[sacw] SACW #2 | 8 Mar. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

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

[Greetings to all on the International Women's Day 8th of March !!]
Defend Secular Space, defend womens rights, Speak up Against your 
local Bigots and Peddlers of Hate in the name of religion & culture 
!!

__________________________

2 articles by Feminists from Pakistan and India

#1. Time for reassessment of the women's movement in Pakistan (Anis Haroon)
#2. True to its origins - recalling of International Women's Day 
(March 8) in India (Urvashi Butalia )

++++++ On the Murder & Mayhem in Gujrat, India ++++++

#3. Instability in India (Op-Ed. in The New York Times )
#4. Religion Cannot Hijack the Polity (Kancha Ilaiah)
#5. Boot out the chief minster of Gujrat [ says a Hindutva 
supporter] (Pritish Nandy)
#6. 'The Gujarat carnage is a source of collective shame to Indians' 
(Dr Richard W Lariviere)
#7. Journey to a temple of hate: The rootless Hindu's warped search 
for identity (A Srinivas)
#8. The moment of truth (Sukhmani Singh)
#9. Dr.Berwa and a delegate meet with Indian Ambassador in Washington D.C.
#10. 56 Thousand homeless in Gujarat (BBC)
#12. India in flames (Editorial, Japan Times)
#13. Gujarat events state terrorism, ban VHP: Shankaracharya

________________________

#1.

DAWN
03 March 2002

Time for reassessment
By Anis Haroon

The women's movement in Pakistan has come of age! It all began with 
discriminatory laws promulgated by Ziaul Haq in 1979. The so-called 
Islamization process was directed towards making women and minorities 
second-class citizens of Pakistan. Whether it was in the law of 
evidence, qisas and diyat, zina ordinance or the appointment of 
judges, women and minorities found themselves discriminated against. 
For instance, the evidence of two women was considered to be equal to 
that of a man. The testimony of four adult Muslim males was required 
for the hudd punishment. A female victim received only half the 
compensation as that of a male and women and members of minority 
faiths were disallowed from being appointed judges.
The total impact of these measures was far more profound. The mullahs 
and the religious parties used the occasion to create space for an 
anti-women environment. They were encouraged by the state to push 
women back from the public space they had come to occupy over the 
years. There was a deliberate attempt to close the doors of technical 
and scientific education for girls. They were banned from sports 
which were open to spectators. In order to avoid the male gaze they 
were advised to don chadars and remain in chardevari for their safety.
The women who decided to challenge this onslaught were mostly 
professionals from the urban middle class. It led to the emergence of 
the Women's Action Forum in 1981 in Karachi. Lahore and Islamabad 
soon followed suit. Besides individuals, political activist and 
existing organizations for women's rights joined the platform. Though 
women have been participating in political activities since long but 
it was for the first time that an independent women's movement 
emerged on the national scene. The state retaliated and came down 
with a heavy hand on a peaceful procession against the law of 
evidence on February 12, 1983 in Lahore. The women were baton charged 
and arrested. This incident triggered off international reaction and 
enhanced the political appeal of WAF.
The Women's Action Forum kept on challenging every anti-woman move 
and broke the silence on many issues such as rape and domestic 
violence. The laws did not get repealed but were watered down in some 
cases. To this day WAF carries the radical image it had in the early 
days of its inception and continues to play a confrontational role as 
was generally expected of it.
But the scenario has changed in the post-Zia era. The expectations 
from the political leadership and parties were not fulfilled. The 
activism of WAF was replaced by a number of NGOs started off by its 
own members.
WAF being a voluntary, non-hierarchical and non-funded organization 
suffered a setback. The practice of political activism and 
voluntarism receded fast. A new breed of professionals is now taking 
charge of creating women's empowerment in Pakistan. Will they be able 
to deliver? Do we not need a radical women's movement any more? Are 
NGOs capable of generating a movement? These are the issues 
confronting the women's movement in Pakistan today.
The tendency to define gender development projects as activism is 
false in most cases. It has taken away much of the dynamism, vitality 
and political edge from the movement. Recently we had a very 
interesting interaction on activism between three generations of 
women from different walks of life. They termed activism as radical, 
spontaneous, collective and timely action. The participants 
identified selfless commitment to a vision, fearless struggle and 
anger as the qualities which were the essence of a movement, and 
rightly so. A movement needs a coherent ideological base to acquire a 
vision. De we all have a vision based on political, social and 
cultural embodiments? We need to ask ourselves. We should be able to 
reflect on our failures honestly.
Some of us argue that times have changed. Have they really changed 
for the women of Pakistan? If the answer is 'NO' perhaps we need to 
re-evaluate the situation and change our focus in the right direction.
The women's movement has to address the 'class' issues in Pakistan. 
We need to be inclusive in order to expand our base. If it remains 
confined to urban centres only the movement cannot flourish.
Another important challenge is to involve the younger generation, no 
matter what it takes. If the older generation of activists fail to 
inspire them let us prepare them to make their own organization, 
based on the principles of activism which they have outlined 
themselves.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The author is the Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, Karachi. 
Author of Bara hai dard ka rishta.

