SACW | 29 Aug. 2003

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  |  29 August,  2003

[1.] Nepal : Prospects of Peace take a back seat and the cycle of 
violence begins
[2.] Sri Lanka: Anti-Tamil riots of August 1977 (K. N. K. Wijayawardana)
[3.] India: How Hindutva appropriates  history:  Shyamji 
Krishnaverma: revolutionary, secularist and anti-capitalist is the 
new icon in the Hindu far right pantheon
[4.]  India: Hindu  Fascism  (Vote-)Banking  On  Violence (I.K.Shukla)
[5.] India - Gujarat Genocide 2002: Survivors narrate `hellish 
experience' to inquiry panel  (Manas Dasgupta)
[6.] India: Tehelka: Apeal to Help Create Free, Fair, and Fearless Media
[7.] India Upcoming event: Peace March Against Terrorism and 
Communalism (Aug 30, Bombay)
[8.] People's health Vs MNCs (M V Ramana)
[9.] Call for papers: "Feminist Perspectives In aftermath of Sept 11 2001"

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

[1.]

[PROSPECTS OF PEACE TAKE A BACK SEAT AND THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE BEGINS IN NEPAL:
After the Maoists announced the end of  ceasefire. Hostilities 
between them and security forces have begun. The Nepal govt. has just 
declared Maoists as "terrorists" giving a shot in the arm to the 
booming new security industry a business well set to replace the 
famous tourist industry machines.

People may want to check out the Maoists web site from time for their 
spiel (www.cpnm.org)

See yesterdays' report in The New York Times]

o o o

The New York Times
Rebels in Nepal End Cease-Fire; Government Puts Army on Alert
By DAVID ROHDE

NEW DELHI, Aug. 27 - In a surprise move, Maoist rebels withdrew from 
peace talks in Nepal today and declared the end of their seven-month 
cease-fire, prompting the government to put soldiers and police 
officers on high alert. But the rebels signaled that they might 
resume talks if the government gave in to a principal demand.

The Maoists' announcement fueled fears of the resumption of a 
six-year insurgency that has killed more than 7,000 people and 
paralyzed the country's tourist-dependent economy.

The United States has condemned the rebels' tactics and is providing 
$17 million in military equipment and military training to the 
Nepalese Army. Both sides have been accused of systematic torture, 
kidnapping and summary executions. The insurgency has exposed Nepal's 
vast inequalities and, to the surprise of many longtime Western 
residents, its potential for savagery.

The Maoists' leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, or 
the Fierce One, said in a statement today that his group saw no point 
in continuing the talks with the government, which was appointed by 
King Gyanendra.

"Our party wants to make it clear that there is no justification for 
the cease-fire, the code of conduct and the process of talks for 
now," he wrote, according to the Press Trust of India. "The 
government has ended the possibility of a solution through cease-fire 
and talks." He added that the government appeared to be "ready for 
more bloodshed."

But Mr. Dahal added that the rebels were ready to resume talks "in 
the event that people's sovereign rights and basic interests are 
re-established," the Press Trust reported. A government spokesman 
said it was ready to continue talks and called the Maoist statement 
"most unfortunate."

The Maoists had issued an ultimatum to the king that he accept the 
formation of a new assembly that would draft a constitution and 
define the king's role in Nepal, which is a constitutional monarchy. 
Their deadline was today. A goal of their insurgency was to abolish 
the monarchy.

Observers in Nepal were divided over whether the Maoists were 
bluffing or serious about resuming hostilities. After peace talks 
broke down in November 2001, Maoists immediately mounted extensive 
attacks across the country and the number of killings soared. Half of 
the 7,000 people who have died in the conflict are believed to have 
been killed between the collapse of talks in November 2001 and the 
establishment of the latest cease-fire in January 2003.

"It's very ambiguous, the way it is written," said Kunda Dixit, 
editor of The Nepali Times, referring to the Maoists' statement. 
"Some people have analyzed that it's off. Some people have said it's 
a way to put more pressure."

Low-level clashes between government forces and the rebels have 
resumed in the last month.

On Tuesday, 6 policemen and 10 rebels were killed in clashes, the 
Press Trust reported. On Monday, rebels fired on the convoy of former 
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in southwestern Nepal. He escaped 
unharmed. A Maoist spokesman said they had not known that Mr. Deuba 
was in the convoy.

Last week Maoists complained after soldiers killed 19 of their 
fighters on the day before the third round of talks was to have begun.

Mr. Dixit said the next several days would show what lay ahead for 
the battered country. "If you go by past language and rhetoric, it's 
off," he said, referring to the peace effort. "We won't know until 
the first attacks take place."


_____


[2.]

The Island (Sri Lanka) August 27, 2003

Anti-Tamil riots of August 1977

by Dr. K. N. K. Wijayawardana
The press recently highlighted the events of Black July '83, the 20th 
anniversary of which fell last month. The public may have forgotten 
that there was a similar pogrom against Tamil people at Anuradhapura 
in August '77. I was witness to this from start to finish and also 
did my bit to help and rescue Tamil officers.

