[sacw] SACW #1 | 30 Jan. 03

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire #1 | 30 January 2003

#1. Pakistan's musicians face clampdown (Haroon Rashid)
#2. Officially supported cultural nationalism will make India=20
intolerant (Partha Chatterjee)
#3. Madness and civilisation (Krishna Kumar)
#4. Fascism is alive and living in Gujarat: Arundhati
#5. We're all in jail, mourn activists
#6. Seminar and Discussion on "The Peace Process, Norwegian=20
Mediation, Federalism and the Way Forward for Sri Lanka"
#7. Communalism: What is true- What is False? (A set of 2 Cassettes in Hind=
i)
#8. 55th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhiji 30 January - Events in Bomb=
ay
#9. Sahmat Gandhi Memorial /Jamia Mili Islamia, New Delhi 30th
#10. Film screenings: Stories of Resistance featuring films by Gopal=20
Menon (Bangalore)
#11. American Designs on Iraq : Its Consequences' (New Delhi Meet)
#12. Indian Journal of Secularism - Vol. 6, No.4, January - March 2003
#13. South Asia Human Rights Film Festival, New York, February 27 -=20
March 2, 2003

__________________________

#1.

BBC News
Tuesday, 28 January, 2003, 12:49 GMT
Pakistan's musicians face clampdown

By Haroon Rashid
BBC reporter in Peshawar

The sound of music in Pakistan's rugged North-West Frontier Province=20
is being stifled as the Islamist government there flexes its muscles.
As part of a wider move to curb what is described as immorality in=20
society, the police have ordered traditional music houses in the main=20
city of Peshawar to curb their activities.

They have been told that the sound of music should not be heard on the stre=
ets.
As a result, the Dabgiri bazaar, an age-old centre of music in=20
central Peshawar, is largely silent.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government came to power in the=20
province in elections last October.
It has already ordered cinema halls and video shops to pull down=20
their shutters.

Age-old tradition
For hundreds of years, musicians were patronised by princely families=20
- but the tradition has been dying out as more popular forms of=20
entertainment take centre stage.

The Islamists have already targeted cinemas

The Dabgiri bazaar has for generations been famous for its singing=20
tradition, with local musicians performing at weddings and other=20
celebrations to earn a living.
Until a few days ago, the run-down old town square thronged with=20
music lovers in search of a live performance.
But the crumbling windows opening into the streets have now been boarded up=
.
The police say musicians and singers were "soliciting" business in=20
the street, creating a nuisance.
The decision seems to be aimed at keeping the singers well away from=20
public view as the new religious alliance gets down to the serious=20
business of governance.

Musicians puzzled
The musicians themselves are perplexed and hurt by the governments move.

Performers should not be heard on the streets

A local community leader, Mohammed Fida, says nobody has bothered to=20
tell him what prompted the decision.
"We don't know whether this is being done by the police, the=20
religious leaders or somebody else."
Mr Fida says keeping the windows and doors closed will badly affect=20
business. "The customers will just not know that we are performing."

Musician Sarmast Ustad says the community has never wished evil on=20
others. "We never cause anybody any harm."
But he says they will accept the decision, although he complains that=20
it is the less well-off who will suffer.
"We will accept the decision because it comes from our government.=20
But really, they are being unfair to us."
"They are targeting poor musicians like us. But people running the=20
same business in up-market localities are free to do as they please."
The government's decision, disgruntled locals say, indicates that the=20
ruling alliance of six religious parties is quietly and determinedly=20
implementing its Islamic agenda.

_____

#2.

