SACW | 17 Sep 2004

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire    |  17 September,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[South Asia Citizens Wire mailers in their 
current digest format* completed their sixth 
anniversary earlier this month (individual non 
digest postings from SACW started in 1996) ! ]

=======

[1] Bangladesh shows the way (Jean Drèze)
[2] India: "Learning History Without Burden" - 
the Advisory prepared for India's National 
Council for Education Research and Training 
(NCERT)
[3] India: Can the Left Confront the BJP? (Sumanta Banerjee)
[4] India: Link population growth with development, not religion (Ram Puniyani)
[5] Online Petition for an Employment Guarantee Act in India
[6] Upcoming event: Meeting on Nepal (New Delhi,  September 18, 2004)
[7] India: Jagah: In Search of Spaces - The 
Gender and Sexuality Exhibition (New Delhi, 
Sept.25-27)
[8] Pakistan: Letter to the Editor, DAWN - 
Madressah syndrome (Kunwar Khalid Yunus)
[9] Response to the Article 'Of Figures and 
Indian Fascists' by J. Sri Raman in SACW | 14 
September 2004 (Mukul Dube)
[10] The Idea of India: 'Detox' Plan Needs Mediaeval Foundation (Amaresh Misra)

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

[1]


The Hindu - September 17, 2004
Opinion - Leader Page Articles    

BANGLADESH SHOWS THE WAY
By Jean Drèze

In India, social progress is slower and less 
broad-based than in Bangladesh, despite much 
faster economic growth.

IN THE context of the recent panic over the 
growth rate of the Muslim population in India, 
recent international data on "human development" 
in India and Bangladesh make interesting reading. 
Surely, India must be far ahead of Bangladesh in 
this respect? Indeed, Bangladesh is not only 
poorer (much poorer) than India, but also saddled 
with a large Muslim population. India, for its 
part, is now a "superpower". One would, 
therefore, expect its citizens to be much 
healthier, better fed and better educated than 
their Bengali neighbours.

Let us examine the evidence. A good starting 
point is the infant mortality rate: 51 per 1,000 
live births in Bangladesh compared with 67 per 
1,000 in India, according to the latest Human 
Development Report. In other words, infant 
mortality is much lower in Bangladesh.

This is all the more interesting as the positions 
were reversed not so long ago: in 1990, the 
infant mortality rate was estimated at 91 per 
1,000 in Bangladesh, and 80 per 1,000 in India. 
India has been neatly leap-frogged, that too 
during a period when economic growth was much 
faster in India than in Bangladesh.

Other indicators relating to child health point 
in the same direction. According to the same 
Report, 95 per cent of infants in Bangladesh are 
vaccinated against tuberculosis, and 77 per cent 
are vaccinated against measles. The corresponding 
figures in India are only 81 per cent and 67 per 
cent, respectively.

Similarly, 97 per cent of the population in 
Bangladesh have access to an "improved water 
source," compared with 84 per cent in India; and 
48 per cent of Bangladeshis have access to 
"improved sanitation," compared with 28 per cent 
of Indians.

For good measure, the maternal mortality rate is 
much higher in India than in Bangladesh: 540 and 
380 per 100,000 live births, respectively. 
Contraceptive prevalence, for its part, is higher 
in Bangladesh than in India - the "wrong" ranking 
again!

Perhaps all this has something to do with the 
fact that public expenditure on health as a 
proportion of GDP is almost twice as high in 
Bangladesh (1.6 per cent) as in India (0.9 per 
cent). The reverse applies to military 
expenditure, also known as "defence": 2.3 per 
cent of GDP in India compared with 1.1 per cent 
in Bangladesh. So much for health. But in 
education at least, India must be way ahead? Can 
Bangladesh boast a fraction of India's Nobel 
prizes, famous writers, nuclear scientists, 
eminent scholars?

Perhaps not, but Bangladesh appears to be closer 
to universal primary education than India: it has 
achieved a "net primary enrolment ratio" of 87 
per cent, higher than India's 83 per cent. What 
is more, Bangladesh has eliminated the gender 
bias in primary education, in sharp contrast with 
India where school participation rates continue 
to be much higher for boys than for girls. Other 
gender-related indicators also put Bangladesh in 
a relatively favourable light, compared with 
India: Bangladesh, for instance, has a higher 
female-male ratio and much higher rates of female 
labour force participation.

