[sacw] SACW #1. (11 Dec. 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

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

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

#1. Documents adopted during the Afghan Women's Summit in Brussels last wee=
k.
#2. Afghanistan/ Pakisstan: Beginning of the end (Imtiaz Alam)
#3. India: History vs Propaganda (Romila Thapar)
#4. Kashmir / India Unsettling settlement (Balraj Puri)

________________________

#1.

[Documents adopted during the Afghan Women's Summit last week.]

DECLARATION OF SOLIDARITY

In solidarity with the Afghan women gathered in Brussels December 4-5th,
women's rights activists from Belgium, Croatia, France, India, Italy,
Jordan, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Tajikistan,
Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States met in parallel
session in Brussels to formulate support strategies for the implementation
of the Brussels Proclamation issued by the Afghan Women's Summit. A number
of initiatives were devised by this group, which included activists from
war-torn countries, artists, lawyers, funders and a parliamentarian. Also
working with the group were the Gender Advisor to the UN Secretary-General
and the Executive Director of UNIFEM. The group was deeply moved and
inspired by the clarity and brilliance of the Brussels Proclamation and the
vision of Afghan Women for the future of their country. In support of this
vision, the group made the following commitments:

=B7 To undertake an advocacy campaign to ensure that the funds allocated by
the international community for the reconstruction of Afghanistan are
conditional on (i) the participation by women in decision-making over the
granting of the funds; (ii) the inclusion of women's non-governmental
organizations among recipients of the funds; and (iii) the use of the funds
for implementation of the priorities outlined in the Brussels Proclamation.

=B7 To declare on International Women's Day 2002 that for women=20
"Afghanistan
is Everywhere", which means that we are joined in solidarity with the women
of Afghanistan not only because we all identify with their suffering but
also because we understand that the same conditions of violence,
oppression, invisibility and other forms of inequality that plagued
Afghanistan are universal. We will use March 8th to mobilize a worldwide
demand for the implementation of the Brussels Proclamation issued by the
Afghan Women's Summit.

=B7 To create an international task force of women's rights lawyers with
particular expertise in drafting legislation and constitutional law.

=B7 To provide political support to the Ministry of Women created=20
by the Bonn
Agreement, and to undertake efforts to foster voter education and the
participation by women in elections.

=B7 To coordinate a funding effort to support grassroots community
initiatives by and for women in Afghanistan and neighboring countries,
which will make available at least $1 million over the next three years.=20

=B7 To promote United Nations recruitment of women for employment in the
various agencies within the UN system operating in Afghanistan and
neighboring countries.

-----

Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy
4-5 December 2001
The Brussels Proclamation

The meeting of the Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy came up with the
following demands with respect to the reconstruction of Afghanistan :

EDUCATION, MEDIA AND CULTURE

Infrastructures in Afghanistan for the past 23 years have been destroyed.
People of Afghanistan lost their basic human rights including the right to
live, to be educated and to work, as well as their culture. Two
generations of Afghans are illiterate and there was no adequate schooling
available due to the war and the repressive regime, which banned girls from
school and taught boys only about " political " Islam so that these boys
were brainwashed and became extremists. These ideas are contrary to
Islamic values.

Afghan women are in dire need of education and information through the
media. Education, information and culture empower women. Women are the
shapers of society; they have to be educated and have access to information
in order to raise responsible children. Women should participate fully in
the current and future development of Afghanistan.

We need to re-open the schools in major cities of Afghanistan, starting
from Kabul the capital, and bring back to the people our cultural heritage.
Particular attention should be given to orphans living in the streets,
both in respect of shelter and education.

We need to bring hope and a bright future to our people. It is our duty as
Afghan women to help and support our people in order to bring to the fore
the important contribution of Afghan women as the torch-bearers of a
culture in peril.=20

For the past 23 years, Afghan people have been living in the dark. We the
Afghan women should join our efforts to establish a civil society in our
country and bring back democratic values through education and culture.
Education and culture transcend the reality of our lives. Their healing
power and creative energy could act as a catalyst for peace and as an
antidote to our national wounds by safeguarding our cultural heritage from
disappearance. By reviving education and culture, we Afghans can all have
something common to share and be united.

