[sacw] SACW #1 | 25 Nov. 02

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Mon, 25 Nov 2002 10:47:29 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire #1 | 25 November 2002

'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/
Outlook (India): www.outlookindia.org
India Committee of the the Netherlands: www.indianet.nl
Z Mag South Asia (USA): www.zmag.org/southasia/southasia1.htm
Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia (USA):=20
www.alliancesouthasia.org
Stop Funding Hate (USA) : stopfundinghate.org/resources/FEH.htm
Dissident Voice: dissidentvoice.org

__________________________

#1. Report of Concerned Citizens Tribunal - Gujarat 2002: An inquiry=20
into the carnage in Gujarat
#2. Report From Gujarat (Miranda Kennedy)
#3. Hindutva vs Sanity: The real stakes in Gujarat (Praful Bidwai)
#4. Sangh Parivar's offensive against secular writers and=20
intellectuals in Kerala (R. Krishnakumar)
#5. Kashmir's Leaders Struggle To Deal With Feared Police (Rama Lakshmi)
#6. Canada : A Public discussion: Indian secularism under trial: The=20
emergence of militant Hinduism and the future of Indian democracy=20
with Sidharth Bhatia (3 December , Ottawa)

__________________________

#1.

Concerned Citizens Tribunal - Gujarat 2002
An inquiry into the carnage in Gujarat

Volume I
Crime against Humanity
Incidents and Evidence
http://www.sabrang.com/tribunal/volI/index.html

Volume II
Crime against Humanity
Findings and Recommendations
http://www.sabrang.com/tribunal/vol2/index.html

_____

#2.

The Nation (New York)
December 6, 2002
[Posted November 21, 2002]

Report From Gujarat

by Miranda Kennedy

Abida Bano sits on the floor of a crowded makeshift relief building=20
in Ahmedebad, the largest city in Gujarat, holding her 10-month-old=20
daughter. She mumbles her story into the folds of her brightly=20
colored shawl.

"I saw the crowds pull my husband out of the house. I saw him being=20
killed, and hacked into pieces and put in the fire. He was holding my=20
2-year-old daughter. They killed the child in the same way. All day=20
there was no police. So the crowds kept attacking.... In the evening,=20
any of us who were left were taken out."

This past spring, up to 2,000 Muslims were massacred by armed Hindu=20
mobs after a train was set on fire on February 27, killing=20
fifty-eight Hindu activists. It is rumored that on the night of the=20
fire, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist=20
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads India's coalition=20
government, ordered members of his ministry not to stop the ensuing=20
violence. In the pogroms that raged across Gujarat, police stood by=20
and watched while Muslim men were burned alive and women were=20
gang-raped and killed; according to Human Rights Watch, police told=20
Muslims, "we have no orders to save you." The People's Union for=20
Democratic Rights, an Indian NGO, described the violence as "a=20
systematic effort to terrorize Muslims and reduce them to the status=20
of second-class citizens by taking away their lives, livelihood and=20
shelter."

As many as 150,000 Muslims flocked to relief camps in March. But=20
under pressure to make Gujarat appear stable enough to hold state=20
elections, the government officially closed the camps in June. Now,=20
eight months after the violence, thousands like Abida Bano have=20
received no government assistance and still have nowhere to go. And=20
though before the riots she earned a small income by doing stitching=20
work from home, that is impossible now. She has three daughters who=20
survived with her, and no way to provide for them.

In addition, after the violence Hindu leaders swiftly called a=20
statewide boycott on Muslim goods and services. Most employers in=20
Gujarat are Hindus, so even those Muslims who didn't lose their=20
rickshaws and sewing machines in the pogroms were left with few=20
economic options.

Several months ago grassroots activists who had been working on riot=20
relief realized the victims of Gujarat needed more than handouts, so=20
they devised the Gujarat Harmony Program to work toward long-term=20
Muslim-Hindu reconciliation by restoring livelihoods and educating=20
both communities. For an economic model the program looked to the=20
Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA)--the single largest union in=20
Gujarat and the only women's trade union in India--which organizes=20
home-based workers into cooperatives. The Harmony Program created a=20
work and microfinancing cooperative--funded by CARE India, an=20
international relief and development organization--dedicated to=20
helping riot-affected women rebuild their lives.

Much of the program's momentum comes from an Ahmedabad-based=20
interreligious couple who run a small NGO. Rafique and Mira know=20
about religious violence firsthand. They have been threatened since=20
the day they were married. Last spring the couple moved out of their=20
home in a Hindu locality because, says Rafique, "I could not wear a=20
[Muslim] beard while she wears a bindi [forehead mark traditionally=20
worn by Hindu women]. She could be attacked any time. so could I."=20
Shortly after the riots, Mira was stopped by a gang of Hindus as she=20
tried to enter one of the relief camps. When the boys established=20
that she was a Hindu married to a Muslim, they started pulling at her=20
clothes, threatening to bring her to the fundamentalist Hindu=20
authorities. But other Hindus from a nearby slum heard the commotion,=20
recognized Mira as one who had been giving literacy classes in their=20
area, and convinced the boys to let her alone.

