[sacw] SACW #2 | 07-8 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2 | 07-08 March 2002

__________________________

#1. Different event planned for Women's Day in Pakistan
#2. India's Past Becomes a Weapon (Shashi Tharoor)
#3. A solution to India's age-old communal problem may require an=20
intellectual endeavour in which the governments and intelligentsia of=20
both Pakistan and India should coordinate efforts. (M.B. Naqvi)
#4. Extremists in the backyard (Husain Haqqani)
#5. Asiapeace Urges the Government of India to Ban Extremist=20
Organizations (215 signatories)
#6. I Renounce Religion : A poem (Sanjay Trehan)
#7. March 2002 issue of the-south-asian is now on the net
#8. India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 72 |=20
05 March 2002
#9. The guilty men of Ahmedabad By Harish Khare
The conviction of Arundhati Roy Editorial in the The Hindu
#10. Ambivalence all over (Editorial The Asian Age)

________________________

#1.

Source DAWN, 6 Feb 2002
Different programmes planned for Women's Day in Pakistan

KARACHI, March 5: A number of seminars, literary evenings, musical=20
shows and other programmes to mark the International Women's Day will=20
be held at various places in the city on Friday and Saturday.
These programmes will be organized by the provincial government and=20
various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including women NGOs=20
separately at different venues.
The Karachi Women's Peace Committee is celebrating the Women's Day on=20
Mar 9, on the premises of the Arts Council of Pakistan. It will be a=20
day-long programme with stalls/displays by women and presentation by=20
various embassies and cultural centres, said a KWPC press release.
It said this year programmes would focus on Sindh and the women from=20
Nagarparkar, Larkana, Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Hala,=20
Mirpursakro, Gadap, would be the participants in the seminar,=20
presenting their views about the problems they face and would also=20
offer proposals to rectify them.
They would also market their handicrafts and participate in musical=20
programme. They day is dedicated to them and will be celebrated as=20
the Sindh Women's Day. At least 25 NGOs from Sindh and Karachi are=20
expected to attend the functions.
The Pakistan National Council of the Arts would present a cultural=20
show in which music and folk dances of Sindh would be presented. The=20
award-wining Iranian movie 'Sara' would also be shown through the=20
courtesy of Iranian cultural centre, said the KWPC press release.
A seminar on the women's day will be organized on Mar 8, at 3pm at=20
the FTC Auditorium by the Directorate of Social Welfare and Women=20
Development in collaboration with the Legal and Human Rights Lawyers=20
Association.
Wife of Sindh Governor, Ms Khadija Soomro will be the chief guest and=20
various provincial ministers, provincial secretaries, and eminent=20
dignitaries from all over the province are expected to attend the=20
seminar and highlight the importance of womenfolk in the society,=20
said an official handout.
Several NGOs - Aurat Foundation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,=20
Panah Trust, Shirkatgah, Women's Action Forum, Working Women=20
Association, and Interflow Public Service Division - will jointly=20
organize a Mushaira and Literary Evening followed by musical=20
programme on Mar 8, at Hindu Gymkhana at 4:30pm.
Ada Jaffery, Fahmida Riaz, Zahida Hina, Mehar Taj, Zehra Nigah, Atiya=20
Dawood and others are likely to attend the literary evening. Mehnaz=20
Begum will be the singer and Tehrik-i-Niswan will make a video=20
presentation.
Another seminar on "Women Empowerment & Their Right to=20
Self-Determination" will be organized by Human Rights International=20
Alliance Pakistan on Mar 9, at Mehran Hotel where provincial=20
education minister Anita Ghulam Ali will be the chief guest and the=20
chief of HRLA, Noor Naz Agha, will preside over the seminar.
Tehrik-i-Niswan has organized screening of its new productions "Aik=20
Larki Sae" and "Profiles of Courage" on Mar 7, at Alliance Francaise=20
at 7pm. Aik Larki Sae is a short six-minute music-video in which Tina=20
Sani sings the poetry of Fehmida Riaz. The Profiles of Courage is=20
three short documentaries of 30-minute duration from a series of ten=20
documentaries highlighting the lives and struggle of low-income=20
self-employed women.

_____

#2.

The Times of India
March 6, 2002

India's Past Becomes a Weapon

By SHASHI THAROOR

I'll tell you what your problem is in India," the American=20
businessman said. "You have too much history. Far more than you can=20
use peacefully. So you end up wielding history like a battleaxe,=20
against each other."

The businessman does not exist; I invented him for a novel, "Riot,"=20
that came out last year and concerns a Hindu-Muslim riot that erupts=20
during a campaign to erect a Hindu temple on the site occupied for=20
four and a half centuries by a mosque. Yet the views of this=20
fictional character seem more real each day as reports describe a=20
renewed cycle of killings and mob violence over plans to build a=20
temple to Ram above the ruins of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, in=20
northern India. In a nonfiction afterword to "Riot," I alerted=20
readers to the threat by Hindu extremists to commence construction in=20
mid-March this year. I take no solace whatever from prescience. The=20
tragedy in India is that even those who know history seem condemned=20
to repeat it.

It is one of the ironies of India's muddled march into the 21st=20
century that it has a technologically inspired vision of the future=20
yet appears shackled to the dogmas of the past. The temple town of=20
Ayodhya, in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has no=20
software labs; it is devoted to religion and old-fashioned industry.=20
In 1992 a howling mob of Hindu extremists tore down the Babri Masjid,=20
which occupied a prominent spot in a town otherwise overflowing with=20
temples. The mosque had been built in the 1520's by India's first=20
Mogul emperor, Babur; the Hindu zealots vowed to replace it with a=20
temple to Ram. In other words, they want to avenge history by undoing=20
the shame of half a millennium ago.

India is a land where history, myth and legend often overlap;=20
sometimes Indians cannot tell the difference. Some Hindus claim the=20
Babri Masjid stood on the exact spot of Ram's birth and had been=20
placed there by Babur to remind a conquered people of their=20
subjugation. Historians =97 most of them Hindus =97 reply that there is=20
no proof that Ram ever existed in human form, let alone that he was=20
born where the believers claim he was. More to the point, there is no=20
proof that Babur demolished a Ram temple to build his mosque. To=20
destroy the mosque and replace it with a temple would not be righting=20
an old wrong but perpetrating a new one.

