[sacw] SACW | 24 May 01

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire
24 May 2001

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

#1. Sri Lanka gay group denounces attacks
#2. Bangladesh court frees foreign nationals
#3. Pakistan: Joint Action Committee for Citizens Rights - Note on World=20
Bank policy
#4. India: Kuldip Nayar on the recent electoral verdit & the current govt=20
coalition
#5. India: The BJP On LIne Bookshop (Bharatiya Janata Pustakalaya) ...Has=20
the BJP outgrown the pejorative epithet of 'party of petty shopkeepers and=
=20
traders' .....

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

#1.

BBC News Online: World: South Asia
Wednesday, 23 May, 2001, 16:14 GMT 17:14 UK

SRI LANKA GAY GROUP DENOUNCES ATTACKS

By Frances Harrison in Colombo

An association representing the gay and lesbian community in Sri Lanka says=
=20
its members have been subjected to horrible, inhuman, indecent and vicious=
=20
treatment in the five years since it was established.

The organisation, known as Companions on a Journey, has just won an=20
international award for its work and has begun to assist the Sri Lankan=20
Government in its Aids awareness work.

When the group first set up its office, there were death threats.

"People stoned our offices and three of our members including myself were=20
assaulted," said the group's executive director, Sherman de Rose.

Five years on, they have 1,400 registered members and they say their=20
Colombo drop-in centre receives at least 15 visitors a day - despite the=20
social stigma surrounding homosexuality.

Assisting government

The drop-in centres, which they say were the first to be set up in South=20
Asia, offer counselling, make-up classes, shelter, education and health=20
advice to the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.

The organisation has also begun working with the Ministry of Health on its=
=20
outreach programme, distributing free condoms at gay meeting places.

It has also held a series of dialogues with sympathetic decision makers.

Homosexuality remains illegal in Sri Lanka under a colonial law dating back=
=20
more than 100 years - but no one has been prosecuted for the last 50 years.

Homophobia

However, lesbian and gay activists say the mere presence of the law=20
encourages blackmail and homophobia.

The most blatant example of that occurred last year, when Sri Lankan=20
lesbians said they were planning to hold a national conference.

One major newspaper printed a letter from a man who suggested convicted=20
rapists should be set free among the lesbians to give them what he called a=
=20
taste of the real thing.

Companions on a Journey challenged the newspaper's decision to print the=20
letter in an appeal to the Press Council - but lost.

_____

#2.

bbc.news.co.uk (bbc online)
Tuesday, 22 May, 2001, 20:23 GMT 21:23 UK

BANGLADESH COURT FREES FOREIGN NATIONALS

The High Court in Bangladesh has ordered the release of 29 foreign national=
s
detained in Dhaka central jail despite having completed their prison
sentences.
Some of the prisoners - who came from India, Pakistan, Burma, Ghana and
Tanzania - finished serving their sentences as far back as five years ago.
Prison authorities defended their actions, saying the prisoners could not b=
e
released earlier because of alleged procedural difficulties.
But the court said the authorities acted illegally and the government had
condoned an inhuman act.
Most of the foreign nationals had been convicted for overstaying on their
visas.
>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
ooo

[Related report]

Bangladesh Observer,
23 May 2001

HC directs jail authority to free
28 foreign prisoners
SC Correspondent
The High Court on Tuesday directed the Dhaka Central Jail authority to
release 28 foreign prisoners who were held in the Dhaka Central Jail even
after receiving response from the concerned embassies. If the embassy faile=
d
to respond, the court directed the government to take necessary steps for
their shelter.
A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Md. Hamidul Haque and
Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana passed the Judgment. Dr. Faustina Perera,
Advocate on behalf of Ain O Salish Kendra, a human rights NGO wrote a lette=
r
to the Hon'ble Chief Justice informing him that 29 foreigners who hailed
from India, Pakistan, Myanmear and Tanjania are languishing in Dhaka Centra=
l
jail unlawfully.
On the basis of the said letter the High Court issued a suo moto rule upon
the government to show cause in this regard. Meanwhile one prisoner died.
However after hearing the court made the rule absolute and passed the above
direction.
It is learnt that more 822 foreign prisoners are in Bangladesh. The High
Court directed the Inspector General of Prisons to transmit the relevant
papers of those prisoners before the court within 7 days.
Advocate Nizamul Huq Nasim with Dr Faustina Perera and Abu Obaied=20
Togarappeared for the prisoners.

