SACW #2 | 16-18 Nov 2004

sacw aiindex at mnet.fr
Wed Nov 17 22:09:05 CST 2004


South Asia Citizens Wire  - Dispatch #2  |  16-18 November,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] India:  The BJP in dire straits (Praful Bidwai)
[2] India:  Letter to the Editor (Mukul Dube)
[3] India:  The arrest of Sankaracharya . . .
(i) Two notion theory (Badri Raina)
(ii) Rationalists want mutts under scanner (Report in the Hindu)
(iii) Dalit organisation wants Kanchi mutt 
property seized (Report in Indian Express)
(iv) Stop politicising seer's arrest: CPI (Report in the Hindu)
(v)  On Arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya (statement by CPIM Politburo)
[4] Fund Raising Call from Saheli, New Delhi
[5] India - Upcoming events and Publications :
5.1 National Convention on Development, 
Displacement and Rehabilitation (30 Nov & 1 Dec, 
2004)
5.2 Zubaan announces the publication of Dawn: A Novel by Arupa Kalita Patangia
5.3 Punjab Lok Rah, a theatre group from 
Pakistan, will perform four plays in Maharashtra


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

[1]


The News International
November 18, 2004

THE BJP IN DIRE STRAITS

Praful Bidwai

Not even the most inveterate critics of the 
Bharatiya Janata Party could have imagined that 
the party would prove so incapable of dealing 
with its recent election defeat that it would 
find itself in the hopeless and utter disarray 
that it does today. Last month, L K Advani had to 
take over as its party president amidst the 
washing of much dirty linen in public because no 
second-rung leaders would have survived in the 
job. But now even his authority stands undermined.

At last week's party office-bearers' meeting, Uma 
Bharati threw a remarkable tantrum, staging a 
grotesque political tamasha. She did something 
that no Jana Sangh/BJP leader has ever done: 
namely, challenge the party's top bosses in the 
full glare of cameras while abusing her own 
colleagues like M Venkaiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan 
and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Even as Advani was 
detailing the crippling second-rung rivalry in 
the BJP, she defied him to take disciplinary 
action against her.

This episode caps numerous acts of protest and 
defiance by Bharati over the past three months, 
especially centred on her Tiranga Yatra, in which 
she tried to wrap the National Flag around 
vicious communalism. The so-called sanyasin 
cannot forgive the BJP for having considered her 
unfit to govern Madhya Pradesh as Chief Minister 
and for not approving of her brother's antics. 
She took her revenge in the way she knows best: 
loutish and strident.

However, the episode reveals much more. Most 
crucially, the BJP's leadership crisis has 
deepened. Not only can't it put together a 
relatively non-fractious "second-generation" 
leadership. Even its "first-generation" leaders' 
writ doesn't run. The greatest loser is none 
other Advani. This has severely undermined the 
desperate hope that he would somehow forge the 
party into a fighting machine.

Equally important is the growing rift between the 
BJP and the RSS, and the BJP and the loony Right 
represented by the VHP - despite Advani's 
attempts to placate them. For instance, his very 
first pronouncements on taking over as party 
president were all of the classic Hindutva 
variety, including the Ram temple, "foreign 
origins", and a Muslim demographic "invasion". 
And his very first trip outside Delhi was made to 
the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.

The parivar's fissures have become visible in 
three ways. First, a sustained attack by Ashok 
Singhal & Co on a hardliner like Advani (declared 
"unfit" for the job). Second, Bharati has clearly 
received significant encouragement from the 
sangh. In particular, she has been advised by K N 
Govindacharya, who was sacked by the BJP for his 
denigratory remarks about Vajpayee, but whom the 
RSS never disowned. And third, the RSS has 
indirectly reprimanded Advani for holding the 
first office-bearers' meeting in front of TV 
cameras.

