SACW | 17-18 April 2005
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Mon Apr 18 02:41:30 PDT 2005
South Asia Citizens Wire | 17-18 April, 2005
[1] Bangladesh: Bigots attack Ahmadiyyas in Satkhira ()
[2] Sri Lanka: Christian Fundamentalists Gang Up Against Conversions Bill
[3] Pakistan: MMAch ado about nothing (Beena Sarwar)
[4] India: Gujarat 2002: Looking Back, Looking Ahead (Mukul Dube)
[5] India: The Ungainly Right (Mahesh Rangarajan)
[6] India: RSS and the Gender Question (Ram Puniyani)
[7] Letter to the Editor - Re "Terror and
Loveliness" by Ram Guha (Krishna Garg)
[8] Book Announcement: Dastaan Bharatiya
Musalmananchi (true story of Indian Muslims)
[9] South Asia Forum-Madisonholds evening of
expression and dialogue - A Report
[10] Announcements:
Meeting in Support of Killed & Disappeared Persons and Their Families in
Jammu & Kashmir (New Delhi, April 20, 2005)
--------------
[1]
The Daily Star - April 18, 2005
50 HURT AS BIGOTS ATTACK AHMADIYYAS IN SATKHIRA
10 houses looted
Our Correspondent, Satkhira
Religious bigots led by the International Khatme
Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB) yesterday
attacked the Ahmadiyya community, injuring over
50 people including women and children, and
looted at least 10 houses at Sundarban Bazar of
Shyamnagar upazila.
Supporters of the anti-Ahmadiyya outfit, which
has long been campaigning for a government move
to declare the sect non-Muslim, had a signboard
posted on the local Ahmadiyya complex. It reads
'A place of worship for the Ahmadiyya Community,
Sundarban Bazar' and it advises Muslims not to
mistake the place as a mosque.
Ahmadiyyas in Sundarban Bazar were in a panic, as
the police did not yet take any measures to ward
off further attacks on the sect, said locals.
They also alleged that physicians did not attend
in a timely manner to the injured, who were
undergoing treatment at Shymnagar Hospital.
Witnesses said that nearly 15,000 IKNMB members
brandishing sticks, machetes and darts started
marching towards the Sundarban Bazar at about
1:00pm. IKNM Nayeb-e-Amir Mufti Nur Hossain
Nurani and central leader Mohammed Muntasir Ahmed
led the procession.
As it reached near the Ahmadiyya mosque at
Sundarban Bazar in Jotindryanagar, 65 kilometres
off the Satkhira district headquarters,
Ahmadiyyas led by Maolana Abdul Awal tried to
keep the bigots from hanging the signboard.
Incensed at the resistance, the IKNMB followers
started throwing stones at them and injured over
50 people, including six women and some children.
At one stage, when police stationed in the area
fired blanks in the air, Ahmadiyya members moved
backwards and the IKNMB members stepped forward
to hang the signboard. At the request of police,
the IKNMB leaders handed over the signboard to
them, which the police then hung for the bigots,
in the presence of the Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) Sohrab Hossain, Superin-tendent of Police
in Satkhira Abdur Rahim, and Magistrate Mina
Masuduzzaman.
Immediately after hanging of the signboard, the
bigots started looting the houses belonging to
Ahmadiyyas.
Money in cash, ornaments and other valuables were
taken away from the houses of GM Sabbir, GM
Mobarak Ahmed, SM Wahid, Abdul Mazid Sardar, SM
Matiar Rahman, GM Abu Daud, GM Rois Ahmed and
many others.
Police said they arrested an Ahmadiyya with
bomb-making materials at the site during the
melee. The arrestee, Abdul Wahab, hails from
Azimpur of Dhaka.
Earlier at about 10:00am, the IKNMB held a rally
at the Haringar High School premises.
Police at an Ahmadiyya mosque in Satkhira hang a
banner that reads, 'This is a place of worship
for Kadianis, no Muslim should mistake it for a
mosque ', as the anti-Ahmadiyya zealots look on
yesterday. PHOTO: STAR
_____
[2]
Sri Lanka: Christian Fundamentalists Gang Up Against Unethical Conversions Bill
(Asiantribune.com)
A common front of organized Christian fundamentalists are rallying their forces
internationally to block the Freedom of Religion Bill placed before the Sri
Lankan parliament to prevent unethical conversions.
First, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) hosted a special meeting at the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights in
Geneva last week highlighting, what
they termed as, 'religious persecution in Sri Lanka' and to 'focus on
anti-conversion legislation'.
Second, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Institute on Religion and Public
Policy organized a 'Roundtable' with Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the US, Bernard
A.B. Goonetilleke in Capitol Hill, Washington, on April 12, 2005. This
'Roundtable with the Ambassador' was to discuss the proposed anti-conversion
bill. It is a monthly forum attended by Administration officials, Congressional
aides, NGOs, academics, the media and concerned members of the public provides
an opportunity for honest and open discussion regarding the civil, political,
religious and human rights environment in countries represented by the
Ambassadors.