I was Medical Superintendent at the Anuradhapura hospital, my first 
administrative appointment. Nobody had an inkling of what was going 
to happen on that calm August morning. Not even the police. In fact 
my family were due to come from Colombo on that day for a vacation. 
The trouble started at the A'pura railway station. When the Colombo 
bound Jaffna train pulled in at the A'pura station the Tamil 
passengers were pulled out by mobs and assaulted. Soon rioting spread 
to the town and I made a frantic call to my wife asking them not to 
come as I knew we were heading for big trouble. Casualties were being 
brought in a steady stream to hospital and mobs were looting Tamil 
shops and houses. I went to the A'pura police station to request for 
an immediate curfew. I found two cabinet ministers seated there and 
leant that they had been sent by helicopter on a "fact finding 
mission". I introduced myself and told them that I had information 
that the hospital would be attacked and requested for an immediate 
curfew. They appeared quite unmoved and I remember getting angry and 
threatening to close down the hospital if it was attacked. This 
seemed to galvanise them and they ordered a mobile patrol for the 
hospital. I came back to the hospital to find that the female house 
officers' quarters had been set on fire. The irony of this attack was 
that it was a Sinhalese female doctor who got the worst of it. Except 
for the saree she was wearing she lost everything she had. I rushed 
back to the police station. The two Cabinet ministers had 
disappeared. Their "fact finding mission" had been confined to 
sitting in the police station. I repeated my threat to close the 
hospital and was given an armed escort to patrol the hospital. When I 
returned to hospital I found that almost all the doctors including 
the Sinhalese ones had run away due to fear and some taking advantage 
of the situation. I was left with one or two consultants and two 
Sinhalese female interns. Somehow we kept a skelton service going.

In the afternoon the violence and looting continued. I saw whole 
houses being dismantled and building material taken away in bullock 
carts. I was informed that the MOH who was a Tamil officer was 
isolated. I immediately went in a vehicle and brought him, his family 
and household goods to my quarters. I must mention here the name of a 
Sinhalese doctor who encouraged and helped me in this rescue work. He 
is Dr. Abeysiri Gunawardena who was V.O.G and who lived with me in my 
quarters. In the evening the Tamil clerical staff and lab technicians 
requested my permission to occupy the room next to my office upstairs 
for the night as they felt unsafe in their boarding. I granted 
permission and nearly thirty officers were huddled in that room. 
Later the Tamil doctors informed me that they also felt unsafe in 
their homes and Abeysiri and I transported them and their families to 
my spacious quarters. There were sixty odd men, women and children 
given accommodation in my quarters. While I was going about these 
tasks I realised that hateful glances were directed at me. I was spat 
upon by an unidentified person and as I left the hospital a chair was 
thrown at me which fortunately missed me. I simply carried on 
ignoring these threats. Shortly after dusk I was in my quarters which 
is not far from the hospital when I heard a big commotion in the 
hospital. My immediate reaction was to go and investigate when two 
overseers came running and restrained me, begging me not to go. Later 
it transpired that a mob of about hundred people armed with iron rods 
and other weapons had broken the door of the room where the Tamil 
clerks had taken refuge and attacked them. Most had saved their lives 
by jumping from the windows, except for a lab technologist (MLT) who 
was handicapped. He was simply bludgeoned to death. I was told later 
that the modus operandi of the mob was to first knock off the main 
switch and using the darkness to prevent identification and attack 
everybody who they thought were Tamils. Later I learnt also that the 
mob after their foul murder at the hospital had planned to march to 
my quarters and attack the Tamil doctors and their families there. If 
that had happened there would have been mass murder and Abey and I 
certainly would not have been spared. I was public enemy number one 
for using my position to safeguard and help Tamil officers. To our 
luck and being destined to live an army truck had appeared from 
somewhere and parked in our compound. The mob had seen this truck, 
got cold feet and retreated. The next morning all the Tamil doctors 
and their families were transported to the Kachcheri premises and 
thence by convoy to Jaffna.

It was a struggle to keep the services going. Bodies were getting 
stacked almost to roof level and I had to get magisterial permission 
to dispose of them without inquest. Meantime the wife of the dead MLT 
was crying over the telephone from Vauniya to release her husband's 
body. Since the JMO also had run away I did the post mortem myself 
and released the body. It was while I was doing this that an 
administrative colleague dropped in to see me. He was going from 
Jaffna to Colombo. When he saw me he was shocked at the situation in 
the hospital and my state. Later I learnt that he had gone to the 
Health Ministry and advised them to pull me out from there. However I 
was certainly not going to run away and thought working almost round 
the clock felt that I should be there and somehow keep the hospital 
going. The next day too the violence continued. Abey had also left by 
now and I began to feel uneasy and isolated. I tried to contact 
police officers whom I knew to find nobody available. Usually we 
depend upon the police for our protection and without even this I 
remember I had the fear of death in me. What can you do with the 
prospect of facing a murderous mob except pray? My instinct for self 
preservation told me to shift gears and using all my wits and tact I 
gradually got on to the good side of the minor staff and other 
assorted characters. In my job I was very strict with the minor staff 
and even punished some severely.

However when they had problems with outsiders I invariably took their 
side and also helped in their personal matters. They remembered this 
and I think this fact and my religious beliefs probably saved me.

Gradually the situation improved and the army made its presence felt. 
The local army commander was made the competent authority and no 
public servant could leave his post without his successor coming. 
After some days a new Superintendent of Health Services (SHS) was 
appointed to A'pura and I was allowed to leave. When I got to Colombo 
I went to the ministry and met the secretary who was known to my 
brother. He looked very worried and anxious and obviously had been 
told about the terrible situation at Aand the dangers I faced. He 
asked me if I was feeling alright. I immediately sensed an 
opportunity here for a transfer and told him that I could not sleep 
and was having nightmares although in fact I had neither. I was 
immediately given a sympathetic transfer to Colombo where my family 
was. In point of fact even without white lies I very much deserved it.

