SACW | 28 May 2005

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | 28 May,  2005

[1]  Multi Culti's and peddlers of religious courts in Canada:
- Unholy alliance on the right (Saeed Rahnema)
- Quebec rejects sharia system
- Religious Tribunals: Muslim Canadian Congress 
urges Ontario to follow Québec's lead
[2] Pakistan India:
Reports on 'Assessing people-to-people initiatives' conference
[3] Pakistan:
- A firm grip on electronic media (Omar R. Quraishi)
- Controlling electronic media (Editorial, Dawn)
[4] India: A Dangerous illusion - that the Hindu 
Right has been thrown out  (Mukul Dube)
[5] India: Is RSS a Terrorist Organization? (Ram Puniyani)
[6] India: Sati  - Feminists protest
+ Related resources
[7] India - Assam: RSS and Congress competing in the Anti-Bangladeshi movement
- Anti-Bangladeshi movement back in headlines (Nitin A. Gokhale)
- No welcome for them in Assam (Sushanta Talukdar)


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


[1]

Toronto Star
May 10, 2005

UNHOLY ALLIANCE ON THE RIGHT

Saeed Rahnema
Religions are on the offensive throughout Canada. 
In addition to the majority Christians, Canada 
now enjoys a growing presence of followers of the 
religions of the world: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, 
Sikhism, Buddhism and many others.

While non-Christian religions form a very small 
minority - a combined 7 per cent of the Canadian 
population - their leaders are growing more 
active and vocal, lending support to conservative 
and anti-secular voices among the majority 
Catholics and Protestants. In turn, right-wing 
politicians, hungry for votes, support them 
without regard for long-term consequences.

Non-Christian religious groups increasingly 
demand privileges similar to those originally 
granted to Catholics. The controversial 
Arbitration Law of Ontario, which allows the use 
of Jewish halacha and Muslim sharia law as the 
basis for arbitration, represents a religious 
encroachment on secularism and universal rights 
in Canada.

Though spearheaded by majority Christians and 
supported by conservative politicians, the 
present concerted effort on the part of all these 
religions to derail same-sex marriage legislation 
is another example of an (un-)holy alliance 
against secular democracy.

In pushing their conservative agendas, religious 
leaders often claim to represent entire 
communities, a vision sadly reinforced by 
stereotypes that see religious and ethnic 
communities as homogenous. The reality, however, 
is different. For example, while according to the 
last census there are more than 590,000 Muslims 
in Canada, they constitute a very diverse 
population.

Like other religions, Muslims are divided along 
sectarian lines, not only Sunni-Shiite, but 
subdivisions among them. Moreover, unlike Muslims 
in European countries who tend to be of one 
particular nationality - mostly Pakistanis in 
England, Turks in Germany, Algerians in France - 
Canadian Muslims have diverse national and ethnic 
origins, ranging from India, Pakistan and the 
Middle East, to Africa, China, the Philippines 
and Latin America. This ethnic diversity should 
make it difficult for any religious leader to 
claim their representation.

Understandably, all religious leaders try to show 
they have a large following of devout and active 
believers. While statistically all religions are 
growing (except for mainline Protestant 
denominations, which are declining), the rising 
figures are due primarily to population growth 
and immigration.

Moreover, one important fact is completely 
ignored, namely the relatively large and growing 
number of secularists and Canadians with no 
religion at all. The combined number of Canadian 
agnostics, atheists, humanists, pagans and those 
simply with "no religion" is more than twice the 
size of all non-Christian religions in Canada. 
According to the 2001 census, 16.2 per cent of 
Canadians fall into these categories, a 44 per 
cent increase in a decade. Vote-seeking 
politicians may want to also pay attention to 
this growing group of the population (though 
perhaps not a good fit for Mr. Harper!).

Many religious institutions simply act as centres 
for community support and provision of useful 
social services. This is true particularly for 
members of minority religions who face serious 
problems of racism. Lingering and even growing 
anti-Semitism plagues the Jewish community, 
hostility toward Hindus and Sikhs continues, and 
Canadian Muslims are faced with expanding and 
deepening Islamophobia.

Racism and discrimination have marginalized many 
Muslims. Census data show that Canadian Muslims, 
despite post-secondary education levels twice the 
national average, have an unemployment rate also 
twice the national figure, and median incomes 37 
per cent below the national average. Since 9/11, 
parts of the Muslim community now find themselves 
in a vicious cycle, where the more marginalized 
they become, the more appealing tradition, 
religion and even fundamentalism become, which 
only further marginalizes them. And conservative 
religious leaders take advantage of this 
situation to attract new followers.

It's a sad irony: In less-developed Islamic 
societies, progressive secular intellectuals act 
as agents of change, struggling for 
forward-looking societal transformation and 
fighting conservative values and practices while 
facing suppression by authoritarian regimes and 
reactionary forces. But in developed countries 
that host Muslim diasporas, such as Canada, it is 
the conservative religious leaders who act as 
agents of change, working toward regressive 
transformations and eroding modern values and 
practices even while gaining support from 
democratic governments in the name of 
multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism - as opposed to assimilation - 
is no doubt the best approach to achieving social 
harmony and respect for group rights in an 
ethnically diverse society. In granting group 
rights, however, attention must be paid to the 
contradictions between the rights of a group and 
the universal rights of its individual members.