Both were moves by Christian nations to impose their will on Sri Lankan
parliamentarians through not-so-subtle pressure. The tone of these meetings was
set by Janet Epp Buckingham, Director of Law and Public Policy of the
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who said that meetings such as the one on 5th
April at the UN was to ìlet the Sri Lankan government know that the world is
watching their treatment of religious
minorities." (WEA press release, April 11,
2005).
Observers interpreted these moves and statements as neo-colonialism marching
into the developing countries in religious robes. The high moral tone of these
evangelists comes from Christian countries which massacred each other in
European countries for centuries on purely religious issues. Besides, these are
descendants of Christians who converted the
natives in Americas, Africa and Asia
with brute force.
Now they take the high moral ground to dictate to
Sri Lanka, for instance, which
never fought religious wars like Christian
countries, how it should legislate on
religious affairs. Unlike the use of barbaric violence to convert unarmed
civilians occupied by Christian imperialists, the Sri Lankan parliamentarians
have been given the right to vote on this bill based purely on their free will,
without any coercion from the government or any party dictating a political
line.
Ambassador Goonetilleke in his opening remarks noted that Sri Lanka being an
island nation has throughout its history, interacted with visitors from
different regions of the world and from all religious and ethnic persuasions.
The people of Sri Lanka welcomed American
missionaries to the island as early as
1813. Among the well known American missionaries and educators who served the
country at that time were Rev. Samuel Newell, Rev. Edward Warren and Rev. Dr.
Danniel Poor. Religious freedom is a deep-rooted value cherished by all Sri
Lankans.
Pointing out that the phenomenon of unethical
conversion was a real issue in Sri
Lanka and particularly segments of the poor said to be vulnerable to this,
Ambassador Goonetilleke said the rapid increase in conversions in recent times
had been noticeable.
Even Catholic, Protestant and Hindu religious organizations had been
apprehensive of this practice as it created new social tensions where none
existed before, leading to local disturbances. In more recent times, the issue
had also become highly politicized. All the Sri
Lanka Government is trying to do
is to address this issue in a manner that avoids it from spiraling out of
control, leading to greater social unrest and religious disharmony. Such
challenges are not unique to Sri Lanka. Even in
other countries, governments and
legislatures are often called upon to take preventive action in the face of
similar developments.
The Government of Sri Lanka has made clear that the draft 'Freedom of Religion
Bill' is neither directed against any religion nor does it seek to promote a
particular religion. The Bill has not yet been gazetted. When introduced in the
Sri Lanka Parliament, any citizen or organization has the freedom to challenge
it in terms of Article 121(1) of the Constitution
by invoking the constitutional
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, for a determination in terms of Article 123
of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
The Ambassador noted that following petitions
filed by civil society, a previous
Bill entitled, 'Prohibition of Forcible
Conversion of Religion', introduced as a
private memberís bill in Parliament was not proceeded with in the Parliament of
Sri Lanka in 2004, consequent to the decision of
the Supreme Court, where it was
held that provisions of the Bill were unconstitutional. In drafting the Freedom
of Religion Bill, concerns expressed by the Supreme Court with regard to the
previous private memberís Bill have been taken
into consideration and addressed.
It is still in draft form and amenable to change.
In the event, the present Bill
is debated in Parliament, it will be subject to a 'conscience vote' enabling
Members of Parliament representing the Government as well as those in the
Opposition to vote according to their individual conscience irrespective of
their political affiliations. Recently the Prime Minister has reconfirmed the
desire of the Government to allow Members !
of Parliament to vote according to their conscience.
At question time, the participants at the roundtable while appreciating the
candor with which the Ambassador had chosen to
take the issue head-on, expressed
reservations about the path Sri Lanka proposed to take on this issue and the
possible ramifications that might result from such action. There was concern
that those organizations likely to be affected, were not consulted and the base
broadened in the process of drafting the bill. It was felt that this might have
helped avoid at least some of the issues that arise from it.
Questions were raised as to whether there were aspects in it that were
inconsistent with Sri Lankaís international obligations and whether adopting it
in its present form could result in affecting the foreign assistance given to
Sri Lanka. Noting that a bulk of the tsunami aid
that came to Sri Lanka was from
faith-based groups, it was also observed that if passed, even with adjustments,
this law would severely curtail the potential aid available from church groups
belonging to the different denominations and could have a 'chilling effect' on
NGOs operating in Sri Lanka, across all developmental sectors. It was also felt
that the tension that had been caused by this issue had led to a spate of
attacks on churches in recent times and there was
fear that this might escalate.
Responding to these issues raised, Ambassador
Goonetilleke observed that what is
available at present is a draft bill. This is bound to be subject to further
change as it moves through the law making process, including the consideration
of its constitutionality by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka prior to being
debated in Parliament.
Religious freedom is enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka and bills
inconsistent with the Constitution will not be approved by the Parliament and
the Constitutional procedures applicable in Sri Lanka, provide sufficient and
effective safeguards against possible abuse of
the provisions of the draft Bill.
These will be done consistent with Sri Lankaís international obligations. He
said the spate of attacks on churches in the early part of 2004 had clearly
preceded the attempt to legislate on this issue. They were acts by a small
politically motivated radical group. The President took a personal interest in
putting an end to the wave of incidents that were occurring at the time.
