SACW | 12 Sept. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Sep 12 00:26:53 CDT 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 12 September, 2003
[INTERRUPTION NOTICE: Please note, there will be
no SACW dispatches for the period 13 -14
September.]
[1] Sri Lanka: Gender mainstreaming and the Budget (Cat's Eye)
[2] India - Pakistan: Images that promote fear (Kalpana Sharma )
[3] India: An Update on " Anhad "
[4] India: Gujarat: Raped, child & family killed,
she's told take a walk (Manoj Mitta)
[5] India: Couts and excavation: A monumental mistake (AG Noorani)
[6] India: 10 years of Communaism Combat: An interview with Javed Anand
[7] India: Press Invitation by Narmada Bachao Andolan
[8] Applications sought for a full-time
tenure-track position in modern South Asian
history @ The Department of History of the
University of California, Berkeley,
--------------
[1.]
The Island [Sri Lanka]
September 10, 2003
Cat's Eye
Gender mainstreaming and the Budget
Sri Lanka is on the verge of introducing another
budget for the year 2004. Our independence
budgets have been presented and passed by the
national legislature with the main aim of
uplifting the economic and social condition of
the country. The question we have to ask is,
whether we have been successful in this
endeavour. Have we been successful in realizing
the crucial aims of a budget and delivering its
benefits to all tiers of society, taking into
account the rights of the vulnerable and
disadvantaged groups? Existing economic and
social inequalities makes one think otherwise.
Budgets are crucial for various reasons. A budget
is a document which determines how a government
mobilizes and allocates its public resources. It
shapes government policies and sets priorities
and deals with allocation and mobilization of
resources in the economic process. As a political
tool it is voted on and mediates competition
between people and interests. Most importantly it
is an instrument for fulfilling state obligation
in respecting, protecting and promoting human
rights. Therefore, a budget is a document which
should reflect the agenda of a state in
fulfilling its social contract.
Sri Lankan experiences reflect the unfortunate
failure to integrate the interests of all sectors
of our society in the budget, especially women
whose labour makes a significant input to the
national income of the country. Gender
insensitive budgets passed by a male dominated
parliament rarely ever represent the needs of
women who form 52% of the national population.
Men and women have different resource needs and
development priorities, and a budget is the core
instrument of policy, which defines or reflects
such priorities. Therefore, budgets should be
gender-sensitive and incorporate the resource
needs and development priorities of women in this
country.
Gender-sensitive budget
Gender-sensitive budgets are not separate budgets
for women. They are general budgets analyzed and
constructed from a gender perspective, and
involve analysis of actual government expenditure
and revenue on women and girls as compared to men
and boys. The needs of women therefore need to be
included in a budget, to help governments decide
how policy needs to be adjusted and reprioritized.
How are we going to integrate
gender-sensitivities into a budget? A state has
to deal with this challenging task at different
levels using different tools. An examination of
the position of women and men and boys and girls
in each area of economic and social life should
be addressed by the budget. This survey should
take into consideration age, ethnic group,
location and class of the group and examine
whether resources are being allocated in ways
that are likely to reduce gender and other
inequalities in society. Secondly, the actual or
potential beneficiaries of public services should
be asked to assess how far public spending is
meeting their needs as they perceive them, and
what their priorities for public expenditure are.
Thirdly, public expenditure incidence analysis
should be done to gauge the gender inclusive
expenditures, by comparing the distribution of
public spending among women and men, girls and
boys. This can be done in three steps:
Step one: Estimate unit cost of providing a service.
Step two: Estimate use of service by men and women, boys and girls
Step three: Calculate amount spent per year on men and women, girls and boys
Fourthly, revenue incidence analysis should take
place to show proportion of income paid in taxes
and user charges by different categories of
individuals or households. Further, the outcome
for the amount of unpaid work done by men and
women should be surveyed to ascertain their
contribution.
On the completion of developing and applying
these technical tools all sex disaggregated data
and information for use in development should be
collated (time, use, income, employment) in order
to contribute to a gender and poverty analysis by
researchers, NGOs and each ministry. Ministries
should conduct such analysis prior to their
budget planning at local and national levels to
describe whether the government's policies in
each sector match the actual situation and
address different needs and inequalities. Results
of these analyses should be integrated into
sectoral plans of each ministry to overcome
gender inequalities.
Once the policies take the needs of women into
account, it is paramount to examine whether these
priority policy issues are receiving resources
and whether allocated resources are sufficient to
implement these policies. Countries, which have
good policies, do not always consider resource
issues as an important element, which can defeat
the vitality of any policy, as it would be
ineffective without the required resources for
effective implementation. Monitoring and
evaluation processes should be conducted to
measure whether the allocated money reaches the
people it was intended to reach and produces the
planned outcomes.
