SACW | 31 Dec. 2003 |
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Tue Dec 30 20:17:21 CST 2003
South Asia Citizens Wire | 31 December, 2003
via: www.sacw.net
[This issue of the dispatch is dedicated to the
memory of Salma Sobhan, the highly respected
feminist and human right's activist from
Bangladesh. Salma was known to a wide range of
people in the women's movement, and in the legal
- human rights activist circles in South Asia,
Europe, North America and in Africa. Salma's
sudden death on the 30th Dec 2003 leaves so many
of us who knew her, with a great personal and
collective loss. On this 31st December 2003 as
we look forward to new year let's light a candle
in tribute to Salma and remember her subversive
humour and zest for life, that stood in stark
opposition to the agenda's peddled by the
fundamentalists of all shades to make us into
lifeless obedient zombies.
It was a great honour to have her as one of the
first subscribers and a regular reader to the
South Asia Citizens Wire. Two obituaries from
todays newspapers from Bangladesh are pasted
below . xxx HK]
o o o
[1] Bangladesh: Salma Sobhan 1937-2003
- Eminent HR activist Barrister Salma Sobhan passes away (The Daily Star)
- Salma Sobhan passes away (The New Nation)
[2] Nuclear Roundtable: The Indo-Pak bomb (Itty Abraham)
[3] India: Please Join the annual Secular Bash by SAHMAT (Jan 1, New Delhi)
[4] India: Moving Towards Peace In Kashmir CHRO
Seminar at WSF (Dec 29, 2003, Bombay)
[5] India: The U.S. and allied War on Iraq, the
United Nations and the Anti-War Movement in the
United States - Discussion at Jadavpur university
(6th Jan 2004)
[6] India: On the Assembly Elections of 2003 (Mukul Dube)
[7] The Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace
and Democracy, urges the Indian and Pakistan
governments to continue the process of dialogue .
. .
[8] UK: Commotion in Sri Lankan Peace Conference:
LTTE Rowdy Elements Disrupt Speech
[9] Bangladesh: Bigots demand bill declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims
[10] India: 'Bajrang Dal' fascists issue threat against New Year celebrations
--------------
[1]
The Daily Star
December 31, 2003
Eminent HR activist Barrister Salma Sobhan passes away
Staff correspondent
Barrister Salma Sobhan, a lawyer, social worker
and human-rights activist, died of a cardiac
arrest at her Gulshan residence in the early
hours of yesterday. She was 66.
Salma, wife of Professor Rehman Sobhan, an
economist and former advisor of the caretaker
government, fell sick while reading a book in her
room at around 1:00am. She was rushed to Sikder
Women's Medical College and Hospital at
Dhanmondi, but doctors declared her dead on
arrival.
Salma Rasheeda Akhtar Banu, known as Salma
Sobhan, was born on August 11, 1937. Her father
Md. Ikramullah was the first foreign secretary of
Pakistan and mother Begum Shaista Ikramullah, one
of the first women lawmakers in Pakistan, served
as Pakistan ambassador to Morocco.
Salma was educated at Westonbirt School in
England and studied law at Girton College,
Cambridge, in 1958. She was called to the Bar
from Lincoln's Inn in 1959 and became one of
Pakistan's first women barristers.
She started her career as a legal assistant with
M/S Surridge & Beecheno from 1959 to 1961 in
Karachi. She came to Dhaka after her marriage
with Prof Sobhan in 1962.
Salma taught law at Dhaka University from 1962 to
1981. She lost her eldest son Taimur in an
accident in 1981.
She worked with Bangladesh Institute of Law and
International Affairs (Bilia) from 1981 to 1988,
and served as editor of the Supreme Court Law
Reports (SCLR) for several years.
In 1982, she co-founded the human rights
organisation, Ain-O-Salish Kendra (ASK), and was
its first executive director until her retirement
in 2001.
Salma also helped establish Bangladesh Legal Aid
and Services Trust (Blast) and Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee (Brac).
She was on the boards of many organisations
working on human rights and social justice
including Brac, Blast, Bilia, the international
network Women Living under Muslim Laws and
UNRISD, Geneva.
In 2001, Salma was honoured by the Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights in New York for her
contribution to protecting human rights.
Her major publications are Legal Status of Women
in Bangladesh, 1975, Peasants Perception of Law,
1981 and No Better Option-Women Industrial
Workers (co-authored), 1988.
"She was a wonderfully warm person, with a great
sense of humour," said Dr Hamida Hossain of ASK.
"She had a lot of friends all over the world and
used to spend time mailing to them. She was very
keen in swimming and loved sight-seeing," she
added.
"This sitar enthusiast woman had keen interest in
politics, but had no desire to be a politician,"
said Val Arnold-Forster, a journalist and a
family friend who knew her since 1947.
Salma left behind her husband Prof Sobhan, sons
Babar and Zafar, brother Enam and sisters Naz and
Sarvath.
Her namaz-e-janaza will be held at Gulshan
Central Mosque today after Zohr prayers.
Qulkhwani for Salma will be held at her Gulshan
residence on January 2 after Asr prayers.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Leader of the
Opposition Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock at
the death of Salma Sobhan.
Brac, Odhikar, Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha,
Karmajibi Nari, Nagarik Uddog, ASK also mourned.
o o o
The New Nation
Dec 30th, 2003
Salma Sobhan passes away
By Staff Reporter
Dec 30, 2003, 12:34
Noted lawyer and human rights activist Barrister
Salma Sobhan died of a severe heart attack at her
Gulshan residence in the city in early hours
yesterday. She was 66.
