SACW | 03 Jan 2004

Harsh Kapoor aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Jan 2 20:52:21 CST 2004


South Asia Citizens Wire  |  03 January,  2004

[ANNOUNCEMENT:  Please note, SACW dispatches are 
going to be interrupted starting  January 6/7  to 
and are not likely to resume before February 22, 
2004. ]

[1] Report on the media sector meeting  during 
the Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and 
Democracy (PIPFPD) summit in Karachi on Dec 13, 
2003
[2] [India - Mulla Multiplication] 'Conversion' 
Convulsions in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin (Yoginder 
Sikand)
[3] Postmodernism, Hindu nationalism and `Vedic 
science'  [Part 2] (Meera Nanda)
[4] Programme of the Seventh Subaltern Studies Conference [Delhi]
[5] Communal Riots 2003 (Asghar Ali Engineer)
[6] Precepts For 'non-Slave Indian' Year 2004
[7] Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW)
[8] BBC progamme on Gujarat angers India's fascists
[9] Important new Books:
A) 'The Path of the Parivar: Articles on Gujarat and Hindutva (Mukul Dube)
B) `Hindutva: Exploring the Idea of Hindu Nationalism' by Jyotirmaya Sharma
[10] Press Release (India-Nepal People's Solidarity Forum)


--------------

[1]

Report on the media sector meeting held during 
the Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and 
Democracy (PIPFPD) summit in Karachi on Dec 13, 
2003


Read the full text at:    www.sacw.net/peace/mediaatPIPFPD2003.html

_____


[2]

Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 02:11:09 -0800 (PST)

'Conversion' Convulsions in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin

  Yoginder Sikand

Located off a narrow, congested lane in Delhi's 
Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, right opposite the 
global headquarters of the Tablighi Jama'at, the 
world's largest Islamic movement, are the offices 
of the Idara Isha'at-I Diniyat. The Idara is a 
publishing house that has for decades specialized 
in producing Tablighi literature in several 
languages. Indeed, the Idara's publications have 
played a major role in the global spread of the 
Tablighi Jama'at. The Idara's books are to be 
found in almost every country where the Tabligh 
movement is active, which is to say in almost 
every country where Muslims live. The Idara and 
the Tabligh movement have thus enjoyed a close 
relationship over the years. The Idara has helped 
popularize the message of the movement, while the 
movement has helped build up the Idara into one 
of the largest Muslim publishing houses in India.

The cosy relationship between the two is now at 
an end, however. In a recent announcement the 
senior owner of the Idara, Muhammad Anas, has 
declared that he has 'repented' of having been 
associated with the Tablighi Jama'at and the 
Deobandi sect, and has now decided to join the 
rival Ahl-i Hadith school. Given the fierce 
rivalry between the Deobandis and the Tablighis, 
on the one hand, and the Ahl-i Hadith on the 
other, Anas' move has come as a major shock to 
those who knew him as well as for activists in 
the Tabligh movement.

Anas made his dramatic announcement in late 2003, 
in an interview given to a certain Muhammad Aqil, 
an Indian Ahl-i Hadith scholar and activist based 
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Aqil spared no effort in 
publicizing the Ahl-i Hadith's latest prize 
neophyte. He arranged for the entire interview to 
be put up on a major Indian Ahl-i Hadith website 
managed out of Bombay (www.ahya.org). Audio tapes 
containing the interview were also hurriedly 
produced and distributed through Ahl-i Hadith 
channels all over India. Clearly, for the Ahl-i 
Hadith Anas' dramatic conversion is being seen as 
a major triumph. Meanwhile, although Tablighi 
leaders refuse to comment on the affair, there is 
clearly considerable resentment in Tablighi 
circles about what is regarded as Anas' 
'betrayal' of the cause. As one Tablighi activist 
told me, 'Anas' business empire was built 
entirely on the money he earned by publishing 
Tablighi books, and now he decides to stab us in 
the back'.

Recent years have witnessed the remarkable 
resurgence of intra-Muslim sectarian rivalries in 
India, and in this the Ahl-i Hadith have had a 
major role to play. Unlike the Deobandis and the 
Barelwis, who form the vast majority of the 
Indian Muslim population, the Ahl-i Hadith is 
fiercely opposed to Sufism as well as to the 
rigid following (taqlid) of any of the four 
established schools of Islamic jurisprudence. 
Instead, it insists that Muslims should strictly 
follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the Prophetic 
practice, alone. Sharing a common vision of Islam 
with the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia, the Indian 
Ahl-i Hadith are said to have received 
considerable sums of money from Arab patrons. 
Much of this money has been spent on producing 
highly polemical literature targeted against 
other Muslim groups, branding them as erroneous 
and accusing them of polytheism (shirk) and 
wrongful innovation (biddat). As a result of 
relentless Ahl-i Hadith propaganda directed 
against them, other Muslim groups have begun 
responding by distributing literature defending 
their beliefs and seeking to portray the Ahl-i 
Hadith as sinister troublemakers. All this has 
led to considerable resentment and tension in the 
wider Muslim community.

Anas' decision to join the Ahl-i Hadith will no 
doubt add a new angle to the ongoing 
inter-sectarian rivalry between the Ahl-i Hadith 
and the Deobandis, in particular because some of 
his statements contained in his interview are 
sure to be seen as provocative by the Deobandi 
'ulama. The manner in which Anas and his 
interviewer both discuss his decision to join the 
Ahl-i Hadith gives the distinct impression that 
both see the act as a  radical shift from 
'disbelief' to the true faith, as dramatic a 
conversion as a shift from one religion to a 
completely different one. It is as if the 
Deobandi form of Islam that Anas had been 
adhering to all these years had little or nothing 
to do with real Islam. Naturally, the Deobandis 
are not going to take this suggestion lightly.

Anas' interview is now available as a slim 
48-page Urdu booklet, published by a Delhi-based 
Ahl-I Hadith publishing house, the Dar ul-Kitab 
al-Islamiya. The provocative title of the booklet 
reads, 'Faza'il-i 'Amal (Tablighi Nisab) Ke 
Nashir Ki Tauba' ('The Repentance of the 
Publisher of the Faza'il-i 'Amal (Tablighi 
Nisab'). The use of the word 'tauba' or 
'repentance' is, of course, deliberate, 
suggesting that, as the publisher of the booklet 
sees it, Anas' earlier Deobandi-Tablighi 
association was a grievous sin that he has now 
sincerely repented of.