____

#3.
[ Pakistan: May 2001]

NOTE FROM MEMBERS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS

We the undersigned, members of civil society in Pakistan note with interest=
=20
that some fifty years after its creation, the World Bank is showing concern=
=20
for the opinions of the citizens of its client states. It is unfortunate=20
that it has taken so long for the World Bank to initiate a process of=20
consultation but dialogue is an essential part of democratic processes.

We recognise the key role played by Pakistan=92s decision-makers and=20
implementers in the economic crisis facing us today. Nevertheless, and=20
notwithstanding the rhetoric, we believe the policies promoted by the World=
=20
Bank have greatly contributed to the crisis rather than help Pakistani=20
society deal with it. Hence our reservations about entering into a dialogue=
=20
with the World Bank.

We share and endorse the concerns voiced and the position adopted by=20
members of civil society in Karachi as expressed in the document =93People=
=92s=20
Voice - Citizens Concerns and Comments=94 (attached). Our concerns stem fr=
om=20
the following:

=B7 The record of World Bank and IMF economic policies and pressures that=20
have increased poverty and deprivation, particularly amongst the most=20
vulnerable sections of affected countries - women and children - through=20
structural adjustment programs and conditionalities (e.g. withdrawal of=20
subsidies) that make everything dependent on the market mechanism;
=B7 The lack of transparency in preparing and implementing policies -=20
including the present consultation process where the results of dialogues=20
apparently held with civil society at tehsil and district levels in=20
Pakistan have not been shared, and the World Bank policy of not revealing=20
the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) to citizens without prior approval of=
=20
the government, especially since it is the citizens who are made to bear=20
the costs of the loans;
=B7 The history of failed projects that the Bank so far does not even=20
acknowledge, much less examine and learn from.
=B7 The current push for a corporatisation of farming that will destroy our=
=20
indigenous seeds and agricultural basis and destroy the livelihood of=20
millions of small farmers
=B7 The continuing drive for privatisation, including
=B7 privatisation of the fundamental essentials to life, most importantly=20
water without which life itself is not possible, and
=B7 essential sectors such as health and education that have been provided =
to=20
their citizens by the state in virtually all developed countries.

To promote good governance (the stated aim of the World Bank) and to make a=
=20
dialogue meaningful requires the following:

1. The procedures, principles and framework for dialogue are mutually=20
decided upon by those involved;
2. Consultations are initiated at the beginning of planning; involve a wide=
=20
audience and the outcomes of dialogue are shared with all concerned;
3. All actions are transparent and, for example, negotiations and=20
agreements between the Bank (and other financial institutions) and the=20
Government of Pakistan are made public

Finally, future planning (and consultations for this) can only be=20
meaningful when planning is premised on an honest review and analysis of=20
past failures as well as successes. Before planning it would be appropriate=
=20
for the World Bank to review why poverty has doubled from 17.3 % in 1987-89=
=20
to 32.6 % of the population in 1998-99 during precisely the period when=20
Structural Adjustment Programmes were in place. Equally we would like to=20
know why the Social Action Program II was introduced when SAP I had already=
=20
been proved a failure given is huge expenditures and very modest achievemen=
ts.

_____

#4.

