[sacw] SACW | 22 Oct. 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | 22 October 2002

__________________________

#1. Reality of Dalit Oppression - The urgency of social reform (Praful Bidw=
ai)
#2. Combating Terrorism (Ram Puniyani)
#3. Film on Kashmir, screened ( October 22, at IIT campus, Powai, Bombay)
#4. Doubly Alienated Muslims - Some Implications of the Gujarat=20
Carnage (Anand Chakravarti )
#5. Gulliver=B9s Troubles: State and Militants in North-East India=20
(Sanjib Baruah)
#6. Interview with Professor Mahendra P Lama
#7. ... role of cultural guardians to impose codes of conduct on the=20
people (Edit, The Telegraph)
#8. Sangh Parivar above the law? (Neena Vyas)
#9. Shireen Moosvi 's Letter to the Editor re=20
<http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=3D200210210060100=
1.htm&date=3D2002/10/21/&prd=3Dth&>'NCERT=20
& its authors'

__________________________

#1.

Praful Bidwai Column for the week beginning Oct 21

Reality of Dalit Oppression - The urgency of social reform
By Praful Bidwai

CHAKWARA (RAJASTHAN):
For many Indians, especially urban people, the thorny, bristling=20
reality of persistent oppression of the Dalits is often softened and=20
dulled by the--fairly rare, but true--success stories of individuals=20
who belong to the former Untouchable castes. After all, Ms Mayawati=20
rules India's largest state. Until one and a half years ago, the BJP=20
had a Dalit (Mr Bangaru Laxman) as its party president. More Dalits=20
are visible today in the middle layers of the bureaucracy than ever=20
before. A significant proportion of them now use the educational=20
opportunities opened up by reservations. Untouchability of the overt,=20
"in-your-face", kind has declined at least in the cities. The Dalit=20
problem, the gradualist optimistic view holds, may be on the way to=20
resolution =85

This view requires a reality check. Nothing furnishes such a check=20
better than a visit to Chakwara, a dusty, dry, non-descript village,=20
barely 50 kilometres from Jaipur. Drive there, and you plunge=20
straight into the Middle Ages. This is a society based on terrible=20
inequalities, social servitude and economic bondage. At the centre of=20
this serfdom, and legitimising it, is systemic, systematic=20
discrimination against Dalits, sanctified by religion. For a year,=20
Chakwara has been in intense turmoil over the issue of access to a=20
common resource: the village pond, bathing in which is a Hindu=20
religious ritual.

The pond and the steps leading to it (ghats) have been built and=20
maintained over the years with state funds and contributions from the=20
entire village, including the Dalits. But the Dalits have always been=20
barred from the common ghats. "Tradition" demands that they be=20
treated lower than the buffaloes, cows and pigs which have virtually=20
unrestrained access to the pond. (The only exception is women who=20
too, irrespective of caste, have always been barred.)

On December 14 last year, two Bairwa Dalits, Babulal and Radheshyam,=20
decided to defy the hallowed casteist "tradition" and "custom" and=20
take a dip in the pond. Outraged, the caste Hindus subjected the=20
Bairwa community to vile abuse, threats of a "bloodbath", a nightly=20
siege of their homes, and a crippling social boycott. No caste Hindu=20
landowner would employ them; they could not buy vegetables or even a=20
cup of tea in the village; the local doctor would refuse to treat=20
them; they would be heckled at the village hand-pump; the local=20
mechanic wouldn't repair their bicycles. Their men were stalked,=20
their women abused.

The local administration and police should have acted with alacrity=20
to protect and support the Dalits. Instead, they generally sided with=20
the upper castes. Legally, untouchability and discrimination against=20
the Dalits are prohibited under the Constitution (Article 17),=20
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and above all, the Scheduled=20
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989=20
(POA). The POA was drafted explicitly to provide exemplary punishment=20
to those who perpetuate abuse and violence upon Dalits. Abuse is here=20
defined fairly comprehensively, i.e. beyond name-calling and barring=20
Dalits' entry into places of worship or ritual sites; it includes=20
subtler forms of discrimination too.

The Jaipur district officials and the police failed even to register=20
a case against the caste Hindus under these laws, or act on a First=20
Information Report filed by Babulal on December 22. Instead, in=20
January, they bullied some Dalits into signing a "compromise"=20
agreement, which effectively erased their right to the pond. The=20
agreement produced discontent and resentment--which has since=20
simmered. Last month, the discontent culminated in another effort by=20
the Bairwas to assert their rights through a rally on September 20-21=20
from Chaksu, another village, through the tehsil town Phagi, to=20
Chakwara in collaboration with human rights organisations, including=20
Centre for Dalit Human Rights, Jaipur, and People's Union of Civil=20
Liberties. The aim was to take a collective dip in the pond.