Family sources said Barrister Salma Sobhan, one
of the country's first women barristers, died at
about 2 o'clock after midnight at her residence
at Gulshan in the city.
She left behind her husband, renowned economist
Professor Rehman Sobhan, two sons--Babar and
Zafar, brother Enam and two sisters, Naz and
Sarvath, a host of relatives, friends and
well-wishers to mourn her death.
Her namaj-e-janaza will be held at Gulshan
Central Mosque at Gulshan Avenue after Zohr
prayers tomorrow (Thursday). The Qul-khawni will
be held at her house (No. 9, Road No. 69,
Gulshan-2) after Asr prayers on Friday.
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday
expressed deep shock at the death of Barrister
Salma Sobhan, wife of renowned economist Prof
Rehman Sobhan.
The Prime Minister, in a message of condolence,
prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and
conveyed her sympathy to the members of the
bereaved family.
Receiving the news of death of Barrister Salma
Sobhan, many of her relatives, friends and
well-wishers rushed to her house at Gulshan
yesterday morning. They included politicians,
lawyers, academics, economists, women and human
rights activists and journalists.
Barrister Salma Sobhan was the daughter of Md
Ikramullah, the first Foreign Secretary of
Pakistan and Begum Shaista Ikramullah, who served
as one of the first woman parliamentarians in
Pakistan and its Ambassador to Morocco.
She studied at Westonbirt School in England,
received her Bachelor's degree in Law from Girton
College, Cambridge, UK and was called to the Bar
from Lincoln's Inn in 1958. She became one of
Pakistan's first women barristers.
Barrister Salma Sobhan practiced law in Karachi,
and after her marriage, followed her husband to
Dhaka and taught law at Dhaka University for 20
years. She was the Editor of the Supreme Court
Monthly Reports and a member of Bangladesh
Institute of Law and International Affairs
(BILIA) and a member of the four-member advisory
council of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad.
She was a member of the BRAC's Governing Body and
the founder member of Ain-o-Salish Kendra,
established in 1986 and was its first Executive
Director till her retirement two years ago.
Barrister Salma Sobhan was a Trustee Member of
the Bangladesh Legal Aid Society's Trust. She
wrote and lectured widely, with a special
emphasis on the legal and human rights of women.
In 2001, she was honoured by the Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights in New York for her
contribution to protecting human rights.
Meanwhile, different human rights and
socio-cultural organisations and individuals
yesterday issued condolence messages expressing
their profound shock and deep grief at the death
of Barrister Salma Sobhan.
In a joint statement, Chitra Bhattacharya and
Ayesha Khanam, Acting President and General
Secretary of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad said
their organisation had lost a great human rights
activist with the death of Barrister Salma
Sobhan. "We are deeply shocked by losing Salma
Sobhan and pray for eternal peace of her departed
soul."
They also conveyed their deep condolence and
sympathy to the members of the bereaved family.
In another message of condolence, BRAC said the
contribution of Barrister Salma Sobhan, a long
term member of BRAC's governing body, to BRAC and
the society at large was immense. "She will
always be remembered for her dedication and fight
in bringing human, specially women's rights, to
the forefront."
The message said that the BRAC community offered
its condolences to her husband, Prof Rehman
Sobhan, and her two sons--Babar and Zafar.
In a condolence message, Odhikar, a human rights
organisation, expressed its deep shock at the
death of Barrister Salma Sobhan.
"All the members of Odhikar are deeply shocked at
the death of Salma Sobhan, and the whole nation
has lost a dedicated human rights organiser with
the death of her," said Odhikar.
Describing Salma Sobhan as one of the pioneers in
the country's human rights movement, Odhikar said
she involved the new generation in human rights
movement and also inspired her students in that
movement as a teacher of law. She also made a
significant contribution in the national level to
strengthen the struggle for protection of human
rights through establishing different human
rights organisations.
© Copyright 2003 by The New Nation
_____
[2]
Himal, December 2003
NUCLEAR ROUNDTABLE
The Indo-Pak bomb
by Itty Abraham
In the progress of nuclearisation in South Asia,
India has been the leader in the sense of
provoking the next stage of escalation at every
turn. In this context one of the questions that
needs to be asked is the degree to which nuclear
weapons in Pakistan has now become part of the
Pakistani identity and the extent to which
getting rid of nuclear weapons would need a
certain kind of vacuum at least within the elite
circles.
May 1998 was a turning point in South Asian
nuclear history. The tests at Pokhran were
initiated by the BJP government which had just
come to power through a process which was
characterised by extreme secrecy so much so that
even the ministry of defence was one of the last
to find out about it. The tests ended a period
which had been underway from 1974, characterised
by nuclear ambiguity or nuclear opaque-ness. In
1974, India conducted its first nuclear test,
which was described as a peaceful nuclear
explosion. For the next 14 years, India worked
hard to increase nuclear capacity, and Pakistan
tried to systematise a haphazard nuclear
programme. By the mid-1980s it was clear that
Pakistan had in fact the weapon, but it took till
1998 really for that weapon to become public and
the official nuclearisation of South Asia to
happen.
