[sacw] SACW | 7 Dec. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:23:32 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire | 7 December 2002=A0

"Zalim ko jo na toke who shamil hai zulm main
Qatil ko jo na roke who qatil ke sath hai "
-Sahir Ludhyanvi

__________________________

#1. India: The mascot of the far right, Modi (Alex Perry)
#2. India: Counter-offensive begins, on a melodious note (Venkitesh=20
Ramakrishnan)
#3. India: The Modi takeover bid (Praful Bidwai)
#4. India: Punjab Moving Rightward: competitive communalism at work=20
(Praveen Swami)
#5. India: RSS's Tryst with Politics: From Hedgewar to Sudarshan by=20
Pralay Kanungo (reviewed by Biswamoy Pati)
#6. India: Seminar on Minority Rights (Bombay, 14-15 Dec. 2002)
#7. India - Gujarat: Join us urgently to defeat Modi (message from=20
Shabnam Hashmi)
#8. India: Champa- The Amiya & B.G.Rao Foundation Seminar : The=20
Living, The Dead and The Disappeared: State in Action (New Delhi, 9=20
Dec, 2002)
#9. India: Gujarat Elections - Lip service, but no tickets for Muslims
#10. USA: Fight The Right! - A Training/Organizing workshop by and=20
for Women of Color
April 11-13, 2003, University of Michigan
#11. India/ USA: On the Tenth Anniversary of Ayodhya: at least one=20
small victory (Vijay Prashad)
#12. India: Nehru's Faith (Sunil Khilnani)

__________________________

#1.

Time
December 9, 2002/ Vol. 160 No. 22
Asia
Modi's Law
For India, Narendra Modi's election bid is a referendum on the politics of =
hate
BY ALEX PERRY/GODHRA
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021209-395414,00.=
html

______

#2.

The Telegraph
December 07, 2002

Counter-offensive begins, on a melodious note

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

PHOTO: Subha Mudgal
Ahmedabad, Dec. 6: =B3Ab to mazhab ko aisa chalaya jaye, insaan ko=20
insaan banaaya jaye=8A.=B2 Subha Mudgal=B9s melodious voice carries poet=20
Gopal Neeraj=B9s lines =8B practise religion in such a manner that it=20
makes humans out of humans =8B into the cool night as hundreds of=20
listeners throng the town hall here.

Obviously, the majority of people at the town hall have come to=20
listen to Mudgal.

However, this is not an ordinary concert, which highlights the=20
singer=B9s talent and the skills of those who accompany her on various=20
instruments. It is as much about politics and political messages as=20
it is about music.

Between Mudgal=B9s renderings, which include poems of Kabir and=20
revolutionary Pakistani poet Habib Javed, all emphasising the=20
irrelevance of ethnic and communal hatred and the importance of=20
communal harmony, there are repeated references to the carnage in=20
Gujarat during February-March and the need to defeat political=20
ideologies that cause such bloodshed.

There is no overt call to vote for one party or the other but the=20
message that comes out of the programme is clear.

It goes against the forces of Hindutva, represented in the Gujarat=20
polls this time by the Narendra Modis and Praveen Togadias.

Mudgal=B9s performance was part of a series of cultural programmes=20
organised under the banner of Aman Biradri (Peace Community),=20
supported by a clutch of non government organisations such as=20
Ahmedabad Community Foundation, Darshan, Insaf, Oxfam, Prashant and=20
Sahmat.

The group carries out activities in spheres as varied as empowerment=20
of women, Dalits and other socially-oppressed groups as also in the=20
field of culture.

Mudgal is not alone in supporting Aman Biradri.

Other Hindustani musicians such as the Gundecha brothers, Amarendra=20
Dhaneshwar, theatre and film personality Farooq Sheikh and many=20
others associated with the National School of Drama are to perform at=20
various places in Gujarat over the next few days to spread its=20
message.

There are many other initiatives from nearly a 100 NGOs during this=20
election in Gujarat. Sahmat is carrying out a statewide leaflet and=20
poster campaign.

It focuses on the =B3darkness that engulfs the state=B2 not merely in its=20
social atmosphere ravaged by communal riots but also in other sectors=20
such as economy, agriculture and power supply.

The leaflets that reach households across the state along with the=20
morning newspaper also do not make a call to vote for any party or=20
candidate.

However, a refrain that runs through these leaflets is: =B3Yeh public=20
hai, yeh sab jaanti hai (The public knows everything).=B2

This NGO campaign has drawn the participation of two former Prime=20
Ministers =8B V.P. Singh and Inder Kumar Gujral.

The two former Janata Dal Prime Ministers, whose party does not have=20
a significant presence in the state, came to attend the inauguration=20
of a cultural organisation, Saanchi Viraasat (Plural Society).

Here again, the political message against =B3Hindutva communalism=B2 and=20
its efforts to create a =B3fascist, monolithic society=B2 was aired loud=20
and clear.

According to social activist Hanif Lakadawala, who is the managing=20
trustee of Sanchetana, one of the organisations involved in promoting=20
Saanchi Viraasat, it is for the first time that NGOs have adopted=20
such a role.

Lakadawala admits that the audience that is influenced by such a=20
campaign is mostly middle class.

But this, the activist added, is significant because this is a group=20
that has, by and large, stayed away from the electoral process,=20
saying politics is not their cup of tea.

