SACW | 2 May 03 |

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire   |  2 May,  2003

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

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

#1. The new McCarthyism [Hindu-supremacism in the US...] (Praful Bidwai)
#2. Letter from the Pakistan India Peoples Forum India Chapter
#3. USA: Illinois Mosque vandalized [Long live Shri Rama Painted ] (Linda Ru=
sh)
#4. History As Politics  (Romila Thapar)
#5. Why Modi drew a blank  (Kuldip Nayar)
#6. Bhopal Survivors Start Indefinite Fast in City Against Dow 
Chemical's Injustices
#7. So has normalcy returned to Ahmedabad? Judge for yourself... 
(Tanvir Siddiqui )
#8. Public institutions are becoming private militias (Sagarika Ghose)
#9. Cry for justice in Kashmir
#10. Upcoming Benares Convention  on preservation of the
secular and pluralistic fabric of the Indian society  (26 June 03)


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

#1.

Hindustan Times
=46riday, May 2, 2003
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/020503/detPLA01.shtml

THE NEW MCCARTHYISM
Praful Bidwai

  The chickens are coming home to roost. The barrage of campaigns 
unleashed over the years by the Sangh parivar - against pluralism, 
secularism and humanism, and for Hindu-supremacism, hyper-nationalism 
and extremist intolerance - is reaching fruition in a variety of 
forms and institutions. Thus, unadulterated hate-speech directed at 
the religious-ethnic minorities has become routine within our public 
discourse. Vile attacks by chosen pro-Hindutva audiences on 
secularists and liberals are part of the gladiatorial entertainment 
fare regularly dished out by television channels.

Praveen Togadia and Ashok Singhal have rapidly expanding clienteles 
simply because they never cease to shock - or hog publicity.

Anyone who questions mindless militarism and the BJP's obsession with 
mass-destruction weapons, or rationally argues for India-Pakistan 
reconciliation, is liable to be branded a traitor. Saffronised 
textbooks peddling lies or whitewashing terrible truths about, say, 
casteism, or the persecution of Buddhists, are officially endorsed, 
indeed thrust upon a protesting public.

Distinguished scholars of high integrity are maligned and attacked, 
never debated, because they disagree with the Hindutva line. 
Journalists of liberal-secular persuasion are liable to attract the 
most vicious of e-mails and even face exclusion, especially from the 
electronic media.

Speaking for myself, I receive between 30 and 250 mails a week for 
each syndicated column I write. More than four-fifths are downright 
abusive and defamatory. The abusive bilge doesn't come at the 
conclusion of an argument. The mails start and end with calumny and 
four-letter words.

Significantly, about 90 per cent of such abusers are North American 
NRIs, remarkable for their 'long-distance' or 'Green Card' 
hypernationalism. NRIs have emerged as a major instrument of 
communalism and torchbearers of intolerance.

Their latest victim is the illustrious scholar and one of the most 
distinguished historians of Ancient India, Professor Romila Thapar 
whose accomplishments are rivalled by few others. Thapar has authored 
many seminal works, including classics like Asoka and the Decline of 
the Mauryas, A History of India (Penguin 1966, revised, expanded and 
just published as Early India), Ancient Indian Social History and 
Cultural Pasts, besides the more recent Sakuntala, Interpreting Early 
India and History and Beyond.

Thapar, one of India's best-known academics around the world, has 
taught at a host of universities, including Oxford, Cornell, London 
and Paris, besides JNU. She has received honorary doctorates from 
Paris, Oxford, Chicago and Kolkata. She was recently appointed to the 
Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the US Library 
of Congress.

This last appointment triggered what must be one of the most vicious 
and bigoted attacks ever launched on a scholar anywhere, in the form 
of an online petition, which now has 1,543 signatories, most of them 
NRIs. The petition would deserve some scholarly attention if it were 
drafted and signed by people who have at least read and are minimally 
aware of Thapar's work. Alas, it isn't.

It accuses Thapar of being an ignorant, yet "avowed antagonist of 
India's Hindu civilisation", who wants to discredit India in the same 
way as the "Europeans discredited the American Indians' land claims=8A" 
It says she "represents a completely Euro-centric worldview" and 
"disavows that India ever had a history"!

This is breathtakingly ludicrous. Thapar has spent a lifetime arguing 
against 'Orientalist' western and Euro-centric interpretations of 
history which hold that ancient India lacked a sense of history and 
that pre-colonial Indian society was 'static' and 'stagnant'.

