[sacw] SACW #1. | 2 Feb. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Fri, 1 Feb 2002 23:57:59 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #1. | 2 February 2002

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

#1. Pakistan - Recent events (M.B. Naqvi)
#2. India: Our Rambo nationalism (Praful Bidwai)
#3. Bangladesh: Govt blamed for failure to end repression on minorities
#4. India and Pakistan Under-19s make peace gesture
#5. India - USA - Bhopal Union Carbide disaster; Criminals I have=20
met (Satinath Sarangi)
#6. Rumors of War, Hints of Peace (Fareed Zakaria)
#7. India: Scapegoats & Bhadraloks (SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY)

________________________

#1.

M.B. Naqvi Column

Karachi Feb 1:

While Pakistan=92s official spokesmen are trying to pay India in what they
think is its own coins by toying with the idea of including the name of
Mr. L.K. Advani, the powerful Home Minister, in the Pakistani list of
the people wanted from India, another case hitting the headlines here.
This is the kidnapping from Karachi of an American journalist Daniel
Pearl. He was a correspondent of Wall Street Journal and was working on
a story about the Briton who was arrested in America with explosive
material in his shoes. He was researching this British person=92s contacts
in Pakistan=92s Jihadi outfits and with Afghanistan. The kidnappers have
threatened to kill him by Friday after extending the deadline by 24
hours if their demands are not fulfilled --- none of which is likely to
be. For, it virtually involves reversing by the American government of
nearly all its policies in Afghanistan and Middle East. Nothing of the
kind is likely to happen.

The former case is not being taken seriously by anyone here. Some smart
Alex has unearthed a police FIR of 1947 in which someone has reported a
conspiracy to assassinate Mohammad Ali Jinnah, then Governor General of
Pakistan and Liaquat Ali Khan, the Prime Minister of the day, and has
implicated several RSS workers, including one Lal Krishna Advani. The
latter is now the Home Minister in the BJP-led government in New Delhi.
Mr. Advani was not arrested or even tried, though the reports are that a
case was filed in a court on a charge of inciting communal rioting in
Karachi against some persons. But by then Mr. Advani had left Pakistan
for India.

By raising this case and mentioning in the given context someone has
embarrassed Islamabad that is so anxious to start serious negotiations
with the same Indian government of which Advani is an important pillar.
It would seem to appear that someone lower down in Sindh was
unnecessarily too assiduous and rushed to the press first, though what
his motivation could be is anyone=92s guess. And some guessing would seem
to be necessary.

But there is far more meat in the Daniel Pearl=92s abduction story. There
is a lot of murkiness around Jihadi outfits. Although most of them are
not secret, their operations are generally sub-rosa. In the earlier
pro-Taliban policy phase, these organisations were lionised by the
Islamabad governments and they had close links with the Army. The latter
often used them for its purposes. Insofar as Afghanistan and Kashmir are
concerned, a certain amount of symbiotic cooperation existed between the
many Jihadi groups and the Army. Hence so much murkiness.

With the clock ticking as this is being written and sudden and
unexplained death of an important possible informant-cum-witness, there
is pessimism about the success of the police in unearthing the
conspiracy about why and who kidnapped the US journalist. For one thing,
there have been literally hundreds of well-publicised abductions in
Sindh and Karachi in recent years. Except for a tiny fraction of cases,
the police never succeeded in finding either the victims or their
criminal captors. That most of them survived and returned from their
ordeal was due to their private deals with their captors; in short they
bought their release from illegal detention with hard cash. Hundreds of
other cases have gone unreported.

That is the reason for a pessimistic outlook on the ability of Sindh
Police to trace the captors and recover Daniel. The track record of this
police is so bad that people have given up the hope of its ever
reforming itself. Many suspect that several multi-billion rupees worth
of crimes --- car snatching and selling them, kidnapping for ransom or
robberies --- have a close nexus with police and many politically
influential people are involved in protecting the big time criminals.
Nothing the government has been able to do has even slowed down these
criminal businesses.

But Daniel was an American journalist. Many international journalists=92
bodies have become alarmed and are bombarding Islamabad with appeals to
get him released from his ordeal. Even in the latest pronouncements of
Wendy Chamberlin, the American Ambassador --- otherwise known for her
earlier friendliness with generals --- a note of hardness has crept in.
She has noted that a return to democracy is indicated here. But she has
also added that mere polls are not enough for democracy; there have to
be many other things like good governance and a democratic culture.
Daniel=92s case will be carefully watched in America and the failure of
the police to recover him and anything untoward happening to him can
land the military government in embarrassment and possible international
trouble.