In his introduction to the booklet, the editor of 
the booklet, Muhammad Aqil, explains why he, like 
many other Ahl-I Hadith scholars, is so opposed 
to the Tablighi Jama'at. He writes that the 
principal text used by Tablighi activists, the 
Faza'il-i 'Amal, penned by the Tablighi scholar 
Shaikh ul-Hadith Maulana Muhamad Zakariya, is 
replete with concocted stories and weak and even 
fabricated hadith or reports attributed to the 
Prophet Muhammad. Several of the beliefs that it 
prescribes, he says, are un-Islamic. Many of 
these are derived from Sufism, which, he says, 
has no sanction in Islam. A true Muslim, Aqil 
argues, must follow only the Qur'an and the 
genuine Hadith, and he claims that the only 
Muslim group to do so is the Ahl-i Hadith. He 
refers to numerous Arab and Indian Ahl-i Hadith 
'ulama who have written texts 'proving' the 
Tablighi Jama'at to be a deviant group, primarily 
because of the allegedly un-Islamic contents of 
the Faza'il-i 'Amal. Aqil also quotes a fatwa 
issued by a leading Wahhabi 'alim, the late chief 
Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin 
Baaz, to back his claim. In his statement, bin 
Baaz asserts that that the 'message' (da'wah) of 
the Tablighi Jama'at is 'replete with errors' and 
adds that it also propagates 'wrongful 
innovations' (biddat) and 'polytheistic' 
(shirkiya) practices. Hence, he asserts, it is 
not proper (ja'iz) to travel on missionary tours 
with the Tablighi Jama'at, unless the intention 
be to warn the Tablighi activists of their 
erroneous ways.

Anas' own narrative of his joining the Ahl-i 
Hadith reads almost like a Pauline conversion 
story, a sudden transformation from darkness to 
light. He relates that he was first introduced to 
the Ahl-i Hadith recently through audio tapes and 
CDs containing lectures of leading Ahl-i Hadith 
'ulama and through certain Ahl-i Hadith websites, 
a remarkable testimony to the technological 
sophistication of several Islamic groups in South 
Asia. He then compared what he heard and read 
from these sources with the writings of Hanafi 
Deobandi 'ulama, and found to his consternation, 
so he says, that many of the pronouncements of 
the latter actually have no basis in the Qur'an 
and Hadith. This led him to read the works of 
Ahl-i Hadith scholars, and satisfied that their 
writings are in accordance with the Qur'an and 
Hadith, decided to join their sect.

Anas admits that his conversion experience has 
not been a smooth affair. Most of his friends and 
relatives are upset with him, as if, as he puts 
it, he 'has committed a very grave sin'. After 
joining the Ahl-i Hadith he says he has sought to 
strictly follow the commandments of the Qur'an 
and the Hadith, which has provoked considerable 
opposition from even people he considers close to 
him. Thus, for instance, he recently arranged for 
the marriage of his son, a simple affair in 
accordance with the Qur'an and Hadith to which 
only a few people wereinvited. This has, he 
laments, angered his relatives. Likewise, he says 
that his daughter is now having to face 
considerable problems  in her in-laws home 
because she prays in the Ahl-i Hadith fashion. 
Yet, he says, he has persevered and now his wife, 
all his children as well as the youngest of his 
two brothers have followed him into the Ahl-i 
Hadith. He adds that his middle brother has not 
yet joined the Ahl-i Hadith but reveals that he, 
too, broadly agrees with its aims and 
understanding of Islam and will, too, probably 
soon come around. He admits that his sudden 
decision would make a major dent in his income, 
for his business is based on publishing and 
selling Tablighi books. Yet, he says, he is 
willing to suffer poverty in God's path.

As he relates in his interview, following his 
conversion Anas has introduced major changes in 
his publishing house. After consulting his two 
younger brothers, who are also partners in the 
business, he has decided to stop publishing the 
second volume of Maulana Zakariya's Faza'il-i 
'Amal, the principal Tablighi text, and hopes to 
end the first volume soon, too. He has made a 
list of other books by Deobandi ulama that he was 
earlier publishing or stocking in his bookshop 
and which he now believes to contain material not 
in accordance with his new understanding of 
Islam. Among the books that he has stopped 
publishing and selling are the Bahishti Zewar, 
the Hikayat-i Auliya and the 'Amal-i Qur'ani   by 
the leading Deobandi scholar Maulana Ashraf Ali 
Thanwi, the Tarikh-i Mashaikh-i Chisht by Maulana 
Muhammad Zakariya, chief Tablighi ideologue, as 
well as popular books for preparing amulets 
(amaliyat) such as Naqsh-i Sulaimani, Kanz 
ul-Husain, Shams ul-Ma'arif al-Kubra and Nafis 
al-Ma'ani. He suggests that if he had his way he 
would 'dump into a river' all the literature that 
is stocked in his shop which contains utterances 
that are not in accordance with the Qur'an and 
Hadith. He goes so far as to say that people who 
make a livelihood out of selling such books are 
actually engaged in unlawful work.

Anas is now in the process of radically 
restructuring what was once the largest 
publishing house promoting the Tablighi Jama'at. 
His shop continues to stock certain texts penned 
by Tablighi ulama but several titles have simply 
disappeared from the shelves. Their place has now 
been taken by books written by Indian and Arab 
Ahl-i Hadith ulama. Anas has probably selected 
the new titles that he stocks with considerable 
caution, careful not to display any books that 
openly condemn the Deobandis and the Tablighis, 
and the Hanafis more generally, for the locality 
in which his shop is located is the nerve centre 
of the Tablighis

'All this is to the good', a friend of mine and a 
one time Tablighi activist who lives in the area 
told me. 'I don't agree with the Ahl-i Hadith 
myself', he said, 'but at least with new sorts of 
books being kept at the Idara, the Tablighis 
would be introduced to new ways of thinking, 
which they are now so hostile to'. On the other 
hand, he hastened to add, he feared that the 
changes at the Idara might possibly lead to 
heightened sectarian rivalries that the Muslims 
of Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, already divided 
between the Tablighis and those associated with 
the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya nearby, 
can clearly ill afford.

_____


[3]


[The second and concluding part of the two-part 
article.  The first part had been carried on SACW]

o o o

Frontline, January 03 - 16, 2004

Postmodernism, Hindu nationalism and `Vedic science'  [Part 2]
MEERA NANDA
URL: www.flonnet.com/fl2101/stories/20040116001408700.htm

_____



[4]


SEVENTH SUBALTERN STUDIES CONFERENCE

6 January 2004
Morning Session: Re-scripting Identity
9.30 am to 1.00 pm

Jayati Lal: Unbecoming Women: Rewriting Gender 
and Labour Scripts in a Factory Worker's Life 
Story
Discussant: Chitra Joshi

Deborah Sutton: Race, Identity and Citizenship 
Between South Asia and East Africa, 1948-1963
Discussant: Sumit Sarkar

Amit Basu: Politics of Sexual Identities From the 
Margin: Listening to Lesbians of Calcutta
Discussant: Nivedita Menon


Afternoon session: Being in the City
2.00 pm to 5.30 pm

Gyan Prakash: Title yet to be received
Discussant: Gopal Guru

Sunalini Kumar: Issue-based Campaigns vs 
Class-based mobilisation in the City: A Study of 
the CNG controversy in Delhi
Discussant: Satish Deshpande

Ravi Sundaram: Uncanny Networks: Pirate, Urban 
and the New Globalisation in India
Discussant: MSS Pandian

