[sacw] SACW #1 (24 August 01)

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Thu, 23 Aug 2001 22:48:15 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire / Dispatch No. 1
24 August 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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[1.] The Many Whirls of India (or Jo Chahe Ho Jaye, Coca-Cola Enjoy!)
[2.] India: Vajpayee Fulminates Against Christians
[3.] India: Astrology-Science or Art
[4.] India: The Struggle Against Sexual Harassment Continues at the=20
Lucknow University

-----------------------------------------

#1.

23 Aug 2001 13:19:30 +0530

THE MANY WHIRLS OF INDIA
(or Jo Chahe Ho Jaye,Coca-Cola Enjoy!)

by Bina Srinivasan

India: the Giant Ferrywheel. Carrying cackling, jostling, clawing,
hissing, spitting hordes on her back. And mind you, there are
multitudes queuing up for a ticket to ride. Those who cannot afford the
fare simply hang on to the spokes--the spokes-persons.

The Giant Ferrywheel is always on the brink of changing its mind.

I=92ll explain that in a moment. For now just imagine those hordes
cramped in hundreds of lurching carriages, dizzying their ways into
destiny. The Ferrywheel goes round and round at breakneck speed and
people shriek with delight, clutch their bellies as sickness overcomes
them, or sail through it all with eyebrows arched and mouths upturned.
The spokes-persons have a mundane existence, clinging as they are to
dear life, but some of them manage to go through it with a smile. The
Ferrywheel sometimes goes at tortoise speed, cheating you of all
excitement. At others, it merely grinds to a crunching halt and none of
your persuasive powers work. That is when you itch to get off, cross
the oceans and never look back.

For those of us who resist the temptation to say goodbye to India, we
see that every once in a while the Giant Ferrywheel changes its mind.
It zooms up in a circle, the zing in your stomach rushes out in shouts
of laughter. And suddenly, as you plummet downwards, every single hair
on your head stands on edge like Snoopy=92s ears when he is startled out
of his nap by a large cat standing over him.

Then you know. There will be no reassuring scoop to deliver you upwards,
to save you from that impending crash. There will be no mechanical
lever subverting the laws of gravity when the Giant Ferrywheel changes
its mind. And there you are, along with millions of others, betrayed in
mid-air, on your surefire way to a collision that will change your life
forever.

Funny-sad.

Calamity follows when the Giant Ferrywheel changes its mind. I remember
several such occasions: when communal riots broke out after they tore
down Babri Masjid. When the cities were overflowing with blood and the
violent stench of fear. When Rathyatras wound their journeys through
villages, towns and cities, spewing venomous messages that even the
unlettered read very well. When Bhopal, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Surat,
Bhiwandi or Vadodara burst like Diwali crackers with the burden of all
that hate.

Rotting flesh on tar roads; a congregation of crows watching a bereaved,
shocked-out-of their-minds family. The vacant stare of an old woman who
lost everything she possessed and does not know what to do with herself
now, the wrinkled silhouette of a auto-rickshaw driver whose
incomprehensive eyes have glazed over at the horror he has just
witnessed. The frenzied, unstoppable determination of a crowd of
rioters. A handcart flung into the expanse of a vast black road, wheels
in the air like a dog begging for a pat and a rub. The frightened
whimper of a shell-shocked little puppy seeking shelter in deserted
debris that once was a house filled with the yells of children. The
politicians, dressed in starched white, throwing up their hands in the
air, helpless at the carnage they have helped to set in motion. Khakhi
clad policemen waving batons in a city crippled by the worst massacre in
its entire history.

Curfews are clamped down on sullen cities and towns; you walk through
the deathly quiet of a street. You are unnerved by all those unseen eyes
staring down from curtained windows, those festering wounds that will
ripen and strike once more. The weight of all that silence lies heavy.
You smell the burgeoning wrath and cringe, not wanting to believe this
was the city you grew up in. You reject the burnt out remains of a shoe
shop, you want to opt out of these lanes that hold memories of happy
weekend shopping trips not so far back in time. How does one live down
a time like that? Nobody has ever taught me how to forget the sight of
a ragpicker ferreting out scraps from the debris of what once was a
cosmetic shop, in the aftermath of a riot. Lucky are those who can blot
these images and go on living, pretending it never happens to Us.

Photographs come in all colours: black, orange, white. Colours
squiggle over the pages of magazines, splash into television screens.
This one here is no jigsaw puzzle, it is a straight out commentary.
Blank faces and hollow eyes, reminding those aboard the Ferrywheel that
this time round we are the lucky ones.