Practically this process should be used to
analyse the entire budget. This has not been
attempted by any country, to date. Nevertheless,
in the event of a failure to study the whole
budget, it should as far as possible study the
expenditure of selected departments or programmes
(mostly social sectors, also employment,
agriculture), expenditure on new projects,
selected forms of revenue (taxes, user fees,
donor funds) and institutions responsible for
managing specific funds. New budget management
laws could be introduced to assist this process.
The goals
The goal of gender-sensitive budget therefore is
to improve the analysis of the effects budgetary
allocations have on men and women, and to more
effectively target expenditure and revenue
policies in order to offset any undesirable
gender-specific consequences. This would
culminate in a national budgetary process that is
pro-poor, participatory and gender sensitive.
This however is not an easy task to undertake and
a number of obstacles have to be overcome in the
process. Most government agencies in Sri Lanka,
both central and local, clearly lack
gender-knowledge and expertise. This results in a
meager availability of sex-disaggregated data,
information and statistics. Strong political will
and leadership commitment too is required to
build a sense of ownership in the process.
Research teams consisting of gender and public
finance expertise need to be formed by NGOs,
academia, ministries and civil society in
general, and civil society and donors should
demand a transparent and gender sensitive budget.
Gender-sensitive budgets need a two-way
information flow between local authorities and
communities demanding informed participation of
communities in the budgetary process. Yet the
local capacity to undertake this process can take
years to establish and the entire process
requires more commitment and resources compared
with non-participatory budgetary processes.
Budgets should reflect the development strategies
of people marking their aspiration in the
process. Therefore it is the right of the people
to participate in the budget making process
highlighting their needs with the purpose of
achieving their development goals. Budgets that
are unresponsive to the needs of those in
poverty, especially to the needs of women and
children, will fail to lead to equality in
distribution and equity in output and will not
address gender specific discrimination. Gender
sensitive budgets therefore can contribute
towards the demystification of the budget and
greater public participation, important steps in
deepening democracy in the country.
Changes required
A number of steps are required to promote
participation in gender-sensitive budgets.
Training of civil society is a key step in
demystifying the budget in term of process and
substance. Research identifying gender gaps,
exchanges between gender experts and budget
hearing with parliamentarians, the media and the
public are also vital to the success of the
process. The development of coordinating
mechanisms and institutionalising the process in
ministries, NGOs and research organizations are
also important to the success of a gender
sensitive budget.
Gender cannot be mainstreamed if those who have
responsibility for mainstreaming gender are not
provided with resources to achieve this goal.
Therefore, it is the duty of the Sri Lankan state
to look into the needs of a group which makes up
over half the population of this country. In that
sense a gender sensitive budget is a practical
monitoring and auditing exercise that will
strengthen gender mainstreaming as it opens the
budget process and decisions relating to resource
allocation to women's input. Therefore,
establishing a process which allows better
decision making as to how policies need to be
adjusted or changed and where resources need to
be reallocated is key element of good governance
and mainstreaming gender in this country.
______
[2.]
http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/12/stories/2003091201581000.htm
The Hindu [India]
September 12, 2003
Images that promote fear
By Kalpana Sharma
An event-driven media on both sides of the border
does its job by reporting only the most
sensational news. As a result, it fails to play a
role in building greater understanding.
WHEN YOU TELL people in India that you are
travelling to Pakistan, the instant response is
"be careful." Last week, when I travelled back by
bus from Lahore to Delhi, one of the passengers
was a young businessman from Karachi. He was
travelling with his wife, mother and 10-month-old
son, Saad. He has never been to India before. He
had to undertake this journey because his son was
scheduled to have a heart operation in Bangalore,
much like the well-publicised case of Noor Fatima
from Lahore. The question this young man asked me
was, "Will it be safe for us in India?"
Why do we have this perception about each other's
countries, that they are not safe for ordinary
people? After a week in Pakistan, I am convinced
that the media has played a big role in creating
these perceptions. For instance, on any given
day, in any of the leading newspapers in
Pakistan, the main, and usually only, news about
India consists of items on Kashmir, statements
about Kashmir and statements about Pakistan made
by Indian leaders. The situation is not very
different at this end. Scan any of the newspapers
and the only news you get of Pakistan is extreme
statements by some leaders, what President Pervez
Musharraf says or does, any new arms sales to
Pakistan and sectarian violence in Karachi or
other places.