Canadian democracy and its social cohesion are in 
danger if religious assaults are not confronted 
by a concerted response by progressive secular 
forces that believe in the separation of church 
and state and respect for citizens' rights, as 
guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saeed Rahnema is a professor at York University's 
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional 
Studies.

o o o o

Globeandmail.com
May 26, 2005

QUEBEC REJECTS SHARIA SYSTEM

Quebec - Quebec has rejected the use of Islamic 
tribunals, which can be used to settle family 
disputes, in the province.
In a unanimous vote Thursday, the Quebec 
legislature passed a motion against allowing 
sharia to be used in the legal system.
"The application of sharia in Canada is part of a 
strategy to isolate the Muslim community, so it 
will submit to an archaic vision of Islam," 
Fatima Houda-Pepin, a Liberal member of the 
legislature, said as she introduced the motion 
against use of the Islamic law.
"These demands are being pushed by groups in the 
minority that are using the Charter of Rights to 
attack the foundation of our democratic 
institutions."
The debate over sharia surfaced in Canada two 
years ago when a Muslim group in Ontario proposed 
the arbitration of family disputes according to 
Islamic law.

o o o o

RELIGIOUS TRIBUNALS: MUSLIM CANADIAN CONGRESS 
URGES ONTARIO TO FOLLOW QUÉBEC'S LEAD

     TORONTO, May 27 /CNW/ - The Muslim Canadian Congress has welcomed the
decision of the Quebec Legislature to reject the introduction of Sharia
tribunals as a substitute for Family Law Courts, but expressed regret that the
focus was only on Muslims.
     The MCC is urging Premier Dalton McGuinty to follow this lead and squash
all religious tribunals in Ontario including Jewish and Christian private
arbiters who substitute for Family Law Court judges.
     In a statement, the MCC said it believes the Arbitration Act was never
designed to accommodate family matters, but was created for commercial
disputes. To use religious tribunals as a substitute for Family Law Courts
will effectively begin the privatization of the judicial system. It is also an
attempt to segregate Muslims from mainstream society and ghettoize them.

For further information: call Tarek Fatah at (416) 953-1798



_______


[2]

Daily Times - May 28, 2005
	 
'ASSESSING PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE INITIATIVES': 
Speakers underline need for a liberal visa regime
* Regional forums, South Asian news service and magazine proposed
By Waqar Gillani

LAHORE: The participants of a four-day conference 
on 'Assessing people-to-people initiatives,' 
which concluded on Friday, stressed giving an 
identity to the South Asian people and a liberal 
visa regime among South Asian countries, 
especially between Pakistan and India.
At the concluding session of the conference 
arranged by civil society groups from the both 
sides, about 50 participants spoke on the history 
of people-to-people initiatives for peace, 
justice and democracy taken by the non-government 
organisations and governments in Pakistan and 
India.
Apart from discussions on various selective 
topics, the conference proposed new initiatives, 
including South Asia as a nuclear weapons-free 
zone, cultural exchanges among South Asian 
nations, protection to shared ecosystem, enhanced 
economic and trade activities, decolonisation of 
legal and institutional fabric, a museum to keep 
memoirs of Partition, democratisation, fair and 
free elections, establishment of a South Asian 
news service (SANS); South Asian editors forum; a 
South Asian magazine, opposition to the US 
military bases in South Asia, and support to 
freedom struggle of Palestinians and a sovereign 
Iraq. The conference also decided to publish a 
book and release a CD containing history of the 
peace initiatives in Urdu, Hindi and English.
Kuldip Nayyar, a veteran journalist and 
columnist, said that media in South Asia, 
especially India and Pakistan, was not 
independent. He said that the concept of 
owner-editorship had also restricted freedom of 
expression. Nayyar recommended exchange of media 
delegations between India and Pakistan. He said 
that he was planning to link the newspaper 
editors of the South Asian countries and proposed 
a South Asian magazine representing all 
countries, religions, societies and cultures. He 
also called for easy visa procedures.
South Asia Partnership, Pakistan, Shirkatgah, 
Intercultural Resources, Lokayan, Sangat South 
Asia and Princeton Institute for International 
and Regional Studies had organised the conference.
Hasan Zaidi and Narendra Panjwani denounced 
production of anti-India and anti-Pakistan movies 
from both sides.
Final statement: The conference concluded that 
resolution of outstanding political issues and 
continuation of democratic process could ensure 
security in South Asia.
Several peace initiatives have been taken by the 
organisations like the Pakistan-India Forum for 
Peace and Democracy over the past four decades, 
the statement added. The latest peace initiatives 
include the exchange of schoolchildren, 
sportspersons and youth delegations between 
Pakistan and India.
The conference participants were concerned by the 
strict visa regime between Pakistan and India, 
abject poverty, religious fundamentalism, 
civil-military bureaucracy, repressive and 
discriminatory laws, extra-regional influences, 
adverse impact of neo-liberal economic 
globalisation and state-centred security 
conceptions.


o o o o

Daily Times - May 26, 2005

'Accessing people-to-people initiatives' 
conference: 'THINK BEYOND NATIONALISM TO RESOLVE 
KASHMIR ISSUE'