Soon battered, bleeding cities limp back to normalcy as newspapers like
to report. Yes, they actually do, even my beloved Mumbai did. People
get back to mundane routines, to small acts of kindness and they feel
the skin of terror peeling off. What remains of the scars, they prefer
to forget.

What does it mean really, to belong to a minority community in these
jo-chahe-ho-jaye days on the Giant Ferrywheel? Don=92t know.

I once came upon a belligerent procession of hundreds of devotees all on
their way to immersing Ganesha idols in the sea. Truckloads of saffron
headbands rolled in one after the other. Hundreds of them. I crossed
the street, looking curiously at the antics of the devotees.

Just then I caught sight of a Muslim woman with a child, also crossing
the street. A dupatta thrown over her head she hunched her shoulders
and fingers clutched the arm of the boy. Her feet nearly flew across the
tarmac. I stood stock still and watched this woman trying to make
herself and the child as invisible as possible. As I stood there I felt
the weight of fifty-two years of Indian independence pressing down my
shoulders. My confident stroll across the road, her panic-stricken
flight. The bindi on my forehead, the dupatta on her head. Signals
all. Of whether we can take safety for granted or not.

At that precise moment she looked at me. I flinched and dropped my
gaze hastily.

That is the problem. After fifty years of independence, I cannot look a
Muslim woman caught in a Ganesh visarjan procession like me, straight in
the eye. Why is that? I cannot take any responsibility of what might
happen if things turn ugly. Every bit of bravado I thought I ever
possessed went scuttling for cover that afternoon on a crowded street in
Central Mumbai.

I was once told, you Indians are resilient. H=92mmm? I watch a brood of
chattering kids going off to school in blue-white uniforms, carting
assorted shapes and sizes on their backs. These kids must be tough
alright, for they survive the Ferrywheel that is always on the brink of
changing its mind.

The worst is over, they say. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Kaun Banega
Crorepati will deliver this country through the millennium, they
believe. KFC and KBC, they tell drought-stricken farmers, hungry
children and angry women, will be our last salvation.

I am one of those disbelievers, so I lift a forefinger of warning.
Spoilsport, conspiracy theory, I hear a whisper over my shoulder. Ok,
so call me anti-national because I deride the achievements of the
country. And I am a conspiracy theorist because I am not all that sure
there is no conspiracy. And yes, I am frightened. Call me whatever you
want, but the fear remains inside me, coiled and ready to spring.

What explains the Muslim pogroms, the rape of nuns, the torching of
missionaries in Orissa? Or the dicktat that love between the sexes is
to proceed strictly along religious lines because Hindu-Muslim girls and
boys who dare to marry each other are being hounded, attacked and
kidnapped? Or the dress codes that are being imposed on women in
colleges or national television? Or the cricket pitches that have been
dug up? Or musicians that have been barred from performing in Mumbai?

Oh yes! All is not dark and grim. There is hope. Oodles of it. Because
human nature still warms up to those acts of kindness, because not
everybody is willing to abdicate on simple values like decency. Because
falling in love is still in fashion. Because college campuses are still
capable of resistance. Because every little boy worth his salt still
plays cricket. Because Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan did charm his way through
borders.

In the meantime, we better take notice. Somebody seems to have got all
the tunes wrong and an alarming number of Indians are dancing to those
songs.

By now we know that it does not stop with one riot. For each tragic riot
that has just died down there are riots-in-the-making all cooking in
that microwave oven you bought from the Spencer Plaza at Chennai. My
forefinger is still waving as though sending signals across in a
seance. That too is beside the point. We limp back to normalcy and
there is a witches=92 brew that is boiling on the pot. If we don=92t watch
out, some of that potion will be thrust down unsuspecting throats and
the country will burn again.

That too deserves explanation, I suppose. It all goes back to school
kids, Sunday mornings, my seven year old nephew and newspaper reports.
It also involves Hitler.

One fine Sunday morning I sat calmly reading the newspaper. I read
about Generation Next who thought the Emergency was all about fire
breaking out in the neighbour=92s house. (Constitutional Emergency?
Huhh? What the heck is that? KBC, help!!). Then I learnt that Sunday
that the riots of last month had transmogrified into history and Dame
History, that frosty prima donna, had slumped into a bin.

Next minute I nearly jumped off the chair. Hitler, said the black
newsprint, will be resurrected. Was this some pro-Nazi skinhead group
in faraway Europe or wherever, proclaiming to bring back their master
from the dead? But no! The Ferrywheel was hurtling downwards, the wind
whistled a macabre tune. Somebody in the Gujarat government had
announced their plans to insert the story of Hitler=92s heroic life and
deeds into school books.