______

#2.

The Praful Bidwai Column
[4 February 2002]
Barbed Wire R-Day

Our Rambo nationalism

By Praful Bidwai

Republic Day 2002 will be remembered more for its sombre mood than=20
for its celebratory character. Never before have so many spectators'=20
stands at the Day's parade in New Delhi been so empty. Never before=20
have so few Army units participated in it-a reminder of today's=20
enormous border build-up. And never before were 125,000 policemen=20
drafted to "sanitise" airports, railway stations and roads, and=20
prevent people from moving. The parade became a purely militaristic=20
ritual, an awe-inspiring demonstration of armed might-including the=20
nuclear-capable new Agni missile-, and an exhibition of statist and=20
macho values. It excluded the very citizens in whose name India's=20
democratic, sovereign, socialist Republic was founded.

Devoid of flesh-and-blood people, what is left from such rituals is=20
Rambo-style nationalism driven by hubris. This nationalism is=20
brutalising our sensibilities and infecting our youth with warped,=20
negative, ideas. Nothing illustrates this more starkly than a recent=20
incident from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, not far from Gwalior. This=20
is the story of two boys, Pinku (16) and Rinku (17), who wanted to=20
"avenge" the December 13 attack on Parliament House-by assassinating=20
General Pervez Musharraf. Brought up on a diet of Bollywood-style=20
"patriotism", and hero-worship of tinsel Knights in Shining Armour,=20
Pinku and Rinku decided that India must wage full-scale war on=20
Pakistan, or else they would become good "patriotic" terrorists, buy=20
arms, infiltrate into Pakistan, and kill Musharraf.

On January 11, they kidnapped Shanu, the eight-year-old son of a=20
businessman, for ransom, with which to procure the weapons to kill=20
Musharraf the Monster. Driven by the role-models offered in films=20
like Gadar, Indian, Fiza and Mission Kashmir, they abducted Shanu.=20
But they soon realised they couldn't hide him anywhere. Nor could=20
they invent credible alibis for themselves. They panicked and=20
strangled Shanu to death with a shoelace. According to The Telegraph=20
(Jan 21), the boys have confessed to their crime, and the authorities=20
believe that their motivation was "patriotic".

It is tempting to discount this incident as an aberration, a rare=20
case of "juvenile delinquency" and "misguided patriotism", as the=20
effect of "too much Bollywood". But it is more than that. It raises=20
disturbing questions about the values we are imparting to a whole=20
generation-through textbooks, cinema and television, aggressive=20
behaviour in the street, and more generally, through our social and=20
political discourse.

These values have long glorified maleness, violence, aggression and=20
war, and "normalised" cruelty. For years, India's "popular" cinema=20
and TV have shamelessly promoted macho stereotypes of heroes, and=20
hate-driven images of vamps and villains. This phenomenon has=20
increasingly become perverse as the hero and the villain have merged,=20
and the vamp has become the middle-class bride. Violence and=20
aggression have kept pace with sex and sleaze in the mass media.

"New-formula" Bollywood films like Maa Tuzhe Salaam, Gadar or Indian=20
take this "nationalist" message to its extreme. They celebrate the=20
"good", "patriotic" terrorist. They validate mindless violence and=20
blind revenge. They locate love for one's nation in hatred of the=20
Other's. This Sunny Deol-Nana Patekar phenomenon is sharply=20
demarcated from, say, Manoj Kumar. Kumar himself says: "There is a=20
basic difference between these films and mine, the same as between=20
patriotism and aggressive nationalism. One teaches you to love your=20
country =8AThe other prompts you to =8A show others in a demeaning light.=20
How Indian is this?" (The Sunday Times of India, Jan 27).

Take education. Our schools, cast in the post-colonial=20
"nation-building" tradition, imbibe super-"patriotic" values,=20
military-style discipline and a stressfully competitive view of=20
"achievement". The typical child grows up believing that false pride=20
in India's "inherent" greatness and moral-cultural superiority is a=20
"normal" characteristic of the good citizen. Aggressive nationalism=20
is also imparting an increasingly raucous tone to our school debates.

Rambo nationalism pits itself against reason, logic and truth. It=20
involves the abandonment of humanity and compassion. It is obsessed=20
with ethnicity. It is anti-modernist. It constructs indefinitely=20
continuous communities, where none exist. For instance, "Hindus" are=20
assumed to have remained the same entity over 3,000 years-from=20
pre-Hindu Harappa to the Modern Age. This nationalism is based on=20
aggressive, militarist, notions of power, themselves equated with=20
"human nature". Thus, India is "naturally" great. It has always been.=20
Millions of us are being drilled into believing "Mera Bharat Mahan".

