[sacw] SACW #1 | 18 May 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire Dispatch #1 | 18 May 2002
http://www.mnet.fr

For Information & news on the Gujarat Carnage visit:
http://www.onlinevolunteers.org/gujarat/

__________________________

1. European Parliament Concern over violence in the Indian state of Gujarat
2. India: Chhote Modi Lives up to Bade Modi's Reputation
3. India: Memorandum from women's groups May 1, 2002
4. India: Suggestions For Medical Teams. Doctors Needed for Gujarat
5. Gujarat Appeal
6. Politics, Religion and Our Ailing Public Institutions (J B D'Souza)
7. Yankee Hindutva's Intellectual.
Who is Narain Kataria and why is he after Shabana Azmi? (Vijay Prashad)

__________________________

#1.

http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/OM-Europarl?PROG=3DPRESS-DAILYNB&L=3DEN&PUB=
REF=3D-//EP//TEXT+PRESS-DAILYNB+DN-20020516-1+0+DOC+SGML+V0//EN&LEVEL=3D2&N=
AV=3DS#SECTION13

European Parliament Concern over violence in the Indian state of Gujarat

Joint motion for a resolution on India
Doc.: B5-0287/2002, B5-0291/2002, B5-0298/2002, B5-0299/2002, B5-0304/2002
Debate : 16.05.2002
Vote : 16.05.2002

Vote

Following the recent outbreak of violence in the Indian state of=20
Gujararat, leading to the loss of more than 900 lives, MEPs adopted a=20
resolution strongly condemning all sectarian violence in India which=20
followed the burning to death of 58 Hindus on a train earlier in the=20
year. There is a call on the Indian government and the State=20
government of Gujararat to continue investigations into the killings=20
with a view to bringing those responsible to justice. The Commission=20
and Council are requested to support the Indian government with=20
relief programmes to the area.

Press enquiries:
Roy Worsley
(Strasbourg) tel.(33) 3 881 74751
(Brussels) tel.(32-2) 28 42941
e-mail : econ-press@e...

________

#2.

The Telegraph, 17 May 2002

CHHOTE MODI LIVES UP TO BADE MODI'S REPUTATION

FROM ASHIS CHAKRABARTI

Ahmedabad, May 17:
Rows of little mud-and-brick houses burnt and pulled down. Only one=20
stands erect and unharmed. The reason: It has "OM" painted on the=20
front wall, signalling that it belonged to a Hindu family.

Another structure survives, though with a blackened hole that a bomb=20
left on its front gate . It is the office of the Jan Sangharsh Manch,=20
a civil rights group that took this slum of 1800 people, mostly=20
Muslims, under its care three years ago. One man called Modi changed=20
all that on March 1, leaving behind the rubble and emptiness where=20
the slum stood for 30 years.

He isn't Narendra Modi, who, as chief minister, was changing the face=20
of Gujarat with blood and fire. The destroyer of this slum in=20
Gomtipur, below the Khokhra railway over-bridge and opposite the=20
walls of the closed Ambica textile mill, is police sub-inspector N.A.=20
Modi. Since his March 1 charge on the slum, he is known in the=20
neighbourhood as "Chhote Modi", whom the saffron brigade hails as a=20
hero and the Muslims denounce as a devil.

The Gomtipur tale is a miniature of the bigger Gujarat story that the=20
bigger Modi scripted in burnt Muslim neighbourhoods, not just houses,=20
in the killing fields of Naroda-Patia, Paldi, Jamalpur, Chamanpura,=20
Bapunagar and scores of other places in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in=20
Gujarat.

Gomtipur has been just a shade different from the usual horror story=20
from Gujarat. It is also the story of heroic resistance by a small=20
band of ordinary men committed to fighting the Hindu communalists and=20
their uniformed vanguards like sub-inspector Modi.

The saffron mob takes the stage before Chhote Modi makes his=20
appearance. On February 28, a crowd of 500 people gather on the=20
Khokhra overbridge and on the compounds of the adjoining railway=20
employees' colony and start attacking the slum with stones. As=20
frightened villagers leaves their homes and huddle in an opening=20
behind their houses, Mohan Bundela, convener of the Manch,=20
frantically calls up Gomtipur thana for help. "I must have made a=20
hundred calls but when three policemen came they only stood watching=20
the crowds who curiously melt away after some time."

