[sacw] SACW #1 | 11 April. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire #1 | 11 April 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

__________________________

#1. Pakistan: Seminar on Sectarian Terrorism and The Future of=20
Democracy (Karachi, 12 April)
#2. India : The Polity: BJP Prepares for the Morrow (Mahesh Rangarajan)
#3. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative's Statement on The=20
Gujarat Riots and The Role Of The Police.
#4. Orgy in Ram's name (Abu Abraham)
#5. Communalism and juvenile innocence (Geetan Batra)
#6. Hindutva rate of growth (MK Venu)
#7. VHP 'hand' in Gujarat's murder weapons (Joydeep Ray)
#8. A report on the present condition of custody of Mohd. Yasin=20
Malik, a POTO detainee (Committee for Initiative on Kashmir )

__________________________

#1.

SEMINAR: SECTARIAN TERRORISM AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY

Date: April 12 2002
Time: 4.00 pm
Place: Karachi Press Club
Organised by Joint Action Committee for Peace, Karachi

Speakers
Nuzhat Kidvai, JAC/WAF =96 the effect of sectarianism on women
Dr Sher Shah, PMA =96 sectarianism and the medical profession
Usman Baloch, Labour Party Pakistan
Farooq Sattar, MQM
Taj Haider, PPP
Mairaj Mohammad Khan, Tehrik-e-Insaf
Sabihuddin Ghausi, President KPC =96 The fallout of sectarianism on economy
M.B.Naqvi, President Pakistan Peace Coalition

_____

#2.

http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=3D2002&leaf=3D04&filename=3D430=
4&filetype=3Dhtml
Economic and Political Weekly
April 06, 2002

The Polity: BJP Prepares for the Morrow

Unlike any other political entity in the country, the BJP is an arm,=20
a front organisation, and an extension of another organisation, the=20
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In the Eighties there was a fundamental=20
transformation in the mass character of the party: on the heels of=20
the VHP's test runs with emotive symbols the party cashed in to reap=20
a rich harvest of votes. When these proved inadequate to reach power=20
without back-pedalling the core issues, a compromise was arrived at.=20
The issues were deferred but never renounced. They were put on the=20
shelf, ready to be activated when the time was ripe. Such a time had=20
clearly arrived by mid-March 2002 for a variety of reasons.

Mahesh Rangarajan

As is his wont, Atal Behari Vajpayee capped an eventful and critical=20
month in his political career with a poem. He exclaimed he was unable=20
to find his 'meet' (partner) in the midst of the dust and din of a=20
'mela' or fair. But when he looks back on the events of March 2002,=20
the prime minister may see the crossing of a Rubicon in his=20
honeymoon-like relationship not only with his party's allies but also=20
with the country at large. For the events at Ayodhya had the making=20
of a farce, and Gujarat all the elements of a monumental tragedy.

It is not that there have not been worse incidents of mayhem. Ayodhya=20
on March 15 was peaceful as compared with December 6. But the peace=20
was a deceptive one, with the official from the Ayodhya Cell in the=20
PMO accepting the pillars for the proposed temple and giving the=20
project an official imprimatur for the first time. A leading figure=20
of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad correctly called this symbolic gesture a=20
major gain for the movement as a whole and made it a point to thank=20
the prime minister and the government. It was only the Supreme Court=20
and the mobilisation of pluralist and secular opinion on the ground=20
that prevented further advance towards the construction of a temple=20
where the Babri masjid had stood until razed to the ground. In fact=20
the entire drama at Ayodhya raises questions afresh about the nature=20
of the relations of the BJP and its allies. So far the latter have=20
maintained that the National Agenda of Governance is the lodestar of=20
the alliance and that issues such as Ayodhya are in the deep freeze.=20
Yet, as the BJP has grown stronger within the alliance system, it has=20
not hesitated to flex its muscles.

