[sacw] SACW | 3 Sept. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | 3 September 2002

__________________________

#1. Religious Extremism and Nationalism In Bangladesh (Bertil Lintner)
#2. India: Another Round of 20,000 Kites For Gandhi Jayanti (Ajay=20
Raina / Leya Mathew)
#3. India: Politics of Haj (M A Siraj)
#4. The Latest issue of Akhbar
#5. India: BJP Against BJP - Power greed behind crisis (Praful Bidwai)
#6. India: Where are the homosexuals? You don't have to look too far=20
(R Raj Rao)
#7. India: Anatomy of a Communal Riot in Kodagu (Karnataka PUCL)
#8. Kashmir
- Window dressers' delight (A.G. Noorani)
- Education and jobs, the crying need (Kalpana Sharma)
#9. India: Save science in MP (M.G.K. Menon, Yash Pal, C.N.R. Rao,=20
Jayant Narlikar and others, Delhi )

__________________________

#1.

Religious Extremism and Nationalism In Bangladesh
By Bertil Lintner
[International workshop on Religion and Security in South Asia at the=20
Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. August=20
19-22, 2002.]
http://www.asiapacificms.com/papers/religious_extremism_bangladesh.pdf

______

#2.

ANOTHER ROUND OF 20,000 KITES FOR GANDHI JAYANTI.

"The first thing is that politics has divided India Today into Hindus=20
and Muslims. I want to rescue people from this quagmire and make them=20
work on solid ground where people are people. Therefore, my appeal=20
here is not to the Muslims as Muslims nor to Hindus as Hindus, but to=20
ordinary human beings who have to keep their villages clean, build=20
schools for their children, and take many other steps so that they=20
can make life better."

Mahatma Gandhi - 1946
(from 'Pangs of=20
Partition' p-41)

Dear Friends,
Congratulations. Finally, at last, the Pan Shop blocking the way to=20
Gasiram ki Chali has come down 6 months after they left home for the=20
refugee camps. The residents of Gasiram ki chali have started=20
coming back. The broken down houses are now being rebuilt.

Meanwhile, life in Kasai ki Chali is almost back to normal. The=20
Informal School in Kasai ki Chali is going on and picking up pace.=20
Please help us choose a name for this school - a few suggestions are;=20
Communal Harmony School, Ahimsa School, Gandhi School...) Along with=20
our initial teacher Sulekha we now also have Sunita, a Hindu girl=20
from Gasiram ki chali. She is helping Sulekha and learning to start=20
her own school in Gasiram Ki Chali once all its residents are back=20
home. A couple of Hindu children fron Gasiram ki chali have also=20
started experimenting with our school. We have also started Sewing=20
Classes for the interested girls from Kasai ki Chali. Presently we=20
also have a Handmade Paper making Workshop underway.

During our course of work in the chali we have tried to make the=20
Chali people independant of us in every sense of the word. We also=20
realise that we too cannot just sit and wait for donations to come in=20
till we can implement our project, though people have been very=20
generous and supportive of our work both in cash as well in kind. We=20
still need to generate funds till we are on some firm ground here.

Last time we had made 10,000 kites from Kasai ki Chali for AZADI=20
DIVAS. We had received overwhelming reponse to the project from=20
individuals and organisations across the country. Infact we received=20
more orders than the number of kites we had made. The profits earned=20
from the sale of kites has been partly used for rehabilitation work=20
of the Chali and partly for the non-formal school we started last=20
month.

So, we are making another round of 20,000 kites, with messages for=20
communal harmony. We are intending these kites to be flown /=20
exhibited on the occassion of GANDHI JAYANTI. We will have these=20
kites ready by September 15th. The cost of one kite is 6 Rupees only=20
(Including packaging and transportation) . The profit of 4 rupees per=20
kite will be used for the Informal School/ Community centre Project=20
for the children of Kasai ki Chali and Gasiram ki Chali, and for=20
individual education needs of a few kids from the two Chali's=20
interested in enhancing their education level.

We would hope that this time too, Individuals, organisations, NGO's=20
and schools would come forward to order the kites so that we can help=20
ourselves realise our little dream for the two Chali's dear to us.

For those who had ordered kites for the last round and we were not=20
able to get them, please send in your orders again ASAP.

For convenience of packaging and transportation, we would prefer if=20
the orders are booked in bulks of 250 / 500 / 1000.

Please give us your postal delivery address and contact phone number=20
when you order the kites. The payment can be in the form of DD in=20
favour of GUJARAT EDUCATION SOCIETY/ PRASHANT addressed to:

Ajay Raina,
c/o Rais Sheikh,
ELITE FLATS,
Off; Narayan Nagar Road,
Near Jethabai Park Bus Stop,
Paldi
Ahmedabad, 380 007

Best Regards,
Ajay Raina / Leya Mathew

______

#3.

