SACW | 31 July, 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Jul 31 06:17:11 CDT 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 31 July, 2003
[1.] Co-joined with Kashmir (F. S. Aijazuddin)
[2.] India Rolls Out the Red Carpet - Feting Sharon (N.D. Jayaprakash)
[3.] Hatred springs from texts of Pakistani schools
[4.] Indian and Pakistan: Such a Long Journey [school textbooks
reinforce the tension between the two countries] (Krishna Kumar)
[5.] India: NHRC to move special leave petition in Supreme Court
asking for retrial of Best Bakery Case in Gujarat (Manoj Mitta)
[6.] India: Gujarat - Modi [Nelson] Mandela mission raises heat &
dust (Basant Rawat)
[7.] India: 2-child norm also for Muslims: Supreme Court
[8.] India: Sign Online Protest on A.K. Antony's Anti-Minority Statement
[9.] India: A forgotten people (Mihir Shah)
UPCOMING EVENTS:
[10.] South Asia Court of Women begins August 11 (Dhaka)
[11.] The AMAN Peace and Conflict Studies Course (Sept.-Oct, New Delhi)
[12.] "Our Kashmir" A Talk by Ved Bhasin (August 1, 2 Stanford and Berkeley)
--------------
[1.]
Dawn [Pakistan]
July 30, 2003
Co-joined with Kashmir
By F. S. Aijazuddin
One would have to possess a heart of granite not to have been moved
by the plight of the Iranian twin-sisters Ladan and Laleh Bajani.
Co-joined at the head for all the twentynine years of their common
life, they showed unbelievable determination in wanting to be
separated.
They disregarded an insensitive fatwa denouncing such an operation,
they defied their foster parents, they consciously took the risk of
undergoing a lengthy, complicated operation knowing that it could
result in their simultaneous deaths. And in the end, it did. What
nature had fused together, the painstaking diligence of medical
science could not rend asunder.
Their brief, brave lives though have not been a waste, for in their
act of self-sacrifice, Ladan and Laleh have provided a parable for
others to consider. The Pakistan government for one could learn from
their example. For the past fifty-six years (coincidentally nearly
the sum of the twins' lives), Pakistan has chosen deliberately to
remain co-joined at its head with Kashmir. To some observers, this
diplomatic deformity is a case history in itself, but not unique in
world history, no more than the Bajani sisters were the only
co-joined twins in medical history.
A squabble for political custody similar to the argument over Kashmir
occurred in northern Europe during the nineteenth century. It was
known as the Schleswig-Holstein question, and consisted of a tussle
between the small kingdom of Denmark and its larger and more powerful
neighbour Prussia over the two contiguous Duchies of Schleswig and
Holstein that lay in between.
From 1844 onwards, control of these inconsequential territories
oscillated between Denmark and Prussia with such confusing frequency
that Lord Palmerston (then the British foreign secretary) confessed
that there were only three people who had ever understood the
Schleswig-Holstein question: one was dead, the other had gone mad,
and he the third had forgotten what the original issue was.
Eventually, after almost eighty years of argument, in 1920, a
plebiscite was held. The north part of Schleswig voted to join
Denmark, and the southern opted for union with Germany. Today, most
of Schleswig-Holstein which has a population roughly half that of
Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir is a part of the present Federal
Republic of Germany, and no one except historians can be bothered to
remember why it was ever such an inflammable casus belli.By that
measure, the argument between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would
appear to have many more years to go before a comparable solution can
be found. During the past fiftysix years, though, ever since the
Maharaja of Kashmir's signature on the fateful instrument of
accession on August 25, 1947, almost as much ink has been spilt over
Kashmir as human bloodshed over it. Shelves of books have been
published on it, reams of articles written on it, yards of speeches
delivered on it, millions of grey cells have turned white over it,
and yet it remains a bone of contention between two neighbours, a
bone that is slowly petrifying into a fossil.
Is Kashmir such an intractable problem? Is it really the core issue
preventing a modus vivendi between the two countries? This is a
question that needs to be asked. It is a question that countless
young men and women on both sides of the border, in the dying moments
of their unnecessary martyrdom, have asked. It is the question that
every surviving mourner - every grieving mother, widow or orphaned
child - continues to ask every day that they are forced to live
without their loved ones. It is a question that one billion Indians
and 150 million Pakistanis are entitled to ask, of themselves and
their governments, today and every day, until a definitive answer is
forthcoming. Is Kashmir really the core issue?