When I assumed duties as Medical Superintendent Eye Hospital Colombo 
a female Tamil eye surgeon who was also my batchmate told me that she 
had heard of what I had done at A'pura and that if I went to Jaffna I 
would be considered a hero. I did what I did not with any thoughts of 
any heroism but simply because I had a sense of responsibility and 
felt it my duty to safeguard my officers whatever their race. It was 
as simple as that. However it never occurred to me that in doing so I 
was flirting with danger.

Later when I looked back on these incidents what puzzled me was how 
seemingly normal and decent people could when they get into a mob 
become sadistic enough to attack people and even kill. This may be 
due to what is called 'herd instinct' where the mob is mentally 
conditioned to do whatever the 'leader' suggests. This also happens 
during ragging by university students. Also at that time in A'pura 
there was a heavy preponderance of Tamil officers in the health 
sector. In fact I was pulled put of my original station of 
Mulleriyawa and sent to A'pura to 'balance' the equation. I think 
that there was some antagonism over this. Also during the '77 general 
elections at the postal voting most of the Tamil clerks openly showed 
their ballot papers, showing everybody how they voted which was en 
bloc to the TULF. I remember there was some bad blood over this among 
the Sinhalese officers.

Anyhow whatever the reasons or provocations are, there is absolutely 
no justification to attack and kill helpless and defenceless human 
beings. We have to learn to live together as fellow citizens and I 
firmly believe that the sordid events that I have described will 
never happen again.


_____


[3.]

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 19:27:25 +0530
From: willy <willy at vsnl.com>
Subject: Comrade SHYAMJI KRISHNAVERMA: revolutionary, secularist and 
anti-capitalist

PRESS CONFERENCE
A press conference was organised today at PRASHANT (Ahmedabad) to 
condemn the fascist project of appropriating revolutionaries. It was 
well attended by the local and national press.
The press was addressed by well-known economist and Kutchi freedom 
fighter Comrade Jitendra Dholakia, Com. Dwarikanath Rath of SUCI, 
Com. Hiren Gandhi (SAMVEDAN CULTURAL PROGRAMME), Fr. Cedric 
Prakash (PRASHANT) and Wilfred D'Costa (INSAF).
The following press note was circulated:

COMRADE SHYAMJI KRISHNAVERMA
revolutionary, secularist and anti-capitalist

1. What is the Sangh Parivar trying to gain from the VEERANJALI YATRA?
2. Why were the revolutionaries from Gujarat ignored by our history 
and literature?
3. What did Comrade Shyamji stand for?

1. What is the Sangh Parivar trying to gain from the VEERANJALI YATRA?

Chief Minister Modi and the Sangh Parivar are busy whipping 
'patriotic passion' all over Gujarat with the ashes of Comrade 
Shyamji Krishnavarma. They had planned such an yatra last year with 
the ashes of Godhra train tragedy victims, but had to call it off. 
But now they have got the ashes of this great revolutionary to suit 
their purpose of 'abusing his ideology' and spreading the fascist 
tentacles deeper in our society. They are hoodwinking the 5-crore 
people of Gujarat by not telling them that Comrade Shyamji stood for 
a secular, democratic and non-fascist India!

The Sangh Parivar is desperately seeking to expropriate militant 
freedom fighters to overcome its reactionary role during the 
anti-colonial struggle. Pre-independence, the RSS was known as a 
Brahmin group out to foment communal trouble or resist Dr. Ambedkar's 
dalit movement.

RSS an exclusively male organisation decided to model itself on 
'Hindu Joint Family' and on analogy with the patriarch of Hindu joint 
family created the post of Sar Sangh Chala (supreme dictator). Its 
emphasis was, one, physical fitness of volunteers and their training 
in methods of street battles (not battles against the British Raj), 
and two, it started discussion groups, the Bouddhis, where the 
glorified Hindu history was (and is) shoved down the throats of 
trainees. After its formation RSS got lot of support from 
Brahmins/Banias, landed aristocracy and a small section of the middle 
class. It concentrated on so called 'cultural' war of spreading the 
Hindutva doctrine by molecular permeation, keeping aloof from the 
anti British and even went to the extent of ridiculing the 1942 Quit 
India Movement and supported the British war effort. They were busy 
creating cadres for their 'social' project of rejuvenating Hindu 
society.(1)

They know that nobody has even ever heard of these revolutionaries - 
till Mr. Modi arrived with the ashes!

A new history of 'militant' freedom struggle is being created for the 
Sangh Parivar with revolutionaries and adivasi liberation leaders 
like Motilal Tejawat. They are keen to hijack them in their fold to 
slowly drop into our consciousness that all of them fought for a 
'Hindu rashtra' and opposed Gandhi and the Congress. They are 
extremely well organised with a large network of cadres in all 
spheres and are very efficient at Goebbelian propaganda; they have 
already managed to create the feeling that their purely political 
fascist pogrom 'Hindutva' is only Hinduism.

In the emerging bi-polar polity (parliamentary democracy as duel 
between the Congress and the BJP), they need to prove their 
anti-colonial credentials in this republic that emerged as a result 
of the freedom struggle. The Congress need not do it as its role in 
gaining independence is too well known. They know very well that they 
can easily expropriate revolutionaries there will not be even a 
whisper from the Congress: keeping mum to avoid further embarrassment 
on their role in the anti-colonial movement and all future efforts to 
keep out revolutionaries from our history books.

And the Sangh Parivar is happily trying to appropriate the legacy of 
militant freedom struggle by hiding their secularism and communism.

