SACW | 19 Dec. 2003
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Dec 18 18:18:07 CST 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 19 December, 2003
via: www.sacw.net
[1] Karachi Declaration - at the 6th Joint
Convention of the Pakistan India People's Forum
for Peace and Democracy
[2] Bangladesh: Workers rights and the EPZs (Rehman Sobhan)
[3] Invitation from the Promise of India campaign
conference in New Delhi on January 8, 2004
'Linking Peace and Development,'
[4] India: Theatre sensitises Gujarat about communalism
[5] India: 76th Anniversary of 'burning of Manusmriti' (25 Dec, New Delhi)
[6] Communal Harmony Award to Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
[7] Film Screening: Invites you to the screening
of Girigidida Grahana [The Eclipsed Hill] (20 Dec
Bangalore)
[8] India: An important film on Gujarat- Hindutva-Globalization
[9] India - Goa: Saffronising anti-colonialism (Lambert Mascarenhas)
[10] India: Fascists at work: Sena warns against
Indo-Pak veteran series and moves to disrupt
cricket India Pakistan cricket match
--------------
[1]
South Asia Citizens Web
URL: www.sacw.net/PIF/karachiDecl122003.html
KARACHI DECLARATION
December 2003 [at the 6th Joint Convention of the
Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and
Democracy]
We the delegates to the 6th Joint Convention of
the Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and
Democracy, are convinced that the people of the
world in general and South Asia in particular,
face new forms of imperialistic globalisation
that is today
i) increasingly aided and abetted by local interests and constituencies,
ii) imposes an iniquitous system on the developing countries,
iii) destroys the livelihood of common people
iv) undermines the political and economic independence of countries
v) directs violence against societies with
different political and social ideals,
particularly Muslim people, and
vi) terrorises entire countries in the name of fighting terrorism.
The Convention solemnly declares
"That the future of the people of Pakistan and
India as independent countries is contingent upon
permanent peace and harmony in order to fight the
imperialist machination of subjugating and
exploitation of the resources and the people of
our countries. The Forum welcomes the recent
confidence building measures announced by the two
governments and demands their immediate
implementation in full.
"To build resistance against the IMF, World Bank
and WTO, as well as the agents of imperialist
globalisation, build strong trade and economic
cooperation between the two countries and in
entire South Asia to foster independent
development.
Reiterates its call for global nuclear
disarmament, and an immediate de-alert and then
destruction of all nuclear weapons by the two
countries, a 25 % reduction in conventional
forces, and the immediate removal and an end to
the use of landmines.
Settle the Kashmir dispute respecting the
aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir on
both sides of LoC, withdrawal of armed forces and
armed groups on both sides, establish an
effective and accountable mechanism to ensure
protection of life and liberty of the people of
J&K, particularly women.
Believes that the persistence of majoritarian
politics and increasing communalisation of the
polity pitting one disadvantaged section against
the other deprives the people of their right to
self-realisation.
We stress that without adequate protection of
religious, linguistic, cultural and political
minorities there can be no democracy.
There can be no justice without granting redress
to the victims of human rights abuses especially
with the connivance of the state, particularly
women and children, as in Gujarat.
All those who were forced in the past to leave
their homes and migrate to other countries or to
other parts of their country, must be given the
opportunity to return to their original
settlements.
All regimes and laws that deny the human rights
of the person without citizenship status, such as
migrant workers and those who cross the border by
mistake, must be scrapped.
India and Pakistan must sign a protocol on
exchange of prisoners and respect the rights of
refugees.
Non-delimitation of maritime boundaries is
depriving thousands of fisher people of their
livelihood. We demand immediate cessation of the
harassment of fisher people and those arrested
must be repatriated immediately with their boats,
equipment and property.
We call upon the two governments to remove all
restrictions on travel between the countries, and
the institution of a regime of issuing visas on
arrival.
We call upon both governments to recognize the
disadvantaged position of women in our countries;
to count the productivity of women and their
contribution to the GDP; to ensure the provision
of basic minimum needs to women, particularly
health, nutrition, education and employment; and,
in view of the documented feminization of poverty
in both our countries, to focus on rural women in
poverty reduction measures. Women must be
included in all government and civil society
initiatives for peace. We call upon our
governments to repeal all discriminatory
anti-women laws (such as the Hudood Ordinances in
Pakistan), and to enact enabling legislation,
especially laws on violence against women,
through cross-cutting, non-partisan political
processes, for women's empowerment and gender
equality.
Recognise the universal right of divided families
to reunion, and allow cultural exchanges and
interaction between civil society organisations,
particularly youth to counter the atmosphere of
hate and distrust, remove restrictions on
exchange of literature, books, films, music,
dance, sports and other art forms.
