SACW | 18 Sep 2004

sacw aiindex at mnet.fr
Fri Sep 17 22:01:51 CDT 2004


South Asia Citizens Wire   |  18 September,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[Our E-mailers under the name South Asia Citizens 
Wire have now completed their continuous sixth 
year of publication, earlier this month 
(individual non digest postings from SACW started 
two years earlier, in 1996) ! ]

=======

[1] Peace, Justice and Democracy in Sri Lanka (Asoka Bandarage)
[2] India: The Savarkarist syntax (Anil Nauriya)
[3] India: Noncensus! (Balvinder)
[4] India: Census Figures and BJP'S Anti-Minorityism (Asghar Ali Engineer)
[5] India: Census Controversy - A Letter to 
India's Prime Minister from the Women's Center in 
Bombay
[6] India: Film/CD Review of the Anhad CD's: 
Revisiting the 'Secular' Ideal (S Irfan Habib)
[7] Religions or labels?  /  "Hindu Forces" and 
Hindus  - Two Letters (Mukul Dube)
[8] Upcoming Lectures, Seminars . . .
- USA: Lecture on Minority Rights in a Secular 
State: The Case of India (Chicago, September 22)
- India: Seminar on: Education for Secular Democracy (New Delhi, September 29)
- USA: A Conversation [re India -Pakistan] "Civil 
Society Working for Disarmament" (San Diego, 
October 21)

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

[1]

PEACE, JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA

By Prof. Asoka Bandarage

(Text of speech given at the World Alliance for 
Peace in Sri Lanka Conference, Oslo Norway, 
August 20, 2004)

Practically everyone in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka's 
friends abroad desire peace and want the cease 
fire to hold. There is a consensus that the 
solution does not lie in a return to armed 
conflict. Yet, at the same time, the vast 
majority of the people in the country, Sinhalese, 
Tamil and Muslim, do not want appeasement of 
terrorism in the name of peace. They want a 
sustainable peace, a peace that upholds human 
rights, social justice, political pluralism and 
democracy.

Mass discontent with the handling of the peace 
process was a primary reason for the defeat of 
the previous UNP led UNF coalition at the April 2 
elections in Sri Lanka. The peace-at-any-cost 
approach, the partiality of the Norwegian 
facilitators towards the LTTE and growing threats 
to the country's security and sovereignty were 
some of the reasons for the opposition to the 
previous government.

The SLFP led UPFA coalition which came to power 
at the April elections promised to make the peace 
process transparent and to fine tune the role of 
the facilitator. The SLFP, like its coalition 
partner, the JVP, rejected the LTTE's claim to be 
the 'sole representative' of Tamils as an 
undemocratic premise and its ISGA proposal as a 
blue print for a separate state. The Sri Lankan 
President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, even talked of 
sending the Norwegian facilitators back home 
given the public's loss of faith in their 
neutrality.

[...]

We need the support of the influential Sri Lankan 
Diaspora and the international community to 
strengthen the emerging international platform 
for peace and democracy in Sri Lanka . The Sri 
Lankan Diaspora that has helped perpetuate the 
conflict must make a positive international 
contribution to the resolution of the conflict, 
instead. Expatriates can help by engaging in 
dialogue within and across the ethnic and 
religious communities. Instead of promoting the 
messages of hate and enmity, or sending 
hard-earned money to buy weapons to continue the 
killing machine, they can help create a new 
analyses and messages for peace and democracy. 
They can send money for alternative economic 
opportunities for the poor and ensure that the 
children have a future.

The international community, the donors and the 
Norwegian facilitators in particular must 
pressure all parties to the Sri Lankan conflict 
to abide by the rule of law and the international 
covenants against the conscription of child 
soldiers, the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights and other relevant instruments. The LTTE 
must be required to uphold paragraph 18 of the 
Tokyo Declaration which was signed by 51 
countries and 22 international organizations as 
part of the Sri Lankan peace process. This 
paragraph  was introduced to ensure the 
protection of human rights of all people, the 
termination of child recruitment, balanced and 
verifiable de-escalation, demilitarization and 
normalization necessary to arrive at a political 
settlement.

Norway is considered to be a leading democratic 
and liberal country in the world. We need the 
Norwegian media, academic and NGO communities to 
make their officials facilitating the Sri Lankan 
peace process accountable. We need Norway to play 
their rightful role rather than capitulating to 
terrorist threats. They must be required to 
uphold the norms of neutrality expected of a 
third party facilitator. If the Norwegian 
facilitators  take a strong and principled stance 
in the enforcement of the Tokyo principles, then, 
there is a chance that the LTTE could also be 
influenced to change their ways and enter the 
democratic process. The LTTE is a misguided 
organization; but, if the human potential and 
great talents represented by that organization 
can be put to positive use, Sri Lanka and the 
world at large would undoubtedly be safer and 
more peaceful.
[...].

[FULL TEXT AT URL: www.sacw.net/peace/bandarage20082004.html  ]

______


[2]

The Hindu - September 18, 2004 |  Opinion - Leader Page Articles

THE SAVARKARIST SYNTAX
by Anil Nauriya

A great danger lurks in presenting Savarkarism 
merely as a matter of being "different" from 
Gandhism.