The Telegraph
Thursday, January 30, 2003
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030130/asp/opinion/story_1615394.asp

A SUBTLE POISON
- Officially supported cultural nationalism will make India intolerant
Partha Chatterjee

The author is professor of political science and director, Centre for=20
Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Having successfully hitched its long-cherished Hindu nationalist=20
dreams to the new public anxieties over security and terrorism, the=20
Bharatiya Janata Party laid itself open to the charge that, after=20
Gujarat, it would fall in behind the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the=20
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in pushing their version of the Hindutva=20
agenda. This raised concerns among its National Democratic Alliance=20
allies, cast a shadow over its role as the leading force in the sangh=20
parivar and even generated speculations about a generational split=20
within the party itself. Seeking an ideological formula that would=20
retain its credit line with the VHP-RSS Hindutva bank while=20
distancing itself from the embarrassing excesses of the Singhals and=20
the Togadias, the BJP has come up with a new slogan. It says it will=20
now fight to uphold cultural nationalism. It is not the Hindu=20
religion that the BJP wants to defend and promote in politics, but=20
Indian culture.

What is this Indian culture? Is it something that can be identified=20
and described in the way Indians live their lives? The=20
Anthropological Survey of India is a major scientific institution run=20
by the government of India whose business it is to document the=20
cultural practices of the people of this country. A few years ago it=20
carried out a massive countrywide survey whose results are now being=20
published in 43 large volumes. The survey decided to identify=20
communities of people who shared some major cultural characteristics=20
such as language, caste, religion, occupation and the rule of=20
marrying within the community (endogamy). It was found that there=20
were as many as 4,635 distinct communities in India that could be=20
identified by these characteristics. Were there any major cultural=20
traits that were shared by all these communities? No. In fact, for=20
virtually any cultural trait that might seem to be peculiarly Indian,=20
there were hundreds of Indian communities that did not follow it.

Thus, as many as 80 per cent of Indian communities allow the eating=20
of meat or fish; more than half the communities allow their men to=20
drink and as many as one-fourth had no problems with their women=20
drinking too; and smoking or chewing tobacco was practised by men and=20
women of most communities. The director-general of the survey=20
commented, albeit jocularly: "We are largely a drinking, smoking and=20
meat-eating people!" I doubt that any cultural nationalist will=20
accept this as a true description of Indian culture.

The point is not whether this description is correct. Rather, the=20
point is that no description of any cultural trait will hold=20
generally for all groups of people in India. Physical anthropologists=20
have shown that apart from some tribes of northeastern India and the=20
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, there are no pure racial types in any=20
Indian community; we are all utterly hybrid. We may think Indians=20
have a great regard for lineage and ancestry, but it turns out that=20
this is a trait that belongs only to the upper castes. We may think=20
that after the Hindu code bill, all Hindus are monogamous. It turns=20
out that several hundred Hindus actually continue to practice=20
polygamy along with monogamy, in spite of the law. We have been told=20
that Hindus do not proselytize. It turns out that the most frequent=20
changes of religion in recent years are moves into Hinduism, larger=20
in number than conversions to Christianity, Islam, Sikhism or=20
Buddhism.

So, if culture is something that is lived and practised every day by=20
actual groups of people, then Indian culture can only be defined by=20
its diversity, not by anything held in common. Of course, some=20
cultural nationalists recognize this fact and even proclaim it with=20
pride. However, they also insist that in spite of this diversity,=20
Indian culture still has a fundamental unity that cannot be found in=20
the actual day-to-day practices of people, because those practices=20
have been corrupted by many influences. That unity is to be found in=20
the true and authentic ideal of Indian culture.