BETWEEN THE LINES - AFTER THE VERDICT

By Kuldip Nayar
WHATEVER the BJP may say in defence, it has to admit that it has been
decimated in the state elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
and Pondicherry. True, the party has had no base at these places. But it
fought on its own in West Bengal, supported the AGP in Assam and the DMK
in Tamil Nadu and consolidated the opposition against the Communists in
Kerala. On top of it, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee went to all the
states to campaign for the BJP or its allies.
Even otherwise, the two years of governance at the Centre had given the
BJP enough time to implant itself throughout the country, particularly at
the places where the party had to find new soil. It has to blame itself
for its failure. The party just cannot rise above the parochial agenda
which it has been following for decades. After the lapse of some 48 years
since independence, it got the opportunity to present itself as an
alternative. But it has turned out to be worse than the Congress, more
corrupt, more high-handed and more opportunistic.
Few had doubts about the BJP's communal thinking. But many had imagined
that its anxiety to stay in power would make it shed its fundamentalist
attitude. It was also assumed that the association with the parties, which
had a secular past, would modify the BJP so that it looked a bit liberal.
The result has been to the contrary: the once-secular parties have
themselves stopped talking about communalism.
Once Vajpayee imparted the image of liberalism but that impression is
diminishing as days go by. He is still more acceptable than others in the
BJP. But he is now a pale copy of what he was. That he made no impact on
the electoral landscape should have worried him. He is still content with
presiding over the cabinet meetings, placating the RSS hardcore at lunches
and going out of Delhi at the first opportunity.
Even the BJP members have seared into their memories the image of Vajpayee
as a semi-retired person who does not want to be disturbed either for
cause or captaincy. He was expected to change the party so that it would
follow his way of thinking. But it is he who has compromised. If he wanted
he could have framed a counter strategy against the RSS, packing the
cabinet with persons believing in his philosophy of pluralism. Instead, he
has accommodated even fundamentalists.
The assembly elections should make him and the BJP introspect. Even if
they do not want to resile from their Hindutva stance, they have to reckon
with the realities of a pluralistic society. The Muslim electorate, which
constitutes 12 to 13 per cent of votes, is solidly against the BJP. They
have largely voted against the party. Their five per cent in Tamil Nadu
has swung even some marginal seats in favour of anti-DMK candidates.
The BJP cannot afford to wish away the Muslim factor. It exerts influence
in some 1,600 assembly constituencies in the states and 200 Lok Sabha
seats out of a total of 545 in Parliament. The party, which is opposed to
the secular ethos, can never secure a majority in the country. It is
merely a matter of calculation. Yet the BJP has not realised that its
policies will take it nowhere.
It is a pity that the BJP appears to be writing off Muslims support at a
time when some among the Muslims are seriously questioning their
community's touch-me-not attitude. They have been struck by the fact that
the instances of Hindu-Muslim rioting have drastically come down during
the BJP's rule. They wonder if they can do business with the party when
they did it with the Congress under whose 45-year rule their plight was no
better.
I was surprised to find a nave reaction to the judgment by the Lucknow
sessions Judge who dropped criminal proceedings against Home Minister LK
Advani, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Sports
Minister Uma Bharati and others. The ground enunciated by the judge was
that the Special CBI Court trying the case of Babri Masjid's demolition
was constituted without consulting the UP High Court. It was a technical
flaw. The BJP should have said that it would issue a fresh notification to
overcome it.
The verdict on the Babri Masjid destruction case has come to epitomise
fears and hopes of Muslims and liberals in the country. They want to know
whether the demolition brigade of Hindu fundamentalists would be squarely
punished for their misdeeds. The judiciary itself is on trial. The BJP
should have realised it.
Instead, the party's spokesman at Delhi dismisses the idea of fresh
notification and goes on to say that even the Congress had withdrawn the
cases emanating from the Shah Commission report relating to the excesses
during the emergency. Is this a justification? The Congress will continue
to pay for what it did then for years to come. Does the BJP want to follow
the same path?
This is not in the interest of Advani, Joshi and others if they realise
the implications. Do they want to be let off on a technicality? The charge
of demolition, if not cleared by a law court, will be a millstone around
their neck for the rest of their life.
The CBI's reputation too will be tarnished. It will be alleged that the
government had pressured the CBI into abandoning the case. The allegation
may have the ring of truth because the agency is under the Personnel
Department of the Home Ministry.
The question of notification looks like giving the secular elements a
rallying point. Even otherwise consider how the BJP has to thwart the
pressure which will increasingly build up against the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) it heads. The results of five state elections have put new
life in the opposition. The Congress and its allies have some nine states
under their control. They are not going to sit idle, particularly when
Sonia Gandhi has said that elections are bound to affect the government at
the Centre.
The Lok Sabha arithmetic is all right at present. The NDA has, no doubt, a
majority. But it can disappear in no time. Suppose DMK chief K.
Karunanidhi were to come to the conclusion that his party had lost ground
because of its alliance with the BJP, he could withdraw his party's
support.
By himself, Karunanidhi does not pose any danger. But he has in Andhra
Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, an intimate friend. Naidu's 29
members in the Lok Sabha can pull down the NDA format in no time. The fact
that the BJP has lost in the non-Hindi speaking states may influence his
judgment. At present, he is in the midst of assessing the situation as he
has said.
To imagine that the government will easily survive the rest of the term _
nearly another three years _ is to indulge in a lot of wishful thinking.
Many imponderable factors can come into focus at a time when the Vajpayee
regime hangs by a slender thread. The next parliament session may show how
difficult the BJP's task is. The Tehelka expose stalled the session for
days. The new developments may bring into play other factors. A few
individuals may join the NDA. One or two groups can quit. The coalition's
structure will remain shaky.
In any case, no bill of the government's choosing can go through the Rajya
Sabha because the opposition strength will go up still further after new
members from Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala come to the house.

