SACW | 2 April 2004
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Apr 1 19:32:10 CST 2004
South Asia Citizens Wire | 2 April, 2004
via: www.sacw.net
[1] Is there hope for South Asia? (Zulfiqar
Bhutta, Samiran Nundy, Kamran Abbasi)
[2] Pakistan:
- Women's commission recommends Qisas law be amended (Waqar Gillani)
- Religious fervour blocking moves against gender discrimination (Raja Asghar)
- Pakistan: Islamic scholars have failed to cope with modern times: Asma
[3] India: Secularism Alerts by Sahmat
Alert 1: Huntington's New Thesis and India (Girish Mishra)
Alert 2: Can a BJP Government Make Tribal India Shine? (Archana Prasad)
[4] South Asia: Often a voice in a snatch of
poetry can reach places where no politician can go
(Syeda Hameed)
[5] India: Joining hands against communalism
[6] India: Interview - Camera Conscience (Anand Patwardhan)
[7] USA: Upcoming Talks in April by Ram Puniyani
in California (LA, San Diego and Laguna Niguel)
[8] India: Important Correction re letter to the
editor carried in SACW 22-23 March 2004 (Mukul
Dube)
--------------
[1]
British Medical Journal [Theme Issue 'Health in South Asia']
(3 April) 2004; 328:777-778
Editorial
IS THERE HOPE FOR SOUTH ASIA?
YES, IF WE CAN REPLICATE THE MODELS OF KERALA AND SRI LANKA
Two years turned the Indian subcontinent into
South Asia. Between 14 August 1947 and 4 February
1948, India, Pakistan (its eastern part would
later become Bangladesh), and Sri Lanka all
gained independence from the British Empire. Amid
the optimism of independence, the new states were
comparable in population health and development
indicators. Their progress since has been
different.
This issue of the BMJ maps out the extent of the
region's myriad difficulties. Non-communicable
and communicable diseases ravage South Asia (see
pp 781, 794, 807, 811). Tobacco and
pharmaceutical industries are exploiting weak
legislation to nurture new markets (pp 778, 780,
801). There is little pride in the progress of
surgery (p 782), health research (p 826), or
postgraduate education (p 779). Yet one challenge
dwarfs all these: the desperate state of maternal
and child health. Several articles reinforce the
message that the scale of morbidity and mortality
caused by neglect of mothers and children is
driving the region to disaster (pp 791, 816, 820,
823). And unless regional priorities switch from
nuclear weapons to maternal and child health the
progress that is being made in community
development (p 830), by integrating care in
refugee camps (p 834), by the creators of the
Jaipur foot (p 789) and the Karachi ambulance
service (p 790), and on cricket fields (pp 800,
843) will count for nothing.
The answers to the region's problems may already
be with us. Despite a civil war, Sri Lanka has
the best health indicators in the region (also
beating those of most other countries with
comparable incomes), with average life expectancy
at 73 years, infant mortality at 16 per 1000, and
maternal mortality at 30 per 100 000 live
births.1 India's Kerala state has achieved health
and demographic indicators far ahead of Indian
national averages, with similar levels to Sri
Lanka2; over 80% of infants receive all routine
vaccines by 1 year, use of family planning
services is high, and population growth is steady
at replacement levels.3 4
The genesis of this success is an object lesson
for the entire region. Soon after independence
Sri Lanka decided to invest heavily in education
and health as a cornerstone of socioeconomic
development. Gains in education have been
impressive, with literacy rates for both sexes
exceeding 90%.5 Similarly, Kerala has the highest
literacy rates among all Indian states.3 Both
have maintained policies to achieve gender and
social equity, reflected in outstanding health
and economic indicators for women.6 In Sri Lanka,
women constitute over half the work force.7
Political will and grassroots support have
stimulated development, underpinning largely
consistent health and investment strategies. Soon
after independence, both governments introduced
agrarian reform that ended feudal land holdings,
thus alleviating poverty and promoting equity. An
important policy plank has been a focus on
primary care-especially maternal and child
health-through a multilayered health system with
adequate provision of basic services at community
level. Sri Lanka does not have a single magnetic
resonance scanner in the public sector,
epitomising a deliberate public focus on primary
and secondary care. By contrast, many other
countries in South Asia boast expensive tertiary
care institutions (where sophisticated imaging is
to be found), with low funding of primary and
rural care.
This progress has not gone unchecked.
Improvements in socioeconomic conditions prompted
growth of the private sector in Kerala, as public
institutions failed to keep up with the
population's demand for quality care. A recent
review of community health workers found gaps in
their ability to adapt from implementing vertical
national programmes to problem solving at local
level.8 Others have criticised health in Kerala
as "low mortality high morbidity," with little
attention paid to diseases of transition.9 Local
communities, in typical fashion, have assumed the
responsibility for resolving these issues.10
What can the rest of South Asia learn from Kerala
and Sri Lanka? Firstly, given leadership,
investments in education and primary care can
provide a framework for human development.
Secondly, gains have been achieved against a
background of participatory democracy; indeed,
social consciousness is crucial in overcoming the
menace of corruption.11 Thirdly, maternal and
child health is critical to development.