One must acknowledge that the BJP ideologues are not the first to try=20
to define this ideal. For more than a century now, many nationalist=20
thinkers in India have sought to describe the essential unity of=20
Indian culture in terms of such an ideal representation. It is fair=20
to say that these attempts have been largely textual, searching=20
ancient works of religion, philosophy and law written for the most=20
part in Sanskrit. The older the texts, the stronger the claim to=20
belong to the origins of Indian culture and hence to its continuous=20
authenticity - this is the implicit assumption. If I were to argue=20
that Indian culture today is that which has been created and=20
practised in the various regional and local Indian languages in the=20
last four or five centuries, cultural nationalists would dismiss me=20
with contempt. The essence of Indian culture must be shown to be=20
ancient and continuous, they will say. Because only then can the=20
diversity of the later period be properly encompassed within the=20
unity of the origins. Of course, since access to higher learning in=20
Sanskrit was monopolized by Brahmins until very recent times, the=20
content of the religious and philosophical core of this ancient and=20
continuous Indian culture as propounded by cultural nationalists=20
turns out to be thoroughly Brahminical. It excludes from the=20
essential core that which belonged to the oppositional traditions=20
(Buddhism, for example, which rejected the Vedas and the authority of=20
the Brahmins) and to the local and the folk (the many heterodox and=20
hybrid local practices and the so-called tribal cultures). Needless=20
to say, it also excludes as foreign the centuries-old presence in=20
India of Islam and Christianity. All of these cultural elements may=20
exist among the people of the country, the cultural nationalist will=20
say, but they do not belong to the essential identity of Indian=20
culture.

When the BJP says it is for cultural nationalism, it means Indian=20
culture in this ideal sense. Actual social practices can continue as=20
they always have. What we need, the BJP says, is a political ideology=20
that will uphold the national cultural ideal. Why should anyone=20
object to this?

There are several reasons why this ideology is dangerous and=20
potentially disastrous. First, it is an easy slide from the=20
apparently benign promotion of a cultural ideal to the aggressive=20
flaunting of cultural chauvinism. It is not difficult to see how=20
quickly the so-called cultural nationalism of the BJP can turn into=20
the Hindutva of the VHP. Second, if the state decides to pursue this=20
particular cultural ideal in the arena of education, broadcasting or=20
official patronage of culture, it cannot but affect the actual=20
practices of various Indian communities. Large numbers of them will=20
be required to conform to the so-called ideal or be excluded from=20
government support. Third, cultural nationalism as official policy is=20
deeply at odds with India's democratic Constitution and is more akin=20
to the authoritarian national ideologies of pre-war Japan and Nazi=20
Germany. Those examples show beyond doubt that the argument that the=20
national culture should be the culture of the majority is a perverse=20
one.

The following hypothetical case will make the point clear. Imagine a=20
situation where the two major political parties in Britain decide to=20
take a leaf out of the BJP's book and make cultural nationalism the=20
official policy of Britain. Suppose they declare that true British=20
culture is white, Christian and English-speaking - the culture of the=20
majority. Everything contrary must be wiped off the face of Britain.=20
Imagine the genuine outrage that will be felt by British Asians. I=20
expect the BJP leaders will be among the first to protest. Yet they=20
will not admit that the case is exactly symmetrical to what they are=20
now propagating in India.

In trying to tackle Islamic fundamentalism and Pakistan-sponsored=20
terrorism, the BJP is proposing a politics that actually replicates=20
the politics of their enemy. Officially supported cultural=20
nationalism will make India authoritarian, militarist and intolerant=20
- not a country to be proud of.

_____

#3.

The Hindustan Times
Thursday, January 30, 2003
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/300103/detPLA01.shtml

Madness and civilisation
by Krishna Kumar

Hardly a day passes without someone making a distinction between=20
religion and dharma, Hinduism and Hindutva, secularism and=20
areligiosity, and so on.

After the Gujarat elections, the game of making distinctions has=20
gained tedious popularity. Interestingly, the opposite game of=20
obfuscation - claiming the absence of a distinction - is also on. BJP=20
ideologues have been arguing that there is no difference between=20
Hinduism and Hindutva. Their latest claim is that Hindutva and=20
secularism are one.

Watching the ease and frequency with which these word games are=20
played, one feels deeply worried about those growing up today.=20
Confusion and uncertainty are bad enough; add stressful schooling,=20
and you have a recipe for insecure childhood. We don't need terrorism=20
and war to make India's young feel chronically vulnerable. Our=20
penchant for conceptual hairsplitting and rudderless curriculum=20
policy are enough to convince children that no one is in charge.