7 January
Morning Session: Nation in the Mirror of Culture

Janaki Bakhle: Music and the National Project: 
Vishnu Bhatkhande and V.D. Paluskar
Discussant: Partho Dutta

Milind Wakankar: The End of Maharashtra Dharma: 
Literature and Subalternity Before the Folk
Discussant: GP Deshpande

Rakesh Pandey: The Idea of the Popular in the Formation of Nationalist Culture
Discussant: Suresh Sharma

Afternoon Session: Staging the Nation

Shabnum Tejani: From 'Religious Community' to 
'Communal Minority': The Muslims and the Debates 
around Constitutional Reform, 1906-09
Discussant: Shail Mayaram

Sadan Jha: The Indian National Flag as a Site of Daily Plebiscite
Discussant: Shahid Amin

Aditya Nigam: Nation, Time and Belonging: The 
Modern Indian Self in Search of History
Discussant: Partha Chatterjee

8 January
Morning Session: Resistance and Assertion

Angana Chatterji: Subaltern Resistance in Postcolonial Orissa
Discussant: Niraja Gopal Jayal

Bela Bhatia: Subaltern Consciousness and 
Participation in the Naxalite Movement in Bihar
Discussant: Manoranjan Mohanty

Afternoon Session: Ethnographies of the Political

Rajeshwari Deshpande: Slum as Location of the Politics of the Disprivileged
Discussant: Achin Vanaik

Mukulika Banerjee: Democracy - An Ethnographic Approach
Elections in West Bengal
Discussant: Pratap Mehta

Susie Tharu: No Title yet
Discussant: Nicholas B. Dirks

9 January
Morning Open Session in Delhi University
10 am to 1pm

Panel Discussion on Caste and Democracy

Partcipants : Partha Chatterjee, D L Sheth, MSS 
Pandian, Nicholas B Dirks, Yogendra Yadav and 
Chandrabhan Prasad

Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi -110054

_____


[5]

COMMUNAL RIOTS 2003
Asghar Ali Engineer

Communal riots have become the fate of this 
country thanks to our politicians and their 
selfish interests. And ironically most of the 
riots are engineered by those politicians who 
claim to be most patriotic. Their patriotism is 
designed to win power by propagating hate 
politics against minority communities. The year 
2003 too, like previous years, saw its own quota 
of communal violence.

The communal violence began in Gujarat in the New 
Year. Gujarat, ruled by Narendra Modi, a hard 
core RSS man who was responsible for Gujarat 
carnage of 2002. Gujarat witnessed series of 
communal clashes on 2nd January 2003. Most of 
these incidents occurred in Central Gujarat, the 
region from where the BJP won maximum number of 
seats. And no wonder most of the victims were 
from minority community. The police officials 
admit that stray cases of communal violence have 
not stopped since the Gujarat carnage. After the 
election results, more than dozen cases of 
violence, including murders, stone pelting and 
arson, occurred in 10 different places, most of 
them in Central Gujarat.

On 2nd January Darbhanga, Bihar witnessed 
communal riot in Lalbagh area in which 8 persons 
were injured including two policemen and police 
had to impose curfew. And on 2nd January communal 
violence took place in Ahmad Nagar, Maharashtra, 
in which 5 persons were injured including one 70 
year old woman. The violence broke out on the 
question of burial ground land (qabrastan). 
Police bandobast was tightened after these 
clashes between the two communities.

The hate propagandists have created such 
polarisation between Hindus and Muslims that any 
small incident like scooterists knocking down 
member of another community or cricket game 
involving two communities results in communal 
clashes. In Vidarbha towns of Akot and Risod 
cricket resulted in communal clashes on 9th 
January in which 1 person was stabbed and six 
injured and in Risod 150 shops were gutted 
resulting in loss of crores of rupees. Risod is a 
sleepy town in Washim district. Both the towns 
are in communally sensitive district and have 
mixed population. In Akot a trader called 
Sadarani was grievously stabbed during the game.

It was again a Gujarat that communal violence 
broke out on 15th January on the occasion of 
Uttarayan festival in several towns like 
Ahmedabad, Godhra and Navsari. At least 15 
persons were injured in these clashes. Stone 
throwing and mob clashes took place in Dariyaganj 
and Gomtipura areas which are communally most 
sensitive in Ahmedabad.

On 14th January violence erupted in Ganjbasoda 
town in Vidisha district of M.P. due to alleged 
case of cow slaughter. Cow slaughter is another 
issue on which violence erupts time and again. On 
hearing about cow slaughter the mob went on 
rampage setting 60 shops belonging to Muslims 
were set on fire. Members of Bajrang Dal are 
alleged to be behind these communal disturbances. 
These Bajrang Dals were encouraged by the success 
of BJP in Gujarat. Some houses and vehicles were 
also set on fire. 22 persons were arrested. All 
this happened even though the culprit and his 
family members were arrested. Night curfew and 
section 144 were imposed and situation was stated 
to be under control.

There was communal riot in Mungir town in Bihar 
on 16th January in which two persons including an 
Imam of the mosque were killed. The violence 
erupted after one Umakant Yadav was killed. 
Umakant was killed by some goondas belonging to 
minority community. This news spread like wild 
fire in the city and members of both the 
communities came out on the streets with 
dangerous weapons. They fought against each other 
and apart from the Imam another person Muhammad 
Shamu also was killed and two more persons were 
injured in firing. Laloo Prasad Yadav, President 
of RJD said in a statement that these clashes in 
Mongir is result of clashes between criminal 
elements. Six persons were arrested and FIR was 
filed against twenty persons.

On 22nd January a dispute between doctor and 
patient took full-fledged communal eruption in 
Warud in Amravati District of Maharashtra. Asif 
Pathan whose wife got blinded due to wrong 
treatment by an Ayurvedic doctor attacked him. 
Pathan was then beaten up by two Bajrang Dal 
activists who were protecting the doctor in 
anticipation of attack. Though Aisfkhan 
surrendered himself to the police 3,000 strong 
mob protested the attack and some Bajrang Dals 
started attacking properties belonging to 
Muslims. Police brought the situation under 
control and some Bajrang Dals were arrested. Dr. 
Lokhande was also a VHP activist and it is 
alleged that he was receiving threats from SIMI 
activists.

Bhivandi is another communally sensitive town 
where communal situation worsened two days before 
Bakri Eid on February 9 when some Bajrang Dals 
attacked cows being brought by Muslims. The 
police took 9 cows in custody and police-Muslim 
clashes flared up in which 34 persons were 
injured including 26 policemen. The Rapid Action 
Force was immediately brought to control the 
situation. The communal cauldron in Bhivandi was 
first stirred by Bajrang Dals and incitement by 
some Muslims leaders added to the gravity of the 
situation.