_____

#2.

DAWN 03 March 2002

True to its origins
By Urvashi Butalia

International Women's Day (March 8) brings back many memories for me. 
If I remember rightly, we started to 'celebrate' this day only in the 
mid-seventies. At the time, women's groups from different political 
persuasions would meet to discuss which issue to take up. Many of our 
early discussions focused on whether this was a day to 'celebrate' or 
whether we should use the day to mark the deterioration of women's 
status generally or bring a particular issue to attention. Often, we 
opted for the latter for by the time we had finished with our 
discussions, the realization would dawn on us afresh that there was 
very little to celebrate.
I remember one particular time when we were deeply involved in the 
campaigns against rape and dowry. The theme we chose for the March 8 
that year was called: 'kokh ke andhere se kabr ke andhere tak' (from 
the darkness of the womb to the darkness of the grave). Another time 
we took up the issue of women's health and the damage being caused by 
injectable contraceptives. In the year following the furore over the 
Muslim Women's Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, we took up the 
issue of the rights of minority women.
Each time, the women's day would be preceded by a campaign on the 
issue we'd decided on, and the day itself represented a culmination 
of the campaign. It took the form of a march or demonstration, or 
simply a public assembly.
There were also times we celebrated - with songs, dances, food, 
posters, exhibitions of paintings, the sale of books and pamphlets, 
of crafts made by women. Or, sometimes the celebrations came after 
the demonstrations and marches, and we'd get together in the house of 
one or other woman, pay our few rupees towards the simple meal of dal 
and roti that was laid on, and simply let our hair down.
Of course, the discussions were not without angst and conflict and 
strife. Often, there would be tensions and strong differences between 
women's groups who saw themselves as 'autonomous' or independent, and 
those affiliated to political parties, particularly those of the 
left. There were times at which tensions were so sharp that no common 
ground could be reached, and I think there was one time when we even 
ended up having two separate marches! But the day itself remained 
something that had a firmly activist base, that continued to be 
located inside the women's movement.
Much has changed since then. Some years ago, the state came in as an 
actor on women's day and very soon, different ministries and 
departments were organizing their own versions of conferences and 
discussions for this day. These stretched into melas and fairs and 
seminars, the idea being to take the day from the streets into 
offices. And predictably, it wasn't long before the market stepped in.
Before we quite knew what was happening, International Women's Day 
was being celebrated by makers of cold cream and shampoo and hair 
oil, with huge campaigns being mounted on television and in the 
newspapers. The co-option of women's day was well and truly in gear !
Over time, other actors came in: colleges, research institutes, 
embassies...everyone wanted to do something. So now, we have not only 
the day itself, but several days, sometimes even the whole week, 
preceding it, which is full of events which are structured around 
this day. The marches and demonstrations still take place, but 
something seems to have changed. It's as if too much is happening, 
and at the same time, as if the energy levels of activists have 
dropped so that the marches and demonstrations we once held, don't 
have the same kind of 'zing' any more.
But it's not only that energy levels have gone down. I think the 
change in the shape and form of marking International Women's Day is 
of a piece with the changes inside the women's movement itself. Over 
the years, street level activism has given way to other, different 
forms of protest. Many middle-class activists have moved into 
institutional positions, while others write, research, publish or 
talk as a form of protest and resistance.
Also, and importantly, the issues at stake have become so much more 
complex that it no longer seems to be enough to simply draw attention 
to them through a march or a demonstration. Then, there are other 
things: in the last few years the issues taken up by women's groups 
have related to questions of housing rights for the poor, or the 
tricky issue of sexuality and the rights of sexual minorities, or the 
growing menace of communalism and fundamentalism, all of which 
require strategies which go beyond street level protest.
The important thing however, is that of all the actors who have now 
begun to appropriate this day, the only ones who remain true to its 
origins, while bringing in new and different issues, are women's 
groups. Only they know that this day marked a protest for the rights 
of women workers, and that its focus on the underprivileged, its 
importance for those on the margins, is the most significant thing 
about it. No amount of co-opting can take this history away from the 
women's movement, not only in India but all over the world.

