SACW | 30-31 Dec 2004

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire   | 30-31 Dec.,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] India:
(i) The Tsunami Disaster (S. P. Udayakumar)
(ii) Delhi Tsunami Relief Fund  - Tsunami-Affected Communities Need Your Help!
(iii) www.searelief.mysprat.org
(iv) Darpana Academy Dance Performance in aid of 
the victims of tsunami (Ahmedabad 4 Jan)
(v) Let Us Remember The 100,000 (Lahore, 31 December)
(vi) Sansad Appeal for victims of tsunami
[2] Bangladesh:  Salma's journey into activism (Hameeda Hossain)
[3] Pakistan: The passport controversy (Arif Jamal)
[4] India: [on teaching of Sanskrit in West 
Bengal] Main Language (editorial, The Telegraph)
[5] India: VHP supremo asks Hindus to give up family planning
[6] Upcoming events and Publications Announcements:
(i) "Secularism From An Islamic Perspective" 
Lecture by Dr. Abdullahi Ahmad An-Naim (New 
Delhi, 31 Dec)
(ii) Zubaan Diary 2005
(iii) Call For Papers: roundtable on South Asian literature (oct, 2005)


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

[1]

(i)

South Asians Against Nukes List
URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message/750

THE TSUNAMI DISASTER

S. P. Udayakumar

December 30, 2005

I write this from the southern tip of India, a 
region that has always been known for its 
pristine beauty and tranquillity. No major wars 
have been fought on this soil, no disaster has 
stuck, nothing untoward has happened on a massive 
scale, at least to my knowledge, in the past five 
decades.

All this peaceful record ended so abruptly on 
December 26, 2004 when a draconian tsunami lashed 
out and wrecked thousands of lives and families. 
The Kanyakumarians who have always looked up to 
the sea as a source of food and nurturance, 
spirituality and sacredness, enjoyment and 
entertainment, had a rude awakening on the black 
Sunday. With the beautiful frontyard to our 
peninsular home retracting several hundred feet 
for miles together, people were intrigued about 
this wonderful sight of hitherto unseen 
under-water territory. There were poor people who 
were eagerly collecting the stranded fish and 
crab for a free meal. There were Christmas 
holidayers, internal and international tourists, 
religious pilgrims taking the ceremonial dip in 
the sea, and innocent bystanders - all had a rude 
awakening when the cunningly crouched sea leaped 
forth like a ferocious predator. Whole fishing 
villages have disappeared; farmlands have been 
inundated; people have lost friends, neighbors, 
and
  acquaintances; the loss seems universal; there 
is a debilitating sense of sadness and sorrow in 
everybody's heart and soul. The whole dynamics of 
life stands altered.

The union government, state government, local 
government and all other government departments 
have let us down so callously. Although there was 
a golden gap of three hours between the 
underwater earthquake off of Sumatra and the 
tsunami attack on our coast, nobody gave an 
inkling of what was coming our way. Had there 
been at least a vague warning, it could have 
alerted and hence saved thousands of people.

Displaying utter ignorance, our Chief Minister J. 
Jayalalitha, the chief functionary of the state 
government, went on repeating on TV on the day of 
the disaster that there was no further danger 
from tidal waves and even exhorted the affected 
people to stay put. It does make one wonder what 
the meterological department was doing during 
those hours of crisis and if there was any kind 
of coordination between the various departments 
and people in power.

It is also equally disturbing to see our national 
President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the notorious 
father of our nuclear bomb, calling for a tsunami 
warning system along the entire Indian coastline 
after the tragedy has swallowed up so many 
thousands of innocent lives. How would this 
high-tech hawkish guru who dreams of America-like 
India explain why a highly- and densely-populated 
country with 7,000-km coastline never even 
bothered about joining the Pacific tsunami 
warning system?

The answer is obvious. The Indian elites have 
always shown interest in those "development" 
projects and defence deals where they could steal 
huge amounts of public money and have largely 
ignored the small steps that could make the life 
of "ordinary citizens" safe and secure. The 
Indian establishment and its head priests have 
been preoccupied with nuclear bombs, 
long-distance missiles, mission to the Moon, and 
a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. A 
simple safety procedure such as joining the 
international tsunami warning system to save the 
ordinary Indians' lives from an impending 
disaster is too small a thing for them to worry 
about.

This tsunami attack is yet another proof of our 
pathetic national record of emergency 
preparedness. Even after five days of the tsunami 
assault, there have been bloated human bodies and 
animal caracasses rotting on the open beaches and 
spreading diseases. Most victims who are 
languishing in the temporary shelters with 
intimate losses and incredible traumas have been 
complaining about the lackadaisical relief work 
of the government authorities. Politicians blame 
each other, ministers blame top bureaucrats, top 
bureaucrats blame the chotawallahs (lower 
officials); and all this betray our uncoordinated 
and utterly inefficient administration of the 
country. On the day of the disaster, this writer 
did not spot even one police officer or fire 
service personnel or a government official on the 
roads. It was the unequipped and empty-handed 
civilians who were helping each other.