The savarnas (caste Hindus) led by the Jats decided to confront the=20
Dalits "physically" and "teach them a lesson". On September 21, they=20
gathered a mob of 10-15,000 men, armed with sticks and gophans=20
(slings which can deliver heavy stones over long distances). By 10:30=20
a.m., the mob was raring to go, defying the police. The Dalits,=20
sensing big trouble, and not assured of police neutrality, terminated=20
their rally in advance of Phagi. The savarnas attacked the police=20
with a fury driven by raw caste hatred and lust for power. The police=20
had to use teargas and open fire. More than 50 people were injured,=20
including 44 policemen, some badly. Today, the anti-Dalit=20
confrontation has, ironically, pitted the state machinery temporarily=20
against savarnas. The district administration, under a new Collector,=20
is pursuing complaints against caste Hindus. This has encouraged the=20
Bairwas to bathe in the pond regularly. But the savarnas have kept=20
away from it since September 24another boycott!

Chakwara today seethes with tension, fear and anger. Unless an=20
initiative for reconciliation is launched, and reliable protection=20
provided to the Dalits, the village could witness a bloody carnage.=20
Rajasthan has recently seen numerous anti-Dalit atrocities, the worst=20
of which was the massacre of 17 Jatavs in 1992 at Kumher. The=20
chairman of the State Human Rights Commission, Justice Saghir Ahmed,=20
told me that "the caste situation in Rajasthan is extremely bad,=20
indeed volatile; the Dalits are terribly insecure". Rajasthan has a=20
dismal record of offences against the Dalits, with an annual average=20
of 5,024 crimes in the last three years alone. These include 46=20
killings, 134 rapes, and 93 cases of grievous injury every year.

There is extensive discrimination against, and abuse of, Dalits in=20
all parts of Rajasthan. These abuses include name-calling,=20
prohibiting Dalit women from using footwear in the main village,=20
denial of such services as even the barber's, segregation of=20
schoolchildren, forcing Dalits to sit at the back of the classroom,=20
prohibition of rituals such as riding a horse during weddings, and=20
gross inequality in access to water and other common resources like=20
pastures and wastelands. There is systematic discrimination in=20
state-run employment-generation and drought-relief programmes as well.

Rajasthan in this regard is only a microcosm of India. The vicious=20
oppression of 160 million Dalits is one of the most nauseating, but=20
enduring, realities of India's countryside. As is violence against=20
them, especially Dalit women. To be a Dalit today means having to=20
live in a sub-human, degraded, profoundly insecure way. Every hour,=20
two Dalits are assaulted in India. Every day, three Dalit women are=20
raped; two Dalits are killed. This violence has a definite function:=20
to perpetuate the hierarchical Hindu social order, freeze=20
inequalities, including inequality of opportunity, defend social=20
bondage and servitude, and preserve conditions for the ruthless=20
exploitation of the underprivileged.

A series of corrective measures are needed--urgently. The most=20
important of these is the application of the SC-ST (Prevention of=20
Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the 1995 Rules under it. The best course=20
would be to declare Chakwara and surrounding villages as=20
"atrocity-prone", and appoint a Monitoring Committee which can survey=20
abuses, alert the administration, and prevent violence. The Rules=20
also provide for the limited arming of Dalits. Equally important is=20
Section 4 of the POA which punishes public servants involved in=20
anti-Dalit atrocities. Rajasthan has never applied Section 4.

However, in the long run, administrative methods must be combined=20
with "social solutions", i.e. purposive attempts to transform=20
people's perceptions of caste and "tradition" through a reform of=20
oppressive customs, based on modern ethics and ideas of justice.=20
India has had a great social reform movement. This movement was an=20
integral part of the Freedom Struggle. Indeed, it preceded it and=20
infused content into its political goals. The reform movement made=20
substantial gains in the last century, which were incorporated into=20
the Constitution. However, the reform momentum ran out by the 1950s.=20
Since then, social conservatism has flourished. Over the past 10 to=20
15 years, this has found its highest expression in Hindutva, itself=20
steeped in rank casteism.

The social reform movement must be revived and re-energised. Without=20
it, Indian society will not be able to combat numerous evils, like=20
vicious male-supremacism, sati and bride-burning, or superstition,=20
irrationalism, widespread ignorance, illiteracy, snake-oil remedies=20
and blind faith in the occult. Related to this ignorance are=20
semi-literate but obscurantist notions such as, "the Vedas contained=20
all the modern sciences", and Indian ("Aryan") civilisation is=20
"eternal"--the greatest in human history, indeed the only great one.

Ultimately, we must ask ourselves two questions: What is the meaning=20
of development and progress, if the most wretchedly oppressed people=20
remain in a state of permanent subjugation? What does that say about=20
the quality of our democracy? Should it be acceptable to us that=20
millions of Indians should have no personal freedom, no human agency,=20
no way of realising their elementary potential? Secondly, can we=20
tolerate gross injustice against the most underprivileged of our=20
people without generally legitimising large-scale injustice, and=20
accepting lawlessness as a "normal" way of life? Where does that=20
leave our idea of building a modern, open, equal and just society?end

Postscript: The horrific Oct 15 lynching of Dalits in Jhajjar=20
(Haryana) in the presence of the police underscores social reform's=20
urgency and the VHP-Shiv Sena's vile Hindutva casteism.