However, there is a consolation of sorts: the 
nutrition situation is no better in Bangladesh 
than in India. In both countries, about half of 
all children are undernourished. No country in 
the world fares worse in this respect, but at 
least India is not alone in the back seat.

Some of these estimates may not be very accurate. 
Perhaps the ranking would be reversed, in some 
cases, if exact figures were available. But the 
general pattern, whereby Bangladesh is now doing 
better than India in terms of many aspects of 
social development, is unlikely to reflect 
measurement errors. This pattern is all the more 
striking as India used to fare better than 
Bangladesh in all these respects not so long ago 
- say in the early 1970s , when Bangladesh became 
independent.

Bangladesh is no paradise of human development. 
Like India, it is still one of the most deprived 
countries in the world. However, social 
indicators in Bangladesh are improving quite 
rapidly.

Whether one looks at infant mortality, or 
vaccination rates, or school participation, or 
child nutrition, or fertility rates, the message 
is similar: living conditions are rapidly 
improving, not just for a privileged elite but 
also for the population at large. In India, 
social progress is slower and less broad-based, 
despite much faster economic growth. This is one 
indication, among many others, that India's 
development strategy is fundamentally distorted 
and lop-sided.

______



[2]

"Learning History Without Burden" - the Advisory 
prepared for India's National Council for 
Education Research and Training (NCERT) on how 
teachers could teach using the pre-2000 and the 
existing textbooks, which are flawed and biased, 
and endeavour to work towards more child friendly 
books in future. [August 2004]
This advisory and the Report of the Panel of 
historians is also on the web site: 
www.ncert.nic.in

[A word formatted file of the NCERT advisory 
'Learning History Without Burden' is now 
available at:
www.sacw.net/India_History/ ]

______

[3]

The Economic and Political Weekly
September 11, 2004
Commentary

CAN THE LEFT CONFRONT THE BJP?

It is about time that those who still believe in 
the workability of parliament in India (its 
numerous failures notwithstanding) realise that 
the BJP is a party which is persona non grata in 
the Indian parliamentary system. The party has 
demonstrated on more than one occasion that it is 
committed to values and norms that are totally 
alien to those that underpin our Constitution. It 
is necessary to recognise that those committed to 
building a theocratic Hindu Rashtra have to be 
defeated. This is the real challenge before the 
Indian Left today. But is the Left willing to 
pick up the gauntlet?

by Sumanta Banerjee

Some years ago, the CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu 
described the BJP's L K Advani as 'uncivilised'. 
It provoked a lot of umbrage, not only among 
BJP-supporters, but also within the liberal 
intelligentsia who felt that Basu had breached 
the protocol of 'bhadralok' politics. One hopes 
that members of this intelligentsia now, watching 
the unseemly performance of Advani and his party 
MPs in parliament, realise that the word Basu 
used was too civilised a term to describe the 
ill-bred norms that are intrinsic to BJP leaders 
(including the 'elder statesman' Vajpayee who 
publicly sanctions such behaviour). As is clear 
from their repeated announcements, they are bent 
on sabotaging the functioning of parliament, as 
long as the present UPA government rules. It 
shows how little they care for the norms of 
parliamentary democracy.

Lest I may be accused of picking up only the BJP 
MPs for parliamentary misdemeanour during the 
budget session, let me acknowledge that MPs from 
the then opposition parties had been no less 
disruptive in the Lok Sabha during the BJP-led 
NDA regime. But then, as an editorial in one 
national daily pointed out: "Even during the days 
of Tehelka and the furore over Kargil coffins, 
parliament was never disrupted to the extent of 
blocking debate and transaction of business for 
days on end" (The Times of India, August 26, 
2004). It is this difference in the tactics of 
the BJP-led opposition in the present Lok Sabha 
that should alert public opinion about 
the long-term strategy of the party. Reduced to a 
minority in the Lok Sabha, and failing to carry 
out its agenda of Hindutva through parliamentary 
means, it is now bent on undermining the 
institution of parliament itself, and forcibly 
implementing the agenda through street 
violence. Its plans to bring out 'tiranga' 
processions in protest against Uma Bharati's 
arrest, recall the murderous 'ratha-yatra' of the 
BJP leader Advani.