The Times of India
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2002
Op-Ed.
Politics of Haj
M A SIRAJ
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=3D20990647

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#4.

Dear Friends,

The latest issue of Akhbar, your window on South Asia, is online.

It can be accessed at:=20
<http://www.indowindow.com/akhbar>www.indowindow.com/akhbar

Front Page: All for Elections:
South Asian Right caught between confidence and desperation

Special: The Great Charade (John Pilger)

Globalisation and Survival: Blacksmiths of Sindh, a dying breed (Anwer Abro=
)

Feature: Brutality Cloaked as Tradition (Beena Sarwar)

Suburban Whites and Pogroms in India (Vijay Prashad)

Culture/History: On Conversions (Shereen Ratnagar); and On an Indian=20
Victory in Cricket (Sudhanva Deshpande)

Media: Market, Morals and the Media by Prabhat Patnaik; and East and=20
West in the Media (Amartya Sen)

Education: Renewed Attacks on Education and Educational Institutions=20
in South Asia (Reports)

Review: The Democratic Deficit (Jayati Ghosh)

Alerts on Gujarat: Reports, eyewitness accounts and analyses by=20
Teesta Setalvad, Shubhra Nagalia, Nalini Taneja, Sanjay Pandey &=20
Anoop Kayarat, Mukul Mangalik, K N Panikkar, Nivedita Menon, Dilip=20
Menon, K Balagopal.

______

#5.

The Praful Bidwai Column For the week beginning Sep=20
2 =
=20

BJP Against BJP

Power greed behind crisis

By Praful Bidwai

It is entirely characteristic of the ambivalent and indecisive style=20
of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee that he should have issued a mild=20
reprimand to Mr Narendra Modi for his viciously communal attack on=20
Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh, and that Mr Modi should=20
have "ended" the "controversy" he had himself started-on his own=20
terms. There was not even a hint of apology or regret in his=20
response. Indeed, he reiterated his shrill demand for reversing the=20
Election Commission's decision to delay premature elections in=20
Gujarat. Mr Modi deserved a strong dressing down, not the polite=20
request or entreaty Mr Vajpayee made.

Mr Vajpayee's August 24 statement was not just a case of "too little,=20
too late"; it was substantially misdirected. For he only cautioned=20
against the use of "improper language" and "indecorous insinuations"=20
in the "undignified controversy". However, Mr Modi was guilty not=20
just of minor misconduct such as "improper language", but of=20
downright venomous hate-speech against a particular community. He=20
singled out Mr Lyngdoh from the three-member EC for its unanimous=20
decision because he is a Christian by birth. He unleashed filthy=20
abuse at this high Constitutional functionary, accusing him of being=20
in cahoots with Ms Sonia Gandhi, by virtue of their shared faith.=20
This clearly calls not just for an apology, but for Mr Modi's=20
prosecution for defamation and character assassination.

Mr Vajpayee's statement missed the gravity of Mr Modi's misdemeanour.=20
Worse, it strenuously tried to be "even-handed" by obliquely equating=20
Mr Modi with Mr Lyngdoh, and declaring both to be "high=20
constitutional authorities", who "must be given the respect that is=20
their due" within their "domains". Now, it is absurd to equate Mr=20
Modi's malicious verbal abuse with Mr Lyngdoh's words like=20
"despicable" and "gossip of menials who have not heard of atheism".=20
More important, the chief minister's office is not "Constitutional"=20
or statutory in the sense the EC, Supreme Court or the Comptroller=20
and Auditor General is. Nor did the EC intrude into Mr Modi's=20
"domain". As the last Column argued, it was wholly within its rights=20
to delay elections under Article 324 of the Constitution which vests=20
in it the powers of their "superintendence, direction and control".

Mr Vajpayee's ambivalence and false even-handedness springs from a=20
larger dilemma. He is known to have been uncomfortable with his own=20
Cabinet's August 18 decision to refer the issue of the EC's powers to=20
the Supreme Court. Being aware of the enormity of the Gujarat pogrom,=20
and its long-term implications for the BJP at the national level, he=20
apparently preferred a non-confrontationist course. Sources close to=20
him are quoted as saying he even thought of resigning on August 18.=20
On the other hand, however, he is afraid to assert his authority for=20
fear that it will rock the boat and bring the faction-ridden,=20
discredited and demoralised BJP tumbling down. Mr Vajpayee still=20
remains the BJP/NDA's best, in fact, only, unique-selling=20
proposition. But he is also a victim of the BJP's internal power=20
struggle, which daily inflicts damage upon its image and credibility.