Can the rest of South Asia follow this lead? Yes,
but doing so requires setting aside political
differences, resolving regional conflicts, and
creating an atmosphere that reduces spending on
defence and nuclear arsenals. This may sound like
wishful thinking but how else will we create hope
from the despair of untold child death, wanton
neglect of girls and women, and a rich elite
feasting on the misery of millions in poverty?
Health professionals in the region have an
opportunity to join hands across national
boundaries, cast aside historic divisions that
suffocate progress, and begin to realise this
vision of something better-a vision crystal clear
in the heady days of independence, since lost in
the intervening years of poverty, conflict, and
nationalism.
We hope this issue of the BMJ will stimulate
similar intiatives, promoting a dialogue about
health throughout the region.
Zulfiqar Bhutta, Husein Lalji Dewraj professor of paediatrics and child health
Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan (zulfiqar.bhutta at aku.edu)
Samiran Nundy, consultant gastrointestinal surgeon
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi 110016, India (snundy at hotmail.com)
Kamran Abbasi, deputy editor BMJ, London WC1H 9JR (kabbasi at bmj.com)
References
1. The World Bank. Sri Lanka's health
sector: achievements and challenges. Washington,
DC: World Bank, 1998.
2. Rani M, Shah S. Worlds apart: why are
Kerala and Uttar Pradesh so different in their
human development outcomes? World development
report 2004. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004.
www.econ.worldbank.org/files/31147_33.pdf
(accessed 18 Mar 2004).
3. Zachariab KC. Models of development and
demographic change: a case study of Kerala.
Demography India 1998;27: 71-89.
4. Demographic and Health Survey 2000.
Colombo: Sri Lanka, Department of Census and
Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Planning,
2001.
5. Rannan-Eliya RP, Berman P, Eltigani EE,
de Silva I, Somanathan A, Sumathiratne V.
Expenditures for reproductive health and family
planning services in Egypt and Sri Lanka.
Washington, DC: Policy Project, 2000.
6. Pathmanathan I, Liljestrand J, Martins
JM. Rajapaksa LC, Lissner C, Silva AD, et al.
Investing in maternal health: learning from
Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Health Nutrition and
Population Series. Washington, DC: World Bank,
2003.
7. Sustainable Development Department, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. Asia's women in agriculture, environment
and rural production. Sri Lanka.
www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/WPre0112.htm (accessed 18
Mar 2004).
8. Nair VM, Thankappan KR, Sarma PS, Vasan
RS. Changing role of grassroot health workers in
Kerala, India. Health Policy Plann 2001;16: 171-9.
9. Panikar PGK, Soman CR. Health status of
Kerala. Trivandrum: Center for Development
Studies, 1984.
10. Franke RF, Chasin BH. The Kerala
decentralisation experiment: achievements,
origins, and implications. May 23-28, 2000.
International Conference on Democratic
Decentralisation, May 2000.
http://chss2.montclair.edu/anthropology/keralaexperiment.htm
(accessed 30 Mar 2004).
11. Bhutta ZA. Beyond Bellagio: addressing
the issue of sustainable child health in
developing countries. Arch Dis Child 2004 (in
press).
_____
[2]
The Daily Times [Pakistan]
April 01, 2004
WOMEN'S COMMISSION RECOMMENDS QISAS LAW BE AMENDED
By Waqar Gillani
LAHORE: The National Commission on the Status of
Women (NCSW), at its three-day final consultation
reviewing the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance (Act II
of 1997) and the concept of justice in Islam,
declared that honour killings and all other sorts
of victimisation of women have no link with Islam.
A consultative workshop, concluded a day ago,
also stressed the need to change the Islamic
definition of a 'wali' and asked the government
to properly compensate women victims of domestic
violence, who were not being treated well by the
government. The workshop suggested the government
try the accused for violence against women under
the Islamic term 'Tazeer'.
According to NCSW officials, the workshop
participants urged the government to take strict
measures to end violence against women. They also
suggested the government stop the application and
misuse of the Qisas and Diyat laws and declare
the offence "non-compoundable". "In such cases
the offenders must be given exemplary
punishments," the participants said.
It was noted that "there is no provision in the
Quran and Sunnah that a killer of his wife be
exempted from Qisas in cases where minor children
are left behind as legal heirs. As such the
prevalent law must be amended accordingly," the
workshop recommended.
The participants said that 'vani/swara' and
'watta satta' (exchange marriages) are
pre-Islamic traditions and have no scope in
Islam. "They must be condemned and strict
punishment must be awarded to the accused," they
said. They also said the term 'not valid' in the
proviso to Section 310 of the Pakistan Penal Code
(PPC) - giving of women in marriage shall not be
a valid badl-e-sulh (a compounding agreement) -
is not enough and that the term 'void ab initio'
or 'illegal' should be used instead. They
recommended a punitive clause be provided in this
respect.
