SACW | 8 Dec. 2003 | Pakistan/India /Censors/ Assam/ N East/
Karnataka/Hindutva
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Dec 7 23:30:50 CST 2003
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WIRE | 8 December, 2003
via: www.sacw.net
_______
[1] Pakistan: Pure society, impure culture (Serwat Ali)
[2] Pakistan: Bullah beyond borders (Ather Naqvi)
[3] Indian Muslims: Identity and modernity (Asghar Ali Engineer)
[4] India: Why is Assam burning? (Walter Fernandes)
[5] Nationalizing Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics
of Development in Northeast India (Sanjib Baruah)
[6] India denies visa to UK watchdog [Move to
scuttle investigation against fundamentalists]
[7] India: Karnataka: Congress government's
'soft-hindutva' - more than 500 anti-communal
activists arrested
[8] Announcement: "Rivers, Water Conflicts And The Question Of Sustainability:
Reflections on The Brahmaputra Basin" Films /Lectures/Conversations....
--------------
[1]
[Pakistan: Censorship]
The News on Sunday
7 December 2003
Pure society, impure culture
Are we settling in a period of strict censorship
and a puritanical regime which views every
cultural activity with suspicion either on the
grounds of morality or religion?
By Serwat Ali
On Eid two cultural programmes held in Karachi
and Faisalabad were disrupted either by the law
enforcing authorities or some sections of the
audience under one pretext or the other.
This alarming trend has been gathering momentum
for some time. A few months back theatres were
raided in Lahore and the performers arrested and
kept in detention for some time on the charge of
vulgarity and obscenity. Since then the raiding
of plays during performance and imposition of an
instant ban has become a regular feature in the
various cities of the Punjab. One hears or reads
in the press of raids being conducted in cities
like Gujranwala or Sheikhupura and performances
being banned mostly on the charge that the
contents of the play or the dances included in it
were obscene and vulgar.
A few weeks ago fashion shows in hotels were
banned in the country on the orders coming from
no less a person than the prime minister himself.
And repeatedly some important person like the
provincial minister of education in the Punjab is
quoted in the media of having issued orders
banning music and cultural programmes in schools
and colleges in the province. A few weeks ago a
ban was imposed on kite flying and the biggest
emerging festival which was beginning to assume a
form and shape to attract international tourists
is being nipped in the bud.
In the North Western Frontier Province all
cultural activity has already been banned.
Ironically Peshawar had given refuge to hundred
of musicians who had to migrate from Afghanistan
during the Taliban rule. The entire musical
heritage of Afghanistan moved out of its habitat
and was protected, preserved and promoted by
people living in the province. Now all the
performing artists of the province are themselves
looking for refuge.
Are we settling in a period of strict censorship
and a puritanical regime which views every
cultural activity with suspicion either on the
grounds of morality or religion? To circumvent
this shrinking space usually pragmatic
justification for allowing such activities is
advanced like the textile sector stressing on the
need of holding fashion shows as an important
platform to display the progress made by them. It
is another name for marketing through
advertisement. The advocates for kite flyers
point out that basant has become an occasion big
enough to attract tourists. Both for its novelty
and scale it has sufficient attraction to draw
foreign tourists without really having to pander
to them, all this being in line with the policies
made in the country for the promotion of tourism.
This is not the first time that such efforts have
been made or directives issued by the official
circles. As long as one can remember basant has
been a contentious issue where the stated
position of the government has always been at
variance with the peoples desire to celebrate the
coming of spring with kite flying. It was the
people's festival to which the state or the
government made no contribution. It was only in
the last few years that the government stepped in
to cash in on the immense popularity of the
festival. Incidentally it was not the government
that was moved by the participation of the people
but the initiative taken by the corporate sector
that made the government join in to share the
spoils.
The directives issued to the schools and colleges
regarding music and dance has been rehearsed too
often. Very few of the schools in the public
sector have the facilities to offer to their
students like theatre and music. Only schools in
the private sector allow the students the space
to indulge in extra curricular activities.
Ordinary schools do not have the wherewithal for
imparting even the essentials of basic education.
But dance is everywhere on the media there being
now no concept of music without dance in this
current rage. The music videos have a greater
input of dance than music. In films, dance
numbers are an integral part; there being no
popular film without dance. Realising the great
appeal and draw of dance, plays in the various
theatres too started to include dance numbers. It
has been a roaring success as audiences throng to
see dance -- the play has only become its
appendage.
Pop music is now everywhere. The first pop music
concert to be held on the state controlled
television in the 1989 called Music 89 provoked
an uproar. An ultimatum was issued to the
television authorities, processions were taken
out and the television station in Lahore was
picketed by demonstrators. Allowing a pop music
programme on state controlled television was one
of the steps which the then Benazir Bhutto's
government had taken to liberalise the society.
