SACW | 15 Oct. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Tue Oct 14 17:23:22 CDT 2003
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WIRE | 15 October, 2003
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+++++
[1] Book Announcement: In the maze of
displacement : conflict, migration and change
Edited by N. Shanmugaratnam et.al
[2] Congratulations to Shirin Ebadi & Sri Lanka (Cats Eye)
[3] Protest letter to the US govt (Sansad)
[4] India: Ayodhya Diary: Communalism and the Common Public (Raghuvanshmani)
[5] India: Healing Touch for Godhra : Dr Shujaat Vali Interviewed
[6] India: Adeep Singh's 'Adharm' gets 40 cuts (Jasmine Shah Varma)
[7] India: AIDWA Anti-Dowry Convention In Gorakhpur, UP (Subhashini Ali)
[8] India: Lesbian groups meet at Mumbai film fest
[9] India: Gender Issues: In a twilight world (Siddharth Narrain)
--------------
[1.]
[ Book Announcement ]
In the maze of displacement : conflict, migration and change
Edited by N. Shanmugaratnam, Ragnhild Lund and Kirsti Anne Stølen.
(Kristiansand : HøyskoleForlaget)
2003, 229 [pages].
ISBN 82-7634-540-9
[BLURB]
In the Maze of Displacement: Conflict, Migration
and Change addresses diverse situations of
displacement in Asian, African and Latin American
countries and how the affected people perceive
and cope with them. The aim of the book is to
enhance the reader's understanding of the complex
dynamics of migration and change driven by
violent conflicts and environmental disasters.
The studies are relevant to policy makers engaged
in designing interventions forcused on improving
the livelihoods and well being of the displaced,
as well as the host communities in different
contexts in the south.
This book contains a richly varied collection of
studies of how various communities respond to
calamities of a particular kind, i.e. forced
displacement. Drawing on the disciplines of
geography, anthropology, political economy and
environmental/development studies, the cases
provide fresh insight into the variable dynamic
of displacement. In some cases the communities
are marginalized, brutalized and virtually
destroyed; in others, the displaced succeed in
rebuilding their communities. In each and every
case, this volume gives voice to the displaced by
focusing on "agency" rather than "structure."
Astri Suhrkes, Chr. Michelsen Institute
For more information, see:
http://www.hoyskoleforlaget.hostings.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HF&Product_Code=82-7634-540-9
_____
[2]
The Island [Sri Lanka] October 15, 2003
Cat's Eye
Congratulations to Shirin Ebadi
Women all around the world have warmly welcomed
the award of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to
Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, for her efforts
for democracy and human rights in Iran,
especially focusing on the rights of women and
children. She was selected from 134 candidates
for the Nobel Prize among them the Pope John Paul
II Ebadi was the first woman judge in Iran
appointed in 1974 and removed from office when
the Islamic Revolution took place in 1979. Rather
than fleeing the country, Ebadi stayed back to
fight on a range of human rights issues. "I have
learned to overcome my fear," she said, and
certainly her record is one of fearless
commitment, taking on human rights cases that
other lawyers refused. She has defended the
rights of political dissenters, writers, and
intellectuals who have been arrested, tortured
and killed in Iran, which has an unfortunate
history of brutal human rights violations. Ebadi
also championed the students of the Teheran
University who were attacked by state forces in
1999. As the Nobel Committee announced: "As a
lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist she
has spoken out clearly and strongly in Iran, and
far beyond its borders. She has stood up as a
sound professional, a courageous person, and has
never heeded the threats to her own safety."
Ebadi's immediate reaction on winning the prize was to issue a bold statement:
"I call on the Iranian government to respect
human rights, and I hope in the future things
will move positively. What is most urgent is
respect for freedom of expression and the release
of prisoners of conscience "
On this occasion she also criticized the United
States for its attitude to Iran and spoke out
against any international intervention in Iran.
"The fight for human rights is conducted in Iran
by the Iranian people, and we are against foreign
intervention in Iran."
Reform and Resistance
While President Khatami leads the liberal reform
movement in Iran, supported strongly by Iranian
women, the hardline fundamentalists are still
active and powerful. Nevertheless lawyers such as
Shirin Ebadi continued their work for human
rights despite the climate of fear caused by a
spate of grisly killings of Iranian
intellectuals. She represents the family of
Dariush Farouhar a dissident intellectual who
with his wife Parveneh, was killed last year. The
resistance put up by lawyers has led President
Khatami to order an inquiry into the killings.
In 2001, Ebadi was jailed for attending a
conference on Iranian reform in Berlin. She has
also consistently spoken out against laws that
oppress women, has campaigned for the reform of
family law, and has written and lectured on these
subjects. As Ebadi said on receiving the Nobel
Prize "It is not easy to be a woman in Iran
because of Iranian law. But the beauty of life in
Iran is to fight under difficult circumstances as
a woman and as a jurist," also making the point
that "the Prize gives one more energy to continue
the fight for a better future. This day does not
belong to me, but to all militants for human
rights in the world."
Progressive Islam
Much is being written about Shirin Ebadi being
the first Muslim woman to win the Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee stressed this factor. "Ebadi
sees no conflict between Islam and fundamental
human rights" adding "We hope that the people of
Iran will feel joyous that for the first time in
history one of their citizens has been awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize and we hope the Prize will
be an inspiration for all those who struggle for
human rights and democracy in her country, in the
Moslem world, and in all countries where the
fight for human rights needs inspiration and
support."