To some, if it is indeed a core issue, it is the core that has been
left after the surrounding body flesh has been eaten away by Time.
Today, when the United Nations, half a century after its first
intervention in the dispute, finds itself emasculated, its aged
discoloured resolutions cannot be expected to have retained any of
their relevance. In any case, the outside world beyond the
subcontinent is suffering from Kashmir fatigue. It has heard the same
refrain sung too often, it is over-familiar with the repetitive
rhetoric, the same circular argument. Neither Pakistan nor India
needs to play to the international gallery anymore. They have lost
their audience; the gallery has emptied. Now, they have an audience
of only one - each other.
If Kashmir was essentially a political problem, then three
generations of politicians since 1947 should have been able to
resolve it by now. They have met often enough over the years - Ayub
Khan/Nehru in Murree, Ayub Khan/Shastri at Tashkent, Z.A. Bhutto/Mrs
Indira Gandhi at Simla, Benazir Bhutto/Rajiv Gandhi in Islamabad,
Nawaz Sharif/Vajpayee at Lahore, and the last time at Agra when
Musharraf interacted with Vajpayee. On each occasion, though,
something always prevented consummation.
Was it the force of public opinion on both sides? Definitely not. The
Kashmir question has never been put to the litmus test of a public
poll or a referendum by either side. What masquerades as 'public
opinion' in Pakistan is, in all honesty, nothing more than the
prejudices of right-wing editors of high circulation Urdu dailies.
Because they believe they mould public opinion, periodically they
take plaster casts from that mould and present them as fresh
impressions of the public's mind on any particular issue.
Why does Kashmir remain an issue then? Is there any other inhibiting
factor? Perhaps the answer lies in the question itself. It may need
to be re-framed: Is Kashmir a core issue, or simply a corps
commanders' issue?
One is aware that such a daring statement could be read in some
barracks as a sinister play on words bandied by an uninformed,
ununiformed civilian. It is not being proffered as a provocation. It
is intended as a genuine, earnest attempt to use a pen to cauterize,
even if only at the edges, and to let ink disinfect a wound that
should not be allowed to suppurate for another generation.
Whatever the solution to the Kashmir question may be - a plebiscite,
union with India, merger with Pakistan, independence, autonomy,
acceptance of the Line of Control, continuation of the status quo -
whatever may be the framework of a political or constitutional
settlement, it can only be signed, sealed, and delivered for
implementation after it has also been duly witnessed by the nine
Pakistani corps commanders.
Had President Musharraf enjoyed the unequivocal mandate to decide
Kashmir on his own, he would have done so when he was alone with
Prime Minister Vajpayee at Agra. It is because as the Chief of Army
Staff, he needs to take his corps commanders into this battle with
him, he needs their unanimous support. He cannot afford to rely on a
reluctant comrade, or lean on an impatient successor.
Is any government in Pakistan ever likely to fall should there be an
agreement over Kashmir? One doubts it. Whenever governments have
fallen as a result of public agitation as opposed to when they have
been removed by the military, they have invariably been sent home
over mundane issues like the price of sugar or the blatant rigging of
elections. If the public has choked, it is over such gnats; it has
swallowed elephants like the nuclear programme or constitutional
violations without a hiccup.
There will be one school of thought that will advocate letting the
sleeping dog of Kashmir lie. It has its uses, especially when
awakened. There is a much larger number on both sides of the border
which would want to see this ageing animal put to sleep. It would be
an act of mercy, a merciful end to far too many merciless killings.
Pakistan, unlike the co-joined twins Ladan and Laleh Bajani, has a
choice because its attachment to Kashmir is a deliberate, voluntary
act of political co-junction. The solution is simple. It requires
Bajani-like courage. Who knows? Both Pakistan and Kashmir may well
survive the trauma, and actually thrive as a result. If asked their
opinion, one billion Indians and 150 million Pakistanis would
consider the risk worth taking.
_____
[2.]
Counterpunch [USA]
July 30, 2003
India Rolls Out the Red Carpet
Feting Sharon
By N.D. JAYAPRAKASH
http://www.counterpunch.org/jayaprakash07302003.html
_____
[3.]
San Francisco Chronicle [USA]
July 30, 2003
Hatred springs from texts of Pakistani schools
Juliette Terzieff
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Sohail Khan thinks he knows all he needs to
know when it comes to Pakistan's larger, predominantly Hindu
neighbor, India.
