SACW | 14 May 03
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex@mnet.fr
Wed, 14 May 2003 03:57:29 +0100
South Asia Citizens Wire | 14 May, 2003
Action Alert: In Defence of the Indian Historian Romila Thapar
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/Alerts/IDRT300403.html
---------------
#1. Statement from the Friends of South Asia
#2. Indian, Pakistani students on peace (Anwar Abbas)
#3. McCarthyism's Indian rebirth (Praful Bidwai)
#4. Pandit Miyan and Miyan Pandit (Mukul Dube)
#5. Allah Baksh versus Savarkar (Anil Nauriya)
#6. Flower Power against the peddlers of hate : 'Triphul' for Tagodia (Yousu=
f)
#7. Pakistan: Eqbal Ahmad Distinguished Lectures 2003 [Revised
version] (14 May, Lahore )
#8. India: Public Lecture on Hinduism and Hindutva by Swami Agnivesh
(May 16, Hyderabad)
#9. USA: Safeguarding India's Democracy - A Lecture by Harsh Mander
(May 16, College Park, MD)
#10. UK: Conference on The Future of Race Relations in Britain (May 19, Lond=
on)
#11. 2nd International Conference on Sexualities, Masculinities, and
Cultures in South Asia -- July 2003, Bangalore, India
#12. May 2003 issue of Himal
--------------
#1.
The Friends of South Asia welcome the recent positive announcements
and actions by the Governments of India and Pakistan, including the
restoration of full diplomatic relations and air and travel links
between the two countries. We welcome the offer of talks by the
Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, on all outstanding
issues including that of Kashmir, and the corresponding invitation by
the Pakistani Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, to the
Indian Prime Minister to visit Pakistan.
We strongly urge both countries to engage in unconditional dialogue
on all outstanding issues including Kashmir, and urge that the
dialogues on Kashmir be tripartite, with Kashmiris playing an active
role in it. We strongly urge an immediate end to violence in Kashmir--
both militant and state-sponsored--violence that has devastated the
lives of millions of innocent Kashmiris. We strongly urge both
Governments to make full and effective use of this window of
opportunity. We ask the two countries to cut back their nuclear
arsensal and scale down their bloated conventional weaponry,
channelling their scarce resources towards improving the lot of South
Asia's impoverished citizenry.
=46ounded in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, FOSA brings
together people with roots in various parts of South Asia, as well as
other well-wishers of the region. FOSA's mission is to achieve a
peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia--most immediately
working towards a demilitarized, nuclear-free South Asia and
promoting respect for and celebrating the diversity and plurality of
South Asia. FOSA works to promote amity between countries and
communities, working towards a South Asia where the rights of all
minorities are respected and protected regardless of religious,
ethnic, sexual or other differences. FOSA carries out its work
through people-to-people contacts, dialog, and other non-violent, non-
exclusionary means, working as a single group and with other
organizations that share similar aspirations. FOSA's website is at
http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org
_____
#2.
DAWN, 11 May 2003
Indian, Pakistani students on peace
With relations between India and Pakistan back in the public eye,
Anwar Abbas writes about a letter exchange programme between school
students of the two countries.
The other day NDTV, the Indian television channel, called me up
asking me to participate in a live discussion over the telephone. The
subject, I was informed, was the renewed peace initiative between
Pakistan and India and how the children of India viewed these moves.
Promptly at 9.30 pm Pakistan time the telephone call came. I could
follow the discussion only over the phone because my cable operator
had told me that PEMRA does not allow the broadcast of any Indian
news channel in Pakistan. My claim to 'fame' was the fact that in
1997 and 2001 I had taken groups of 20 and 35 students on goodwill
tours to India for three weeks on each occasion.
Even now memories of the two tours give misty eyes me and those who
went, all of whom look forward to repeating the experience as do many
of their class-fellows and friends. In Panipat in 1997 when the boys
arrived at the hockey ground with their local family hosts they all
had tilaks on their foreheads.
"Our Indian sisters have put this with the prayer that we should win
the match against the local team," said Noman Zakir. After the match
they went to pray (it was a Friday) together, but after wiping their
foreheads.. Islam was not in danger, on or off the field. Four years
later, during the 2001 tour, while at a school in Lucknow school the
boys were regaled to a tableau in which Indian students sang for
peace and friendship. But that did not prevent the Pakistan boys from
giving a thrashing to the Indian boys in the swimming pool and carry
away most of the medals that morning.