Incidentally, both Uma Bharati and Advani are 
still on the list of the accused in the Babri 
Masjid demolition case - just as Laloo Yadav, 
Shibu Soren and some ministers of the present 
cabinet appear on lists of other crimes. One 
surely cannot justify the induction of these 
unsavoury characters in the UPA cabinet by 
specious arguments like - they may be criminals, 
but 'secular criminals', or that their crimes 
were of a less heinous nature than those 
committed by the BJP leaders. Such arguments are 
akin to the same fallacious claims made by the 
BJP that Advani and Uma Bharati did not indulge 
in ordinary crimes, but were leading a 
'political' movement! If Laloo Yadav is charged 
with a scam involving crores of rupees, the BJP 
leaders stand accused of provoking riots (in the 
course of their 'political' movement) that led to 
the killings of thousands of innocent people. 
Both should face trial. But to be fair to the RJD 
and the JMM - although thoroughly unscrupulous 
and opportunist in their politics - they seem to 
have accepted the judicial system and are 
awaiting the verdict, instead of urging their 
followers to take to the streets to protest 
against the arraignment of Laloo Yadav, 
Taslimuddin or Shibu Soren - and thus create a 
law and order problem.

In contrast, the BJP had shown scant respect for 
any of the institutions of our parliamentary 
democracy - whether it is the judiciary, the 
executive or the legislature. It gave a pledge 
before the Supreme Court, and violated it with 
impunity by demolishing the Babri Masjid. When 
its leaders were charged under the law for the 
act, its cadres launched forth a nation-wide 
carnage of Muslims. Still later, in Gujarat the 
BJP chief minister Modi surpassed even Indira 
Gandhi (of the emergency period) in the art of 
manipulating the police and the state 
judiciary to suppress news of his misdeeds - 
which are now coming out, thanks to persistent 
efforts made by human rights activists who 
compelled the Supreme Court to probe into 
happenings in Gujarat under the BJP regime. The 
BJP therefore has no locus standi to complain 
about 'tainted' ministers in the UPA cabinet as 
long as it itself shelters criminals in its 
folds. Its latest act of impudence is its 
total disregard of the electoral verdict by 
refusing to accept its defeat, and take on the 
role of a responsible opposition in parliament.

Adult Delinquent

The present behaviour of the BJP is not 
surprising. It has not been able to get over its 
delinquency from its juvenile period (when it was 
known as the Jan Sangh). Its leaders and 
followers had always an uneasy relationship with 
the provisions of the Indian Constitution, which 
they are fond of flouting every now and then. 
They never accepted the goal of a 'secular' 
republic that is enshrined in the 'Preamble', and 
openly propagate (in the guise of 'pracharaks' of 
the RSS) the goal of a 'Hindu Rashtra'. They are 
also opposed to the provision in the Fundamental 
Duties chapter of the Constitution which enjoins 
Indian citizens to 'develop the scientific 
temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and 
reform'. Their minister in the NDA government, 
Murli Manohar Joshi, tried his best to subvert 
this provision by introducing subjects like 
astrology and palmistry in educational courses. 
Such attempts were not personal quirks of an 
individual minister, but deeply embedded in an 
ideology to which the BJP is committed. We should 
not dismiss the BJP as a party of ruffians 
looking for immediate gains. The ruffians are 
being employed by the leaders for a long-term 
political objective that is motivated by an 
ideology - the ideology of a theocratic state 
based on the most obscurantist norms of a Hindu 
religion that parallel the Talibanised 
interpretation of Islam.

The BJP is surely entitled to follow its 
ideology. But then it has to make up its mind 
whether to operate within the framework of the 
Indian Constitution, or outside it to gain its 
objective. It cannot have the cake and eat it too 
- participating in elections and rejecting the 
electoral verdict at the same time. All these 
years it had thrived on a combination of 
parliamentary politics and street violence. There 
has to be an end to this. Does the BJP have the 
guts to reject the parliamentary system, go 
underground and fight for its objective - as the 
Naxalites and the various secessionist outfits in 
Kashmir and the north-east have done? Whatever 
differences one might have with the ideologies 
and objectives of these groups, at least they 
have been more honest than the BJP in the pursuit 
of their goals by opting out from the system. It 
is difficult to imagine Vajpayee and Advani, or 
the Venkaiah Naidus and Arun Shouries in the role 
of underground leaders in a movement for a Hindu 
Rashtra! They want to have the best of both 
worlds - privileges as MPs within the system, and 
the right of violent assertion of their religious 
fanaticism outside it.