Recommendations
- Sending a group of women to Afghanistan for assessing the schools'
condition
- Developing an emergency plan for re-opening schools by March 2002 for
both girls and boys and reconstruction of the schools that have been
damaged or destroyed
- Reopening of institutes of higher education
- Provision of all the necessary means for schools so that they will be
able to function properly
- Transfer of students taught at home to schools
- Provision of a comprehensive school curriculum based on international
standards and the relevant supplies
- Provision of teachers' training including refresher courses=20
for teachers
- Creation of structures for sheltering and educating orphans
- Ensuring fair salaries for all staff in education
- Inclusion of educational professionals in the Ministry of Education
- Ensuring inclusion of conflict resolution courses in education
- Afghan journalists living abroad to assess the situation in Afghanistan
- Reconstruction of TV satellites and radio stations, in=20
particular in the
major cities of Afghanistan that were already equipped
- Provision of cameras and necessary equipment
- Provision of training for personnel in the area of technical=20
backing and
production
- Recuperation and re-purchase of the ancient literary works which have
been dispersed around the world, with the help of UNESCO and private donors
- Reprinting of rare books of literature, poetry, etc
- Translation of Afghan literature into English and other=20
languages so that
the Afghan children living abroad will be able to regain their cultural
identity
- Establishment of a prize-award system in literature for young writers,
poets and artists

HEALTH

Women should participate fully in the current and future development of
Afghanistan, particularly in the field of health. We volunteer to do a
comprehensive survey in order to specifically identify and point out the
needs if concrete support is provided. In order for the group members to
conduct a comprehensive survey in the following areas, the group members
request the European Commission and the donor agencies to provide the means
for a team to conduct a survey of the medical needs of Afghans.

Recommendations
- Provision of critical medical equipment, medicines and vitamins
- Rebuilding of water and sanitation systems
- Restarting of the food program
- Vaccination programs
- Medical teams be sent to Afghanistan to provide hands-on training and
mentoring to Afghan doctors and other medical staff
- Afghan doctors and other medical staff be provided with the=20
opportunities
to get training abroad
- Scholarships be provided to medical students to study abroad
- Awareness raising through media, distribution of health=20
related material,
including but not limited to mother and child health, malnutrition,
hygiene, contagious diseases, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases
- Re-establishment of health centers in urban and rural areas
- Re-establishment of training centers and training programs for the
medical personnel
- Rebuilding of medical faculties in Kabul, Herat, Nengrahar and Mazar-e-
Sharif
- Rehabilitation of psychological hospital in Kabul
- Expansion of orthepedic centers for handicapped people
- Expansion of clinics and treatment centers for Malaria and Leshmenia
- Establishment of counselling and health centers in schools
- Provision of family planning programs
- Establishment and rebuilding of medical laboratories
- Re-introduction of health insurance
- Provision of centers for HIV/AIDS patients and drug addicts
- Provision of blood banks

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE CONSTITUTION

Recalling the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), The Cairo Programme of Action, and
the UN Convention Against Torture, we the participants of the Afghan
Women's Summit for Democracy make the following recommendations:

Recommendations
- Making all support, including monetary, from the=20
international community
conditional on the rights and treatment of women
- The cessation of using Pakistan as a proxy for Afghanistan and the
subsequent recognition of Afghanistan as an independent state in
reconstruction negotiations
- Guaranteed recognition of the returnees to Afghanistan as legitimate
citizens of Afghanistan
- Central inclusion of women in the Loya Jirgah (Grand Assembly) and all
peace processes and matters related to reconstruction
- Inclusion of Afghan women lawyers in the development of a new
constitution based on the 1964 constitution and resulting legal frameworks
- Critical focus on disarmament in all areas of Afghanistan and a wide
demining campaign
- Ensuring that the principles of non-discrimination according to gender,
age, ethnicity, disability, religion, and political affiliation in all
aspects of political, social, cultural, civil and economic rights are
central to the new legal system
- Ensuring the protection of women from forced/under-aged=20
marriages, sexual
harassment, trafficking in people and all other types of abuse
- Ensuring a safe and secure environment for women and girls
- Ensuring equal rights for women including the right to vote, equal pay
and equal access to education, health care and employment
- Elimination of child labor and child soldiering
- Wide utilization of Afghan women experts, their knowledge and=20
experiences
- Establishment of an umbrella/coalition under which a number of
organizations will jointly work on projects or programs
- Donor funding to be channeled through local Afghan Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) and a transparent system of accountabilities be
established
- Ensuring examination of the economic involvement of regional actors in
the context of promoting sustainable peace

REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED WOMEN

According to UNHCR in the past two decades Afghan refugees constitute the
largest refugee population in the world. Due to the current war in
Afghanistan, approximately 300,000 more refugees have been added to the
refugee population. More than 65% of refugees are women and children.
Afghan refugees in the first country of asylum, especially in neighbouring
countries, including Central Asian countries, have very limited rights.
The safety and security of most refugees, especially women, is extremely
limited. Under the current circumstances, due to the presence of landmines
and destruction of infrastructure in residential areas, Afghanistan does
not have the capacity to provide sustainable living conditions. The
political and security conditions in Afghanistan are not considered to be
safe for some refugees. For those refugees who cannot return and are in
need of international protection according to the 1951 Geneva Convention,
resettlement should be provided as a tool of protection.=20

Recommendations

- Avoidance of forced repatriation of refugees as it violates basic human
rights according to UNHCR guidelines on repatriation
- Provision of a durable resettlement solution for those refugees who
cannot return to Afghanistan for security reasons
- Increase of educational, training, capacity building and income
generating programs to enhance the special needs of refugees and
internally displaced women and children.
- Provision of basic needs of internally displaced and refugee women
required for human existence. These needs include:
- Security and protection
- Health care services
- Education on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases
- Education on birth control and family planning

______

#2.

The News International
Monday December 10, 2001
Beginning of the end

Imtiaz Alam

The Taliban has finally surrendered Kandahar and with that a phase of=20
de-Talibanisation has begun. However, it is just beginning of the=20
end. The significance of the Taliban's defeat, although a deciding=20
factor, does not lie as much in its military defeat, as being=20
considered by our disappointed holy warriors. It lies in their=20
political rejection by the people in Afghanistan and exposure of an=20
extremely oppressive and ridiculous experiment in the name of an=20
otherwise ruthless version of Wahabi-Islam. Those who sold it as a=20
model to emulate and those who backed it for "strategic depth" have=20
both been thoroughly exposed and embarrassed. This is time for=20
reflection and draw lessons, both at the state and societal levels.

Most significant lesson from the rout of Taliban is that extremism=20
and revivalist obscurantism has no place in the present day world;=20
nor should it have any space in today's Muslim societies, if they=20
ought to progress. It rather strengthens the forces it opposes or in=20
its infantile outburst challenges and brings shame to the project it=20
eulogizes. Osama-Omar adventure, as in all other instances of=20
adventurism in political and military history, has, consequently,=20
reinforced the opposite. In this instance, it has reinforced the=20
hegemony of the sole super-power and strengthened global militarism,=20
besides providing a carte blanche to the powerful to unleash terror=20
against the week and the oppressed. The price is being, and will be,=20
paid by the weaker, under-developed and oppressed people and nations=20
elsewhere, such as the Palestinians, even though the Afghans have got=20
an opportunity if they would not again squander it as they have been=20
prone to.

How extremism destroys the chances of a possible victory of an=20
oppressed people can also be seen in the current cycle of terror in=20
Israel and the Palestinian lands. Sharon, the Zionist-extremist, and=20
Hamas, Islamic adventurist, created with the Israeli funding, have=20
engaged in a mutually reinforcing terrorism at the cost of the=20
Palestinian people and their Authority. The Palestinian Authority,=20
ironically opposed by all Islamic radicals, is besieged from both=20
sides and, understandably, cannot meet the demands of the opposite=20
pulls. Hamas, by its recent suicide bombing, has provided necessary=20
pretext and international support to the most belligerent Israeli=20
government that, in turn, seems bent upon demolishing the legitimate=20
leadership of the Palestinians. Once, and if, it happens, Israel will=20
be left with no interlocutor from the Palestinian side and, in the=20
end, Hamas and other extremists will be routed as has been the case=20
with Al-Qaida. All these Afghan Mujahideen and Taliban were=20
themselves a product of the US and its allies and served their=20
purpose in both roles - as proteges and spoilers.