_____

#3.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/opinion/_07THU2.html
The New York Times March 7, 2002 | Op-Ed.

Instability in India

Several days of rioting in the western Indian state of Gujarat have 
left hundreds of Muslims and Hindus dead and stirred anxiety 
throughout the nation and the region. At a time when South Asia is on 
edge because of religious hatred and the war in Afghanistan, the 
violence makes clear that India has work to do to sustain the 
sectarian harmony that Mohandas K. Gandhi, the independence leader, 
championed in Gujarat more than 50 years ago.

The ghastly images from India of neighborhoods torched, trains 
attacked and passengers slaughtered recall the upheavals after 
India's independence and partition from Pakistan in 1947. The Gujarat 
riots, centered in Ahmedabad and the town of Godhra, also echo the 
violence that erupted in the same region in the 1980's. The main 
provocation this time has been the attempt by Hindu fanatics to build 
a temple on the supposed site of the Hindu god Ram's birthplace in 
the northern Indian city of Ayodhya.

The current cycle of killing began in 1992, when a mob of Hindus 
demolished the mosque that stood on that site, which Muslims say was 
built by the Moghul conqueror Babur 400 years ago. The attack on the 
mosque led to Hindu-Muslim bloodletting in Bombay. The current Hindu 
nationalist government of Atal Behari Vajpayee, which has broad 
support among Hindu extremists, has condemned any attempts by Hindus 
to build a temple on the sacred site in Ayodhya. The home minister, 
L. K. Advani, who in the past has supported Hindu revivalism, has 
said the government would not allow freelance extremists to put up a 
temple unless such construction were approved by the courts and 
accepted by the Muslims.

The pledges by Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani have been welcome, but 
they and their government must do more to curb the fanaticism of 
groups that support their government. India's leaders have demanded 
that Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, act more forcefully 
to curb violent groups in his nation. Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani 
need to meet with groups of all religions to head off additional 
eruptions of ethnic violence.

It has lately become fashionable to characterize India as an 
artificial creation, a relic of the British empire that is so 
balkanized by myriad religious, linguistic, caste, ethnic and racial 
groups that only a breakup of the country can bring peace. That is a 
misinformed view. Most of India's one billion citizens reside in 
nearly 600,000 villages across the country - almost all of which are 
divided along the same sectarian lines that divide the country. 
Indians cannot be uprooted and reassembled by ethnic group. They have 
to live together in a nation that respects diversity, democracy and 
secularism in government. The riots of the last week have set back 
that cause.

_____

#4.