A front-page editorial in RSS organ "Organiser" 
raps him on the knuckles for allowing "full-blast 
televising" of Bharati's remarks and permitting 
the media "to play a major role in BJP affairs... 
It is one thing to be media savvy, another to be 
captivated by the media". The article only mildly 
rebukes Bharati in one line for being 
"impulsive". Otherwise, it showers fulsome praise 
upon her as a "very effective campaigner; a mass 
mobiliser for the Hindu cause" and "a very 
dynamic leader, honest, and committed to high 
ideals", who will always "remain part of the 
sangh movement". The BJP is reportedly making 
conciliatory gestures towards Bharati. This can 
only further damage Advani's authority and 
strengthen the RSS's weight vis-a-vis the BJP.

The BJP today faces a manifold crisis. Six months 
after the Lok Sabha elections, it has failed to 
comprehend, accept or reconcile itself to its 
defeat. From outright denial, it has at best 
graduated to "internal" or question-begging 
causes: we lost our ideological moorings; our 
campaign on roads and electricity peaked too 
soon; our "India Shining" slogan was pitched too 
high... This basically denies that the party's 
appeal has fundamentally narrowed and its social 
base shrunk and that it offers no vision to the 
people. Programmatically, the BJP peddles a 
bankrupt mix of communalism, neoliberal economics 
and toxic, chauvinist nationalism.

The BJP's crisis today is far grimmer than in 
1984, when it was reduced to a miserable two 
seats in the Lok Sabha. This is so despite the 
fact that it is in power in six states, while 20 
years ago, it ruled in none. Then, the party was 
about to be buoyed up dramatically by the 
anti-Babri mosque movement. This catapulted it to 
89 seats. Today, there is no broad social 
movement around. The Ayodhya temple campaign 
evokes no popular support.

In 1984, the BJP was still an untested entity and 
enjoyed a "novelty" advantage. Now, it has been 
tried, tested and rejected. Then, the BJP was a 
rising force especially in the Gangetic 
heartland. Today, it is in dire shape in Uttar 
Pradesh and Bihar. Earlier, it could capitalise 
on the Congress's historic decline and the 
shrinking of the Centre-Left space in politics. 
Now, that space is expanding and the Congress 
reviving.

In the mid-1980s, there was strong synergy 
between the BJP, RSS and VHP. The VHP mobilised 
numbers through the hate-driven anti-Babri 
agitation. The RSS provided the ideological 
cement and organisational muscle. And the BJP 
handled the parliamentary or "respectable" 
political side of this division of labour. Now, 
that has broken down. The VHP is in revolt. And 
the RSS wants to administer "shock treatment" 
even to Advani to remind him of his promise that 
the BJP "will return to Hindutva".

Three questions arise. Fifteen years after its 
meteoric rise, the BJP is shrinking. Does this 
signify a short downturn or long-term decline? 
Will the BJP split-into a hardline fringe party 
like the Jana Sangh, plus a relatively "moderate" 
parliamentary party? And does Hindutva, or rabid 
Hindu nationalism, have a future as an ideology 
or culture?

The BJP has probably entered a phase of long 
decline. Given the present trends in society and 
politics, it's hard to see how it can bounce 
back. There are no likely electoral victories 
anywhere. And sectarianism is so deeply ingrained 
in the party that it will continue to play a 
highly negative, confrontationist and 
obstructionist role, further eroding its 
credibility. Of course, its opponents could soon 
get discredited if they follow conservative 
policies or adopt a Right-wing course. But the 
UPA hasn't yet embraced that course.

The BJP could split especially if a succession 
struggle breaks out after Vajpayee and Advani 
(who is barely two years younger) fade out. New 
contenders could emerge for their mantle - eg 
Narendra Milosevic Modi, backed by the VHP-RSS, 
who might join hands with Bharati. In this case, 
less hardline leaders, allied to industrial 
houses, might break away.

However, a certain constituency for Hindutva will 
still remain. It was always there - even at the 
high noon of the Freedom Movement, and during the 
wave of anti-RSS sentiment after Gandhi's 
assassination. But this will be a marginal, 
fringe constituency, with a mindset based on 
visceral hatred of Muslims, and on rejection of a 
plural, multi-ethnic, multi-religion India. But 
that hardly spells a bright future for a party 
that ruled India for six years.