To most Indian Muslims, the dispute is not about a specific mosque =97=20
Babri Masjid had lain unused for half a century before its=20
destruction, most of Ayodhya's Muslims having emigrated to Pakistan=20
upon Partition of British India in 1947 =97 but about their place in=20
Indian society. For decades after independence, Indian governments=20
had guaranteed their security in a secular state, permitting the=20
retention of Muslim "personal law" separate from the country's civil=20
code and even financing hajj pilgrimages to Mecca. Two of India's=20
first five presidents were Muslim, as have been innumerable cabinet=20
ministers, ambassadors, generals and Supreme Court justices. Until=20
the early 1990's, India's Muslim population was greater than that of=20
Pakistan. The destruction of the mosque felt like an utter betrayal=20
of the compact that had sustained the Muslim community as a vital=20
part of India's pluralist democracy.

The Hindus who attacked the mosque had little faith in the=20
institutions of Indian democracy. They saw the state as soft,=20
pandering to minorities out of a misplaced and Westernized=20
secularism. To them, an independent India, freed after nearly 1,000=20
years of alien rule (first Muslim, then British) and rid of a sizable=20
portion of its Muslim population by Partition, had an obligation to=20
assert an identity that would be triumphantly and indigenously Hindu.=20
They are not fundamentalists in any common sense of the term, since=20
Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals: there is no Hindu pope,=20
no Hindu Sunday, no single Hindu holy book and indeed no such thing=20
as a Hindu heresy. Hindu "fundamentalists" are, instead, chauvinists,=20
who root their Hinduism not in any of its soaring philosophical or=20
spiritual underpinnings =97 and, unlike their Islamic counterparts, not=20
in the theology of their faith =97 but in its role as a source of=20
identity. They seek revenge in the name of Hinduism as badge, rather=20
than of Hinduism as doctrine.

In doing so they are profoundly disloyal to the religion they claim=20
to espouse, which stands out not only as an eclectic embodiment of=20
tolerance but as the only major religion that does not claim to be=20
the only true religion. All ways of worship, Hinduism asserts, are=20
valid, and religion is an intensely personal matter related to the=20
individual's self-realization in relation to God. Such a faith=20
understands that belief is a matter of hearts and minds, not of=20
bricks and stone. The true Hindu seeks no revenge upon history, for=20
he understands that history is its own revenge.

The Hindu zealots who chanted insultingly triumphalist slogans helped=20
incite the worst elements on the Muslim side, who set fire to a=20
railway carriage carrying temple campaigners; in turn, Hindu mobs=20
have torched Muslim homes and killed innocents. As the courts=20
deliberate on a solution to the Ayodhya dispute, the violence goes=20
on, spawning new hostages to history, ensuring that future=20
generations will be taught new wrongs to set right. We live, Octavio=20
Paz once wrote, between oblivion and memory. Memory and oblivion: one=20
leads to the other, and back again. And history is not a web woven by=20
innocent hands.

Shashi Tharoor is the author of "India: From Midnight to the=20
Millennium" and, most recently, of the novel "Riot."

_____

#3.

6 Mar 2002

A solution to India's age-old communal problem may require an=20
intellectual endeavour in which the governments and intelligentsia of=20
both Pakistan and India should coordinate efforts.

By M.B. Naqvi

Strange as may sound, the quest for a solution to India's age-old communal
problem may require an intellectual endeavour in which the governments and
intelligentsia of both Pakistan and India should coordinate efforts.
Including Pakistan is not as outlandish an idea as it may initially sound.
After all Pakistan had emerged as a separate state ostensibly to solve the
Hindu Muslim problem of British Indian Empire. That it did not achieve the
purpose is history; indeed it intensified the problem in some ways.

Historically the 1947 Settlement is an important milestone. It is necessary
to remember the main purpose behind 1947 Settlement and its various
ingredients. Not only was it intended as a desperate kind of solution of
the Hindu-Muslim problem but what was also implied was that the two states
would stay friendly and cooperate in the quest for resolving the residual
communal problem. That was then seen as a prerequisite to the people of
both countries settling down to peaceful pursuits. This last implication
has by now been forgotten because both states adopted divergent policies
from day one and their foreign policies inherited the entire antagonistic
baggage of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and the then Muslim
League. The basic purpose of the Settlement was lost sight of.

Fifty years and more on, it is time to look back and reassess. This should
not be misunderstood. One is not advocating the undoing of the 1947 scheme.
History cannot be reversed just like that. Facts have to be seen for what
they are --- and as they are. The two states exist with their respective
vested interests. There should be no needless and extraneous tampering with
them as entities --- unless we want more bloodshed. But a reassessment is
needed for reviewing the trends then and in recent past in the light of
experience. This has to be done keeping in mind what the original purposes
were and what should be in the light of commonly shared values.

Let's be sure about the common or shared values. The purpose of all social
organisation, a state in particular, is to ensure the civilised enjoyment
of all human rights by all the citizens without discrimination and that
includes the people's right to a constantly improving standard of living
without compromising any of the personal freedoms. An economics of plenty
has to be the aim that gives jobs to all adults or a measure of security to
all unemployed. It is now inevitable that Indians and Pakistanis should
move away from 'national security first' to 'social security first'. That
will guarantee peace and stability. This supreme value is universal and can
be summed up as democracy, with its tolerance of dissent and pluralism. It
is theoretically accepted by both Pakistani and Indian political classes.
Indeed if their practice does not come up to their open and implied
acceptance of this value, as it does not, public policies will need to be
redesigned and redirected by both. This direction of policy change, while
being pro-people's welfare, is also calculated to bring these 'communities'
and the two states closer to each other. Creating unity while preserving
diversity, as in Europe, is the not impossible task.

Facts on the ground show the heavy presence of religious extremism and
intolerance; these are common to Pakistan, India and indeed Bangladesh. One
of the facts of life is that societies throughout South Asia are richly
plural and diverse. This richness has to be not merely preserved but built
on and pluralism has to be treasured. The scope of the central value one
has talked about, is not limited to the political sphere; it extends to,
and includes, cultural enrichment. Both bread and freedom are vital to
human beings so that they bring out their best and have opportunities to
enrich their cultural lives. This has to be made the central theme of all
social, political and economical policies, together with the preservation
of all human freedoms. People of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as much
as of India are characterised by diversity; they all manifest the original
diversities that has made historical India, or South Asia as we now call
it, one of the richest reservoirs of civilisations.