UNDERLYING THE glorification of Savarkarism by 
the BJP-RSS-Shiv Sena are changes in the nature 
and objectives of the major political parties, 
the cynicism induced by the growing nexus between 
crime and politics, and the collapse of a compact 
that had facilitated post-independence politics.

The first principle of Savarkarism defines the 
nation on the basis of religious community. This 
is reflected in Savarkar's declaration on August 
15, 1943: "I have no quarrel with Mr. Jinnah's 
two-nation theory. We Hindus are a nation by 
ourselves and it is a historical fact that Hindus 
and Muslims are two nations" (Indian Annual 
Register, 1943, Vol. 2, p. 10).

The second Savarkarist principle condones killing 
to make religious community-related points. The 
German versus Jew analogy is made in Savarkar's 
writings when speaking of his notion of the Hindu 
nation and those outside it. The killer aspect of 
Savarkarism is noted by Sardar Patel. In his 
February 27, 1948 letter to Nehru, Patel held the 
fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahasabha under 
Savarkar responsible for assassinating Gandhi. 
The same trigger-happiness was evident in the 
Gujarat carnage (2002) and its aftermath. Whether 
a murder may be treated as a crime seems to 
depend, for Savarkarism, upon the self-perceived 
religious community interests of the killer.

A third key principle of Savarkarism is an 
extension of Savarkar's mercy petitions affirming 
loyalty to the imperial regime and effectively 
ending his career as a freedom fighter. The Raj 
had scotched the violent or "terrorist" movement 
and loyalty was seen by Savarkar as an exit 
policy. This approach finds contemporary 
resonance in the previous Government's excessive 
deference to the United States. This deference 
was reflected, for instance, in the serious 
consideration given to the despatch of Indian 
troops to Iraq. The Anglocentric world is more 
comfortable with this ideology, whatever it may 
say about the Gujarat killings, than with the 
India of Gandhi and Nehru. The colonial rulers 
had tilted towards the Pakistan movement for 
precisely the same reason.

Such features make Savarkarism attractive to the 
BJP-RSS-Shiv Sena, although these organisations 
now make loud claims of Savarkar's alleged 
rationalism. The claims to rationality also need 
scrutiny, considering stark contrarieties like 
Savarkar's support for the two nation theory 
while seeking to disclaim responsibility for 
partition, support for Shuddhi combined with an 
advertised atheism, and mercy-seeking accompanied 
with valour and militancy claims. Savarkar's 
exclusion of Christians and Muslims from his 
definition of nation is acknowledged in 
contemporaneous Hindu Mahasabha publications [eg. 
Veer Savarkar's `Whirl-wind Propaganda', A. S. 
Bhide (ed.), Bombay, 1941].

After Gandhi's murder there was an implicit 
compact on the basis of which politics was 
conducted. This was that while the Government 
would not be vindictive, there would be no 
glorification of the politics of assassination 
promoted by Savarkarism. Even the Hindu-specific 
parties, realising a political, whilst denying a 
legal, responsibility for the enormity, refrained 
for several decades from publicly eulogising 
Savarkar although they did not abandon their 
Hindu Rashtra objectives. The approver's evidence 
was politically reprobatory, whatever tortuous 
course the law took.

The Trial Court Record and the Kapur Commission 
of the Sixties indicate also that the Government 
had additional material. Morarji Desai, then 
Bombay's Home Minister, was asked in the trial by 
Savarkar's lawyer about his reasons for directing 
"a close watch on Savarkar's house and his 
movements" after the bomb incident 10 days before 
the murder. Desai countered: "Shall I give my 
reasons? It is for Savarkar to decide whether I 
should answer. I am prepared to give my reasons." 
Upon this, Savarkar's lawyer said: "I withdraw my 
question". [See J.C. Jain, The Murder of Mahatma 
Gandhi: Prelude and Aftermath, Chetana Ltd, 
Bombay, 1961, p. 104]. Savarkar personally gave 
an assurance to the Police Commissioner of Bombay 
on February 22, 1948 of non-participation in 
politics if "released on that condition." [For 
text see K.L. Gauba, Assassination of Mahatma 
Gandhi, Jaico, Bombay, 1969, pp 208-9] By 
introducing Savarkar's portrait in Parliament's 
Central Hall in February 2003 the NDA Government, 
egged on by the Advani faction, destroyed a 
55-year old political compact.

The Savarkar debate has furnished insights into 
the changes in the Congress, the BJP and within 
the media in the last few decades. Even within 
Maharashtra, the pre-independence Congress, which 
included the Socialist tradition, had strongly 
resisted Savarkarism. The battle was joined soon 
after the Savarkarite faction took control of the 
Hindu Mahasabha in 1937-38. The May Day march in 
1938 was attacked by the Mahasabha in Pune.

The socialist leader N.G. Goray wrote: "Who 
attacked the May Day procession? Who assaulted 
men like Senapati Bapat and [Gajanan] Kanitkar? 
Who tore up the National Flag? The Hindu 
Mahasabhaites and the Hedgewar Boys did all 
this.... They have been taught to hate the 
Muslims in general as Public Enemy Number 1, to 
hate the Congress and its flag which is 
pro-Muslim, to hate socialists and communists who 
are anti-Hinduism.... They have their own flag, 
`the Bhagwa', the symbol of Maratha Supremacy. 
And their leader is called `Rashtra Dhureen', i.e 
Fuehrer!" (Congress Socialist, May 14, 1938).