_____

#5.

Outlook
Web | May 23, 2001
OPINION

WELCOME TO THE BJP (BHARATIYA JANATA PUSTAKALAYA)
Whether or not the BJP has outgrown the pejorative epithet of 'party of=20
petty shopkeepers and traders', it is interesting to take a look at their=20
online bookshop.

ROHAN OBEROI

The BJP's once proud boast to be a political party with a difference have=20
gradually collapsed under the weight of scandals like the Tehelka expose,=20
but the party does have one, albeit small, claim to uniqueness.

Unlike other political parties, the BJP runs an online book shop, which=20
offers a variety of books espousing its viewpoint at attractive discount=20
prices. As far as I have been able to determine, this is a first in=20
India. There is the caveat that the Irish political party Sinn Fein has an=
=20
online bookshop, and the Croydon branch of the British Labour Party has=20
signed up to be a member of the Amazon Affiliate Programme, allowing it to=
=20
collect 15% of the cut on books sold through its site).

Kalyan Singh, the former BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and 'hero' of=
=20
the Babri demolition, has taken to repeating the taunt that the BJP is=20
"basically a party of Brahmins and Banias".

Perhaps, if its enemies and former friends are to be believed, mercantilism=
=20
is in the BJP's blood. Kalyan Singh, the former BJP chief minister of=20
Uttar Pradesh, and 'hero' of the Babri demolition, has taken to repeating=20
the taunt that the BJP is "basically a party of Brahmins and Banias".

The party seems to know how to offer an attractive bargain.

The most expensive item in the store, a three volume work by Shri Atal=20
Behari Vajpayee is on offer at a huge 25% discount (Rs 1500/- marked down=20
from Rs 2000/-). But this storehouse of knowledge tells more about the BJP=
=20
than just its business sense.

That Bible of the RSS, the "Bunch of Thoughts" by "Guruji" M.S. Golwalkar,=
=20
the second Sar Sanghachalak (supreme leader) of the RSS, is on sale (though=
=20
not at a discount). Funnily enough, though, Golwalkar's 1939 work, "We, or=
=20
Our Nationhood Defined", is missing.

Both "Bunch of Thoughts" and "We" are infamous for their racist views. In=20
"Bunch of Thoughts", the Sar Sanghachalak expounds on his opinion that=20
Muslims and Christians are unpatriotic and lack "love and devotion for the=
=20
nation". His hatred ranges farther afield. He describes the Chinese=20
people in these terms: "They eat rats, pigs, dogs, serpents, cockroaches,=20
and everything. Such men cannot be expected to have human qualities."