It is about time therefore that those who still 
believe in the workability of parliament in India 
(its numerous failures notwithstanding), realise 
that the BJP is a party which is persona non 
grata in the Indian parliamentary system. It has 
demonstrated on more than one occasion that it is 
committed to values and norms that are totally 
alien to those that underpin our Constitution. 
What is even worse, its religion-based political 
ideology is contrary to the socio-cultural 
tradition of plurality of Indian society. It 
rejects the streams of a multi-religious and 
multi-cultural Indian past - the only tradition 
that can be evoked to sustain the spirit of an 
otherwise fragile Indian nationhood - and instead 
selectively picks up those components of a 
historical past which reflect the divisive and 
orthodox Hindu ideas and practices that suit it 
to reinforce its arsenal of aggressive Hindutva. 
During the last five years, the BJP's cultural 
commissars bowdlerised history textbooks and 
re-wrote them as seen through the sleazy eyes of 
their RSS gurus, calculated to create a 
generation of fanatical louts. Given this deeply 
entrenched belief-system of the BJP, it would be 
futile to try to persuade it to reform its 
manners (as many liberal intellectuals hope to 
do), and dangerous to allow ourselves to be 
persuaded by its hypocrisy (usually represented 
by Vajpayee who is supposed to give it a 
'moderate' face). The BJP does not deserve to be 
treated with kid gloves.

Challenge to Left

After having subverted the functioning of 
parliament and forcing it to adjourn sine die 
ahead of schedule, the BJP is now planning to 
take to the streets - the only arena where both 
its leaders and cadres can make their mark. In 
fact, it is their politics of street rowdyism 
that spilled over into parliament during the 
budget session. It is adding one excuse after 
another to its list of pretexts to whip up some 
sort of mass hysteria in the streets - the issue 
of 'tainted' ministers, Uma Bharati's arrest, 
Mani Shankar Aiyer's comments on Savarkar, and 
the prime minister's alleged misbehaviour with 
its deputation. It is quite clear that the BJP is 
out to create mischief in the coming days, 
leading to a violent situation that would 
jeopardise the existence of the present 
government. We may be soon witnessing an all too 
familiar scenario brought about by a well-crafted 
strategy carried out in stages - jail-bharo 
movement; demonstrations by frenzied mobs; police 
lathi-charge and firings leading to the birth of 
new martyrs in the list of the Sangh parivar; 
whipping up of public sentiments against the UPA 
government; pressures on some of the partners of 
the UPA to quit the coalition and leading to its 
fall. It is the same strategy that led to the 
collapse of the V P Singh-led National Front 
government in 1990.

Even if we may have reservations about the UPA 
government, surely we do not want it to be 
replaced by a BJP-led government again. The Left 
parties have to willy-nilly lend their support to 
this government - despite their serious 
objections to its economic policies. They cannot 
afford to withdraw support and pave the way for 
the return of the BJP. In such a situation how 
can the Left make the best of a bad job?

The Congress Party which leads the coalition is 
susceptible to the blackmailing tactics of the 
BJP. Some of its former chief ministers had 
earlier succumbed to such pressures by following 
a policy of 'soft Hindutva'. Given the 
composition of the Congress Party, one cannot 
expect it to put up a serious resistance against 
the militant offensive of the BJP. The mantle 
falls on the Left, which is committed to secular 
values and has an organised base of cadres and 
followers. Instead of leaving their leader 
Somnath Chatterjee alone as the speaker to handle 
the unruly crowd of cantankerous BJP MPs in 
parliament, the Left should rally their cadres to 
preempt the BJP ruffians from going on another 
rampage as they did in 1992, and again in Gujarat.