LAHORE: India and Pakistan must go beyond 
nationalism to resolve the Kashmir issue, said 
speakers at the second day of the 'Accessing 
people-to-people initiatives' conference 
organised by civil society groups from India and 
Pakistan.
The speakers, discussing nuclearisation, 
militarisation and the Kashmir issue, said that a 
viable solution required the input of the people 
of Kashmir and not the "puppet leaderships" 
created by India and Pakistan. Dr Mubashir Hasan, 
former Pakistan foreign minister, said a solution 
to the Kashmir issue was possible, "if the elite 
can identify the benefits they will get in the 
solution they can realise".
He said that previously, it seemed the two 
countries were heading for war for the benefit of 
this 'elite', but now they were for peace. "We 
are inching towards resolving the issue, but no 
time frame can be set." He said the 
demilitarisation of Kashmir had been demanded, 
"but then who would assure the protection of the 
life and property of the Kashmiris settled in the 
valley"?
He said the people of Kashmir would have to 
tolerate "draconian laws until and unless the 
people have the power". He said people-to-people 
contact was still "prohibited and grossly 
restricted by the governments" in Kashmir. He 
said the recently started bus service was still 
under the control of the establishment and should 
be independent.
Earlier, Dr Hasan said that the Indo-Pak peace 
process was still insufficient as there were no 
genuine steps being taken to accept the Kashmiri 
people as the third party, while the "puppet 
leaderships" separately created by India and 
Pakistan were supporting their masters.
To resolve the issue, he said, the Indian 
Constitutions needed to be amended, but there 
appeared to be no such change on the cards. In 
Pakistan, there was little discussion about what 
would have to be sacrificed for peace in Kashmir.
Tappan K Bose, noted HR activist from India, 
Balraj Puri, noted journalist and HR activist 
from Jammu, Admiral (r) Ramdas, former president 
of the Indian chapter of the PIPFPD and Dr AH 
Nayyar from Pakistan mainly discussed the 
situation among others.
Balraj Puri, journalist and human rights activist 
from Jammu, said the ethnic, cultural and 
religious diversity of Kashmir was a unique asset 
and called for the independence of the state. He 
urged both government to respect Kashmiris' point 
of view and go "step by step".
Tappan K Bose, Indian human rights activist, gave 
a brief overview of the history of Kashmir, 
describing how communal and religious violence 
started that ultimately led to militancy and 
"cross border terrorism" with a shift from 
"secular nationalism" to "Islamic nationalism". 
He said voices were raised against violence and 
human rights violations after 2000.
To a question, Bose said that that the idea of 
independence was supported by the 'elite' of 
Jammu and Kashmir, who were very close to the 
Maharaja. He said the "repressed majority" wanted 
to get rid of the "Maharaja system".
Earlier talking about nuclearisation and 
militancy, Admiral (r) Ramdas called for 
eradicating nuclear weapons and stopping the arms 
race in the region. "We should get rid of these 
weapons. These can be used mistakenly or on any 
disinformation." However, he said to do this 
Pakistan and India would have to bear 
international pressure from weapons manufactures.
He said India and Pakistan were equal and the 
only disparity between them was of the economy 
and population size. He proposed that India, 
China and Pakistan form a strategic regional 
alliance. "You will see that we will move towards 
this situation in the coming few years."
In the afternoon session, IA Rehman, director of 
the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and 
Parminder Singh from India spoke about human 
rights and called for true democracy, justice and 
accountability of all.
Mushtaq Gaadi, Muhammad Tahseen, Smitu Kothari 
and Aly Ercelawn spoke on the "Development, trade 
and the environment". The conference will 
conclude on Friday. waqar gillani

_______


[3]

Dawn
May 25, 2005

A FIRM GRIP ON ELECTRONIC MEDIA
By Omar R. Quraishi

THE Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (Pemra) 
Amendment Bill of 2005 passed on May 16 by the 
National Assembly replaces the Pemra ordinance of 
2002 which till now provided the framework under 
which the regulatory authority was operating. The 
legislation, which gives sweeping powers to Pemra 
to regulate the electronic media in the country, 
will now be laid before the Senate which will 
vote on it in its next session. Once that is done 
and the president signs the bill, its various 
provisions will come into effect.

The manner in which the new law was passed by the 
lower house of parliament  was pretty similar to 
much of the legislation that has been passed by 
this government - that is, rushed through without 
any debate and without considering any points 
raised by the opposition, or, as the case may be, 
by any member from the treasury benches. Prior to 
its tabling before the National Assembly, the 
amendment bill was presented to the parliamentary 
committees on information and broadcasting where 
members of parliament were to discuss and debate 
the proposals and make suggestions.

However, at no stage did the government  solicit 
any  feedback or seek any advisse  from 
proprietors  of TV channels, cable operators or 
radio stations. A delegation of cable  operators 
did recently meet the Pemra chairman (who is a 
former senior police official) and conveyed to 
him its concern regarding the new law. The 
chairman is reported to have told them that 
unless they planned to break the law they should 
not be too worried.

As for the new law itself, a closer examination 
of its provisions and a comparison of these with 
the text of the 2002 ordinance will reveal that 
the regulator's power to shut down broadcasts and 
cable operations has been significantly 
increased. In addition, some checks and balances 
provided in the old law, like providing the 
licence-holders a forum for redressal of 
grievances, have been done away with and the 
discretionary powers of Pemra to grant 
licence-holders exemptions from certain 
provisions of the broadcasting law have been 
enhanced.

Perhaps the most disturbing change has been in 
the terms and conditions of grant of a licence. 
Pemra has now been empowered to shut down or 
cancel a licence if a broadcaster airs programmes 
or advertisements that contain "pornography, 
obscenity, vulgarity or other material offensive 
to commonly  accepted standards  of decency". 
This clause was absent in the 2002 ordinance and 
contains words that are vague and ambiguous and a 
phrase "commonly accepted standards of decency"’ 
whose meaning and intent can be open to widely 
divergent interpretations.

