[sacw] SACW | 30 Nov. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | 30 November 2002

CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY -- GUJARAT 2002: A report on the=20
investigations, findings and recommendations of the 8-member=20
Concerned Citizens' Tribunal, headed by Justice VR Krishna Iyer,=20
Justice PB Sawant and Justice Hosbet Suresh.=A0=A0
Is posted on: www.sabrang.com
the above report is also available at: www.outlookindia.org

o o o

'THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE OF HATE: IDRF AND THE AMERICAN FUNDING OF HINDUTVA'.
by Sabrang Communications (India) and South Asia Citizens Web (France)
20 November 2002
A detailed investigative report on the use of American corporate=20
funds by the US based India Development and Relief Fund to promote=20
the projects of Hindu supremacist groups in India.

The online report is available at:
Sabrang Communications (India) www.sabrang.com
South Asia Citizens Web (France) www.mnet.fr/aiindex/

The full report is also being hosted by a growing number of web sites=20
worldwide.
The current list is:
Isis Creations (Australia): www.isis.aust.com/sacw/
Insaf (Canada): www.insaf.net
Outlook (India): www.outlookindia.com
India Committee of the the Netherlands: www.indianet.nl
(UK): azadee.users.btopenworld.com/
Z Mag South Asia (USA): www.zmag.org/southasia/southasia1.htm
Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia (USA):=20
www.alliancesouthasia.org
Proxsa (USA) www.proxsa.org/newsflash/
SikhSpectrum.com monthly (USA) www.sikhspectrum.com/112002/Report/hdv.htm
Stop Funding Hate (USA) : www.stopfundinghate.org/resources/FEH.htm
Dissident Voice (USA): www.dissidentvoice.org
Coalition Against Communalism (USA):=20
www.ektaonline.org/cac/resources/reports/sacw/index.html

__________________________

#1. India: When Hitler becomes a hero for our brightest students,=20
it=B9s time to worry=8Band introspect
Nation of moral monsters (PRAFUL BIDWAI)
#2. India: Statement from INSAANIYAT on Economic Impact of Gujarat Carnage
#3. India: Report from INSAF National Political Convention on Threats=20
of Global Fascism & National Challenges

__________________________

#1.

The Hindustan Times,
November 29, 2002

When Hitler becomes a hero for our brightest students, it=B9s time to=20
worry=8Band introspect
Nation of moral monsters
By PRAFUL BIDWAI

Is it possible, even conceivable, that some of India=B9s brightest=20
students, the kind who make it to the final-interview stage of=20
admission to the country=B9s top-rated college, admire and hero-worship=20
Adolph Hitler, of all people? The other day, a column in the local=20
supplement of a rather insignificant newspaper reported this, quoting=20
Anil Wilson, principal of Delhi=B9s St Stephen=B9s College.

I found this so hard to believe that I decided to call Dr Wilson, who=20
confirmed the story. What he said is spine-chilling=8Band profoundly=20
distressing.

Hitler=B9s name comes up most often, about 60 percent of the time, when=20
the interviewee is asked who s/he admires the most. Gandhi, Mother=20
Teresa, Lincoln come low down in the list. (For women students in=20
this patriarchal society, their own father is the greatest hero!)=20
Occasionally, the Dalai Lama is mentioned, as is his militant=20
opposite, Netaji Bose. Poor Nehru hardly figures anywhere. Even=20
Dhirubhai Ambani makes a rare appearance in the list=8Bbecause of his=20
rags-to-riches story, not perseverance or entrepreneurship.

How do Hitler=B9s admirers rationalise the Holocaust, and the=20
decade-long barbarisation of all of German society? The answer is=20
=B3nationalism=B2 and =B3nation-building=B2. Hitler gave Germany=20
=B3self-esteem=B2, lifting it from the rubble and humiliation heaped on=20
it by the Versailles treaty. The butchery of six million Jews was so=20
much =B3collateral damage=B2=8Bthat is, vile, murderous racism and the=20
politics of visceral hatred and authoritarianism were not essential,=20
integral, components of Nazism, but only peripheral to it, mere=20
aberrations.

It is impossible not to feel nauseated at this staggering moral=20
perversity and the mix of political illiteracy, contorted logic, and=20
acceptance of cruelty as normal that underlie such claptrap.=20
Regrettably, the phenomenon is not limited to a particular college.=20
Several recent surveys of youth attitudes suggest that moral apathy=20
is widespread in the upper strata of society. Examples are Outlook=20
(Aug 19 & Oct 14) and the CSDS=B9s qualitative opinion polls.