_____

#2.

Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 07:19:11 +0530

Combating Terrorism

Ram Puniyani

In recent times the country has witnessed a long list of acts of insanity,
attack on Sabarmati train, Parliament, Kashmir assembly and Akshardham.
Since this violence is supposedly being perpetrated by the International
terrorism, which derives its legitimacy from Islam, all the Muslims have
become suspects and the slogan goes that all terrorists are Muslims. It is
in this backdrop that Bal Thackerays 'magic' solution to solve terrorist
problem is dished out for the benefit of the nation. First get rid of Four
crore Bangladeshis who have infiltrated, the pro-Pakistan Muslims should
leave the country and Hindu suicide squads should be formed. With this
triad of solution coming from Hindu Hridaya Samrat (Emperor of Hindu
Hearts), as some of his followers call him, the Nation will be rid of the
menace of terrorism and this Hindu Rashtra can relive the great glories,
says Mr. Thackeray!

His prescription that Hindu suicide squads are the answer to the Islamic
terrorism is not only flawed but it also labels the acts of political
motives as having their roots in a particular religion only. It totally
betrays the basic unwillingness to understand the causes of violence,
terrorism etc. One can add that it is not only an unwillingness to
understand the basic causes but also it is a deliberate ploy to instigate
the aggressive sentiments, to provoke the violence in the society. One
knows that the ilk of Thackeray have political motives in ensuring that
communal violence continues. It is only on the chariot of communal hatred
that the parties like BJP, Shiv Sena are able to gain electoral mileage.
Be it the case of Mumbai riots in 92-93 or be it the Gujarat violence, the
basic agenda of Thackeray-Modi combine is the same.

During post independent India the riot victims, the unfortunate lot, have
mostly been from the poor community. This statement has to be qualified by
the addition that this was so prior to Gujarat 2002. In Gujarat the
earlier observation that it is only poor who are victims of communal
violence has been upturned and now even the affluent can be the recipient
of the wrath of the bloodthirsty politics. Again in the similar vein one
will add that though the percentage of Muslims in the population is around
13, the same percentage amongst riot victims is 80%, and that too is per
the Pre-Gujarat statistics. That the observations in Gujarat will change
this for the worse, is sure. This violence derives its legitimacy from the
stray acts, which are either provoked or occur due to insecurity of the
community under the battering ram of the violence. The agenda of
majoritarian politics projects the battered minority as the threat to the
majority and in order to protect the majority the pre-emptive strikes are
undertaken. And thats how the butchers and violators are accorded, or get
themselves accorded, the prefix Emperors of Hindu Hearts. One notes here
that Thackeray was accorded this prefix in the aftermath of Mumbai riots
and Modi is being accorded this in the aftermath of Gujarat carnage!

To add to the 'good' fortune of Thackeray-Modi, George Bush has provided
the international ideological support. Now the equation of Osama Bin
Laden-International terrorism-Pakistan and Indian Muslims being together
in their mission to attack the virtuosity of Western civilization globally
and the glorious 'Hindu' traditions here has been put together into a
single combination pack. Why and how the likes of Osama and Kashmiri
terrorist came up, what is the role of American Imperialism in promoting
the same is forgotten in the process. When and who trained the Osma group
into Jihad techniques, why only in oil rich zone, the terrorism originates
and prevails is also forgotten. It is also forgotten that the most initial
act, which prompted the terrorism to come up on the big scale in the
Middle East was violation of International norms by Israel, fully backed
up by the mighty US. The suppression of democratic aspiration in this
region, starting from overthrowing the Mossadegh regime by the US, the
previous aggression of US on Iraq and the forthcoming aggression on Iraq
by US are again understated.

The merry alliance of Sheikhs and despots with Uncle Sam, who is crushing
democracy in a ruthless manner wherever possible, is a matter of deep
concern for all the conscientious citizens of the World, be it Vietnam
where America unsuccessfully tried to crush the Vietnamese Nationalism or
be it Chile where a democratic Govt was overthrown and a butcher of the
status of Pinochet was installed by US, all has been forgotten from the
public memory. As a matter of fact the self-proclaimed upholder of Freedom
is the biggest suppressor of democracy all over the world. And this of
course is done to pursue its Imperialist designs. In a way Palestanian
militancy was a reaction to Israels highhandedness, Osama, himself a
product of CIA training, turned against its mentors for their dominating
presence and intervention in the Middle East once the Russian army was
thrown out from Afghanistan. What is the cause and what is the effect? The
popular perceptions, thanks to the Manufacturing consent by the dominating
states and the doctoring of mass consciousness by the dominating social
groups, ensures that the likes of Thackeray and Modi can merrily conduct
pogroms to support their political agenda favoring social status quo. One
can undertake an exercise of seeing the parallel between the agenda of
Uncle Sam and Hindutvavadis. One recalls that during McArthy era when
communists were being hunted down our own M.S. Golwlakar, the ideologue of
RSS, was writing to the Indian Govt. offering all his support to eliminate
the menace of Communism from Indian Nation. Five decades later when Uncle
Sam has unleashed a crusade against Islamic Terrorism the inheritors of
the legacy of Golwalkar are busy actually wiping out the Islamic
Terrorists.

