SACW #1 | 1 May 03 |

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  #1 |  1 May,  2003

ALERT FOR ACTION: In Defence of the Indian Historian Romila Thapar
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/Alerts/IDRT300403.html

---------------

#1. Pakistan - India: The ball is set rolling, finally (Praful Bidwai)
#2. Pakistani MPs to visit India
#3. "Youth Without Borders" - South Asian Peace Camp, 1 - 12 July 
2003, Karachi, Pakistan
#4. India: Militant group threatens to kill journalists in Kashmir
#5. India: VHP on the rampage in our backyard (Lalita Ramdas)
#6. Mumbai's still in India
#7. India: In Mumbai  the spirit of secularism and cosmopolitanism is 
getting eroded day by day (V.Gangadhar)
#8. USA: Fund raiser for Gujarat [India],  Drought - Harsh Mander - 
Los Angeles May 3rd
#9. Pakistan - India: Fundamentalists on both sides have a stake in 
keeping building borders of hate !
- Indo - Pak talks a US bid to crush Jihad [say Pakistani Fundos]
- India's Taliban oppose normalisation of ties with Pak
#10. India: Big National mating of 'Jang' Parivar
#11.  Announcement:  SACW - Women's Rights Special Edition (May 1, 2003)

--------------

#1.


The News International
May 01, 2003

The ball is set rolling, finally

Praful Bidwai

It is not often that an event lasting just 10 minutes holds the 
potential to undo at least some of the damage done by nations to each 
other over 18 months. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's 
telephone call to his Indian counterpart on Monday is a worthy 
candidate for that category. It reciprocates Atal Behari Vajpayee's 
April 18 overture, and sets the ball for an India-Pakistan thaw 
rolling. It shows that the recent mindless killings by militants in 
Jammu and Kashmir have not wrecked the optimism that Vajpayee's offer 
of talks has generated in both countries.

It is imperative that both New Delhi and Islamabad seize the moment. 
There are some positive indications that they will. Vajpayee's offer 
of talks has generally been welcomed in India. Its only opponents are 
the extreme hardliners on the Hindutva Right like Ashok Singhal, for 
whom even the hawkish LK Advani has become a "traitor" (to the 
communal cause). The general consensus in India is that Vajpayee's 
well-timed offer to Pakistan signals the welcome end of a long, 
sterile phase of official rigidity and coercive diplomacy.

By all indications, Pakistan's leaders too have made a decision to 
respond "positively" to Vajpayee's offer. General Pervez Musharraf's 
comment that it is "a good offer", to be taken seriously, is a strong 
sign. Even more welcome is his reported remark to a group of 
Pakistani editors last week that if India-Pakistan talks were to 
begin, the "victory would be neither mine nor Prime Minister 
Vajpayee's. It would be the victory of negotiation and dialogue."

According to "sources from Islamabad" quoted in "The Indian Express", 
Islamabad has already prepared the blueprint of a framework for a 
dialogue process, including confidence-building measures. It is 
therefore unlikely to be a mere coincidence that just hours before 
Jamali spoke to Vajpayee, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat 
signalled Pakistan's willingness to address the most important of 
India's concerns --the activities of jihadi outfits.

Presiding over an inter-provincial law-and-order conference, Hayat 
said the law of the land would be enforced and that no one would be 
allowed to use Pakistan's soil for hostile activities against another 
country. He specifically referred to the recrudescence of banned 
militant groups under new names. It is even more encouraging that 
Jamali in his conversation with Vajpayee condemned terrorism, albeit 
in general terms. This suggests, to quote The Indian Express, that 
"the system" or Establishment in Pakistan has decided to pick up the 
threads of a bilateral dialogue.

=46rom a long-term point of view, this could well be the first 
conceptual break from the de facto policy of compellence that New 
Delhi and Islamabad have both recently pursued, especially since 
September 11, 2001 and the Parliament House attack three months later.

India sought to bend Pakistan to its will by mobilising 700,000 
troops at the border and demanding it hand over 20 terrorists on the 
"wanted" list. Later, it modified the demand by saying there must be 
a verifiable, permanent end to "cross-border" infiltration.