Following the arrest of members of the group,
while traveling to attack a church
in Kebitigollawa 180 KM from Cololmbo, the pattern of organized attacks has
clearly been stemmed, although a number of sporadic incidents took place
subsequently.
Ambassador Goonetilleke also noted that the need
to enact legislation concerning
unethical conversions had arisen well before the tsunami struck Sri Lanka in
late December 2004. There was no connection
between the proposed anti-conversion
legislation and the increase of faith based social service NGOs following the
tsunami. Their work was deeply appreciated by all Sri Lankans and there was no
reason to believe that work of faith based groups engaged in such development
work would be affected in any way due to the
proposed bill. They may have fears,
but they cannot be justified on an objective basis, said Ambassador
Goonetilleke.
_____
[3]
The News on Sunday - April 17, 2005
MMAch ADO ABOUT NOTHING
By Beena Sarwar
All this business about 'religious' extremists
attacking a marathon because women were
participating in it, and then presenting a bill
to the National Assembly seeking to criminalise
'indecent' advertisements brings inevitable
memories of the Zia years. The forces that the
General unleashed through the so-called
Islamisation process (meant to keep him in power,
Uncle Sam happy and the Red Bear at bay) are
alive and well, and stronger than ever in
Musharraf's Pakistan, almost 17 years after his
predecessor's departure from Earth.
When Gen. Zia's establishment initially began the
process of curtailing the visibility of women in
the public arena, there were no 'directives' to
start with. But the forces of the religious right
were implicitly empowered enough to walk into
ministries, institutions and departments, and
issue verbal orders about what was and was not
acceptable. Most of the heads of these
ministries, institutions and departments
scrambled to prove their worthiness, outdoing the
king in loyalty and the pope in piety, or
whatever you want to call it, falling into line
with the particular definition of religiosity. It
gradually became almost a criminal activity to
engage in the classical arts particularly dance,
painting, and sculpture.
As women's sports began to feel the heat, Shoaib
Hashmi penned a skit about the women's hockey
team. Having got the axe from TV for their
satirical programmes, Such Gup and Tal Matol, the
Hashmis and their talented team began doing skits
at private stage performances. With due apologies
to Mr Hashmi, I recall the women's hockey skit as
being something like this.
Hashmi: And now let's introduce the Captain of
the Pakistan Women's Hockey Team, Samina Ahmed!
Ladies and gentlemen, please give her a big hand.
Enter Samina Ahmed, jogging, blowing a whistle: Tweeeet!
Hashmi: Samina, thank you for joining us, I know
you have a busy schedule. People here would like
to know about the women's hockey team, I believe
you're practicing hard these days...
Samina: Yes, we are (tweeet!). Very hard.
Hashmi: Apparently you had some problems recently...?
Samina: Oh yes, we had some problems. They said
we couldn't play wearing shorts.
Hashmi: Oh. So then what did you do?
Samina: We said fine, we'll play in track suits (Tweeet!)
Hashmi: Ah. So that's alright then?
Samina: No, well, then they said that this is
un-Islamic too. So we said fine, we'll play
wearing shalwar kameez.
Hashmi: And how did that work out?
Samina: It was ok for a while, but then someone
said that even this is all un-Islamic. They said
we had to wear burqas.
Hashmi: What? You mean you're playing wearing burqas?
Samina: Yes...
Hashmi: Really?
Samina: Yes. But then they said that even if
we're wearing burqas, the spectators will know
that underneath those burqas are women...
Hashmi: Oh dear! So our women's hockey is out of competition...?
Samina: No, actually, we're going to win (Tweeeet!).
Hashmi: Win? What do you mean you're going to win?
Samina: Well you see, under the burqas, is the
men's hockey team... (Tweeeeet! jogs off).
Laughter. Applause. Back to square one. In more ways than one.
Jokes aside, the skit illustrates the warped,
self-righteous mindset that has over the years
morphed into violent vigilantism.
Fifteen years ago, following Gen. Ziaul Haq's
televised address to the nation on June 25, 1988
in which he once again reiterated the need to
'Islamise' all areas of life in Pakistan, the
state-owned media went into a flap. That same
day, television headquarters in Islamabad
recalled all advertisements featuring women for
'review'. A phone call from the District
Magistrate galvanised the police and cinema
owners into action: posters and hoardings
displaying women were draped with black curtains;
some were removed altogether.
Ostensibly, the government wanted to eliminate
the exploitation of women, a very commendable
motive. However, there was (and is) a Censor
Board and the PTV Code of Advertising Standards
and Practice that all filmmakers and advertising
agencies had to go through.
Some questionable images might sometimes slip by
and women were unnecessarily used in
advertisements (as they still are). But recalling
all material featuring women gave out the signal
that women should simply not be seen in public.
That is the view upheld by those who continue to
cling to Zia's obscurantist legacy.