Gujarat was a major tragedy, with a level of police complicity and=20
administrative acquiescence at a statewide level that plumbs new=20
depths in India's chequered political evolution. One can reach back=20
for precedents, to Saheed Suhrawardy's Direct Action Day in Kolkata=20
in August 1946, or the massacres in October and early November 1984=20
in Delhi and other north Indian towns. True the death toll in=20
Bhagalpur in November 1989 was three times higher. And the Mumbai=20
massacres in January 1993 were, as independent observers have=20
established, enabled by the inaction and indirect assistance of the=20
police. But Gujarat set new standards in terms of the intensity and=20
scale of violence. It cut across district and rural-urban divides,=20
included the systematic gutting of shops and the use of molestation=20
of women as an overt weapon in politics for the first time on such a=20
scale.

The mobilisation of cadres of the front organisations of the Sangh=20
was put in place quickly. They were quick to draw a line of=20
distinction between the carnage in Godhra and the massacres of=20
minorities that followed.

But the retreat on the plan for a 'kalash yatra' was evidence of=20
uncertainty about public responses and anticipations of trouble from=20
the allies, especially the regional parties. Such a 'yatra' would=20
have been on the lines of the public rituals around the urns of the=20
ashes of 'kar sevaks' killed in police firing in Ayodhya in October=20
1990.

The regional parties in particular had polemical exchanges with the=20
RSS after a long time. In the first such public fissures with a key=20
ally, the authorities in Hyderabad took kar sevaks into police=20
custody rather than let them proceed to Uttar Pradesh by train. The=20
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam strongly criticised the resolution of the=20
RSS reminding minorities that they were dependent on 'the goodwill of=20
the majority community'. In Orissa, the Biju Janata Dal's less than=20
emphatic victory in the local polls was followed by the ransacking of=20
the assembly by cadres of the Bajrang Dal. The cooling of the=20
relations with the regional parties was publicly evident in the=20
unwillingness of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to=20
come to any quick decision on a new Lok Sabha speaker after the=20
demise of C Balayogi.

Yet the bumps on the road have to be set against the gains made by=20
the ruling alliance. The Nationalist Congress Party lent its support=20
in parliament to the controversial law on terrorism, calling=20
attention to its strained relationship with the Congress. Another=20
Congress ally, though a pre-poll one in this regard, the AIADMK not=20
only backed the POTA but saw its leading light and re-anointed chief=20
minister J Jayalalitha share the dais with prominent BJP leaders in a=20
new poor feeding scheme in temples across Tamil Nadu. In an ironical=20
twist, the two great historic centres of cultural and social=20
movements against orthodoxy provided allies for the saffron party at=20
a moment when it was in danger of isolation.

Better still, there were hopes yet in ruling party circles of an=20
eventual deal with the dalit-led Bahujan Samaj Party in Lucknow. For=20
all its bravado, the saffron party is now not in power in any large=20
state in the Hindi belt and a friendly regime in power in UP would be=20
an asset. In fact the very formation of the second Vajpayee=20
government was only made possible by the installation in late 1997 of=20
a BJP-led ministry in the state. The problem now is the reversal of=20
roles, with Mayawati's party having 10 MLAs more than the 88-strong=20
BJP legislative party. Even if the party strikes a bargain, it is not=20
clear it will hold the aces. But a deal would be a win, even if a=20
pyrrhic one.

This lies at the heart of the dilemma that stares the Sangh as a=20
whole and the BJP in particular in the face. Since 1996 when the=20
13-day-old Vajpayee government bowed out of office due to its=20
inability to muster the numbers on the floor of the house, the party=20
has stressed its adherence to a minimalist agenda. The consequences=20
were positive. In 1998 it won more allies than ever before and in the=20
next general elections it expanded its geographical reach and seat=20
base by ceding even more space to partners. This particular phase of=20
the BJP's existence was not and is not bereft of tensions.

Every once in a while the core agenda of the Sangh would resurface=20
and on more than one occasion this was assisted and facilitated by=20
none other than the prime minister. Set aside his speeches in Chittor=20
in 1998 and later in Somnath in 2001 where he struck a line that was=20
in keeping with his own party's notion of a nation in arms against=20
medieval invaders. Earlier still he had called for a national debate=20
on conversions after violent attacks on Christian churches in the=20
Dangs. More apposite still was his public avowal of the ideals of the=20
Sangh in his speech in Staten Island, New York.