Pakistan, for its part, has also used coercion to try to bring India 
to the negotiation table on Kashmir. It responded to the Indian 
build-up by deploying 300,000 soldiers at the border. Both ratcheted 
up their war machines to dangerous levels and at least twice came 
close to the brink of actual combat -- with a disturbing, yet 
acknowledged, potential for nuclear escalation. Each fully used its 
leverage with the United States to pressure the other.

In the event, the coercive methods didn't work. In some ways, this 
was only to be expected. Compellence is considerably more difficult 
to achieve than deterrence. Deterrence is about preventing your 
adversary from doing what you don't want him to do---by credibly 
threatening him with "unacceptable" damage. Compellence is about 
forcing your adversary to do what you want him to do.

Deterrence can, theoretically, work even between two relatively 
unequal adversaries provided they can both inflict unconscionable 
damage upon each other. It does not matter much if, for example, one 
of the two has 3,000 nuclear missiles, and the other "only" 800. (At 
smaller force levels too, some kind of a "deterrence equation" can 
exist.) Even the smaller arsenal can wipe out whole cities. In 
practice, deterrence, as this column has often argued, is fraught, 
unstable, degenerative, and prone to failure.

Compellence assumes a significant asymmetry or disproportion between 
rivals. You can compel your adversary to do something only if you 
have overwhelming superiority over him.

In the India-Pakistan case, the quality or degree of asymmetry 
implicit in compellence simply does not obtain. An overall 
conventional superiority of 1:5-to-1 or less, and a nuclear-level 
disproportion of, say, 3-to-1 is not good enough for this. Nor is 
advantage/strength in some forces or sectors, coupled with weakness 
in others.

Thus, even within the traditional (if flawed) "realist" strategic 
framework, it was foolhardy of India and Pakistan to pursue a policy 
based on compellence -- when they even lack anything like stable 
deterrence against each other. In reality, the dangers of attempting 
compellence by recklessly escalating a military confrontation are 
even greater because of the systemic or strategic nature of their 
hostility, complicated by competing notions of nationhood, 
territorial disputes, and domestic factors related to religion and 
communal conflict.

So the present turn towards abandoning coercion-centred approaches 
and giving serious diplomacy a chance is a long-overdue correction. 
The gains from this change, however tentative, must not be 
dissipated. This can only happen if some irreversible or 
hard-to-reverse steps are taken. The most important of these wouldn't 
be the restoration of air-links, revival of sports contacts and 
cultural and people-to-people exchanges, mentioned between the two 
Prime Ministers. These are worthy and important, but may fall short 
of the critical minimum required by the very logic of a return to 
non-coercive diplomacy.

What is necessary is the full restoration of the communications links 
-- road, rail and air, revival of commercial relations and diplomatic 
relations that were severed or severely downgraded in December 2001. 
Apart from being dysfunctional, their discontinuation is causing 
enormous hardship to the two peoples without giving either government 
any advantage. India should unilaterally announce the restoration of 
all such relations as a prelude to a structured dialogue on the whole 
gamut of issues, including Kashmir, end of support to militancy, 
besides economic relations, Siachen and other matters. The two 
missions must be upgraded and new High Commissioners appointed.

This may sound maximalist, but it is not. The rupturing of links was 
a reaction to the Parliament House attack followed by the conscious 
escalation of military rivalry. The de-escalation of that rivalry 
last October and its end now entail restoration and more.

The real test of the bilateralism which India strongly advocates lies 
right here. If India and Pakistan do not resolutely pursue the path 
of reconciliation, and normal diplomacy, they are liable to invite 
external intervention. The coming visit by Richard Armitage and the 
G-8 summit in June, amidst a hardening of US position under 
neo-conservative pressure after the Iraq war, will generate new 
challenges to bilateralism.

New Delhi and Islamabad must show a new resolve to press ahead with 
talks -- before domestic compulsions and global uncertainties 
complicate matters.


_____

#2.

Hindustan Times
Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | Updated: 19:10 IST

Pakistani MPs to visit India
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, April 30

As India and Pakistan prepare to shake hands once again, 11 Pakistani 
MPs are to visit New Delhi on a goodwill mission that organisers hope 
will lead to a reciprocal journey by their Indian counterparts.

