SACW | 15 Aug. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Aug 15 04:25:42 CDT 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 15 August, 2003
[1.] India Pakistan: Happy Mourning Day (Badruddin R. Gowani)
[2.] Bangladesh:
- The military legacy of August 15 (Shahidul Islam)
- Bahauddins' war [Bengali soldier in Pakistan Army] (Ishrat Firdousi)
[3.] Kashmir: A Story of Saffron (Ananya Jahanara Kabir)
[4.] Fatwa by Hindutva fascists in the US against a well known film
actor from India....
[5.] Hindutva operation in India gets NGO status for Cancun
[6.] India 56 year on: Instead of beefing up secularism, the state
will determine what you cant eat
[7.] Surviving India: Harmony peeps out of some friendly windows in
Gujarat (Darshan Desai)
[8.] India: Welcome Ansari (Edit., The Statesman)
[9.] Gujarat to turn India's Independence day into Hindu religious event
[10.] Modi to visit U.K. amid protests (Hasan Suroor)
[11.] India: Aanchal Trust and Humsafar Trust Oppose Vatican's Same -
Sex Marriage Stand
[12.] India: Are Other Worlds Possible ? Cultures of Politics and the
World Social Forum: Open Space Seminar Series in Delhi (Aug 19 -
Dec. 19)
[13.] India: Movement for Secular Democracy's 4th.state level
citizens conference (30 Sept, Ahmedabad)
[14.] Pakistan cultural center struggles with its history (Elizabeth
S. Ghauri)
--------------
[1.]
Happy Mourning Day
Badruddin R. Gowani
after plundering
British left South Asia
gave Kashmir, independence, Brown Sahibs
hopes, aspirations, dreams all came
came also bloodshed, massacre, hatred
partitions, borders, sorrows
there were refugees, miseries, and chaos
once the tragic events were over
dreams, hopes, aspirations were back
then Brown Sahibs showed their true color
White Villains got what they wanted
Brown Bastards now had a field day
US was not far behind
revolutionary and dedicated poet
Habib Jalib once wrote:
Pakistan is mine, India is mine
but the US is stationed in twine
Brown Sahibs in khaki, politics, bureaucracy
indulged in everything
imaginable and unimaginable:
bribery, bombs
luxuries, lusts
wars, violence
. . .
Z Bhutto once said:
we'll eat grass
but we'll make a bomb
(i.e., a nuclear bomb)
nuclear bombs South Asia has many
people can't eat grass
Bhutto is no more to eat grass
food there is; food there is not
unequal distribution
in 4 out of 7 South Asian countries
women became prime ministers
women did not become equals
they are raped and murdered
for honor, dowry, and what not
(Bangladesh still has a woman premier
and the main opponent is a woman
Sri Lanka's president is a woman)
equality is missing almost everywhere
few are more equal than others
(to borrow George Orwell's phrase)
much more equal
heroes/heroines get 2 to 3 crores
or thirty million rupees for one movie
a laborer hardly survives on hard labor
brown capitalists and politicians
mint money too
in great quantity
rain, storm, hurricane
roofs of rich are always intact
roofs of poor - if they have one -
leaks with few drops of rain
few inches of rain
cities drown - life comes to a standstill
(about four thousand years back
Indus Valley Civilization
had a model drainage system)
Bhagwan/Allah/God
how can they or rather their agents
live without power
Communalist Criminals jumped in too
now they have power, weapons, Supreme Being
on their side
minorities multiplied
i.e., more divisions, more minorities
so did their miseries
minorities never felt safe
but they never felt so unsafe
as they feel today
a character says in Jamil Dehalvi's film,
Immaculate Conception:
Allah, Army, and America
takes care of Pakistan
so true - now of South Asia
US asks Bangladesh to tone down
its newspapers' opposition to US in Iraq
US is helping Nepal's kingdom
to fight Maoist guerillas
with Sri Lanka, US is conducting naval exercises
with India, naval and armed exercises
India and Pakistan have FBI offices
(US is all over
that is, all over the globe
a Global Menace)
all of them are making
clothes, shoes, and sundry items for the US
among them, they don't trade much
living in South Asia
workers become telephone operators
and telemarketers for US public
today and tomorrow
the elites in Pakistan and India
are celebrating the 56th Independence Day
(Bangladesh chose another day, March 26, 1971
when it revolted against
West Pakistan based elites' exploitation
it ceased to be East Pakistan when
liberation came on December 16, 1971)
no South Asian country is
economically independent or politically proud
nevertheless, millions would be wasted
displaying tanks, weapons, killers
where as many people lack basic necessities
even clean drinking water many don't get
beggars are everywhere
children, adults, elders
however, more important are
religious rituals,
patriotic parades,
nationalistic narcissism
aspirations have been asphyxiated
dreams have been destroyed
hopes have been hanged
long years ago, Nehru said:
we made a tryst with destiny
today, Modis, Pirapaharans, Rehmans, and others
have made travesty of destiny
August 14 & 15, 2003
_____
[2.]
The Daily Star [Bangladesh]
August 15, 2003
Editorial
[28th Death Anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman ]
The military legacy of August 15
by Shahidul Islam
http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/08/15/d30815020223.htm
o o o
Himal, August 2003
Bahauddins' war
by Ishrat Firdousi
Corporal Kazi Bahauddin, 24
Bengali soldier in Pakistan Army
November, 1971
The Western Front
http://www.himalmag.com/2003/august/reflections_1.htm
_____
[3.]