For Gujarat communal violence has become so 
common that if it does not take place it becomes 
a news. Communal violence took place in Mehsana 
district on the occasion of Bakri Eid on 12th 
February in which at least eight persons 
including a police constable received stab and 
sword injuries in Takodi village of Mehsana 
district. It all started with some Muslims 
allegedly bringing calves for slaughter. When the 
police tried to stop they were greeted by volley 
of stones. It is interesting to note that some 
sources said that the real cause of trouble was 
Panchayat election in which a Hindu was elected 
Sarpanch with the help of some Muslims and the 
other group of Muslims opposing the Hindu 
Sarpanch did not allow these Muslims to enter the 
mosque.

On 19th February there was trouble in Dhar, M.P. 
when some Bajrang Dal members tried to enter the 
Kamalmoula mosque forcibly. When the police did 
not allow them there was call for bandh and 
violence erupted. There were incidents of 
violence and some one threw petrol bomb on police 
and police fired back in which two persons were 
injured. Another police station was gheraoed and 
some motor vehicles were set afire. One police 
van was also set on fire. The RPF was brought in. 
Fifteen policemen were also injured. A BJP MLA 
alleged that two persons died in police firing. 
However, police denied any person was killed in 
firing. It maintained no one was even injured. 
Thirty- five persons were arrested in the whole 
district and more than 25 persons were injured 
during the disturbances which included 15 
policemen.

On 26th February clashes broke out between Hindus 
and Muslims in Banglore while a Hindu religious 
procession was passing from near a mosque. There 
was stone throwing from both sides in Vedika and 
Ashok Nagar areas. Many shops and vehicles were 
damaged and when police tried to intervene its 
vehicles were also damaged. The mob set fire to 
one wine shop also. Many people were injured 
including 12 policemen.

Again on 1st March one riot erupted in Banglore 
D.J. Halli area after the India-Pakistan cricket 
match. Some 500 persons entered the area shouting 
slogans and stone pelting started. The police 
resorted to lathi charge and fired in the air to 
disperse the mob. More than 8 persons including 
four policemen were injured.

Ahmedabad and Baroda also witnessed communal 
clashes on 2nd March after Indo-Pak cricket 
match. The police fired in which one Muslim youth 
was killed in Shahpur area. More than 12 persons 
were injured including one Assistant police 
commissioner. Same day stray incidents were also 
reported from Baroda and a group of Hindus 
celebrating India's victory over Pakistan clashed 
with group of Muslims also celebrating India's 
victory.

During Moharram procession in Bareilly on 7th 
March communal violence broke out in which 4 
persons were seriously injured one of which died 
subsequently. The police arrested 163 persons.

Near Bahraich in Saravasti district in U.P. 
village Barga-bargi dispute broke out on hunting 
wild bore and people of one community attacked 
people of another community in which 30 houses 
were set afire and two children were burnt alive. 
Twelve persons were injured. Many persons fled 
from their houses out of fear.

On 18th March Hindus and Muslims clashed in 
Indore, an important trading city of M.P. when a 
Muslim fired on a Hindu in a state of 
inebriation. The mob then set fire to vehicles 
and two houses. However, the police brought 
situation under control.

The next round of communal flare up was reported 
from Gorakhpur in U.P. on 20th March a highly 
sensitive town where Gorakhnath temple is 
situated and Mahant Adityanath of BJP contests 
election from there. Adityanath is known for his 
militancy and extremism. He is a BJP M.P. from 
this area. The clashes took place on the occasion 
of Holi when a procession of Holi revellers led 
by Mahant Aditynath was going through Zafra 
locality. An argument broke out with some members 
of minority community and the Holi revellers in a 
fit of anger broke down the wall of Kerbala. The 
two groups began to throw brickbats at each other 
and some people started firing. The Imam of Ghazi 
Rauza mosque was hit in the cross -fire and died. 
More than a dozen scooters and vehicles were 
burnt and shops looted. Two more persons were 
killed and thus in all three persons died during 
the disturbances. Mayawati, the then Chief 
Minister removed Director General of Police for 
his failure to control communal violence.

Next communal riot was reported from industrial 
town of Rajgangpur 400 km. from Bhubneshwar in 
Orissa on 11th April. Two persons were killed in 
the clashes. Violence erupted when procession of 
Lord Hanuman was being taken on the occasion of 
Ramnavmi. Some unidentified persons pelted stones 
on the procession and hell broke loose. The 
district administration had made strict police 
arrangements but it could not prevent communal 
violence. When the situation was getting out of 
control the police fired killing two persons. The 
deceased were identified as Manik Kumar Sahu (28) 
and J.J.Nag. Additional forces were rushed to 
control the situation.

On 16th April Panki Block of Palamu in Jharkhand 
State saw communal clashes between the two 
communities in which one person died. Some people 
burned the flag of a religious place. Then the 
persons belonging to other community started 
stoning from shops and from a religious place. 
Then others also retaliated and next day a dead 
body was found from a nearby well but it is not 
certainly known who killed him.

Gulbahar Pathan was killed in Baroda, Gujarat and 
his body with severed head was found with deep 
wounds and violence broke out on 1st May between 
Hindus and Muslims. Similarly on 10th May 
violence was reported from Bhavnagar, Gujarat 
clashes broke out on minor road accident and 
situation got out of control and one person was 
killed and seven others - policemen and 
journalists were injured. The clashes erupted in 
Ranika area of Bhavnagar. The person was killed 
in police firing.

Though Kerala is comparatively free from communal 
clashes but for last two years there have been 
clashes between Muslims and RSS activists. In 
January 2002 also some 5 persons were killed when 
the Hindus attacked Muslim fishermen. The Muslims 
retaliated this time and on May 2, 7 persons were 
killed in Marad beach area under Beypore police 
station in Kerala. Last year RSS had killed 
Muslims and this year brother of one of the 
deceased took revenge by killing seven persons. 
The Muslims had used a nearby mosque for hiding 
weapons and so the mosque was taken over by the 
Government. The Muslims fled from the village in 
fear and Sangh Parivar was not allowing them to 
return. They could return only after few months 
when the chief minister intervened.

Hyderabad witnessed communal violence in 
Melapalli and Nampalli areas on 6th June. The 
clashes went on whole night and next day too 
stone pelting and incidents of setting fire 
continued. About 10 motor vehicles were set 
afire. One person had died in clashes on 5th June 
night and this further provoked violence.

Jamner of Jalgaon district in Maharashtra 
experienced communal clashes on 18th June when 
brother of Ramesh Mali who was killed last year 
on the same day attacked one Muinuddin Sheikh and 
seriously injured him. Last year on 18th June 5 
persons were killed in communal riots. However, 
the police and local political leaders intervened 
and controlled the situation.

Normally Jammu and Kashmir has been free from 
communal violence despite repeated attempts by 
militants to cause communal violence. However, a 
small communal incident occurred on 1st July 
between Hindus and Muslims and shops were burnt 
and looted in Jammu. The trouble started when 150 
Hindus who had fled from Kullar area due to 
threats from militants were sitting on dharna. 
They started pelting stones on the shops 
belonging to Muslims as they objected to blocking 
the road. The authorities rushed to the trouble 
spot. Sub-divisional magistrate of Kishtwar was 
roughed up by the demonstrators. Four shops and 
three small structures were set ablaze. Police 
fired to disperse the mob. Four civilians and 
seven policemen were injured.