Next morning the crowds come better prepared - stormtroopers of the=20
VHP and Bajrang Dal in their saffron headgear and armed with swords,=20
tridents and stones. Enter Modi in his jeep. He is furious with=20
Bundela for trying to protect the slum and its people.

"He told me as a Hindu I should be ashamed to side with the Muslims=20
after the Godhra kand," Bundela recounts.

Modi then goes on to show how Bundela should have stood, not with the=20
slum dwellers, but with the crowd.

Modi, who is in plain clothes, asks his men to take out five cans of=20
diesel from his jeep and hands them over to leaders of the mob. Soon,=20
the slum comes down in flames. Fortunately, the Manch activists=20
feared as much and had moved women and children beforehand out of=20
harm's way. Now, men too run for safety along the railway track and=20
most of them are still in relief camps at Shah Alam dargah in the=20
walled city.

Bundela too flees in his scooter, along with fellow activist Israel,=20
but only to come back later to their one-room office to fight it out=20
against Modi.

The Manch moved the high court against him and got an order issued=20
for an inquiry by a deputy commissioner of police who never came.=20
Modi and his men struck back - first with threats and then with a=20
bomb that damaged the office gate.

"We'd rather die than leave this place, which we know a promoter has=20
been trying to get to build a hotel," Bundela says. He and his Manch=20
colleagues are determined to bring the slum-dwellers back once their=20
houses are rebuilt - and to fight the police officer. Modi refuses to=20
speak because "the matter is in the court".

"You'll hear the same stories of policemen not just standing by but=20
actually taking part in mob violence everywhere," says retired Chief=20
Justice of Rajasthan High Court A.P. Ravani, whose testimony to the=20
National Human Rights Commission against the government's role in the=20
carnage was among the most detailed.

Not just policemen, even ministers led some incidents of violence,=20
either directing mobs on the streets or directing the police from=20
behind. Revenue minister Haren Pandya and civil supplies minister=20
Bharat Barot are known to have been out on the streets with violent=20
mobs on February 28. "Yes, I was in the crowds but not leading them.=20
Actually, I called the police when trouble broke out at Paldi (his=20
constituency)," Pandya told this correspondent.

Two other ministers - Ashok Bhatt and I.K. Jadeja - sat in police=20
control rooms, the former at Ahmedabad and the latter at Gandhinagar=20
- almost through the violence on the 28th. The gory events of the=20
first day of the pogrom showed how they controlled policemen.

Presiding over them all, of course, was chief minister Narendra Modi=20
who called a meeting of senior police officials on 27th evening and=20
reportedly asked them not to use "force" during the next day's bandh,=20
which the VHP had called and the government supported to protest the=20
killing of the "Ramsevaks" at Godhra.

"It's not just the killings, which are one, though the most=20
gruesomely visible, part of state terrorism. It's the subversion of=20
the entire state machinery - the police, bureaucracy, the law and the=20
judiciary. I'm told the chief minister has asked for a list of judges=20
trying to act independently," Ravani says.

Terror, therefore, continues even if major killings have stopped - at=20
least for now.

_____

#3.

