[sacw] SACW #1 | 28 May 01

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire / Dispatch #1.
28 May 2001

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

#1. Pakistan/India: M.B.Naqvi column
#2. Pakistan: A One day conference in Oxford (UK)
#3. India: Non Resident Indians are a security Threat
#4. India: Editorial , Hindustan Times
#5. India: Film Screening in Banagalore
#6. India: Prof. Panikkar visiting the US

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

#1.
(26 May 2001)
Summits can backfire
By M. B. Naqvi

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar had all but accepted the Indian
PM AB Vajpayee's invitation for talks to Gen. Parvez Musharraf even
before it was received. This is of a piece with the eagerness verging on
anxiety with which Pakistan's Foreign Office had been asking for talks
with India. Indians suddenly came round and invited the CE. But
India-Pakistan summits are a tricky affair. They have left a trail of
bitterness after the last three of them: Shimla in 1972, 1989 in
Islamabad and 1999 in Lahore. Prospect of such a summit does not fail to
raise expectations among the people on both sides and if they are not
realised, there will be worsening of the situation.
Summits can certainly be useful, if they achieve a modicum of success.
That requires adequate preparations by officials. In the tense and
stalemated relations of Pakistan with India, a summit should only take
place when there is a likelihood of some success --- a few substantive
agreements that make sense to the people. That requires a readiness on
either side to make compromises --- mainly on serious matters, often
called principles. Without such flexibility, summitry is a dangerous
exercise.
Unfortunately, there is no sign of any flexibility on either side.
Pakistan remains wedded to its maximum demand on Kashmir, the core
issue, viz. Kashmiris should get the right of self-determination
preferably through a UN supervised vote. Indians, on the other hand,
would simply have none of it; they have written Kashmir into their
constitution. They think it is non-negotiable. Moreover, they are amazed
that Pakistan, a poor, small and vulnerable country, should continue to
threaten India --- a great power. Unless, at least one side is ready to
make a compromise on its maximum demands, no summit will help; summits
are not the occasions to convince, cajole or inveigle the other side.
Nor does attending a summit necessarily enhance a regime's
respectability.
It is however true that there is ample scope for many useful agreements
--- provided Pakistani government is prepared to leave Kashmir issue
unresolved while it proceeds to improve trade, economic, cultural and
even political ties with India. This is an old Indian recommendation
that has never appealed to Islamabad for fear that leaving Kashmir
unattended while cooperating with India for mutual benefit will relegate
Kashmir to irrelevance. Much can be said on this issue. But so long as
India absolutely refuses to discuss possible changes in the status of
Kashmir Valley --- which is the only real contention --- or Pakistan
does not change its stance of satisfaction on Kashmir first or no
progress on trade and cultural ties, no meeting at any level will break
the logjam.
The starkness of the situation and its terrible dangers are well known.
Both countries very nearly went to war in 1999 over Kargil. The
alternative to making concessions --- and by both sides --- is war
almost any time. Both openly declared their nuclear status in 1998.
Briefly people thought there would now be no war. In 2000 India's Chief
of Army Staff and Defence Minister adumbrated a new doctrine: nuclear
weapons deter other nuclear weapons; a conventional war can still be
fought. In other words, India will go to war if necessary and it will be
up to Pakistan to use its nuclear weapons (first). India will reply
suitably. India's recent Poorna Vijay exercise was to test this
doctrine; it has shown that it is ready for even a nuclear exchange in
the Indo-Gangetic plains.
There is one set of agreements that can still be made and these are
necessary for both. It is to agree on CBMs (confidence building
measures) vis-=E0-vis the two nuclear deterrents. The Americans have been
selling this idea for some years and have done admirable work in
virtually drafting such agreements. Some have been signed and more are
available for signatures. When PM Vajpayee came to Lahore he signed an