In fact, the BJP's strategy of disrupting the 
parliamentary system and coming out on the 
streets offers an opportunity to the Left to 
launch a counter-offensive against the party. The 
streets can be a public arena - through 
street-corner meetings - for revealing facts 
about the pro-British collaborationist role of 
the gurus of the BJP during the freedom struggle, 
the part played by the present leaders of the BJP 
in the communal riots that had been plaguing our 
country (well-recorded in the numerous reports of 
judicial commissions), and their persistent acts 
of violation of the provisions of the Indian 
Constitution. The Left should confront the BJP 
leaders in public with these questions, thus 
forcing them to shed their garb as a 
constitutional party and come out in their real 
colours. Such a confrontation is necessary to 
clear the mist that had enveloped the role and 
functioning of the BJP in Indian politics all 
these years. Does it abide by the Constitution? 
Is it a part of the RSS, which advocates a Hindu 
Rashtra that goes against the tenets of our 
Constitution? How many of its MPs are members of 
the VHP which publicly declares that Muslims are 
aliens in India?

There had been a lot of prevarication in the 
Indian state's dealing with communal forces like 
the BJP. We have paid an enormous price for such 
dilly-dallying, by suffering some of the worst 
communal riots in the country since partition. It 
is about time that we make a sharp distinction 
between the two streams of thinking and practice 
- represented on the one side by those who 
believe in a secular and pluralistic Indian 
society, and those on the other side who are 
dedicated to the building of a theocratic Hindu 
Rashtra. It is necessary to recognise that there 
cannot be any compromise between the two, and 
that the latter have to be defeated. This is the 
real challenge before the Indian Left today. But 
is the Left willing to take up the gauntlet?


______


[4]

OneWorld South Asia
15 September 2004

LINK POPULATION GROWTH WITH DEVELOPMENT, NOT RELIGION
by Ram Puniyani

  Though the current controversy over the 
population growth rate  in Muslims is misplaced, 
related issues like poverty and  illiteracy in 
the community need redressal.

  The current social common sense rides on many 
misconceptions.  These myths form the base of 
'hate other' ideology and have  started creating 
emotional and physical walls between  different 
communities in great measure in recent years. One 
of  these myths is that Muslims marry four times.

  In the prevailing scenario the census 
commission's observation  that the rate of rise 
of Hindu population has declined from  25.1 per 
cent in 1981-1991 to 20.3 per cent in 1991-2001 
and  the rate of Muslim growth has gone up from 
34.5 per cent to 36  per cent during the same 
period only adds to the  misconceptions.

  This despite the fact that a national newspaper 
published the  news that the census commission 
has goofed up. In its report  on religion, it 
forgot to mention that the previous data of  1991 
did not include Muslim majority Jammu and 
Kashmir. So the  comparison and the supposed rate 
of rise seemed higher.

  In reality there is a decline in the Muslim rate 
of growth to  29.3 per cent, which is a decline 
of 3.7 per cent. The total  population of Muslims 
remains 13.4 per cent while the Hindu  population 
is 80.5 per cent.

  At the time of Partition the Muslim population 
was 11.6 per  cent. Even in the current data 
there are some holes. To begin  with many 
Adivasis (tribals) have now got themselves 
registered in the category of 'other religions,' 
rather than  Hindus, which was earlier 
automatically put in front of their  names. This 
time the minority Jains (who practice 
vegetarianism and advocate non-vi9lence) have 
also been put as  a separate category.

  So this decline in the rate of rise of the Hindu 
population is  not as great as it appears. The 
national census commission did  not highlight 
these intricacies of the data analysis, thereby 
affecting the interpretation. Was this lopsided 
presentation  deliberate? Or, is it that our 
learned demographers cannot  handle this simple 
analysis?

  To begin with, one is surprised by the 
correlation of  population and religion. The rise 
of population is more an  index of poverty and 
lack of education rath than the  teaching of any 
religion. And no religious community is spread 
uniformly all over India. The population growth 
rate among  Muslims in Kerala is very low as 
compared to Muslims in other  parts of the 
country.

  Since Muslims have been discriminated against, 
their overall  rate of population growth is 
higher. The last two decades in  particular have 
seen an increased intimidation and  consequently 
ghettoisation of the Muslim community. The more 
recent 2002 Gujarat carnage is a case in point. 
In such an  adverse situation, social reforms and 
progress take a back  seat.