Politicians never take responsibility for anything, including the=20
riots they have organised. And civil servants, editors, judges,=20
artists - they all have their own specialised domains and discourses.=20
In a society like ours where most people cannot read, these=20
specialised discourses inhabit a circumscribed universe which often=20
pushes them to become similar to the word games I have cited. Step=20
below metropolitan India and the liberal ethos vanishes into grosser=20
air where people live in perpetual fear of being caught for nothing=20
and the young believe that truth seldom wins.

Each time I attend a class where the teacher is straining herself to=20
explain how the abstraction called secularism differs from the=20
abstraction called communalism, I feel like asking, "Does it matter?"=20
My question has an autobiographical impulse. Those of us born=20
conveniently after Independence grew up with the hope of seeing India=20
at peace with itself and with its neighbours. By now it is clear that=20
India's chances of achieving peace with Pakistan are slim, and the=20
chances of achieving inner peace are slimmer. The two prospects are=20
linked, though not many - not even among those committed to=20
secularism - realise that neighbourly hatred and domestic communalism=20
are two sides of the same rusty coin.

I have never seen as much hatred and impatience as I see these days.=20
Muslim ghettoes are unhesitatingly referred to as Pakistans. The=20
nation-building process has turned into something that has no known=20
element of the term building in it. The sea of suspicion has flooded=20
many regions of the nation and all drainage appears blocked.

In the course of doing a study of Indian and Pakistani school books=20
of history, I found that nation-building in both countries leans=20
heavily on word games. The emphasis of the Pakistani narrative of=20
nationalism is on claiming that India's secularism is a farce. Gandhi=20
is presented to Pakistani children as a Hindu leader and Independent=20
India as a Hindu country.

The Indian narrative tries hard to show that secularism and=20
communalism were mutually exclusive. Our school texts end up reifying=20
Partition, and make it look like a defeat of secular nationalism,=20
rather than as the outcome of a complex historical process. Schools=20
in both countries fail to use history to promote an educated=20
imagination. Rather, the manner in which history is taught=20
psychologically induces the young to get stuck in the past.

It is no news that nation-building has become dependent on the=20
continued presence of an evil adversary. It is also no news that both=20
India and Pakistan have developed deadly weaponry at the expense of=20
their children's education. What I learnt while writing Prejudice and=20
Pride, the title of my comparative study, was that education actually=20
hardens conflict by nurturing adversarial mindsets.

The study convinced me that J. Krishnamurty was right in describing=20
modern education as a threat to world peace. Even the modest=20
expectation that the teaching of history at school will make children=20
aware of the complexity of the subject is not fulfilled. History as=20
it is taught - and now it is going to get worse - serves to trap the=20
young into thinking that India and Pakistan are competitive national=20
projects only one of which can be true and lasting.

Given the poor quality of the curriculum and teaching, it is hardly=20
surprising that so many of our youngsters admire Hitler. They think=20
he was a great patriot who brought glory to his country, not ignominy=20
and devastation, as the rest of the world believes. If you ask them=20
which nation they admire in the present-day world, they mention=20
Israel. Suggesting that there is some contradiction between these two=20
views cuts no ice.

I have met schoolchildren and teachers who believe that Jews were a=20
kind of Muslims, and that is why Hitler gets their appreciation for=20
containing Islam! This is how they are able to argue that Israel=20
should be praised for battling so many Muslim countries all by=20
itself. This sort of bundle-of-contradictions approach is not=20
confined to school students. An admiration for both Hitler and Israel=20
is quite popular with Hindu religious nationalists.

A school principal who shares it confessed to me that its main=20
attraction is its simplicity. I suppose the determination one now=20
sees in State policy to impoverish higher education can only=20
reinforce the cult of confused simplemindedness. In the end, only the=20
knowledgeable chief guest will survive, to tell the young that all=20
they need to know is Mera Bharat Mahaan.

Many Indians, including great leaders like Nehru, had hoped that the=20
futility and unsustainability of the idea of Pakistan would become=20
apparent after a few years of its birth. Mainstream social scientists=20
maintain that the birth of Bangladesh in 1971 proved how false the=20
basis of Partition was. It is an extremely interesting irony that=20
both secular and communal ideologies endorse this view This powerful=20
national opinion gave the hope that India's secular democracy will=20
exercise a sobering influence on Pakistan. What has actually happened=20
is quite the opposite.