MOU for that purpose. This summit can see a sheaf of such technical
agreements. They should certainly be signed. But one has a gnawing fear
that the CBMs that have been put in place, tend to be forgotten just
when needed most. Gen. Talat Masood has written ably on this theme. The
fear is that insofar as Pakistan and India are concerned, no amount of
CBMs may be able to prevent war the way they could during the east-west
cold war.
In short, adequate groundwork has to be laid before any summit is held.
The usual practice is that a readymade agreement is inked that was
agreed upon by Foreign Ministers. In other cases, there has to be
adequate flexibility and some commonalties in ideas to enable them to
put intractable problems in a new agreed framework for solution later
--- for keeping the problem contained and isolated --- while agreements
in other fields for common good are made. This flexibility is absent in
both Pakistan and India. Pakistan has amply shown during the last 50
years that unless India provides satisfaction on Kashmir, it will not
let Indo-Pakistan cooperation, even free trade, proceed --- necessarily
at its own cost through lost opportunities for the whole of South Asia.
The SAARC has also not taken off because of that. Indian leadership has
accepted all the losses rather than accommodate Pakistan.
However, there is a theoretical possibility but no more than that: if
there is adequate statesmanship on either side, the two can succeed in
kicking off a serious search for compromises on core issues transcending
the principles held so far. But statesmanship is not something that
cannot be made to order nor is it a function of a top office. A failed
summit can be a nasty thing. It is sure to create more frustration as a
result of heightened expectations not being met. This has happened
several times in the past. Even inter government relations can worsen
and lead to deplorable consequences. It is time that we realise how
serious is the situation between Pakistan and India really.
Obviously the deadlock on the supposed core issue of Kashmir is total.
In view of the Jihad-cum-insurgency in Kashmir, logical options for
India are limited to either giving up its own hard stance because it
could not suppress the insurgency in 10 years or it gets ready to
cripple Pakistan's ability to sustain the insurgency. There is no
evidence that India is likely to do anything of the former kind. If not,
the unavoidable alternative is to extend the area of war and exert
pressure on Pakistan where it will hurt most. The escalation is built in
the insurgency. But in the case of war, Pakistan will have to make a
nuclear strike. That is the Pakistani theory. India will have to reply.
What this nuclear exchange will do can be imagined.
There would be no victory or defeat. It would be a common defeat for
all. Point is there is no greater value than the safety and welfare of
the people. This value demands that nuclear weapons should not be used
for any purpose whatsoever. It should by now be clear to all that
preventing a nuclear exchange is possible only if war is not fought. If
a war takes place, both sides will race into using the nuclear weapons
first, all the formal declarations notwithstanding. It is war that has
to be made impossible by popular action in both countries. It is not for
the governments to do. They have shown that they can do no better than
what they have already done. Both have landed themselves into a
situation where war is the only alternative. A summit therefore can make
sense if anyone can show that either of the government is willing to
make a serious compromise. If not, there should be no summit.
Insofar as Kashmir is concerned, it is not that no progress can be made
at all. As Air Marshal Asghar Khan has shown that progress might be
possible if the two countries are ready for a basic, people-to-people
reconciliation on the Franco-German model and put the Kashmir Valley
into what amounts to a condominium of the two countries. The idea is
pregnant with possibilities and details can be worked out and
negotiated. But basic readiness to be flexible and make compromises is
the prerequisite. The Air Marshal has made an individual off the cuff
recommendation; it needs being sold to the people of both countries.
Needless to say that no condominium can be workable if the two countries
cannot be reconciled and made friends. Unfortunately the two governments
we do have are most unsuited for the task.

