SACW | 1 April 2004
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Wed Mar 31 18:48:43 CST 2004
South Asia Citizens Wire | 1 April, 2004
via: www.sacw.net
[1] Sri Lanka:
- Make immediate provisions for restoring the
life of the people of the North (Citizens &
Citizens Groups)
- Media Communiqué on Election-related Violence
(Centre for Monitoring Election Violence)
[2] Pakistan: 'Unilateral' message of
Bab-e-Pakistan (Editorial, The Daily Times)
[3] Pakistan: A curriculum of hatred (Zubeida Mustafa)
[4] USA/ India: Ram Punyani's seminars on the
state of affairs in India and secularism (April 3
and 4)
[5] India: [Peddling Hindutva as secularism] -
Letter to the Editor (Mukul Dube)
[6] USA: Same-sex Indian-American couple fights
for marriage license (Arun Venugopal)
[7] India: Politics and the Cult of the Chhatrapati (Ranjit Hoskote)
--------------
[1]
MAKE IMMEDIATE PROVISIONS FOR RESTORING THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH
To All Political Parties in the South and the North in Sri Lanka,
Our organizations and we have been active for a long time in working
towards peace and co-existence. Towards this, we have initiated a dialogue
among peoples organizations in the north and the south. We have had an
opportunity to experience the life styles of the people of the north and
to appreciate the problems they face in their day-to-day life. Similarly,
members of organizations in the north representative of farmers,
fishermen, workers, women, university teachers and university students as
well as of internally displaced persons had an opportunity to visit the
south and understand the problems faced by the people of the south.
Our intention is to work in cooperation with each other to solve these
problems. We would like to know the response of the two main political
groupings seeking power through the upcoming general election to the
serious and urgent problems facing the people of the north. We present
these in this manner for your attention.
1. High Security Zones and land mines remain a serious hindrance for the
people to return to their villages and to their homes. The oppression felt
by the farmers, fishermen and the people who have been displaced from
their homes for over fourteen years is unbearable. they are unable to
carry out the normal activities associated with their livelihood. This
includes the widows who are without any means of livelihood.
There has been no change in the lives of the ordinary people of the North
even after returning to peace after years of war. We earnestly believe
that this situation has to change without delay. The High security Zones
have to be removed and the return of the people to their villages have to
be facilitated.
2. It is true that there are a large number of women who have been widowed
by the war, distributed throughout the country. There are more than 20,000
such war-widows in Jaffna alone. they have not only lost their husbands,
but also any possibility of a means of livelihood. Steps have to be taken
to make it possible for them to make a living.
We who live in the south have benefited immensely from two years of the
absence of war. We believe that this benefit should be made available to
the people of the north as well, who have suffered from he war for a long
time.
We earnestly and sincerely believe that the people of the north have a
right to a restoration of normal life. It is our expectation that you who
are seeking power will give an acceptable assurance to the people
regarding the issues we have raised.
This statement has been supported by;
1. Janawabodha Kendra
2. Prof. H.Shriyananda
3. Rev. Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda
4. Human Rights Organisation, Galle
5. Da Bindu Collective
6. Gemi Kantha Peramuna, Kirindhiwela
7. Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform
8. Youth for A Better World
9. Sadhu Janarawa Team
10. Family Relief Services Centre, Nugegoda
11. Kantha Dhiri Piyesa, Seeduwa
12. Women's Centre, Ekala
13. Women's Development Foundation, Kurunegala
14. Uva Community Development Centre, Badulla
15. Savisthri, Rajagiriya
16. Kantha Shakthi, Colombo
17. We in the Free Trade Zone, Katunayeka
18. National Fisheries Solidarity
19. Shramabimani Kendraya, Seeduwa
20. Socio Economic Training Institute, Kandy (SETIK)
21. Devesarana Development Centre, Kurunegala
22. Organization for Human Development, Polpithigama
23. Independent Cooperators' Collective
24. Peasant Information Centre, Ibbagamuwa
25. Centre for People's Dialogue, Negombo
26. Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), Colombo
27. Jude Lal Fernando
28. All Lanka Fish WorkersAlliance
29. Pioneer Teachers
30. Hiru News paper
31. Ruhunu Gemi Kantha Organization, Weeraketiya
32. Madhiyugam Organization, Nuwaraeliya
33. Uva Wellassa Peasant Women's Organization
34. Rajarata Peasant Women's Organization
35. District Women's Organization, Matale
36. Sethsith Women's Organization
37. Movement of Mothers to Combat Malnutrition
38. Nirmani Circle
39. Penn Wimochana Gnanodayam, Hatton
40. Women's Voice, Polhengoda
41. Workers Development Society, Bandarawela
42. Melip, Bandarawela
43. Leo Marga Ashram, Bandarawela
44. Movement for the Defence of Democratic Rights
45. C.P.O., Kegalla
46. Digamadulla Praja Shakthi Foundation, Ampara
47. War Effected Women's Forum, Akkaraipatthu
48. Community Development Foundation, Batticaloa
49. Development Communication Foundation, Warakapola
50. Organization for the Development of Solidarity Among Nations, Dimbulagala
51. Rajarata Gemi Shakthi Nirmana Kavaya, Hoorigaswewa
52. Koralaipatthu North Development Foundation, Wakarai
54. Social Development Foundation, Komari
53. Social Development Foundation, Deniyaya
54. OXFAM Comunity Aid Abroad
55. Green Movement of Sri Lanka
56. Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum
57. Community Development Organization, Puttalam
These organizations are representing thousands of people from diverse
communities in Sri Lanka. Further organizations and individuals are
currently being mobilized to support the statement.