[ The below article was published in The Kashmir Monitor.
http://www.kashmirmonitor.net/op1.html ]
A Story of Saffron
Dr Ananya Jahanara Kabir
During my recent research visit to Srinagar, I had little time for
shopping. The only item of purchase was high quality saffron for my
parents in Calcutta. Yet that was also a story. The man from Pampore
who came to my houseboat tried to fob me off with some middle-grade
saffron. The muted scent and ludicrously low price of twelve grams of
the 'best stuff' alerted me to the situation. The houseboat owner
leapt into the fray: declaring that I was no 'tourist', he ordered
the saffron man to return with his real 'best stuff'. Half an hour
later, amidst red-faced protestations, some wonderfully fragrant
saffron and a commensurate price changed hands. His embarrassment
visibly increased when I mentioned the necessity of good saffron for
my family's Eid celebrations- revealing myself, in one stroke, as
both connoisseur and co-religionist.
Saffron has been an enduring symbol of Kashmiri culture: fragile,
exquisite, and esoteric: the best obtainable only at a price and to
the most knowing. The nearly failed exchange between the saffron
seller and myself also symbolises, for me, the present relationship
between Kashmir and India's many million Muslims. My focus on this
issue may seem misplaced, given my family history of avowed
secularism, and my commitment to a secular India. Yet it is this
history and commitment, in combination with today's political context
in both Kashmir and India, which underpins my assessment of what
Kashmir can do for India's Muslims. This reversal of expected
viewpoint is not meant to erase Kashmiri suffering and trauma during
the past fourteen years but to propose a subject position for
Kashmiri Muslims that can offer a way out of perpetual victimhood and
denied agency. I should also clarify that by 'Muslim' I signal here a
political, cultural, public identity rather than a spiritual,
personal, belief-oriented one (though these can of course overlap).
'Secularism' is today an exhausted word in Indian politics. It may be
more accurate to declare a period of 'post-secularism'. This usually
means the lambasting of 'pseudo-secularists', but for me it signals a
more searching return to the use of the concept by a group of
nation-builders in independent India, including Dr Ambedkar, Maulana
Azad, Humayun Kabir and even a rather naïve Nehru. This secularism
included the endorsement, within the Indian constution, of minority
rights (linguistic and religious) within a pluralist culture. The
linguistic issue was largely resolved by mapping ethno-linguistic
groups on to the federal structure of India. The centre-state
framework has ensured a mostly healthy if volatile relationship
between the heartland and its various 'others'. The most vibrant
states are those who have exercised successful collective bargaining
with the centre. Through voting power, their languages, literatures,
and other creative expressions have entered the national
master-narrative. The current influence enjoyed by regional political
parties and the success of Tamil artistes such as Mani Ratnam and A.
R. Rehman are two sides of the same coin.
The fate of India's religious minorities, spread across its
linguistic map, is another matter. Hindutva's onward march makes it
urgent for a secular position to rethink the political and cultural
preservation of religious minority identities. As a Bengali I may not
feel marginalized within India; but as a Muslim I certainly do, and
inevitably I ponder what my 'Muslimness' means historically,
politically, and culturally. Not only should I be able to live with
dignity within the nation irrespective of my religious affiliation (I
would say that this downplaying of religious identities was the
mistake of the 'original secularism'). In fact I should be able to
bring this affiliation to the public sphere with pride. Moreover
others should appreciate my pride and the insecurities that history
has bestowed on me rather than make a fetish of my difference. We
cannot deny that these possibilities have diminished for the Indian
Muslim today. The dissolution of Muslim high culture, systematic ever
since the 'Mutiny' of 1857, became an official process in 1947.
Lamentation for the loss of cultural status is now embedded in our
psyche. Neither can we regain status (as Muslims) easily through the
democratic process: the old Congress is defunct, and our linguistic
diversity cancels out the possibility of putting all our weight
behind any one regional party.
In this bleak scenario it is understandable that Kashmiri Muslims,
contemplating political options before them, will be reluctant to
'return' to the Indian nation. I would ask them to pause and
reconsider. Kashmiri Muslims are, under the present arrangement,
uniquely positioned within India's only Muslim majority state. Let us
rethink the significance of this oft-repeated fact. The coincidence
of demography and federal structure has been the root of India's
paranoia towards Kashmir's political behaviour. The same fear of
'vote bank politics' also marks attitudes towards Indian Muslim
political behaviour. Our dispersal across India has ironically saved
us thus far though Hindutva will take few chances. It is both numbers
and membership of the 'creamy layer' that calls attention to us. Thus
in Gujarat where Muslims were flourishing in business they were
decimated; in rural West Bengal, where Muslims comprise sometimes
more than 25% of the population, the RSS is psychologically mining
the 'porous border' with Bangladesh. But look at Kerala, where the
prosperity and demographic weight of Muslims has created a very
different political and cultural landscape (though here too the RSS
is trying hard by wooing the Christians).
I suggest that Kashmiri Muslims reconsider their position within an
India that is politically different from that India that caused them
finally to rise up in rage some thirteen years ago. Shifting
attention away from Hindutva let us make the rise of regionalism in
national politics the basis of this reconsideration as well as
possible reconciliation. The new state government in the Valley may
be the starting point for this process. Is it too hopeful, if not
offensive, to imagine a future where the state of Jammu and Kashmir
can participate in a meaningful political power sharing arrangement
with a coalition government at the Centre? For this Kashmiris will
have to bargain clearly, which can be only done through a strong,
rebuilt collective identity. To do so out of a position of collective
trauma may sound wishful thinking. But rebuilding has to start from
within. Partly this can happen through demanding fresh investment in
the Kashmiri language (an issue which needs separate discussion);
partly when Kashmiris realise that their potential strength within a
federal Indian framework can offer models of political and cultural
behaviour for India's other Muslims. Kashmiri Muslims who have
perhaps escaped the scars that Partition left on Indian Muslims (or
were affected differently) can remind us of what it is to have a
Muslim public culture within our nation; the sound of the azaan
echoing in common public space can call us to another kind of
gathering.