2. Why were the revolutionaries from Gujarat ignored by our history 
and literature?

Two myths were created by the ruling elites during the freedom 
struggle and after independence. First, that Gandhi and the Indian 
National Congress, with the methods of non-violence and peaceful 
non-cooperation and civil disobedience, were instrumental in 
achieving India's independence from the much-hated British Raj. 
Second, that revolutionaries such as Shyamji Krishnaverma, Bhagat 
Singh and others were individual terrorists pure and simple, who 
believed in bloodshed and armed robberies - just for the fun of it. 
Is it, therefore, not fortunate, assert the despicable purveyors of 
these myths, composed in equal part of the ignorant and the 
malicious, that India adopted Gandhi's path rather than taking the 
line advocated by the revolutionaries?

The India House in London was ridiculed by Mahatma Gandhi as the 
"School of violence in England headed by Pandit Shyamji Krishnavarma" 
(2)

What did the Mahatma say about SHYAMJI KRISHNAVARMA AND INDIA HOUSE 
when he visited him in Nov.1906?
"He lives on the land which he has purchased. Though he can afford to 
live in comfort, he lives in poverty. He dresses simply and lives 
like an ascetic. His mission is service to his country. The idea 
underlying his service is that there should be complete swaraj for 
India and that the British should quit the country, handing over 
power to Indians. If they do not do so, the Indians should refuse 
them all help so that they become unable to carry on the 
administration and are forced to leave. He holds that unless this is 
done the people of India will never be happy. Everything else will 
follow swaraj.
In order to seek support for these views and win people over to his 
faith, he has founded India House at his own cost. Any Indian student 
is allowed to stay there against a very small weekly payment. All 
Indians, whether Hindus, Muslims or others, can and do stay there. 
The expenses of some students are borne by Shyamji himself. There is 
full freedom for everyone in the matter of food and drink. " (3)

The attitude towards comrades from Gujarat like Shyamji Krishna 
Verma, Madam Cama, S S Rana, Bhagwaticharan Vora and others is on of 
criticism due to their advocacy of violence. Hence our 
revolutionaries were resisted and ignored by the Congress during the 
freedom struggle and after to usher the capitalist model of nation 
building and keep the anti-capitalist ideologies at bay!

3. What did Comrade Shyamji stand for?

· Revolutionary Overthrow of British Empire
· Socialism and anti-Capitalism
· Secularism

He was against everything that the BJP now extols. It is unfortunate 
that the BJP is taking advantage much after his demise.

His famous journal "Indian Sociologist" published for over 2 decades 
(since January 1905) was directly inspired by humanist Herbert 
Spencer, who was quoted on the mastheads of all issues:
"Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes 
not the equal freedom of any other man."

He and his comrades were in touch with the Russian Marxists and 
deeply influenced by Lenin. He proudly writes about the unfurling of 
Indian Flag by Madam Cama and reproduces her address at the 
International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart on August 18, 1907 :
"Friends, Comrades and Socialists,
I have come here to speak for the dumb millions of Hindusthan, who 
are going through terrible tyranny under the English Capitalists and 
the British Government."(4)

He was also closely associated with the Ghadar Party (Party of 
Revolt) formed in April 1913 by the Indian revolutionaries then 
living in Canada and the USA. The party was both internationalist and 
secular in its outlook; it recognised the importance of revolutionary 
work in the army with the aim of inciting the latter to revolt 
against the British imperialist rule, and overwhelmingly drew its 
ranks from the peasants turned factory workers, unlike the earlier 
revolutionaries who had by and large belonged to the lower middle 
class intelligentsia.

From time to time, Ghadar published the following advertisement in 
its publications:
"Wanted enthusiastic and heroic soldiers for organising Ghadar in Hindustan.
Remuneration - Death;
Reward - Martyrdom;
Pension - Freedom;
Field of work - Hindustan."

In 1909, the revolutionaries struck a big blow to the British 
government when Madan Lal Dhingra killed Curzen Wylie, a high-ranking 
British official. Dhingra was sentenced to death and hanged in 
London. The British government started keeping a very strict watch on 
the revolutionary activities in London after the assassination of 
Wylie. The "Sedition Committee" report in 1918 under the chairmanship 
of Justice Rowlatt speaks in volumes on the activities of Com. 
Shyamji and his comrades; and their links with revolutionary groups 
in Russia, Germany and China.

Com. Shyamji proudly looked upon all religious communities in India, 
including Muslims, as patriotic:
"Bombay Corporation accepts war trophy!
We learn with regret that the Bombay Municipality has accepted a gun 
captured during the late war in South Africa

..
It is gratifying to observe and, one may say, it is a sign of the 
times that of all the members of the Bombay Corporation present at 
the meeting it was left for a Mahommedan gentleman to move, and for 
another mahommedan gentleman to second a proposition objecting to the 
acceptance of this contemptible proposal." (5)

On the issue of cow politics he felt that it was a handy tool for the 
enemies. When the Amir of Afghanistan banned cow slaughtered in Delhi 
in respect for feelings of devout Hindus, he wrote:
"We wish that both Hindus and Mahomedans would on all occasions show 
their good sense by following the noble example set by that mighty 
ruler and thereby avoid playing into the hands of their enemies who 
are ever ready to take advantage of their dissentions." (6)
Notes:
1.  "Founded in 1925, the RSS was organised on authoritarian and 
militaristic lines and, functioning below the surface and glorifying 
violence, it was developed basically as an anti-Muslim organisation. 
It did not participate in the anti-imperialist movement or wage any 
anti-imperialist struggle even of its own conception on the ground 
that it had to conserve its strength for its main task of protecting 
Hindus from Muslim domination. It grew in northern India in the 1940s 
because of communalisation of politics during the War years and 
large-scale communal violence, in which it played an active role 
during 1946-1947." (Bipan Chandra (1998) Jan Sangh: The BJP's 
Predecessor, The Hindu, May 11)
2.  Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi VOL. 19 : 29 SEPTEMBER, 1919 - 
24 MARCH, 1920 p.133
3.  Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi VOL. 5 : 6 NOVEMBER, 1905 - 3 
NOVEMBER, 1906
4.  Indian Sociologist Vol.1, 9 (Sept.1907)
5.  Indian Sociologist Vol.1, 5 (May 1905)
6.  Indian Sociologist Vol.1 No.2 (Feb. 1907)

_____


[4.]