  There is a need to provide an atmosphere where 
the community  can enjoy social and political 
life with security and dignity.  Despite such an 
adverse situation, a decline in the population 
growth rate suggests that social workers are 
consciously  focussing their efforts on education 
and progress in the  community.

  Religion based census data can serve a better 
purpose, though.  If this opens our eyes to the 
plight of a particular community  and its 
poverty, illiteracy and insecurity and we aim to 
redress it as a nation, the data will be 
worthwhile.

  One hopes the government will take suitable 
remedial efforts  to recognise that population 
control cannot be achieved  without social 
progress and spread of literacy.

______

[5]

___

Online Petition for an Employment Guarantee Act in India


We shall appreciate if you could sign the petition to to be submitted to
Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India regarding legislating the
Employment Guarantee Act promised in the National Common Minimum Programme.
Please click the URL below (or paste it in your browser) to sign the
petition.

<http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ega04/petition.html>http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ega04/petition.html

______

[6]  [MEETING ON NEPAL]

Date: 16 September 2004


Dear friend,

Our neighbouring country Nepal is today passing 
through a critical phase. Earlier in 1990 as a 
result of the prolonged historical struggle by 
the people of Nepal, the Panchayati System was 
given a burial and a multi-party system was 
established in its place. At that time the 
Nepalese people preferred the constitutional 
monarchy as they were made to believe that based 
on British pattern the monarchy would just be in 
name only. But the way the present king Gyanendra 
dissolved the national parliament and took over 
the reigns of power made it amply clear that 
Nepal was still being ruled by monarchy. Moreover 
the spectacle of the formation of 15 governments 
within a span of 14 years is in itself a proof of 
the immaturity and incompetence of political 
parties in Nepal.
Since 1996 the Maoists in Nepal have continuously 
been waging  a 'Peoples War' and for the last few 
months the youth and studentsí movement is 
rapidly gaining ground. Even the five major 
political parties of Nepal have launched an 
Anti-regression movement to oppose the 
dissolution of parliament by the king. All these 
movements have a common thread - to smash the 
institution of monarchy and establish true 
democracy. Today, Maoists have only one demand 
i.e. 'the election of a new constituent assembly'.
The prevailing socio-political upheaval in Nepal 
has provided an opportunity to US-led 
imperialistic regimes to intervene thereby 
endangering the sovereignty of not only Nepal but 
of all the nations of South Asia. In the name of 
Maoists of Nepal, the government of India has 
also started harassing the Indian organisations 
belonging to the students and youth of the 
districts falling near Indo-Nepal border. This 
harassment is being carried on the false 
allegation of these organisations providing help 
to the Maoists.
In nutshell the prevailing conditions in Nepal 
are grave and require urgent deliberations by 
South Asian fraternity.
Accordingly, to initiate deliberations we have 
organised a discussion on  Saturday, September 
18, 2004 at 10.30 A.M. at Gandhi Peace 
Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. You are 
requested to participate in it along with your 
friends and extend your moral support to the 
democratic forces in Nepal.

Anand Swaroop Verma
On behalf of 'India-Nepal Peopleís Solidarity Forum', New Delhi

______

[7]

JAGAH: IN SEARCH OF SPACES
The Gender and Sexuality Exhibition presented by the Nigah Media Collective

Venue: Arpana Fine Arts Gallery, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature
(4/6 Siri Fort Institutional Area, New Delhi 110049, tel : 91-011-2649
8070 / 2649 4444)

Date: 25-27 September 2004

______


[8]