We would like to cordially invite you to contribute your support for this
people's statement for the sake of people in North in Sri Lanka.
Please send us your/your organization name with contact details to be
added to above list.
Please contact Shamila or Sandun through (+94) 11 4407663, (+94) 11
2865534 or monlar at sltnet.lk
(Please copy the same to fishmove at slt.lk, sasthri at sltnet.lk)
For Future details please contact:
Dialogue Among the People of the North and the South, for Peace and
Co-Existence,
No. 10, Malwattha Road, Negombo,
T.P (+94) 31 4870658
Mr. Harman Kumara
National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO),
(+94) 31 4870658
fishmove at slt.lk, nafso1 at slt.lk, nafsoone at slt.lk
Mr. Sarath Fernando,
Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR),
(+94) 11 4407663, (+94) 11 2865534
monlar at sltnet.lk
Ms. Padma Pushpakanthi,
SAVISTHRI,
(+94) 11 2865084
sasthri at sltnet.lk
o o o o
[Sri Lanka] Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)
MEDIA COMMUNIQUÉ ON ELECTION-RELATED VIOLENCE
GENERAL ELECTIONS - 2004
30TH MARCH 2004 - 13TH MEDIA RELEASE
CMEV is gravely concerned about the situation that is developing in the
North and East with serious acts of violence, including murder, and
widespread intimidation, that raise a number of critical issues regarding
the possibility of holding a free and fair election in these areas.
The Parliamentary elections of April 2004 have a special significance for
people living in the North and East of Sri Lanka, many of whom will cast
their vote for the first time in over 15 years. It is in this context that
CMEV has monitored the situation in these areas with a special focus
during the past weeks.
The murder of TNA candidate Mr. Rajan Sathyamoorthy in Batticaloa this
morning, along with another TNA supporter, Mr. Kanagasabai, brings the
total of election-related murders in that District to four. The earlier
murders were of Mr. S. Sunderampillai, UNF candidate and EPDP activist Mr.
P. Nagendran. Four (4) UNF candidates resigned as a consequence. There was
a fifth murder in Amparai District, of Mr. Kalam, a SLMC worker. All these
murders took place within the past four weeks. The attempted murder of
Batticaloa GA Mr. Maunaguruswamy, who is the designated Chief Returning
Officer for the District is equally contemptible.
These murders as well as many other incidents of attempted murder,
assault, harassment and intimidation have created an environment in which
the ability of voters in the North and East to make an informed choice of
candidates is seriously impaired. The recent split within the LTTE and the
subsequent realignment of forces in the North and East have also
contributed towards the intensification of tension surrounding the
elections in these areas and have had a disastrous impact on the conduct
of this campaign.
Among the most disturbing of the reports that we have received concerns
the actions of some candidates and supporters of the Tamil National
Alliance (TNA) allegedly with LTTE backing that have made it virtually
impossible for other Tamil parties and groups to carry on with an election
campaign throughout the North and East. From the Jaffna District in
particular, we have received many reports of attacks and intimidation of
supporters of Mr. Anandasangaree of the TULF and members of the EPDP. In
the East, Mr. J. Pararajasingham, TNA candidate, has also complained of
his inability to carry on with propaganda activities.
The rights of voters in those areas of the North and East that are under
LTTE control have become a major focus of attention especially among the
international community. The focus has been on the establishment of
cluster polling stations in areas outside the military control of both the
Sri Lankan army and the LTTE (in the 'no man's land') and the provision of
transport and other facilities to enable the more than 250,000 voters in
these areas to exercise their franchise for the first time in many years.