It was seen as a step promoting licentiousness by
the conservative sections of society for People's
Party has been accused by them to be a party that
has espoused unrestrained freedom. If we look at
the pop music programme televised these days or
released on the CDs, Music 89 in comparison was a
very tame affair.
The cultural environment and the definitions are
changing all the time but the poignant question
is what kind of society do we want Pakistan to
be? A closed puritanical society where all the
forms of expression and manner of celebration is
driven underground. Where no distinction is made
between art, entertainment and vulgarity. Where
culture is considered a commodity that can be
imported to compensate for the absence of any
activity at home.The few societies where these
activities are banned and nothing is allowed in
the name of culture can hardly serve as the role
model for a country like ours.
[...].
_____
[2]
The News on Sunday
December 7, 2003
Bullah beyond borders
The overwhelming response given to the recent
theatre performances by Ajoka in the Indian
Punjab shows how the territorial divide has
failed to separate tastes
By Ather Naqvi
The Ajoka team is happy. Simply happy -- because
people in the Indian Punjab went down on their
knees in a gesture of gratitude, mesmerised by
the group's performance of 'Bullah'.
Staging 'Bullah'-- a play based on the life and
teachings of Baba Bulleh Shah -- coincides with
the silencing of guns at the Indo-Pak border. And
performing 'Bullah' in the heart of Indian Punjab
was an experience that seems to have far exceeded
the expectations of both the sides -- the
visiting artistes as well as the audience in the
Indian Punjab.
The 27 member Ajoka team had not expected a
standing ovation from an audience comprising
mostly Sikhs. What caused the reception? Was it
the quality of the performances? Was it the
affinity the Indian Punjabis feel with the poetry
of Bullah? Was it the message the play carried:
love and peace? A combination of all these, the
artistes say, is what has made this performance
draw such an applause.
A very hearty reception by the organisors of the
event in Amritsar and other cities like Julandhar
and Ludhiana set the tone for the visit. The
hectic schedule of eight performances in six
cities within 15 days was not a strain on the
artistes nerves, as many had anticipated before
the start of the tour. Rather it proved to be too
short an exercise to absorb the entire warmth
associated with it.
It also happens to be a learning experience in
many ways. Madeeha Gauhar, director of 'Bullah'
returns home with a lot to share with Pakistanis.
She believes that the first ever visit of a
theatre team to the Indian Punjab has served to
broaden their knowledge about what life in
today's Punjab is like, especially in respect to
women. "In Indian Punjab a woman's life is very
different from ours. She rides motorbike and can
stay at her workplace till late at night. All
this reflects that theirs is a non-segregated
society, unlike ours," she opines.
She hopes that this will help thaw the
India-Pakistan relations after the post-nuclear
confrontation since 1998. Her success in India
has encouraged her to form an association of
artistes from both sides of the divided Punjab.
"The association has not yet been formally
launched, but we are in contact with the Indian
theatre artistes and are very soon going to form
the long-awaited association of theatre artistes
from both India and Pakistan."
She blames the government for not allowing Indian
artistes to perform in Pakistan. "Rafi Peer
theatre invited the Indian artistes to attend the
last cultural show in Lahore but the government
of Pakistan did not issue them visas. It is about
time the government realises how important
cultural exchanges are in paving the way for a
political dialogue," she says. Madeeha expects
the process to continue as the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations (ICCR) has invited Ajoka to
Delhi in January next year.
"Punjabi language is growing there," reflects
Gauhar. "We feel ashamed of the fact that there
is not a single daily Punjabi newspaper in
Lahore. While there are so many in Indian Punjab.
We prefer to speak in Urdu with our children even
if we are of Punjabi origin. We have to correct
ourselves." she says.
"We rode a wave of emotions to India. Fourteen
out of 27 members of the Ajoka team have an
association with Indian Punjab." says Sarfraz
Ansari who played the lead role in 'Bullah'. He
was honoured with the Prithvi Raj Kapoor Award.
"I feel different after performing in India."
He admits he was apprehensive about performing in
Indian Punjab. "I feared that we might fail to
develop the kind of interaction with the audience
there which is a must to get the message across,"
says Sarfraz.
"The people there have no airs about themselves.
They do not feel shy of speaking Panjabi as we
do. There are also more art lovers in India than
in Pakistan. There is no language barrier either.
We performed 'Kala Mendha Bhes', a Seraiki play
in Delhi and Calcutta in 1998, and the audiences
there appreciated the play as if it was being
performed in their local language."
Sarfraz Ansari disagrees that Indians in general
are prejudiced against Pakistan. "It is
politically orchestrated. Why else would a singer
like Hans Raj Hans bow down in appreciation?"