In the end, to the disappointment of our naive strategists of Hameed=20
Gul variety, Mulla Omar could not even show the guts to go down=20
fighting when the time for much sought after ground-war came, the end=20
he has been persuading his followers to meet - 'the martyrdom'.=20
Osama, on the other hand, is trying to escape from one cave to the=20
other, instead of finding a sanctuary among the people, who are,=20
instead, running after him in thousands, not just for $25 million for=20
his head-money, but to get rid of the scourge that has brought great=20
miseries to the Afghan people. Both Osama and Omar, their supporters=20
and ideological backers, have done great disservice to the Muslim=20
world in general, and the Afghan people, in particular. With the=20
demise of the most barbaric and untenable project of a=20
Wahabi-seminary-state, the prospects of its repetition in the region,=20
Central Asia and Pakistan, have been doomed for a considerable time,=20
if not for good.

The Taliban got punished not because that it was the staunch follower=20
of Islam, but due to its extremely illogical stubbornness, medieval=20
approach, inhuman conduct, total lack of understanding of the balance=20
of forces, complete isolation and alienation from the tribal and=20
social realities of Afghan society and the people at large. It was=20
successful against the misdeeds and mis-rule of the warlords. But it=20
turned out to be worse than what it had replaced. By imposing its=20
distorted, most inhuman and repressive system, it did succeed for a=20
while in subjugating the ruled. But such a forced ideological model=20
alienated the people so much that no one in Afghanistan mourns the=20
death of a system that was presented as 'Islamic'. The people,=20
rather, celebrated its demise even at the hands of foreign invaders.

It was a spontaneous movement that emerged from the void created by a=20
chaotic warlordism and was imposed on most of the territory with the=20
outside backing at a time when Afghanistan was a forgotten place,=20
except for the small-game players of the region. From a movement that=20
gave an impression of providing breathing space to the Afghans from=20
vicious warring factions, it turned into a monster bent upon=20
throttling the very life of and opportunity for the people. It was=20
least concerned about the life and requirements of its people who=20
could not live on the corporal punishments and destruction of Buddha=20
statues. Thanks to its hierarchical structure that finally got=20
concentrated in the only commander of the faithful(s) and a localised=20
handpicked Kandahari shoora that it not only got isolated from the=20
people, but also from every ethnic community, including Pakhtuns. So=20
self-absorbed and arrogant it became that it gave scant to the advice=20
of its only backer, Pakistan.

On the other hand, there are many lessons for Rawalpindi to learn. It=20
is just not that it followed a totally flawed Afghan policy to create=20
a proxy regime in the untenable hope of creating "strategic depth".=20
The kind of religious extremist and jihadi forces it helped unleash=20
were bound to follow their own agenda across the borders and=20
undermine the writ of the state and sustainability of civil society.=20
Reversal of its dangerous Afghan policy after September 11 has=20
created an opportunity to take self-correcting measures, if Pakistan=20
is to remain on the right side of history and progress as a developed=20
state and a progressive society. The paradigm of infantile jihad has=20
to be discarded. No state and international community can live or=20
tolerate it. Nor can any state or society allow private militias.

The war against terrorism has just begun. It will spread to every=20
corner of the world. The irony of the damage done by Osama-Omar=20
adventure is that even the legitimate struggles of the colonised,=20
occupied and discriminated people will have no right to take up arms=20
in self-defence that has become the sole monopoly of the occupiers,=20
such as the Israelis and the Indians. Islamabad-Rawalpindi has to=20
review its domestic and Kashmir policy and act before it loses time=20
to do so as happened on September 11. Pakistan must consolidate its=20
position in the international community and let the Kashmiris'=20
indigenous struggle be spared from the jihadi internationalists.=20
Before the international community threatens measures, we must clear=20
our decks of rogue elements. If the Indian annexationists have to be=20
put on defensive and the international support for the Kashmiris is=20
to be assured, we should not let Lashkars and Jaishs play the role of=20
Hamas in Kashmir.

