SACW | 24 May 2005

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | 24 May,  2005

[1] Bangladesh: Threat to seize Ahmadiyya complex 
- Rights groups vow to resist Satkhira bigots
[2] Pakistan: Prison houses or money minting dens? (Nafisa Shah)
[3] India and Pakistan - Thawing the frozen divide (Karl F. Inderfurth)
[4] India and Pakistan: Siachen: symbol of hope, not hostility (Suman Sahai)
[5] Pakistan - India - Hindu Right and the 
Congress Party: Off with the blinkers (Jawed 
Naqvi)
[6] Think Out Of The Box  - to resolve India's Naga Dispute (Sanjib Baruah)
[7] Announcements:
(i) The No! No! Campaign!! Against Arms Sales to Pakistan and India
(ii) AMAN Peace and Conflict Studies Course 
(Delhi, September 26 - October 26, 2005)


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


[1]

The Daily Star
May 24, 2005

THREAT TO SEIZE AHMADIYYA COMPLEX
RIGHTS GROUPS VOW TO RESIST SATKHIRA BIGOTS

Staff Correspondent
Leaders and activists of 12 human rights and 
women's organisations will gather on June 1 at 
Shamnagar in Satkhira, resisting an attempt by 
religious bigots, led by the International Khatme 
Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB), to capture 
the Ahmadiyya Shamnagar complex on the same day.

In a prelude to the showdown, IKNMB, meanwhile, 
reasserted its plan to capture the complex during 
a rally held on Sunday night in defiance of 
police.

Human rights organisations, speaking at a press 
conference at the National Press Club in the 
capital yesterday, announced a series of 
resistance programmes, including grand rallies at 
Satkhira on May 26 and 30, a press conference in 
Jessore on May 25, and a view exchanging meeting 
in Khulna on May 26. The programmes, they say, 
are intended to resist the religious bigots since 
the government has shown indifference toward the 
Ahmadiyya communities.

Their remarks came after IKNMB and their 
supporters, ignoring the resistance of police 
forces, held a scheduled rally at about 9:00pm on 
Sunday at the Mantala intersection in Kaligonj 
upazila. Police earlier prevented them from 
holding the rally, which IKNMB had announced in 
preparation for capturing the Ahmadiyya mosque at 
Shampur Bazar in Satkhira on June 1.

IKNMB said it will seize the mosque if a case 
filed against IKNMB leaders is not withdrawn by 
May 30. Ahmadiyyas filed the case with the 
Shamnagar Police Station after supporters of the 
anti-Ahmadiyya outfit attacked them, injuring 
over 50 people, including women and children, and 
looted at least 10 houses at Sundarban Bazar of 
Shamnagar upazila on April 17.

IKNMB has also demanded that a signboard, which 
they posted on the Ahmadiyya mosque on April 17, 
be hung again by May 30. The sign read, 'A place 
of worship for the Ahmadiyya Community, Sundarban 
Bazar' and advised Muslims not to mistake the 
place as a mosque.

Police did not stop Sunday night's rally, which 
began as soon as IKNMB's Nayebe Anir Mufti, Noor 
Hossain Nuruni, reached Mantala at about 8:30pm. 
Mufti Nuruni, an accused in the case filed by 
Ahmadiyyas, said supporters of IKNMB will compel 
the government to declare the Ahmadiyyas as 
non-Muslim by December 31 by launching a mass 
movement.

"Police have violated the constitution as well as 
Islam by trying to prevent them from holding the 
rally, which is part of their religious rights," 
he said.

In light of such activities, human rights 
organisations yesterday urged all, including the 
government, to create public awareness for 
protecting the rights of the Ahmadiyyas at the 
local level. "Religious bigots are acting against 
freedom of speech and freedom of religion - which 
is contrary to the spirit of the Liberation War 
and the Independence of Bangladesh - by launching 
attacks on the Ahmadiyyas," said Sultana Kamal, 
executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).

Other speakers accused the government of turning 
a blind eye to the harassment of the Ahmadiyya 
community. "It is clear to us that the BNP-Jamaat 
government is giving indirect support to the 
religious bigots," said Advocate Ruhul Quddus of 
Jatiya Ainjibee Parishad.

Maksuda Akhter of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, Dr 
Kaustina Pereira of Jatiya Ainjibee Parishad, SM 
Monjur Rashid of Action Aid Bangladesh, Farida 
Yasmin of Nari Pakkha, Maksuda Akhtar of 
Bangladesh Mohila Parishad and Lina Jamin of Nari 
and Manabadhikar Foundation were present.

The other organisations taking part in the 
conference included Nijera Kori, Bangladesh 
Mohila Ainjibee Samitee, Manabadhikar Bastabayan 
Sangstha, Durbar Network and Odhikar.