In 1997 the Pakistani boys also had a pleasant one-hour meeting with
the then Indian Prime Minister I K Gujral while in 2001 Prime
Minister Vajpayee sent a letter of apology for not being able to meet
the group on account of a busy work schedule.
With this backdrop in mind, I picked up the phone and spoke to NDTV.
And I was appalled at what I heard. Some of the Indian students said
that Pakistan was their 'enemy', a 'terrorist state' and that no
friendship was possible with Pakistanis unless the Kashmir issue was
resolved [something that would be true for most Pakistanis though].
There were, of course, some sane voices, particularly from those who
had visited Pakistan and found Pakistanis "amazingly hospitable and
friendly" and "no different from Indians". The anchor of the show,
well-known TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said that hatred against
Pakistan was widespread in north India and had now permeated to the
south as well.
However, notwithstanding the remarks of some of the Indian students
on that NDTV show, what the anchor said doesn't ring true. The reason
I say this is because I have seen some of the letters that Indian and
Pakistani students wrote to each other February of this year under a
pen-friendship programme called Aao Dosti Karein. Under this
programme, Pakistani students received thousands of letters from
Indian students and then replied to them.
Wrote Sana Aslam of Karachi: "Despite our individual likes and
dislikes we all belong to the sect of humanity. The hue of our blood
speaks of our oneness and solidarity." To this, Priya Srivastava
responded: "Children are the light of the world; we are the future of
our countries. We are above the barriers of religion and hatred."
"But," wrote Suneet Shukla, "our selfish politicians will never let
us live in peace and harmony since that is not their priority. Their
greedy and dirty politics will never let us unite."
Brajesh Kapoor of class XII in India wrote to his counterpart in
Pakistan: "Dear friend, I have a great desire to visit Pakistan. My
father tells me that my ancestors lived in Lahore. The world knows
that Indian and Pakistanis are brothers and sisters, then why can't
we live that way?" Agreeing, Saad Amin Shiwani, a class XI student
wrote back: "We are a family and differences do arise among family
members, but they should not result in enmity. I wish our politicians
learn from the children of today who are spreading the message of
love, peace and harmony."
And joins in Shweta Verma, a class ten student from across the
border: "As fighting between two brothers in a family becomes the
cause of the family's ruin, so India and Pakistan must stop their
warlike postures and join hands for peace and become friends like me
and you."
The older generation has come in for a great deal of criticism as
well. Yasir Nasir of Pakistan wrote to his pen friend Rohan Agarwal
in India: "It is high time we realize and make our elders realize
that war is not a solution to our problems." Daniyal Hanif, also from
Pakistan, is even more forthright when he writes: "Since our elders
have failed, it is now up to the youngsters of these two countries to
bring India and Pakistan close in order to bring peace, harmony and
brotherhood." Anupriya Mishra echoes these sentiments and writes: "If
we children decide to destroy the wall of hate and build bonds of
love and friendship, our elders will also follow suit. The power of
love and persuasion is greater than bombs and bullets."
Rameez Raja of Karachi says: "The money we spend on making arms can
be spent on eradicating poverty, promoting education, science and
technology. If we become friends no one in he world will be able to
threaten us." In a letter to Satyawati Verma, Kashaf Khaliq of class
seven and a resident of Karachi writes: "On war lots of money is
wasted. If we save this and spend it on making schools for poor
children where their studies will be free and if we make industries
in which unemployed people can work, unemployment in our two
countries could end." A seventh grader Hina Ghaffar writes from
Pakistan: "The money that our countries are using in wars could be
used to make schools and houses for poor people. We should make
hospitals for those who cannot afford private doctors' fees."
Tania Saeed says that she does not want war "because Islam preaches
peace and friendship" while her pen friend in India, Arpita
Srivastava, writes: "I am a strong believer of Mahatma Gandhi and I
always support the theory of ahimsa (non-violence)."
Indian student Rashi Jha says that his motto is 'live and let live'.
Safia Abid of Pakistan responds in kind writing: "Humay chhahiye kay
hum khud khush rahein or dusron ko bhi khush rakhein." Sanober Razzak
says she wants to go to India particularly Agra where the Taj Mahal
is built while Waqar Raza wants to visit it to see its culture and
its historical places with his "own eyes".