Instead of liberal India acting as an inspiration for Pakistan, the=20
latter's majoritarian model has gained political currency in India.=20
Even as this ominous development unfolds, we remain unprepared to=20
recognise that Pakistan and India are each other's domestic problem,=20
psychologically serving as highly destructive material for=20
nation-building. We have used each other to justify and embrace the=20
suicidal ideology of militarist nationalism. Pakistan embraced it=20
first, and went ahead to socialise its young to believe in it; we are=20
embarking on this project now. Armed with nuclear weapons, we live=20
under the constant and real threat of a cruel end to South Asia as a=20
civilisational cradle.

If India and Pakistan are now left with nothing but militaristic=20
nationalism to inspire their youth, the rest of South Asia might as=20
well form a smaller, saner SAARC. The South Asian scene looks grim. A=20
friend, who has recently returned from Sri Lanka, says that India is=20
popularly viewed there as a local version of America. That comparison=20
is worrisome, considering America's abject failure to act as a=20
custodian of peace in any part of the world.

If we want to avoid facing America's fate of living under the=20
permanent insecurity of its own making, we must lose no time and do=20
more than we have been doing to build a peaceful South Asia. The job=20
starts with consolidating the liberal space within our own minds and=20
protecting India's national integrity from the threat of religious=20
nationalism.

______

#4.

The Hindustan Times

Fascism is alive and living in Gujarat: Arundhati
Press Trust of India

London, January 29
Arundhati Roy, winner of Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small=20
Things, says "fascism is alive and well and living in Gujarat."

"Gujarat, the only major state in India with a government headed by=20
the Bharatiya Janata Party, has for some years, been the Petri dish=20
in which Hindu fascism has been fomenting an elaborate political=20
experiment and in spring of 2002, the initial results were put on=20
public display," Roy wrote in the inaugural issue of the Indobrit, a=20
quarterly magazine launched in London on Tuesday night.

"We still don't know who was responsible for the carnage in Godhra,=20
but every independent report says the pogrom against the Muslim=20
community in Gujarat has at best been conducted under the benign gaze=20
of the state and, at worst, with active state collusion. Either way=20
the state is criminally culpable," she said.

Roy, who has been highly critical of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh,=20
said "whipping up communal hatred is part of the mandate of the Sangh=20
Parivar. It has been planned for years.

"Hundreds of RSS Shakhas across the country have been indoctrinating=20
thousands of children and young people, stunting their minds with=20
religious hatred and falsified history, including non-factual or=20
wildly exaggerated accounts of the rape and pillaging of Hindu women=20
and Hindu temples by Muslim rulers in the pre-colonial period."
o o o

[See: http://www.indobritmag.com/ ]

______

#5.

Indian Express
Tuesday, January 28, 2003

We're all in jail, mourn activists
Express News Service
Mumbai, January 27: They couldn't have found a better occasion than=20
Republic Day to assess the state of Indian democracy, and their=20
conclusion was that it has never been worse.

The session on Indian Democracy at Crossroads-2003, organised by=20
Secular Activists Watch at Y B Chavan Auditorium on Sunday, became an=20
exercise in mourning as a group of retired judges, advertising=20
executives and secular activists lamented lost democratic values.

One of the speakers was retired Supreme Court judge Justice Krishna=20
Iyer, famous for urging reforms to India's criminal justice system=20
through greater use of bail and better police accountability. His=20
verdict on the state of Indian democracy was stark:

"They credited me with 'Bail not jail'. Now I say we are all in jail.=20
Indian secularism is dying," he said, to rapturous applause. "Now=20
they have used Gujarat as an experiment to impose Hindutva. I am=20
terribly worried about the fate of democracy in this country."