For achieving the shared values, it is necessary to organise cooperation
throughout South Asia among those who cherish these common democratic
values. This need not to be confused with the strictly-controlled political
cooperation that has been grudgingly conceded to SAARC. What is needed is
cooperative effort by the humanists and democrats in the region who want
their region to be necessarily secure --- in the sense of keeping the
region's affairs being mixed up with international alliances of big and
powerful states for grabbing the resources of the Asian continent and of
the resulting cold and hot wars. Then they would go out to reorienting the
politics and economy of each SAARC state so as to enable their people a
greater measure of economic progress and fuller enjoyment of their human
rights.

This is how we should want things to be. Things are however nowhere like
what we want them to be. The politics of both states is so oriented as to
mainly pursue an antagonistic national security policy. Instead of
preparing war against each other, we must redirect their energies to
rebuilding their economies to employ their huge populations to make true
economic progress. The task is certainly political in the best sense of the
term. However the formation of a new political party or parties is not
being suggested. What is needed is a well-coordinated movement that would
promote human rights, secular democracy and open the vistas of economic
progress and cultural enrichment. Indeed no new organisation might be
necessary, as some do exist with the same aim. These need to be
strengthened and vitalised.

However stark facts are being reported by newspapers of continuing communal
killings and other manifestations of religious or even political
intolerance. These need to be curbed, of course. However, a mere law and
order approach of using military and para-military forces to suppress the
'riots' has a limited relevance. The purpose of policy should be to prevent
such an immediate necessity from arising. What is required is a change in
the perceptions of the masses of people everywhere in South Asia. So long
as they continue to see themselves in terms of religious or communal or
other collective identities amidst prevailing economic conditions, where
economic want is the norm, such eruptions of communal violence and
irrational behaviour will continue to take place from time to time.

Getting people to see themselves as human beings (citizens) first, and
Muslims, Hindus or others later is the actual task, if we want to see
rational behavior as the daily norm in peaceful and civilised societies.
How precisely are we to displace the communal identities with that of being
responsible units or citizens of a free society would require, first of
all, to make the leaders of opinion realise how did the communal identities
emerge in historical India as a certain process that served imperial
purposes of Britain. Once their political significance as a ploy of
colonialists is seen, a change may then be possible if the other
alternative identity can be envisioned in highly desirable conditions. In
which case, the people will want and value their new identity. The identity
of a free human being or citizen is the true alternative that can ensure
progress of all citizens in an ambience of rapid economic progress. It
sounds and looks a prosaic objective rather deceptively. It is in fact a
big and challenging task involving a large intellectual, political and
economic effort. One can only enumerate the other requirements of creating
conditions in which communal identities can get dissolved.

But first let's briefly note how did these communal identities come into
being. At least communal identities were unknown to the inhabitants of
historical India until the British colonial administration introduced the
Hindu and Muslim categories. Indeed there has never been an agreed
definition of the term Hindu. Even the Indian Constitution merely lumps
together all those who are not Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists and other
recognised religious groups as Hindus --- rather descriptively. True,
various religious identities always existed. But they had no political
importance or function. What the pre-British rulers in historical India
recognised was the social categories of the nobles and commoners (Raiyat or
Praja).

Society did have other divisions with religious or social sanctions: these
were castes. But these were not confined to what are now called Hindus.
Conversion to Islam did not change the caste of the convert for the most
part, despite Islamic belief in human equality. That equality is in the
eyes of God or for other religious purposes. People lived and worked in
separate groups and were political subjects of a prince, king or Raja ---
irrespective of their religion. All had minimal human rights and the same
obligations of doing the assigned tasks and serving their social betters.
Religion was massively present in individual lives as belief, customs and
rites. But it had no political significance. It made no difference to the
common people as to who ruled in the sense of whether he was Hindu, Muslim,
Buddhist, Christian or any other. In that sense, politics used to be wholly
secular in spirit before the colonial times, despite the individual
proclivities or prejudices of various Muslim kings like Muhammad Bin
Tughlaq or Aurangzeb including the imposition of Jazia or even enforcement
of Shariat by Qazis. There was always a separate but roughly equalising
dispensation for non-Muslims. Even these were seen as limited infringements
of non-Muslims rights. In any case, they did not last long or become norm
for even Sultanate period.

The British created a homogenised Hindu - for their administrative and
political purposes. The needed sharply to distinguish others from the
Muslims and defined each major community for the purpose. Their full range
of purposes can be seen and inferred from the earliest minutes of the Fort
William College of Calcutta. The community as a concept emerged during the
British period of Indian history. The British rulers manipulated these
communities for their political purposes: if nothing else, for the ease of
administrating such a large and variegated country. During the British
period communal question not only originated but continued to grow in
bitterness. It resulted from the struggle for favours from the British,
jobs and some participation in the administration. Being the largest
communities, the Hindu and Muslim communal consciousnesses grew and grew
throughout the British period as each wanted more of the limited goods:
jobs and other opportunities.

In this light, displacing the communal identities would require obvious
things. Ultimately the communities themselves will have to be dissolved, or
rendered insignificant, with the emergence of individuals qua individual
citizens who are free and respect other's right to be free citizens. But
aiming at this today is not achieving it the next day. The social and
political policies of the states and the important constituents of the
state, mainly parties, groups, associations and the like have to be secular
in character and in belief. Needless to emphasise mere preaching and
exhortation will not do. Preachers have preached for ages and yet Virtue
remains rare and Vice is common. Social conditions, especially economic,
have to facilitate the change. Political institutions of democracy are a
great help. They enable secular politics to continue to do its conventional
work. Other systems for their survival require irrational and emotive
ideologies that eventually make progress difficult and help destroy peace
and stability. But even democracy has a flip-side to it.