Savarkar's politics came in for severe criticism 
in Maharashtra. Bapat sharply criticised Savarkar 
for his slogan "Hindustan Hindu ka..." on August 
22, 1944. Although some have repeated the 
Hindutva line of Savarkar's unquestioned iconic 
status in Maharashtra, it was not accidental that 
there was no Savarkar portrait in the State 
Assembly until after one was placed in the 
Central Hall of Parliament in 2003.

Congress defensiveness in the face of 
BJP-RSS-Shiv Sena tactics reflects internal 
changes since 1969 and particularly since the 
Emergency years (1975-77) when the RSS and the 
hoodlums in the Youth Congress found 
convergences. As a part-consequence many Congress 
men and women now have little knowledge of or 
respect for their own legacy. Some former RSS 
members attained important positions within the 
Congress particularly after 1971. One former RSS 
figure from Maharashtra was Indira Gandhi's 
Cabinet Minister. In contrast, the BJP would 
reserve such positions for key ideologues. The 
Congress has been as ready to shield some of its 
members from responsibility in the anti-Sikh 
riots of 1984 as it has been to compromise on the 
BJP's and Uma Bharati's alleged responsibility in 
the Hubli case. The Karnataka unit is being 
criticised within the Congress for so much as 
setting out some facts in a newspaper 
advertisement.

The BJP's internal changes are of a different 
order. During 1974-84, approximately the period 
of its transmutation from the Jan Sangh, this 
group had begun to transit from Hindu nationalism 
to Indian nationalism. This dynamic was reversed 
by the Advani group with ideas of State and 
nation derived apparently from Savarkar. The 
Hawala case setback to the Advani group 
necessitated a return to Vajpayee. That served 
also, accidentally or otherwise, certain 
coalitional purposes. The Advani faction's 
politics now seeks reassertion of dominance.

The BJP's transformations may be compared in part 
with those in the Hindu Mahasabha during 1937-38 
when control passed from Pandit Malaviya to 
Savarkar. The Gujarat killings (2002), the 
ensuing cover-up, the distribution of trident 
knives in Rajasthan, and the hold-up of 
Parliament reflect this process. Media 
management, even after the NDA Government 
demitted power, remains an integral, if little 
studied, part of this struggle. Typically, the 
Uma Bharti reportage was often economical with 
the facts of the Hubli case, just as 
trident-knives were distributed in Rajasthan 
without the media pressing for BJP 
accountability, and Savarkarism was often 
discussed in the absence of vital facts or by 
trivialising them.

A newspaper associated with a house that had 
supported Gandhi's constructive work programme 
and the freedom movement editorialised: "Let Our 
Icons Be." Later there was some recognition of 
the real issues. But one observer may not have 
been surprised at the initial nonchalance. Alan 
Campbell-Johnson joined a lunch at Birla House a 
week after Gandhi's assassination. Describing the 
experience as "almost eerie," he wrote of the 
conversation: "All this accent on brokerage I 
found in strange contrast to the scenes and 
sentiments in these very rooms a week ago." 
(Campbell-Johnson, Mission With Mountbatten, New 
York, 1985, p. 284).

A great danger lurks in anaesthesia 
administration to the nation by a media so 
unreflective as to present Savarkarism merely as 
a matter of being "different" from Gandhi, and 
fearful to the point that even in its electronic 
puppetry it lampoons Manmohan, Laloo, and 
Vajpayee but never Advani.


______


[3]

The Hindustan Times - September 18, 2004 | edit Page

NONCENSUS!
Balvinder

We, the people of the 21st century, claim to be 
the most advanced and civilised people in 
history. Sounds very good, but it's all bunkum. 
We, as Indians, brand our nation to be one of the 
most secular nations in the world. Bunkum again. 
For I can't still figure out why we conducted a 
'religion-based' census.

Well, there's, of course, the political reason - 
as became evident immediately after the census 
data was released  in the form of statements of 
acute worry from a number of zealots in 
politicians' clothes. That didn't bother me too 
much.

My worry is of an entirely different nature. 
Though a sort of non-believer, being the 
offspring of Sikh parents, I am a Sikh by birth. 
I'm not, however, as devout a Sikh as my 
Partition-patented 'refugee' parents were. Since 
I trim my beard, my many 'sanctified' 
acquaintances call me a 'patit' (lapsed) Sikh. 
Because of my artistic bent of mind, I always get 
attracted to any religious symbol I find visually 
pleasing or exciting. Thus, I have been 
collecting and keeping in my home various holy 
icons that belong to 'other' religions, Hindu and 
Christian in particular. However, this certainly 
makes many of my  friends quite uncomfortable.

On top of it, members of my family, like many 
other 'born-Sikhs', don't have their names on the 
voters list of the SGPC that periodically holds 
elections to choose its office bearers. So I am 
rather anxious to know in which category of 
religion my family and I were marked in this 
rather elaborate religion-based census!