People in Karachi's sister city, Mumbai, are
unlikely to read reports about the devastating
oil spill that has long-term environmental and
health consequences. When an oil tanker, the
Tasman Spirit, struck rock off the coast of
Karachi, it spilled 30,000 tonnes of crude oil.
Not only has this destroyed a popular beach and
common open space of the city, akin to Chowpatty
in Mumbai, but the gases released from the
spilled oil have seeped into homes, schools and
offices located near the beach. People have sore
throats, children feel nauseous and parents worry
about the long-term health consequences.
Environmentalists are equally worried about the
impact on mangroves and nearby turtle hatcheries.
Lakhs of fishermen have been rendered unemployed
as they cannot fish in the coastal waters. Such
news hardly finds space in our papers.
Similarly, people I spoke to in Karachi -
journalists, drivers, workers, trade unionists
and politicians - had little knowledge of
developments in India apart from the political.
They did not know about drought and floods in
India, about the recent Supreme Court ruling that
affected the rights of trade unions, about civil
society groups that were challenging the
Government at every step on issues such as
rewriting textbooks, about the dozens of
independent reports on last year's Gujarat
carnage, about the National Human Rights
Commission's petition to the Supreme Court to
reopen the Best Bakery Case, about Hindus and
Muslims helping each other after the recent bomb
blasts in Mumbai. What they did know was that the
Archaeological Survey of India had claimed that a
temple lay beneath the destroyed Babri Masjid,
that Narendra Modi was being projected as a
future Prime Minister of India, that perpetrators
of the Gujarat violence had not been prosecuted,
that there was daily violence in Kashmir, and
that Bal Thackeray was against Pakistan and
Pakistanis.
An event-driven media on both sides of the border
does its job by reporting only the most
sensational news. As a result, it fails to play a
role in building greater understanding and
nurturing a constituency for peace in both
countries. By confining itself to reporting
events, and not bothering to report a whole range
of other issues that would interest the readers,
it projects a partial and one-sided image of the
other country.
We, in India, are led to believe that Pakistanis
hate India, that they want to wage war against
India - openly or covertly - and that
increasingly, the majority of them are Islamic
fundamentalists. They, in Pakistan, believe that
India is becoming a Hindu fundamentalist country
where Muslims are not safe, where Kashmiris are
being butchered, where the press cannot report
freely about the other side of the story in
Kashmir or about what Indian Muslims feel, and
where the majority of Indians would like to see
an end to Pakistan.
In fact, Hindi films have also played a role in
projecting this exaggerated image. Although Hindi
cinema is popular in Pakistan and even in
restaurants - local musicians playing Punjabi
folk music, for instance, will burst into "Kuch
Kuch Hota Hai" - many Pakistanis you speak to ask
why Hindi films continue to project Pakistanis as
villains and murderers. "The only Pakistani you
see in a Hindi film is a bad Pakistani," a driver
said. "Why do you rake up so much hatred for us?
We are ordinary people like you, we like the same
music, the same food. Our Governments might fight
but why should Hindi films, which could be a
uniting factor between us, project all of us as
bad?"
Representatives of the media from India and
Pakistan meet frequently. Many of them know each
other well, are even friends. However, there has
to be a deeper introspection about the focus of
reporting from both our countries and a real
attempt made to present a fuller picture - a
picture that reveals the shared concerns, the
common problems faced by ordinary people, the
challenges of dealing with poverty, illiteracy
and social backwardness. Only when people on both
sides understand these parallels, and accept that
neither country is full of ogres and hostile
hordes, can we ensure that a climate for peace is
created.
______
[3.] [the below note has been edited by SACW leaving out names . . . ]
AN UPDATE ON " ANHAD "
Dear All,
A number of organisations/ individuals in Delhi , who
met on Saturday discussed the possibility of producing video
cassettes on peace education ( taking the basic module of the Anhad
workshops) , which can be used all over India by organisations/
individuals while initiating a discussion in a
school or college or with the activists etc.
For this purpose it was proposed that we urgently organise two
workshops simultaneously in Hindustani and English and record the
whole proceedings. Then two - three filmmakers will work on them and
a set of about 6 -8 cassettes would be produced. The time frame for
this work is not more than 4 months.
After exploring all possibilities of holding these workshops , it
seems most liklely and practical to hold them in Delhi from October 8-
12, 2003. We would be taking 100 participants in each workshop. the
dates are the same. It would be compulsory for all participants to
attend all the Five days and stay at the venue of
the workshop. They will also have
to report latest by 8am on October 8 or 7th night if coming from
outside Delhi.
The tentative module is pasted below. [...]
DO SEND SUGGESTIONS URGENTLY ON THE WORKSHOP SCHEDULE/ SUBJECT
EXPERTS OR ANY OTHER .
