicians can bequeath to any=20
people-including their own. People who live in societies ravaged by=20
religious or communal bigotry know that every religious text-from the=20
Bible to the Bhagwad Gita-can be mined and misinterpreted to justify=20
anything, from nuclear war to genocide to corporate globalisation.

This is not to suggest that the terrorists who perpetrated the=20
outrage on September 11 should not be hunted down and brought to=20
book. They must be. But is war the best way to track them down? Will=20
burning the haystack find you the needle? Or will it escalate the=20
anger and make the world a living hell for all of us?
At the end of the day, how many people can you spy on, how many bank=20
accounts can you freeze, how many conversations can you eavesdrop on,=20
how many e-mails can you intercept, how many letters can you open,=20
how many phones can you tap? Even before September 11, the CIA had=20
accumulated more information than is humanly possible to process.

The sheer scale of the surveillance will become a logistical,=20
ethical and civil rights nightmare. It will drive everybody clean=20
crazy. And freedom-that precious, precious thing-will be the first=20
casualty. It's already hurt and haemorrhaging dangerously.

(Sometimes, too much data can actually hinder intelligence-small=20
wonder the US spy satellites completely missed the preparation that=20
preceded India's nuclear tests in 1998.)
The sheer scale of the surveillance will become a logistical, ethical=20
and civil rights nightmare. It will drive everybody clean crazy. And=20
freedom-that precious, precious thing-will be the first casualty.=20
It's already hurt
and haemorrhaging dangerously.
Governments across the world are cynically using the prevailing=20
paranoia to promote their own interests. All kinds of unpredictable=20
political forces are being unleashed. In India, for instance, members=20
of the All India People's Resistance Forum, who were distributing=20
anti-war and anti-US pamphlets in Delhi, have been jailed. Even the=20
printer of the leaflets was arrested. The right-wing government=20
(while it shelters Hindu extremists groups like the Vishwa Hindu=20
Parishad and the Bajrang Dal) has banned the Students' Islamic=20
Movement of India and is trying to revive an anti-terrorist act which=20
had been withdrawn after the Human Rights Commission reported that it=20
had been more abused than used. Millions of Indian citizens are=20
Muslim. Can anything be gained by alienating them?
Every day that the war goes on, raging emotions are being let loose=20
into the world. The international press has little or no independent=20
access to the war zone. In any case, mainstream media, particularly=20
in the US, has more or less rolled over, allowing itself to be=20
tickled on the stomach with press hand-outs from militarymen and=20
government officials.
Afghan radio stations have been destroyed by the bombing. The Taliban=20
has always been deeply suspicious of the Press. In the propaganda=20
war, there is no accurate estimate of how many people have been=20
killed, or how much destruction has taken place. In the absence of=20
reliable information, wild rumours spread.
Put your ear to the ground in this part of the world, and you can=20
hear the thrumming, the deadly drumbeat

Put your ear to the ground in this part of the world, and you=20
can hear the thrumming, the deadly drumbeat of burgeoning anger.=20
Please. Please, stop the war now. Enough people have died. The smart=20
missiles are just not smart enough. They're blowing up whole=20
warehouses of suppressed fury.

of burgeoning anger. Please. Please, stop the war now. Enough people=20
have died. The smart missiles are just not smart enough. They're=20
blowing up whole warehouses of suppressed fury.
President George Bush recently boasted: "When I take action, I'm not=20
going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a=20
camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." President Bush should=20
know that there are no targets in Afghanistan that will give his=20
missiles their money's worth. Perhaps, if only to balance his books,=20
he should develop some cheaper missiles to use on cheaper targets and=20
cheaper lives in the poor countries of the world. But then, that may=20
not make good business sense to the Coalition's weapons=20
manufacturers. It wouldn't make any sense at all, for example, to the=20
Carlyle Group-described by the Industry Standard as 'the world's=20
largest private equity firm', with $12 billion under management.=20
Carlyle invests in the defence sector and makes its money from=20
military conflicts and weapons spending.

Carlyle is run by men with impeccable credentials. Former US defence=20
secretary Frank Carlucci is Carlyle's chairman and managing director=20
(he was a college roommate of Donald Rumsfeld's). Carlyle's other=20
partners include former US secretary of state James A. Baker III,=20
George Soros, Fred Malek (George Bush Sr's campaign manager). An=20
American paper-the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel-says that former=20
President George Bush Sr is reported to be seeking investments for=20
the Carlyle Group from Asian markets. He is reportedly paid not=20
inconsiderable sums of money to make 'presentations' to potential=20
government-clients.

Few of us doubt that its military presence in the Gulf has=20
little to do with its concern for human rights and almost entirely to=20
do with its strategic interest in oil.