The officials of the Kalpakkam nuclear power 
station (that is located near Chennai) claimed 
first that they had switched off their only 
functioning reactor the moment they had heard 
about the earthquake near Indonesia. When people 
started asking uncomfortable questions about 
their not intimating this information to other 
government agencies, the Kalpakkam authorities 
modified their report saying that the reactor 
shut down "instantaneously" after sea water 
entered the plant premises. Some 65 people 
including 10 nuclear plant scientists are 
reported dead in the tsunami tragedy. The 
foundations dug for the upcoming Prototype Fast 
Breeder Reactor (PFBR) plants are flooded and 
some construction workers killed.

If the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) 
officials are unable to protect their own men and 
machines from a natural disaster, how on the 
Earth are they going to protect us, evacuate us, 
rehabilitate us and safeguard our safety and 
security from possible attacks and accidents on a 
nuclear power plant? There have been persistent 
rumors about possible radiation leaks from the 
Kalpakkam plant, but the DAE and senior 
government officials give themselves "completely 
safe" certificate. If that is really so, why 
can't we have any independent inspection and 
verification by a group of independent scientists 
and Indian citizens? These questions are very 
troubling.

The DAE and the Indian government are building 
another nuclear power plant at Koodankulam (near 
the southernmost tip of India) that also sits on 
the Bay of Bengal badly affected by the tsunami. 
Neighboring coastal villages such as 
Idinthakarai, Kooduthazhai, Koothankuzhi, Uvari, 
Koottapuli have all been damaged by the tidal 
waves. If the Koodankulam nuclear power site is 
this vulnerable, should we go ahead with the 
construction of this mega-nuclear site? "Of 
course," answers the DAE. Like all the nuclear 
departments around the world would do, the Indian 
nukedom also claims that they can take care of 
all these eventualities.

The good news, however, is that the "ordinary 
citizens" of our area know for themselves now our 
establishment's safety awareness and emergency 
preparedness. And they may be asking some serious 
questions about the "development" projects that 
the Indian elites are executing (no pun 
intended): Colachel commercial harbor (instead of 
the fishing harbor that our fishing community has 
been demanding); Koodankulam nuclear power plant 
built with Russian VVER technology at 
Koodankulam; Nuclear Fuel Complex at Palaya 
Kayal; Sethusamudram Canal Project (that would 
dig a short-cut sea route through the Palk Strait 
between India and Sri Lanka (and damage the 
ecological balance of the area). All in the name 
of development! The development of our elites! 
Naturally, our "ordinary" citizens' cry for 
appropriate technology and sustainable 
development would sound unpatriotic and even 
anti-national.
_________________________________

SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):
An informal information platform for
activists and scholars concerned about
Nuclearisation in South Asia

South Asians Against Nukes Mailing List:
archives are available @ two locations
May 1998 - March 2002:
<groups.yahoo.com/group/sap/messages/1>
Feb. 2001 - to date:
<groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/messages/1>

To subscribe send a blank message to:
<saan_-subscribe at yahoogroups.com>

South Asians Against Nukes Website:
www.s-asians-against-nukes.org

_____


(ii)

TSUNAMI-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES NEED YOUR HELP!

Friends, as the year draws to a close and while 
people in other parts of the country are looking 
forward to a weekend of festivities, thousands in 
Andaman & Nicobar, Tamilnadu, Pondicherry, Kerala 
and Andhra Pradesh are staring into a bleak 
future. The killer tsunami – giant tidal waves 
unleashed by an undersea earthquake in the Indian 
Ocean – that struck the South Indian coast on 26 
December has left a trail of death and 
destruction in its wake. Thousands have died, 
many more have lost their loved ones, their homes 
and their hopes.

Reports and assessments of the exact damage are 
still coming in. Preliminary reports from local 
sources suggest that at least 15,000 people have 
lost their lives, of whom one third are likely to 
be children. Many thousands more are missing. The 
lives and livelihoods of at least 300,000 
families have been affected.

The damage is the worst in the Andaman & Nicobar 
Islands and Tamilnadu. Kerala, Pondicherry and 
Andhra Pradesh have also been affected. In all 
these States, it is the fishing communities that 
have been hardest hit. Already struggling with 
poverty and an uncertain livelihood, they now 
find themselves completely destitute. Their 
dwellings are destroyed, their boats, nets and 
livelihoods lost, their families devastated.

A large number of volunteers from local social 
action groups, community organisations and 
Government agencies are working to provide 
immediate relief to the affected communities. 
People from other parts of the affected States 
have rallied in support and have mobilised to 
provide food, medicines and shelter materials to 
those in need. In Delhi, a consortium of 
concerned organisations and individuals has come 
together to form the Delhi Tsunami Relief 
Committee to coordinate assistance and support to 
local organisations involved in the relief 
efforts.

