[sacw] SACW | 29 August 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | 29 August 2002

__________________________

#1. This only proves religion is the best way to fool the poor (Taslima Nas=
rin)
+ Hindustan Times Editorial on the ban on Taslima's Book
#2. Medievalism and Pakistan's madrassas (Nadeem Iqbal)
#3. Our democratic deficit (Praful Bidwai)
#4. Terror Triumphal in Gujarat (I.K.Shukla)
#5. Motherland's enemies (Dominic Emmanuel)
#6. Public Meet: Creative Community Against Religious Separatism (29=20
Aug, New Delhi)
#7. 'The Men in the Tree' [A documentary on the RSS] by Lalit Vachani
+ [article on the film] 'RSS without make-up' (Sagarika Ghose)
#8. Film Screening : In God's Own Country : environmentalist's war=20
against the use of toxic 'endosulfan' (New Delhi, 31 Aug.)
#9. Latest issues of India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARM=
W)

__________________________

#1.

The Times of India
August 29, 2002
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=3D20399273

This only proves religion is the best way to fool the poor
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2002 11:45:17 PM ]
TASLIMA NASRIN
I heard in the morning that my book, Uthal Haowa (Wild Wind), has=20
been banned in Bangladesh.
The reason that was put forward by the government was that my book=20
had destroyed the socio-political amity of the country.
And that there were anti-Islamic statements in my book. The first=20
part of my autobiography, Amar Meyebela, was also banned in=20
Bangladesh. Both these books chronicle my life. I have just one thing=20
to say in this regard. You have no freedom of expression in=20
Bangladesh.
I have penned my views on politics, society and religion and they=20
need not necessarily match the views of the government. If there is=20
democracy in a country, a citizen will have the freedom to talk his=20
mind out.
What Bangladesh offers in the name of democracy is farce. It is no=20
democracy at all. Elected politicians act like dictators. But this is=20
nothing new for Bangladesh. Ever since 1971 when Bangladesh became=20
independent, this has been continuing there. Various political=20
parties use religion as a pawn to garner votes. Religion is the best=20
tool with which you can fool the unlettered, the poor.
The government has taken away from me my right to citizenship. No=20
government allows me to go to Bangladesh. Whichever party has come to=20
power has tried to throttle my voice. They are trying to show that=20
they are doing all this to protect their religion. I understand, this=20
will help them win votes.
But this is only going to push the country back by a thousand years.=20
The possibility of Bangladesh ever becoming a secular state is being=20
destroyed by such acts.
Can you call a country a democracy where freedom of speech is not=20
encouraged? Is it possible to dream of a healthy society in such a=20
country? Never. No wonder political terror is pushing the country to=20
the brink of devastation.
Murders are rampant, women are being raped, they are committing=20
suicide. Ever since religion was made the guiding force of=20
nation-building, torture on humanity has been on the rise.=20
Fundamentalism destroys the amity between people. If this is not=20
criticised, we will not have right-thinking people around. Without=20
this, religious sentiments will keep a nation years behind in=20
everything.

o o o

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/290802/detEDI03.shtml

The Hindustan Times (New Delhi)
Thursday, August 29, 2002=20=20
Editorial
=09=20
Shame

In his book of essays, The Imam and the Indian, Amitav Ghosh says=20
that both Bengali and Bangladeshi culture have "a very powerful=20
tradition of secularist thought". Taslima Nasreen is a product of=20
this tradition. "For all their visibility, the religious extremists=20
represent a tiny majority of the population in Bangla-desh," wrote=20
Ghosh in the mid-Nineties.

But it now seems that the extremist current remains strong in the=20
subcontinent. This retrograde trend has been proved yet again by the=20
ban on Ms Nasreen's new book Utal Hawa (Gusty Wind) in Bangladesh, in=20
the same manner as her earlier books have been banned. It's clear=20
which way the wind is blowing in the land of Padma and Meghna.

Ms Khalida Zia's camaraderie with Muslim fundamentalists has been=20
much too evident over the years. Also evident is the not-so-subtle=20
mix of a dictatorial streak with orthodox Islamic doctrines - as in=20
many parts of the Arab world. Hence the ban on Ms Nasreen's book is=20
all the more predictable. A regime which celebrates the most=20
retrogressive notions of public life has no option but to clamp down=20
on creative dissent. The only silver lining in this abysmal scenario=20
is that such bans almost always boomerang. Besides, it's a sure-fire=20
way of getting readers to buy a banned book.

Surprisingly, the first banned book by Ms Nasreen, Lajja (Shame), was=20
pirated in bulk in India and happily distributed by Hindu=20
fundamentalists. The book was a documentary narrative of the=20
xenophobic violence inflicted on minority Hindus by Muslim extremists=20
in Bangladesh. The backdrop was the Babri masjid demolition. Even the=20
most innocent reader could see that Ms Nasreen was making a scathing=20
attack on both Hindu and Muslim revivalists; that she stands for=20
women's freedom and secular rationality and abhors racism and sexism.=20
That is the reason why she was hounded. That is also the reason why=20
her new book has been banned.