A sixth grader Ibrahim Arif writes with amazing frankness: "Religion
does not matter in friendship. Anyone can be friends with anyone. A
Muslim with a Christian, a Hindu with a Sikh, it does not matter.
Neither Islam nor Hinduism teaches us not to be friends with someone
from another religion. I do not care about all this foolish talk
about one religion being better than another. All religions teach
good things. War is not the solution for everything. In fact, it is
not the solution for anything."
And yet I did hear a child say in the discussion over the NDTV
programme that he hated Pakistan and it would be stupid to believe
that there are no Pakistani children who feel the same about India.
Sceptics who believe that India and Pakistan cannot live in peace
should remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr. who said: "Hatred
and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear, only love can do
that. Hatred paralyzes life, love realizes it. Hatred confuses life,
love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life, love illuminates it."
Jagdish Gandhi, manager of City Montessori School in Lucknow and
winner of the 2002 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, is the architect
of this unique scheme and has promised to raise the level of his
efforts. He will now send 100,000 letters from India to Pakistani
children and keep increasing their numbers till the dream of creating
friendship and peace among the new generation of Pakistan and India
is fully realized.
_____
#3.
Rediff.com, May 13, 2003
http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/13praful.htm
McCarthyism's Indian rebirth
by Praful Bidwai
When future scholars write the social history of this past decade in
India, a major trend they will undoubtedly note is the upsurge of
intolerance. Right since the Babri mosque was demolished in December
1992 by a frenzied mob out to settle scores with history, there has
been unrelenting violence, discrimination, and humiliation against
groups of people.
They are vilified simply because they happen to disagree with
something, or have different beliefs, faiths, or ethnic origins.
Books are burned (eg: Ambedkar's Riddles of Hinduism), eminent
artists (M F Husain) are attacked, and newspaper offices (Mahanagar
and Outlook) are ransacked. Even more frequently, indeed casually,
'secularists' and 'liberals' are demonised.
It can be argued that this isn't new. Indian society is far less
tolerant and respectful of dissent than, say, the West. Yet, there is
something new and different about today's intolerance. Until the
mid-1970s, people could publish irreverent, iconoclastic,
even blasphemous, material not just in 'little magazines', but in the
mainstream media.
Dalits could publicly condemn the Manusmriti without being branded
'anti-national'. Periyar (E V Ramaswamy Naicker), an atheist and
bitter critic of 'Aryan' Hinduism, could parody gods and goddesses in
street processions, joined by hundreds of thousands. Of course, the
government, with characteristic paranoia, would periodically ban
books by foreigners, which were considered sensitive from
the security point of view -- like Nine Hours to Rama, or Neville
Maxwell's India's China War. But by and large, domestic dissent
wasn't punished -- until the Emergency.
Today's culture of intolerance is pervasive -- both within the state
and society. It's stridently majoritarian too. Unadulterated
hate-speech against religious and ethnic minorities has become
routine within our public discourse. Our television channels
regularly broadcast programmes in which people like Mr Praveen
Togadia vent their spleen with perverse delight and rank communalists
launch foul attacks on Muslims and advocate suicide-bombing of
Pakistani civilians. (This happened on BBC Question Time-India on May
2, with the Shiv Sena's Sanjay Nirupam leading the charge.) Terms
like 'secularist conspiracy' now feature in mainstream
newspaper captions.
Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of the new intolerance is the
official sanction it receives through ministers and leaders of
academic institutions which have been unscrupulously and ruthlessly
saffronised, including universities, councils of historical and
social science research, and the National Council for
Educational Training and Research. Soon after the BJP took over the
Indian Council of Historical Research, it banned volumes in the
Towards Freedom project edited by distinguished historians Sumit
Sarkar and K N Panikkar. NCERT has revised social science textbooks
in a blatantly communal manner.
=46or instance, in the book for Class X, all that's left of history is
the unit, The Heritage of India. The chapter on major religions
doesn't include Sikhism and Islam. Other textbooks don't even mention
Gandhiji's assassination and its Hindu-communal inspiration. Indeed,
some textbooks (Class IX) promote 'the superiority of Indian thought
and culture over the Western mind', a phrase reminiscent of the
Nazis' Aryan-German supremacism.