The Hindus who rescued her were Dalits, the so-called=20
untouchables--the lowest level of the 4,000-year-old Hindu caste=20
system. Even though Untouchability was outlawed in 1950 when India=20
adopted its first constitution as an independent nation, Dalits still=20
aren't allowed into most Hindu temples and cannot eat in the same=20
place as upper-caste Hindus in most villages. Nevertheless,=20
anti-Muslim bias is keen among Dalit communities.

The incident strengthened Rafique and Mira's belief that the=20
oppressed Dalit communities are the key to reconciliation between=20
Muslims and Hindus--that's the crux of the Gujarat Harmony Program.=20
It guarantees work to Muslim and Dalit women by negotiating with=20
Hindu traders and contractors, to convince them to bypass the boycott=20
and buy the goods the women make. The program gives grants to buy=20
equipment, like sewing machines, through its newly established=20
microcredit bank, the federally registered Women's Savings and Credit=20
Cooperative Society. The women form work cooperatives of ten Muslims=20
and ten Dalits that meet each day for education classes and then=20
gather in work groups to make clothes, kites and bangles. Mira=20
recalls that it took days of persuasion to convince the women to sit=20
together in the same room, but gradually, they have come to trust=20
each other.

The Gujarat Harmony Program has given loans to almost 100 women since=20
it was established three months ago--and so far, there's been a 100=20
percent recovery rate. The program gives loans exclusively to women=20
because many Muslim women have been forced into the public realm for=20
the first time since losing their husbands and homes, and the=20
cultural bias against women workers makes their footing within the=20
informal sector especially precarious.

Recently in Gujarat, six people were killed and many more injured in=20
riots after a BJP election rally. But as Chief Minister Narendra Modi=20
campaigns for December's volatile assembly elections under the banner=20
of Hindu pride, and the state readies itself for further violence,=20
Mira hopes their project will have made some move toward harmony=20
across communities. "I know this effort is only a drop in the ocean,=20
but every such drop will fill up the reservoir of human compassion."

______

#3.

The Praful Bidwai Column for the week beginning Nov 25

Hindutva vs Sanity: The real stakes in Gujarat
By Praful Bidwai

Hindutva is now playing for broke: all or nothing! In Gujarat, the=20
Vishwa Hindu Parishad has launched a vicious confrontation with the=20
Election Commission. It has defiantly announced a series of=20
inflammatory meetings to be addressed by Mr Pravin Togadia after the=20
EC banned its =B3Hindu Patpadshahi (supremacy) Yatra=B2. Its allies on=20
the Extreme Right, like Mr Bal Thackeray have unleashed a hysterical=20
campaign maligning the BJP=B9s national leaders, including Mr LK=20
Advani, no less, as =B3pseudo-secular traitors=B2 to Hindutva. All these=20
moves, like Mr Narendra Milosevic Modi=B9s gaurav yatra, are calculated=20
to further inflame communal passions during India=B9s most sectarian=20
election campaign ever. For the sangh parivar, the coming election in=20
Gujarat has a =B3make or break=B2 character. That=B9s why both Mr Vajpayee=
=20
and Mr Advani have decided to campaign for the BJP=8Bdespite the=20
attacks on them.

This time around, the Gujarat BJP has made no effort whatever to=20
distance itself from the VHP=B9s incendiary and openly=20
anti-Constitutional, anti-secular politics. Being critically=20
dependent on the VHP to garner votes, the BJP doesn=B9t have much of a=20
choice. It too has attacked the EC in intemperate language and in=20
ways which put a big question-mark over its state government=B9s=20
willingness to comply with the Commission=B9s directives. Legally, the=20
EC is supreme as regards the conduct of all election-related matters=20
once the poll process is formally put in place. Politically, however,=20
the state government can play mischief with the Code of Conduct and=20
the EC=B9s directions=8Bif it chooses to be bloody-minded.

In Gujarat, the next two weeks will see an ugly tussle between=20
Constitutional legality, the politics of consensus, decency and=20
sanity, on the one hand, and crass sectarianism, and self-serving,=20
partisan and intimidatory politics and hysterical communalism, on the=20
other. A lot will depend on the integrity of the state=B9s civil=20
servants. If they capitulate to the dictates of their political=20
bosses, as many of them did during the pogrom of March to June, they=20
will disgrace themselves, and bring further ignominy upon their=20
state, which has already acquired a vile reputation. If they stand up=20
for the rule of law and act impartially following the EC=B9s statutory=20
authority, they could still redeem themselves. The EC is going to=20
have to monitor the whole election canvassing process in Gujarat=20
very, very closely to ensure that it is not hijacked by inflamed=20
passions and crude partisanship.

The contest in Gujarat is totally bipolar: between the Congress, and=20
a BJP which has metamorphosed into a virulent adjunct of the VHP,=20
itself nourished by the poison of the post-Godhra violence. The VHP,=20
which has branches in more than one-half of Gujarat=B9s 18,600=20
villages, more or less controls the BJP at the grassroots level. The=20
second most important minister in the Modi Cabinet is the VHP=B9s=20
Gordhan Zadaphia, with the Home portfolio. Without the VHP, the BJP=B9s=20
election campaign would be lifeless. The VHP behaves like a movement,=20
a neofascist form of mass mobilisation, much in the way precursors to=20
the Nazis did in Germany, organising pogroms, spreading hatred=20
against the Jews, stoking intensely militarist and=20
national-supremacist ideas, and building up the cult of authority.