There are many in this country who are of the 
opinion that even PTV and other Pakistani 
channels telecast profanity and vulgar programmes 
and if any one of them were to become the head of 
Pemra or if the current head were sympathetic to 
such views, it could well lead to quite a lot of 
channels being heavily punished or even shut down 
on what are essentially frivolous grounds.

A standard for broadcasting that uses a criterion 
as subjective as this is bound to open up a 
Pandora's box in that there is great divergence 
of views on what constitutes vulgarity or 
obscenity.

This new provision becomes even more alarming 
when Pemra's actions in recent months against 
cable operators are taken into account. In almost 
all cases, the regulator acted against operators 
on charges that they were showing films or 
programmes, with pornographic or vulgar content 
and even took the rather extreme step of ordering 
a ban on some English channels. In not a single 
case was action taken against any operator on 
grounds of unreliable or shoddy service, 
something that seems to be missing entirely from 
the regulator's mandate. That the programmes 
telecast on Indian channels were perhaps equally 
'vulgar’ or that those channels had taken on the 
mantle of guardian of public morality, was 
apparently lost on Pemra.

Governments in Pakistan have often used loosely 
defined or ambiguously worded rules and 
regulations to control the media and this 
particular one with a vague reference to 
adherence of 'commonly accepted standards of 
decency’ seems to be just another such device. 
Under the new Pemra law any TV channel could have 
its licence revoked if it telecast material, 
which in the eyes of Pemra, was contrary to the 
standards vaguely mentioned by it. This can be 
easily used by the government to shut down 
channels airing programmes critical of the 
government.

Admittedly, there is no such thing as absolute 
freedom of expression, but such freedom should be 
qualified by limitations that have more to do 
with libel, defamation, slander and the right to 
privacy and not a government official's 
interpretation of vulgarity or worse still, 
'commonly accepted standards of decency’.

Other than this, the number of members who will 
sit on the board of Pemra has been increased from 
nine under the 2002 ordinance to 12. Compared to 
before when four of the nine members were to be 
government nominees, now the number of such 
appointees or nominees has been raised to seven. 
This also means that the government's influence 
and control over the regulator has been increased 
since all decisions of the authority will be 
taken by a majority vote.

The chairman of the Central Board of Revenue has 
also been co-opted as an ex-officio member, 
perhaps because of the fact that under the new 
law all dues such as outstanding licence fees, 
renewal fees or fines imposed by Pemra on a 
broadcaster will be recovered as land revenue 
arrears.

Besides, in the past, governments have used the 
tried and tested method of harassing media 
organizations by simply sending their proprietors 
tax notices and in that context the inclusion of 
the CBR chief on the Pemra board as an ex-officio 
member would raise some questions.

Licence holders will also be required to 
constitute an 'in-house monitoring committee’ to 
regulate all content that goes on the air.

The logic of this is debatable especially since 
most credible TV channels would have a defined 
hierarchy for editorial supervision and control 
of on-air content.

Under the 2002 ordinance, licence holders had the 
right to contest any action by Pemra by referring 
the matter to a government-constituted committee 
headed by a retired high court judge. The new law 
omits this provision altogether.

Similarly, under the 2002 ordinance, the 
authority was granted the right to exempt any 
broadcaster from following the rules and 
regulations provided that such grant of exemption 
was given in writing and based on "guidelines and 
criteria identified in the Rules" and made "in 
conformity with the principles of equality and 
equity as enshrined in the Constitution".

The new law abridges this significantly and Pemra 
now has the right to grant exemptions if it is of 
the view that it "serves the public interest". 
Again, this provision could well be used as part 
of a carrot and stick policy to reward 
broadcasters who toe the government line.

The new law gives further teeth to Pemra in that 
"officers of federal, provincial and local 
governments, including the capital and provincial 
police, shall" assist the authority in the 
discharge of its functions and in applying the 
provisions of the new law to any broadcaster. 
This was something missing in the 2002 ordinance. 
Pemra will also now be able to seize a 
broadcaster's equipment after determining that 
its on-air content violated the provisions of the 
terms and conditions under which the licence was 
granted.

This means that the authority can now shut down a 
channel and confiscate its equipment if any of 
its programmes are deemed to be in violation of 
"commonly accepted standards of decency" or if 
they are considered to be against the "national, 
cultural, social and religious values and the 
principles of public policy as enshrined in the 
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan".

Clearly, this will allow the authority 
considerable leeway since it has been invested 
with the authority to determine whether a 
programme or show is violative of any of these.

Certain provisions of the new law are 
well-meaning, especially the one that relates to 
the requirements of the authority's 
chairman/woman, that he or she be "an eminent 
professional of known integrity and competence 
having substantial experience in media, business, 
management, finance, economics or law". However, 
the current chairman, though a senior 
ex-government servant, was a police official and 
served for many years in that capacity. His last 
assignment was as secretary in the ministry of 
communications.