I am sure that I'm not alone in my predicament. 
And I am doubly sure that all those counted 
during this census must have been 'allotted' one 
religion or the other against their names.

It is another matter that most of them, like 
myself, might not be practising the 'allotted' 
faith of their birth. Then there are all those 
who are either atheists or belong to varied 
multi-religious faiths. Which crack in the census 
did they fall into?

In any case, in this day and age - especially 
with every Tom, Dick and Hari seeing a communal 
slur when there is none - is there any need to 
categorise Indians on the basis of their 
religious faiths?



______


[4]

(Secular Perspective September 16-30, 2004)
CENSUS FIGURES AND BJP'S ANTI-MINORITYISM
by Asghar Ali Engineer

The Government of India has at last made public 
the population figures of 2001 census after delay 
of several years. Now we know that this was 
delayed by the BJP-led government on account of 
Loksabha elections. Whatever the reason the 
population figures and particularly the growth of 
Muslim population has caused great deal of 
controversy as expected.

The census commissioner Mr. Banthya either 
deliberately or otherwise caused sensation by not 
disclosing that the Muslim population figures do 
not take into account the fact that there was no 
census in Assam in 1981 and in Kashmir in 1991 
due to ethnic turmoil. Had this been disclosed 
the Sangh Parivar would not have had another 
chance at Muslim bashing. Since the BJP does not 
want to miss any chance to bash Indian Muslims 
and moreover there are elections in Maharashtra, 
it jumped at this 'opportunity' to create 
anti-Muslim feelings. The BJP has yet to overcome 
the shock of its defeat in Loksabha elections.

Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, the BJP president immediately 
issued a statement condemning an usual growth of 
Muslim population.  He said that differential 
growth rates for Hindu and Muslim populations in 
India are a matter of grave concern for those 
bothered about India's unity and integrity. The 
"imbalance", he suggested, raises "serious 
questions of a long term nature" when seen in 
connection with the phenomenon of Bangladeshi 
infiltrators.

BJP’s anti-Muslim feelings are so strong that 
they had no patience even to wait for a day to 
find out the truth of population figures and the 
goof up by the census commissioner. Also without 
any verification whatsoever, he invoked their 
another pet issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators. 
The fact was that both the growth of Hindu and 
Muslim population has slowed down which is a 
welcome sign. Apart from other reasons the reason 
for differential rate of growth is that several 
of the communities like Kabirpanthis, Prannathis, 
Ramkrishna Mission followers etc. who refuse to 
enlist themselves as Hindus in the census report 
but otherwise perceived as Hindus. This can make 
quite a difference as far as differential growth 
of population is concerned.

It is also not generally known that in some 
states, according to 1988 data the family 
planning rate among Muslims is higher than that 
of Hindus as the literacy rate among Muslim women 
and their economic status is better than their 
Hindu counterpart. Thus in 15 states the family 
planning among Muslims is higher than that of 
Hindus in U.P. In U.P. the family planning 
figures among Hindus was, according to statistics 
compiled in 1988, lesser than those of Muslims in 
15 states.

In U.P. the acceptors of family planning among 
Hindus in Bihar and Rajasthan are 29.4, 32.6 and 
30.9 percent respectively. Among Muslims, on the 
other hand, acceptors of family planning were 
Kerala (64.4%),  Andhra Pradesh (51.1%), 
Chandigarh (35.8%), Delhi(53.8%), Goa (46.1%), 
Gujarat (49%), Jammu and Kashmir (35%), Karnataka 
( 34.4%), Madhya Pradesh (39.6%), Maharashtra 
(45.8%), N. E. States (33%), Orissa (44%), 
Pondichery (77%), Tamil Nadu (56.6%) and West 
Bengal 42.2%). Of course in U.P. and Bihar the 
family planning acceptance among Muslims is as 
low as 18.1 and 14. percent respectively.

Thus it can be seen that religion is not the only 
criterion as the Sangh Parivar thinks. There are 
several other factors which impinge on acceptance 
or otherwise of family planning. Had religion 
been the only factor than Muslims in the 15 
states as mentioned above, would not have 
accepted family planning in larger proportion 
than that of Hindus.

Also Bangladesh and Iran which are Muslim 
countries would not have taken lead in making 
family planning much greater success than that of 
India. In Bangla Desh the rate of growth of 
population has come down from 6.1 in 1980 to 2.9 
percent. India's fertility rate declines in the 
same period from 5.0 to 2.9 percent. Thus 
Bangladesh Muslims have reduced fertility much 
faster than that of Hindus in India. In Iran the 
fertility rate is just two per woman amounting to 
zero population growth.

It is not correct to say that Islam comes in the 
way of family planning. There is no clear 
injunction in the Qur’an against family planning. 
The Holy Prophet himself permitted what is called 
'azl'  i.e. coitus interruptus which was the only 
method then known for prevention of conception. 
Imam Ghazzali, a great Islamic thinker of 12th 
century has even permitted abortion up to third 
month (before life begins in the foetus according 
to the Qur’an) in case if mother's health or life 
is in danger.