This proposal is NOT the same as a common Indian 'secular' attitude
(which I shall indeed call 'pseudo-secular'): 'we cannot let go of
Kashmir because we have to think of the Indian Muslims who will be
butchered as a result.' To this statement, often made to my face, I
can only say, please do not hold me hostage to the aspirations of
others. Rather, let us, you and I, reclaim and turn to our advantage
this relationship that has been hijacked by others to hide their own
guilt. Let me reread in this light my opening story. Years of feeling
abused and under-appreciated made the saffron seller withhold his
best saffron from me, an Indian. That was his momentary source of
power. Yet he almost inadvertently ruined my family's Eid
until I
was revealed as 'sympathetic' and Muslim. His real power will emerge
when he, a Kashmiri, feels confident enough to show his best saffron
to any Indian, not only a Muslim, and demand for it the best price.
In ensuring that he gets his due, my role can be only that of an
intermediary-but one who is herself helped in the process.
(Dr. Ananya Jahanara Kabir is a Lecturer in English, Leeds
University, UK and was recently on a visit to Kashmir)
_____
[4.]
[ Fatwa by Hindutva fascists in the US against a well known film
actor from India....; the text from the creeps is posted below]
o o o
From the Hindutva messageboard @HinduUnity.org
http://pub6.ezboard.com/fhinduunityhinduismhottopics.showMessage?topicID=15081.topic
o o o
Indian Day Parade Alert! No to Shahrukh Khan: PRESS RELEASE!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PRINT: 8-14-03
Shahrukh Khan as Grand Marshall of India Day Parade: An insult to
India & America
Dear Proud Hindus:
This is a call for action to all proud Hindus world wide and
especially the Hindus living in the United States to protest using
all means to have Shahrukh Khan, the bollywood actor from leading as
the Grand Marshall in the upcoming India Day Parade scheduled on
Sunday, August 17th.
It appears that Mr. Jagdish Patel (Pres. of the Federation of Indian
Americans) as well as Jayesh Patel (Vice Pres. FIA) took this
decision single handedly without realizing whom they were assigning
this great honor. This hurried decision has indeed put an arrow into
the hearts of proud and patriotic Indians.
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan is well known for being and supporting
anti-national and illegal activities in India. He is well known for
his links to the underworld Islamic mafia boss Dawood Ibrahim and the
Mumbai police have interrogated Shahrukh Khan several times in the
past . He was also interrogated in the Bharat Shah (Islamic mafia
stooge) case as well as Shahrukhs' web portal which was financed by
Dawood Ibrahim. Khan has also publicly declared
his allegiance to Pakistan. This in itself should be enough to remove
him from any participation in the India Day Parade.
It should come as no surprise that the Grand Marshall chosen for this
auspicious event is well known for his penchant for mocking Hindu
deities. There have been countless incidents of such insults against
Hindus and Hinduism by Shahrukh Khan.
Though we are Indians at heart and love our nation of Bharat (India),
many today live and work abroad as U.S citizens and owe their
unconditional allegiance to the United States. September 11th was a
tragedy that we will never forget. The enemies of humanity and
freedom murdered approximately 3000 innocent human beings in the name
of Allah. It is sad that the chosen Grand Marshall, Shakrukh Khan has
declared Osama Bin Laden as his "hero".
Mr. Jagdish Patel and the board of directors at the Federation of
Indian Americans have deliberately chosen to be ignorant about the
purpose of India Day Parade. Blindfolding themselves to the true
meaning of this auspicious event, they have chosen an Anti-India and
Anti-American Grand Marshall. By allowing Khan to participate in this
event, the FIA is directly insulting patriotic Indians who cherish
and hold India sacred to their hearts as well as forgetting and
insulting the 3000 innocent human beings that died during 9/11.
America is the land of the free and to express views is a given right
to all but to insult its' basic founding principals is an
unforgivable act. Above all, as Americans, we cannot allow this event
to take place when the Grand Marshall has declared the enemy of U.S.
as his "hero". There should be no compromise when it comes to
protecting our freedom.
We strongly feel that the Mayor of New York City , Mr. Bloomberg must
be alerted to these facts. Let him know that Indian-Americans have
not forgotten 9/11 and will never forget it. Let him know that
mainstream Indians are not in favor of this parade when the Grand
Marshall himself is a non patriotic Indian and a supporter of
terrorism. Urge him to have his office contact the Federation of
Indian Americans. Addresses provided below:
Please write to: The Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Fax: (212)788-2460
Email to: mbloomberg at cityhall.nyc.gov
You are also strongly advised to call the heads of the Federation of
Indian Americans an voice your protests.
President
Jagdish D. Patel
T: (908) 451-0667
Fax: (732) 340-0310
E-mail: Jagdishpatel at optonline.net
Exec. Vice President:
R. Radhakrishnan
T: (718) 739-3572
Vice President
Jayesh Patel
T: (732) 951-8222
Jai Shri Ram!
Rohit Vyasmaan
Chairman: HinduUnity.org
www.hinduunity.org
PO BOX 174
Greenvale NY 11732
Tel/Fax: (208)978-5265
_____
[5.]
[The onward march of forces of the right continues . . . they
continue as usual to gobble up the anti-imperialist language of the
left as they advance. Now a front operation of the Hindutva fascists
in India, has obtained NGO accreditation to blow fire at the WTO in
the company of lefties, 3rd worldists and bleeding heart liberals. .