The eight-day visit will be the first landmark event since the two 
South Asian adversaries snapped air and train links following a 
December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament here for which New Delhi 
blamed Islamabad.

The parliamentarians include Sheri Rehman, who is also editor of 
Herald, a leading English monthly, MP Bhandara, Saleem Jan Mazari, 
Shakeela Rashid and Akthar Kanju.

Others are Anisa Zeb, Shuja-ul-Mulk, K Ranjah, Aamir Aslam, Shahzad 
Waseem and Ishaq Khan Khakwani.

The delegation will arrive here May 8 and will visit the Taj Mahal 
city of Agra, Ajmer in Rajasthan, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad 
before returning home.

"It is a goodwill gesture. Their aim is to find possible ways of 
establishing healthier relationship between the two countries. The 
mission is coming with the message of peace and development," said 
Vijayan MJ, the New Delhi convenor of the Pakistan India People's 
=46orum for Peace and Democracy.

The grouping, established in 1994, has been trying to influence 
policy matters and act as a pressure group to prod the two countries 
to take the path of peace.

"We believe the visit of the parliamentarians will result in breaking 
the ice between the two countries. We are happy the time of the visit 
has coincided with positive signals coming from both sides," he told 
IANS.

Vijayan was referring to Monday's surprise telephonic conversation 
between Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and Zafarullah 
Khan Jamali of Pakistan.

The call was followed by a series of conciliatory statements from 
both sides in recent days and that has signalled a thaw in ties.

The delegation, which will reach New Delhi after crossing the Wagah 
border in Punjab, will also interact with prominent Indians.

Although no meeting has been scheduled with Indian government 
leaders, the MPs are expected to call on opposition leader Sonia 
Gandhi and meet former prime ministers IK Gujral, Chandra Shekher, VP 
Singh and PV Narasimha Rao.

The visits to Agra for sightseeing and Ajmer for pilgrimage to the 
Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti will take place May 9 and 10. The 
group will also meet the chief ministers of West Bengal, Maharashtra 
and Andhra Pradesh.

The friendship forum has written to Indian MPs, suggesting that they 
too should go to Pakistan.

"We believe a visit by parliamentarians would go a long way in 
ushering the winds of peace," Vijayan said.

"We believe this visit will be reciprocated by Indian MPs. Many of 
our politicians have shown interest in going to Pakistan and we hope 
they will be able to go there by July," he said.

Said Syeda Hameed, founder member of the forum: "The way things are 
opening up, this mission of parliamentarians could perhaps go a long 
way in reducing tension between the two countries and create a 
conducive atmosphere for talks."

______



#3.

Youth Initiative for Peace
http://www.youth.initiativeforpeace.org/

"Youth Without Borders"
Peace Through Art, Film, & Dialogue
South Asian Peace Camp
1 - 12 July 2003
Karachi, Pakistan

Proposal:

Youth Without Borders
In December 2002, Youth Initiative for Peace hosted the "Focus on 
South Asia" peace camp in Lahore Pakistan. Focus on South Asia 
brought together 42 future peace-builders from seven South Asian 
countries for a week of activities that included dialogue on 
conflicts in the region, conflict management skills training, the use 
of art and expression in peacebuilding, and practical brainstorming 
on peace activities.
With "Youth Without Borders," Youth Initiative for Peace is proposing 
to continue the momentum begun last December by reaching out to 
additional young peacebuilders and to further the work begun in 
Lahore, by bringing former YIP peacebuilders back to the camp as 
facilitators. This year's peace camp will be held in Karachi from 1st 
to the 12th of July 2003.