Letter to the Editor, DAWN - 07 September 2004

MADRESSAH SYNDROME

In 1998 I had single-handedly opposed the CDA 
move to legitimize establishment of madressahs in 
the capital territory. The CDA proposal was in 
the form of a bill through which the authority 
was being permitted to establish madressahs in 
the capital.
This also led to legalization of previously 
constructed structures, which was beyond the 
mandate of the CDA. My opposition was based on 
the grounds that Islamabad should be free of 
religious seminaries. It was rejected through the 
brute majority of the treasury benches.
This led some religious parties and clerics to 
acquire land and consolidate their foothold in 
Islamabad. And now Islamabad has witnessed a 
series of terrorist activities.
At first it was wrongly propagated that 
madressahs had for centuries served as seminaries 
for imparting education and, secondly, poor 
economic conditions justified their existence.
If this is true, madressahs should not have 
mushroomed in upper middle class areas like 
Islamabad where residents are least interested in 
sending their children to such seminaries. The 
same is the case with Karachi.
The bottom line is that 95 per cent of students 
and 100 per cent of the faculty of madressahs in 
the two important cities are not locals. Food 
served in these madressahs is five times better 
than what 80 per cent of ordinary Pakistani 
students get.
Also, since most of the madressahs are physically 
linked with the mosques, utility bills, including 
electricity, are not paid. In contrast, many 
government schools in Karachi have neither 
electric fans nor drinking water.
Also, in the neighbourhood of the Quaid's 
mausoleum in Karachi, one can see seminary after 
seminary built in violation of the restriction 
that no building structure is allowed after one 
ground and one first floor. Another cluster of 
seminaries is found in Karachi's cantonment areas 
and in the various phases of the DHA.
Have we ever thought why this madressah syndrome 
is not found in other Muslim countries, though 
some are poorer than us? The fact is that many 
madressahs are a by product of the Soviet 
invasion of Afghanistan. They were used for 
purposes other than education.
Madressah students were used as cannon fodder. 
Most of the religious parties now in parliament 
have reaped a harvest in US dollars and arms and 
ammunition in the name of jihad by employing 
madressah students first in Afghanistan and then 
elsewhere.
Before the early 1980s, madressahs were largely 
non-existent in Pakistan, except in their logical 
strength. We were also poor in the 1970s, '60s 
and '50s but did not suffer from the madressah 
syndrome.
The USSR-Afghanistan conflict is long over and so 
are other factors, after our change of policies 
following 9/11. I hope Prime Minister Shaukat 
Aziz will be bold enough to restore peace and 
prosperity to Islamabad and Karachi - one the 
country's capital and the other the country's 
financial capital. The quarter- century legacy of 
Zia's political Islam must end now.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Islamabad


_______


[9]

RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE 'OF FIGURES AND INDIAN 
FASCISTS' BY J. SRI RAMAN IN SACW | 14 SEPTEMBER 
2004

Date: 14 September 2004
Subject: population

Though he presents the quote reproduced below, J. Sri Raman pays no
attention to the desirable increase in the growth rates of
the Hindu populations of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"The Hindus will be reduced to less than of the
subcontinent's population by 2050", said [the RSS]
spokesperson Ram Madhav, making it clear that the
RSS was not happy with the Muslim growth rate in
neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh, either!

Mukul Dube

______


[10]


The Times of India - September 17, 2004

THE IDEA OF INDIA: 'DETOX' PLAN NEEDS MEDIAEVAL FOUNDATION
by Amaresh Misra

Congress's anti-sangh parivar detoxification 
campaign needs a perspective. Jawaharlal Nehru 
and Indira Gandhi launched similar anti-communal 
tirades in the 50s and the early 70s, but the 
sangh parivar, despite its overtly extremist 
character, managed to bounce back. What perhaps 
explains some of this resurgence is the beguiling 
clarity with which it looks at the past. It 
categorises mediaeval India as a dark period, 
pushing liberal historians into a quandary.

During the 90s, the Congress, liberal-secular 
Hindu and Left intellectuals were asked: Wasn't 
there Muslim domination before the British? Was 
Babar justified in destroying a temple and 
building a mosque at Ayodhya? Did not Muslims 
destroy Indian culture? The standard secular 
reply was defensive: Some Mughal emperors may 
have done something (bad) but the need is to look 
beyond and focus on the present; let's not rake 
up the past; let's concentrate on issues which 
unite and not divide and so on and so forth.

In contrast, the parivar's view of historical 
wrongs is a powerful idea. It may not give the 
BJP enough seats to form a government on its own 
but has certainly ensured that irrespective of 
government change, the anti-Muslim Hindu 
consciousness remains the norm. In this context, 
it is not surprising that detoxification faces 
resistance from within.

The crucial and decisive issue is the status of 
years 1206-1857: Were they years of darkness and 
bondage as depicted by the parivar? Available 
evidence suggests that these years saw India 
coming of age in matters of statecraft, 
engineering, metallurgy, physics, defence 
industry, weaving, shipbuilding and astronomy. 
India's wealth stayed in India for Indians. 
'Muslims' did not destroy Indian culture; the 
best and second best among them gave ancient 
traditions a contemporary expression. They saved 
Indian culture from stagnation.