HINDU  FASCISM  (VOTE-)BANKING  ON  VIOLENCE
I.K.Shukla

First, the egregious fudging resorted to by Hindutwa hegemons needs 
to be swept aside. Ideological mayhem needs linguistic mayhem to be 
in tow, with the avowed aim of misleading the people and confusing 
the issues. Hindutwa is no synonym of Hinduism by any stretch. 
Hindutwa hates, hounds, and anathematizes Hinduism. Hindutwa, a 
freakish mutant of pseudo-religious venality and anti-national 
carnality, is political quackery, and it sells well among the 
materially insatiate, politically illiterate, and socially deprived. 
Hinduism, with all its warts, seeks to be dynamic and lofty. 
Hindutwa, with all its loud-mouthed cacophony and febrile use of 
modern gadgetry, is wedded to atavism and recidivism. Hinduism is, 
essentially, individualistic, atomistic, or free floating. Hindutwa, 
contrariwise, and in imitation of Semitic religions, is coercive and 
congregational. Its totalitarian regimentation is repugnant to free 
and lofty spirited Hinduism.

As to fascism, it will ever depend on terror, seemingly sporadic but 
secretly and steadily orchestrated, as a mobilization tool.  Fascism 
as religion, i.e., fascism, in the guise of religion, is a deadlier 
variant of political pathology. The veneer of religion quickens the 
pace of mass mesmerism. Brainwashing and duping of the masses becomes 
far faster and pervasive under its regimen. Its signal success lies 
in presenting enemies of the people as their protectors and saviors. 
In fact, it perennially squeezes “protection money” from the rich and 
the poor as a religio-political racket, unashamed and unchallenged. 
All the iniquitous and violently regressive forces at home and abroad 
are its natural allies. Fascism, the religiously hooded one more 
stubbornly, would keep the people mired in poverty, illiteracy, 
superstition, ill health, homeless, and marginalized.

All this should be borne in mind in the wake of Bombay blasts a few 
days ago. Innocent lives were lost. People of different faiths died, 
and were severely wounded. Yet, instead of waiting for the inquiry 
into such a grievous tragedy, L.Kishenchand Advani, the Home Minister 
and Deputy PM, queered the pitch for any serious investigation by 
instantly branding Pakistan as the culprit. Now, the investigating 
agency has its task prefabricated for it. It has just to tailor its 
findings to fit the Advani fiat. This flippancy is not casual.
One thousand of our soldiers and officers were cynically forced to 
die in order to garner electoral victory for the BJP which kept the 
knowledge of eight-month old Pak incursions all to itself and did not 
counter the Pak offensive. It punished the brigadier who squealed. 
And, it did not arrest the terrorists involved in Akshardham temple 
siege in Ahmedabad, but shot them, thus foreclosing the uncovering of 
truth. It happened twice in Delhi, the Parliament shooting being one. 
The same pattern, the same motives- clouding the truth, covering the 
tracks.

It is moronic to aver that there was no context to the heinous Mumbai 
blasts and that it was pure evil. Distant and close, there were quite 
a few issues and events eventuating in this diabolical mayhem. And, 
some of them still continue. Mayawati jilting the BJP in UP for the 
third time and making it look puny and impotent; ASI coming out with 
its tilted and twisted report (presumably on orders from above); Modi 
strutting triumphantly after his foreign junket; BJP, in dithers, 
deciding to beat the dead horse of Ayodhya into action once more as 
its election campaign’s sole agenda, are more than straws in the 
wind. The vicious HinduTaliban attack on Habib Tanvir’s plays (Ponga 
Pandit and Jamadarin) in Madhya Pradesh, the ban on a Kolkata theatre 
play on Gujarat holocaust in Chennai by Jaylalita ( a Brahmin, 
courting BJP’s favor in her multiple troubles), the earlier communal 
fever in Marad (Kerala), are evidence both of the fright BJP is in 
and the violence with which it hopes to quell resistance to its bid 
for hegemony and fascistic culture.

One way the vandalism that Habib Tanvir, an ex-MP (Rajya Sabha), was 
subjected to, can be seen is the relentless Hindu fascist assertion 
in a continuum: M.F.Husain, the artist, and Deepa Mehta, the 
cineaste, were its prime exemplars, though not the only ones. Can it 
be argued then that there is nothing new in it? In the drive to 
establish the pompous and pretentious credentials of Hindutwa, these 
vandalisms would be perpetrated, state connivance assured and 
impunity guaranteed. But more piquantly, it is the proximity of the 
polls, and the dreaded prospect of defeat and dumping by the people 
who may choose not to play fools at the polls next time, that would 
explain the virulence and vulgarity of the Hindutwa fascism now 
wildly rampant. Violence won in the past, violence will win in the 
future – this is the empirical conclusion and conviction of Hindutwa 
hoods. Advani began it with his Blood Yatra (Somnath to Ayodhya to 
spur the demolition of the Babri Masjid). Ever since then numerous 
such yatras (replicating the Mussolini March on Rome) setting India 
afire, have been undertaken by the Hindutwa hordes time and again.