Twenty four shops were burnt and three persons 
were injured in Mehkar town of Buldhana district 
in Maharashtra when quarrel over money matter 
between two youths of different communities took 
place. Soon it developed in serious communal 
clashes. The police fired injuring three persons. 
An indefinite curfew was imposed. The police 
authorities said 20 others including 13 police 
persons were injured. The police rounded up 47 
persons in all.

Baroda and Junagadh saw communal clashes on the 
occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi in which one woman 
was killed and 10 people were injured on 1st 
September. Godhra also witnessed violence on 5th 
September when Ganesh idols were being taken for 
immersion. In these clashes 25 persons were 
injured including one DSP. The procession was 
stoned when passing through minority area and 
many shops were set ablaze. The immediate 
provocation came from objectionable slogans 
written on walls of masjid. The role of BJP MLA 
came to be criticised by both communities. His 
supporters in the procession shouted derogatory 
slogans.

There was serious communal trouble in Kodinar 
town of Junagarh district in Gujarat. The VHP and 
Bajrang Dal people looted and burnt 26 shops 
belonging to Muslims. The police arrested 53 
persons, which included one Bajrang Dal leader. 
The police seized one car, one tractor, swords, 
gas cutter, tins of kerosene and gas cylinders 
from the rioters. According to the police there 
was short circuit in one Hindu shop and it was 
burnt. But the VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders 
without verifying set rumour afloat that Muslims 
have burnt the shop. The VHP organised bandh in 
protest against the arrest of 53 persons.

About hundred families from tribal dominated 
villages of Jhalawar district after Bajrang Dal 
activists destroyed a mosque with bombs and 
subjected Muslims to series of attacks over three 
consecutive days from 22-25 September. Police 
have arrested 30 people in this connection but 
the RSS Iklera Tehsil Karyawahak Kanwarlal Meena 
and his accomplice Devi Lal who masterminded the 
operation were absconding.

Bihar experiences not much communal violence 
thanks to Laloo Prasad's efforts. But that does 
not mean there is no communalism and RSS is 
sleeping. RSS-VHP are quite active spreading 
communal feelings. In Ara, Bihar, communal 
violence broke out on 5th October on the occasion 
of Durga Puja. The RSS controls some puja 
samitis. According to eye -witnesses there was a 
garbage dump near the pooja pandal and people 
used it as open urinal also. On that day a Muslim 
youth was urinating. The youth was criminal 
minded. Members of pooja samiti tried to stop him 
and there was argument. The RSS gave it a 
communal colour. Some RSS youth went round on 
motor cycles spreading the rumour that the Muslim 
youth not only urinated on the Durga idol but 
broke the kalash also. Some miscreants gathered 
and started burning and looting Muslim shops. 
When the situation became out of control the 
police opened fire killing two Hindu youths. Some 
70 shops were burnt and 48 cars set ablaze. It is 
obvious that it was conspiracy by the RSS to 
spread communal violence in Bihar and try to 
seize power from Laloo Prasad Yadav. Laloo knows 
this well and he not only took immediate step to 
curb the violence but also denounced it as RSS 
conspiracy.

On 13th October Agra in U.P. was involved in 
communal vortex when U.P. minister of state for 
science and technology visited Agra. There were 
widespread clashes between two communities and 
curfew had to be imposed in two police circles of 
Agra. The main reason was that Chowdhury Bashir 
had defected from BSP and joined the Samajwadi 
Party of Mulayamsingh Yadav. The Jatavs who are 
supporters of BSP protested against Bashir and it 
took communal turn. Fire arms and petrol bombs 
were pelted back and forth and several houses and 
vehicles were set on fire. Arson and looting 
continued till late in the night. The mob tried 
to forcibly enter the house in which Basheer had 
taken refuge and tried to set it on fire. The 
timely arrival of the police, however, saved 
Bashir's life.

Agra again erupted on 2nd day despite heavy 
police bandobast and violence spread in the city 
in which one person was killed. He was beaten to 
death. The U.P. Government transferred district 
collector and SSP for their failure to control 
communal violence. At least at seven places 
houses and shops were set ablaze. Two godowns of 
leather were also set afire. Agra is main centre 
of leather goods.

On October 15 Kurla, an eastern suburb of Mumbai 
went up in flames when a Muslim girl was teased 
by some Hindu youth at night between 10.30 and 11 
p.m. There was argument between members of two 
communities and then violence began. Kurla has 
large Muslim population and is highly communally 
sensitive. Police was rushed and Jt. Commissioner 
of Police Javed Ahmed also visited the area. 
Tough temporarily situation calmed down but 
erupted next morning again. Some miscreants 
pelted stones at Jama Masjid on New Mill road. In 
retaliation petrol bombs and soda water bottles 
were thrown at Hanuman Mandir. Several persons 
were injured grievously. State Reserve police, 
Rapid Action Force and Riot Police were rushed.

Aligarh, a communally quite sensitive area in 
Uttar Pradesh, saw communal strife again on 1st 
November when an Arthi (dead body of a Hindu) was 
passing through the passage lying through a 
Muslim cemetery. The Muslims tried to stop the 
passage of the body and dispute broke out and 
both sides started firing on each other. Several 
people were injured. They also indulged in arson 
and heavy brickbatting. Two scooters and some 
road - side kiosks were burnt. Police resorted to 
heavy lathi charge and fired rubber bullets to 
disperse the clashing groups. The administration 
had to employ para-military forces like PAC and 
RPF. Curfew had to be clamped in Delhi Gate, 
Kotwali and Sasni Gate police station areas.

Gujarat cauldron continues to boil since the 
post-Godhra carnage and communal incidents keep 
on taking place every few days. Communal violence 
revisited on 2nd November leaving three persons 
dead and 45 injured. This time it occurred in 
Viramgam, 65 kms. from Ahmedabad. There was heavy 
stone pelting, arson and firing. One person was 
killed when police fired 15 rounds and two 
persons fell to bullets from private arms. 
Trouble broke out when a cricket ball landed in 
the nearby temple. This was enough provocation 
for communal violence. Marauding began and at 
least 30 shops were looted and burnt. Curfew was 
imposed at 12.40 p.m. In all twenty five persons 
were arrested including the BJP councillor 
Puroshottambhai Vasrambhai Jadav who fired from 
his gun killing one person. His gun was also 
seized. Those killed were identified as Zakir 
Allah Rakkha Multani (30), Zakir Yousuf Multani 
(35) and Sharif Shafibhai (25).

Ahmedabad once again erupted on November 9 when 
rumours spread that a person of minority 
community was stabbed in Juhapura area. Communal 
violence spread in Kalupur area in which two 
persons lost their lives. One was burnt to death 
and another was stoned to death. Besides this 5 
persons were stabbed. Police had to lob several 
tear gas shells and have imposed strict ban on 
persons pouring out on streets.