_____

#2.

Asia Times
August 29, 2002

Medievalism and Pakistan's madrassas
By Nadeem Iqbal

ISLAMABAD - To win the favor of heaven, 45-year-old Muhammad Mazhar,=20
a taxi driver, enrolled his youngest son in a religious seminary, or=20
madrassa, and his eldest in a secular school. Today, Mazhar's eldest=20
son, 20, is in the first year of a chartered accountancy course,=20
considered a good career in this South Asian country. His youngest=20
son, 15, is learning the Koran by rote.
By sending at least one male child to religious education, Mazhar is=20
following a rural tradition prevalent among poor families and earning=20
the blessing of Allah. Also, room and board at the madrassa is free,=20
an important consideration. But is Mazhar doing the right thing by=20
his son?
That is a question that has taken on new importance as Pakistan=20
grapples with the meaning of religious identity and education in the=20
aftermath of September 11. Part of that self-examination process has=20
taken the form of a movement aimed at reforming the madrassa=20
tradition of religious education. It is time, say some officials and=20
experts, to improve both the quality of education at madrassas and to=20
encourage more enrollment in the mainstream schools.
But reforming religious education is far from a simple matter.=20
Currently there are some one million to 1.7 million students enrolled=20
in madrassas in Pakistan, most of them between the ages of five to 18=20
and from poor families.
Some students are eager to learn more subjects. Fourteen-year-old=20
Abdul Ghafar, who goes to the Shah Faisal Jamai Islamiamadrassa here,=20
says he is studying how to interpret the Koran and use it in everyday=20
problems. But "a student must also be studying English and science",=20
he says.
In fact, for the country's top poet Ahmad Faraz, many madrassas are=20
beyond reform. "These madrassa should be abolished and an option be=20
given to students in the secular schools that whoever wants to get=20
special Islamic education could opt for those subjects," says Faraz,=20
who also heads the National Book Foundation that prepares textbooks.
So far, the government's most recent effort, over more than eight=20
months, to make the teaching methods in some 10,000 Islamic schools=20
"market intensive" flopped. It is caught between two forces: a=20
religious clergy lobby and calls for reforms under international=20
pressure in the post-September 11 environment.
Attempts to reform the madrassas are far from new, and under the=20
current military government include a law passed in August last year=20
that created a Madrassa Education Board.
That law aims to have Islamic education along with subjects of=20
general education system, while maintaining its autonomous character.=20
The law requires the registration, regulation, standardization and=20
uniformity of curricula and standards inmadrassas.
An education official said that the program of introducing new=20
curriculum in madrassas - the result of a survey of religious schools=20
- was in fact devised in 2000.
But reform efforts today have been complicated by pressures from=20
abroad. Sensing foreign and Western forces behind current reforms,=20
the religious lobby in Pakistan is digging in. There was also some=20
controversy about the reforms with the resignation as religious=20
minister in early August of Dr Mehmood Ghazi.
Ghazi quit after he failed to bring the religious lobby on board a=20
draft law that would introduce registration of madrassas with the=20
government and scrutiny of the foreign funds they receive, which=20
mostly comes from Arab countries. The registration of madrassas is=20
actually part of the Madrassa Board ordinance passed last year.
The government also asked the religious schools to teach English and=20
science, for which it promised to provide textbooks and teachers on=20
the state's payroll.
The reforms would also bar schools from teaching religious hatred or=20
extremism, prevent them from enrolling foreign students below the age=20
of 18 and require them to receive official clearance before enrolling=20
any older foreign student.
These are part of the government's efforts to curb religious=20
extremism, which President General Pervez Musharraf in August called=20
a scourge on Pakistan and Islam. Pakistan's interior ministry=20
estimates that 10 to 15 percent of madrassas might have links with=20
internal sectarian strife or militant, terrorist activities outside,=20
and in the past they gave birth to the Taliban.
The World Bank in Pakistan's Country Assistance Strategy, issued in=20
June, estimates that 15 to 20 percent of religious schools are=20
involved in military-related training or teachings.
In an interview, Ghazi declined to say that he resigned because of=20
his failure to push religious education reforms. But of the religious=20
lobby, he says, "They have certain reservations regarding future=20
independence and autonomy of religious education."
Wary of a backlash, the government did not promulgate the=20
registration law at once but made the draft public and said it would=20
be enforced within a week. Still, objections from the religious lobby=20
forced it to defer the plan indefinitely.
Now this task has been assigned to the interior ministry, headed by a=20
retired army general. That brings to four the ministries involved in=20
madrassa reform, apart from the foreign office, the religious=20
ministry and the education ministry.
In early August, a meeting with religious leaders convened by=20
Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider set up a committee of three=20
government representatives and six ulama (scholars) to review the=20
proposed law. No deadline was set for amending it.
Mufti Munibur Rahman, a spokesman for the Alliance of Religious=20
Schools, says that the committee was told that the religious=20
leadership would not accept restrictions on the religious schools'=20
independence. He said that curbing the admission of foreign students=20
below the age of 18 years old would harm Pakistan's status as an=20
Islamic state.
But in a July report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said that=20
reforming religious schools was not only about religion or curbing=20
extremism, but the larger goal of giving relevant education to=20
Pakistanis.
"Madrassas have a long history in Pakistan and in Muslim societies=20
generally," its report said. "They serve socially important proposes=20
and it is reasonable for a government to seek to modernize and adapt=20
rather than eliminate them."
The report, titled "Madrassa, Extremism and the Military",=20
recommended that foreign aid to Pakistani education stress the=20
rebuilding of a secular system that had been allowed to decay for=20
three decades. It added, "Militancy is only a part of the madrassa=20
problem. The phenomenon of jihad is independent of madrassas and most=20
jihadis do not come from these schools.
"Pro-jihad madrassas only play a supporting role mainly as a=20
recruiting ground for militant movements. Most madrassas do not=20
impart military training or education, but they do sow the seeds of=20
extremism in the minds of the students."
(Inter Press Service)