______


[2]

Dawn
22 May 2005

PRISON HOUSES OR MONEY MINTING DENS?
By Nafisa Shah

ALTHOUGH we continue to be shocked by the 
atrocities faced by the prisoners at Guantanamo 
Bay and Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail, a certain amount 
of national obliviousness exists to the dark and 
Dickensonian conditions prevailing in our own 
prisons. The recent clashes in Sukkur jail were 
but one example of their kind and remain an 
important indicator of the general state of our 
prisons.
In theory, prisons are meant to reform people so 
that they can re-enter society leaving their life 
of crime behind them. But Pakistani jails do not 
live up to this definition. Here in our prisons, 
people are criminalized further, and state power 
is collusive in such criminalization.
Regular reports by human rights bodies and the 
Pakistan Law Commission bring out the logistical 
and physical problems of jails. The most 
frequently cited problem is that of overcrowding 
(the interior ministry report released in June 
2004 states that there are 80,000 prisoners in 
Pakistan's 73 prisons, against a capacity of 
35,365 inmates), lack of sanitation facilities, 
the slow disposal of cases, etc.
However commissions, reform reports etc, have 
failed to point out the worst aspect of Pakistani 
prisons: that a large number of them have become 
extraction centres, and crime dens, much like 
urban underworlds. The harrowing stories that are 
narrated by prisoners in Sindh's jails depicts 
them in the light of human objects to be 
humiliated. They are treated as criminals, not to 
be reformed but to be punished. There is only one 
way to escape this - money.
Most jail superintendents, at least in Sindh, are 
running prisons on almost a commercial basis with 
money passing hands between the jail staff and 
the prisoners. In this article, my examples come 
from two jails, in Khairpur and Karachi. However, 
anecdotal evidence from other jails, including 
Sukkur jail, shows that the experience is 
probably not very different there.
Each jail has its own 'market' value. According 
to my calculation, based on various confidential 
letters sent to me from time to time by former 
prisoners and jail staff, Khairpur jail fetches 
easily about Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh a month 
while the figure at Karachi jail is about Rs. 80 
lakh to a crore. Jail commissions might want to 
investigate how this 'protection money' is 
distributed.
A few months ago, a relation was sent to Karachi 
jail. The story he brought back was an 
eye-opener. There are about 8,000 inmates in the 
prison, most of them under-trial prisoners. There 
is just about enough space in the barracks to lie 
straight at night. Space is competitive and 
poverty is a major disincentive. Poor inmates are 
packed like sardines and there is not enough 
space even to turn around.
Nearly 200 people are thrown into a single 
barrack. The point here is that the condition of 
the prisoner is contingent upon the money he 
brings in. Inmates pay for everything, even to 
escape fatigue.
'Sifarish' helps too. I was told that initially, 
the jail guard demanded Rs. 200,000 from a group 
of five prisoners if they wanted to escape the 
general regimen of prisoners. It was only after 
the intervention of the governor that the demand 
was abandoned.
It is also reported that the jail authorities 
charged protection money to the tune of Rs. 
100,000 from each member of the revenue staff 
recently arrested when the minister for revenue 
was sacked. The whole amount was paid.
So insult, humiliation, and protection money add 
to the travails of the inmates, most of whom are 
not convicts. Interestingly, the persons for the 
job, are long-serving convicts, who are now 
assigned duties of 'watch and ward' inside the 
jail premises.
As district nazim, I have received several 
letters from those at Khairpur jail over the 
years. There are complaints of humiliation, of 
beatings, of massive protection money being 
demanded. From time to time, I have intimated the 
higher authorities of these complaints, but in 
vain. Portions of a recent letter are reproduced 
below:
The jail officials, it notes, are "running 
everything on contract. Money for washing 
clothes, money for keeping mobile phones, money 
for charas, for gambling, and even young boys for 
money. Television is allowed and they all have 
cables. For every cable about Rs. 2,000 a month 
is charged.
"...There is a category of prisoners who are 
called dalal qaidis who have been sentenced to 
death ... who are assigned tasks for collection. 
If you make a visit inside the jail premises, you 
are charged Rs. 140 rupees... A sipahi has taken 
a contract for Rs. 5,000 a week. Every Eid, or on 
August 14, charges for one visit are Rs. 350.
"If an inmate is new, then he must furnish the 
jail superintendent with a sum of between Rs. 
2,000 to Rs. 5,000, in order to avoid a beating. 
One prisoner - a dacoit - was charged Rs. 20,000 
for not being sent to Sukkur. He is threatening 
others of having them transferred to Sukkur, 
Hyderabad or Larkana jails if he is not paid Rs. 
1,000 per month...Some special prisoners have 
been given phones, and some have pistols as 
well." This underlines the link the dacoits have 
with their companions outside jail.
According to another letter by a prisoner 
released on bail, a new prisoner is asked if he 
knows anyone inside the prison compound who could 
give an undertaking that an advance would be paid 
to jail authorities. If the reply is in the 
negative, the newcomer is beaten up. (It should 
be mentioned that severe beatings are inflicted 
on a new prisoner who is then kept in solitary 
confinement. A middleman, often a convicted 
prisoner, is sent to negotiate the price to be 
paid to avoid these cells. This mediator often 
also allows loans and guarantees to the new 
inmate to be compensated at a future date.)
Commenting on the poor prison diet, the letter 
says that flour is mixed with lentils to increase 
the quantity and that drugs are freely available. 
The government had apparently given the jail 
authorities Rs. 1500,000 but very little of this 
money was used on what it was meant for. Instead, 
money was extracted from the prisoners. Moreover, 
gas facilities are available only to the staff.
There is a category of prisoners known as yateem 
qaidis, who have no relatives and no money. Their 
services are sold to richer prisoners who hire 
them for Rs. 1,000 paid to the jail authorities 
for tasks like washing and cleaning shoes. The 
yateem qaidis are frequently beaten.
A recently released prisoner said that he had to 
pay Rs. 2,500 as protection money every month in 
Khairpur jail. This was confirmed by an officer 
who has served in the jail. Prostitution, too, is 
common in Khairpur jail. Young men are made 
available for other inmates. Prices may range to 
as high as Rs. 10,000 a night.
This information is neither classified nor 
confidential. It is well known. Anyone who serves 
time in jail comes back with similar grisly 
accounts of the treatment meted out to prisoners. 
However, inmates are not ready to testify in 
official inquiries and land themselves into 
greater trouble.
The collusion starts at the top, and it is 
possible that the notorious chain, linking 
officials and prisoners, also includes 
influential personalities, as quite a few people 
use "sifarish" to avoid multiple charges. Poor 
women come weeping to me, asking me to write 
letters to the jail superintendent to exempt them 
from paying money.
The repercussions of this scenario are serious. 
If prisoners pay through their teeth, then they 
also weaken the authority of the jail staff, and 
as the Sukkur incident shows, are not governed by 
any form of discipline.
Pakistan's jails are regulated by the Prisoner's 
Act of 1875, with added rules framed in 1972. The 
prison rules, a colonial mishmash, allow for 
severe punitive measures, solitary confinement, 
whipping, handcuffs, chain links and bar fetters 
to be used on the prisoners. The jail 
superintendent is the sole authority and the 
prisoners have no other recourse to lodge an 
appeal against their condition. These draconian 
measures legitimize the cruel and inhuman 
treatment of prisoners at the hands of their 
jailers. This is a deterrent not to curb 
lawlessness but for those who do not pay.
A jail reform commission recommended more 
reform-oriented work and the provision of space, 
of building new prisons, including open jails, 
and of initiating technical and vocational 
skills. It also recommended separate jails for 
women and total separation of juvenile prisoners 
from adult (often more hardened) prisoners. 
However, these recommendations have not been 
seriously considered.
Our lawmakers must urgently evaluate the state of 
prisons. Large public interest groups comprising 
human rights activists, judges and lawyers must 
be included in committees charged with overseeing 
prison reforms and should perform the functions 
of legal entities on whom clear powers have been 
bestowed.
The writer is district nazim, Khairpur.