Youth Without Borders will convene a 10-day peace camp in Karachi, 
Pakistan that will provide an opportunity for 30 motivated young 
people from India and Pakistan together to interact with each other 
and with a group of internationally recognized experts in the fields 
of film-making, photography, journalism, social justice, peace, and 
conflict management for the following purposes:

>to improve communication and create better understanding among a 
>diverse group of future peacebuilders from India and Pakistan;
>to explore the source of prejudices and biases toward people from 
>different socio-economic backgrounds and nations;
>to allow participants to discover which medium of communication is 
>their strength;
>to learn about the role of media in conflict and peacebuilding;
>to find ways to use the arts and other forms of expression for peace 
>and social justice; and
>to train in the practical skills and tool of effective conflict management;
>finally, to motivate participants to generate further, practical 
>initiatives, that they will undertake, using the mediums discussed.

URL to Download Participant Application Form
http://www.geocities.com/youthifp/forms/awf-form.zip

______


#4.

***NEWS FROM THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS***

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

INDIA: Militant group threatens to kill journalists in Kashmir

New York, April 30, 2003---The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
condemns the threat issued yesterday by the militant group
Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen against journalists working "against the freedom
struggle" in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The organization is one of
more than a dozen armed groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir,
which is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The rebel group's statement was published on Tuesday, April 29, by the
Current News Service, a private news agency based in Srinagar, the summer
capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. In the statement, a senior commander
of Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen was quoted as saying, "There are seven dailies among
the local ones and a well-known news agency which work at the behest of the
Indian (intelligence) agencies and are paid by them," according to a
translation of the report prepared by The Associated Press. "We inform such
journalists that they will be killed if they fail to mend their ways," added
the commander, identified as Dr. Abd-ar-Rabb. The statement did not identify
any journalist or news organization by name.

Violence in the region has spiked recently, even as the prime ministers of
India and Pakistan announced plans this week to improve strained bilateral
relations and resume dialogue over Kashmir.

On April 26, three militants attacked the heavily guarded compound housing
the Indian government-run broadcasters Doordarshan Television and Radio
Kashmir, located in central Srinagar. The three assailants and two security
guards were killed in an ensuing gun battle.

According to CPJ records, nine journalists have been killed for their work
in Kashmir since 1989, when the conflict there became a full-fledged civil
war. CPJ is still investigating the motive behind the January 31 murder of a
10th journalist, Parvaz Mohammed Sultan, editor of an independent wire
service based in Srinagar. No perpetrators have been brought to justice for
any of these killings.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information about press
conditions in Kashmir, visit www.cpj.org.

______


#5.

South Asia Citizens Wire
30 April 2003

INDIA: ANATOMY OF HATE MASQUERADING AS DHARMA

by Lalita Ramdas (in Alibag, Maharashtra, India)

On April 16 2003, Praveen Togadia [Gen Sec VHP] was billed to be the 
star speaker at a `VIRAAT DHARMA SABHA' to be held on the premises of 
an English language school in ROHA the adjacent block to Alibag. Our 
little district town was full of saffron banners carrying the 
announcement. We thought we might drive down to listen and educate 
ourselves.

In the event, Togadia was arrested for making inflammatory speeches 
and distribution of Trishuls in Rajasthan just a few days prior to 
his arrival in our district. However, inquiries revealed that the 
Roha `Dharma Sabha' was to be held nonetheless, and would be 
addressed by Swami Dharmendra. So we decided that two colleagues 
would attend the event and bring us the feed-back. What follows below 
is based on an eyewitness account.

=46irst - the setting: A huge stage set up in the grounds of the 
Raathee College in Roha. The back drop was a huge picture of the 
projected Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in the centre, flanked on one side by 
a larger-than-life size poster painting of the encounter between 
Shivaji and Afzal Khan - in all its gory detail of steel claws - 
daggers and blood - and on the other, an equally large poster of Lord 
Ram. Smaller size colour posters of the Shivaji-Afzal encounter were 
distributed as `free-bees' to all those who attended - it is enough 
to send shivers down the spine - and fill the minds of our Muslim 
brothers and sisters with understandable fear and foreboding.

Group singing and recordings of bhajans and slokas in Marathi and 
Hindi - covering a repertoire of favourites of Shivaji, Satya Sai 
Baba, and others, dedicated to a number of deities which included 
Devi, Shankar, Ganpathi and Ram Lalla, kept the audience entertained. 
=46rom all accounts this was the only remotely `religious' touch in the 
entire evening! The volume of the sound system was turned up to the 
maximum, and drowned out all else for about 45 minutes or so as the 
crowd filled up and they waited for the Guest of Honor - Acharya 
Dharmendra - to arrive.