The participants also agreed that offences under
the Qisas and Diyat laws were directed against
the legal order of the state, because the state
is responsible for the lives and property of its
people. "However, the legal heirs of a victim are
vested with the right to demand Qisas or compound
the offence by accepting Diyat. But this does not
stop the state from trying the offence and
punishing the offender," they said.
They suggested that no offence under Qisas and
Diyat be compounded until and unless the trial is
completed, after which the legal heirs of the
victim might demand Qisas or compound the
offence. "However, the state retains its right to
punish the offender even if the offence is
compounded," they said.
The participants argued that circumstantial
evidence must not be rejected even if the
witnesses turns hostile. "The Qanoon-e-Shahadat
Ordinance 1984 (Law of Evidence) provides clear
provisions to this effect, but unfortunately the
law has not been enforced in its true spirit,"
said former chief justice Abdul Karim Kundi.
Others said that provision 313 of the PPC was
"discriminatory" and required amendment. Dr
Farooq Khan and Dr Aslam Khaki said this
provision has "no justification" in Islam.
The participants also recommended Section 304 of
the PPC be amended. The participants stressed
that the Diyat amount should be treated as
"compensation and not inheritance". Mr Khaki and
SA Rehman quoted Verse 92 of Surah Nisa in which
the word 'Ahl' is used for the right to Diyat.
According to them, 'Ahl' means dependant and not
necessarily the legal heirs.
They said that the definition of 'wali', as given
in the prevalent law, should be re-defined in the
true spirit of Islamic injunctions. The majority
were of the view that the parameters should be
prescribed in Section 338 of the PPC and that the
judiciary must be trained in Sharia law.
NCSW Chairperson former justice Majida Rizvi, who
chaired all the sessions, gave a detailed
briefing of the objectives, functions and
activities of the commission. She also
highlighted an extensive review of the Hudood
Ordinance of 1979.
Syeda Viquarun Nisa Hashmi, a research associate
of the NCSW, gave a presentation of her research
on the topic.
Ms Hashmi, highlighting salient features of her
research, spoke about the impact of loopholes in
the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance (Act II of 1997)
and leniency of the judiciary in dealing with
such social evils, citing provisions of the
prevalent laws in the light of the Quran and
Sunnah. She explained the gravity of crimes being
committed for honour, substantiating her
contention by presenting statistics of honour
killings in Pakistan from 1997 to May 30 2003.
The acquittal ratio for people accused in honour
killing cases, according to Ms Hashmi, is 43.13
percent in Balochistan, 71.97 percent in Punjab,
91.4 percent in Sindh and 92.9 percent in the
North West Frontier Province. She also presented
a detailed analysis of the judgments on the
subject from 1977 to date.
The meeting was held from March 25 to 27 at
Islamabad. The participants were religious
scholars, political leaders, former judges,
prominent lawyers and the heads of religious
institutions. They included Professor Dr Khaled
Masud, Dr Murtuza from the Council of Islamic
Ideology, Safwanullah, Member of the National
Assembly MP Bhandara, MNA Dr Farid Ahmed Piracha,
MNA Yaqoot Jamilur Rehman, Shehla Zia, Professor
Dr Iftikhar N Hassan, Farzana Bari, Muhammad
Bilal, Sardar Muhammad Ghazi and others.
Similar consultation meetings have already been
conducted in the Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and
the NWFP. The NCSW will formulate its report and
recommendations after the completion of the
consultative process.
o o o o
The Daily Times [Pakistan]
April 01, 2004
ISLAMIC SCHOLARS HAVE FAILED TO COPE WITH MODERN TIMES: ASMA
Daily Times Monitor
LONDON: Islamic scholars in Pakistan don't know
what they're talking about and cannot relate
their religion to the country's changing society,
award-winning human rights campaigner, said Asma
Jehangir on BBC World's Hardtalk on Wednesday.
"They were the ones who said that television is
banned and now they come on television. They
don't know what they are talking about. They
don't know how they have to relate religion to
the growing times of society," she said.
Ms Jehangir who opposes laws against blasphemy
and also the Hudood Ordinance, said adultery
should not be punishable in this way.
When Mahreen Khan, the presenter of HARDtalk, put
it to her that many scholars insist that Islamic
law required adultery to be punishable, the
lawyer replied: "Well, many scholars would have
to see what the effects have been. Thousands of
women have gone to jail and thousands of women
that have gone to jail have been exploited, they
have been raped in police stations. Would Islamic
scholars want these women raped in police
stations and then, after four years, the court
decides mercifully that they are acquitted? What
would they [say] about that? They are living in a
very different system." [...].
o o o o
Dawn [ Pakistan]
31 March 2004
RELIGIOUS FERVOUR BLOCKING MOVES AGAINST GENDER DISCRIMINATION
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, March 30: Religious fervour broke
through political alliances in the National
Assembly on Tuesday to confront moves for more
rights for women and protection from customs such
as honour killings.
Scenes like opposition clerics cheering a
government move to dismiss an honour killing
complaint from its own coalition members or PML-N
conservatives defending the Hudood laws seemed
ominous as regards the fate of a bill moved by
the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) to
eliminate gender discrimination.