In order to ensure systematic and concerted
pursuit of the objectives of the Forum the
convention decides to appoint Three Joint
Committees, Kashmir Committee, Peace and
Reconciliation Committee and Minorities Committee;
a) The Joint Committee on Kashmir will arrange
for and facilitate a dialogue between the people
on both sides of the LOC and interact with all
organisations involved in the efforts to achieve
peace and democratic resolution of the Kashmir
issue and ensure 50 % participation for women.
b) The Joint Committee on Peace will prepare an
immediate and short term plan for confidence
building and normalcy in the region and a long
term strategy for establishing a just and durable
peace in the subcontinent. For this purpose the
committee will visit different parts of India and
Pakistan, hold extended discussions with various
sections of the society, including political
parties, business community, women's groups,
farmers and workers organisations and other
people 's movements.
c) The Joint Committee on Minorities will deal
with the issue relating to the issue of
protection of minorities and their rights in the
two countries
_____
[2]
The Daily Star (Dhaka)
December 19, 2003
Workers as partners: Changing the culture of EPZs
by Rehman Sobhan
Bangladesh today seems to be caught between a
rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the US
Ambassador has been taking the Government of
Bangladesh (GOB) to task for not honouring its
promise to permit trade unionism in the Export
Processing Zones (EPZs). He warns us that
Bangladesh could forfeit its eligibility for
tariff concessions under the Generalised System
of Preferences (GSP) under which about US$ 500
million of our exports enter the US market with
various tariff concessions. These exports under
the GSP are not very significant. GSP concessions
on exports save us less than US$3 million in
duties compared to our total exports of US$2.5
billion to the US. However, US officials never
fail to remind us that the withdrawal of our GSP
status could endanger our case for seeking duty-
free entry to the US market on the same terms as
the sub-Saharan and Caribbean countries offered
under the Trade and Development Act legislated by
the US Congress. Following the expiry of the
Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 2005, which
provides us a reserved market for our RMG exports
to the USA, the advantage of duty free exports
will be crucial to our survival in the US market.
It has therefore been one of Bangladesh's
paramount foreign policy goals, pursued by both
the Awami League and BNP governments, to seek
duty-free entry to the US market. Both regimes
have been willing to make significant compromises
in our relations with the US to realise this
cherished objective.
Bangladesh has been under pressure from the US
government to expose our EPZs to the right to
organise trade unions since the early 1990s. The
US government has been responsive to its own
powerful trade union lobbies, led by the AFL-CIO,
the apex body of trade unions in the US. Some
element of this intervention by the AFL-CIO is
influenced by the invisible protectionism
practiced by the US labour movement to protect
jobs in the US from exports from low-wage
countries. It is fallaciously presumed that wages
in Bangladesh and elsewhere are low because of
weak trade unions and the use of child labour.
Whilst we should not ignore the inhumanity of
employing child labour to do an adult's job and
the humanitarian impulses underlying the Harkin
Bill as well as the AFL-CIO initiative, it would
be naive on our part to ignore the protectionist
agenda underlying these initiatives. We should
also recognise the disingenuousness in the
posture of the government of a country where
trade union membership remains one of the lowest
in the developed world and has been in sharp
decline over the last half century. Today US
policy, reflected in the philosophy of the World
Bank, supports flexible labour markets. This is a
euphemism for promoting the use of non-unionised
and casualised labour which can be hired and
fired at the whim of the market.
Whilst it would be satisfying to the dignity of
Bangladesh to expose the hypocrisies associated
with the promotion of trade unionism in our
country by our development partners, the GOB
remains too vulnerable in its external relations
to enjoy the luxury of such heroics. However, in
responding to external pressures to remove
children from the work place and to accord the
fundamental right of organisation to workers in
the EPZs, we could at least contextualise our
response within a coherent policy framework. The
current policy to ban unionism in the EPZs
derives neither from a policy design, or law, or
even any political discussion in parliament. It
should be kept in mind that there is no provision
in the EPZ charter which prohibits trade unions.
The prohibition derives from executive orders
framing rules and regulations governing the EPZs.
Thus, the legal validity of the ban is
questionable and possibly violative of the
Bangladesh constitution because it discriminates
against a category of citizens. This assault on
the human rights of a section of our citizens was
enacted by an earlier undemocratic regime which
felt no obligation to respect human rights. It
remains less clear why successive democratic
regimes in the 1990s have continued to condone
this violation of the human rights of our workers.
Under pressure from the US government the GOB,
under the first Khaleda Zia government, made a
commitment to rescind the ban on trade unions in
the EPZs. When this commitment was not maintained
by the GOB, the US government again raised the
issue with the Awami League regime. After
extensive negotiations, the then GOB agreed to
promote the formation of Workers Councils in the
respective enterprises in the EPZs and gave an
assurance that full trade unionism would be
permitted there by January 1, 2004. The US
Ambassador in Dhaka is now holding the GOB to
this commitment but it appears that the current
government is seeking more time to fulfill its
obligations. The chances are that the US
government has become impatient with our
prevarications and is preparing to withdraw our
GSP privileges.
The dilemma of successive GOBs stems from the
determination of the foreign investors in the
EPZs, principally the business houses from the
Republic of Korea and Japan, to hold the GOB to
its commitment to ban trade unions in the EPZs.
But we must note that both Japan and ROK have
strong labour movements in their own countries.