Delhi's Khilji mosque, Jaunpur's Attala Masjid, 
Tughlaq architecture, Sharqi painting, and Deccan 
schools of art and masonry blended the beam and 
the lintel with the dome and the arch. The 
temples constructed during the 18th century by 
Maratha personalities in Benares and Mathura have 
a 'Muslim' look: Kashi's Vishwanath temple, next 
on the sangh parivar's hit list, can still be 
confused for a mosque because of its oblong 
cupola.

The Mughal era was path-breaking. The old system 
of bookkeeping was mixed with Islamic accountancy 
in Siyaqnamah. Ayurveda was revived and 
interpreted in the light of Unani prescriptions. 
Mughal-Deccani painting borrowed motifs and 
styles from pre-Sultanate Jain, Rajput and 
southern schools. Dhrupad, Khayal and Qawwali 
matured out of several folk and pre-Sultanate 
musical structures. The tabla and sitar were 
fashioned out of the mridang and veena.

Amir Khusro, the father of this lost Indian 
renaissance, discovered khari boli. He composed 
several lullabies, riddles, children's poems and 
serious masnavis. Amir Khusro humanised and 
modernised the Indian ethos. Can the sangh 
parivar deny that? Emperor Akbar had Mahabharata, 
Panchatantra, Puranas and Ramayana translated in 
Persian. Their copies can be found today in 
several national and regional libraries of India. 
Mahabharata and Ramayana begin with 
Bismillah-ur-Rahim and have beautiful miniatures 
of Indian gods.

The culture evolved by the Mughals was 
cosmopolitan. Caste and religion were neither 
manipulated nor swept under the carpet. The 
Mughal pan-Indian gesture encompassed the spunk 
of the Bhumihar, the spine of the Turani, the 
pride of the Multani, the ruggedness of the 
Bihari and the resilience of the Dakhani. Before 
Akbar, Lord Krishna's statue was painted in 
black; the emperor reinterpreted 'Shyam Varna' 
mentioned in the Puranas as a shade of blue.

True Hinduism is not Hindutva but Sanatan Dharma 
established by Adi Shankaracharya and carried 
forward by Tulsidas and Surdas. Written under 
great orthodox pressure, Tulsi's Avadhi 
Ramcharitmanas projected the absolutist ideal of 
a contemporary king. Akbar was celebrated as a 
symbol of Ram in several Rajasthani ballads.

Sanatan Dharma's ekeshwarvaad (One God) was often 
equated with Islamic monotheism. Respective 
Shankaracharyas blessed Akbar, Shivaji and Tipu 
Sultan, warriors who fought for justice. There 
was no communal element in the fight of Sikhs and 
Marathas against the Mughals. Hindus and Muslims 
fought on both sides. Maulvi Abdul Aziz of Delhi 
declared Hindustan dar-ul-harb (where jehad is 
legitimate) only after Lord Lake captured Delhi 
in 1803, not when Marathas ruled Delhi in 
alliance with the Mughals.

The Ganga-Yamuni tehzeeb or composite culture 
continued till 1857 through Urdu, Rekhti and a 
unique common Hindustani identity. All problems 
from modern communalism to invented histories can 
be traced to our defeat in the 1857 mutiny. The 
British doctored pseudo-reformist Hindu and 
Muslim currents after 1857, separating Hindi from 
Urdu and Hindu history from Muslim history. 
Ganga-Yamuni tehzeeb, which had filtered down to 
peasant village and artisan culture, was 
sidelined. The ensuing distortions culminated in 
the tragedy of Partition.

There was little resistance when VHP goons 
levelled Vali Dakhani's mazaar in Ahmedabad 
during the recent Gujarat riots. Urdu's 
father-figure Vali Dakhani symbolised Indianness, 
on which the sangh parivar had launched an 
audacious, brutal attack. The parivar fulfilled 
what the British had dreamt of doing.

The line followed from 1206 to 1857 offers hope 
amidst despair. Indians need to be reminded that 
in their cosmopolitan past lies their only way 
forward.


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