I quick update on Anhad from all states:
Gujarat
Meetings in ten districts, 6 workshops- in six different districts,
July first observed as a major event-day for communal harmony, Youth
for Peace initiated- two workshops for 50 college students, who are
actively working for the YFP programme, one mime workshop , twice a
week one hour with 100 students from st xaviers colege with anhad to
take workshops-being regularly done, postar making workshop next
week, a street theatre repertory-full time to be launched on 15 or
16th september in ahmedabad-within two months it would be in a
position to perform in other states also and also train other groups,
D[...] - ayoung theatre person has agreed to work as the director-
coordinator, S[...] and S[...] are devoting time to set the
repertory and would be available for guidance. YFP launching event on
29th November- Indian Ocean to perform. Workshop on 7,8 and 9th
November for 300 youth in Ahmedabad. YFP also began to work on an
English play today directed by Dr H H. This group
would probably also over a period of time become a regular group
performing in English. [...]
MP
Meetings in Bhopal and Indore. One central workshop in Bhopal. Four
more being planned right now, for which meetings are being arranged
from 12 to 14th. In collaboration with Hindustan Times theatre and
postar making workshops to begin first week of October with two
batches of 100 students each. [...] two young girls have
volunteered to give time to look
after the youth programme. The Anhad office is beginning to operate
in [...] , Bhopal.
Andhra
meetings in 5 districts. One central workshop. In the process of
finding a place to start Anhad 's office. We have just begun work in
Andhra and it will take a few months before it starts taking some
shape.
Delhi
One central workshop. one follow up workshop. Youth for Peace being
launched on 27th september. The above mentioned workshops being
planned for october. YFP plans to take up in the coming months
regular workshops in schools and colleges-the target is 25 schools/
colleges in the first three months. A survey to understand the
attitudes of the target group on the issues
Of communalism, to help design all future material for this group.
Rajasthan
Meetings in Jaipur and Udaipur one 10 day workshop conducted.
Rajasthan he work has been on a stand still so far. We hope to revive
it in near future. Apart from this Anhad has been able to produce
books/ posters in Hindi and Gujarati .
Anhad will also be assisting a number of other organisations to
establish a National Resource Centre in Delhi , which will collect
all creative material on the subject: songs, stories, poetry, books,
posters, documentaries and feature films etc.
Sincerely
Shabnam Hashmi Harsh Mander
WORKSHOP MODULE
Day 1/ Session I ANHAD'S INTRODUCTION
Need and
urgency to resist the rise of fascist forces
Day 1/ Session II Legacy of the freedom Movement
Session III Formation of the Indian Identity
Session IV CITIZENS RIGHTS
· Constitutional values
· Secularism as constitutional right
· Fundamental rights and duties
Day 2/ Session I -IV REALITY UNVIELED
Facts Vs Myths on
· Appeasement of Minorities
· Anti Nationalism of Minorities
· Demography of the nation [population of the minorities]
· Conversion and Christian Missionaries
· Godhra - the facts and falsities
· Kashmir - the facts and falsities
· Ayodhya
Session V : Indo-Pak Relations
Day 3/ Session I History of the RSS
Session II
Minority Communalism & Majority Communalism
Day 3/ Session III Fascism
Session IV Civil
Society and State: Lessons from Gujarat
Day 4/ Session I PEOPLE'S ISSUE Vs COMMUNAL POLITICS
Dalit - issue, movement and interrelation with communal politics
Session II
Tribal - issue, movement & interrelation with communal politics
Session III
Gender - issue, movement & interrelation with communal politics
Session IV
Communalisation of Education and History
Session V
Communalisation of Media
Day 5/ Session I
Ayodhya
Session II
Kashmir
Day 5 / Session III
Globalisation and Communalism
Session IV FOLLOW
UP ACTIONS TOWARDS SECULAR COMMUNITY BUIDLING
a.. Possible secular actions & initiatives
b.. Mode, language, idiom of communication/intervention
c.. Cultural interventions
d.. Forms of active resistance
e.. Plan of actions and commitments from the district
Anhad's future plan of actions and commitments
______
[4.]
The Indian Express, September 11, 2003
Raped, child & family killed, she's told take a walk
Harish Salve fights to re-open her case, refuses
Modi's brief to oppose NHRC in Best Bakery coming
up tomorrow
Manoj Mitta
New Delhi, September 10: Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi and his sympathisers will find it
hard to dismiss Harish Salve as a
''pseudo-secularist'' whining over the riots.
The former Solicitor-General defended Modi in the
Supreme Court when he wanted early elections soon
after the violence. And just this week, Salve was
the counsel for the Modi government arguing
against bail to the Godhra accused.