New Delhi's decision to proceed with the nuclear
explosions in 1998 is confusing from the point of
view of international relations. At one stroke,
India managed to get rid of its strategic
advantage over Pakistan. India is many times more
powerful and has resources far greater than
Pakistan. The explosion allowed Pakistan to
equate itself with India simply by setting off
their own weapons. It became very clear that the
aim of setting of these weapons was in fact to
provoke Pakistan to do the same. Paradoxically,
the fact that Pakistan was able to respond in the
way that it did, came as a surprise to many in
India. Until then, within the scientific
community in particular, there had always been a
suspicion that Pakistan's claims to have nuclear
weapons were in fact bogus. But among a number of
political leaders the attitude was that if India
managed to provoke Pakistan into following suit,
it would replicate in South Asia the putative
cold war scenario of the United States exhausting
the USSR into sub-mission.
What is confusing, however, is why a country
which already had a strategic advantage over
another would decide to take an action which
equated the two of them. The argument, confusing
to some scholars, was that once the two countries
had nuclear weapons it would result in a series
of agreements and conventions which would prevent
further escalation and impart greater stability
in the relations between the two countries. This
seemed logical from a theoretical point of view.
Ironically of course this so-called theory of
deterrence did not seem to work in South Asia
because within a year of the tests, the Kargil
war took place, initiated not by the stronger but
the weaker country. This clearly seemed to
suggest that not only had Pakistan equalised its
strategic position vis-à-vis India, it also
acquired a certain amount of freedom to take
actions which in the past would be seen as
extremely provocative and would perhaps have led
to full-scale war. So the logic, now, of nuclear
weapons in South Asia appears to be that it does
not prevent war but prevents war from escalating.
So, we can now assume that the series of
confrontations and low-intensity conflicts that
have been taking place in the region for a long
time will only increase.
No matter how sure political leaders are that
nuclear weapons are not meant to be used-that
they are simply meant to be brandished as
political weapons rather than as military
weapons-all that is needed is a small
miscalculation on one side or the other for the
threat of nuclear use to become closer than it is
today. Studies have shown that under conditions
of crisis, decision-making time is reduced as the
crisis advances. The time available is not
sufficient for a response based on an
understanding of what has happened and the true
nature of the crisis. That is why mistakes
happen, even if there is a well-established path
by which decisions are meant to be taken, namely
there is a chain of command, and a set of minimum
conditions to be met before each succeeding step
is taken. A burgeoning crisis creates the
compulsion to take decisions which under normal
circumstances may not have been taken. As the
crises follow one another, the danger of the use
of nuclear weapons becomes higher, and the
possibility of something going out of control
comes closer each time. The whole problem with
nuclear weapons is that if they have to be a
credible threat, they have to placed in a
position where they can actually be credibly
used, which means that they cannot be kept as far
away as one would like for security purposes.
They have necessarily to be kept in a somewhat
vulnerable position. The Indian establishment
claims that the chain of command is very secure.
But, these arrangements are only as good as the
first failure.
There is also one school of thought which
believes that actually India and Pakistan have
nuclear weapons completely under their control
because they are only political weapons not ever
intended for use as military weapons. In the
present context where there is one global
super-power and both countries are vying with
each other to gain its attention, what better way
of getting its attention than to threaten the use
of nuclear weapons. There is a great deal of
truth to this.
The United States' interests have to do with the
western side of Pakistan much more than the
eastern side of Pakistan. The Indian side is
hoping that the Americans will put pressure on
Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism, as it is
called in India in relation to Kashmir. But the
Americans show no interest, it seems, in taking
further steps to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Rather what is done is, what Pakistan has always
wanted, namely to internationalise Kashmir. Given
the strategic asymmetry between the two
countries, every time Pakistan threatens the use
the nuclear weapon it invokes Kashmir in the same
breath. Therefore, Kashmir, is always on the
table. It is not at all clear that we have gotten
any closer to a resolution of this problem, which
all said and done is the primary issue between
India and Pakistan.
These aspects constitute the general backdrop
against which the nuclear question in South Asian
needs to be discussed.
Polished shoes, dirty feet
India began its nuclear programme even before
independence. It was at that point clearly seen
as an energy programme, restricted to producing
nuclear power for civilian consumption. A
peculiarity of the Indian programme is the
location of its facilities. Bombay is not the
place where you want to have these facilities, if
the idea was to make nuclear weapons. You want to
have them in the south or east, as far away from
a potential threat from Pakistan as far as
possible. This in a sense corroborates the view
that the Indian programme to begin with was part
of the larger developmental effort.
Homi Bhabha came back from England during the
second world war and without much difficulty
convinced Nehru and the political leadership that
India needed nuclear power if it was to develop.
It was as simple as that.
In 1955, India in the pursuit of this objective
made a critical decision that was to open up
other possibilities later. This was the choice of
reactor, an aspect that does not always get the
attention it deserves. The choice at that time
was between a light water reactor and a heavy
water reactor. Light water reactors were the most
common form of nuclear reactors at that time. The
United States had it and General Electric was
willing to sell it. The Russians were also
developing light water reactors. Heavy water
reactors were much more of an unproven technology
at that time, and only the Canadians had gone in
that direction. Because of the heavy capital
costs involved, India had to make a choice
between the one or the other, as changing course
subsequently would not be easy. At a closed door
meeting of Indian scientists, it was decided to
opt for the heavy water reactor because the case
was made that one of the advantages of heavy
water reactors was that plutonium was a
by-product. Plutonium as a by-product should have
been seen as something that is dangerous because
it is an incredibly toxic metal. Ironically
plutonium was the reason that clinched choice.
So, by 1955, the initial idea of 1943-47 that
India's nuclear programme was to be oriented
towards civilian purposes had already gotten
modified to the extent that the option was now
kept open. Accordingly, contracts were signed
with the Canadians.