While immediate necessities are being met from 
local sources, the greater need is for economic 
rehabilitation and restoration of livelihoods. 
The affected communities do not want to beg for 
aid – they are independent fisher-people who are 
proud of their skills and confident of their 
abilities to rebuild their lives.  The money that 
we in Delhi are able to raise will be used to 
support affected families in replacing the boats, 
nets and other productive assets which they have 
lost, and which will enable them to regain their 
livelihoods.

Our priorities for support will be the worst 
affected villages and hamlets in Andaman & 
Nicobar and Tamilnadu. We will be channelling 
support through local organisations who are 
working directly with affected communities for 
rehabilitation and  restoration of livelihoods.

We appeal to you to contribute generously to the 
Tsunami Relief Fund and help the affected 
communities to rebuild their lives and live with 
dignity.

Cheques should be made out to "Delhi Tsunami 
Relief Fund". Cheques and cash donations can be 
handed over to our volunteers or sent to: Indian 
Social Institute, 10, Institutional Area, Lodhi 
Road, New Delhi 110 003

All India Students’ Federation
All India Trade Union Congress
All India Youth Federation
ANHAD
ANKUR
AVARD
Centre for Education and Communication
Christian Aid, Delhi
CITU
Delhi Forum
Environics Trust
Gandhi Peace Foundation
Guild of Service
HAQ: Centre for Child Rights
Human Rights Law Network
Hind Mazdoor Sabha
Indian Social Institute
JAGORI
JNU Students’ Union
JNU Teachers’ Association
KRITI
Labour File
National Fishermen’s Forum
Nirantar
Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy
PRASAR
Research Foundation for Science and Technology
SAHELI
SAPI-JESA
SRUTI
The Other Media
Worldwide Fund for Nature
Youth for Peace

For more information contact:

Centre for Education and Communication: 32270650; 
Delhi Forum: 26680914 & 26687724; JAGORI: 
26257140  & 51643134; Indian Social Institute: 
24622379 & 24625015 and The Other Media: 51652451 
& 51652452; Anhad-23327366/ 67

For tax exemption on donations, contact: Indian 
Social Institute, 10, Institutional Area, Lodhi 
Road, NEW DELHI 110 003.
Website: <http://www.tsunamireliefdel.org/>www.tsunamireliefdel.org

o o o o

(iii)

Dear Friend in Solidarity SEA Relief

The killer Tsunami death toll has exceeded 60,000 
and is rising. Indian casualties alone have 
crossed the 10,000 mark. Millions have been 
rendered homeless throughout Asia. And the 
aftermath is apprehended to take an even higher 
toll. This natural disaster calls for a massive, 
concerted effort on the part of fellow humans. 
The Citizens' Initiative - a collective of 
Gujarat NGOs - has initiated mobilizing relief in 
a coordinated way. St Xavier's Social Service 
Society will coordinate the physical movement of 
resources and manpower with the help of Janpath 
and other NGOs. SPRAT has set up a functional web 
interface at http://www.searelief.mysprat.org to 
connect the needy with the provider, and to 
facilitate rapid information exchange. The 
Discussion Forum will not only send out emails to 
all registered users but also serve as an archive 
of relevant information and images. Imagine a NGO 
in Cudalore or Nicobar having urgent requirements 
and a Gujarat NGO having just that resource to 
supply. Or some doctors of Gujarat volunteering 
to go serve the South, but not knowing where to 
go. And people out there requiring just them. Now 
all they need to do is to post their need and 
resources here. Of course, free of cost. The site 
will be updated soon in the light of your 
feedback.
With fraternal greetings
Amit Rami
SPRAT - Society for Promotion of Rational Thinking
SF-8, Rajnagar Complex, Narayan Nagar Road, Paldi,
AHMEDABAD 380 007
Tel:+79-2663 46 55 /66 /77 Fax: +79-2661 20 49
email: relief at mysprat.org Web: www.mysprat.org

o o o

(iv)

Dear Friends -

Darpana Academy presents: In aid of the victims of the tsunami tidal tragedy:::

Tha Dance of Life, a history of Indian Science,

at 8:30 pm on the 4th of January

at Natrani,
Darpana Academy
Usmanpura,
Ahmedabad

donor passes of Rs. 150 and Rs 500
will be available at the darpana gate at the time of the show.

all contributions will be acknowledged at 
http://searelief.mysprat.org and will be tax 
exempt under section 80 G.

Natarani - natarani at icenet.net, natarani at darpana.com
+91 079 27556669, 27560971


o o o o

(v)

LET US REMEMBER THE 100,000

Over 100,000 have so for lost their lives in the worst ever Tsunami Disaster
tragedy. The numbers are growing every hour. The world is mourning this
great tragedy.

But look at the generosity of the imperialist rulers.