=B3Our aim is to motivate this section to take a political position on=20
polling day and there are indications that we might well succeed.=B2

If this observation by the activist turns out to be correct, the NGO=20
initiative is bound to make a telling impact on the electoral=20
fortunes of the BJP, particularly in the party=B9s urban strongholds.

______

#3.

Frontline
December 07 - 20, 2002

COLUMN
The Modi takeover bid

PRAFUL BIDWAI

A neo-fascist form of Hindutva has taken the Bharatiya Janata Party=20
into its iron grip in Gujarat. Unless energetically resisted by the=20
secular forces, this will have horrific consequences for national=20
politics.

IF any doubts remained during the candidate-nomination time in=20
Gujarat about who was really in charge of the Bharatiya Janata=20
Party's political strategy and election campaign in the State, then=20
Chief Minister Narendra Modi put them to rest by refusing a ticket to=20
former Minister of State for Revenue Hiren Pandya. Modi repeatedly=20
rejected strong pleas on Pandya's behalf not just from Keshubhai=20
Patel, but also from his own political mentor and Deputy Prime=20
Minister Lal Krishna Advani. It is noteworthy that Advani sent Arun=20
Jaitley, his loyal supporter and Modi's close friend, to plead=20
Pandya's case after his name was excluded from the first list of BJP=20
candidates.

The fact that Modi did not budge makes it amply clear that he alone=20
determines the central thrust, and the tone and tenor, of the party's=20
campaign, as he did with his nasty Gaurav Yatras. The fact that=20
Advani did not protest against Pandya's exclusion and that no other=20
senior BJP functionary commented on the issue once the deed was done=20
clearly shows that the top party leaders have fallen in line behind=20
Modi. Indeed, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Advani have agreed to campaign=20
for Modi's BJP in Gujarat.

Modi's opposition to Pandya goes beyond personal animosity, or his=20
own insecurity as a leader who never contested an election until last=20
year and who has no specific constituency or geographical base worth=20
the name in Gujarat. Pandya's exclusion was meant to show that Modi=20
brooks no dissidence even from a fellow Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh=20
loyalist, or "interference" in his fief from other leaders, however=20
senior they were.

Ever since April, when Vajpayee succumbed to pressure from the BJP's=20
Hate Brigade of young leaders such as M. Venkaiah Naidu and Arun=20
Jaitley =8B and to his own disgrace, launched a hideous anti-Muslim=20
tirade in Goa while strongly backing Modi =8B the "Chhote Sardar" has=20
been in total, unfettered, comprehensive, control of the BJP in=20
Gujarat. His takeover of the party, through key leaders of the RSS=20
and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is now complete.

More important, Modi may soon make a bid for the national=20
organisation of the BJP and the government, which it leads at the=20
Centre. Should the BJP win the election in Gujarat, Modi will try to=20
dislodge leaders such as Vajpayee whom he considers "effete",=20
"decadent" and "useless" because they have done little to advance the=20
muscular, virulent Hindutva agenda to which Modi is committed.

A BJP victory in Gujarat will enable Modi to emerge as the new mascot=20
of this neo-fascist avatar of Hindutva and frontally challenge those=20
who want Hindutva to be mixed with, or "diluted" by, a nominal=20
commitment to the National Democratic Alliance's so-called National=20
Agenda for Governance, which skirts core Hindu-communal issues such=20
as the Ayodhya temple and Article 370.

Modi's takeover of the State unit of the BJP was not sudden. It has=20
involved forging a very special alliance with the most extreme=20
elements in the RSS and the VHP. The VHP now has branches in more=20
than one-half of Gujarat's 18,600 villages. It more or less controls=20
the party at the grassroots level. The second most important Minister=20
in the Modi Cabinet is a VHP office-bearer, Govardhan Zadaphia, who=20
holds the junior Home portfolio. Without the VHP, the BJP's election=20
campaign would be lifeless.

The VHP received a tremendous boost through the post-Godhra wave of=20
communal violence. It now behaves like a movement, a neo-fascist form=20
of mass mobilisation, much in the way the precursors to the Nazis did=20
in Germany, organising pogroms, spreading hatred against the Jews,=20
stoking intensely militarist and national-supremacist ideas, and=20
building up the cult of authority.

It goes without saying that the likely outcome of the coming election=20
in Gujarat is still unclear, and certainly far from foregone. Opinion=20
surveys show contradictory trends, and political assessments by=20
secular activists on the ground vary a good deal. The BJP is doing=20
its cynical utmost to exploit the Godhra carnage politically =8B=20
through its characteristically lurid iconography centred on Coach S-6=20
of the Sabarmati Express and through the manufactured religious=20
rituals that have become the hallmark of Hindutva.

It is far from clear if even this campaign, on top of Gujarat's=20
already sharp communal polarisation, will help the BJP overcome the=20
combined disadvantages of incumbency, malgovernance, economic=20
downslide and the disgracing of the party in the eyes of the=20
liberal-secular public thanks to the pogrom it carried out with state=20
support and connivance.