Yet at Ayodhya Vajpayee took brinkmanship to the very edge. Had the=20
court given way to the attorney-general's ingenious if indefensible=20
argument on the performance of the 'puja', Vajpayee would have=20
rivalled M S Golwalkar and Keshav Rao Hedge war in the annals of the=20
saffron fraternity. Under his leadership, the government would have=20
delivered what Advani's aborted 'yatra' in 1990 and the demolition in=20
1992 could not. It would have given the project of temple-building=20
its first seal of approval since the original 'shilanyas' permitted=20
by Rajiv Gandhi and Buta Singh in November 1989. As it is, the very=20
acceptance of the pillars by a union government officer marks a=20
closer identification than ever before of the republic with the=20
Sangh's own cultural project.

On the latter occasion, Mahant Avaidya Nath of Gorakhpur had=20
proclaimed that each brick used for the Ram temple would have been a=20
stone in the edifice of a Hindu Rashtra. On March 15 the Vajpayee=20
government was thwarted first by the Supreme Court and then by its=20
very oath of office from fulfilling this dream. What the Mahant could=20
not have possibly envisaged was a BJP-led government echoing the=20
words of the successive non-Hindutva holders of office, namely, that=20
the only alternative to a judicial verdict was a consensus. Come the=20
day, even Vajpayee was unable to deliver the temple without a=20
violation of the law too gross to accomplish.

Still the key change and one too important to miss is the return of=20
the temple to the agenda of national politics for the first time in=20
almost a decade. Even in October 1990 the mandir was only a symbol, a=20
hyphen to bind together local disputes and give them a wider medium=20
in which they could flourish. By placing the issue in the public=20
realm again, the VHP gave notice of its ability to mobilise its=20
cadres and its potential for polarising politics and society should=20
political imperatives require that this be done.

The induction of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Sri Jayendra=20
Saraswati, on to the scene has to be seen in this light. The formula=20
favoured by him was so close to the one originally touted by Ashok=20
Singhal that it would have been a victory for the latter in all but=20
name. The next date to watch for is June 2. This itself is a=20
testimonial to how things are back to the way they were under the V P=20
Singh government. The furies let loose by the Sangh as a whole and=20
the VHP in particular do not merely raise a challenge for the=20
government for the day. They raise issues that go to the heart of the=20
survival and viability of a law-governed state in India.

It is not as if the veterans at the helm of government are unaware of=20
these contradictions. On more than one anniversary of the demolition,=20
L K Advani who as an individual did more than perhaps anyone to raise=20
the issue to prominence has variously described the demolition as a=20
'setback', 'a matter of regret', 'a breakdown of discipline' and a=20
'black mark.' Yet it is this symbolic issue far more than Kashmir or=20
the issue of the Civil Code that gave Hindutva a public platform in=20
independent India at a mass level. Even BJP ministers who are=20
publicly loyal to the present government's agenda admit off-=20
the-record that they still believe in the temple as an ideal. They=20
are quick to add, in keeping with Advani's oft-repeated comment, that=20
the ideal should be achieved through legitimate means.

The answer to the dilemma of acceptable ends and unacceptable means=20
is not as difficult as might appear. Unlike any other political=20
entity in the country, the BJP is an arm, a front organisation, and=20
an extension of another organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak=20
Sangh. As the ideologues of the latter are fond of saying, it is the=20
'sanskriti' (culture) and the 'sanskar' (norms) of the 'parivar' that=20
make the party what it is today. In the Eighties there was a=20
fundamental transformation in the mass character of the party: on the=20
heels of the VHP's test runs with emotive symbols the party cashed in=20
to reap a rich harvest of votes. When these proved inadequate to=20
reach power without back-pedalling the core issues, a compromise was=20
arrived at. The issues were deferred but never renounced. They were=20
put on the shelf, not to be snuffed out for all time but ready to be=20
activated when the time as ripe.