In ROK, successive military regimes had
suppressed the labour movement which inevitably
came to play an active role in the struggle for
democracy. The democratic renaissance in ROK,
thus witnessed a strong assertion of workers
rights. ROK's trade unions remain well organised,
politically connected and far more militant than
anything we have witnessed in Bangladesh since
1971. No regime in Korea would today dream of
supporting any move to exclude any part of the
country from the right to unionise. Nor indeed
would Japan today deny such a right to its own
workers. It is thus not clear whether the
respective governments of Japan and ROK back or
even condone the demand of their investors to
keep the GOB to its commitment to ban trade union
in the EPZ. Perhaps this question can be put to
their respective Ambassadors in Bangladesh and
this dilemma faced by Bangladesh can be shared
with the media as well as the parliament in both
ROK and Japan.
Again without condoning the contradictions and
vacillations underlying the policies of the GOB,
it is suggested that this special problem should
actually be addressed at an international level
since Bangladesh is not the only country to be
asked to usurp the human rights of a section of
their citizens. The problem is a global one since
investors in Bangladesh's EPZs, faced with the
prospect of unionisation, threaten to move their
investment to another country less mindful of the
rights of their workers or impervious to pressure
from the United States.
I have taken the liberty of suggesting to the
Director General of ILO Juan Somavia, that ILO
convene a joint meeting with the OECD, the rich
man's club located in Paris, to design a global
policy to establish the right of workers to
unionise as a universal human right. Today the
USA, Japan and the Republic of Korea are all
members of the OECD. From the OECD they attempt
to take common positions on everything from
democracy, to corruption, to the violation of
human rights. It would be logical for the OECD to
take a common position on the right to unionise
so that all over the world prospective investors
would operate on a level playing field rather
than blackmail vulnerable developing countries to
suppress the rights of their workers.
Let me conclude this discussion by locating the
problem within the specific circumstances of
Bangladesh. What risks would emerge for our
Korean and Japanese investors if the right to
unionise was conceded in the EPZs? To cite the
example of the negative aspects of unionism in
the SOEs is no argument. We need a deeper
understanding of the factors underlying the
behaviour of workers in the SOEs and the specific
role of the unions. However, the labour regime
faced by private investors remain far removed
from the SOEs in Bangladesh. Today, in fact,
Bangladesh is one of the most under-unionized
countries in Asia. Even though the workers in the
readymade garment (RMG) sector outside the EPZ
have the right to unionise, less than 10 per cent
of the workers are unionised. I have not heard of
many cases where in RMG factories which are
unionized they have faced serious labour problems
which have prejudiced their export
competitiveness. Indeed in virtually every well
managed company from Apex Tanneries, to Square,
to some of our multinationals, trade unions have
behaved responsibly and harmonious
worker-management relations have prevailed. It is
only in badly managed firms, with irresponsible
owners or official neglect and politicization as
in the SOEs, that labour relations have become
problematic.
Under the above circumstances the GOB should go
ahead and extend the same right to the workers in
the EPZs to unionise as is available to workers
everywhere in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh
constitution no more recognises the divisibility
of such rights than the Japanese or Korean
constitution. Whether our foreign investors will
close their factories in the EPZs and migrate to
Vietnam or Lesotho will depend less on the
extension of this right and much more on what
follows after this right is conceded. As with the
rest of Bangladesh's export sector outside the
EPZs, some workers will form unions others may
not. It thus has to be seen whether those
factories exposed to unionisation find their
export competitiveness and profitability reduced
or indeed enhanced. I cannot conceive of a
situation where any foreign enterprise, with or
without unions, which continues to make profits,
will aspire to move out of Bangladesh.
In the final analysis workers have the most
durable stake in an enterprise because it remains
the sole source of the survival of their
families. When a factory closes down its owner
can draw on other sources of enterprise or
savings to sustain themselves. A worker in
Bangladesh, a country faced with massive
underemployment and limited work prospects,
enjoys no such luxury. To deny workers the right
to unionize in the expectation that they will
threaten the very sources of their survival does
violence to reason. In most cases when labour
resorts to militancy there is a likelihood that
some deep acts of injustice have aroused them to
action.
It is therefore suggested by me to Yongone and
other leading investors in the EPZs as well as to
Bangladesh's own entrepreneurs that rather than
investing their efforts in challenging the right
of workers to unionise they should seek to make
their workers partners in the future of the
enterprise. The owners should accordingly
consider inviting the workers to participate in
some management decisions and should eventually
encourage them to acquire an equity stake in
their enterprises. Workers who are invested with
a durable stake in the viability of the
enterprise will be committed not just to raise
the efficiency of the enterprise but can
contribute to enhancing the quality of corporate
governance which is today being projected as a
key objective of enterprise management.
Rehman Sobhan is Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue.
_________________________________
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To subscribe send a blank message to:
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_____
[3]
From: info at promiseofindia.org
Dear friends and supporters:
Promise of India is pleased to invite you to our
conference in New Delhi on January 8, 2004
'Linking Peace and Development,' and to our Unity
Concert in partnership with Youth-4-Peace, Delhi,
on January 7, 2004, featuring a street play by
ANHAD, poetry by Zohra Segal, ghazals by Manu
Kohli, and a popular folk & fusion band. If you
plan to be in Delhi in January, please do join
us. There is no registration fee for either
event; however pre-registrants will get priority
seating, as our capacity is limited. So, please
take a moment to register now at:
<https://www.promiseofindia.org/Conference.cfm>https://www.PromiseOfIndia.Org/Conference.cfm.