Tuesday's developments in the lower house made it
clear that the PPP's Protection and Empowerment
of Women Bill, which seeks more rights for women
and repeal of the Hudood ordinances, will meet a
stiff - and possibly overwhelming - resistance
from both friends and foes.
A further discussion over the admissibility of
the bill was put off until the next private
members' day after support for the move by two
PPP women members was countered by strong
opposition by one speaker each from the Muttahida
Majlis-i-Amal and the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz.
Parliamentary sources said opposition from the
ruling coalition as well as two major opposition
parties seemed to seal the fate of the bill to be
rendered as a mere publicity exercise for women's
rights rather than standing any chance of its
passage, which needed a simple majority in the
342-seat house.
The bill moved by PPP MNA Sherry Rehman and eight
co-sponsors on March 24 also seeks compulsory
primary education for children under 10 years'
age, equal participation of women in all walks of
life, equal pay for equal work, prohibition of
violence against women and honour killings,
freedom for every woman to marry a man of her
choice and one-third representation for women at
the Council of Islamic Ideology and boards of
autonomous bodies.
_____
[3]
SAHMAT
8, Vithalbhai Patel House, Rafi Marg,New Delhi-110001
Telephone- 3711276/ 3351424
E-mail: sahmat at vs vsnl.com, sahmat8 at yahoo.com
1. 4. 2004
Secularism Alert-1
HUNTINGTON'S NEW THESIS AND INDIA
by Girish Mishra
Once again Samuel Huntington, professor and
chairman of the Harvard Academy for International
and Area Studies has come out with a new thesis,
which underlines the danger posed to the unity,
identity and culture of the United States of
America by the continuing immigration of Hispanic
people. The basic contours of this thesis have
been presented in a longish article "The Hispanic
Challenge" (Foreign Policy, March-April 2004),
though its full elaboration will be available in
his forthcoming book Who Are We to be published
by Simon & Schuster.
He thinks America is facing a grave challenge to
its traditional identity, culture and unity. It
comes from migrants from Latin America in general
and Mexico in particular. In his own words: "The
persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants
threatens to divide the United States into two
peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike
past immigrant groups, Mexicans and Latinos have
not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture,
forming instead their own political and
linguistic enclavesófrom Los Angeles to Miamióand
rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built
the American dream. The United States ignores
this challenge at its peril."The fertility rates
of these
immigrants are much higher. Thus if preventive
measures are not taken forthwith, the Hispanic
immigrants may, in the course of time, tilt the
demographic balance in their favour. He obviously
wants the country to rethink its policy of
welcoming foreigners, especially the Hispanic
people. To quote: "Americans like to boast of
their past success in assimilating millions of
immigrants into their society, culture, and
politics. But Americans have tended to generalize
about immigrants without distinguishing among
them and focused on the economic costs and
benefits of immigration, ignoring its social and
cultural consequences.
As a result they have overlooked the unique
characteristics and problems posed by
contemporary Hispanic immigration. The extent and
nature of this immigration differ fundamentally
from those of previous immigration and
assimilation successes of the past are unlikely
to be duplicated with the contemporary flood of
immigrants from Latin America. The reality poses
a fundamental question: Will the United States
remain a country with a single national language
and a core Anglo-Protestant culture? By ignoring
this question, Americans acquiesce to their
eventual transformation into two peoples with two
cultures (Anglo and Hispanic) and two languages
(English and Spanish)."
Another point of concern for Huntington is that
Hispanic immigrants are concentrated in the
southwest areas of the USA, which are in
geographical proximity of the country of their
origin, Mexico. It may, in the future, pose a
threat to Americaís security. Unlike them, the
early waves of immigrants came from far off lands
and once they reached the shores of America, they
tried their best to adopt the language, culture
and way of living of their host country. The
overwhelming majority of them belonged to the
Anglican Church and the Protestant sect of
Christianity. Even those whose mother tongue was
not English learnt it very quickly. They got
scattered throughout the country, depending on
the availability of economic
opportunities.Factually, Huntington is wrong on
several counts. First, like the 17th-19th century
immigrants from Germany, Italy and the countries
of Southern and Eastern Europe, Hispanic
immigrants from Mexico have also been fast
learners of English. The first generation
Hispanic immigrants may not be fluent in English,
but the same cannot be said of their descendants.
Richard Alba and Victor Nee in their study
Remaking the American Mainstream have pointed out
that as many as 60 per cent of third-generation
Mexican-American children speak only English at
home. Other researchers have also corroborated
this. Thus every succeeding generation adopts
English as its first language.
On the question of regional concentration too,
Huntington is wrong. Data reveal that during the
last decade of the 20th century Hispanic
immigrants moved out of their traditional
enclaves and went to other places mainly in
search of better opportunities. As far as
retaining ties with countries of origin is
concerned, there is nothing unusual. History
testifies that every ethnic group continues to
have some sort of affinity with the place, region
or country of its origin, but this does not mean
that it is not loyal to the country where it is
settled. One may refer to Indian-Americans in
this regard. Their love for India and Indian
culture does not come in their way of performing
their duties as American citizens. In the recent
war in Iraq, people of Hispanic origin have not
lagged behind others in doing their duties as
both combatants and non-combatants. One of the
topmost commanders of the American forces in Iraq
is a Latino.