As time passed, the amount of money sunk into the
nuclear programme began to escalate. There had
also been from the beginning some criticism from
scientists not involved in this programme that
nuclear energy was being monopolised by one or
two centres and a very small team of leading
scientists. Also, the financial resources they
had access to were far in excess of what they
actually needed, which was depriving other parts
of Indian science of funds. In addition, there
were no results to show for all this expenditure.
They had promised in 1948 that within five years
India would have a working nuclear reactor
producing power. This was far from the case. Even
in 1969, Vikram Sarabhai, who took over from Homi
Bhabha, had promised that in a decade there would
be 20,000 MW of nuclear energy being produced
every year in India. It is still, today, under
3000 MW.
A programme that began with enormous attention
had by the mid-1950s and even more so by the
early 1960s lost its way and clearly was not
going to fulfil its original objective. Some time
in the early-1960s, the nuclear establishment
decided that all Indian nuclear scientists were
going to consider themselves nuclear weapons
scientists as well. This would, incidentally,
save the nuclear programme from public scrutiny.
Within the Atomic Energy Commission there had
always been more than one faction. One of these
was committed to the original energy objective.
There was another group, perhaps more politically
minded and perhaps less sure of their technical
ability, which felt that the energy programme was
not going anywhere and therefore the best way to
hedge the bet was to start a weapons programme.
This would in the long run always ensure that
this particular set of institutions and people
would be protected from any kind of resource
crunch.
Within the Atomic Energy Commission, from the
1960s onwards, the development of nuclear weapons
became an option being taken ever-more seriously.
As it became clear that the energy option was
becoming less and less viable-commercially and
otherwise-the weapons option became stronger. In
the 1960s, scientists did not play an active role
in the debate that took place after the Chinese
tested, but from that point onwards, especially
with the death of Homi Bhabha in 1966, and the
death of his successor Vikram Sarabhai in 1971,
the so-called bomb faction within the Atomic
Energy Commission began to dominate. It has
dominated ever since. That they had an interest
in testing long before 1998 has become clearer
with the admission by a former Indian prime
minister, that every Indian prime minister has
been approached as soon as they have came to
power with a request from the Atomic Energy
Commi-ssion to be allowed to test. Every Indian
prime minister until Vajpayee said no.
All the five countries that have become nuclear
powers before India have all had well-established
separate military programmes of which the
civilian programme was an off-shoot. In India, it
was the other way around, a civilian programme
having developed a military programme as an
off-shoot. Because the Indian nuclear programme
had an openly disclosed civilian energy
objective, it was allowed access to technology
from around the world, from which a secret
military programme was created.
The Pakistani model took this one step further.
It had a civilian programme of some kind in place
but the bomb came about through a completely
parallel route. It used covert means, using, for
instance, connections with the underworld. Both
India and Pakistan broke the mould for what new
nuclear powers are meant to do.
Risk factor?
If you consider the production cycle from the
extraction of uranium to the processing of it,
and making plutonium to the manufacture of the
bomb material, and the final placement-and if you
drew a line on the map from the starting point to
the end-point, the process in a sense travels
across the country. It begins at Jadugoda in
Jharkhand where most of India's uranium is mined.
From here it goes to Hyderabad, where the nuclear
fuel complex is located. The mined ore passes
through Jharkhand and Orissa to Andhra Pradesh.
There are no emergency mechanisms in case of a
spill or an accident. At Hyderabad, the uranium
is converted into fuel rods, and from there you
could take it in any one of a number of different
directions, given that there are reactors in
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka.
From there they are going to go all over the
place. If the material gets converted into bombs,
they could be sent to strategic storage
facilities that may be located anywhere.
Nuclear fuel, if its properly managed, is
relatively safe. We have no clear idea at this
time what kind of safety precautions are being
taken-for instance whether these trains that are
carrying the material are in fact protected by
troops in anticipation of a hijack. In case of an
accident, are hospitals along the route equipped
to deal with radiation poisoning? The answer
clearly is no, because there are very few places
in India where this kind of facility in fact is
available.
Finally, there are the corrosive effects that
nuclear weapons have on the form of democratic
functioning. The secrecy that envelops the
nuclear programme means that there is a certain
kind of immunity given to those within the
institution. This often leads to arrogance, and a
tendency to take certain decisions without
considering the full costs. Insulation from
public pressure, accountability and
responsibility makes you prone to being
aggressive and hostile in posturing. These
actions take place through the decisions of a
small number of people without proper discussion,
debate or scrutiny of publicly accountable
institutions.
This happens even within polities based on
democratic party systems. Within a system which
is less than democratic and less accountable, the
problems are even greater. For instance, over in
Islamabad, decisions are being made for Pakistani
citizens over which they have no control. The
media and the public find out about developments
well after the fact, and even then only in
passing. The danger is that even after a
democratic system comes back in full form in
Pakistan, there may well be critical areas which
are off-limits.
Pakistan also had a nuclear programme since the
1950s. There were two phases to it. There was the
early nuclear programme during the 1950s and then
the second phase which began in the 1960s but
which really took off in the 1970s. In the 1950s
3 to 4 percent of Pakistan's science and
technology budget went towards the nuclear
industry. This was a comparatively small figure,
because in the Indian case between 15 to 20
percent of the whole science and technology
budget goes towards the nuclear industry.
