[sacw] SACW | 15 Feb. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Fri, 15 Feb 2002 02:39:14 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch | 15 February 2002

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

#1. Workshop: Is Pakistan Really Moving Towards Democracy (March 9, New York)
#2. Public Meeting on 'Challenges confronting the civil society in 
Pakistan' (Feb 16, New Delhi)
#3. Endorsements - Global Vigils for Peace Between Pakistan and India
#4. India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 67 | 
15 Feb 2002
#5. Samar Magazine Announcement
#6. India: Citizen's Statement against VHP temple building move
#7. India: Basant [Spring] festival (Feb 17, New Delhi)
#8. Further Update on Patwardhan's films at AMNH: Act Now!
#9. India: NCERT's New Syllabi Reflect Insensitivity ( V.K.Tripathi)
#10. India: Hindu Right terrorize on Valentines Day.....
- Heartbreak and hullabaloo : All this thought policing is leading us 
to Taliban country
- 'Culture cops' go berserk in Lucknow'
- Sainiks unleash V-Day terror [in Rajkot]

________________________

#1.

"IS PAKISTAN REALLY MOVING TOWARDS DEMOCRACY?"

A WORKSHOP AT THE SOUTHERN ASIAN INSTITUTE [Columbia University, New York]
SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2002

This will be a gathering of those interested in Pakistan, with a
discussion to be started by short presentation of a panel of experts. The
floor would then be opened to general discussion, with a view to exploring
the analyses presented, proposing additional efforts to answer questions
raised, or anything else the group might wish to do.

March 9th is a Saturday, and the workshop will convene at 10 a.m., and
continue until about 1:00 (with a break), after which there will be lunch
-- and further discussion if anyone has the stamina.

Topics and presenters:
"Economic Constraints" -- Omar Noman
"Role of the Religious Groups" -- Omar Qureshi
"An Entrenched Military?" -- Saeed Shafqat
"Civil Society" -- Zia Mian

PLEASE NOTE:
As has been our custom in workshops of this kind, we hope to provide some
background papers, so we will need to have you send us your POSTAL ADDRESS
and email address (you may be receiving this as a forward from someone on
our list) if you wish to come. This is not a "registration," but we would
like to know who to expect, if only to order enough food for lunch.

The Southern Asian Institute is located in the School of International and
Public Affairs,
420 West 118th Street, (the corner of 118th St. and Amsterdam Ave.) 
[ New York City]
Room 1128.

______

#2.

Public Meeting on 16th February
======================================

This is to invite you to a public meeting being organised on 
Saturday, the 16th February 2002 at Press Club (first floor), Raisina 
Road, Near Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi, from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Ms. Asma Jehangir and Mr. I.A. Rehman from Pakistan will speak at the 
public meeting on " Challenges confronting the civil society in 
Pakistan." Similarly we will have people from India also speaking at 
this public meeting. We request you to kindly come and participate. A 
word of confirmation from you would greatly be appreciated.

Invitation issued by:

Dr. Prakash Louis, on behalf of "PEOPLE FOR PEACE"
Achin Vanaik- Movement in India for Nuclear Disarmament (MIND)
Vijayan M.J., on behalf of Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace 
and Democracy.

______

#3.

Subject: Global Vigils - Endorsements
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 12:18:36 +0530

People For Peace Between Pakistan and India

Global Vigils for Peace Between Pakistan and India
Monthly Vigils for Peace in Pakistan, India and Other Countries of the World
On Last Sunday of Every Month
Beginning 27th January 2002.
Endorsement of Demands
Each Individual is Important. Your Silence could lead to War. Your 
Assertion will bring Peace.
Light a Candle for Peace. Endorse Demands for Peace.

On the last Sunday of every month, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.(local 
time), people and groups in Pakistan, India and other parts of the 
world are participating in Global Vigils for Peace between Pakistan 
and India by organising Candle Light Vigils and other activities for 
one hour in their cities, towns and villages. Pakistanis and 
Indians living outside the Sub-Continent are coming together and 
jointly organising these Global Vigils in the countries where they 
are living. These Global Vigils all over the world are being 
organised by different groups, organisations and activists under the 
common banner of "People for Peace Between Pakistan and India".