Today, these self-appointed keepers of the public
morality feel justified in blackening women's
faces on bill-boards all over the country and
physically attacking women participating in
public sporting events. This is the mindset that
the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is attempting to
institutionalise and legalise with its proposed
Prohibition of Indecent Advertisements Bill 2005,
presented to the National Assembly recently.
They have a right to their views -- as long as
they don't impose them on others. Meanwhile,
Akhter Shah captured the issue eloquently in a
recent editorial cartoon (The News, April 5th)...
as the world moves forward, it does seem like
they have their backs to the starting line.
_______
[4]
[To appear in *Mainstream*, issue of 23 April 2005]
GUJARAT 2002: LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
Mukul Dube
On 16 April 2005, a meeting was organised at Delhi's Constitution
Club jointly by Citizens for Justice and Peace of Mumbai and by
SAHMAT and the Human Rights Law Network of Delhi. "Flashback
Gujarat 2002 -- the Indian State and mass crimes" was the name
given to the meeting, which was to deal with these themes:
-- Victims' Voices Three Years Later
-- Police Reform
-- Witness Protection
-- Compensation
-- Role of the Public Prosecutor
In the event it was the first theme, victims' voices, which
dominated. Many persons, of both sexes and of widely varying ages,
described what they had been through and seen. Some spoke in a matter-
of-fact way, others broke down and had to pause before they could
resume. Not a few listeners also broke down.
How is a man to describe the way in which three young boys, one of
them his son, were stripped and made to sit on the ground before
being shot in their backs by uniformed defenders of law and order? How
is this man to stay sane? How is he to resist the overpowering urge
to hit back at this terrorism of the State?
How is a girl apparently still in her teen years to describe the
manner in which her kin and others in her neighbourhood were hacked
to death and burnt, or were burnt alive, the females among them having
been raped before that? What picture of the world, of humanity, will
have been formed in her mind?
It may be that no purpose will be served by re-telling the many, many
stories which are essentially identical, which differ only in minor
details. Duplication, some have been calling it, re-inventing the
wheel. Old hat.
But there is another point of view, to which not so many subscribe.
Each story speaks of an almost super-human ability to keep the human
spirit alive despite having been subjected to atrocities as inhuman
as any known to history. This is raw courage, resilience, bravery of
an order so high that it makes it possible for people to keep an iron
grip over their sanity. I mean not a few people but Modi's thousands
of "terrorists".
There is also the related fact that we are not speaking of a distant,
forgotten past. Muslims in Gujarat may no longer be cut up and raped
and burnt -- but in their daily lives they face the threat that all
that may happen again. This threat comes from the goons who did it
once and who still walk free, who swagger. Then there is the state
police, which does what it pleases and obeys illegal orders,
sometimes using a law which no longer exists and at other times not
troubling about laws at all.
Muslims in Gujarat are not in any sense citizens. They may not return
to their homes, they may not re-start their businesses, they may not
sell their property, their household goods are pilfered even when
supposedly guarded by the State. Those who are low in socio-economic
terms suffer in these ways but are far worse off because no one gives
them work and they have no reserves to fall back on.
Can I call a country my own in which I am an unwelcome and despised
refugee, punished daily although I have committed no crime?
Rahul Bose, who was among the later speakers, asked if it was
necessary to hold such meetings now, three years after the event. He
meant, of course, that things of the kind which had happened should
not and cannot be forgotten, that to forget them is a crime. The
cruel reality is that people *have* forgotten: even the "national
English-language media", which the Hindu Right accused of
"spreading lies", seldom remember; although there are honorable
exceptions. And we must also face the fact that for far too many,
Gujarat 2002 never was worth paying attention to anyway.
I hold that it is essential to keep looking back, to keep reminding
Indians of what was done -- and what is still being done -- to our
fellow citizens. If we forget, if we fail to act, the same will --
not may but *will* -- be done to us tomorrow. This means that it is
necessary also to look ahead.
Police reform, witness protection, compensation and the role of the
public prosecutor, all are important matters, and the events of
Gujarat 2002 have a direct bearing on them. The first and the last,
though, are not of immediate relevance to Gujarat. It is a matter of
priorities. When someone is choking in an operation theatre, plans
for the expansion of the hospital building must be put aside.
The parties of the present ruling alliance were, in effect,
invisible. This is understandable, for had I been of the Congress,
shame would have kept me away. After Shanti Bhushan had spoken
critically of the UPA's failure to dismiss the Modi government
despite the judgment of the Supreme Court, Anand Sharma of the
Congress made good his escape with this possibly predictable non-
response: "I am here in my personal capacity".
Two members of the Politburo of the CPI(M) had spoken earlier. The
first had kept to generalities -- platitudes, if you will -- such as
how the post-Independence generation was ashamed that fascism had
arisen, how the Muslims of Gujarat showed great courage, how the
entire country was with them, and so on. There was not a word,
though, about putting pressure on the ruling alliance to take decisive
action.
The second had been more forthright. In particular, she had spoken of
witness protection and of rehabilitation: and she had ended by saying
that her party would strive to see that justice was done. I do not,
however, recall her making a connection between the absence of
justice and inaction on the part of the UPA. It fell to Anu Aga of
the world of big capital to ask her, "Why do *you* not do
something?"