Let us turn our attention to India. Among the
Hindu communalists, there is quite a sizable
section that has been influenced by the ideas of
Samuel Huntington from the time he came out with
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of
World Order. Its influence could be easily
discerned in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Even a
person like our Prime Minister Vajpayee who is
supposed to be a liberal could not keep himself
immune from the virus spread by Huntington. It
was obvious from his speech as at a BJP conclave
in Goa soon after the Gujarat massacres. There
has been a systematic campaign against the
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has been going
for decades. They have been blamed for all sorts
of ills from growing incidence of crimes and
higher rates of fertility to mushrooming of slums
and smuggling. They
are supposed to snatch away jobs from the poor
inhabitants of our country. They are regarded as
a big threat to India's security because their
loyalty to India is always in doubt. It is
whispered but broadcast loudly by the VHP and
others that they may tilt the demographic balance
against the Hindus in the long run.
The present dispensation in India, led by the NDA
has been trying to identify and deport these
Bangladeshi immigrants. It is an open secret that
this has led to harassment and extortion by the
police.It needs to be noted that there is a big
element of communalism involved in this exercise
being carried out at the behest of the Home
Ministry. The ire is directed only against Muslim
immigrants from Bangladesh. The Hindus coming
from Bangladesh are given sympathy
and succour because they are supposed to be
fleeing from oppression from their country. The
immigrants from Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and
Burma are not frowned upon because they are
Hindus. The recent thesis of Huntington may not
cut much ice in the United States because as the
reports
indicate it has not be taken seriously by
intellectuals, policy makers and public at large.
Nor has it become an issue in the ongoing
presidential election campaign. The New Republic
in a recent article has dismissed it as a sign of
muddled thinking. In India, however, communal
elements may use it prop up their pernicious
campaign.
o o o o
Secularism Alert-2
CAN A BJP GOVERNMENT MAKE TRIBAL INDIA SHINE?
by Archana Prasad
(Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library)
The release of the NDA government's Draft
National Tribal Policy on the eve of the
announcement of elections is not a coincident.
With tribal Central India going the BJP way in
the assembly elections of 2003, the BJP has only
seized the moment to consolidate its tribal base.
The outfits of the Sangh Parivar have been active
in these regions since the 1930s and have built
up an infrastructure that largely consist of
shishu mandirs and vanvasi kalyan ashrams, the
vehicles of Hindutva ideology in these areas. The
Sangh Parivar has also been stressing that the
tribals or ëadivasis were always a part of the
Hindu society and were therefore to be protected
from the conversion activities of the Christian
Missions in these areas. In this regard it is
particularly important to note that the first
anti-conversion laws were enacted by Dilip Singh
Judeoís ancestors in the state of Jashpur in the
early 1930s. Thus the BJPís effort in pushing its
Hindutva agenda amongst the tribals is not a new
one, but has acquired a fresh thrust in the last
five years since the BJP has come into power at
the Centre. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and
Khadi and Village Industries Commission have been
used by the government to dole out grants to
those NGOs and voluntary sector organisations
that are steadily implementing the BJP agenda in
these regions. More than 85% of the funds of the
Schedule Castes and Tribes Commission was given
to NGOs associated with the Sangh Parivar in
Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Thus it is not
surprising to note that Draft Tribal Policy has
identified the NGOs as major partners in
implementing government programmes for tribal
development.
The BJP's draft policy attempts to underline its
differences with the Congress policy of the post
independence era. The Congressís vision of tribal
development was guided by Nehruvian principles
that were embedded in a respect for cultural
pluralism and a commitment to solve the problems
of exploitation and underdevelopment in tribal
areas. The Draft policy attacks this framework as
being "long on generalities and short on
specifics". In order to solve this problem the
NDA government set up the Ministry of tribal
affairs in 1999 with the flag bearer of the
recoversion campaign, Dilip Sigh Judeo at its
helm. But the creation of this ministry hardly
solved any problems of the tribal people and they
continued "to live below the poverty line and
have poor literacy rates, suffer from
malnutrition and disease and are vulnerable to
displacement" as underscored by the policy
itself. That the ministry and more specifically
the minister himself was more interested in
funding Hindutva activities and less in solving
the real problems of the tribal India, was seen
in the tape that showed him taking money for
giving mining leases to a foreign company in
tribal areas. The row that followed forced the
minister to resign, but was significant as it
reflected the real character of the BJP policy
and politics in tribal dominated areas.