_______


[3]

The Christian Science Monitor - May 23, 2005 edition

INDIA AND PAKISTAN - THAWING THE FROZEN DIVIDE
By Karl F. Inderfurth

WASHINGTON - Imagine waging a miniwar at 21,000 
feet, where temperatures touch minus 40 degrees, 
and where altitude sickness and frostbite have 
caused as many casualties as bullets and 
artillery rounds. That's what India and Pakistan 
have been doing for the past two decades in a 
remote area of disputed Kashmir known as the 
Siachen Glacier, the world's largest outside the 
polar regions.

Few contend Siachen has any strategic value, but 
it has been important as a symbol of the 
unremitting hostility that has existed between 
India and Pakistan, neighbors who have fought 
three wars and added nuclear weapons to their 
military options.

But the dispute across the glacier's 47-mile-long 
frozen divide on the western end of the Himalayan 
chain may be thawing, as part of a wider, more 
comprehensive peace process that has been 
unfolding between India and Pakistan for the past 
two years.

The defense ministers of the two countries are 
scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in 
Islamabad. Their instructions, contained in the 
joint statement issued at the end of Pakistan 
President Pervez Musharraf's recent visit to 
India, are to find a "mutually acceptable 
solution" to Siachen and to do so "expeditiously."

Three factors augur well for accomplishing that 
objective. First, India and Pakistan agreed to a 
cease-fire across the Line of Control, the 
military line that divides Kashmir, in November 
2003. That cease-fire included Siachen, and the 
guns have remained silent since. Second, the two 
sides nearly reached an agreement to resolve the 
dispute over a decade ago, to include a phased 
troop withdrawal and demilitarization. As a 
former Indian foreign secretary puts it, all 
that's needed now is "to dust off the old ideas 
and take them forward."

But the most important factor pointing toward a 
possible breakthrough on Siachen is the fact that 
the two countries are now in the midst of their 
longest-running - and most hopeful - effort to 
normalize relations in their history.

At their mid-April meeting in New Delhi, India's 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President 
Musharraf watched their national teams play a 
long-anticipated cricket match. Pakistan won but 
"cricket diplomacy" is proving to be a winner for 
both countries.