Human resources development minister Murli Manohar Joshi and his=20
hatchet-men have added a new toxic ingredient to this foul cocktail=20
of prejudices by saffronising education. This enterprise, a veritable=20
cultural counter-revolution in itself, is founded on lies and=20
half-truths, and sophistry and irrationality. Its larger, overriding,=20
purpose is to "prove" that India is the greatest civilisation and=20
culture in history, that virtually everything valuable in the=20
"ancient" world was derived from India. This "ancient" period is=20
arbitrarily stretched to the 13th century. Mr Joshi claims that it is=20
now "proved" that the river Saraswati actually existed.

The other day, he proudly announced the "discovery" of a 7,500=20
year-old "civilisation" in the Gulf of Cambay-a strange thing for a=20
minister to do in the absence of scholarly evidence. Finding "ruins"=20
is not the same thing systematic layer-by-layer archaeological=20
excavation. The "finds" need corroboration. It is far from clear that=20
there was a full-scale "civilisation", as distinct from an urban=20
settlement.

But in Mr Joshi's scheme, all such critical questions and reasonable=20
doubts have to be snuffed out: India must have an older civilisation=20
than Sumer! Such nationalism demands total, blind, loyalty to an=20
"Eternal India", itself deified as "Bharat Mata". It is based on=20
unquestioning glorification of India's "inherent", unique,=20
superiority, her unmatched achievements in all fields. These are=20
grossly exaggerated. For instance, RSS sararsanghachalak Sudarshan in=20
his Vijayadashami address claimed that an Indian built and flew an=20
airplane in Baroda years before the Wright Brothers-a fabricated,=20
ludicrous, assertion!

Hatred of Other identities is central to this ethnic-nationalist=20
demonology. Islam and Muslims have functioned as the Other longest of=20
all. Everything that is "Eastern" is trivialised, parodied or=20
reviled. This could be Persia, Chinese, Sumer or Sri Lankan. These=20
cultures are considered at best derivative and unimportant. Today,=20
the principal Other is Pakistan, demonised as a society and state=20
inherently inimical to India, with which peaceful co-existence is=20
virtually impossible. Pakistan is credited with demonic powers to=20
destabilise India. Other neighbours are treated as non-entities.

The message here is: India is unique, India is exceptional, India is=20
unparallelled, India is eternal. Various ministries are vying with=20
one another to acquire a military, security-based identity. The HRD=20
ministry took out a full-page advertisement on Republic Day=20
proclaiming "Shiksha Desh Ki Suraksha". Lest this be taken to mean=20
that security lies in education, education is itself depicted as=20
equivalent to military training. The Science and Technology ministry=20
preens itself as the sudarshan chakra guaranteeing "Our Security, Our=20
Prosperity".

This is precisely the kind of nationalism that Rabindranath Tagore=20
described as a "great menace", which "for years has been at the=20
bottom of India's troubles". This aggressive, exclusivist,=20
belligerent nationalism is the opposite of a relaxed, self-confident,=20
inclusive view of the nation and the world. Such nationalism=20
imprisons. It does not liberate. It lacks a progressive character. It=20
is not anti-imperialist. It does not question the unequal global=20
distribution of power. It accepts the dominant-dominated duality. It=20
only wants India to be the cock of the walk. This nationalism is=20
servile to the West, in particular, to the United States. It is=20
arrogant towards the East.

The servility has taken a particularly odious form under the NDA's=20
abject kowtowing to the US. Never before has any Indian government so=20
pusillanimously colluded with hegemonic US moves in this region, or=20
invited American interference. Vajpayee & Co uncritically supported=20
the US' "war on terrorism" with all its excesses and its devious=20
manipulation of the United Nations. They did not let out a squeak of=20
protest at the US' construction of military bases in Pakistan.

New Delhi allowed FBI agents to visit Kolkata after the recent=20
"terrorist" attack, and welcomed a whole stream of Defence=20
Intelligence Agency, "counter-terrorism" and other US officials.=20
According to The Telegraph, it is about to launch "joint operations"=20
with US agencies against terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.=20
The Indo-US Joint Working Group, which met in the week starting=20
January 21, has announced a range of "cooperative" activities=20
including "political, diplomatic, military, intelligence and=20
financial measures".