Memorandum from women's groups May 1, 2002

Representatives from twenty five women's groups from Gujarat, Delhi,=20
UP and Mumbai who met in Vadodara on May 1 2002 strongly condemn the=20
systematic and horrific violence that has been inflicted upon people=20
in the state and especially upon women and children. We want to place=20
before the nation the nature and extent of violence that has been=20
perpetrated and continues against women. It has been over two months=20
and the fear and insecurity facing people is tremendous. This is=20
compounded by the fact that even large relief camps, the only secure=20
place for those people who have fled murderous mob attacks and which=20
are housing over ten thousand people have faced attacks in Ahmedabad=20
and other places. Several fact-finding reports by both independent=20
teams and by the NHRC provide compelling evidence of sexual violence=20
committed against women. Women have been subjected to brutal forms of=20
sexual assault and many of them were also burnt alive. Many women and=20
children have been witness to mass sexual assault and subsequent=20
murder of their relatives. The trauma of these survivors is bound to=20
be tremendous. In this situation of continuing violence and the=20
complicity of the State in perpetrating this and protecting criminal=20
elements, these criminal acts have gone unreported and unpunished. To=20
further the misery, women are the targets of physical, verbal and=20
sexual abuse in the so-called combing operations being carried out by=20
the police in the wake of the carnage. In addition, camps in several=20
areas are being dismantled and people are being forced to move back=20
to areas where they have run away from, where their homes have been=20
burnt and razed to the ground, where they have seen members of their=20
families and communities stripped, beaten, burnt, raped and=20
mutilated. A Gujarat Government GR has been issued to dismantle all=20
camps by May 31, 2002 yet in Dahod district camps have been=20
dismantled without relocating people in Dahod district. . Where are=20
victimised citizens to go in the absence of a proper rehabilitation=20
plan and assurance of safety. In the situation of the breakdown of=20
administrative machinery in the state and the vulnerability and=20
insecurity with which people are living, we place the following=20
demands =B7
The state should allocate land for people who want to shift from=20
camps into safe localities of their choice and a special=20
rehabilitation package for single women and female headed households.=20
=B7 Relief and rehabilitation packages should be at least=20
comparable to those given to the earthquake affected.
=B7 The State should take complete responsibility for the running=20
and maintenance of the camps in a humane manner. It is imperative=20
that the appalling sanitary conditions be improved and better health=20
care be provided in the camps. Adequate facilities to address the=20
health needs of pregnant women and the trauma of all the camp=20
residents, particularly women, must be provided.
=B7 The camps should not be dismantled without consultation with=20
camp organisers and those living in camps =B7
It is imperative that the appalling sanitary conditions be improved=20
and better health care be provided in the camps. Adequate facilities=20
to address the health needs of pregnant women and the trauma of all=20
the camp residents, particularly women, must be provided.
=B7 FIR=92s should be lodged immediately in all criminal cases.=20
Specifically for cases of violence against women, we strongly=20
recommend setting up of Special Courts to deal with them, with=20
specific reference to rules of evidence as medical examinations were=20
not possible and in many cases the women were burnt and killed. In=20
view of the extraordinary circumstances under which the crimes were=20
committed and evidence that state machinery was not accessible to the=20
victims, there is a need to make the =93normal=94 requirements of a legal=20
process contingent on these factors.
=B7 To ensure impartial assessment of the situation and as a step=20
towards reconciliation and justice we demand that international human=20
rights mechanisms be employed immediately to address the horrific=20
violations of rights of the minority community, with a particular=20
focus on women in the community.
In this regard, we demand that the United Nations Special Rapporteur=20
on Violence against women and other concerned Special Rapporteurs be=20
called in for investigation and assessment.

Signed: Utthan, Ahmedabad TRU, Vadodara Sahiyar, Vadodara Gujarat=20
Forum for Womens Studies, Ahmedabad DKT India, Vadodara Jan Kalyan=20
Seva Samiti Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Ahmedabad PUCL, Vadodara Shanti=20
Abhiyan, Vadodara CSJ, Ahmedabad ANANDI, Bhavnagar, Devgarh Baria=20
SWATI, Dhagandra Mahila Samakhya , Vadodara Ahmedabad community=20
Foundation Olakh, Vadodara SAHRWARU, Ahmedabad Citizens Initiative,=20
Ahmedabad Vanangana, UP FAOW, Mumbai Awaz-e-Niswan, Mumbai Majlis,=20
Mumbai Jagori, Delhi Saheli, Delhi AIDWA, Delhi Nirantar, Delhi Sama,=20
Delhi Ankur, Delhi CHRI, Delhi

_____

#4.

From: sarojini <samasaro@n...>
Subject: Suggestions For Medical Teams.
Dear Friends, All those who would like to visit gujarat and provide=20
medical relief, here are some concrete suggestions. Please inform=20
Bina Srinivasan (email below) and also mark a copy to me. Sarojini

SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDICAL TEAMS. DOCTORS NEEDED:=20
GYNAECOLOGISTS/PAEDIATRICIANS/PSYCHIATRISTS AND GENERAL PHYSICIANS.=20
TEAMS OF SIX PERSONS AT A TIME WILL BE BEST. THE VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED=20
FOR AHMEDABAD, PANCHMAHALS AND DAHOD WHICH IS ABOUT 80 KMS FROM=20
AHMEDABAD. SECURITY IS NOT AN ISSUE IN PANCHMAHALS OR DAHOD. IN=20
AHMEDABAD DOCTORS WILL BE SENT ONLY WHERE IT IS SAFE TO GO.=20
VOLUNTEERS WILL GO WITH LOCAL PEOPLE. IN MOST CAMPS ONLY EXTERNAL=20
EXAMINATIONS CAN BE CONDUCTED. FOR OTHER KINDS OF EXAMINATIONS WE=20
WILL SET UP SOME KIND OF INFRASTRUCTURE. WE WILL ALSO MAKE NECESSARY=20
ARRANGEMENTS IF SURGRIES ARE REQUIRED TO BE DONE. IT IS BEST TO BRING=20
MEDICINES AND THINGS LIKE GLOVES, SPECULUMS AND SO ON. ANTI-TB DRUGS=20
AND ANTIBIOTICS ARE NEEDED. CONTACT PERSON: Bina Srinivasan. Phone=20
Nos: (o): 079-6300279, (h): 079-5631462. Mobile: 98253-50897. Email:=20
binasr@i... SAMA J-59, Saket, 2nd Floor, New Delhi 110017 Ph:=20
+91 11 6968972

_____

#5.

EPW Letter to Editor
May 11, 2002

Gujarat Appeal

Violence in Gujarat has dealt a body blow not only to its=20
direct victims, but also to the image of India as a composite and=20
pluralist society. Thousands need help to rebuild their lives. The=20
Press Institute of India, on behalf of the media, appeals to Indians,=20
wherever they are, to demonstrate to the people of Gujarat and the=20
world that we care, that we stand behind them; and that we will help=20
to rebuild not only their homes and livelihoods, but also mutual=20
confidence and trust. Your cheques may be made out to any of the=20
following:

Aman Ekta Manch, C/o Jagori, C-54, South Extension Part-I,=20
New Delhi-110048. Citizen's Initiative, Opposite St Xaviers School,=20
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009. Action Aid India Society, Action Aid,=20
71 Uday Park, New Delhi-110049.

Ajit Bhattacharjea
New Delhi

_____

#6.

EPW Commentary
May 11, 2002

Politics, Religion and Our Ailing Public Institutions

It would, of course, be naive to imagine that the corrosion of our=20
political life could be arrested simply by tightening up=20
law-enforcement. And yet one can't escape the conclusion that the=20
accelerating erosion of our public institutions, the apathy of the=20
judges and the death of professionalism in the civil services -=20
particularly the last of them - are matters of far more concern than=20
the inroads of religion into the nation's politics.
J B D'Souza

Some 65 years ago, still some years before I abandoned religion, I=20
regularly attended services at a Catholic church. Even in those=20
British days there used to be regular elections to the Bombay=20
Municipal Corporation. At one of these elections there were two=20
contestants for our area, both Christian. One of them was young=20
Joachim Alva, a Congressman; the other, a good friend of the parish=20
priest. It was during this poll campaign that our priest suddenly=20
interrupted the service to yell from the pulpit: "Congress is nothing=20
but Communism". That settled his parishioners' vote. After all, the=20
priest spoke only the word of God, so Communism, and Congress, could=20
be only the work of the devil.

For me that trivial incident began the intrusion of religion into=20
politics, and I have watched it grow ever since. So at a seminar in=20
Mumbai on the March 27, I confidently answered 'No' to the question=20
before us: 'Politics of Religion: Can We Get Rid of It?' The seminar=20
was less an expression of revulsion against the mixture of politics=20
and religion than a Congress Party effort to embarrass the BJP after=20
the Gujarat tragedies, but it didn't altogether work out that way.

Whatever you do, religion will affect politics, at times even=20
dominate it, particularly in this country. Fifty years after=20
independence our people still suffer untold hardship. Two to three=20
hundred million of them cannot afford even two meals a day, although=20
they might spend nothing on clothes, shelter, medical care or=20
transport. About half that number don't have safe water to drink.=20
About half our adult population are illiterate. And yet widespread=20
misery agitates our people far less intensely than even=20
pseudo-religious issues that arise out of festival celebrations, cow=20
slaughter, the declaration of religious holidays, the construction of=20
temples, mosques and gurdwaras, or the destruction of those built=20
illegally.

In our indifference to our own economic welfare we Indians are not=20
alone. In the early 1930s Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that a=20
political leader could never arouse a people on the basis of their=20
economic misery - at that time the Germans were in a pathetic=20
condition. So Hitler picked on the Jews as an object of hate, to=20
unite the German nation behind him. Are we in India too choosing a=20
set of scapegoats, choosing a similar route to destruction by letting=20
religion dominate our politics?