It is not an accident that Mr Milosevic Modi consciously fashions=20
himself as =B3Chhote Sardar=B2, a pitiful, super-communalised caricature=20
of Vallabhbhai Patel, in order to consciously create the image of the=20
Fuehrer. It is around Mr Modi=B9s authoritarian and despotic=20
personality, his politics of outright confrontation and communal=20
extremism, and his vicious, violent, stormtrooper tactics, that the=20
BJP is being radically reshaped in Gujarat. Mr Modi has firmly=20
refused to moderate his style despite legal reprimands and=20
injunctions. He maintains a steady outflow of venomous rhetoric about=20
=B3Italian dogs=B2 and =B3Mian Mushrraf=B9s progeny=B2 even as he attacks t=
he=20
very notions of reconciliation, inter-religious tolerance and social=20
harmony. Mr Modi believes himself to be a messianic figure who is=20
about to capture the hearts of the Hindu masses, and not just in=20
Gujarat. Should Mr Modi lead the BJP to electoral victory in Gujarat,=20
he will have a profound impact on the party nationally.

As things stand, and contrary to propaganda, the BJP will not find it=20
easy to win the election=8Bdespite Gujarat=B9s communal polarisation and=20
its own all-out efforts to whip up Hindu-supremacist sentiments and=20
play on the issue of asmita and gaurav (self-esteem), a revolting=20
form of identity politics. If the 1998 pattern repeats itself=8Ba big=20
if, this=8Bthe Congress=B9 vote (35 percent) combined with Mr Shankarsinh=20
Vaghela=B9s (13 percent) will easily outweigh the BJP=B9s 45 percent. But=20
then, the pogrom had not happened. However, equally, the Patels=8Bfully=20
one-fourth of the population, and economically and socially, upwardly=20
mobilise=8Bwere solidly behind the BJP in 1998, thanks to Keshubhai.=20
Today, Keshubhai is a bitter man, unreconciled to Mr Modi=B9s takeover=20
and wholesale transformation of the party.

Going by all available reports, the gaurav yatra was not a major=20
crowd-puller. It probably did a lot for the RSS-VHP-BJP cadre, but=20
little for the masses. All recent local elections have seen the BJP=20
lose heavily. Following the pogrom, there is reportedly an 11.6=20
percent vote swing against it. This may have intensified somewhat=20
after the Akshardham episode: despite its boasts, the BJP could not=20
protect people against terrorism. Many of the party=B9s leaders feel=20
shaky. More than 20 MLAs, including 11 Ministers, are changing their=20
seats. Mr Modi himself has moved from Rajkot-2 to Maninagar=20
(Ahmedabad). Opposing the BJP is the combative Mr Vaghela with his=20
energetic campaign emphasising shanti, salamati and samriddhi (peace,=20
security and prosperity).

The Gujarat election is a contest not just between two parties, but=20
between two rival agendas: governance and development-related issues=20
vs issues of identity and insecurity. The BJP is focused exclusively,=20
obsessively, on the second, while the Congress is struggling with the=20
first, as well as with OBC mobilisation. Logically, in a =B3normal=B2=20
election, governance issues should count significantly. If the BJP=20
loses in Gujarat, after raising the stakes sky high, it will=20
experience the rudest shock of its political life after the 1999 Lok=20
Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Indeed, that loss will be even more=20
damaging.

The BJP=B9s defeat in Gujarat will continue and accelerate its downturn=20
nationally. It has lost every single state, municipal and panchayat=20
election in the past 4=BD 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. Its=20
claim to be a =B3party with a difference=B2 stands badly exposed=8Bwitness=
=20
the obscene show, with splits and naked struggles for ministerial=20
berths in Uttar Pradesh. Also exposed are its empty boasts about=20
safeguarding national security. Following a Gujarat defeat, the BJP=20
will lose heavily everywhere and probably shrink in the next Lok=20
Sabha to well under 100 seats.

However, if the BJP wins in Gujarat=8Bnot necessarily on the Hindutva=20
identity platform, but because of its relatively large social base=20
and a long history of communal and caste polarisation=8Bit will see=20
this as the triumph of its hate-based politics at the core of which=20
lies the original Programme of the RSS=B9s most important ideologue,=20
Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar. The Golwalkar Programme consists in=20
unleashing a frontal attack on all modern- liberal ideas and=20
institutions, and using coercion to politically disenfranchise the=20
religious minorities and to turn them into second-class citizens=20
without rights. This will create a situation of a permanent=20
near-civil war. In this enterprise, Mr Modi is backed by apex-level=20
leaders, including Mr L.K. Advani, and also young, super-ambitious=20
men without a base, like Messrs Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley.