It is in full display in most democracies today. Some politicians do not
hesitate to exploit various prejudices of the people. Australians have
behaved horribly towards Afghan refugees trying to enter Australia; Skin
Heads and Neo-Nazis in Germany frequently beat up Turkish workers and the
German governments itself tries desperately to stem the tide of economic
refugees often employing brutal methods. All such politics carry hints of
lurking racial prejudice against the coloureds; in Britain and France the
conservative politicians can always promote their politics by appealing to
racial feelings; and in the US evidence of racial profiling and
discrimination begins at the airports. In India the manipulation of
communal prejudice is a familiar practice and communal riots have their own
unique political features. Many Europeans are however likely to be offended
by this comparison of their 'minor' discrimination with India's or the
Subcontinent's huge killings. Conceding this quantum of damage, both kinds
of discriminatory practices spring from same source in terms of quality. It
is true the intensity of the South Asians discrimination has to be
understood in terms of what its poverty does to men. Which is where the
other prerequisites of replacing communal identities fall in place.

Not only has their to be an intellectual movement that favours humanist and
secular politics, together with democratic institutions, basic state
policies should enable the economy to grow rapidly and to distribute the
new wealth more equitably. Today the scramble for jobs and opportunities in
conditions of scarcity and widespread poverty intensifies the communal
consciousness and creates intense bitterness =96 because the goodies are to=
o
few and claimants are many. In order to secure freedoms and make humanism
prevail, an economics of plenty has also to be created along with other
elements of good and equitable governance or rule of law. Indeed the latter
two are much the same, being two sides of the same coin.

_____

#4.
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020306/op1.html
The Indian express
Op-Ed Wednesday, March 06, 2002

Extremists in the backyard

HUSAIN HAQQANI

The communal riots in Gujarat have rightly been described by Prime=20
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ''a blot'' on India's face. In his=20
televised address to the nation, Vajpayee said, ''Whatever the=20
provocation, people should maintain peace and exercise restraint,''=20
implying that he understood there was a provocation.

Assuming that he was referring to the attack on a train carrying=20
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) kar sevaks at Godhra as the provocation,=20
the burning alive of people, including women and children, from=20
Godhra to Ahmedabad and other places could not have been a response=20
to a single incident. It is part of a process that dehumanises other=20
religious communities and sanctions violence in the name of one's own=20
beliefs.

Communal violence in India is a product of the same way of thinking=20
that produced the Taliban and al Qaeda among Muslims. It is the=20
result of a claim to moral superiority that erodes all moral=20
restraints. And just as the world has decided to wage war against=20
extremist Islamists who feel that their historic grievances justify=20
terrorism, India must deal with the seekers of Hindu Rashtra.

It is ironic that the communal riots in Gujarat have come soon after=20
the BJP's poor electoral performance in Uttar Pradesh and ahead of=20
next year's state elections in Gujarat. The UP election, in=20
particular, should have taught the Hindutva lobby the lesson that=20
ephemeral issues such as Pakistan-bashing and rectifying historic=20
wrongs do not yield votes forever.

The massive military mobilisation along Pakistan's border was meant=20
to give UP's electorate the message that the BJP meant business=20
vis-a-vis Pakistan. But in the end, the UP electorate voted along=20
caste lines or on the basis of who would advance their social and=20
economic interests. The Gujarat riots will probably influence the=20
course of the state's politics for a while. In the long run, however,=20
building extremist religious fever can only tear apart the various=20
communities of India and harm the country's stability.

The Indian government has tried to blame Pakistan's Inter-Services=20
Intelligence (ISI) for causing the riots in Gujarat. This allegation=20
is unrealistic, to put it mildly. India has a history of communal=20
riots that precedes the emergence on the scene of the ISI. Surely=20
those seeking to blame the ISI for the current carnage in Gujarat=20
have not forgotten the massive violence that accompanied partition.

India and Pakistan must both go beyond blaming their internal=20
misfortunes on each other. Pakistan has learnt the hard way how=20
ignoring extremists can endanger national security and sovereignty.=20
Instead of pointing the finger at Pakistan, perhaps this time India=20
can learn something from its neighbour's experience.

The VHP and other Hindu revivalist organisations have defined=20
Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra in a manner that renders adherence to=20
minority religions and loyalty to India incompatible. Their ideology=20
has more in common with extremist Islamists than with mainstream=20
social or political movements than is recognised.

Militant Muslims attribute the weakness and backwardness of the=20
Islamic world to the rise of the west. They justify violence,=20
including terrorism, as a means of overcoming the weakness imposed by=20
the colonial and post-colonial experience. They refuse to recognise=20
the virtues of democracy or tolerance.

For them, eliminating the symbols of western power and influence are=20
means of Islamic revival. They define Islam in a particular context=20
and do not accept the right of others of practice it differently.

The votaries of Hindutva in India and around the world are no=20
different in essence. The VHP's website, for example, talks of=20
British Raj having de-Hinduised the Indian nation much the same way=20
that Islamists speak of de-Islamisation under western influence. This=20
means that the true Hindu way needs to be defined and obviously the=20
right to define it rests with the advocates of Hindu revivalism.

Extreme beliefs, when accompanied by calls to violence, lead to the=20
mindset that has led to mayhem in Gujarat. As a phenomenon, Hindu=20
fundamentalism should not be ignored because it is built on the same=20
self-righteousness that was witnessed in the behaviour of the Taliban=20
in Afghanistan and in the conduct of suicide bombers around the world.

India's leadership must not only deal with the consequences of the=20
riots in Gujarat but also identify the causes of violent communalism.=20
Conferring legitimacy on extremist religious beliefs as=20
''nationalism'' led the anti-Soviet Afghan resistance to spawn the=20
jihadi movement that an international coalition is now struggling to=20
eliminate. The seekers of Hindu Rashtra need to be stopped in their=20
tracks before they grow into monsters of al Qaeda proportions.

_____

#5.

Asiapeace Urges the Government of India to Ban Extremist Organizations

6 March, 2002

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
India.

Dear Prime Minister,

Asiapeace is a network of concerned individuals dedicated to promoting
peace, communal amity, social justice and human rights in South Asia.

We are profoundly shocked by the communal riots in the Indian State of
Gujarat. Harrowing scenes of obscene brutality have been witnessed on
the television screens by many of us. Although preliminary reports
suggest that hotheads from the minority Muslim community initiated the
violence, in the last few days the field has been dominated by goons
belonging to various Hindu extremist organizations.