It would have been better if the authority had 
been invested with powers to regulate 
broadcasters and cable operators with reference 
to the quality of their service rather than the 
content of their programming. If something is bad 
or of mediocre quality and has scenes that many 
would find vulgar, then it will die out itself 
and viewers will just switch over to other 
channels. That is precisely what is happening in 
the case of Pakistan's film industry.

o o o o

Editorial by Omar R. Quraishi, published in Dawn on May 19, 2005

CONTROLLING ELECTRONIC MEDIA

The enforcement clauses contained in the Pemra 
Amendment Bill (2005) passed by the National 
Assembly constitute a retrograde step as far the 
freedom of the electronic media is concerned. 
Passed hurriedly without a debate after rushing 
it through the parliamentary standing committees 
concerned, the legislation substantially 
increases the control of the government over the 
electronic media. Several new provisions have 
been added to the existing law seeking to 
strengthen the regulatory authority's powers to 
shut down a channel on grounds of any of its 
programmes presumed to have vulgar or obscene 
content. However, in doing so the definition of 
what is obscene or vulgar has not been clearly 
defined. Also, Pemra has been empowered to close 
down any radio or TV channel which it thinks airs 
or telecasts material "offensive to commonly 
accepted standards of decency". This a very 
ambiguous and arbitrary provision which, given 
the tendency of governments in Pakistan, could 
well be misused by the authority to keep in check 
broadcasters who are seen to air programmes 
critical of government policies. Besides, what 
exactly are "commonly accepted standards of 
decency"?

In addition to all this, a committee to be headed 
by a retired judge where, under the 2002 law, the 
proprietor of a TV or radio station could file an 
appeal against cancellation of his licence by 
Pemra, has been dispensed with. In fact, under 
the new law, the authority has been empowered to 
confiscate equipment on mere suspicion before 
applying any penalty. This sets a dangerous 
precedent and goes against the tenets of natural 
justice because it equates mere suspicion with 
established guilt by allowing Pemra to seize 
equipment without giving the licence-holder an 
opportunity to contest the charge made by the 
regulator. Also, the composition of Pemra has 
been altered to ensure a majority of members in 
favour of the government. Clearly, the new Pemra 
law, especially the sweeping connotation of what 
are "commonly accepted standards of decency", 
seems specifically to strengthen the official 
control over the electronic media and makes a 
mockery of the government claim of being a 
fervent upholder of media freedom.


_______


[4]

www.sacw.net
May 28, 2005

A DANGEROUS ILLUSION
by Mukul Dube

(Introductory essay written for 'The Parivar Raj 
and After', to be published by the Vikas Adhyayan 
Kendra, Mumbai, early in August 2005)

[...]  "It is a dangerous illusion, one which may 
prove fatal, that all will be well now that the 
Hindu
Right has been thrown out and the Congress, with 
its allies and supporting parties, is in power
again." [ . . . ] .

http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/muk_int.pdf


_______


[5]

Communalism Watch - May 28, 2005
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2005/05/is-rss-terrorist-organization-ram.html


Issues in Secular Politics
May 2005 II

IS RSS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION?

by Ram Puniyani

Terrorism has been witnessed as a horrific phenomenon,
more so in the current times. What is terrorism itself
is a matter of debate at one level and at another the
definition of terrorism changes from person to person,
group to group and country to country.

One does not know as to what criterion the US based
Terrorism Research Center, the US think tank on this
issue, has used but it has gone on to label RSS, the
patriarch of Hindutva organizations, BJP, VHP,
Bajarang dal etc., as a terrorist outfit. RSS shares
this category with other organizations defamed in
different parts of the World as terrorists like Al
Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Hamas etc. Sangh's (RSS
progeny) own definition and understanding of
terrorists has been summed up by RSS pracharak
(propagator) and current Gujarat Chief Minister,
Narendra Modi in the sentence, "All Muslims are not
terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims!" How come
a Muslim baiter organization itself has been so
labeled!

It seems from amongst the various definitions floating
around about terrorism, the one stating, killing of
innocent persons for political goals, seems to be the
one followed by this center. It goes without saying
that in this definition generally states are not
included. Lately some states have been called as
terrorist states and BJP had been urging upon US to
declare Pakistan as a terrorist state. Some states
have been listed as terrorists by US itself. We will
not go on to discuss the violence of the state and its
goals, which is quite a complex phenomenon. We will
also not touch upon the bias exercised by those
defining terrorism. In a limited way we follow the
definition, killing of innocents for political goals,
we will try to see whether the assessment of US based
center is true.

It is important to concede here that terrorism emerges
from ideology of groups with specific goals. It is
also important to realize that all those who
manufacture this goal and ideology, which leads to
violence are terrorists or rather they are the real
one's. And if the blame is to be apportioned, they
should be held more responsible before the finger is
pointed to those who use sword, bullets or AK 47 or
who pilot the plane to ram into WTC or the like.

No doubt the RSS pracharks will never even go to pick
up arms, to kill anybody personally. Even in RSS
shakhas training is given only for wielding lathis,
batons. Of course keeping with times RSS progeny
Bajarang dal and Durga vahini have begun to give
training in the use of firearms and VHP is
distributing knives, disguised as trishuls in
thousands, but in RSS shakhas these are no no. Apart
from the lathi wielding the other part of the training
is bauddhik (intellectual). This training is based on
the spread of hatred for minorities, hatred for
secular and democratic values. It goes on to say that
in this nation of Hindus, others, Muslims and
Christians are aliens, also that Communists, Muslims
and Christians are internal threat to Hindu nation.