Ebadi herself makes the point about Islam. "My
problem is not with Islam, it is with the culture
of patriarchy "she says "for twenty years I have
been putting out the message that it is possible
to be Muslim and have laws that respect human
rights. Islam is not incompatible with human
rights and all Muslims should be glad about this
Prize."
Example to Sri Lankans
Shirin Ebadi sets a fine example of courage to
all women's struggles for human rights. Her Nobel
Prize will be acclaimed by those in Sri Lanka who
are linked with movements for peace, human rights
and gender equity. We hope this will also be an
occasion for Muslim women and men in Sri Lanka to
reflect on the need for reform in order to change
oppressive aspects of the customary law that
governs them. Many provisions of this law are in
conflict with womens rights as guaranteed in the
general law, in the constitution of Sri Lanka and
in the international conventions on women signed
by the government of Sri Lanka.
Iranian women from the early 20th century onwards
have a long history of struggle for political
rights and for economic opportunities and for
social justice. We hope that Shirin Ebadi's
important award will mark a new phase in women's
movements for liberation, in both Iran and the
rest of the world.
_____
[3.]
SANSAD
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Suite 435, 205 - 329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC, Canada. V3K 6Z8
phone : (604) 420-2972; FAX: (604) 420-2970
Electronic mail : sansad at sansad.org
[Incorporated in British Columbia under the
Society Act as a Non-Profit Society, # S-31797]
******************************************************
October 14, 2003
The Consulate General of the United States of America
1095 W. Pender
Vancouver, BC
Fax number: 604-685-7175
Dear Mr. Consul General:
On behalf of the Board of Directors of SANSAD, I
write this formal note to express our indignation
in the manner the immigration and security
personnel at the US airport of Los Angeles
treated one of our Directors, Mr. Imran Munir.
This happened on August 30, 2003. Mr. Munir, who
is also a doctoral student in the Department of
Communications of Simon Fraser University, was
returning to Canada after a four months long
research trip to Pakistan. His wife Rahat and his
son Momin were with him. They arrived at the Los
Angeles airport on a Thai Airways flight and were
to make a connecting flight to Vancouver on Air
Canada.
What began as a routine questioning at the
checkpoint turned out to be an eight-hour long
ordeal and humiliation for Mr. Munir.
We do not question the prerogative of the US
government (or the government of any other
sovereign country for that matter) to check the
authenticity of anyone who enters its territory.
We also realize that the War on Terrorism that
your government has declared has made the US
officials hypersensitive and hyper-vigilant. But
we would still like to know as to why Mr. Munir
was singled out. The only reason for this could
be that his Passport shows Pakistan as the
country of his birth, his name identifies him as
a Muslim, and he is a man.
Place of birth, gender, and faith are not
acceptable grounds for discrimination among
democratic and secular nations, including the
United States. Any yet for these very reasons Mr.
Munir was singled out, separated from his wife
and son, taken to a cell, repeatedly
photographed, finger-printed, and subjected to a
most humiliating and intimidating process of
interrogations by a series of officers.
For more than six hours Mr. Munir's request for a
drink of water or for a visit to the toilet were
rudely denied.
The letter from the Department Head which clearly
laid out his doctoral student status at Simon
Fraser University and the research-related
purpose of his visit to Pakistan was
contemptuously brushed aside by the interrogators.
Even more contemptuous was the attitude they
showed toward Mr. Munir's Canadian Citizenship
and Canadian passport. "You are not a Canadian
citizen; you are a Pakistani travelling on a
Canadian passport" was the statement the officers
kept making. The statement betrays arrogant
contempt for Canada on the part of the US
officials. It disregards the universally accepted
definition of "citizenship" and unilaterally
devalues the rights and privileges the Canadian
Government, representing the will of a sovereign
nation, bestows upon its citizens.
For Mr. Munir's wife, Rahat, and their son,
Momin, the Canadian passport (issued at the same
time as Mr. Munir's) did not pose a problem. "You
are a Canadian citizen, you are free to go", she
was told after more than four hours of
confinement. But she was to confront another
shock. Extremely tired after a long journey, and
traumatized for having to leave her husband in
the custody of your officers, and not sure what
would eventually happen to him, when she arrived
at the Air Canada counter to make her connecting
flight (AC#777), she was faced with the problem
of "excess baggage". When she tried to reason
that the two additional bags were to accompany
her husband, booked on the same flight, she was
told that there was no such booking in the name
of Imran Munir. It is shocking for us that the
United States, claiming to be the bastion of
democracy, can allow its officers to alter the
flight booking records of an airline.
Ultimately, it turned out that Mr. Munir was not
the kind of person your officers were fishing
for. After eight hours of ordeal, he was allowed
to go.
We know Mr. Consul General that Mr. Munir is not
the only one to face harassment, humiliation,
intimidation and even confinement. Hundreds of
innocent people have faced worse treatment, only
because they were born in certain countries, were
Muslims and were men. While we have been
concerned over these other cases too, we write
this note to you because Mr. Munir is a
respectable member of the Board of Directors of
our organization, which comprises people from all
of South Asia and is dedicated to the propagation
of democracy, secularism, peace and human rights.
We believe that Mr. Munir, our Board, and the
Canadian Government deserve an apology for the
manner Mr. Munir was treated by your officers at
the Los Angeles airport.
Please be advised that we are releasing this
letter to the media and the public.