There is no doubt that such acts of terror are the handiwork of
psychopaths masquerading as men of religion. It has also been widely
reported that the Gujarat Government was criminally slow in taking
action to stop the carnage. It is however encouraging to know that other
state governments have taken appropriate measures to avoid a repetition
of such terror in their jurisdictions. The media has also been reporting
cases of inter-communal support and protection.

It is therefore clear that only organized terrorist networks are behind
the present upsurge of violence in Gujarat. We urge you, therefore, to
move resolutely to ban terrorist organizations in India. Pakistan has
taken firm measures to curb militant Islamic organizations. India should
follow suit and put a ban on Hindu as well as militant organizations
claiming to act in the name of other religious groups. Only through
coordinated activities of the various governments in the region against
extremists can South Asia be made safe for ordinary human beings.

India, as the claimant to the status of the world=92s biggest democracy,
should provide leadership to its neighbours in matters of pluralism,
tolerance and individual freedom. It cannot remain a democracy if it
privileges or favours a particular religious group.

We urge you also to re-establish the foundations of the Indian polity on
the high moral ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and the emancipatory path laid
down by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Sincerely,
1. Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed
Moderator Asiapeace
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
Stockholm University
Sweden.
Ishtiaq.Ahmed@s...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asiapeace=20
www.asiapeace.org

ASIAPEACE co-signatories:

2. Dr Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
Retired Psychologist, &
Co-Founder, Association for Communal Harmony in Asia
Keizer, OR, USA
3. Riccardo Paradiso
Human Rights Asia USA, Director.
4. Retd Ambassador Karamatullah K Ghori
Toronto, Canada.
5. Prof. Khalid Aziz
Professor of Petroleum Engineering &
Otto N. Miller Professor of Earth Sciences
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2220, USA.
6. Razia Malik, CPA, Chicago, USA
7. Donald Odom, Jr., Editor, New York, USA, and Ph.D. candidate in
Political Science,
Department of Social Sciences,
Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.
8. Liaqat Ali (Legal Aid Society)
Advocate High Court, Lahore, Pakistan.
9. Farah Deeba
Member District Assembly
Lahore, Pakistan.
10. Prof. Mubarak Ali
Lahore, Pakistan.
11. Shahid Mahmud
1 Scotts Manor Court
Freeland, MD 21053, USA
12. Dr Riffat S. Mahmud
1 Scotts Manor Court
Freeland, MD 21053, USA.
13. Prof. Hassan Gardezi,
Proffesor Emeritus, Sociology
Ontario, Canada
14. Prof. Bilal Hashmi, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Western Washington University, USA.
15. Prof. Asghar Ali Engineer
Director, Institute of Islamic Studies
Mumbai, India.
16. Prof. I. K. Shukla
COALITION FOR AN EGALITARIAN & PLURALIST INDIA,USA
17. Geoffrey Cook=A8
Member Peace and Justice Commission
Episcopal
(Anglican) Diocese of California, USA.
18. Harsh Kapoor
South Asia Citizens Web,
France.
19. Prof. Bhupinder Brar
Department of Political Science
Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
20. Ashok Nath, MA, FRGS.
Researcher/writer -South Asian Conflict and Military Historical Studies.
Military Historical Society
Stockholm, Sweden.
21. ABDUL SHAKOOR RANA
PRESIDENT
SOUTH ASIAN FRATERNITY
PAKISTAN CHAPTER
22. Rafi Khawaja, Software Engineer,
California, USA.
23. Professor Randhir Singh, Chandigarh, India
24. Professor Manoranjan Mohanty, Delhi University, India
25. Professor N. Bhattacharya, University of Delhi
26. Professor Amar Farooqui, University of Delhi
27. Shamsul Islam, Street Theatre Nishant, Delhi
28. Rajesh Joshi, Journalist, Delhi
29. Haroon Reyaz, Journalist, Delhi, India.
30. Ateeque Siddiqui, Journalist, Delhi
31. Vinod Agnihotri, Journalist, Delhi
32. Virender Sengar, Journalist, Delhi
33. Shirin, Journalist, Delhi
34. Sameer Dossani (Academicians
& Journalists), Washington DC, USA
35. Gursharan Singh, Theatre Activist, Chandigarh, India
36. Neelima Sharma, Theatre Activists, Delhi
37. Dr. Anoop Saraya, Physician, Delhi
38. Dr. Aparna Sareen, Physician, Delhi
39. Sehba Farooqui, Women Activist, Delhi
40. Dr. Jawaid Quddus, Janesville, WI, U.S.A.
41. Parwez Wahid
JP Morgan Chase & Company, USA.
42. Dr. Ambrose Pinto s.j.
Principal,
St. Joseph's Evening College
Bangalore 560025, India.
43. Kaleem Kawaja, Washington DC
USA.
44. A.H. Jaffor Ullah
Research Scientist
Southern Regional Research Center
New Orleans, LA 70124
USA
45. Prof. Ahmad Faruqui, Ph. D.
Fellow, American Institute of International Studies
USA.
46. Kripa Sundar
USA.
47. Prof. Paul Wallace
University of Missouri, U.S.A.
USA.
48. T.N.GOPALAN
CHIEF OF NEWSBUREAU
NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
CHENNAI/INDIA
49. Ziaul Hasan, Ph.D.
College of Applied Health Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL 60612-7251, U.S.A.
50. Ammu Abraham
Women Centre, Mumbai
India.
51. Prof. Amin Mughul
London, UK.
52. Dr Farrukh Chishtie
Physicist, Cornell University.
53. Sain Sucha,
Author and publisher,
Sollentuna, Sweden
54. Ahmed Faqih
Urdu and Punjabi Poet
Norvikken, Sweden
55. Safoora Arbab
Los Angeles, Cal, USA.
56. Group Captain retd, Cecil Chaudhry
Sitara-i-Jurat,
Principal St. Anthony=92s High School
Lahore, Pakistan.
57. Jamal Hasan
Washington D.C.
USA.
58. Dr Khalid Duran
Dr. Khalid Duran
Bethesda, Md, USA.
59. Akhila Raman
Berkeley, USA.
60. Ansar Fayyazuddin,
Assistant Professor of Physics, Stockholm University
Visiting Scientist, Center for Theoretical Physics, MIT
USA.
61. Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy
Department of Physics,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
Pakistan.
62. Prof.V.K.Tripathi
Physics Dept, IIT Delhi, India.
63. Dr. Anis Alam
Professor,
Department of Physics,
University of the Punjab,
Lahore-54590, Pakistan.
64. Beena Sarwar, Journalist,
Pakistan.
65. S. Irfan Habib
History of Science
NISTADS, New Delhi.
66. Neeti Belliappa, Ph.D: candidate
Tufts University
USA.
67. Shad Moarif
Canada.
68. Prof. Dr Ram Punyani
EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai ,India
69. Dhruv Raina,
History of Science
NISTADS, New Delhi, India.
70. Dhanyal Sahibzada
Physician and Writer,
USA.
71. Naeem Sadiq,
Karachi, Pakistan.
72. Robin Khondkar
Los Angeles, USA.
73. Nighat Malik
Worcester College
Oxford , UK.
74. Dr. Iftikhar H. Malik
FRHisS
Bath Spa University College, Bath BA2 9BN. UK &
Wolfson College, Oxford, OX2 6UUD.
75. Dr Riaz Ahmed
Department of Applied Chemistry
University of Karachi
Karachi 75270
Pakistan.
76. Dr. Ajay K Mehra,
India.
77. A. H. Maker,
The Helpline Trust, Karachi
Pakistan.
78. Ziad Sheikh, London,
UK.
79. Nilanjan Dutta,
Journalist, Kolkata, India.
80. Kamal Ahmed
Software Engineer
Cambridge, MA, USA.
81. Prof. Tom Hart
Stockholm School of Asian Studies
Sweden.
82. The Revd Canon Dr Daniel O'Connor
Hon Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK,
formerly St Stephen's College, University of Delhi)
83. Atif khan
Sydney, Australia.
84. Charles Camara, Stockholm University,
Sweden.
85. Sukla Sen,
EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)
Mumbai (Bombay)
India
86. Ylva Sorman Nath
Senior Advisor Policy
Stockholm =96 Sweden.
87. Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Professor
International Studies Program
5206 University of Oregon, USA.
88. Dr Purusottam Bhattacharya
Professor of International Relations & Joint Director,
School of International Relations &Strategic Studies,
Jadavpur University,Calcutta,India
89. C.R. Aslam Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan
90. Tariq Chaudhary Advocate High Court
Ex-Secretary Lahore Bar Association
91. Zainulabdeen Mirza Secretary
National Workers Party Lahore
92. Abdul Raoof Malik Political Activist Lahore.
93. Naeem Shakir Advocate High Court
94. Mohammad Akbar
Member District Assembly Lahore
95. Rehan Aslam Piracha
Journalist Lahore.
96. Faraz Hoodbhoy
Technology Evangelist
Clickmarks, Inc.
Fremont, CA, USA.
97. Dr. Abha Sur,
Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies, MIT, USA
98. Professor Mriganka Sur, Sherman Fairchild Professor of Neuroscience
and Head, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, USA
99. The Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, Cambridge, MA,
USA
100. Geeta Citygirl, Artistic Director
SALAAM (South Asian League of Artists in AMerica)
New York, NY =96 USA.
101. Kausar S. Khan.
Community Health Sciences.
Aga Khan University, Karachi.
102. Dr. Ratnam Chitturi
Consultant and Investment Advisor
Burr Ridge, IL 60527 (USA).
103. Sandip K. Dasverma
Coaltion for an Egalitarian and Pluralist India,
Mission Viejo, USA.
104. Dr. Lilarani Dasverma
Coaltion for an egalitarian and pluralist India,
Mission Viejo, USA.
105. Amin Faruqi
California, USA.
106. Syed Arif Hussaini, TQA
Columnist, Pakistan Link, USA.
107. S.M. Shahed, Los Angeles, USA.
108. Syeda Nasreen Sultana
Pakistan India Peoples' Forum
for Peace and Democracy
Islamabad Pakistan.
109. Zubeida Mustafa, journalist,
Pakistan.
110. RUBEENA HUDBHOY,
Karachi, Pakistan.
111. Dr. Vineeta Gupta