The venom of hate is tailor made for each community.
Muslims are equated to yavan snakes. Prof Bipan
Chandra narrates his experience in listening to the
shakha training. While on a morning walk he overheard
the young boys attending the shakha being told that
Muslims are like snakes. It is easier to kill a young
snake rather than the grown up one. The message of
this 'intellectual' exercise is too clear. The
inspiration and methods of Hate are picked up from the
Nazi Germany. RSS ideologue Golwalkar articulated it,
"German race pride has now become topic of the day.
To keep up the purity of nation and its culture,
Germany shocked the world by her purging the country
of Semitic races-the Jews. National pride at its
highest has been manifested here. Germany has also
shown how well-neigh impossible it is for races and
cultures having differences going to the root, to be
assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for
us in Hindustan to learn and profit by." (M.S.
Golwalkar, We or Our Nationhood defined, Nagpur 1938
p.27).

One wondered whether RSS really means it. But to one's
utter shock one was told by a senior RSS ideologue
that if a person of the stature of Gandhi could not
solve the ëMuslim problem', what can the present small
genre of pseudo secularists achieve! As per him (and
apparently as per RSS) there is a single solution to
this problem, what one knows as the "Final Solution"!
This hate ideology, which is drilled in the heads of
young recruits is the base on which the foundation of
communal violence comes up. The RSS's ideology's
outcome first got manifested in Godse's murdering of
Gandhi. Of course RSS never owned the fact that Godse
was trained by RSS and was RSS pracharak before he
decided to join Hindu Mahasabha. His brother Gopal
Godse maintained in different interviews that they
(his brother Nathuram and he himself) had never left
RSS. Most of the inquiry commission reports on the
communal violence (Justice Reddy, Vithayathil,
Venugopal, Madon and others) have shown irrefutably
that their has been a role of some organization
affiliated to or floated by a pracharak of RSS, which
has played crucial role in the violence. The strategy
is very clever, RSS trains and leaves volunteers who
carry on the RSS work, advantage is that the blame of
riots can never come directly on the RSS.

One recalls that after the defeat in 1937 elections,
Muslim League and Hindu Mahsabha stepped up their Hate
other campaigns as they could not win the elections on
the appeal of their religion. RSS was also part of
hate other campaign stepped up at this time. These
poisonous seeds of hatred were dormant and are bearing
the poisonous fruits more so after the decade of 1980.
This hate other ideology passes through different
conveyor belts and its final stop is that where the
poor gullible sections take up arms, intoxicated by
the opium of hate ideology which is laced in the
language of religion for desired effect.

Every terrorist outfit has its own agenda. Al Qaeda
was trained by CIA via Pakistan to throw away the
Socialist Russia's occupation of Afghanistan. LTTE is
a reaction the Sinahala domination of Tamils,
Khalistainis were the expression of deeper
dissatisfaction of Sikh masses on economic and ethnic
grounds, ULFA again is the expression ethnic problem
handled in an insensitive way and so on and so forth.
RSS and Muslim League in pre-partition times were the
expression of the fears of feudal elements that their
norms and values are under threat in the wake of
modern education, industrialization and the values of
Liberty, Equality and fraternity becoming the major
ideology of the struggling masses. The same fear,
existential anxiety, of another middle classes has got
crystallized in the politics of RSS. And this is the
coming up of dalits and women demanding social and
gender justice themselves. Whatever is the deeper
societal agenda, RSS methods and mechanisms of action
do give rise to the VHPs, Bajarang dals and Durga
Vahinis. It is probably this deeper understanding of
the dynamics of RSS functioning which must have
prompted the research center to label it as a
terrorist organization.

RSS training is on twin tracks. One is the physical
one, games and all that. The second is the bauddhik
one. It is the latter which motivates its progeny to
incite people to take up arms and kill the 'other',
the 'enemy' in the ruthless fashion. The anatomy of a
riot, violence, is very interesting and complex both
at the same time. How the average dalit, adivasi,
worker with empty stomach and non existent future is
mobilized as the foot soldier of RSS agenda, is
something social scientists have to explain. RSS
pracharak may be at the same time sitting and giving a
quiet discourse on Hindu values, Hindu rashtra while
RSS ideology will grip the section of population to
unleash violence, to kill the innocents. It does
achieve the political goal of consolidation of section
of Hindus behind RSS; it does make them come back to
power or to consolidate their power. The definition
with which we began was killing of innocents for power
or political agenda is terrorism. And that's precisely
what RSS work does.

The only point of overt confusion some times can be
that unlike Osama, or the AK 47 weilding terrorist in
parts of the World, RSS volunteer will appear to be
the apostle of quietness. And this is the wiliest and
cleverest part of RSS operation. To achieve its goal,
to get the minorities beaten and killed without taking
up the arms oneself. The violence is leased out by
clever social and psychological manipulation. In that
sense AK 47 may miss the target but a mind poisoned
and initiated by Hate ideology propagated by RSS will
come out as violence some time or the other, here or
there, it's just a question of time. Culture, the
cloak of cultural organization is the most cleverly
disguised cover for the terrorist goals of this
organization. This terrorist outfit kills many birds
in a single stone, the birds being minorities and
weaker sections of society. But of course there will
be much noise that the name of RSS should be taken off
from the list of this research center. In case of RSS,
this outfits' culture is the terror for large sections
of minorities and weaker sections of society in India.

_______


[6]

[Glorification of Sati continues in UP and Rajasthan.