_____

#2.

Subject: A one-day Conference on Pakistan at Oxford

Hello There,
I hope it finds you in good health.
As you may agree there have been quite a few significant changes and
developments in South Asia, especially in Pakistan in the recent past.
The Lahore Summit, Kargil clash, military coup, the new structures
including local councils, the three main Pak leaders in exile, warming
of the Indo-US relationship, Chinese Premier's visit to Pakistan and now
Bajpai's invitation to Musharraf all are crucial developments at a time
when within Pakistan there is quite a bit of uncertainty about the
political order and economic stability. The age-old dilemma seems to
have further worsened though some sections may have their own views on
the military regime and the dismissed democracies. The recent profusion
of literature on Jihadi outfits, the redefinition of civil society, the
stalemate in Afghanistan and the future ecological challenges in the
region all merit open and fresher analyses away from the polarized
situation on the ground. There may be a need to relook at Diaspora in
view of new thematic issues such as the roles/attitudes of new
generations, mushrooming of of the tv channels, radios and magazines,
without forgetting the e-networks. It all makes a pertinent agenda for
one-day workshop and also to get away for a day or so to leafy north
Oxford.
I have booked a couple of rooms at Wolfson College Oxford, for the
conference/workshop to be held on the13th of July, e.g. Friday. The idea
is to have four sessions with 3 presentations for 15-18 minutes in each.
No need for formal papers but ongoing research or some sort of
formulation may be the starting point. We should have sufficient time
for discussion.
The sessions shall be tentatively titled as below:
-The Issues of Governance (military, politics, religion, pluralism and
civil society),
-Economy and Ecology (corruption, taxation, trade, debt, defence vs.
development, water resources and energy etc.)
-Society and Culture (gender, literature, languages, arts, diaspora)
-Regional & Global Situation (Indo-Pak relations {nuclearisation,
Kashmir, trade, sports etc.}, Afghanistan, the SAARC, UK, US & PRC and
S. Asia)
The presentation titles can be formulated around these general areas.
-Coffee will available from 10 to 1030 in the Buttery at Wolfson; Buffet
Lunch from 1-15 to 2:15,
and Tea from 4:30-4-45.

-If some people are staying back for the night I can book a table for
affordable and unmissable Lebanese food in Oxford (7-9:30) but would
need confirmations in advance.
Due to my membership of the College, the Conference rooms are fee of
cost but for food--thankfully being arranged by my wife (Nighat)-- a
token charge of 10.00 will be expected. The students will pay only 5
pounds. If somebody needs a College accommodation for the 12th or the
13th night please do let us know now as Oxford get totally booked during
summer. Nighat can help arrange accommodation at Worcester College for
20 pound a night (idyllic location the College has!) Please send her an
emial right away on: nighat.malik@w...
I invite you to this Workshop which should be fun and maybe we could
do it more often in the future. May I also request you to kindly offer a
presentation on the topic of your interest. Could you kindly confirm
your participation and topic at your earliest!
With best regards,
Iftikhar
38 Nelson Street, OXFORD OX2 6BDi.malik@b...

______

#3.

[Posted below are three articles that appeared in Times of
India on the issue of visits by Non-resident Indians carrying foreign
passports to India. It is amazing that the Indian government is targetting=
=20
Non Resident Indians and their relatives for reasons of security. Please=20
feel free to write to the
Prime Minister Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani expressing your
disapproval of this measure.]

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi - 110011
Telephone: (011) 3018939, E-mail: vajpayee@s...
Shri Lal Krishna Advani, C-1/6 Pandara Park, New Delhi - 110003
Telephone: (011) 3782397 E-mail: advanilk@s...

ooooooooo

(A)