Sarfraz's interaction with the Indian audience
dates back to 1998. That year Reeta Gangoli of
National School of Dance invited him to perform
in Delhi. "People there take me as a real Bullah.
Some friends plan to attend my wedding on the
24th of this month in Lahore. Let's hope they get
visas."
"It was no problem staging the play there. The
arrangements were excellent," says Malik Aslam,
who is in charge of stage management and
production, Ajoka. He played Ghulam Mohiuddin,
Bullah's master. "We played to jam packed halls
and those who could not make it watched the play
live on the screen that was fixed outside the
theatre in Julandhar. They understand Bullah as
very few people do here in Pakistan. The kalam of
Bullah, Waris Shah and others is included in
their course at school. They have no problems
following the kalam," he says.
Tipu Sultan who played Banda Bahadur in 'Bullah'
is overwhelmed by the media coverage the group
got in India. However, they had to face some
objections raised by Akali Dal activists in
Patiala. The activists demanded the character of
Banda Bahadur, originally named Guru Gobind
Singh, to be excluded from the play. "It was
resolved amicably as some intellectuals
intervened and convinced the activists that the
character struggles against fundamentalism and
extremism," says Tipu, who adds that 'Nava
Zamana' a daily newspaper from Jalandhar is going
to do an article on him.
"We often hear the rhetoric that improving
relations are good for our economy and that we'll
have to spend less on defence if we end
hostilities and maintain friendly relations with
India. But I only understood the value of this
point of view after visiting charda Punjab
(eastern Punjab). People are mentally prepared to
add a new chapter to Indo-Pak history," believes
Sohrab Khan, who played the narrator in the play.
"I think it is about time we razed the Berlin
Wall of prejudice and hatred," he says.
Rokhsana Khan, who played the role of a
prostitute in the play, made it a point to visit
Chora bazar, Ludhiana, which is her mother's
birthplace. She hopes that crossing the border
will not be a problem in future.
_____
[3]
The Daily Star, December 8, 2003
Indian Muslims: Identity and modernity
Asghar Ali Engineer
BOTH identity and modernity are important parts
of socio-political discourse today and more so in
case of Muslims. Muslims, needless to say, are
considered much more concerned about religion and
religious identity and supposed to be rejecting
modernity. It is assumed that they prefer madrasa
education to modern secular education and refuse
to accept any change in their personal law. These
are considered as indicators of rejection of
modernity and pre-occupation with religious
identity.
What is the truth? In fact social questions are
quite complex and cannot be reduced to black and
white ignoring grey areas in between. Another
important thing is that we cannot subject the
Indian Muslim community of more than 130 million
to uniformity and homogeneity. Indian Muslims are
immensely diverse not only in terms of sects,
languages and cultures but also in terms of
classes and socio-political attitudes. There is
hardly any issue about which there is complete
consensus in the entire community, not even
issues like change in Muslim personal law. It is
really dangerous to apply stereotypes on such
immensely diverse community.
It would also be equally wrong to think, as we
often do, that all non-Muslims in India have
accepted modernity and all that goes with it and
that only Muslims resist it. Modernity, in such
discourses, is never defined properly and is used
in rather highly generalised sense. Some scholars
have sub-divided modernity into 'hard modernity'
and 'soft modernity.'
What is meant by 'hard modernity?' It is science
and technology and in this sense all Indians,
including Muslims, have accepted modernity. No
one rejects the benefits of modern science and
technology any more. If there was any resistance
to it, it was in the nineteenth century.
Soft modernity implies philosophical issues and
critical examination of traditional beliefs. Here
one can say there are significantly differing
attitudes among Muslims. Soft modernity also
includes secular education and acceptance of
secularism. It is true there is comparatively
more resistance to soft modernity among Muslims
in general and Indian Muslims, in particular.
Secularism is an integral part of soft modernity
and it is also important to note that secularism
implies discourse of rights, whereas religious
discourse is discourse of duties. All
authoritarian societies adopt discourse of duties
rather than that of rights. During emergency in
our country from 1975-1977 concept of duties was
added to our constitution. The Indian
Constitution otherwise always talked of rights.
Religious authorities also always talk of duties
and never of rights. Religious authorities never
concede rights to their followers. Their duty is
only to obey the authority or traditional beliefs.
Secular discourse, on the other hand, is entirely
discourse of rights. A modern thinker asserts,
not only political rights but also the right to
examine traditional beliefs critically. But this
right can be availed of only when there is
widespread high standard education. Muslims, for
various reasons, chief among them being poverty,
lack widespread high degree of secular education
and hence there is general resistance to
discourse of rights, including right to critical
examination of traditional beliefs.
But it should also be admitted that education is
one factor among many. Socio-political interests
also play an important role. Thus, both among
Muslims and Hindus we find some highly educated
ones aggressively promoting traditional beliefs
and vehemently opposing any attempt to critically
examine them. The members of VHP and Bajrang Dal
and even those of BJP advocate old beliefs and
traditions and even imply violence against those
asserting their secular rights.