Closer home, post Babri demolition, the anger of Muslim youth can be used
as a pretext to unleash the pogrom. Similarly the acts, which have no
religious motive, like murder of Mathadi workers or the burning of Bane
family (Mumbai) can be projected to be the attack of Muslims (since the
victims were Hindus) to annihilate the Hindus and so the mini fuehrer can
take over the streets and his minions can supply arms to the marauding
mobs to do their job. In this background the polarization of communities
keeps going on and the electoral chickens hatch soon enough for the
leaders of the pogroms. Thanks to the painstaking work of Shrikrishna
commission one can confidently state this a decade down the line. But
damage has been done. Popular perception has no time for such commissions,
they can well be fed with the soup that Muslims attack first and so we
have to... That the violence is not spontaneous, neither non-avoidable has
been more that proven by a comparison of projected Post Godhra carnage and
post Akshardham calm.

But here again the popular perception has no time to introspect. One,
people have enough problems on hand and two, the doctors of mass
consciousness are working overtime to ensure to enforce the message that
Godhra has links with international terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, Pervez
Musharrf and the Muslim next door. By the time the reports of inquiry
commission will bring out the truth, the ilk of Chote Sardar, the newly
anointed Emperor of Hindu Hearts, will en-cash the resulting polarization
in to the electoral arena. By the time the inquiry commission report comes
out, if at all in this case, the graves of those who perished in the
carnage will be submerged deep down.

The suicide squads in a way already exist. The impoverished poor
unemployed mainly Adivasis and Dalits, who can be made handmaiden of the
communal agenda, are already willing to risk their lives for a price. And
this is the new acquisition of the perpetrators of the cult of politics in
the name of religion. The march of the present policies are already
creating fertile ground for the squads, who for mere biological survival
will be coming in handy to be used as foot soldiers of Hindutva sponsored
violence. The trick involved is that the attack is projected as the
self-defense and the victim is projected as the culprit.

Is Mr. Thackerays concerned about eliminating terrorism? No way. This
terrorism is his best support. So he wants to see that the terrorism
flourishes, and so he gives the call for suicide squad. The proposed
squads can be the best incitement to the feeling of insecurity, which
promotes terrorist acts. Surely Balasaheb is on the right tract for his
political agenda.

(The writer works for EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity, Mumbai)

_____

#3

Dear Friends,
My Film on Kashmir, "Tell Them, the tree they had planted has now=20
grown." will be screened at IIT campus tomorrow ( October 22) at 4 pm.
You are all cordially invited.

Details of venue / Time

Date: October 22, Tuesday
Time : 4 Pm
Venue: IDC (Industrial Design Centre Auditorium)
2nd Floor, IIT (Indian Institite of Technology )
Powai. Mumbai

AJAY RAINA
B - 8, SAI MILAP,
SAI BABA COMPLEX,
GOREGAON EAST,
MUMBAI 400 063
INDIA

_____

#4.

Economic and Political Weekly (Bombay)
October 12, 2002
Discussion

Doubly Alienated Muslims - Some Implications of the Gujarat Carnage

Anand Chakravarti

Many commentaries in earlier numbers of Economic and Political Weekly=20
(EPW), as well as various reports of human rights groups,1 point to=20
the deeply fractured character of contemporary Gujarat society in=20
which the Muslim minority, cutting across class and gender, has been=20
viciously stigmatised and subjected to unspeakable brutality. For=20
example, K Balagopal has powerfully captured the profound sense of=20
hatred, =8Cintense and inflamed=B9, that Hindus in common have for=20
Muslims in Gujarat today. Thus, according to him, =8Ccutting across=20
divisions of caste, class, gender, town and country, Gujarat is one=20
mass of hatred for Muslims=B9.2 These writings, supplemented to some=20
extent by my own impressions,3 have prompted me to focus here on two=20
major implications of the communal divide in Gujarat =AD viewed from=20
the perspective of the Muslim underclass. I should qualify my=20
observations by emphasising that I am simply stating what appears to=20
me to be implicit in the above mentioned writings for understanding=20
the plight of the underprivileged among the Muslim minority in the=20
state, particularly in those areas where the incidence of violence=20
has been high. The following are the dimensions of the tragedy in=20
Gujarat that I wish to highlight: (i) the principal victims of the=20
violence and ghettoisation are by and large poor Muslims in rural and=20
urban areas. They exist today outside the margins of mainstream=20
Indian society in two very fundamental senses: firstly, in terms of=20
material well-being, and=A0secondly, as citizens; (ii) the alienation=20
of poor Muslims=A0is attributable to the process of saffronisation,=20
which diverts attention from the sources of poverty and oppression in=20
Gujarat society. The real oppressors of the underclass at large=20
therefore continue to prosper.