However, there has been little focus on the rights of these voters to
receive information regarding the different political parties and groups
that seek their vote in order to enable them to make an informed and free
choice of candidate. Given a situation where no group other than the TNA
has been able to enter and canvass for votes in these areas, once again
the issue of whether an election held under such circumstances could be
considered to be free and fair remains an issue.
CMEV has, from the beginning of the present election campaign, reiterated
that in the North and East the major responsibility for a violence-free
election campaign rested on the Police and the LTTE, as the two main
actors with the capacity to ensure the safety and security of all
candidates and supporters. Sadly, they have been unable and perhaps
sometimes unwilling to fulfill their obligations in this regard.
Although we had hoped that the Amnesty International note of caution that
'candidates and supporters of Tamil political parties not allied to the
TNA may become targets of assassination' would turn out to be misplaced,
in fact the tragic reality has been that the election campaign in the
North and East has turned out to be fraught with violence and flagrant
disregard for the democratic rights of the citizens of these areas.
CMEV urges all parties contesting the elections in the North and East to
ensure that voting is carried out without any acts of intimidation or
violence or other malpractice on April 2, 2004. It is only if divergent
views and opinions are allowed to be expressed, and are seen to be
expressed, that these elections can go on record as being conducted in a
free and fair atmosphere. It is only then that all those who emerge
victorious can truly claim to be the legitimate representatives of their
constituencies.
CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the
Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition against Political Violence as
an independent and non-partisan organization to monitor the incidence of
election related violence.
Dr. P. Saravanamuttu
Co-Convenor
Sunila Abeysekera
Co-Convenor
Sundanda Deshapriya
Co-Convenor
_____
[2]
The Daily Times [Pakistan]
April 01, 2004
Editorial
'Unilateral' message of Bab-e-Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf has given the go-ahead
to the project of Bab-e-Pakistan, the Gateway to
Pakistan, at Walton in Lahore where the Muslim
refugees from India came and took shelter in
1947. They were in great distress the details of
which have been captured many times on film and
on canvas besides a lot of literature devoted to
the suffering of the common man in the creation
of Pakistan. The project was thought up by a
chief minister of Punjab Mr Ghulam Hyder Wyne,
himself a refugee from Amritsar.
That was almost 13 years ago. It was shelved
because some important personalities in the
ruling party, moved more by practical problems of
running a cash-strapped province, thought it was
not so important to commemorate unpleasant events
of the past. Punjab then was on a colossal
overdraft from the State Bank. And there was the
Minar-e-Pakistan and the needle in front of the
Punjab Assembly giving out a much more positive
and upbeat message.
The foundation stone was laid and the estimated
cost was supposed to be Rs 200 million in 1991,
but there was internal scepticism that finally
let the Bab wither on the bough. It was pretended
that the Bab reflected the suffering of the
entire people of Pakistan. That was more or less
what it was because most of the refugees from
North India who finally went and settled in Sindh
first came to the Walton camp. The funding of the
project was therefore to come from all the
provinces, not from Punjab alone. Needless to
say, the other provinces were not on the same
wavelength as Mr Wyne and were reluctant to cough
up the money.
The decade of the 1990s was Pakistan's worst
decade. Jihad was going on all over the place and
the economy was lurching towards final perdition.
It was realistic to lay aside the Bab project.
Now the macro-indicators have improved under
President Musharraf and Pakistan is talking of
getting out of the IMF trap. This means money
would be available for development and our
economic managers would be able to do some
Keynesianism in Pakistan to create more jobs
without the IMF crying foul over our shoulder.
But instead of thinking of the big
infrastructural projects, the president has gone
and said yes to Bab-e-Pakistan. Let's see what is
wrong with this.
There was Walton Refugee Camp where the Bab would
be built. The place saw hundreds of thousands of
people subsisting here in extreme deprivation
before they were absorbed into the new state. The
event has gone into the 'grand narrative' of
Pakistan's nationalism as a great negative
memory. Now that India and Pakistan are thinking
of normalising relations and solve the big
Kashmir problem, the negative aspects of
Pakistani nationalism would be tantamount to
scuttling the grand paradigm shift in foreign
policy. Why do scholars think that basing
nationalism on memories of tragedy and defeat
leads to more conflict and more suffering?