Praise for these national-chauvinist and communal ideas comes from
Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, no less. On
April 29, he outlined what he called the proper projection of the
country's history and tradition. He said: "I want to teach students a
history of Indian successes and victories and not of subjugation and
defeats."
This is a straightforward recipe for falsifying history
by expurgating unpleasant realities like caste, male supremacism, or
the persecution of Buddhists in ancient India. Whole generations of
Indians will grow up steeped in ignorance, prejudice against other
cultures and non-Hindu religions, and unrelieved jingoism.
Pro-Hindutva non-resident Indians in North America are among
those spearheading this campaign of intolerance, especially on email
circuits. Driven by their long-distance or 'Green Card'
hyper-nationalism, they take extremely illiberal positions. They
target individuals and assassinate their character, abuse them, and
try to intimidate them. Among their targets are journalists,
including myself.
The communalists' latest victim is the illustrious scholar, and one
of the world's most distinguished historians of ancient India,
Professor Romila Thapar, whose accomplishments are rivalled by few
others. Prof Thapar has authored many seminal works, including
classics like Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, A History
of India (Penguin 1966, expanded and just published as Early India),
Ancient Indian Social History and Cultural Pasts, besides the more
recent Sakuntala, and History and Beyond, not to mention countless
scholarly papers.
Prof Thapar, one of India's best-known world-class academics, has
taught at a host of universities, including Oxford, London and Paris,
besides Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has received honorary
doctorates from Paris, Oxford, Chicago and Calcutta. Prof Thapar was
recently appointed to the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of
the South at the US Library of Congress, the world's greatest
library of record. Her Penguin History of India has dominated the
ancient Indian history field like a colossus. This is acknowledged
not just by Left-leaning intellectuals, but by non-Left liberal
historians like Parthasarathi Gupta, Dharma Kumar and Sanjay
Subrahmaniam as well.
The Library of Congress appointment triggered what must be one of the
most vicious attacks ever launched on a scholar anywhere, through an
online petition, which now has over 1,700 signatories, most of them
NRIs. The petition would deserve a serious academic-level rebuttal if
it were signed by people who have at least read and are minimally
acquainted with Prof Thapar's work. It isn't. It accuses her 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...' It says that as a
Marxist, she 'represents a completely Eurocentric worldview' and
'disavows that India ever had a history'!
This is ludicrous. Prof Thapar has spent a lifetime arguing against
'Orientalist' Eurocentric stereotypes which hold that ancient India
lacked a sense of history and that pre-colonial Indian society was
'static' and 'stagnant'. She is devoted to the study of India's
civilisation with all its multiplicity of traditions -- secular
and religious, metaphysical and scientific. How she could be an
'antagonist' of Indian civilisation defies comprehension except
within a philistine communal framework, which holds that all ancient
Indian civilisation was Hindu, even when it had Jain, Buddhist,
Christian, animist and agnostic traditions.
Even worse, the petition says Prof Thapar is engaged in a 'war of
cultural genocide', and the result of her Library of Congress
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 Prof Thapar's most exciting work (eg: Time as a
Metaphor for History) attempts to refute the Eurocentric notion
that ancient Indians only had a cyclical concept of time, and to
establish that there existed linear and genealogical concepts too.
Devoid of logic, rationality or sobriety, the petitioners resort to
abuse in comments appended to the main letter. They demand that the
Library of Congress must not waste good 'American money' on a
'Marxist' who is 'anti-Hindu'.
The campaign represents the rebirth of McCarthyism -- the worst
witchhunt of the 20th century outside Nazi Germany, conducted in
post-World War II America by Senator Joseph McCarthy against anyone
suspected to be a communist. One of the signatories gives the game
away: 'Fidel Castro would have been a better choice [than Prof
Thapar]. 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?' (verbatim)
Here's a sample of other comments: 'She is a pinko and a fake
historian...', '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', 'Ban Marxist Scholars from the USA... After all, the
American Communist Party was banned' (Praveen Togadia). 'Prelude to
Hindu Holocaust...', 'Romila does not know anything about India. She
only knows Indian history which has been formatted and manipulated by
the British. Besides, she is a Marxist who are as fundamentalist as
Muslim Jehadies', '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', 'CIA was supposed to specialize in covert
operations, now we learn they do overt operations too!', 'The agenda
of neo-conservatives is getting clearer now -- recalling Ambassador
Blackwill, now appointing Romila Thapar -- to further
demoralise/weaken India and its people...', '...Going by her track
record ... [she] might even illegally interfere in the politics of
America'.