_____

#3.

The News International
August 29, 2002-

Our democratic deficit

Praful Bidwai

As we approach the first anniversary of September 11, and the third=20
anniversary of General Pervez Musharraf's coup d'etat, it is useful=20
to recount the import of the momentous developments South Asia has=20
recently experienced.

If the May 1998 nuclear tests were a turning point because they made=20
the spectre of a nuclear catastrophe in this region very real and=20
effectively internationalised the Kashmir issue, today's conjuncture=20
highlights the grave uncertainties that the India-Pakistan standoff=20
poses within the triangular Washington-New Delhi-Islamabad=20
relationship-in the context of today's tumultuous, strife-torn world=20
situation.

On a broad, somewhat simplified, overview, Pakistan has domestically=20
gone through two cycles of hope and disillusionment-despair over=20
three years. By contrast, India's trajectory has followed a more=20
linear, largely downward, course. The interaction between the two=20
trends has not been pleasant for the two peoples.

The first cycle began with Musharraf's promise to clean up Pakistan's=20
political system, left in unspeakably bad shape by rampant=20
misgovernance, monumental corruption and institutional decay by four=20
spells of civilian rule. Two of his promised policies generated hope:=20
cleansing Pakistan of the obscurantist, viciously retrograde,=20
influence of religious fundamentalists, and bringing the rich and=20
corrupt to book.

These proclaimed policies encouraged sections of Pakistan's liberals=20
and progressives to cooperate with and place faith in Musharraf.=20
Externally, Musharraf offered nuclear restraint to India through his=20
proposal for a South Asian nuclear weapons-free zone.

By autumn 2000, both his domestic policies had run aground. The=20
campaign to recover long-overdue taxes and unpaid loans was quickly=20
abandoned. And attempts to marginalise and isolate Islamist zealots=20
in the application of blasphemy laws were jettisoned owing to=20
resistance from the Religious Right.

Externally, thanks partly to hostility from the most conservative and=20
rabidly communal government in independent India's history, there was=20
little progress in relieving mutual tensions already exacerbated by=20
the Kargil war.

By the end of 2000, Pakistan seemed set on the course of increased=20
marginalisation in world affairs with a broken economy. India=20
realigned its global stance to become a junior client-partner of the=20
United States, and raised its profile in Global Capital's "New=20
Economy" (a bubble since deflated). But there was retrenchment of US=20
interest in Pakistan. Pakistan seemed to be powerfully vindicating=20
the peace movement's argument that nuclear weapons don't give you=20
prestige, global salience or greater room for diplomatic manoeuvre.

Then came September 11 and America's Afghanistan war-and another=20
cycle of hope. 9/11 opened up a landmark opportunity for change.=20
Wisely, Musharraf overnight abandoned the Taliban and the old=20
Afghanistan policy of seeking "strategic depth" through control of=20
the western neighbour. Islamabad became an invaluable, irreplaceable,=20
US ally, and a worthy recipient of foreign aid.

Musharraf vowed to physically wipe out jehadi militants,=20
ideologically eliminate Islamic fundamentalism, and put Pakistan=20
firmly on the road to moderation, modernity, and democratisation. He=20
was encouraged by the absence of a popular domestic revolt against=20
the US action in Afghanistan. But he seemed internally driven to=20
reform Pakistan too.

By January 12, Musharraf was threatening to sever Pakistan's foreign=20
and security policy from a bigoted Islamist perspective that=20
justifies the killing of innocents in the name of "national=20
liberation" or other "holy" causes. He also promised full=20
democratisation. And despite his insistence on an exceptional status=20
for Kashmir ("it runs through our veins"), he made offers of=20
reconciliation, which New Delhi could refuse only by imitating US and=20
Israeli stances against "terrorism", especially post-December 13.