After being accused of stinginess, the U.S. doubled its aid to the
earthquake victims, it is now sending $35 million; that's almost half Steve
Job's income in 2003. Apple computer paid him a miserable $75 million. Of
course, there's the $2bn a week spent "liberating" the Iraqi people so money
is tight.

Since 2001, Labour Party Pakistan alongside with some social organizations
ate celebrating the New Year night as the "peace night". This year we cannot
celebrate; only remember those who are no more with us. Also to protest on
the attitude of Pakistan military regime and US imperialism for not lending
the support that was needed for those hit by Tsunami.

Let us gather at Regal Chouck Lahore at 11 to 12pm to remember the "loves
one" that are no more. Bring candles and flowers with you as many as
possible.

Be there at 11 pm on 31st December 2004.

In Solidarity,

Farooq Tariq


o o o

(vi)

Dear friends:

The stories, the visuals, the sounds are all 
horrifying. Over sixty thousand already dead, and 
the number keeps rising by the day. They say it 
is the worst natural disaster ever.

Informed observors have commented that much of 
the loss of human life could have been averted 
had there been advance warning systems in place, 
or if those who had the advance warning had 
passed it on  to the governments around the 
Indian ocean. We will share these observations 
with you in due course.

IN THE MEANTIME, relief efforts have to be 
intensified, expanded. The survivors have to be 
given their lives back: food, clothes, medicines, 
water, roofs, livelihood.

We appeal to you to give what you can, give generously.

For those in Canada can send their (tax 
deductible) contributions on-line by going to 
this site of Canadian Red Cross:

	https://www.strategicprofitsinc.com/hosted/redcross/index.php

	In the designation choices, you could 
highlight "Asia Tidal waves and earth quake"

Those in the USA, could send their contributions 
to the American Red Cross, or to the following 
charitable organizations (geared exclusively for 
help in India):

	http://survivors.aidindia.org
	http://singhfoundation.org/

Those wishing to have their contributions sent 
exclusively to Sri Lanka (the worst affected 
country in South Asia) could do so by depositing 
their contributions made out in the name of Tamil 
Rehabilitation Organization - Canada 
(TRO-Canada), at any branch of TD Canada Trust.
	The Transit Number is 540, and the Account number is: 500 1027.

Many, many thanks.


hari sharma
for SANSAD

______

[2]

The Daily Star
December 31, 2004
  	 
In Memoriam
SALMA'S JOURNEY INTO ACTIVISM

by Hameeda Hossain

Salma Sobhan never wanted to be an icon. In fact, 
she avoided stage lights, but ironically, she has 
become a public figure and now, a year after she 
left us, she is remembered not only by family and 
friends, but nationally and internationally by 
many others. An award for journalists has been 
established in her name by Professor Amartya 
Sen's Protichi Foundation, a volume containing 
some of her writings has been published by ASK, 
and at several commemorative meetings, she has 
been held up as an example of a selfless human 
rights worker.

The reasons why have been brought out in the 
commemorative meetings. In her personal life, she 
was clear about rights and wrongs, and while she 
had little time for hypocrisy, she was tolerant 
of the views of others and didn't make value 
judgements. She was able to discuss issues 
honestly, and talk about events or people she 
knew with humour and without rancour. These were 
qualities that endeared her personally to all 
those who came into contact with her. She had a 
large number of personal friends not only in 
Bangladesh, but in the UK where she studied, and 
indeed in many other countries. Even though her 
parents were both public figures, her father 
having served as Pakistan's Foreign Secretary and 
her mother having been a member of Pakistan's 
first Parliament, Salma avoided the public glare.

Her active public engagement emerged later, and 
more by chance than a determined decision. In 
commemorating her life, we remember these 
qualities, but more than that, we chart her 
journey as a humanist who became an activist 
because she translated her personal values into a 
public struggle for justice.

She became the first woman barrister in Pakistan 
in 1959, but unlike other lawyers who pursued 
their profession single-mindedly, she had a wide 
range of interests. She was well versed in 
literature, particularly in Urdu and English, and 
would quote verses extensively from memory. She 
was also addicted to thrillers and children's 
fiction.

Her traditional upbringing didn't make her 
illiberal. Even though she was deeply religious 
and grew up in a relatively conservative, social 
environment she didn't hesitate to speak out 
against religious injustice or sham religious 
practices. When she designed the BRAC legal 
literacy programme, she was able to reach out to 
ordinary village women, to make them understand 
what their rights were in inheritance or 
marriage. With her ability to communicate, she 
was able to demystify the laws so that women 
could learn to defy unfair decisions that are 
often forced upon them in the name of religion. 
With her knowledge of religious texts she was 
able to challenge religious bigots, who thrived 
on people's ignorance.