But in a stinging rebuff to the Gujarat
government, Salve has refused to appear for it
against the National Human Rights Commission in
the Best Bakery case which comes up in the
Supreme Court on Friday.
Instead, Salve has taken up the case of a
22-year-old woman called Bilkis Yakub Rasool, a
case which NHRC chief Justice A S Anand referred
to him and in which the Gujarat government was
put on notice by the Supreme Court two days ago.
''I took up her case because it represents the
failure of the system,'' Salve told The Indian
Express, ''the failure of the police and of the
courts in Gujarat...When Justice Anand asked me
to appear in this matter, I went through the
records and decided to fight this injustice.''
The records tell a horrifying story. Of how a
woman, five months pregnant, was raped and saw 14
of her family killed, including her
three-year-old daughter. And her two sisters,
mother and two brothers. Of how the court closed
her case without giving her a hearing- despite a
senior police officer putting on record serious
''shortcomings'' in the investigation.
What makes it more compelling is that these
records aren't NGO statements or lawyers'
arguments but official Gujarat police records
culled out by the NHRC, in a brief, a copy of
which is with The Indian Express.
These records say:
* On March 3, 2002, Bilkis, then five months
pregnant, was on the run with 16 family members
after violence broke out in their Singwad village
in Dahod. n Eight women in the group, including
Bilkis, were raped in a forest. Bilkis lost
consciousness.
* When she woke up, Bilkis found she was naked,
injured and alone amid the bodies of her
relatives. She spent the night in the forest and
the next morning she came across a tribal woman
who gave her a ghagra to wear.
* She then walked up to the road from where she
was taken in a police jeep to the Limkheda police
station.
* It was then that Bilkis lodged an FIR. The
police conducted an inquest on March 5 with three
independent witnesses who examined the crime
scene and recovered seven bodies. The inquest
report confirmed, in chilling detail, evidence of
rape.
* The next day, March 6, she named the accused in
a statement recorded before a Godhra magistrate.
On March 7, she lodged a second FIR naming three
people who she says raped her.
* On April 24, 2002, a forensic report confirmed that Bilkis was raped.
* Yet, instead of arresting the persons accused
by Bilkis and filing a chargesheet, the police
submitted a final report to the court in January
this year saying ''the offence is true but
undetected.''
* This despite the fact that in November 2002,
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Limkheda
division, R S Bhagora, pointed out serious
''shortcomings'' in the case papers. Bhagora
noted that the forensic report confirmed Bilkis
was raped and yet no medical examination was done
of the accused she had named. ''You are directed
to take lawful steps against the accused after
conducting detailed investigation into the
offence.''
* That didn't happen. Instead, the police filed a
final report in January 2003 telling the court
that ''in the absence of any evidence and
independent proof against the accused named in
the complaint... no action has been taken.''
* The police claimed that Bilkis had given
''contradictory statements.'' And that in the
first FIR she said she hadn't been raped.
However, in an interview to The Indian Express
(see story
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=31332),
Bilkis claims that she did name names in the
first FIR itself but the police didn't record
them. That she was raped was subsequently
confirmed in the forensic report.
* The police also disbelieved the names mentioned
by her because they are ''respectable persons in
the village.''
* On March 25, 2003, the magistrate of Limkheda
allowed the police to put Bilkis's complaint in
cold storage without giving her a hearing.
Hence, a writ petition filed by Bilkis asked the
Supreme Court to set aside the magistrate's order
and direct the CBI to investigate the case
afresh. The petition also sought a direction to
take action against the police officials found to
have abused their powers.
When the petition came up for hearing on Monday,
Salve recalled the law laid down by the Supreme
Court in 1996 that in cases of sexual
molestation, minor contradictions or
insignificant discrepancies should not be a
ground for closing the investigation and that
conviction can be founded on the sole testimony
of the victim.
______
[5.]
The Hindutan Times
September 12, 2003
A monumental mistake
AG Noorani
The ASI's report on its excavations at Ayodhya
amply confirms the fears expressed when the
Allahabad High Court ordered the excavation on
March 5, 2003. It is unprecedented, devoid of
jurisdiction and violates flagrantly a unanimous
ruling of the Supreme Court. No sooner was the
Babri masjid demolished than the VHP jumped into
the fray with its 'kar sevak archaeology'.
It drew strong censure on February 15, 1993 from
the 53rd session of the Indian History Congress:
"The Indian History Congress is deeply perturbed
at the way in which, in two distinct rounds, the
kar sevaks have been permitted to dig up the
ground, destroy evidence of stratification, and
remove or destroy materials like the mosque
inscriptions. The kar sevaks have claimed
'discoveries' that by their own admission have
been made in the total absence of archaeological
control and of independent observers."