Thapar is devoted to the study of India's civilisation with all its 
plurality of texts and multiplicity of traditions - secular and 
religious, metaphysical and scientific. How she could be an 
'antagonist' of 'Indian civilisation' defies comprehension except 
within an illiterate, philistine, and communal framework which holds 
that all 'Indian civilisation' was 'Hindu', even when it had Jain, 
Buddhist, animist and agnostic traditions.

Even worse, the petition says, Thapar is engaged in a "war of 
cultural genocide", and the result of her research, 'Historical 
Consciousness in Early India', is "a foregone conclusion. She will of 
course attempt to show that Early India had no historical 
consciousness"! In reality, some of Thapar's most exciting work (e.g. 
Time as a Metaphor for History) attempts to refute the Euro-centric 
notion that Indians only had a cyclical concept of time, and to 
establish that there were a variety of forms of historical 
consciousness in India.

The petition's crux is about not 'wasting' "our American resources 
on" a Marxist. This is also the thrust of a huge number of comments 
accompanying the petition. This is pure McCarthyism, the most 
shameful witch-hunt in 20th century America against anyone suspected 
to be a Communist, carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Indeed, that's the spirit in which most of these vicious comments are 
made, including: "She is a pinko and a fake historian=8A" "This Thapar 
woman will be a Trojan Horse for Islamic terrorists in the US."

"It is disappointing that the US that once opposed Communism is now 
in cahoots with one of its practitioners." "This stupid lady should 
be stripped of her citizenship." "Kick her out. Kick should be of 
such a force that she remains dead on the ground."

Even Praveen Togadia (might he be the one-and-only?) has added his 
venom: "Ban Marxist Scholars from the USA=8A After all, the American 
communist party was banned."

What takes the cake is the following: "Fidel Castro would have been a 
better choice (for the Kluge Chair). At least he is not a 
venom-spitting anti-Hindu. I am worried about the future of USA. The 
Indian communists have already infiltrated into all the American 
universities. And now the Library of Congress. McCarthy, where are 
you?"

=46urther comment is unnecessary.

_____

#2.



1st May 2003

[Letter from the Pakistan India Peoples Forum India Chapter]

Salutations of May Day!

As you are aware, PIPFPD is a pioneering peoples' initiative for 
peace, democracy and friendly relationship between India and 
Pakistan. As part of the Forum's long standing commitment to these 
values, it has also achieved many a milestones in the history of 
India-Pakistan relationship. Many of you will also remember the five 
joint conventions the Forum has organised in the past 9 years of its 
existence. But unfortunately, the past two years of pronounced 
hostility between the governments and the diplomacy of 'brinkmanship' 
has brought both the countries and its peoples to a much earlier 
stage in history, whereby visa regimes and open war threats has 
become the order of the day.

But keeping upto its objectives, the Forum kept alive the 
people-to-people interactions and dialogue through exchange of 
eminent citizens and organising of common programmes and strategies. 
The trip of six senior members of the Indian Chapter of the PIPFPD to 
Pakistan to attend the Sindh convention in March 2003 is the latest 
in this series.

In a significant move, both the Indian and Pakistani chapters of 
PIPFPD are collectively organising an exchange of Members of 
Parliament. In this series the first is the 'Goodwill Visit' of 
Pakistani MPs to India between the 8th and 16th of May 2003. This 
delegation consists of 11 senators and MNAs from different regions of 
Pakistan. While in India, this team will address Public meetings, 
Press Conferences, etc, along with interactive sessions with Indian 
Parliamentarians and other eminent people. Some members of the 
visiting delegation will also be visiting other Indian cities 
including Kolkatta, Mumbai and Hyderabad. All these efforts will need 
enormous human and financial resources.

We are writing this letter to seek your support and co-operation 
during this landmark visit of Pakistani MPs to India, organised by 
the Forum with support from some other organisations and individuals. 
We have the duty and responsibility to extend our hospitality to 
these guests. Being a non-funded peoples' initiative, the PIPFPD's 
biggest asset and resource are the members and well-wishers of the 
=46orum, who have always supported and promoted such initiatives in the 
past. We seek your support and cooperation once more for making this 
historic step a big success. Kindly extend your support to this 
initiative by all means you can [...].

Thanking you in anticipation,

Yours sincerely,

Sushil Khanna                         Syeda Hameed 
Gautam Navlakha
Tapan Bose                              Deenadayalan 
Vijayan MJ
On Behalf of the PIPFPD India Chapter

Regards...
  Vijayan MJ
  PIPFPD Secretariat
B-14 (SF), Gulmohar Park,
New Delhi - 110049
# (011) 2656 1743 / 2651 4847 / 2651 1504 (Fax)


______

#3.