The joint statement issued at the end of their 
discussions said the two leaders have "determined 
that the peace process was now irreversible." 
They agreed to pursue further measures - like the 
bus service that began April 7 connecting the two 
capitals of divided Kashmir - "to enhance 
interaction and cooperation." This will include 
more meeting points for separated families, 
trade, pilgrimages, and cultural exchanges. 
India's Singh says "soft borders" will create the 
right climate for a final Kashmir settlement, 
which both leaders said they are committed to 
achieve.

Most important, Singh and Musharraf pledged they 
"would not allow terrorism to impede the peace 
process." As The Economist pointed out, this is 
"a striking promise, implying both that Pakistan 
is distancing itself further from 'freedom 
fighters' in Kashmir, and that India is not going 
to react to every terrorist attack as if it were 
an act of Pakistan aggression." This pledge, in 
short, gives the current peace process a real 
chance to succeed.

Unfortunately, that pledge is being tested. In 
recent days, a car bomb in a business district in 
Srinigar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir, and 
a grenade explosion at a school there killed 
several people and injured nearly 100. While the 
Indian press reported that a "pro-Pakistan 
militant outfit" claimed responsibility for the 
first terrorist act, Pakistani press accounts 
attributed the attacks to "freedom fighters."

But if the unfolding peace process between India 
and Pakistan is able to withstand such 
challenges, what is to become of the Siachen 
Glacier?

A creative solution has been offered by South 
Asian conservationists. Concerned by 
environmental degradation and loss of life, they 
have proposed that the glacier - source of the 
Indus River, a key resource for both India and 
Pakistan - be converted into an ecological peace 
park, jointly maintained by both nations without 
reference to territorial boundaries. Both 
countries already have high-altitude natural 
reserves. Moreover, the concept of peace parks is 
not new.

Today there are some 140 trans-frontier parks on 
the borders of about 100 countries.

Perhaps the time has arrived for the world's 
highest battlefield - the Siachen, which means 
"place of roses" - to be added to that list.

* Karl F. Inderfurth served as US assistant 
secretary of State for South Asian affairs 
(1997-2001) and is a professor at the Elliott 
School of International Affairs at George 
Washington University.


_______


[4]

The News International
May 24, 2005

SIACHEN: SYMBOL OF HOPE, NOT HOSTILITY

Suman Sahai

The Siachen glacier is the highest, and possibly 
the harshest battlefield, in the world. This icy 
wasteland is a drain on the exchequers of both 
India and Pakistan. It costs India about two 
billion rupees every month to maintain a troop 
presence in Siachen. Possibly it costs Pakistan 
the same.

For a fraction of this cost and with a great deal 
of imagination, this bone of contention could 
become an asset for both countries. Siachen, with 
its military presence, could become the perfect 
gene bank for the region's precious and highly 
specialised genetic resources! This symbol of 
fractious fighting and hostility could be turned 
into a symbol of hope and collaboration for the 
future, now that the leaders of our warring 
nations are walking the road to peace.

India, which has one of the largest gene banks in 
the world, understands the importance of 
conserving genetic material. Pakistan does too. 
For both nations, genetic resources form the 
backbone of the economy and the basis of the 
livelihoods of tribal and rural communities. 
Genetic resources are also the raw material for 
biotechnology, which will dominate up to 60 
percent of the global economy in the coming 
years. India and Pakistan can develop as 
important producers of biotechnological products, 
given the richness of their genetic wealth. To do 
this, they must begin by conserving and storing 
their genetic wealth in gene banks. One option is 
to base such gene banks in the permanently frozen 
glaciers of Siachen.

India and Pakistan, like the rest of the 
subcontinent, are home to several thousand 
species of plant, insect and animal life. This 
biological wealth is one of the most sought-after 
resources in the world today. The Indian 
Subcontinent contains some of the most important 
biodiversity "hot spots" of the world. This 
region has given the world several varieties of 
food and cash crops and has contributed 
significantly to the stability in global 
agriculture. The famed Basmati rice being poached 
by America belongs to the Indo-Pakistani region. 
The Subcontinent has contributed to at least 
20,000 varieties of rice to the International 
Gene Bank in the Philippines. Similarly, it has 
contributed many kinds of pulses, peas and beans, 
other kinds of cereal like millets, vegetables 
and spices to various gene banks that are 
conserving genetic resources for the future.

A gene bank is one of the facilities necessary to 
conserve the fast eroding genetic diversity in 
our fields. If we fail to conserve our genetic 
(biological) diversity, we risk the future food 
security of this country, as also of the world. 
In addition to plant varieties in agriculture. 
There is an urgent need to save our forest 
resources, the animal and fish species in our 
rivers and the insects and the micro-organisms of 
our region.

Most of the gene banks in existence are located 
in Western nations. Although they are governed by 
an international mandate, practically, the 
control over the genetic material in the bank is 
not in the hands of those who are the 
contributors. India for example, has little 
control over the many thousand rice varieties 
lying banked at IRRI in the Philippines. All our 
micro-organisms are lying banked in an American 
facility because we do not have our own gene bank 
for storing these. At this time, with an 
aggressive biotechnology industry demanding 
access to our genetic resources and forcing an 
international patent regime to monopolise these 
resources, it has become imperative for us to 
think of our own gene banks, under our control.