For some of our otherwise bankrupt politicians religious pretences=20
can offer remarkable gains. After a shortlived flirtation with=20
cartooning, Bal Thackeray began in the early 1960s to attack south=20
Indian immigrants into Bombay. That attracted a large lumpen=20
following, which welcomed their master's preachings as a good excuse=20
to loot Udipi restaurants and other south Indian establishments.=20
Thackeray's was an economic issue: South Indians were competently=20
filling jobs in Bombay that unqualified Maharashtrians could not.=20
However, all his eloquence got him too little mileage, so by 1968 he=20
set his eyes on the Mysore-Maharashtra territorial dispute. Belgaum=20
suddenly became vital to Maharashtra's survival. On January 18, 1969=20
he declared that if Indira Gandhi didn't award Belgaum to Maharashtra=20
in a week, no central ministers would be allowed into Bombay. I=20
haven't noticed that in the last 33 years the ministers of the centre=20
have avoided Bombay.

Obviously that issue didn't do him much good, so in 1992 Thackeray=20
jumped on to Ayodhya for a cause, and to Muslims for persecution.=20
With greater success than before. You will remember the horrors of=20
1992-93, and how they brought Thackeray into national prominence. One=20
bit of wisdom that fell from his lips: "After independence India=20
belongs to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, etc, can stay, but=20
must accept that India belongs to Hindus". To add to his otherwise=20
doubtful appeal, he dyed his clothes saffron and put on a rosary of=20
beads, in an attempt to look religious.

What about our secular Constitution and the laws we have, to=20
discourage the intrusion of religion into political campaigning?=20
Thackeray himself suffered a six-year disqualification for breaking=20
one of those laws in the heat of electioneering.

No Constitution can effectively fence off a country's politics from=20
religious prejudice. The American Constitution is even clearer than=20
ours in its effort to distance governance from religion. This is what=20
it says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of=20
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Yet American=20
politics has suffered bitter intrusions of religious issues - prayer=20
in schools, and abortion, to name just two. Some of the most bigoted=20
religious preachers on TV in the US have been courted by presidential=20
candidates. One of them even aspired to the presidency.

In our country Narendra Modi has quite forgotten his oath of=20
allegiance to the Constitution. He prefers to quote Newton's law of=20
action and reaction to justify the brutal pogrom Gujarat inflicted on=20
its Muslims. But neither Newton nor Einstein ever predicted a=20
reaction over 20 times larger than the first action. And if Modi's=20
allegiance to the Constitution might strike you as shaky, how do you=20
regard Advani's? I heard him answer in parliament for the Gujarat=20
atrocities: What about the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in Delhi, asked=20
India's home minister in reply to opposition charges. So, under this=20
Constitution, I, responsible for law and order in India, defend the=20
killing of thousands under Gujarat's BJP regime because you, the=20
Congress, let 3,000 Sikhs be killed in Delhi 18 years ago. Talking of=20
defence, our defence minister's loathsome utterances in parliament -=20
that the public splitting open of women's insides is so common in our=20
country - must have filled all decent citizens with revulsion.

Neither the Constitution nor the laws our law-makers enact from time=20
to time under the delusion that they thereby solve serious problems,=20
can keep religion out of politics. Nor need we dread the mix, if we=20
have leadership that is moral, honest and sincere, leadership=20
committed to the common man's welfare, leadership that has been=20
missing in India ever since Lal Bahadur Shastri died. Since then we=20
have had to suffer either leaders like Charan Singh, who, when asked=20
for his views on a particular subject, said he would have to ask his=20
followers, or leaders like Indira Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee,=20
who have totally identified the good of the nation with their own=20
survival.

Let me not leave you with a totally negative answer to the question=20
before us. Even with the leadership we are doomed to suffer, the=20
intrusion of religion need not mean the end of India. When they go to=20
vote, Indians - and that means Hindus, since they are in so large a=20
majority - choose carefully. In just the last few weeks, after the=20
Hindutva forces had played up the Ayodhya temple theme for all it was=20
worth, the BJP was trounced in elections in UP, Uttaranchal, Manipur,=20
Punjab and Delhi itself. And yet, lest we delude ourselves into=20
reliance on our voters' good sense, we have to remember the kinds of=20
options voters face. At the recent UP polls for some 400 seats, no=20
less than 965 candidates had a criminal track record. Nearer home,=20
the 220 seats in our Mumbai Municipal Corporation attracted 250=20
criminals - 45 of them Shiv Sainiks (in the lead, of course), 33 NCP,=20
23 Samajwadi, 20 Congress and 11 BJP, the rest independent. Who knows=20
how many of our MPs have similar track records?