All nationalisms create 'the other'. It is a
primal search for the enemy resistance against
whom is supposed to make the nation great. One
way of designating 'the other' is imagining the
enemy's potential to do harm; the other is
assuming that 'the other' has inflicted pain and
done a great harm. The second version injects
nationalism with poison. It raises generations
wedded to the idea of taking revenge and
inflicting pain. It is very much like the
nationalism of the Serbs who have based their
nationalism on a defeat and a greatly exaggerated
massacre on the fields of Kosovo. This month the
Serbs were still found baying for blood in
Belgrade after having killed more people in their
neighbourhood than the Turks killed the Serbs
centuries ago.
Negative nationalism haunts us in South Asia.
Pakistan relies on the memory of the 1947
partition and its atrocities to fashion its
subliminal 'mission statement' of seeking revenge
from 'the other' which is India. Bangladesh, or
at least half of its population, bases its
negative nationalism on the three million (sic!)
killed by the Pakistan army and lakhs of women
raped by its soldiers in 1971. In most cases
negative nationalism produces more misery for the
nation than its 'other'. The onus of taking
revenge at the cost of the economic function
invariably proves too much for the people to
take. The tragedy-based nationalism in fact
becomes a stick in the hands of politicians with
which they beat one another.
Let us be honest. The populations that moved
across the border in 1947 suffered atrocities.
There were cruel individuals on both sides who
took advantage of the breakdown of social order
to cover themselves with blood. It is not correct
to say that the outgoing Hindus and Sikhs were
treated nicely by the Muslims, but the Muslims
were treated inhumanly when they were migrating
to Pakistan. Large tomes of 'people's history'
commemorating the partition came out in 1997 and
both sides emphasised the 'unilateralism' of
memory of the opposed nationalisms. 'Jinnah
Papers', published by the government of Pakistan,
prove beyond a doubt that the Quaid was in
receipt of reports of inhuman treatment meted out
to Hindu and Sikh refugees as they moved across;
and the Quaid was unhappy about it.
There is unilateral nationalism in
Bab-e-Pakistan. Unless it commemorates the
suffering of all human beings - Hindu, Sikh and
Muslim - it will lead to more sorrow without
making Pakistan a better place to live in. *
_____
[3]
DAWN [Pakistan]
March 31, 2004
A curriculum of hatred
By Zubeida Mustafa
The religious parties in Pakistan are at
loggerheads with the government on yet another
issue: the so-called "exclusion" of some Quranic
verses from the biology textbook for Intermediate
classes. What has annoyed the MMA?
It all began three weeks ago when in reply to a
question in the National Assembly, the federal
education minister explained that the inclusion
of Quranic verses is not a requirement of the
curriculum.
While replying to a supplementary, the
parliamentary secretary further provoked the
self-appointed guardians of our morals, when he
attempted to reinforce the minister's argument by
questioning the relevance of the excluded verses
to biology.
This created quite a rumpus in the House and the
opposition staged a walk-out. It was later
persuaded to return to the chamber to hear the
information minister dutifully tender an apology
and the education minister assure the House that
no change was made in the curricula on any
external pressure.
But, intriguingly, the controversy has refused to
die down. A fortnight later the Punjab teachers
union announced its decision to launch a protest
movement from Gujranwala from April 15 if the
verses, which pertain to jihad, were not
reinstated.
It has been reported that at the heart of this
controversy is a report released by the SDPI, an
independent think tank. Titled The Subtle
Subversion: The State of Curricula and Textbooks
in Pakistan, this report, which draws extensively
from the research on the subject by Dr Rubina
Saigol, an educational sociologist, without
adequately and specifically acknowledging it,
points out that the curricula and textbooks in
Pakistan were insensitive to the existing
religious diversity of the nation, incited
militancy and violence, and encouraged prejudice,
bigotry and discrimination towards
fellow-citizens, especially women and religious
minorities.
The religious parties are not too pleased that
the curricula prescribed by the curriculum wing
of the Ministry of Education and the books
produced by the textbook boards have come under
the spotlight.
Since the days when General Ziaul Haq used his
authority backed by military power to induct
religion into every sphere of national life and
then use it to perpetuate a narrow right-wing
ideology, the public sector education system in
the country has been harnessed to promote a
mindset which upholds retrogressive values.
But why was no notice taken of this state of
affairs before? The fact is that for at least two
decades the media has been trying to draw the
attention of the authorities to the dismal state
of the textbooks and the distortions in their
contents. But all the editorials and articles
have proved to be a cry in the wilderness.
Much before the SDPI commissioned this report, Dr
Rubina Saigol wrote a profoundly insightful
paper, "The boundaries of consciousness:
interface between the curriculum, gender and
nationalism" in a book called Locating the Self
(published by ASR, Lahore, in 1994).