After 1972, with the creation of Bangladesh and
Bhutto coming to power, it became very clear that
Pakistan was going to go full speed ahead and
produce a weapon. There were obviously very clear
indications that Pakistani decision-makers knew
that India was well on its way to acquiring
nuclear capability. But, this was going to be a
deterrent against India, which had helped
dismember Pakistan once and clearly they were
going to do it again. The entire edifice of what
is called deterrence is premised on a certain
kind of communication that takes place between
two sides. In the India-Pakistan case this
communication has been always been a bit
distorted because it has always gone through some
indirect form.
The surreptitious manner in which weapons emerged
in the two countries, the history of intractable
problems, and the secrecy surrounding the control
and command systems and the tendency towards
brinkmanship in bilateral politics makes the idea
of a real deterrence somewhat weak in South Asia.
This is a factor that needs to be kept in mind in
reflecting on the nuclear situation in the
Subcontinent.
_____
[3]
Please Come!
PLEASE JOIN US
The 15th Safdar Hashmi Memorial
January 1, 2004, Thursday, from 2 pm onwards,
At Safdar Hashmi Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi.
Shubha Mudgal and Madan Gopal Singh,
The Malabarians - raga symphony
Manganiars from Barmer
Street plays by Act One and Jan Natya Manch
Nirmalaya Dey ( Dhrupad)
Susmit Bose ( Urban Folk )
Navtej Johar ( Modern Dance).
Safdar, a film by Sashi Kumar
Video piece 'Unity in Diversity ' by artist Nalini Malani
Short film Gandhi by Amar Kanwar will also be screened.
_____
[4]
PRESS STATEMENT
December 29, 2003 CHRO Seminar at World Social Forum 2004, Mumbai :
"MOVING TOWARDS PEACE IN KASHMIR"
SPEAKERS : * Ved Bhasin, Human Rights Activist
and Chairman of "Kashmir Times", Srinagar, J & K
* Parvez Imroz, Human Rights Activist, Srinagar,
J & K * Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Anti-Nuclear
Activist and Professor of Physics from Pakistan *
Gautam Navlakha, Human Rights Activist and
Journalist, New Delhi * Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy,
Human Rights Activist, JNU, New Delhi *
Karamat Ali, Peace Activist, Karachi, Pakistan.
* Ms. Akhila Raman from Kashmir Forum,
California, USA, will preside. * CHRO Chairperson
Prof. P. Koya will deliver the welcome address.
(The programme will be followed by Question and
Answer Discussion with audience) WHEN : Tuesday,
January 20, 2004 WHERE : World Social Forum (WSF)
Event Complex, New Standard Engineering
(NSE)Grounds, Bombay Exhibition Grounds, Western
Express Highway, Goregaon (E), Mumbai.
-- FREE event ; Limited seats ; arrive early to
ensure your seating. About The Forum In Brief :
This Forum will serve as an Education Forum on
Kashmir. Speakers from India, Pakistan and
Kashmir will critically analyze the historical
roots of the conflict and the way forward from a
balanced and liberal viewpoint. After 56 years of
Indian independence, Kashmir remains the
long-standing unresolved dispute which plagues
the subcontinent and has become the nuclear
flashpoint, bleeding the Kashmiris and the
economy of both India and Pakistan, driving them
to a mad arms race. This forum will strive to
present a balanced view on the Kashmir 'problem'
by taking a critical look at the role both India
and Pakistan have played in bringing the region
to its current state. The focus will not stray
far from the plight of the people of Kashmir, of
all communities, who have borne the brunt of the
fall-out from decisions being made in Islamabad
and New Delhi. The speakers will also address
possible ways to resolve the seemingly
intractable conflict in the region so that the
people of Kashmir, including those who have had
to flee their homes and become refugees in India
and Pakistan, can start rebuilding their lives in
peace.
* Directions to WSF:
http://www.wsfindia.org/gettinghere.php For more
information about the Seminar:
sapj at mindspring.com,
mukundancmenon at rediffmail.com,chro at rediffmail.com
_____
[5]
Notice
29.12.2004
Centre for European Studies
Department of History
Jadavpur University [West Bengal, India]
Invites you to a discussion on:
The U.S. and allied War on Iraq, the United
Nations and the Anti-War Movement in the United
States
Venue: Department of History, P.G. Arts Building
Room 3/6 [Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India]
Date: 6th January 2004
Time: 12-30 P.M.
Speakers: Prof. Ganesh Lal, Department of English, Wake Forest University
Mr. David Whitehouse, member of the Editorial
Collective, International Socialist Review,
Chicago
Kunal Chattopadhyay
Co-ordinator
Centre for European Studies, J.U.
_____
[6]
[This appeared in the Milli Gazette of 1-15
January 2004, vol.5, no.1, though they gave it
another title]
On the Assembly Elections of 2003
Mukul Dube
The day after the results of the assembly
elections were announced, a friend pointed out
that our entire system of justice is based on
punishing an offender publicly so that he does
not commit the same offence again and so that
others, having seen his punishment, do not dare
to commit that offence. It can be argued that the
results of the assembly elections in
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan work
directly against the principle underlying this
system of justice.
These three states have elected the BJP
to power. As has been shown time and again and in
many different ways, the BJP was the key
facilitator of the Sangh Parivarís unprecedented
barbarity and savagery in Gujarat less than two
years ago. Had the BJP not been in power in
Gujarat, its siblings, chiefly the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, would not have had
the freedom to so offend humanity as they did.