That power struggle is best understood in three dimensions:=20
Cabinet-level tussles, fights within the sangh parivar as a whole,=20
and the struggle for supremacy between Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani. The=20
most noteworthy of the recent wranglings between ministers or top=20
party functionaries are those between Mr Arun Shourie and Mr Ram=20
Naik, Mr Shourie and Mr Ananth Kumar, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Pramod=20
Mahajan, Ms Swaraj and Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu and Mr=20
Jana Krishnamurthy, Mr Lalji Tandon (Mr Vajpayee's trusted=20
campaign-manager) and Mr Kalraj Mishra and other Uttar Pradesh=20
leaders =8A

So visceral and strong are their mutual hatreds that these=20
politicians unhesitatingly plant stories in the media against one=20
anther, or (as in Mr Shourie's case) write signed articles on the=20
abuse and mismanagement of ITDC hotels (by Mr Ananth Kumar)-in=20
contravention of Mr Shourie's responsibility to enhance the value of=20
public assets before they are privatised! Only the na=EFve can believe=20
that the recent, well-documented stories, of the petrol-pump scam, or=20
award of prime real estate to fake "educational" NGOs sponsored by=20
the sangh parivar came out of burrowing journalistic investigation=20
alone, as opposed to material leaked by sources inside the government.

The sudden revival of the Shivani Bhatnagar case three and a half=20
years after her murder is clearly related to BJP insiders' attempts=20
to embarrass Mr Pramod Mahajan. Not to be easily fazed, Mahajan=20
retaliated by demanding that the party top brass, not just minor=20
functionaries, close ranks behind him, or else =8A He has since=20
declared total loyalty to Mr Vajpayee and questioned the very=20
legitimacy of two different power centres within the Cabinet. The=20
fact that many BJP leaders chortle with delight at Ms Madhu Sharma's=20
wild allegations against Mr Mahajan only underscores the ferocity of=20
the rivalry within the BJP.

The second dimension is the struggle between the BJP's governmental=20
and organisational wings, itself related to intra-sangh parivar=20
fighting. There has always been some tension at the Central and state=20
levels between these two wings. But this has recently acquired a new=20
edge because the RSS and VHP have allied with the BJP's=20
organisational wing to target the government. The party apparatus has=20
been taken over by Hindutva hardliners. And Mr Advani has replaced Mr=20
Vajpayee as the direct "coordinator" with party functionaries. (He=20
goes to the party headquarters twice a week). BJP ministers and party=20
apparatchiks backed by the RSS-VHP differ on a range of issues: e.g.,=20
swadeshi, importance of the mandir agitation, labour and=20
disinvestment policies, even Jammu and Kashmir. Often, when there are=20
differences, the apparatchiks prevail.

For instance, the RSS recently sponsored the Jammu Rajya Morcha,=20
which wants to carve up J&K-a position that Mr Advani says is=20
"against the interests of the nation". The BJP had vowed to fight the=20
JRM. But it has eaten humble pie and entered into an electoral tie-up=20
with it! There are divisions within the RSS too, with Mr K.S.=20
Sudarshan and Mr M.G. Vaidya backing Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, and Mr=20
Madan Das Devi allied with Mr Advani. Some inner-party differences=20
were publicly aired at the BJP's national council meeting on August=20
3, with unprecedented fireworks between Mr Naidu and Mr Mahajan, and=20
Ms Swaraj and Mr Rajnath Singh.

The rivalry's third dimension is the Vajpayee-Advani power struggle,=20
conducted in the covert manner typical of Hindutva. Besides=20
indicating altered power balances, Mr Advani's elevation as Deputy PM=20
has also served as a trigger for more rivalry. Mr Vajpayee is a=20
tired, ailing, disillusioned man whose project to create a party=20
"with a difference" has failed. It seems highly unlikely that he will=20
lead the BJP into the next election. He would like the present=20
government to carry on. Atal Behari is not in a hurry.

But Mr Advani is! He would like an early election in Gujarat. If the=20
BJP wins it, it will call a mid-term national election in which Mr=20
Advani would lead its campaign as its Prime Ministerial candidate.=20
That's why the BJP apparatchiks and the Advani group, advised by Mr=20
Jaitley, are so desperate to have the EC's decision on Gujarat=20
reversed. They calculate that even if the BJP's Lok Sabha strength=20
decreases from the present 180 to 130-140 seats, it could still form=20
a government with its opportunist, now greatly weakened, allies. To=20
this end, it is willing to raise the communal temperature and repeat=20
a Gujarat-in UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, elsewhere.