In this paper she showed with several examples
how our textbooks construct India and Hindus as
enemies and how they incite permanent enmity,
hatred and alienation with India. The author's
contention was that these books promote
militarism and violence and indirectly justify a
heavy defence expenditure.
Since then, she has been expanding relentlessly
and painstakingly on this subject in several
publications to show how an ultra-nationalist,
hypermasculine, militarized state is constructed
in our textbooks and what effects this has on our
identity and society. Some other scholars, such
as Dr Mubarak Ali and Prof K.K. Aziz have also
published their reports on this issue.
In 1999, the National Committee on Education,
which was constituted under the chairmanship of
the federal education secretary on the prompting
of some eminent educationists, prepared a report
National Curriculum 2000: A Conceptual Framework
calling for a paradigm shift in the curriculum in
order to produce "involved, caring and
responsible citizens". This report was stored
away somewhere in the ministry's records on some
dust-laden shelf.
Several women's groups have carried out extensive
studies from time to time to identify the gender
bias in our textbooks. The exercises they have
carried out have demonstrated again and again how
these books denigrate women and relegate them to
a secondary status.
Therefore it is difficult to understand why at
this stage the SDPI's report, which is not
presenting something new, being in Dr Saigol's
terms "a complete plagiarism of my work" and
"intellectual dishonesty", should draw the ire of
the religious parties. The SDPI has come under
attack for implementing the "American agenda".
The furore this time can simply be explained in
terms of the growing power of the religious
parties which hold office in two provinces. They
want to preempt the Musharraf government from
heeding the voices of sanity being raised on this
matter.
The fact is that after the nationalization of
schools and colleges had all but destroyed the
education infrastructure in Pakistan, the system
has suffered from a serious dichotomy.
Two parallel streams have run side by side in the
country. Those in power remained quite
indifferent to the mindset of the masses fed on
the ideological and hate contents of the
government prescribed curricula.
As the impact of these textbooks filled with hate
and the teachings of the madressahs is being felt
generally, the syllabus has set the alarm bells
ringing. The subtle poisoning of the mind of the
students has been clearly established by another
report produced by the Karachi-based Social
Policy and Development Centre (SPDC).
In its Annual Review 2002-2003 (The State of
Education), the authors of the report observe
about the Pakistan Studies textbooks, "Entire
periods of history are missing and other events
have been casually mentioned. No attempt has been
made to identify circumstances leading to
particular events or to establish the
relationships between different events."
It continues that as a consequence of these
books, "Instead of being able to acknowledge
diversity in points of view, they (students) are
likely to look at the world in over-simplified,
uncritical, 'black and white' and 'us versus
them' terms and to develop single dimensional,
exclusivist mindsets."
What the school textbooks are doing to the
thinking of our students is indicated by a survey
of school children. The opinions of children in
Urdu medium schools (who are not exposed to
progressive literature in the English language)
are quite instructive.
A little less than half of them do not support
equal rights to minorities. A third of them
support the jihadi groups. Two-thirds of them
want the shariah to be implemented. Nearly a
third want Kashmir to be liberated by force and
nearly 80 per cent of them support Pakistan's
nuclear status.
In other words, it is not the madressahs alone
which are creating hatred and militancy among the
younger generation. The indoctrination is
affecting everyone and probably this is now
causing concern in the government circles which
are now trying to battle religious bigotry.
In this context, the most meaningful
recommendation in the SDPI report comes from
Zarina Salamat in the chapter titled "Peace
Studies; a proposed programme of studies in
schools". Ms Salamat suggests that peace building
and conflict resolution be taught to children
from an early age. They should be told about the
inhumanity of violence and the brutality of war
and the forces which lead to them.
At the same time children should be made aware of
the value of peace and the dignity of human life
while they are taught the ways of developing
their capacity to maintain peace in society and
at the national and international level.
The positive aspect of the SDPI report - though
one wishes the sources of the analysis had been
adequately given credit where it was due - is
that for the first time in years the issue of
textbooks contents is receiving some attention
from the authorities, although the press - at
least this paper - and the educationists who care
had been crying themselves hoarse for decades
about the poor quality of the textbooks that are
being taught in our schools.
_____
[4]
Dr. Ram Punyani's Lecture tour across U.S.A. He
is scheduled to conduct several seminars on the
state of affairs in India and secularism.
Dr. Ram Puniyani is a dedicated humanist devoted
to promoting communal harmony and social justice
in India. He has been associated with many
secular initiatives and has published widely on
themes related to globalization and the rise of
fundamentalism. He is the author of "Communal
Politics " Facts vs. Myths"; "The Other Cheek -
Minorities Under Threat", "The Second
Assassination of Gandhi", among several other
books. He is a member of EKTA (Committee for
Communal Amity), and received the Maharashtra
Foundation award for social work in 2002. He is
presently a Professor of Bio-medical Engineering
at IIT, Mumbai.