[ Mosques are vandalized all the time in the US but this is the first 
time, that overtly Hindu symbols were used. Its a distressing trend 
and should be noted !! ]

o o o

The Southern Illinoisan
[Mon Apr 28 2003]

ISLAMIC CENTER OF CARBONDALE VANDALIZED WITH PAINT

BY Linda Rush

CARBONDALE -- "We respect all religions and expect them to respect 
ours as well," said Dr. Muhammad Kamran, a Carbondale physician and 
member of the Islamic congregation in Carbondale. His 6-year-old son, 
Moosa, stood at his side.

Kamran and other Muslims were standing in the parking lot of the 
Islamic Center on Poplar Street, just north of College Street, 
Monday. Sometime late Sunday night or early Monday, vandals had 
sprayed messages in black paint on the pale yellow siding and 
light-colored doors of the center.

Police were contacted at 11:25 a.m. by a passerby who saw the damage. 
Construction workers nearby said the damage was evident when they 
arrived at work at around 6:30 a.m. Sgt. Mark Diedrick of the 
Carbondale Police Department said the graffiti was photographed, but 
no evidence was collected at the scene, nor are there any suspects.

"Free Kashmir," read the only English message on the building. 
Kashmir is a disputed area, with India and Pakistan both claiming 
jurisdiction to the land that lies between them.

Also sprayed on the building was a phrase that praises a non-Muslim 
Hindu god. It translates as "Long live Shri Rama," said one young 
man. "These are Hindu religious symbols, like a cross for 
Christianity. These symbols are seen in their temples."

The Islamic Center has been in Carbondale for 18 years, serving a 
congregation of Southern Illinois University students and faculty, 
and numerous professional families in Southern Illinois. Between 30 
and 50 people will be gathered there for evening prayers. On Fridays, 
about 200 gather to pray at the mosque on North Wall and Chestnut 
streets.

And until Monday, the Islamic Center's only problems had been 
occasional beer bottles or trash strewn on the parking lot, damage 
the congregation believes is just a byproduct of student parties.

The painted slogans, though, are hard to ignore.

"It's good it didn't happen Saturday night," said Rizwan Hashmi, "or 
the children would have seen it when they came to Sunday school." 
Hashmi, a doctoral student at SIUC, heads the board of directors for 
the center. He said about 60 children ages 5 to 12 attend Sunday the 
school.

"People come here for morning prayer at 5 a.m., but it was still dark 
then," Hashmi said. "Nobody saw the damage." The vandalism was on the 
sides of the building away from Poplar Street.

Hashmi also left a phone message for the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. Special agent Rick Stonecipher had earlier met with 
the board, asking its member to contract him if they had any 
problems, he said.

Congregation member Iqbal Mohammed said, "We have many friends who 
are Hindus." Others, too, said it would be wrong to characterize the 
vandalism as an act by any one group. "It can be anybody," Hashmi 
added. "Everybody knows Carbondale is a peaceful place."

As Moosa played quietly nearby in the gravel, Kamran was asked what 
he will tell his son and 8-year-old daughter, Haani, about the 
incident.

"I don't know what to tell him," he admitted quietly. "I do not know 
how to explain it to anybody. I don't want to tell him it was done by 
Hindus. Our neighbors and friends are Hindus."

Hashmi said he would tell his children they will have to cope with 
those who disagree with them. "It's a good lesson to them -- each 
religion teaches its adherents to tolerate," he added.

Anaz Zubair, too, cautioned against placing blame -- even with the 
reference to Kashmir. Pointing to his friend Hashmi, Zubair said, 
"I'm an Indian; he's a Pakistani. It's not as simplistic as they 
portray. It's a moot point." He believes one or two people simply 
committed a crime. "It's not the whole Hindu community."

Zubair, an SIUC student, said Islam provides a lesson on tolerance, 
with a story about a nomad who went inside a mosque and urinated. 
When angry Muslims attempted to drive him out or punish him, Muhammad 
told them to let him be and not disturb him.

"The lesson," Zubair said, "is not to lash out in anger when someone 
wrongs you."

( linda.rush@thesouthern.com   618-529-5454 x15079 )

______


#4.

Outlook
Web | May 01, 2003

History As Politics
Links between knowledge and ideology do not justify the passing off 
of political agendas as knowledge as is being done in the rewriting 
of history by the present central government; and that too of a kind 
not based on the understanding of history current among historians.
ROMILA THAPAR

[This is substantially the text of the Professor Athar Ali Memorial 
lecture, organised by the Aligarh Historians Society, at the Aligarh 
Muslim University on 8 February 2003
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=3D20030501&fname=3Dthapar&sid=
=3D1

______


#5.