A minister in the so-called secular led State 
Govt in UP was among the "faithful's" that 
performed their voodoo rituals at the funeral 
pyre site. In Rajasthan, the  BJP led State 
Government had recently issued an advertisement 
carrying a monogram of Sati before the 
inauguration of a township called 'Shree Rani 
Sati Nagar'

Following protests by feminists the word "Sati" 
was dropped from the name of the township.
The builder Vijay Kumar Vvijayvargiya, stated, 
that the name of the township was approved by the 
previous Congress Government

Apparently the Rajasthan Chief Minister had 
offered prayers at Rani Sati temple; and had 
glorified Sati while addressing a gathering after 
assuming charge as head of government.
See Protest Note below by Delhi's Feminists ]

o o o o

Sacw.net
[May 27, 2005]
http://www.sacw.net/Wmov/SatiProtestSaheli27052005.html

PROTEST AGAINST POLICE INACTION AND GLORIFICATION OF SATI

We were horrified to read the newspaper report 
"Sati in UP village, police wake up after crowds 
throng site" in the Indian Express of May 26 2005 
[www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=71051]. 
Ram Kumari, a 75-year-old widow who immolated 
herself on her husband Jageshwar Tiwari's funeral 
pyre in Bahundari village near Jaspur in Banda 
district of Uttar Pradesh on May 7th. This 
desperate act of a widow is being lauded as 
"sati" by hundreds of people thronging to the 
site.

This is the seventh incident of "sati" since 1952 
in Banda district. Yet, the Banda District 
Magistrate [DM] Dheeraj Sahu said, "We have 
inquired into this incident and decided not to 
lodge an FIR against anyone."

Is the DM unaware of people arriving in large 
numbers at the site after the 13th-day rituals? 
Prayers are being offered at the pyre site where 
even a makeshift 'chabootra' has come up. Among 
the "devotees" was UP minister Jagdish Chand 
Bose, a close associate of Chief Minister Mulayam 
Singh Yadav. Bose reportedly circled the pyre, 
even scooped the ash lying there and rubbed it on 
his forehead as a mark of respect. Others came 
with incense sticks and diyas to perform pooja. 
This is an outright violation of the Commission 
of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, which forbids any 
glorification of sati, and makes it punishable 
with upto 7 years imprisonment and a possible 
fine of Rs.30,000.

The suspicion that Ram Kumari's death could be 
linked to a land dispute (The Telegraph, May 26 
[www.telegraphindia.com/1050526/asp/frontpage/story_4788468.asp] 
) makes it all the more imperative to investigate 
her death by immolation. The deprivation of land 
rights and the miserable existence widows are 
subjected to cannot be wished away by 
"glorifying" their murder or desperate suicides 
as "sati".

We demand that strict action be taken against the 
DM, police officials and public servants whose 
duty it is to prevent the glorification of sati. 
It is imperative that the retrogressive practice 
of widow immolation is stopped, and its 
glorification as "sati" prevented.

Satnam Sachdeva and Shweta Vachani

[For Saheli]
Saheli Women's Resource Centre
Above Shop Nos. 105-108
Under Defence Colony Flyover Market (South Side)
New Delhi 110 024


o o o o

[See Related Reference Material on SACW]

Central Sati Act [1987] - An analysis
by Maja Daruwala  [January 1988]
http://www.sacw.net/Wmov/DaruwalaJan1998.html

Sati glorification: Crime, Society and the Wheels of Injustice
by Rakesh Shukla [March 20, 2004]
http://www.sacw.net/Wmov/shukla20March2004.html

Rajasthan High Court Accepts Sati Writ Petitions: 
Issues Notices - Press Note [August 6, 2004]
http://www.sacw.net/Wmov/SatiRajasthanHC_Aug62004.html

______

[7]     [ India : RSS and Congress competing in 
the Anti-Bangladeshi movement in Assam]

Tehelka.com
May 28 , 2005

ANTI-BANGLADESHI MOVEMENT BACK IN HEADLINES

By Nitin A. Gokhale
Guwahati

Question of Survival: migrants queue up for food in Assam

A campaign launched by a group of youths in 
eastern Assam's Dibrugarh town urging people not 
to deal with or employ illegal immigrants has 
once again brought the issue of Bangladeshi 
migrants into focus. The campaign initially 
triggered an exodus of about 300 labourers from 
the upper Assam town. The government, not willing 
to risk a communal flare-up, immediately did some 
damage control. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi sent 
two of his most trusted lieutenants, Minister of 
State for Home Rockybul Hussain and Minister of 
State for Planning and Development Himanta Biswa 
Sarma, to the spot. The duo immediately ordered a 
time-bound inquiry into the incident and tried to 
reassure the Muslims that the situation was under 
control. "We have asked the district 
administrations and the police to be alert to 
ensure that no genuine Indian citizens are 
harassed in the name of hounding Bangladeshis and 
also to prevent any sort of communal tension," 
Hussain said.

The Chiring Chapori Yuva Mancha, which launched 
the campaign, has a four-point agenda: urge the 
public not to employ Bangladeshi migrants; not to 
travel in any vehicle driven by them; not to have 
any business transaction with them; and not to 
provide them with shelter or rented accommodation.

Although many suspected illegal Bangladeshis 
working in brick kilns and as rickshaw pullers in 
the area fled to unknown destinations following 
Mancha's campaign, it became clear that all 
mainline political parties, including the 
supposedly anti-immigrant organisations like the 
Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the BJP, are chary 
of taking a clear stand on the issue, lest they 
offend the Muslims, who make up 30 percent of 
Assam's population, with the Assembly polls due 
next May.