India and the US are launching a "pilot project" to strengthen=20
"border management and surveillance". They also discussed "forensic=20
cooperation" and "aviation security". The US is roping in India into=20
a subordinate military relationship in the Indian Ocean. India may=20
escort US warships carrying "high-value" assets through the Malacca=20
Straits. It is thus being used as a counterweight to China. This goes=20
far beyond "intelligence sharing", even "cooperative monitoring"=20
through agencies like Sandia National Laboratories, a well-known US=20
nuclear-weapons facility. The "joint operations" on the ground are=20
probably being prepared by the visit of DIA chief Admiral Thomas=20
Wilson to "sensitive areas" in the Kashmir Valley. This spells=20
unprecedented interference in India's affairs and erosion of her=20
sovereignty.-end---

______

#3.

The Independent (Bangladesh)
1 February 2002

Govt blamed for failure to end repression on minorities

by Staff Reporter
Speakers at a rally yesterday called upon the democratic and=20
pro-independence forces to strengthen their unity to wage a=20
resistance movement against the perpetrators of repression and=20
atrocities across the country.
Addressing the rally at the central Shahid Minar, they also demanded=20
of the government to immediately publish the report of the probe body=20
on repression and atrocities unleashed on the members of the minority=20
community and the opposition after the October 1 national polls.
The speakers blamed the government for its negligence to deal with=20
the events relating to the repression and atrocities on the religious=20
minorities and also criticised the Home Minister Altaf Hossain=20
Chowdhury for his remarks on the incidents.
The Bangla Academy authorities came under fire for its decision to=20
inaugurate the immortal Ekushey Book Fair at its premises today only=20
by reciting the verses from the Holy Quran not other holy books.
Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, the unity council=20
of Hindu-Buddhist and Christians, organised the rally with its=20
president Major General (retd) CR Datta in the chair.
Some 20 leaders of different political parties and socio-cultural=20
bodies addressed the rally. They included Justice KM Sobhan, National=20
Professor Kabir Chowdhury, Reverend Jyotipal Mahathero, Barrister=20
Amir-ul-Islam, Awami League leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak,=20
Vice-Principal Abdus Shahid, Mukul Bose, Advocate Sudhangshu Shekhar=20
Haldar, Promode Mankin, MP and Panchanan Biswas, MP, GM Kader, MP of=20
Jatiya Party (Ershad), Rashed Khan Menon of the Workers Party,=20
Hasanul Huq Inu of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Nirmal Sen of Sramik=20
Krishak Samajbadi Dal, Ayesha Khanam of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad,=20
Shahriar Kabir of the Nirmul Committee and Prof Lalit Mohan Nath,=20
Reverend Sumangal Mahathero and Advocate Cyril Shikdar of the Oikya=20
Parishad and Jiten Chakma of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity.
Justice KM Sobhan said democracy, humanity, secularism, constitution=20
and rule of law were dishonoured in many places in the country by=20
unleashing torture, repression and atrocities on the opposition and=20
the minority communities over the past four months. He urged the=20
pro-independence forces to build a strong resistance against the=20
perpetrators and then retaliate them.
National Professor Kabir Chowdhury said communalism is similar to the=20
deadly disease cancer which spreads in all the body of the society=20
and this should be erased off from the soil of Bangladesh that is=20
regarded as a place of religious fraternity.