The Hindu
=46riday, May 02, 2003

Why Modi drew a blank
By Kuldip Nayar

I am not surprised that the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi 
drew a blank at a meeting of envoys to attract foreign investment. In 
fact, I would have been surprised if any one of them had been taken 
in by his glib talk.

The question is not whether Gujarat is today peaceful and normal but 
whether those who disturbed peace through premeditated murder, rape 
and looting have been isolated for punishment. My information is that 
the high-ups, whether in the State Government or in the Sangh Parivar 
which backed Mr. Modi, have not been even questioned, much less 
named. Some of them were directing murder and worse on mobile 
telephones, police control rooms or otherwise.

The State Government is still not serious and is pursuing the cases 
registered nonchalantly. Nobody is there to upbraid Mr. Modi. The 
authorities, supposed to be protectors, are exerting pressure for 
withdrawal of FIRs which many complainants had filed. Even in some 
rural areas, from where hundreds were ousted, there is a demand that 
the victims take back the FIR before their request even to return to 
their own homes is accepted.

Economic boycott against Muslims continues unabated in several 
cities. There is normality, which the Chief Minister claims, is in 
the sense that no killing or looting is taking place. But the Muslim 
community remains frightened. Except for a few Hindu activists, the 
majority community has stayed distant from the Muslims. By and large, 
the Gujaratis give the impression as if what happened was inevitable 
and that Muslims had "asked for it." Even after 15 months there is 
very little remorse and definitely no repentance. This has hurt the 
foreigners the most because Gujarat is known as the land of Mahatma 
Gandhi.

Mr. Modi should realise that the confidence of investors and others 
would be in proportion to the confidence the minority community 
shows. They are still a harassed, haunted lot. The State has turned 
its back on them. Until the minorities in Gujarat talk in good terms 
about Mr. Modi and his administration, investors would not return. 
During the rioting, one foreign firm withdrew from the State. It did 
not return even at the request of the Ministry of External Affairs. 
The firm felt so horrified over the happenings that it did not even 
care for the high profit it was making. The owners reportedly said 
that they had no future in Gujarat where the State itself was a party 
to murders and the like.

In fact, the manner in which Mr. Modi has smeared the face of India 
has affected foreign investment in the rest of the country. The 
gaurav yatra, a shameless exhibition of the perversion and 
glorification of the crimes committed, may bring the votes, as they 
did in the State elections. But they can never bring back the honour 
which Mr. Modi and his party men `murdered' in broad daylight in the 
State.

How can the question of foreign investment arise? A few brave Indian 
industrialists have told Mr. Modi to his face that they themselves 
could not consider investing in Gujarat because of what happened 
there. He should have offered an apology but instead took umbrage at 
their remarks. The CII was made to apologise on behalf of those who 
had criticised Mr. Modi.

It is a pity that the Centre has not brought by this time legislation 
to implement the Genocide Convention, which India has signed and 
ratified. It should have used the measures allowed by the Convention 
to prosecute and punish all those who participated in the planning 
and execution of murder, rape, theft and destruction in Gujarat 
during the communal carnage. Were this to happen, foreign investment 
would flow even without Mr. Modi's asking for it.

But the fact is that the Centre has been a mute witness to the 
concerted and systematic challenge to the secular foundation of the 
polity, to the extent that it failed to protect the life, liberty, 
reputation and property of a sitting High Court judge as well as a 
retired High Court judge still in service of the Government. I know 
that Mr. Modi's bent of mind is different. But then he should not be 
asking for investment from outside.

_____


#6.

Bhopal Survivors Start Indefinite Fast in City Against Dow Chemical's 
Injustices

NEW YORK, 1 May, 2003 -- Two women survivors -- Rasheeda Bee and 
Champa Devi -- and long-time Bhopal activist, Satinath Sarangi, of 
the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) launched an 
indefinite fast from New York's financial district to highlight the 
truth behind Dow Chemical and Union Carbide's liabilities in Bhopal. 
In 1984, a poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide's pesticide factory 
killed 8000 in a matter of days. Survivors continue to suffer 
long-term health effects, and Carbide's toxic wastes strewn around 
the factory are a source of ongoing contamination and injury.

"Dow has acquired Carbide's pending criminal and environmental 
liabilities in Bhopal that could be substantial in dollar terms. By 
refusing to acknowledge and address these liabilities, the company is 
prolonging the suffering of survivors and their children, and keeping 
its shareholders in the dark regarding issues that could 
significantly erode share value," ICJB said.