General Musharraf had indicated to make a policy on extremism. It is=20
just not an administrative issue. It requires a thorough=20
re-orientation of the state, reformation of education system,=20
reversal of theocratisation of institutions and laws, isolating=20
religious extremists and bringing democratic and enlightened forces=20
back at the centre stage of our nationhood. All extremist sanctuaries=20
have to be tamed and, where necessary, wiped out with full might of=20
the state. Pakistan has look at itself and cannot afford the=20
adventures of jihad all around. This is just not the job of the=20
powers that be who derailed the state from the ideals of its=20
founders. It is essentially the responsibility of democratic forces=20
to be entrusted with the job of democratisation. Instead of repeating=20
the mistakes of his military predecessors, General Musharraf should=20
let the democratic process isolate religious extremism and set the=20
direction right.

______

#3.

The Times of India 10 Dec. 2001

History vs Propaganda
by ROMILA THAPAR
HAT is really at stake in the current row over history textbooks is=20
the right of the professional historian to assert the pre-eminence of=20
history over myth and fantasy. History in India has been regarded as=20
a soft option: The popular belief is that anyone who has read a few=20
books on a subject can claim to be a historian.
What is not generally understood is that in the last half century the=20
writing and research on history has become far more professional.
We do now have to observe a historical method; ways of reading and=20
interpreting sources. Reading a text alone is not sufficient to draw=20
historical conclusions, it is equally important to know the context=20
of the text - the purpose, the function, the audience and the patron,=20
all go towards the making of a text.
Reading, therefore, means an analytical activity that draws on=20
logical reasoning, and the priorities of causation. There is also the=20
input of other disciplines in the social sciences - in ancient=20
history, for example, both archaeology and linguistics make=20
contributions.
In other words, writing history is a complicated process. This is not=20
understood very often at the popular level, and certainly not by the=20
politicians who are currently criticising the history we write.
This then raises the question of who judges what is valid history?=20
The validity has to be judged by professional historians who may=20
criticise these books and whose criticism we would take seriously=20
(provided they are professional historians).
Politicians and heads of religious organisations would have views on=20
the politics of what is included in a textbook, but one cannot take=20
their judgments on the correctness or otherwise of the historical=20
content of the books, with any seriousness.
The NCERT is not willing to reveal the names of the so-called=20
historians whom it claims to have consulted. So the debate is not=20
among historians but between historians and politicians. The real=20
issues are not issues of historical accuracy.
What our critics are saying in effect is that: "We neither need to=20
know your methods nor are we interested in knowing them. That is=20
irrelevant. What we are interested in is the political message, a=20
political exploitation of a particular historical view that we=20
endorse''.
The real concerns are to provide propaganda for the elections in UP=20
and Punjab, and to facilitate the imposition of the RSS version of=20
history on state schools.
It is curious too that some of our books have been used for almost 40=20
years - mine on Ancient India has been prescribed since 1966 and I=20
revised it in 1987 - and have not created pedagogic problems. But we=20
are suddenly told that there are 50,000 complaints against them and=20
that certain communities are feeling offended by them.
One of the attitudes that we have to grow out of as a society is the=20
insistence that anything a historian or a social scientist might say=20
must have the consent of the community to which it relates.
If one reads the chronicles and historical biographies of earlier=20
times, all manner of remarks - sometimes outrageous - were made about=20
various communities.
Yet there was accommodation. Sooner or later we shall have to come to=20
terms with the notion of a critical evaluation of social groups, and=20
this may bring about the maturity that we need in present times.
Beyond the immediate politics of the action, there is an attempt to=20
falsify history in order to prove the theories on which the Hindutva=20
ideology is based. For example, the historical primacy of a=20
distinctive Aryan people is maintained.
This is unacceptable, because Aryan is a linguistic label, refers to=20
the Aryan-speaking peoples and is not the name of a single people or=20
a race.
There were many who lived in the subcontinent prior to the Aryans.=20
The claim is made that the Aryans were indigenous to India, which=20
most scholars reject in favour of arguing for migrations of=20
Aryan-speakers into India.
The latter argument is supported by linguistic data, but in the=20
Hindutva reconstruction of the early past, the linguistic evidence is=20
ignored.
Another assertion - that the Harappan civilisation was created by the=20
Aryans - is not taken seriously by most scholars, nevertheless we now=20
have Murli Manohar Joshi pronouncing on what he calls the Sarasvati=20
civilisation, and which he claims is prior even to the Harappan. Yet=20
the evidence for this is so far invisible. The Rigveda is also being=20
taken back in time, and quite arbitrarily from millennium to=20
millennium.
What is happening is that there is a building up of a fantasy that is=20
being thrust upon students in the guise of historical knowledge. This=20
is doubly objectionable because the fantasy is attempting to prove=20
that the caste Hindu has an unbroken, lineal descent of 5,000 years.
The thesis of Savarkar that those who can claim Indian ancestry and=20
India as the land of their religion, can claim to be Indian, the=20
others being foreigners, is sought to be vindicated.
A further element in their theory is that Indian civilisation,=20
encapsulated in Vedic Aryanism, was entirely indigenous and was the=20
first to invent all manner of sophisticated technologies, none of=20
which was derived from other cultures.
They argue simultaneously that India virtually civilised the world.=20
The notion of civilisation in this theory is a 19th century, colonial=20
concept, now discarded by historians.
The other area of dispute arises yet again from their endorsing the=20
colonial interpretation - the interpretation of Mill and Macaulay -=20
that Indian history should be seen as the Hindu and the Muslim=20
civilisations and the British period.
This views Hindu and Muslim communities as being monolithic and=20
uniform, as well as permanently in conflict. Muslim rule, therefore,=20
meant the oppression of Hindus.
If one looks at the medieval scene without the blinkers of Hindu and=20
Muslim communalism, it is fascinating to see the interface between=20
what we call the Hindus and the Muslims and between them and many=20
others. An example of this is Eknath's, Hindu-Turk Samvad, that=20
speaks freely and even critically of differences, but the context is=20
one of living life together. What is also fascinating is that the=20
medieval period is the time when many present-day rituals, practices=20
and mythologies, were being formulated as a part of Hinduism. They=20
drew from the interface of varying ways of life and beliefs,=20
modulated over time. To say, therefore, that all Hindus religious=20
practices derive from the Vedas, is an artificial imposition of=20
uniformity on a religion whose strength lies in its plurality.
(As told to Mahesh Daga)
_____