______



[2]   [Letter to the Editor]

D-504 Purvasha
Mayur Vihar 1
Delhi 110091

16 November 2004

The NDA says that while it still holds that all must accept the
verdict of the judiciary in the Ayodhya matter, it "prefers a
negotiated settlement" because our judicial process is slow.
Some questions arise.

1. What if a settlement is negotiated but the judicial verdict,
whenever it arrives, goes counter to that settlement?

2. In the negotiations, who will represent Hindus and who will
represent Muslims? Neither side has an electoral college or elected
leaders. Each side has many religious leaders who are often arrayed
against one another. Will lung power decide, or else the presence
of the words "Hindu" and "Muslim" in the names of
organisations? Are we to have two more Election Commissions?

3. All negotiation includes the use of pressure. Might the NDA's
preference for negotiation be a result of its inability to pressure
the courts and its demonstrated ability to pressure the other side?

4. Negotiations conducted in, to quote the NDA's resolution,
"an atmosphere of communal peace, mutual trust and good-
will", must involve give and take. Have we not seen, in the last
several years, that one side at least can take but cannot give?

The answers to these questions will identify the substance a load
of which makes up the NDA's resolution.

Mukul Dube

______


[3]  [On the Arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi . . . ]

(i)

Hindustan Times
November 16, 2004  | Op-Ed.

TWO NOTION THEORY
Platform | Badri Raina


By any reckoning, the arrest of the 
Shankaracharya of Kanchi is an extraordinary 
event in Independent India. Some sections of 
society already view the occurrence as a 
not-to-be-endured challenge to what they have 
been accustomed to thinking of as a repository of 
unquestionable social power. Others, perhaps 
disbelievingly, see in it the expression of a new 
self-assurance on behalf of the State.

Clearly, the arrest and the contentions that 
surround it bring into sharp focus the central 
coordinate of a debate that ought to have been 
resolved by now: should certain centres of social 
authority be deemed to be beyond the pale of the 
Constitution that authorises the existence of the 
Republic? Or should  the majesty of the law 
override structures of assertion that pre-date 
the constitutional republic? This continuing 
fault-line still sometimes divides the 
consciousness of India's expanding civil society 
and diverse social interests that from time to 
time seek to reinstitute precedence over the 
legitimate operations of the State as by law 
established.

Looked at in this way, the logic of the support 
expressed by some Muslim clerics and Christian 
fathers to the Shankaracharya can be understood. 
Often divided along communal loyalties - 
sometimes violently - the holy leaderships across 
communities close ranks against the supremacy of 
laws sanctioned by the secular State.

In this context, it is a matter of no small 
significance that the prosecution of the 
Shankaracharya has been ordered by the Tamil Nadu 
government. Given the well-known fact that the 
chief minister of that state bears profound 
allegiance to the Hindu faith, and meticulously 
observes all that it enjoins, the prima facie 
case against the Shankaracharya has to have been 
fairly decisive for the arrest to have been 
sanctioned. That such sanction was granted must 
also be read as testimony to Jayalalithaa's 
admirable strength of allegiance to her oath of 
office. Indeed, it is an example that cannot but 
serve the republic truly well in consolidating 
the sanctity of its foundational principles.

As the controversy is fuelled, three imperatives 
suggest themselves. One, that the central 
government give all due constitutional deference 
to the judgment of the Tamil Nadu government and 
desist from making any sort of intervention, 
except to ensure that no sectarian interests are 
permitted the licence to cause lawless mayhem or 
inter-community strife. Two, that consistent with 
the high standards and record of the Indian 
judiciary, the courts in question continue to 
look the case in the eye with customary 
objectivity which is second nature to our 
lordships, letting both fear and favour take a 
backseat in deference to the majesty of the 
Constitution and the law. And, three, that all 
organs of civil society function as correctives 
to interested social opinion, and argue on behalf 
of the legitimacy of the republic and the rule of 
law.