"Hindus cannot be trusted," the 15-year-old said firmly. "Since the
day Pakistan got independence, India has been trying to destroy us
any way they can with the help of other infidel nations."
Dismissing renewed efforts by both countries to reconcile their
bitter and bloody 55-year-long rivalry, he insisted, "Talk of peace
hides a different plan that only they know."
Young Khan's harsh words - echoed widely in varying degrees by
Pakistanis across the social and political spectrum - are hardly
surprising, because they are the product of a government-endorsed
curriculum taught in public schools around the country.
Pakistan's madrassa (religious school) system, where
ultra-conservative Muslim clerics dole out an excruciatingly narrow
world view, has achieved global notoriety for producing thousands of
young men dedicated to holy war. But the public school curriculum
weaves in many similar concepts - including insensitivity to other
religions, militancy and the glorification of war.
"Honestly speaking, there should be less fear of madrassa curricula,
which is comparatively limited in scope, and more fear of the books
being used in public schools," said Ahmed Salim, director of Urdu
publications at Islamabad's Sustainable Policy Development Institute
(SPDI).
"While President (Pervez) Musharraf has spoken passionately about the
goal of a modern, tolerant, progressive Pakistan, the curriculum used
is serving exactly the opposite purpose and will reflect upon his
policies badly," Salim said.
Public school textbooks are replete with examples.
A Muslim chauvinist view dominates the curriculum, and knowledge of
Islam and the Koran is compulsory, even for non-Muslim students.
Social studies teachers in grades 1 through 5 are ordered to include
units each year that instruct students in the concept and importance
of jihad (holy war), and even require youngsters to deliver speeches
on the subject.
The 10th-grade Pakistan studies textbook minces no words in its
endorsement of Islam:
"A good person is one who leads his life according to the teachings
of Allah and the Holy Prophet. He is pious and virtuous. He follows
the principles and teachings of Islam individually and collectively
and makes an effort to promote them. According to the teachings of
Islam, a person who follows the right path is distinguished from
others."
Intolerance toward other religions is often stated unequivocally.
"Hindu has always been the enemy of Islam," according to the
fifth-grade Urdu textbook.
The sixth-grade social studies book, chapter 5, tells of how
higher-caste Hindus have abused humanity by crushing the lower
castes, and how Buddhism was eventually corrupted after it arose to
challenge Hinduism. One sentence declares: "Islam preached equality,
brotherhood and fraternity. The foundation of Hindu (society) was
formed on injustice and cruelty."
The curriculum also stresses male superiority over women, sometimes
in subtle ways.
From the early grades, girls are depicted nearly exclusively in
traditional roles - such as helping their mothers in the kitchen,
taught in the pages of a third-grade Urdu textbook. Rarely are they
described as playing sports or having professions - and when they
are, they appear as foreigners or non-Muslims, like "Mrs. Brown," the
airline hostess in the grade 8 English book.
Even famous Pakistani and/or Muslim women are cast in stereotypical
roles. Fatima Jinnah, one of only a handful of women to appear in
Urdu textbooks, is cited only for serving as the nurse and fervent
supporter of her brother Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Fatima Jinnah, in fact, was a pioneer, beginning her adult life as a
dentist who founded and ran her own clinic in Bombay before
abandoning the profession in the 1930s to join her brother's
political fight. She set up the All India Muslim Women Students
Federation in 1941 in Delhi and then formed the Women's Relief
Committee in 1947 (which eventually morphed into the All Pakistan
Women's Association, still active today). She later ran for president
against Mohammad Ayub Khan in 1965.
Warped accounts of history and reverence for Muslim or military
figures are drilled into students' heads - a holdover from the need
after the 1947 partition to create a vision of Pakistan as a nation
separate from India. The vision was then further refined by
successive governments for their own political goals - especially the
military, which has ruled by force for 30 of Pakistan's 55 years of
existence.
Salim says: "Throughout the formative years, children are presented
with pious glorious images of the military and given numerous
glorified accounts of military heroics and the respect that gains. If
a child learns that violence is a positive attribute, then that child
is more likely to resort to violent means in situations that don't
justify the action."
Textbook depictions of the subcontinent's bloody partition, a time
when 1 million people lost their lives through atrocities by both
Hindu and Muslim militants, are one-sided.