The missing "We" is particularly juicy: in it the author lavishes praise on=
=20
the atrocious Nazi campaign that had gone on in Germany, for most of the=20
1930s, against Jews and Gypsies. "There are only two courses open to these=
=20
foreign elements," Golwalkar explained, "either to merge themselves in the=
=20
national race and adopt its culture or to live at its mercy so long as the=
=20
national race may allow them to do so and quit the country at the sweet=20
will of the national race". He added that this was "a good lesson for

In "Bunch of Thoughts", the Sar Sanghachalak expounds on his opinion that=20
Muslims and Christians are unpatriotic and lack "love and devotion for the=
=20
nation".

us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by".

The absence of "We" calls to mind a Rajya Sabha debate of last year, at the=
=20
time of the Gujarat government's decision to allow government servants to=20
be members of the RSS. Kapil Sibal tried to read out a study quoting from=
=20
"We", and was repeatedly heckled and shouted down by BJP members. These=20
worthies decided that since Sibal was not reading directly from "We", but=20
rather from a book which quoted "We", he was not quoting authentic RSS=20
sources. "He is misleading the nation!" shouted the fervid BJP member T.N.=
=20
Chaturvedi.

Perhaps "We" is missing to prevent anyone reading directly from it in=20
Parliament, and thereby doing away with that silly objection...

There are several books on the BJP bookshop catalogue that deal, curiously=
=20
enough, not with modern Indian politics, but rather with ancient Indian=20
history. They treat the period of Indian history roughly between 3000 and=20
1000 B.C., i.e. between 5000 and 3000 years old. These books are:

"The problem of Aryan origins", by K.D. Sethna (Rs 350) "The Aryan invasion=
=20
theory" by Srikant Talageri (Rs 250) "Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian=20
Nationalism", by Srikant Talageri (Rs 125) "The politics of History", by=20
N.S. Rajaram (Rs 75) "Aryan Invasion of India", by N.S. Rajaram (Rs 15)

These books are about whether the Indo-Aryan languages (spoken today by=20
almost two-thirds of all Indians) were brought to India some time probably=
=20
during the second millennium B.C., as scholars of ancient India believe, or=
=20
developed indigenously, as authors like Sethna, Talageri, Rajaram and other=
=20
Hindu nationalists believe.

They wish to erase the scholarly opinion that the north Indian languages=20
(of which the oldest is the language of the Vedas) came to India as a=20
transplant from the north-west.

The BJP has adopted the "Aryan" question as its own, and the appearance of=
=20
this list in their book shop is one of the many actions the party has taken=
=20
to place its stamp of approval on the particular (and generally rejected by=
=20
scholars) interpretation of history contained therein.

Shrikant Talageri, as near

as I have been able to find out, is or was a bank clerk. N.S. Rajaram is a=
=20
vitriolic Hindu nationalist who claims to have worked for Lockheed in the=20
United States before returning to India, apparently to devote himself=20
full-time to writing Hindu nationalist works.

(Rajaram was recently the subject of embarassing revelations in the=20
magazine Frontline and Outlook -- A Bushy Tail: The Piltdown Horse -- when=
=20
Michael Witzel, a Harvard professor, and Steve Farmer, a comparative=20
historian, demonstrated that a recent book of Rajaram's had deliberately=20
falsified evidence to bolster his arguments.)

What Rajaram, Talageri, Sethna (and friends and co-authors of theirs --=20
people like David Frawley, a New Age herbal healer; Subhash Kak, an=20
electrical engineer; and Georg Feuerstein, author of "Yoga for Dummies" --=
=20
share in common, is a vitriolic hatred of majority opinions about ancient=20
Indian history in the scholarly community, and a desire to replace it with=
=20
a completely different view. The motivation is transparent. They wish to=20
erase the scholarly opinion that the north Indian languages (of which the=20
oldest is the language of the Vedas) came to India as a transplant from the=
=20
north-west. By doing so, they can then denounce Muslims and Christians as=
=20
followers of a foreign religion, without

For a political party to support one side of an academic controversy -- and=
=20
that the one without academic support -- recalls again the bizarre times of=
=20
the Nazi or Soviet regimes.

having the same charge justifiably levelled back at them.