Rather than blame religion for horrors of the kind perpetrated in=20
Gujarat in February and March, we have to recognise the failure of=20
leadership and the breakdown of public institutions in our country,=20
specially the judicial system, and the civil services, including the=20
police. With persistence, determination and unfortunately with=20
success too, Indira Gandhi set about undermining the law-enforcement=20
establishment. An endeavour which her successors have continued with=20
vigour. "As one who has served in the IAS for over two decades, I=20
feel great shame at the abdication of duty of my peers in the civil=20
and police administration", Harsh Mander writes about the Gujarat=20
tragedy. "The law required them to act independently, fearlessly,=20
impartially, decisively, with courage and compassion. If even one=20
official had so acted in Ahmedabad, she or he could have deployed the=20
police forces and called in the army to halt the violence. I have=20
heard senior officials blame the communalism of the police=20
constabulary for their connivance in the violence. The same forces=20
have been known to act with impartiality and courage when led by=20
officers of integrity." Having myself joined the IAS in 1947, when I=20
served in the Punjab during the partition riots, I too hang my head=20
in shame.

District magistrates and senior police officers in Gujarat who=20
neglected their duty under the law must be prosecuted. Instead,=20
Narendra Modi will promote them. In Mumbai the delinquent police=20
commissioner who sat in contemplation while about 1,000 live were=20
lost during the 1992-93 riots moved up into the Public Service=20
Commission. His joint commissioner, indicted for murder of Muslims,=20
soon became the city's commissioner.

And the judiciary? (Here one has to tread with care, however grave=20
one's misgivings. Truth, our judges tell us, is no defence against a=20
contempt charge. I learned to think that respect had to be earned,=20
not demanded, but that lesson is now obsolete.) The criminal justice=20
system creaks along at a miserably slow pace, specially when it deals=20
with Narasimha Raos, Satish Sharmas, Harshad Mehtas, or Laloo Prasad=20
Yadavs. There is hardly an instance where ministers or top-level=20
bureaucrats are jailed for their crimes. Delay makes the suborning of=20
witnesses a routine practice, so that conviction and punishment are=20
rare. Nor is anyone unduly bothered about these endemic delays. Our=20
judges continue to work at a leisurely pace, with vacations lavishly=20
interrupting their working time. They are liberal in staying the=20
operation of decisions, in granting adjournments, and in allowing=20
lawyers to spin out their arguments for weeks, even months. So you=20
have in Mumbai the cruel protraction of the bomb blasts case of 1993,=20
which has kept a large number of Muslim undertrials in jail for eight=20
years, while practically none of the Hindu criminals who perpetrated=20
the brutal riots before the blasts have suffered. The superior courts=20
don't seem to mind. The 1984 Congress-inspired killings of Sikhs in=20
Delhi have also gone unpunished. At the seminar on March 27, the=20
Youth Congress president complacently told us that three Congress=20
leaders who inspired those murders have now disappeared from=20
prominence in the Congress - as if that were sufficient penalty for=20
their crimes.

It would, of course, be naive to imagine that the corrosion of our=20
political life could be arrested simply by tightening up=20
law-enforcement. And yet one can't escape the conclusion that the=20
accelerating erosion of our public institutions, the apathy of our=20
judges, and the death of professionalism in the civil services,=20
particularly the last of them - these are matters of far more serious=20
concern than the inroads of religion into the nation's politics.

Another 60-year old story: I recall with nostalgia an example of=20
commitment that has stayed vividly in my memory. Bombay suffered a=20
wild, destructive cyclone in the 1940s. We then lived in an old house=20
at Versova beach, isolated from other habitation by a 100 yard-long=20
drive. About mid-day, while the rain poured in torrents and the wind=20
roared and we speculated whether our roof would weather the storm or=20
be blown off, we suddenly spotted a slight crouching figure pushing=20
his way doggedly down the drive against the wind, drenched to the=20
skin. It was our humble postman, come to deliver a single letter.

Where shall I look for that dedication, that professionalism, at any=20
level of the services today?

_____

#7.