A passage in the fourth-grade social studies book stresses the agony
of Muslims making their way to Pakistan while glossing over the price
paid by others:
"They came leaving their homes, shops, agricultural, goods and beasts
in India. On their way to Pakistan, a large number of immigrants were
killed by the Sikhs and Hindus. They suffered a lot during their
journey. At that time Sikhs and Hindus as well left Pakistan for
India."
There were, in fact, enough atrocities to go around, and the
textbooks omit a two-month rampage in the Pakistani military city of
Rawalpindi that saw thousands of non-Muslims beaten, killed or maimed.
For most older Pakistanis, last year's riots in Gujarat, India,
during which mobs of Hindus hunted down Muslims after militant
Muslims torched a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, were a lamentable
continuation of post-partition scarring. But students see the event
as course work come to life.
"It's plain to see the Hindus can murder women and children and go
unpunished, but when the Muslims stand for themselves in India, they
are called terrorists," said teenager Khan.
School Principal Raifakat Hussein says that the curriculum's
selective history prevents a proper understanding of events and does
little to encourage self-criticism and analysis among the younger
generations.
"Children need to learn the truth about the history of their country,
society and government - even if it's not all pretty and neat," said
Hussein, who oversees the Montessori Primary School in the eastern
city of Lahore.
Educators, psychologists, lawyers and minority representatives joined
with the SPDI to study the current curriculum after its revision this
spring by the Musharraf government - which included improvements in
English grammar sections, and the slight toning down of the
glorification of holy war and dismissive references to non-Muslims.
Classroom priorities are centralized under the command of the
Education Ministry's Curriculum Wing.
"We are constantly looking at ways to revise, reorder and update,"
contended Haroona Jetoi, joint education secretary of the Curriculum
Wing. "Where there are problems they are addressed, and will continue
to be."
But participants in the study call the recent curriculum changes
"poorly defined alterations" unlikely to filter down into a mass
revision of textbooks. "Historical inaccuracies, omissions and
incitement to violence remain key features," said Salim.
Some government and education officials quietly admit that most
textbooks remain the same, and that many provincial-level education
officials are lax or content with the status quo.
There are no plans on the table for further curriculum changes in the
next five years.
And therein lies great danger, educators say.
"Children are impressionable - they are molded by what they are
taught," said principal Hussein. "If they learn intolerance and
hatred at a young age, it will stay with them their whole lives.
"If we are seriously talking about peace with India, modernization
and being part of the global community, how can teaching our children
to hate be compatible with those goals?"
_____
[4.]
The Times of India [India]
JULY 31, 2003
EDITORIAL
Such a Long Journey
KRISHNA KUMAR
Toy Bus Cannot Bring Indo-Pak Peace
Take away the hype, and there is little left in the Delhi-Lahore bus
to feel great about. An ancient or mediaeval monarch would have
laughed on being told that the rulers of modern India and Pakistan
considered a lone bus a matter of diplomatic achievement.
Normally, a new bus-service is something for a district collector or
an MLA to be proud of.
The Delhi-Lahore bus is different because its symbolic value is
totally disproportionate to its functional efficiency. When it was
first introduced four years ago, it symbolised the maturation of
nation-building in the two countries. Its withdrawal 18 months ago
signified India's anger over the attack on Parliament House. Now,
when the bus has been suddenly reintroduced, it symbolises the NDA
government's commitment to peace.
It does not take much effort to see through this state semiotic. The
feudal psyche of South Asian rulers is the real theme of the bus
story. From a modest transport facility, which the people should have
as a matter of right, the bus has been turned into an instrument for
manipulating the public mood. Its hype and glamour and the suddenness
of its withdrawal and resumption show that it is nothing more than a
political toy.
If it were a real, ordinary bus, why would it leave from Delhi? A
jeep with armed guard escorts it all the way to the border. Security
staff is posted at all three stops where passengers are given meals.
All this would be unnecessary if the bus ran between Amritsar and
Lahore, possibly as a shuttle plying three or four times a day. A
shorter run would mean greater convenience and safety for passengers,
and fuel saving. But then, Amritsar wouldn't have the symbolic value
Delhi has. Like the evening ceremony of gate-closing enacted at
Wagah, the bus has a mock heroic appeal. As it negotiates the long
route through Punjab, the national flags of the two hostile
neighbours impressively peep through the bluish windscreen. A bus boy
shouting Lahore, Lahore at the Amritsar bus stand wouldn't be as
exotic.