Similarly, among Muslims organisations like SIMI
adopt violence against those who promote rational
thinking and Muslim Personal Law Board only
promoting concept of duties among Muslims and
rejecting their right to critically examine
certain age-old traditions followed by Muslims.
They often invoke the concept of divine
immutability to oppose any change. The other
reason is fear of aggressive communal campaign
from a section of majority community.
Whatever the reasons, women have to pay a heavy
price for rejection of soft modernity by men of
the community. Women are entirely subject to the
discourse of duty. The discourse of duty is, it
can be said, doubly applicable to women in all
the communities in India. Women are subject to
this discourse both in the name of religion as
well as in the name of age-old customs and
traditions.
Women are much more unequal as they are denied
benefits of soft modernity. Even among Hindus
very few women are truly 'liberated' in this
sense. Among Muslims, women are even more
unequal. The aggression shown by Muslim
leadership during the Shah Bano movement was a
good example of this. Though such aggressive
movement is no longer possible, the situation of
women has not improved much. They suffer from
many disabilities more due to customs and
traditions than religion. Islam is far more just
to them than the traditions. But in traditional
societies, religion itself is subject to customs
and tradition. Often it becomes important to
liberate religion from traditions.
In modern Indian society, question of religious
identity has become far more important. A
religiously plural country like India throws up
complex problems in a democratic set up. A
secular democratic society throws up the question
of rights for different religious communities and
also promotes competition for political power and
economic resources. The elite of the communities
mobilise masses by using religious identities and
hence religious identities becomes quite
important.
Communal problems came into existence in modern
society, as concept of rights because more
important than that of duty. Every community
asserts its religious identity to put pressure on
the system to wrest greater share in power. Our
experiences in post-independence period shows
that minority community finds it difficult to
match aggressive mobilisation by majority
community. Though before independence too,
Nehruvian theory of communalism emphasised that
majority communalism could be more dangerous but
in post-independence period majority communalism
did prove to be much more aggressive than before
independence.
Thus for a minority community, religious identity
becomes even more important. It becomes a mental
refuge. Communal solidarity is seen as effective
compensation for external pressure. And this
communal solidarity puts its own demands on
individual liberties. Individuals have to fall in
line under the weight of communal pressure and
individual rights are compromised.
It is an irony of the situation that on one hand
the majority communal discourse puts Muslims
under pressure for uniform civil code and makes
it part of political agenda and on the other
hand, creates conditions making it increasingly
difficult for the community to accept change and
'soft modernity.' In fact, the Sangh Parivar
itself rejects soft modernity and opposes secular
discourse of rights and loves concept of duties.
It attacks those who emphasise individualism and
individual rights.
Here it should also be noted that it is wrong to
depict one's religious community as more liberal
and progressive and another community as more
regressive and backward. It all depends on
socio-political conditions, particularly in
multi-religious societies. If Muslims are less
under majority communal pressure and find the
political atmosphere more congenial for their
economic progress, they will be more prone in a
democratic society like India to accept change
and soft modernity.
It can be demonstrated from Kerala experience of
the Muslim community. The Kerala Muslims, living
under a comparative sense of security are ahead
of other Indian Muslims in accepting modern
secular education, family planning and social
change. The rate of family planning among Kerala
Muslims is higher than that of Hindu women in
U.P. Also, the rate of literacy among them is far
higher than their counterparts in other parts of
India.
Also, more educated Muslims more easily opt for
soft modernism than less educated and less secure
Muslims. Some sects like the Bohras and Khojas
accept change more easily than other sects. These
sects are economically and educationally better
off, though not all Bohras and Khojas. There is
poverty and illiteracy among them too. Thus there
are regional, sectarian and economic factors
influencing Muslim behaviour. Religion is invoked
by these sections to accept or reject change as
legitimising factor.
Thus it will be seen that a sense of physical
security and economic status can be far more
influential than is generally recognised.
However, communal discourse tries to blame it
only on religion and that itself is a communal
approach to the complex problem of change and
progress. The rationalists too err in this matter
and tend to blame religion rather than these
material factors for lack of acceptability of
change.
Asghar Ali Engineer is the executive director of
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism,
Mumbai, India
_____
[4]
The Hindu
Dec 08, 2003
Why is Assam burning?
By Walter Fernandes
The Centre has treated insurgency in the
Northeast as a law and order issue or given it a
communal colour by focussing on the Bangladeshi
immigrants and ignoring those from the Hindi
heartland.
