SACW | 6 May 2004
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Wed May 5 20:39:13 CDT 2004
South Asia Citizens Wire | 6 May, 2004
via: www.sacw.net
[1] Pakistan's Real Bulwark (Alfred Stepan and Aqil Shah)
[2] Bangladesh - Film Screening : Muslims or
Heretics? A documentary film (May 6, May 8)
[3] Bangladesh Govt. witch hunt against prominent
NGO 'Proshika' (Julfikar Ali Manik)
[4] Norway: Mullah loses his shirt (Doug Mellgren)
[5] India: Destination nowhere (J.N. Dixit)
[6] India: Introduction of Vedic astrology courses in universities upheld
[7] India: Hindutva TV channel in the offing (Anuradha Raman)
[8] Flavia Agnes, Feminist, Activist, Lawyer of
MAJLIS, Mumbai, India will be in Montreal (May 9,
10)
--------------
[1]
The Washington Post
May 5, 2004; Page A29
PAKISTAN'S REAL BULWARK
By Alfred Stepan and Aqil Shah
Amid the turmoil in Iraq and signs that
Afghanistan still lacks a viable state, it's not
surprising that doubts about the ability of the
United States to support democratization are
growing in the Middle East and even in the United
States. This is all the more reason why the
success of a homegrown democratic process
anywhere in the Muslim world is so important --
especially in a strategically located nuclear
state such as Pakistan. But is U.S. policy
helping to achieve this end in Pakistan?
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has
called Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf "the
right man at the right time." President Bush
wants Congress to reward the Musharraf government
with a five-year, $3 billion assistance package,
even as his administration turns a blind eye to
the Pakistani military's possible involvement in
proliferation of nuclear materials to North
Korea, Iran and Libya. Indeed, the Bush
administration recently proposed that Pakistan be
designated "a major non-NATO ally."
Much of Musharraf's status as the "right man"
stems from Pakistan's help against al Qaeda and,
crucially, the belief that Pakistan's military is
the best bulwark against the growth of Islamic
extremism in a nuclear state. As proof of the
threat in Pakistan, it is noted that two of the
country's four provinces are already much under
the sway of Islamic extremists in the Muttahida
Majlis Amal (MMA) or United Action Forum, an
alliance of six Islamist parties.
But before Congress authorizes the "bulwark fee"
to Musharraf, it should consider the following:
In the 1993 elections, fundamentalist parties won
only nine of the 217 national assembly seats. In
the 1997 elections, they were reduced to two. But
in October 2002, three years after Musharraf's
1999 coup, the MMA Islamist alliance secured 45
of the 272 national seats, and in the
strategically crucial North-West Frontier
Province, it won 48 of the 99 contested
provincial assembly seats.
More directly damning for the bulwark thesis,
there is strong evidence that Musharraf and the
Pakistani military contributed to this result.
Two major moderate parties, Benazir Bhutto's
center-left Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz
Sharif's center-right Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz, won about 70 percent of the vote
(and seats) in the general elections of 1993 and
1997. Musharraf and the military correctly viewed
these two parties -- and especially their leaders
-- as the most powerful challengers to his claim
to rule in the "supreme national interest," and
they have kept the two former premiers virtually
in exile. On April 12 Javed Hashmi, acting
president of the Muslim League, was sentenced to
23 years in prison for defamation of the
military. The military regularly used force to
curtail the freedom of the two moderate parties
in the 2002 elections. Meanwhile, it gave the
Islamists free rein to hold rallies.
Among many other ways the military aided the
fundamentalist parties was by decreeing that only
candidates with a bachelor's degree could run for
national or provincial election. This
disqualified about half the previous incumbents
of moderate parties from competing. At the same
time, graduation from madrassas, the Islamic
religious schools, was allowed to count as a
bachelor's degree, so virtually no MMA candidates
were blocked.
Despite all this military help for the Islamists,
the surprising but under-recognized fact is that
the MMA won only 11.1 percent of the total vote
in Pakistan's last national elections. Our
evidence suggests that far from being a
"bulwark," the military is actually a facilitator
of Islamic extremism. Worse, after helping to
marginalize the traditional moderate parties, the
military is in danger of becoming beholden to the
extremist parties, which in fact cast the
deciding vote to constitutionalize many of
Musharraf's self-granted powers.