Gene banks are expensive options and the cost has 
been one of the major impediments to setting up 
our own facilities on a large scale. The National 
Gene Bank in Delhi has been an Indo-US effort. 
But given the current climate of controversy over 
genetic resources, in the matter of storing our 
genetic material, it is best to be independent. 
Although a conventional gene bank is an expensive 
proposition, an unconventional gene bank need not 
be so.

A gene bank is essentially a combination of 
fridge and freezer. Here there are two ways of 
storing genetic material, usually in the form of 
seeds. Seeds can be stored for five to 15 years 
(medium-term storage) in the "fridge" section, at 
five degrees Celsius. This is not so difficult. 
While seeds that have to be stored for a long 
term which theoretically means "forever," have to 
be stored in the "freezer" section, which means 
at -20 degrees Celsius. This is somewhat more 
difficult because it means very heavy energy 
costs. Maintaining a gene bank at -20 degrees not 
only means heavy electricity bills but, given the 
problem of power shortages, it means providing 
back-up support by captive power generation, 
making the whole exercise still more expensive.

The permanently frozen Siachen is a natural 
freezer where the imperative -20 degrees C is 
provided by nature and entails no electricity 
bills. Here is a free gene bank of almost 
unlimited capacity, provided we have the 
imagination and the will to seize the 
opportunity. India and Pakistan maintain highly 
trained troops in that territory. This skilled 
manpower is bored out of its head and has nothing 
better to do than take pot shots at each other.

It is not unreasonable to assume they would be 
more than happy to catalogue, store and maintain 
the foundation of their children's future, 
provided their leaders let them.

Making a gene bank in the Siachen would really be 
quite a simple affair. All the technical know-how 
is available at the National Gene Bank in Delhi. 
What is essentially required is for seed samples 
to be treated appropriately for long-term 
storage, put into special aluminium pouches, 
labelled properly and put into the bank. What is 
important is that the samples can be retrieved 
periodically and sent back to the field to test 
that nothing has gone wrong in storage and that 
they are still viable.

The seeds derived from these grown-out samples 
can go back to the bank. Suitable sites in the 
Siachen can be selected as, so to speak, ice 
cupboards where boxes containing the aluminium 
pouches can be stored. A similar, perhaps less 
glamorous but, under the circumstances, more 
easily implementable option is available for us 
in the experimental station we maintain in 
Antarctica. In this perma-frost region nature has 
also provided conditions which are suitable for 
natural gene banks. Here also we maintain highly 
trained teams of scientists so manpower will not 
be an additional cost. For a modest sum of money, 
the banking facilities for the genetic resources 
of our region can be extended almost indefinitely.

Gene banks in the Antarctic and Siachen are new 
ideas, but they have tremendous potential. Their 
likely impact on securing the livelihoods of our 
people and strengthening the economy of our 
region should be incentive enough to try. Given 
the crucial importance of genetic resources to 
our joint future, it is time for the leaders of 
India and Pakistan to demonstrate a quantum leap 
in creative thinking.

The writer is director of Gene Campaign, a leading Indian NGO


_______


[5]