"A hunger strike is our way of emphasising the truth that the tragedy 
in Bhopal continues, and that Dow as Carbide's new owner is now 
responsible for ensuring that justice is done in Bhopal," said 
Rasheeda Bee of the Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Workers 
Association. Forty six-year old Bee has lost five gas-exposed family 
members to cancers since the disaster. Partially blinded, she suffers 
psychiatric and respiratory problems due to exposure to Carbide's 
gases. Eight days into the hunger strike, the Bhopal activists will 
visit Midland, Michigan, to demonstrate outside the Dow shareholders 
meeting on 8 May.

At least 30 other people, including 24 students from 
Massachusetts-based Wheaton College, and long-time Bhopal supporters 
from India and the United States fasted in solidarity today. The 
worldwide relay fast is expected to attract hundreds of people from 
around the world to join in protest against Dow Chemical. A similar 
fast begun last July lasted more than a month and involved 1500 
people from 10 countries. ICJB has declared May 8 as the day of mass 
action including hunger strikes organised by allies around the world.

In February 2001, Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide. Carbide 
currently faces criminal charges for manslaughter in a Bhopal court 
for the deaths of more than 8,000 people in Bhopal, India, due to a 
poisonous gas leak from its pesticide factory in December 1984. The 
company has never appeared in court.

Dow Chemical has denied having inherited any of Carbide's pending 
Bhopal liabilities. Meanwhile, the Indian Central Bureau of 
Investigation will report to the Bhopal court on progress made in 
including Dow as an accused in the criminal case against Carbide by 
30 May. If found guilty, Indian criminal law allows for the 
imposition of fines against the accused.

"Under Indian law, the fines for manslaughter have no upper limit, 
and is determined by the size and ability of the accused party to 
pay, the magnitude of the crime, and the current state of the 
victims," said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information 
and Action. Dow is the world's largest chemical corporation with 
annual sales exceeding $30 billion. Billed as the world's worst 
industrial disaster, the Bhopal tragedy injured 500,000 people, and 
survivors and their children are impoverished and continue to suffer 
drastic long-term effects in the absence of economic rehabilitation 
measures and appropriate medical care. According to latest official 
estimates, 380 gas-affected people succumb to health effects each 
year, and more than 20,000 are exposed to the toxic wastes lying in 
and around the Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal.

On April 25, 2003, survivors and survivors' organisations appealed a 
recent decision by the New York District Court to dismiss their 
claims for clean-up and compensation for contamination-related 
damages from Carbide. The State Government of Madhya Pradesh too has 
stated that it plans to approach the Indian Supreme Court in a bid to 
get Dow to clean up the toxic wastes left behind by its subsidiary 
Union Carbide.

Separately, various communities impacted by Dow's pollution, 
including an African American community in Plaquemine, Louisiana, the 
Vietnam veterans, and the residents of Saginaw county near Dow's 
Midland headquarters, are seeking redressal for environmental and 
health damages due to Dow products or facilities. In fact, a 
stockholder has proposed a resolution at Dow's 2003 AGM asking the 
company to report to shareholders on identifying potential 
liabilities related to the company's operations, given the company's 
historical and ongoing engagement in processes known to produce or 
release persistent toxic substances such as dioxins. The proposal 
stems from findings of high levels of dioxin contamination in Midland 
and surrounding areas.

"Dow has a lot of Bhopals in its closet. Dow's failure to address its 
responsibilities to communities is clearly an issue of environmental 
justice, because its pollution has disproportionately impacted poor 
communities worldwide, and communities of color in the United 
States," said Gary Cohen, director of Boston-based Environmental 
Health Fund and a member of the ICJB.

The visiting survivors and members of the ICJB have sought a meeting 
with Dow Chairman William Stavropoulos on 8 May to press their 
demands that: Dow should arrange for long-term economic and medical 
rehabilitation and medical monitoring; for clean-up of toxic wastes 
and contaminated groundwater; and face trial in the Indian courts.

=46or more information, visit: www.bhopal.net

In the US:
Nityanand Jayaraman. Cell: 520 906 5216. Email: nity68@vsnl.com
Krishnaveni G. Cell: 832 444 1731. krishnaveni_g@sbcglobal.net

In the UK:
Tim Edwards. Email: tim@lifecycle.demon.co.uk

In Bhopal, India:
Rachna Dhingra. Email: rachna@umich.edu

_____


#7.

The Indian Express
Movers and shakers in a divided city
So has normalcy returned to Ahmedabad? Judge for yourself...
Tanvir Siddiqui
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D23079

_____


#8.