Endorsements of Common Demands are being obtained from all peace 
loving people. All the endorsements will be posted on the website 
<http://www.peopleforpeace.info/>www.peopleforpeace.info and will 
also be submitted to the Prime Minister of India, President of 
Pakistan, World Leaders, Media and others.

The aim of this initiative is to put continuous and ongoing pressure 
on the leadership of both India and Pakistan to resolve all our 
disputes by dialogue and peaceful means, and to avoid war at all 
costs.

For more information about Global Vigils being organised and for 
reports of earlier Vigils and endorsements by different people and 
celebrities please visit 
<http://www.peopleforpeace.info/>www.peopleforpeace.info .

We appeal to you to endorse the Common Demands listed below and 
forward this message to all your friends and contacts on your mailing 
list for their endorsements.

If you are the hundredth person to endorse the Demands or if you have 
already endorsed the Demands and the message comes back to you then 
please forward the message to 
<mailto:vigil@p...>vigil@p... or 
<mailto:covahyd@h...>covahyd@h...

You can also register endorsements by individuals, groups and 
organisations by visiting the website 
<http://www.peopleforpeace.info/>www.peopleforpeace.info and clicking 
on "Endorsements".

We the People of Pakistan, India and peace loving citizens of the 
world Demand that:

Pakistan and India should:

1. Open up all communication and travel links between them.
2. Immediately sign a No War Pact.
3. Set up a Permanent Dialogue Process

(Both countries should immediately create conducive conditions to 
start continuous and uninterrupted negotiations to settle all 
outstanding issues including the issues of Kashmir by also involving 
the people of Kashmir on both sides of the border, issues of cross 
border terrorism etc.).
4. While actively engaging in Global Nuclear Disarmament efforts 
towards making the planet free of nuclear weapons, both countries 
should end the nuclear arms race in the Sub Continent and reverse it.
5.Immediately establish trade and commerce links.

(Please give your Serial Number / Name / Profession or Organisation / 
City / Country in your endorsements)

1. Mazher Hussain, Social Activist, COVA, Hyderabad, India
2. Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web, France

______

#4.

India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 67
15 February 2002
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPARMW/message/78

______

#5.

On behalf of the SAMAR Collective, I would like to announce the arrival of
the new edition of SAMAR magazine. What follows is a description of the
current issue, a note to present and prospective subscribers, and a call
for article submissions for our next issue.

-----------------------
CURRENT ISSUE:

The current issue of SAMAR focuses on the "South Asian American
Generation." In this issue we turn our attention to the question of
generation. We pose this from within the context of the North American
diaspora. Here a generation means the difference between a consciousness
formed in the North American landscape and one whose perspective originates
more fully from the subcontinent. In setting this up we want to avoid
assuming that this divide translates into the all too familiar stereotypes
of tradition-bound immigrant parents, 'clueless' recent arrivals, totally
assimilated youth ignorant of their own heritage, and rebellious teenagers
in search of a hipper answer. Instead we open up an exploration of the
differences and the similarities between and within generations.

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

INFORMATION FOR NEW AND PRESENT SUBSCRIBERS:

The contents of the current issue may be viewed at our website, at
http://www.samarmagazine.org/. We invite you to check it out, and
hopefully SUBSCRIBE. We especially invite our older (lapsed) subscribers
to resume subscription. Our rates remain unchanged, $5 for a copy, $9 for
a year's subscription and $18 for a two-year subscription. YOU CAN EMAIL
ME DIRECTLY IF YOU WISH TO SUBSCRIBE (rmir@m...).