The Times of India MARCH 08, 2002

Major Priorities
KANCHA ILAIAH

Religion Cannot Hijack the Polity
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been saying that it would not be bound 
by any court judgment on the question of building the Ram mandir at 
the disputed site in Ayodhya. It has also rejected the insistence of 
the BJP-led Central government that it should abide by the verdict of 
the judiciary. It is no secret that the VHP is part of the BJP and 
RSS and all of them draw sustenance from Hindu spiritual-political 
thought. How can an organisation that operates within India publicly 
say that it does not have to respect the authority of the state? 
Second, how and why can it so easily declare that it will not comply 
with a judicial decision if it goes against its faith?
In the recent past, particularly since the Mandal judgment which drew 
a laxman rekha of 50 per cent for positive discrimination - all court 
judgments are viewed as binding and no organisation can publicly 
undermine the judiciary. If the Dalits and OBCs were to declare that 
they were not bound by the Mandal judgment, such a statement would 
have been treated as contempt of court. We have seen how the court 
has dealt with Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar on the Narmada issue. 
There is no reason why the apex court or high courts should not 
charge those who are calling for a negation of judicial norms with 
contempt of court.
In effect, by these actions, the Hindu religion, in the context of 
the existence of many religions in India, is not only majoritarian 
but has also declared itself to be above the state. There is a 
historical tradition of Brahminic hegemony claiming a 
spiritual-political status that is above the state. The Hindu temple 
as an institution has never subordinated its functioning to the 
authority of the state.
Neither the state nor the judiciary prohibited the practice of 
casteism in temples. Whether in the case of Indira Gandhi, as prime 
minister, being barred from entering the Puri temple or the Krishna 
temple in Guruvayoor, Kerala, openly prohibiting sudras and Dalits 
from entering it, the state has been a mute witness.
Though the Indian Constitution abolished untouchability, within 
temples and among the priestly class, this abhorrent practice has 
continued. Again the courts have never stepped in to ban such 
discriminatory practices suggesting that its perpetrators were 
somehow beyond reproach. In a democratic and secular state, no 
temple, mosque or church should be allowed a privileged status. But, 
unfortunately, the situation is different in India because the Hindu 
religion has always claimed an exclusive position and has dominated 
the socio-spiritual space. As a result, the state and judiciary have 
not really felt too discomfited by the Hindu religion's relative 
autonomy.
It is a similar trend that has gradually undermined the authority of 
the state in Pakistan. In fact, many elements in the Central 
government are encouraging this trend. The co-existence of political 
democracy and a sort of socio-spiritual 'castocracy' seems on the 
face of it a contradiction in terms. But, in fact, Hinduism has 
internalised the systemic contradictions that sustain inequalities. 
If these inequalities are abolished, many proponents of the supremacy 
of Hinduism fear that it could well collapse like a house of cards. 
The inability or unwillingness of the state to resolve such 
contradictions suggests an institutionalised belief that it is in the 
natural order of things for Hinduism to enjoy a privileged and 
superior status.
In Pakistan, it was because of the state's tacit approval of the 
superiority of Islam above all that it gradually came to undermine 
the authority of the various arms of the state.
Today, things have reached such a pass that no one, irrespective of 
whether it is a democratically-elected leader or a military dictator, 
can make religion operate under the overall supervision of the state. 
The basic philosophy of the Indian Constitution, from which the 
judiciary derives its power, is built on secularism. But the nature 
and tone of discourse emanating from various saffron platforms 
suggests that the judiciary is being taken for granted. Such elements 
have been emboldened by the ascent to power of political formations 
purportedly sympathetic to the cause of Hindutva.
Indeed, there is no denying that today, there are people in crucial 
public positions who seem to owe their allegiance more to their 
religion than to the various institutions of a secular and democratic 
state. In this atmosphere, there are increased fears among minority 
religions and suppressed castes. The very state which is supposed to 
ensure equal treatment to all its citizens is being seen as 
succumbing to partisanship.
Similarly, in Pakistan, the state's inaction emboldened, indeed 
empowered, certain religious elements to such an extent that the 
jehadis among them have wreaked havoc both within Pakistan and in 
other parts of the world. In fact, Pakistan has been the focus of 
international opprobrium because of this. If the Pakistani state 
introspects today, it will find that it did nothing to stem the 
propaganda emanating from madrassas which existed parallel to 
state-run schools precisely because they were seen as propagating 
Islamic thought and traditions.
The Indian state and judiciary have never been too bothered by the 
nature of education imparted in Hindu religious schools or in RSS 
training camps. In fact, many of our elected representatives and 
crucial policy-makers are deeply religious people and to them there 
is no contradiction in state complicity in promoting religion. Much 
has also to do with public, mainly middle class, perceptions that all 
religious organisations are necessarily pious and engaged in 'good' 
works. This is why they have flourished and unless we are more 
vigilant there is nothing to prevent us going the Pakistan way. Faith 
must revert to its original place in the personal domain, it must 
never assume greater importance in the public realm than the state 
and judiciary.
A part of this problem began during the nation's formative years when 
spiritualised nationalism became a normative ideology of many 
nationalist leaders. Tilak, Gandhi and Jinnah centred the nationalist 
discourse on religion. Only two top influential leaders, Ambedkar and 
Nehru, tried to oppose the infusion of religion into the heart of 
nationalism. But the brand of politics that both the BJP and RSS 
espouse have given religion such a pre-eminent position in public 
discourse that today it threatens to overwhelm almost all other 
democratic institutions through which the Indian state functions. 
This could damage irreversibly our very secular fabric.

_____

#5.