Yours truly,
Hari P. Sharma, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
and President, SANSAD
cc Mr. Bill Graham, Minister of Exterrnal Affairs, Government of Canada
Media and the public
_____
[4]
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sacw/new/raghuvanshmaniOct152003.html
South Asia Citizens Wire - Special
October 15, 2003
Ayodhya Diary
Communalism and the Common Public
by Raghuvanshmani
15/10/2003, Faizabad, [UP, India]
As the day of the acid test for the peace and
order comes near, Ayodhya feels the tension
caused by the fundamental Hindu karsevaks,
preferring to call themselves Ramsevaks.They
propose to reach Ayodhya in a great number on the
17th of this month to take oath for making of the
Ram temple and reminding the Government its
promise made to the Hindus.But the hidden agenda
of these Hinduttva forces is to create trouble,
to divide the society on the lines of religion to
gather votes in the forth coming assembly
elections.
The general public of Faizabad and Ayodhya is not
in support of such arousing communal ceremonies
leading to hatred and violence. Local business
class, social and cultural activists have shown
their resentment over this matter from different
forums. Life still moves normal in Ayodhya and
Faizabad in spite of various types of
restrictions on going from one place to other.
The borders of Faizabad are sealed with the view
of keeping the VHP karsevaks away from the site
of trouble. There is a general hike in the prices
of the commodities of general use. Even
vegetables are sold at double price [100%
increase]. This has happened due to the
disruption of transport and the reaching of
deployed forces, CRPF, PAC, RAF, and HOME
GAURDS.Clandestine reaching of karsewaks make it
more and more difficult for the common public to
live conveniently. The lower class, the
labourers, ricshaw walas etc.suffer the most. But
the Hinduttva forces seem to care for none of
these problems. The VHP gives the threats of
violence that makes the common public a shiver
down the spine. This makes the administration
more and more desperate to take stronger
measures. And in turn it increases the problems
of the common man.
Ayodhya is a part of Faizabad city and the two
cannot be separated by any strict boundry. The
population of Faizabad is mixed one with Hindu
and Muslims living together. Except for some
Molallas there is no separation clue to divide
the two. There is a long history of this cultural
mix here and history tells that the Muslim rulers
built many of the temples of Ayodhya. The poetry
written by Mir Anis and Brij Bihary Chakbast
shows the same mix. There is a historical record
of freedom struggle in the year 1957 in which
Hindus and Muslims took part without caring for
the religious difference. The famous Ashfaqullah,
the martyr from the Bhagat Singh group, belongs
to Faizabad.So the tradition of Hindu Muslim
unity is very strong here.
The public of Faizabad is basically peace loving.
They love the entertainments of the peaceful time
when they can cut jokes and enjoy the simple
pleasures of life. You may come across people who
would remember the old peaceful days with a sort
of nostalgia. In fact the temple mosque
controversy has destroyed the freedom and peace
of the 1980s.Those days no cop would disturb a
night wanderer even in late night. The thela
shops would remain open till late night for the
nocturnals of the city. But now you get police
all the time. The shops close early and people
hurry to their homes. It is an example of how the
life of peace loving people can be disturbed by
communal forces with the sole agenda of
collecting votes to grab the political power .In
other words it is a tragedy in democracy that
goons have a control over politics and life.
General public in Faizabad is of the view that
the program of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is about
to flop. But some conjecture clash between the
karsevaks and police. This will increase the
problems of the inhabitants of the city.
Curiously enough many sants of Ayodhya,like
Gyandas of the Hanumangarhi temple, have also
opposed the program of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
o o o
See also reports posted on:
Hindutwa at Work
http://haw.blogspot.com/
Communalism watch
http://communalism.blogspot.com/
______
[5]
The Times of India, October 15, 2003
Interview
Healing Touch for Godhra
[ Monday, October 13, 2003 11:59:46 Pm ]
Even before the Sabarmati Express coach was set
alight at Signal Falia on Feb 27 last year,
Godhra knew Dr Shujaat Vali as a gynaecologist
who was trying to bring Hindus and Muslims in the
town closer. In the ensuing riots, his nursing
home was prevented from being burnt down by
Hindus who prevailed upon miscreants in their own
community. After last month's communal clash in
Godhra, peace activists conducted a survey there.
He spoke to Jyoti Punwani about the exercise:
Tell us about this survey.
To protest against the communal violence on
September 4 during the Ganesh yatra, we organised
a fast. A week later, a rally was taken out at
which we distributed a questionnaire, prepared
after a detailed discussion amongst all NGOs. The
rally passed through the main areas of Godhra. A
total of 428 persons answered the questionnaire,
55 per cent Muslim and 45 per cent Hindu.
What was the response of the people?
Very enthusiastic. They seemed eager to fill in
the questionnaire. We could sense their sincerity
and seriousness. They felt that their opinion
counted.
What were the findings?
We asked four questions. The responses were: 89
per cent felt that recurring riots were the main
hurdle in Godhra's progress; four per cent
disagreed; the rest didn't answer this question.
Over 84 per cent believed that the route of
religious yatras should be appropriately planned.
Nearly as many felt that religious and political
rallies should be banned in times of communal
tension.
How will these findings help?
The administration should pay attention to them
and take decisions on the basis of these results.
Before the Ganesh yatra, most people had felt
that if it was not allowed to pass through
Muslim-dominated areas, trouble could be avoided.
The administration, too, seemed to agree with
this view. But it felt it had no grounds on which
to order the change of route. Now, on the basis
of the results of this survey, they will be able
to convince organisers of yatras not to take
them through sensitive areas.