It must be emphasised that quite apart from the 
particular case and its outcome - whatever it may 
be - the matter of the deepest watershed 
significance will be how the State and civil 
society conduct themselves during and after its 
pendency. It may not be an exaggeration to say 
that far too much more for the life of the 
republic may depend on that conduct than we may 
at the moment envisage.

With due respect, one may address a plea to our 
several leaders of organised religious opinion as 
well. Is it not time that they gave their 
acknowledgement and assent to the separation of 
the domains of faith on the one hand and of the 
conjoint obligations of the State towards all 
citizens as stipulated by the Constitution? Do 
they consider it possible that we can continue to 
exist as a democracy - of which we are everyday 
proud - if contending religious claims are 
together permitted to thwart the operations of a 
regime of laws meant to be applicable to every 
Indian?

It is entirely legitimate and desirable that our 
holy men and women insist that in all such cases, 
the State function without prejudice. But any 
clamour that the claims of religious identity are 
above the claims of universal law, or that, worse 
still, of some one particular religion above also 
all other religions, can only speed the 
disintegration of the very democracy that we are 
so justly proud of. Surely, those to whom so many 
Indians trust their souls understand this better 
than ordinary mortals.

Therefore, the sooner they put their stamp of 
approval upon the Republic as at present 
constituted, the finer might become the produce 
of their elevated endeavours to look after the 
spiritual health of the nation. After all, 
whenever rajdharma has been allowed to be 
vitiated by the unemancipated self-absorptions of 
dogma, the results for everybody - not excluding 
those who set such proceedings in motion - have 
always been bitter and self-defeating.

Let us learn to give to God what is God's and to 
Caesar what is Caesar's - except that in our case 
Caesar is only the Republic that we have given to 
ourselves.


o o o o

(ii)

The Hindu
November 16, 2004

RATIONALISTS WANT MUTTS UNDER SCANNER

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, NOV.15. The Federation of Atheist and Rationalists'
Association (FARA) has demanded that the Government keep a
watch on the activities of all mutts in the light of the arrest of the
Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jayendra
Saraswathi.

In a statement here on Monday, N. Innaiah, coordintor, and eight
other activists of various rationalist and social organisations, accused
holy persons attached to mutts, ashrams, churches and wakfs of
indulging in "nefarious" activities and amassing wealth.

           `Withdraw exemptions'

They said the arrest and quick action followed by the detention of the
Kanchi seer should be an eye-opener to all governments regarding
activities of these religious institutions. Referring to the protest by
"fundamentalist religious sections" against the arrest, they said this
indicated the danger of "getting exemptions from criminal activities on
the pretext of spiritualism."

The FARA asked the Government to withdraw all exemptions and tax
reliefs on properties and incomes extended to religious institutions
and separate religion from State affairs.

These organisations should confine their activities to only religion
without any involvement of State expenditure.

Mr. Innaiah urged the State Government to reopen the Puttaparthi
case of murders involving Sri Satya Saibaba and enquire into
activities of Kalki Bhagwan.

o o o o

(iii)

Indian Express
November 15 2004

DALIT ORGANISATION WANTS KANCHI MUTT PROPERTY SEIZED

MYSORE: The district Dalit Sangharsha Samiti has demanded that
the Tamil Nadu government seize the property of Kanchi mutt, as its
pontiff has been arrested on charges of murder.

Welcoming the initiative of the Tamil Nadu police, the Samiti termed
the arrest of Kanchi seer as legal, adding that the procedures followed
by the police were well within the limits of the Constitution.

In a press release issued here on Sunday, the members condemned
protests staged by the Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS activists, stating
that they should respect the Indian Constitution. ‘‘Laws are the same
for anyone, whether a king or seer,’’ they stated. The Samiti urged the
Madras High Court to order a thorough probe into the murder.


o o o o


(iv)

The Hindu
November 16, 2004

STOP POLITICISING SEER'S ARREST: CPI

NALGONDA, NOV.15. The Communist Party of India (CPI) State
secretary and Nalgona MP, S. Sudhakar Reddy, has advised Sangh
Parivar to "stop giving political colour'' to the arrest of the Kanchi
Sankaracharya.