Dawn - May 23, 2005

OFF WITH THE BLINKERS
By Jawed Naqvi

NEW DELHI: President Pervez Musharraf's newly 
advertised belief that his chemistry with Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh offers the best chance 
for a solution to the Kashmir issue actually 
marks a tectonic shift from Pakistan's erstwhile 
blinkered view that it could do serious business 
only with rightwing Hindu hardliners. That Dr 
Singh is neither a Hindu revivalist nor a dyed in 
the wool Pakistan-baiter, which the BJP and its 
various leaders had quite evidently proved to be, 
should be an eye-opener for those, including most 
notably Pakistani liberals, who had cultivated a 
perverse preference for the Hindutva leadership 
out of a kind of spite, as it were, for the 
Congress. It is a fact though that the Congress 
has not been entirely clean on many of the 
concerns voiced by liberals in both countries, 
nor does it smell of roses on the communal 
question. Over a period of time, and certainly 
since the mid-eighties, it has promoted a narrow 
nationalism as well as Hindu communalism whose 
DNA is not very different from the BJP's.
Moreover, the Congress has traditionally had an 
extra weapon in its quiver - that of fanning 
Muslim communalism and obscurantism to fit 
apolitical, electoral need. The roots go back to 
the years before Independence when Mahatma Gandhi 
sought to get Indian Muslims tethered to the 
Khilafat Movement as an anti-British tool. For 
all practical purposes the Khilafat Movement 
ended up as an attempt to stave off the rout of a 
system of religious leadership of Muslims that 
was no longer going to be tenable in 
thecontemporary world.
Today, juxtaposed to President Musharraf's stated 
objective to lead his country towards an 
Ataturk-inspired modern, liberal nation state, 
the Khilafat Movement of Gandhiji appears even 
more medieval than was originally visualized. 
There may be many pitfalls in the Ataturk model 
of governance, not the least being a tendency for 
authoritarianism, but few can question its thrust 
for a badly required enlightenment visa vis 
religious zealotry rampant in both countries. 
Last week, the Indian state - which is 
essentially a hotchpotch amalgam of the Congress 
and the BJP's worldview - took yet another step 
to stoke the fires of Hindu-Muslim communal 
passions. It did so with a clearly delineated 
electoral purpose. In its new ill-considered move 
the government gave Aligarh MuslimUniversity, 
which is a federally funded institution mind you, 
a kind of a minority status by granting 50 per 
cent reservations for Muslim students. The Indian 
constitution does not allow for such reservation 
on religious grounds. That is the hallmark of a 
secular state. In any case the university has 
more than 50 per cent Muslim students at any 
point of time. So what's the big deal? No prizes 
for guessing then that the BJP lunged at the 
issue and why not? If and when elections are held 
in Uttar Pradesh or anywhere else in the north, 
even Assam for that matter, the BJP would raise 
the bogey of appeasement of Muslims by the 
Congress, a time-tested political plank. The BJP 
would get more Hindu votes and the Congress would 
probably get a few more Muslim votes.
Bal Thackeray, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and All 
India MuslimPersonal Law Board, which has been 
effectively given the contract to brainwash young 
Muslim minds in the madrasas, were patronized by 
the Indian state under Congress rule. In fact 
they were set up to foil the secular liberal 
politics because liberal politics would logically 
lead to egalitarian demands, which the Indian 
state is not ready to entertain. This approach 
persists even more vehemently today. The problem 
with this kind of polarization is that it not 
only fuels Hindu and Muslim extremists, but it 
also takes away the focus from the issues that 
need to be targeted. For the Congress the latest 
Aligarh move is a clever attempt to create the 
illusion of helping Muslims without actually 
doing anything for them, except bringing more 
harm. What do Indians need most, and let us 
assume that Muslims are also among them? They 
need jobs. They need security. They need to be 
treated with respect. The state doesn't have to 
try very hard to deliver all these if it can be 
only a little more transparent, merit-oriented, 
caring, and ruthlessly protective about 
everyone's individual and collective rights to 
equality and justice enshrined in the 
constitution.
As Aligarh's most eminent academician and 
acclaimed historian Irfan Habib said the move to 
reserve college seats, when Muslims don't need 
that quota, could only harm them. So while the 
BJP has attacked the reservation issue to whip up 
communalism, the Left has taken up cudgels 
against it to bridge the growing gap between 
India's Muslims and the Indian state.
Addressing the hardcore issues of secular 
governance is thus necessary for it impacts on 
the evolving India-Pakistan relations. Moving 
away from the Khilafat Movement and Ataturk 
models, what is it that ideally the two countries 
would want to see in Kashmir as they head to 
resolve this seemingly intractable issue? What 
kind of political and religious milieu would be 
agreeable? What would happen to both countries if 
Kashmir elects a religiously fundamentalist 
government, bereft of its all-embracing 
Kashmiriyat, if it were to ever hold free and 
fair elections? What are the ways to prevent such 
a slide from happening? Going by the 
diametrically opposite approaches to the kind of 
Muslim society they want to build, President 
Musharraf would win the liberal corner hands 
down. The question really becomes more urgent 
when it gets to Prime Minister Singh and his 
Congress Party. In its attempt to placate Hindus 
and Muslims as electorally useful religious 
categories - tinkering with the Ayodhya mosque 
here and a Muslim divorcee's case there - the 
Congress was forced into political oblivion for 
four general elections. And if it hasn't learnt 
any lessons from history, then it would be 
leaving Pakistan with no choice but to continue 
to engage with the BJPas the only feasible 
interlocutor. For who knows when the Congress is 
going to hand the Hindutva hordes the ideal come 
back vehicle of communalism. Dr. Singh's liberal 
credentials notwithstanding."


______


[6]


The Telegraph, 14 May 2005.

THINK OUT OF THE BOX

Sanjib Baruah

T. Muivah's suggestion - a special federal 
relationship with India - may well be the 
solution to the Naga dispute, writes Sanjib Baruah

When in an interview on BBC's Hard Talk last 
month Thuingaleng Muivah spoke of a special 
federal relationship with India it could have 
become a sign that the eight-year-old peace 
process is finally heading towards a settlement. 
However, it was not interpreted that way. 
Apparently our opinion-makers do not consider a 
special federal relationship a viable 
proposition. Nor can the kind of constitutional 
change necessary to create such a relationship be 
won in a bargain at a closed-door negotiation. 
Public debates have to first prepare the ground.

In certain ways, the climate for such a debate 
could not have been more conducive. Today, 
innovative new ideas are part of the discussion 
on the status of Kashmir. Consider K. Natwar 
Singh's sky-is-the-limit comment on what is 
possible. There is no reason why the same could 
not apply to Nagaland. However, whether the kind 
of national attention that focuses on Kashmir can 
be mobilized for the Naga question is another 
matter. When it comes to the North-east, we seem 
to be quite content to leave decisions to small 
groups of people: we don't even want to know very 
much until some crisis boils over.