In case you haven't been tracking our progress
over the last few weeks, we would like to take a
moment to provide a quick update on Promise of
India:
The Promise of India Appeal has now been endorsed
by over 172 organizations world-wide,
representing a diverse group of India-centric
organizations and individuals from over 29
countries! 20 states of India and 35 states from
the United States are represented among the
signatories. We are also pleased that
ex-President K.R. Narayanan has endorsed the
appeal, as have two ex-Prime Ministers of India,
and Vice Chancellors, former Justices, business
leaders, authors, journalists, activists, youth
leaders, NGO leaders, entertainers, former
service officers, and women's groups. And, we
just got the word that Prof. Amartya Sen, soon to
rejoin Harvard University as the Lamont
University Professor, has added his endorsement.
The January 8th program has now been finalized,
and details may be found on our
<https://www.promiseofindia.org/conference.cfm>web
site. It is going to be inaugurated by former
Prime Minister Shri I.K. Gujral. We have
assembled a powerful line-up of eminent speakers
to share their views on the linkages between
peace and social and economic development, role
of the media, justice & governance, and communal
harmony. Participants will include Faroukh
Shaikh, Aruna Roy, Sushma Iyengar, Sandeep
Pandey, Anu Aga, N. Ram, Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan,
Rajdeep Sardesai, Julio Ribeiro, Admiral Ramdas,
Justice Verma, Tarun Tejpal, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad,
Harsh Mander, Prof. S. K. Thorat, Paul Zacharia,
Nirmala Deshpande, Swami Agnivesh, Fr. Cedric
Prakash...and others. We are hoping that the
conference will help us strategize how we can
move forward with concrete plans for diaspora
Indian organizations to work with Indian civil
society on the pressing issue of promoting peace
and harmony.
We are pleased to inform you that we are now able
to accept tax deductible
<https://www.promiseofindia.org/contributions.cfm>donations
for our work both in the United States and in
India. We welcome contributions from individuals
and organizations to not only help us cover the
cost of the January conference, but to allow us
to move forward with other activities in the
coming months.
Thank you again for your support.
Sincerely,
The Promise of India Team
_____
[4]
India News: Theatre sensitises Gujarat about communalism
15-December-2003
Ahmedabad,Gujarat Dec 15 (IANS) A theatre group
whose play has made a huge impact in volatile
Gujarat says it simply offers people a chance to
do some soul-searching about sectarian hatred.
"People of all faiths and ideologies are welcome
to perform with us," says Saumya Joshi, eminent
playwright and founder of Fade-in Theatre.
"If a volunteer of Vishwa Hindu Parishad or
Bajrang Dal (radical Hindu groups) or for that
matter Islamic groups wish to join us, we will
welcome him because we know he is not going to
change us, but he might become a changed man.
"This happens in a very non-threatening way.
"To us theatre has proved to be a platform that
is thousand times better than seminars or debates
to understand and fight communalism," Joshi told
IANS.
A few months ago, an English publication featured
Joshi among 50 promising Indians. "We don't
believe in preaching, debate or even in dialogue.
"You join us and perform with us, and you will
realise you have understood the communal issue;
that you don't dislike Muslims any more, and that
they are just like any other human being."
Joshi's play in Gujarati, "Dost Chokkas Ahin Ek
Nagar Vastu Hatu", or "There was definitely a
city here," won him accolades in India and abroad.
The play tells the tale of a lost city of
Ahmedabad. Two archaeologists are shown
unearthing the city that was ruined by communal
violence.
Incidentally, H.K. Arts College, from where
Fade-in Theatre operates, is located in an area
that falls between Hindu and Muslims
neighbourhoods.
Around 30 percent of students at H.K. Arts are
Muslim, but there was no communal discord in the
college during last year's sectarian violence in
Gujarat.
Says Paresh Vyas, member of Fade-in: "Even
sympathisers of VHP and Bajrang Dal praised the
play, as it depicted exactly what happened in
Ahmedabad."
Mitesh Doshi, another Fade-in member, said:
"Fade-in is a process that becomes more effective
for artistes than the audience."
Plays with a social or political message have
become very popular in Gujarat after the violence
last year.
"Few plays have made as much impact as 'Dost
Chokkas...," says social worker and theatre
activist Manishi Jani.
Jani had staged plays during the 1975 student
movement in Gujarat against the government of
then chief minister Chimanbhai Patel.
During an anti-reservation policy campaign in
1985-87, theatre activists took to the streets
and staged various plays.
Before the 1992 Babri mosque demolition in
Ayodhya, playwright Abhijat Joshi, Saumya's elder
brother, wrote a play "Shaft of Sunlight", which
became a rage. This play won him the BBC award
for playwrights.
Some critics, however, say plays on current
issues are often "loose the essence of theatre".
But social activist and playwright Hiren Gandhi
said: "If society does not allow an artist to say
what he believes about the society, then
somewhere that society is sick.