Broadly speaking, the Muslims on whom attention is being focused here=20
comprise those who live essentially in a state of poverty because=20
their labour fetches them extremely low returns (whether through=20
wages or by own account work). Moreover, they neither have assured=20
employment nor do they enjoy any kind of social security. They=20
include those who fall in the informal sector, such as agricultural=20
labourers, daily wage workers in factories and workshops, piece rate=20
workers, construction labourers, and domestic servants. They also=20
include large numbers of own account workers, such as rickshaw=20
pullers, petty shopkeepers, hawkers of vegetables, fruits, bakery=20
products, snacks and beverages, and so on. The two categories=20
together constitute what may be deemed here as the unorganised sector=20
of the economy in the sense that there is no collective organisation=20
or association to protect the common interests of those who practise=20
a specific occupation, whether it is wage work or own account work.

To appreciate the tragic nature of the lives of such people following=20
the post-Godhra carnage in Gujarat, what needs emphasis here is that=20
they are simultaneously victims of poor material circumstances and=20
communal hatred. Ironically, they are victims twice over. In terms of=20
class, the poor among the Muslims share, no doubt, the fate of their=20
Hindu counterparts not only in Gujarat but also elsewhere in the=20
country to the extent that they are citizens of the =8Csovereign,=20
socialist, secular democratic republic=B9 of India in only a token=20
sense. Indeed, the poor, irrespective of community, have been=20
betrayed by the political establishment right from day one of=20
independence, since they do not, even today, have access to justice,=20
=8Csocial, economic and political=B9 in any meaningful sense, nor do they=20
enjoy =8Cequality of status and opportunity=B9, which, according to the=20
Constitution, should be secured to all citizens. In fact, with the=20
strident promotion of liberalisation and globalisation by the Indian=20
state in the course of the last decade or so, the ranks of such=20
oppressed people have swelled phenomenally.

While the poor cut across all communities, there are certain unique=20
circumstances in Gujarat that render the plight of poor Muslims,=20
especially in the areas affected by communal violence, as=20
considerably worse than that of their counterparts elsewhere in the=20
country. The poor Muslims here are not only economically marginalised=20
but, as Muslims, they are also subject to virulent social ostracism=20
and hate by Hindus, including many among dalits and those adivasis=20
who claim to be Hindus. The irony is that, generally speaking, these=20
dalits and adivasis share the same life chances as those of poor=20
Muslims. The latter are, therefore, alienated not only from the=20
fruits of their labour but also from even those who share the same=20
material circumstances. They are despised, hated, and humiliated in=20
village communities and urban neighbourhoods in which they have lived=20
for decades or even generations along with their Hindu neighbours.=20
Several poor Muslims to whom I spoke underscored their perception=20
that the antagonism of Hindus against them was unprecedented. As one=20
of them said despairingly, =8Csince even the sarkar (the government)=20
has let us down, our only hope for survival now is in the hands of=20
Allah.=B9 Why are such Muslims in this doubly alienated condition?

Absence of Mobilisation

To a large extent the sharp communal divide in contemporary Gujarat=20
has much to do with the fact that no other basis of mobilisation has=20
penetrated the political imagination of the people at large. In this=20
connection, two major lacunae in the political landscape of Gujarat=20
are=A0apparent: firstly, upper caste dominance has not encountered any=20
serious challenge; and secondly, in the context of the industrial=20
sphere, the attenuation of the labour movement has meant that the=20
contradiction between labour and capital has lost its cutting edge.=20
These points are briefly touched upon here.

Ghanshyam Shah has pointed out that the state =8Chas not witnessed an=20
anti-brahmin or backward caste movement.=B9 Further, assertions by=20
depressed castes against the iniquities of the caste system have not=20
made much headway, and in any case have been =8Cat low ebb=B9 during the=20
last 10 years.4 In this respect Gujarat is a major contrast with=20
Maharashtra and peninsular India where the backward castes launched=20
movements against upper caste hegemony during the later colonial=20
period. Therefore, upper caste dominance, which is synonymous with=20
the principal sources of social, cultural, and material oppression,=20
has remained largely uncontested in Gujarat. Ironically it is these=20
very upper castes that provide a model for emulation by subordinate=20
castes through the process of sanskritisation. Thus, instead of=20
contestations by middle and lower castes exposing the contradictions=20
in caste society, the desire for a better status has led to a higher=20
level of cultural integration with the =8Cgreat=B9 Hindu tradition=20
through the process of sanskritisation. An instance is the=20
sanskritisation of a section of the kolis of central and north=20
Gujarat, culminating in their assertion of kshatriya status.5=20
Significantly, and ironically, even dalits and adivasis have sought=20
respectability through sanskritisation.6=A0