"We never had democracy in this country," argued Justice P B Sawant,=20
another retired Supreme Court judge and former head of the Press=20
Council of India. Independence had done nothing but shift power from=20
the British to a self-serving Indian elite, he said.

Justice Hosbet Suresh, a retired Bombay High Court judge, hailed=20
historian Jairus Banaji's protest against Narendra Modi at a=20
Confederation of Indian Industries meet in Mumbai and urged listeners=20
to follow his example: "The tide of saffronisation cannot be stopped=20
unless we reach the masses who have not been brainwashed yet. They=20
are the fence sitters whom the Hindutva forces are desperately=20
seeking," he said.

In his own inimitable style, Advertising guru Alyque Padamsee painted=20
a grim picture of the state of Indian democracy today: "A handful of=20
lunatics have kept the majority to

ransom."

Dr A R Undre, who has adopted 100 children affected by the Gujarat=20
riots, said secularism alone could keep Indian democracy intact.

_____

#6.

Sri Lanka:
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
24/2, 28th Lane
Off Flower Road
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
Tel: 94-1-565305, Ext. 102
Fax: 94-74-714460

A Seminar and Discussion on "The Peace Process, Norwegian Mediation,=20
Federalism and the Way Forward for Sri Lanka" will be held at the=20
Devasarana Development Centre, Kurunegala on 30th January 2003 from=20
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This event is organised by CPA in=20
collaboration with NGOs from Kurunegala.

_____

#7.

Dear Friends

As a back up to the small booklet, Communalism: What is true- What is
False? We are in the process of publishing the audio cassettes on the
similar theme. These cassette are in Two volumes, in Hindi and cover the
following themes:
1. Temple destructions by Muslim Kings
2. Forcible conversion to Islam
3. Fight between Hindu Muslim Kings
4. Four Wives twenty children
5. Partition tragedy
6. Kashmir Imbroglio
7. Terrorism and Islam

We should release it in a couple of weeks. If you can support it by
sending money in advance for stipulated number of copies, we can produce
more of them. Also a support for this effort is solicited.

Cassettes- Sapradayikta: Kya Sach Kya Jhoot
Two volumes- Set Rs. 80. (Total duration 135 Minutes) The contributions
should be sent to
EKTA
C/O Ram Puniyani
B 64, IIT Qutrs ,Powai, Mumbai 400076

Thanks very much

In solidarity

Ram Puniyani

______

#8.
[ 30 Jan EVENTS IN BOMBAY}

Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal, has organised the following - To commemorate=20
the 55th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhiji you are invited to an=20
'interactive dialogues' with

Shri S. P. Bhagwat, (Literary critic and publisher,Mauj Prakashan)
Shri Nida Fazli (Urdu Poet and literateur)
Shri Bhupen Khakhkhar, (Renowned painter)
Shri Narendra Jadhav, (Eminent economist and writer, author of his=20
autobiography callled : Maza Baap and Aamhi)

These interactive dialogues will be followed by "Bhajan Sandhya" by Shri
Uday Mazumdar.

Date: Thursday, 30th January, 2003.
Time: 6.30 onwards
Venue: Parle Tilak Vidylaya's primary school ground, Mahatma Gandhi=20
Rd, Vile Parle, East, Bombay 400 057.

o o o

31-1-2003 Book Launch of " Terror and Counter - Terror - Women Speak=20
Out " edited by Ammu Joseph and Kalpan sharma at 7.00pm at Oxford=20
Book Store ,Apeejay House, Churchgate.

o o o

Showing of "Mr. and Mrs Iyer " - sp'ly for students at 3.30 pm on
31-1-2003 at Bandra West.Tickets Rs. 30/- Contact Geeta -26055903 /2646

o o o

Graham Staines Award for Communal Harmony on 2-2-2003 at 6 pm -=20
Sacred heart School Grounds, S,V. Rd. Santacruz (W).

______

#9.