#4.

The Hindustan Times 10 December 2001
Unsettling settlement
Balraj Puri

What does the J&K Resettlement Act mean? A dispassionate debate is=20
crucial before the current controversy explodes into a communal=20
conflagration that may be fanned by vested interests and fanatics.

The Supreme Court 'respectfully returned' the presidential reference=20
on the J&K Resettlement Act on November 8. The reference was made by=20
the then President Giani Zail Singh in 1982 when its enactment by the=20
state assembly had generated communal passions.

The act sought resettlement of the persons who were state subjects=20
before May 15, 1954 and who had migrated after March 1, 1947 to the=20
territory now included in Pakistan. It authorised the state=20
government to issue permits to those persons who wanted to return=20
after verifying their antecedents.

The return of the reference means that the law stands as it was=20
originally passed. The delay of 19 years in getting judicial verdict,=20
though inexplicable, would have served some purpose if this period=20
was used to evolve a political agreement on the issues involved.=20
Besides, the political situation in the state is far more explosive=20
today then it was in 1982.

Some unnecessary heat may be avoided if the act is objectively examined:

* It applies to people who migrated to Pakistan and not to the=20
PoK [Pakistani Administered Kashmir]. It is wrongly argued that it=20
would reunite families divided by the LoC. The humanitarian problem=20
that the law proposes to deal with is similar to the families divided=20
by partition of the country and is in no way specific to the state.
* As far as residents of PoK are concerned, they are legally=20
Indian citizens because under the Indian Constitution, the whole=20
undivided state is part of India. But travelling across the LoC is=20
restricted under the Ingress and Egress Act.
* If under the proposed law, some erstwhile residents of the=20
state, now in Pakistan, are allowed to return and claim property they=20
had left behind, the worst sufferers will be displaced Hindus and=20
Sikhs from PoK to whom evacuee property has been allotted.