Today, at least from across the border, Musharraf's promised reforms=20
appear to lie in tatters. Most important, Musharraf has arbitrarily=20
imposed an authoritarian Constitution upon the nation, with 29=20
amendments "passed" without public approval. If his April referendum=20
lacked credibility, his latest decrees are of a piece with his=20
earlier assumption of Pakistan's presidency. This enormous=20
concentration of power in his person-for a long five=20
years-comprehensively betrays the hope that he would revive and=20
revamp vital institutions of the state and improve their=20
accountability, thus preparing them for Pakistan's return to full,=20
proper democracy.

These recent developments represent a massive setback to the cause of=20
democracy based on people's participation and sovereign control over=20
their rulers. "Sustainable democracy" sounds no different from and no=20
more felicitous than "guided" or "basic" democracy.

It can be argued that US indulgence and Indian intransigence have=20
contributed in a major way to this setback. This is without doubt=20
true, to an extent. Bush's response to Musharraf's assumption of=20
sweeping powers is unforgettable: "He is still tight with us in the=20
war against terror, and that is what I appreciate. He understands=20
that we have got to keep al-Qaeda on the run..." This starkly shows=20
the US has no wider options today vis-a-vis Musharraf than it did=20
vis-a-vis Ziaul Haq during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

As for India's meagre and often mean-spirited response to Musharraf's=20
gestures, this Column has been sharply, consistently critical of it=20
despite its opposition to the use of violence against civilians in=20
the Kashmir Valley or India. India lacks a casus belli against=20
Pakistan. Its case for mobilising 700,000 troops at the border is=20
deeply flawed.

Yet, precisely because New Delhi enjoys unprecedented influence with=20
today's Republican administration-thanks to its=20
more-loyal-than-the-king support to US policies, from "war on terror"=20
to Ballistic Missile Defence-it has not been restrained and asked to=20
demobilise the border build-up despite the grim threat it poses. This=20
has produced resentment in Pakistan.

All this notwithstanding, the plain truth is that Musharraf has not=20
even begun to reduce Pakistan's dependence on fundamentally=20
conservative and unaccountable agencies like the ISI as regards the=20
country's India and Kashmir policies, nor to dismantle the whole=20
ideological, political, military and logistical infrastructure that=20
sustains them. This dismantling would be in the Pakistani people's=20
interest and supportive of democratisation irrespective of Indian=20
intransigence or the Kashmir situation. The military has a definite=20
stake in keeping Kashmir on the boil-and in delaying/subverting=20
democratisation.

The political setback in India should not be minimised. Over the past=20
three years, India's crisis of governance has considerably worsened,=20
its democratic institutions have weakened, and the credibility of its=20
rulers badly undermined. New democratic spaces have not opened up.=20
Nor has a creative and vigorous Opposition emerged with alternatives.

The longer the Kashmir dispute festers, the more credibly the BJP and=20
allies can point to Pakistan's involvement in "cross-border=20
terrorism", the greater the false equation in illiterate or=20
prejudiced minds between Islam, Pakistan and violence, the tougher=20
gets the Indian struggle for secularism and Constitutional values,=20
and for a humane, rational Kashmir and Pakistan policy.

One of South Asia's greatest misfortunes is that all recent=20
opportunities for an India-Pakistan thaw and reconciliation,=20
including the latest in Kashmir, have been squandered either for=20
short-term domestic gains or in pursuit of minor competitive=20
advantage in India and Pakistan's courtship of the US. This process=20
has added hugely to South Asia's democratic deficit-at the people's=20
expense.

_____

#4.

TERROR TRIUMPHAL IN GUJARAT
I.K.Shukla

Bharat Jalao (Burn India) Party has announced that on Sep.3 it would=20
embark on its Gujarat-wide Gaurav Yatra (March of Pride) covering=20
4500 villages, besides the cities, Nero Modi reciting the Gujarat=20
Gaurav Gatha( the story of Gujarat=92s pride). Wow! Nothing less. Isn't=20
that something great? It would be manufacturing history right before=20
our eyes, like instant coffee. That is the way history should be=20
made, will be the message of the HinduTaliban. That is the kind of=20
carnage, assert the saffros, we should be proud of - the bonfire of=20
minorities, destruction of properties, the fireworks that explode in=20
a fizz everything that anciently and perennially forms the rock of a=20
nation, all that constitutes the basis of a polity : secularism,=20
pluralism, egalitarianism, and democracy. In the saffronazi code, the=20
violence rained on Muslims and other minorities is not violence but=20
Hindu unity, violation of their women is not vile but Hindu=20
patriotism, arson and robbery is not crime but Hindu religion. Who,=20
other than savages, will be enamored of or will have any use for,=20
this "unity", this "patriotism", and this "religion"?