So vicious and depraved is this campaign that the Library of Congress
is unlikely to reverse Prof Thapar's appointment. But other US
institutions and universities might want to play safe and avoid
appointing Indian scholars of Left-wing or anti-communal persuasion.
This will seriously vitiate the intellectual climate in India and the
US. That's why this witchhunt must be stopped. All those who believe
in critical inquiry and free debate (free from both intimidation and
censorship) must stand up against this explosion of bigotry and vile
communalism.
(Emailers who want to defend Prof Thapar, please visit the Web site:
www.mnet.fr/aiindex/Alerts/IDRT300403.html )
_____
#4.
Indian Express, May 13, 2003
Pandit Miyan and Miyan Pandit
Mukul Dube
Two months ago I went to Nagpur for a week. My purpose was personal.
A very dear cousin had died a year before and I wanted to meet her
daughter, now herself the mother of two boys. Chiefly, though, I
wanted to spend time with her mother, my aunt, who has been paralysed
for some time but who, and my memories go back to early childhood,
had in important ways been the bulwark of the family for long years.
But this story is not about my mission.
I was standing at a pan shop which I have frequented for over a
quarter of a century when I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard, in
a voice which came from the heart, but which I realised was no longer
strong, the words,''Arre Mukul Miyan, ap yahan?'' I turned to see an
elderly man, dressed in a quite threadbare achkan, whom I had not
seen for perhaps 20 years. He was a prominent classical musician of
the city and I had known him for decades. I was amazed that he had
recognised me, having seen me only slim and far from grey. The
questions came pouring out of him. How was ''Apa'', he wanted to
know, referring to my oldest aunt, also a musician and someone he
knew well as he had accompanied her several times. How was my Abba,
he asked, for of course he had known him too. In short, he knew us
all: and it was patent that his interest was not so different from
what one would have in one's family. Our conversation was interrupted
abruptly. My panwallah said, sternly though not rudely, ''Miyanji,
this gentleman is a Hindu, in fact a Brahman. His name is Dube. You
should not address him thus.''
Khan Sahab and I looked at each other, entirely unable to comprehend.
But he was quicker than I was. He said, "Mukul Miyan, I called you
Mukul Miyan. That is what Panditji is speaking of.'' Once I
understood what the problem was, it was easy to solve. I explained to
the panwallah that ''Miyan'' was no more than a term of affection
when used for someone younger than the speaker. I told him that, ever
since my infancy in Hyderabad, I had been so addressed by the people
I knew best because that was how all boys were addressed. I added
that nowadays I was frequently addressed as ''Bade Miyan'', in which
usage the term becomes one of respect for age.
''Panditji,'' said Khan Sahab, ''some people address me too as
'Panditji'. I take it as a compliment, that they are showing respect
for the little knowledge that I have acquired. I know very well that
the word is used for pujaris and Brahmans. I am a Muslim and can be
neither. Would you wish me to object to it as strenuously as you just
objected to my manner of addressing my friend?''
What explained the contretemps? "Miyan", an ordinary, perfectly
secular word, has become a term of abuse flung by bigoted
self-proclaimed Hindus against all Muslims. What next? Which religion
will claim the word "beti" or its exclusive use? And "bhaiya"? Will
"bhabhi" be Muslim or Hindu? Will a shared language be split down the
middle as a once shared country was?
______
#5.
The Hindu, May 14, 2003
Allah Baksh versus Savarkar
By Anil Nauriya
Since many of the contrary voices, like those of Allah Baksh,
represented the unifying tendency within India, their muffling has
fed Hindutva.
SOON AFTER the assassination of the legendary Allah Baksh on May 14,
1943, a young Sikh in Lahore wrote an elementary biography of the
murdered leader. The first part of the title of the book by Jagat
Singh Bright was "India's Nationalist No 1". Today, 60 years after
the killing, India barely remembers Allah Baksh and his resounding
challenge to Muslim separatism through the Independent (or Azad)
Muslims Conference that this Sind Premier organized in Delhi in April
1940, a month after the Muslim League passed its Partition resolution
at Lahore. The Conference, presided over by Allah Baksh, shook up the
British establishment.