*Note*. This does not touch upon several things which were said and
should not be taken to be a report. M.D.
______
[5]
The Telegraph - April 18, 2005
THE UNGAINLY RIGHT
What is bothering the sangh parivar is less a
question of personalities and more a dilemma over
substance, writes Mahesh Rangarajan The author is
an independent researcher and political analyst
The laughter is on them
Not since the time when the Bharatiya Janata
Party was routed in the general elections of 1984
has the parent organization come down so hard on
the saffron party. There is an echo of past
criticisms: then, as now, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
was in the dock for having strayed from the core
message of Hindu sangathan or unity. Then, as
now, the large fraternity was harshly critical of
the middling, anti-Congressism that was the
leitmotif of the party. If there had been a
failure at the hustings, the remedy was easy
enough to implement. Echoes are one matter, but
we are not seeing a simple repeat of the past.
For one, the BJP's dual leadership has responded,
and strongly so, to any attempts to downplay what
it got done during its six years in office. It is
also clear that K.S. Sudarshan is not as highly
regarded as the late Balasaheb Deoras.
The latter did not have to contend with a party
that was its offspring and headed a federal
government. The Vajpayee period was a moment of
triumph for the movement of Hindutva. But it was
also its moment of truth. As with any government
in a parliamentary democracy, the ministers soon
became far more powerful than the party general
secretaries. The prime minister, never just a
first-among-equals in India, came to dominate the
party president, just as was the case in the old
days of the Congress.
The BJP itself was merely the largest party in a
multi-party coalition. Having come into being in
1980 on the dual membership issue, there was no
question of severing links with the sangh. As
Vajpayee said in Staten Island, he was and would
remain a swayamsevak, a humble volunteer. Yet,
there are several grades and kinds of volunteers.
M. Venkaiah Naidu publicly recounted how, "All of
us are Vajpayee sevaks now."
That spell of the Vajpayee era ended once the
National Democratic Alliance was voted out of
power by the electorate. Advani, as leader of the
opposition and as party president, has gone back
to the tried and tested path. He evokes the
message of Hindutva, which he hopes will inspire
the cadre and unify a splintered leadership.
There is grim irony when the supreme head of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh compares Vajpayee
unfavourably to Indira Gandhi. From around 1983,
the sangh developed its own strategy of
sidelining the BJP: its cadre openly worked for
the Congress in the Delhi metropolitan council
elections and the following year for the ruling
party in the general elections.
What mattered was the platform that a party stood
for. Labels did not count for as much. Insurgency
in Kashmir and militancy in Punjab set the stage
for a Hindu-centric discourse, which was ideal
sub-soil for the sangh to strike roots in.
The RSS has no such easy options open to it
today. The Congress rules in alliance with a host
of regional parties and runs a government propped
up by the left. In the Sonia Gandhi era, which
dates from the same year as the second Vajpayee
government, the party has veered back to its
older strategy of reaching out to the religious
minorities, the under-classes and the poor. This
tack has met with some, if not total success. If
anything, the ability of the Congress in winning
back the small, but heterogeneous and highly
articulate middle classes in the urban pockets is
what really unsettles the saffron party.
It was easy in the Eighties and even in the
Nineties for the sangh and the BJP to portray
themselves as custodians of purity in public
life. Even Ayodhya could be shaken off as a folly
of an unfortunate moment. In today's setting, the
old slogans have a tired air about them. They
also seem an anachronism. The fact is that the
BJP failed to fully displace the Congress as the
custodian of power. All it did was expand the
acceptability of its own idiom of politics. It
came to power less due to a "Hindu vote bank" and
more because a huge section of voters wanted to
give it and its allies a chance. Now, instead of
asking where it failed to meet expectations, its
leaders are harking back to a slogan they were
raised on.
Sudarshan's exhortation that the second line
emerge from the chief ministers sounds more
logical, but a closer look shows a more
disconcerting picture. Narendra Modi, the man who
led the party to a two-thirds majority in Gujarat
in 2002 after what Asutosh Varshney calls "the
first state level pogrom in independent India",
is losing his hold on voters. Last year, the
Bharatiya Jan Kisan Party was barely 2 per cent
ahead of the Congress in its vote share, down
from a 10 per cent lead three years ago. It is
not only the minorities who feel insecure. Haren
Pandya's father still alleges that he is
dissatisfied with the probe into his son's
assassination.
Modi is out of touch with the wider changes in
the body politic of India and the world, and he
is not the only one. The party and its fraternal
organizations worked themselves into a tizzy when
Modi was denied a visa by the United States of
America. Yet, the US ambassador's statement was a
clear signal that the party needs to do a rethink
on how far Modi is an asset to it. After all, if
it seeks to be seen as the future custodian of a
democracy, it cannot continue to lionize a man
who presided over a massacre.
If Modi is not a bright hope, it is worse for the
other second-rung leaders. Many of the bright
central leaders are members of the Rajya Sabha,
possibly because they are unsure of winning a
single seat to the Lok Sabha from any state. Uma
Bharti, who won encomiums from the Nagpur
leadership, is now a one-person opposition to her
successor in Bhopal. Vasundhara Raje's is a more
restrained style of leadership, but she is yet to
establish a presence beyond her own state.