"Critics only look at the theatrical aspects but
don't bother about the social responsibility of
an artiste."
Saumya, however, refuses to tag members of his
group as social activists. "We are just
artistes," he says emphatically.
--Indo-Asian News Service
_____
[5]
LET US REINVIGORATE THE DREAMS OF 25 TH DECEMBER
Join Us To Celebrate the
76 th ANNIVERSARY OF
'BURNING OF MANUSMRITI'
BY BABASAHEB DR BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR
THURSDAY, 25 TH DECEMBER 2003
Friends,
You are quite aware that it was on this day 76 years
ago that thousands of people came together under the
leadership of one of the greatest sons of the
Oppressed and Exploited Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to
consign to flames Manusmriti the 'sacred' book which
epitomised and legitimised the subhuman existence of
the socially and culturally downtrodden in the Indian
society, especially the dalits and the women.
As things stand today officially the Manusmriti might
have been replaced by the more egalitarian Indian
Constitution more than fifty years ago but at an
informal level it continues to hold sway over the
thinking and actions of a vast majority of the Indian
people. Dalits, women and a broad section of the other
socially oppressed strata are still condemned to live
under the oppressive structures and institutions
sanctified by Manusmriti. The subtle and the not so
subtle ways in which Manusmriti continues to operate
at various levels in Indian society and polity is a
fact which even the government itself ackowledges.
Every annual report by the SC and ST commission
reiterates the existence of untouchability in various
states of the Indian union, a fact which has been
placed before the parliament umpteen times. It is not
for nothing that while the quota of fourth class jobs
in government / public sector undertaking services
meant for the dalits gets filled by 'suitable
candidates' but when the question of first class jobs
comes all of a sudden one notices non availability of
suitable candidates. The problem of non dalits getting
jobs in the SC-ST quota by providing false
certificates is also alarming. Ranging from the
judiciary to the day to day affairs of the family one
notices the blind toeing of the dictats of Manusmriti.
While the judge in the Bhanwari devi rape case
acquitts the accused on the spacious excuse that
being a dalit woman one cannot expect the higher caste
men to engage in such a thing, parents themselves are
found to be engaged in killing their own sons and
daughters for marrying outside their caste and
community.
It is also a fact that the assumption to power by the
Hindutva Brigade led by the RSS and its front
organisations has unleashed a process of
legitimisation of Manusmriti in a sophisticated
manner. It was only last year that the leading light
of the VHP Giriraj Kishore unashamedly justified the
killings of dalits at Jhajjar by propounding a thesis
that ' the Puranas consider Cow to be more auspicious
than men'. One was also witness to the opening of
Brahmin schools in different parts of India by the
government in the beginning of this year with the help
of the UNESCO supposedly to 'protect ancient
culture'.It is the same BJP whose then state
government in Rajasthan led by Mr Shekhawat had
installed a statue of Manu in front of the High Court
of Jaipur.
To underline the fact of the societal violence which
continues unabated till date and the need for a wider
social cultural movement against all such inhuman
practices and institutions we have decided to
celebrate the day when Manusmriti was burnt in a big
way. As part of this celebrations we have decided to
hold a seminar, cultural programme and a rally to
focus everyone's attention on age old
patriarchal-Brahminical traditions and institutions.
Many leading activists and writers have not only
agreed to participate in the programmes but also have
warmly accepted our appeal to spare some time for such
activities in future also.We will be very happy if you
can join us for this event.
HOLD HIGH THE BANNER OF STRUGGLE AGAINST BRAHMINISM
AND PATRIARCHY
ORGANISERS:
WOMENíS RIGHTS ORGANISATION (STREE ADHIKAR SANGATHAN)
PROGRAMME:
25 TH DECEMBER, THURSDAY
DELHI: 3 PM.
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY (JNU) DELHI
ALLAHABAD: 2 PM.
UNION HALL, ALLAHABAD UNIVERSITY, ALLAHABAD
Visit:
www.dalitstan.org
www.ambedkar.org
Sawarkar's Hindutwa And Ambedkarism
http://www.ambedkar.org/jamanadas/SawarkarsHindutwa.htm
______
[6]
Communal Harmony Award to Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
Association for Communal Harmony (ACHA), USA,
gave Communal Harmony award for 2002-2003 to Dr.
Asghar Ali Engineer on 7th December, 2003 in
Oregon state. A function to give award was held
on 8th December, 2003 and it was broadcast by a
Radio channel.
Dr. Engineer was connected on phone line to give
his message to the audience and to convey his
acceptance of this award. He spoke on phone line
and said "I accept the award in all humility and
I am grateful to ACHA for giving me this honour.
I will continue to work for Communal Harmony in
India until the last breath of my life. The
danger has increased manifold after the BJP came
to power and recently won elections in three
states in Hindi heartland. There is a great need
to intensify activities to contain communal
forces and promote communal harmony and
interfaith understanding."
_____
[7]
Pedestrian Pictures
Invites you to the screening of
Girigidida Grahana (The Eclipsed Hill)
Directed by Vijayakumar S.
50 mins / Kannada
on 20 December 2003, Saturday
at Feroze's Estate Agency, Cunningham road [Bangalore, India]
opp. Chandrika hotel
Time:5:30 p.m.