Subject: Sahmat Gandhi Memorial/Jamia 30th

Please join us on Thursday, January 30th, 11 AM at the
Ansari Road Lawns, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, to
remember Gandhi on his 55th death anniversary. There
will be talks by Aijaz Ahmad on the Unjust War on
Iraq, and Dr Vishwa Mohan Jha on the Saffronisation of
Education, Poetry by Manglesh Dabral, Gauhar Raza and
Devi Prashad Mishra, Exhibitions and book sales.

_____

#10.

marking the first anniversary of monthly screenings

Pedestrian Pictures
Presents

Stories of Resistance
featuring films by Gopal Menon

31 January 03 =F1 1 February 03
at Future Focus, opp. Hotel Chandrika, Cunningham Road, Bangalore

Resilient Rhythms - 5:30 p.m. 31 January 03
2002 / 66 minutes / Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi,
with English subtitles.
Produced by Other Media Communications
India=EDs caste system is perhaps the world=EDs longest
surviving social hierarchy. It places nearly 160
million - the dalits - at the outskirts of society,
exploiting their services, especially to perform all
=ECpolluting=EE tasks, from cutting the umbilical cord, to
disposing night-soil, to tending cremation grounds,
while denying them acceptance even as human beings.
The film documents caste conflicts and resistance in
Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Funding Gujarat Extremists - 4:00 p.m. 1 February 03
2002 / 16 minutes / English, Hindi with English
subtitles.
Produced by Channel 4 News
This news report for Channel 4 describes how funds
were raised by the Hindu SwayamSevak Sangh in UK for
earthquake relief in Gujarat. It shows that most of
this money was instead given to RSS front
organisations in Gujarat for communal activities.

PAPA 2 =F1 5:00 p.m. 1 February 03
2000 / 24 minutes / Kashmiri, Urdu with English
subtitles.
PAPA 2 was a notorious interrogation centre run by the
Indian Armed Forces till 1996. Officially nearly 4000
- unofficially, over 8000 - people have disappeared
from the Valley over the past 15 years. The film has
interviews with the affected people and also members
of the Association of Parents of Disappeared People.

Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence - 6:30p.m. 1 February 03
2002 / 45 minutes / Nagamese, Manipuri, 12 Naga
languages, with English subtitles.
Produced by Other Media Communications
The film provides an introduction to the history of
the Naga struggle, and documents the human rights
abuses suffered by the people in 53 years of the
existence of Independent India.

Gopal Menon and Sandhya Rao will be present. All
films will be followed by discussions.

_____

#11.

you are cordially invited to attend a meeting on 'American Designs on=20
Iraq : Its Consequences' beginning at 2 pm on February 1 at the main=20
auditorium, Rajendra Bhavan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg (Opp. Gandhi=20
Peace Foundation) New Delhi.
Some of the main speakers are Aijaz Ahmad, Surendra Mohan, Prafull=20
Bidwai, Imtiaz Ahmad etc.
Please do come.

Dr Anoop Saraya, K. B. saxena, Anand Swaroop Verma, Pankaj Singh,=20
Anil Chamadia, N. K. Bhattacharya

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#12.

Indian Journal of Secularism=20
A Journal of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
Vol. 6, No.4, January - March 2003

Contents

I. Articles

Power Sharing - the Significance of the Malaysia
Experience for Muslims in Multi-religious Societies
- Chandra Muzaffar

The Agony in Gujarat - A Report on Gujarat Riots
- Shree Shankar Sharan

The BJP Sweep in Gujarat - A Moment of Reflection for India
- Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer=20=20=20=20=20

Muslims and Gujarat: Some observations
- Babasaheb Kazi

Voice from the Valley: Contemporary Kashmiri Sufi Perspectives
- Irfan Hamdani & Yoginder Sikand

The Mahdi of Panna: A Short History of the Pranamis (Part - I)
- Dominique-Sila Khan

II. Special Report

Glimpse of Gujarat in a Martyrs' City
(A Fact Finding Report on Sholapur Communal Riots)
- Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Hari Das & Gopal

III. Book Review
Pan-Islam in British Indian Politics: A Study of the Khilafat Movement 1918=
-24
- Hamza Alavi

Subscription Rates
India Abroad
Single Issue - Rs.50/- Single=20
Issue US$10
Annual (individuals) - Rs. 200/- Annual (Individual) - US$35
Annual (Institution & Annual (Institutions &
Libraries) - Rs.350/- Libraries) - US$50

For Copies Contact
he Circulation Manager,
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,
9B, Himalaya Apts., 1st Floor,
6th Road, Santacruz (E),
Mumbai:- 400 055,
India.