Such a time had clearly arrived by mid-March 2002 for a variety of=20
reasons. The anti-terror card, played to the hilt after the terrorist=20
attack on parliament in December, did not find favour with the voters=20
in the four states that went to the polls in March. The key test of=20
strength lay in Uttar Pradesh where the party had consistently=20
emerged as the single largest vote-getter in every election since=20
1991.To firm up its base it inducted a dynamic incumbent and even=20
revamped the reservation policy to try to divide the OBCs and the SCs=20
in one swoop. None of this worked and the result was a disaster. In=20
no state election since the winter of 1998 had the party vested so=20
much in a single electoral outcome.

But March 2002 also marked the start of the second half of the term=20
of the Vajpayee government. It is only logical that slow manoeuvres=20
should start to place the BJP in line for a campaign issue in the=20
next round of general elections. While it is too early to speculate,=20
the strains in the NDA have begun to show. In 1999 the mere=20
aggregation of votes of the 24 constituent parties, the Kargil factor=20
and the image of Vajpayee as a leader who was above day-to-day=20
divisions stood the party in good stead. In the coming days things=20
may be far more uncertain. The economic slow down is affecting even=20
the core voter of the party since the Jana Sangh days, as was evident=20
in the scale of its defeat in the Delhi municipal polls.

In such uncertain times it is only to be expected that cadre-based=20
mobilisation will be a last resort. Given the heterogeneity of the=20
federal polity and the control of state police forces by a host of=20
other parties, it will not be easy to polarise the polity. But the=20
events of March 2002 were a dress rehearsal for the day when the=20
movement returns to its core agenda. In any case an ideological=20
formation with a cadre base does not enter into a collation merely to=20
share power or even to enjoy office. It also wears down its partners=20
in wars of position, subtly promotes its own worldview and entrenches=20
like-minded persons in key positions of influence. Such sources of=20
'soft' power can be invaluable in hard times. Far from power=20
moderating the party or making it more responsible, the ability of=20
the allies to restrain the premier party has been severely tested and=20
found wanting. The next time may well be the last.

_____

#3.

8TH April 2002,
New Delhi

THE COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE'S STATEMENT ON THE GUJARAT=20
RIOTS AND THE ROLE OF THE POLICE.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative [CHRI] strongly condemns the=20
Godhra incident, the violence that has engulfed Gujarat since then=20
and the role of the State government and particularly the police in=20
its continuation and course.

It is now 40 days since the first incident took place, and reports of=20
violence continue to pour in from all parts of Gujarat. The=20
continuing violence indicates the collapse of governance according to=20
the secular tenets of the Indian Constitution and a failure of state=20
machinery to ensure to the population - particularly Muslims - any=20
sense of security. Over 700 people have died. Thousands have been=20
injured and raped; many more have lost their homes, properties and=20
means of livelihood; and nearly a lac of people are displaced and=20
presently housed in camps.

The selective targeting of the minority community with remarkable=20
precision suggests a planned pogrom against Muslims rather than any=20
spontaneous mob frenzy characteristic of a communal riot.

The admission of the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner that "where the=20
whole society has opted for a certain colour in a particular issue,=20
it's very difficult to expect the policemen to be totally isolated=20
and unaffected", coupled with the conduct of the police, reveals a=20
bias and clearly confirms that the police have acted in a partisan=20
and illegal manner outside the limit of their constitutional mandate=20
to maintain law and order and protect all citizens equally.

CHRI points out that the sectarian approach of the police has been=20
consistently highlighted and criticized by several committees and=20
commissions of inquiries that have examined communal conflict in the=20
last few decades including the Sikh massacres [1984], the Bhagalpur=20
carnage [1989] and the communal riots in Bombay [1992-93].

Reaffirming the long standing need for police reform, the CHRI=20
regrets that the Central and State governments have done little or=20
nothing to reform the police or ensure their autonomous functioning=20
without fear or favour in accordance with law and free from=20
unwarranted influence, pressure or interference.

CHRI notes with grave concern the presence of ministers in police=20
control rooms as well as the fact that a number of police officers=20
who have been particularly effective in controlling mob violence have=20
been summarily transferred out of their areas, and in the midst of=20
unrest, have been removed from active duty - ostensibly on=20
"promotion".