Apparently, BJP feels triumphant in the wake of the holocaust, and it=20
believes that commemorating this state-sponsored terror will ballast=20
its fortunes at the hustings, will honor and encourage the achievers=20
of this brutal triumph, and herald such achievements all over India.=20
Modi would strut as charioteer, even if in a hydraulically rigged car=20
designated Gaurav Rath (Chariot of Pride), striking terror in the=20
hearts of Muslims and other minorities, Congress and other political=20
parties, the Election Commission, the Supreme Court , and the=20
citizenry. The inspirational icon for this march of communal terror=20
in Gujarat 2002 is the 1922 March on Rome of ruffians and riff raffs=20
led by the arch fascist Mussolini.

With AdolfVani on the ascendant, this tableau of Hindu terror=20
trampling Gujarat is a logical offshoot. Its trial run was his Blood=20
Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990, and Surat pogrom 1993. The=20
Babri demolition in 1992, under his supervision, was the index of his=20
demonic drive to demolish, wherever he would and could, all the=20
mosques, idgahs, mazars, shrines ( over 300 in Gujarat Holocaust 2002=20
alone), and churches. Similarly, the previous burning of churches in=20
Gujarat and the torching alive of Staines and his two teen-age sons=20
in Orissa were experimental, but perpetrated massively in Gujarat=20
Holocaust with deadly effect and diabolic perfection.

And, to invest this ugly enterprise with national import, and to=20
confer on it a squalid legitimacy, Gujarat=92s Nero has been assigned=20
the launch of BJP=92s poll campaign in Jammu, a whirlpool of conflict,=20
thanks, in good measure, both to (Black Cap-Khaki shorts) RSS and the=20
"militants", native and foreign. That this illicit and violent=20
declaration of war on India by vile Hindu communalism and=20
"majoritarian" brigandage is meant to intimidate the minorities, and=20
forewarn the democrats and secularists, among others, is too palpable=20
to be missed, too naked to be suffered.

Getting rid of President Narayanan was as necessary as the induction=20
of a Kalam as President in the frenzied furtherance of Hindu Rashtra=20
agenda, which NDA would complaisantly adopt as its own. Nero Modi=20
plotted, gratuitously, the premature dissolution of the Assembly with=20
sinister calculations: the Hindutva wave would polarize the voters=20
(Muslims eliminated with violence and fraud from the voters=92 lists)=20
and return the architects of the holocaust to power, who thus would=20
escape punishment by a successor government (of another party) for=20
their umpteen crimes and scams, and subsequently prolong BJP=92s hold=20
on power in New Delhi by a similar pre-poning of the general=20
election too. In brief, India would be a Xerox copy of Gujarat, India=20
would be co-opted as part of Gujarat.

That is why those who appeared to be obstructing or foiling this=20
design were targeted for special treatment. Among them, the English=20
media, some cable channels, the investigative initiatives and=20
relief-rehab efforts of organizations and individuals, independent=20
groups monitoring the camps and highlighting the anomie and apathy=20
pervading the whole exercise, and the NHRC. The Election commission's=20
animadversion was the last straw that broke the communal camel's back=20
(the fascists=92 patience). The theo-terrorists led by Maddie-AdolfVani=20
had regarded, as in Gujarat, the civil servants to be Hindutva=92s=20
servants, to be ordered about. This ham-handedness was near perfected=20
as a strategy. But the highhandedness accompanying it spoiled the=20
game-plan and it came a cropper in consequence.

That explains the unconcealed wrath of Lalkishenchand and the menial=20
manners of Naraadham raining hell fire on Mr Lyngdoh in particular,=20
and on whistleblowers and curtain-raisers in general. His prime=20
culpability is that he bears a Christian name. Too, he was not aware=20
that Hindutva ghouls are neo-Hindus or born-again Hindus, thus either=20
pseudo or zero Hindus. They appeared to him all parti-colored=20
performers of a circus of death and destruction, malevolent and=20
immoral, moronic and mean. That such ones regard the elections as a=20
plaything or an inconvenience is not surprising given their fascistic=20
pursuits and totalitarian ideology. They doggedly believe that EC=20
should just clerically run the elections which must be ordered by=20
them, for their benefit, at their convenience. They care nothing for=20
Article 174(1) or Article 324. They are wedded only to one Article,=20
that of the Criminal Procedure Code, viz., 420. That is why they are=20
savagely resisting any attempt at weaning them away from it.

AdVani (PR voice) mumbled "sorry" to the gallery quite well in=20
London. He is adept at it. He did it in the case of Babri=92s=20
demolition. Having blasted the way to it two years ago with his Rakta=20
Yatra, he supervised the destruction of the Mosque brick by brick. I=20
know journalists who were manhandled by saffron goons and their=20
mercenaries in uniform. Their cameras smashed, they were manhandled=20
most viciously. They complained to the saffron Adolf. His tripe: "You=20
should not come here." Translation: "We are on a criminal-communal=20
spree securing our vote bank. Ram advised us in a dream as to his=20
exact birthplace, i.e., the site of the Mosque. Suspend your=20
journalism, throw away your cameras, till we make Ram Mandir on the=20
Babri Mosque. Then you can come and celebrate it with us. Not before."