Congress is considering the administration's $700
million annual budgetary request for Pakistan. It
might also decide to discuss legislation,
introduced by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.),
stipulating that the president must certify that
a country is a democracy and is participating
with the United States in advancing global
nonproliferation efforts before declaring it a
"major non-NATO ally."
There is much else to consider. The president's
Pakistan aid package calls for $300 million a
year in military aid but only about $20 million
for primary and secondary education. One of the
reasons so many poor Pakistanis send their
children to madrassa hate factories is that the
amount Pakistan spends on public education is
among the lowest in the world as a percentage of
its economic output.
Democracy in Pakistan has not been weak because
of Islamic extremists. In the six national
elections held since 1970 for which party-based
vote shares can be determined, extremists have
not managed to garner more than 12 percent of the
vote. Elected politicians have not covered
themselves in glory. But one of the major reasons
that democracy has been weak in Pakistan is that,
in its 56 years of independence, not one elected
government has been allowed to finish a full term.
The "right person" for the United States and
Pakistan is a prime minister put in office by
free elections and allowed by the military to
finish his or her full term of office.
Alfred Stepan is the Wallace Sayre professor of
government at Columbia University. Aqil Shah, a
former Rhodes Scholar from Pakistan, is a
visiting research fellow at the National
Endowment for Democracy. He will answer questions
about this article Thursday at 1 p.m. on
www.washingtonpost.com.
______
[2]
MUSLIMS OR HERETICS? A DOCUMENTARY FILM
Now screening in Bangladesh - May 6, May 8, 2004
The Ahmadiyas are a tiny Muslim sect that is at
the center of a growing storm in South Asia.
Highly educated and liberal, they oppose armed
Jihad and condemn suicide bombing. Extremist
Islamic groups accuse them of "spoiling the
spirit of Islam."
In 1974, after decades of violent protests,
Islamic extremists succeeded in banning the
Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan. Today, Pakistani
Ahmadiyyas cannot call themselves Muslim, pray,
or build mosques. Even in death, there is no
escape from the state-- the law prohibits putting
Islamic prayers on Ahmadiyya gravestones.
In 2003, the anti-Ahmadiyya campaign spread to
Bangladesh, which was once part of Pakistan. In
January 2004, the government banned all Ahmadiyya
books, and followed this with a push for
Blasphemy Law.
The battle over Ahmadiyyas reflects a larger
struggle for Islam's soul-- a struggle between
liberal Muslims who believe "Islam is in the
heart" and extremists who are fighting for
Iranian-style Islamic States. This documentary
focuses on the growing crisis, and the resistance
that is coming from Bengali activists.
==============
This documentary was made with assistance of Drishtipat (NY) and Drik (Dhaka)
Recipient of Community Service Award from NYU Law Students Association
To arrange screening, e-mail nmohaiemen at mac.com
========================
Screening in Bangladesh :
May 8 (8 PM): Academy Film Society, Jhigatola (next to Rifles Square)
May 6 (7 PM): BRAC Centre, 75 Mohakhali (opp Gausil Azam mosque), Gulshan
See URL:
http://www.pinholepictures.com/ahmadiya
______
[3]
The Daily Star [ Bangladesh]
May 06, 2004
ALLEGATION AGAINST PROSHIKA
Government yet to build 'conspiracy' case
by Julfikar Ali Manik
The government is yet to gather hard evidences of
the conspiracy against the state by leading NGO
Proshika even after police raided its
headquarters twice.
The NGO Affairs Bureau on Sunday filed a case
against 12 Proshika staff including its President
Qazi Faruque Ahmed, accusing them of financial
irregularities. "They misused funds of an
approved project," said newly appointed Director
General (DG) of NGO Affairs Bureau Mizanur Rahman.
The DG however said he knows nothing about
allegations of Proshika's playing anti-government
role, but home ministry sources said the
government will continue operations to unearth
the NGO's anti-government activities and sedition
charges might be pressed against it.
The government earlier filed sedition charges
against two Proshika officials but the High Court
acquitted them.
Now the government is looking for ways to take
stringent steps like filing more graft and
sedition cases against Proshika Manobik Unnoyon
Kendro, one of the largest non-government
organisations (NGO) of the country, according to
sources.
The government is also planning to have Proshika
President Qazi Faruque Ahmed removed from his
office and cancel Proshika's registration. More
than 10,000 staff and 1.25 crore beneficiaries
will be affected in the event of cancellation of
the registration.