If Mr Vajpayee has a well-articulated alternative to this strategy,=20
driven by "liberal" considerations, he has not disclosed it. He has=20
been content to play a manipulative power game from the sidelines.=20
This is an unflattering comment upon his leadership. Therefore, in=20
all likelihood, the party will pass totally into the hands of the=20
apparatchiks and the sangh parivar's Right wing. It will increasingly=20
use communal appeals to garner votes.

It is equally, distressingly, evident that the Congress is NOT=20
demarcating itself sharply enough from the BJP. Instead of taking a=20
principled secular stand, it too is flirting with the likes of the=20
Goverdhan Puri Shankaracharya and Chhote Moraribapu. During her last=20
two visits to Gujarat, Ms Sonia Gandhi spent more time with various=20
saffron-robed sadhus and Jain munis than with the victims of=20
violence. She shunned contact with Muslim activists. It is not=20
accidental that the RSS's MG.Vaidya in Panchajanya has lavished=20
praise upon Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela as a loyal Hindutva=20
fighter, but attacked the BJP for factionalism.

The Congress would be ill-advised to adopt a "soft-Hindutva"=20
approach. Such a strategy will prove counterproductive even in=20
meeting the eminently worthy objective of defeating the BJP. It will=20
do immense harm to the national polity in the long run. Each time the=20
Congress flirts with soft-Hindutva, it unwittingly helps its own=20
enemies-as in Maharashtra, where the police recently banned the=20
exhibition of two anti-sangh films, including an award-winning one by=20
Anand Patwardhan. Nothing is more vital today than adhering to=20
principled, clean, no-nonsense secularism.-end-

______

#6.

http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D8633
Indian Express
Monday, September 02, 2002

Where are the homosexuals? You don't have to look too far
R Raj Rao

The Delhi High Court has done well to reprimand the Central=20
government for dithering on its stand on Section 377 of the Indian=20
Penal Code. This antiquated law prohibits what it calls ''unnatural''=20
sex, and comes in the way of legalizing homosexuality in India. The=20
learned judges are believed to have said: ''Such relations have=20
existed in society since time immemorial, so why should such persons=20
not be given a chance to raise a family and live together?''

It's about time the government woke up from its slumber and caught up=20
with its reading. Far from being a western import, homosexuality was=20
known and practised in ancient and medieval India unselfconsciously.=20
The Kamasutra takes note of it. In their book Same Sex Love in India,=20
Saleem Kidwai and Ruth Vanita inform us that Lord Vishnu and Lord=20
Shiva had a love affair, that led to the birth of Ayyappa.

On the other hand, it is the Victorians who ruled India in the=20
nineteenth century who regarded homosexuality as immoral and banned=20
it. By endorsing the views of the Victorians, the government=20
painfully demonstrates how history, for us, begins with British=20
colonialism. All that existed before it is irretrievably lost. Some=20
call it amnesia. I prefer a simpler word: myopia.

This is proved again and again by the public utterances of our=20
legislators and bureaucrats. Whether it's the Minister of State who=20
said on TV that homosexuality arose from the baser side of our=20
natures; or Kiran Bedi who refused to give condoms to prisoners in=20
Tihar Jail because it amounted to acknowledging the existence of=20
homosexuality; it's all part of the same syndrome. Even Soli=20
Sorabjee, otherwise sensitive to the plight of the marginalised, has=20
failed to make his views on Section 377 known to the government,=20
although the matter was referred to him over six months ago.

And now for some hard facts. Surveys conducted by activists indicate=20
that roughly a sixth of the Indian population is homosexual or=20
lesbian by orientation. Some of these activists who run helplines,=20
say that they receive as many as 50 calls a day from distressed men=20
and women. Because same-sex love is legally and socially unacceptable=20
in India, many gays and lesbians get married to people of the=20
opposite sex, produce children, and keep their sexual preference=20
secret from their spouses.

Needless to say, this leads to deception, suspicion and all-round=20
misery. Often the children are the worst sufferers. Public parks,=20
railway station toilets and jam-packed suburban trains in metro=20
cities like Mumbai buzz with homosexual activity. Hoodlums and cops=20
have a field day bashing up and blackmailing people who, after all,=20
are only being faithful to the demands of their bodies. Young=20
unemployed and under-employed men find male prostitution an easy=20
means of livelihood. Their clients are, but of course, older,=20
wealthier men. Since the official AIDS programme of the Indian=20
government doesn't really take male prostitution into account, they=20
expose themselves to grave risk, and are a telling comment on the=20
nation's state of health.