Similarly Maulana Abdulaziz, an Islamic scholar 
of 18th century India and son of celebrated 
Islamic thinker Shah Waliyullah also permitted 
'azl and abortion on similar grounds. The grand 
Mufti of al-Azhar in Egypt Shaltut bin Shaltut 
also approved of family planning. Imam Shafi'i 
while commenting on the verse 4:3 of the Qur’an 
recommends small family as large family is likely 
to become burden on man.  And now even Muslim 
Personal Law Board has declared its intention to 
promote family planning among Muslims on the 
pattern of Iran which has reached the goal of 
zero growth in population.

In view of all this evidence it is difficult to 
maintain that Islam categorically opposes family 
planning. It is true that there are different 
opinions and some 'ulama oppose family planning' 
particularly those rooted in old tradition and 
closer to poorer and illiterate Muslims. This 
should also be noted that religious teaching, 
even if opposed to family planning, is not the 
only consideration in human behaviour. Human 
behaviour is too complex to be reduced only to 
religious teachings.

In fact religious teaching may be only one among 
many other considerations, particularly of 
socio-economic nature. Economic and educational 
factors play an important role in fertility 
behaviour, among others. That is why in states 
like Pondichery and Kerala where female literacy 
rate among Muslims is higher and women are more 
independent, family planning acceptance is much 
higher compared to other states where female 
literacy rate is comparatively low among Muslims.

There are other factors as well like widow 
re-marriage. This has been acknowledged by 
demographers. Also, male-female ratio among 
Muslims is comparatively higher i.e. there are 
936 female per thousand compared to 931 female 
per thousand male among Hindus. And among 
children up to 6 this ratio is 950 girls per 
thousand boys among Muslims and only 925 for 
Hindus. Mr. Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar 
explains it thus: "Female infanticide and 
foeticide reduces population indirectly as well 
as directly. Even after contraception lowers the 
total fertility rate (lifetime births per woman), 
population growth can be rapid for two decades 
because of what demographers call population 
momentum: future mothers have already been born. 
But female infanticide and foeticide ensure that 
future mothers are not born, and so reduce 
population momentum." (See TOI of 12/9/04). 
According to Mr. Aiyar this is part of the reason 
for falling Hindu population growth, but not 
something the Hindus should boast about.

Thus there are several factors to be taken into 
account for understanding the dynamics of 
population growth in any community and for 
devising remedial measures. Communalists, more 
often than not, always bring religion into focus 
ignoring very vital factors as their primary 
obsession is with denunciation of a religious 
community. The BJP better take these factors into 
account if they really care for the country 
rather than the narrow interests of a section of 
the majority community.

The literacy rate among the Muslims according to 
the census figures is lowest on all India level 
i.e. around 59.1 per cent whereas among Hindus it 
is 65.1 percent for those above 7 years of age. 
The gap of course is only of 6 per cent, not too 
wide. In fact matter is more complex than it 
appears. As in case of family planning the rate 
of literacy among Muslims in 15 states and Union 
Territories is more than 70 per cent. It is also 
to be noted that in Jharkhand, Orissa, 
Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, 
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Daman and Diu, Dadra 
and Nagar Haveli, Tamil Nadu, Pondichery and 
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Muslims are doing 
better than Hindus. In Chattisgarh, the Muslims 
are ahead by 17 percentage points.

All these fact have to be taken into account. 
Like that of family planning this myth also needs 
to be shattered that Muslims do not take to 
modern secular education per se. There is 
increasing trend among Muslims both for family 
planning and for modern secular education. One 
should not take static view of situation as many 
scholars do and particularly those who are 
inclined to the Sangh Parivar.  In secular India 
Muslims, despite many difficulties, also have 
greater opportunities as there are lesser 
constraints  and more freedom from orthodox point 
of view.      

Post-Babri demolition riots Muslim outlook has 
changed greatly and they have realised that 
emotional issues and confrontationist politics 
will take them nowhere and it is only modern 
education and economic progress which will ensure 
better future for them. Whatever figures are 
available point to the fact that trend for modern 
education is progressively increasing. What lacks 
are economic means rather than any traditional 
obstacle for modern education. One has to work 
hard to provide such opportunities to poor 
Muslims. Partly it is for the government and 
partly for Muslim leadership to create 
opportunities for education and economic uplift 
of Muslims.

And the RSS propaganda that Muslims will overtake 
Hindus by 2050 should be dismissed with the 
contempt it deserves. No serious demographer will 
buy it.

(Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai:- 400 055
Website:- www.csss-isla.com )

______

[5]  [ Letter to India's Prime Minister from the Women's Center in Bombay]

  September 14th, 2004

To: The Prime Minister of India,
Shri Manmohan Singh.

From: 'The Women's Centre, Bombay - a space for Women'
104B, Sunrise apts; Nehru Rd; Vakola,
Santacruz (E), Mumbai-55, Maharashtra

Sir,

We, as an institution from the Autonomous Women's 
Groups in this country for nearly a quarter 
century, and member of networks of this movement, 
condemn the communal sensationalisation of the 
2001 census data recently.

It seems to us that there has been a great deal 
of recklessness on the part of the census 
authorities and the media. The Registrar General 
released data that said that the Muslim 
population in India is growing at a greater rate 
than the previous decade, at 36%, when the actual 
figure is 29%, a fall from the previous 33%.