The bus fits in well with the festive character of earlier peace
initiatives. Remember the ethos conjured up for the summits at Agra
and Lahore? Both could be episodes in Harry Potter, constructed to
convey the illusion that peace was magic, attainable at a war-like
speed. The seasoned civil servants on both sides surely realise that
to be authentic, a peace process must be low-key and sustainable. But
perhaps their vision has been clouded by the new mana-gerial culture
of confidence-building. It promotes the belief that peace is a
posture; all it requires is a manual of appropriate moves.
Indeed, there now exists a whole new shastra that teaches the ritual
steps to be taken to mitigate conflict. Pundits of this shastra
discuss strategies of confidence-building in ways strikingly similar
to the strategies recommended by others for winning a war. Not
surprisingly, the pundits of the shanti shastra are often the very
same people who specialise in preparedness for war. This may be why
the road maps of peace indicate so unabashedly the time and spaces to
buy the latest bombs and aircraft carriers.
The conflation of war and peace expertise has taken away the element
of moral awareness from the idea of peace. Trying to achieve peace in
a few clever, fast strides would be as self-defeating as trying to
win a war with transparent integrity.
Some basic distinction between the concepts of peace and war must be
maintained in order to avoid the degradation of peace into a
strategy. In modern societies, no amount of confidence-building
measures can substitute the mobilisation of public support for an
anti-war policy. And this is where we see no preparation at all in
either India or Pakistan. In neither country has the leadership made
an attempt to mobilise public opinion in favour of peace and
reconciliation.
Over the years, it has become amply clear that ordinary citizens have
little to do with the decisions that governments take. Worse still,
any active mobilisation of public opinion through the news media,
cinema and education has always been in favour of violent conflict.
No examples can be cited where such means have been deployed for the
promotion of peace.
The case of education is particularly serious. This modern instrument
of ideological dissemination has served to legitimise and perpetuate
hostility. In my book, Prejudice and Pride, I have given numerous
examples from the textbooks used for the teaching of history in
Indian and Pakistani schools to make the point that education
reinforces the tension between the two countries. Schools do nothing
to sow the seeds of peace in young minds. They are also responsible
for keeping the two societies in the dark about each other.
A lot of Indians and Pakistanis maintain the illusion that they know
each other only too well. Often, their knowledge is no more than a
memory, a poster-image of Partition which is still capable of
arousing resentment and passion. A number of declarations made from
the SAARC platform have articulated the intent to promote a
futuristic regional perspective through education. Not a single step
has been taken towards this goal.
The resumption of an air-conditioned bus between Delhi and Lahore can
hardly compensate for the enormous backlog of the effort that needs
to be made to start undoing the sinister and madly expensive
preparedness for war.
Considering how limited a facility it offers, and how vulnerable it
has been to political whims and violence, we can't seek in it the
consolation that peace is being given another real chance.
o o o
[related article of interest]
The Hindu [India]
July 31, 2003
Students say `bus' to hostility between India, Pakistan
By Y. Mallikarjun
HYDERABAD July 30. The pun is not lost on anyone... `Bus' meaning
enough in Hindi is the central metaphor of a short film revolving
around the bumpy journey towards peace by India and Pakistan. [...].
http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/31/stories/2003073101510500.htm
_____
[5.]
The Indian Express
July 31, 2003
Best Bakery, highest court
NHRC to move special leave petition in Supreme Court asking for retrial
Manoj Mitta
New Delhi, July 30: Zaheera Sheikh and her mother Sehrunissa Sheikh
will get a second shot at justice.
Making what is arguably its most activist move ever, the National
Human Rights Commission has decided to file a special leave petition
in the Supreme Court asking for a re-trial of the Best Bakery case.
Led by its chairman Justice A S Anand, the NHRC is learnt to have
taken this decision on the basis of the feedback from a team it sent
to Gujarat on July 8 to inspect the records of the case. Sources say
that the petition is ready and could be filed any day now-as early as
tomorrow.
The NHRC's radical decision follows a series of developments touched
off by Sehrunissa Sheikh's startling revelation to The Indian Express
on July 6 that, ''trembling with fear,'' she and her daughter lied in
court.
It was this that was key to the case falling apart on June 27-all 21
were acquitted in the massacre of 14 people at Best Bakery near
Vadodara during the post-Godhra riots.
Zaheera herself approached the NHRC on July 11 and said that under
threat to her life and the life of the remaining members of her
family, she had resiled in the trial court from the statements she
made earlier to the police.