The aggressive Hindu nationalism of the Sangh
Parivar is quite compatible with the BJPís policy
of opening up the tribal economy. In the last
five years most of this opening up has taken
place for the benefit of the traders, big
companies and foreign money who fund the
activities of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and
Saraswati Shiksha Sansthan (an umbrella
organization of all Parivar educational
institutions). It is no coincidence then that the
Shishu Mandir Trust is headed by one of the
largest Marwari traders of Calcutta and its local
branches are patronized by influential
landholders and traders. Thus the activities of
the Sangh Parivar have ended up strengthening,
rather than dismantling the very forces that have
been exploiting the tribal people since the
advent of the British rulers in these areas. The
policies of the NDA government in the last five
years have only strengthened and aided this
process. Disinvestment of industries like BALCO
and the privatization of land, water and forest
resources as in the case of the Sheonath River,
will only lead to the further deprivation, and
unemployment of tribal people. The withdrawal of
the state from key sectors has led to the
reduction of state investment in infrastructure
development. In this context, all attempts at the
decentralized management of forests and forest
produce collection have only strengthened the
traders, industrialists and multi national
companies who are appropriating the knowledge,
labour and resources of tribal people for their
own profits. The Draft Tribal Policy not only
ignores these developments but is also an attempt
to hide the real BJP agenda in tribal areas. A
vote for the BJP is thus a vote against the
interests of the tribal people, whereas a vote in
favour of the secular forces will strengthen
their ongoing struggles and movements.
______
[4]
Indian Express
March 31, 2004
NOW, IN SOUTH ASIA
OFTEN A VOICE IN A SNATCH OF POETRY CAN REACH PLACES WHERE NO POLITICIAN CAN GO
by Syeda Hameed
Thirty writers, five countries, three days, six
sessions. Last week, the Women's Initiative for
Peace in South Asia (WIPSA) had organised a
Dialogue of South Asian Women Writers. What did
it mean? What difference did 30 women sitting
together on the outskirts of Delhi, make? Will
their voices ever reach places where decisions on
war and peace are made? My contention as one of
the organisers of this dialogue is that they
will; it's a matter of time.
Zehra Nigah of Pakistan, who really belongs to
all of South Asia, inaugurated the event with her
poem, 'The Story of Gul Badshah', about a
13-year-old boy caught in the war against terror
in Afghanistan and 'Suna Hai' (I have heard about
the law of the jungle which is more humane than
the law of human civilisation). The words of her
poem surprisingly became the thread on which all
the sessions were strung. The sessions ranged
from "women writing peace" to "women writing
identities" to "women writing freedom". The
concluding theme posed the question: Can women
make another world possible?
Clearly, the idea of the writer as an activist
was the predominant one. Take Pratibha Ray from
Orissa. Her story, 'Is the colour of religion
Black?', is a protest against the ban on
light-skinned people entering the Jagannath
temple on suspicion that they are not Hindus. Or
Mari Marcel Thekakara of Karnataka, on the
subject of 'Endless Filth', which is also the
title of her book about manual scavenging. Or
Faustina Bama of Tamil Nadu, talking of the
'peace of the graveyard' when it comes to the
subalterns of society.
There were writers against war, with Niaz Zaman
of Bangladesh tracing women's activism against
war to the Aristophanes' play Lysistrata. Writers
like Naseem Shafai from Kashmir, Mitra Phukan
from Assam, Sugatha Kumari from Kerala, all
wanted to know why their "beautiful land" has
been rendered unrecognisable. Zahida Hina of
Pakistan in her story, 'Kumkum bahut aaraam se
hai' (Kumkum is very well), sketched the horrors
of the Afghan war, linking it to Tagore's
Kabuliwalla. Manjushree Thapa of Nepal spoke of
young girls conscripted by the Maoists, high up
in the mountains of her country.
Atiya Dawood of Pakistan spoke about her fear of
the Mohajirs during the deadly Sindhi-Mohajir
conflict in Karachi. Sumathy Sivamohan, Tamil
writer from Sri Lanka, read her poems on her
conflict-torn land. Gujarat was recalled through
the voices of Sarup Dhruv and Gitanjali Shree,
while young writers from Pakistan - Uzma Aslam
Khan and Kamila Shamsie - reminded listeners of
the police lathis being wielded on the streets of
Lahore against women protesting the Hudood
Ordinances.
All these voices from South Asia were part of a
far larger community of women writers from the
world over who have together decided to deploy
their pen for peace in their times and in their
regions.
______
[5]
The Hindu, April 1, 2004
JOINING HANDS AGAINST COMMUNALISM
By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI, MARCH 31. In an attempt to reach out
to the "hearts and minds of people" to fight the
forces of communalism and hatred, ANHAD (Act Now
For Harmony and Democracy), a non-government
organisation released a series of docu-lectures
titled "In Defence of Our Dreams" in the Capital
today. Bringing together experts, artists and
activists on a common platform to talk about the
various aspects of communalism, "In Defence of
Our Dreams" is a result of 18 five-day political
training camps held in different parts of the
country.
Releasing the docu-lecture series, eminent
film-maker Saeed Mirza stated: "This particular
phrase "In Defence of Our Dreams" means a lot to
me. Just after the Gujarat carnage, Harsh Mander
asked me to travel around India to find out what
ordinary Indian feels. I travelled 35,000 km
around the country to film "Unheard Voices". What
I saw was that the ordinary citizens have the
same beliefs as these scholars sitting in the
cities. They had the same dreams of a just,
compassionate, humane and equitable India. These
scholars have put historicity, but they both
voice the same beliefs."