Azad wrote: "The session was so impressive that even the British and
the Anglo-Indian press, which normally tried to belittle the
importance of nationalist Muslims, could not ignore it. They were
compelled to acknowledge that this Conference proved that nationalist
Muslims were not a negligible factor". This all-India Conference,
which Nehru described in his `The Discovery of India' as "very
representative and very successful" is today a forgotten event. The
man who organised it may not even have existed so far as most of our
historians are concerned. Instead, the portrait of V.D. Savarkar, who
denied Indian nationalism in order to assert Hindu nationalism, hangs
in the Central Hall of Parliament. Serious questions arise about
contemporary political parties, including the Congress. What makes it
possible for persons essentially opposed to its ideals to make a home
in and flourish in the Congress, especially in the post-1969 years?
There are both political and intellectual roots to this crisis. There
was a time when it was the Congress which influenced its allies.
Allah Baksh was not in the Congress. But his Ittehad or United Party
in Sind was a close ally sympathetic to Congress programmes. His
letter to the Viceroy after the Quit India Movement of 1942,
protesting against Churchill's speech in the British Parliament, and
returning his titles, was remembered even till the 1960s as one of
the classic documents of Indian freedom. Gandhi and Nehru were in
prison at the time. Subhas Bose went on radio to compliment Allah
Baksh. As a result of Allah Baksh's letter he was dismissed from the
Premiership of Sind even though he still had a majority in the
Assembly. Ultimately, he lost his life upholding the concept of
Indian nationalism.
Congress ideological alliances in recent decades are merely alliances
to protect its electoral, legislative and parliamentary positions.
The ideological factor is missing. The doyen of the Indian socialist
movement, Acharya Narendra Deva, had anticipated this when he once
chided the Congress for opening its doors to former members of the
RSS and the Muslim League. The Jana Sangh and then the BJP alliances
have also had electoral and legislative objects. But the Hindutva
organisations have taken care to protect and even strengthen their
ideological position as well. The recent BJP alliance with the BSP in
Uttar Pradesh is being resented by saffron cadres precisely on the
ground that a blank cheque has been given to Mayawati.
Alliances are necessary and are often made in politics. But if
alliances made between a tradition that led the struggle for freedom
and other traditions result in erasure of vital ideological positions
this cannot but have consequences for the country. When Indira
Gandhi's Congress faction came together with the CPI after 1969 the
Union Education Ministry presently went to Nurul Hasan.
Historiography was placed largely in the hands of well-intentioned
but uni-dimensional historians analytically oriented towards the
pre-independence CPI. The Congress-CPI alliance was probably
necessary. But its impact on the intellectual front was not well
worked out by the two sides and was skewed. These historians wrote in
an age when they were tempted to assume that the Congress dominance
would be there forever or, if replaced, would be replaced only by a
formation in which the Left would play a major role. They, therefore,
concerned themselves primarily with the vindication of the
pre-Independence CPI, or variations upon this theme. Congress,
including socialist, history - for example, the Congress and Congress
Socialist role in creating and advancing the all-India peasant
movements - went by default. Political training for Indian
nationalism was neglected.
The Congress as an organisation hardly took note of what was
happening with its own support. Today the effects of this can be
noticed in the cultural sphere as well. Urdu poets like Saghar Nizami
who stood up for India in the 1940s are largely forgotten. Other
poets who backed sectarian movements are considered definitionally
and pre-emptively progressive by virtue of their membership of the
Progressive Writers' Association. Similarly, after 1989 when the
Congress justly incorporated Ambedkar also into its ideological
pantheon, it so forgot itself that famous Dalit leaders such as
Juglal Chaudhury and Chaudhri Beharilal who had supported the
Congress since the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920 and who had
repeatedly been imprisoned in the freedom movement were largely
eliminated from national historical memory. While the Congress has
been willing, even if by default, to erase its ideological heritage,
the BJP has throughout not only protected its own but has also sought
to build up a basis for it, albeit often a synthetic one.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Hamza Alavi circulated a paper seeking to
furnish an explanation of the Pakistan movement as one reflecting
primarily the perceptions and interests of "Muslim professionals and
the salariat" of northern India. The thesis had an appreciable
circulation. If scrutinised closely, it gives rise to several
questions. From the point of view of the Muslims in India, their
chief concerns apart from security of life and property, remain
education and employment. So if the Alavi thesis were accepted, the
Pakistan movement in northern India failed to solve the very problem
for which it had received support in the 1940s.