Dhaka in the 60s
Salma came to Dhaka in 1962 after she married 
Rehman Sobhan. She decided not to practice and 
instead she started teaching at the university. 
She had a great way of reaching out to her 
students, and often valued their understanding of 
reality over her theoretical knowledge. Although 
she was flummoxed on reading a student's answer 
to the question "Name three means by which 
property is acquired" that "Property is acquired 
through forgery, theft, and other means" she 
decided that the hapless student deserved at 
least some points!

The political situation in the latter part of the 
sixties became quite tense. Rehman Sobhan became 
involved with the political opposition. He had 
written the definitive article on "two economies" 
and although Salma shied away from political 
involvement, she did engage with the current 
intellectual debates. In the sixties, she was 
part of a group of university professors and 
other professionals who brought out pamphlets to 
explain the reasons for disparity between East 
and West Pakistan, on absence of democracy, and 
so on. These pamphlets published under the name 
of NACEP were popular amongst university 
students. Later she was part of a small group 
that published a political weekly Forum from 1967 
until it was closed down in March 1971.

1971 and after
She could not escape the impact of political 
events and when March 25 happened, she was left 
to cope alone. The Pakistan military came to her 
house asking for Rehman, who fortunately had left 
the house earlier and sought shelter elsewhere. 
Salma managed to fly with her sons to Karachi, 
from where her sister Princess Sarvath of Jordan 
arranged her onward flight to England. She lived 
in Oxford, teaching and caring for her sons 
Taimur, Babar, and Zafar, while Rehman was busy 
lobbying for Bangladesh in different capitals.

Homecoming in 1972 was more than traumatic for 
everyone. Salma returned and picked up the 
strands of her life in the university, with 
friends who had survived the genocide. She shared 
the exhilaration, but was sensitive to dangers 
her friends had lived through and the sadness in 
the entire country. She was concerned about the 
symptoms of populism, of charisma lending itself 
to a personality cult.

She had said, very presciently, "What will come 
after the euphoria? Authoritarianism?" She often 
expressed her disappointment at undemocratic 
tendencies, which prevailed even after the 
massive resistance to the military rule and 
autocracy. She did what was characteristic of 
her, and what few others could bring themselves 
to, which was to refuse to sign the BAKSAL 
membership, even though she had been urged to do 
so by her university colleagues, and had herself 
supported the Awami League.

With the assassinations of August 15, she and her 
family became nomads again and lived in Oxford 
for five or six years, looking after the children 
and leading a peaceful life. When she returned in 
1980, she gave up academics and joined Bangladesh 
Institute of Law and International Affairs. She 
edited the Bangladesh Supreme Court Reports and 
co-authored a volume on women industrial workers. 
At around this time she published the first 
overview volume of women's legal status and 
rights in Bangladesh. But she was not satisfied 
with authoring these pieces of non-fiction, and 
her one ambition was to author her "deathless 
novel." Indeed, she has left several unfinished 
manuscripts which now need to be published.

In the nineties
During the movement against Ershad's 
dictatorship, Salma was particularly concerned 
that the end to military rule might lead to 
elections and a civil government but not to the 
end of autocratic tendencies. While we marched on 
the streets shouting slogans against Ershad's 
military dictatorship in the eighties, we were 
conscious that elections would not bring the end 
of the day, since the powerful would control the 
state, communities would remain hierarchical, and 
the family would still be a major site of 
injustice. She started to think about more 
practical ways to support people's struggles and 
became the main mover amongst nine of us who 
discussed how best to support people's struggles 
for their rights through legal aid -- a fairly 
new idea for Bangladesh.

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)
That was the beginning of ASK. Since she had 
resigned from BILIA, and was in any case most 
qualified to do so, Salma was requested to start 
the work. Little did she realise that it would be 
so absorbing. She was able to attract a nucleus 
of young lawyers and others who became human 
rights activists. Legal aid was not restricted to 
purely technical legal help. On the contrary, as 
the result of its deep interaction with clients 
-- mainly women, workers and even working 
children -- the centre developed a more holistic 
support for the disenfranchised, to support them 
in their struggle for rights. Many of the support 
systems were very innovative and have become role 
models.

Today ASK is a far cry from when it first began 
in Nurjehan Murshed's garage on Satmasjid Road, 
waiting for needy clients, who had never heard of 
such a thing as free legal aid. The office then 
moved to two rooms in Inner Circular Road where 
it was set up with old, borrowed furniture. Even 
though the staff turned to her for advice and 
guidance, and she supported all the innovative 
ideas, she kept herself in the background.

Setting up and running an organisation and 
getting disparate people to work together is no 
joke in Bangladesh. ASK has now acquired a 
reputation as a leading human rights 
organisation. It wasn't easy going, and Salma may 
not have known what she was getting into when she 
started, but her inimitable sensitivity to other 
people's problems helped her provide leadership.