In Hyderabad Talaguda area violence erupted 
between Hindus and Muslims on the question of 
constructing a wall for a place of worship. 
Police resorted to firing and 5 persons were 
injured in firing. However, the police frustrated 
the attempt to attack the houses of one community.

On 17th November violence broke out in Vai in 
Satara district of Maharashtra. Vai is a sacred 
town for Hindus. The violence broke out when some 
members of Pratabgadh Utsav Samiti forcibly tried 
to stop a truck taking some cattle. More than 500 
persons collected near a place of worship and 
stone pelting and arson began. The Hindutvawadis 
spread rumour in the town which intensified 
violence. Varsha Deshpande of Yuva Kranti Dal who 
toured the area along with the police said how 
these Hindutvawadis discovered any cows. The fact 
is, she said, there was a dead calf of she 
buffalo, which was skinned by some dalits. The 
mob set one tempo, two jeeps, a motor cycle and 
several cycles ablaze. Members of minority 
community were feeling highly insecure.

On 21st November violence broke out in Parbhani 
in Marathwada area when a bomb exploded near Jama 
Masjid after last Juma prayer of Ramadan in which 
35 Muslims were injured and curfew was imposed in 
Parbhani district. According to the police two 
motorcycle riders threw the bomb when prayers was 
going on in Rahmatnagar mosque. The explosion 
took place at 1.50 p.m. After the bomb explosion 
two shops were set ablaze in Gujri Sarafa and 
Shivajinagar areas. It is said that Shiv Sena-BJP 
workers are involved in the explosion.

Hyderabad again erupted on 4th December and 
surprisingly this time it was between Sikhs and 
Muslims. It is alleged that some Muslim youth 
damaged a gurdwara in Kishanbagh area. One person 
was killed and four were injured in stabbing 
incidents. When news about attack on gurdwara 
spread Sikhs collected near it and began to 
attack Muslims. Muslims also retaliated and some 
Sikhs were injured.

Hyderabad again witnessed communal violence on 
6th December when Muslims were mourning on 
demolition of Babri Masjid on that day in 1992 
and Hindus were celebrating Shaurya Divas (day of 
courage). Police resorted to firing in Sultan 
Shahi and Gowlipura areas late in the night to 
stop mobs resorting to looting and arson 
targeting the opposite community. Three persons 
died due to bullet injuries and two died in 
stabbing incidents thus taking the toll to five 
dead.

The victims alleged that role of police worsened 
the situation. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu 
visited the victims who complained to him. He 
ordered strict action against guilty police 
officers. An indefinite curfew had to be clamped 
in eight police station areas in the walled city 
and 21 plattons of paramilitary forces had to be 
deployed.

Thus the year 2003 also witnessed number of 
communal riots throughout India in which several 
lives were lost and hundreds were injured and 
properties worth crores of rupees were damaged. 
Most of the major states both in north and south 
were affected by communal violence. It is in 
smaller states with small Muslim population like 
Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh etc., which did 
not witness incidents of violence. Assam and 
other North Eastern states generally experience 
ethnic violence but not so much communal 
violence. This year there were hardly any 
incidents of communal violence in this zone. 
Also, West Bengal was free of major communal 
incidents. Since the left Front Government has 
taken over West Bengal has been free of communal 
violence, though not of communalism. Bihar too, 
since Laloo Prasad Yadav has been in command has 
not seen major riots. Thus it is clear that if 
governments are determined to curb communal 
violence it can be effectively checked.

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.


_____



[6]

A Dalit New Year's Greetings/Resolutions
from "Thamizh Selvan.JM" <selvan at isac.ernet.in>
January 1, 2004

PRECEPTS FOR 'NON-SLAVE INDIAN' YEAR 2004

Dear ALL,

  	It is understandable that the DALITS, once if they
receive some money (May be
due to the their reserved employments or due to their
toiling), they are inherently tend to spend and offer
to God and his mediator, foolishly as repayments. The
so-called God's mediator inherently teaches them, that
the part of their toiled money should go to him. They
also desired to run to God's mediator to cure for
their disease or ailments, instead of Doctors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

SO LET US MAKE A FIRM STAND THAT WE NEVER COMMIT THE
FOLLOWING FOOLISH MISTAKES OF 'LOOSING OUR WEALTH' TO
'ENSURE OUR SLAVERY'

PRECEPTS FOR YEAR 2004

WHAT WE CANNOT DO:-

a. Of course we admit our total inefficiency to get
our food, shelter & cloth by begging and bribing or
singing, shouting and crying to a supernatural God -
unfortunately we fools do not know that technique or
trick - we know only to do our work sincerely to earn
our food, shelter & cloth out of it.

b. Also we admit our foolishness openly that we cannot
travel 6000 miles to & fro, to say '"hello" to a statue
or to have a dip in longest Indian river or in the
southern sea, to wash away our sins - we fools openly
admit that we could only perform our actions of merit
and abstain from evil deeds, also add actions of merit
so that we can alleviate from pain and sorrow caused
by volitional functions (sankara) of our own evil
deeds and neither visiting a statue or by dipping in
to a river.

c. Further we cont offered to keep "cooling a statue
or a structure by pouring milk, gee, fruit juice and
food articles on to it" - Perhaps we may offer to
arrange a 24 hours automatic water chiller to auto
flash the statue or structure to cool, (if the so
called statues and structures penetrates any rational
inquiry!).

-But NOT EVEN A DROP OF MILK OR ANY OTHER FOOD
ARTICLES TO A STATUE OR STRUCTURE - Whatever a little
quantity of milk or food articles we found or we found
in excess, we sincerely share them with our depriving
downtrodden children who are totally under hunger &
malnutrition, who need nourishment for physical and
mental strength to develop their knowledge and wisdom.

d. Moreover we fools do not know that 'astonishing
marvel of science' that our disease or ailments or
failures or misfortunes, can be cured or rectified by
reading our astrological charts or by conducting a
rites and rituals to a supernatural being or God.

- Our only methods are:

- For disease we must consult a physician and intake
adequate medicines to cure.

- For our failures we analyse the actions we performed
and realising the "mistakes as mistakes" and modify
the 'committed mistakes' with action of merit, by
applying the 'iron law of universe - the sow and reap'
and yield the desired result and NOT BY ANY OTHER
MEANS!

- To achieve what we wanted, we set goals and targets,
which contains enough planning and foresight thinking
in to it - We apply the law of action and re- action.
We seed the action (which can yield our desired
result) and keep acting on the same direction, When we
complete one full circular round - We will certainly
reap the ripened desired result waiting for us to
enjoy & to be happy!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHAT WE CAN DO:-

1. Whatever the money we toiled and earned and if we
found something in abundance and want to earn
spiritual gain out of it - We select 100 poor and
destitute around our locality, most importantly
without any prejudices of mind (like caste, sect &
Religion etc), and give then one time food and even a
set of dress material if you can - YOU CAN WITNESS THE
DIVINITY IN YOU and also you can view the spiritual
gain by your own eyes.