"The Hindustan Times", New Delhi, March 08, 2002

Boot out Narendra Modi
Pritish Nandy

How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind

-Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind

When the Sabarmati Express was set on fire on February 27, I was 
outraged. Over 50 Ram sewaks were savagely burnt to death. Many 
innocent passengers died. But what angered me most was the way 
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi blamed the Godhra carnage on 
Pakistani terrorists. He had, at least at that point of time, not the 
slightest evidence to back his charges but he persisted with them. To 
point the needle of guilt away from his own total incompetence.

Things, however, became much worse when the communal riots began. 
Instead of trying to stop the rioting, which he could have easily 
done, Modi deliberately and with the cold-blooded precision of a mass 
murderer, allowed them to spread till more than 600 people were 
killed. The reason? He was pandering to his constituency. He wanted 
to show his party and those who had voted him to power that he was 
punishing the Muslims for Godhra.

So he set aside his image as this effete, incompetent chief minister 
and became an avenging angel of hate and retribution. The monster's 
ball he hosted saw innocent men, women and children dragged out of 
their homes and killed brutally.

Modi may have won back his tough guy image in the party but, for the 
rest of us who live in India and swear by its values and tradition, 
he looks like just another despicable criminal. What is worse, he has 
damaged our image before the world. It will take months if not years 
for people to accept the fact that India remains a stable, 
trustworthy, liberal democracy where people do not always kill each 
other on the streets to settle perceived wrongs.

It will take a long time for the wounds to heal, for overseas 
investors to take us seriously, for money to find its way back into 
our industries, our bourses, for Gujarat to limp back to normalcy.

It is no use boasting about being the world's largest democracy if we 
cannot protect our own. After all, the Muslims who were killed in 
Gujarat were not Pakistani saboteurs. They were Indians, like you and 
me. Most of them were poor people trying to eke out their already 
miserable lives. They had nothing to do with Godhra. To target them 
was not just stupid. It was criminal and wicked and Modi, who turned 
a Nelson's eye to the rioting, must be held responsible for it and 
punished.

What is surprising, however, is that Modi, instead of downing his 
head in shame, is openly hectoring the media. He is accusing the 
press and the TV channels of misleading the people. He is insinuating 
that there was a terrorist conspiracy behind the whole incident and 
that the media, instead of showing up that conspiracy, chose to 
exacerbate the violence by running inflammatory visuals showing homes 
being set on fire, people being terrorised.

He is also, like any true-blue bigot, trying to draw a direct 
connection between the Godhra carnage and the communal riots that 
followed. As if the riots can be condoned because the people of 
Gujarat were upset by what had happened on the Sabarmati Express.

This is a typically fascist argument. You cannot punish an entire 
community for the crimes of its radical fringe. Yes, Muslim 
fundamentalism is dangerous and misguided. It must be fought back. No 
one has the slightest doubt about that. But you cannot fight back 
Muslim fundamentalism by murdering innocent people who live in your 
country and swear by your Constitution.

In fact, you will only end up stoking terrorism this way because you 
lend credence to those who are trying to convince the community that 
their only salvation lies in taking up the gun.

As a proud believer in Hindutva, as someone who is convinced that 
India's future lies in rediscovering our heritage of free thought and 
liberal tradition, I find men like Modi an insult to our political 
culture. Instead of defending him, the BJP must boot him out 
immediately if it wants to heal the wounds and restore its own image.

It also shames me to see that the political opposition, which should 
have been far more outspoken, has chosen to downplay the terrible 
events because they too do not want to lose their vote bank in 
Gujarat. It is a conspiracy of silence between those who are in power 
and those who are desperate to grab it. In the process, the guilty 
men of Godhra will go scot-free. So will those who stage-managed the 
riots under Modi's political patronage.

The judicial inquiry must cover both crimes, Godhra as well as the 
riots. Those found guilty must be punished severely, as well as those 
who looked the other way. The compensation offered to families must 
be the same. Modi cannot be allowed to get away with offering the 
families of the riot victims half of what is being offered to the 
families of the Godhra victims. The cost of a life must be the same 
for any Indian citizen, whatever his caste or community may be.

In this case, all those who died were innocent, trapped as they were 
in the vortex of our political degradation.

_____

#6.

Tehelka.com

STRAIGHT TALK
'The Gujarat carnage is a source of collective shame to Indians'
Dr Richard W Lariviere, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the 
University of Texas in Austin, tells Nabina Das
http://www.tehelka.com/channels/currentaffairs/2002/mar/7/ca030702prof1.htm

_____

#7.