The audience seemed to comprise primarily young men (estimates vary 
from about 1500 to 2000) - with a sprinkling of saffron sari clad 
young women volunteers - who were showing people to their seats - 
making announcements etc. According to our source, `they appeared to 
be jobless young males between the ages of 15 - 25 who were probably 
`trucked' in from a number of outlying villages'.

The arrival of every special invitee was heralded by the playing of 
the traditional `dhol' and setting off of fireworks - which were at 
their loudest at the arrival of the Acharya Dharmendra - the Chief 
speaker for the evening who was substituting for Togadia. Most of the 
special guests on the dais were representatives of the regional VHP 
or RSS or Shiv Sena,

Basically the Acharya and his colleagues made a series of virulent 
speeches where the primary message, in sum and substance, was that 
the holy duty of Hindu Youth - [in fact of the Hindu clan as a whole] 
- was to kill and finish off the Muslims - the `offspring of the 
traitor Afzal Khan' who were scattered across the Konkan region, and 
elsewhere across the country - and work with one aim in mind - namely 
to establish a Hindu Rashtra.

It is educative to be walked through the main arguments - which were 
clever as they were comprehensive. The speakers who preceded the 
Acharya set the scene as it were by repetitive reaffirmation of some 
basic trends:
Reasons why `our Hindu culture' was superior, was under attack and 
needed to be defended.
How Manavtha - (Humanity) - could be established world wide only when 
a Hindu Rashtra was established in India.
That it was the Muslims who bred like rabbits - and never accepted 
family planning. If this pattern continued, their population would 
soon overtake that of the Hindus - hence Hindus needed self defence.
The Government at the Centre comprises a bunch of thieves ; it 
continues to appease Muslims and has no shame whatsoever.
Up until now, Hindus had been moderate in their demands - claiming 
only three sites for temple building - Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi, 
while the actual numbers destroyed by the Muslims is over 30,000!!
However our patience is now exhausted and we will soon be making 
demands for all 30,000 masjids to be destroyed and temples restored 
or rebuilt.
All Jehadis are Muslims - and vice versa - and so they must be 
destroyed just in the same way that Shivaji did with Afzal Khan - 
[pointing to the visual behind him]

Acharya Dharmendra basically focused on the theme of Hindutva and its 
importance;
If Muslims want to continue to live here, they can only do so 
provided they all become Hindus.
However we should actually finish them off - "Hum Mussalmaano ko 
khatm karma Hai - maar daalenge",
In this region of Shivaji, he extolled Shivaji's example and exhorted 
those present to follow his example and finish off all the 
descendants of Afzal Khan just as Shivaji did. 
He openly and viciously ran down and condemned Gandhi, Nehru, Indira 
and Sonia in foul language - claimed that it was Gandhi who was 
responsible for the break up of India and the partition and creation 
of Pakistan.
Used foul and derogatory language while referring to Muslims - words 
like `Jehadi Kasais'.
Claimed that ever since Independence, too many Muslims had been given 
positions of importance in public life - and it had brought not 
benefits whatever, but terrorist acts, Godhra, and other such actions 
around the country.
Lambasted Gehlot for arresting Togadia - [in Rajasthan]- and accused 
him of wanting to please the `Gori Rang' {white} woman - the `doll 
from across the seven seas'.
Referring to the distribution of Trishuls as a perfectly legitimate 
and harmless activity - he asked how the weapon of Lord Shiva could 
be compared to the AK 47s which are carried by all the Jehadis and 
Terrorists.
He said there was no other logic but that of becoming a Hindu Rashtra 
- just as there was an `Arab Rashtra', an `Afghan Rashtra', etc
He claimed that our sarkar had no manhood left - was unable to take 
any strong action against Pakistan or Muslims - whereas they should 
all have become like Mahishasura and dealt with them accordingly.
He also emphasized to the audience that India's poverty was due 
entirely to the fact that the Govt continued to spend the sum of Rs 
22,000/- on every Haj Pilgrim.
Antulay - a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra was attacked for 
having encouraged the smuggling and landing of RDX along the Konkan 
Coast.
He also pointed to the Shahbano case - about which people had very 
little idea or information, as an example of appeasement policy.
S Most dangerous of all - he kept repeating that they would repeat 
Gujarats across the country.