Ho Hum. As the tired saying goes, it's all in the family.
Then there's that other branch of traditional family business-oil.=20
Remember, President George Bush (Jr) and Vice-President Dick Cheney=20
both made their fortunes working in the US oil industry.
Turkmenistan, which borders the northwest of Afghanistan,
holds the world's third largest gas reserves and an estimated six=20
billion barrels of oil reserves. Enough, experts say, to meet=20
American energy needs for the next 30 years (or a developing=20
country's energy requirements for a couple of centuries.) America has=20
always viewed oil as a security consideration, and protected it by=20
any means it deems necessary. Few of us doubt that its military=20
presence in the Gulf has little to do with its concern for human=20
rights and almost entirely to do with its strategic interest in oil.
Oil and gas from the Caspian region currently moves northward to=20
European markets. Geographically and politically, Iran and Russia are=20
major impediments to American interests. In 1998, Dick Cheney-then=20
CEO of Halliburton, a major player in the oil industry-said: "I can't=20
think of a time when we've had a region emerge as suddenly to become=20
as strategically significant as the Caspian. It's almost as if the=20
opportunities have arisen overnight." True enough.
For some years now, an American oil giant called Unocal has been=20
negotiating with the Taliban for permission to construct an oil=20
pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and out to the Arabian Sea.
>From here, Unocal hopes to access the lucrative 'emerging markets' in=20
South and Southeast Asia. In December 1997, a delegation of Taliban=20
mullahs travelled to America and even met US State Department=20
officials and Unocal executives in Houston.At that time the Taliban's=20
taste for public executions and its treatment of Afghan women were=20
not made out to be the crimes against humanity

Shall we look away and eat because we're hungry, or shall we=20
stare unblinking at the grim theatre unfolding in Afghanistan until=20
we retch collectively and say, in one voice, that we have had enough?

that they are now. Over the next six months, pressure from hundreds=20
of outraged American feminist groups was brought to bear on the=20
Clinton administration. Fortunately, they managed to scuttle the=20
deal. And now comes the US oil industry's big chance.
In America, the arms industry, the oil industry, the major media=20
networks, and, indeed, US foreign policy, are all controlled by the=20
same business combines. Therefore, it would be foolish to expect this=20
talk of guns and oil and defence deals to get any real play in the=20
media. In any case, to a distraught, confused people whose pride has=20
just been wounded, whose loved ones have been tragically killed,=20
whose anger is fresh and sharp, the inanities about the 'Clash of=20
Civilisations' and the 'Good vs Evil' discourse home in unerringly.=20
They are cynically doled out by government spokesmen like a daily=20
dose of vitamins or anti-depressants. Regular medication ensures that=20
mainland America continues to remain the enigma it has always been-a=20
curiously insular people, administered by a pathologically=20
meddlesome, promiscuous government.
And what of the rest of us, the numb recipients of this onslaught of=20
what we know to be preposterous propaganda? The daily consumers of=20
the lies and brutality smeared in peanut butter and strawberry jam=20
being air-dropped into our minds just like those yellow food packets.=20
Shall we look away and eat because we're hungry, or shall we stare=20
unblinking at the grim theatre unfolding in Afghanistan until we=20
retch collectively and say, in one voice, that we have had enough?
As the first year of the new millennium rushes to a close, one=20
wonders-have we forfeited our right to dream? Will we ever be able to=20
re-imagine beauty? Will it be possible ever again to watch the slow,=20
amazed blink of a new-born gecko in the sun, or whisper back to the=20
marmot who has just whispered in your ear-without thinking of the=20
World Trade Center and Afghanistan?

______

#2.

The Hindu
21 Oct. 2001

'Fatwa' against sale of Anglo-American goods

NEW DELHI, OCT. 20. The jurists of Darul Uloom and other Islamic=20
institutions have issued a 'Fatwa' (edict) proscribing the sale and=20
purchase of Anglo-American goods to protest U.S.-led attacks on=20
Afghanistan which they described as ``an act of aggression against=20
Muslims and Islam.'' A statement issued by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind=20
said the edict was issued by Darul Uloom of Deoband, Mazahir-e-Uloom=20
of Saharanpur and Madrasa Shahi of Moradabad in response to a query=20
by it.

It said ``violation of the edict shall amount to cooperation with the=20
aggression against Islam.''Over 500 Islamic scholars and jurists had=20
appended their signatures to the edict and more endorsements were=20
being received from different parts of the country.

It said the president of the Jamiat, Maulana Asad Madani has appealed=20
to all countries and organisations to raise their voice ``against=20
U.S. action and the policies that are a threat to world peace,=20
particularly in west Asia and South-East Asia."

______

#3.

The Hindu
Sunday, October 21, 2001

Tailoring history

By Anjali Modi

MYSTERY CONTINUES to surround the names of the people who are writing=20
the National Council for Educational Research and Training's (NCERT)=20
history textbooks. Prof. R. K. Dixit, head of NCERT's Department of=20
Education in Social Science and Humanities, said he ``could not=20
remember the names''. The NCERT Director, Prof. J. S. Rajput, said=20
there were ``many writers'' and that he did not want to expose them=20
to ``controversy'' by naming them. This begs the question: why would=20
revealing the names of writers of school history textbooks expose=20
them to controversy?