Tehelka.com

PSYCHOHISTORY
Journey to a temple of hate
The rootless Hindu's warped search for identity, by
A Srinivas
http://www.tehelka.com/channels/commentary/2002/mar/7/com030702guj.htm

_____

#8.

The Indian Express
EDITORIALS & ANALYSIS
Friday, March 08, 2002

Reporter's Notebook
The moment of truth

Who were these young men pretending to be heroes?

SUKHMANI SINGH

Why don't these people sit at home and do pooja?' That was the 
spontaneous reaction I elicited from irate, nervy passengers waiting 
to board the first Varanasi-bound Marudhar Express after Godhra at 
the Jaipur railway station.

Just a few minutes earlier, I had listened appalled to the stomach 
churning slogans of saffron-clad VHP activists. So the contrast was 
striking - it was reassuring to know that the spirit of the secular 
Indian was still alive and kicking. Particularly amongst the lower 
middle classes.

As 35-year-old cement plant worker Rajinder Singh summarised in his 
simple Hindi,''Ram mandir ke naam par desh ki barbaadi ho rahi hai 
(the country is being ruined by this Ram mandir issue). It is only 
going to weaken the country.''

But perhaps the most unexpected reaction I got was from Sunita Yadav, 
who had her sari pallu covering her head. She is the wife of a 
sweetshop owner in Mathura,''Aadmi khoon ka pyaasa hogaya hai (man is 
killing man). All this is against the Hindu sanskriti (tradition). We 
are supposed to take everyone along with us, not kill them.''

Agitatedly adjusting her pallu, she declared forcefully,''There 
should be both a mandir and a masjid at Ayodhya.'' Her 30-year-old 
brother Ghanshyam chimed in,''I run a restaurant right at the Krishna 
Janambhoomi - the mandir and masjid have a common wall here - that is 
how it should be. People of all communities should live peacefully 
together. Communal disturbances ruin our business.''

I walked up to a lone family of impoverished Muslims, squatting on 
their baggage. Sixty-year-old Salmu, a teastall owner from Lucknow, 
had come to Jaipur to escort his daughter-in-law, the proud mother of 
a second child.

Surprisingly, he was supremely ignorant of the events in the country. 
''Garib tapke ke admi ko apna pet palna hai, hum duniya ke peeche 
nahi bhaag sakte,hum gareebon ko in baaton se kya matlab''(poor 
people like me are too busy eking out a living, we cannot run after 
the rest of the world, we have no interest in anything but survival). 
I asked him about the Ram mandir and he shrugged,''I know nothing 
about this - all I know is that we have to live and die in Bharat.'' 
I was shamed into silence.

Later, I visited the local VHP office where a gaggle of youths who 
courted arrest had returned from the police station. They were 
ecstatic, high on their moment of glory, reminiscent of youngsters 
returning from a college picnic. For effect, they began shouting 
blood-thirsty anti-Muslim slogans the moment I appeared.

As soon as I spoke to them, however, their false bravado crumbled. 
They were like programmed robots, press an unfamiliar button and 
their inner selves emerged - just a crowd of misguided youths, 
obeying instructions mindlessly, without even knowing what they were 
doing or why they were doing it.

'Have you come to guide us'' they asked nervously.''Yes, we have to 
go to Ayodhya.'' But were they prepared to die for the mandir? Away 
from their whistle-blowing leaders, they looked confused and scared.
For us all this was the moment of truth.

_____

#9.

From: Dr.Laxmi.N .Berwa
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 18:31:34 EST
Subject: Fwd: Dr.Berwa and a delegate meet with Indian Ambassador in 
D.C.6 March .

PEACE RALLY IN WASHINGTON D.C.

Yesterday a Peace rally was organized by various individuals
and representatives of various organizations in Washington D.C. on 6March in
the evening with a candle vigil in front of the Indian Embassy.

Prior to this in the afternoon a Delegate of 10 meet with the Honorable
Indian Ambassador Mr.Lalit ManSingh who was kind enough to spare 20 minutes
of his time to listen to the delegates concerns on the recent Hindu-Muslim
carnage.

I was previliged to be the part of Delegate as a Dalit representative.

This delegate was spear headed by a young Hindu faculty member at Georgetown
University in Washington .D.C. Ms Ashwani Tambe, along with some some other
young hindu professionals.There were two Muslim representatives also present
including the representative Mr.Kalim Kawaja of Indian Muslims Association.