URL: www.thehindu.com/2003/12/08/stories/2003120801731000.htm
_____
[5]
URL:
www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2003.00334.x/abs/;jsessionid=gU77LBBNc5H8
Sanjib Baruah, "Nationalizing Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics
of Development in Northeast India"
Development and Change (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The
Netherlands)
Volume 34 Issue 5 - November 2003
Abstract: Until recently Arunachal Pradesh on India's Northeast frontier
was relatively insulated from the processes associated with development.
State institutions were barely present during the colonial era. In 1962,
however, India and China fought a border war in this area: this war, along
with signs of unrest among indigenous peoples in the neighbourhood,
exposed India's vulnerabilities in the region. Since then, nationalizing
this frontier space by extending the institutions of the state all the way
into the international border region has become the thrust of Indian
policy. The region's governmental infrastructure was fundamentally
redesigned to put in place what can only be described as a cosmetic
federal regional order with a number of small states dependent on the
central government's largess and subject to monitoring by India's Home
Ministry. The new regional order has put Arunachal firmly on a
developmentalist track, which has enabled India to meet its national
security goals, but at a significant cost to the region.
o o o
[The full text of the above article by Sanjib
Baruah is available to all interested via sacw.
Should you require a copy drop a note to
<aindex at mnet.fr> ]
_____
[6]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/344082.cms
The Times of India,
India denies visa to UK watchdog
RASHMEE Z AHMED
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2003 11:59:19 PM ]
LONDON: Britainís government-funded charities
watchdog was prevented from travelling
to India to find out if the UK-registered Hindu
Swaymsewak Sangh and its off-shoot,
the hugely-successful fund-raiser Sewa
International, was using the saffron pound to
fund communal hate.
The embarrassing disclosure, made to STOI by the
Charity Commission, comes within
hours of the BJPís much-heralded three-state election win and a new mood of
international optimism that India may finally
have moved on from a divisive era of
Hindu nationalism.
Sewa International is the UK's largest Indian charity.
"What is the Indian government trying to hide (by
refusing visas)", asked a leading
human rights campaigner visiting London, Father
Cedric Prakash. The priest, who has
been working for communal harmony in Gujarat and is on a high-profile visit to
London, said the visa refusal was a signal.
Indian High Commission officials declined to
comment, saying "We donít comment on
visa issues".
But a Charity Commission spokesman told STOI on
Saturday that the failed Indian visa
applications were not the end of the story. "We
are attempting to obtain information
about HSS's (and Sewa's) activities from other sources", he said.
Commission officials had formerly made clear to
this paper that the activities of
the HSS and Sewa were hard to investigate without travelling to India.
Sewa International officials, including its
president Shantilal Mistry, have always
denied the charges, claiming they are the target
of a vicious propaganda campaign.
Mistry has repeatedly asked "How any one can
allege something without having any
proof that the amount was used for sectarian violence".
On Saturday, observers said it seemed unlikely
Britainís charities watchdog would
ever be allowed to collect the requisite "proof".
The HSS, and more particularly Sewa International, have been accused of raising
hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity work,
which they then allegedly use to
spread a divisive Hindutva agenda. Sewa
International raised more than two million
pounds during the Gujarat earthquake appeal.
Earlier this year, attention was focussed on its
allegedly more unsavoury aspects
with the resignation of its patron, Gujarati peer
Adam Patel who is a close friend
of the British foreign secretary.
The Charity Commission, the UK government-backed regulator that keeps an eye on
186,000 registered charities, launched a formal investigation into charges of
sectarian misuse, misdirection of funds and false
pretences in fund-raising against
the HSS and Sewa.
At a public meeting organised by the UK's oldest
Indian Muslim organisation on the
11th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition,
Father Cedric said the situation in
Gujarat had gone from bad to worse.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Council of Indian
Muslims Munaf Zeena called for the
reconstruction of the Babri Masjid, adding that, "BJP leaders should not delude
themselves into believeing that ethnic cleansing
of Muslims in Gujarat and election
victory in three states is the victory of their fascist ideology".
o o o
Charity Commission (UK)
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/
_____
[7]
Date: 7 Dec 2003 18:39:40 -0000
From: "bababudangiri souharda vedike" <souhardagiri2002 at rediffmail.com>
Subject: Congress government's 'soft-hindutva' -
more than 500 anti-communal activists arrested
Bababudangiri shrine, a place of worship
according to sufi traditions, has been the object
of attack by the Sangh Parivar in an attempt to
communalise the political climate of Karnataka.
Last year, the Bababudangiri Souharda Vedike was
formed as a platform to uphold communal harmony
in Karnataka, to save the Bababudangir shrine
from hindutva attack and to build up a movement
of 'aggressive secularism' in Karnataka.
Each year, in December, the Sangh Parivar
organises Datta Jayanthi celebrations which
unleashes communal frenzy in the town of
Chikmagalur - a step in their plans to 'liberate'
the Sufi shrine. Last year, Pravin Togadia and
again this year Ananth Kumar, the president of
Karnataka BJP, declared that Bababudangiri is the
"ayodhya of the south' - a clear statement of
their communal intentions.