NRI in house? Tell cops, or go to jail
By Siddharth Varadarajan
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: If your NRI relatives are foreign citizens and you fail to
inform the police about their presence when they stay at your house, you
could well be imprisoned for five years. So could businessmen who meet
with foreign counterparts on their own premises without reporting the
matter to the local thana.
Even as India prides itself on being an open, liberal and democratic
society, an anachronistic law is being revived which will turn tens of
thousands of citizens into criminals for allowing foreigners into their
homes and offices without informing the authorities.
On Thursday, the ministry of home affairs (foreigners division) ran a
small advertisement in some local dailies with the ominous title,
`Intimation Regarding Presence of Foreigners'. It read: ``This is for the
information of General Public that as per the Foreigners (Report to
Police) Order, 1971, made under the Foreigners Act, 1946, every
householder or other person shall report to the officer-in-charge of the
nearest police station the arrival or presence in his household or in any
premises occupied by him or under his control of any foreigner, if he
knows or has reasons to believe that he is a foreigner. Non-compliance of
this order would attract punitive action under the Foreigners Act, 1946,
i.e. imprisonment up to a period of five years or with fine or both''.
This 1971 order is being ``reiterated in order to inform people that its
enforcement will be more stringent with a view to curbing overstaying and
illegal immigration'', home ministry spokesman PD Shenoy told The Times of
India. ``We have to be able to act against visitors from certain countries
inimical to our national interests'', he added.
However, neither Shenoy nor Pravin Srivastava, joint secretary in the
MHA's foreigners division, was able to explain why such a catch-all order
was necessary when under existing rules, visitors from specific countries
- such as Pakistan and Bangladesh - must report to local police stations.
When TOI faxed Srivastava pointing out that the 1971 order criminalizes
familial and professional relationships between Indians and foreigners and
doesn't even specify how long a foreigner must stay at a given location
before the police must be informed, the MHA scrambled to cover its flanks.
Shenoy later offered the following clarification: ``Casual visits by
foreigners to someone's home or office need not be reported. A cup of tea,
meals, business meeting, even a day-long visit is fine. But if an
overnight stay is involved, the police must be told'', he said.
Shenoy said the MHA would issue a press note clarifying the order. When
asked, he said the formal 1971 order would also be suitably modified.
However, these modifications will not take the sting out of an order that
is illiberal and easy to abuse. An NRI with a foreign passport who stays
in the homes of several relatives would run the risk of sending them to
jail if the police were not informed each night. The Indian friends of an
American professor would now have to think twice if their guest wants to
stay the night after a late dinner. ``All in all'', said G Parthasarathy,
former Indian ambassador to Pakistan, ``this order is an absurd and
unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of Indian citizens''.
--------
(B).

Will the VIP foreigners stand up?
By Vinod Taksal
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: If the home ministry's latest order is followed in letter and
spirit, consider this: Rashtrapati Bhavan will have to inform the
Chanakyapuri police station every time President K R Narayanan's daughter,
an American citizen, comes calling. Or, to extend the absurdity a bit,
each time the President hosts foreign heads of state or government.
* 7, Race Course Road will have to inform the Chanakyapuri PS each time
Prime Minister Vajpayee hosts his US-citizen foster daughter Nandita at
home?
* Brajesh Mishra's daughter is married to an Italian. If Mishra fails to
ring up Tughlaq Road thana every time his son-in-law is with him, the
National Security Adviser runs the risk of spending up to five years in
jail.
* National security advisory board chairman K Subrahmanyam's daughter and
her husband, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and a clutch of nephews and
nieces are either foreigners or foreign-passport-holding NRIs. Does that
mean ...?
* Ex-President R. Venkataraman's daughter is a German citizen. If she
spends the night over at her father's home, will he have to ....?
* Finance minister Yashwant Sinha'a sister-in-law is a French citizen,
attached to the French National Assembly as a security expert. Should she
choose to stay with Sinha when she visits India, will he have to ...?
The list could go on.
--------
(C)

Foreigners' law in national interest: Ministry
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: Reacting to criticism of the controversial Foreigners (Report
to Police) Order, 1971, the Union home ministry said on Friday that the
rule is being enforced "in the interest of national security".
The order, made public through newspaper advertisements earlier in the
week, makes it mandatory for individuals, families, hotels and guest
houses hosting foreign citizens for more than 24 hours to inform police
about the guests.
The ministry spokesperson said that while the law would not be applicable
to Non-Resident Indians who still hold Indian passports, NRIs who have
foreign passports would come under its ambit.
"It is to deter the illegal entry of foreigners into the country. There
has been an influx of a large number of foreigners into the country -
particularly from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan - over the last
few years. Many of them have overstayed, burdening the economy. Some of
them have been indulging in subversive activities too," the official said.
Asked about the immediate provocation for the order, the spokesperson
merely said, "such orders are issued from time to time" to bring it to the
notice of public at large and "to ensure that security agencies are alert
about it".
"As a host, one would not have to physically present oneself at a police
station. Information could be registered over a telephone," the official
said.