Godhra saw no deaths in mob violence after Feb 27
last year, though the Sabarmati Express was burnt
there. Why did the recent violence take place?
The Friday namaz coincided with the Ganesh yatra.
So, there was a lot of tension already. Muslims
decided to observe aself-imposed curfew. When the
yatra reached Rani Masjid, near Polan Bazaar,
some miscreants wrote "Jai Shree Ram" on the
blackboard outside the masjid. This provoked
stone-throwing from both sides, and finally
resulted in looting and arson.
After Feb 27, the administration had initiated
peace efforts. Have they been continuing?
They came to a stop just before the elections. In
June this year, however, we again got together
and decided to do something at least once a
month. In Godhra, 11 NGOs jointly organised a
'Mehndi Harifai' in which 176 girls participated.
One Hindu and one Muslim girl sat opposite each
other and applied mehndi on each other's hands.
Girls from all strata of society took part in
this. In July, we organised a qawwali and in
August, a mushaira. Both were attended by Hindus
and Muslims. After the violence in September, we
observed a day's fast in the sensitive Patelwada,
conducted the survey, distributed pamphlets and
organised a peace rally in which 2,000 persons
participated, despite it being a working day.
Are the two communities as polarised as they were
after the burning of the train?
Most Hindus still feel that Muslims were
responsible for the riots because they burnt the
train. They feel Muslims are the main cause of
conflict. Muslims, on the other hand, believe
that they are being falsely targeted by
politicians from the majority community.
Especially after Maulana Umerji's arrest (as the
chief conspirator behind the burning of the
train), Muslims, specially Ghanchis, feel cowed
down and defeated. They feel that communal forces
want to destroy them, and there is no justice for
them in India.
So, is there no contact between the two
communities? What about financial dealings?
Gradually, Hindu traders have again started
dealing with Muslim retailers and transporters.
But these dealings have yet to reach the earlier
level. Hindus still avoid Signal Falia's garages.
Business there is very bad; electricity comes for
just two to four hours a day. Otherwise, the fear
of physical harm has reduced and both communities
have become less wary of visiting each other's
areas. The middle classes of both communities
have begun to see through the communal
propaganda, and within these sections, the hatred
that had sprung up last year has lessened. Among
Muslims, the main cause of anger is the
continuing arrests of those they feel are
innocent in connection with the train incident.
The anger is not against Hindus, but against
political parties and state functionaries.
What can be done to restore normality in Godhra?
As is happening in Ahmedabad, economic
compulsions and interdependence alone can bring
peace to Godhra. The government and public
institutions should think about setting up common
spaces for both communities to work and trade
together. In Godhra, each community is confined
to its ghetto.
What was the response to the Nanavati-Shah Commission in Godhra?
Very bad. Hindus were not interested, except
those active in politics. Muslims had no faith in
judges. The few witnesses who deposed were not
satisfied with the commission.
______
[6]
Mid Day [India]
Adeep Singh's 'Adharm' gets 40 cuts
By: Jasmine Shah Varma
October 8, 2003
Debutant director Adeep SinghYou can only expect
a filmmaker to be heartbroken when he has been
asked to make 40 cuts to his film by the Censor
Board.
This is the tale of first time director and
producer Adeep Singh. His film Adharm was denied
the censor certificate four times. "At the fifth
trial, they asked me to make 33 sound cuts and
seven visual cuts. On top of that they have
certified it A."
It does not take much guesswork to figure out
that this film felt the severity of the board's
scissors because it is on the ever-controversial
subject of Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan conflict.
Words including Pakistan, Muslim, M F Husain,
Wankhede, ch******, bh***a and masjid, among many
others, have been muted from full sentences. As a
result, when the film releases you will hear
dialogues like '_ _ ______ ne Saraswati ki nangi
tasveer utari.' Or 'Jab dekho ______ se sadak tak
namaz padhte hai.'
After struggling with the Censor Board for six
months, Singh is happy that his Rs 2 crore film
(in the making since 2000) has a certificate to
show it in cinema halls.
So what is so problematic about the film? Singh
says, "After the first trial, when they refused
to give my film a certificate, they said that
there will be communal riots because of my film.
I asked them to suggest cuts but they asked me to
revise the film myself and get it. This kept
happening for three more trials."
The film is set in Mumbai and showcases a
Maharashtrian, Hindu fundamentalist called
Dadasaheb Kulkarni (played by Sayaji Shinde) who
belongs to the political party called Bhartiya
Hindu Sangh (the board has got rid of this name
from the film as well). "He bears no resemblance
to any politician or party. Yet they have drawn
comparisons and said that it will cause trouble."
Kuldeep (Rahul Dev) and his younger brother
Jaideep (Rocky Khanna) migrate to the metropolis
following the killing of their Sikh parents. Only
the starting point of the film, Singh says, is
taken from a real-life incident. He is referring
to the massacre of 37 Sikhs in Chattisinghpora,
in Jammu and Kashmir on March 20, 2000, by
terrorists.
Of all places, the two brothers settle in
Mumbai's Maharashtrian locality, Lalbaug. Here,
the politician Kulkarni finds in Kuldeep a tool
for his political games centred around Hindutva.
He brainwashes the Sikh boy into killing a
Muslim, who then lands in jail. In there, and on
reading the sacred texts of all religions, he
realises that he has been used by Kulkarni. But
then, it's too late. His brother has also been
brainwashed by now.