. We should expect to see some of this 'right meets left' at the
upcoming World Social Forum in Bombay . . . H.K. ]
o o o o
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=129843
The Economic Times [ India]
Swadeshi Jagran gets NGO status for Cancun
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2003 06:51:01 AM ]
NEW DELHI: RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch has been accredited
by the WTO as a NGO for the coming Cancun ministerial meeting. The
recognition came in the wake of a strong testimonial from the
government which has been trying to cover its flanks against domestic
dissent.
The SJM, along with the Left, has been among the most vocal critics
of the WTO and has often advocated a pull-out.
The just-concluded meet at Montreal saw the Indian delegation
skilfully flaunting its fears of offending domestic sensibilities in
an election year as it stonewalled the EU's attempt to push its
agenda. The delegation was only taking a leaf out of the books of US
and EU representatives, who have been fending off demands of
developing countries for concessions by pointing to their own
electoral calendars.
The objective has also led the commerce ministry to engage political
parties and trade unions in a dialogue on what should be the
country's stand at the Cancun meet.
Commerce minister Arun Jaitley, who held separate meetings with the
trade unions and representatives of the Congress, today held parleys
with leaders from the Left parties. The minister later said that the
exercise was aimed at building an informed opinion that would
facilitate effective participation at the Cancun meet. He said the
government would safeguard the country's interest on crucial issues
like investment and agriculture.
The Left delegation, which agreed with the government's view that the
developed countries are re-labelling subsidies to dodge the demand
for pruning it, asked the government to press for the creation of a
livelihood box. But it opposed efforts to attract investments in
sectors like education and health by saying that "rampant
commercialisation would harm the educational system". The Leftists
also asked the government to network with like-minded countries,
"especially China and Asian countries", to strike hard bargains.
_____
[6.]
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29474
The Indian Express
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Edit.
No beef in this law
Cow slaughter! Does Parliament have nothing more urgent to consider?
This Bill could have been drafted by the VHP. In this parliamentary
session, before the upcoming assembly polls in November, the
government is set to shepherd legislation that proposes a nationwide
ban on cow slaughter.
Sale and export of beef would be outlawed in all states - even
Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura,
which have refused to enact a state-level ban on cow slaughter so
far. And a permanent National Development Commission on Cows would be
constituted.
A ban on cow slaughter has been a cardinal point of VHP campaigns
since its inception; its Goraksha Vibhag, mandated to look into
issues of ''protection of cow progeny'' and ''cow development'', was
activated way back in 1986. This Bill could have been scripted by
Digvijay Singh. In recent months, Madhya Pradesh has seen the
testfiring of soft Hindutva, Congress style, and the cow has been its
visible totem.
It is Diggy Raja who has been the most articulate on the virtues of
cows and bans most recently. His state played host to the tawdry war
of pamphlets and posters in which the Congress accused Vajpayee of
eating beef and the BJP immediately countered by asking when Sonia
had stopped doing so.
Last heard, Madhya Pradesh's CM had announced his government's
decision to declare the cow as the state animal either by removing
the unsuspecting and already endangered barasingha from its
privileged perch, or along with it.
Actually, this Bill has the fingerprints of the cynical politician
all over it: Shrewd eye on polls, competing for the supposedly
monolithic Hindu Vote. While religious taboos on beef-eating have
probably existed for centuries, legislative bans on cow slaughter
reek of an unacceptable intolerance. They also violate the right to
livelihood in a plural society. In the name of the cow, we have seen
some of the most bigoted, most hate-filled politics in independent
India. Several riots have been spurred by reports of slaughter of
cows. In Jhajjar last year, after the lynching of Dalits for the
alleged crime of the skinning of a cow, the VHP's leading light,
Acharya Giriraj Kishore, quoted Hindu scriptures to say that the life
of a cow was more precious than that of a human being.
This Bill is also about the trivialisation of politics. In the name
of the cow, development issues are being given the go-by once again.
Surely, Parliament has more important business to transact this
session. Surely, in a country where the basics of a healthy and
dignified life are yet to be assured to all, the proposed national
development commission for cows can wait. It is sad that the
government should frame such a Bill. And sadder still that it will
hardly be opposed.
______
[7.]
Outlook
Magazine | Aug 18, 2003
SURVIVING INDIA
Residence On Earth
Harmony peeps out of some friendly windows in Gujarat
DARSHAN DESAI
Irony continues to rediscover itself in Gujarat. While riot victims
still live like fugitives and the National Human Rights Commission
continues its battle with the Gujarat government over the killings of
last year, communal amity has quietly crept back into the
labyrinthine bylanes of hate.
All these words, of course, have no meaning for Kubhrabibi
Noormohammed, in her late fifties, who had never thought there was
anything like communal amity for the simple
Embers
reason that she had never known any communal hatred to define it
against. "Mujhe to pata bhi nahin ki yeh bhaichara hota hai, hum log
to pehle se saath me hee hain (I'd never known this is brotherhood,
for we've always lived in amity)," she chuckles, when asked about
relations with her Hindu neighbours. She has lived peacefully in
Julywada, which is separated by a huge wall formed by rows of tall,
joint buildings from Vanmali Vanka ni Pol, a Hindu neighbourhood.
Just about seven feet from this 'wall' is Kubhrabibi's dingy home.
"The windows up there (on the wall) always remain open. It is the
house of Bharatbhai and Indravadanbhai Acharya and we have always had
good relations with them," says Kubhrabibi's daughter-in-law Rashida.
Do they often talk with the neighbours? "Of course," laughs
Kubhrabibi, and immediately calls out to her neighbour loudly,
"Bhabhi, please show up, there are guests here."