A Thackeray calling for enlisting LTTE to rain terror and torture on 
Muslims is not as far fetched as it sounds. It jells with New Delhi’s 
invitation to the notorious war criminal, Ariel Sharon. Bharat, 
unless it becomes a protectorate and an imperial outpost, will remain 
in eternal funk. This line of thought has characterized Hindutwa 
right from its inception. That is why it would always seek alien 
warlords as its senior partners. That is why it betrayed the freedom 
struggle. That is why it hates those who fought for India’s 
independence.

Germane to these lines, Modi government suing Nafisa Ali, a well 
known social activist, (and Indian express) fits into the overall 
picture. Anyone pleading for amity between various communities and 
devoted to our composite culture would be hauled on the coals. This 
is what Modis have repeatedly done. Prof. Sandeep Pandey of Lucknow, 
the Magsaysay award winner Gandhian, was hounded out of Ayodhya for 
paying homage to Bhagat Singh! Nothing surprising in it. Traitors 
could not abide a Bhagat Singh.

Destroying is all that fascism has done historically to distinguish 
itself. It is no different in India. Only those who insouciantly 
advocated BJP being given a chance in a democratic polity were in an 
opium-induced daze. Religion, once allowed in politics, never quitted 
on its own, and to stay in power, it would, as it ever did, drown the 
land in blood. Hindutwa never made a secret of this project, and true 
to its pledge, it has been carrying on genocide in instalments. For 
allies in this demonic destruction, it has the imperium and its 
native footsies and frippets, all uniformly draped in saffron.

It is not only India and its minorities who are in mortal danger from 
the theo-terrorists, but Hinduism too, with trained stool pigeons and 
habitual traitors in saffron at the helm and in the ranks. The state 
violence in India against the minorities is being supplemented by 
that of the paramilitaries which are being funded sumptuously and 
fielded massively by the fascistic state.  When will the civil 
society wake up to this peril? When will this nightmare of criminals 
ravaging the land end? When will the boors be booted out?

28Aug.03


_____


[5.]

http://www.thehindu.com/2003/08/29/stories/2003082910211100.htm
The Hindu, Aug 29, 2003
  
Naroda-Patiya victims narrate `hellish experience' to Nanavati panel

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD Aug. 28. Gory details of mob attacks on Muslims in 
Naroda-Patiya in the presence of some ruling BJP leaders on February 
28 last year were narrated today before the Nanavati-Shah judicial 
inquiry commission probing the Godhra train carnage and the 
subsequent communal riots in Gujarat.

There were accounts of some women being raped and set afire and of 
the "connivance" of police with the "frenzied saffron mob".

Bibibanu Sheikh, who lost eight members of her family, Naemuddin 
Ibrahim Sheikh, a bread trader who lost five of his family or 
40-year-old Fatimabibi Mohammad Yusuf Sheikh, who saw police open 
fire on Muslims seeking police protection from the rampaging mob 
which killed one person and injured three others, broke down 
repeatedly while narrating their "hellish experience" before the 
two-member inquiry commission.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad advocate cross-examined Bibibanu saying her 
evidence was "exaggerated" because she had not mentioned the "rape 
and the burning alive of people in her statement before police". But 
the sobbing woman maintained that she was unaware of what police had 
recorded as her statement which might have been "deliberately 
twisted", omitting certain important details narrated by her.

Witness after witness said that the mob, many wearing "the saffron 
headgear," surrounded the Muslim residents of Naroda-Patiya from all 
sides, attacked them with swords and other weapons, poured kerosene, 
petrol and other inflammable materials on them and set them afire.

Bibibanu deposed that her sister-in-law was stripped, raped and set 
afire and she herself was also stripped naked but escaped being 
raped, sustaining minor burn injuries.

Naemuddin's wife and young sister were also raped and though his wife 
later escaped, his sister and many other women in the group were 
burnt alive. Fatimabibi, who had taken shelter with her family 
members on the rooftop of a house, said she saw a naked woman still 
in flames running up to the rooftop where she collapsed.

Most of them named the Hindu residents of the adjacent Gangotri and 
Gopinath societies who had perpetrated the crime though they knew 
each other for years. Naemuddin said when the injured were crying for 
help and water, the residents poured acid on their faces and showered 
abuses on them.

Bibibanu and Naemuddin alleged that when the hapless Muslims rushed 
towards the State Reserve Police quarters at the other end of 
Naroda-Patiya, they were not only refused protection but were turned 
over to the frenzied mob.

Fatimabibi said the SRP men actually showed her a newspaper report 
carrying the Godhra train incident the previous day and told her, "if 
your men did not do this to Hindus in Godhra yesterday, you would not 
have been facing this situation today". They were further told that 
there was "no instruction from above" to give protection to the 
Muslims and that they would have to fend for themselves.

She said that instead of giving them protection, police actually 
opened fire on the Muslims running from the mob, killing 35-year-old 
Abid Ali Khan and injuring three others.

Even as the BJP Assembly member and the party's Ahmedabad unit 
president, Mayaben Kodnani, has denied her presence in Naroda on that 
day as alleged by some Muslim victims, the 62-year-old Shardaben 
Patel, a retired principal of the local girls school, confirmed that 
Mayaben was present with the mob.

She, however, said that besides Ms. Mayaben and some other BJP and 
VHP leaders, some local Congress leaders were there in Naroda at that 
time but for seeking more police assistance as the mob had become 
uncontrollable.