There have been two major stumbling blocks to a 
settlement of the Naga conflict - the question of 
Naga sovereignty and the idea of integration of 
Naga-inhabited areas. Under the leadership of 
Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu, the Nagas have begun 
thinking of the sovereignty question in quite 
creative ways, outside the traditional paradigm 
of independence.

This has been an act of admirable statesmanship 
on the part of Muivah and Swu, and the single 
most important factor that has carried the peace 
process this far. There is no similar movement on 
the question of the integration of Naga-inhabited 
areas, but Muivah has indicated that he only 
seeks an agreement in principle. He is willing to 
give more time for translating such a commitment 
into practice.

It is in this context that the idea of special 
federal arrangements could provide a 
breakthrough. Muivah's reply to a question on 
whether such a settlement could be within the 
framework of the Constitution was suggestive. It 
can come "as close as possible" to that, he said, 
but ruled out a settlement "within the Indian 
Union or within the framework of the Indian 
Constitution". Yet it is hard to argue that a 
federal relationship can be anything other than 
one that is spelt out in the Constitution. 
Further, Muivah's reasoning on the issue was not 
based on principle, but on a concern that an 
agreement made today might not last, that laws 
incorporating such an arrangement can be thrown 
out later.

One can hardly blame Muivah for reading the 
Indian track record accurately. After all, that 
is exactly what happened to the autonomy that 
Jammu and Kashmir had once enjoyed. Article 370 
had made India a leading example of what 
political scientists call asymmetrical federalism 
- a federation where some units have different 
powers, or greater autonomy than others. In the 
case of Kashmir, it was done to make its 
constitutional status consistent with the 
accession instrument. Thus parliament's powers 
were limited to defence, foreign affairs and 
communication and the residual powers were left 
to the state assembly. Furthermore, the state's 
two top offices had special designations - 
Sadr-i-Riyasat, instead of governor, and prime 
minister, rather than chief minister. But 
gradually all elements of Kashmir's special 
autonomy disappeared, titles like Sadr-i-Riyasat 
were eliminated and Kashmir became like any other 
state.

Today a leading example of asymmetrical 
federalism is Canada, where Quebec has more 
powers in certain areas compared to the 
predominantly Anglophone provinces, and Spain, 
where "historical communities" such as Catalonia, 
Basque Country and Galicia have more powers than 
other autonomous communities.

But unlike Canada and Spain, Indian public 
opinion has been ambivalent about asymmetrical 
federalism. To a large extent, this attitude was 
responsible for sealing the fate of Article 370. 
Article 371, which follows the constitutional 
provision on Kashmir, grants some asymmetrical 
autonomy to Nagaland and a few other northeastern 
states. That this autonomy has survived owes more 
to the lack of interest in the region in the rest 
of the country than to any active public support 
for such a dispensation.

A special federal relationship can be built on 
the foundation of the asymmetrical federalism 
that already exists in Nagaland. Indeed it might 
even permit the settlement of the integration 
issue. For instance, a second legislative chamber 
can be constituted to represent the interests of 
Nagas living outside Nagaland. Such a chamber 
elected by non-territorial constituencies - 
something like a Naga Ho-ho transformed into a 
statutory body - can recognize the trans-state 
nature of Naga identity and respect the 
territorial integrity of states like Manipur, 
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. But such an idea 
cannot be explored unless the neighbouring 
northeastern states are brought into the 
discussion as stakeholders in the Naga conflict.

One should not expect a final settlement to take 
the form of an agreement announced to the press 
at the end of secret negotiations. What the next 
stage of the Naga peace process needs most is not 
fresh ideas but active efforts to link what 
happens behind closed doors with dialogues 
outside. Such dialogues should involve not only 
Naga civil society, but also the civil societies 
of the neighbouring northeastern states and the 
rest of the country. The Naga leadership and the 
Indian government must now muster enough 
political will not only to imagine a viable 
blueprint for the future but a road map on how to 
reach there. And such a road map must include a 
healthy dose of public participation.

Sanjib Baruah is visiting professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.


______


[7]   [Announcements]

(i)

Dear All
The No! No! Campaign!! was launched successfully 
on 11th May 2005 in India and Pakistan. As per 
reports received, the Campaign was launched at 
the South Asian Peace Conference in Multan in 
which over 800 delegates from across Pakistan 
participated. Admiral Ramdas launched the 
Campaign at a Public Meeting in Hyderabad, India.

The No! No! Campaign received unprecedented 
endorsement and response from networks and 
organisations in both the countries. List of 
collaborating organisations is attached and also 
available on the Campaign website: 
www.nonocampaign.net

Facility for online endorsements is also active. 
Please visit Petitions Online to sign at the 
following address:
www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/nonocampaign

Please pass on this mail to all your contacts 
with a request to sign and endorse the Campaign.

Signature drives have been initiated and are 
continuing in many cities and towns across India 
and Pakistan.