A smiling Alka Acharya, the 45-plus wife of Indravadan Acharya,
appears at the window some 10-12 feet above on the wall, "Who has
come?" She laughs out loudly when Kubhrabibi, also smiling, tells
her: "These people have come to ask if we live in peace with each
other." Alka asks me: "See how we talk with each other. Do you need
any proof?" Alka's husband has retired from private service and now
offers honorary services as the administrator at the famous Panchdev
Mandir in Gandhinagar.
Soon Elaben Acharya, in her early forties, comes to stand at another
window in the same building, followed by a relative at yet another
window, all talking different subjects with Kubhrabibi, her
daughter-in-law and all those gathered there. "Where's Ruzda (the
three-year-old daughter of Rashida)? I don't hear the sound of her
laughter?" Ela asks Rashida. The child has gone to a relative's home
to play.
Not that they were spared the 'anger' of the mad crowds post-Godhra.
Says Kubhrabibi: "We had left our home the day Godhra happened. Half
of my house was burnt down. We learnt later that they pelted stones
and threw bottles filled with acid and chemicals on our house from
the same windows up there." But didn't she just say that her
neighbours were fine people who were her friends? "No, no, not them,"
she says, clarifying. "What happened is that a huge crowd of people
from outside came and told the Acharya family to move aside. They
barged into their house and perched on the high terrace to attack
Julywada. My neighbours are not at fault, they were overpowered. We
understand their predicament."
Their cordial relation with the Acharyas is a stray neighbour's envy,
but Kubhrabibi is proud of it and doesn't bother about what others
say. "There are some people around who tell us to stop talking with
our Hindu neighbours because they didn't help during the riots. But
we can't do that, it is discourteous. And then, our neighbours were
not involved," she whispers. The Acharyas do not hear this for we are
now inside Kubhrabibi's home. When I ask Alka later, she says: "Yes,
their house was attacked. We could not help for we were ourselves
scared by the size of the mob. People came from outside, they just
overpowered us." According to her, they have excellent relations with
their Muslim neighbours. "We give them prasad during Diwali and they
give us kheer during Id."
"Not only during Diwali, but even otherwise they just lower a thaili
(small cloth bag) containing biscuit packets and chocolates from that
window to distribute among children. They always keep their windows
open, though those open into our area," says Kubhrabibi. "Bahut
soona-soona lagta hai jab ye log nahin hote (We feel very lonely when
these people have gone out)." Says Alkaben Acharya, quite effusively,
"I don't like to leave the house even for a few minutes. We miss
them."
It isn't just these two families which share the bonhomie between
Julywada and Vanmali Vanka ni Pol. People on both sides of the wall
also have economic interactions. Rajubhai Bachubhai's is another
window on the same wall that always remains open, for it is through
this that people give their laundry to him. They call out and he
emerges at the window with a basket that he lowers with a string.
Rajubhai, in his late twenties, is the resident wash-and-iron man for
people in Julywada and Vanmali Vanka ni Pol. He stays with his wife
and two small sons, Amit and Jasmin. "I have no problems with them
and neither do they. Why would they otherwise give their clothes to
me to wash and iron? This communal riot business, it is all politics.
We have excellent human relations, there is no problem." One gets the
feeling that he doesn't like these questions about Hindu-Muslim
relations. Was he scared during the riots? "I slept peacefully even
on the day Godhra happened and afterwards. I have never been scared,
why should I be?"
He gets irritated when asked if he trusts his Muslim neighbours. "Of
course I trust them, why do you ask such questions? You want to know
more, I will tell you. My father, Bachubhai, my mother and other
family members stay in Varvali Mehta ni Pol (another area). His is
the only Hindu family in a Muslim locality. We have been staying
there for ages. Nothing has ever happened. And nothing will."
There is yet another instance of economic interaction between the
people of the two localities. While others may appear to be dealing
with neighbours merely through the windows, Rajubhai Chaipattiwala
cycles into Julywada almost every day to sell tea to the residents.
At some places, the lane is too cramped to pedal down and he walks
around with his bicycle in tow, without any fear of the Other. As I
stop him to talk, he says, "Ask whatever you wish to quickly." Is he
scared, and that's why he wants to move quickly? He laughs: "Arey
bhai, dhandha nou time bagde chhe (No, no, you are wasting my
business time)." Then he says, "I will talk but you promise me that
you will click my picture while on business." He poses for pictures
and then starts selling tea to Shaikh Mohammed Sharif and others
outside Kubhrabibi's house.
"I come here to sell tea daily, I am not scared at all. I have so
many friends in Julywada and I have been coming here for many years,"
he says. Raju stays on the Hindu side. Asked about his relations with
Muslims during the riots, he smiles, pointing at Kohabhai Shaikh,
"Ask him how our relations have been." Kohabhai returns the smile,
and puts his arms around Raju. A gesture worth a million words.
______
[8.]
The Statesman [India]
August 14, 2003
Edit.
Welcome Ansari
Everyone remembers the traumatised face, eyes filled with tears,
pleading for mercy with folded hands as the VHP-Bajrang Dal mobs went
on the rampage killing and raping Muslims in Gujarat last year.
Blazoned across newspapers in India and abroad, this face epitomised
the plight of the minorities in Gujarat. Qutubuddin Ansari shook the
nation's conscience, but he found it impossible to continue living in
Gujarat. He was shunned by neighbours and employers, who accused him
of bringing shame to the state, whereas it was they who brought shame
to the land of the Mahatma. Living in insecurity and on the verge of
starvation, the magazine Communalism Combat came to his rescue and
launched an appeal to relocate Ansari and his family. Some citizens
of Kolkata responded to the appeal and today Ansari has started a new
life in the city of joy (for once no irony intended). It is to the
credit of the citizens of Kolkata that they have the compassion to
respond to such an appeal, and to the state government which has
consistently created a climate where both Hindus and Muslims can feel
secure.