The CHRI also believes that the inability to prevent heinous acts of=20
savagery or come to the aid of the Muslim community in the course of=20
several weeks of sustained attack clearly indicates collusion and=20
connivance of the state government machinery. The ruling political=20
establishment and its individual officers must take full=20
responsibility for this and be held accountable.

CHRI urges:

The Central and State governments ensure an immediate halt to=20
sectarian violence from all sides;

the Central Government ensure that the machinery of the State=20
government acts strictly in accordance with the basic tenets of the=20
Constitution.

CHRI urges the Central and State governments to take immediate steps=20
to ensure that all those responsible and particularly those at all=20
levels of government and within the police are brought to justice and=20
do not escape punishment.

CHRI also urges the State Government to recognize that access to=20
justice is difficult and therefore it must take all measures to=20
ensure that victims are assisted to gain speedy and effective=20
justice; have the benefit of all remedies against perpetrators and=20
are rehabilitated and fairly compensated for loss of life and=20
property.

CHRI urges the Central and State governments to institute open,=20
expert, independent and speedy inquires into the actions of the=20
police and other functionaries of the state administration, and into=20
the causes of their inability to prevent violence and protect large=20
sections of society.

CHRI once gain strongly urges the Central and State governments to=20
take heed of the long standing recommendations on police reform and=20
take immediate practical steps to radically reform the structure,=20
composition and functioning of the police so that nationwide it can=20
become an unbiased and efficient force capable of upholding the=20
rights of all citizens.

MAJA DARUWALA
Director, CHRI

____

#4.

Deccan Chronicle, April 10, 2002

Orgy in Ram's name
By Abu Abraham

Numbed as we all are by the happenings in Gujarat, we are scarcely in=20
a mental state to understand the reason why ordinarily sane people=20
suddenly behave like wild beasts.=20

If I say that religion is the cause, a thousand apologists for=20
religion will immediately say, "Ah, but true religion teaches love=20
and harmony."

The history of religion is full of bloody violence, yet we persist in=20
the belief that such a history has nothing to do with "true"=20
religion.=20

Throughout these last few weeks, we have been flooded in our national=20
press with sermons on religion and spirituality (the one bogus word=20
that seems to save everyone's soul).=20

Indian "spirituality" consists of bogus words and useless ideas. We=20
are at all times exhorted by saints and swamis to surrender to God=20
and all will be well.

This surrender takes the form of pujas all day and night. Doesn't it=20
surprise anyone that these pious offerings can suddenly take the form=20
of murderous attacks on one's neighbours - women and children=20
included?=20

Not since the days of Partition has this nation witnessed the kind of=20
lunacy as has taken place in Gujarat. It is not just the scale of the=20
violence that has shocked us, but the manner of it, the cruelty and=20
obscenity. Even to repeat some of the incidents would fill one with=20
shame.

The spirituality that Indians are famous for is, in reality, a=20
shutting-off of one's life from actual living, from one's own=20
neighbours and fellow beings.=20

It is in creating a personal world of one's own, in exclusive=20
communication with God. This fellowship with the Almighty is promoted=20
by thousands of godmen who fatten themselves on it.

In a secular society - which ours is supposed to be - communities=20
must interact with one another and work together. If each one lives=20
for himself or herself, cosseted within the family and one's own=20
community, where is the secularism, where is the equality?=20

The problem is that organisations like the RSS have no conception of=20
equality in the modern sense. Otherwise why should they tell the=20
minorities that their safety lies in the goodwill of the majority?=20

In other words, as Sarvarkar and Golwalkar have enunciated, the=20
minorities (Muslims and Christians) should accept their inferior=20
status, or else.

It is the equivalent of saying (as Manu does) that the Shudra is=20
created by the Almighty to serve the Brahmin. I wonder whether the=20
RSS definition of "majority community" includes the Dalits as well.

It is tragic that what could have been achieved as a harmless Ram=20
temple, should have ended as an orgy of murder and mayhem. But then=20
the truth is that the purpose of the temple is not and never has been=20
the worship of Ram, but the humiliation of the Muslims - to rub in=20
their inferior status.=20

It began with the demolition of the Babri Masjid, an act of=20
vengeance, and who knows what more barbarism lies on the way.=20
Hooligans and sants have taken over the movement of Ram bhakti, and=20
the devout are too afraid to challenge their power and authority.