However, later a local BJP worker, Bansilal Prajapati, claimed before 
the Commission that he spent the entire day with Ms. Mayaben on 
February 28 and she was engaged in the Assembly and later in the 
civil hospital and "did not go to Naroda even for a minute."


_____


[6.]

HELP CREATE FREE, FAIR, AND FEARLESS MEDIA

In India over the last three years Tehelka has come to stand for
public interest journalism, exposes of corruption, and courage under fire.

For two years Tehelka has been victimised by vested interests and a largely
corrupt establishment. This has resulted in its complete financial ruination.
But Tehelka has refused to compromise, bend or sell-out.

This has earned Tehelka the most extraordinary goodwill and admiration of
Indians from all walks of life. It is being continually exhorted by 
them to continue
with its aggressive, non-partisan, public interest journalism.

Tehelka is determined to do so.

Tehelka is now preparing to launch a varied and well-rounded independent
weekly newspaper with public interest journalism at its core.

The Tehelka paper will not be aligned to any political party or business house.

It will represent only the people's interests. It will be The People's Paper.

This can be best achieved if the paper is funded by the people.

To help us create the paper we are asking Indian citizens to come forward
and buy advance subscriptions to the paper and fund its creation.

We also plan to encrypt the website and are asking Indians from all
over the world to take subscriptions to it.
Not only as a means of accessing the site, but as a way of funding a cause
- supporting independent media.

We intend to have the site fully functional by October 2003.

The website will carry the entire contents of the paper and some extra.
It will contain the fine mix of views, opinions, analysis, news, and 
investigations
that had distinguished Tehelka in its original avatar. Subscribers 
will also have
access to Tehelka's vast archive of features and articles.

A six month subscription to the website will cost US $29.
One year: US $49; 2 years: US $89; 3 years: US $110.
Readers who wish to support the cause in greater measure can take
a subscription to the Tehelka Engaged Circle: US $500 for 10 years.

Tehelka is also looking for one hundred International Founder Subscribers,
who will pay $ 2500 each, and be part of Tehelka's International Collegium.

We urge our supporters to take subscriptions. Also to gift them to friends.
This will ensure Tehelka has the financial resilience to take on 
difficult issues.

Indian democracy is going through many crises.
It needs acts of active citizenship to bolster it.
Do step forward.
Support independent, public interest media.
Help create institutions that can fight the rot.

PLEASE TAKE A SUBSCRIPTION - SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
http://www.tehelka.com/Subscribe/subscribe_nri.htm

ADVISORY BOARD
Anna Hazare, Kuldip Nayyar, Mahasweta Devi, Mark Tully,
Ram Jethmalani, Swami Agnivesh, Shyam Benegal,
Sir V.S. Naipaul, Alyque Padamsee, Mallika Sarabhai,
Mahesh Bhatt, Kapil Sibal, Julio Ribeiro

For more on the tehelka story, its vision and future plans please 
visit www.tehelka.com

C-1 SOAMI NAGAR, NEW DELHI - 110017 [India]
Mail enquiries to editor at tehelka.com or subscriber at tehelka.com
91-11-56010041


_____


[7.]


PEACE MARCH
YOUTH AGAINST TERRORISM AND COMMUNALISM
Burhani College, Mazgaon, Mumbai.(o) 23760560.

PRESS RELEASE

Our city Mumbai has been facing an onslaught of Terrorist violence
for the lasy eight months. The innocent lives lost due these
cowardly acts are condemnable.The "SPIRIT of MUMBAI" has once
again risen to the occasion in terms of helping the victims and
maintaining Peace and Harmony.
Thus we at the Burhani College, Akbar Peerbhoy College, Maharashtra
College along with Muslim Youth of India-MY INDIA have decided
to organize a Rally to reaffirm our commitment against Communalism
and Terrorism.
We are also in the process of soliciting the co-operation of
other Institutions, Colleges and Eminent citizens.
PROGRAMME
PEACE RALLY ON Saturday, 30 August 2003
Trucks from each college will congregate at Burhani college,
Mazgaon, Mumbai at 10am.
The trucks will wind their way through Kalbadevi to the Gate
Way of India.
Padyatra from Gate Way to the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Mantralaya.
Pledge for Peace and Harmony.

We appeal to all Mumbaikars and democratic-secular organizations
to extend their solidarity and actively participate in the peace
march.
THE SPIRIT OF MUMBAI WILL TRIUMPH!!!!!!!
Thanking You,
In Peace.

Principal                               National Convenors
Dr. (Ms.) S.S. Dossa             Feroze H. Mithiborwala(9892057219)
& Sayeed Khan
Burhani College                     Muslim Youth of India - MY
INDIA
(23730232)
                               

____


[8.]

[Indian companies both run by the state and private one have equaly 
worse record...]

o o o

The Daily Times (Lahore), August 28, 2003
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_28-8-2003_pg3_4

People's health Vs MNCs

  M V Ramana

On August 5, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a
non-governmental organisation based in New Delhi, announced that its
laboratory had detected pesticide residues in 12 major soft drink brands,
all manufactured by Pepsi or Coca Cola. Since applicable safety limits for
such contamination have not been set in India, CSE compared these pesticide
levels with limits set in the European Union and discovered that in many
cases these levels grossly exceeded those standards.

The resulting uproar somewhat settled down last week when Indian Minister
Sushma Swaraj stated in the parliament, 'all the 12 samples do not have
pesticide residues of the high order as was alleged in the CSE report'.
Though disappointing and somewhat disingenuous, the government's
announcement is not altogether surprising, and is another instance of
governments sacrificing the health and well-being of people for the
interests of multinational corporations.