Under the BJP's rule, Gujarat's economic growth has slowed down from=20
a high average of 14 per cent in the mid-1990s and 6 to 7 per cent in=20
the late 1990s to only 1.1 per cent this year. The State's fiscal=20
deficit has more than tripled to 7.5 per cent of GDP and its per=20
capita borrowings have spiralled 15-fold. Its public finances are a=20
mess. Things are bound to get worse in the coming months as=20
investment flows dry up thanks to the foul reputation Gujarat has=20
acquired as a result of the pogrom.

Ordinary people in Gujarat are deeply shocked by the Modi=20
government's systematic undermining and suborning of the machinery of=20
the state, by the lawlessness and constitutional breakdown that=20
attended the butchery of Muslims, and by the practice of cruelty and=20
sadism by prominent BJP-VHP leaders.

Popular revulsion will be a significant factor in electoral choices.=20
The report of the Concerned Citizens' Tribunal, headed by Justice=20
V.R. Krishna Iyer, amply documents the disgusting role played by the=20
Sangh Parivar in organising and conducting the violence. It names=20
names. The witnesses it met have indicted as many as 90 policemen and=20
bureaucrats, 755 politicians and others, including six Ministers.=20
Their names are listed in over 14 pages in the report.

There are other, more conventional, factors too at work in the=20
election, including caste. The patidar Patels have deeply ambivalent,=20
and in some cases hostile, feelings about the BJP, unlike in 1998,=20
when they solidly backed the party, then led by their own Keshubhai=20
Patel. Today, Keshubhai is a bitter man, unreconciled to Modi's=20
takeover and wholesale transformation of the party. He has maintained=20
a distance from the Modi campaign.

The Patels form about one-fourth of Gujarat's population.=20
Economically and socially, they are very upwardly mobile, indeed=20
dominant. Their influence extends into religious institutions too.=20
The entire Swaminarayan cult =8B which has built the world's reportedly=20
largest Hindu temple, in England, and also owns the opulent=20
Akshardham temple, where terrorists struck in September =8B is very=20
much a Patel phenomenon. There are reports that some of the Advasis=20
and Dalits whom the VHP-BJP had lured into participating in the=20
pogrom in areas such as Ahmedabad, Baroda and Panchmahals, now feel=20
disillusioned and bitter. As the police =8B and poverty =8B catch up with=20
them, they find themselves isolated. If a significant number of these=20
disaffected votes go against the BJP, and most of the votes of=20
Shankarsinh Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party get transferred to the=20
Congress(I), which he now leads, the BJP will lose the election after=20
raising the stakes sky high.

AN electoral defeat in Gujarat will be the rudest shock of the BJP's=20
political life after the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.=20
It will accelerate its downturn nationally. It bears recalling that=20
the party has lost every single State, municipal and panchayat=20
election in the past four years (barring, with qualifications, Goa,=20
where too it failed to win a clear majority). This will prove to the=20
Indian public that the party is unfit to rule, that it is utterly=20
bankrupt on policy, organisational qualities and governance, that it=20
does not deserve another chance.

Following a defeat in Gujarat, the BJP's strength in the next Lok=20
Sabha will probably shrink to under 100 seats. However, if it wins in=20
Gujarat =8B not entirely on the Hindutva identity platform, but also=20
because of its relatively large social base and the State's long=20
history of communal and caste polarisation =8B it will declare this as=20
the triumph of its hate-based politics at the core of which lies the=20
original programme of the RSS's most important ideologue, Madhav=20
Sadashiv Golwalkar. The Golwalkar Programme consists in=20
systematically assaulting modern-liberal ideas, weakening and=20
undermining all democratic institutions, and using coercion to=20
disenfranchise politically the religious minorities so as to turn=20
them into second-class citizens without any rights. This is precisely=20
what the sarsanghachalak had outlined in so many words in We or Our=20
Nationhood Defined, in 1938.

Vajpayee and Advani have implemented the first "parliamentary" or=20
"mainstream" part of the Golwalkar Programme over the past four=20
years. Now, through the Gujarat pogrom, Modi has given a live=20
demonstration of how the second component can be put into effect. The=20
NDA government has made a mockery of parliamentary conventions. It=20
has communalised education and messed with the judiciary. And Modi=20
has achieved what no other Hindutva leader did: send four lakh voters=20
scurrying out of his State =8B and perhaps effectively silenced=20
millions of others at the hustings =8B simply because they belong to a=20
religious minority.

The two components of the Golwalkar Programme are complementary; they=20
mutually reinforce each other. Vajpayee and Modi belong to the same=20
political current =8B despite differences in their political style. So=20
it would not be entirely illogical or out of order if Modi were to=20
displace Vajpayee after getting the Gujarat voter's mandate.

The Vajpayee leadership through a series of pusillanimous=20
capitulations has prepared the ground on which Modi's neo-fascist=20
Hindutva could be built. Already dispirited and compromised, it could=20
collapse under Modi's Extreme-Right onslaught, yielding to a new,=20
aggressively communal, adventurist and ultra-sectarian dispensation =8B=20
a kind of Hindu Taliban, which will push India back towards the=20
Middle Ages. This will be a social and political nightmare for a=20
billion people.

However, India stands at a fateful crossroads, when the exact=20
opposite could also happen. The BJP could well lose in Gujarat. If=20
that happens, its government at the Centre is unlikely to last long.=20
In fact, it could collapse like a house of cards. In that event, a=20
mid-term election is likely to throw up a secular government and help=20
the nation return to long-neglected social and economic agendas and=20
to bread-and-butter issues. The public must devoutly hope for the=20
second outcome =8B in the interests of secularism, democracy, political=20
decency and social sanity.