This year the Bababudangiri Souharda Vedike had
demanded that the Karnataka government should ban
the Shobhayatra and the public meetings in
Chikmagalur and Bababudangiri organised by the
Sangh Parivar on 7th & 8th December. The state
government did not agree to the demand and gave
permission to the Sangh Parivar to conduct its
programme 'in a peaceful manner'. In fact, the
Law Minister, Mr. Chandre Gowda had clearly
stated that the government cannot ban any public
meeting until and unless it becomes a law and
order problem.
The Bababudangiri Souharda Vedike had announded
that on the same days (7th & 8th), it will hold
parallel programmes in Chikmagalur to protest
against the Sangh Parivar's plans regarding
Bababudangiri. While the government gave
permission to the Sangh Parivar, it refused to
give permission to the Vedike programme.
Yesterday (6th December) the government started
making preventive arrests of key activists of the
Bababudangiri Souharda Vedike.
Today (7th December) around 500 activists reached
Chikmagalur, evading strict police vigil. Many
hundreds, including Girish Karnad, were stopped
on their way to the town.
After the activists reached the venue of the
protest meeting, all those who had gathered there
were declared to be under arrest by the police.
As soon as the meeting started, the police came
and picked up all the 500 activists and arrested
them. All the activists are now lodged in a jail
near Chikmagalur.
This attitude of the government has exposed the
'soft-hindutva' attitude of the Congress
government in Karnataka. It is not surprising
that the Law Minister, Mr. Chandre Gowda, himself
participated in last year's Datta Jayanthi
celebrations organised by Sangh Parivar. If the
communal frenzy unleashed by the hindutva
activists doesn't create 'law and order' problem,
how can a gathering which wants to uphold
communal harmony and protect the secular
characted of the society become a 'law and order'
problem for the state ? Is this anything but
bowing down to the whims and wishes of the
saffron brigade ?
We request all of you to strongly condemn the
pro-communal attitude of the Congress government
in Karnataka by preventing the protest gathering
and arresting secular & progressive activists.
The Times of India
DECEMBER 7, 2003
Rally to protest communal activities
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2003 03:18:28 AM ]
MANGALORE: With a view to generate public opinion
against communal activities and to pressure the
government to curb such activities in the state,
⤗Sahamata⤠â¤" the Bababudangiri Ulisi DK
District Samavesha Samithi â¤" took out a rally
in the city on Friday.
The rally was led by Tontada Siddalinga seer of
Viraktha Math, Gadag, Nidumamidi Chennamalla
Veerabhadra seer, CPM leader G.N. Nagraj,
thinkers Rajendra Chenni and G. Rajshekar. Later,
the rally congregated at the Nehru Maidan where
the speakers urged the government to rein in
fundamental forces who were trying to create
another Ayodhya at Bababudangiri.
Nagraj, condemning the Sangh Parivar, said they
were trying to divide the communities vertically
by separating them as Muslims and Hindus. He said
that at Bababudangiri, Hindus had not been
restricted at any time to offer prayers. The
Sangh Parivar has created this new controversy to
divide people on the basis of religion, he added.
The Nidumamidi Chennamalla Veerabhadra seer said
human values should triumph and all the rest be
set aside.
People should remember that they are humans first
and religion should come later. The rally was
also addressed by B. Sadananda Poonja, honorary
president of Sahamata. Later, M.B. Sadashiva,
president of Sahamata, presented a set of
resolutions urging the government to curb
anti-communal forces.
The resolutions are: not to allow the conduct of
Datta Jayanthi or a procession and not to allow
leaders to make inflammatory speeches; to give
adequate security to the dargah and other
structures; to create an environment for devotees
to offer prayers at the dargah; to ban the entry
of Pravin Togadia, Pramod Mutalik and others into
the state; to contain Bajrang Dal activists and
to control elements who endanger communal harmony
by posing as spokespersons of a particular
community.
_____
[8]
The Centre for Northeast India, South and Southeast Asia Studies
[CENISEAS] of the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and
Development
invites you to
RIVERS, WATER CONFLICTS AND THE QUESTION OF SUSTAINABILITY:
REFLECTIONS ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN
Films, Lectures and
Conversations
with
Jahnu Barua
Sanjib Baruah
Subir Bhaumik
Dulal C. Goswami
Sanjoy Hazarika
Lawrence MacDonnell
Chandan Mahanta
Ravindra Nath
Mahfuza Rahman
on
Tuesday December 9th and Wednesday December 10th 2003
at the
Bhaskar Natya Mandir
Uzan Bazar, Guwahati [India]
Programme
Tuesday December 9th 2003: 5 p.m. A River's Story: the Quest for the
Brahmaputra (India 2002) Screening of a film by Jahnu Barua
The Brahmaputra, one of the greatest rivers on earth and among its least
known, rises in the fastnesses of western Tibet at the start of a majestic
journey through three countries -- Tibet, India and Bangladesh --
gathering power and momentum as it sweeps toward the Bay of Bengal.