If Mr Modi triumphs in Gujarat, it is a safe bet that he will ride on=20
the Golwalkar Programme to make a bid for the BJP=B9s national=20
leadership and the top job in its Central government, nothing less.=20
The new Fuehrer will not allow =B3effete=B2, aged, =B3spent=B2 leaders like=
=20
Mr Vajpayee to obstruct the Programme=B9s implementation. One immediate=20
gainer from Mr Modi=B9s ascendancy will be Mr Advani, who has linked=20
his own upward career movement to Gujarat: in fact, it is almost=20
inconceivable that he would have been promoted to Deputy PM in the=20
absence of a power struggle in the Goa conclave, focused on Gujarat.=20
But Mr Advani too will probably have to play second fiddle to the=20
Fuehrer.

A Modi victory could thus unleash an intense, furious inner-party=20
power struggle. This can have one of two consequences. The Vajpayee=20
leadership, already dispirited and compromised, could collapse under=20
the Extreme-Right=B9s onslaught, yielding to a new, aggressively=20
communal, adventurist and ultra-sectarian dispensation=8Ba kind of=20
Hindu Taliban, which will push India back towards the Middle Ages.=20
This will be a social and political nightmare. Or, alternatively, the=20
BJP, and with it, the NDA, will come tumbling down like a house of=20
cards, leading to a mid-term general election. We must all devoutly=20
hope for the second outcome=8Bin the interests of secularism,=20
democracy, political decency and social sanity.=8Bend=8B

______

#4.

Frontline
Volume 19 - Issue 24, November 23 - December 06 2002

THE STATES
A saffron offensive

R. KRISHNAKUMAR
in Thiruvananthapuram

The Sangh Parivar's media offensive against secular writers and=20
intellectuals in Kerala reflects the growing stridency and influence=20
of communal voices within the State.

K.G. SANTOSH

Writer Paul Zacharia, an ardent critic of Hindutva and other forms of=20
communalism.

COLLEGE magazines in Kerala, a dime a dozen, hardly make any impact=20
outside the campus walls except when they merit a mention for=20
excellence in printing and design. However, now the insidious content=20
of a few of these publications is causing disquiet in the State, as=20
the student community is increasingly puppeteered by communal,=20
fascist forces, which are eager to spread their divisive agenda.=20
Recently, secular Kerala was outraged by the unabashed communal=20
colouring of a college annual meant to represent the multi-religious=20
student population of the NSS Hindu College, Changanassery, under the=20
Kottayam-based Mahatma Gandhi University.

The magazine, named Pranavam, in a scathing attack against the=20
minorities, particularly Muslims, carried a bold dedication under a=20
collage of photographs of the dead in Godhra: "To Bharatamba's brave=20
sons, who are being annihilated by terrorists in the name of jehad."

One of its articles "Growing terrorism and the Godhra incident",=20
quotes the Koran out of context and alleges "that the Godhra incident=20
is an illustration of the rotten side of Islam influencing a people",=20
in order to argue that the massacre at Godhra was the direct result=20
of a people being misguided by the holy book.

A feature titled "Nationalism and National Reconstruction" carries=20
the photograph of a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activist=20
participating in a drill. The article defines nationalism as the=20
"thousands of years of history and culture of this nation" and says=20
that the solution to the ills affecting India is to allow "Bharat's=20
real nationalism" to seep into every aspect of life in the country.=20
The inaugural essay, "Vande Vivekananda", argues that what India=20
needs today is "spiritual nationalism" and equates Vivekananda with=20
M.S. Golwalker, V.D. Savarkar and K.B. Hedgevar, as people who held=20
such an opinion. The article `Saffronisation... Indianisation' claims=20
that saffronisation is "a matter of the soul of India" and that those=20
who oppose it are frightened about the return of "Indian culture" and=20
that they are in fact deriding "India's sanyasins, their sacrifices=20
and selflessness".

K.N. Panikkar, historian and Vice-Chancellor of the Sanskrit=20
University at Kaladi. His speeches against communalism have been=20
described as "attempts to appease the Muslim League".

Another article, "Kashmir: Call back the doves", claims that Section=20
370 of the Constitution, which bestows special status on Jammu and=20
Kashmir, is an illustration "of the cancer called minority=20
appeasement that has affected this country and its politicians". It=20
argues that "Jawaharlal Nehru became the role model for latter-day=20
politicians in India on the subject of minority appeasement through=20
his vision of a secular India, which he used as a short cut to power."

An essay on RSS founder Hedgewar, titled "Doctorji, the brave=20
visionary desabhimani", argues the need of an organisation like the=20
RSS and details its formation. It claims that the RSS is the largest=20
such organisation in the world and says that India's Prime Minister=20
and Deputy Prime Minister were "samaj sevaks" who had risen through=20
the ranks of the RSS.

Interestingly, Pranavam carries the photographs of President A.P.J.=20
Abdul Kalam, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Deputy Prime=20
Minister L.K. Advani. It acknowledges President Kalam for his=20
`scientific talent', Shekhawat for his `experience' and Advani for=20
his `vision of the future'. There is no mention of Prime Minister=20
Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Among the people whom the journal "remembers'' includes RSS `Pradhama=20
Prantha Pracharak' Bhaskar Rao, Congress(I) leader Madhavrao Scindia=20
who is described as "the great son of that rajmata who is a=20
confluence of Kshatriya power and democratic power", and the=20
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader A.K. Gopalan, who is but=20
"the great man who raised the voice of `sanatana samskruti' during=20
the Temple Entry struggle, the one who symbolised `aarsha darsana', a=20
vision that goes much beyond communism".