If you would like to begin your subscription retroactively, we could start
you off with our previous issue, titled "Come Africa", which had explored
the vibrant connections between South Asians and the African continent.
This issue received much acclaim from our readership, and we have a limited
number of copies still available. Please let us know if you would like
your subscription to begin from that volume and carry on to this issue.

SAMAR is produced by a voluntary collective and is a non-profit endeavor
that is run by your contributions. Please do support this effort, one of
the few of its kind, which responds to a need for a publication that
fosters serious debates within the South Asian community and is meant for a
general audience.

CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS: We have despatched SAMARs to you by mail, and they
should be reaching shortly. If you have not received your issues by Feb
20th, please email me WITH YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS.

Some lapsed subscribers have also been despatched a copy. We ask you in
good faith to send us your subscription money ASAP.

---------------------
Call for articles for our next issue:

SAMAR publishes original submissions on a topic that interests our
readership. We invite articles, short stories, poems, visual art, photo
essays, book reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, and anything else that
you would care to write about.

We also have a FORUM each issue focusing on one specific topic.

The FORUM this time is titled "THE TURNING POINT"

The dogmas of war continue to haunt the South Asian American Community in
the aftermath of 9/11. What does it mean to be 'political' after 9/11?
What kinds of 'fundamentalisms' become salient in this age of bombs and
military tribunals? What are the new ways in which we can organize against
the com=nfluence of right-wing forces that are moving centerstage, both in
South Asia and the West? What is the relationship between the current
conflict and the tortured hisories of US imperialism, religious
conservatism and market fundamentalism?

The articles should be 3000 words maximum. Shorter pieces are welcome too.

We are also planning a web-based project to document the state of South
Asian communities since September 11. We invite submissions that address
individual, collective, or organizational experiences in forms that could
range from individual accounts, analyses, reports, poems, photographs,
fiction and beyond. Submissions will be posted at our website.

Raza Mir <rmir@m...>

______

#6.

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002
From
Prof. Ram Puniyani
EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity
B 64, IIT Qutrs Mumbai, 400076

---
Madam/Sir

Vishwa Hindu Parishad's decision to start the temple construction from
middle of March is fraught with dangers. In 1992 plans for mobilization to
do Kar Seva led to the major tragedy of Babri Demolition and frightful
riots all over the country. The NDA govt's weak resolve, manifested in the
form of Mr. Vajpayee offering his hospitality to Sants etc of VHP will
encourage this outfit to take the law in its hands and widen further the
rift between communities and will vitiate the atmosphere of communal
amity, which is a prerequisite for tackling the social issues. VHP's
decision is definitely in tune with the needs of the politics of Sangh
Parivar.
VHP seems to be having a large number of Sants who seem to be the major
players in its decision-making. Meaning of the word Sant is one, who is
accommodative, tolerant and one who is striving for social amity. The
present onslaught by the saffron robed Sants is most violative of this
meaning and brings disrepute to the very meaning of this noble word.
Rather then being Sants these VHP Sadhus are more of self-seeker
volunteers in the service of RSS and its agenda of Hindu Rashtra. We urge
upon the law keeping machinery to ensure that VHP is not allowed to create
the tension in society once again. All moral and legal norms should be
activated to make VHP desist from its plans, which are violative of law,
constitution and the social amity.

Sincerely

1. Dr. Ambrose Pinto, Principal, St. John'sCollege Banglore
2.Dolphy D'Souza, All India Catholic Union,Mumbai
3.Jatin Desai, PIPFD, Mumbai
4.M. N. Ansari, Banglore
5.Pervin Jehangir, NBA, Mumbai
6.Prakash Shah, Nirishak, Gujarat
7. Ram Puniyani, EKTA, Mumbai
8. Yogesh Kamdar, PUCL, Mumbai

______

#7.

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002
Update on Sunday's Basant festival
Dear Friends
Here is the latest schedule of the Basant Utsav to be held on Sunday, 
the 17th February, 2002 at the Dargah Nizamuddin, New Delhi:

Heritage Walk starts at 10:30 am near Nizamuddin Police Station at 
Mathura Road, and continues for about 2 hours in and around the 
Dargah area.