What=92s dilemma?, piped my seven year old nephew that fine Sunday morning
as I sat reading the newspaper, not so calmly. Confusion?, I ventured
absently. Oh yeah, said my Generation Next nephew in his best American
accent. I felt his bright black eyes boring into my back and I said,
the Ferrywheel is changing its mind again. He nodded sagely.

Why do I feel as though somebody is making a horrible mistake? Hitler
was not a hero, he was a murderer, I want to shout. The powers-that-be
are not listening. Maybe it is time to cross the oceans and leave
forever. On the other hand, maybe it is time to stay back and shout.

Perhaps the young things out there watching primetime television
programmes have heard of Hitler. Hopefully, they know the right things
about him. All that is about to change though. Hitler is coming to
town, boys and girls, in a new avatar. Thanks to a few well meaning
politicians in India. General knowledge never harmed anybody, so spruce
up on your GK. And we need new role models for Generation Next. Only
ethnic minorities and the hateful communists need to fear Hitler and run
for cover in the woods.

The man-in-question is surely yelping for joy in his grave. His delight
must overwhelm him as he contemplates the New Dawn when hundreds of
school children will wake up to his new-found status of a hero. And, so
Generation Next can you tell us the moral of the story?

Post-Modern Times. History we will be told, has unjustly chosen to
condemn a man who masterminded and oversaw the murder of tens of
thousands of people. It is no simple feat, some would be quick to point
out. Lesser mortals may cringe at the mindless torture executed in
killing fields across Germany. Short-sighted, mean-minded individuals
may berate the near-perfect efficiency with which the Nazi game-plan
succeeded in exterminating millions of innocent people. (Not that the
man was alone in doing so, he had national pride solidly behind him as
they manufactured machines of death. Point is, he got the whole nation
thinking that wrong is right. Is that the stuff of heroism then?)

So we see that for long interminable years Hitler, the poor chap, has
been reviled. The stink of infamy has clung to him long after death.
Enough is enough. Even now some people refuse to let his ghost lie.
Witness the anti-Nazi literature that still pours out like a straggle of
worms squirming out of the woodwork. Turns your stomach.

The storyline is being reversed and some think it is high time the
dialogues are delivered right. Not everybody can do what Hitler did
(oh, thank Goddess!). He had True Talent, which is often misunderstood.
After all it takes courage of a certain kind to resurrect a man like
that from ignominy. Swimming against the tide has never been easy, as
Hitler and the World War II teaches us. And it takes one hero to
recognize another.

The time is ripe, and India is ready for Hitler, so they say. When
khakhi shorts line the television screen, the nation prepares for a
transition. There is so much to fear from the minorities, we are told
in a hundred different ways. Their population, their religion, their
culture. What happened to our glorious history, I want to ask anybody
who wants to answer. Are we going to let them draw lots on who to
target the next time round, or will India resist it?

Indians invented the zero. Bollywood created the anti-hero. Coca-Cola
endorsed the jo chahe ho jaye principle. The Giant Ferrywheel prepares
to turn round. Only, this time it goes anti-clockwise. Up when it
should be down. Down when it should be up.

Violence works and it is the new millennium. We have to do something
bold even if it is not beautiful. Does this include celebrating the
orchestrated violence of the Nazis, torture in prison cells, the rape
and mutilitation of women within their homes? The lily-livered and
prejudiced civil liberties-wallahs groan and moan their way to the
graveyard. Not everybody can stomach the ways of the new century.

Perhaps it is not all that bad. Oodles of hope, I said. Pass them
round please, I=92d like a scoopful, and do come round for a second
helping, please.

I return once more to a curfew-ridden city. Vadodara, circa 1991. Long
interminable days of curfew had surrounded the city like the sting of
acrid chemical fumes. As a freelance journalist I was writing a story
on the two-hour relief granted to women and children. It was a hot
afternoon. The clock struck the hour and the deserted mainstreet began
to fill up. In minutes women began pouring out of doorways and
alleyways. A veritable sea of colours hit the black band of the road. A
cackle of voices hit the air and a warm, living buzz surrounded us, the
journalists who had gathered there for a story.

Hindu and Muslim women chatted with each other exchanging notes about
life behind closed doors, they haggled together with vendors who had
hiked the price of vegetables, thanks to the curfew. They laughed in
one voice and took deep breaths of the freedom they had been granted.

The contrast between the sullen silence of the street and the hum of
sound was surreal. I felt as though as I was watching some kind of a
fairytale, where a magic word had released all those women from a dark
cave. They surged about confidently, the women. Even gun-totting
policemen on the streets looked relaxed as they watched them buy
vegetables and other provisions. I stared at the women, suddenly
excited, suddenly warmed by the sheer security those jostling bodies
provided. Streets after all, are meant to be walked on, not left
unused. They are meant to resound with the sounds of a city, not be
enveloped by the eerie quiet of fear.