The Indian Express
=46riday, May 02, 2003

In the mad king's court
Public institutions are becoming private militias
Sagarika Ghose
I am the state!'' thundered Louis XIV, emperor of France also known 
as the Sun King. So might declare our own sun kings and sun queens. 
Today Mayawati can smash 137 cases against Mulayam Singh Yadav, 
rampage around UP erecting Ambedkar statues, transfer bureaucrats on 
sheer fancy and nobody can say a word. Jayalalithaa can turn a legal 
armoury on journalists for ''daring'' to criticise her. She can try 
and bulldoze a historical building for her own purposes, slam Pota 
against political rivals and nobody can do a thing.

Laloo Prasad Yadav's mythological (and violent) lathi rally in Patna, 
resulted in citizens being stranded on the streets because state 
transport buses had been requisitioned for the RJD carnival. During 
Mulayam Singh Yadav's cycle rally, official black cat commandos 
scurried alongside his cycle, functioning as the Samajwadi Party 
chief's private chowkidars. Shahnawaz Hussain, minister for civil 
aviation, likes to keep flights waiting while he takes long lunches. 
He has a personal staff of about 50 people, all of whose salaries are 
paid by the taxpayer. Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma 
manhandles Jet Airways staff because he feels that there are too many 
delays. Welcome to a process which has been described as the 
''privatisation of the public realm''. Regional potentates, armed 
with primordially loyal vote banks, often using violence as a 
legitimate political tool, have become democratically elected 
dictators.

Privatisation of the public realm began with the Congress. The 
Congress was guilty of transforming the party apparatus into a 
servant of The Family and Indira Gandhi has often been called a 
democratic dictator. Yet, in the years of a strong national party, 
there was at least a lakshmanrekha, some semblance of respect for the 
law and the belief that the people's vote would redress wrongs. But, 
today, the privatisation of the public realm has meant that even the 
people's vote can be easily squandered and misused. Last February, 
Mayawati fought the UP elections against the BJP, yet ended up 
allying with the BJP to form a government. The people's will? Who 
cares!

So what is the ''public realm''? The public realm is the state, the 
judiciary, the law and order system, the Election Commission, the 
state broadcaster, the schools, the cultural institutions that belong 
to the state and therefore to the public and exist to serve the 
Constitution's version of the ''public good''. When this public realm 
is ''privatised'', that is when caste, family and personal rivalries 
conquer these institutions that belong to the people, then democracy 
ceases to exist. The autonomy of the state structure, after all, is a 
pre-condition of democracy, but if the state is simply parcelled out 
between private tribal and caste chieftains then simply being a 
citizen brings no rights. One has to either be aligned to one or the 
other tribal militia, to get opportunities, jobs and money.

In the absence of a strong central party, caste and regional 
nationalism become larger than the government. This is seen in the 
BSP in UP, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, Mulayam, Laloo or even Digvijay 
Singh's alleged ''interference'' in state electoral rolls. The 
plebeian politicians, once India's great hope compared to the elite 
politics of our feudal neighbours, are now poised to convert 
democracy into monarchy. The Yadavs were the democratic sons of the 
soil whose authentic actions would finally banish the upper castes of 
the Congress. But sons-of-the-soil politics rather than strengthening 
democratic institutions looks as if it is subordinating them to 
monarchical personality cults.

Mayawati's epic legal action against Mulayam Singh is a supreme 
example of the privatisation of the public realm. In the days of 
Congress majorities, when there was a strong central government, 
Article 356 was used and misused to set aside troublesome state 
governments and impose president's rule. But today, with weak central 
leaderships, crucially dependent on local allies, regional queens 
like Mayawati and Jayalalithaa can simply run amok. No laws constrain 
them. They are accountable to no one. Mayawati is the leader of a 
fiercely loyal clan and insists that she is not just the chief 
minister of Uttar Pradesh but the patron saint of dalits. When the 
state becomes harnessed in the service to a particular clan, then it 
ceases to be a servant of the people and becomes a private militia. 
No wonder violent rhetoric is today considered legitimate behaviour. 
''Muh tod jawab denge!'' ''Hamesha ke liye awaz band kar denge!''

In fact, a crucial result of the privatisation of the public realm is 
the legitimisation of violence. Today, violence is the preferred form 
of settling disputes with the ruler taking on the role of an a battle 
commander. The gun, the lathi, the trishul, the communal riot and the 
political murder have become legitimate means of securing political 
goals. After all, if the state is the private property of a 
particular clan, then the clan will naturally even risk bloodshed to 
defend it, just as any individual might murder to safeguard family 
property.