Such a magazine would usually have been ignored as just another=20
instance of uncontained youthful exuberance, an offshoot of the=20
intense "politicisation" of campuses in Kerala. But Pranavam, the=20
handiwork of student activists belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya=20
Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in a mainstream college run by the Nair=20
Service Society, has become notorious for its bigoted writings and=20
malevolence towards non-Hindus. Significantly, it reflects the=20
alarming spread of communal thinking in Kerala society and the=20
dissemination of mainstream Hindutva ideology inside and through=20
campuses.

A signature trend that is visible in all such writings is the pointed=20
attempt to denigrate secular individuals, writers, social critics,=20
human rights activists and intellectuals who have been in the=20
vanguard of the fight against communalism in all its hues. For=20
example, an article in Pranavam disparages Paul Zacharia, writer,=20
columnist and social critic and a critical commentator of the=20
Hindutva brigade and communalism in all its facets. Titled=20
"Zachariyayude vikriyakal" ("The mischief of Zacharia"), it is a=20
vicious attempt - part of a trend in Kerala today - to brand and=20
deride whoever opposes the blatantly communalistic fervour of the=20
Hindu Right. Zacharia, whose incisive denunciation of the hijacking=20
by the Sangh Parivar of the platforms provided by Hindu religious=20
leaders such as Mata Amritanandamayi and Chenkottukonam Swami and the=20
probable implications of the Coimbatore bomb blasts in his columns=20
had incurred the wrath of Hindu communalists as never before, is=20
accused in vituperative terms of being a "Christian communalist" and=20
an "anti-national".

A few excerpts from the article: "Zacharia's vulture-like eyes are=20
roaming over the traditions of Bharat. His potent nostrils are wide=20
open whenever there is a foul smell outside the confines of his own=20
religion... We should not allow this man to denigrate our culture and=20
traditions any longer. Why is Zacharia failing to see what happens at=20
(Christian institutions like) Pota (a charismatic centre) and Pious=20
Tenth Convent? This question exposes Zacharia's love for his own=20
religion... No longer must we abstain from exposing the truth before=20
society that Zacharia and Arundhati Roy are but the mediums of a big=20
mission. We should oppose a fraud like Zacharia ideologically. We=20
should not hesitate to tell the world who is trying to implement real=20
fascism. Zacharia is today ready to be the sacrificial hen, to be=20
anti-Indian. The stunt-man that he is, it is said that he once wanted=20
to be a priest at his local church at Urulikkunnam. Even today he=20
exhibits that wish indirectly..."

The content of such college magazines, leaflets and flyers promoted=20
by communal groups on campuses could be mistaken easily for articles=20
and news reports appearing regularly in Malayalam newspapers such as=20
Janmabhoomi, Kesari and Punyabhoomi, sponsored by the Bharatiya=20
Janata Party, the RSS, and the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP)=20
respectively. For example, a recent editorial page article in=20
Janmabhoomi soon after the release of the college magazine is titled=20
`Zacharia should be prosecuted for anti- national crimes' and is a=20
condensed version of the themes in the NSS College journal and=20
earlier articles in the same newspaper, including, significantly, a=20
crass personal attack headlined, "Zachariyayude Kovalam Kathakal"=20
("Zacharia's Kovalam Stories").

The latest article in Janmabhoomi states: "Maybe because of his=20
Sunday school learning that all those who do not believe in Christ=20
are sinners and such people should not be allowed to prevail, he=20
(Zacharia) goes raving angry whenever he hears the word Hindutva..."=20
It is the fashion of Muslim terrorist groups today to use mercenary=20
writers to fabricate lies and stamp out the light of truth...=20
Zacharia has now come forward to state that the Coimbatore blasts=20
were organised by Advani and the RSS. By raising such a barefaced=20
lie, this man from Urulikkunnam has gained the admiration of=20
international terrorists... Zacharia's opposition to Sangh Parivar=20
organisations cannot be brushed aside as mere ramblings of a mad=20
brain steeped in communalism. This gentleman was the one who issued a=20
directive that nobody should share a platform with the Sangh Parivar,=20
soon after the BJP came to power... Now he is pretending to be the=20
apostle of secularism... But how can we remain mere spectators when=20
some people are ready to dance to the tunes of international=20
terrorism and sabotage national interests and create communal=20
violence? ... Zacharia should either be subjected to psychiatric=20
treatment or, if his statements are intentional, he should be=20
prosecuted for anti-national activities and for inciting communal=20
hatred."

There have been vindictive attacks against other secular=20
personalities too. Another campus magazine in Calicut University has=20
become controversial for its unprovoked, slanderous attack against=20
the Vice-Chancellor of the Sanskrit University, Kaladi, and former=20
Professor of History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dr. K.N.=20
Panikkar. It attributes motives to Panikkar's consistent campaign=20
against the Hindu Right and attempts to discredit him as a secular=20
intellectual. His recent visit to Gujarat and the series of lectures=20
against communalism that he gave in Kerala have been variously=20
described as "attempts to appease the Muslim League" (a major partner=20
in the ruling coalition in Kerala), "an attempt to hold on to his=20
position (as Vice-Chancellor)" and as an "example of the difference=20
between the public posture of intellectuals and their private=20
agendas."