2. If you can, you can even extend your sincere help
to educate your own kith and kin - the children of the
illiterate Dalit Brothers and sisters.

3. Help village Dalits, by starting village
institutions, like one we discussed may be a Dairy,
Poultry, Sericulture, goat farm etc., by which you can
directly benefiting yourself materially and
spiritually, as well you are invariably emancipating
and empowering your own brothers and sisters, the poor
directionless and helpless Dalits & their children.

4. Finally, we whole heartedly accept that we DO NOT
HAVE ANY AVERSION TOWARDS GOD, but since the Brahmins
have written all their supremacy, inequality, casteism
- the 'inequality of man to man and man to women', to
make us (the entire Indians) as total slaves to the
Brahmins, by inducing religiously sanctified, socially
induced helplessness, poverty, violence and killing as
a means of governing principles of Hindu social
system, where one has to invariably hate somebody and
love somebody or one has to worship some man as God
and torture some man as untouchable - which invariably
induces and retains the anger, hatred, ego, violence,
killing and rape as a means of social living, which
are inherently killing the process of Spirituality in
Man.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, as Rational Spiritualists, we therefore, fling the
concept of God by Steadfastly focusing our attention
towards the attainment of Nibbana (The cessation of
Birth & death) as final spiritual goal, by the only
process of purifying ourselves by controlling our
actions towards merit - by discarding the requirement
of God or begging and bribing to God or Conducting
rites and rituals to God, we thereby invariably
discarded and eliminated the inequality,
slavery and subjugation of 'man to man' and 'women to
maní, propagated by Manu.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I AM SURE:
IF ANYTHING EXISTS AS SPIRITUALITY - YES! THIS IS THAT
SPIRITUALITY!!  AND  IF ANYTHING EXISTS IN EMPOWERMENT
INDIANS - YES! THIS IS THAT PROCESS OF
EMANCIPATION AND EMPOWERMENT- AS A PART OR FULL!!!

REQUESTING ALL DALITS & OBCs, TO TAKE-UP THE ABOVE AS
PRECEPTS TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM ALL BONDAGES AND LIVE
WITH DIGNITY AND SELF-RESPECT!!!

HAPPY 'NON-SLAVE INDIAN' YEAR 2004!

MAY ALL BE HAPPY!

THAMIZH SELVAN.JM

Brahman, Ksetri, Vaishya, Shudra
and Chandal all have rights
women, children, male and female
and even prostitutes
(The first charter of human rights in India, Sant Tukaram, early 17th century)

______


[7]

  Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW)

In the past five years, in Karnataka alone, 27 
women have been attacked by acid. All the women 
were attacked by men familiar to them "husbands, 
neighbours, colleagues, former employers, men 
they saw on the streets everyday"

Acid attacks is really only a more violent 
extension of the existing crimes on women like 
rape, dowry harassment, sexual harassment by the 
patriarchal society.

On 2 January 2004, a protest to highlight the 
failure of the Government in responding to such a 
heinous crime will be held at Mysore Bank Circle, 
Bangalore. A memorandum with the demands of the 
Campaign will be submitted to the Home Minister, 
Mallikarjun Kharge copies of which will be sent 
to the Chief Minister as well. 

On 3 January 2004, a documentary film ëBurnt not 
destroyedí directed by Sanjana C.B., Usha B.N. 
and Deepu from Pedestrian Pictures, carrying the 
voices of the acid attack survivors and 
reflecting their strength will be screened at 5 
p.m. at Gandhi Bhavan, Kumarakrupa Road, 
Bangalore.

On 4 January 2004, a public hearing will be held 
at Senate Hall, Central College. The survivors 
will share their experiences and depose before a 
panel comprising Smt. Motamma, Minister for Women 
and Child Development, Philomena Peres, 
Chairperson of State Women's Commission, S. 
Mariswamy, City Police Commissioner, Justice 
Ko.Channabasappa, Retd Justice of Karnataka High 
Court, Dr. Vijaya from Ela Prakashana and 
Hemalatha Mahishi, leading womenís rights lawyer.

Contact pedestrian pictures at 5670 2232, 318 12 
691, 98450 66747, 
<mailto:pedepics at yahoo.com>pedepics at yahoo.com

Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on 
Women (CSAAAW) is a coalition comprising several 
organizations, academicians, lawyers, 
journalists, womenís rights activists, students 
and other concerned individuals from across 
Karnataka. CSAAAW, a registered trust, was formed 
subsequent to a fact-finding mission carried out 
by Mahila Jagruthi (a mass based women's 
organization working in several districts in 
Karnataka) and Pedestrian Pictures (an 
independent media activistsí group, committed to 
using media to initiate action on various social 
issues).

CSAAAW is committed to action on two fronts - 
seeking legal and socio-economic justice for the 
survivors and more importantly to fight for 
prevention of such attacks on women.

For more details of the campaign, for copies of 
the film and to contribute to the campaign 
contact 678 6754, 9448444252, 
<http://us.f415.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=csaaaw@rediffmail.com>csaaaw at rediffmail.com

_____


[7]

Rediff News, January 02, 2004, Friday

BBC progamme on Gujarat angers VHP

Shyam Bhatia in London

The UK head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has 
attacked the BBC for its anti-Hindu bias 
following a radio programme which supported the 
thesis that the post-Godhra anti-Muslim riots 
that swept Gujarat were premeditated.

"The riots were a spontaneous reaction by an 
outraged population," said Dr Girdharilal Bhan in 
his letter to the producers of the programme
'Bilal's return to Gujarat', which was broadcast 
on New Year's Day as part of the prestigious 
Crossing Continents series on BBC Radio Four.

The programme tracked the return to Gujarat of 
British-Indian national, Bilal Dawood, who lost 
his brother, his cousin and a friend of the 
family in the anti-Muslim riots of February 2002.

Crossing Continents quoted Teesta Setalvad, 
convener of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, as 
saying: "What is unprecedented about the carnage 
was the level of state sponsorship."

The programme pointed out that both national and 
international human rights groups have placed 
much responsibility for the killings at the door 
of Gujarat's BJP Hindu nationalist government.

In his letter to the BBC, Dr Bhan said: "It is 
the strong belief in the British Hindu community 
that the British media, in particular the BBC, is 
strongly biased against Hindus. I know the BBC 
strongly repudiates this. However, we have good 
reasons to make our claim and can cite many 
examples of one sided and biased reports."

He went on to say:  "Gujarat riots were 
deplorable and condemnable. All Hindus, 
individuals and organisations, have condemned the 
loss of life and limb and human misery.

"The riots however would not have happened if 58 
men, women and children had not been burnt alive 
in a premeditated and cold-blooded manner. The 
riots were a spontaneous reaction by an outraged 
population.