According to Dr. Nayyar of Pakistan Peace 
Coalition, groups in Islamabad and Rawalpindi 
have “decided to hold a daily demonstration from 
May 12 to May 27, choosing different sites in the 
twin cities, and involving different component 
organisations as focal organisers. So, while one 
day, it will be a CPC demo in the main bazar of 
Islamabad, the next day a trade union will 
arrange it on a busy intersection in Rawalpindi, 
and a third will be organised by students of a 
university, and so on”.

Similar daily campaigns are being organised in 
Hyderabad Deccan by different organisations, 
unions, and student groups at recreation centers, 
university campuses, railway reservation 
counters, bus stops, shopping malls and all such 
places where people congregate. As a result of 
tapping such varied public places, it has become 
possible to reach out to different sections of 
society from the poor to the educated and elite 
and spanning all age groups. The enthusiasm of 
the people is unbelievable and most are 
expressing happiness at this opportunity to 
participate in this initiative to promote peace 
and goodwill between India and Pakistan.

A Leaflet detailing the India Pakistan defense 
spending vis a vis allocations for education and 
health in both the countries and revealing that 
the cost of one F 16 is enough to construct 2400 
primary schools that could educate 12 lakh 
children and other such estimations is proving to 
be a great hit and winning over scores to the 
peace constituency. A copy of the Leaflet is 
attached (in both Acrobat Reader and Word 
Formats).

The Leaflets along with the Petition Form to take 
signatures from people are printed and available 
in Hindi, English, Urdu and Telugu. These could 
be posted to groups in India already engaged in 
or interested in launching campaigns in their 
areas. Alternatively, you could download the 
attachments and print your own copies.  Groups in 
Pakistan are translating them into Punjabi and 
Sindhi also.

As Schools and Colleges are on vacation, it was 
decided to carry on the Campaign till 11th July 
2005. So we have some more time and the 
possibility of reaching out to millions of 
students and youth to sensitise and enlist them 
into the peace constituency.

Request all to organise signature Campaigns in 
your areas and also inform us about all your 
programs, experiences and successes so that we 
could put them on the Campaign website and share 
with others.

Please visit the Campaign Website: : www.nonocampaign.net

Please sign online at: www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/nonocampaign

Please forward this mail to all on your mail list.

Regards
Mazher

o o o o

(ii)

Dear All,

Greetings from Aman. We hope this mail finds you well. Being friends of
Aman or ex-participants of the Peace Course, we announce the opening of
applications for Peace Course, 2005. Below are some details of the
course, which we would be glad if you forwarded to people who would be
interested in attending the course or posted on your respective sites.

As in the past, we hope to work with people concerned with issues of
conflict and further the process towards peace.

Regards,

Dilip Simeon
Director, Aman


The AMAN Peace and Conflict Studies Course (In collaboration with Jamia
Hamdard)
Delhi, September 26 - October 26, 2005

Overview

The course aims at developing and widening intellectual discourse on the
subject among individuals working in NGOs, teachers, journalists,
students and other concerned citizens. The course will make Indian and
South Asian reality a starting point for an investigation of conflict,
violence and its many ramifications. A conceptual approach that will
connect, rather than compartmentalize themes relevant to violence and
conflict will be developed. We believe that philosophical and ethical
inquiry is a necessary element in such a study. Our lectures and
seminars shall examine the relationship between local and global issues,
competing histories and antagonistic polities; and the functions that
link ethnic identity, gender, and symbols to political and economic
structures.

Duration

The course will be conducted from 26th September to 26th October, 2005.
It will be interactive and residential, with two or three units being
conducted every day, two in the mornings and one in the afternoon/early
evening. Each unit will consist of two hours, and will include a lecture
and a discussion.

A seminar on issues which require further discussion will be organized
at the end of each week.

Application requirements

Prospective participants are required to send the following information
by 10 July 2005.

1) A Curriculum Vitae
2) Interest in attending the course (500-800 words)
3) Name and Contacts of two referees

Participants' ability to comprehend lectures and other forms of
discussion in English is necessary, although the course is open to those
who wish to speak and submit their coursework in Hindi.

Course Structure: The course will consist of the following six rubrics,
whose contents will be supplied in greater detail to participants over
the weeks preceding the course. The web site can be visited for regular
updates. <www.amanpanchayat.org>

Rubric 1: Ethical and Philosophical Perspectives on Violence
Rubric 2: Aspects of twentieth century world history
Rubric 3: Conflict Issues in the Womens Movement
Rubric 4: The world order and concepts of conflict
Rubric 5 : Issues in the Contemporary History of India and South Asia
Rubric 6: Law, Conflict and Peace Processes



Costs and fee waivers for suitable candidates will be announced next
week.

Please ask for more information on the Aman Trust and the Peace Course
from our office, via e-mail, or ordinary mail. Address correspondence
to:

Peace Course, The Aman Trust
C- 651, 1st Floor,
New Friends Colony,
New Delhi- 110065
E-mail: peacecourse at amanpanchayat.org

Visit AMAN web site for further details on the course and organization
<www.amanpanchayat.org>


Early applications will be appreciated as the course is limited to 20
participants.


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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
matters of peace and democratisation in South 
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