Sri Guru Dattatreya Baba Budan Swami Dargah in
Chikmaglur District, Karnataka has been home to a
rich syncrectic tradition for thousands of years.
This site is considered sacred for both the
followers of the Sufi tradition and the
worshippers of Sri Dattatreya.
In the recent past however, the Sangh Parivar
following their communal fascist ideology have
resorted to creating communal unrest in the town
of Chikmaglur and surrounding areas.
In a brazen attempt to rewrite history and
destroy the atmosphere of communal harmony, the
Sangh Parivar has used the occasion of Datta
Jayanthi to demand for an installation of the
idol of Dattatreya at the site and to ask for a
ban on the followers of Baba Budan. Ananth Kumar,
BJP in-charge of the Southern States has in fact
gone on record to state that the Dargah is the
ëAyodhya of the South.í
The anti communal movement under the banner of
ëBaba Budan Giri Souharda Vedikeí a coalition of
more than 140 groups, organizations across the
state has been active over the past year,
mobilizing around 10000 people last year in
protest against the communalization of Baba Budan
Giri.
Pedestrian Pictures has been actively involved
with the Vedike over the past year and the film
has emerged as a result of this. Girigidida
Grahana is our attempt to highlight the emerging
resistance and the much needed aggressive secular
stance to counter the fascist forces. The film
also attempts to expose the propaganda of the
Sangh Parivar.
This year too a politico-cultural convention is
being planned on 28 December 2003 at Chikmaglur
to celebrate the tradition of communal harmony,
to expose the Sangh Parivarís fascist agenda and
to condemn the soft-hindutva approach of the
Congress Government. Around 25000 people are
expected to attend the convention this year.
In Bangalore too, a few meetings of the local
chapter of the Baba Budan Giri Souharda Vedike
has drawn several groups and organizations. To
carry forward the work and to plan for a
Bangalore level campaign, a meeting will be held
following the screening of the film.
We request all groups, organizations and
individuals to attend this important screening
,meeting.
For further information / clarifications, call - 98450 66747, 318 12 691
____
[8]
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 11:32:50 +0530 (IST)
Subject: An important film on Gujarat- Hindutva-Globalization
JINHEN NAAZ HAI HIND PAR WO KAHAAN HAIN?
A summary content of the film:
Britishers left the Indian sub continent torn apart on the basis of
religious identities. Notwithstanding the professed secular character of
the state, religious identities have been exploited by political parties
to their electoral advantage. Demolition of Babri masjid was a landmark in
countrys political history. It was not just the fall of a structure in
Ayodhya, it was a fall of the Indian polity per se. The Hindutva agenda
has costed thousands of human lives, then in Mumbai and now in Gujarat.
The crime nexus got inextricably linked to rioting on both sides. Those
who organise killings are criminals. Those who get killed are mostly the
poor and the marginalised The new feature in Gujarat is that many Dalits
and Adivasis , who are subjugated and discriminated against in hindu
society, are being recruited for killing and assaulting members of muslim
and christian community, who are equally poor and oppressed.All political
attention in the country has been hijacked by actual and imagined communal
strife. In the meanwhile the neo liberal economic policies have engendered
de industrialization, unemployment and impoverishment. No focussed and
worthwhile struggle could be undertaken to oppose the neo-liberal agenda.
What has happened in Gujarat can not be condoned by any civilized society.
Unfortunately, those who engineered the macabre dance on the streets of
Ahmedabad and Godhra have now obtained legitimacy for their actions from
the electorate in Gujarat. We need to look at history in order to
understand the present. Hitler rose to power on a populist mandate. Once
in power, he killed the very same people. He killed not only the Jews, but
also the trade unionists, the communists, and whoever opposed him.Those
who killed and looted and raped the muslims, have in fact brought great
shame to hindu community. Tomorrow they will kill weak and powerless in
hindu community and whoever opposes them. In these dark times, who will
rise and rescue Indian society and our heritage of composite culture? We
look up to the ordinary, very ordinary, seemingly powerless men and women.
They have to rise to the occasion and realize their strength to fight
against communalism. They have the love and compassion required for
transcending the hindu - muslim identity, in establishing the identity of
the human being of an artisan of a worker. They alone can keep the
nation together and bring back on agenda the meaningful struggle for an
equitable and just society.The film includes1. excerpts of different
reports on communal violence,2. poetry by Bertolt Brecht, Sahir
Ludhianavi, Rahi Masum Raza, Chandrakant Deotale, Manglesh Dabral, Harish
Karamchandani, Narendra Pundrik, Brijmohan.
Previous Screenings : THIS FILM IS BEING SHOWN TO A WIDER COMMUNITY OF
HINDI BELT. AROUND 50 SHOWS ARE ORGANISED AT SEVERAL PLACES INCLUDING
DELHI, BHOPAL, BOMBAY, RAIPUR, INDORE, RATLAM AND SEVERAL OTHER SMALL AND
BIG TOWNS AND IN MANY VILLAGES TOO.