Explaining his film, Singh says: "My message in
this film is that everyone should love their
country. The film is against such Indians who
celebrate India's loss to Pakistan in a cricket
match. And against those politicians who exploit
the young by brainwashing them against other
religions."
He adds, "My message is strong and positive and I
don't think it will lead to communal riots. The
audience is mature enough to get the message. The
Censor Board, however, needs to change its laws.
How can a four-member jury decide what the rest
of India is ready to watch?"
The simplistically portrayed views of this
42-year-old Mumbai -bred filmmaker on the
India-Pakistan conflict will be on view before
the end of this year. He has just sold the music
rights to Zee Records and plans to air the promos
soon. The film also features Namrata Shirodkar,
Sonali Kulkarni and Seema Biswas. Singh has
assisted directors Ketan Mehta and John Matthew
Mathan prior to making Adharm.
______
[7]
[October 15, 2003]
AIDWA ANTI-DOWRY CONVENTION IN GORAKHPUR, UP
As part of the on-going AIDWA [All India
Democratic Women's Association] national campaign
against dowry and its expanding dimensions, the
Gorakhpur district unit of AIDWA organised an
anti-dowry convention in the city on the 11th
October. Gorakhpur is currently the hub of the
activities of the Hindutva brigade led by the
Hindu Mahasabha MP, Mahant Adityanath. For over
a year, the Mahant and his Hindu Yuva Vahini
hoodlums have been terrorising and attacking poor
Muslims in the city and in the villages of the
district and neighbouring districts on some
pretext or the other. Lives have been lost and
many homes and shops burnt down. To have
organised a convention of this kind in the
prevailing atmosphere and that too by a weak unit
was most commendable and was welcomed by many
sections of the population including the media,
teachers, workers and, of course, women.
The convention that began at 12 noon and
continued till 3.00 pm was held in the
Journalists Association Hall in the heart of the
city. More than 250 people attended. Many women
including AIDWA activists, members of Samakhya,
and others and progressive writers, trade
unionists, teachers, youth and students attended.
The convention began with an anti-dowry skit that
had been prepared and was acted by AIDWA
activists and their young daughters. Malti
Devi, Dsst President of AIDWA, welcomed all the
participants and welcomed Madhu Garg (State
President), Jagdish Pandey (Veteran leader of the
teachers movement), Veena (Samakhya) and
Subhashini Ali (President, AIDWA) on the dais.
She spoke of the way in which the district unit
had been preparing for this event for the last 2
months. Many area meetings had been held and the
initiative had been widely appreciated. She also
said that there were some people who felt that
this was a very dangerous campaign and they were
openly preventing women from attending the
convention!
Madhu Garg placed the main points of the AIDWA
perspective before the convention and formally
inaugurated it. The first speaker was Mansa a
young dalit student in BA Final who spoke
forcefully about the way in which advertisements
promoted dowry and greed. She was followed by
Shweta Verma a student of B Sc Part 1 who wanted
young girls like herself to reject dowry demands
even if they had to remain unmarried. Sumitra, a
Dalit woman, said that earlier in her community
only 20 annas were spent on a marriage and, much
later, this amount went up to 51/- but now
thousands had to be spent. Advocate Deep Prakash
Pathak explained the laws relating to dowry and
dowry harassment and violence and lamented the
fact that the police and the judiciary were
largely unsympathetic. In between the speakers,
anti-dowry songs were presented by Mahila
Samakhya and Pramod a DYFI activist. Sundari
from Samakhya related the case of a young girl
who was killed because her dowry was insufficient
on her wedding night itself. But due to the
intervention of women activists at least her
husband and his family members were arrested.
Krishna related the heart-rending story of Pushpa
who gave birth to her fourth daughter. Her
husband refused to go to the hospital to see her
and she actually died the next day. Talat Aziz
of Dehat orgn. spoke about dowry being a serious
problem among Muslims even though there was no
religious sanction of any kind for the practice.
She said that it was very unfortunate that
so-called religious Muslim leaders never
condemned it.
After this several women and one man who had
themselves married into other castes and
communities or who had arranged dowryless and
intercaste marriages for their children were
introduced and also felicitated. This part of
the programme created quite a stir in the
audience! Arun Sharma, a DYFI activist, spoke of
his own marriage to a Muslim girl and of the
problems that they had faced; Simran Tirke,
Dsst.Secy, AIDWA, described how she a non-tribal
married a tribal man and, as a result, her
parents faced severe social ostracism but because
they were so fond of her husband they faced all
this with great determination; Pushpa Sharma,
Dsst. Vice-President said that she had refused to
take dowry at the time of both her sons'
marriages and, in fact, the second marriage had
been an inter-caste one - her daughter-in-law
also addressed the audience; Parvati Sharma,
AIDWA Dsst leader said that even though both her
sons were permanent railway employees, she had
married both without taking dowry and one of the
marriages was an inter-caste one; Kusuma Devi
said that she married her son to a girl who was
adopted. The audience listened to these brave
and unusual people with rapt attention and
applauded them enthusiastically.
Jagdish Pandey appreciated AIDWA's efforts and
congratulated the organisation and Veena Rana of
Mahila Samakhya said that her organisation would
work closely with AIDWA on the issues of dowry
and womens eqauality.