An exhibition of rare books, music records, and other memorabilia 
associated with Basant, Amir Khusro and Hindu-Muslim composite 
culture. (To be inaugurated at 12:30)

Screening of documentary films on Basant and Amir Khusro, produced by 
Iffat Fatima, Yousuf Saeed and Ajai Chawla (12:30 pm)

Mehfil-e-Sama (sufi music concert) in which noted classical vocalist 
Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan of Dilli gharana, and others are going to 
present a lecture-demonstration of the music of Basant (3:00 pm)

Traditional Basant festival and procession by qawwals and sufis in 
the main Dargah area (4:30 pm)

Kindly park your vehicles at the close-by Humayun's tomb area and 
walk to the dargah area.

-----------

Its spring here again. Basant or Vasantotsav, the festival of spring 
in much of south Asia, is a special occasion for the sufis and 
qawwals at the dargah (mausoleum) of Hazrat Nizamuddin and Amir 
Khusro, at New Delhi. For more than seven hundred years, both Hindus 
and Muslims have been celebrating here this festival of flowers, 
music and dance. To celebrate Basant this year, a daylong session of 
events has been organized in and around the area of Dargah Nizamuddin 
on 17th February 2002, Sunday, by the Communicators' Cooperative, a 
group of media and arts professionals. You are cordially invited for 
this festival where some of the following and many more events are 
going to take place:

A guided Heritage Walk in and around the Dargah Nizamuddin area, 
which houses the tombs of such legendary figures as Nizamuddin Aulia, 
Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib and Abdur Rahim Khanekhana (starts at 10:30 
am, and continues daylong)

An exhibition of rare books, music records, and other memorabilia 
associated with Basant, Amir Khusro and Hindu-Muslim composite 
culture. (Daylong)

Screening of documentary films on Basant and Amir Khusro, produced by 
Iffat Fatima, Yousuf Saeed and Ajai Chawla (2:00 pm)

Traditional Basant festival and procession by qawwals and sufis in 
the main Dargah area (4:30 pm)

Mehfil-e-Sama (sufi music concert) in which noted classical vocalist 
Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan of Dilli gharana, and others are going to 
present a lecture-demonstration of the music of Basant (6:30 pm)

You are welcome to spend the entire day at the Dargah area for the 
above programmes as well as for other smaller events. Traditionally, 
the Basant celebration is characterized by wearing of Basanti dress, 
which basically means clothes dyed in the colour of mustard or 
sarson. It would be nice if you could come wearing dresses dyed in 
that or similar hues. In any case the organizers have arranged for 
Basanti scarves that can be obtained at the location and worn. 
Traditional qawwals too distribute such scarves inside the Dargah. 
There would be a reception-counter at the entrance to the Dargah 
area, besides volunteers to guide you.

For further details and updates on the schedule of events, kindly 
visit our website, or contact us at 
<mailto:basant@c...>basant@c... or call Vagish at 
9810216943

Communicators' Cooperative Ltd. 
<http://www.cc-india.org/>http://www.cc-india.org

Please remember: February 17th 2002, Sunday
(Kindly forward this message to others who might be interested)

______

#8.

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 13:22:24 -0800 (PST)
From: akhila raman <akhila123_1999@y...>
Subject: Further Update on Patwardhan's films at AMNH: Act Now!

----------------------------------------------
dear friends,

The latest update is: The museum cancelled the Feb 9
screening and seems bent on banishing
the films outside AMNH, presumably due to fear of "threats
of violence" from unidentified callers, but is now hiding
behind the excuse of "Capacity issues"("we expect huge crowds,
hence outside venue") which are unjustified so far(see reasons
in sample letter)- they refuse to say how they estimated the
crowds and they refuse to comment on exact nature of phone
threats.