Religion-based population figures and growth 
rates have long been misused by those who seek 
electoral victory on the basis of hate politics 
in India. This time too, in response to recent 
electoral losses and in anticipation of gains in 
the coming assembly elections, the census data 
has been misrepresented and a fear psychosis 
about extinction has been created among sections 
of the population.

Well before the release of the '2001 Census data 
on Religion' on the 6th of September, on 20th 
July, there were reports that the Shiv Sena had 
presented 'Jagrook Hindu' awards to ten people in 
Bijnor, U.P., for being Hindus and having 
produced five or more children. In the light of 
these awards, first announced on World Population 
Day, the release of 'erroneous' data on 
comparative growth rates among various religions, 
gives room for doubt whether the 'errors' too 
were not part of the July campaign.

Majoritarian politicians who have survived 
entirely on divisive propaganda have already sown 
the seeds of fear and loathing, from Bangalore to 
UP, based on these 'errors'. Later corrections 
may not have such wide currency and may not 
repair the damage that has been done to the 
democratic ethos and sentiments of the people.

Such campaigns have time and again resulted in 
carnages and genocides, especially of the Muslim 
community. The horror of Gujarat 2002 and the 
extreme sexual atrocities suffered by Muslim 
women there, are still fresh in our memories.

We ask that the Prime Minister and the U.P.A. 
govt. take sufficient measures to repair the 
damage.

- Penalize those who are responsible for the release of the misleading data.
- Publicise the truth in popular media, in all languages, immediately.

We are determined that India shall survive as a Democracy at the very least.

Sir,  debates in the past few days have also 
clarified the greater influence of uneven 
regional social development indicators, rather 
than religion, on reproductive rates. Population 
rates have fallen across communities with better 
social development indicators. In the light of 
this, we condemn also the 'policy' decision of 
the BJP to implement the 2 child norm in states 
'ruled' by the party. We condemn this in other 
states as well. Experience has shown us that 
communal targetting, unfair use of 
incentives/disincentives (eg forcing school 
teachers and temporary women employees of 
government programmes to fulfil targets), or even 
direct coercion by state machinary can and will 
be used to implement such policies. Improvement 
of women's rights and freedoms and overall 
improvement in access to basic services and 
rights for the poor will act as better 
contraceptives than such measures which may be 
undemocratic.

* We urge you to review the clause in the CMP 
that talks about implementing the 2 child norm in 
150 high fertility districts and to consult 
women's rights groups about this.

Sincerely,

Ammu Abraham for the Women's Centre, Bombay.

______

[6]

The Economic and Political Weekly
September 4, 2004
Book Review

Revisiting the 'Secular' Ideal

In Defence of Our Dreams,
12 CDs of Lectures and Documentary Films,
produced by Gauhar Raza for ANHAD,
New Delhi, 2004;
Rs 1,000.
S Irfan Habib

The unprecedented defeat of the fascist forces in
India led to euphoric celebrations all over the world.
The much-hyped ‘India Shining’ and ‘Feel Good’
campaign had camouflaged reality. The hysterical rise
and fall of the sensex gave us an idea as to whose
India had been shining during all those six years. I
have nothing against the corporate world but it should
not be seen as the only barometer of people’s
happiness and progress. This verdict is not only
against their anti-people economic policies but also
against the narrow jingoistic agenda, which the NDA
government pursued relentlessly, albeit
surreptitiously, through the RSS and its cohorts. The
pluralist vision of India, almost a sacred legacy of
our freedom struggle was pooh-poohed by the Sangh
ideologues, led from the front by none other than the
honourable HRD minister M M Joshi himself. The Gujarat
experiment could be seen as the ugly manifestation of
this organised campaign to kill the much-cherished
multicultural and multireligious vision of India.
However, quite a few attempts were made to defend this
pernicious legacy during the six years of BJP rule.
These attempts, mostly from socially conscious NGOs,
used varied methods to counter the state-sponsored
distortion of the Indian past. One such major attempt
was made by ANHAD, when it decided to rope in
important activists, historians and media personnel to
delve into the Indian past, and defend the great
liberal, democratic and secular heritage of India’s
freedom struggle. All this has been presented in the
form of a set of 12 CDs called In Defence of Our
Dreams, which includes lectures by prominent scholars,
media persons, and activists like Bipan Chandra, K N
Panikkar, K M Shrimali, Mridula Mukherjee, Rajdeep
Sardesai, Praful Bidwai, Nivedita Menon, Digant Oza, S
K Thorat, Mihir Desai, Harsh Mandar, Pralay Qanungo
and Sohail Hashmi, four documentary films by Gauhar
Raza, Rakesh Sharma and Saeed Mirza and an audio CD of
progressive movement songs.

Before getting on to the content of this package, let
me refer briefly to the context of this effort. During
the past few years, and particularly during the last
six years of the NDA rule, we have witnessed violence
at two levels – physical and in the realm of ideas.
The healing of wounds from the former can be attempted
through various means and as they say time is the
greatest healer, though I do not mean to undermine the
pain of those who actually experience it. But violence
in the realm of ideas cannot be repaired easily; even
time fails to refurbish the damage.