Speaking to reporters at the party district headquarters here on
Monday, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy took exception to the "efforts of the
saffron brigade'' to project the arrest as an act against a particular
religion. "No one is above law. Courts will decide whether the
Sankaracharya is guilty or innocent,'' he added.


o o o  o

(v)

November 14, 2004

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India 
(Marxist) has issued the following statement:

   ON ARREST OF KANCHI SHANKARACHARYA

The arrest of the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri 
Jayendra Saraswathi has taken place in the 
background of an investigation by the police in a 
murder case. The prosecution has stated that 
sufficient evidence exists to proceed against Sri 
Jayendra Saraswati. Nobody is above law and the 
judicial process should proceed unhindered.

The efforts of the VHP and some other forces to 
give a communal angle to this affair is 
condemnable. While the case should be pursued 
with sensitivity keeping in mind the religious 
status of the individual concerned, it must be 
emphasized that this is not a religious matter. 
The Tamilnadu state government should not give 
into any pressures and allow the law to take its 
course.


______


[4]

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 04:44:19 +0530

Dear Friend,

SUB: Fund Raising Call from Saheli, New Delhi

As always, warm greetings from Saheli.

We started 23 years ago with, as the saying goes, 
'8 women, Rs. 80, two jhadoos and our 
convictions' to be an autonomous women's group. 
Beginning as a crisis-intervention centre to 
offer support to women in distress, Saheli has 
over the years, evolved into a campaign group 
working on a range of issues pertaining to 
women's health, safety and legal rights while at 
the same time challenging the spectrum of 
violence and aggression that women face - from 
sexual assault to communalism to sex 
determination to war.

In order to do so, we at Saheli work in many ways 
to register protest and raise awareness. From 
being solidarity space and support group for 
several autonomous groups, to hands-on action, to 
taking legal recourse to conducting surveys, 
doing research to outreach programmes that 
include presentations and talks, discussions, 
film shows, plays, audio cassettes, etc.

Select areas of our current work include:

·                                 Sexual 
harassment at the workplace: raising awareness to 
make the workplace safe for women employees, 
helping individual women to deal with the problem 
and access justice, and working on emerging 
legislation on the issue.

·                                 Women's health 
and wellbeing: with specific focus on hazardous 
contraceptives, coercive population control 
policies, and the practice of sex-determination 
and sex-selective abortions.

·                                 Rising 
communalism and conservatism: how it affects and 
controls women's rights, liberties and sexuality; 
its correlation with rising casteism and 
caste/religion based violence, and the resurgence 
of retrograde practices like sati, honour 
killings, etc.

·                                 Violence 
against women: joint campaigns to raise awareness 
of and strengthen women's struggle against sexual 
harassment, sexual assault, violence and rape, as 
well as against prejudice and violence on lesbian 
women and other sexual minorities.

·                                 Self Defence 
training to empower women to better assess and 
prepare themselves against physical and mental 
assault.

·                                 Periodic 
publication of newsletters in English and Hindi, 
monographs, reports, posters, stickers and other 
campaign material.

·                                 Active on 
several committees and forums, as well as other 
local, national and international networks on 
university campuses, with student groups, women's 
groups and other peoples' movements.

Over the years, the faith of countless women and 
men like you, your inputs, encouragement, 
criticism, and energy have been our major source 
of strength. So today we write to ask you for 
more: Your increased participation to fortify us 
in these hard times, and some of that other dirty 
thing called 'money'!

As you all know, our financial needs at Saheli 
are modest - all of us are volunteers, yet 
printing, publication and running an office does 
cost us some. But for most part we manage to 
raise funds for our functioning primarily from 
individual donors and supporters of our work, and 
through the sale of a variety of publications / 
campaign material on issues we are working on. In 
addition, we have organised just a couple of fund 
raising events with corporate contributions over 
the years - a music concert with Gangubai Hangal, 
1988 and a screening of the film Unishe April, 
1995.