Many see Sunday's filing of the case as the
beginning of the stringent measures the
government has been threatening against Proshika
since coming to office in October 2001. The
BNP-led coalition government has been accusing
the NGO of aiding main opposition Awami League in
its attempts to overthrow a
little-over-two-and-half-an-year-old Prime
Minister Khaleda Zia's administration.
On April 20 and May 2, police raided the Proshika
headquarters in Mirpur and sources said the
government has ordered more police raids on the
central and regional Proshika offices across the
country to gather evidences against the
organisation. Proshika has 200 Area Development
Centres (ADCs) covering 257 thanas of 60
districts across the country.
"We are looking for evidences that Proshika had
distributed the blueprint to all branches, but we
haven't found anything as yet," admits
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Pallabi Police Station
Nurul Amin, adding the raids will continue until
they stumble into the evidences.
"We have seized some official documents but not
found any 'anti-government discussion papers',"
he told The Daily Star.
A Proshika official said 10 policemen stormed
into Pallabi Thana ADC swearing at Proshika
officials on Sunday. Police showed them a paper
containing anti-government messages and claimed
that according to their intelligence, a similar
note was sent to Proshika's Pallabi ADC from its
head office. Police then asked the Proshika
officials to show them their copies of the paper.
Proshika officials said they knew nothing of such
papers, but police searched the office computers,
took printouts of office documents and finally
made a seizure list. The last item mentioned on
the seizure list was 'anti-government discussion
paper-2 pages'.
A Proshika official of the ADC told The Daily
Star that police did not give them any copy of
the seizure list. "Police found no
anti-government messages in our office. They
themselves brought the so-called 'anti-government
discussion paper-2 pages' and claimed to have
found it here," the Proshika official added.
He said police forced five Proshika officials to
sign on a paper that read, "Although it was not
mentioned in their employment contract, they have
to make a regular donation to Oikyabaddha Nagorik
Andolon (ONA, where Qazi Faruque serves as member
secretary)".
The statement also included a commitment by the
officials that they will testify as and when
required, he said. But OC Nurul Amin said he knew
nothing about police's taking signatures of
Proshika officials by force. "No fabrication was
made nor any false information included during
the preparation of seizure list," he claimed.
"Proshika designed a blueprint to accelerate
anti-government movement that included sticking
posters, writing songs and distributing leaflets
with anti-government slogans," the OC also
claimed.
Qazi Faruque, however, has denied outright any
involvement with the Awami League to topple the
government by April 30 and also denied plotting
against the government.
Nasima Akhtar Lovely, ADC zonal co-ordinator for
Mirpur, Kafrul and Pallabi, told The Daily Star
she has been receiving threats on the phone for
continuing with her job and has filed a general
diary with Mirpur Police Station.
Meanwhile, arrests of some Proshika officials,
police raids on its offices and relentless
political threats have frightened its 10,000
employees across the country. Scores of Proshika
officials complained that staff are fearful of
arrest and harassment while going to office,
which has hit Proshika operations hard.
Sources said at least 100 of over 600 employees
of Proshika's head office are not coming to the
office since the April 20 raid and arrests of
five officials including its cultural wing Deputy
Director Abdur Rab. They fear being caught by
police and coerced into giving 'confessional'
statements against their organisation's
anti-government involvement, sources said.
Police allegedly forced Rab to give a
confessional statement before a magistrate, which
Rab later retracted. Police also picked up Dhaka
city President of ONA Harunur Rashid and
allegedly forced him to state on camera that
Proshika played an anti-government role. After
television channels telecast the video clip,
Harun sent another statement from a hideout later
saying that police coerced him into making such a
statement.
Some Proshika officials said the BNP, which
believes the NGO is working against it, has made
no attempt to hide its angst against the
organisation since its previous 1991-1996 tenure.
Proshika was targeted for its anti-fundamentalism
and pro-Liberation War roles and for its efforts
to empower women, educate voters and promote
cultural activities, the officials said.
"Since our activities go against the ideologies
of some political parties, they became hell-bent
on stopping us," said a Proshika official, asking
not to be named. "So, this government has blocked
the release of over Tk 300 crore funds after it
came to office," he said.