Ms.Kent seems the only contact person, she encourages people
to call/email/fax her expressing our concerns, she will forward
them to the decision committee. She also would forward any
faxes to higher authorities like the President of AMNH
and Ms.Ann Canty, if we fax those letters to Ms.Kent's
fax # requesting her to forward them. I suggest we call/
email/fax Ms.Kent, Canty, Charnov, Kendall and the President,
contact info enclosed in sample letter. sending Individual
emails/faxes is a good idea, rather than a common email.

i am enclosing the previous update and latest sample
letter detailing latest developments. Please note change
in Ms.Kent's Fax #.

A good article in Rediff regd this issue:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/feb/08dilip.htm

cheers
akhila raman

---------------------PREVIOUS UPDATE-------------------
dear friends,

Patwardhan's films originally scheduled to be screened on
Feb 9 at American Museum of Natural History(AMNH) are being
rescheduled(or banished) to a venue outside AMNH, due to
threats of violence by religious fanatics. More details and
latest developments are available in:
http://www.ektaonline.org/patwardhan/petition/index.htm

This is an assault on free speech and we must urge the
museum not to give in to such threats and fundamentalism
and we must insist on screening of the films at AMNH at the
earliest.I am enclosing a sample letter with contact
addresses, please email/fax/call the museum at the earliest.

if you have not yet signed, please sign the petition at:
http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/783684768

cheers
Akhila Raman

----------------SAMPLE LETTER-----------------------------
Feb 14,2002.

Ms. Melanie Kent
Managing Director
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024 USA
Phone/Fax: 212-769-5305
Email: kent@a...

Ms. Ann Canty
Senior Director of Media Relations
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024 USA
Ph: 212-769-5973
Fax: 212-769-5305 (Attn:Ms.Canty)
Email: canty@a...

Ms. Elaine Charnov
Director, Public Programs and Artistic Director
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024 USA
Phone: 212-769-5173
Fax: 212-769-5329
Email: Charnov@a...

Ms. Laurel Kendall
Curator of Hinduism Exhibit
Anthropology Dept.
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024 USA
Tel. 212-769-5892
Fax: 212-769-5334
E-Mail: LKendall@a...

Ms. Ellen V. Futter
President,
American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024 USA
Ph:(212) 769-5000
Fax: 212-769-5305 (Attn:Ms.Futter)
Email: futter@a...

Re: Disappointment at Rescheduling and Change of Venue
of Patwardhan's films due to threats of violence
and "Crowd control and Capacity" issues;

Request for screening inside AMNH premises at the earliest.

Manage Capacity issues by "first-come-first-served" policy
and NOT by pushing venue outside museum.

Dear Ms. Kent, Canty, Charnov, Kendall & Futter,

We are extremely disappointed about the decision of the museum
to reschedule the screening of Anand Patwardhan's films
"We are Not Your Monkeys" & "In the Name of God" originally
scheduled for Feb 9th in the museum, to a venue outside the
museum. We have been told by the museum that the reasons are
"threats of violence" and "crowd control and capacity" issues.
Crowd control and Capacity issues must be handled by simple
"first-come-first-served" policy and not by pushing the venue
outside museum, because the large number of museum visitors
would be less likely to travel outside to a far-off venue and
thus the goal of reaching a large audience will not be achieved.
Besides, the large number of people sending petitions and calling
the museum in support of these films, are merely expressing their
solidarity and all of them are not necessarily planning to appear
in person for the screenings, being geographically distributed
throughout the US. Giving in to threats of violence by religious
fanatics would mean giving in to terrorism and fundamentalism.

"In the Name of God" has won the national award for best
documentary in 1992 given by the President of India. It was
broadcast nationally at prime time on the main State controlled
TV after the Bombay High Court ordered this in 1997. It
brilliantly documents the communal politics, rise of Hindu
fundamentalism, religious intolerance,hatred and violence
that has seized India in the name of God. "We are
Not Your Monkeys" is a legitimate Dalit critique of the
caste system. It is based on a song composed conjointly with
India's most renowned Dalit poet, the late Daya Pawar.