Awami League presidium member Amir Hossain Amu said the defeated=20
forces of 1971 were unleashing terrorism, torture, looting, setting=20
fire to properties and resorting to repression, rape and atrocities=20
on the opposition Awami League and minority community, in the style=20
of the atrocities of the Pakistani occupation forces, out of=20
vengeance.
He called upon the audience to participate the national convention on=20
"Crime against Humanity" to be held in the city on February 14 and 15.
Terming the incidents of atrocities on the minority community as a=20
shame for the entire nation, Awami League presidium member Abdur=20
Razaak blamed the Four-party alliance government responsible for the=20
incidents. "The Four-party alliance government wanted cleansing of=20
the members of the minority community like that of ethnic cleansing=20
in the former Yugoslavia."
Expressing solidarity with the Oikya Parishad, Jatiya Party presidium=20
member GM Kader, MP said, "I raised the issue in the Jatiya Sangsad=20
saying that it is the shame on the entire nation, but unfortunately=20
the government did not feel ashamed of what has happened to our=20
minority community after the election." It is unfortunate that the=20
government is trying to cover up the issue relating to repression and=20
atrocities on the minority community, he said.
Narrating his experience of some affected areas where the 11-party=20
teams visited, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon regretted=20
that this time all the political parties failed to resist the torture=20
and atrocities on the minority community.
Terming the four-party alliance government as a communal alliance,=20
Jatiya Samajtantrik Party general secretary Hasanul Huq Inu said they=20
have been trying to convert secular Bangladesh a religious country.=20
The religious minorities and the ethnic minorities will be treated as=20
second class citizens till the repeal of the Fifth and Eighth=20
amendments to the Constitution, he said.
Acting President of Nirmul Committee Shahriar Kabir, who was recently=20
freed from jail on ad-interim bail, said, "The repression I have=20
witnessed in many places surpassed the 100-year history of atrocities=20
and torture perpetrated in the sub-continent." He said the=20
anti-liberation forces had branded him as a traitor.
Chief Whip of the Opposition Vice-principal Abdus Shahid said the=20
Four-party alliance government could present repression, torture,=20
corruption, atrocities and looting in its 100-day programme to the=20
nation. In this prevailing situation the invitation of the ruling=20
party to the Awami League to join the Parliament was nothing but a=20
stunt, he alleged.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad General Secretary Ayesha Khatun, who also=20
visited many affected areas, said that the government should seek=20
apology for what had happened in the country before and after the=20
parliamentary polls.

_____

#4.

CricInfo:
The home of cricket on the Internet
http://www-aus.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2002/JAN/0=
89161_NZ_31JAN2002.html

Indian and Pakistan Under-19 players make a statement for their futures
Lynn McConnell - 31 January 2002

A diplomatic incident occurred at the ICC Under-19 World Cup today=20
between the Indian and Pakistan sides - but it was not the sort of=20
incident to cause antagonism or shame.

It was a moment of pride, for both countries, as they put aside the=20
differences being experienced on the Kashmir frontier.

It was a moment of joy, as the two teams went into a marquee at the=20
ground after the game and embraced, each player, manager, fitness=20
trainer, the works.

It was a statement for the moment, and it was a vision for the=20
future, as the players who will surely be competitors again, if the=20
politicians can allow two of the most competitive nations in the=20
cricket world to play each other, when cricket ties between the two=20
are normalised.

They had each just played a rattling good competitive game. It was=20
won by Pakistan by two wickets, but India also triumphed as they have=20
qualified for the semi-finals.

There was tension on the field, but there was delight also that the=20
spirit in which the game was played was outstanding.

Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who had led his side to victory with an=20
unbeaten 85 summed it up afterwards when he said the players taking=20
part in the match did not want the problems associated with the=20
border tensions.

"We don't want this, this is our game.

"We are not at the border, we are not at the war.

"We are going to play at the next level of the game against each=20
other. We want to play in a brotherly manner," he said.

The Pakistan manager Brigadier Javed Tipu said at the beginning of=20
the day he had approached the Indian management to see if=20
representatives from one side could address the others to point out=20
that despite whatever else might be happening, they were here to play=20
a game of cricket and that it should be played in the best traditions=20
of the game.

"After mutual consultation it was decided we should each speak to our=20
own boys and that after the match we could get together," he said.

"We love our cricket on the sub-continent, in Pakistan, in India, Sri=20
Lanka and Bangladesh.

"Cricket is the game of the future and I feel cricket's future is=20
more in Asia," he said.

"These boys are the future of Indian and Pakistan cricket. Most of=20
our players in these teams go on to represent the national side and=20
they will face each other, hopefully, in tournaments many times in=20
the future.

"We wanted them to make friends and to be on friendly terms because=20
they played each other.

"Cricket should be kept away from politics, unfortunately we have not=20
been able to do that.

"We hope and pray that today's match is the beginning of coming back=20
to normal cricket relations between our two countries," he said.

=A9 CricInfo

_____

#5.

Sanctuary Asia (Bombay, India)
http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/features/featurecategory.php?id=3D14
Features

Criminals I have met
By Satinath Sarangi

Bob Berzok is your regular corporate exec with a three piece suit and=20
lines on his face that come from libido worries. The first and only=20
time I saw him, the Director of Public Relations for Union Carbide=20
Corporation (UCC) was through the plexi-glass screen in Texas state=20
prison, Houston city. It was the middle of the night and from my=20
freezing cell, I was brought into the visiting room because his=20
company had realised that keeping us (two gas victims and myself) in=20
jail on charges of criminal trespass would make bad PR. Bob was=20
scared of bad PR. On the previous morning, UCC had got us arrested by=20
cops they had hired to police the annual shareholders meeting at the=20
Hyatt, for the simple act of distributing a fact sheet on Bhopal.