When the resettlement bill was passed, Sheikh Abdullah had accepted=20
my suggestion to pass a supplementary legislation to implement his=20
verbal assurance that the interests of Hindu and Sikh allottees on=20
the evacuee property would not be affected. If the present National=20
Conference government could implement the assurance given by the late=20
Sheikh, the area of disagreement between opponents and supporters of=20
the Resettlement Act would be reduced.

* The job of verification of the antecedents of the present=20
residents of Pakistan who want to return is beyond the means of the=20
state government. Would the government consider formally handing it=20
over to the central intelligence agencies before issuing the required=20
permit?
* The state law draws its constitutional sanction from Section=20
6 of Article 7 of the Indian Constitution. It authorises the state=20
assembly to enact a law to grant Indian citizenship to permanent=20
residents of the state who after migration to Pakistan return under a=20
permit issued by the state authority.

But this authority is not absolute. According to entry 17 in the=20
seventh schedule of the Constitution, citizenship is a Union subject.=20
Article 11 makes power of Parliament to enact laws on citizenship on=20
this subject absolute. Parliament passed the Citizenship Act in 1955=20
which is applicable to J&K state also.

It also deals with the grant of citizenship to non-citizens including=20
those residents of the state who migrated to Pakistan. For they=20
became citizens of that country and ceased to be citizens of India.=20
Article 7 was incorporated in the Constitution in 1949 to honour the=20
commitment of plebiscite in the state which required that all=20
residents who left the state would be allowed to return to take part=20
in it.

It is nobody's case that the present law is needed to honour the=20
commitment of plebiscite. Nor have its supporters ever argued that it=20
was needed or would be used to reverse the entire process of=20
evacuation of Muslims from the state to Pakistan during the communal=20
disturbances in 1947.

It is just not possible. Those who have been socially, economically=20
and emotionally integrated with Pakistan for the last five decades,=20
they are unlikely to return to restart an uncertain life in the=20
state. It was not unsurprising that the migrants from the state to=20
Pakistan had greeted the new law in 1982 with hostility and suspicion=20
as an "Indian conspiracy to close the Kashmir issue unilaterally".

The assurance of the then chief minister that no refugee allottee on=20
evacuee property would be displaced on the return of evacuees was a=20
further disincentive for their return. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court=20
had, in a judgment, directed the J&K government not to entertain any=20
more claims for properties left behind by those who migrated to=20
Pakistan in 1947 as the 12-year limitation period prescribed under=20
the Evacuees (Administration Property) Act, 1949, was long over.

What then is the need of the Act? No law can be justified simply=20
because the Constitution empowers its enactment. If the grant of=20
citizenship is exclusively the constitutional right of the Centre,=20
the only advantage of the present law is that the state can recommend=20
such cases to the central government which alone has the means to=20
verify the antecedents of the migrants to Pakistan who apply for=20
return to the state.

In case the state asserts its right to take action independently=20
under Article 7 of the Constitution, it would conflict with the=20
Indian citizenship law enacted under Article 11.

Normally, in the event of such a conflict, central law prevails over=20
state law. But the conflict should be resolved in a court of law=20
rather than through polemics.

While the effectiveness of the law to change ground realities is=20
doubtful on account of its legal and operational implications, the=20
exaggerated fears regarding the possible influx of hordes of Muslims=20
from across the border, including saboteurs and spies, the change in=20
the demographic composition of the Jammu region (from where the=20
migration took place in 1947), and that events of 1947 might revisit=20
it, need to be corrected through a dispassionate debate at the=20
political, intellectual and legal fora.

This is crucial before the current controversy explodes into communal=20
conflagration which may be fanned by vested interests from across the=20
border and fanatics on this side.

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

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996. To=20
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DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

--=20