The last speaker, Subhashini Ali, spoke about the
effects that globalisation and liberalisation
were having on our society. The rampant
consumerism and use and re-invention of
"tradition' for commercial and exploitative
purposes was driving dowry demands and fuelling
violence against women. In turn, this was
aggravating the problem of female foeticide and
infanticide leading to the widening of the gender
gap. She appealed to all sections to make the
struggle against dowry an integral part of all
campaigns and struggles against globalisation,
She concluded by saying that women had to
organise and campaign so that their issues became
part of the agenda of political parties who, by
and large, exploited womens issues for their own
ends but were not really concerned about their
problems and about gender injustice. After she
spoke, several young boys and girls came to the
dias and made a vow not to take dowry or to agree
to a marriage where dowry was being demanded.
One leader of the teacher's movement even
announced that not only would he not take dowry
at the time of his son's marriage but he welcomed
any suggestions from people in the audience about
an educated girl who would be willing to marry
his son! The convention ended on this fairly
optimistic note.
Subhashini Ali
______
[8]
Sify.com
Lesbian groups meet at Mumbai film fest
Tuesday, 14 October , 2003, 13:20
Mumbai: Lesbian groups from around the world are
descending this week on Mumbai for a three-day
film festival that will highlight the issues and
problems they face globally, organisers said
Tuesday.
The festival, organised by "Humjinsi", will run
from Friday till Sunday and showcase works from
South East Asia, Africa, Latin America, West Asia
and other parts of the world.
"We are creating a package of films and videos
around the theme of sexual and gender
minorities," said Chatura, one of the organisers.
"Our agenda is to primarily create a forum for
showcasing works emerging from South East Asia,
the Middle East, Africa and Latin America," she
said.
"This three-day campaign will highlight the
gender and sexuality problems among lesbians in
India too." Homosexuality is banned in India.
"Any two people caught in the act of lesbianism
or homosexuality are liable to be punished under
section 377 of Indian Penal code," well-known
lesbian activist Geeta Kumana told AFP.
The Indian government and a few gay organisations
are locked in intense legal tussles, with gays
demanding the right to choose their sexual
partners and the government proclaiming same-sex
relations are against the country's culture.
The organisers of the festival see it as a
platform to further help their movement. "(It)
will help to complement the already existing and
ongoing work within the sexuality and gender
minority movement at the grassroot level in
India," Chatura told AFP.
"We look at it as a political tool to generate
more visibility, facilitate a public discourse
and celebrate our various existences."
She said the screening of films will be supported
by discussion forums and readings. Organisers say
the festival is a non-profit event which makes it
difficult for them to pay screening fees to
filmmakers.
"Our funds enable us only to manage the
infrastructure and administrative costs for
conducting the festival," said Chatura.
The festival will be held at Mumbai's well known National College.
______
[9]
Frontline [India], Volume 20 - Issue 21, October 11 - 24, 2003
GENDER ISSUES: In a twilight world
SIDDHARTH NARRAIN
The eunuchs of India constitute a
much-misunderstood community; they are often
denied humane treatment by the state machinery
and are deprived of the rights that other
citizens enjoy.
"Ever since I can remember, I have always
identified myself as a woman. I lived in
Namakkal, a small town in Tamil Nadu. When I was
in the 10th standard I realised that the only way
for me to be comfortable was to join the hijra
community. It was then that my family found out
that I frequently met hijras who lived in the
city. One day, when my father was away, my
brother, encouraged by my mother, started beating
me with a cricket bat. I locked myself in a room
to escape from the beatings. My mother and
brother then tried to break into the room to beat
me up further. Some of my relatives intervened
and brought me out of the room. I related my
ordeal to an uncle of mine who gave me Rs.50 and
asked me to go home. Instead, I took the money
and went to live with a group of hijras in Erode."
* "My name is Sachin and I am 23 years old. As a
child I always enjoyed putting make-up like
`vibhuti' or `kum kum' and my parents always saw
me as a girl. I am male but I only have female
feelings. I used to help my mother in all the
housework like cooking, washing and cleaning.
Over the years I started assuming more of the
domestic responsibilities at home. The neighbours
started teasing me. They would call out to me and
ask: `Why don't you go out and work like a man?'
or `Why are you staying at home like a girl?' But
I liked being a girl. I felt shy about going out
and working. Relatives would also mock and scold
me on this score. Every day I would go out of the
house to bring water. And as I walked back with
the water I would always be teased. I felt very
ashamed. I even felt suicidal. How could I live
like that? But my parents never protested. They
were helpless."
- From the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties
(Karnataka) Report on Human Rights Violations
Against the Transgender Community, released in
September 2003.
HIJRAS in India have virtually no safe spaces,
not even in their families, where they are
protected from prejudice and abuse. The recently
released PUCL(K) Report on Human Rights
Violations Against the Transgender Community has
documented the kind of prejudice that hijras face
in Bangalore. The report shows that this
prejudice is translated into violence, often of a
brutal nature, in public spaces, police stations,
prisons and even in their homes. The main factor
behind the violence is that society is not able
to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not
conform to the accepted gender divisions. In
addition to this, most hijras have a lower
middle-class background, which makes them
susceptible to harassment by the police. The
discrimination based on their class and gender
makes the hijra community one of the most
disempowered groups in Indian society.
PAWAN KUMAR/AFP
Eunuchs from Rajasthan at the All India Eunuch
Convention in Rath, some 250 km from Lucknow, in
June 2001. The convention was meant to thrash out
issues ranging from careers in politics to
disciplining the community's younger generation.