But India's secular political leaders must do more. They should all=20
go to Gujarat with a collective jana yatra and campaign against the=20
BJP, exposing its vile communal character and isolating it=20
politically. The secular intelligentsia too must intervene to=20
mobilise public opinion against the neo-fascist movement unfolding=20
before us. The Gujarat election is crucial, indeed of seminal,=20
importance. The fight must be joined in right earnest.

______

#4.

Frontline
Volume 19 - Issue 25, December 07 - 20, 2002

Punjab: competitive communalism
Moving Rightward
PRAVEEN SWAMI
in Chandigarh
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1925/stories/20021220005603000.htm

______

#5.

Frontline
Volume 19 - Issue 25, December 07 - 20, 2002
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1925/stories/20021220001207600.htm
BOOKS

An agenda unmasked

BISWAMOY PATI

RSS's Tryst with Politics: From Hedgewar to Sudarshan by Pralay=20
Kanungo, New Delhi, Manohar, 2002, pages 314, Rs.625.

THIS book examines the history of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh=20
from its inception till contemporary times. With its policy of=20
exclusion, the RSS has been directly associated with major assaults=20
on the democratic and secular fabric of free India. Its expansion,=20
besides being dramatic, has been clearly based on high levels of=20
planning and organisation, which is rooted in its divisive politics.=20
The expansion of the RSS has been accompanied by the growth of a=20
number of organisations that have developed under its umbrella and=20
have, at least apparently, many faces. Nevertheless, what is normally=20
called the `Sangh Parivar' is actually one family that comes under=20
the umbrella of the RSS. Consequently, by choosing to study the RSS=20
the author focusses on the `brain' of all these Sangh Parivar outfits.

As observed by the author in the Introduction, the RSS is one of the=20
most talked-about and controversial organisations in contemporary=20
India. He sets out to examine the self-definition of the RSS, which=20
has been repeated time and again =8B that it is a cultural and not a=20
political organisation. Discussing some of the controversies, the=20
author mentions the various references to the RSS as a revivalist,=20
fundamentalist, communal and fascist entity. Similarly, he touches=20
upon areas such as Hindu nationalism and the motives and methods of=20
the RSS. Besides offering an overview, the author discusses the way=20
scholarship has negotiated with the RSS. From a `hidden' organisation=20
to an organisation with a `hidden' agenda, the RSS today stands=20
unmasked as never before.

The next chapter explores the origin and evolution of the RSS over=20
the period between 1925 and 1973. The author reminds us of the=20
Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, which brought in "religion more=20
pervasively and passionately into Indian politics". Kanungo argues=20
that the reforms polarised competitive communal mobilisations such as=20
the Shuddhi and Sangathan movements among Hindus, and the Tabligh and=20
Tanzim movements among Muslims. The author discusses the politics of=20
the Arya Samaj and the Hindu Mahasabha (as well as Muslim bodies that=20
preached anti-Hindu hatred among Muslims) in order to highlight the=20
environment of hatred that formed the basis of the founding of the=20
RSS in 1925. Although Punjab was a fertile ground since Hindus were=20
in a minority there, areas areas such as C.P. and Berar =8B which had a=20
predominance of Maharastrian Brahmins =8B were particularly receptive.=20
Thus, its close association with Brahmins contradicted its political=20
agenda of homogenising Hindus.

It is against this background that the author situates both Hedgewar=20
and Golwalkar. Hedgewar, who founded the RSS, was a creature of the=20
complexities of the C.P./Berar region. His association with the=20
Congress as a Tilakite and through the Non-Cooperation Movement as=20
well as the Hindu-Muslim riots that followed were major factors that=20
shaped his political orientation. Significantly, from the beginning=20
Hedgewar was more interested in Hindu mobilisation, with the idea of=20
projecting the `Muslim' as the main enemy, rather than opposing=20
colonialism. This is understandable given the influence of V.D.=20
Savarakar and B.S. Moonje and the idea of Hindu Rashtra that the=20
organisation hoped to establish. This also explains the initial=20
reluctance of the RSS to participate in the Salt Satyagraha.

Kanungo depicts the initial years of the RSS =8B its idea of catching=20
young boys, establishing shakhas and `militarising' Hindus. The=20
influence of the Maharastrian legacy was visible in the way Shivaji=20
was incorporated into its mythology and in its mode of recruiting=20
Brahmin boys. Between 1937 and 1940, even as Hindu-Muslim relations=20
in northern India, including Kashmir, was deteriorating, the RSS=20
expanded `feverishly'. It also expanded into the southern tracts of=20
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and into Orissa and Assam in the east.

This organisational network was backed up by Golwalkar =8B Hedgewar's=20
successor =8B who was to emerge as its major ideologue with his work We=20
or Our Nationhood Defined (1939). He had been nominated to succeed=20
Hedgewar before the latter's death, thereby throttling the democratic=20
possibility of holding an election for the top leadership position.=20
During his tenure, the concept of Hindu Rashtra stabilised. In=20
practice, this implied staying away from the Quit India Movement,=20
with the idea of avoiding any open conflict with the colonial=20
government and complying with the government order prohibiting=20
military drills and the wearing of military uniform. Golwalkar had=20
his eyes on the future =8B remain prepared to handle the communal=20
conflicts after the War. As felt by the author, this phase saw the=20
`quiet expansion' of the RSS into its civil and military wings.