We request a well publicized and well protected screening of
the above mentioned films inside the museum premises, at
the earliest. We believe that these films serve a valuable
function in fostering public scrutiny and debate regarding
important socio-political issues in India; and therefore
deserve to be screened inside the museum.

We hope that the museum will take a strong stand against such
fanatics and screen these films inside the museum at the earliest.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

_____

#9.

Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002

NCERT's New Syllabi Reflect Insensitivity

V.K.Tripathi
The National Council of Educational Research and Training, on January 21,
2002, has released the syllabi of the text books being rewritten for
school children. These text books will replace the present ones from
April 2002. It is astonishing that the syllabi have been released when
the text books, in all probablity, have already been written, leaving
no room for academic debate. This is blatantly undemocratic.

The revision of curricula/textbooks was overdue in many subjects in view
of the emergence of new knowledge, new socio-economic needs, learning
experiences of the students and similar other factors. However, NCERT's
new effort does not reflect these concerns.

First, it is immune to the problems faced by the students. The high school
result in most Government Schools, where less privileged children study,
remains between 10 to 20 percent. One important reason, besides the lack
of conducive-for-learning atmosphere at home and lack of sincerity of the
teachers, is curricula and language of the text books, specially in
Mathematics and Science where most of the students fail. Mathematics
curriculum could easily delete 40% topics, e.g., trigonometric ratios,
statistics, and large parts of factorization of polynomials and geometry
for class IX, without affecting learning in higher classes. Such topics
cripple the interest and enthusiasm of children.

The Science syllabi for classes VI to X are too descriptive and memory
oriented with little focus on principles and empirical relations. The
topics brought-in in the name of technology do not help understanding of
basics at all. The health and food related topics are largely repetition
of what is to be taught in Health and Education. The Physics syllabi for
IX and X, in particular, lack sense of proportion. For instance Newton's
laws of motion and Friction are given same coverage. In fact the share of
science in the whole curriculum is very minor. Out of seven periods, high
school students will have only one period for Physics, Chemistry and
Biology combined.

A very major problem with earlier Hindi medium books has been their
language that is too difficult and unrelated to the language commonly used
by the masses. The new syllabi are silent on this issue.

Second, the continuation of Sanskrit as a compulsory subject in classes 6
to 8 defies logic as Sanskrit is never used in families, markets, offices,
or Assemblies. It is a big burden on students when they have to begin
English also at that level. The course contents of English and the
expectation that students would develop an English vocabulary of 3000-5000
in high school ignore ground realities.

Third, the changes in social sciences curricula are driven by the desire
to inculcate pride among students in ancient past. This is fallacious on
two counts. First, pride is a function of authority. Seventy percent of
our countrymen live a life of hardship and economic subjugation. They can
not feel pride merely because their religion had great scriptures or
culture. Only the rich do so, without bothering to practice the divine
message in their lives, to perpetuate their superiority, breeding
exploitation, inequality, and violence. Second, pride is not conducive to
understanding and enlightenment. These come through self enquiry and
sensitivity towards others. The worst hit by pride mindset is History.

History is meant to serve two purposes: i) to develop an objective
understanding of the processes that determine social and political
dynamics, and ii) to make us realize the fundamental contradictions that
lie between the masses and the ruling classes. History then becomes a
liberating force from myth, prejudice and oppression. The new syllabi of
the two history books for class XI, one on Ancient India and the other on
Medieval India, are, however, just an antidote to it. The emphasis is on
glorifying the ancient past and suppressing the in-built
contradictions. The caste, for instance, has been a dominant factor in
India's polity and social dynamics over millennia, and continues to be so
even today, yet it finds only a marginal mention in the syllabus. There
are special units on Vedic culture and philosophy of Upnishads but there
is no mention, in any part, of the Sufi-Saint movement that influenced
Indian social life so immensely for centuries, bringing religion to the
door steps of the masses, taking people to unprecedented spiritual
heights, loosening caste prejudices and laying the foundation for
nonviolent resistance by which unarmed masses in the twentieth century
defied the mightiest colonial power on the earth. Sufis and saints
developed an extraordinary culture of synthesis of Hinduism and
Islam. Kabir Vaani, Granth Sahib and other texts are as divine and
revealing as Vedas and Upnishads. Our present day culture and social life
has most dominant influences of Sufi Saint movement. Ignoring this vital
life line, and other historical processes, is to ignore the masses of the
country, the dalits, the women, the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Christians,
the tribals.