We salute Communalism Combat and its moving spirit, Teesta Setalvad,
who braved local prejudice to help the Ansaris find a new home. The
magazine, run by a committed team of journalists and activists has
done yeoman's service to the cause of secularism. The special
editions produced last year on the Gujarat holocaust pitilessly
documented the riots. At a time when determined efforts were made to
rewrite history, voices like Communalism Combat served a purpose
beyond praise. It has taken up 18 other cases where Narendra Modi's
government has brought shame upon itself. Zahira Shekih, the sole
survivor of the owners of Best Bakery and prime witness to the
burning alive of 12 people is among them and has been taken under the
organisation's wing, which is trying to secure justice. Ansari is a
high-profile victim of the Gujarat pogrom. But there are thousands of
others like him languishing in the state who have lost everything and
a year later are still out on the streets with no rehabilitation and
nowhere to go. The Gujarat government has not only washed its hands
of the victims but is actively obstructing those trying to help them.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi in fact attacked the West Bengal
government for giving shelter to Ansari. We recognise that on this
issue, Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya, Anil Biswas, the Left Front and
Alimuddin Street speak with one voice. And we support that voice and
applaud it.
______
[9.]
The Hindustan Times, August 15
Festival of alienation
The celebrations planned for August 15 by Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi make a mockery of India's secular Constitution
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_339574,0012.htm
______
[10.]
http://www.thehindu.com/2003/08/15/stories/2003081501251200.htm
The Hindu, August 15, 2003
Modi to visit U.K. amid protests
By Hasan Suroor
LONDON AUG 14. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, will face
protests from Muslim and civil rights groups when he arrives here on
Sunday on a three-day private visit. But there is also talk of
``reconciliation'' in some Muslim circles on the plea that
``confrontation'' has not paid.
In a dramatic change of heart, the ``reconciliation'' argument has
been put forward by the Muslim Community Forum, led by Zafar
Sareshwala, a Gujarati Muslim businessman who had been in the
forefront of the campaign to seek Mr. Modi's prosecution for his
alleged role in the Gujarat violence in which several British Muslims
were killed. He was also actively involved in pushing the legal case
against Mr. Modi for alleged ``crimes against humanity''.But his
group now believes that ``reconciliation'' is the way forward, and it
has extended a ``warm welcome to the democratically-elected
representative of the people of Gujarat.''
Even as several leading Muslim organisations and civil activists
announced plans to picket Mr. Modi, Mr. Sareshwala said in a
statement: ``The Muslim Community Forum strongly feels that the
differences that currently exist between the Muslim community and the
establishment need to be bridged at all cost and that reconciliation
is the need of the hour.''
Mr. Sareshwala, who has extensive business interests in Gujarat, is
co-sponsoring a huge Navratri festival planned by the Modi Government
for non-resident Indians next month and his critics believe that his
business instincts are behind the turnaround. But he said: ``If you
want your grievances to be settled you have to sit down and talk.''
He is among the few who have been invited to meet Mr. Modi who will
be hosted by the BJP's supporters in Britain.This is Mr. Modi's first
visit to the U.K. after last year's violence, and the British
Government made clear that it had nothing to do with the visit. The
Foreign Office repeated its concern that the Indian Government had
not done enough to prevent and stop the violence.
The Indian Muslim Federation has written to the British Prime
Minister, Tony Blair, saying that Mr. Modi's visit ``should be
stopped immediately'', and the Council of Indian Muslims has conveyed
its protest to the Foreign Office.
Nearly half-a-dozen cross-community organisations, including the
South Asia Solidarity Group, Awaaz, Oxford South Asia Forum and Asian
Women Unite, have decided to picket Mr. Modi when he addresses a
meeting in Wembley, West London, on Sunday.
______
[11.]
Press Conference at Press Club Mumbai, Azad Maidan, Mahapalika Marg,
on 8th August 2003 between 4.30pm - 6.30pm
Aanchal Trust and Humsafar Trust Oppose Vatican's Same - Sex Marriage Stand
On July 31 2003, the Vatican released a twelve-page document entitled "
Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions
Between Homosexual Persons." It encourages lawmakers and religious leaders
alike to oppose extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. Aanchal and
Humsafar, a lesbian and gay support group reject and oppose this stand and
urge the Indian public to view our side of the story.
By not recognizing homosexuality to be natural, the Vatican is encouraging
discrimination into the minds of people. The Vatican is nervous now that
Homosexual marriages are being recognized all over the world, and is using
its power to propagate homophobia and discrimination all over the world.
Homosexuals add life and well-being to heterosexual society and
homosexuality is not a cause of concern to anybody, especially not the
Vatican. We believe in non-violence, and acceptance of any form of life and
believe in the same principles of truth, honesty and love that the Vatican
preaches.
Marriage is a bond between two people, not necessarily man and woman. As
long as the marriage is consensual why should the Vatican impose its
conservative views upon such a union? Is the Vatican then stating that
homosexuality and homosexuals are not human, and should be rejected? Doesn't
the Church preach and encourage love towards all people? Isn't love
universal? By denying us our rights, the Church is contradicting its own
principles of love towards all and hatred towards none. If by telling the
world that the Vatican opposes same-sex Unions, then isn't the Vatican
breeding hate in the minds of vulnerable people who blindly follow the
values and principles of the Church?
It is a known fact that more and more priests are coming out as gay. Now
that the Vatican knows about this, do they spurn them? Or do they accept
them and treat them as equals, as we homosexuals do to heterosexuals.