Millions depend upon the Brahmaputra -- the river is creator and destroyer
as well as a major trade, transport and migration route. In a rare voyage
of discovery, the film takes viewers to locales and communities along the
river that have been isolated for centuries. Along its 2,900-kilometer
course, the river's power and energy are on display. The Brahmaputra is
the only male river in Hindu mythology. Its legends and geography have
merged to create a fabric of stories and living traditions. The film
treats the river as its main character, as creator, sustainer and a
natural life force that is a friend to the people and the ecosystems,
which flourish on either bank.
A Mimesha Productions film
Direction and editing: Jahnu Barua
Production and Script: Sanjoy Hazarika
7 p.m. Meet the Filmmakers (A conversation with Jahnu Barua and Sanjoy
Hazarika)
Wednesday December 10th
9: 30 a.m. Film Screening: Monsoon Sorrow (India 2003, 27 minutes).
Monsoon Sorrow is a documentary on floods in Assam. The fury of the
Brahmaputra and its tributaries are especially intense in Assam's Dhemaji
and Lakhimpur districts. Filmed in Dhemaji, Monsoon Sorrow focuses on the
causes of floods - both natural and man-made. The documentary records
scenes of land erosion, life in relief camps for peoples displaced by
floods and the perceptions of peoples who live with floods. It features
interviews with environmentalists, grassroots level activists and experts.
Made by a voluntary organization, Monsoon Sorrow stimulates fresh thinking
on the causes of Assam's floods and on policy responses to floods.
Producer: Society for Promotion of Appropriate Development Efforts,
Guwahati
10 a.m. Film Screening: Water Wars (United Kingdom, 1991, 3 x 50
minutes).
Water Wars consists of three documentaries that investigate the role of
water in power politics. The first film Good as Gold focuses on the United
States where water is a highly marketable commodity - something few people
have and a lot of people want. In the San Louis Valley of Colorado,
geologists identify a vast underground lake whose contents, if pumped
across the Rockies to thirsty Denver, represent a fortune for the brokers
and rights merchants. In the second film To the Last Drop the focus shifts
to the Middle East where water inevitably raises the stakes within every
regional dispute or settlement. The final film The Giver of Life
highlights the Islamic heartland of the CIS where the implications of the
Aral Sea's demise are viewed as a catastrophe on a Chernobyl scale.
Producer: Michael Waldman
12 - 1 p.m. Lunch break
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Water conflicts in the Brahmaputra Basin: Today and
Tomorrow
A panel discussion
Speakers:
Jahnu Barua, "Brahmaputra: A Friend in Silence"
Dulal C. Goswami "Water Conflicts: Local, National and
International"
Subir Bhaumik, "Brahmaputra: The Threat at Source"
Sanjoy Hazarika, "From Tibet to the Bay of Bengal:
Travels by the Tsangpo
Brahmaputra"
Chandan Mahanta, "Brahmaputra River: A Few Environmental
Issues"
Mahfuza Rahman, "A Grassroots Perspective"
Ravindra Nath "River-linking and its Contradictions"
Moderator: Sanjib Baruah
3:00 to 3:30 p.m. Tea break
3:30 - 5 p.m. Lawrence MacDonnell
"Interstate and International Water Sharing: The American Experience with
Compacts and Treaties"
Lecture in the Distinguished Speakers Series of CENISEAS
Featured Speakers
Jahnu Barua is an internationally acclaimed film director. He is a
graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune. His films
include Aparoopa, Halodhiya Choraye Baodhan Khai, Banani, Firingoti,
Xagoroloi Bohu Door, Kuxal, Pokhi and Konikar Ramdhenu. Indeed,
Xagoroloi, Pokhi and Konikar are a trilogy exploring the challenging and
joyous aspects of child-adult relationships. Barua's films have won
numerous national and international awards, including the World Peace
prize at Chicago and Best Direction at the International Film Festival of
Independent Film Makers at Brussels.
Sanjib Baruah is the author of India Against Itself: Assam and the
Politics of Nationality (University of Pennsylvania Press and Oxford
University Press) and many articles in academic journals on the politics,
economy and culture of Northeast India. Until recently he was Professor of
Political Studies at Bard College, Annandale on Hudson, New York. He is
currently Senior Fellow at the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change
and Development where he heads the new Centre for Northeast India, South
and Southeast Asia Studies.