The latest in such seemingly isolated instances of deriding "enemy"=20
intellectuals is the series of criticism in Sangh Parivar=20
publications against the decision of the Kerala government's=20
Department of Culture to present the `Ezhuthachhan Puraskaram', an=20
award instituted in memory of the father of modern Malayalam=20
language, to writer Kamala Surayya, whose high-profile conversion to=20
Islam has not been looked upon kindly by Hindu fundamentalists.

In a caustic statement soon after the announcement of the award,=20
Bharatiya Vichara Kendra director P. Parameswaran questioned the=20
propriety of giving the award to Kamala Surayya, on the grounds that=20
"the person who is selected for such an award should have some=20
similarity in life, values, activities and contributions with the one=20
in whose name the award is instituted". A similar statement was=20
issued by P. Narayana Kurup, president of `Tapasya', another Sangh=20
Parivar cultural front. The argument is that "Ezhuthachhan was not=20
merely a poet but the father of modern Malayalam language and the=20
proponent of the Bhakti movement in Kerala''. Therefore presenting=20
the Ezhuthachhan Award to Kamala Surayya "was as incongruous as=20
giving an award in the name of a pre-eminent proponent of Islam to=20
Salman Rushdie or Taslima Nasreen."

Janmabhoomi criticised the decision in an article headlined=20
`Pativrata Puraskaram Vasavadattakko?' (`Chastity Award to=20
Vasavadatta?'). The article, which was carried on page one on=20
November 7, described the decision as "an effort to appease the=20
Muslim community, which has been instigated by (People's Democratic=20
Party leader) Abdul Nasir Maudany (see Frontline November 8, 2002)=20
and other Muslim fundamentalists to rise in protest against the=20
Antony government." Further, it said: "It is a short cut to appease=20
Muslim fundamentalists and communalists who are using Kamala Das, who=20
converted to Islam and became `Kamala Surrayya', as a weapon to=20
implement their own agenda. They (those in government) are trying to=20
use Ezhuthachhan and the old Madhavikkutty as a cover to escape the=20
wrath of Maudany."

THE intense backlash that came in the wake of the articles did put=20
Sangh Parivar leaders on the defensive; Parameswaran stated that=20
trying to portray his criticism as being incited by Surayya's=20
religious conversion "was a mischievous way of avoiding the real=20
issue" and that "he was not against change of religion... if it was=20
voluntary." However, Parivar-sponsored publications soon launched a=20
scathing assault on anyone who dared to criticise Parameswaran's=20
statements (including Kerala Sahitya Akademi chairman M.T. Vasudevan=20
Nair and litterateur Sukumar Azhikode) and a coarse, embarrassingly=20
personal, communal attack against Kamala Surayya herself. Jnanpith=20
Award winner Vasudevan Nair suddenly became a "rascal who was out to=20
help in the dismantling of the great tradition of Ezhuthachhan" and=20
was accused of "intentionally destroying the symbols of a great=20
(Indian) tradition" through his acclaimed re-inventions of characters=20
borrowed from mythology and folklore and of "denying O.V. Vijayan the=20
Jnanpith Award" last year by being a silent member in the committee=20
that decided in favour of Indira Goswami.

It is well known that Kerala is one of the main targets of Hindu=20
communal forces, which have been consistently trying to extend their=20
influence in the State. But the potpourri of coalition politics in=20
the State and the abundance of political forces representing a=20
multitude of Hindu communities have made any advance on the political=20
plane an uphill task. Yet, there are repeated warnings from secular=20
observers that the Sangh Parivar has put to effective use its=20
all-India strategy of gaining acceptance in the State through=20
persistent socio-cultural interventions =8B a thoroughly rewarding=20
platform that has been left vacant by secular political formations,=20
including the Left and the Congress(I).

K.K. MUSTAFAH

Kamala Surayya. The Sangh Parivar launched a personal attack against=20
her after she was presented a prestigious award.

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of such=20
activities by the Sangh Parivar, beginning with the hijacking of the=20
conduct of temple festivals and the starting of `catch them young=20
schools' all over the State, to the import of purely north Indian=20
religious practices such as Rakshabandan and customs associated with=20
Hindu festivals such as Janmashtami, Ram Navami and Vinayaka=20
Chathurthi. The State has also seen exaggerated efforts to revive=20
religious observances during the `Ramayana Month' and create new ones=20
such as the `Bhagavatha Month' on similar lines, and form `temple=20
renovation committees', `pilgrim protection committees' and so on.=20
The RSS constellation has also created an umbrella of security and=20
managerial cover in institutions run by Hindu religious personalities=20
such as Amritanandamayi, who has attracted a huge, dedicated,=20
missionary following over a short period of time, and the=20
Chenkottukonam Swami, whose religious activities often bordered on=20
the political. Clearly, such attempts were aimed at mobilising public=20
support that has been elusive, on a fairly less competitive=20
socio-cultural platform left idle by secular political organisations.