When our boys left at about 830pm =96 the Acharya was still talking =96
apparently filled in quite competently for the absent star =96 and was
frequently applauded by his youthful audience as he got more and more
carried away! The local Raigad press reported this prominently on the
front page =96 ensuring wide publicity. Some serious questions arise:

Such Sabhas cost money - Where is the Money coming from?

Why is the Govt and District administration giving permission for such
Sabha=92s to be held in this state =96 when the content is clearly intended
to inflame passions and ignite strong emotions against Muslims.

Given that two opposition ruled states have already set a precedent and
taken firm steps against any attempts to hold either Trishul Deeksha=92s
or inflammatory speeches =96 it is high time that Maharashtra did
likewise.

=46inally, surely the Ministry of Home at the center should be taking note
and initiating suitable action against a movement which is against the
very spirit and letter of the Constitution of India?

What actions should we citizens take to counter the slow but sure
progress of fascism? 1939 is still close enough in our collective
memory.

_____


#6.

The Hindustan Times
May 1, 2003
Editorial 

Mumbai's still in India
May01

Desperate parties need desperate measures to stay in the picture. 
Considering that the Shiv Sena is nowadays remembered outside its 
Mumbai ghetto only in the context of its annual Valentine's Day 
theatrics, it comes as no surprise that Bal Thackeray has fired one 
of his legendary salvos again. Now it's a variation of the old 'amchi 
Mumbai' campaign that was directed at Tamil and Malayalee migrants to 
Mumbai in the Sixties and Seventies. Those told to stay away from the 
city now are migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Shiv Sena has 
exhorted all Mumbaikars - residents of the city prior to 1995 - to 
get together and stem the migrant tide. Mr Thackeray has put the 
matter rather subtly this time, stating that it's the city's creaking 
infrastructure that he's worried about. "Why should Mumbai be made to 
pay for the woes of states like Bihar and UP?" he asked.

Why indeed? Simply because last heard, Mumbai was still a 
cosmopolitan city lying on the west coast of India. As far as 
travelling, working and residential rights of people from other 
states are concerned, they are as free to do so in Mumbai as Mr 
Thackeray is in, say, Patna or Lucknow. One would have seen some 
sense in the Sena boss's concern were it not for his knack of trying 
to keep his sainiks on their toes by identifying a new target group 
from time to time. While the anti-south Indian campaign didn't work 
out - primarily due to the fact that most of the migrants assimilated 
as Mumbaikars even by Sena standards - the more recent anti-Bengali 
campaign (packaged as an anti-illegal migrant from Bangladesh 
campaign) also petered out. His anti-Muslim thunder having been 
stolen by his fellow bigots in the Sangh parivar, he has now turned 
his gaze on the UP-ite and Bihari.

The irony is that the master of Mathosree timed his latest 
exhortation at the time his son and heir apparent Uddhav Thackeray 
was visiting Delhi. When asked to comment about his party's 'Mee 
Mumbaikar' campaign against his countrymen from the north, Thackeray 
Jr repeated his father's line about it being aimed only at "providing 
a decent civic life to Mumbai's 1.5 crore citizens". How erecting 
barriers against Indians from select states can save Mumbai is 
something that both the Thackerays can try and explain in their spare 
time - of which they should have plenty these days.

_____


#7.

Samachar.com
30 April 2003

Compulsory vegetarianism goes against integration
BY V GANGADHAR

The Shiv Sena's direct action to solve social problems in Mumbai 
cannot always be commended. But one cannot question such direct 
action following the recent move when groups of Sena leaders visited 
builders of housing societies who had refused flats to 
non-vegetarians and made them see reason.

One does not know if this trend will continue in cosmopolitan Mumbai 
forcing Sena leaders into action once more. Of course, the Sena is 
often accused of adopting coercive tactics and perhaps that was why 
the builders on this occasion quickly complied with their demands. 
The issue received fairly comprehensive media coverage but the 
political parties shied away from taking sides.