Clearly, we are producing nothing short of Moral Monsters in many of=20
our elite institutions. Our school-toppers have mastered the=20
techniques of writing objectives tests. But they remain untouched by=20
elementary considerations of good and evil, the public weal, or the=20
universal values of citizenship. They are incapable of exercising=20
unambiguous or discriminating moral judgment or of acting in the=20
public interest.

The Moral Monster=B9s ethical make-up contains several ingredients:=20
worship of brute power and fierce ambition, the cult of authority,=20
contempt for the weak and underprivileged, intense xenophobia, and=20
above all, militarist, chauvinist, nationalism. Without this last=20
component, their =B3Hero-Superman=B9s=B2 project would not acquire a larger=
=20
social purpose. And without unbridled ambition, drive for power, and=20
the will to use unlimited force, the Fuehrer wouldn=B9t have achieved=20
his purpose.

This militant nationalism has little to do with uniting the nation=20
through social cohesion or a politics of caring and sharing, leave=20
alone compassion. It is about raw power with which to overawe, stun=20
and shock the world, and subjugate the citizenry. Hitler-worship is=20
also driven by imperialist arrogance based on irrational faith in=20
India=B9s inherent superiority and =B3manifest destiny=B2=8B=B3Mera Bharat=
=20
Mahan=B2, literalised and hyped-up.

It is impossible to comprehend this phenomenon on the basis of the=20
numerous failures of our education system alone, although these=20
evidently play a part. Achievement-obsessed education, which suborns=20
real learning to power and =B3performance=B2, is a sure recipe for=20
detaching grades (the sole measure of =B3merit=B2) from cultivation of=20
the faculties of reasoning, critical thought and moral judgment.

Our textbooks have long promoted a toxic, aggressive form of=20
=B3national pride=B2 and nationalism by glorifying our problematic past,=20
suppressing the reality of hierarchy and inequality, and legitimising=20
injustice.

Saffronisation has only added more venom to these deeply irrational=20
ideas and forged them into an agenda for action=8Bto turn India into a=20
grossmacht (Great Power) through overwhelming military force, through=20
rapid growth without equity (even employment), and through=20
technological quick-fixes that obviate the imperatives of equal=20
opportunity and justice, and which thus bypass the people and their=20
concerns.

Larger social pathologies are at work here. These are radically,=20
rapidly, reshaping the values and attitudes of the top 10 to 15=20
percent of Indian society. Crudely put, these are Social-Darwinism, a=20
growing culture of repressive authoritarianism, and a belligerent=20
form of identity assertion related to caste and ethnicity.

Social-Darwinism holds that only the fittest survive, and ought to=20
survive, in society. There is no place for the weak, the=20
underprivileged, the powerless. This is an immutable law of nature.=20
This idea rationalises the horrendous callousness with which our=20
globalising middle classes are seceding from, and setting their face=20
against, the mass of the people, the poor and unwashed, whom they=20
regard as a burden or fetter on themselves. (A more benign view is=20
that the market forces, coupled with a few cosmetic, bureaucratic=20
=B3human face=B2 schemes, will take care of the =B3laggards=B2).

The culture of authoritarianism and elite fascination with=20
force=8Bwhether to guard our borders, settle disputes, secure the=20
family, or deter rape through capital punishment, no less=8Bis most=20
starkly manifest in the proliferation of repressive ideas and=20
institutions of the sangh parivar, with its 20,000 Vidya Bharati=20
schools, 30,000 RSS shakhas and penetration of labour and student=20
unions.

However, no less important are such varied and disparate processes as=20
the growth of the sati cult, dowry deaths and female foeticide; the=20
spread of superstition and religious sects demanding unquestioning=20
submission to sacred authority; the new cult of =B3family values=B2, a=20
euphemism for repression, especially of women=B9s rights; and the=20
denigration of individual rights (as distinct from group/communal=20
rights). Thus, there are unprecedentedly vicious attacks on human=20
rights defenders who are vilified as the =B3overground face of the=20
[terrorist] underground=B2, and who violate the security of the larger=20
group, the nation.

The aggressive assertion of elite identities did not end a decade ago=20
with the violent anti-Mandal agitation. Upper-caste chauvinism and=20
insecurity has found a new garb or figleaf=8BHindutva, an omnibus,=20
collective, Sanskritising ideology, which articulates bhadralok=20
interests within a viscerally communal, intensely nationalistic,=20
Hindu-supremacist framework, based on the utopia of a =B3unified=B2 Hindu=20
community.