I would go as far as to suggest that social segregation of the sexes,=20
cramped living conditions etc., only add to our numbers everyday. As=20
one writer put it, ''Even if one is not born a homosexual, it is so=20
easy to become a homosexual in India.''

But clearly, the government is blind to what goes on around us. It=20
chooses to see only what it wants to. Its position is no different=20
from that of the illiterate Indian, who naively asks: but where are=20
the homosexuals? However, we would like to remind our law-makers and=20
enforcers that in a nation of one billion, one-sixth of the=20
population is no small number.

It is high time the government changed its laws, as modern countries=20
all over the world have done, and made life a trifle more hospitable=20
for its sexual minorities. If nothing else, we constitute a huge=20
votebank!

(The writer is a poet and professor of English at the University of Pune)
____

#7.

Karnataka PUCL
Anatomy of a Communal Riot in Kodagu

A. Introduction:
PUCL-Karnataka recently conducted a fact-finding inquiry to go into=20
the communal disturbances that took place in Kodagu from 9 Dec. 2001=20
to 17 Dec. 2001. The committee, which consisted of Prof. H.=20
Govindayya, Dr. V Lakshminarayana, Shri Ramdas Rao, and Shri Nitin,=20
visited Madikeri, and the towns and villages of Bettigeri, Palur,=20
Kottamudi, Napoklu, Bagamandala, and spoke to the residents. We also=20
met representatives of the media, the state administration, the=20
police and Hindu religious organisations. We are bringing out the=20
this fact-finding report for the attention of the public. [...].

http://www.pucl.org/

_____

#8.

The Hindustan Times
September 3, 2002
=20=20=09=20
Window dressers' delight
A.G. Noorani

They use the snaffle and the bit all right/ But where's the bloody horse?

-Roy Campbell, On Some South African Novelists

South African poet Roy Campbell's famous lines are an apt comment on=20
the Election Commission's labours on the mechanics of a poll in=20
Kashmir. Conspicuously absent is any popular enthusiasm for=20
participation. New Delhi is out to perpetrate a monumental fraud on=20
the people of the state. It seeks to stage the polls, with all the=20
mechanics in place amidst noises of 'a fair and free poll', in order=20
to legitimise the status quo and declare the Kashmir issue 'closed'.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/030902/detIDE01.shtml

o o o o

The Hindu
Sunday, Sep 01, 2002
Opinion - News Analysis
Education and jobs, the crying need
By Kalpana Sharma
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002090102141100.htm

______

#9.

The Hindustan Times
September 3, 2002
=09=20
Save science in MP

We, members of the scientific community, are shocked and dismayed by=20
the recent decision of the Madhya Pradesh government to close the=20
30-year-old Hoshanga-bad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP), being=20
implemented in about 1,000 government and private middle schools of=20
Hoshangabad and 14 other districts. We had watched the emergence of=20
this unique effort from the 16-school experiment in 1972 to its=20
expansion to all the middle schools of Hoshanga-bad in 1978 and then=20
to other districts in the Eighties. The MP government has justly won=20
national and international acclaim for its support to the programme.

HSTP is widely acknowledged as the only macro-scale initiative in the=20
country where children learn modern concepts of science through the=20
method of inquiry, experimentation and analysis and relate their=20
newly acquired knowledge to their own environment. Nowhere else in=20
the country could the children approach the entire science curriculum=20
through the method of science, not even in the elite public schools.=20
Thus in HSTP, the scientific community saw a hope for better science=20
education for the rest of the country. The state government's=20
decision has extinguished this hope.

The logic extended by the government that a uniform textbook needs to=20
be used in the whole state is questionable. Indeed, successive=20
governments of the state established the principle of plural and=20
contextualised learning materials, as also advocated by the National=20
Policy on Education (NPE).

Through HSTP, the state government demonstrated its commitment to=20
allow more than one system of evaluation in consonance with the=20
globally accepted attributes of the scientific mind, instead of=20
imposing the colonial and outmoded examination system. Even if one=20
accepts the logic of uniform syllabus or textbook, we expected the=20
government to extend the curricular and pedagogic principles of HSTP=20
to the entire state, instead of closing down grassroots initiative of=20
this kind in the district of its birth.

We express our anguish that this retrogressive decision has undone=20
the gains made in education over the last three decades. We appeal to=20
the chief minister to intervene and reinstate the programme so that=20
more than one lakh children of these districts will not revert to the=20
rote-learning of science. We urge the chief minister to involve=20
leading educationists and scientists to extend the principles of HSTP=20
to the entire state.

M.G.K. Menon, Yash Pal, C.N.R. Rao, Jayant Narlikar and others, Delhi

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

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