Details of Director(s)
Name : DR. JAYA MEHTA. MR. VINEET TIWARI
Address : OFFICE: SANDARBH KENDRA,2ND FLOOR,26, MAHAVIR NAGAR, KANADIA
ROAD, INDORE-452018 (M.P)
Telephone no : 91-731-2595988,2368837,09893192740
E-mail : sandarbhcommune at yahoo.com
Price : VCD Rs. 300 for institution
Rs. 150 for individual
VHS Rs. 500 for institution
Rs. 300 for individual
DVD Rs. 1500 for institution
Rs. 1000 for individual
_____
[9]
Herald, Panjim, Goa. 18/12/03
Saffronising anti-colonialism
By Lambert Mascarenhas
The celebration of the 42nd anniversary of Goaís
Liberation on December 19 this year cannot
enthuse the genuine Goan freedom fighters, due to
the perverse under-estimation of their role and
the projection of a new breed of Goa freedom
fighters that has sought recognition from the
present Government of India and received it.
This new History of the freedom movement has been
written by the RSS leader and Akhil Bharatiya Goa
Swatantra Sangram president Ram Tupe of Pune, who
reportedly has claimed and received a pension
from the government for four thousand Goa
satyagrahis from Maharashtra. He is seeking the
same for six thousand more satyagrahis from the
other states of India, in the pension scheme
declared and known as the Swatantra Sainik Samman
(SSS). This satyagraha by these 4000 plus 6000 is
said to have been offered in 1954-55 on the
Maharashtra-Goa frontier, or in Goa itself.
That this Mr Tupe waited for some forty odd years
after Goaís Liberation to project the existence
of these persons as Goa satyagrahis testifies to
the fact of degeneration in the country of the
truth and values once cherished, in the last two
decades, with the growth of scams, crookedness
and political perversity. It is indeed
regrettable that the Goa government is
encouraging such knavery.
The claim of Mr Tupe that the Portuguese-held
enclave of Nagar Haveli was liberated by RSS
elements is a travesty of truth par excellence.
The fact is that this territory was liberated by
Goans of the Azad Gomantak Dal, a few days after
the smaller enclave of Dadra, adjoining Nagar
Haveli, was liberated by the elements of the
United Front of Goans, a Goan political party of
which this writer was one of the founders with
Francis Mascarenhas, Waman Desai, Cristovam
Furtado, J Salelkar, J M DíSouza and a few others.
The take-over of Dadra was described by the media
of the time as the ìfirst nail in the coffin of
the coffin of the Portuguese rule in Indiaî. The
Portuguese defence in Dadra was however
negligible; it was in Nagar Haveli that a sizable
force of Portuguese troops was stationed under a
Portuguese Administrator, and that the Azad
Gomantak fighters had a tough opposition to face.
The claims of the RSS that their elements
liberated Nagar Haveli, apart from its
distortions, runs counter to the stand taken by
the Government of India at the Hague
International Court in its defence against the
charge by Portugal that India had occupied its
position and that, in full justice, the territory
should be returned to it. The court accepted that
it was Goans, or the people of Goa, that had
liberated the Portuguese-held Indian territory.
The case went in favour of India.
As for the 4000 Maharashtra satyagrahis plus 6000
more from the other states claiming participation
in the Goa freedom movement, and thus pensions,
it must be affirmed that the idea of satyagraha
came to the Goan political parties in Bombay and
that after the infructuous attempt of the first
batch of Goan satyagrahis to enter Goa by being
fired upon and wounded and killed, some of them
by the Portuguese soldiers on the frontiers,
there was no other satyagraha on the order of
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was
shocked at the ìmassacreî and had ordered the
Government of Bombay not to permit any Goan or
Indian satyagrahis to enter Goan territory in
future.
By this token, it can be noted that no
Maharashtrian or any other satyagraha group
entered Goa from across India territory. In their
sense of generosity, the true Goan freedom
fighters may grant appreciation if these RSS
persons 4000 plus 6000 were desirous, yes just
desirous, of offering satyagraha. But, in fact,
they did not.
It must be stressed here that the pension scheme
known as the Swatantra Sainik Samman (SSS), in
its various clauses, is clear and precise as to
who is to be called a freedom fighter and a
deserving applicant for this pension. Every
clause admits of arrest of a person in Goa,
imprisonment, sentences of weeks, months and
years in the jails, incapacitation or dead after
release due to serving the sentence, loss of
livelihood due to arrest and detention, etc.
According to these clauses, the so-called
satyagrahis projected by Tupe are ineligible for
these SSS pensions.
I may be permitted to place my own perception of
these 4000 plus 6000 pension move that must be
considered as sinister. The BJP party, with this
manifest opposition to secularism, propped up by
the RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal,
wants to push these so-called satyagrahis into
Goa. Or, by any other means, to afford them the
right to vote in the elections to the Goa
assembly, so as to boost the BJP vote bank in
Goa, and thus to perpetuate their rule here.
Evidently, they have realized that this small
state can be made the BJP flagship, its fortress.
The recent BJP session in Goa, where it
proclaimed that Hindutva was the culture of India
(not of Hinduism, that it really is), the concept
of Goa being the fittest place for an IFFI run-by
and promoted-by personalities from Bombay, Delhi
and elsewhere, these are indications of the BJP
trying to set up a strong structure to actuate
the end of Goanness in Goa.