"We are concerned about your suffering", said Bob, "I have the bail=20
money with me and a limo waiting for you outside."

"If your company is really concerned about human suffering," I said=20
into the phone that connected us through the plexi-glass screen,=20
looking into his eyes, "you would release all the medical information=20
you have on the gases that leaked and are killing people in Bhopal to=20
this day."

I was watching for a change in his expression as he listened to my=20
alien accent. Nothing happened. He repeated in words and tone exactly=20
what he had just said. Where you and me have eyes, he had frozen=20
cubes. He wished me a polite goodnight.

Two years later in 1991, with my friend and comrade, T.R. Chouhan - a=20
former plant operator in Bhopal Union Carbide - I met with Joseph=20
Geoghen in New York city. Again a regular senior exec and=20
Vice-President UCC, USA. He had a lawyer sitting either side of him=20
and a secretary taking notes. To Joe I repeated the same request that=20
I had made to Bob. "Your company is the inventor of industrial=20
production of methyl isocyanate (MIC), one of the gases that leaked=20
in Bhopal. You have been doing research on MIC and other chemicals=20
and their effect on life systems for at east 30 years at your labs in=20
Research Triangle Park, Raleigh. There is mention of at least 16=20
research studies that you have chosen not to publish, at least one of=20
which is on 'human volunteers'. It does not cost you to give us the=20
information you have generated over the years and for all one knows,=20
this information may be vital in finding the painfully elusive=20
'proper line of treatment' for those exposed."

While the lawyers whispered behind Joe, and Joe waited for their=20
conclusion, Chouhan described for their benefit, the regularity with=20
which samples of workers' blood, urine and other substances had been=20
taken at the factory. These reports were never released. The lawyers=20
had finished their discussion by then and one of them, the Indian=20
guy, whispered into Joe's left ear. We got our answer: he advised us=20
to contact the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for MSDS data=20
sheets and to take out grievances to the Indian Government.

With an accent as close to Joe's as I could manage and in as few=20
words as possible, (because I could see he was getting impatient) I=20
described the pain of a family from my neighbourhood in Bhopal, who=20
had not known one day's respite from exposure-related illnesses and=20
despite their extreme poverty had left no doctor or hospital=20
unvisited. One of the lawyers indicated he had to catch a flight. I=20
looked at Joe, Joe was looking at his watch. I knew I had little=20
time. I appealed to him not to invoke the Trade Secrets Act and=20
attempt to justify their continued and deliberate withholding of=20
medical information. As politely as I could I reminded him that their=20
denial of information was compounding the injuries they had caused -=20
not only were they impeding development of specific therapies but=20
they were also the direct cause of doctors prescribing drugs that=20
were doing serious damage to peoples' bodies.

When I think of the disaster and try to fathom the minds that decided=20
that it was right and proper to produce one of the most toxic=20
chemicals in the midst of populated settlements; to deliberately=20
under-design the factory that would produce that chemical, and then,=20
to direct a global 'economy drive' that, among other things, resulted=20
in the shutting down of the refrigeration plant (to save Rs.700 per=20
day) I draw a blank. In my generous moments I can see them just doing=20
a job to send their children to the right school, have their wives=20
look good at parties and keep up on the golf course. They didn't=20
really know that a mega disaster would result from routine decisions=20
taken as part of normal corporate practice, that of making a bigger=20
profit than last year.=20

When I think of the medical disaster that followed and is likely to=20
continue for as long as you and I are alive, I have no generous way=20
of thinking of the regular guys who are the principal authors of this=20
tragedy.

>From the little that I know there was only one published paper on the=20
health effects of MIC before the disaster. The only available=20
information was held by UCC. They knew - and possibly know more now -=20
about what MIC does in the acute and the chronic phase. They know=20
what it does to the lungs, to the eyes, to the brain, to the=20
reproductive cycle and other systems. They know that by withholding=20
information, they are prolonging the suffering they began,=20
compounding the injuries they originally caused.

What Bob and Joe did was mislead people and doctors to think that MIC=20
was nothing but a potent tear gas, scuttled the use of the only=20
antidote known (sodium thiosulphate), send spin doctors and Pentagon=20
toxicologists as specialists to help the Bhopal people, financially=20
ruin the Red Cross Hospitals that were running in Bhopal and much=20
more.