There has also been a drastic decline in the challenge to capital,=20
for which the=A0experience of textile workers in Ahmedabad, once a=20
bastion of working class consciousness, provides an outstanding=20
example. According to Jan Breman, the trade union movement, which=20
used to be the main platform of resistance against the owners of the=20
once flourishing textile mills, has lost its former momentum.7 The=20
withering away of the labour movement has occurred at a moment when=20
collective action might have been the only decisive way of exercising=20
countervailing pressure against the negative impact of the=20
liberalisation wave on labour. As shown by Breman, the closure of=20
many textile mills in the recent past was a direct consequence of the=20
policy of liberalisation that relieved employers of the obligation to=20
provide security to their workers. Large numbers of regular workers=20
have thus been unceremoniously shunted into the informal sector. The=20
majority of them are now victims of acute poverty.8=A0

It is in such a scenario, devoid of contestation against caste and=20
class oppression, that the significance of the penetration of the=20
Sangh parivar into Gujarat society needs to be understood. Its=20
ideology, typically designated as Hindutva, is the only major force=20
that has captured the imagination of Hindus at large. The basic=20
premises of Hindutva, drawn from the writings of its major exponents=20
V D Savarkar and M S Golwalkar, have been lucidly presented by Sumit=20
Sarkar,9 and I shall highlight only the points that are helpful for=20
explaining the double alienation of poor Muslims in Gujarat today.

Of paramount importance is the premise, derived from the emphasis on=20
the unity of religion and culture, that India is fundamentally a=20
Hindu nation whose identity is inextricably bound up with the=20
religion of the Hindus. Inevitably, this conception of nation=20
privileges the Hindus as citizens par excellence and excludes all=20
non-Hindus, who may stay on in the country wholly subordinated to the=20
former. Even more ominous is a distorted form of nationalism, which=20
postulates that Muslims are the most dangerous threat to the nation,=20
and that the =8Creal=B9 national struggle has been against Muslim rule=20
and Muslims generally. In the light of this perverse obsession with=20
grappling with the hateful internal enemy, the Muslims =AD and by=20
extension other minorities, especially Christians =AD it is perfectly=20
logical that Hindutva would display what Sarkar aptly calls =8Can=20
enormous silence=B9 on vital issues concerning mass poverty and social=20
justice.10=A0

Constructing the =8CEnemy=B9

The contemporary political scene in Gujarat, dominated as it is by=20
the Sangh parivar, faithfully resonates with the basic thrust of=20
Hindutva, as spelt out here. As the demonisation of Muslims=20
constitutes the major point on the political agenda, other critical=20
issues arising from caste oppression or class domination and=20
exploitation are liable to be either marginalised or deflected on=20
Muslims in general. It is not surprising, therefore, that even among=20
dalits, adivasis, and other low status categories constituting the=20
underclass, it is the Muslim who is perceived as the main enemy.=20
Muslims are depicted not only as criminals and exploiters, but also=20
as lustful beasts =AD ever ready to violate Hindu women.

The process by which Hindutva is incorporated into the social=20
imagination of persons or groups of persons may be described as=20
saffronisation. The process, which developed momentum following the=20
war with Pakistan in 1965,11 has imparted a lethal dimension to the=20
wave of religiosity encompassing various sections of Gujarat society.=20
Indeed, saffronisation has upstaged sanskritisation and constitutes=20
the decisive frame of thought and action of those who assert their=20
Hindu identity. Whereas sanskritisation implies the adoption of the=20
symbols and style of life of upper castes, saffronisation uses the=20
same markers to cultivate antagonistic relations with minorities. The=20
consequence is a perverse empowering of the oppressed members of the=20
Hindu fold, including dalits and adivasis, whose identification with=20
the Hindu religion is achieved negatively by hating those who=20
subscribe to other faiths.

As Hindutva is the only compelling force in contemporary Gujarat, the=20
possibilities of mobilising the poor on issues that critically affect=20
their well-being are drastically diluted. Inevitably, and ironically,=20
it divides them on communal lines. Returning to the =8Cinformalised=B9=20
workers in Ahmedabad described by Breman as an example,12 instead of=20
perceiving the state and the inhuman market forces engendered by it=20
as the principal sources of their misery, they hate each other on=20
lines defined by their respective communities. Contradictions along=20
which battle lines between oppressor and oppressed ought to be drawn=20
in the political economy have been eclipsed by contradictions based=20
on religion, in terms of which Muslims are marked out as the main=20
enemy.

The process of saffronisation offers the dalits and adivasis street=20
power during riots, which includes the possibilities of unrestrained=20
looting of the properties of Muslims. Indeed, as Hindutva forces=20
dominate the state, it is not surprising that sections belonging to=20
such groups have been inspired by an enormous perverse zeal to kill,=20
hack and burn Muslims, in spite of the fact that the latter might be=20
as oppressed as they are.