Years later we found out that he was "sorry" at the demolition. That=20
is, for the record. So was the arch-chameleon, the prime poetaster=20
Payee. AdVani deflected ugly scenes and troubles galore awaiting him=20
in the UK by this expediently timed "sorry". Outside India, he must=20
appear responsible, respectable, a democrat. Inside, he would remain=20
the angel of death. In view of the impending polls in Gujarat, and=20
shortly in several states, he must burnish his image as a "cultural=20
nationalist", i.e., Hindu nationalist, whatever that may mean. It is=20
a paradoxical pairing. Nationalism cannot be partisan, pared, paltry,=20
and sectarian. But, if Nazis could call themselves socialists,=20
AdVanis-Maddies-Payees-Ghouls too can call themselves not only=20
nationalists, but a tad more, "cultural" nationalists, or, in more=20
passionate moments, "Hindu" nationalists. This infernal creature is a=20
nightmare, an oaf, an ogre, as India has witnessed in horror during=20
the last four years.

As to the September 3 Triumphal in Gujarat designated as Pride March.=20
Some questions need to be answered. Whose pride? Gujarat=92s? BJP=92s?=20
India's? In what? As to Gujarat's pride, it has been dealt a death=20
blow by saffronazi gangsters-rapists-arsonists-murderers-thugs led by=20
BJP-VHP-RSS-Bajrang Dal. As to BJP=92s pride. Yes, only inveterate=20
criminals, incorrigible recidivists, irreclaimable reprobates,=20
inhuman beasts can be proud of torching property worth thousands of=20
crores, making 800 women widows, rendering 100,000 people homeless,=20
raping hundreds of helpless women before their families and then=20
flaying them alive, to name just a few distinguishing items of=20
HinduTaliban=92s achievements? As to national pride, India is expected=20
by BJP to applaud its achievements in Modi's Gujarat and multiply the=20
same. India is expected henceforth to call the traitorous criminals=20
"leaders", the barbaric killers and rapists "patriots", the arsonists=20
and thieves "cultural nationalists."

This whole perversion of national ethos which took eons to build and=20
which manifested itself in our diurnal living as a vibrant social=20
praxis, anciently descended, has been the "success story" of the=20
HinduTaliban. This bonfire of Indian citizens, this desecration of a=20
hoary heritage, this devastation of humans and their painstakingly=20
built material assets, this singular savagery which involved=20
indignity, privation, cretinous unconcern for fellow humans can do=20
only the saffronazis proud, none else.

For, once again in History, in Gujarat Holocaust 2002, these "Hindus"=20
stood naked and ugly, fiendish and feral, in their irremediable=20
inferiority, ineradicable impotence, insurmountable cowardice, and=20
insatiable corruption, blessings and bravos from their wives and=20
mothers, sisters and daughters, leaders and mentors, notwithstanding.=20
If these are the examples the "Hindu" adults set for their=20
youngsters, the social and familial ruin would be total, and visible,=20
over the years in the ever swelling volume of villainy and=20
viciousness, venality and violence. Violence and violation have been=20
orgiastically established as values, as "Hindu" virtues, as viable=20
modus vivendi. A crop of criminals, brutal and insensate, will=20
henceforward fill the "Hindu" households as members of the family.=20
They have been conditioned to commit crimes, the "leaders" having=20
long tutored them on how to escape the consequences. They will do=20
their leaders proud in the days ahead.

The German millionaire Hugenberg undertook in 1931 to support=20
800,000-strong Nazi party.
Kirdorf, Thyssen, Schroder =96 the big moneybags =96 followed suit.=20
Hitler launched the bloodbath of Jews and others in 1933. Our saffron=20
Hugenbergs have not lagged behind. Only with their money poring=20
incessantly and hugely the bloodbaths of minorities in India became a=20
regular routine on the part of the saffronazis. Unless they are=20
exposed and stymied, the bonfires of Indian humanity will not stop,=20
the violation of women and murder of innocents, the willful=20
destruction of their material assets like homes-shops-vehicles can=20
never be halted.

These enemies of the nation must be forced out of their dens and=20
grottos, scourged publicly, forced to eat crow, and purged of their=20
vitriol. With them entrenched in power, in Gujarat and elsewhere,=20
doomsday for India will not be too distant. Even to allow them to=20
contest at the polls is destructive and derisory of the=20
Constitutional principles in view of their open defiance and flagrant=20
flouting of the same relentlessly. If India wants no reprise of=20
Weimar, this is the moment to stand firm, to excise this cancerous=20
growth from the body politic and the social community.