Bob I hear has retired. What has become of Joe I don't know. Bob's=20
Position has been renamed Corporate Communications Manager and is=20
held by Tom Sprick. Mahesh Mathai, maker of the movie, Bhopal Express=20
invited Tom to the New York premiere in April this year. Tom declined=20
on behalf of UCC but assured Mahesh that "the tragedy continues to be=20
a source of anguish for Union Carbide." Tom is just another guy with=20
a normal career as a normal criminal.

Satinath Sarangi has been working with Bhopal gas affected people=20
since the Union Carbide disaster on December 3, 1984.=20

Credit: The Ecologist

______

#6.

Newsweek
4 February 2002

Rumors of War, Hints of Peace
The most likely scenario in the standoff between India and Pakistan=20
is continued cold war
Fareed Zakaria

Full text at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/694861.asp

_______

#7.

The Telegraph
2 February 2002

SCAPEGOATS AND BHADRALOKS
BY SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY

Though reports of the massacre outside Calcutta's American Center=20
studiously avoid the word, Muslim, just the names of the suspects and=20
their alleged links with Pakistan-based terrorists suffice to feed=20
indignant theories of communal conspiracy and bring a chunk of the=20
city's population under suspicion. Muslim leaders have not responded=20
to a challenge that speaks of fraying trust, although S.M. Murshed of=20
the administrative service's West Bengal cadre argued in a perceptive=20
article in 1993 that only a negligible number of Muslims had been=20
found guilty of espionage and that Pakistan would not recruit Muslim=20
agents in India just as India would not recruit Hindus in Pakistan.

A section of Indian - read Hindu - society instinctively looks for=20
Muslim scapegoats. The police, India's best-organized criminal gang=20
according to an Allahabad high court judge, are probably foremost in=20
exploiting popular prejudice for private gain. The sequence of=20
convenient "encounters" and deathbed confessions has combined with=20
inter-police one-upmanship and Indo-Pakistani rivalry for American=20
accolades to reduce tragedy to farce with the ultimate joke of=20
Pakistan's ridiculously resurrected charge against Lal Krishna=20
Advani. There can be no greater insult than this burlesque to the=20
memory of the five young constables who were victims of a neglected=20
outcome of Calcutta's explosive demographic mix.

Hindus comprised 76 per cent of the population but owned 90 per cent=20
of the investment when Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy claimed Calcutta for=20
Pakistan. He did not see it as a Bengali city, but as an economic=20
entity "built up largely by the resources of foreigners, inhabited=20
largely by people from other provinces who have no roots in the soil=20
and who have come here to earn their livelihood, designated in=20
another context as exploitation."

Muslims were under 20 per cent, the rest being Europeans,=20
Anglo-Indians, Jews and Parsees. Aristocratic and upper middle class=20
families (Murshidabad's decaying Mughals, the descendants of Tipu=20
Sultan and Wajid Ali Shah, the Persian Khaleelis, the Ispahanis,=20
Dohas and similar families) could be counted on the fingers of one=20
hand. Most Muslims probably did not own even the shacks they occupied=20
for many zamindari clans invested in bustee property.

This is the real challenge as numbers rise, possibly to as much as 30=20
per cent. A higher birth rate because of resistance to family=20
planning is one reason; illegal immigration from Bangladesh, with a=20
Left Front minister suspected of complicity, another. What matters as=20
much is that a multiplying community is identified with the narrow,=20
winding lanes, dingy sheds and crumbling tenement houses of places=20
like Beniapukur (home of Asif Reza Khan), Karaya, Tiljala, Park=20
Circus, Chitpore and the Kidderpore dockland, a festering landscape=20
that provided the manpower for the Muslim League's Direct Action Day=20
in 1946.

This "Mussulman para" breeds petty criminals, not because religion=20
and crime overlap but because poverty goes hand in hand with=20
illiteracy, bigotry, a readiness to be roused and anti-social=20
activities. The antidote of jobs, schools, hospitals, houses, potable=20
water, sanitation, electricity and, above all, equal opportunity is=20
desperately inadequate for all communities throughout the country.

In 1962, the authorities tackled another demographic challenge by=20
driving roads through Calcutta's old Chinatown with its opium dens=20
and subversive cells. There is a greater justification now for an=20
imaginative programme of urban regeneration not to drive away Muslims=20
(as the Chinese were driven out) but to liberate them from the=20
clutches of mischief-makers who prey on deprivation. The brightly=20
painted glory of brand new mosques invites suspicions about the=20
funding.