She decided quite wisely, that ASK would have to 
be non-traditional, lawyers would have to reach 
out so people could understand their rights 
before they would challenge their subordination. 
Slowly, as ASK supported individuals in their 
personal struggles -- the many women with stories 
of marital disputes and violence, workers who 
weren't paid even after working 14 hours, 
children working in middle class homes unable to 
experience childhood -- she came to understand 
that behind the endless tales of domination, 
control, and violence lay a more systemic abuse 
of power.

The problems needed more than band-aid measures. 
ASK began to broaden its struggle for rights. One 
morning in 1989, Susan Davis (then with the Ford 
Foundation) called to say she had seen bulldozers 
literally tearing huts apart in the Taltola 
bosti. Salma immediately called Tahmina Rahman 
and other lawyers, and we rushed to the site. 
Barrister M. Amirul Islam argued the case, and 
obtained a stay order from the courts. As a 
result, the people still live on this site, 
without permanent housing, but surviving and with 
some kind of shelter. This was the beginning of 
ASK's engagement with the right to housing.

Subsequently, ASK has continued to raise eviction 
as a human rights issue and in some cases the 
court has recognised the primary responsibility 
of the state. But governments are harder to 
impress, particularly as they become beholden to 
business interests. And whether military or 
elected governments, property development and 
profits rather than the right to housing has 
become the main mover of urban development 
policies. With so many other incidents catalysing 
ASK into seeking more in-depth solutions, Salma 
began to act not merely as a lawyer offering 
technical help, but as a humanitarian person and 
real human rights lawyer, providing solidarity 
for and supporting struggles all the way through.

In 1993 and 1994 when there was a sudden epidemic 
of fatwas issued against women, and religious 
extremists were holding demonstrations against 
writers, journalists, and NGOs, and calling for 
them to be silenced, ASK took a strong stand. 
Although ASK was criticised (by other women's 
rights activists as well) for defending Taslima 
Nasreen, Salma remained strong in a commitment to 
her freedom of speech, and that of others, even 
though she may not have agreed with what was 
said. This involvement led to the making of the 
film Eclipse by Shaheen Akhtar and Shameem 
Akhter. Salma received an award in Los Angeles 
and acknowledged it graciously on ASK's behalf.

By the turn of the century, Salma felt she had 
done her bit. She decided to retire officially 
and allow a transition in the organisation. It is 
a tribute to her leadership that ASK has 
continued to work independently and courageously 
even without her. On December 29 last year, Salma 
made a special effort to come to ASK for some 
legal negotiations. She was able to represent 
both sides fairly with a win-win option because 
of her sense of fair play. She was at her 
professional best that afternoon, working out 
with such clarity the complex details of who 
would benefit from what, and

what needed to be done. The next morning we heard 
that she had died of a heart attack.

Salma used to describe ASK as a jazz combo, where 
players improvised together, unlike hierarchical 
organisations, which were more efficient, but 
where the orchestra would have to respond to the 
conductor. An apt analogy. I think the best 
tribute we can pay her is to say that she 
succeeded in inspiring a collective spirit 
amongst all those with whom she worked. This 
included not only ASK, but the many other 
organisations inside and outside Bangladesh that 
she worked with intimately.


Dr. Hameeda Hossain is a human rights activist 
and founder member of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).
Barrister Salma Sobhan, upon graduation from Cambridge University, 1958


______


[3]

The News International
December 30, 2004

THE PASSPORT CONTROVERSY

By Arif Jamal

The controversy over eliminating the religion 
column in the newly introduced machine-readable 
passports refuses to die. It is, in fact, 
becoming more acrimonious with the passage of 
time. The religious right and the government 
remain locked in a potentially explosive 
controversy. In the absence of any mentionable 
protest against the demand to re-incorporate the 
religion column in the new passports, the 
religious right feels more encouraged. The 
Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has vowed to raise 
this issue along with that of the military 
uniform of General Pervez Musharraf at future 
protest rallies while the remaining religious 
right is also trying to take its protests in the 
streets.

Leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) 
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain's intervention in favour 
of incorporating the religion column in the new 
machine-readable passports has only boosted the 
morale of the religious right. In fact, he has 
gone one step further by vowing to compel the 
government to write the words "Islamic Republic 
of..." before "Pakistan" in English also on the 
front cover of the passports, apparently 
dissatisfied with the words "Islamic Republic of 
Pakistan" being inscribed only in Urdu.

Although the government has introduced 
modifications in the new passports, the religious 
right has protested only against the elimination 
of the religion column. But their argument that 
the members of the Ahmedia community may use the 
new passports to visit the holy cities of Makkah 
and Madina in Saudi Arabia, where non-Muslims are 
not ordinarily allowed, carries little weight. A 
large number of Ahmedis live abroad where they 
are considered non-Muslims. Moreover, most 
countries do not mention the religion of their 
citizens on their passports.