A serious setback in political fortunes has
exposed the cracks within. If the saffronites are
unable to occupy the space of an opposition,
there are other claimants waiting in the wings.
The leadership of both the party and the sangh is
trapped in images of the past. One looks back
wistfully to the days of the Ram temple movement;
the other to the days when Vajpayee was the prime
minister. Neither is able to grasp the new
situation that manifests itself in the country.
The steep decline in fortunes in north India, for
instance, has much to do with the crystallization
of caste-based politics that chipped away at the
core voter base of the party. Far from being a
unified phalanx of fraternal groups, the sangh
and its most influential offshoot are rent by
internal conflict.
There is a crisis of direction. What is at stake
is less a question of personalities or
generations, and much more a genuine dilemma over
substance.
______
[6]
Issues in Secular Politics
April 2005
RSS AND THE GENDER QUESTION
Ram Puniyani
One always wondered as to why the patriarch of Sangh combines, the
plethora of organizations pursuing the goal of Hindu Nation, RSS, is
an exclusively male organization. While one hears quite a bit about
Uma Bharati's, Sushma Swaraj's currently and one heard about Vijaya
Raje Scindia and Sadhvi Ritambhara in the recent past, one knew that
even they could not enter the hallowed precincts of the controller of
Hidnutva politics, the RSS itself. We were enlightened about this
recently by none other than the RSS Supreme dictator (Sar
sanghchalak), Mr. K. Sudarshan himself.
While talking at a function (March 21, 2005) meant to release the
Video CD on, Rashtra Sevika Samiti's founder, Laxmibai Kelkar, he
pointed out that women are barred from RSS as Indian society did not
accept, and does not accept even now, young boys and girls working
together because it could have consequences (!) on the society. One
does not know which Indian society Mr. Sudarshan is talking about with
all the co-ed schools and women and men working together in most of
the spheres of society, but it is not difficult to guess these
consequences, which he is talking about! Keeping women out of RSS is
not a minor matter for RSS, as it reflects its own ideological
understanding at deeper level. That Indian society does not accept men
and women, working together is a make believe mirage meant to hide RSS
ideology, its foundation in patriarchal value system.
The first RSS supremo, Dr. K.B Hedgewar, was approached by Laxmibai
Kelkar in 1936 with a request to be permitted to join the organization
as she wished to get the lathi (baton) training for women's self
protection. RSS is specialist in imparting this training to its
volunteers. Faced with the dilemma of giving permission to a woman in
the exclusively male outfit, keeping in mind the ideology and
functioning necessities of RSS, he prompted her to form Rashtra Sevika
Samiti, rather than permitting her to join RSS. The functional reason
for this is that the highest rung in RSS ladder, the Pracharaks have
to take a vow of celibacy (Brahmacharya) and with women also becoming
part of the same organizations the consequences may not be to the
liking of RSS founders. And this is what Dr. Hedgewar was afraid of
and this is what Mr. Sudarshan is also scared of.
The other and deeper reason had to do with the ideology of RSS, which
is rooted in male domination, the commitment to the hierarchy of
gender. On one hand RSS was planned as the controller of the Hindutva
movement, so this has to be naturally by the males. This also gets
reflected in the names for this organization, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak
Sangh (sangh) and Rashtra Sevika Samiti (samiti). The latter is a body
subordinate to RSS, and in its name the word swayam, 'self', 'being'
is missing. This is not an accidental omission. It reflects that men
control the 'being' of woman.
This was the time when parallel to the ideas of National movement and
other progressive movements, women had started their forays into
national and social life on equal footing. While one presumes there
was a good presence of women in national movement, they were
conspicuous by their absence in organizations like Muslim League and
Hindu Mahasabha. This was also a time when Ambedkar was burning Manu
Smiriti on the ground that it laid the provisions for slavery of
Shudras and women. It is no accident that Manusmsiti and laws of Manu
were eulogized by the Hindutva ideologues. Rashtra Seviaka Samiti was
instructed to be on the subordinate ground. As ideologically RSS
was/is rooted in the feudal hierarchies of caste and gender, the tasks
of samiti were outlined, as presented in one of the pamphlets of the
samiti, "due to western impact, women were struggling for equal rights
and economic freedom - There was every risk of women becoming non
committed to love, sacrifice, serviceÖThis unnatural change in women
might have led to disintegration of family the primary and most
important unit for imparting good samskars ('Gender in Hindu nation',
Paula Bachetta, p.8).
This was reflective enough of the agenda of the samiti. All the Sangh
ideologues have stuck to this in different languages. This ideology in
due course affirmed that primary role of women is that of mother, and
in raising the children, giving them good smaskars
(another name for indoctrinating the children with Brahminical
values). Later there were other organizations where women got
associated with sangh, BJP Mahila Morcha and Durga Vahini are the two
othe major one's amongst these. The sample of this ideology comes to
fore times and over again. In the wake of Roop Kanwar sati (burning of
women on the funeral pyre of their husbands) incident, when Parliament
was debating a new legislating to ban Sati, Viajayaraje Scindia, BJP
vice president, took out a procession to parliament with the slogan
that committing sati is not only the glorious tradition of Hindu women
but it is also their right. One wonders why the leader of this
procession herself did not exercise her right after the death of her
husband!