Curfew-relaxation was a respite that restored my faith in humanity, so
to speak. I hung around that street drinking in sounds and sights like
a beggar on the brink of starvation. Too soon, the clock struck the
hour and the magic was withdrawn, the women were pushed back into dark
caves. And God help the unfortunate woman who got left behind to
negotiate empty, silent streets on her own. The fairytale was over for
the day. Come again tomorrow, said a woman, squeezing my hand and
hurrying back to her home.

Funny-sad.

So there is some hope in the sheer ordinariness of everyday life. Those
cramped carriages of the Giant Ferrywheel can get furious if anything
interferes with the business of living. They make sure their anger does
not go unnoticed. Come election time and they flex their muscles. The
same hordes that are capable of bringing the monsters are capable of
flinging them out too. And so on it goes, the Great Indian Saga.

Dame History, that frosty prima donna, squeaks her lessons from the bin.
She warns or cajoles, depending on her mood. Ignore her at your own
peril, a voice whispers from some remote hinterland. The future is at
stake. If not now, then when? croons Tracy Chapman. Indeed, let=92s all
stand and stare for a minute and then go about our separate ways. There
are the children to think about, those school kids whose backs may be
broken by the guilt and fear we may unwittingly leave behind as legacy.

There is India to worry about, folks, our very own funny-sad land.

Up there on the Ferrywheel the air gets warmer, the hum grows louder and
some of us smile again depending on how close we are to the heat. The
Ferrywheel turns, slowly at first and picks up speed. The zing in our
collective stomachs churns out loud laughter.

This time round the Giant Ferrywheel should not change its mind. If it
does the crash that will follow will cripple the Ferrywheel itself. And
we will have no place to bury the dead.

_________

2.

Vajpayee Fulminates Against Christians
I. K. Shukla

Vajpayee Hatao, Desh Bachao (Oust Vajpayee, Save the Nation)=20
campaign, recently launched by the CPI-ML, hasn't come a day too=20
soon. Still I owe them thanks for crystallizing the national agony=20
into a proper slogan. It should now nationally and massively expand=20
to Oust the National Disaster Alliance and Save the Nation. Our=20
freedom and future as a nation are in peril, besides much else.

In his recent exhortation to the RSS coven at his residence Vajpayee=20
made two obnoxiously incriminating statements, virtual fatwas in=20
fact, amounting to a declaration of open season on the Christians.=20
Looked at closely, he seems to have indelicately and indirectly=20
exhorted the RSS not only to hound the missionaries who, according to=20
his addled perception, convert people under the guise of social=20
services, but he also appeared boldly instigating crimes of the Sangh=20
Brigade
by commending the RSS in his hortatory chant verging on the=20
incoherent: " Don't judge RSS by its ideology, but by its action".=20
Undaunted, he was exacerbating communal violence and uninhibitedly=20
inciting an intensified season of vigilante lawlessness. We always=20
knew that the Sangh enshrines lethality, loot, lies, and=20
lawlessness. His outburst is the latest evidence. He proved once=20
again that he was not the Prime Minister of India, but of the Hindu=20
Taliban.

Thus he absolved the ideology of communal fascism and extremist=20
exclusivism practiced and preached by the RSS treasonously since its=20
inception. When were its actions ever divergent from its ideology? He=20
unwittingly admitted to its actions having been brutal and nasty,=20
barbaric and immoral, and vainly tried to gloss over its crimes. To=20
all intents and purposes while the RSS ideology stinks, the actions=20
inspired by it, actively orchestrated and instigated by the saffron=20
warlords, blaze a trail of blood and fire that is incessantly burning=20
the nation to cinders.

The animus against the Christian "missionaries" results from its=20
bottomless greed and gnawing fear. Greed: Christian institutions,=20
properties, and assets are coveted by the Sangh Parivar. But not=20
their discipline of selflessness, sense of justice, and the record of=20
untiring service with no expectation of any worldly reward. Fear: It=20
is Christian institutions that have selflessly empowered the=20
abandoned and the downtrodden of India through education and medical=20
help. This the caste-doped saffron hoods can't stomach. In their book=20
the emancipation of the Dalits-Tribals-Women-Minorities is a sin,=20
hence an anathema, since it directly threatens their exploitative=20
hegemony and the ill-gotten and iniquitous privileges of the upper=20
castes/class.