There are other examples of the privatisation of the public realm. 
When Murli Manohar Joshi takes steps to Hinduise education, he is 
forgetting the fact that public educational institutions cannot be 
warriors in his personal crusade against foreign imperialism. The 
minister for HRD is welcome to practise sanskritic traditions and 
endlessly study the Aryans, but why should the public realm-that is 
state sponsored schools and school textbooks-become hostage to 
Joshiji's private Vedic fantasies?

The public realm should be value neutral and represent all sections 
because it exists to serve a diverse society and provide 
opportunities for everybody to get rich and educated. But while the 
crucially necessary privatisation of the economy is being stalled, 
leaders are busy privatising public life. In fact, the very concept 
of public life seems to be unknown. Ask Mayawati her concept of 
public life. Her likely answer will be: Public life is me! Perhaps 
Mulayam, Mayawati, Laloo, and Jayalalithaa, among others, can be sent 
on a summer training camp, made to consult dictionaries and 
understand the difference between "private property" and the "public 
realm".

_____

#9.


Kashmirimages.info
May ?, 2003
Editorial
Cry for justice
The allegations made by a Beerwah villagers against surrendered 
militants and Police have come as a challenge to the State government 
that boosts of being a people-friendly one. One Abdul Rehman Dar of 
Dangerpora Beerwah Wednesday told media persons that her two 
daughters were abducted by surrendered militants and the elder one 
was sexually abused. Making strong accusations against the Police he 
said that instead of helping him and his daughters Police protected 
the kidnappers and the rapists. The accusation is shocking and should 
not be brushed away as a trivial issue. Whenever any such tragedy 
strikes somebody, he looks toward Police for help and protection. But 
when the Police itself backs and patronizes the criminals, only God 
can save the victims. Same has happened in Dar's case. He approached 
Police for help and was not only denied the same but instead Police 
did everything to protect the accused. Somuchso that Police even 
showed scant respect to the court orders which had asked Police to 
protect the victimized father and his family from the gang of 
surrendered militants.
Worst part of the story is that it is not only the Police that has 
turned the blind eye to the plight of this hapless family but the 
political establishment too has not come up to the mark. Dar told 
reporters that he alongwith his daughters met Peoples Democratic 
Party (PDP) leader and MLA Mehbooba Mufti who too did nothing to help 
them. This speaks volumes about the insensitivity of Kashmiri 
politicians. When out of power, Mehbooba Mufti's used to be the 
strong voice against the human rights abuses. She was in fact first 
from the mainstream lot of politicians who raised voice against the 
atrocities being committed by the surrendered militants who are 
working as Police and Army informer. One would love to believe that 
once in power she would see to it that this uncontrollable lot is 
tamed and taught to behave. But nothing of the sort has happened. If 
Dar is believed, and there is no reason not to believe him as in a 
society like Kashmir no father would dare to say publicly that his 
daughter has been raped unless it is true, Mehbooba Mufti had assured 
him help but did nothing. Question arises why the culprits have not 
been arrested yet and why a disciplinary action was not ordered 
against then district police chief of Budgam and SHO Beerwah who 
slept over the issue and protected the rapists.
One may dispute the fact that there is a visible improvement on human 
rights front since PDP-led government assumed power in the State. But 
at the same time there is a lot that remains to be done. The 
surrendered militants who are presently working with Police and Army 
as informers have become law unto themselves. As they are confident 
that the security agencies are always there to protect them, they 
indulge in all kind of crimes and still roam around scot-free. Only 
yesterday a surrendered militant who works with the security forces 
shot dead a young boy in Sonawari area of district Baramulla. This is 
not the only case. Reports pouring in from different parts of the 
Valley suggest that these surrendered militants are indulging in 
worst types of human rights and the establishment is watching as a 
mute spectator as security agencies 'need their services for 
countering insurgency.' The worst part of the story is that against 
whom these elements commit atrocities dare not to raise their voices 
fearing reprisal from the armed goons who enjoy patronage of the 
security agencies. Now that the Beerwah villager has broken the myth 
and come to public with his allegations it is high time that 
government swings into action and takes stringent action against such 
elements. To begin with let the surrendered militants identified by 
Dar and his daughters be arrested and booked under the law of the 
land. The process of justice would be incomplete unless strong action 
is taken against the concerned SHO and SP who too by their 
indifference have played the role of partners in the crime.

_____

#10.


Greetings From PVCHR / FRM.

We take great pleasure in extending to you our
invitation to be the Special Guest at the 'BENARES
CONVENTION & BENARES DECLARATION' scheduled for the
26th of June 2003 in Varanasi.

This is a historical convention bringing together all
secular forces interested in the preservation of the
secular and pluralistic fabric of the Indian society.
Several renowned National and International social
activist and secularist are participating.