"There are those who say the burning alive of 
Hindus was not premeditated. Some even go so far 
as to say the train passengers had it coming 
because they were provoking local Muslims and 
that the setting alight of the train was the 
handiwork of Hindu extremists.

"On the other hand they claim that the riots that 
followed were premeditated. This is mind boggling 
stuff. If journalists want to believe it, that is 
up to them. It simply lowers their standing."


_____


[8]            [Watch out for these important books ! ]

o o o


A)

The Path of the Parivar: Articles on Gujarat and Hindutva
by Mukul Dube
Foreword by the late Professor A.M. Khusro
Demy 8vo, 134 pp.; hardcover, Rs.300 or $25; paperback, Rs.140 or $15
Three Essays Collective
57-C LIG, Motia Khan
New Delhi 110055
Web site: www.threeessays.com
E-mail: info at threeessays.com

The thirty articles in this book, all but one 
published in different periodicals, start with 
the horror of the communal massacre in Gujarat at 
the beginning of 2002 and go on to analyse the 
manner in which the Sangh Parivar fosters 
inter-religious hatred in its wild pursuit of a 
Hindu Rashtra. They are mostly short and deal 
each with a single theme, their aim being to 
remind us of the core ideas of the modern world 
which the Sangh Parivar simply does not 
recognise: freedom, justice, democracy, progress 
and, above all, humanity. Based on a foundation 
of rationality, they are easy to read and the 
arguments made in them are simply expressed.

The author has kept a vigilant eye on the 
utterances of the leaders of the Sangh Parivar 
and is able to show, using published news reports 
and quoted speeches, how these people excel at 
lying and at deceiving not just the country and 
the world but their own followers as well. He 
documents how the leadership of the BJP, 
beginning with the Prime Minister and the Deputy 
Prime Minister, stayed silent when it was their 
constitutional duty to act, then grudgingly 
admitted to their failures when they found that 
their lies would not wash, and then shamelessly 
returned to the position from which they had 
begun. The book is a scathing indictment of 
mendacity, intellectual duplicity and essential 
pettiness, and it presents a frightening picture 
of the downhill and backward-looking path on to 
which the country has been pushed.

The book has a valuable appendix containing 
letters from the author which were published in 
various newspapers. They deal with a variety of 
issues which are not covered in the articles but 
which open up many avenues of thought.


From the Foreword by the late Professor A.M. Khusro:

Dube's sharply focussed study of the anatomy of 
the pre-planned and deliberate communal outrage, 
aided and abetted by official Government 
intervention, is convincing and persuasive, both 
at the macro and micro levels. Much has been 
noticed, said and written in the ... months 
following the Gujarat episode, but Dube has an 
edge on all those analysts. He says more 
convincingly what was said before and also says 
what was never said earlier and needed to be said 
boldly and bravely.


o o o


B)

The Hindu
Jan 03, 2004

An insightful book on Hindutva

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD JAN. 2 . An understanding of the ideas 
and ideology behind what is today known as 
political Hindutva is crucial to any 
understanding of the present day India, observed 
N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, while 
releasing the book `Hindutva: Exploring the Idea 
of Hindu Nationalism' by Jyotirmaya Sharma, 
Deputy Editor, The Hindu, here on Friday.

For long Hindutva had remained on the margins of 
national life "unmarked and ill-understood" but 
today it had established itself into the 
country's political mainstream and therefore it 
was necessary to understand this ideology which 
was "challenging the idea of Indian nationalism 
and secularism that we cherish," Mr. Ram said.

Mr. Ram observed that Hindutva had developed a 
parallel conception of the idea of India which 
rejected diversity, multiple cultural identities 
and tolerance - the very ideas forming the core 
of Indian nationhood. Therefore, the intellectual 
foundations of Hindutva needed to be understood, 
he said and complimented the author on his 
provocative but insightful and persuasive 
exploration of Hindutva in his book.

He further said that it was crucial to compare 
the idea of Hinduism developed by the four 
thinkers discussed in the book, Dayanand 
Saraswati, Aurobindo Ghose, Swami Vivekananda and 
V.D. Savarkar, with those of Mahatma Gandhi, 
Rabindranath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and 
Rammanohar Lohia to appreciate the contest of 
ideas which shaped modern Indian nationalism.

In her comments on the book, Meenakshi Mukherjee, 
former professor of English Literature, 
Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the masculine, 
aggressive and religiously driven nationalism 
developed by these four thinkers was a reaction 
to the caricature of Indians as effeminate and 
cowardly by the British colonialists.

Jayaprakash Narayan, national convener of Lok 
Satta organisation, said that it had become 
imperative for all Indian citizens to understand 
how religion and religious ideas were impacting 
society. He identified cultural atavism, racial 
bigotry and idolatrous nationalism as three weak 
areas of Indian nationalism as it developed 
through the freedom struggle and called for a 
critique of these.

Mr. Sharma read extracts from his book.


______


[9]

India-Nepal People's Solidarity Forum

PRESS RELEASE

Through newspapers we have come to know of the 
illegal and shameful detention of Mr.Ishwar 
Pokharel, a former member of Nepalese Parliament 
and a member of the Communist Party of  Nepal 
(UML) by the Indian security personnel at the 
Indira Gandhi International airport on Tuesday, 
December 30, 2003.

Mr Pokharel was detained and interrogated for 16 
long hours. The method of interrogation violated 
all the civilized norms of decency. Mr Pokharel 
was thoroughly humiliated and intimidated. The 
Indian police tried to concoct a cock and bull 
story about his meeting with certain Maoists in 
India whereas he had actually come to address a 
congregation of 'Pravasi Nepali Sangh' which is a 
well-known social and cultural body of the 
Nepalese in India.

This whole incident is a mindless act of high 
handedness in which a respectable politician of a 
neighbouring country was subjected to 
indignities. The more heinous act on the part of 
the police at the IGI airport was that in a 
savagely and unscrupulous manner they stole  Mr 
Pokharel's cash and some other belongings too.

'India-Nepal People's Solidarity Forum' expresses 
deep sense of shock, protest and condemnation of 
the above mentioned incident and demand that the 
Indian Home Ministry look into this ugly incident 
and immediately suspend and finally punish the 
guilty police personnel be fittingly. The Indian 
authorities concerned must also send a letter of 
apology to Mr Ishwar Pokharel.


Anand Swaroop Verma
On behalf of the convening committee

Contact Address:
C/o Q-63, Sector-12, Noida-201301/ e-mail: nepalbulletin at rediffmail.com
Ph.: Anand Swaroop Verma: 0120-2524504, Gautam 
Navlakha: 011-26476580, Anoop Saraya: 
011-26588767, Pankaj Singh:011-22719840, Anil 
Chamaria:011-27853886, N.K. Bhattacharya: 
011-27580073

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Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
matters of peace and democratisation in South 
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit 
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South 
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
The complete SACW archive is available at: 
bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

South Asia Counter Information Project a sister 
initiative, provides a partial back -up and 
archive for SACW:  snipurl.com/sacip
See also associated site: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

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