Common to these processes is anti-liberalism, suspicion of modernity,=20
opposition to the Constitutional values of democracy, secularism,=20
pluralism, universal human rights and egalitarianism. The common=20
essence finds its highest expression in what might be called the=20
Golwalkar Programme, outlined by the RSS=B9s most important ideologue.=20
This is the critical, if unconscious, link between the Moral=20
Monsters=B9 social attitudes and politics.

At the Programme=B9s core is an agenda to undermine democratic=20
institutions and politically disenfranchise religious minorities=20
through coercion so as to turn them into second- and third-class=20
citizens without rights. The Programmes derives directly from=20
Golwalkar=B9s fascination with Hitler=B9s notion of the =B3master race=B2,=
=20
equated with Hindu =B3unity=B2.

The Programme can only be implemented through wilful sabotage of the=20
Constitutional order both by chipping away at democratic values and=20
undermining parliamentary norms, and by organising spectacular bouts=20
of communal violence with stormtrooper tactics. We have seen evidence=20
of the first in education, parliamentary practice and judicial=20
processes (the latest being the Venkataswami episode). The second was=20
practised with unique brutality in Gujarat, Independent India=B9s worst=20
pogrom.

The Vajpayee Cabinet is implementing the first part of the Golwalkar=20
Programme, Narendra Modi the second. The Fuehrer=B9s dreams are coming=20
true=8B half-a-century later, in another continent, through another set=20
of Moral Monsters.=8Bend=8B

_____

#2.

[Statement from INSAANIYAT on Economic Impact of Gujarat Carnage
28 November 2002]

Dear Friends,
The following statement is an appeal to the people who will be voting=20
in the upcoming election in Gujarat.You are requested to URGENTLY=20
please forward this to:
1] Groups and individuals working on the election campaign in Gujarat.
2] All possible email networks, particularly those reaching the=20
Gujarati community in India and abroad.
3] People working in the media.
The statement is attached as an RTF file and also appears below as a=20
text message.
Thanking you,
Jairus Banaji, Nandan Maluste, Arvind Krishnaswamy and Rajni Bakshi
[for Insaaniyat]

o o o

Communal violence in Gujarat: How does it affect your economic future?

Hindu or Muslim, poor or rich, upper-caste or lower-caste- as a=20
resident of Gujarat you too are a victim of the communal violence.=20
Some people believe that the violence in Gujarat has been=20
exaggerated. They say that the economic impact is minor and=20
temporary. However, the truth is that Gujarat has been suffering a=20
recession since 1999 and this has been made much worse by the=20
violent and unstable conditions unleashed in the state.
Before you go to vote on December 12th, please consider the following fact=
s.
Question: Did the Godhra violence and the carnage that followed=20
affect the economy of Gujarat and India?
Answer: Yes, the violence has visibly affected the economy of both=20
Gujarat and India.

* In Gujarat, the total losses are estimated at anywhere from Rs=20
3000 crores to Rs 10,000 crores depending on the period taken for=20
evaluation. This includes both losses due to property destroyed and=20
disruption of daily life which prevented people from doing their=20
work as well as delayed distribution of goods produced.

* Lakhs of working days were lost in March and April 2002. On a=20
conservative estimate this caused a loss in income of about Rs.900=20
crores.

* State level sales tax losses are estimated at about Rs. 120 crore,=20
with another Rs. 200 crore lost in Central taxes.

* In the month of April, Gujarat was the only state in the country=20
to witness a decline in cement production. While cement production=20
across India increased by 12% in Gujarat cement production declined=20
by 7%. Cement consumption in Gujarat also declined for two=20
consecutive month by 6.3% since there are no major construction=20
activities due to the widespread violence.
* Due to the disruption of traffic on various highways,=20
transportation services suffered a daily loss of about Rs. 150 crore=20
for three or four days. Over 1000 trucks were damaged during the=20
violence.

* The continuing violence has also affected the financial status of=20
Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service. Against an average daily=20
collection of Rs. 19 lakhs per day, the collection declined to about=20
Rs. 5 lakh per day during the riot period. Due to this severe=20
shortage in cash flow, over 5000 em ployees were not paid their=20
salaries for April 2002.

* There has also been an dramatic fall in foreign institutional=20
flows into India. The flow of such funds plummeted from US$407=20
million in February 2002 to US$80 million in March 2002 and fell=20
further to US$2 million in April 2002. Over May and June $90 million=20
flowed out of the country following the general collapse of=20
international investor confidence!

* Domestic investors too have been badly affected. From March to May=20
=B902, the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange Index lost close to 250 points, a=20
decline of 24.5%. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex lost 12.25% in=20
the same period. Thus, although all major exchanges in India were=20
affected by the violence, the Ahmedabad exchange was impacted twice=20
as severely.