General Secretary,
INSAAF International
Punjab, India.
112. Owais Hasin
Architect, Pakistan.
113. Mohammed Naim Ullah
Journalist
151,Gladstone Park Gardens
London NW2 6RN (UK)
114. Robin Khundkar,
Huntington Beach, California
USA.
115. Dr. Sukhpal Singh Associate Professor
Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Gujarat India.
116. 1- NIZO ALI FARTASH
WRITER/POET/DIRECTOR
Pakistan
117. MUHAMMED ILYAS MALIK
RETIRED BANKER , Pakistan..
118. Marvi Sirmed,
Human Rights Activist/Development Professional,
Lahore.
119. Mustafa Hussain, sociologist
Copenhagen. Denmark.
120. Sudha Mohan
Department of Political Science
Mumbai University, India.
121. Andrea S=F8ndervik
Oslo, Norway.
122. Anita Dawood Nasar
Anita Dawood Nasar, Editor ,
London, UK.
123. Riaz Cheema
B.A., L.L.B, Solna
Sweden.
124. Imran Munir
School of Communication
Simon Fraser University
Vancouver,Canada
125. Safiya Aftab, Islamabad
saftab@c...
126. Ardeshir Cowasjee, Journalist, Social Reformer and Columnist
Citizen of Pakistan Nework, Karachi, Pakistan
127. Amina Jilani, Citizen of Pakistan Network,
Karachi, Pakistan.
128. Prof. Salima Hashmi, artist , curator,
Lahore, Pakistan.
129. Prof Shoaib Hashmi, Teacher and columnist,
Lahore, Pakistan
130. Yasser Hashmi, Lahore.
131. Aamir Moghal
Karachi, Pakistan.=20
132. Masood A. Khan
Architect and Heritage Planner
Needham, Massachusetts
USA .
133. Renu Madan
India.
134. Swati Sharan, social activist,
Newfoundland, Canada.
135. SALEEM H. ALI, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Brown University, Center for Environmental Studies
USA
136. Robert Crooks
Software Engineer, Macromedia Inc
USA.
137. Meliha Ahmed
Sollentuna, Sweden.
138. Sahir Ahmed
Sollentuna, Sweden.
139. Anders Giertz, School of Social Work,
Lund University, Sweden.
140. Shaheen Rafi Khan
Visiting Research Fellow,
Sustainable Development Policy Institute,
Pakistan.
141. Sreeram Pydah
Founder & CEO
Prosoft Systems, Inc.
Burlington, MA, USA.
142. Nurul Kabir
Software Engineer,
Cambridge, MA, USA.
143. Dr. Asad Naqvi
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania, USA.
144. Dr Yahya Hassan Bajwa
Member of World Conference on Religion and Peace
Lecturer at different Swiss universities
Baden / Switzerland.
145. Swami Agnivesh,=20
Social Activist; Chairperson of United Nations Trust Fund on
Contemporary forms of Slavery;=20
Working President, Sarvadeshik (Representative Council) Arya Pratinidhi
Sabha (India)
Chairperson, Religions for Social Justice.
146. Irfan Mufti, SAP-Pakistan.
147. Dr. Ruqaiya Hasan
Linguistics Professor, Sydney,
Australia.
148. Khadim Hussain
Human Rights Activist, Islamabad
Pakistan.
149. Farooq Tariq
general secretary
Labour Party Pakistan.
150. Professor Nauman
creed alliance
NED University of engineering & technology
Karachi, Pakistan.
151. Musarrat Bashir, Researcher/Development Professional,
Rawalpindi,Pakistan.
152. Irfan Mufti
SAP-Pakistan.
153. Musadiq Sanwal
Karachi, Pakistan.
154. Dr. Sarmad Abbasi.
Assistant Prof.
Department of Mathematics
Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad, Pakistan.
155. Hajra Ahmed
Principal, Khaldunia High School
Islamabad, Pakistan.
156. Zarina Salamat. Chairperson Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace
andDemocracy.Islamabad Chapter
Pakistan.
157. Prof. Zafar Iqbal
Washington, DC, USA.
158. Farhatullah Babar
Pakistan People=92s Party
Islamabad, Pakistan.
159. Dr. S. K. Hasanain
Professor of Physics Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad Pakistan.
160. Ayesha Inayat
Advocacy Assistant
SDPI, Islamabad
Pakistan.
161. Shaukat Qadir
638, street 7, Chaklala III,
Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
162. Ashfaque H. Bokhari
Quaid-i-Azam University
slamabad.
163. Brig.Retd Shaukat Qadir
Independent Analyst on Peace and Security
Islamabad, Pakistan.
164. Hasan A. Rizvi
Sustainable Development Networking Programme, Pakistan.
165. Francisco D'Sa,
Citizens Peace Committee,Islamabad,
Pakistan.
166. Prof. Ashfaq Saleem Mirza
Director Director OPF,
Islamabad, Pakistan.
167. Prof. Khushi Muhammad Khan
Hamburg, Germany.
168. Nuzhat Kidvai
Women's Action Forum
Karachi
Pakistan.
169. R Rahi
Toronto, Canada.
170. SAIFUDDIN WAHEED
DAR ES SALAAM,
TANZANIA.
171. Ishtiaq A Chisti,
Long Beach, California
USA.
172. Prashanth K.Anthony,
CISRS, Mumbai
India.
173. Dr Anwar Ul Haq
Islamabad, Pakistan.
174. Birgitte Danielsen,
Singapore.
175. Dr. Partha S. Ghosh
Director
Indian Council of Social Science Research
New Delhi-110067, India.
176. Ash Khan
Retired Petroleum Engineer
Calgary, Canada.
177.. Azam Saeed
Connecticut, USA.
178. M.Aslam Malik
Gen Sec Pakistan Trade Union Federation, Gen Sec Workers Party, Lahore,
Pakistan.
179. Prof. Maneesha Tikekar
Mumbai, India.
180. Ravinder Kaur
Centre for Development Research
Copenhagen, Denmark
181. Joe Mangalam, S.J.
Movement for Secular Democracy,
Ahmedabad, India.
182. Shamim Huq,
Houston, Texas.
183. Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.
For Forum of Concerned Pakistanis
Canada.
184. Mahmood Faridoon
Retd Journalist, Stockholm
Sweden.
185. Prof. M I Haque
Quetta, Balochistan,
Pakistan.
186. S. Riyaz Mahdi
'Inter-Nation & Inter-Religion Coalition
for Love, Peace, and Freedom'
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA.
187. Siva Digavalli
Harvard, USA.
188. Harun Khalid Raffael
Botanisches Museum Freie Universitaet Berlin Germany.
189.Dr.A.H.JafforUllah, Editor, New From Bangladesh and Nirvana
Newsgroup New Orleans,
Louisiana, USA.
190. Subuhi M. Jiwani
New York, USA.
191. Dr Rinku Dutta Ph.D.
31 South First Avenue
Highland Park, NJ 08904
U.S.A.
192. Dr. Ahmed Badruzzaman
Anaheim, California, USA.
193. Syeda Khundkar
Huntington Beach, California
USA.
194. Imran Khundkar
Huntington Beach, California
USA.
195. Ayesha Mahmood
Huntington Beach, California
USA.
196. Dr. Kamal Mitra Chenoy,
human rights & peace activist & President, JNU
Teachers' Association, JNU, New Delhi, India.University, Karachi,
Pakistan.
197. Rajinder Arora
New Delhi, India.
198 .Delshad Rahman
Rowland HeightsCalifornia, USA.
199. Prof. Farida Majid
The City University of New York, USA.
200. Professor Anita M. Weiss
International Studies Program=09=20
5206 University of Oregon
Eugene, USA.
201. Urvashi Butalia
Writer and Publisher,
Delhi, India
202. Thierry DiCOSTANZO,
Teacher (EFL , Intercultural Communication) & researcher
(South Asia history) #E207 University of Technology,Troyes
France- European Union.
203. Manish Paul
Jakarta, Indonesia.
204. Saleem Samad
Press Watchdog & Secretary General
South Asia Media Association (SAMA)-Bangladesh Chapter
Dhaka, Bangladesh
204. Mainul Islam Khan
Press WatchDog & Deputy Director
Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism & Communication 63 Central
Road,
Dhaka 1205 Bangladesh.
205. Imtiaz Gul,
VOice of Germany / Friday TImes
House 40, Str. 20, F-7/2, Islamabad, Pakistan.
206. Mohammad Zaigham Khan
General Directorate of Projects,
KACST
Riyadh - 11442, Saudi Arabia.
207. Dr. William Robert Da Silva,
Germany (Goa).
208. Naren Gandhi
Walnut Creek, California, USA.
209. Ameek A. Ponda
Sullivan & Worcester LLP
One Post Office Square
Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
210. Mohiuddin Biyabani,
Sunnyvale-CA, ACHA Member, USA.
211. S.SESHAN, India.
212. N.Ramesh
Journalist
22, Shivaji Nagar, Thanjavur-613001, Tamil Nadu
India.
213. Amin Godil
3813 SE 182nd Ct
Vancouver, WA 98683
(360)260-4864
214. Mohammad Sabri
Member of ACHA
2924 Hunter way West Linn Oregon 97068, USA.
215. Gulzar Ahmed
Tualatin, Oregon USA.