Currently, our bank balance is hitting rock 
bottom, so we are writing to ask you to please 
offer a personal donation to Saheli as soon as 
possible. (All donations are Tax Exempt under 
Section 80G.) [...]

It would be best if your contribution could be slabs of :

·                                 r Rs 100 / r Rs 
500 / r Rs 1000 / r Rs 2000 / r Rs 5000 / r More

that you would like to offer as a

·                                 r One-time / r Monthly / r Yearly commitment.

If you are a supporter living outside India, you 
could also send us personal cheques in foreign 
currency.

All Cheques/Demand Drafts should be made in 
favour of SAHELI WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE.

Also, if you know of other friends who may like 
to support our work, please feel free to pass 
this appeal on to them.

Your prompt response is all the more important 
because we are planning to dovetail this personal 
contributions drive with a fund raising event (to 
which all contributors will get a free invitation 
of course) in early December. We will keep you 
posted on developments on that front as they get 
finalised too.

As always, rest assured your contributions will 
help us continue our efforts towards a life of 
dignity and equality for all women.

In solidarity,

Deepti, Laxmi, Sadhna, Satnam, Shweta, Vani, Vineeta

for SAHELI WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE
Saheli, Above Shop 105-108, Defence Colony Flyover Market, Defence
Colony, New Delhi 110 024 [India]

______


[5] [UPCOMING EVENTS AND PUBLICATIONS ]

5.1)

National Convention on Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation:
Asserting Rights, Demanding Justice and Evolving Strategies

Dates: 30 November & 1 December, 2004
Venue: New Delhi

Draft Agenda


Day I: November 30, 2004

No.
Time
Session
Invitees / Resource Persons

1

10.30 am - 11.30 am
Registration


2

11.30 am - 1.00 pm
Inauguration
Eminent persons, and representatives of the affected people

3

1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

Lunch


4

2.00 pm - 6.00 pm

Presentation on Development Planning; Impacts; 
Mitigation and Rehabilitation - sector wise
Representatives of Peoples’ Movements, Researchers and Activists

5

7. 00 - 8.00 pm

Dinner


6

8.00 - 9.00 pm
Regional Meetings



7

9.00 onwards
Cultural programme / Documentaries


Day II: December 1, 2004

No.
Time
Session
Invitees / Resource Persons

1

9.00 am - 9.30 am

Displacement and Development in the International context and forum
Smitu Kothari and Miloon Kothari

2

9.30 am  11.00 am

Group Discussions on the proposed National policy and Strategies
NAPM, Centre for Equity Studies, Indian Social Institute

3

11.30 am - 1.00 pm
Reporting in the plenary


4

1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
Lunch

5

2.00 pm - 3.30 pm
Strategy Planning


6

3.30 pm - 5.00 pm

Interaction, Response and Declaration

Ministers, Chairpersons of National Commissions, 
Members of Parliament and invitees from political 
parties

Convened by: National Alliance of People's 
Movements, Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Labourers’ 
Union, National Fish Workers Forum, Lokayan, 
Shoshit Jan Andolan and Shahar Vikas Manch 
(Maharashtra), Narmada Bachao Andolan; Delhi 
Forum; Indian Social Institute; Habitat 
International Coalition - Housing and Land Rights 
Network; Matu Jana Sangathan and Rajendra Prasad 
Academy, New Delhi.



o o o o

5.2)

ZUBAAN ANNOUNCES THE PUBLICATION OF DAWN: A NOVEL 
BY AWARD WINNING ASSAMESE WRITER, ARUPA KALITA 
PATANGIA.