Two special features mark the Gujarat riots. One is the callous=20
indifference of the police and the administration to the attacks on=20
the minority community.

The other, more weird is the participation of women in large numbers=20
in the actual massacres - women carrying swords, women distributing=20
kerosene-soaked rags to the men folk.=20

Nothing so dramatically shows the brutalisation of society that has=20
been going on since the Ram Mandir agitation began a decade ago.

According to reports, there has not been a single voice raised by any=20
of the Hindu women's organisations in condemnation of the atrocities=20
committed by mobs against Muslim women and even small children.

Lalita Panicker of the Times of India writes: "The Gujarat riots saw=20
a widening of the social base of women who do not question the=20
excesses of the fundamentalists and instead cooperate wholeheartedly=20
with them.=20

Reports from women's groups tell of middle and upper class women=20
participating in looting alongside men. Not one of them expressed any=20
horror at the carnage visited on their Muslim women counterparts.

"This suggests that we ought not to labour under the delusion that=20
left to themselves, these women would be more bothered about bread=20
and butter issues and not the mandir or Muslims. " In her essay,=20
Heroic Women, Mother Goddesses, Tanika Sarkar quotes some women=20
present in Ayodhya in 1991. Chandravati, a karsevika from Aligarh=20
said, "We have come here to shed blood... the meaning of temple=20
building is that mullahs should be hanged=8A"=20

Another would-be sanyasin from Ghaziabad said, "This country is as=20
deep as the ocean, as endless as the sky... the Hindu is the=20
beginning and the end."

_____

#5.

Tehelka.com

Communalism and juvenile innocence:
'Out of the mouths of babes'

How does a parent deal with a child who asks, "What is a Muslim?"=20
Geetan Batra examines how to work the communal naivet=E9 of today's=20
schoolchildren to turn them into tomorrow's secular citizens
New Delhi, April 6

Education! Which of the various me's do you propose to educate and=20
which do you propose to suppress?
D H Lawrence

One Sunday night last July - homework not done, the familiar hysteria=20
arose as I battled with my kid and her casual disregard for authority=20
and any written work. "So what is the home work about=85?"

"Something I don't understand=85I have it written in my dairy=20
'Interview a Muslim'. What is a Muslim?" I was aghast at the fact=20
that the 11-year-old hadn't been able to relate all the learning on=20
Islam and the Prophet in the history books to people who move in and=20
out of our house and our lives so often. Somehow, the word "Muslim"=20
was not used in the chapter on Islam, and in her unclouded mind, she=20
did not equate Muslim with Prophet Mohammed and his teachings.=20
Although her application powers didn't portend well for our already=20
maligned education system, nor for the political correctness or=20
social sensitivity of the assignment, on second thought, I was=20
relieved that the charged atmosphere President Musharraf's trip had=20
induced amongst all adults hadn't touched her naive world.

The little incident reminded me of one that occurred almost two=20
decades ago when I was in college. Chatting one summer afternoon with=20
my easygoing, Arya Samaji grandmother about college and friends and=20
laughingly telling her that out our group of five friends only Asma=20
had a brother, a perceptible silence descended, and all she said to=20
me before getting up on her creaky knees was, "Jo maan mein aye kar=20
lena, magar Musalman se shaddi mat karna (You can do what you want=20
but don't marry a Muslim)."

I could see the shadows of her traumatic ride from Multan in Pakistan=20
to Delhi in the fall of 1947 flit through her generally sanguine=20
face. Speechless for a second, and then with all the passion of an=20
idealistic young thing, I launched into one of those "we are all=20
human beings and Asma's blood is as red as mine=85" Even though I could=20
sense her mistrust of a people, I was unwilling to let her grieve for=20
all that she had lost, which included the territory of innocence that=20
comes from being a upper-middleclass protected woman.