Nothing stops a Canadian or a British Ahmedi from 
visiting Makkah and Madina whenever he or she 
wants. It is equally wrong to imagine that the 
Saudis stop every non-Muslim from entering the 
holy cities. They have selectively permitted and 
encouraged non-Muslims to visit the holy cities. 
The foremost example that instantly comes to mind 
is the eviction of the Saudi Muslim dissidents, 
who occupied the holy Ka'aba in 1979, with the 
help of non-Muslim troops. Politics takes 
precedence over religion even for the Saudi 
regime.

The fuss about the religion column in the new 
passports is certainly not without reason. In an 
Islamic state, as it exists in the imagination of 
the religious right today, every non-Muslim 
citizen should be easily identifiable to the 
majority Muslim population for various purposes. 
In an Islamic state, they believe that Muslims 
should know whom they are dealing with while 
employing someone or even just talking to 
someone. When I recently asked a madrassah 
teacher why there is such a fuss about the 
religion column, his answer did not surprise me. 
"As a Muslim, I should not say Assalamo Alaikum 
to a non Muslim even by mistake."

The ongoing controversy in Pakistan reminds one 
of the policies of the Taliban in Afghanistan, 
who claimed to have set up supposedly a true 
Islamic state of modern times. After 
consolidating their control over the state 
apparatus, they asked every Afghan Hindu to wear 
clothes that distinguished them from the rest of 
the Afghan population. They did not levy any such 
condition on the Afghan Sikhs, saying they were 
already distinguishable by their turbans. If 
there had been no 9/11, they might have at least 
tried to impose the same condition on their 
Shiite population, whom they also considered 
non-Muslim. A young Taliban worker told me at a 
training camp in Jalalabad in 2000 that in spite 
of a more humane and tolerant faÁade, the 
Pakistani religious right is not any different 
from their Afghan counterparts.

Similarly, it was General Ziaul Haq who inserted 
the religion column as part of his efforts to 
turn Pakistan into a theocratic state. If the 
Taliban movement had preceded General Zia, his 
efforts to turn Pakistan into a theocratic state 
would have been described as the Talibanisation. 
His action was part of what later came to be 
known as the Talibanisation. Therefore, accepting 
this demand of the Pakistani religious right will 
in future come to be known as part of the 
Talibanisation of Pakistan. It will only propel 
the religious right to make similar demands in 
the future until they achieve the total 
Talibanisation of the Pakistani state and society.

After Chaudhry Sahib's intervention in favour of 
the religious right, there is little doubt that 
the government will likely cringe and accede to 
further demands of the religious right. In fact, 
after the intervention of PML-Q, the government 
has already begun stamping the new passports with 
"hamil haza musalmaan hai" (The bearer of this 
passport is a Muslim).

In fact, Chaudhry Sahib's intervention should 
have given the government an opportunity to show 
how it would not succumb to the religious right, 
even within its own ranks. Now, the Chaudhry has 
reportedly even convinced Interior Minister Aftab 
Ahmed Sherpao to incorporate the religion column 
in the new passports and expects the formal 
decision to be taken in the next cabinet meeting.

Recent history clearly shows that the mixing of 
religion and politics has not served the 
interests of the Muslim world. The separation of 
religion and politics is the first step towards 
taking the Muslim world out of its present day 
predicaments. The state should not be privy about 
a citizen's religious beliefs, except for the 
census of the adherents of a certain religion or 
sect. The government must not capitulate before 
the religious right on this issue. This would be 
the first step towards the separation of religion 
and politics.

The writer is a free-lance journalist based in Lahore

______


[4]

The Telegraph
December 30, 2004 |  Editorial

MAIN LANGUAGE

One of the worst, and the least commented upon, 
impact of the growing influence of the sangh 
parivar is its association with Sanskrit. The 
scriptures to which the parivar alludes to are 
all written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit was the lingua 
franca of the pre-Muslim golden age that they 
invoke and aspire to. Even though very few 
members of the parivar are actually learned in 
Sanskrit, the ideology of Hindutva has an 
immediate association with the language. The 
idealogues of the parivar have cleverly played on 
this association for their own political 
convenience. This has hampered the evaluation of 
Sanskrit as a language. All too often it is 
written off as a dead language that is not 
amenable to modern knowledge-systems. Under the 
circumstances, it is heartening to learn that the 
Left Front government has decided to take steps 
to revive the learning of Sanskrit and to promote 
it. It proposes to do this by upgrading the few 
hundred tols that exist in West Bengal. For 
centuries, the tols have been the traditional 
seats of Sanskrit learning. The government plans 
to reform the tol curriculum so that students 
there do not get isolated from mainstream 
education.