In such circumstances the poor Muslim indeed stands totally abandoned=20
by the rest of society. In every respect that the community as a=20
whole has been victimised, the trauma for those who are poor is=20
manifold. The intensity of the ghettoisation suffered by the Muslims=20
in general is formidable, but it is even worse for those whose meagre=20
possessions have been destroyed. Even their labour power, the=20
pre-eminent means of keeping body and soul together, carries little=20
value in a social setting where the community is subjected to the=20
economic boycott called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a key=20
constituent of the Sangh parivar.13 The following is an example=20
based on interviews at a relief camp for Muslims at Kadi, in Mehsana=20
district. The Gujarat Industrial=A0Development Corporation has a number=20
of establishments in the area manufacturing items such as metal=20
sheets and bars, chemicals, cotton based oil, and ceramic products.=20
The units, many of which are said to be controlled by patels, a=20
dominant caste, employ large numbers of casual labourers. I was=20
informed (on April 10) that the Muslim labourers had been sacked en=20
masse at the instance of the VHP.

The problem is compounded by the failure of the government to ensure=20
that the Muslims whose homes have been destroyed along with all their=20
basic possessions are properly rehabilitated through adequate=20
compensation. Barely had the riots died down, the government resolved=20
to close down relief camps by stopping the supply of rations. The=20
intention was to force the inmates to return to the neighbourhoods=20
and villages from where they had fled, and thus maintain the fiction=20
that the state had returned to normal. But it is evident from the=20
same reports that the saffronised Hindu population still sees them as=20
aliens. The most humiliating conditions continue to be imposed upon=20
them. These include, coercing them to withdraw cases against=20
perpetrators of brutal acts of violence, and further, that they=20
should give up the crucial symbols of their cultural identity and=20
merge with the Hindu majority. Thus, the Muslims who have lived for=20
generations in a certain space are made to feel that they are=20
refugees in their own homeland. It is=A0difficult to imagine how those=20
whose only asset is their labour power can survive under these=20
conditions. Such Muslims were second class citizens because of their=20
poverty. But now even their attenuated citizenship is sought to be=20
obliterated altogether because of their religion. It is the cruelest=20
of ironies that no power and no institution in this so-called secular=20
democratic republic =AD not even the president and the highest=20
judiciary =AD have intervened at the time of writing to=A0provide succour=20
to the victims of such monumental injustice.

Address for correspondence:
chakfam@m...

Notes

1 The commentaries that I have especially drawn from appeared in=20
EPW, Vol 37, Numbers 11, 15, 16, 20, 22, and 28, 2002. Those from=20
which specific points have been made are cited below. The reports=20
include the following: (i) Syeda Hameed et al, The Survivors Speak,=20
Citizen=B9s Initiative, Ahmedabad, April 2002; (ii) Kamal Mitra Chenoy=20
et al, Gujarat Carnage 2002, [no place; no date]; (iii) People=B9s=20
Union for Democratic Rights [PUDR], =8CMaaro! Kaapo! Baalo!=B9 [Kill!=20
Hack! Burn!], Delhi, May 2002; (iv) Indian Social Action Forum,=20
Gujarat: Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra, Delhi, [no date].
2 K Balagopal, =8CReflections on =B3Gujarat Pradesh=B2 of =B3Hindu=20
Rashtra=B2=A0=B9, EPW, 37(22), 2002, p=A02117.
3 I visited some parts of Gujarat in April 2002 as a member of a=20
PUDR fact-finding team.
4 Ghanshyam Shah, =8CCaste, Hindutva and Hideousness=B9, EPW, 37(15),=20
2002, p 1393.
5 Ibid.
6 A M Shah, =8CFor a More Humane Society=B9, Seminar, 513, 2002, p 59.
7 Jan Breman, =8CCommunal Upheaval as Resurgence of Social Darwinism=B9,=
=20
EPW, 37(16), pp 1485-88.
8 Ibid, p 1487.
9 Sumit Sarkar, Beyond Nationalist Frames, Permanent Black, Delhi,=20
2002, pp 244-62.
10 Ibid, p 249.
11 Shah (n 4, p 1391) points to the building up of =8Creligion-centred=20
nationalism=B9 following the war on the Kutch border in 1965.
12 Breman, n 7.
13 See Gujarat Carnage 2002 (n 1), p 10, which reproduces a=20
translation of a VHP leaflet.

____

#5.

Economic and Political Weekly,
October 12, 2002

Gulliver=B9s Troubles: State and Militants in North-East India

To deal with the troubled north-east region, India has a=20
counter-insurgency strategy, an economic development strategy and=20
even a vacuous nation-building strategy. What it sorely lacks is a=20
thoughtful state-building strategy =96 one that could link state and=20
society in a way that harmonises the interests, cultural values and=20
aspirations of the peoples of the region with the agendas of the=20
national state.