Another of their outpourings, which is most representative of this
ideology, was the interview given by Mridula Sinha, the then chief of
BJP Mahila Morcha. (Savvy April 1994) In this interview she defended
the dowry system, went on to uphold the wife beating, opposed women's
equality apart from advising the women that they should not go out to
work unless it is a dire economic necessity. Her thrust in the
interview was to equate the women's struggle for equality as being
equivalent to opting for a life of 'loose morals'!
The similarity of RSS attitude to women and that of Taliban or other
Islamic fundamentalist streams on one hand and Hitler's advice to
women on the other is so starkly similar. Islamic fundamentalists
prohibit the women from going outside for work and also hide behind
sharia to curtail women's rights. Hitler articulated this most
blatantly when he said that German women's greatest glory is in
motherhood and that women's world should revolve around Kitchen,
Church and Children.
While RSS and its celibate pracharaks may come with a more
sophisticated language of respect for women, place of women in Indian
tradition to selectively highlight some exceptions to the oppression
of women, their present agenda is to dish out the patriarchal
impositions in more subtle and clever language, but surely women's
movement for equality, has definitely made good strides to see the
real goals of Hindutva ideology and to reject it through and through.
______
[7] [LETTER TO THE EDITOR - RE SACW 16 APRIL]
I have just now read TERROR AND LOVELINESS [SACW | 16 April 2005]
- The unnerving tranquillity of the Golden Temple
written by Ramachandra Guha. I share with him all the sentiments and the
shame brought about by the butchering of innocent Sikhs in wake of Indira
Gandhi's murder. It would indeed remain a black chapter in the history of
free India.
However, there is a minor factual error in the write-up. Guha has mentioned
killings in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh as well. This is entirely untrue.
In Rajasthan where I live no such incident has ever been reported and, as
far I recollect, that holds for M.P. as well. People like me, for over a
week, had organises groups of Hindus and Muslims and stood guard day and
night in Sikh colonies and before Sikh homes and, in all fairness I must say
none of us reported encountering even any attempt on part of any group or
individual to harm Sikhs in Rajasthan. Most of the horrendous killings took
place in Delhi and that alone is enough to make us hang our heads in shame
but we should not err on facts.
Krishna B. Garg
K. B. Garg
Department of Physics
University of Rajasthan
Jaipur-302004
India
______
[8] [BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT]
Dastaan Bharatiya Musalmananchi (true story of Indian Muslims) is a
collection of beautiful articles written by Mr. AbdualKadar Mukadam a
well known secularist, writer and activist.The book was released by
Dr.Asgar Ali Engineer on 16.4.2005 at the function organised by Bombay
Sarvoday Friendship Centre(Publisher) and Ekta jointly attended by
around 100 people.
The book written in Marathi contains the following chapters;
1.The indianness of Muslims
2.Islam ; Religion known and unknown
3. Contribution of Sufi saints to Indian synchronised culture
4.The real enemies of Islam
5. The Muslims all over; changing scenario
6.Historical events
It contains another article on Myths behind Muslim population in
India published in Loksatta Mumbai dated;29.4.2004)
This is probably the first book in Marathi that covers almost all
issues pertaining to the overal status of Muslims both in India and
world around and tabulates various inter related issues/myths
surrounding them/realities/the existing political scenario that has
denied even most human and fundamental rights to the muslim
sections.It also indicates the status of Indian Muslims traditionally
influenced by Indian caste and varna system which is not the case with
muslims in other nations.
The book also provides substantial food for thought and raise the
reader's social common sense to a higher level. The Dastaan will be
of a great help to the activists in their efforts to strengthen
secularisation of social sections.
The book containing 28 articles /124 pages with a beautiful cover
design in 4 colours is priced Rs.80/-only.
Those interested, may contact/send written requests for sharing the
distribution of the book among their
friends/relatives/activists/gifting away.The book is being made
available for Rs.50/- only if the demand is for 20
copies;postage/parcel will be borne by Ekta.
Please send your DD/Cheques drawn in f/o EKTA .;
Contact; Pradeep Deshpande (for Ekta Committee for Communal Amity)
B/1, 251, Jivadani Darshan Arunoday Nagar Mulund (east)
Mumbai 400 081 Tel. 022 25638328
______
[9]
South Asia Forum-Madison (SAF-M) holds evening of _expression and
dialogue.
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Madison-Wisconsin
Borders whether real or imagined have played a significant role in
the history of all nation-states. Perhaps they arise from the human
necessity to delineate the ìselfî from the ìother, the majority from
the minorities, and ìusî from ìthem,î often at the cost of
alienating the ìotherî for being different. Geographical borders may
be indeed be artificially created, but they have the power to divide
not just land, but human lives and emotions. The legacy of Partition
has been one such experience.