_____

#4.

The Hindustan Times
26 May 2001
Editorial

AN OFFICIAL report on national security is expected to be a neutral=20
document in political terms. But a section dealing with illegal immigrants,=
=20
prepared by a group of ministers led by L.K. Advani, has been unable to=20
resist the temptation of saying how these =91aliens=92 are used as vote ban=
ks=20
by political parties. Although the report has been coy about identifying=20
the parties, it is clear that it is hinting at the opposition since it=20
talks about how =93this subject invariably assumes communal overtones=94. W=
hat=20
the report fails to mention, however, is that vote banks are not of one=20
kind only. If the opponents of the ruling parties use these vote banks to=20
buttress their own political position, those in power at present also use=20
this very same topic to sow suspicions about all minorities while claiming=
=20
to be the sole guarantors of national security.

This tendentious swipe at the opposition is not the only defect in the=20
report. Since it talks about how the =93massive illegal immigration=94 pose=
s a=20
threat to social harmony, it may be worthwhile to examine the argument in a=
=20
wider context. It is no secret that

all these immigrants =97 15 million Bangladeshis, 2.2 million Nepalese,=20
70,000 Sri Lankan Tamils and 100,000 Tibetans =97 have come to India either=
=20
in search of livelihood or to escape from the conditions of tyranny and=20
despair at home. Since their migration is need-based and not motivated by=20
any desire to provoke social tension, suggestions have been made by both=20
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani to equip them with work permits so=20
that the illegality involved in their migration is removed.

Among the organisations, however, which do create social tension are those=
=20
which belong to the Sangh parivar, like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. They=20
are engaged almost on a daily basis to promote disaffection against the=20
minorities. As a latest home ministry report says, there has been a=20
perceptible increase in the number of attacks on Christians. The reason is=
=20
no secret.

It is the propaganda directed against them by the saffron outfits. But the=
=20
report is silent on this point. An assessment of this nature serves no=20
purpose if it is so biased as to ignore a vital aspect of the social scene=
=20
while focusing on a less important one.

_____

#5.

To: act-owner@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 11:58:16 +0530
Subject: FILM SCREENING - 29/05/2001 - BANGALORE

Dear friend(s)

SANGAMA invites you to a screening of the following films:

1. My Son, My Son (14 min)
2. Hindustan (3.3 min)
3. A Queen Always crowns Herself (2.3 min)
4. Love Song for Persis K (9 min)
5. Two dykes sing to a piano queen about the joys of Khush love (3 min)
6. Men Only - a panel discussion on homosexuality (30 min)

On TUESDAY, 29TH MAY 2001 At 5.30 PM

At SANGAMA, 1st Floor, No. 7, 8th Main, 3rd Phase, Domlur 2nd Stage,=20
BANGALORE - 560 071, India. Phone: 535 9591. Email: sangama@s...=
rg

ABOUT THE FILMS: The first film shows the need to respect and to love=20
people irrespective of their sexuality. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th films=20
look at old Hindi film songs with a gay/lesbian perspective. The sixth film=
=20
is a Panel Discussion (Panel members include Dr. Prakash Kothari -=20
Sexologist, Pramod Navalkar - Shiv Sena Leader, Ashok Row Kavi - Gay=20
activist, Anand Grover - lawyer, Mihir Desai - lawyer) on homosexuality.

HOW TO REACH SANGAMA: While traveling on the Airport road take the road=20
bang opposite New Shanthi Sagar Restaurant. You will have Domlur Bus Depot=
=20
to your right, BDA Complex to your left, Government School to your right=20
and Sagar Departmental Store to your left. Follow this road until it curves=
=20
to the left. Take the curve and keep on this road for 100 more meters till=
=20
you find a 3 storied red brick building with green windows. Sangama is=20
located in the first floor of this building

_____

#6.

Prof. K.N. Panikkar (The well known historian from India) will be in USA=20
for a month from
the middle of August and he can be contacted on e-mail <knp@i...> by=20
all those interested in organising talks and lectures

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

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