Sanjib Baruah

[ Full Text of the above paper is available via e-mail to all=20
interested ; Should you require a copy drop a note to=20
<aiindex@m...>

____

#6.

The Times of India, October 21, 2002
INTERVIEW with Professor Mahendra P Lama

Professor of South Asian economics at the Jawaharlal Nehru=20
University, chief economic adviser to the Sikkim government,=20
columnist in various Nepali newspapers and expert on the Himalayan=20
mountain region; speaking to Lalita Panicker on his pet passion, the=20
Sikkim human development report, and other issues concerning the=20
north-east region
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=3D25799751

____

#7.

The Telegraph, October 22, 2002
Editorial

DRESSING DOWN

Enemies of freedom can strike in many ways. One common tactic is to=20
appropriate the role of cultural guardian and to impose codes of=20
conduct on the people. The militants in Manipur, who have imposed a=20
dress code on Meitei women, are the latest in a line of small-time=20
despots revelling in their quixotic fancies. It would have been easy=20
to dismiss them as members of a lunatic fringe but for the sinister=20
implications of their sartorial diktat. What is at stake here is the=20
people=B9s fundamental freedom to choose their own way of life. The=20
dresses that women =8B or for that matter, men =8B in Manipur choose to=20
wear are part of this indisputable freedom. The extremists=B9 firman is=20
as absurd as their justification of it. The traditional dress is=20
alleged to preserve the women=B9s ethnic identity which the outlandish=20
sari or the trousers would presumably destroy. This is an obviously=20
laughable attempt at preserving ethnic identity. There have been=20
other occasions in Manipur when some group or the other has tried to=20
impose its idea of ethnic purity on the people. In the Eighties,=20
there was a vain attempt to rid the language of the Imphal valley of=20
supposedly foreign influences and change the script, as if one can=20
direct the development of a language by a fiat.

The problem is that all these attempts at forcing codes of conduct on=20
the people have thinly-veiled political overtones. The cultural=20
manipulations are aimed at exploiting ethnic sentiments and thereby=20
strengthening the militants=B9 secessionist appeal. The hope, of=20
course, is that culture-policing fails everywhere. It failed when a=20
dim-witted Marxist college principal in Calcutta wanted to ban the=20
salwar-kameez for his female students and ordered them to wear saris=20
on the campus. In Jammu and Kashmir, a militant outfit=B9s diktat to=20
women to cover their faces was treated largely with the disdain it=20
deserved. It is safe to assume that Manipuri women will not tolerate=20
this affront to their freedom and dignity. Women in Imphal have a=20
history of leading movements in major social and health issues, apart=20
from those on the political front. But men in Manipur too should see=20
this dressing down of their women for what it is =8B a threat to=20
everybody=B9s freedom =8B and rise in protest. One way to dismiss the=20
fiat could be to ignore it and carry on with the clothes and culture=20
of the people=B9s own choice. It is not simply a question of women or=20
their dress; it is a matter of basic individual rights without which=20
political or other rights may not mean much. Women in Manipur may=20
like to wear their traditional dresses rather than something else;=20
but it has to remain their own free choice.

_____

#8.

The Hindu
Monday, Oct 21, 2002

Sangh Parivar above the law?
By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI OCT. 20. It seems that the laws of the land, or for that=20
matter the norms of any civilised nation, do not apply to the Vishwa=20
Hindu Parishad or other RSS offspring. A string of dangerously=20
provocative, communal and casteist statements have been issued by VHP=20
leaders during the last two months.[...].
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002102104601100.htm

_____

#9.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002102100601001.htm

The Hindu
Monday, Oct 21, 2002
Opinion - Letters to the Editor=20
<http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=3D200210210060100=
1.htm&date=3D2002/10/21/&prd=3Dth&>

NCERT & its authors

Sir, =8B In protesting against your Editorial on the NCERT textbooks,=20
Dr. Makkhan Lal (Oct. 17) provides ample proof, if proof were needed,=20
of the kind of authors the National Council for Education Research=20
and Training has picked for its textbooks. Dr. Lal is blissfully=20
unaware that the decimal system has nothing to do with `zero'. The=20
Romans counted with tens and hundreds, but represented ten by `X' and=20
hundred by `C', not 10 and 100. In our own early Brahmi and=20
Kharoshthi scripts, the signs of ten and hundred are represented by=20
different single figures. No inscription (pre-Gupta or Gupta) records=20
zero: mentioning one hundred-and-three does not mean the use of zero=20
(compare CIII in Roman numerals). The Vedic seers transmitted their=20
compositions by oral discourse, so they never wrote either 10 or 100.=20
Let Dr. Lal also consider this: ever since our ancestors looked at=20
their two thumbs and eight fingers, they knew of ten: there was no=20
need for them to wait until the Rigveda's time for this stupendous=20
discovery. But zero has nothing to do with it.

Shireen Moosvi,
Aligarh, U.P.

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