If any opposition to this BJP motivation is to be
found it can, according to them, be easily and
effectively subdued by the acclaimed visionary
chief minister Parrikar, who reportedly has a
dossier on the misdoings and illegal acquisitions
of the former Congress ministers.
I myself sincerely concede that Manohar Parrikar
is very intelligent, an able administrator and
that he has done, and is doing, much to alleviate
the physical image of Goa. But I must also convey
to him what I, and many other persons in Goa much
older to him, and also heir to some wisdom,
another reality. The truth that it is not the
landscape or natural scenery represented by the
white-sanded beaches, hills and rivers but the
bonds of oneness, amity and friendship existing
between the two major communities, Hindu and
Christian, and also the third, the Muslim, that
is non-existing in any other State of India. This
is what is therefore singular and remarkable.
This, the BJP must not, nor be allowed to,
disrupt.
Let Mr Parrikar publicly declare that he is for
secularism in the widely accepted usage of the
term and not communalism that all the other
political parties in India accuse to be, and I
will fall at his feet.
And finally, let me place before the public of
Goa for their enlightenment the findings of the
Washington-based Centre for Religious Freedom,
which is linked to the Freedom House, the oldest
human rights organisation in the US.
The report alleges that the BJP functions as the
political wing of the Hindu nationalist Sangh
Parivar, and is allied with the extremist groups
like the RSS, which was founded by admirers of
Fascism and Naziism and produced radicals who
killed Gandhi, and is now a major para-military
organisation with million of members. The report
noted in this context that Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee ìpublicly praises the RSS and
attends their functionsî.
The report on India is titled The Rise of Hindu
Extremism and the Representation of Christian and
Muslim Minorities in India. The report includes a
long list of violent attacks against Christian
missionaries in India. The director of the
Centre, Ms Nina Shea is quoted as saying,
ìDespite the continued integrity of some of
Indiaís proud democratic institutions, the
hate-filled, often violent Hindu nationalist
trend, with key BJP support is threatening
Indiaís tradition of tolerance and its reputation
as a liberal, pluralist democracy.î She added: ìA
country once personified by Mahatma Gandhi is
becoming known for religious hatred and violence.î
Former joint editor of the Navhind Times,
Mascarenhas is a freedom fighter himself and
launched and ran Goa Today from the ësixties till
the mid-eighties. He lives at Dona Paula.
****
Related news: Herald 18/12/03
Shekawat to honour 150 from out-of-State on Liberation Day
PANJIM, DEC 17 HERALD NEWS DESK
Goaís 42nd anniversary of the end of Portuguese
rule will be celebrated at Campalís parade
grounds. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will
hoist the national flag, take the salute and
speak to the people at 9.15 am on December 19.
Indiaís Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekawat is
arriving Goa for the celebration of the
Liberation Day. He is due to honour 150 freedom
fighters from outside the state whom the
government says contributed in the liberation
movement at a special function to be organised at
Azad Maidan, Panjim on December 19.
The Governor Kidar Nath Sahani, Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar, Speaker Vishwas Satarkar,
Cabinet Ministers are also attending the function
at Azad Maidan.
_____
FASCISTS AT WORK
The Hindu
December 18, 2003
Sena warns against Indo-Pak veteran series
New Delhi, Dec 18. (UNI): The Shiv Sena activist,
who dug-up the Feroz Shah Kotla cricket pitch
resulting in the cancellation of an Indo-Pak
cricket match in 1999, is flexing his muscles
again threatening to disrupt any match between
the two South Asian neighbours.
Mangatram Munde, who led a group of Shiv Sainiks
in digging up the pitch at the Firozshah ground
on January 6, 1999, today threatened that the
activists would not allow the scheduled second
match of the Veteran series between India and
Pakistan on December 21 at the Karnail Singh
stadium here.
"We are prepared to dig up all the cricket
pitches in the country and awaiting the order of
our chief Balasaheb Thackeray," Munde, the
working head of Delhi unit of Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Sena (BVS), the students wing of the Shiv Sena,
said in a statement.
He said a group of hundred Shiv Sainiks under the
leadership of Deepak Pawar had been formed to
disrupt any cricket match between India and
Pakistan in Delhi.
Pawar, senior vice-president of the Delhi unit of
BVS, was among the Shiv Sainiks who dug up holes
at the Kotla ground and poured petrol on the
pitch.
Munde warned the Centre that the Shiv Sena would
not allow the resumption of cricketing links
between the two countries unless Pakistan handed
over the 20 terrorists, including Dawood Ibrahim,
to India and dismantle terrorist training camps
on its soil.
Meanwhile a report from Agra said activists of
the local unit of the Shiv Sena damaged the
cricket pitch at the Agra sport stadium, the
venue for the December 24 veterans' match between
the two countries.
The Sena activists reportedly scaled the wall of
the stadium late last night and dug up the pitch,
the report quoting police officials said.
The activists had planned to pour grease on the
pitch and then set it on fire. However, two alert
constables reached there on time and chased them
away.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
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Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
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