The strategy paid off, with the Partition and the communal holocaust=20
that accompanied it. The first ban against the RSS was imposed after=20
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. Interestingly, among the=20
mediators who worked to lift the ban included G.D. Birla =8B a fact=20
that symbolises the links between the RSS and a section of the=20
capitalist class in free India. Independence also saw a shift in the=20
RSS strategy =8B the formation of a political front in the shape of the=20
Bharatiya Jan Sangh =8B ending its so-called confinement to the field=20
of culture. Besides, there was the emergence of a mass front, the=20
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, to organise students; it also set=20
up in 1955 the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) to organise workers.

Ironically, an organisation with a rather dismal anti-colonial track=20
record swung into action during the anti-Portuguese liberation=20
struggle of Goa (1954). This earned it a degree of acceptance. A very=20
typical feature was the respectability that the Jawaharlal Nehru=20
government provided it during the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962 by=20
allowing it to participate as a separate contingent in the Republic=20
Day parade in 1963. Similarly, its anti-Muslim tenor got a boost=20
during the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971. There seems to be a=20
lesson here - jingoism precipitated by external conflicts provided=20
the RSS opportunities to legitimise itself in the eyes of the=20
Congress under both Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Along with these,=20
traditional slogans such as cow protection and the activities in the=20
shakhas kept the RSS active among its following.

In three succeeding chapters, Kanungo delineates vital aspects=20
related to the RSS. These include organisation and training; creation=20
of an ideology that is associated with the Hindu Rashtra; and, a=20
connected aspect related to homogenising Hindus. Talking about=20
organisation, the author mentions the ambivalence in the 1949=20
constitution of the RSS, which leaves out vital features, and the way=20
important changes made over the years have not been incorporated into=20
the written constitution. In this situation the author feels that any=20
study of the RSS organisation has to go beyond the written text. And,=20
while attempting this, the author has collected some valuable=20
information based on interviews in Orissa.

While going through the details, one was particularly struck by the=20
importance given to children between seven and 16 years of age in the=20
basic unit of the organisation =8B the shakhas. After all, the venom of=20
hatred has to be injected from the word `go'. One can well imagine=20
the way this can prevent questioning and check all possibilities of=20
intellectual development. The details outlined by the author prove=20
the importance of the psychological =8B associated with hating the=20
`Muslim' =8B to be far greater than the physical aspect.

The fourth chapter examines the idea of Hindu Rashtra. Concentrating=20
on the stated positions of Golwalkar, Deendayal Upadhyaya and other=20
RSS ideologues, the author unravels the ideological content of the=20
organisation. As mentioned, the word Hindu does not exist in the=20
Vedas, the Puranas or the Bhagvad Gita. After all, the term emerged=20
later on as a geographical reference to people who lived beyond the=20
Indus (Sindhu) river. The colonial period saw the beginnings of the=20
process that consolidated the term Hindu, with the RSS reworking it=20
to suit its politics of Hindu Rashtra. What is indeed significant is=20
the way this implied a periodisation that draws almost entirely from=20
a colonial presentation of Indian history, which was divided into the=20
`Hindu' and `Muslim' periods, with the latter being equated with a=20
period of decline. Consequently, besides remaining largely outside=20
the anti-colonial struggle, the RSS draws heavily from colonial=20
ideological positions. Alongside, myths were incorporated in a=20
project that created an uninterrupted `Hindu history', which lost its=20
glory in the `Muslim' period. This `past' had to be re-created and=20
this seems to be at least one of the reasons why the RSS is so=20
obsessed with the past.

As one reads along, one gets the picture of a Hindu Rashtra that is=20
quite distinctly rooted in a north Indian, upper-caste order and=20
heavily male-centred. Muslims are the clear enemies, but Christians,=20
Dalits and Adivasis certainly did not belong to the Hindu Rashtra,=20
according to its original proponents. Some of these features have no=20
doubt changed over the past two decades as it was increasingly felt=20
that only an increase in the level of homogenisation can serve to=20
make its tryst with power successful.

It is this effort at homogenising effort that Kanungo examines in the=20
fifth chapter. Here the author outlines the RSS agenda of achieving a=20
task that is ridden with contradictions. After all, a body founded on=20
exclusiveness has had to alter its positions considerably to achieve=20
this task. Consequently, what has been attempted over the years is to=20
locate everyone =8B from Dalits and Adivasis to women - as Hindus. The=20
reform initiatives associated with education and welfare schemes, the=20
idea of gender equality and re-conversion drives vis-=E0-vis Adivasis=20
have been reworked to bring in everyone into the `undivided' Hindu=20
family, as it were. This drive ignores the real problems affecting=20
these diverse sections. Moreover, there is a built-in belief that=20
sees as Hindus all Adivasis who have been converted to Christianity.=20
What is hence attempted is the re-conversion of these people, who=20
need to be brought back into the `fold'. Thus, what is being tried is=20
the conversion of Adivasis into `Hinduism' =8B a feature that is yet to=20
receive serious scholarly attention.