E-mail:- <mailto:csss@v...>csss@v...

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#13.

South Asia Human Rights Film Festival
February 27 - March 2, 2003
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street
NY, NY 10021
$5 Students w/ ID; $7 Members/NGOs; $10 Nonmembers

Asia Society, Breakthrough and Syracuse University present a series
of dynamic feature films and documentaries by well known South
Asian directors addressing issues on human rights and social justice,
including poverty, sectarian and civil conflict, caste oppression and
women's issues.

For more information check out www.breakthrough.tv

Thursday, February 27, 6:30 p.m.
Deham (Govind Nihalani/2001/120 min./video)

India's first sci-fi movie, Deham (Body) explores the future of
Bombay's poor. In 2022, they have much the same fate as now,
except in this stark future ruled by multi-national conglomerates there
is a market for young men's body parts to replace those of an aging
Western generation.

Friday, February 28, 6:30 p.m.
Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar (Jabbar Patel/1999/180 min./video)

Patel's film tells the true story of Dr. Ambedkar's fight against his
"untouchable" status and for the rights of millions of other
untouchables or Dalits who faced discrimination by birth. Dr.
Ambedkar gave Dalits a voice and attempted, during his 30 years in
politics, to bring about social equality in India. In cooperation with
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.

Saturday, March 1, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Documentaries on Conflict

Three short documentaries examining the social impact of war and
conflict, including the current conflict in Kashmir, the Maoist
insurgency in Nepal and caste massacres in Bihar.

Paradise On the River of Hell* (Abir Bazaz and Meenu Gaur/2002/30
min./video)
Killing Terraces (Dhruba Basnet/2001/40 min./video)
Life on the Margin (Arun Kumar/2002/34 min./video)

4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Music Videos and Documentaries on Women's Issues

Two music videos focus on violence against women and women's
rights. One documentary addresses the violence of female infanticide;
and one provides an intimate look at the lives of men and women in
prostitution.

Mann ke Manjeere (Rhythm of the Mind) (Sujit Sircar and
Gary/2000/5 min. 15 sec./video) Producer: Breakthrough

Babul (Father) (Prasoon Pandey/2001/4 min. 10 sec./video)
Producer:
Breakthrough

Born to Die* (Usha Albuquerque/2002/30 min./video)
In the Flesh (Bishakha Datta/2002/53 min./video)
In cooperation with Sakhi for South Asian Women.

7:30 p.m.

Mr. & Mrs. Iyer (Aparna Sen/2002/120 min./video)

In this award-winning film, Director Sen takes on the issue of Hindu-
Muslim conflict in India with personal resonance and universal
poignancy. Mr. & Mrs. Iyer is a masterfully woven love story about
two unlikely traveling companions drawn to each other under
harrowing circumstances. In cooperation with Human Rights Watch
International Film Festival.

Sunday, March 2
1:00 p.m.

Documentaries on Discrimination

Includes free admission to the Galleries during intermission.

A Night of Prophecy (Amar Kanwar/2002/77 min./video)

Traveling through the Indian states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Nagaland and finally ending in Kashmir, this film uses poetry and
song to reveal the histories and the severity of the conflict in these
complex territories.

3:30 p.m.
A Sun Sets In (Shahid Nadeem/2001/45 min./video)

A documentary sketch of Bishop John Joseph, who laid down his life
in 1999 to tell the world about the plight of religious minorities in
Pakistan. Produced by the National Commission for Justice and
Peace.

*Films courtesy of Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT)

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