Sources said the NHRC's petition makes three key points:
* That the circumstances which led to the acquittals in the case
violate the victims' right to a fair trial. Both mother and daughter
alleged they were intimidated by local BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastav and
his Congress councillor cousin-a charge both have denied.
* That even when so many witnesses retracted their statements in the
court, the trial judge, H U Mahida, remained an impassive spectator.
In fact, as The Indian Express reported on July 20, the 24-page
verdict makes no mention of the fear factor at all.
* All this puts a serious question mark on the evidence recorded in
the fast-track trial court. And so a re-trial is the only way to
correct this miscarriage of justice.
A retrial is normally ordered by the high court, the first court of
appeal, when an accused is found to have established that the trial
court denied him or her an opportunity to produce critical evidence.
Yet, the NHRC has chosen to approach the Supreme Court directly and
the retrial is being sought in this case on behalf of the prosecution.
This despite the fact that the prosecution itself-in this case the
Narendra Modi government-is yet to take a decision on whether it will
appeal against the acquittals.
In fact, if the Supreme Court allows the NHRC's petition, it will
pre-empt the prosecution's option of appealing before the High Court.
If the Supreme Court entertains the petition, notices are likely to
go out not only to the Gujarat Government but also to the 21 who have
been acquitted in the case since they are the ones directly affected
by any decision.
Besides, the apex court will be required to re-appreciate the
evidence on record, a task that is otherwise performed by the high
court as the first court of appeal to decide whether a retrial should
be ordered.
The Supreme Court normally has lesser scope for interference as it
limits itself to questions of law instead of dealing also with
questions of fact. Legal experts expect the acquitted persons to
object to the NHRC's petition on the ground that it denies them their
due of two levels of appeal.
Since the NHRC is approaching the Supreme Court directly, any
decision on it will be final and the accused will not have the option
of second appeal.
_____
[6.].
[ Write to Nelson Mandella and tell him about the pogroms against
Muslims in Gujarat <nmandela at anc.org.za> and request him to speak his
mind against the politics of hate in India during his upcoming trip
to India]
o o o
The Telegraph [India] July 31 2003
Modi Mandela mission raises heat & dust
BASANT RAWAT
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030731/asp/nation/story_2217479.asp
_____
[7.]
2-child norm also for Muslims: SC
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=28675
______
[8.]
SIGN ONLINE PROTEST ON A.K. ANTONY'S ANTI-MINORITY STATEMENT
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ch1ndr1n/petition.html
To: A K Anthony,
Chief Minister of Kerala,
India
In a recent public conversation with press persons Chief Minister
of Kerala, Mr A K Anthony has accused Kerala's minority communities
of "cornering undue benefits through political arm-twisting". He also
accused the minorities of gaining financial clout through the
earnings of expatriates working in West Asian countries thereby
creating ‘discontent' among the majority community.
By a sleight of hand Mr Anthony is now trying to transfer the blame,
for the communal cartelization of Kerala, from elites of all
communities to all members of any community so that these so-called
"minority communities" existing only in Mr Anthony's imagination can
create havoc in the secular ambience of Kerala. Mr Anthony's
statement only buttresses the poisonously communal environment being
aggressively promoted in Kerala by the RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal
fraternity through the blatant misuse of governmental power it has
gained at the national level The strategy seems to be that
Karunakaran takes a hard-Hindutva stand and Mr Anthony's faction a
soft-Hindutva stand; and together both of them give a firmer foothold
to the Sangh Parivar in Kerala. Few instances are worth recalling : ·
When the educated youth of Kerala are asking for jobs and education
for all, Mr Anthony has allowed Mr Praveen Togadia to distribute
Trishuls to them, as he toured the state delivering inflammatory
speeches threatening the minority communities. ·
Mr Anthony's handling of the communal situation in Maradu is another
instance which shows where Mr. Anthony's soft-Hindutva approach is
leading him – into the lap of Sangh Parivar. . Communalism is by its
very nature a very aggressive offshoot of ruling class politics and
needs to be resisted resolutely, if we are concerned about avoiding
its disastrous consequences for Kerala, our nation, our civil society
and republican institutions. The fact that the murderers of Mahatma
Gandhi have come to occupy the central government should be
sufficient testimony to this. .