Had the BJP not been in power in Gujarat, the
apparatus of State would not have guided, abetted
and joined in the savagery. Had the BJP not led
the coalition in Delhi, the butchery of Gujarat
could have been prevented or, if it had still
taken place, the butchers could have been rapidly
rounded up and punished for their unspeakable
crimes.
What do the results of the assembly
elections signify? They signify, first, that
those who should have been punished have instead
been rewarded. Second, they mean that the voters
who elected these criminals have not seen the
writing on the wall the clear danger that the
same crimes will be repeated elsewhere. Third,
and this prospect is terrifying, they may mean
that the electorate actually wants the Sangh
Parivarís barbarity to spread across our land.
There can be little doubt that the Sangh
Parivarís various limbs, working in unison like
malignant termites, with a military kind of
efficiency only to be expected from the
historical connection with Italian Fascism and
from the structure of command within the RSS,
have preyed on the fears and the cupidity of all
whom they have come in contact with. While one
man is told that his economic problems are the
creation of those who follow a different
religion, another is lured away into the Sangh
Parivarís fraudulent construction of Hinduism by
the gift of a cow.
The Sangh Parivar thinks of all. Women
are specifically targeted and led astray, as
Lalita Panicker observed: ìWomen from
economically weaker sections are particularly
vulnerable joining a shakha is seen as a means
to economic empowerment via the income-generating
activities on offer and to acquiring a ready-made
support system.î But what is the result? ìReports
from women's groups tell of middle and upper
class women participating in looting alongside
men [during the Gujarat violence]î (Times of
India, 25 March 2002). Once the fun and games are
over, though, these women are pushed firmly back
into their role of home makers.
The kind of indoctrination that is
practised on young minds in the RSS shakhas has
been extended to the minds of the children who
study in the vast network of ìschoolsî run by
that paramount body headed by the Sole Dictator.
In schools whose syllabi are controlled by the
State, the most reactionary ideas are being
introduced. Higher education too is not spared,
and in the future we are likely to see hundreds
of doctorates being awarded in the ìscienceî of
astrology.
State patronage has been extended, and
awards have been given, to individuals who cannot
even be called mediocrities. The petty-minded,
semi-literate, vengeful people of the Sangh
Parivar now control a large part of the Stateís
institutions and resources. The same small bunch
of ìscholarsî is on the governing bodies of
research institutions from Shimla to Chennai. The
beneficiaries of the Stateís largesse
scholarships, research projects, and so on are
of course functionaries of the Sangh Parivar.
There are no rules any more and no sphere
of life has been left untouched. But above all
else is placed what is called ìthe honour of the
nationî. For years the one constant in our
political discourse suppressed when that is
convenient, raised again whenever it is needed
has been the undoing of what is described as a
centuries old ìwrongî by the construction of a
Ram temple at the site of the demolished Babari
Masjid. In this mad pursuit, history itself the
facts of the past in so far as they are known is
blatantly manipulated and distorted.
It needs no special intelligence to see
that the ìnationî thus spoken of is an
exclusively ìHinduî one this term itself being a
travesty of known history and that all those who
follow other religions are aliens who, by
definition, should not have even ordinary
citizenís rights because they are invaders or
have extra-territorial loyalties never mind that
they were born in India and have Indian driverís
licences, Indian passports, Indian voterís cards.
These ìforeignersî are as much a part of the
Indian economy as are their ìHinduî fellow
citizens but for the Sangh Parivar, economic
realities become meaningless when they are set
off against whatever is chosen to be described as
the ìHindu Rashtraís glorious pastî.
But do economic realities really become
meaningless? Of course they donít. Material
resources are systematically directed towards the
Sangh Parivarís own people while our religious
minorities are just as systematically denied the
very means of livelihood and are, as we see in
Gujarat, rendered homeless in their own land. The
Sangh Parivar is adept at turning any logical
construction on its head.
The Sangh Parivar said that for these
assembly elections it had abandoned the Hindutva
plank in favour of issues of development.
Strangely, our press swallowed this and went
about repeating it. I would argue that the Sangh
Parivar cannot possibly abandon what is its sole
justification for existing. Yes, it may push it
to the back for a little while on seeing that it
is not yielding dividends; but it has by no means
been abandoned. The photograph of Narendra Modi
by Vasundhara Rajeís side at her swearing-in
ceremony speaks volumes. No sooner does the soft
lady win on the ìdevelopmentî plank than the hard
man of the Hindutva line joins her to celebrate
her victory very visibly. Hindutva was not
abandoned: it was only waiting in the wings. The
likelihood is that it will re-emerge far stronger
and more vicious than before, now that it has
political power in its grasp.
The swearing-in ceremonies in the states
in which the BJP won these assembly elections
were not the modest affairs which such occasions
have been for decades and as they should be in a
democratic republic. Instead, they were grand
spectacles with thousands of spectators present
to watch the coronations. Only gladiators and
lions were missing. The model was Modiís
swearing-in of last year, at which, remarkably,
the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
themselves were present. What better pat on the
back could a Chief Minister ask for who was being
held responsible for causing or at least abetting
his stateís anti-Muslim pogrom?
I am reminded of Leni Riefenstahl, the
German dancer, actress and film maker who died
recently. Riefenstahl was best known for Triumph
of the Will, her film of the Nazi Partyís rally
of 1934 at Nuremberg. As an example of the art of
the cinema it can only be described as a
masterpiece, though the imagery is that of
Hitlerís view of German greatness. In the
imitation Nuremberg rallies of Gandhinagar,
Jaipur, Bhopal and Raipur we can see who are the
Sangh Parivarís ideals: Hitler and Caligula.