This is all politically understandable, but none the less=20
reprehensible. For a political party to support one side of an academic=20
controversy -- and that the one without academic support -- recalls again=20
the bizarre times of the Nazi or Soviet regimes, when the Theory of=20
Relativity was dismissed as an excess of "Jewish science", and a generation=
=20
of Russian geneticists were destroyed by the bizarre ascendancy of the=20
neo-Lamarckian T.D. Lysenko.

Imagine for one moment that the Republican Party were distributing=20
pamphlets attacking the theory that the ancestors of native Americans first=
=20
crossed the land bridge over what are now the Bering Straits during the=20
Pleistocene era. Or that the Labour Party in the UK were selling books=20
vilifying historians for suggesting that the Beaker folk did not build the=
=20
Long Barrows back in 2500 B.C.

This is just as strange. It points to a lack of maturity in the way Indian=
=20
society views academia. A useful mirror to understand this is, I suggest,=
=20
the evolution-creation debate which had its last great flare-up in United=20
States in the Scopes Trial of 1925. Since well before the=20
Wilberforce-Huxley debates of 1860, opinion in the West had been swinging=20
away from the Biblical literalist view that the world was created on=20
October 23, 4004 B.C., at nine o'clock in the morning. While scientists=20
accepted the theory of evolution relatively quickly -- because they=20
understood it -- society as a whole took much longer to do so because they=
=20
had yet to transfer their trust from religion, as the arbiter of their=20
philosophy and cosmology, to science.

Nowadays, for the most part completely, the tribal totem poles have been=20
taken away from the West's priests and mystics, and handed to the=20
scientists and other academic professionals.

Fortunately for the study of Indian history, the BJP government's campaign=
=20
to team up with amateur cranks and vilify academic historians only really=20
works inside India, where the government has vast powers to manipulate=20
funding, appointments and publications.

This may not be ideal from the complex perspectives of social organisation,=
=20
but it does recognise the principle that for any sufficiently complex=20
subject, professionals who have spent their careers understanding the=20
subject's minutiae and complexities are, as a group, more to be trusted to=
=20
understand it than any other group who have not done that.

In India, perhaps because academia has never really had

the funding (we are after all a poor country) that could enable it to=20
develop the level of professionalism and public respect academia has in the=
=20
West, the idea that all academic scholars of ancient India -- both Indians=
=20
and Westerners -- are either deluded or deliberately falsifying history --=
=20
and that this can be set right by the government applying funding and=20
pressure judiciously in the right areas, appears credible.

This is crazy, lunatic, and wonky, but that's the way things are. The=20
remedy may not be purely within an Indian context. Fortunately for the=20
study of Indian history, the BJP government's campaign to team up with=20
amateur cranks and vilify academic historians only really works inside=20
India, where the government has vast powers to manipulate funding,=20
appointments and publications.

But outside India, in the universities of the West, where scholars prove=20
their academic credentials in the court of peer review are relatively free=
=20
of such intereference, the banias lack such powers. While the vilification=
=20
campaign that operates at full throttle in India against historians like=20
Romila Thapar has also gone into operation against Michael Witzel of=20
Harvard after he exposed Rajaram's chicanery, it has no effect against a=20
scholar whose publications over the years in various aspects of Sanskrit=20
and the study of ancient India are well read and respected among his=20
peers. The same can be said (to take only a few examples) of other=20
scholars like Deshpande at Michigan, Hock at Chicago, Insler at Yale, and=20
Rocher and Cardona at the University of Pennsylvania.

Long after the politicians have stopped shouting about ancient history and=
=20
found something else to get exercised about, it will be these scholars, and=
=20
people like them, who will contribute and shape the world's understanding=20
of ancient Indian history. Not Murli Manohar Joshi, not Sushma Swaraj, not=
=20
Navaratna Rajaram, and not any other puffed-up self-important pygmy that=20
thinks their ethno-nationalist and political views can trump the sober=20
process of scholarship within the tradition of the academy.

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

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