The official added that the NGO is struggling to
expand its programmes due to fund crisis and
currently running 28 programmes with its Tk 600
crore assets.
_____
[4]
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
April 30, 2004 · Last updated 7:13 a.m. PT
MULLAH LOSES HIS TEMPER, GRABS CAMERA
By Doug Mellgren
Associated Press Writer
OSLO, Norway -- The founder of suspected terror
group Ansar al-Islam lost his temper in public
for a second time this week, angrily wrenching a
camera from a journalist on Friday.
Mullah Krekar, the former leader of a
fundamentalist Islamic group of Kurds in northern
Iraq, was on his way into a police station to
file an assault complaint against a female
comedian who on Tuesday lifted him into the air
and mocked him in front of cameras.
Instead, he could be the one facing assault charges.
Krekar, a refugee in Norway since 1991, erupted
into a rage when a journalist took his picture
outside the station. He ripped the camera from
the reporter's hand and took it with him into the
station.
Joergen Berge, the photographer, said Krekar's
brother had to grab the Mullah to restrain him,
and he only got his camera back after the ensuing
argument in the station became so loud that
police asked them to leave.
Berge, who works for the TV-2 Nettavisen internet
news site called the incident "very unpleasant."
TV-2 Nettavisen editor Gunnar Stavrum, said they
were considering filing assault charges.
"What I saw shows Mullah Krekar physically
attacking our reporter, and acting threatening,"
he said.
Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, refused to
comment when contacted by telephone, saying he
not have time to talk before hanging up.
Krekar left the police station without filing an
assault complaint against comedian and women's
rights activist Shabana Rehman, who often uses
her childhood religion, Islam, in her acts.
Krekar, who has lived in Norway since 1991, has
become the country's highest profile Muslim after
repeated arrests, court cases, television
appearances and now his book, "My Own Words."
The group he founded, Ansar al-Islam, is
suspected by the United States of links to the
al-Qaida network and for involvement in suicide
bombings targeting U.S. and coalition forces in
Iraq. Krekar says he is no longer the group's
leader.
Rehman was in the audience for a debate about
Krekar's new book and talked the Mullah into
allowing her to perform what she called a little
test to see if he was a fundamentalist.
Pakistan-born Rehman walked onto the stage,
grabbed Krekar around the hips, and lifted him up.
"A man who can be carried by a woman can't be a
fundamentalist," Rehman said to howls of laughter.
Krekar, who comes across as calm and tolerant in
public appearances, exploded with rage and
grabbed the microphone.
"She does not have the right to touch me. She is
showing contempt for me," the Oslo newspaper
Aftenposten quoted Krekar as saying.
The mullah threatened a lawsuit, and demanded
that all the photographers in the hall erase any
pictures of him being lifted. But the images were
broadcast on television and published in
newspapers.
Rehman said the point was to see his reaction.
"If he is as tolerant and relaxed as he presents
himself, he didn't need to react so strongly,"
she told the newspaper. "One who is not a fanatic
would have gone along with such a joke."
_____
[5]
The Hindustan Times [India]
May 5, 2004
Delhi Edition Pg 8: Edit Page
DESTINATION NOWHERE
by J.N. Dixit
In the mid-Fifties, Jawaharlal Nehru had stated
that the danger to India's security from
divisiveness based on religion and caste is a
more dangerous threat than any external
aggression. His profoundly perceptive
apprehension stands neglected in the current
culture and practices of segments of Indian
politics. That this negation of Nehru's wisdom is
not just an undercurrent but a consciously
orchestrated policy of divisiveness is proved by
a recent letter written by Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee to his "Muslim brothers and
sisters" which appeared in the Urdu edition of
the Rashtriya Sahara on April 25. The letter
appeared as a full page BJP election ad. Some
excerpts:
* There should be brotherhood in this country and
not only should justice be done to Muslims but
should be seen to be done. Muslims should be
safe. There should be no effort to keep them
apart. I say to Muslims that they should not
consider themselves apart. We have to live
together. We have one future.
* A cricket match has just been played and there
were Muslim players in it. No difference was
visible. All were drenched in the same joy, in
the same colour. I want this colour of
brotherhood to be stronger and deeper.
* What happened in Gujarat should not have
happened. Let us decide that another Gujarat will
not happen.
* If we take the road to peace with our estranged
neighbour, then can we not resolve our domestic
problems in a peaceful manner? It is very
essential to do away with the lack of confidence
between the two communities.