Yankee Hindutva's Intellectual.
Who is Narain Kataria and why is he after Shabana Azmi?

Vijay Prashad
Little India
17 May 2002.

Narain Kataria's Indian Americans for Truth and Fairness in Media=20
(IATFM) sends out a notice that it will conduct a protest of a book=20
reading in New York on 21 May 2002. The note threatens the reading=20
itself, but principally its most well known participant, the film=20
star Shabana Azmi.

Shabana Azmi, the note fulminates, "is a strange blend of a=20
fundamentalist Moslem woman and a diehard Communist, out to defame=20
Hindus and tarnish the image of India." Furthermore, "this crafty=20
woman suffers from Hindu phobia and needs urgent counseling."

That IATFM stands for "truth" is extraordinary on many counts. For=20
one, there are numerous errors of fact in the note, about her movies,=20
and then about the role that the Hindutva Right was most incensed=20
about - in Earth. The error here is strange, mainly because Earth, in=20
which Ms. Azmi did not act, is about the terror of partition, whereas=20
Water, a movie unmade because of the churlishness of the Hindutva=20
Right, has "a Hindu widow in Varanasi 100 years ago." If a group=20
wedded to "truth" cannot establish the basic facts, it should be=20
impossible for us to believe its grotesque value judgments.

"Shabana is born with an animus against Hindu society," says the=20
note, telling us that her parents, "Kaifi Azmi and Shaukat Azmi [are]=20
both hard core communists." What the note does not say is that Kaifi=20
Azmi recently died, and brought tears to most of the nation and its=20
diaspora. That the IATFM decides to go after Ms. Azmi now is a mark=20
of extremely poor taste. "When a person comes to weakness, whether it=20
be through old age or disease, the person is free from these limbs=20
just as a mango, a fig or a berry releases itself from its stalk"=20
(Brihadharanyaka Upanishad, Yajurveda, 4. 3. 36) - the ethic of grief=20
is given to all people and Mr. Kataria breaks with the ethos of the=20
ancient Vedas with his lack of empathy.

That Ms. Azmi is close to the communists is not something that=20
Shabana Azmi has ever hidden. Yes, she works with the oppressed among=20
Mumbai's slum-dwellers. And certainly, Ms. Azmi has taken the side of=20
the freedom of expression, a sacrosanct right of artists - her moving=20
speech at the National Film Awards just a few days after Safdar=20
Hashmi was brutally killed by Congress Party militants in 1989 is=20
only one sign of her commitment. There is nothing to hide in these=20
relationships and I have never heard her discount them as she's=20
visited the US. There is no question of duplicity (according to=20
Kataria, "In India she hobnobs with followers of Lenin and Stalin.=20
When in USA, she struts around as a progressive Moslem woman") -=20
there is no contradiction between Indian communism and progressivism,=20
between those who want to stop dams and those who want a modern=20
future.

That Kataria calls Ms. Azmi a fundamentalist must come as a shock to=20
Imam Bukhari, who only recently, on a national television show,=20
called her nachne ganewali tawaif (prostitute). That this so-called=20
leader of the Indian Muslims can stoop to such levels of misogyny=20
should give pause to any notion of a unified Muslim community of=20
which Ms. Azmi is a part - the rifts in Islam are a wide as those=20
that separate Mr. Kataria from me. When asked by Lalitha Panicker=20
what her views are on political representation, Ms. Azmi brushed=20
aside the sectarian idea that only the orthodoxy in a religious=20
community must represent its people (one of the hallmarks of=20
fundamentalism): "What are the issues that concern the average=20
Muslim? Roti kapda, makaan, education, health, the same as any=20
average Hindu, Christian, Sikh etc. The self-appointed fundamentalist=20
leaders do not provide any solutions for this, they reinforce only=20
the communal aspects of Muslim identity using rhetoric to whip up=20
communal frenzy and rage. The moderate, on the other hand, speaks=20
about education, employment, health. The fundamentalist is only=20
reinforcing the stereotype and perpetuating [Samuel] Huntington's=20
clash of civilizations theory."

But let us take the spotlight off Shabana Azmi and ask whom Narain=20
Kataria represents?

He claims to be the secretary of the Indian American Intellectuals'=20
Forum in this note, but he is much more than that.