The last two chapters explore the shifting paradigms related to the=20
quest for power in the 1980s and 1990s. They examine the=20
transformation centred around the Ayodhya dispute, which was=20
accompanied by unprecedented homogenisation and mobilisation, with=20
Rama being virtually `made' a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party=20
and with an expansion of the `Parivar'. Noting the consolidation of=20
this drive, the author also mentions some of the inner contradictions=20
and tensions within the RSS; the problems posed by being in power.=20
Moreover, nothing can hide the fact that the BJP's economic policies=20
harmonise beautifully with that of the Congress(I).

This book is a valuable addition to existing literature on the=20
subject and would be of interest to the specialist as well as the=20
ordinary reader. Besides the use of a host of archival material,=20
Kanungo's method of collecting information on the basis of interviews=20
provide interesting clues to understanding the RSS. It helps one to=20
grasp how this body and its following consider themselves to be=20
`Hindus' first and then Indians; why they cannot survive and expand=20
without riots and hatred for the `Other'; and the serious danger they=20
pose to Hinduism. Similarly, it enables one to grasp that RSS'=20
obsession with the past is in some ways a reflection of its inability=20
to cope with the present. Above all, it explains the brutal murder of=20
people like Gandhi and Graham Staines and the genocide in its Gujarat=20
`laboratory'.

______

#6.

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
&
Minority Rights Group (UK)

Are jointly organising
National Seminar on Minority Rights

On 14 - 15 December, 2002
At Methodist Centre, Opp. YMCA, Behind Maratha Mandir,
Mumbai Central, Mumbai.

Inaugural function: 14-December, 2002 at 10 a.m.

At the hands of
Prof. Bhalchandra Mungekar
Vice-chancellor, Mumbai University

Presided by
Justice Suresh
(Retd. High Court Judge)

Your are cordially invited to grace the occasion and also
to participate in the seminar

Prof. Ram Puniyani Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
Hon. Secretary Chairman

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,
9B, Himalaya Apts., 1st Floor, 6th Road,
Santacruz (E), Mumbai:- 400 055.
Ph. 26149668/26630085,
E-mail : <mailto:csss@v...>csss@v...

_____

#7.

From: "shabnam hashmi"
Subject: JOIN US URGENTLY TO DEFEAT MODI.
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 19:39:42 +0000

Dear Friends,
Some of you might have seen my earlier e-mail about the campaign in=20
Gujarat, which five of us ( close friends) had decided to carry out.=20
We have very successfully produced and distributed more than 50 lakh=20
leaflets all over Gujarat over the last 15 days. We also managed to=20
get 60 hoardings up and television spot for 30 seconds on three=20
different TV channels, all supported by friends from Gujarat , Delhi=20
and Mumbai. The leaflets have been a great success. The last four=20
leaflets would be going out between tonight and tomorrow night. It=20
has been a very tiring, organisationally a major operation, covering=20
25 districts everyday but it has been very satisfying too. The demand=20
for the leaflets has been increasing with every single day but there=20
is unfortunately no way that we can match the demands due to many=20
constrains, including exhaustion also.

We have decided to wind up this work and hand over the rest of the=20
distribution to a volunteer and move to Mani Nagar for three and=20
half days. We donot know if we can or the campaign can defeat Modi=20
but nothing is impossible. BJP is definitely not returning in Gujarat=20
. It would be great if the man responsible for the carnage also does=20
not return back.

WE would be producing urgently some material for Mani Nagar.

Please join us.
1. Volunteers to do door to door campaign and distribute material.
2. Street theatre groups- Shamsul can you come???
3. If you can produce visual material- we don't have the time to=20
actually get things printed- but if you can produce 500 -1000 hard=20
hitting posters/ maybe just photocopies. make them, bring them , send=20
them.

Please remember these are all individual efforts and we have to run=20
every single day to find someone or the other to pick up the bill for=20
a leaflet or a poster- we cannot provide to look after you but tea in=20
plenty would be made available and smoking is allowed every where at=20
all times.

JOIN US URGENTLY TO DEFEAT MODI.

Shabnam
9810633765
9824377162

_____

#8.

Champa- The Amiya & B.G.Rao Foundation

SEMINAR : THE LIVING, THE DEAD AND THE DISAPPEARED: STATE IN ACTION

Today media interest is focussed on high profile
'encounters' outside the Parliament, in Akshardham,
and in Ansal Plaza. A more long-standing and serious
dimension of encounters has gone more or less
un-noticed, by the press and by civil
society disappearances in Panjab, in Jammu and Kashmir
and in the North-East. The unchallenged nature of
these disappearances has resulted in a situation where
instead of upholding the rule of law and the rights of
citizens the state has gone to the extent of from time
to time suggesting that complete immunity be given to
police and military personnel.
The annual meeting of the Champa Foundation will focus
this year on 'disappearances' to highlight the serious
and ongoing violations of human rights of citizens in
India. You are cordially invited to this meeting.

Topic: The Living, the Dead and the 'Disappeared':
State in Action

Venue: Indian Social Institute,10, Lodhi Road,New
Delhi
Date: December 9, 2002
Time: 4 p.m.