* For the promotion of Urdu language, we have
decided to appoint 2 lakh teachers. For the
modernisation of madrasas, a scheme of Rs 74
crore has been proposed.
Five photographs accompany the ad: the PM wearing
a safa, Mohammad Kaif and Sourav Ganguly
embracing each other, a maulvi and a pandit
embracing each other, Vajpayee and Zafarullah
Khan Jamali embracing each other, and a madrasa
with students.
The ad makes certain promises:
* Introduce within six months a Minorities
Development Agenda for the educational and
economic upliftment of the minorities to empower
them.
* Give special attention in this agenda to the poor and backward families.
* An assurance that they will benefit from
housing and educational schemes etc. of the
government.
* Attempts will be made in a planned manner to
increase minority representation in government
organisations.
* Reorganise the work of the Minority Commission
to link it to the problems of minority welfare.
* Further the unprecedented steps taken by the
NDA government to promote Urdu and modernise
madrasas.
* Strong resolve to free India of (communal) riots.
* To continue the dialogue with Pakistan and to
resolve, together with J&K, all remaining
problems on the basis of the February 2004,
Islamabad joint statement.
It also posts the NDA's achievements:
* Big increase in the annual budget of the National Urdu Council.
* Practical steps to link Urdu to employment.
* Increase of Haj subsidy from Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore.
* Fourteen embarkation points for hajis all over the country.
* Minority educational institution status to
Hamdard University with 50 per cent reservation
for Muslim students.
* Total support to the cause of the Palestinian people.
* Refusal to send Indian troops to Iraq.
One is compelled to ask a number of questions
about the spirit and motivations of Vajpayee's
'letter'. Is the PM implying that Muslim citizens
do not consider themselves as an integral part of
the Indian Nation and civil society? Leaving
aside the occasional political or communal
flare-ups, we have a syncretic multi-cultural
national identity. Vajpayee's underlining their
separate identity and exhorting them to join the
mainstream is a deliberate act of attributing
them a separateness from the mainstream of Indian
life.
Vajpayee's letter stresses that there were Muslim
players in the victorious Indian cricket team in
Pakistan. He forgets that this is not the first
time Muslim players have played in Indian Test
teams. He forgets Ghulam Mohammed, Mushtaq Ali,
Tiger Pataudi, Syed Kirmani - to name only a few.
One thought players were selected for the Indian
team for their talent - and not because of their
religious affiliations.
The reference to the Gujarat riots is blasé.
Vajpayee links his peace initiatives with
Pakistan as a special gesture to Indian Muslims.
Instead of saying that peace with Pakistan is in
the fundamental common interest of the peoples of
the two countries, he implies that the peace
introductory would be specially beneficial to
Indian Muslims.
Vajpayee announced that he has decided to appoint
200,000 teachers for the promotion of Urdu and is
going to allocate Rs 74 crore for the
modernisation of madrasas. Leaders of the Muslim
community have pointed out to me that this is an
irrelevant promise as there are
not enough institutions to employ 200,000
teachers to teach only Urdu. They have also asked
whether the modernisation of madrasas would be
somewhat on the lines of what Murli Manohar Joshi
has been trying with education in general. The
Minority Commission has been in existence for
many years. It has been doing as much useful work
as resources allow. One wonders why there's
suddenly a need for a Minority Development
Agenda. Vajpayee's promise to promote Urdu and
modernise madrasas immediately comes before his
desire to achieve an India 'free of communal
riots'. What conclusion should one draw from
this? That communal riots happen in India due to
the madrasa educational system? One acknowledges
that there are some madrasas which may inculcate
an extremist view of Islam. But to paint all
madrasas with one negative brush shows a
prejudiced mindset.
Vajpayee mentions his government's intention of
increasing financial allocations for the National
Urdu Council, for linking Urdu to employment, and
draws attention to its doubling the Haj subsidy
and creating new embarkation points for hajis.
These are not achievements. The allocation of
resources is essentially related to the growth of
the Muslim population, the increase in the number
of hajis, the higher cost of air and sea travel
for Haj and the related expansion of airport
networks over the 10-15 years.
Vajpayee tells Indian Muslims that not sending
troops to Iraq and supporting the Palestinian
people are gestures which the community should
take note of. Both these points are incorrect.