Worse, we are but one election away from outright
fascism (I.K. Shukla, personal communication).
The famous shikari Jim Corbett used to
say that big cats did not become man-eaters
unless they were forced into it, usually by
injuries which prevented them from hunting their
usual prey. I wonder how he would explain the
proliferation today of man-eating rats.
This is not a joke but a very real fear.
The Sangh Parivar has a singularly narrow vision
and its beasts have tasted blood. Once the
Muslims are done away with, the Christians will
be dealt with. Then will come the Sikhs, the
Buddhists, the Jains and the tribals. Communists
are of course an old enemy who will be tackled at
some stage.
But what then? What the voters who have
elected the BJP to power in three states have
failed to see is that one day it will be their
turn. The man-eating rats will inevitably turn on
them. That is the clear writing on the wall.
______
[7]
The Times of India
December 31, 2003
Forum sings Indo-Pak bhai-bhai
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2003 12:56:54 AM ]
HYDERABAD : The Pakistan-India People's Forum for
Peace and Democracy, has urged the Indian and
Pakistan governments to continue the process of
dialogue in full earnest and take it to the
logical conclusion.
The sixth joint convention of the Forum was held
at Karachi in Pakistan recently, in which 240
delegates from India participated. The three-day
convention welcomed the peace initiatives by
India and Pakistan .
Stating this at a press conference here on
Tuesday, Forum chairman-emeritus and former chief
of Indian Navy Admiral L Ramdas, Forum AP chapter
secretary Mazher Hussain, member Dr Anand Raj
Varma said that an important achievement for the
nine-member delegation that participated in the
Convention from the state was the decision taken
in consultation with delegates from Hyderabad
Sindh (Pakistan) to start the process to make
Hyderabad Deccan and Hyderabad Sindh as sister
cities.
It was proposed to start a web site, promote
e-mail friendships between the youth and people
of the two cities and also exchange visits by
students. They said that it was also decided to
explore the possibility of holding festivals
every alternate year in each of the cities.
Members from both the cities resolved to approach
their respective municipalities to seek official
approval and participation in making this concept
a reality.
Another important achievement of the convention
was the formation of a group under the banner of
PEN for PEACE, in which academicians, writers,
poets and artists have resolved to work for
promoting better understanding between the two
countries and also to secure free flow of
material and information between the two
countries. The delegates from the state played an
important role in conceiving and initiating this
endeavour, they added.
______
[ 8]
Commotion in Peace Conference
LTTE Rowdy Elements Disrupt Speech
At a "Peace Conference" organised by the centre
for culture, peace and development which was
chaired by Mr. B.A. Kader, a few LTTE rowdy
elements among the audience tried to disrupt the
speech delivered by a well known political
analyst Sivalingam living in London.
The Conference was held in London on 28 December
2003 at which the minister of community
development Honourable Mr. Chandrasekaran and
Parliamentary affairs minister Mr. Aswer were
also present.
The speech was a political analysis of the
actions adopted by the Sri Lankan government,
the LTTE and the opposition parties vis a vis the
peace process and the cease fire following the
signing of the memorandum of understanding
between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE,
causes for the present stalemate and the
experiences to be learnt.
Stressing the importance of an deep and objective
analysis, which he said is imperative to enable
all concerned parties to identify the
shortcomings so that they may be rectified in the
interest of a durable peace which all Sri Lankans
long for, Mr, Sivalingam pointed out that one of
the reasons for the current stalemate in the
peace process was that the major opposition
political party was not included in the
formulation of the memorandum of understanding.
In the context of the Sri Lankan political
scenario, it is imperative that it is accepted by
both major parties in Sri Lanka. There must have
been consultation in this issue of national
importance.
It is because the agreement is between the
government and the LTTE; the opposition party
expects the agreement to collapse so that they
can gain power. Therefore, for a permanent and
durable solution to the national question there
must be contribution by the two major parties.
The government should have prepared a work plan
for agreement of the opposition parties.
He further said that it was the scheme of the
government to exploit America's sentiments
against terrorism to their advantage. Under the
guise of peace, the government has obtained fresh
supply of arms and had sought the help of foreign
security advisers. It did not have any concrete
plans to advance the peace process and resolve
the national question either alone or in
conjunction with the opposition.
The accusation jointly by the Tamil leadership
and the UNP that the impediment to the peace
process is the PA serves only protects the
interests of the UNP.
On the other hand, because of the preoccupation
of the LTTE with the exploitation of the
situation to merely transform it as the sole
leadership of the Tamils, the opportunity to
create political pluralism among the Tamil
speaking people had been completely obliterated.
Despite the trend of the modern world is to move
towards democratic pluralism, there were
blatantly overt efforts by the LTTE to dominate
the TULF; elected representatives of the people
and thereby making them political imbeciles and
making a mockery of the parliamentary system.
Furthermore, he said, the LTTE too obtained
supply of arms. Youths were abducted for combat
training. There were extortion and harassment of
the Muslims. The Tamil people who had suffered
immense economic hardships for the last twenty
years are being subjected to additional taxation
regime. This is daylight robbery. Political
opponents as well as members of the public who
would not obediently toe their line were killed.
This had the effect of silencing many.
As a consequence of these incidents in the Tamil
areas, the Government was accused of
insensitivity and incompetence. It was also
accused of helping the LTTE by turning a blind
eye to its activities. Such actions helped the
propaganda of the opposition parties that the
LTTE was preparing for war. This put pressure on
the Government and weakened it. It was in this
background that President Chandrika took over the
three ministries including Defence.