1. Building Bridges Forum cordially invites you
to a conversation with Dr. Ram Puniyani
of India's EKTA Organization on Sunday, April 4
at 2 pm at Indian Prairie Public Library in
Darien, Illinois (SW suburb of Chicago).n Snacks
will be served. Registration is free.
This event is co-sponsored by the South Asian
Progressive Action Collective
(SAPAC)(www.sapacchicago.org) and Non Resident
Indians for a Secular and Harmonious India
(N.R.I.-SAHI). Please RSVP:
info at bridgesofunderstanding.org - Harinder Lamba,
SAGAR-- (630) 964-2258; Imtiazuddin, CSDI --
(630) 971-9873; Shashi Menon, SAPAC – (773)
374-5754; Rasheed Ahmed, IMC (708) 466-0244;
Vishvanathan, WTO – (630) 766-8222
2. You are invited to an interactive discussion
and Q&A with Dr. Ram Punyani on "Challenges to
Indian Democracy" to be held on Saturday April 3,
2004 from 6:30-8:30 PM at Troy Communty Center
(Room 303),City of Troy Parks and Recreation 3179
Livernois, Troy, MI 48083
This event is FREE, but a donation is requested
to help cover costs. Event sponsored by The
National Federation of Indian Associations,
Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, Non-Resident
Indian for a Secular and Harmonious India, Ann
Arbor Committee for Peace, India Foundation,
American Federation of Muslim of Indian Origin
(AFMI) and Indian Muslim Council (IMC, USA)
For more information please contact:
Prof. Venugopal Prasad (248) 352 4621, redphyx at yahoo.com
Moiz Lakdawala (248) 528-1654, moiz.lakdawala at eds.com
Shamshad Quamar (586) 260-5600, shamshad_quamar at yahoo.com
Ashfaq Qureshi (586) 795-0583, qpappu at aol.com
AFMI, (248) 426-7777, AFMI11 at aol.com
In In addition to the above several seminars have
also been organized in the Boston
a and Los Angeles areas. Any one interested in
these events may call Dr. Jawaid Quddus at (608)
758-4773 or email jq20 at hotmail.com
______
[5]
[LETTER TO THE EDITOR]
D-504 Purvasha
Mayur Vihar 1
Delhi 110091 [India]
31 March 2004
Dear Editor,
Since in its "vision document" the BJP declared its commitment to
abide by the court's verdict in respect of the Ram temple but in the
same breath said that a "negotiated settlement in an atmosphere of
mutual trust" was the best solution, there was confusion among the
uninitiated. Here is how the *Hindu* reported what followed.
"Clarifying later, party leaders said that this meant negotiations to
enable the temple to be built at the disputed spot -- that the temple
must be built on that very spot was not negotiable." Nothing could be
clearer. "Smash your face I will. But let us sit over a glass of
buttermilk and talk about when I can do that without causing you
inconvenience or being held in contempt of court."
In Gujarat Mr. Advani, again the Rage of the Road, revealed something
not so far known about our history. He said that it was because of
Hindutva that India, unlike Pakistan, chose to become a secular nation at
the time of Partition. That the hordes of scholars and lawyers who have
gone over the Constituent Assembly debates did not see this simple point
can only mean that they lacked the vision to understand that Gandhi and
Nehru and Azad and all those people actually represented Hindutva, which
Mr. Advani told his audiences, at least the Hindu ones, is the "pure form
of secularism".
There is no doubt that someone is really seeing things.
Yours truly,
Mukul Dube
____
[6]
India Abroad
March 26, 2004
SAME-SEX INDIAN-AMERICAN COUPLE FIGHTS FOR MARRIAGE LICENSE
By Arun Venugopal
It was, in many ways, a typical Hindu wedding,
set against the waters of Elliott Bay, in
Seattle. A priest intoned Sanskrit chants, led
the couple through the Saptapadi, or seven steps,
and performed a Ganesha offering as an audience
looked on.
But by the time the two women, Mala Nagarajan and
Vega Subramaniam completed their vows and were
showered with flowers by friends and family, they
had achieved a unique distinction: becoming
perhaps the first same-sex Indian couple in
America to have their relationship religiously
sanctioned.