Former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and Deputy
Prime Minister L.K. Advani told Israelis that
they are very close allies of India. One has no
objection to this. But they went on to say that
any delay in establishing formal and full
relations with Israel was because of the Muslims
of India. The government has not issued any
strong statement against Ariel Sharon's violently
aggressive policies against the Palestinian
people. And the refusal to send troops to Iraq
was primarily because the Congress, along with
all other opposition parties, opposed the
decision.
Public memory is short. One must remember that it
is Vajpayee and other BJP leaders who had once
stated that one of the major problems facing
Muslims in this country is that they have never
been inclined to stay in peace and coexist with
other religious communities. It is this very
leadership which also asserted that Muslims of
India should 'Indianise' themselves. Narendra
Modi, in the post-Gujarat massacre period, had
admonished Muslims to accept that their future
safety and well-being depends on their
acknowledging and reconciling themselves to the
fact that they live in a Hindu majority country.
Whatever claims of change of attitudes the BJP
may claim, the fact is that their basic communal
agenda is to subvert the pluralistic,
multi-dimensional, syncretic identity of Indian
civil society. Elections will come and go, but
the BJP's agenda has not changed. It is not
likely to change.
______
[6]
The Hindu [ India]
May 06, 2004
INTRODUCTION OF VEDIC ASTROLOGY COURSES IN VARSITIES UPHELD
By Our Legal Correspondent
NEW DELHI, MAY 5. The Supreme Court today
dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by
a scientist and two others challenging the
University Grants Commission's move to introduce
`Vedic astrology' (jyotir vigyan) courses in the
Indian universities.
A Bench, comprising Justice S. Rajendra Babu and
Justice G.P. Mathur, rejected the SLP which was
directed against the April 2001 judgment of the
Andhra Pradesh High Court declining to entertain
a writ petition.
The petitioners, P.M. Bhargava, scientist, K.
Subash Chandra Reddy and Chandana Chakrabarti,
had in their writ petition questioned the
decision of the UGC in according permission to
the universities for starting graduate,
post-graduate and research courses in jyotir
vigyan.
They had contended that the guidelines issued by
the UGC were totally irrational, as Vedic
astrology could not be held to see the unforeseen.
They submitted that as a pseudoscience, astrology
was considered to be diametrically opposed to the
findings and theories of modern Western science.
The High Court dismissed the petition holding
that it could not interfere in the policy
decision of the Government unless it was found to
be contrary to the law or made on extraneous
considerations.
In their SLP, the petitioners contended that the
scientific community considered the action of the
respondents in starting the Vedic astrology
course as a giant leap backwards, undermining
whatever scientific credibility the country had
so far achieved. They sought a direction to set
aside the judgment and a direction to restrain
the UGC and other respondents from implementing
the decision to start the astrology course in
Indian universities.
On behalf of the Union Government it was
submitted that there was no compulsion in taking
up the astrology course, which would be only an
optional subject. Even in several Western
countries, astrology had been included as a
subject of study.
The apprehensions of the petitioners were
misplaced, the Government said seeking dismissal
of the appeal.
The Supreme Court Bench agreed with the Centre's
contention and dismissed the SLP.
______
[7]
Indian Express
May 04, 2004
SANGH PARIVAR MAN PLANS SUDARSHAN TV CHANNEL TO BEAM PATRIOTISM
by Anuradha Raman
NEW DELHI, MAY 3: This is the closest the Sangh
Parivar has come to launching a television news
channel of its own. Suresh Kanderao Chavanke,
president of the Hedgewar Sanskar Kendra
(Shirdi), patronised by the RSS, is planning a
digital channel to whip 90 million television
households into a patriotic frenzy.
In Shirdi, where Chavanke is the member of
several social-cultural organisations, RSS
workers said this was what the organisation had
wanted for a long time. ''Chavanke approached us
with his plans and left us impressed," says
Tinubhai Bhatia, local sangh chief. The Hedgewar
Sanskar Samiti is one of numerous socio-cultural
organisations patronised by the RSS. ''The
channel is not a commercial venture and the
country requires a marg darshak (guide)," says
Bhatia.