South Asia Forum-Madison (SAF-M) organized an evening of _expression
titled Aman-O-Shanti (peace), in an effort to promote dialogue
between Indians and Pakistanis in diaspora. The event was held in
conjunction with the Indo-Pak Peace march which commenced in New
Delhi on March 23rd and is planning to reach Multan on May 11th 2005.
This event is the first of its kind in which Indians and Pakistanis
will walk (based on permission from both governments) through cities
and villages, as well as rural and urban settlements of both
countries, talking to people along the way about their lived
experiences, their lives, their struggles and their desire for peace
in the Indo-Pak region.
In an effort to express solidarity with the Indian and Pakistani
brothers and sisters involved in the peace march, many South Asian
expatriate communities are holding local events in their countries of
residence to promote a people-to-people dialogue between the two
countries.
The peace event held by SAF-M, an on-campus organization at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, provided the opportunity to many
Indians and Pakistanis both on and off campus (as well as other
international and local students) to socialize and share their
experiences. The event began with the screening of a short film
called ìLittle Terrorist.î This Oscar nominee is based on the true
story of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy who mistakenly crossed the
Indo-Pak border and was restored to his family by the Indian
government, thawing the earlier tension between the two countries who
had come close to a war less than a year earlier (Kargil). The film
deviated from the actual story in that the young Pakistani boy was
sheltered from Indian soldiers by a Hindu Brahmin and his niece, who
helped him reach his home safely across the border. The message was
clear: the only hope for peace is to realize the humanity that is
universal in us and that cuts across all borders and boundaries.
The film was followed by a discussion in which participants candidly
spoke about their experiences of and feelings for each other: things
they had learnt about each other since childhood, stories they were
told, books they had read, debates on national media and so forth. A
myriad of emotions were expressed: fear, curiosity, resentment,
desire for harmony, hope, tolerance, compassion. People spoke of
random acts of kindness that changed the way they thought about each
other and dispelled previously held biases, as well as those awkward
moments that followed when one confessed they were Pakistani to an
Indian cab driver and vice versa. Participants shared songs and poems
which they had either written themselves or had selected from the
works renowned poets of the subcontinent such as Faiz, Faraz and
Tagore. Favorite topics of discussion included (but were not
restricted to) Partition, Bollywood, cricket, Kashmir, cricket, the
current governments and global political issues, cricket, music,
cricket, ethnic conflicts, folk festivals, cricket, religion,
cricketÖand cricket!
Afterwards, everyone got together to paint a banner that will be
presented to a delegation from Minneapolis who is traveling to the
Wagah border for the grand peace ceremony in May. The event ended
with a bhangra in which everyone joined in.
SAF member Ayeshah commented, ì Peace in the subcontinent is not a
far off, idealistic dream. It can be achieved, despite political
propaganda and religious fundamentalism. But it can only be achieved
when the people - the masses - make an effort to know their Hindu,
Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain neighbor on a personal level; when
people learn to celebrate similarities and respect differences. And
this action begins with ourselves.î In the words of poetess Munnawwar
Sultana: "Mohabbat ke hunar ko istarah taqseem karna hai, Rahe tera
bharam bhi aur khud ko bhi tasleem karna hai" (Let us share love in
such a manner that you are content and I too am allowed my views).
South Asia Forum-Madison (SAF-M) is a Madison based collective
consisting primarily of students, activists and others who are
interested in promoting discussion and awareness about issues
pertaining to South Asia. Ideologically, it is a group committed to
an agenda of peace and harmony among peoples - across boundaries of
nationality, religion, race, class, color, ethnicity, gender and
sexual orientation. The main focus, however, is on the South Asian
region.
For further information, please contact Ayeshah Iftikhar at
ayeshah_i at hotmail.com
______
[10] [Upcoming events: ]
Meeting in Support of Killed &Disappeared Persons and Their Families in
Jammu & Kashmir
Venue: Indian Social Institute [New Delhi]
Date: April 20th 2005
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 pm
On April 20th 2004, Aasia Jeelani, a JKCCS
activist got killed in the landmine blast while
performing her duties as an election observer,
during Indian Parliament Election of 2004 in
Lolab Valley.
In memory of all those who lost their lives,
their dignity and people who disappeared and all
those who continue to be suffering, JKCCS (Jammu
& Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society) Executive
Council has decided to observe April 20th 2005 as
"Kashmir Solidarity Day".
As a gesture of extending solidarity to the
people's struggle for peace in the region, THE
OTHER MEDIA, INSAF, JAGORI, ISI & ANHAD are
organizing a Support Meeting at ISI from 4:00 -
6:00 pm, to discuss and reflect upon the
situation in Kashmir. The meeting and discussion
would culminate at India Gate with a Candle Light
Memorial at 6:30.
This is a small initiative on behalf the civil
society groups to emphasize the need for peace
and people's concerns in the region.
We invite all concerned individuals and groups to
be a part of the initiative and express
solidarity to the cause.
In solidarity
Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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/
Sister initiatives :
South Asia Counter Information Project : snipurl.com/sacip
South Asians Against Nukes: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org
Communalism Watch: communalism.blogspot.com/
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
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