What gives the Vatican the right to state what kind of marriages should be
accepted and should not be accepted? Why doesn't the Church open its eyes
and accept the fact that homosexuality is slowly being legalized and
accepted all over the world and change its myopic and conservative view of
this union?
We, Aanchal Trust and Humsafar Trust oppose the stand taken by the Vatican,
and as Kursad Kahramanoglu Secretary General of the International Lesbian
and Gay Association states "This Vatican document against same-sex marriages
may seem like an attack on LGBT people - but it is not. It is an admission
if failure. Conservative popes come and go, but the tide of History is
unstoppable. When people look at this document years from now, they will be
very amused - in the way we are now amused with the debate "How many angels
can you fit on the head of a pin?"
If you would like any further information, please call Aanchal Trust at: 235
22787 / 235 22886.
______
[12.]
August 12 2003
Are Other Worlds Possible ?
Cultures of Politics and the World Social Forum
Dear friends
We are very pleased to invite you to THE OPEN SPACE Seminar
Series on the
above theme, at the University of Delhi, starting this coming August 19 and
continuing through more or less every ten days till December. The World
Social Forum, initiated in Brazil in January 2001 as a challenge to the
World Economic Forum, is now widely seen as being a highly significant
initiative towards democratising economics and politics on a world scale.
The motto the WSF has coined for itself is, 'Another World Is Possible'. The
next world meeting of the Forum-protest, celebration, the positing of
alternative ways of living and being-is scheduled to be held in Mumbai
between January 16-21, 2004. The Forum is as yet hardly known in India,
especially the interesting culture of politics it promises to offer, the
culture of 'open space'. THE OPEN SPACE SERIES is being organised in two
inter-weaving streams, one 'Exploring the Forum and its politics' and the
other 'Confronting Empires : The World Social Forum'. The first stream,
alternating with the second will attempt to explore the relationship of the
Forum with the Empires that attempt to bind us, the Empires that the Forum
has decided to confront, while grappling simultaneously with the evolving
culture of politics and the 'other worlds' that the WSF promises to offer.
The second stream will deal with the structural issues the WSF has been
concerned with-economic globalisation and militarisation and war-as also
with new themes that are being added to this vocabulary-religious
fundamentalism and communalism, caste, race and patriarchy. This SERIES is
being organised by The History Society Ramjas College. The effort will be to
hold each seminar in the series in different colleges of Delhi University
and begin each discussion around 12 noon. Plays, music, book displays and
poetry may be woven into the 'Open Space' once the 'Series' is on the roll.
A reader on the issues concerning the Forum is planned and towards the end a
booklet may emerge. Lets see. We give below the proposed programme for the
series. The dates are fixed, the locations for the first two seminars are
now finalised, and the list of panellists for all the sessions is being
finalised. We hope you will definitely make it a point to join us. Please
feel free to circulate this message widely and to encourage your associates
and friends to also come. With warm greetings in welcome,
Mukul Mangalik Jai Sen Madhuresh Kumar
For further information on the World Social Forum:
World Social Forum
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/home.asp
World Social Forum India
www.wsfindia.org
WSF India Secretariat
wsfindia at vsnl.net
European Social Forum (Paris, November 12-16 2003)
www.fse-esf.org
_____________________________________________________________________________
OPEN SPACE SERIES : PROPOSED SCHEDULE
August 19, Tuesday : Cultures of Politics : The Idea of the World Social
Forum Venue : Seminar Room, Ramjas College, University of Delhi (North
Campus), Delhi 110 007 panelists :
Veena Das, Professor, University of Delhi and The Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, USA Nivedita Menon, Department of Political Science, University
of Delhi Jai Sen, independent researcher and civil actor, New Delhi
August 29, Friday : Empire 1 : Globalisation - Questions of Capital, Labour,
and Sustainability Venue : Seminar Room, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
(North Campus), Delhi 110 007 Expected panellists :
Praful Bidwai, journalist and commentator, New Delhi
Jean Drèze, Delhi School of Economics
Jayati Ghosh, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru
University Mahesh Rangarajan, Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru Museum and Library
September 9, Tuesday : The WSF and Old vs New Politics : Parties, social
movements, and civil groups September 19, Friday : Empire 2 :
Authoritarianism, Militarisation, & Nuclearisation : Questions of War,
Peace, and Terror September 26 or 30, Friday/Tuesday : Contested Space ? The
Forum as Space, the Forum as Movement [DUSSEHRA BREAK]
October 21, Tuesday : Empire 3 : Caste and Race : Questions of Identity and
Exclusion
October 31, Friday : The Politics of Boundary : The Question of
the WSF and (Non)Violence
November 11, Tuesday : Empire 4 : Fundamentalism,
Communalism, and Nationalism
November 25, Tuesday : The WSF and New
Internationalisms : The Culture and politics of Cyberspace
December 2, Tuesday : Empire 5 : Patriarchy, Sexuality, and Questions of
Openness
December 12, Friday : How Open ? Is Socialism the Only Possible Other World
?
December 19, Friday : Cultures of Politics : The University as Open Space
______
[13.]
MOVEMENT FOR SECULAR DEMOCRACY
C/o, Narmad-Meghani Library, Opp. Natraj Railway Crossing,
Mithakhali, Ellis Bridge, AHMEDABAD-380006.Tele/Fax: - (079) 6404418.
E-mail: dnrad1 at sancharnet.net
30th.September , SATURDAY,
4th.STATE LEVEL CITIZENS CONFERENCE
ORGANISED BY MSD
On Present Situation In Gujarat
TIME-1 30 P.M. to 6 P.M.
PLACE -Dr. AMBEDKAR HALL, AHMEDABAD
[...].
_____
[14.]