Fundamentally, "the Congress wishes to express
its grave concern at the principle implicitly
accepted by the Government of India in its
reference to the Supreme Court, namely, that a
monument can be destroyed or removed if there are
any grounds for assuming that a religious
structure of another community had previously
stood at its site."
This was a reference to an issue that the
president had referred to the Supreme Court for
an advisory opinion under Art. 143 (1) of the
Constitution, namely, "whether a Hindu temple or
any Hindu religious structure existed prior to
the construction of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri
masjid (including the premises of the inner and
outer courtyards of such structure) in the area
on which the structure stood."
Nani Palkhivala expressed grave doubts on the
reference: "Never in the history of any country
have courts been approached to deal with the type
of questions which are now suggested as fit to be
referred to the courts in connection with the
incidents at Ayodhya."
He added: "It would thrust upon the court a task
for which it is not qualified by training or
experience. Courts can deal with questions of law
or of fact. They are not qualified to deal with
questions in other fields like archaeology or
history."
Impropriety would be compounded with futility:
"Even a finding on this single-point issue would
leave at large various other questions which are
bound to crop up, irrespective of the court's
finding on the question referred for its
consideration: should any religious place of
worship be razed to the ground because a
structure pertaining to another religion stood in
its place? [...]
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/120903/detIDE01.shtml
______
[6.]
http://www.thehoot.org
Media Activism
9/1/2003
An activist magazine completes a decade
"I wish the day would come when there wouldn't be
the need for Communalism Combat."
Zaheera Shaikh may have faded away as the
eye-witness who couldn't withstand the pressure
of the ruling party in Gujarat had Teesta
Setalvad not presented her in front of the media.
If Shaikh gets another chance to testify to what
she saw at Best bakery on March 1, 2002, when 14
people were killed, it will be largely due to
the protection given her by Communalism Combat
and its sympathizers. Here, Javed Anand, who
along with wife Teesta has edited Communalism
Combat for ten years, tells Jyoti Punwani what it
means to be a professional journalist running an
advocacy magazine.
Q When Teesta and you started Communalism
Combat, both of you already had jobs. Why did you
decide to leave them to start a magazine which
might not have survived?
A Because we felt that at Business India and
Sunday Observer, we could only be doing full-time
journalism, and not be fully involved with what
was burning us up. Though we were writing about
those issues in our papers, we felt we needed to
start a magazine devoted to that, which of course
wouldn't have the kind of reach our papers did,
but which would look at the same issue in a
different way. We felt starting such a magazine
would also give us time to do other things, like
advocacy, going to courtŠ
Q But you could do those things even as full-time journalists.
A Not everything was within our capacity. I
remember in 1988, when Bal Thackeray had called a
press conference where he had issued Sikhs an
ultimatum and threatened them with an economic
boycott, we had collected 300 signatures of
journalists asking the government to take legal
action against him. Thackeray had then dared the
CM to act. Soon after, I had to interview S B
Chavan, who was then the CM, and I asked him what
happened to the action he had promised. He
replied that he had been advised it would be
counter-productive.
We were active in various ways- I remember we had
started this group called Sabrang, and brought
out stickers with the slogan `Prem se kaho hum
insaan hain'', which we went around sticking in
local train compartments. But it takes a lot of
juice to be doing a full-time job and being
involved in other causes. I'd rather not be doing
this round the clock!
Q Didn't the financial hurdles deter you?
A Oh yes. I was then earning around 13 -14,000
and Teesta around 8 - 9000. When we started
CC, we could afford to pay ourselves just Rs 3000
each. We could survive on that because we didn't
have to pay house rent or the monthly outgoings
of a flat in a co-operative society, and we
didn't have the kind of needs others did. Our
daughter Tamara was by then 3.
Friends pitched in and stood by us all through
that first year. But it was difficult. We did
assignments here and there, but we finally got
stranded and could not bring out any issue
between June 95 and February 96. I had almost
given up and told Teesta that we should be
looking for full-time jobs. Our second child had
by then been born.
But then we decided to raise funds, had a show of
``Tumhari Amrita', and people chipped in again.
Some ads came inŠWe are extremely grateful to Air
Freight which has stood by us all these 10 years.
The other regular advertiser right now is the MP
government. Previously we used to get a regular
ad from the Tatas, but that stopped after the BJP
government came to power. But there may be no
direct connection.
Q What about foreign funds?