_____

#6.

The Hindustan Times
Tuesday, March 5, 2002

I RENOUNCE RELIGION
by sanjay trehan

visceral fires burn gujarat
vivisect and be merry
sings the politician
tap dancing on dead stinking bodies
what kind of madness is this
that makes bonfires of little children
torches pregnant women
turns neighbour against neighbour
and makes monsters out of ordinary faceless men
leading dull pitiless lives

marx said religion was opium
it shadows senses hides inequities
but such crimes of hate
are not perpetrated by people
benumbed by the drug of religion
but risen to a frenzied hysteria
by mob reveling in the seething rage
of impotent power
a collective orgy of ritual

you kill a man because he doesn't share
your obscurantist ideas
your bloated belching beliefs
you destroy a child
because he was born into a religion
he had no role in seeking
and you don't just surgically kill
you torture maim burn and then laugh
your sardonic devilish laughs
and go back to your one room tenements
watch third rate soap operas
on black and white televisions
spouting kitschy family virtues
rape your woman in bed
and pretend life goes on as usual

even an animal is not voyeuristic
you watch people burn to death
raise a toast to your petty lords
and your effete loins
you impotent you beast
you wretched son of the soil
you messiah of hate
you mindless miserable soul
you pawn in the hands of politician
you scum
you make me ashamed of being
i renounce the sordid religion you embody

religion the slayer of innocent kids
religion the one-way ticket to lunacy
i renounce you

_____

#7.

The March 2002 issue of the-south-asian is now on the net. (URL=20
<http://www.the-south-asian.com>www.the-south-asian.com) Contents=20
include articles/features on : Neemrana- literary storm in a desert;=20
Sialkot - a city at work; Basant - the kite festival without=20
frontiers; Know your leaders Part II - Rabri Devi and Jyotiraditya=20
Scindia; Shiva Keshavan - India's Luger in Salt Lake City;=20
Vishwanathan Anand; 'Punjabi Dawakhana' - a viewpoint; Tagore's=20
'Geetanjali' on canvas; Chapter 3 of Joseph Harris' ongoing=20
serialisation of his unpublished novel; Lutyen's dream Delhi turning=20
into a nightmare; Forests-encroached and poached; and several other=20
articles

______

#8.

India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 72 |=20
05 March 2002
[ This issue and complete IPARMW archive is available at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPARMW/messages ]

______

#9.
The Hindu 7 Feb 2002 | Op-eds
The guilty men of Ahmedabad By Harish Khare
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002030700071000.htm

The conviction of Arundhati Roy Editorial
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002030700101000.htm

_____

#10.

http://www.hclinfinet.com/2002/MAR/WEEK1/5/opinionts2frame.jsp
The Asian Age THURSDAY 7 MARCH 2002 Editorial

Ambivalence all over

The manner in which the Vajpayee government is allowing the Vishwa=20
Hindu Parishad to play around with the dates it proposes to start its=20
controversial programme in Ayodhya is eloquent enough commentary as=20
to how the VHP and such forces have been allowed to play games=20
involving the emotions and lives of thousands of countrymen.
It is as if all the rules of governance and society stand reversed.=20
In fact, it seems to be the VHP which is playing the decision making=20
authority here, while the full might of the Indian state is simply a=20
stupefied spectator. The sheer vulgarity and brutality of the death=20
dance in the streets of Gujarat has dragged on to leave so many dead=20
and so many others are simply unable to come out of their houses in=20
fear.
Property worth millions has been damaged and even if some calm has=20
returned, the tension and the fear that attends it remains=20
unaffected. There cannot be a more cynical example of how casual and=20
simply brazen the official attitude has been even when talks at=20
various levels purportedly designed to defuse the situation are going=20
on. Since there is such confusion and lack of clarity in the air, the=20
people at large simply watch the spectacle as the real issue gets=20
sidelined. The very foundations of the Indian state are being=20
challenged in a sustained and organised manner, but that seems to be=20
of little consequence to the Centre and Gujarat.
All this pussy-footing seems to be suiting the VHP to the hilt. The=20
Shankaracharyas have been involved in the discussion, so that an=20
impression is given that a broad Hindu consensus is being sought to=20
be built around the issue. Armed with the democratic and secular=20
powers that it has, and controlling as it does a powerful state=20
apparatus, what is restricting the government is certainly not lack=20
of authority.
But if that authority is to be exercised, the Prime Minister and his=20
team will have to look beyond the vested interests of the Sangh=20
Parivar and its offshoots which is the one way he can wriggle out of=20
the situation that he finds himself in. He should also unambiguously=20
declare that what is at issue is not a matter of one week or three=20
months but something deeply more fundamental. In other words, it is=20
not an individual leader's dilemma that faces the Prime Minister.=20
That could be true only to a certain level.
What actually at stake here is the future of the democratic process=20
as such which is being sought to be suborned by those who know in=20
their hearts that no democracy founded on a rule of law will allow=20
them to get away with the programme that they have in mind.
There has been downright revulsion in most parts of the country as=20
Gujarat has been held at ransom and the likes of the VHP continue to=20
play their kind of highly contentious games. The last two weeks have=20
tested the patience and nerve of everyone wanting to live in peace=20
and security with their self-respect and dignity intact. Brinkmanship=20
and narrow sectarianism should have no place in our polity.

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

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