While "In Defence of Our Dreams" is aimed to
multiply the positive effects of the political
training camps organised by ANHAD last year, it
is also hoped that this series will serve as an
important resource material for training
activists, political workers and politicians. "We
hope that this series will be an ally for
organisations involved in fighting against
communalism. The kit also includes the short
films made by Saeed Mirza . A battle is being
fought in the minds and hearts of people and I
think we need to engage with this space. Since
the last 20 years the movement of Ayodhya has
created an alternate vision for India and has
succeeded in demonising Islam. These beliefs have
taken root in the minds of the middle class as
also with the disadvantaged groups of Dalits,
tribals and even women, which is even more
worrying," said activist Harsh Mander.
"In Defence of Our Dreams" includes lectures by
eminent historians Bipan Chandra, Mriduala
Mukherjee, K.N. Panikkar as well as a lecture by
senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai among others.
____
[6]
Times of India
Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | INTERVIEW
CAMERA CONSCIENCE
Anand Patwardhan' s documentary, Father, Son and
Holy War, which explores the relationship between
communal violence and patriarchy, won national
awards for Best Investigative Film and Best Film
on Social Issues almost a decade ago. Yet, like
his previous award-winning films, it needed a
long-drawn-out legal battle, which ended a few
days ago, to force Doordarshan to telecast it.
Jyoti Punwani spoke to the activist-filmmaker
about the value of such victories and censorship
under different governments :
When do you expect your film to be screened?
The court gave Doordarshan three months time, so
DD will probably avoid the elections as our film
does not favour those who use religion for
political gain.
Can you recount your previous victories against DD?
All five cases involved the broadcast of national
award-winning documentaries. The first was Bombay
Our City , on the plight of slum-dwellers. The
case went all the way to the Supreme Court and
after we won, DD broadcast the film at midnight!
So the next few times we went to court, my lawyer
P A Sebastian made the judges aware of this
travesty and we won the right to be broadcast at
prime time. This time, however, because part II
of Father, Son and Holy War has an 'A'
certificate, the judges gave DD some leeway in
terms of time slots.
Advani's present rath yatra has a new theme. Does it make your film outdated?
Unfortunately not. Communal appeals are still
being made, sometimes subtly, often blatantly.
The Narendra Modi model has not been discarded.
Women and minorities are still the targets of
fundamentalism.
In your experience, does "India's shining"
reflect the general mood among the
English-speaking classes?
Paying lip service to the needs of the poor is no
longer necessary. Conspicuous consumption is no
longer embarrassing and the elite flaunts its
incredible wealth. Even Bollywood has stopped
making films that speak of economic and social
justice. Who cares if farmers commit suicide and
slum-dwellers and adivasis are thrown out from
their homes? We are told ad nauseum that our
economy is in great shape and all we have to do
is wait for the trickle down. Many are still in
this credulous stage but sooner or later the
penny will drop. People will realise that their
sacrifice did not buy them a future but went to
pay for somebody's Rolex or Ferrari. In a world
where basic resources like water, air and land
are limited, when a small class uses these
resources purely for recreation, it can only be
at the expense of others. The one effective way
of keeping the poor from understanding all this
is to occupy their minds with religion and other
forms of identity politics. My films are an
attempt to cut through this propaganda.
As an activist-filmmaker, do you see any role for
yourself in the forthcoming elections?
If there was a way to get millions to watch films
like mine, I would say yes. A Doordarshan
broadcast would be one way. Running documentaries
like these in cinema halls could be another. The
next best thing is to do what we are already
trying, which is to show the films in classrooms,
community centres.
From 1985, every film of yours has faced
censorship regardless of the party in power.
Unfortunately, no government has been genuinely
secular or supportive of the underclass. And
Doordarshan has always been subservient to the
party in power. But it should be understood that
opposition to my films has increased with the
coming of the BJP to power. The Censor Board in
2003, for instance, wanted me to cut 21 scenes
from War and Peace , including reference to the
fact that Nathuram Godse killed Gandhiji! State
interventionism was seen again when censorship
was introduced for the first time at the Mumbai
International Film Festival, 2004.
Does that make you cynical ?
No. Repression breeds resistance and we
filmmakers organised Vikalp, an alternate,
uncensored festival. Fighting incessantly in
court does become exhausting, but the fact that
we have won consistently speaks well of the
safeguards provided by our Constitution.
Given your experience, is the judiciary our only hope?
In the US, the right-wing under Ronald Reagan and
George Bush Sr were in power when the time came
to appoint Supreme Court judges. These very
judges then went on to anoint George Bush Jr when
he lacked sufficient votes to become president.
Given that precedent, the longer the religious
right stays in power, the worse it will be for
our democratic system.
You are active in the Indo-Pak friendship forum.
Beyond the bonhomie, is there not the reality of
a generation brought up in both countries who
view the other country as the enemy?