The communalisation of our polity, education and
culture, including the mischievous distortion of our
past, is a serious injury to the body politic of our
nation and the wounds will continue to fester. But the
damage cannot be repaired merely through state
intervention, it needs a concerted effort from all
those socially conscious NGOs who had played a
significant role in sensitising the people against the
divisive politics of the RSS and its extended family.
The ANHAD package of 12 CDs can be a useful instrument
for a long-term battle against revanchist forces, also
its reach and impact will be wider as it is based on
informal communication.

Battle for Ideas

Let me give you a glimpse of the package by referring
to some of the lectures included here. The most
insightful lecture is by Bipan Chandra, who touches
upon the two crucial issues at stake – secularism and
nationalism. Both of these are part of our legacy from
the freedom struggle and, unfortunately both have been
mocked and defaced irreparably by the ousted regime.
Bipan Chandra also refers to the desperate attempts of
the communal forces to appropriate national icons like
Gandhi, S C Bose, Patel, Bhagat Singh and several
others. This desperation becomes obvious when one
looks at their past. Their record in the freedom
struggle, since the RSS was founded in the early
1920s, is blank. These attempts failed miserably
because all those whom they wanted to appropriate are
on record fighting the communal forces led by RSS,
Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League during the
national struggle. Bipan Chandra makes an impassioned
appeal to all, particularly the media, that the word
saffronisation should not be used for communalisation.
Saffron is an honourable word in Indian culture and
even Bhagat Singh used this colour for his flag. Bipan
also tries to distinguish between a fundamentalist and
a communalist. A communalist may not always be a
religious fundamentalist, though both need to be
opposed. Veer Savarkar was no fundamentalist; rather
he was a self-proclaimed atheist, yet he could
communalise Hinduism and call it Hindutva. M A Jinnah
was no Muslim either yet he could succeed in dividing
the country on a communal basis. One can agree that a
fundamentalist can be a potential communalist but not
all fundamentalists are communalists, similarly not
all communalists are fundamentalists. Gandhi, Bipan
says, was convinced that Hindu and Muslim communalists
were the worst enemies of their respective religions
and they not only do not represent their religions,
they are against the very spirit of their religions.

Mridula Mukherjee discusses the legacy of the freedom
struggle and begins by calling this struggle the
engagement of ideas – a battle for the control of the
minds of men, women and children. The British colonial
establishment tried its best to impress upon the
colonised that they were here to salvage the native
population from the debilitating effects of the
uncivil and autocratic rule of the local Indian
despots. They tried to convince the Indians that their
arrival here was not part of any grand design; rather
they had strayed into India through the hand of
providence and the native population should be
grateful to god that the British were there to look
after them. This understanding was spread extensively
through the network of schools, colleges and
institutions, which the colonial government
established from mid-19th century onwards. The
beginnings of Indian nationalism can be traced to the
early intellectual rebuttal of this patronisation of
the colonial state. The efforts of Dadabhai Naoroji, M
G Ranade, G K Gokhle, R C Dutt, G V Joshi and several
others laid the theoretical foundations of Indian
nationalism, which later flowered in the form of
protests – both violent as well as non-violent. It is
sad, Mukherjee feels, that this foundational phase of
our freedom struggle is missing from the NCERT books.
Our young generation needs to be aware of this rich
legacy of the nationalist movement, where nationalism
is articulated against the backdrop of heterogeneous
India. One can contrast this with the narrow cultural
nationalism of the pseudo-nationalists, who equate
culture with their vulgarised Hinduism called
Hindutva. Mridula Mukherjee gives a large number of
examples from the nationalist phase to expose the
nefarious designs of the communalists to subvert this
multicultural and multireligious legacy.

Another major cause for concern in India these days
has been the gradual communalisation of the media. In
particular, during the past six years, a major section
of the media has provided legitimacy and
respectability to some crude and blatant communal
expositions. It has become all the more serious in the
light of proliferating TV channels and the rising
competition to earn TRPs, even at the cost of people’s
lives and national integrity. The communal categories
are rampant and communal assumptions inform news
analysis, even on news channels and in newspapers that
are otherwise secular. The acceptability and
legitimacy thus gained by the communal, often through
crude misrepresentation of facts, has helped to
redefine key concepts like nationalism, secularism and
communalism. Rajdeep Sardesai confronts this issue by
accepting its seriousness but pleads that we should
not make sweeping generalisations by painting the
whole media as communal. Citing Gujarat as an example,
he refers to some of the vernacular papers, which took
a secular position against Narendra Modi’s communal
and divisive politics despite intimidation and
threats. He feels that it is easy for an English
language journalist based in Delhi to write and talk
about tragedies like Gujarat but it is difficult for
those reporting from Ahmedabad or Vadodra, and more so
if they are doing it in a regional language. Sardesai
also refers to the changing trends in the media where
intimidation or seductions have become the accepted
norms. The state either intimidates, and the most
‘civilised’ way is to deny advertisements to hit the
revenue or seduces the media personnel by co-opting
them into various official committees. Some of the
editors of national dailies are even members of
parliament representing different political parties.
The space between the political establishment and the
media has shrunk, which means the media cannot play
the adversarial role it is supposed to play.