Mr Anthony's recent interventions in the recent past are in line with
his personal political history whose political trajectory begins with
his key participation in the most reactionary political event of
modern Kerala, namely the 'liberation struggle', which has now
culminated in the present coalition of communal forces dominated by
elites of all communities in Kerala. ·
Universal food distribution and universal education are two of the
few pillars on which Kerala has erected itself as a unique space of
social justice in South Asia. They have been seriously damaged under
the assault of reactionary forces led by Mr Anthony. · We understand
that Mr Anthony has now chosen Communal Harmony for which our state
has earned national attention as the next candidate for killing. Thus
as a political leader whatever progressive role Mr Anthony donned has
lost its sheen and his mission's destructive character stands exposed.
We condemn in the strongest terms Mr A K Anthony's above-mentioned
statement, which we see as a mischievous attempt to divide the
Keralites, both within India and abroad, along communal lines. Mr
Anthony is trying to act as the Trojan Horse of the Sangh Parivar in
Kerala. We request all humanist and secular-minded
individuals/organizations to append their signatures to this
petition to demonstrate to the Sangh Parivar and their fellow
travelers like Anthony in Kerala that we are here to stand and be
counted in the struggle against communalism which is gravely
threatening the integrity and sovereignty of our nation India.
Mukundan C. Menon
3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku
Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695 024
(Phone: 0471-476262)
______
[9.]
The Hindu [India]
July 30, 2003
A forgotten people
By Mihir Shah
Worst is the plight of those who are being made to pay the price for
someone else's development.
I LIVE in remote tribal Madhya Pradesh, learning and working with the
Adivasis to find solutions to problems such as water and food that
have remained intractable, more than 50 years after Independence. We
do not have access to satellite TV. But my work brings me off and on
to Delhi. On my last visit a few days ago, I happened to watch a
programme debating whether all post-1995 "non-Mumbaikars" should be
debarred from making a home in the great metropolis. The
predominantly young Mumbai audience rejected the proposal out of
hand. It was obviously revolted by the sickening xenophobia of the
idea. The members of the audience also said how impossible it would
be to implement the proposal and what a mockery it would be if each
city in India were to start debarring "aliens". But for all the
enlightened views expressed in the programme, one troublesome
underlying theme kept annoyingly popping up. The slum-dwellers, who
somehow refused to go away. They were the ones giving the city a bad
name and breaking the law. They are illegal, they should be done away
with, roared an eminent playwright. No thought was given by the
participants to the compulsions that brought the slum-dwellers to the
city in the first place.
This is a long story that dates back to the earliest years of
planning, when three-quarters of our working people were employed in
agriculture that contributed more than half the national income. The
Lewis-Mahalanobis model aimed to radically transform these
percentages. Since it was assumed that Indian agriculture was
stagnant beyond reform, the aim was to absorb most of our working
people in the industry and service sectors. But even 50 years after
planned development, 65 per cent of people continue to be dependent
on agriculture, even though it only contributes 25 per cent to the
national income. The economy has not grown fast enough and
agricultural productivity in our poorest areas has stagnated.
India's drylands have been consistently neglected both in terms of
public investment and appropriate R&D. Either no positive
intervention has been made or centralised models of development have
been imposed on them, completely ignoring their location-specific
requirements. In nearly 70 per cent of India, hard rocks underlie the
landmass and the natural rates of groundwater recharge are very low.
In these regions, an agricultural development strategy based on deep
drilling of tubewells has proved unsustainable. Water that took
thousands of years to gather below the ground has literally been
mined within the last 30 years. A completely man-made water crisis
has been engendered by over-exploitation of groundwater.
Worst is the plight of those who are being made to pay the price for
someone else's development. Millions of people continue to be
uprooted from their homes that fall within the boundaries of a large
dam project or wildlife sanctuary. Where else are these people to go
but try their luck in the metros of India?
These are a forgotten people. When we read of starvation deaths or
suicide by farmers, it is these people we are speaking of. The World
Bank's just released 2003 World Development Indicators report shows
that India has the world's highest percentage of anaemic pregnant
women, a shocking 88 per cent. More than half our children under the
age of five are malnourished, which is again the highest in the
world. These are our forgotten issues, in the clamour and excitement
over disinvestment.
What the privatisers ignore is that the Asian tigers, who they seek
to imitate, laid the foundation of their industrialisation on
comprehensive programmes of health, education, agricultural
development and land reforms in their rural hinterlands. This was the
bedrock that provided the basis for subsequent economic
diversification. But what has been India's record in this regard? Our
investments in health and education lag behind some of the world's
poorest nations. The 2003 World Development Indicators reveal that
the proportion of public expenditure on health is the lowest in
India, with the exception of Myanmar and Georgia!