Dawn

A Novel

Arupa Kalita Patangia

Translated by Ranjita Biswas

300pp Pb o Rs 295

o ISBN 81 86706 84 4  o All rights available

Set in the heady years preceding independence, 
this is the story of young Binapani growing up in 
a small Assamese town. Headstrong, stubborn and 
high-spirited, this independent minded girl is 
confronted with a host of questions as she 
attempts to come to terms with the changing 
reality around her: why are girls not allowed to 
study? Why do some families have to live in 
poverty while others are feted and fawned upon by 
townspeople? Why does a nationalist hero have to 
be hidden away, a Christian boy termed an 
outcasete? Before she can even begin to find 
answers to any of these questions - in which her 
only support is her aging grandmother, Jashodha - 
Binapani is married off to a much older man whom 
she has always disliked. A lifetime of drudgery, 
relieved by the birth of her children, her 
occasional visits to her grandmother, follows and 
then, just as life threatens to become empty of 
joy, a chance encounter with an old friend brings 
change. Binapani realizes that the world is still 
a beautiful place and life can still have 
meaning. This beautifully crafted tale describes 
a moment of profound hisotrical change, against 
which it weaves a fine web of changing 
relationships, of people's joys and sorrows, as 
seen through the eyes of a young girl and her 
painful journey to adulthood.

Arupa Patangia Kalita is one of Assam's leading, 
award-winning novelists. She has more than ten 
novels and short story collections to her credit 
including Mriganabhi (1987) and Millenniumar 
Sapon (2002). A Ph.D in English Literature, she 
teaches English at Tangla College, Assam.

Ranjita Biswas has translated a number of 
well-known Bengali and Assamese novels into 
English.


For any further enquiries or for ordering copies 
of the book, please contact Jaya Bhattacharji or 
Satish Sharma at:

Zubaan,
K-92, First Floor,
Hauz Khas Enclave,
New Delhi - 110016
INDIA
Tel: +91-11-26521008, 26864497 and 26514772
Email: zubaanwbooks at vsnl.net


o o o o

5.3)

[ Punjab Lok Rah (PLR), a theatre group from 
Pakistan, will perform four plays in Maharashtra 
between 20th November and 25th November at the 
invitation of Pakistan India Peoples' Forum For 
Peace And Democracy (PIPFPD).

20 November at YB Chavan auditorium (Pune)
22 November at 8.00pm at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi (Bombay) ]

o o o o

(The Times of India, NOVEMBER 18, 2004)

City to host 'dramatic' Indo-Pak event

PUNE: The much-talked about people-to-people 
dialogue between India and Pakistan finally 
reaches Pune this weekend in the form of the 
play, Sidq (The truth).

A delegation of 24 actors from the acclaimed 
Lahore group, Punjab Lok Rahs, will stage the 
play, based on the story of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, 
at the Y.B. Chavan auditorium at 5 pm on November 
20. The group will arrive in the city on November 
19 as part of a 12-day India tour, Sanjay Sangwai 
and Anwar Rajan of the Pakistan-India People's 
Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) told 
reporters on Wednesday. The tickets are available 
at the venue as well as at Modern Furniture, Pune 
camp and Books and Bakery, LIC building, opposite 
Alaka theatre. The 50-minute play will be 
followed by an interactive session with the 
audience, which should prove the first 
opportunity in a long time for Puneites to 
exchange views with Pakistani citizens. 
Interactions with several other groups, including 
one at the Pune municipal corporation and the 
Centre for Performing Arts, University of Pune, 
has also been planned during their two-day tour.

After Saturday's inaugural show, several others 
have been planned at Aurangabad, Mumbai (Ravindra 
Natyamandir), Nagpur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and 
other cities.

"This is just the beginning. The two peoples have 
a lot in common, and such interactions will 
increase the pressure on the governments to shift 
the agenda from military expenditure to health 
and development. If the process begins well in 
Pune, the message will go down well in the rest 
of Maharashtra," Sangvai said.

"The group is one of the progressive groups in 
Pakistan. The choice of Bhagat Singh as a subject 
is an interesting example, considering earlier 
governments have tried to play down the freedom 
struggle, which is part of the common past of the 
two nations," Anwar Rajan said.



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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/
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