The police are making discreet background checks 
on Mancha's main activists even as the debate 
over the foreigners' issue dominates newspapers. 
The memories of the six-year long agitation 
between 1979 and 1985, often described as a 
movement since it involved all sections of the 
society and had kept Assam in a constant state of 
turmoil, are not too far away from most people's 
minds. Many are wondering if the latest episode 
is a beginning of yet another long agitation. The 
Congress, aware that the 1979-85 protests swept 
it out of power, is therefore in no mood to take 
any chance.

o o o o

The Hindu
May 28, 2005

NO WELCOME FOR THEM IN ASSAM

Sushanta Talukdar

The influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants has again taken centre stage.

THE ISSUE of the influx of "illegal" Bangladeshi 
migrants into Assam is back in focus. Recently, a 
campaign for an economic boycott of the migrants 
by a youth organisation triggered an exodus of 
religious minority people from Dibrugarh town.

With less than a year left for the State Assembly 
elections, the various political parties have 
also entered the scene. The ruling Congress and 
the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party are engaged 
in a tug-of-war. The religious minorities are 
considered a traditional vote bank of the 
Congress, and the BJP has been trying to woo 
Hindu voters saying the "illegal" migrants should 
be driven out.

The Congress has dubbed the campaign by the 
Chiring Chapori Yuva Mancha for an economic 
boycott of illegal Bangladeshi migrants a game 
plan of the BJP and the RSS. However, the fact 
that the Congress was initially silent and rushed 
in only after reports of exodus of migrant 
workers belonging to the religious minority 
community from Dibrugarh town has raised 
questions.

The Mancha distributed leaflets urging the public 
not to employ illegal Bangladeshi migrants, not 
to travel in vehicles plied by them, not to have 
any business transaction with them, and not to 
provide shelter or rented accommodation. A 
simultaneous SMS campaign was also run. Chief 
Minister Tarun Gogoi is on record that those who 
have left Dibrugarh were not Bangladeshis but 
Indian citizens who had gone there in search of a 
livelihood. He, however, said his Government was 
committed to detecting and deporting illegal 
migrants from Assam.

The BJP, on the other hand, has backed the Mancha 
campaign and accused the Congress of trying to 
protect "illegal" Bangladeshi migrants. The 
Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have 
set June 7 as the deadline for illegal migrants 
to quit Assam.

The Asom Gana Parishad reacted cautiously. It 
expressed reservations about anyone taking the 
law into their own hands but blamed the Congress 
Government for the exodus of genuine Indian 
citizens belonging to religious minorities from 
Dibrugarh. This guarded response is being seen as 
part of the AGP plan to make inroads among the 
minorities in a traditional Congress stronghold.

Meanwhile, other non-Congress and non-BJP parties 
have come together at the initiative of the 
Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s State unit. 
They have expressed concern over the harassment 
of the religious minorities and the attempts to 
revive the anti-foreigners' agitation in Assam 
under the garb of a campaign against illegal 
Bangaldeshi migrants. The parties include the 
Nationalist Congress Party, the Republican 
Socialist Party, the United Minorities Front 
(UMF), the Janata Dal (Secular), the CPI (ML), 
the Samajwadi Party, and the SUCI. The AGP and 
the CPI kept out of this platform, whose 
constituents may not matter much in terms of 
individual electoral strength but are a force 
combined. Indications are the State is likely to 
witness a realignment of forces before the 
Assembly elections due in May 2006.In a way, the 
current agitation is a continuation of the 
six-year anti-foreigners' agitation spearheaded 
by the All-Assam Students' Union in the early 
1980s. That agitation ended with the signing of 
the Assam Accord by the AASU with the Centre and 
the State Government in 1985. But the issue of 
detection and deportation of illegal migrants 
remained unsolved. Infiltration continued 
unabated through the porous Indo-Bangladesh 
border even 20 years after the signing of the 
accord.

Identification and deportation of illegal 
migrants is the task of the Central and State 
Governments. The present economic boycott call 
can result in discrimination against those who 
have every right to be in the State.

There is no way illegal migrants can be 
distinguished based on physical appearance from 
those who entered Assam prior to March 25, 1971 
(the cut off date in the Assam Accord). There has 
also been intra-State migration of pre-1971 
settlers in search of livelihood due to acute 
agro crisis and loss of their habitats as well as 
cultivable land (large sandbars in the heart of 
the Brahmaputra known as Chars) caused by annual 
floods and erosion. This makes it difficult for 
local people to distinguish a genuine Indian 
citizen from an illegal migrant. In such a 
situation there is every possibility of pre-1971 
immigrant settlers being wrongly suspected of 
being an illegal migrants when the locals 
belonging to the majority Assamese speaking 
population decide to respond to an appeal for an 
economic boycott of illegal migrants, out of 
their genuine fear of being marginalised. A 
tripartite meeting among the AASU, the Centre and 
the Assam Government on May 5 this year agreed on 
certain-time bound steps. These include updating 
the National Register of Citizens by including 
the names of all those who entered the State 
before the cut-off date of March 25, 1971 and 
issuing photo identity cards. All political 
parties and groups in the State have backed this 
decision.

The UMF, a political grouping of religious 
minorities, which was a staunch opponent of the 
Assam Accord, has also supported the move to 
update the NRC and issue photo identity cards. 
The fact that a time frame of two years has been 
fixed for updating the NRC is most likely to 
dominate Assam's political scenario till the 
State actually gets an updated register.



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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
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