SPEAKERS :
(1) Ram Narayan Kumar: Disappearances in Punjab
(2) Parveena Ahangar : The struggle for Accountability
& Shaheena : and the Association of Parents of Disappeared
=A0persons
(3) P.U.D.R. :The Missing in Riots: Legal Implications
(4) A Film by Gopal Menon on 'DISAPPEARANCES'
We hope you will make it convenient to attend.

N.D.Pancholi, Rati Bartholomew, Father T.K.John & Uma Chakravarti
For:
CHAMPA =F1The Amiya & BG.Rao Foundation, New Delhi
(Board of Advisers & Directors: Kuldip Nayar, N.D.Pancholi,Tarlok=20
Singh,Uma Chakravarti,Father T.K.John, Dalip Swamy & Rati Bartholomew)

______

#9.

The Times of India
DECEMBER 6, 2002
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=3D=
30503270=20

Lip service, but no tickets for Muslims
MAHESH DAGA

______

#10.

INCITE!
WOMEN OF COLOR AGAINST VIOLENCE
Presents
FIGHT THE RIGHT!
A Training/Organizing Session by and for women of color
April 11-13, 2003
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan [USA]

Right-wing organizations and individuals have developed a multitude=20
of strategies to oppress women of color. However, most of the groups=20
that monitor the Right are not led by women of color. As a result,=20
much of the research and organizing against the Right does not always=20
have sufficient race/gender perspective that is necessary to organize=20
around the interests of women of color.

This training/organizing session will provide women of color the=20
opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge base so that they can=20
monitor the Right as it affects their communities. This session will=20
also provide an opportunity for women of color to develop national=20
campaigns to both monitor and organize against the Right.

In addition, we will have special representatives from India to help=20
develop a campaign to defund the Hindu Right in the U.S. Other areas=20
of focus include: white supremacist groups, anti-immigration=20
organizing, anti-American Indian/treaty rights movement, and the=20
Christian Right.

This workshop will be the beginning of Incite=B9s national campaign to=20
stop the Right.

This workshop is limited to 25 participants. No prior experience or=20
skills are required.

Trainers:
Loretta Ross: National Center for Human Rights Education (Atlanta).=20
Expertise: White supremacist organizing
Manisha Gupte: Masum (India)
Sarada Tangirala: Data Center (San Francisco)
Rajani Bhatia: Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment.=20
Expertise: Hindu Right funding in the U.S.
Leah Henry: (Nez Perce) Puget Sound Monitoring Project (Seattle).=20
Expertise: Anti-American Indian organizing
Eunice Cho: National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (San=20
Francisco). Expertise: Anti-immigrant organizing
Andrea Smith: Incite! (Michigan). Expertise: The Christian Right

Schedule and Logistics
Friday: 7-10pm
Public Forum: Women of Color Organizing Against the Right

Saturday: 10-6
Skills Building session
Overview of the strategies of the Right
How to monitor the Right
Research techniques/resources

Sunday: 10-4
Organizing session
We will begin developing research agendas and organizing strategies=20
against the Right with particular focus on:

White supremacist groups
Anti-immigration groups
The Christian Right
Hindu Right funding in the U.S.
Anti-American Indian/treaty rights organizing

Resource books, Lodging, and Ground transportation from Detroit=20
airport will be provided. There is no fee to participate in this=20
training/organizing session.

Limited airfare scholarships may be available on a reimbursement basis.

Participants much attend the entire workshop. Applicants who can=20
commit to ongoing work with Incite=B9s Fight the Right campaigns will=20
be prioritized.
Application Process:

Please fill out the form and send it to the address below.=20
Applications are due January 31. You will be notified about the=20
status of your application no later than February 15. Registration=20
limited to 25.

Name:
Organization:
Address:
Email:
Phone:
Race/ethnicity:
Special needs (meals/interpretation/ accessibility, etc):
Prior research and/or organizing experience against the Right, if any:
Areas of activism (past and present):
What commitment can you make to doing ongoing work with Incite for=20
the Fight the Right campaign?

Which areas of the Right are you most interested in (please circle):
Christian Right
Anti-immigration Right
Anti-American Indian/treaty rights
White supremacist organizing
Hindu Right funding in the U.S.

Travel scholarships:
Partial airfare scholarships may be available to those who can make=20
an ongoing commitment to working with Incite to fight the Right. If=20
scholarship is needed, please indicate your need below:

Please send applications to:
Incite! Women of Color Against Violence/
c/o Andrea Smith, Program in American Culture, 3700 Haven Hall,=20
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 48109. 734-231-1845 or email:=20
<tsalagi@u...>.

______

#11.

Z Net
December 06, 2002
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2002-12/06prashad.cfm

On the Tenth Anniversary of Ayodhya: at least one small victory.

By Vijay Prashad

Ten years ago, on 6 December 1992, a fascist spectacle enveloped=20
northern India and the Indian Diaspora. In the small town of Ayodhya,=20
a well-organized band of Hindutva activists demolished the 16th=20
Century mosque erected by Mir Baqi. News came soon after about the=20
blood that flowed from the outskirts of Delhi to the center of=20
Bombay. The contempt for law and order on the part of the forces of=20
Hindutva matched the disregard for the Indian Constitution exercised=20
by Indira Gandhi and the Congress Party in the mid-1970s - neither=20
cared for the rules or for peace, only interested in the exercise of=20
their own power.