The promotional literature on Sudarshan TV
displays photographs of Godhra, Babri Masji
demolition and riots in Mumbai. It even has a
Mission 2006 statement: ''Is rashtra ko punah
vishwa gurupad par virajmaan karna hai (India has
to be restored as a superpower). Sangh icons are
Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Laxmibai, Veer Sawarkar
and a poster of Ram, the inspiration behind the
Ram Janmaboomi movement.
The managing director of the channel, christened
Sudarshan Chavanke, promises his channel will be
powerful. ''Yeh ek akramak vishay hoga, (this
will be a powerful issue)," promises Chavanke. To
begin with, he pledges to convert you into a
roaring lion if you take time off to watch his
patriotic Sudarshan channel and will restore
pride in Indian youth.
His application to start a news and current
affairs channel is pending clearance from the
government. Chavanke accuses ''so-called youth
channels of failing to mention Veer Sawarkar,
Subhash Chandra Bose or Gandhi."
The Sudarshan channel, says Chavanke, will
convert them from mewing bakras to snarling shers
as it will be guided by the three objectives of
Dev, Desh and Dharma, and not by the usually
acceptable parameters of TRPs and bottomlines.
Chavenke says his channel has a mission -
nation-buidling - which no channel in the country
can boast of. And he proceeds to demonstrate just
how. For starters, the channel will teach the
meaning of dharma to youth before it gets into a
serious discussion of whether the Taj Mahal was
built by Shah Jahan or was it actually a temple.
''We will have all facts ready to prove it was
actually a temple," says Chavenke. He stops
questions on religion by posting his answer.
''Everyone belongs to this country and should
take pride in it. My channel is not anti-Muslim
or anti-Christian,'' he says, promising it will
take up controversial issues from time to time.
Steering clear from issues such as funding of the
channel, but not quite moving away from provoking
the viewer, Chavanke says it will subsist on
charity from well-wishers. ''We are positioning
ourselves as a patriotic channel and I don't say
anyone posing a threat to our position miles
around," says Chavanke.
His aide in the office informs that the channel
will have sants and mahapurushas as advisors. And
Sudarshan TV, the aide helpfully adds, has
nothing to do with the RSS Sarsanghchalak
Sudarshan. It just means good/positive viewing.
Now that's what's called coincidence.
______
[8]
FLAVIA AGNES, FEMINIST, ACTIVIST, LAWYER of
MAJLIS, Mumbai, India will be in Montreal
Flavia Agnes will be speaking on Sunday 9 May and Monday 10 May.
1)“TWO DECADES OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT IN INDIA”
Sunday 9 May, 2-4 pm,
SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN’S COMMUNITY CENTRE (SAWCC)
1035 Rachel est (between Christophe Colomb & Boyer, Metro Mt-Royal, bus # 11)
2) “WOMEN’S STRUGGLE for EQUALITY in INDIA POST-GUJARAT”
This presentation will cover aspects of
contemporary legal debates concerning women’s
rights and situate them in the context of rising
violence against women and minorities.
Monday 10 May, 7-9pm
McGill University, Leacock Building, Rm 26, 855 Sherbrooke ouest
(Peel or McGill metro or Bus # 24)
Presented by: McGill Centre for Research and
Teaching on Women, Centre sur l’asie du sud
(CERAS), South Asian Women’s Community Centre
(SAWCC), REBELdesis
ALL WELCOME
Information: (514) 485-9192
FLAVIA AGNES is a practising advocate at the
Bombay High Court since 1988, and founder of
Majlis, a legal and cultural resource centre in
Mumbai, Flavia Agnes is known for her relentless
advocacy of gender equality through (and in) law,
besides being a staunch and vociferous critic of
the Uniform Civil Code - which, at a time when it
was voiced, created a rift within the women's
movement. In recent times, Flavia appeared before
the Sri Krishna Commission enquiry into the riots
in Mumbai in Berhampada in 1992. Majlis was
involved in rehabilitation and relief work. In
the context of the riots she wrote the article,
"Two riots and after" -- a fact-finding report on
Bandra (East) in the Economic and Political
Weekly (EPW) of February 1993. She has written
extensively in various journals and academic
publications, including the Subaltern Studies,
EPW, Manushi and so forth on law and its
implementation, the minorities and the law,
feminist jurisprudence, gender and law and law in
the context of women's movements and related
matters. She is the author of the book, Law and
Gender Inequality: the Politics of Women's Rights
in India, published by the Oxford University
Press (1999).
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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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