That Vajpayee vengefully and craftily camouflaged this greed and fear=20
of the Hindu Taliban under a blatant falsehood, is neither surprising=20
nor aberrant. He has consistently done that. He has thus assured the=20
RSS that BJP is in power to ramrod its agenda down the nation's=20
throat, with NDA colluding or condoning. And, in his pontifical=20
pietism he asked the nation to look at the actions of the RSS. Yes,=20
the nation should look, and look hard at the historical crimes of the=20
RSS. But for the moment it would suffice to just look at the crimes=20
RSS committed in concert with its kin VHP-BajDal-SSena in the=20
Hindutva Satrapy of Gujarat when it was torn apart by a massive=20
earthquake in January. It stole, it squandered, it cheated, it=20
profiteered, and violated all norms of morality and humanity in=20
hogging the relief material, distributing it among its own and those=20
quite well to do, but criminally and shamelessly denying it to the=20
worst affected for whom primarily the aid has been pouring. The=20
massive human tragedy taking a toll of 20,00 and rendering homeless=20
half a million people was turned by the Hindu Taliban into a gainful=20
opportunity, swelling their pockets with death money and stockading a=20
vote bank. No crime was too dastardly, no corruption too mean to=20
embarrass this diabolic design of the Hindutva terrorists.

It is this brand of Hindu Talibanism that VHP, its brother in arms,=20
has embarked upon. Forty of them will visit various countries, stay=20
in Sheraton Hotels, employ a PR firm, and preach to the gullible NRIs=20
how hatred for others is sacred, how bigotry and bellicosity=20
constitute dharma, how ignorance of history is a virtue, amnesia=20
about culture is a merit, how extremism and communal terrorism are=20
"national", and how atavism and tribalism are "patriotic". This kind=20
of global junketing was never available to the Christian=20
missionaries who could not even in their wildest dreams wish for such=20
bounties and bonanzas in the name of religion. This lotus-eating=20
adjunct and aid of Hindutva makes it reek and suppurate with blackest=20
corruption. The money, all "donations", comes from the gullible poor.=20
And the sly carpetbaggers.

Another aspect of this fascistic cult's cruise is worth reflection.=20
Most of the party is vaishya, trading community. It is no=20
coincidence. Singhals, Modis, Jains, and Dalmias have been at the=20
barricades for their venal interests - to ensure perpetuation of=20
their class privileges. The Indian state under the BJP is accessory=20
to this drive. Thus religion as a profitable business is=20
everlastingly appealing, (most in its Hindutva variant). No wonder=20
religion has historically been in league with the dominant class to=20
keep people subjugated, ignorant, and cowed down.

The karma-cursed and caste-corroded scourge, touting itself as=20
religion, instills fear and helplessness among people, justifies the=20
predatory privileges of the hereditary parasites. For these=20
obscurantist and occult purposes it needs the voodoo of astrology,=20
karmakand, and priestly rituals to prod people into submission. To=20
promote superstitions and prohibitions, to instill the phony terror=20
of hell and the empty promise of heaven, it conspiratorially=20
collaborates with the perfidious ruling class in exploiting people=20
and keeping them crushed with iniquity and degradation. It is thus=20
that poverty can be made bearable as one's ill luck, and theft of=20
national resources and malfeasance as the good luck of the chosen=20
few. This "magic" circle of crime and corruption, blessed by a few=20
shlokas and suktas from the assorted scriptures, becomes eternal,=20
"divinely" ordained, and "natural". There are gods in this pantheon=20
who would sanctify violence, greed, and criminality and who can be=20
invoked to bless loot and murder, destitution and disparity,=20
despoliation and devastation, demolition and disruption.

Since this Non-Democratic Alliance has been party to criminalization=20
of politics and communalization of society by the Hindutva hordes,=20
it can't any more swear by its secularist pretensions. Nor should its=20
various constituents go unpunished come election time. Those who=20
lived by brinkmanship and made belligerency and barbarism into state=20
instruments of terror against the vulnerable sections of the=20
citizenry must be kicked out of office no less unceremoniously than=20
their co-conspirators huddled under the deceptive sobriquet of a=20
thoroughly nihilistic- despicable Alliance. It is not from mere=20
compulsions of imminent polls that Vajpayee whipped up the=20
anti-Christian frenzy but also from the cruel, criminal, and cynical=20
mind-set that was embedded in him by RSS.
They are aptly named swayam sewak (self-serving). Treason and=20
betrayal couldn't hope for a better cloak, or a bloodier dagger. They=20
proffer their "clean image"as their poll campaign in UP. Since when=20
has clean become the appellation of crime and corruption, anarchy,=20
sale of national assets and sovereignty to aliens, of poverty,=20
ignominy, terror, and death clawing the land? 22Aug.01

_________

3.