A As a newspaper, we are prohibited from
accepting donations from abroad. When the
allegation was made against us because of our ad
campaign against the BJP during the last general
elections, we dared those making it to
investigate us. Many women's organizations were
co-signatories to one of the ads, and some of
them received foreign funding.
Q There were allegations that the Congress sponsored those ads.
A We couldn't have run those ads without
sponsors! The Congress was one of the sponsors,
and we feel no shame about associating with the
Congress. We'd do it again. The BJP and the Sangh
Parivar are the biggest danger for the country,
and we don't mind taking the help of parties like
the Congress to fight them. Not that the Congress
is an angel. We've never given them a character
certificate. We speak about the 84 riots and
Teesta in The Big Fight recently spoke about the
Congress in Maharashtra not implementing the
Srikrishna Commission Report.
Q You carry a lot of articles by politicians.
A We do feel it critical that we engage with
the political class. If we didn't engage with
them, if we kept our moral uprightness, we
wouldn't reach anywhere. We know we are not
dealing with angels. We ask them questions which
need to be asked. Fascism can only be fought
politically.
Q How do you resolve the age-old debate between
objective and activist journalism?
A There can be nothing like taking an objective
stand between secularism and fascism. That's
bull-shit. We are publicly and unashamedly
against fascism. Otherwise we maintain high
professional standards in CC. For instance, if
before an election we are making an assessment of
the winning chances of any party, we look at it
purely from journalistic point of view.
Q Doesn't your stand prevent you access as
journalists to those you oppose? Don't you feel
the need to let them speak sometimes?
A Frankly it's not our concern to establish our
``credibility'' as journalists to fascists. When
we feel the need, we approach them. We have sent
faxes to L K Advani and had he replied, we would
have published his replies. But we don't want to
appear objective just to get Bal Thackeray to
talk to us. We write with full responsibility.
We've written on Muslim communalism as strongly.
We don't feel our writing would be incomplete
without a sound-byte from the Jamaat-e-Islami or
the Muslim Personal Law Board.
Q What about your limited reach? Aren't you talking to the already converted?
A This remains a question 10 years after we
started. But I'm more confident answering it now.
If we were just sermonizing, it would be a valid
concern. But this magazine is shown around
everywhere, held up during Lok Sabha debates,
mainly because of the information it carries.
There's not too much editorial writing.
Investigative journalism is our forte. Our
special issue on Gujarat was translated in 6
languages, and we keep being informed that our
issues have been translated by some group or the
other.
We have no illusions - if we were working in
mainstream publications, we would be read by
lakhs, but then we would be part of a package
deal along with fashion, politicsŠ Also, being in
CC has allowed us to bring both the Gujarat
report as well as act to hold Narendra Modi to
account. We don't feel the constraints we would
as full-time journalists.
Q Don't you wish your articles would appear in the mainstream press?
A Sometimes we do. And sometimes they have. Our
10-part series on the Srikrishna Commission
appeared in Mid-day, Dainik Bhaskar, and many
other publications. When we interviewed V N Rai,
we sent a capsule to the Times which carried it
and then he was interviewed all over. In fact he
joked that we had made a national hero out of him!
Q What's your print order, and how do you handle distribution?
A We print 8-10,000 copies, depending on the
theme, and we have to coax vendors to keep the
copy. It's not a question of ideology here, but
pure commerce. They have new publications coming
out and giving them incentives every month
almost. We can't afford that. But we have managed
an all-India network.
Q Since CC is devoted to one cause, have you
ever run out of topics for the next
issue?
A That's a dream we wish would come true! One
of the loveliest letters we received was from a
Narbada Bachao Andolan activist wishing that
``communalism ended and this magazine went out of
business'. But for every issue, we've had to
hold back stuff because we can't afford to add
pages. We do joke about communalism being a
question of our bread and butter, buts seriously,
I wish the day would come when there wouldn't be
the need for CC, and I would go back to
mainstream journalism, come home and listen to
jazz and do some gardening.
Q So do you think this is ``the best of all possible worlds''?
A Not at all. We are aware that all this needs
to be said in Hindi and we hope that will soon
happen. Some groups in Maharashtra have also
proposed bringing it out in Marathi. We're ok
with that as long as we don't have to bear the
financial burden.
Jyoti Punwani is a Mumbai based free lance who
has written extensively on communal issues.
Contact:
______
[7.]
September 11, 2003
NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN,
62, M.G. Rd, Badwani ( M.P.) [India]
Press Invitation
It is nearing the end of the monsoon season and
much is yet to be done for those who are
suffering from the ravages brought on by the
increase in height of the Sardar Sarovar Project
under false pretenses of rehabilitation being
good and complete.
The Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes , Shri Vijay Sonkar – Shastri
and Ex Commissioner of Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes – Shri B.D. Sharma, are visiting
the Narmada Valley on the 13th and 14th of
September, 2003 - along with a number of other
enquiring minds from Bombay and Delhi.
We invite you to be a part of this team – come to
Badwani ( M.P.) , latest by 13th early morning.
The most direct route from Bombay , is to catch
any bus going towards Indore on 12th evening and
get off at Julwania. You will get a connecting
bus to Badwani from there.
Otherwise, the closest air-port and Railway
Station are at Indore. Buses to Badwani ply
regularly from there.
UPDATE
The claims of excellent rehabilitation are
negated by 15 babies (between the ages of 29 days
and 4 years) dying of malnutrition this August
alone, in the rehabilitation sites of Nandurbar
District, Maharashtra. 33 more are on the verge
of meeting a similar fate – being largely in the
3rd and 4th stages of malnutrition - without help
in sight.
Last year, the Health Minister had visited
Dhadgaon and Molgi after a large number of
children died - and declared that the deaths were
not due to malnutrition. He gave the Health Dept.
a clean- chith and a number of health related
programmes were started with the help of the
World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA etc. Their efficiency
can be gauged from the number of children dying
this year as well!!
It is worth noting that the Rehabilitation
Colonies of Narmadanagar and Revanagar are within
an 8 Km. range from the road and comparatively
easily accessible. Nothing is yet known about the
other Colonies which are more internal and harder
to reach.
In Narmadanagar, the Medical Officer has not paid
a visit in the last 4 to 5 months. The Public
Health Centre continues to be in a temporary
structure despite land being allotted for a
permanent one. The government has not paid the
electricity bills and therefore the electricity
for the Centre has been cut off since 3 months
now. All immunization programmes have come to a
stop due to lack of refrigeration facilities.
Who will take the responsibility for the deaths
of these innocent victims who are paying the
costs of so- called development? Whose
development are we talking about in any case?
In the meantime, two more small children have
died in and around Manibeli, one due to snake –
bite and non- availability of a Doctor in the
Akkalkuva region as also non-availability of
anti- snake venom vaccines. The nearest medical
aid is available only after traveling for 4-5
hours. The visit of R.R. Patil , Minister for
Rural Development, has brought limited relief to
the Akrani area but none to the Akkalkuva sector.
The snakes, crocodiles and water animals are all
disturbed due to the rising waters and their
holes and roosting spots having disappeared –
they are all the more edgy and dangerous. Skin
diseases, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea and gastro
- enteritis are rampant.
At least one Doctor per group of 4-6 villages is
an urgent requirement. Mobile dispensaries at the
cost of Rs 10 lakhs have been sanctioned years
ago but not one is to be seen. The government
Barges that just go up and down the river for
patrolling or are anchored at the side - should
be utilized to make Doctors and medical services
available to those marooned by the rising waters
due the Sardar Sarovar dam.
Since these are man – made problems created by
permissions given under false assurances and
sheer callousness, it is high time the Government
takes full responsibility for the state of
affairs the 'adivasis' find themselves in to-day.
For further information / on-site visit :
Contact in Bombay : Shashi : 022 - 22029296
Pervin: 22184779 / 5832
Baroda : Sukumar: 0265 - 2282232
Badwani : PCO 07290-
222996 ( ask Bhatiaji to call someone from
the NBA Office)
Yogini Khanolkar Shashi Mehta Medha Patkar
Pratibha Shinde Pervin Jehangir
______
[8.]
The Department of History of the University of
California, Berkeley, pending budgetary approval,
seeks applications for a full-time tenure-track
position at the Assistant Professor level in
modern South Asian history.
The position is open to all candidates in modern
South Asia, but an interest in modern imperialism
and colonialism would make a candidate especially
attractive. our special interest in maintaining
our strength in imperial and colonial history
should not be construed, however, as an effort to
restrict the range of applications; we
intentionally use the word "modern" instead of
specific dates and a geographical rather than
political designation of area so as to welcome
applicants whose work might span traditional
"periods" and demarcations. We are, as usual,
looking for the very best person we can hire in
what might be roughly called "modern south Asia".
Applicants should send a detailed letter of
application, curriculum vitae, and placement file
(or its equivalent) to Jon Gjerde, Chair,
Department of History, 3229 Dwinelle, University
of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2550.
Applicants should refer their referees to the
University’s statement on confidentiality, found
at http://apo.chance.berkeley.edu/evalltr.html.
Letters of application must be postmarked by
November 1, 2003. The University of California
is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity
Employer.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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.
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