The chance discovery, last week, of the names of the writers of the=20
Ancient India textbook for class 11 - Prof. T. P. Verma and Prof.=20
Makkhan Lal - seemed to confirm suspicions that the NCERT's choice of=20
authors was driven by their support for the Ramjanmabhoomi movement=20
rather than for their contribution to history writing. The NCERT=20
denied this. But by withholding the names of writers (now of the=20
remaining history textbooks) and the details of the guidelines given=20
to them it has effectively stalled a debate on the teaching of=20
history in school.It is, as one educationist put it, behaving with=20
``shocking and unprecedented opaqueness... treating education as if=20
it is a defence secret''. This is, perhaps, because the NCERT and its=20
master, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, do not have an=20
intellectual justification for their project.

Textbooks are only the final round of a process that began with the=20
so-called `national curriculum framework' (NCF) and the new=20
`syllabus'. The NCF is the NCERT's on-paper justification for new=20
textbooks. The argument is that the NCF demands new textbooks which=20
fulfil its goals of ``Indianisation, nationalisation and=20
spiritualisation'' of school education.

But the NCF has not been accepted by the two bodies that must approve=20
it - the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) and the States'=20
Education Ministers conference. The HRD Ministry has not given them=20
the chance to accept or reject it by the expedient measure of not=20
convening a meeting of either.

And, in August this year, the Governments of nine non-NDA-ruled=20
States - Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,=20
Nagaland, Karnataka, Pondicherry, and Chhatisgarh - signed a=20
statement rejecting the NCF saying it was a ``blueprint for lowering=20
the quality of school education... and giving it a narrow=20
exclusivist, sectarian and obscurantist orientation''.

Yet the production of new textbooks continues apace, albeit in secret.

Critics of the NCERT, who include both those who question the need to=20
replace the existing textbooks as well as those who accept that there=20
is a need for revised, updated and more inclusive histories, fear=20
that the rush to produce new textbooks and the complete lack of=20
transparency with which it is being done ``reflects what is happening=20
in the Indian polity... where everything is dictated by the BJP-Sangh=20
Parivar's goal of establishing a Hindu Rashtra''. The Sangh's version=20
of history - which makes the claim that the nation is several=20
millennia old and is the story of the struggle between `Hindus' and=20
`foreigners' - is central to the myth-making for a Hindu Rashtra.

Hence, the concern about the new history textbooks. There is good=20
reason for this concern. For the record, the BJP, when in Government=20
in the States, speaks for itself. In Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in the=20
early 1990s, State-produced and approved textbooks showed a lack of=20
concern for historical facts, asserting, for example, that the=20
``Harrapan and Vedic Civilisations were the same'', attributing=20
practises such as jauhar and child marriage and superstition to=20
``fear of Muslims'' and explaining caste thus: ``Hindus tried to=20
protect their religion and society by making their caste system''.

Statements of Prof. Rajput, who as head of the NCERT is the man=20
entrusted with producing the new curriculum, syllabus and textbooks,=20
also point to the fact that the driving force behind the new history=20
textbooks is religion. The NCERT Director has shown scant regard for=20
historiography or historical method and the premise that all=20
professional historians begin with: history is not simply a statement=20
of fact but a synthesis of different sources.

In order to discount the value of the existing textbooks, and assert=20
that they ``denigrate minorities'', Prof. Rajput quotes from them=20
selectively and out of context. A much-discussed example of this is=20
the reference to Guru Tegh Bahadur in Prof. Satish Chandra's=20
``Medieval India''. Prof. Rajput has repeatedly quoted a couple of=20
sentences from the textbook claiming that these hurt Sikh sentiments.=20
What he fails to mention is that the quotation is from one of two=20
conflicting 18th century sources that are presented in the textbook,=20
and that Prof. Chandra's conclusion based on these two - `official'=20
and `Sikh' - sources is favourable to Guru Tegh Bahadur rather than=20
being critical of him.

By and large the re-writers are banking on the stridency of religious=20
leaders and their political puppeteers (including, it turns out, the=20
Congress Chief Minister and MLAs of Delhi) who can be relied on to=20
generate enough heat on baseless claims of religious insensitivity to=20
give the NCERT the justification for whatever history it is producing.

Earlier this year, Prof. Rajput, discussing the new history=20
textbooks, said: ``If people believe in mythology, they should be=20
allowed to...'' And here rests the `debate'. For, those like the=20
Governments of the nine States which in August said the project of=20
the HRD Ministry and the NCERT was to make education ``narrow,=20
exclusivist, sectarian and obscurantist'', have chosen to do nothing.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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