The Hindu communal propaganda has been effective to the extent that=20
it has invited competitive communalism and fundamentalism from other=20
communities and has vitiated the secular atmosphere. Funds from=20
abroad are available easily to many communal organisations. Religious=20
revivalism is evident in the number of temples, mosques, churches,=20
seminaries, meditation centres and madrassas that have mushroomed in=20
Kerala over the past few decades and the renovation of religious=20
sites, with the aid of generous funds sourced from Malayalees living=20
overseas. Religious publications and institutions imparting religious=20
teachings have proliferated. A major effort is on to propagate=20
Sanskrit or Arabic as desirable languages for the religious-minded.

Moreover, mainstream Malayalam media give ample coverage to=20
activities and propaganda that serve various communal interests.=20
Religiosity has taken over public space, and public expression of=20
one's faith has become the fashion. Thus, a basis for a=20
transformation to communalism has been created, although subtly, and=20
the Sangh Parivar seems to be hoping that in the long run, such=20
efforts could ease its passage on to the political arena. The=20
influence of communal groups in the religious sphere has become=20
pronounced in Kerala over the past decade. And the result has been an=20
increase of incidents ignited by communal passions.

A strategy that the Sangh Parivar has pursued ruthlessly all over=20
India to smoothen its way forward is an offensive against everybody=20
who challenges its dream of a Hindu Rashtra, notably, secular=20
intellectuals. This tactic has become pronounced in Kerala only in=20
the past one year. Defamatory letters and articles about well known=20
intellectuals and their writings and speeches have become a regular=20
feature in the saffron brigade's limited-circulation publications.=20
Hate mail and abusive calls are on the rise, as some of them told=20
Frontline. As the vilification of Kamala Surayya, Zacharia and=20
Panikkar demonstrates, personalised attacks are increasing.

The result is that on the one hand Kerala is slowly witnessing the=20
withdrawal of the independent intelligentsia from secular=20
discussions. In place of the liberal, Marxist, left radical=20
discourse, which was the norm, and the cultured discussions at the=20
socio-political and ideological levels, communal discourse is gaining=20
acceptance. Quite a few secular intellectuals have either fallen=20
silent or are being won over by the saffron brigade. Some of them=20
have refused to respond to the disparaging of fellow writers; some=20
others, who have opted to remain silent on the activities of=20
communal, fundamentalist forces, recently issued a statement=20
protesting against the inclusion of the RSS in the list of "terrorist=20
organisations" that Chief Minister A.K. Antony tabled in the Assembly.

The grand design is to make those who raise their voices against=20
communalism unacceptable to society. The disturbing communal content=20
in Pranavam is therefore not an aberrant, accidental phenomenon. It=20
is as much a warning as it is a manifestation of the pernicious=20
religious communalism that is gnawing at the secular fabric of Kerala.

_____

#5.

The Washington Post
Sunday, November 24, 2002; Page A32

Kashmir's Leaders Struggle To Deal With Feared Police
By Rama Lakshmi
Special to The Washington Post

SRINAGAR, India -- The three young guests left as soon as the wedding=20
feast ended. It was not safe to be out late on the streets of=20
Srinagar. As they sped along on their motor scooter, relatives said,=20
the men were stopped at a security checkpoint outside the city and an=20
officer of India's feared counterinsurgency police, the Special=20
Operations Group, emerged from the shadows and began to question them.

That was not a good sign.

When they did not arrive home in the Srinagar suburb of Soura that=20
night three years ago, their families went to the local police=20
station. Although the motor scooter was parked outside the station,=20
the relatives could find out nothing about the men's fate. Finally,=20
after a week, news arrived: Someone had found a body in a jute sack=20
that had floated to the surface of a nearby lake.

"It was my brother Nazir's tortured corpse," said Farooq Ahmed=20
Gilkar, 50. The bodies of the other men were found elsewhere two days=20
later.

Known as the "triple murder case," the killings became the focal=20
point of surging Kashmiri anger that summer against the Special=20
Operations Group, or SOG. The widows of the three men and a prisoner=20
who said he saw police torturing Nazir Gilkar filed a legal=20
complaint, which is being heard now in a Kashmir state court. The=20
main police officer accused is still at large, and another has=20
pleaded insanity.

Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, has been the=20
focus of a 13-year revolt by Islamic separatists backed by=20
neighboring Pakistan. India has tried to crush the insurgency by=20
sending thousands of troops to the Himalayan region and has been=20
accused of running roughshod over civil liberties.

The SOG is perhaps the most controversial force in Kashmir. Comprised=20
of local police, village informers and former militants, the group is=20
accused of detaining people without cause and indulging in extortion,=20
custodial killings and forced disappearances, according to the Public=20
Commission on Human Rights in Kashmir.

That may now change. The group is under fire from a new coalition=20
government that took over the state this month. Led by the=20
Kashmir-based People's Democratic Party (PDP), the government has=20
promised a "healing touch" with the people and vowed to rein in the=20
SOG, investigate killings of people in police custody, withdraw a=20
tough federal anti-terror law and open talks with militant groups.=20
Perhaps the most controversial promise is the one to make the SOG=20
more accountable.