Your august presence as the Special Guest will help
make this Convention a great success and we request
you to find the time to participate and give your
views at the Convention and lend your voice to the
=ECBenares Declaration=EE.

We will much appreciate if you can contribute to the
cost of your travel and we will take care of your
accommodation, food and conveyance.
Thanking you in anticipitation, we remain,

Yours truly
=46or PVCHR/FRM
(DR.LENIN)

BENARES DECLARATION: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE.
The city of Varanasi located on the banks of Ganga is
one of the oldest cities of the World. Since centuries
this city like the rest of our country has witnessed
two streams of thoughts. On the one hand it is claimed
by the Brahmanical Forces as their cultural capital
and throughout they have attempted to impose their
views on the rest of society. This has been opposed by
the other stream of thought represented by such
universally renowned figures as Gautam Buddha, Ashoka
etc who strived for a classless society .In the days
of British rule, the communal forces too tried to give
their own identity to the city and was opposed by such
secular figures as Kabir, Sant Ravidas, PremChand etc.
It is due to the relentless struggle of these secular
leaders that our country had emerged and remained for
more than fifty years as a secular nation and a plural
society. Now we are witnessing the renewal of this
communal and fundamental virus raging across the
country threatening the secular and pluralistic nature
of our society and joining forces with Imperialism
threatening our pluralism and people centric economic
system. This has awakened the secular groups in the
city of Varanasi represented by famous Intellectuals,
Artists, Poets, Youths, Students, Trade Union and
members of the Civil Society including renowned
secularist like Bismillakhan, Gyanendra Pati, and Sant
Vivek Das etc. They have decided to come together to
opposes Brahmanical and Communal forces, Imperialism,
Globalization and promote peoples livelihood, people
democracy, Justice and Human Rights. To meet this
threat and in continuation of the ancient secular
tradition of Buddha and Kabir, the secular forces have
decided to come together on the 26th of June 2003 at
the grounds of the Bharat Mata Mandir. The 26th of
June is significant as the UN declared International
Day in support of the victims of torture .It is also
important for Indians as the day Emergency was imposed
in India. PVCHR has declared this day as the Day of
Democracy. The venue of Bharat Mata Mandir symbolizes
our struggle against colonialism when all Indians
irrespective of their caste or religion participated
and obtained their freedom from the British. Today we
look forward to uniting the secular forces against the
combined might of Fundamentalism and Imperialism.
Benares representing an important trading center of
North India and an important educational center with
the location of world famous universities like Benares
Hindu University, Kashi Vidyapeet, Sanskrit
University, and Islamic Institutes. People from
different walks of life including students come to
this city from all parts of India and the world. Thus
Benares will have a wide influence and ripple effect.
Benares also represents the common cultures of the
Muslims and Hindus who are engaged in manufacturing
saris without any difference between them.
We have talked to every section of Society of Benares.
Almost all of them have welcomed this idea and have
given their wholehearted support. Several prominent
citizens of Benares like Prof.Mallik, Dr.Mahendra
Pratap, Dr.R. P.Diwedi, Gyanendra Pati, Sant Vivek
Das, and Pt.Vikash Maharaj. Several organizations like
Savitri Ba Phule Mahilla Panchayaat, Gramyya, Mitra,
Jan Mukti, and Bhoomi hakdari morcha, Prerna Kala
Manch have also given their support.Mr. Sandeep
pandey( Ramon Magsaysay laureate), Mr.D. Prempati
(Dalit intellectual),Sanjai Rai(FIAN) & Mr. Suneet
Chopara( Khet Mazdoor Morcha) and several others have
extended their whole hearted support to the programme.

The objective of conference: -
1.To review the policies and strategies in regard to
various issues related to human rights and child
rights.
2.To workout a plan of action for the next two years.
3.To initiate cultural fronts there by strengthening
the cultural movement in the state.

On the 26th of June, the venue will be prepared to
accommodate a mass rally in which about 10,000 people
will participate. After the rally will be the Benares
declaration, strategies and action plan.
Presidium of 5 people will conduct the conference
sessions and the present Co-ordination committee will
give press briefing to the press.

The date of the Declaration: 26th of June 2003
The Venue of Declaration: The Grounds of The Bharat
Mata Mandir.


PVCHR or The People=EDs Vigilance Committee on Human
Rights is a human rights organization working on the
grassroots level for the rights of the Dalit classes
in particular and the rights of children in general.
It was founded by Dr. Lenin and Poet Gyanendra Pati in
the year 1996.[...].

(DR.LENIN, ASHOKA FELLOW,PVCHR, SA4/2A, DAULATPUR, VARANASI-221002,UP,INDIA)

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