That was two years ago. On March 8, the couple
filed a lawsuit after they were denied a marriage
license in the state of Washington, where
marriage has been defined as occurring
exclusively between a man and a woman. The
lawsuit comes amidst a storm of judicial and
legislative activity regarding the rights of
same-sex couples in various states. In recent
weeks, thousands of gay and lesbian couples in
Massachusetts, New York state, San Francisco,
Portland, and elsewhere have lined up to obtain
marriage licenses, drawing couples from other
parts of the country. But for the six couples
involved in Washington's class-action lawsuit,
leaving the state wasn't an option.
"We pay taxes here in King County," said
Nagarajan, who spoke on behalf of the couple. "We
support our infrastructure here. This is a part
of our community. Why should we have to go
outside to find affirmation?"
Nagarajan and Subramaniam "their full first names
are Vaijayanthimala and Vegavahini "met in 1996,
through the popular email listserv SAWNET (South
Asian Women's Network). They bonded, in part,
over the challenges they had each faced growing
up lesbian. They also shared an interest in
activism, and both came from families that had
emigrated from Tamil Nadu in the late 60s.
"If my partner was a man," said Nagarajan,
half-seriously, "we would be the perfect arranged
marriage."
After two years as friends, they became
romantically involved, and went so far as to buy
a house together in 2001. As with many other
same-sex couples, they contend that the
resilience of their relationship warrants both
the symbolic status and legal benefits accorded
to opposite-sex married couples.
"We've supported each other through job changes,
and through the trials and tribulations of life,"
said Nagarajan, who is 35. "We share a life
together, we share finances together, we want to
raise children together, and we take care each
other when we're sick."
Although neither of them is religious, they felt
it was important to have a wedding that was
culturally familiar, and set out to find a South
Asian priest or religious figure to perform the
ceremony. They found one in San Francisco and
another in Florida, but with only a couple of
weeks remaining both options fell through.
As it so happened, they had posted a note at a
grocery store, advertising their need for wedding
saris, which Subramaniam's father had encouraged
them to wear for the occasion. Days later, the
wife of a local Hindu priest called. She had seen
the ad and offered her husband's services for a
wedding. Nagarajan asked if he would perform a
wedding for two women, at which point the priest
himself came on the phone and listened to her
request.
"All of a sudden the phone went dead," said
Nagarajan. "All he had to say was no. But we were
both on cell phones so I called back and said I
didn't know if we got cut off."
Within a few minutes, the priest called back, and
said he would do it, but that he couldn't grant a
license. He then set out to tailor the rituals to
their needs, which were that the vows be
genderless and not suggest any sort of hierarchy
in the relationship.
"He was looking for references to unions such as
ours," said Nagarajan. "He didn't find anything
specific but he found lots of references to "two
souls coming together' in union."
Although the priest declined to speak for the
purposes of this article, another Hindu priest,
Sri Rajarathna Bhattar, explained that the
scriptures dealing with Hindu weddings come from
a section of the Yajur Veda, known as the Karma
Kandam. While it remains to be seen how the Hindu
community at large will deal with gay marriages,
as they increase in number, Sri Bhattar, the
Priest Emeritus at the Sri Meenakshi Temple, in
Houston, was opposed to the idea.
"There is nothing in our scriptures that suggests
this is permissible," he said. "The priests are
not authorized to conduct a wedding like that."
He added that the seventh step of the ritual
known as the Saptapadi, which was observed at the
wedding, specifically refers to the need for a
couple to bear children.
"According to the Upanishads, in order for the
universe to grow, there has to be a mother and a
father," said Sri Bhattar, who is also opposed to
homosexuality. "Then only is there a chance for
creation."
Nonetheless, Nagarajan found the event an
affirmation of their relationship and their ties
to the community. While her father and
Subramaniam's mother didn' t attend the ceremony,
the two parents who did participated actively in
the rituals; one performed an aarti for the
blessings of the couple's ancestors, the other
read Tamil poetry.
"I can't describe the powerful feelings of love
and community on that day," she said. "I finally
realized what married couples feel, when they get
married. There's this huge, overwhelming feeling
of love. And the community members coming
together "you look around and see all these
friends and family coming to support the couple
"it's a beautiful thing."
This stood in sharp contrast to the reception the
couple received when they applied for a marriage
license.
"The point when it hit me the most was when the
clerk at the office gave us the letter of
denial," she said. "My body was just shaking. It
felt so invalidating. On the other hand, there
was this whole community of people standing
beside us, and it was just incredible to be a
part of that".
______
[7]
The Hindu [India]
April 01, 2004
POLITICS AND THE CULT OF THE CHHATRAPATI
The iconic status of the Maratha king is such
that both the Congress-NCP and the Shiv Sena-BJP
are trying to claim his mantle, says Ranjit
Hoskote.