However, the human rights movement in India has
begun to take notice of the concerns of the
community only recently. Legal scholar Upendra
Baxi, in the foreword to the PUCL(K) report,
says: "The dominant discourse on human rights in
India has yet to come to terms with the
production/reproduction of absolute human
rightlessness of transgender communities.... At
stake is the human right to be different, the
right to recognition of different pathways of
sexuality, a right to immunity from the
oppressive and repressive labelling of despised
sexuality. Such a human right does not exist in
India."
Transgender communities have existed in most
parts of the world with their own local
identities, customs and rituals. They are called
baklas in the Philippines, berdaches among
American Indian tribes, serrers in Africa and
hijras, jogappas, jogtas, shiv-shaktis and
aravanis in South Asia. The hijra community in
India, which has a recorded history of more than
4,000 years, was considered to have special
powers because of its third-gender status. It was
part of a well-established `eunuch culture' in
many societies, especially in West Asia, and its
members held sanctioned positions in royal courts.
Hijras trace their origins to myths in the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Rama, while leaving
for the forest upon being banished from the
kingdom for 14 years, turns around to his
followers and asks all the `men and women' to
return to the city. Among his followers the
hijras alone do not feel bound by this direction
and decide to stay with him. Impressed with their
devotion, Rama sanctions them the power to confer
blessings on people on auspicious occasions like
childbirth and marriage, and also at inaugural
functions. This set the stage for the custom of
badhai in which hijras sing, dance and confer
blessings.
The legend in the Mahabharata is that Aravan, the
son of Arjuna and Nagakanya, offers to be
sacrificed to Goddess Kali to ensure the victory
of the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war. The only
condition that he made was to spend the last
night of his life in matrimony. Since no woman
was willing to marry one who was doomed to be
killed, Krishna assumes the form of a beautiful
woman called Mohini and marries him. The hijras
of Tamil Nadu consider Aravan their progenitor
and call themselves aravanis.
The hijra community is divided into seven houses,
each headed by a `nayak' who appoints gurus or
spiritual leaders to train their wards or
`chelas' in badhai and protect them. Hijras in
South India do not have the same cultural role as
their counterparts in North India and most of
them take up sex work as a means of earning a
living.
Kothi is a term used to describe male homosexuals
who take on the female role; they are largely
from a non-English-speaking lower middle-class
background. Many kothis marry owing to family
pressure but continue to have same sex
relationships. There is a symbolic relationship
between kothis and hijras, which has been
strengthened because of the lack of other support
systems for kothis in cities and smaller towns.
For many hijras and kothis, sex work is the only
option because no one is willing to employ them
because of their gender identity. Even as
commercial sex workers, hijras are the most
vulnerable group as they are placed right at the
bottom of the hierarchy of sex workers. This
results in their having little bargaining power
and being unable to ensure that their customers
practise safe sex. They are also at risk of
violence both from customers and the police.
According to the PUCL(K) report, violence is a
widespread and everyday reality for hijra and
kothi sex workers in Bangalore. Owing to the
intolerance they face from their families, hijras
and kothis often use public spaces like parks and
toilets to entertain sexual partners, lovers and
sometimes even clients. The lack of protection or
privacy afforded by their own accommodation,
makes them vulnerable to violence, inflicted
largely by the police.
The harassment and surveillance by the police
sometimes extends into the privacy of their
homes. The place with the most scope for abuse is
the police station where the police, on a regular
basis, violate all canons of civilised behaviour
by physically, sexually and verbally abusing and
humiliating hijras and kothis.
Prisons are also places where anyone who is seen
as not being `masculine enough' is harassed and
often physically and sexually abused. According
to the PUCL(K) report, the deeply sexual nature
of the violence indicates that the sexuality of
the hijra becomes the target of prurient
curiosity, which could in its extreme form
manifest itself as brutal violence. Sexual abuse
and violence, apart from being the most
systematic tool for dehumanising an individual,
can be understood as a punishment for not
conforming to the gender roles laid down by
society.
ACCORDING to the two main diagnostic systems used
in the Indian medical establishment,
transsexualism is defined as a `gender identity
disorder'. The doctors usually prescribe a sexual
reassignment surgery (SRS), which currently
resorts to hormone therapy and surgical
reconstruction and may include electrolysis,
speech therapy and counselling. Surgical
construction could include the removal of male
sex organs and the construction of female ones.
Since government hospitals and qualified private
practitioners do not usually perform SRS, many
hijras go to quacks, thus placing themselves at
serious risk. Neither the Indian Council for
Medical Research (ICMR) nor the Medical Council
of India (MCI) have formulated any guidelines to
be followed in SRS. The attitude of the medical
establishment has only reinforced the low sense
of self-worth that many hijras have at various
moments in their lives.
The media have also reinforced stereotypes about
hijras. In December 2002, Chandini, a hijra from
Bangalore, died of severe burns in her home. The
hijra community alleged that her husband, who had
a long-standing relationship with her, had
murdered her for money, and demanded that an
impartial probe be held. The police refused and
stuck to their version that it was a case of
suicide. The local newspapers, including Police
News, portrayed the incident as an exciting
romantic tryst between two strangers, in which
the unsuspecting man discovered the true sexual
identity of the wily hijra. Even a progressive
and anti-establishment publication, in its story,
described hijras as a race apart, freaks of the
underworld, half-man half-woman, almost devilish
in their customs and practices. This kind of
gender stereotyping was seen in many local
English newspapers as well.