Anglocentric writings, which were tied to British foreign policy and
strategic objectives and continued to exercise influence in the South
Asian former colonies, suffered from a dichotomy with respect to
Indian nationalism. They critiqued Indian nationalism. But they did
not adequately critique the Muslim separatism which evolved into
Pakistani nationalism. The result was that most dissidents or
opponents of Indian nationalism were glorified, while the Muslim
opponents of Muslim separatism and of Pakistani nationalism were
barely mentioned. These contrary voices, like those represented by
Allah Baksh, were sought to be silenced, as were the subaltern and
artisan voices among the Muslims. This was although the doubts
expressed through these voices stood vindicated by history so far as
the interests of Muslims within post-Partition India were concerned.
These voices have also acquired a renewed resonance in the context of
prospects for enhanced cooperation within South Asia. Indian
scholarship, however, largely failed to challenge the Anglocentric
dichotomy. This was partly because the dominant scholarship in India
since the 1970s, being overly self-conscious about the specific line
which the CPI took on Pakistan in the 1940s, could not decide whether
to challenge or to reinforce the Anglocentric dichotomy. Even when it
discussed these voices it could portray them only as victims of
Indian nationalism. There were outstanding exceptions. Santimoy Ray's
`Freedom Movement And Indian Muslims', published by People's
Publishing House in 1979, had presented the relevant facts not only
on this but also on considerable subaltern involvement in the
national movement since 1919. But this work was not followed up in
the same spirit.
Since many of the contrary voices, like those of Allah Baksh,
represented the unifying tendency within India, their muffling has
fed Hindutva. Savarkar's portrait now occupies the space created
partly by this Anglocentric elimination.
_____
#6.
India: Flower Power against the peddlers of hate : Triphuls
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003
Attached is my latest Tri-phul. A larger, printable
version can also be downloaded from this site:
http://www.alif-india.com/triphul2.jpg
Yousuf
_____
#7.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGES IN TIME & VENUE FOR LAHORE LECTURE. Also, sponsorship.
-------------------------
You are cordially invited to the Eqbal Ahmad Distinguished Lectures 2003
by:
TARIQ ALI
Noted activist, journalist and novelist.
Schedule of Lectures:
Lahore: Wednesday, 14th May 2003, 3:30 pm at Qasr-e-Noor 9/E-2, Gulberg-2,
Main Boulevard, "Infinite War And The American Empire".
Islamabad: Thursday, 15th May 2003, 4:00 pm at National Library
Auditorium, "The Future Of South Asia After The Iraq War".
Karachi: Saturday, 17th May 2003, 5:30 pm at Hotel Regent Plaza,
Shahrah-e-Faisal, "United States and Europe - A Breaking Partnership".
Sponsored by the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation in association with ASR and
Badalti Duniya.
Punctuality essential. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
Please bring a printout of this email invitation. No card necessary. Thank
you.
RSVP: ASR, 042-5882617/8
Hidayat Husain, 021-5375245
Pervez Hoodbhoy, 051-2824257
_____
#8.
COVA
Invites you to a public lecture on
Hinduism and Hindutva
by Swami Agnivesh, renowned Social Activist
on 16th May 2003 from 6 p.m.
at Parwana Hall, beside Stanley Girls' High School,
Chapel Road, Hyderabad [India]
_____
#9.
Safeguarding India's Democracy
A Lecture by Distinguished Guest Mr. Harsh Mander
=46riday, May 16, 2003
Community Forum: 7:30pm, Room 1130, Plant Sciences Building, U.
Maryland, College Park
(The Community Event is also open to all. By Metro, take U. Colleg
Park exit.Drinks and light snacks will be served free of charge.)
Harsh Mander is an award winning journalist and social activist based
in New Delhi. In addition to being the Country Director for Action
AID India, Mr. Mander was also a long time member of the prestigious
Indian Administrative Service.