The Hindutva bands attacked the mosque because they believed that it=20
lay on the site of the birthplace of Ram, the Ramjanambhoomi. When=20
the filmmaker Anand Patwardhan asked some cadre of Hindutva how they=20
knew if this was the very site, they answered that it had to be so.=20
He asked them when Ram had been born or in what century, but they had=20
no answer. Empirical details like that tend to muddy up the=20
certainties, and besides, the excitement of being correct far=20
outweighed the basic protocols of the historical method.

Ayodhya propelled the Hindutva forces to the center of Indian=20
politics, and even as they remain a minority force, to control of the=20
state. Influential Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) recognized this trend=20
and decided to swim in the tide of history. A group called "Concerned=20
NRIs" took out full-page advertisements in the Indian American and=20
Indian press, proud of the acts of the fascistic band and=20
enthusiastic that this display would energize India toward that=20
ineffable thing called Progress. If not development in general, at=20
least their advertisements and their general cringing servility might=20
earn them a few contracts, a few investment deals when Hindutva=20
begins the "privatization" or the fire-sale of the public sector's=20
assets.

One of the most startling rumors that circulated at this time was=20
that money from the US traveled to India to conduct these barbaric=20
acts. In 1993, the journalist Praful Bidwai wrote in The Nation, that=20
the core group "raised huge sums of money from its supporters in=20
North America and Britain." In Patwardhan's movie there is a shot of=20
bricks for the construction of the temple: each brick had embossed on=20
it the name of a country outside India from which funds that come.=20
But we had no smoking gun at the time.

Early in 2002, I wrote a piece on ZNET on "Suburban Whites and the=20
Pogroms in Gujarat" that fingered the India Development and Relief=20
Fund (IDRF) for its fundraising in the US toward hate in India. The=20
piece also ran in the Indian website, Outlook, and received the=20
fulmination of the Hindutva crowd. After over fifty pages of=20
responses, the editor of Outlook condemned the "rather venomous=20
responses" and that the "feedback had degenerated to personal=20
acrimonious exchanges."

A few of the Hindutva activists threatened to call the FBI and the=20
INS, and at least a few of them called my Dean (who, to his credit,=20
worried more about my safety than anything else). One respondent=20
wrote, "Mr. Prashad does not provide any evidence for [IDRF funds for=20
murder and mayhem], and rather slanders respectable individuals,=20
organizations and publications."

Now the evidence is incontrovertible. It comes from the Campaign to=20
Stop Funding Hate (www.stopfundinghate.org) and its report The=20
Foreign Exchange of Hate.

Gujarat, site of the recent barbarities, provides the most grisly=20
examples. IDRF funds the extreme right wing Vanvasi Kalyan Kendras=20
(VKK), putatively set up to educate tribals in the state. The report=20
shows us that some VKK ashrams funded by the IDRF and some of the=20
VKK's main activists are guilty of acts of genocide in both the 1999=20
anti-Christian violence in the Dangs district and the 2002=20
anti-Muslim carnage across the state. One man, Swami Ashim Anand,=20
took IDRF funds, consolidated Hindutva's Brown Shirts, the Bajrang=20
Dal, across the state, groomed them for the carnage and then=20
disappeared once his role in the 1999 violence became clear. IDRF=20
continued to support his ashram and others like it.

It turns out, further, that not only did ordinary NRIs get duped into=20
funding this innocuous sounding organization, but that so did several=20
major corporations of the New Economy: Cisco, Sun, Oracle and HP.=20
These firms match employee contributions to US-based non-profits and=20
they are also urged by their employees to contribute additional funds=20
to especially good charities. The large number of Indians in these=20
firms makes it less of a surprise that a charity that works on India=20
is one of the highest earners of New Economy largess.

This is not to say that all the Indians who work at these firms are=20
semi-fascists, but that the organization has been able to convince=20
the workers and the firms that it is the only bona fide group that=20
does good work in the Indian countryside. In 1999, IDRF received=20
$140,000 from Cisco, and entered the top five charities for the=20
company. Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders got only $2500.

I recommend that all of you go to the Campaign's website, sign the=20
petition against such funds and help put pressure on these firms of=20
the New Economy.

There's no substitute for a victory, and there seems to be little to=20
give thanks for in these times of planetary cruelty.

______

#12.

Economic and Political Weekly (Bombay)
November 30, 2002
Special Article

Nehru's Faith

When religion is being held up as a unique source of faith, we need=20
to remind ourselves that there are other firm foundations upon which=20
we can build moral and ethical projects, in both private and public=20
life. If secularism, as we have recently been told, has multiple=20
meanings, so too does faith. In our own recent history, there is=20
perhaps no better practical instance of the effort to find a=20
non-religious bedrock for morality than that of Nehru himself. Today,=20
as we survey the shattered nationalisms of the Balkans, as we feel=20
collapsing about us the ruins of Arab nationalism, as we see the=20
precipice on which nations like Indonesia balance, it is more=20
important than ever to see the force of what Nehru understood. It is=20
exactly religion's persistence, its fulsome presence as we stumble=20
into the new century that, far from undermining or disproving the=20
force of Nehru's views on the subject, exactly underline their=20
relevance and resonance for us today. On this particular point, he=20
just was right.

Sunil Khilnani

[ Those interested in recieving full text of this article {46k}=20
should send a request to <aiindex@m...> ]

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