Today, I sense the burden of a responsibility even more - as the=20
intervening generation. On the one hand, we understand the anguish of=20
the post-Partition generation and their dread of a community and, on=20
the other, we have to sensitise the next generation about=20
communalism. For students today, the chaos and killings that came in=20
the wake of India's Independence are parts of a film or yet another=20
bit in the history book. But, now, with the carnage in Gujarat=20
haunting us, we live in times when we can't just work at protecting=20
their innocence of childhood - we need to let the adults of tomorrow=20
know the truth of what we are living with.

Today is an atmosphere shredded by ethnic violence, where to think of=20
Gujarat is to sense an abyss, where stunned mothers or little kids=20
with unnatural composure tell TV crews tales of watching their loved=20
ones butchered and burnt. Gujarat is a state from where thousands of=20
photographs tell a thousand stories in more than a thousand words:=20
here, a chief minister attends a conference on water policy and=20
conservation while his state burns in the name of religion; here=20
"Muslim" is an identity tag that is the difference between life and=20
death.

The need to sensitise children about the ghoulish nature of religion=20
today seems to be an imperative. But where does one begin?

For many of us, in North India especially, our grandparents and=20
parents lived through the Partition: their entire lives are a=20
testimony to the event. They live for a plentiful tomorrow - so,=20
today, they are judicious about every material comfort that they get.=20
Their instincts, dictated by experience, tell them to be wary of a=20
certain segment of people. Our kids know no such wariness. A cursory=20
glance at religious riot reports in the news doesn't impact on their=20
lives. They don't understand the concept of caste or religion, so=20
understanding the cause of the conflagration in a far-off place is=20
tough. It is one of the compensations of living in a cosmopolitan=20
city where religious biases seem to be fading.

And then a Gujarat happens, which is a wake up call. There is no=20
point talking to our kids about the Mahatma or the Nehruvian vision=20
that had brought our country Independence, progress and nonalignment=20
if they can't react and relate to incidents happening in their own=20
backyard. The kind of communal disharmony we are witnessing will=20
split the country asunder; and there is going to be nothing to=20
inspire the kids towards a healthy, secular patriotism.

A couple of years ago, an enterprising NGO got schoolchildren=20
thinking about their counterparts working in firecracker factories in=20
Sivakasi. The horrific images that went with the half-hour talk found=20
their mark. Most schoolkids in Delhi easily gave up the demand for=20
crackers, and Diwali has been less noisy and polluting ever since.

It is so easy for children to have an unblinkered viewpoint if just=20
the facts are placed before them without any jingoistic claptrap=20
added. Communalism, riots, Kashmir, Pakistan - we haven't been able=20
to vanquish these vile spectres from our lives. Ingraining in the=20
kids the basics of a secular life via straight talk and photographs=20
of the destruction that a tear in the social fabric can cause is=20
something all schools should look at. Working backwards, this would=20
imply that the coming generations will have a noncommittal but also a=20
non-antagonistic liaison with any form of religious extremity.

Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time=20
to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught - Oscar Wilde

_____

#6.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/110402/detpla01.asp
The Hindustan Times, Thursday, April 11, 2002

PLATFORM: Hindutva rate of growth
MK Venu

Right-wing ideology depends largely on the credo of a minimalist=20
State and the free play of market forces. By itself there may not be=20
anything wrong with the idea of a minimalist State. However, the=20
BJP-led regime, as exemplified in Gujarat, seems to have perfected a=20
grotesque version of the 'minimalist State'.

In this model, the government has completely abdicated its basic duty=20
of protecting the lives and property of people and, instead, has=20
abetted mass violence of the kind that makes over 70,000 people=20
homeless and pushes them into refugee camps without any amenities.

This is bound to have a telling impact on the economy of Gujarat as=20
well as the rest of the country in the months to come. This process=20
will accentuate if the Sangh parivar seeks to replicate the communal=20
polarisation a la Gujarat in the rest of the country. The economy=20
will then truly have achieved the new Hindutva rate of growth - about=20
3.5 to 4 per cent.

The government of Gujarat, and to a great degree its mentors at the=20
Centre, have played out with aplomb their 'minimalist' act as mobs=20
mercilessly destroyed lives and property for days. Even today=20
violence continues in and around Ahmedabad, spreading to areas in=20
Maharashtra.