Behind all these events is the Centre for Science and Environment
(http://www.cseindia.org/), an NGO started in 1980 by Anil Agarwal, an
engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, to increase
awareness about issues relating to environment and development. CSE first
made its mark in 1982 through the publication of the ground-breaking report
State of India's Environment, which documented the environment deterioration
in the country and how it affected the very survival of the poor. Since then
CSE has worked on issues ranging from sustainable water harvesting to global
warming to vehicular pollution, as well as publishing the fortnightly
magazine Down to Earth. In February of this year, CSE released a report on
pesticides in bottled water revealing levels of contamination, again much
higher than EU norms. The natural follow-up then was to examine soft drinks,
whose main constituent is water.

CSE analysed samples of twelve different brands of soft drinks, all
purchased in Delhi, and looked for sixteen different pesticides, many of
them toxic and having a range of negative health effects. The total
concentration of pesticides in the 12 brands varied from 0.0055-0.0352 mg/L,
with an average of 0.0168 mg/L. This is to be compared with the EU limit of
0.0005 mg/L.

Coke and Pepsi jointly attacked the report as baseless and stated, "We
conform to all norms and are open to all testing by an internationally
accredited independent laboratory and by experienced people." The central
government as well as various state governments ordered government run
laboratories to test soft drink samples. These tests found the same
pesticides, still in excess of EU norms but at levels lower than what CSE
had reported. Though this contradicted Pepsi and Coke's claim that they
"conform to all norms" the soft drink companies have nevertheless declared
victory.

There is still the difference between the results of the government and CSE.
As CSE points out, these differences 'could be due to several reasons, such
as the time of year in which they were manufactured and the manner in which
the samples were collected. Pesticide contamination levels could vary
depending on the seasons during which pesticides are used, and the dilution
levels which depend on rainfall'. Further, unlike CSE, which has made its
methodology transparent in its report, the government laboratories have not
revealed how they arrived at their answer. One is expected to accept their
results on the basis of their reputation.

The bottom line, however, is that Pepsi and Coca Cola are guilty of selling
soft drinks contaminated with pesticides at high levels, at least by EU
standards. One expects that they will control pesticide levels in their
products for some time to come.

The larger question, though, has less to do with Coke and Pepsi but one of
domestic laws on pollution control and their implementation. Why should
third world countries be less stringent when it comes to protecting the
health of their citizens? Part of the reason is public apathy. The main
health impacts of contaminants like pesticides and radioactive waste like
cancers occur in the long term.

The more rigorous European norms are a legacy of sustained campaigns by
environmental groups and local citizens initiatives. However, these
standards are threatened by the forces of globalisation, which put profits
above people'’s health. At the World Trade Organization, for example,
domestic laws on pollution can be challenged as unfair trade practice. In
1999 the US claimed that a EU proposal to ban certain heavy metals in
electronics equipment, to require a certain amount of recycled content and
shift the cost of clean-up and disposal to the manufacturers, was illegal
under WTO rules.

Multinational corporations also play off one country's standards against the
other. For example, Pepsi's Managing Director in India has argued that
European standards should not be followed in India. Asia Times reports that
a group of foreign investors have warned that 'penalizing companies which
are fulfilling existing national norms... can have serious implications
later on'.

There is also the other larger question of why pesticide levels are so high
in water. The answer has to do with the practice of a certain kind of
agriculture that involves the use of large quantities of chemicals —
fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Once again multinational
corporations play a role in promoting this — they sell the high-yielding
seeds that require large inputs of these chemicals, which they manufacture.
Ultimately all these profits accrue to them.

Agriculture in the US and Europe has similar characteristics too. But the
effects on public health are better controlled. In the US, it was only in
the 1970s, after the publication of Rachel Carson's classic Silent Spring
and the movement it catalysed, that levels of pesticides began to be
regulated. Stricter pollution control laws in South Asia will also need
sustained campaigns for a better environment. Governments, who spend
enormous amounts of money on the military and weapons purportedly to protect
their citizens from various threats, will have to be forced to change their
focus to real threats to people's health. Studies and exposés like the one
by CSE should play an important part in such an effort.

o o o

[SEE RELATED MATERIAL:]
Down to Earth, August 28, 2003 | Editorial
We the regulators
by  Sunita Narain
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/editor.asp?foldername=20030831&filename=Editor&sec_id=2&sid=1

____


[9.]

Call for papers: "Feminist Perspectives In aftermath of Sept 11 2001"

International Feminist Journal of Politics, Ideologies, Religions and Conflict

Deadline: 31 March, 2004

For more information, please contact: ifjp at le.ac.uk or visit: 
www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge/14616742.html

In the aftermath of September 11 2001 and the 2003 Gulf War the 
linkages between ideologies, religions and conflict are major points 
of focus in the theory and practice ...

International Feminist Journal of Politics is a unique cross-cultural 
and international forum to foster debate and dialogue at the 
intersection of international relations, politics and women's 
studies. Developed by a team of leading feminist scholars, this 
journal brings together some of the most influential figures in the 
field to build a global critical community of writers and readers.

This journal features research on women, gender relations and 
sexuality from the perspectives of:

§       International relations
§       Political theory
§       Globalization studies
§       International political economy
§       Comparative politics
§       Peace research
§       International law
§       Development studies
§       Political geography
§       Cultural studies

As well as the main section of the journal featuring full-length 
articles, it also offers a special 'Conversations' section, which 
publishes interviews with leading scholars and practitioners, 
conference reports and film readings.



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

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
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.