* In February 2002 there was a Resurgent Gujarat meet held in=20
Ahmedabad, supported by the European Union, to promote trade links=20
between Gujarat a nd Europe. By May the Br itish facilitators of=20
this process reported a drop of at lest 60% in signed and sealed=20
contracts to Gujarati companies.

* The Sardar Sarovar bonds have been systematically downgraded by=20
rating agencies like CRISIL. All SSP bonds have been downgraded to=20
BB+ from A-. This is a reflection on the decline in confidence in=20
both the financial capability of the state government and its=20
ability to maintain basic law and order.

* As a consequence of the above, India=B9s =B3Country Risk Premium=B2 has=
=20
escalated, which in turn has had a perceptible impact on equity=20
valuations. The country risk premium is the extent by which=20
companies have to service a higher or lower debt/equity burden=20
depending on investor perceptions of how safe the country is as an=20
investment location.

* =B3The communal conflict will further decelerate the economic growth=20
and depress the investment climate in the state=B2 =8B Kalyan Shah,=20
President of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)=20
told Business India in March 18=AD31, 2002

* Gujarat=B9s air traffic, which was already suffering due to the=20
economic dislocation caused by the earthquake, has suffered even=20
more because of the communal violence.
Question: Which industries were affected by the violent disruption=20
of life in Gujarat?
Answer: Every major industry was affected, that is =8B textiles, jewel=20
trade, dairy, chemicals, petroleum, salt, handicrafts and the=20
complete informal sector. Estimated losses for these industries, as=20
reported by newspapers quoting industry sources, were:
Gems and Jewellery Rs. 200 crore Textiles Rs. 300 crore Chemicals=20
Rs. 200 crore Transport Rs. 400 crore

* Insurance companies estimate the total value of losses suffered by=20
industry and commercial secto r at Rs. 142.9 crores. By June 2002=20
insurance claims for household assets and motor claims were at Rs.=20
15.66 crore. It must be noted that many of the people who suffered=20
loss of property were not insured.

* As far as multinationals are concerned, the General Motors plant=20
at Halol was attacked, with an estimated loss in production of 15=AD20=20
per cent. General Motors=B9 Indian partners in this project are the=20
Birlas. Such attacks on industrial units reduce the attractiveness=20
of India, particularly Gujarat, as a manufacturing location.

* The petroleum sector showed a significant dip in sales of all=20
three major petroleum products (diesel, petrol and kerosene) in=20
Gujarat over the period April 2001 to September 2002. The sharpest=20
dip in sales was in March and April.
Question: How did the disruption of civic life affect the common person?
Answer:
The day to day lives of millions of people of all communities was=20
severely affected in many ways. For example, monthly market=20
arrivals of vegetables in Ahmedabad in March shows drastic falls:=20
Between 31 January 2002 and 31 March 2002, supply of vegetables=20
dropped as follows: 45 % for Onions 76 % for Cabbages 52% for=20
Cauliflower 50% for Potatoes 68% for Carrots
* Students of all religious communities were badly affected and even=20
traumatized by the carnage. The prolonged break down of law and=20
order caused schools and colleges, in parts of
Gujarat, to be closed for over two months. Important exams were=20
postponed repeatedly. The percentage of failures in both board exams=20
increased. Schools that traditionally did well had abysmal results.=20
The delay in holding exams, has adversely affected the job prospects=20
of students. An entire generation has been hit by the failure of=20
governance.

* The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, had to fly its=20
final year students to Mumbai for placement in terviews, since the=20
recruiting officers of major companies did not think it safe to=20
travel to Ahmedabad for on-campus interviews.

* The daily wage worker, the trader who depends on credit, the=20
sub-brokers, the informal sector workers have all been uniformly=20
hit. The financial survival of numerous small business families has=20
been so severly threatened that there have been reports of entire=20
families commiting suicide.

* Staff members of larger business organizations are now trying to=20
leave Gujarat. In many organisations, numerous employees of all=20
religious communities have put in requests for transfers out of=20
Gujarat. The banks and other public sector companies are the most=20
affected. As this managerial talent departs, so too does the=20
prospect of well run organisations, which are a prerequisite for a=20
prosperous economy.

In short, the horrific carnage in Gujarat has not only affected=20
crores of people in the short term but also made a long-term impact=20
which endangers their economic future. First, because the=20
government proved incapable of protecting its citizens and providing=20
a stable social climate. Second, because this failure to provide=20
basic governance (let alone =8Cgood governance=B9) inevitably translates=20
into a lack of investment (in the state) and thus stiffles future=20
economic growth.