When we visited Pakistan, I was surprised at the
warmth that came from ordinary people we met by
accident. There seems to be a genuine desire for
peace and a skepticism about the military and
politicians in general. The reason is that in a
military dictatorship people learn to distrust
propaganda while in democracies with
fundamentalists in power, consent can be
manufactured in the short run. Pakistanis do envy
us for our democratic advantage; they see us as
an example worth emulating.
____
[7]
CHALLENGES TO INDIAN DEMOCRACY
Monday, April 5, 2004
7:00 PM
University Hall, Room 1000
Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, California 90045
Speaker: Dr. RAM PUNIYANI
Social Activist & Author
Dr. RAM PUNIYANI is a well-known social activist,
author and crusader for secularism and justice.
He is a member of EKTA - Committee for Communal
Amity, Mumbai and has worked directly among
people affected by communal extremism. He has
contributed articles in different magazines and
journals and written books on themes around this.
Some of his written works include, 'Post-Gujarat
Reflections on Tasks for the Human Rights
Movement', 'The Other Cheek' and ' Communal
Politics-An Illustrated Primer'. He has traveled
extensively in Gujarat and written a number of
books on the conditions there.
Dr. Puniyani teaches at the Indian Institute of
Technology, Mumbai, and is currently engaged in
conducting workshops for social activists,
teachers and students. With his experience in
thought, ACTION and teaching, his talk is bound
to bring a unique perspective to the challenges
of the upcoming general election and longer-term
challenges to democracy in India.
Sponsors: South Asia Forum, South Asian Network &
Coalition for an Egalitarian & Pluralistic India
This event is free to the public and plenty of parking is available.
Directions:
From Valley: Take San Diego (405) Freeway south.
Exit on Manchester Blvd (W) and turn right
towards the beach.
From Orange County: Take San Diego (405) Freeway
North. Exit on Manchester Blvd (W) and turn left
towards the beach.
From Downtown: Take I-10 West Freeway north and
merge on to the San Diego (405) south. Exit on
Manchester Blvd (W) and turn right towards the
beach.
After following the above, turn right on Lincoln
Blvd and make another right on LMU Drive.
University Hall will be the first Bldg on the
right, enter the underground parking structure
from the second entrance and take the elevator to
Room 1000.
For more information please contact:
Robin Khundkar (714) 895-5048; Asha Shahed
310-377-8472; John Ishvaradas-Abdallah (310)
748-9369 ; Asad Zaidi (714) 313-2703
April 7th Venues
Expert on Human Rights in India to Speak at Joan
B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
Dr. Ram Puniyani, author, social activist, and
professor at the Indian Institute of Technology,
Mumbai in Mumbai, India, will speak on
"Religion-Based Nationalism and Human Rights" at
the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at
the University of San Diego on Wednesday, April 7
from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. The lecture is
cosponsored by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for
Peace & Justice, Amnesty International, and the
University of San Diego's Department of Theology
and Religious Studies.
Dr. Puniyani will address the connections between
religious fundamentalism and communal violence,
the myth and reality of communal propaganda, and
the impact of religion-based nationalism on human
rights. He will discuss the causes for increasing
communal violence, such as the massacre of over
2000 Muslims in Gujarat, India in February and
March, 2002, and violence against targeted
segments of society, including women. The Scripps
Ranch Amnesty International Group 461 has been
working on the Gujarat case action file for last
6 years.
The brown-bag lecture is free and open to the
public. For more information or directions, call
the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at
(619) 260-7509 or see http://peace.sandiego.edu.
SOCIAL ACTIVIST PUNIYANI DISCUSSES INDIAN DEMOCRACY AT SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS
Justice Crusader Talk Open to the Public
WHO: Dr. Ram Puniyani is a well-known
social activist, author and crusader for
secularism and justice.
He is a member of EKTA - Committee for
communal amity, teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai
And conducts workshops for social activists, teachers and students.
WHAT: Puniyani lecture and group
discussion on how Indian democracy can
effect global peace and
economic conditions. Talk sponsored by
Shepherd of the Hills in
Laguna Niguel, The South Asia Forum and
The Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic India.
WHERE: Shepherd of the Hills (SOTH), 30121
Niguel Rd., Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. (949)
495-1310 www.shepherdofthehills.net
WHEN: Wednesday, April 7, 2004, 7:00 p.m.
_____
[8]
IMPORTANT CORRECTION
A friend has drawn my attention to the fact that
in my letter (see SACW 22-23 March 2004) about
Mr. Vajpayee's statement that the central
government could take action against the "foreign
author" of a "controversial book", I failed to
point out that the same Mr. Vajpayee had earlier
spoken out against the attack on the Bhandarkar
Institute by the Sambhaji Brigade. Here is what
the *Telegraph* of Monday, 19 January 2004 said:
"On a visit to Mumbai on Friday, Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee condemned the attack and the
ban on the book announced by the Congress-led
coalition of Maharashtra."
Truly, the only kind of consistency we can expect
from these people is that of porridge.
Mukul Dube
D-504 Purvasha Anand Lok .. Mayur Vihar 1 .. Delhi 110091
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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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