And disastrously when not even the bare needful has been done,
current obsession with reducing the fiscal deficit is further
jeopardising state support for these areas. Where I live, there is no
qualified doctor among a population of 100, 000 people across 100
villages. No one bothers to point out that the private sector is
simply not going to shoulder the responsibility of providing drinking
water, schools, hospitals and roads in these
"unattractive-for-profit" areas. Market failure in such public goods
is a well-recognised fact taught to every student of Economics. But
there is a silence on this amongst our policy-makers, blinded by the
razzmatazz of liberalisation.
The solutions, when tried, prove remarkably simple. They need to be
upscaled for which far greater state support is necessary. The first
and most dramatic impact of the local water harvesting work
facilitated by my organisation across 50 districts in Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Rajasthan is a complete cessation
of migration from the area. Guaranteeing employment in rural India
will not take more than 2 per cent of our national income. Focussing
these programmes on water harvesting and micro-irrigation will ensure
water security for our dryland farmers. Combined with stepped-up
investments and improved quality of education and health care, this
is also the way to stop the degradation of human lives in India's
slums, by making life more liveable in the remote and neglected rural
areas. A truly win-win situation that will make redundant any
neo-Orwellian plans for keeping the people of India away from each
other.
(The writer is secretary, Samaj Pragati Sahayog, an organisation that
works for water and food security in the tribal drylands of India.)
_____
[10.]
The Daily Star [Bangladesh] July 30, 2003
South Asia Court of Women begins August 11
Staff Correspondent
A three-day 'South Asia Court of Women on the Violence of Trafficking
and AIDS' begins in the city on August 11.
The Asian Women's Human Rights Council (AWHRC) organises the event in
collaboration with the Policy Research for Development Alternative
(UBINIG) and Narigrantha Prabartana.
More than 1500 women rights activists, experts, academics, media
personnel, legal experts, and testifiers from seven South Asian
countries will attend the programme, organisers said at a press
conference yesterday.
"The court will neither be a substitute nor parallel to any existing
court of law, rather a symbolic one, which will particularly
concentrate on women's subjugation," said UBINIG Executive Director
Farida Akhter.
"Fundamental character of this court is that the jury will hear the
plaintiff in absence of judge and defender, and will draw future work
plan," she explained.
The jury members will come from South Africa, Ireland, India, Nepal,
Pakistan, the US, and host Bangladesh.
The court endeavours to provide women with an alternative space where
they will get an opportunity to recount different forms of violence
they faced, Farida said.
"Women and child trafficking occurs with the aim of sexual slavery,
forced marriage, and collecting human organs. But once a trafficked
woman is rescued, she suffers further social stigma in the name of
HIV test," she said.
The court of women will seek to understand the issues in the context
of violent global order calling upon the states and governments to
make appropriate economic, social, and legal provisions to protect
the rights of victims of trafficking.
Sayyda Akhtar of UBINIG said that 647 members of 102 organisations
from across the country had already confirmed their participation.
The AWHCR has held 17 similar courts so far in India, Pakistan,
Nepal, China, Japan, Egypt, Lebanon, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa,
Australia, and Cuba. The event in Dhaka will be funded by the UNDP.
_____
[11.]
The AMAN Peace and Conflict Studies Course
(In collaboration with Jamia Hamdard)
Delhi, September 15 - October 15, 2003
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/aman/course.html
This course on peace and conflict, organised by the AMAN Trust, aims
at developing and widening intellectual discourse on the subject
among individuals working in NGOs, teachers, journalists, students
and other concerned citizens. The course will make Indian and South
Asian reality a starting point for an investigation of conflict,
violence and its many ramifications. [...]
Last date for appilcations on or before August 10, 2003
For more information:
Rishi Iyengar, c/o The Aman Trust
D- 504, Nagarjuna Apartments,
Noida Road,
New Delhi - 110096
E-mail: <rishi_amn at yahoo.co.in>
or susan at amanpanchayat.org
_____
[12.]
"Our Kashmir"
A Talk by Mr. Ved Bhasin,
President of Jammu Peace Committee
Founder Editor, Kashmir Times
When & Where:
Friday, August 1st at 7 p.m. at
104 Gates Building, Stanford University
Saturday, August 2nd at 4.30 p.m. at
100 Wheeler Hall, Berkeley
Organized by: Nautilus Institute, Berkeley
Friends of South Asia
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Information resources on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an
independent & non-profit citizens
wire service run since 1998 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
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