The economics of communalism was most evident in the emergence of=20
East Pakistan whose first act was to abolish zamindari. (West Bengal=20
did not follow suit until the Fifties, although Congress had long=20
been pledged to similar reform.) As A.K. Nazmull Karim, professor of=20
sociology and political science at Dhaka University, says, the=20
economic fall-out of two political revolutions blurred the=20
distinction between a tiny ashraf (aristocracy) and the majority=20
ajlaf (toilers) to give Bangladesh a new bhadralok class. Meanwhile,=20
Calcutta's grand Muslim families have disappeared leaving the city=20
with perhaps half a dozen central service officers, but mainly what=20
we call "Park Circus Muslims".

Pakistan's last diplomat in Calcutta rented a flat near Park Circus=20
to be with his co-religionists. Even his mission, which Bangladesh=20
inherited, was nearby. The location indicates a certain bonding=20
between the subcontinent's Islamic nations and poorer Indian Muslims.=20
Also to be noted, Bangladesh's so-called Biharis are really=20
Hindi-speaking Calcutta Muslims. The Left Front's Kalimuddin Shams is=20
a prominent representative of this group spanning Bengal, Bihar,=20
Uttar Pradesh and Orissa's Cuttack district, explaining Asif Reza's=20
connection with Aftab Ansari and murky doings in Nalanda and=20
Hazaribagh.

Muslims complain that Hindus want to ram a uniform civil code down=20
their throats on the specious plea that identical marriage, divorce=20
and inheritance laws are the sine qua non of national integration. At=20
the other extreme, with Hindus bending over backwards to flaunt their=20
secularism, I winced to hear a well-meaning businessman tell the=20
visiting Hurriyat delegation that he was so liberal that all his=20
servants were Muslim. Since religion inspires politics, both groups=20
treat Pakistan (and Kashmir) as the touchstone of Muslim loyalty,=20
which points to the majority communalism that Jawaharlal Nehru=20
thought the most dangerous of all.

Muzaffar Ahmed of the National Awami Party first alerted me to=20
another trend during the Bangladesh war. He, too, had set up camp in=20
Park Circus where the locals were thrilled with his adab, complaining=20
that they had been forced to say "Namaskar" for more than 20 years.=20
No one compels my former driver's young son to say "Namaskar" and=20
chatter away in Bengali though his father always greeted me with=20
"Salaam" and spoke only Hindi, which he called Urdu. The Hindu-style=20
dhoti that the Congress's Zainul Abedin and Hossainoor Rahman, the=20
academic, sport is also voluntary. Hinduization is nibbling at the=20
fringes. Murshed disagrees, but Pakistani propagandists seize on=20
innocent and unconscious instances of conformism to raise the cry of=20
Islam in danger.

Ultimately, all such problems are of perception, and like James=20
Baldwin, the black writer who could never tell whether the white=20
liftman had kept him waiting because of his colour or because he was=20
busy, no kafir can share a Muslim's sensitivities. The 12 Muslim=20
organizations that went to court against Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's=20
ban on using microphones for azaan may have chosen to regard him as=20
anti-Muslim. A Muslim journalist complained that as a Hindu I "got=20
away" with displaying a flag of the old king- dom of Sikkim in my=20
study, but that he would be arrested if he put up Pakistan's flag.=20
When the gate money for football matches went up, a Muslim police=20
officer told me that it was a device to exclude Mohammedan Sporting=20
supporters.

Just as only urban renewal can let the light of day into ghettoes,=20
communication alone can break through barriers of mistrust.=20
Communalism will continue to fester if politeness confines it to the=20
dark. The only newspaper reference to the communal dimension of the=20
killings I found was a mealy-mouthed admission that the Hazaribagh=20
house where two men were shot was "predominantly inhabited by the=20
minority community." The majority's duty of building bridges would be=20
best discharged by acknowledging the challenge, admitting that the=20
problem in most cases is alienation and not treachery and ensuring=20
strict police and bureaucratic impartiality.

The bigger responsibility devolves on minority legislators, officials=20
and professionals who have as little truck with the world of Asif=20
Reza as any Hindu bhadralok. They alone can heal wounds in this=20
catchment area for jihadi organizations. A token Muslim in=20
Rashtrapati Bhavan or on the bench is of no use in tackling=20
grassroots disaffection. The Left Front can - and does - ensure=20
freedom from intimidation. But, in the end, only responsible Muslims=20
of position can win the confidence of the "Mussulman para," heal its=20
wounds and protect its errant members from exploitation.

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