Subir Bhaumik is BBC's Eastern India Correspondent. He belongs to Tripura
and prior to joining the British Broadcasting Corporation he has worked
with a number of news organizations. He has extensively reported on Burma,
Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, besides covering the Northeast Indian
states. He was Queen Elizabeth House Fellow at the Oxford University in
1989-90 where he completed his first book Insurgent Crossfire: Northeast
India. His second book - The Crisis of India's Northeast -- is being
published by Penguin Books. He has contributed extensively to academic
journals and his articles have appeared in a number of books on refugees,
ethnic and religious movements, defence, and on Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan
and the North-eastern states.
Dulal C. Goswami is Professor of the Department of Environmental Science,
Gauhati University. He holds a doctorate from the Department of Geography
and Environmental Engineering of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
Maryland, USA, where he wrote a doctoral thesis on the Brahmaputra River.
He has written extensively on the Brahmaputra and has been involved in
several National-level committees on natural resources, the environment
and the river systems of Northeast India. He has been Honorary Director of
the Assam Remote Sensing Centre.
Sanjoy Hazarika, is the author of Bhopal: Lessons of a Tragedy; Strangers
of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India's North East and Rites of
Passage. He reported for The New York Times between 1981-1996. He is
currently associated with the Centre for North East Studies and Policy
Research, the Centre for Policy Research and is Consulting Editor for The
Statesman, where he edits and publishes the North East Page every
Saturday. His work on migration and self-governance is highly regarded and
currently he is conducting a major field research study documenting
livelihoods by the Brahmaputra. He also has completed the first
officially approved journey by road across Myanmar in decades by an
international journalist and filmmaker and is finishing a documentary on
that journey. He has made other documentaries and has produced and
conceived A River's Story.
Lawrence MacDonnell is an attorney specializing in natural resources and
water law. He practices law in Boulder, Colorado. He holds a doctorate in
law from the University of Denver College of Law and a doctorate in
Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines, USA. He is the author
of From Reclamation to Sustainability: Water, Agriculture, and the
Environment in the American West (1999) and co-author of Searching Out the
Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water (1993), Natural
Resources Policy and Law: Trends and Directions (1993), Controlling Water
Use: The Unfinished Business of Water Quality Protection (1991), Instream
Flow Protection in the West (1989), Tradition, Innovation and Conflict:
Perspectives on Colorado Water Law (1987) and The Oil Import Premium
Revisited (1985). In addition he has published numerous articles in public
policy and legal journals.
Chandan Mahanta is Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and
Engineering in the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. He holds a
doctorate in Environmental Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. He has done extensive research on the management and sustainable
development of water and land resources. His publications include articles
on the aquatic ecosystems of Northeast India and on the human induced
changes in the Brahmaputra river basin viewed through changes in the
sediment transport and nutrient flux in the Brahmaputra. He is involved
with a number of governmental and non-governmental organisations,
especially in the area of environmental conservation. He is a technical
committee member of the State Pollution Control Board of Assam.
Ravindra Nath is Director of the Rural Volunteers Centre in Akajan village
in the flood-prone Dhemaji district of Assam. He studied electrical
engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi specializing in
non-conventional energy and Community Development Management at the Indian
Social Institute, Bangalore. He has lived and worked with river basin
rural peoples in a number of river valleys in India including the Damodar
Valley in Purulia, West Bengal; Suwarnarekha Valley in Singhbhum, Bihar;
Dhundh Valley in Jaipur; Upper and Lower Subonsiri, Dihang and Siang
Valleys in Arunachal Pradesh, and in river valleys in the Dhemaji and
North Lakhimpur districts of Assam.
Mahfuza Rahman is Executive Director of the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi
in Guwahati. She holds a doctorate in Geography from Gauhati University.
She has done extensive research on a number of problems of Guwahati city,
including municipal waste management, drug abuse and alcoholism. She has
been principal investigator of a project on science and technology
intervention on wetlands and its impact on the rural economy and a
co-investigator on a project on development strategies for rural
development in the Kathiatoli block of the Kapili basin.
The Centre for North East India, South and Southeast Asia Studies
[CENISEAS] seeks to promote an understanding of Northeast India in the
context of its transnational neighbourhood, i.e. South Asian countries
such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as well as Southeast Asian countries
such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia. The Centre's work
focuses on regional policy challenges that are inherently transnational in
scope, e.g. water resources and floods, the cross-border movement of
people, the flow of small arms and the spread of disease; the regional
impact of India's `Look East' policy, especially of India's growing
economic ties with Southeast Asia; and the cultural links between
Northeast India and Southeast Asia. For more information contact: Sanjib
Baruah Senior Fellow and Head, CENISEAS Telephone: 266-5903, 266-8321;
Email: ceniseas at yahoo.com
The Indian Council of Social Science Research and the Government of Assam
sponsor the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
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