Astrology-Science or Art

Ram Puniyani

The ministry of MHRD, Dept. of education has recently sent a circular to
the universities, which have started astrology courses, stating that these
courses should not be started in science stream but in Arts stream. The
University Grants Commission last year sent a circular to different
Universities to start the JyotirVugyan, courses of Vedic Astrology in
Indian universities, in science stream. Many a Universities genu-flexed
and agreed to the suggestion, with the result that this year some of them
already have started these 'scientific' courses. This methos of dictating
from the top to regulate the University education is a total violation of
all academic norms and freedom, which is a basic prerequisite for the
functioning and growth of academic institutions.

In a recently concluded three-day national convention 'Against
Saffronisation of Education' many an outstanding Social scientists and
scientists expressed their concern against the current moves of this govt.
Also education ministers of nine non-NDA states strongly protested against
the Central Govt. high handedness in imposing policies without the
consultation of the state Govt. and also the trends to saffronise the
education.

The move to introduce ``Jyotir Vigyan'' came as one of the biggest 'leap
backwards' in last many years, in the field of education. The UGC circular
announcing this gives a trend of the state of affairs prevalent in the
MHRD, under the firm grip of Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi whose policies don't
give any inkling of the fact that he is a physicist also. The circular
states, "There is urgent need to rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology
in India, to allow this scientific knowledge to reach the society at large
and provide opportunities to get this important science even exported to
the world.'' The objectives of the course are set out to be ``Vedic
astrology is not only one of the main subjects of our traditional and
classical knowledge, but this is the discipline which lets us know the
events happening in human life and in the universe on time scale,''

Since the coming of BJP led coalition to power in the center, Dr. Joshi
has been quietly implementing the saffron agenda in the field of
education. As most of the coalition partners' major concern is power and
pelf, the practitioners of Hindutva politics are having a merry time
imposing their retrograde agenda in the field of education without any
resistance. Also neither is it properly opened for debate in the concerned
academic circles nor is its implication on the education and culture
highlighted.

Two years ago in an education ministers conference the tone was delineated
for the future of education policy: Spiritualize, Indianize and
Nationalize. One of the most glaring content of this education policy is
to introduce the courses of house management and cooking for girls at an
early age so that they can do their assigned duties in a more efficient
manner. One would have thought that as any way girls start sharing the
kitchen burden since an early age such courses should be introduced for
boys instead, so that they don't look at domestic chores merely as the
domain and responsibility of women.

Meanwhile on most of the occasions we got enough sampling of the intent of
this govt. in area of 'manipulating our culture and education'. The
reconstitution of ICHR saw Pro-Ram Janm Bhumi historians being packed into
this body. Also two volumes of 'Towards Freedom' edited by outstanding
historians were withdrawn, violating all norms of decency and contracts,
as these volumes were just an objective compilation of documents of the
freedom struggle and did not have much favorable to present about Mr.
Joshi's alma mater, the RSS. Needless to say that to impose the
premeditated concepts on the educational system the attempts have begun to
rewrite the text books keeping in tune with the cultural project of RSS
and Sangh Parivar for which the only Indian culture is the Vedic Culture
and the only religious tradition, which has claim on this land is
Brahminical Hinduism. The syllabus for much talked about 'value education'
is being prepared with the advice and supervision of people like Satya Sai
Baba whose 'tricks' (presented as supernatural powers) have been exposed
by the rationalist groups. Also the very concept that value education be
introduced in IIT's because the students here are perusing 'godless
science' and so they need to be given values from religious scriptures is
ridiculous to the core. This tries to project as if Atheists like Charvak,
Budhha and many others did not and do not have values.

The claim that astrology is a science (Now demoted to being just and art!)
and Vedic astrology is the source of wisdom, which needs to be taught, is
far from true. Science of astronomy and religion based astrology are two
opposite poles. The latter is based on religious and magical beliefs,
which are above being questioned and are based on faith, unlike the
principles of science, which stand to the test of being challenged and can
be constantly improved upon. Just see one of the beliefs of astrology that
Saturn is a demon who can harm our lives so the rituals, which materially
enrich the priestly class, have to be performed to neutralize its evil
influence on our lives. When Mr. Joshi will be getting this taught in our
schools at the same time the child will be learning that Saturn consists
of layers of frozen rings of gases, which is a scientific knowledge. Take
another one of Astrological wisdom. Here the much sought after 'son' can
be got by doing Putreshti Yagna, while the science of biology has
demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt that the sex of the child is
determined by the type chromosome of the sperm which happens to meet the
ovum. Incidentally the anti-Brahminical streams like Jainism and Buddhism
heavily opposed all the astrology-based yagnas.