Mr. Kataria is a long-time member of the Overseas Friends of the=20
Bharatiya Janata Party, a senior member of the group that runs the=20
VHPA-allied Indian Development Relief Fund, a senior figure in the=20
Bajrang Dal/Meir Kahane-linked Hindu Unity Group (whose website posts=20
a "hit list"), the Organizing Secretary of the Hindu Swayamsevak=20
Sangh (the overseas wing of the RSS) and a contributor to the RSS's=20
paper, Organiser.

The Indian American Intellectuals' Forum is a Hindutva organization=20
whose members include: Jagat Motwani, Sardar Inderjit Singh, Raksh=20
Pal Sood, Arvind Gupta, Arish Sahani, Ravi Kulkarni, Romesh Diwan,=20
Narindar Kukar, Dinesh Agarwal, Rakesh Shreedhar and many others.=20
Messrs. Singh and Sood are from the Sikh Sangat of America (an=20
organization from Edison, NJ, that is part of the Sikh-Hindu alliance=20
organized by the Hindutva groups, and which held a Hindu-Sikh Unity=20
Celebration in Edison on 8 November 1997). Messrs. Agarwal and Sahani=20
are from the Overseas Friends of the BJP. At their gathering on=20
conversions and missionaries, the chief guest was the VHP's External=20
Working President (and Chairman of Mody Industrial Group), Dr.=20
Bhupendra Kumar Mody. The surprise in the list is Jagat Motwani, head=20
of GOPIO.

To get a sense of Mr. Kataria's importance in the world of Hindutva,=20
we might eavesdrop on the HSS's Hindu Sangathan Divas of 1999 in New=20
York City. As organizing chief of the HSS, Mr. Kataria took a=20
leadership role in the meeting, where the head of the HSS told the=20
six hundred people in attendance that the Hindu Empire extended from=20
Afghanistan to Indonesia, and that there is a chance for a revival if=20
Hindus remain united. If you think this is the world of the=20
crackpots, bear in mind that not a moment later, the Consul General=20
of India in New York, Mrs. Shashi Tripathi took the stage, extolled=20
the armed forces and called the Kargil war "a little bit of a=20
pinprick." "Our armed forces are very strong," she continued. "They=20
have been taken unaware. But it does not matter. They will soon throw=20
the enemy out of our country."

The Intellectuals' Forum made an entry into the world of US electoral=20
politics on 16 April 2000, when it held a forum in New York City=20
entitled "Democracy vs. Terrorism," and hosted, for a fund-raiser,=20
conservative Republican Congressman Benjamin Gilman (New York) - who=20
is militantly against China, for missile defense and along the grain=20
of every single foreign policy position of Hindutva. At the forum,=20
Dr. Romesh Diwan, an economist from Rensselaer, noted, "latest=20
studies suggest that 50 million Indians were killed during the=20
Islamic domination of India and 200 million Indian were done to death=20
during British rule." Based on these fantastic facts, the forum=20
concluded, "Nexus among terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism and drug=20
trafficking is posing a serious threat to civilized and egalitarian=20
societies and must be destroyed." The waters must first be muddied=20
with a suggestion of "Islamic" atrocities in the past (that these=20
Muslim rulers made alliances with Hindus and killed both the Muslim=20
and Hindu working people is beyond the sufferance of Hindutva), and=20
then the intellectuals of Yankee Hindutva toss in words like=20
"terrorism" and "drug trafficking" to make the case finally that=20
Islam is bad news.

A few years ago, Biju Mathew and I wrote an article entitled "The=20
Protean Forms of Yankee Hindutva," in which we argued that Yankee=20
Hindutva creates a multitude of forms that seek to address various=20
parts of our lives in the US, at the same times as these many avatars=20
seek to hide the mainspring of its agenda - to create a "Hindu=20
American" community that is a long-distance supporter of the Hindutva=20
Right in India. Mr. Kataria's role in several of these organizations=20
is one more indicator of the protean forms.

But like his comrades in the Yankee Hindutva movement, Mr. Kataria=20
betrays a host of the yamas that enjoin an ethics to people who=20
subscribe of Hinduism: where is his arjava, his honesty, his satya,=20
his truth, his kshama, his tolerance and patience, and finally, his=20
ahimsa, his lack of violence?

The attack on Ms. Azmi is a travesty and it comes from the bowels of=20
the Hindutva movement. If Gujarat must not become the future face of=20
India, let Mr. Kataria's antics not become the future face of the=20
desi diaspora!

--=20
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