All the evidence shows that when any community and its property are=20
violently attacked, the whole social and economic climate of the=20
state declines severely. This means that people of all religions=20
and castes will bear the brunt of that violence and suffer the=20
economic and social consequences. You will surely agree that the=20
economic health of a region and the livelihood of its people cannot=20
be allowed to be disrupted in this manner. Your vote is a powerful=20
instrument for ensuring that those who allowed the law and order to=20
collapse are not brought back to power. This data has been compiled=20
by Insaaniyat, a forum of ordinary citizens not affiliated to any=20
political party and committed to a humane and democratic social=20
order. All information provided here is taken from Government and=20
industry and reports appearing in the business press.

_____

#3.

INSAF National Political Convention on
THREATS OF GLOBAL FASCISM & NATIONAL CHALLENGES
23-26 Nov. 2002, Ahmedabad

The National Political Convention of INSAF (Indian Social Action=20
Forum) brought together over 350 delegates from 18 states in the=20
country representing grass-roots level social action groups, mass=20
movements, progressive intellectuals, etc. The four-day National=20
Convention deliberate on the Theme of: THREATS OF GLOBAL FASCISM &=20
NATIONAL CHALLENGES.

INSAF is a national forum of about 550 social activists, mass leaders=20
and academics with the main objective to resist globalization, combat=20
communalism and defend democracy. Delegates to the National=20
Convention focused on formulating peoples=92 strategies and agenda for=20
strengthening the socialist, secular and democratic fabric of the=20
Indian society.

The delegates were drawn from people=92s movements and organizations=20
like Jharkhand Ulgulan Manch, Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, Bhopal Gas=20
Pidit Mahila Udyog Sangathan, Uttarakhand Lok Vahini, Adivasi Mukti=20
Sangathan (Sendhwa), PUCL-UP, Ambedkar-Lohia Vichar Manch (Orissa),=20
National Alliance of Women (NAWO), Banaskantha Dalit Sangathan, Lok=20
Manch (Aurangabad, Bihar), Nagarhole Adivasi Sangath (Coorg,=20
Karnatka), Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (Multai, MP), Adivasi Sarvangi=20
Vikas Sanstha (Gujarat), Citizen=92s Initiative ( Ahmedabad), etc.

The Inaugural Session on Nov.23 was addressed Dr. Ram Punyani,=20
eminent secular activist (Mumbai), Prof. Aditya Nigam, social=20
scientist (New Delhi), and followed by a cultural programmes on=20
social issues.

The Convention was also addressed by Shabnam Hashmi (secular=20
activist, SAHMAT, Delhi), eminent filmmaker Gopal Menon, leading=20
Gandhian leader and ex-MP Didi Nirmala Deshpande and others. Speakers=20
after speakers condemned the growth of fascism in India and its links=20
to the globalisation project. Grassroots activists met in groups to=20
discuss the local challenges and formulated a plan of action to=20
counter the forces of globalisation and fascism through mass=20
movements, awareness programmes, campaigns, etc.

A Public Rally on Ashram Road on Nov.26 brought together over 400=20
activists calling for an end to fascism, putting Modi behind bars and=20
defeat of the BJP in the elections. The rally culminated in a Public=20
Meeting at Tagore Hall. Prabhash Joshi, eminent senior journalist and=20
former Chief Editor of Jansatta, Shamsher Singh Bisht of Uttarakhand=20
Lok Vahini, Dayamani Barla of Jharkhand Ulgulan Manch, Com. Anil=20
Chaudhary, former student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University,=20
Dr. Saroop Dhruv, leading revolutionary feminist poetess from Gujarat=20
addressed the Public Meeting.

In the meeting an "Appeal to the Voters of Gujarat by INSAF" was read=20
out and adopted by the convention. The appeal condemned the genocide=20
and demanded complete rehabilitation of all victims, justice to the=20
victims=A0and legal action against the Modi Government and the Sangh=20
Parivar. The Appeal called upon the toiling people of Gujarat to=20
demand their developmental rights to water, food, health, education,=20
etc. which are being increasingly ignored by the rulers are are being=20
snatched away by the profiteers and global capital under the garb of=20
privatisation and globalisation.

The public meet concluded by a powerful & revolutionary musical=20
performance by well-known classical liberation singer Dr. Neela=20
Bhagwat, reciting from Kabir & Pash.

Wilfred D=92Costa, National Secretary, INSAF

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

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (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.
\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|//\\|//|
--=20