The arts faculty cannot be used as a dumping ground for all the
obscurantist, retrograde subjects. With development of reason even most of
the subjects belonging to this stream have to be based on reason, Social
Sciences, as most of them are currently called are again based on reason.
This move of Dr. Joshi is a humiliation of the social sciences. In the
face of criticism of his move to put astrology as a science this RSS
swayamsevak has found Arts to be the convenient dumping ground for the
subject, which normally should not find any place in the hallowed
corridors of our academic institutions. This one step backward to shift
Astrology from science to arts does show that even a diehard Hindutva
warrior from the stable of RSS concedes that it is impossible to get Vedic
Astrology passed off as a Science.

All this at one level gives the feeling of dj vu. In response to the ideas
of Darwin, the Christian clergy came up to defend the old understanding of
the creation of the world and threw up 'Creation Science' in response to
Darwin's Science of Evolution. In many a countries where politics is being
controlled by Mullahs some thing like "Islamic Science' is supposed to be
the ultimate in knowledge. They also hold that Koran is the source of all
possible knowledge, pursuing which the counterparts of Mr. Joshi in
Islamist states are undertaking projects based on the Koranic
understanding that Djinns are immense source of energy, which can be
utilized as fuels. It is worth noticing here that clergy and vested
interests first oppose the science outright and once the impact of science
on human lives is too visible to be ignored these elements start
presenting the primitive knowledge itself as Science.

It is also worth recalling here that ever since the pre-independence days
emphasis on orthodox elements of religion (in which scriptures and
traditions are glorified to claim one's superiority at the same time
ignoring their real message) has been a ploy of the elite classes who were
pursuing 'religion based nationalism', to oppose forces of freedom and
equality. The current efforts look like the structured re-imposition of
the same. There are enough avenues for those who want to pursue religious
philosophies. The tendency to glorify the past in an uncritical way again
hides the prevalence of exploitative relationships and thus strengthens
the sectarian chauvinistic tendencies. Now one has to await in horror as
to when Mr. Joshi will be introducing the courses like Alchemy, Faith
healing, Palmistry, Numerology and Tantric arts in our colleges and
Universities!

( Ram Puniyani is Secretary of EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)

_________

4.

23 Aug 2001 07:40:07 +0530

Dear ....,
If you remember, last year a Lucknow University professor GS=20
Bhadauria, had passed lewd remarks for a fellow lady professor=20
Dr.Nishi Pandey. This man, Bhadauria, has been REPEATEDLY charged=20
with cases of sexual harrassment and abuse of girl students of his=20
department in the past five years.
Bhadauria, was suspended last year, after the movement and=20
protest became strong, led by Subhasini Ali and Nishi Pandey.

But in Lucknow University's Executive Council meet on August 20,=20
GS Bhadauria, who was suspended again and again, on charges of sexual=20
harassment and abuse by girl students, and lady teachers, has once=20
again been re-instated.

His suspension has been REVOKED on the recommendations of=20
"disciplinary committee" of Lucknow University on August 20, 2001.
This is a big set back to the girl students and lady=20
teachers who were sexually harassed or abused by Bhadauria.
I shall appreciate if you can publish my report "The=20
Struggle continues =8A" and strengthen the campaign to set ONLY ONE=20
SOLITARY EXAMPLE here, that sexual harassment and abuse, is NOT a=20
norm in Lucknow University and rather is a punishable and a=20
formidable offence.
Banking on your support now,
urs

Bobby

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D
The struggle continues=8A

Bobby Ramakant

In the plush cool starry glitz of UN's New York office, our=20
immaculately dressed up ambassadors from India, listen quietly when=20
the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of United=20
Nations, specifically mentions that "a major goal should be to=20
undertake preventive, promotive and remedial action to shield women=20
from the impact of harmful traditional cultural practices and norms=20
that deny them their full human rights."
However in the corridors of Lucknow University, the Executive=20
Council, which is doubtlessly constituted by academicians, REVOKES=20
the suspension of a reader (GS Bhadauria) who was suspended (again)=20
on passing lewd remarks for a fellow University reader Dr.Nishi=20
Pandey. The impact, of male dominance, and ofcourse, the 'thakurvad'=20
component of the entire chemistry which wins in appointments and=20
decisions of EC, (or the so-called 'traditional cultural practices'),=20
is simply, horrendous.
GS Bhadauria, was previously suspended on charges of=20
sexual harassment and abuse by girl students of his department, four=20
years ago. The Times of India (dated August 21, 2001) states that=20
"The 'disciplinary committee' had recommended the Executive Council=20
of Lucknow University to exonerate Bhadauria as none of the witnesses=20
appeared to testify against him".
How paradoxical it is, to witness the 'disciplinary=20
committee' (which is supposed to safeguard the 'discipline')=20
recommending 'exoneration' of Bhadauria, who has been facing charges=20
of sexual harassment since several years repeatedly not only from=20
girl students, but also from fellow lady teacher.
Does it require an academician to tell us, that why=20
will a girl who has been sexually harassed or abused, not turn up=20
years after the incident had happened? But this does not necessarily=20
mean that the charges of sexual harassment and abuse, were cooked up.=20
The judgement, is actually common sense, which the committee lacks I=20
suppose.