The Sena, of course, was an exception. This was because the move 
towards compulsory vegetarianism was seen as yet another step against 
the local Maharashtrians. The concerned builders were mostly 
Gujaratis and Jains and the Sena was concerned that any move to ban 
meat and fish eaters would adversely affect the local population 
accustomed to nonvegetarian food. Can Maharashtrians be denied 
accommodation in their own city just because of their food habits? 
The Sena, under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray is now once again 
actively pursuing policies favouring local people. The party has 
issued a call to ban further influx into the city, not only from 
across the border, but also from the cowbelt. People have been asked 
not to patronise hawkers from outside the state. The Sena, in effect, 
had gone back to its policy of the 1960s favouring the sons of the 
soil theory. Its opposition to compulsory vegetarianism stems from 
this line of thinking. But the issue has broader significance.

There is no doubt that at least in India where animal slaughter was 
often carried out illegally in unhealthy surroundings, the quality of 
meat was questionable to say the least. It would be safer to stick to 
a vegetarian diet. Elsewhere in the world, even in traditional meat 
eating countries, there is a move to go easy on fat and red meat and 
consume more chicken and fish. In a poor nation like India where 
there are fewer options, particularly among the poor, the meat eaters 
normally eat anything they get. Yet, no sensible nation would go for 
compulsory vegetarianism as advocated by a section of Mumbai's 
builders.

A ban on meat eating would certainly violate constitutional rights of 
individual citizens and no government would think of such a ban. But 
in many parts of different cities such a ban did exist in subtler 
forms. This only led to discrimination of an already divided society. 
Despite the socalled march towards the 21st century and spread of 
education, Indians are now becoming more and more clannish, both 
within the country and outside. So Gujarati brahmins wanted to live 
in their own areas, Sindhis had their own housing colonies, Tamil 
Ayyangars inquired about areas where their community was in a 
majority and Christian housing societies sprouted up everywhere. 
Muslims, not wanted anywhere, had to fend for themselves. Is it the 
national integration we are looking for?

The situation is turning from bad to worse. When I lived in Ahmedabad 
for 19 years from 1958 to 1977, there were any number of mixed 
localities. Muslims did not find it difficult to find accommodation 
in Hindu areas. But as communal tension rose and riots broke out 
often, this unity disappeared. Today, Ahmedabad as well as the other 
Gujarat cities are almost divided on a communal basis. Affluent, 
educated Muslims, holding important jobs are unable to get flats in 
decent mixed localities and forced to live in poor, dirty Muslim 
areas. And with men like Narendra Modi in power, the situation can 
only worsen. The poison is spreading even in Mumbai where the spirit 
of secularism and cosmopolitanism is getting eroded day by day. This 
is one of the greatest tragedies of modern India. With its diverse 
culture, India offered a wonderful opportunity for different castes 
and communities to live together, enjoy the spice of life and learn 
from one another. But such an opportunity was not being made use of.

In this context, I envy Mrs Sheila Dixit, not because she is the 
Chief Minister of Delhi and close to Sonia Gandhi. Look at her 
household. Her mother was from a Sikh family of Kapurthala, her 
father was from Delhi. Her late husband was from Uttar Pradesh. Her 
son has married a lovely girl from Kerala while her son-in-law was a 
Muslim young man.

In fact, her home is a mini-India and that is why Mrs Dixit is so 
lucky. Contrast this case with a Matunga Iyer who had never stepped 
out of the Mumbai suburb except to return to his `native place'every 
two years or so and spend an entire lifetime among other South 
Indians, without even bothering to enjoy the flavour of wonderful 
Mumbai. The same was the case with the Ghatkopar Gujarati, the 
Chembur Parsi or the Deshpandes of Dadar. Such clannishness appears 
to be in our blood and is further bolstered by housing societies 
which restricted the entry of `outsiders'and introduced all kinds of 
petty bans like the one on meat eating. What is applicable within 
India, regretfully, applies outside the country too. While credit 
should be given to the remarkable progress and achievements of 
Indians abroad, very few of them, despite travelling far and wide had 
learnt to think and act as citizens of the world. They are yet to 
learn true liberalism which is part of western culture. So in 
Chicago, the Gujaratis flocked together celebrating `navratri' with 
pomp and noise while the Punjabis of Leicester or Birmingham created 
newer ghettos and continued with all kinds of traditions.