This January, when a furore broke out over the
American historian, James W. Laine's study of the
Maratha ruler and nationalist hero, Shivaji, a
publisher associated with the counter-cultural
1960s `Little Magazines' movement said to me:
"Aata Shivaji Maharajanna don paay hote asa
mhatla tar suddha thaar maarteel tumhala!" (You
could be lynched even for innocuously observing
that Shivaji had two feet.) The comment
underlines the semi-divine status bestowed upon
the founder of the Maratha kingdom in
contemporary Maharashtra, so that even the
mildest critical inquiry into his life is
castigated as blasphemy. It also reveals why
Maharashtra's major political formations - the
Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
coalition and the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) alliance - vie with each other to
monopolise the cult of the Chhatrapati.
Shivaji, as icon, symbolises the Maharashtrian
identity that both the Congress-NCP coalition and
the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance claim to defend. Both
sides have likewise appropriated Shivaji's
kingdom, styled as `Hindavi Swaraj', as their
ideal of governance. Although the one-upmanship
over who is better imbued with Shivaji-bhakti is
an integral feature of Maharashtra's political
life, it assumes operatic proportions in the
run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
The latest round began on January 5, when an
outfit calling itself the Sambhaji Brigade
attacked Pune's Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute (BORI), destroying invaluable books and
manuscripts. The group claimed to have acted in
Shivaji's name and that of his community, the
Marathas. It argued that since BORI scholars had
collaborated with Mr. Laine in researching his
study, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India, they
were guilty of impugning Shivaji's honour.
Maharashtra's Congress-NCP government arrested 72
Sambhaji Brigade activists after the outrage, but
Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde assuaged
Maratha sentiment by banning Mr. Laine's book.
With Parliamentary elections round the corner,
the Congress-NCP and the Sena-BJP have been
slinging the emotive issue of retrospective lese
majeste, irreverence towards Shivaji, at each
other. . Mid-March has been particularly rich in
these exchanges. On March 17, a BJP member's
deceptively simple question disrupted the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly: Would the
government be lenient with the arrested Sambhaji
Brigade activists? In reply, the Home Minister,
the NCP's R.R. Patil, chose to take a swipe at
the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had
deplored the banning of books earlier this year.
An incensed opposition demanded that the
reference to Mr. Vajpayee be expunged from the
record. The following day, Gopinath Munde,
president of the BJP's state unit and former
Deputy Chief Minister, called for a ban on
Nehru's Discovery of India, which allegedly
maligns Shivaji. Mr. Patil retaliated by
demanding that Mr. Vajpayee apologise for
deploring the ban on the Laine book. Deft as
ever, the Prime Minister composed a different
raga for his March 20 campaign rally in Beed.
From Maharashtra's rural hinterland, with Sena
chief Bal Thackeray by his side, he thundered
against "foreign authors" who "play with our
national pride", asserting that he would act
against such adventurers, "should the State
Government fail to do so". The irrepressible Mr.
Patil re-joined the battle on March 22,
announcing that the Maharashtra Government would
enlist Interpol's aid to book Mr. Laine!
How does this competitive hero-worship translate
into electoral gain? The Congress-NCP coalition
hopes to snatch the mantle of Shivaji-bhakti from
the Shiv Sena, `Shivaji's Army'; thus, it can
play being the authentic custodian of the
Maharashtrian identity, while satisfying its
traditional power base, the Marathas. Not to be
outmanoeuvred, the Sena has opposed the Laine
ban; but its tactful expression of sympathy for
the Sambhaji Brigade is calculated to make
inroads into the Maratha vote. The BJP, for its
part, hopes its veneration of Shivaji will dilute
its image as a party of northerners. This is a
crucial move, given the recent unrest in
Maharashtra over the `locals vs. outsiders'
issue, when Sena goons roughed up migrant workers
from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
These strident appeals to a collective symbolic
imagination could mask anxieties that bear, not
only on the Lok Sabha elections, but also the
autumn Assembly polls. The Congress-NCP coalition
would like to deflect public attention from the
Telgi scandal, the exposure of widespread
corruption in the Maharashtra police force, and
the ignominious exit of Deputy Chief Minister
Chagan Bhujbal. The Sena-BJP alliance would like
people to forget its botched record of rule in
Maharashtra (1995-1999), its capitulation to the
same Enron Power Corporation that it had vowed to
expel, its bungling of Mumbai's real-estate
crisis, and its emptying of Maharashtra's
coffers. No wonder everybody in this story loves
a good Shivaji.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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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