Modi is determined once more to soak Gujarat in blood and roast it in=20
fire on Sep. 3. He has decided to pour the salt of insult in the=20
still bleeding psychic and physical wounds of traumatized and=20
disoriented Muslims. This rain of calculated humiliation and hurt on=20
the victims of a conspiracy must be prevented from happening. The=20
republic need not look on helplessly when a mad man is on the=20
rampage, singly or in a band.
27Aug02

_____

#.5

Hindustan Times (New Delhi), Aug. 29, 2002
Op-Ed
Motherland's enemies
Dominic Emmanuel
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/290802/detPLA01.shtml

_____

#6.

A NOTE FOR A MEETING FROM 'CREATIVE COMMUNITY AGAINST RELIGIOUS SEPARATISM'
Dear Friend,

The carnage in Gujrat has shaken the entire country. Despite the=20
claims of the state government and the center, the situation is still=20
not normal over there. Even though the Election Commission has=20
castigated the state government, the BJP led communalists are gunning=20
for quick elections.
A meeting of writers, artists, cultural activist has been called to=20
discuss these issues. We request you to actively participate in the=20
discussions.
With regards
Mahashweta Devi, Rajmohan Gandhi, Shubha Mudgal, Harsh Mander, Kunwar=20
Narayan, Nemi Chandra Jain, Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Wasifuddin Dagar,=20
Namwar Singh, Jatin Das, Prerana Shrimali, Ashok Vajpeyi, K.=20
Satchidanandan, Rajendra Yadav, Kamleshwar, Keki Daruwala, Shamim=20
Hanfi, Ramgopal Bajaj, Urvashi Butalia, K. Bikram Singh, Vivan=20
Sundaram, Rekha Awasti, Ali Javed, Kumkum Sanghari, Ashok Lal, Samsul=20
Islam, Geetanjali Shri, Antara Dev Sen, Jaya Iyer, Sehjo Singh,=20
Maitryee Pushpa, Gopichand Narang, Pankaj Singh, Prayag Shukla,=20
Suresh Sharma, Kedarnath Singh, Anamika, Manager Pandey, Leela=20
Samson, Mahip Singh, Nirmala Jain, Krishan Kumar, Anupam Mishra,=20
Rajiv Vohra, Vishnu Khare, Vishnu Nagar, Arbind Gaur, Alok Dhanwa,=20
Mukesh Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Sheba Imam, Kailash Vajpeyi, Apoorvanand,=20
Prabhat Ranjan, Arjun Dev, Shahid Anwar, Bajrang Bihari Tiwari, Vimal=20
Kumar, Bharti Narayan, Malini Chatterjee, Neelima Sharma, Ibbar=20
Ravvi, Ganga Prasad Vimal, Nirupma Datt, Devi Prasad Misra, Ranjit=20
Saha, Unni, Ashok Maheshwari, Pradip Kumar, Geeta Kapur, Parthiv=20
Shah, Asghar Wazahat, Prabhat Ranjan.
Date: 29th August, 2002 Place: Rajendra Prasad Bhawan, Deen Dayal=20
Upadhyaya Marg (Near ITO), New Delhi-110001
Time: 5:30 p.m.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Contact: 125 B, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049 Phone: 6495976
e-mail: apoorvanand@r..., avinash332@r...,=20
sehbaimam@h...
kaliw@d...

_____

#7.

The Men in the Tree, Colour, 98 minutes
directed by Lalit Vachani [2002]
in Hindi/English/Marathi/Sanskrit with English subtitles

Synopsis:

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the foremost Hindu=20
fundamentalist organization in India. It has a network of=20
approximately 45,000 branches and over a hundred affiliated=20
organizations that attempt to spread the RSS ideology of Hindutva in=20
every sphere of Indian public life.

In early 1993, Lalit Vachani and the Wide Eye Film team completed a=20
documentary film, The Boy in the Branch. Set at the headquarters of=20
the RSS in Nagpur, the film was about the indoctrination of young=20
Hindu boys by the RSS branch. Eight years later, Vachani returned to=20
Nagpur to meet the characters from his earlier film.

At one level, The Men in the Tree is a film about memory. It is a=20
documentary in the form of a personal revisit where a filmmaker=20
returns to the issues, the locations and the subjects of an earlier=20
film. At another level, The Men in the Tree is a political=20
documentary on the RSS. It is about some of the individuals, the=20
stories and the myths, the buildings and the branches that enable the=20
growth of Hindu fundamentalism.

o o o

The Hindustan Times (New Delhi)
Thursday, August 29, 2002
=09=20
RSS without make-up
Sagarika Ghose

The refreshing aspect of filmmaker Lalit Vachani's recent documentary=20
on the RSS, Men In The Tree, is the film's liberation from the mental=20
ghetto of self-righteous 'official secularism'. Official secularism,=20
historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam once said, is a mish-mash of Stalinism,=20
Indira Gandhi camp follower, a diffuse category that is everything=20
other than Hindu.