His book Unheard Voices was widely praised for its account of
neglected groups in India. He is a regular contributor to Frontline
Magazine and has lectured throughout the world.
In August 2002, Mr. Mander was awarded the 10th Rajiv Gandhi National
Sadbhavana Award for Outstanding Contribution in Promoting Peace and
Harmony in India.
=46or more information on Mr. Mander, see:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/19/stories/2003021900480200.ht=
m
http://www.drishtipat.org/activists/harsh.html
<"'"http://64.4.14.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=3DEN&lah=3D49561ff3177cdd12274a1=
f2edfc08e74&lat=3D1052841285&hm___action=3Dhttp%3a%2f%2f64%2e4%2e26%2e250%2f=
cgi%2dbin%2flinkrd%3f_lang%3dEN%26amp%3blah%3daae75b25715c4547588cf11d28507c=
e6%26amp%3blat%3d1052841037%26amp%3b>http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/aug/07r=
ajiv.htm
Sponsored by the Indian Muslim Council-USA
in Association with:
Association for India's Development
Sikh Coalition
DC Collective
Action Aid
Aligarh Alumni Association
Association of Indian Muslims
Sammar Magazine
=46or More Information, contact:
Zahir Janmohamed
(202) 368-8914
info@imc-usa.org
_____
#10.
CONFERENCE
The Future of Race Relations in Britain
The event is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lawrence, murdered by
a racist gang ten years ago on 22nd April 1993
MONDAY 19TH MAY 2003
9.30am to 5pm
Camden Council Chamber, Camden Town Hall
Judd Street, London WC1
(Nearest stations King X and Euston)
Guest Speakers: Sir Herman Ouseley, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown,
Gus John and Imran Khan, Arun Kundnani and Suresh Grover
Speakers from local communities
All Welcome, limited spaces available, please book now.
Conference fee: =A320 for Statutory agencies; =A35 for the rest
The day conference will offer analysis and commentary on the
Government's promise to project Britain as a "beacon of racial
equality" to the World.
What is future for race relations? How is Black Britain coping with
the escalation of race and religious hatred, segregation, poverty and
the war? Can we hold on to the Lawrence legacy to challenge
institutional racism and neglect?
=46or many in Britain today, the reality of racism can only be
expressed negatively. Minority communities have not only seen annual
increases in race and religious based attacks but also witnessed an
alarming rise and election of racist and nazi candidates. Shamefully
the 'war on terror' has become a dirty and disgraceful war on asylum
seekers.
=46or Black and minority communities, discrimination in whatever form -
institutional racism, inequality or violence - impacts to undermine
the quality of their lives. The process perpetuates deprivation and
marginalisation. Often this route will lead to the fracture and the
under development of a community. Consequently, Black and minority
communities continually struggle to attain social justice, equality
and dignity.
The situation is worsened by the Government's ineffective and
sometimes disempowering responses through its agendas and spins
around 'social exclusion', 'diversity', 'community regeneration',
'strategic partnerships', 'active citizenship' and so on. Black and
minority communities remain chronically under-resourced despite the
so-called reorganization and growth of the race relations industry.
In the context of Britain's race history, the last decade will be
remembered for many historical events including the acknowledgement,
by those in power, of both the existence and the impact of
institutional racism on our society. What will the next decade bring?
Imagined notions of forced cohesion and integration or real community
power?
The conference is jointly organised by a unique partnership involving
African Refugee Housing Action Group, Refugee and Migrant Forum,
National Civil Rights Movement, The Asian Health Agency and The
Monitoring Group.
=46or further information, contact Navdeep Jaichand @ TMG on 020 8843 2333
Email on admin@monitoring-group.co.uk; Website on www.monitoring-group.co.uk
_____
#11.
2nd International Conference on Sexualities, Masculinities, and
Cultures in South Asia -- 2003. 6 - 9 July 2003, Bangalore, India.
Jointly organized by The Dharani Trust and SwabhavaTrust, Bangalore.
http://www.geocities.com/icsmc_sa2003/
_____
#12.
In the May Himal:
+ Notional anthems: Discussing the Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani
national anthems
+ Tigers in the Alps: Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora and the Swiss allmend
+ Musharraf's Legal Framework Order
+ South Asia and the Iraq war
+ The planned slumming of Indian metros
http://www.himalmag.com/2003/may/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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.
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