The Tamil leadership cannot attribute these
developments and the sorry state of the peace
process to the Singhalese parties only. Tamil
leadership too has to bear responsibility for
having pushed the government to this position.
Also, the approach of the Tamil leadership has
been, on the one hand, to support the government
and on the other, paint the opposition parties as
chauvinists. Because of these wrong approaches,
the Tamil leadership operated as the propagandist
of the UNP. It must be realised that it is
important to create goodwill among the Sinhalese
parties. We cannot achieve permanent peace
without the cooperation and goodwill of the
majority community. All approaches must be based
on principles of democratic pluralism.
The peace process was destroyed because of these
wrong approaches. The causes and the consequences
must be openly discussed and publicly debated.
At this juncture of his speech some rowdy
elements claiming from the LTTE walked
aggressively towards the podium and shouted at
the speaker, preventing from finishing his
speech.
A large part of the audience present expressed
disgust at the LTTErs disgraceful attempt to
muzzle the democratic right of an individual to
express opinion. They said the actions of theses
small band of individuals are a blot on the
Tamils especially living in the British soil
enjoying the fruits of a liberal and democratic
tradition.
Vectone telecast the full proceedings live.
______
[9]
The Daily Star
December 27, 2003
Bigots demand bill declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims
Threaten to hem in MPs
Staff Correspondent
The anti-Ahmadiyya religious bigots yesterday
threatened to hem in members of parliament (MPs),
elected on Islamic manifesto, if they do not
table a bill declaring the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims
in the next parliament session.
"Since they promised an Islamic society, Motiur
Rahman Nizami, Fazlul Haq Amini, Delwar Hossain
Sayeedi (and MPs of Jamaat-e-Islami and other
Islamic parties) must place a bill in this regard
in parliament,"demanded Mahmudul Hasan Mamtazi,
amir of Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Coordination
Committee, an anti-Ahmadiyya alliance.
"If you don't do so, beware Nizami, Amini,
Sayeedi and the others, we will gherao you
wherever we find you," warned Mamtazi from a
demonstration he chaired at Jatrabari.
Some fifteen hundred anti-Ahmadiyyas of a
conglomerate of Islamist outfits took part in the
demonstration jointly organised by Nabuwat
Anodolon and Aamra Dhakabashi, a socio-cultural
organisation, on Shaheed Faruq Road after Juma
prayers yesterday.
"We will paralyse the whole country including the
city if the government does not evict the 'kaffir
Ahmadiyyas' from the Nakhalpara Ahmadiyya mosque
by January 9," Mamtazi threatened.
Joint Secretary General of Nabuawat Andolon,
Nazmul Haq said, "We will drive the Ahmadiyyas
out of their Nakhalpara mosque and lay siege to
other Ahmadiyya mosques across the country
simultaneously on January 9."
"We will begin a countrywide agitation and
paralyse the country for an indefinite period
demanding declaration of the Ahmadiyyas as
non-Muslims and freeing the mosques from their
occupation," he added.
"The government should keep in mind that the
previous Awami League government failed to retain
power as they declared fatwa illegal," he
reminded.
"Ours demands are not political," said Shamsul
Haq, president of Aamra Dhakabashi. "No Muslim
will accept Ahmadiyyas identifying themselves as
Muslims and calling their places of worship
mosques while at the same time carrying out
anti-Islamic activities and identifying their
late leader Mirza Golam Ahmad as the last
prophet."
"We will not bother them if the government
declares them a minority community and not
identify them as Muslims," said Abdur Rahim of
Khademul Islam Parishad.
"The AL government failed to return to power as
it shut down 250 madrassahs and the ruling
alliance will face the same fate if they do not
meet our demands," said Enayetullah Abbasi, a
senior Nabuwat Andolon leader.
Zakir Hossain, Shamsul Haq Kazemi, Khabir Ahmed,
Moklesur Rahman, Tafazzul Haq, Ataur Rahman Atiq
and Azizur Rahman, among others, addressed the
demonstration.
The participants later brought out a procession
and dispersed at the Sayedabad bridge.
Khatme Nabuwat Andolon will hold another
demonstration at Mirpur-10 intersection on
January 2.
______
[10]
The Hindustan Times, December 31, 2003
Bajrang Dal issues threat against New Year celebrations
Indo-Asian News Service
Bhopal, December 30
Activists of the Bajrang Dal in Madhya Pradesh
have warned the people against celebrating the
New Year.
In a statement issued here, the Hindu radical
group said people with a "slave-like mentality"
were planning to hold "vulgar" programmes on the
eve of the New Year of a calendar that had
nothing to do with Indians.
The group warned the people against all New Year celebrations.
The Bajrang Dal's threat was focused on Indore,
Madhya Pradesh's commercial capital, which has a
number of plush hotels that organise parties to
usher in the New Year.
The group said such parties were vulgar and against Indian traditions.
One hotel is flying in a belly dancer and her
troupe from the US on New Year's Eve.
Bajrang Dal activists have also decided to stage
a torch rally in Indore to warn all hotel and
restaurant owners against holding "Western and
vulgar" dances.
The group's members will tour cities in the state
in small groups and stop any programme that they
consider to be "against Indian traditions".
Around 10 days ago, Bajrang Dal activists
disrupted a fashion show in Gwalior district of
northern Madhya Pradesh.
For the past few years, the Bajrang Dal and other
Hindu groups have also been disrupting
Valentine's Day celebrations.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
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