"The SOG became a law unto itself. They are killers. Can we let them=20
go scot-free?" asked Mehbooba Mufti, deputy leader of the PDP and=20
daughter of the new chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The SOG men were given cash rewards and promoted when they killed=20
militants, making service in the group a fast lane for ambitious=20
officers and turning the lower-rung officers into "bounty hunters,"=20
according to Pervez Imroz, a human rights lawyer in Kashmir who has=20
brought hundreds of cases against the SOG.

"There is no accountability in SOG. It is banditry in uniform," said=20
Ravi Nair, director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation=20
Center in New Delhi. "But it is not easy to put the genie back into=20
the lamp. It's now a Frankenstein."

The PDP's promise of reforms has sent shivers down the SOG apparatus.=20
Once regarded as an elite police wing, it has become demoralized, and=20
security officials say that under the new government, it has become=20
inactive and no new suspects have been detained. On Friday, the=20
government sacked the entire network of village informers called=20
"special police officers" who worked with the SOG.

But many admit that the PDP may find it very difficult to dislodge=20
the force and may be able to make only cosmetic changes.

The Indian army chief in Kashmir recently defended the SOG, saying it=20
played a crucial role in India's fight against militants by giving=20
valuable intelligence on militant hide-outs and helping with=20
cordon-and-search operations.

"When you fight an urban guerrilla warfare," said a senior police=20
official in the state who worked closely with the SOG, "you need a=20
committed force" that is "flexible, quick, ready to risk social=20
stigma and ready to die." He said that sending the SOG officers back=20
to the regular police barracks would make them easy targets for=20
militant groups looking for revenge.

Questions about the SOG's future are part of a debate in India over=20
some of the tactics the country has used in dealing with armed=20
insurgency over the past two decades, first in Punjab state and now=20
in Kashmir. K.P.S. Gill, a retired police officer who is credited=20
with clamping down on Sikh separatist violence in Punjab by creating=20
a precursor to the SOG about 10 years ago, charged Sayeed of bringing=20
"sentimentality" into his "perspectives on terrorism."

"You cannot negotiate with terror on your knees," Gill wrote in the=20
South Asia Intelligence Review.

But a young Kashmiri police officer in Srinagar, who worked with the=20
SOG for over a year, said he is still "filled with shame and guilt"=20
when he remembers his association with the group's operations. "I=20
know you have to fight this war ruthlessly, but interrogation at SOG=20
usually meant third degree torture, search operations meant=20
humiliating people," he said on condition of anonymity.

Indian officials are trying to work out a way to make changes without=20
losing the gains made by the SOG. One official suggested that=20
suspects be questioned by interrogation cells with representatives=20
from the army, border police, state police and intelligence agencies.

But for the widow of Ghulam Masood Mattoo, who was killed with=20
Gilkar, it is a battle that does not end with changing the SOG.

"They killed him once that night," said Gulshan Mattoo, 27, her=20
7-year-old son at her side. "But I have died again and again every=20
day since then. I would find my peace only if the killers are=20
punished, no matter what it takes."

=A9 2002 The Washington Post Company

_____

#6.

South Asia Partnership Canada presents

Indian secularism under trial:

The emergence of militant Hinduism and
the future of Indian democracy

with Sidharth Bhatia

When:12-2 pm, Tuesday, December 3, 2002

Where: 1 Nicholas St. Ottawa, 1st floor Conference Room

RSVP: Wendy Schoots at=20
<mailto:wschoots@s...>wschoots@s... Ph:=20
613-241-1333 ext. 221

Sidharth Bhatia is a Toronto-based columnist for Indian and=20
international newspapers; a television producer, filmmaker, teacher=20
and Associate Press Fellow at Cambridge University, U.K. He will=20
discuss the following issues:

What are the reasons behind the emergence of militant Hindu chauvinism?
>From whom does militant Hinduism get support?
What are the implications for a secular, democratic India if militant=20
Hinduism is not checked?Background: Sectarian riots in the western=20
Indian state of Gujarat claimed hundreds of lives in early 2002.=20
Following an incident in which 59 Hindus, including women and=20
children, were burnt to death in a train compartment, Hindu mobs=20
sought revenge, selectively targeting Muslim homes and commercial=20
establishments. Most of the people killed in the upsurge of violence=20
that followed were Muslim. Commentators have called the riots pogroms=20
and even ethnic genocide.

Communal riots are not new to India, but the Gujarat riots were=20
different due to:

The clinical nature of the killings and the systematic selection of=20
targets, a relatively new phenomenon.
The Hindu rioters included people from comfortable, middle-class background=
s
Most important of all, the state, instead of guaranteeing the=20
security of Muslim and Hindu citizens alike, actively sided with the=20
Hindu rioters and allowed the killing of the Muslims to go on=20
uncheckedThe Gujarat violence therefore needs to be analyzed within=20
the framework of a larger socio-political context: the emergence of=20
militant Hinduism in India. Extremism by
the majority is dangerous in any multicultural society. In a diverse=20
country such as India, an extremist majority puts at risk social=20
harmony, the stability of the state and democratic and secular values.

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