Ambassador Mansingh was made our our grief and sorrow of the events of the
Communal violence,he qouted Prime Minster Mr.Vajpayee'that it is a blotch on
India".
A memorandom was faxed to the President of India,Prime Minster of India,Home
Minister of India,Justice J.S.Verma,Chair national Human Rights Commision,Sh.
S.S. Bhandari,Governor of Gujrat ,along with to the News Media.

Following were the demands in the agenda---

1.The immediate resignation of Chief Minster Mr.narender Modi, for his
failure to safeguard the interest of all citizens.

2.Prime Minister and President to actively intervene to restoration of peace.

3.Independent judicial investigation in to the role ofpolice,stata govt. and
religious fundamentalist organizations.

4Equal compensation for all victims of violence irrespective of religion.

5Protect the sanctity of all places of worship.

There were close to 100 peace marcher from varios religions,color,caste
and ethnicity, encircling the statue of Mahatma Gandhi right in front of the
Indian Embeassy,with a canle vigil,with play card displaying sign
stating."Fanaticism kills people",,Religion and politcs don't
mix"'\'Communalism is dangerous for India."

A reporter from Voice of America,Urdu Service interviewed me on the current
state of affairs in India and why I was here in this peace rally.I din't
mince words in my opinion.

Finally the gethering dispersed ina peaceful manner without any disorderly
conduct.

This was an eye witness account by me.

Dr.Laxmi.N .Berwa,M.D.,F.A.C.P.
1215,Kensington
Mclean
Virginia ,U.S.A 22101-2921

_____

#10.

BBC News
Thursday, 7 March, 2002, 19:40 GMT
Thousands homeless in Gujarat

Authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat say nearly 56,000 
people are now living in camps after fleeing savage rioting between 
Hindus and Muslims.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1860000/1860642.stm

_____

#11.

The Japan Times on Line
EDITORIAL
Friday, March 8, 2002
India in flames
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20020308a1.htm

_____

#14.

From: Pandit N K sharma
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 12:40 AM
Subject: Shankaracharya: Gujarat events state terrorism, ban VHP

1 March 2002 
Press Release

Statement:
By His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Shri Aadhog Shajananda 
Teerthji Maharaj
Shri Govardhan Math, Jagannath Dham, Puri, Orissa

Gujarat events state terrorism, ban VHP: Shankaracharya

Whatever happened in Godhara (Gujarat) on Wednesday is highly 
condemnable and barbaric. Subsequent mob attacks all over Gujarat 
(during bandh call of VHP) on minorities, their properties with 
direct assistance of VHP office bearers and police on Thursday is 
still more saddening as it could be termed as state terrorism.

Government of Gujarat should have captured the culprits of Wednesday 
act and it was duty-bound to save the innocent people and uphold the 
rule of law but it miserably failed to do so, purely as a result of 
political thinking.

Provocative actions of VHP in the pious name of tolerance-oriented 
Hindu religion is the root cause of it. Should VHP be allowed to 
denigrate the world renowned Vedic philosophy and Hindu culture just 
because their fraternal political organ, BJP, has started loosing 
power in various states? BJP would never be forgiven by the majority 
community for allowing VHP to misuse religion in the name of 'Maryado 
Purushattam Shri Ram' purely for political purposes.

Gujarat is burning in communal riots and if VHP and similar 
organizations are not checked immediately the country would start 
burning and unfortunately there is no such good political leader 
whose advice would be listened then. As such for the sake of unity 
and communal harmony and in order to save Hindu religion from further 
denigration VHP should be banned, like SIMI, and all their so-called 
leaders and activists should be arrested forthwith under National 
Security Act.

International community would suspect the intentions of Government of 
India and its resolve to fight against terrorism if BJP continues 
supporting covertly the riot mongering VHP.

Issued on behalf of His Holiness
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Shri Aadhog Shajananda Teerthji Maharaj

Sd.
Pandit NK Sharma
President, Universal Association for Spiritual Awareness
A-136 Meera Bagh, New Delhi 110087
Tel. (011) 526 7595, 525 3449; fax: (011) 528 2846
Email: pnksharma@y...

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

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996. To
subscribe send a blank
message to: <act-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> / To unsubscribe send a blank
message to: <act-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
________________________________________
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

--