No, Indians abroad, should never give up their precious Indian 
culture but there should be better appreciation and absorption of the 
positive aspects of western life like civic sense, discipline and 
rule of law. Boys and girls should learn to be independent, lead 
their own lives and not wait for their parents to arrange their 
weddings from other boys and girls from home. I fail to understand 
the false glory attributed to Indian culture as propagated by 
blockbuster films like `Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge'. What is the 
Indian culture shown in this film? The stern, domineering father 
arranging the marriage of his Londonborn daughter with a boy from 
back home who she had never met in her life! The young man from 
London with whom she falls in love, is beaten almost to death by 
practitioners of Indian culture.Of course, love triumphs in the end, 
but at what cost? That this film made millions abroad spoke volumes 
of our distorted value of Indian culture and ever growing 
clannishness. Over the years, we always seem to copy the worst from 
western culture without even understanding what it was all about. The 
youth of US, resentful of their country's involvement in Vietnam, 
took to the hippie culture during the 1960's, but for the affluent 
Indians, this culture was nothing but free love and nudity on the 
beaches of Goa.

How many affluent Indian boys who pranced about on the beaches were 
ready to leave home and work their way through college as it was done 
in the US? There are enough divisions within India without people 
being influenced from outside. And the divisions are broadening. 
Politics in this country thrived on such divisions. So UP Chief 
Minister Mayawati fed a huge cake to her dalit followers on her 
birthday to create a make believe that by eating cake, they had 
progressed to an upper strata of society. With men like Narendra Modi 
in power, the Hindu-Muslim divide will grow. Everyone, including 
Mumbai's builders and office bearers of housing societies, are 
contributing to this divide by becoming petty tyrants and more 
intolerant.. These divisions can only help groups and individuals who 
want to take advantage of such disunity.

_____


#8.

Indian Muslim Relief Committee
Gujrat 2003

The State Devastated by Earthquake in 2001 , Ravaged by one of the 
worst Communal Strife in 2002  is now challenged by the worst Drought 
in Decades .

Tens of thousands of families face Starvation and Hunger

IMRC has teamed up with ACTION [AID] INDIA, a Non-Governmental Organization
To provide Food Grain for SIX MILLION MEALS for Needy Families 
regardless of their Religious Faith.


=46und Raising Luncheon Meeting

Saturday, May 3rd , 2003,
11 am - 2 pm
Taj Mahal Restaurant
11600 Rosecrans Ave, Norwalk [Los Angeles]
(562) 462 9099

Guest Speaker
Harsh Mannder
=46ormer Senior IAS Officer who resigned from Government Service last 
year to devote his life to Social Causes and empowerment of the 
weaker sections of society.
Currently he is the National Director of   ACTION [AID] INDIA

Tickets  : $ 10
=46or Information and Tickets Please Cont

Ghani Shaikh       (714) 827 729 
Samee Syed      (714) 525 4208

_____


#9.

[ Pakistan - India: Fundamentalists on both sides have a stake in 
keeping building borders of hate ! ]

o o o

The Daily Times, May 1, 2003
Indo-Pak talks a US bid to crush Jihad
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=3Dstory_30-4-2003_pg7_25

o o o

Indian Express, May 1, 2003
Togadia opposes normalisation of ties with Pak
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=3D20994

_____


#10.

The Indian Express, May 1, 2003
Meanwhile, jumbo undivided parivar has reunion today
Pradeep Kaushal
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D23065

_____


#11.

SACW - Women's Rights Special Edition (1 May,  2003)
is being prepared and will be delivered in the coming hours as Dispatch #2 .
Readers are requested to forward this on to women's rights lists....

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

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (www.mnet.fr/aiindex).
The complete SACW archive is available at: http://sacw.insaf.net

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
--