While the plan to modernize the tol syllabus is 
laudable, it needs to be emphasized that 
traditional Sanskrit learning, from at least the 
17th century, had in it distinct modernist 
elements. The Sanskrit-based knowledge system had 
its own structure of logic and ratiocination 
which was sophisticated and in no way inferior to 
the epistemology developed by Western 
philosophers from Rene Descartes onwards. There 
could be nothing more simplistic than to see 
Sanskrit as a vehicle of pre-/anti-modernist 
learning. For the left, the encouragement of 
Sanskrit will also have an inevitable, if 
unintended, result. The development of Sanskrit 
will automatically nurture Bengali since Bengali 
and its enrichment are dependent on Sanskrit, 
which is the mother language. Politically, the 
left's support of Sanskrit will break the 
monopoly that the sangh parivar tries to impose 
on Sanskrit and the rich corpus of learning and 
culture that goes with the classical language. 
From a very purist viewpoint, the knowledge of a 
classical language is as essential a component of 
learning and education as the knowledge of 
mathematics and a modern language. The 
encouragement to be provided to Sanskrit might be 
the first step towards such an education system.

______


[5]

http://www.newkerala.com/
30 December 2004

VHP SUPREMO ASKS HINDUS TO GIVE UP FAMILY PLANNING:

[India News]: Rohtak, Dec 29 : VHP president 
Ashok Singhal today said Hindus should give up 
family planning so that their population does not 
go down.
Speaking at the inaugural session of VHP's joint 
meeting of the international board of trustees 
and the central management committee, he said 
population of minorities, especially muslims had 
been rising at "such a fast pace" that it would 
be 25 to 30 per cent of the total population in 
50 years.
Singhal said it would be "suicidal" for Hindus if 
they did not raise their population.
He said that it was essential to build a Ram 
temple at Ayodhya for 'dharmik azadi' (religious 
freedom) of the Hindus. PTI

______

[6]   [ANNOUNCEMENTS]

(i)

Invitation

Lecture by Dr. Abdullahi Ahmad An-Naim, Professor 
of Law, Emory University, Atlanta, USA on 
"Secularism From An Islamic Perspective"

Date: Friday, 31 December, 2004
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Committee Room, University Guest House 
(Nehru House), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi


______


(ii)

Zubaan diary2005

Celebrate the New Year with a Zubaan diary, 
featuring Indian calendar art exclusively 
selected from the collection of Dr Patricia 
Uberoi.

Each month features one of the many faces of 
Indian woman - as muse, mother, goddess, siren, 
or powerful symbol of nationality. Subverting and 
reclaiming these icons of femininity, Patricia 
Uberoi gives a truly contemporary slant to the 
kitsch of yesteryear.

It is 150mm x 210mm, 14 colour plates and has 160 
pages. Price is Rs. 200. Postal charges will be 
extra. Cheques and DD accepted, but not credit 
cards and VPP. For enquiries on discount for bulk 
orders, please contact Satish Sharma.

Along with the week-to-view diary pages, comes a 
list of over 350 women's organizations in India 
and South Asia, fully updated, with addresses, 
email IDs and websites, making this diary a 
'must' for anyone interested in women and women's 
issues in the region.

Contact:
"zubaan" <zubaanwbooks at vsnl.net>

______


(iii)

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Dr. Nalini Iyer (Seattle University), Dr. Bonnie Zare (University of
Wyoming), and Dr. Asha Sen (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) are
proposing the following roundtable on South Asian literature to be held as
part of the pre-conference for the 34th Annual South Asian Studies
Conference at UW-Madison from October 6th to 9th 2005:

Please contact Dr. Asha Sen at sena at uwec.edu if you are interested in
participating

Is There Nowhere Else That We Can Meet?: Overlap and Distinctiveness within
the Emerging South Asian Literary Canon

Salman Rushdie's problematic claim that the best Indian writing is taking
place in English (The New Yorker, 1997) is perhaps the most visible
representative of generations of feuding between Indian writers and critics
as to the merits and demerits of Indo-Anglian vs. vernacular writing in
India. While the work of Indo-Anglian authors such as Salman Rushdie and
Amitav Ghosh have received much visibility both at home and abroad, these
authors are often accused of being inauthentic because of their choice of
language, and by extension, their choice of audience.

By contrast, vernacular writers are often praised for their authenticity
because they write in their original mother-tongues even as they receive
much less publicity in the west.  We believe that the feud is a distraction
from the central question of which sets of literary aesthetics are most
productive in engaging a larger public in reading and understanding the
emerging South Asian literary canon.  This roundtable will interrogate the
implications of such essentialist claims about Indian writers by reading a
cross-section of contemporary authors and texts representing different
languages and locations against each other.  Possible topics might include
discussions of whether this divide between English/vernacular or
diaspora/native is artificial or natural, connections between aesthetics and
politics in South Asian writing, and the impact of postcolonial cultural
studies on South Asian writing.

If accepted, the roundtable will be held from 4-7 pm at the Concourse Hotel,
Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday, October 6th, 2005.  Paper presentations
should be approximately 10 minutes long as a substantial amount of time will
be given over to discussion.  If you are interested in being a participant
in the roundtable, please contact Dr. Asha Sen at sena at uwec.edu.


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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
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