The News & Observer
Wednesday, August 13, 2003 7:35PM EDT
Pakistan cultural center struggles with its history
By ELIZABETH S. GHAURI, SPECIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
LAHORE, Pakistan (CSM) - When asked why he paints mostly prostitutes,
Iqbal Hussain replies matter-of-factly: "I paint the women of my
community."
One of Pakistan's master artists, Hussain still lives in the area
where he grew up: Lahore's famous red-light district, popularly known
as the Heera Mandi, or diamond market. "When I first started out many
years ago, all the women here just thought I was this crazy man who
didn't want to work," says Hussain with a wry smile, recounting his
early days roaming the neighborhood with his brushes and paints. Even
now, he says, "I still have to coax them to sit for me."
The Heera Mandi is not a typical red-light district but one renowned
for its dancing girls and classical music traditions. It is nestled
in the shadow of Pakistan's famous Badshahi Mosque, behind the walls
of the old medieval city. The district's narrow, byzantine streets
and alleys date back to the time of the Mughal emperors. And for
centuries, young courtesans, learning the family trade, received
rigorous training in the performing arts from professional musicians.
In recent years, the area has fallen on hard times, but it is still
the place from which many of Pakistan's top singers, musicians,
dancers and film starlets come.
A strong nexus between the performing arts and prostitution has long
existed in South Asian culture and society. Lahore - one of the great
imperial Mughal cities, and the most sophisticated in British India -
boasted one of the most elegant red-light districts on the
subcontinent. After independence, Lahore remained the cultural
capital of Pakistan, and the Heera Mandi became an important scouting
ground for the film industry.
"The contribution of this area to the performing arts of Pakistan has
been tremendous," says Yousuf Salahuddin, a landlord who owns
substantial property in the Heera Mandi. The grandson of Mohammed
Iqbal, Pakistan's poet laureate and a prominent Islamic philosopher,
Salahuddin has lived full time in the area since 1988. He restored
the family haveli, a traditional-style home comprising many open-air
courtyards linking multilevel rooms, the largest of its kind in the
city and a favorite stomping ground for its elite.
Salahuddin names an impressive list of Pakistan's singers, actresses,
and musicians whose origins are in this area. But "things have
changed now," he says. "Previously people could go and watch
classical dance performances and singing. Now many of those people
are gone and new people have come in, and the area is overrun with
just common prostitution."
The dominant position that the Heera Mandi enjoyed for nurturing
performing artists, he notes, has eroded in recent years, as it has
become more socially acceptable for young women from middle and upper
class families to become actresses or singers.
The physical decline of the area also mirrors the Heera Mandi's
cultural decline. Poverty, suffocating pollution, crumbling
buildings, and clogged streets are a common feature of the old city,
of which the Heera Mandi is one district.
Despite the conditions, a number of the old families of this district
continue to live and struggle here.
"I started dance and music training when I was 6 and continued for 10
years with an ustad (master teacher)," says Naila, a zaftig
34-year-old courtesan whose family of "Punjabi geishas" has lived in
the Heera Mandi for generations - and who is also a frequent subject
of Hussain's striking portraits.
In this community, unlike the rest of Pakistan, the birth of a
daughter is celebrated whereas the birth of a son is mourned. "I
started dance performances for customers when I was 10 and had my
'shaadi' (marriage) a few years later," Naila says, using the local
euphemism for her initiation into the work of prostitution.
A mother of six, she sends all four of her daughters for music and
dance training. Her two older teenage girls have already begun their
work as dancers and prostitutes. The family inhabits a floor in one
of the typical four-story structures of the old city with decaying
wooden latticework shutters adorning the outside. The customers who
come to the area are not very well mannered, she says, referring to
them as "cheapsters." But she sees little alternative for her family.
"Times have changed. Before, people wanted to watch the old-style
classical dancers and singers. Now people see satellite TV and watch
videos, and the pace is much faster," Naila says. She rarely uses
live musicians in her work unless called to perform outside the Heera
Mandi, and instead plays CDs from Indian movies or by local pop stars
to entertain her customers.
Naila hopes her oldest daughter, Hina, an exceptionally beautiful
15-year-old, can break into films. While the quality of singing and
dancing that the Heera Mandi produces has declined, talent scouts
from the film industry still come here to recruit.
Once a woman from this area achieves fame as a film starlet or
singer, however, her family background is camouflaged, as this is not
a connection that mainstream society is willing to acknowledge openly.
"We are a society of hypocrites. The morality of the privileged
prohibits any recognition of the importance of this area to the
arts," says I.A. Rehman, a prominent lawyer in Pakistan and director
of the country's Human Rights Commission. "Iqbal Hussain is
extraordinary because he says, 'I come from there and I don't care,'"
he adds.
Yet the tradition of the dancing girl is still very much evident in
South Asian society. It is still common practice for families to hire
these women for a mujra, a dance performance with erotic overtones
usually for a male audience, performed in celebrations of weddings or
local festivals. During Basant, Lahore's famous annual kite-flying
festival, a top dancing girl can earn more than $12,000 for a private
mujra performance.
Hussain, an art professor at the National College of Arts, the
nation's foremost art school, bemoans the decline of his community
and would like to see his neighborhood revitalized and established as
a heritage site.
Born in Heera Mandi and the son and brother of courtesans, he
chronicles the lives of the dancing girls who remain and never make
it as stars. His life-size portraits of these women in poignant poses
have been auctioned at Sotheby's and regularly command prices of more
than $10,000 on international markets.
For Hussain, restoring some measure of dignity and respect to this
neighborhood and its inhabitants is essential.
"I will never leave this area. This is my home and these are my
people. If you try to leave this area and people find out where you
are from, they point and say things and make your life very
difficult," he says. "We are people like anybody else."
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz 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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