This set of CDs by ANHAD also deal with the issues
related to the underprivileged sections of Indian
society like the dalits and the women. S K Thorat and
Nivedita Menon dwell upon the plight of the above
segments, relating the rise of communalism to the
changing role of the above in Indian politics. The
films by Gauhar Raza and Rakesh Sharma are based on
the Gujarat riots where they sensitively depict the
politics of hate and its consequences. The lectures
are interspersed with appropriate visuals to make the
communication more effective and interesting. The
package has a potential of easy dubbing into various
other Indian languages, which will make serious
subjects comprehensible and accessible to common
Indians.

______

[7]    [Two Letters from Mukul Dube]

(i)

Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2004 23:41:07 +0530

Subject: Religions or labels?


3 September 2004
  In his "Letter from London: Demons from the 
Past" (Daily Times, Lahore, 30 August 2004 *), 
Irfan Husain [*URL: 
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-8-2004_pg3_4] 
says that "Muslim heroes" such as "Mahmud of 
Ghazni, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, Balban, Mohammed bin 
Qasim, and Sultan Mohammad Tughlak, all have 
blood-stained handsŠ."

	He goes on thus: "These conquerors 
justified their deeds by claiming it was their 
religious duty to smite non-believers. Cloaking 
themselves in the banner of Islam, they claimed 
they were fighting for their faith when, in 
reality, they were indulging in straightforward 
slaughter and pillage."	Are we looking here at 
Muslims vs. Hindus or at mediaeval rulers, never 
mind their professed religions, who were 
permanently at odds with one another because 
their only true faith was made up of slaughter 
and pillage and rapine and the annexation of 
territory?	Historians have demonstrated 
convincingly that "Hindus" were born relatively 
recently and only because a label had to be 
applied to those who were neither Muslims nor 
Christians. Shaivites and Vaishnavites, and the 
spatially concentrated devotees of numerous 
smaller divinities, were all lumped together 
under the name-despite the fact that they had 
been fighting amongst themselves for centuries or 
millennia. And let us not forget that the 
original connotation of the term was 
geographical, not religious.	In the same way, 
to speak of a monolithic Islam is a historical 
absurdity. This too has been swallowed because of 
political compulsions. It too has lumped together 
Arabs and Turks and Afghans and several other 
ethnic and national groups which had and have 
just one thing in common. A glance at the past 
will show that innumerable battles were fought 
between armies each of whose soldiers held the 
Quran in one hand and a sword in the other. What 
religious duty was it which made them fight these 
battles?

Mukul Dube


- - - -

(ii)

Subject: letter to editor

D-504 Purvasha
Mayur Vihar 1
Delhi 110091

17 September 2004

Shri R.S. Sudarshan apparently said in Bhopal that "Hindu
forces" are under attack and appealed to "Hindus" to
support the RSS and the VHP. Can there have been a clearer
admission that "Hindu forces", that is, the two
organisations named, do not represent "Hindus"?

Mukul Dube

_____


[8]  [UPCOMING EVENTS]

a)

University of Chicago's Office of International 
Affairs in cooperation with The Fulbright 
Visiting Specialist Program: Direct Access to the 
Muslim World presents The Global Affairs Forum 
"Minority Rights in a Secular State: The Case of 
India,"
Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Speaker [...] Dr. Prakash Sarangi, PhD. Professor 
of Political Science, University of Hyderabad, 
India,
Venue: Chicago Circle Center, Cardinal Room - 750 
S. Halsted St. (public parking lot available 
across the street)


b)

Seminar on: Education for Secular Democracy
Keynote address by Prof. K.N. Panikkar
Presentations by Prof. Krishna Kumar, Dr. 
Nivedita Menon, Dr. Anil Sadgopal, Ms Nandini 
Sundar and others
Date: 29 September 2004
Venue: India International Centre Auditorium, New Delhi
Time: 10:00

(Collaboration: Samya and Anhad)

c)

Institute for Peace & Justice, University of San 
Diego, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110-2492 

2004 Women PeaceMakers Program

A Conversation with Zarina Salamat, Ph.D.:
Civil Society Working for Disarmament

Date: Thursday, October 21, 2004

12:30pm, IPJ Theatre

Zarina Salamat was the chairperson of the 
Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and 
Democracy (PIPFPD) in Islamabad (1998-2001, 
2002-2004), and a leader in the Citizens' Peace 
Committee (CPC). She hosted the visit by the 
Mayor of Hiroshima as part of his worldwide 
campaign for "Mayors of Peace" and enrolled local 
Mayors to join in the movement. With the active 
assistance of the Mayor, Ms. Salamat convinced 
the Government of Pakistan to set up a Peace 
Institute (the first of its kind) and university 
faculties to introduce peace studies as part of 
their curriculums. Her arrangements for 
parliamentarians, activists and intellectuals 
from Pakistan and India to meet is credited with 
setting the environment for the 2004 visit of the 
Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan, a first in 
over a decade.  Ms. Salamat has arranged for 
women and youth from India and Pakistan to work 
together. 

This event will be moderated by Dr. Dee Aker, IPJ Deputy Director.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, October 20 to ipj at sandiego.edu


_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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/
SACW archive is available at:  bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

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