India's celebrated billionaire and star of the IT industry, Azim=20
Premji, has said the violence in Gujarat has put back the economy=20
there by at least two years.

Another Gujarati entrepreneur, Deepak Parekh, to whom the NDA regime=20
turns for advice on a host of policy issues, has said any government=20
that cannot protect the lives of the people must go. As a=20
businessman, Parekh could not have been more understated in=20
expressing his revulsion. Normally, industrialists avoid making=20
statements with political import. But then Parekh must have realised=20
that this is not so much about politics as about the lives of=20
hundreds of thousands of people.

The economy of Gujarat, meanwhile, has virtually come to a=20
standstill. A leading MNC that sells industrial abrasives, which is=20
consumed by the bulk of the industry, has experienced a 70 per cent=20
drop in sales in the month of March in Gujarat. As Gujarat's economy=20
slips into a coma, the parivar is busy figuring out the calculus of=20
benefits from communal polarisation in the state.

Gujarat was always considered among the more attractive destinations=20
for foreign investment. Narendra Modi has ensured that there will be=20
second thoughts on that. The business community is increasingly=20
getting convinced that Gujarat has become a permanent laboratory for=20
the Sangh parivar's retrograde politics of Hindutva nationalism, a=20
concept which clearly militates against all accepted notions of=20
modernity.

It is in the same state that churches were burnt and vandalised three=20
years ago and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sought a=20
national debate on conversions.

Such occurrences on a regular basis act as a dampener on the economic=20
agents who want stability and protection to property as the key to=20
public good. The Sangh parivar, however, does not mind compromising=20
these constitutional obligations as long as they perceive that their=20
grand 'Hindutva nationalism' project is on course.

In a sense, the support for the globalisation of India's economy=20
among the 'more moderate' members of the parivar also acts as a=20
double-edged weapon. The influential swadeshi section of the parivar=20
actually uses the bogey of globalisation to reinforce the Hindutva=20
nationalist identity.

The more the economy slips into a limbo, the more fertile is the=20
ground for the Hindutva forces to operate. After all, a good number=20
of the kar sewaks mobilised by the VHP to travel to Ayodhya were=20
unemployed and semi-employed professionals from various vocations=20
such as management, engineering and accountancy. We are already=20
seeing the advent of the white-collared kar sewak, as opposed to the=20
largely blue-collared ones that brought down the Babri masjid with=20
heavy pickaxes.

For the white-collared kar sewak, the frustrations caused by the=20
perceived ill-effects of globalisation easily transforms into an=20
emotional need to have a temple in Ayodhya. Of late, the Hindutva=20
brigade is working on this section in a focused manner. This was=20
clearly visible in the way reasonably well-to-do people were seen=20
looting branded shoes and clothes from showrooms in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat, in one sense, is the most globalised of the Indian states,=20
with Gujarati entrepreneurs spread in every nook and corner of the=20
world. There are villages in Gujarat which boast of bank balances=20
that would put posh colonies in Delhi or Bombay to shame. Large=20
remittances come from Gujarati NRIs on a regular basis. One of the=20
VHP's important sources of foreign funding is also the Gujarati NRI.

Unfortunately, sitting on foreign soil, the NRI does not fully fathom=20
the manner in which these funds are being deployed. An Ayodhya temple=20
seems a pretty romantic idea sitting in South Africa, America or=20
Britain. The deep fissures such projects cause in the social fabric=20
back home is not something even a well-meaning NRI can fully fathom.=20
Now, the local and globalised Gujarati will have to ponder the=20
consequences that the politics of Hindutva has wreaked on the vibrant=20
economy and social fabric of the state.

_____

#7.

Indian Express, Wednesday, April 10, 2002

VHP 'hand' in Gujarat's murder weapons
Sangh groups gave swords to cadres, call them 'divine instruments'=20
for self-defence
Joydeep Ray
http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D627

_____

#8.

A report on the present condition of custody of Mohd. Yasin Malik, a=20
POTO detainee
by Committee for Initiative on Kashmir (New Delhi) [April 2002]

Read full text at: http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/ReportYasin.html

--=20
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