Indeed 'official secularism', with its internationally sponsored=20
celebrity essayists, is powerless against the forces of evil=20
Hindutva, flimsily remote from those who troop off to mofussil=20
shakhas at dawn. To fight the future war, secularism needs to get=20
muscular.

Vachani begins as a film-maker in search of asuras. But in the=20
process of taking his camera to the shakhas in Maharashtra and Delhi,=20
he ends up with a set of close friends whose horribly violent=20
ideology he openly loathes but whose friendship he begins to value.=20
Vachani's RSS men are not Frankenstein's monsters. Instead, they are=20
respectable ordinary small townsfolk, schoolteachers, contractors and=20
traders. It is their very ordinariness that makes their war against=20
Muslims starkly repellant.

The details are telling. Shakhas take place in rough village maidans=20
ringed with crumbling sooty houses. Straggling groups of bored=20
adolescents and shy instructors perform spindly-legged judo. Giggling=20
pracharaks watch helplessly as their nephews gyrate to MTV. An RSS=20
alumnus clatters by on a scooter with his small business in Ayurvedic=20
drugs and comes home to a dreary tenement. However, in a different=20
sequence this same soft-spoken nice guy with the neat clothes and the=20
shy smile proudly describes how the Babri mosque was destroyed not by=20
'mob frenzy' but by well-trained, well-organised cadres.

So the images of ordinariness don't take away from RSS militarism. In=20
fact, the film bears out the argument of historian Christophe=20
Jaffrelot who writes that despite their claims to be apolitical, the=20
RSS is in fact driven by the urge to capture political power. It's a=20
political body which deserves to be attacked as such. To invest it=20
with adjectives like 'shadowy' and 'spooky' promotes a=20
counter-productive polarisation.

A polarisation which only benefits the RSS who want potential=20
recruits to feel 'persecuted', 'excluded' and 'misunderstood by the=20
Leftist media'. If secularism remains 'official' and remains an elite=20
affectation, then it plays right into the hands of the Sangh.

One of the failures of 'official secularism', academic Dipankar Gupta=20
said at the discussion that followed the film, is its failure to=20
recognise just how ordinary the violent Hindu is, and how aspects of=20
the violent Hindu exist within us all. The war between 'You fascist!'=20
and 'You Macaulayist!' only promotes stereotyping and perpetual=20
misunderstanding which directly benefits the persecution complex of=20
the RSS.

To show the Sangh as a cult of picturesquely medieval demons is an=20
intellectual exploitation that the brotherhood seems acutely=20
conscious of and one it deeply resents. Men In The Tree detests that=20
loathsome thing called Hindutva. But it also doesn't go=20
'Nazi-hunting' in the effort to gain international lecture tours.=20
Instead, in its detailed characterisation of three RSS members, it=20
tries to understand why ordinary individuals become seized by insane=20
and blood-curdling hatred.

____

#8.

FILM SCREENING -

FILM: IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY
DURATION: 28 MIN.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH (SUBTITLED)

TOXICS LINK

Environment and Health Public Lecture Series

Even as the struggle to get Endosulfan banned across the country=20
continues, in a clear victory for environmentalist's war against the=20
use of toxic 'endosulfan', the Kerala High Court has banned its use=20
in the state.

The Court has banned the pesticide and made it clear that it cannot=20
be used in any of its formulations or under any of its brand names.=20
Exposure to this insecticide, banned in many countries, has been=20
linked to several unusual diseases, particularly among children.=20
Several studies on the pesticide categorically showed that it is=20
"dangerous" to human life. It affects the reproductive system and=20
causes several diseases like cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, and=20
various skin disorders. These diseases have been noticed since the=20
state-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) undertook aerial=20
spraying of endosulfan in over 4,600 hectares of cashew plantations=20
in Kasaragod district during the late 1970s.

The government had imposed a ban on the use of the pesticide for five=20
years on the recommendations of Dr Achyuthan Committee and the state=20
legislature committee. However, the ban was lifted by the government,=20
hardly a year after it was imposed.
The Union government awaits the report of the expert committee=20
appointed by it to take any decision.=20

In the backdrop of the alarmingly situation, we invite you to the=20
screening of the film on protest by the people of Kasaragad against=20
endosulfan.

"In God's Own Country"

A 28 minute film on how a simple, gentle community takes on the=20
Government and Industrial giants. Directed by Rajani Mani and Nina=20
Subramani, it highlights the protest by the people of Kasaragod=20
against Endosulfan, a symbol of struggle against pesticides in India.

This will be followed by a Panel Discussion with an introduction by=20
Ravi Agarwal, environmentalist, Srishti.

Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
Date: Saturday, 31st August 2002, Time: 6:30 p.m.
(In collaboration with India International Centre)

RSVP
Ruchita Khurana,

432 8006, 432 0711

_____

#9.

"India's Security Policy: Enemy of Democracy (Gautam Navlakha)"
India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 90
26 August 2002
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPARMW/message/101

India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch (IPARMW) # 91
29 August 2002
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPARMW/message/102

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