The preamble to the syllabus says that its focus shall not be on the
rulers but the syllabus for "Medieval India" has nothing but the
rulers. The blend of topics presents only invasions by Turks, Arabs,
Mughals and other Muslim rulers, and the rise of rebellion against
them as the dominant history of that period. When coupled with total
silence on Muslim artisans, faqirs, sufis, and synthesizing forces,
these syllabi would strengthen the myth that Muslims are aliens,
oppressive and violent. Nothing can be farther from truth when an
overwhelming majority of Muslims, despite hard work and truthful life,
are drowned in poverty and are exploited like their Hindu brethren. It
would be detrimental for the unity of the nation. The design to project
the minorities as aliens and Hindus as the true natives is manifest in
introducing the controversial connection between the Harappan civilization
and Vedic culture.

One may add that he pride euphoria is also impinging on higher education,
including IITs and engineering colleges of the country, in the garb of
value education.

Fourth, the language books must have soothing effect on the minds
of children of all backgrounds. The three books prescribed for
supplementary reading in classes 6, 7 and 8 are respectively abridged
Ramayana, abridged Mahabharata and Buddha Charit . The spiritual message of
the former two lies in recognizing Ravana not as a bodily figure but as
evils inside us and war between Pandavas and Kauravas as the struggle
between good and evil going on inside each of us, as Gandhi ji put
it. When Ramayana and Mahabharata are read in totality this message
becomes clear otherwise it often gets lost. The abridged versions must
minimize descriptions of war and focus more on human qualities. It would
strengthen their appeal by including lessons on Mahavir, Christ, Mohammad,
Nanak and Kabir, and Raidas.

Sixth, the proposal to introduce Work Education in high schools may be
worth while. However, this requires very sincere efforts to assess the
employment potential in different trades of skills, the development of
workshops, teachers training and a comprehensive plan of courses. At the
moment the proposal is at a very primitive stage.

NCERT would do a great service to nation by focusing on work education and
withdrawing the new syllabi in all subjects as they represent a step
backward. A fresh debate on curricula must be initiated without a pride
mindset.

_____

#10.

The Indian Express
Friday, February 15, 2002

Heartbreak and hullabaloo
All this thought policing is leading us to Taliban country

THE very fact that St Valentine's Day has become one of national 
concern, an occasion for some to kick up a whole lot of trouble, 
seems to indicate that something is seriously amiss in Bharatvarsh. 
No only are attempts being made to undermine the tolerance that has 
kept this country together for centuries, there is, simultaneously, 
an exercise on in enforcing rigid social codes. That such campaigns 
are driven more by a desire of politically marginalised forces to 
gain some national relevance through cheap publicity and shock 
tactics do not make them any less reprehensible or dangerous. [...] .
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020215/ed2.html

o o o

The Times of India
FEBRUARY 15, 2002

'Culture cops' go berserk in city
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2002 2:13:32 AM ]
LUCKNOW: Hooliganism. That sums up the abominable behaviour of those 
masquerading as culture police in the state capital on Valentine's 
Day.
Shiv Sena, Hindu Sena and Hindu Jagran Manch activists used culture 
as an alibi to humiliate, harass and manhandle [...] .
http://203.199.93.7/articleshow.asp?art_Id=1009273

o o o

The Times of India
FEBRUARY 15, 2002

Sainiks unleash V-Day terror [in Rajkot]
http://203.199.93.7/articleshow.asp?art_Id=998624

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