And that too, in the light of the last year's=20
incident, where this same Bhadauria had temerity enough to utter lewd=20
remarks for another lady teacher of the same university, and the=20
evidence of which, is also there in his writing. But the noted=20
distinguished members of the disciplinary committee and executive=20
council, FAIL to see through the blanket of thakurvad, or stinking=20
'male traditional practices'.
Have not they granted silent consent to incidents of sexual abuse and=20
harassment of girl students and also lady co-workers, by the male=20
staff of Lucknow University? (SO LONG THE GIRL WITNESS DOES NOT TURN=20
UP MANY YEARS AFTER THE INCIDENT).

Hardly a year back, not only hundreds of girl students and lady=20
teachers, but also women and men from all over the region, including=20
noted women activist and former MP from Kanpur, Subhasini Ali and=20
senior Narmada Bachao Andolan Activist Arundhati Dhuru, had come down=20
on the streets in support of Dr.Nishi Pandey's complaint of the lewd=20
remarks which Bhadauria had passed for her. Countless people, had=20
found a voice, after all. And Bhadauria was suspended. Only to be=20
re-instated now.

This decision by the noted distinguished members of=20
executive council and recommendations of the disciplinary committee,=20
has certainly followed the nauseating 'traditional practices' where=20
it is acceptable for a man to do whatever pleases him without any=20
accountability or consideration about the 'human rights' of their=20
fellow women.

All human rights (and in specific ,women's rights)=20
remain only on paper. And they are also a good material to deliberate=20
on in world conventions and conferences. But the scene in practice,=20
back home remains as grim and frightening as before.

Rather, the news of Bhadauria's suspension being=20
revoked by the executive council of Lucknow University, has=20
definitely made the situation more frightening. Now, the male pseudo=20
ego of Bhadauria, would have bloated like a toad, for getting=20
(scot)free once again. May be, he knew it beforehand, that in long=20
course, his fellow thakurs and men ofcourse, will follow the=20
sickening 'male traditions' and grant him redemption.

And for the girls, the situation has indeed become=20
more scary. Now, even their professors can prey on them, and the=20
precedence is such, that no matter how much hue and cry they make,=20
the MALE professor will get scot-free out of the entire menace.

I wonder, what should Bhadauria do further, to make up a punishable=20
offence? Where did we scrapped the dividing line between acceptable=20
and not-acceptable social behaviours?

The stuggle is certainly not over. The fight goes on.=20
We all, are launching a worldwide signature campaign where=20
individuals, and groups, will sign the petition demanding STRICT=20
LEGAL ACTION and IMMEDIATE TERMINATION of this sexual pervert=20
disguised as a Professor of Lucknow University - GS Bhadauria.
We are also approaching noted women right activist=20
Madhu Kishwar, Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar, renowned=20
writer-turned activist Arundhati Roy, and all the activists who=20
re-endorse their faith in our struggle to make a SOLITARY PRECEDENCE=20
in Lucknow University of making sexual abuse and harassment of any=20
girl - punishable and formidable - even if the culprit is a Thakur,=20
or a man, or a teacher.
The petitions will be periodically sent (till=20
justice) to the first citizen of this country - The Honorable=20
President, and also to the Chancellor of Lucknow University (His=20
Excellency The Governor of UP) and the Vice Chancellor Dr.D.P.Singh.
Complaint alongwith the petitions, will also be sent=20
to National Human Rights Commission, and Chairman of NHRC former=20
Justice JS Verma will be approached, to make recommendations to=20
Honorable UP Governor and do the needful to bring Bhadauria to task.
We ofcourse, want that the recommendations on paper,=20
must also translate into our practices and re-endorse the compelling=20
need to shield women from the impact of harmful traditional cultural=20
practices and norms that deny them their full human rights.

Bobby Ramakant

(Author was a participant at Regional Consultations of National Human=20
Rights Commission (April 2001), is a Coordinator INGCAT (South East=20
Asian region) and Key Correspondent to UNAIDS funded media center=20
(HDN) Ireland.)

Contacts : Ph +91 9839073355, Fax : +91522353020, email :=20
<mailto:bobbyramakant@y...>bobbyramakant@y...
C-2211, C-Block Crossing, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016. India

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