The systematic violence that hijras face is
reinforced by institutions such as the family,
media and the medical establishment, and is given
legitimacy by the legal system. The violence that
the hijra community faces from the police can be
traced to the 1897 amendment to the Criminal
Tribes Act of 1871, which was subtitled "An Act
for the Registration of Criminal Tribes and
Eunuchs". Under this law, the local government
was required to keep a register of the names and
residences of all eunuchs who were "reasonably
suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or
committing offences under Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code". The law also decreed eunuchs
as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a
gift, drawing up a will or adopting a son.
The law that is used most to threaten the hijra
and kothi communities, as well as the homosexual
community in India, is Section 377 of the IPC,
which criminalises "carnal intercourse against
the order of nature with any man, woman or
animal" even if it is voluntary. In effect, it
criminalises certain kinds of sexual acts that
are perceived to be `unnatural'. The law, which
has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in
effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual
person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against
the order of nature", thus making this entire lot
of marginalised communities vulnerable to police
harassment and arrest.
The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) of 1956
(amended in 1986), whose stated objective is to
criminalise brothel-keeping, trafficking, pimping
and soliciting, in reality targets the visible
figure of the sex worker and enables the police
to arrest and intimidate the transgender
sex-worker population.
T. SINGARAVELOU
Winners of the Miss Koovakkam 2003 beauty pageant
for eunuchs held at Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, in
April. Hijras converge at Koovakkam every year.
The hijra community is deprived of several rights
under civil law because Indian law recognises
only two sexes. This means that hijras do not
have the right to vote, marry and own a ration
card, a passport or a driving licence, or claim
employment and health benefits.
In north and central India, hijras, who have
contested and won elections to local and State
bodies, are now facing legal challenges. In
February 2003, the Madhya Pradesh High Court
struck down the election of Kamala Jaan as the
Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Katni. The
court's logic was that since Kamala Jaan was not
a woman, she could not contest the seat, which
was reserved for women. Lawyer Pratul Shandilya,
who is arguing Kamala Jaan's case, said: "I have
already filed the Special Leave Petition (SLP)
before the Supreme Court, and the court has also
granted leave in the petition."
The High Court verdict came despite a direction
from the Election Commission (E.C.) in September
1994 that hijras can be registered in the
electoral roles either as male or female
depending on their statement at the time of
enrolment. This direction was given by the E.C.
after Shabnam, a hijra candidate from the
Sihagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh,
wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner
enquiring about which category hijras were
classified under.
BUT around the world, countries are beginning to
recognise the rights of transgender people. In a
landmark judgment (Christine Goodwin vs. the
United Kingdom, 2002) the European Court of Human
Rights declared that the U.K. government's
failure to alter the birth certificates of
transsexual people or to allow them to marry in
their new gender role was a breach of the
European Convention on Human Rights. It said that
a test of biological factors could no longer be
used to deny recognition legally to the change of
gender that a transsexual had undergone. In New
Zealand, in New Zealand Attorney General vs. the
Family Court at Otahuhu (1994), the court upheld
the principle that for purposes of marriage,
transsexual people should be legally recognised
in their re-assigned sex.
In Victoria, Australia, the Equal Opportunity
(Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation) Bill,
debated and amended in the State Assembly in
2000, has laid down a comprehensive definition of
gender identity by incorporating various social
and cultural factors that shape a person's gender
and sexual identity. The International Bill of
Gender Rights, adopted in 1995, provides for the
right to define and express freely one's gender
identity, and is therefore a model for
progressive legislative change.
OF late the Indian hijra community has begun to
mobilise themselves through the formation of a
collective. Sangama, an organisation working with
hijras, kothis and sex workers in Bangalore, has
played an important role by helping them organise
and fight for their rights. Its services include
organising a drop-in centre for hijras and
kothis, conducting a series of public rallies and
marches, using legal assistance in case of police
harassment, and establishing links with other
social movements. When the owners' association of
the apartment complex where the Sangama office
was located objected to hijras visiting the
premises, the organisation sent letters to, among
others, the Chief Minister and the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC). The Chief Minister
responded saying that he would ensure that the
matter was investigated. A letter from the NHRC
to the police station concerned resulted in the
police assuring Sangama that the rights of all
residents of the building, including the
employees and visitors to Sangama, would be
protected.
In December 2002, hijras, kothis and other sexual
minorities in Bangalore formed a collective
called Vividha. Its charter of demands includes
the repeal of Section 377 and the ITPA. It has
also demanded that hijras be recognised as women,
be given equal opportunities, with entitlement to
housing, employment benefits and rail travel
concession.
In 2002, the hijra community in Bangalore
organised `Hijra Habba', a festival of sports and
cultural events, which was covered extensively
and positively by the media. In 2003, the
festival was staged again in Bangalore's Town
Hall and over 100 hijras participated in the
meet. Kajol, a hijra who addressed the packed
hall on the occasion, said: "I was initially told
not to speak in front of the media because it
would affect my family. But I decided that it was
important for me to speak and assert my
identity." She added that "hijras were part of a
wider community of sexual minorities" and singled
out society's treatment of lesbians for whom
there exist very few spaces.
The organisations of the hijra community can be
seen as constituting a larger movement of sexual
minority groups in India. They are challenging
the constitutional validity of Section 377 and
are organising a campaign questioning the
government's stand that the law should remain.
The discrimination and violence that hijras face
show that it is high time that both the
government and the human rights movement in the
country begin to take this issue with the
seriousness it deserves.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
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